Chapter One:
An Unlikely Pair
A red head bobbed about in a vast crowd of people who were all rushing about maniacally along the platforms of a busy railway station. A hand beckoned someone towards her and two bodies collided into a long hug.
"I've missed you," the redheaded girl said, as she released her friend from the embrace.
"Great to see you too, Lils. A hi, would have done!" her friend joked and the girl turned to the three muggles that had arrived shortly after Lily.
Lily looked back at her parents, who were looking around as interestedly as they did every September. She scanned the crowds with her emerald eyes, looking for more familiar faces. She was already dressed in her school uniform; it looked crisp and new. A shiny Head Girl badge rested above a material, Gryffindor crest.
"I'm not allowed to hug my best friend, Roxy?" she smiled sweetly at her friend who was a good inch taller than herself, brown eyed and had hair that seemed to change from a golden brown to dark.
Her father pulled her trunk beside her and Lily looked around excitedly and then back to the people who were still around her. Lily's mother pulled her into a long hug and her father winked.
"Be good, Lily," her mother spoke, as she was released from the hug that had nearly crushed her insides.
"Be happy," her father instructed Lily and nudged the older girl that had arrived with them, who flinched every time someone came close enough to touch her.
"Don't come home unless it's necessary," she hissed.
Lily smiled. "I know you love me really, Pertunia," she attempted to hug her sister but wasn't given the chance.
"Good bye, dear," her mother hugged her one last time and began to drag Lily's older sister away-- scolding her as she went.
"And no boyfriends," her dad joked, as he left and Lily blushed slightly from annoyance.
"So—have your parents left?" Lily asked, looking around for Roxy's parents.
"Never came," she shrugged. "They get scared of places like this."
"Like my sister then—just nicer!" Lily informed Roxy with a smile.
"So," Roxy looked across at her friend and her eyes rested on the badge. "Head Girl. Once again, congratulations,"
she took a small step forward and pulled at her trunk.
"Yep. Fantastic. I hope Remus is Head Boy. He's by far the best for the job and I don't think I could handle it if it was Severus, Ernie or Craig. To—" but she couldn't think of the correct word.
"Different?" Roxy offered.
"Difficult, is more like it." Lily turned to look at the train.
The Hogwarts Express was a large scarlet train, which puffed out steam from the front. It had been taking students from London to Hogwarts for years and probably would for many more. She began to pull her trunk down the platform to the front of the train and Roxy followed her lead.
"I have to go to the front for a while. Save me a space?" she asked sweetly.
"Sure," Roxy beamed and made her way into an empty carriage towards the middle of the train.
Lily continued to weave herself through the people who were seeing their children onto the train and passing luggage into the corridors. A child shouted loudly and she turned to look, there didn't seem to be a problem so she turned around again.
"Ow!" she shouted loudly, as she collided into a raven-haired boy. He was a good three inches taller than her and had the deepest hazel eyes.
"Lily," he said joyfully and she suddenly dreaded that she had left Roxy.
James Potter was a friend of Roxy's from when they had been about three. For the past six years, he had been trying to ask Lily out. To Lily, he was the biggest prat in the universe. She only put up with him because he was a good friend of her best friend.
"Hello, Potter," she moaned. She always made an effort not to say his first name.
"Didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked with mock worry.
"No—if you don't mind, I need to get to the front of the train," she wondered if he was purposely trying to stop her from passing through the last door.
"Oh, I'll come with you," he informed her, running his hands through his messy hair.
"No, you won't," she said.
"But I have to," he informed her with a large grin.
"I'm sure you can wait half an hour to see, Remus," she told him, noticing the confused look on James' face. "Apparently, Dumbledore is keeping all the old prefects this year as well as the new ones, so you'll have to wait to curse Severus to," Lily moaned exasperatedly.
"Yeah, but," he took from his pocket a shiny badge, not to different from her own. The only difference was that it said Head Boy on it.
"Where'd you find that?" she asked him, trying to make a snatch at it, determined that it wasn't his.
"Let's see," he pinned it to his uniform, that she was very much surprised to see him wearing. "It came about three weeks ago, along with my Hogwarts letter, that also said I was Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor," he informed Lily, trying to impress her.
"You're messing with me?" she asked hopefully.
"Nope," he said casually. "Aren't you pleased for me?" he pouted.
Not really. "Of course," she lied. He opened the door for her and she pushed the trunk in and placed it into the rack.
She looked around the carriage and was pleased to see that all the Prefects were there already. She settled herself beside a window and James joined Remus, who was looking quite tired.
"Hello, Lily," he said. Remus had mousy-brown hair, dark eyes and always wore his uniform correctly, unlike some of his friends.
"How are you, Remus," she asked, secretly wishing that he had been chosen as Head Boy. What had been going through Dumbledore's mind during the summer?
Lily got on with Remus, a lot better than she did with James and he at least had the experience of being a prefect. James Potter, along with his friend Sirius Black were known as the biggest trouble makers in the school.
