The scorching sun was penetrating her skin. The only thing she heard were her sharp intakes of air and the accompanying footsteps of her best friend as they ran on that hot day. Excitement and anticipation coursed through her body as her house came into view. Panting, they arrived at the door, but instead of bounding through it, she stopped abruptly in front it.
"You know what? I don't want to know if I got it or not, Sev, let's just head back—" she said with sudden panic before she was interrupted.
"No Lily," stated her best friend in a crouched position, still panting heavily. "You made me run here all the way from the lake. Now you go through that door."
"But –"
"Go in."
"Fine."
"Wait!" he grabbed her arm before she could open the door and whispered. "Is your sister home?"
"No, she's at her stupid home management class." She answered.
"Okay, now you can go in."
She swung the door open with a sigh and, sure enough, there was the small envelope with emerald writing, undoubtedly from Hogwarts.
"You open it, Severus, I'm too nervous." Lily said as she pushed him through the threshold.
"It's not such a big deal, Lily." Severus replied. He picked up the envelope between his thumb and forefinger as if it were contaminated and gave it a little shake. "Seems pretty empty to me anyways."
"Just open it!" she exclaimed.
"So bossy." He said with mock indignation as he tore open the envelope.
Lily just smirked and rolled her eyes in response.
"Let's see, Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, Defensive Magical Theory –" Severus began to read out from a single piece of paper.
"Never mind the book list!" she cried, tearing it from his hands. "Is there anything else inside the envelope?"
Severus looked into the envelope. After a few seconds he looked up at Lily, a sorry look on his face. "Lily, I'm sorry - "
Her heart sank to her stomach. She turned around to mask her disappointment. "It's fine, I knew I wasn't going to get it."
" – but it looks like you're going to be stuck with me in prefect duty too."
She whipped around and saw Severus sporting a cheeky grin and a gleaming Gryffindor prefect badge in one hand.
Lily shrieked and bounded into his arms. Severus tensed at the unexpected show of affection but put her arms around anyways.
"Congratulations, Lily. You deserve it." He whispered into her hair.
Lily, oblivious to this little gesture, pulls away from him with an enormous smile across her face. "I knew I was going to get it, Severus, I just knew it. This is going to be a great year, I can just feel it."
Severus couldn't help but smile at her unbridled excitement. He watched her emerald eyes shine as she started musing at the following school year, and once again, the feeling came again. That feeling that he had to have her, or else he wouldn't know what to do with himself. He found himself much more vulnerable to it in the last year, when many boys (including older ones) started noticing Lily and her unconventional beauty. But there was one boy in specific that made Severus feel exceptionally paranoid.
With his Quidditch title, good looks, and popular posse, James Potter posed the biggest threat to Severus Snape when it came to Lily Evans. It was no news that James fancied Lily, but with every look, wink and whisper that he gave her, Severus found himself increasingly worried that someday Lily might wake up infatuated with the black haired Chaser and fall into his arms.
But then he remembered that Lily's definition of Potter consisted of "arrogant toe-rag," and he calmed down a little. But not enough.
"Helloooooo!" Lily said waving her hands in front of his face, breaking him out of his reverie. "You had this glazed look in your eyes, I thought you might pass out."
"Sorry, I was just thinking about what you were saying…" Severus said.
"I know, it got completely out of hand, right?" Lily asked, continuing the conversation.
He just chuckled awkwardly and nodded with his head, since he had no idea to what she was going on about. "Err, what do you say if we head back to the lake now?"
"How about I race you there?" she proposed.
She is off and running again, still clutching her prefect badge, before Severus has the chance to protest.
It was a cloudy and humid day in London. It definitely gave the atmosphere for the sad parents bidding goodbye to their children, yet young excitement was crackling in the air, as it always was on the first day of September in Platform 9^3/4. Remus Lupin thought his mother would be accustomed to saying goodbye to him every year, but he was proven wrong.
"My little Remus!" She cried, crushing him against her chest. "You need to write every week, especially after every you-know-what."
Remus mouthed the last part of that sentence in unison. It had become a tagline of sorts for his mother.
"We're proud of you, son," said his father, John Lupin, slapping him on the shoulder. Ever since Remus had been bitten, his father kept the affectionate moments to a minimum. Remus knew his father took complete blame for the incident, but sometimes he just wished that they could just move past it, and have the relationship they had before. Yet, he knew this was unlikely.
"Now, don't do anything stupid and lose that badge." John said, pointing to the shiny badge on Remus' chest.
"I won't, Dad." Was all Remus could manage to say.
The conversation fell silent and Remus took this as his cue to get on the train. His father gestured to help him mount his luggage on the train, but stood there awkwardly when he saw that Remus lifted it with ease.
"You take care of yourselves." Remus called from inside the train. It finally began to move forward, inching away from his parents. He took the fleeting opportunity to tell them what he knew he should more often. "I love you both!"
