Lily pulled her trunk off of the luggage rack making it thump heavily onto the seat beside her best friend, Prue Thornton.

Prue was a popular girl at school and out, like Lily herself. Her hair was blonde but was so light and shiny that it was more often described with three words: silver white blonde. It reached just to her shoulder blades and was usually worn down but in school, in a high pony tail or two pigtails. Her eyes were blue grey and surrounded by dark eyelashes and her skin was lightly tanned. Every now and then she hexed her hair to different colours.

"God, Lily, I swear you want to kill me today, you nearly knocked me out with that when you put it up there, now you want to crush me," Oh, yeah, and she has a right feisty personality, though I suppose anyone would need one if you were Lily Evans best friend.

Lily had brilliant green eyes, paler skin and auburn red hair that reached her shoulder blades in waves, slightly longer than Prue's but she had a kind demeanour, only when faced with James Potter would it change - where as most girls would swoon and even drool, Lily had a tendency to fly into a rage or a rant, Prue was one of the only other girls that didn't show much interest in the hazel eyed, black haired quidditch player. Despite this, the two girls had been friends since their first day at Hogwarts, they had both been meticulous for the first year but then Prue got bored. She didn't always wear her robes over her uniform and the first couple of buttons on her blouse were always undone and her tie was loose because of it. They also worked out at the end of their second year that Prue was psychic, though she never used the power before. In contrast, Lily kept up with her impeccable behaviour and they still stayed best friends.

"Sorry Prue, I thought you had moved to get yours down," Lily said, scooping her cat into the wicker basket on top of her trunk. Solari was a dark red brown Burmese cat that Lily had bought in Diagon Alley shortly before her sixth year. She had then had to keep the cat in her room as her sister was allergic (but then Petunia claimed she was allergic to magic so that didn't really say much)

Prue snorted, "I would have if Echo would detach herself from my hand."

Lily stroked a finger down Solari's nose through the bars and turned round. Prue was still sat down (though Lily had to give her credit for being in uniform – it was hard getting changed if your pet loves you too much to let go) with Echo hanging on to her index finger, quite happily still asleep – though she was nocturnal so nobody could really blame her.

Echo was a tiny Egyptian fruit bat, her body just as long as her owners palm. Prue had seen a special stock in the window and taken all of her birthday money, converted to galleons to buy her the same day Lily had bought Solari. Her wings were dark smoky grey, almost black but she had a fluffy body that had a pale underside and a slightly mottled stormy grey back and head. She was still quite young but already loved Prue to the ends of the earth.

In fact, it had been Echo's predecessor's fault that Lily had even met Prue at all (she called it fault but really, it was more a gift).

FLASHBACK

Lily walked down the train back to the compartment she occupied alone with her run away cat but before she got there a small creature flew past her, quicker than was possible for an owl, and as she turned around to catch a glimpse of it, she noticed it was hovering outside the slide door of another compartment. Its soft dark eyes almost glowing with love as it threw its small fluffy body repeatedly against the glass to gain the attention of the compartment occupant. Deciding to help, she slowly re-traced her steps and reached out to open the door. The bat screeched slightly and somehow managed to attach itself upside down on the ceiling of the Hogwarts Express (don't get it wrong, Lily knew bats hung upside down, but not that they could on an almost completely flat surface). Wondering vaguely why she was talking to a bat, Lily whispered to it, "Don't worry, I'll let you in."

She slid the door open and the bat looked at her in thanks before swooping into the room. Lily was about to shut the door and turn away until she noticed the bat land on the seat and comically crawl until it was crouched beside the girl laid out over them.

Worried, Lily entered the room and shut the door, putting Biscuit on the seat opposite and crouching down in front of the girl. Looking at her she seemed to be asleep and she was definitely breathing. Satisfied Lily stood up and scooped up Biscuit to leave, stopped by the girl's voice.

"What's your name?"

Lily turned back around, "Lily…Evans, yours?"

"Prue Thornton," she sat up and pulled her sweater straight, stroking the bat as it crawled onto her leg.

Lily smiled, "Is she yours?"

