A/N This is the first chapter of a story I've been tossing around in my head for awhile now. If it gets a good response, I'll continue with it. I'd love to hear what you think! And just to let you know, I realize that the editing and stuff is sloppy, I'm in the process of finding someone to proof read, so please be patient. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer-Umm...whatever I'm supposed to say so that I don't get sued. I don't own anything, and I never will.

New Beginnings

They say that love is powerful magic. Well, I know magic. I am a witch, after all...

But love? I'm not sure. I love my mum and dad. I love my best friend, Alice. I love my owl, Icarus (despite his failure to deliver a single letter to the correct person even once). I love chocolate and raspberry ice cream. But that whole heart pounding, mind blowing, breath taking thing? A real, soul-deep connection to another human being. Well, I wouldn't know about that. I've never been in love.

It's not that I'm frigid. I'm just waiting for that one special person. Because when I give my heart to someone, I want him to be-

"Ow! Icarus!" Lily jumped up from her writing desk in shock, having just been bitten by her faithful pet owl. She rubbed at the her finger, which throbbed painfully.

Icarus hooted indignantly, and fluttered above her head, just out of reach. A small package was tied to his leg. Lily made a grab for it, but the owl just flew higher, thinking this a wonderful game.

"You could at least give me the bloody thing you came to deliver." Lily half shouted, trying not to laugh. "That is your job you know. Owl...Come on! You know, owls who fail to deliver packages do not get owl treats..."

At these words the owl sobered, and dropped down to the desk with the utmost dignity in order to let Lily remove the package and attached letter from his leg.

There were in fact, two letters. The first was a familiar letter in a heavy parchment envelope with a red wax seal. Lily knew at once that this letter had come from Hogwarts, the school for witches and wizards that Lily had attended since she'd turned eleven. She opened this letter and scanned it. She was pleased to find an extra note informing her that she had been made this year's Head Girl.

Lily had hoped for the opportunity to serve as Head Girl. She'd worked hard for seven years to achieve such a status. But her stomach twisted oddly as her eyes fell on the second letter, addressed in handwriting that Lily was only too well acquainted with.

"Potter."

She was filled with dread at the mere thought of what a letter from him might say. Her hands trembled slightly as she reached for it.

Evans,

Congratulations on making Head Girl! Guess you and I will be spending a lot of time together, with me being Head Boy and everything.

Lily paused in reading the letter to allow herself a moment of self-pity. She had been sincerely hoping that Remus Lupin (a nice boy in her year), or perhaps some other kind hearted and hard working person might have made the cut for Head Boy. Anything, anyone, would be better then James Potter. Because although James was extremely intelligent, he also happened to be the most arrogant, immature, and outright loathsome boy she'd ever had the misfortune of meeting. She shuddered to think what he might do with the powers of Head Boy...

I guess your owl got confused because he showed up at my window instead of yours. You

know, he bites. I'm bleeding a little.

Lily felt a surge of affection for her pet and paused again to give him an extra owl treat.

It's know surprise, really, that you're Head Girl. You are obviously very smart and everything. I'm looking forward to working with you, honestly. Not just because I want to be with you, because I do. I mean, you are completely wonderful and everything. Beautiful, actually-

"Bloody hell, he's rambling..." Lily scanned the letter and had to suppress a smile when

she saw that the complements and fluff went on for several more lines. Potter could actually be pretty cute when he wasn't all big headed and self obsessed.

Anyway, as I'm sure it says in your letter, we are to meet at Hogwarts a week before term starts. I think Professor Dumbledore wants to make sure we are well informed about security and that sort of thing, with that Voldemort maniac on the loose these days.

Lily checked her Hogwarts letter again and found that this was true. They were to take the

train from King's Cross a week earlier then usual, just the two of them, to meet with teachers and discuss new regulations.

Drat. That meant she'd be kicking off the year with an entire week of Potter and his antics. She'd go mad, for sure.

The package contains your badge of course...But I also slipped in something from me. I don't actually know when your birthday is but, well, Happy Birthday.

James

P.S. - Sirius found the bubble wrap quite amusing...

Lily turned her attention to the package, feeling a surge of curiosity. Of course, knowing

Potter it was a piece of rubbish as likely as anything else but still, a present was a present.

The package turned out to contain, apart from the Head Girl badge, a small crystal lily wrapped in tissue paper and bubble wrap. It was exquisite, the sort of thing that Lily's mother loved to collect and put on a glass enclosed shelf. But Lily personally had never owned anything like it, and was actually quite touched at the gesture. Perhaps Potter wasn't so bad after all...

"So explain to me again, this whole scheme with the flower?"

Sirius Black lay on his bed in the room he shared with his best friend James, starring at the ceiling and playing absentmindedly with a lock of his hair.

Across the room, James chuckled and threw himself down onto his own bed.

"That's the brilliant part, it's not a scheme!"

"It's not?"

"No. It's a gesture of good will. A way of getting into the female's head, making her let her guard down and luring he into a false sense of security whilst I plan to win her over with my masculine charm."

James reached behind his head and discovered a particularly offensive-smelling sock, one of many that lay strewn about the room. He tossed it to the floor.

Sirius sat up, grinning at his friend. "That is, without a doubt, the worst thing you've ever come up with."

"Dunno about that. What about that whole frog guts and exploding toilet, frame Snape scheme I came up with first year?"

Sirius appeared thoughtful for a moment. "No, this is still worse."

"Think it won't work? Just wait and see."

"Why do you care so much, mate? She's just one girl. Whole lota beauties at Hogwarts besides Evans."

"That's where your wrong. There's no one like her." James became very serious. "She has some kind of...super beauty thing. Id dunno...but I've fancied her since I laid eyes on her, and it's time I put some real effort into letting her know."

"I reckon your losing it, mate."

"Maybe."

"I'm bored. Wanna go for a fly? It's a nice cloudy day." Sirius suggested.

"Yeah. All right." James agreed, but his mind was about as far from Quidditch as it had ever been.

That night, James dreamed as he did many nights, of Lily Evans. He envisioned her, small and sweet, tucked in next to him as they rested in the bed they shared. Her soft skin brushed against him and her feminine scent filled his nostrils.

"James?" Her sweet voice sounded in his ear.

"Yes?" He answered drowsily.

"Do you think everything will be ok? You know, with the baby?"

James woke with a start, feeling disoriented. Where on earth had that come from? Baby? What on earth was she talking about?

But of course, it had only been a dream. Dreams didn't really mean anything, they were just weird stuff produced in your subconscious or something. But why would his brain make up stuff about Lily Evans and...babies?

Maybe Sirius was right. He was a little off center.

Lily woke feeling strangely refreshed, feeling as though she had dreamed about something quite pleasant, although she could not remember. She sat up and stretched before walking over to the desk where she'd left her journal open the night before.

Love. She's been thinking about it, writing about it. Perhaps she'd been dreaming about it? Well it's not as though she allowed herself to indulge in personal fantasies often. She was, after all, a serious person. But lately, love had been on her mind more then was decent or healthy.

With a glance at her bedside where she had set her crystal lily, she realized that the gift had only served to spark extra contemplation in the romance department. What would it be like, she wondered, to receive such wonderful gifts from someone she was actually in love with? At the very thought, her heart twisted in her chest.

"Icarus, I think I'm going out of my mind." She stroked the owl's fuzzy head and closed her diary. "But it should be an interesting year."

A/N Thank's to anyone who took the time to read this. Any reviews would be helpful. I'm sorry if this first chapter seemed dull, it's really just to set the story. Again, thank you for your patience!