His mother broke into a fresh bout of tears while his father donned a sad smile. Within a few seconds, they were only tiny specs in Remus' eyes. Time to find the lads.
Remus lagged his suitcase down the corridor, headed towards his and the boys' usual compartment. Too immersed in his thoughts, he didn't realize someone was calling him from behind.
"Remus!"
He looked over his shoulder to find a petite blonde girl, dressed in jeans and a pink jumper. Suddenly, he had trouble with his words. "H-hi, Mary-Germaine, so good to see you! Erm, how was your, erm, summer like?"
Marie-Germaine Kiffney was a fourth-year with whom Remus had taken Arithmancy last year. She looked the part of being that typical girl only concerned with her appearance, yet her grades said different. She was one of the smartest girls Remus had met, and over endless hours of class with Professor Vector, he developed a crush of sorts on her. Much to his friends' teasing.
"Oh, it was wonderful!" She chirped. "Will you be taking Arithmancy again this year?"
"Oh, well, erm, I'm not quite sure. I'm considering it, of course." He lied, rubbing the back of his neck.
"You should. It was much more bearable having you around."
If Remus weren't so concentrated on her bulging blue eyes, he would have picked up on her flirtatious tone. To her dismay, he didn't. "Well, Professor Vector can be quite a hassle sometimes." He replied lamely.
"If it isn't our own little Remus, mooning over Ms. Kiffney," said an all too familiar voice, along with a slap to his back. "You'll have to forgive him, Marie-G, he's become a bit socially awkward over such a long summer."
"Nice to see you too, James, mate."
Marie-Germaine, clearly uncomfortable with the comment the Potter male had made, cleared her throat. "Well, I guess I should get going to my compartment. I'll see you around, Remus…you too, James."
Remus watched her slowly retreat from him. "Thanks mate, you really helped out on that one."
Remus' sarcasm flew right above the black-haired, Gryffindor Chaser's head. "Anytime, mate. You know I'm your wingman."
The Lupin boy just rolled his eyes. "Where are Sirius and Peter?"
"Sirius went out to plan the first prank on the Slytherins, he needed Peter as bait. They should be back soon."
"James Potter is missing out on the first prank of fifth year? Someone call the Daily Prophet!" Remus exclaimed.
"Oh Remus, mate, you are a true comedian, but I am actually looking for...something and cannot stay here dillydallying." James stated.
"If I guessed correctly, that 'something' you are looking for is sitting two compartments down."
"Let's have a look, shall we?"
The two boys approached the doors of a wide compartment and swung open the doors, revealing a bevy of fifth-year females. Mary MacDonald, Marlene McKinnon, Emmeline Vance, Alice Bryant and Lily Evans abruptly stopped their conversation at the sudden arrival of the two Gryffindor boys.
"Hello ladies." James said suggestively, a tone that he had managed to master over the last two years. Only a few weak responses were returned, the redhead remaining adamantly silent.
"How were your summers?" Remus asked in a warmer tone, to get rid of the tension built up in the small space. All five girls smiled amiably and responded that they had a good summer.
But it was no use. "How was your summer, Lily?" James asked, his hazel eyes zeroing in on her.
The redhead snapped her green eyes to look at James, then flipped her hair over her shoulder to conceal her face. "It was very well, Potter, thank you for asking." She said dryly.
"I see you got a pleasant surprise during it." He said, pointing to the shiny badge on her chest.
"Oh, that's true, Remus did you—" She answered her own question when she looked up and saw the identical badge gleaming on his chest.
"I did. Looks like we're going to be working together a lot." he replied.
She grinned and stood up. "I don't mind, I know you do your part. Speaking of which, we should get going to the prefect reunion."
"Oh, wait for me." Emmeline said, her own Ravenclaw badge catching the light streaming through the window. Marlene, Mary and Alice bid goodbye to their busy friends and continued their conversation exactly where they had left off.
Remus and Emmeline led the way, Lily pushing past James without another word. He followed them anyways. "Wait, where are you guys going?" he asked, worried.
"To the prefects reunion." Remus said as if his friend were retarded.
"But, you're going over to the Slytherins' side of the train…"
"Yes, the Head Boy is a Slytherin, so we have to hold it there." Emmeline explained slowly, using the same tone as Remus.
"Well…If I were you guys, I wouldn't go in there…" James said.
"Oh, Potter please, we don't have time for these shenanigans." Lily declared.
Just as she was about to open the door, an explosion was heard from the other side. A brownish fog seeped from the bottom of the door and suddenly screams were heard. The door opened abruptly releasing gagging and coughing Slytherins, bringing along with them a smell strangely familiar to dragon dung. Finally, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew emerged both using a Bubble-Head Charm, clutching their sides from laughing. Fifth year had officially begun.