Prue nodded, beaming brightly, "Yeah, I bought her before I came here, her name's Midnight, she's an Egyptian fruit bat, do you want to hold her?"

Lily hesitated, she wasn't keen on small flying things, "OK."

She placed Biscuit back on the seat and with a trembling hand, stroked the bat that had been placed on her leg. Her slight reserve for bats vanishing on the spot, she smiled, "Do you know what House you're going to be in?"

Prue shook her head, "No one does; we find out when we arrive; do you want to stay here?"

Lily smiled accepting the offer and disappeared to fetch Biscuit's cage and her trunk. When she came back Biscuit and Midnight were sniffing each other curiously. They had spent the rest of the journey chatting and when they arrived, were both sorted into Gryffindor, along with the Marauders to be. Lily later discovered that Prue's family were mostly magical. All her family back for 5 generations were witches and wizards, save for her grandfather who was a much loved muggle.

Lily pushed the memory from her mind; Biscuit had died in her fourth year, a month before Midnight had too passed away, at midnight on Prue's lap. They had gone the rest of the year and the next without a pet and Prue had said, while crying her heart out into Lily's shoulder, that she would never get a bat again because of the pain when she lost them. However, when they had gone to Diagon Alley together before their sixth year, Prue saw Echo and bought her. As Lily had seen Solari and bought her.

Prue finally woke Echo and convinced her to go into her cage and quickly pulled her trunk down after closing the doors.

They gathered their things and left the train as they heard the rest of the students stampede down the hallway.

"Shouldn't you be stopping that, I mean, you are head girl," Prue teased, poking her head out to check the coast.

"Why would I stop it when I want to get out just as fast as them?" Lily retorted, sticking her head out too, "Go…now."

They both jumped into the throng of students heading for the platform.

They both sat through all the speeches and then the meal itself before Lily and James names were announced as the new head girl and boy (Lily scowled, James smirked) and the prefects stood to lead their houses to the dorms.

Lily and Prue headed up to the Gryffindor common room after dinner chatting peacefully and bantering back and forth. They flopped into chairs by the window and continued in a more subdued manner as many of the younger years were going to bed.

The Marauders entered last, laughing their heads off as they sat down in the armchairs around the fire.

"You know, Lily, this year is going to be one interesting one, I mean, we're 7th years now, we don't have a 9:00 curfew, and we can go to Hogsmeade every weekend, whenever we want, not just on planned days," Prue said, sighing happily as she looked at the forest. The window clouded up and Prue drew a small cat face in it. Lily giggled.

"Prue, we have had a 10:30 curfew since last year and you never abided anyway, but yeah, I really want to go on wanders when ever I feel like it."

Prue nodded gazing at the small village of Hogsmeade thorough the cat face as it slowly faded from the glass pane.

The portrait of the fat lady opened and the thin and erect form of the transfiguration teacher strode in. her black hair was still pulled up in its usual tight bun, topped with her emerald green hat, her matching robes draping around her loosely.

"Miss. Evans, Mr. Potter, I have been asked to inform you that the head's common room and dorms are being finished, they will be ready for you to move in tomorrow night," She said, stopping abruptly behind the sofa, obscuring Sirius and James from the girl's sight.

She stood still for a moment longer to check they had understood (she couldn't see James and Lily hadn't said anything) before spinning on her heel and striding out through the portrait hole. Lily and Prue didn't miss the square piece of parchment that had been pinned to her back and in big green letters announced 'KICK ME'.

Prue snorted, abruptly turning away as Sirius looked at her to see Lily looking angry.

"Don't kill them now," she told her friend, yanking on her arm and dragging her to the girl's dorm stairs, "Just sleep."

They entered the dorm and headed for their beds, the two in the corner by a big window that was level with the floor.

"Prue, you don't get it, I have to share a common room with Potter for a year," Lily said, pulling on her pyjamas.

"Just a year Lily - and you share a common room with him now," Prue said, slipping under her quilt.

"Yeah, but I also share it with every other Gryffindor in the school," Lily whined. She slipped into bed and glared out the window at the Hogwarts grounds, muttering sarcastically under her breath, "What a brilliant start to the year."