"So, so," he mumbled. "Congratulations on the badge," he addressed both Lily and James.
"Thanks," she smiled happily.
"You want it?" James asked his friend. "Because you can have it," he went to unpin it from his cloak but Remus rolled his eyes and ignored the question. "Okay—but don't say I didn't ask," he looked back at Lily. "So, Lils. Go out with me?"
Lily groaned. "How many times have you asked now?" she asked, annoyed.
"This'll be number forty-seven," he told her, getting excited.
"Then for the forty-seventh time," she paused to keep him in suspense, "no."
James sighed and fell back into his seat. "You love me really. Roxy says you say my name in your sleep," he said and two girls turned to giggle.
"I'm sure I do not," she blushed. Turning away from him and muttering something under her breath. She made a mental note to kill Roxy.
A horn sounded that the train was about to leave and Lily felt the wheels move beneath her. She turned to look at the twenty-three prefects and one, Head Boy. She wondered if she was going to end up doing all the work this year.
"Quiet please," she shouted, and waited for the chatter to die down.
Remus nudged James in the ribs. "Shut up! Or I'll hex you," he shouted and then nodded to Lily as the students instantly stopped speaking.
"Err, thanks," Lily said unusually, "I think most of you know me. I'm, Lily Evans and I'm Head Girl this year," she was heating up. She had never been one to be able to talk in front of a lot of people. "I just need to tell you of your duties and changes made from last year—then you can all go back to your friends," she told them.
She looked around at the students and wondered why the school needed so many prefects, and all of them were there, staring at her. The eight fifth year prefects were there, the eight sixth year prefects and the seven seventh year prefects. Dumbledore was defiantly mad—the seventh years didn't normally keep their duties as prefects but this year, things were changing.
"Umm, well," she began, but couldn't think of what to say, "you have to," her voice began to croak with panic.
James stood up. "I'll take it from here, Lils," he informed her and Lily drew all attention from herself, away. She heard James speaking but decided to leave unnoticed.
She pushed her way through the carriages and eventually found herself in the carriage with the people she had been looking for.
"Lil!" Roxy exclaimed. "That was quick. You'll never guess what—well actually you probably will, but," Lily put her hand up to silence her friend. "What are you doing back, alone?" she added.
"I left James to handle it," she told them, as if it were a dream. She had to use his first name in front of Roxy or she risked being cursed.
There were two others in the carriage with Roxy Harris. Sirius Black, James' best friend and almost brother-like to James, who was grinning from ear to ear. He, like James, had black, messy hair, but had gray eyes, a sheer dislike for rules and was fancied by practically every girl in the school—including Roxy.
The second boy in the carriage was Peter Pettigrew. He resembled a rat in many ways. He was short, fat, had large teeth and followed James, Sirius and Remus wherever they went—he could be talked into doing anything. However, he was a decent bloke when it came down to things, liked to lurk behind events, rather than take part.
"There you are," a voice called from the door, as James stuck his head in. He pulled open the carriage door fully and walked in, closely followed by Remus. "I wondered what had happened to you."
"Well, you seemed to be doing a pretty good job on your own," she snapped.
"Yeah, I know," he boasted and Lily rolled her eyes.
After the group had said their hellos and had discussed their holidays, Lily turned her attention to staring out of the half-open window. The scenery had changed a great deal. Houses were sparse and the countryside was hilly and full of small lakes.
The trolley man passed through their carriage and James, practically bought everything. Lily had said 'show off,' at the time but when she had become quite hungry, she thanked him for the chocolate frog he offered her.
As dusk started to fall, the train began to slow down and Lily stood up, ready to be one of the first ones out, in case any first years needed any help.
The train pulled into a stop and Lily opened the door before it had even, completely stopped moving. She jumped onto the platform and students began to pile out.
"Firs' years," a loud voice shouted and an extremely young Hagrid beckoned them too himself.
Lily smiled to herself. In less than half an hour she would be back in the protection of the walls she loved. She began directing a couple of first years over to the boats and found her own way to one of the horse-less carriages that would take the second years and above to the castle.
"Lily," Roxy called from one of the carriages and beckoned to her to herself, with a wave of her hand. "Over here!"
Lily walked over to the carriage and sat in-between Remus and Roxy, whilst Sirius, James and Peter sat opposite. The journey seemed to take longer this year than ever or perhaps it was just because she was so eager to get back to the school that it felt that way.
The carriage stopped and Lily tripped slightly as she got out. James went to help her but she refused his help and he backed away. The two boys-- Sirius and Remus-- just shrugged.
The six of them split as they made their ways up to the castle. The four boys left Lily and Roxy, to Lily's great relief and they all sat down at the Gryffindor table, awaiting the sorting ceremony.
It came and it went—with very little fuss and Lily wished afterwards that she had attempted to listen. This was to be her last year at Hogwarts, and she had wanted to savor every minute of it—she had all ready forgotten her promise to herself and now the first day was over. Her last September the first at Hogwarts.