-1The boats nudged onto the shore as the first years stared up at the castle, completely speechless. They climbed out of the boats slowly, staring for the first time at the huge castle where they would spend the next seven years.

They walked slowly into the entrance hall, craning their necks to look at the ceiling. Chattering students flowed around them into the Great Hall and they clumped closer together they normally would have, stunned and nervous at the same time.

One boy, however, wasn't busy studying their surroundings. As he had turned to watch a ghost float past, a flash of deep red hair had caught his attention. Now he was busy studying the profile of the girl with the red hair. He nudged the boy standing next to him, a slighter taller boy with longish, dark hair and a handsome face.

"Hey, Sirius, I wonder who that is?" he said with a grin on his face. Sirius just looked at the boy. "You can't be serious, James. Oh, no, wait, of course you can't - I'm Sirius!!" He laughed at his own joke while James glared at him.

The smile died from his face as James continued to glare at him. He cleared his throat and continued, "Well, mate, you must really be in a daze, because that's Lily Evans."

James turned to look at him so fast that he cracked his neck. "Lily? How do you know? We haven't seen her since we were six. Besides, the Lily we knew was tiny, and she had bright red hair, and….."His voice trailed off.

"Yes, James, I'm sure we look different too, considering that was five years ago," Sirius said mockingly. "Look closer, mate. Her hair is darker, and she got a little taller, but she's still small, James. There's no mistaking Lily Evans. Watch."

He looked away from James in the direction of the redhead. "Oi! Lily! Is that you?!"

The girl turned and James froze. Sirius was right. She was taller and her hair was darker, but there was no mistaking those emerald green eyes. He remembered, suddenly and jarringly, that first time he'd met Lily, when he was four. He and his parents had moved into a new neighborhood, and they'd invited over a few of their muggle neighbors in an attempt to fit in, as well as some magical families that they knew lived nearby. The Evans had been amongst those neighbors. So had the Blacks. James' parents already hated Sirius' parents, but for appearances sake they had had to invite them, since they lived right down the block.

James and Sirius had hit it off right away, becoming inseperable by the end of the night. Lily had spent very little time with them, because they were still convinced that girls had cooties, but over the years they had run into her at the playground and the supermarket and the bakery. Then she disappeared; her family had moved away, to another county.

But James still remembered the first time he had seen Lily, even though he'd been so young. He'd looked at her and then looked at his mother and said, "Mama, look! Her eyes look like your necklace!" For Mrs. Potter had been wearing an emerald necklace. She had laughed at James' declaration, but James knew he would never forget those eyes.

"James!"

"What?", he jumped, annoyed.

"James, mate, what happened to you? I must've called your name 20 times!!"

James just stood there, sort of dazed. "Right, um, sorry Si." But he offered no explanation.