Lily Evans was late.
Lily Evans was never late, but on the first of September 1978, she was very late.
She tapped her foot on the car floor and checked her watch for what had to be the thousandth time that morning. Her parents, Rose and Robert, were chatting away in the front of the car as her dad drove closer and closer to Kings Cross.
10:50am, thankfully they were just around the corner.
Lily let out a sigh and fiddled with the Head Girl badge on pinned onto her sweater. Her sister, Petunia would have had a fit if she even thought about wearing her robes before boarding the train.
Lily glanced at the empty seat next to her, Petunia couldn't even be bothered to come and see her off anymore. Her parents believed whatever story Petunia fed them about having to leave into the city early to see Vernon, her vile boyfriend, before work. She left before Lily had even woken up, avoiding saying farewell all together.
Lily looked up as the car finally pulled into a spot. Her dad was smiling at her.
"Hunny, you ready?"
Lily smiled and nodded at her dad.
The family climbed out, her dad going to collect a trolley while Lily's mum and herself dragged her trunk out of the boot. They set it on the trolley as her dad arrived back.
Lily turned to her mum first.
"Bye mum. I'll write tonight as soon as soon as I get to my room."
Rose envelopes Lily in a big hug, whispering in her ear, "I love you Lily. Be safe and make sure you have fun this year. Study is important but so is enjoying your life".
Lily laughs as they pull back.
"Mum, I promise to have fun. There's no way Marlene will let me spend all my time in the library, so you don't need to worry".
Rose gives her a watery smile. Lily turns to her dad next, she always had been her dad's girl. She hugs him as tight as she can.
"Bye dad".
"Bye Lils, take care of yourself and make sure you listen to your mums' advice!"
Lily smiled and pulls back.
"I promise".
She glances at her watch, 10:55am.
She grabs hold of her trolley and gives her parents a big smile.
"I love you both and I promise to write once a week".
They nod and wave as she walks away.
Lily and her family always said their goodbyes at the car because muggles could not pass through to platform nine and three quarters. She pushed her trolley through the busy station, rushing towards the platform. She muttered "excuse me" and "sorry" continuously as she made her way through. Lily was so very late and had no time to navigate the crowds politely.
After what felt like way to long she finally sped up and ran through the wall between platforms nine and ten. As she came out the other side the scarlet train became visible.
Lily looked at her watch again, 10:58am.
She ran forward pushing her trolley as hard and as fast as she could. The platform was almost empty excluding the few parents left on the platform to wave goodbye to their children. This allowed Lily to move towards The Hogwarts Express at a rate that was, with no doubt, too fast.
As she was rushing forward she accidently bumped into tall, messy haired boy hugging goodbye to a red-haired lady. The bump wasn't very rough but at the speed Lily was moving it caused the trolley to go sideways and as a result she tripped over and landed on her bum on the ground.
She looked up at the pair.
"Merlin, I am so sorry! I'm just running so very late-Potter?" She stopped mid-sentence as she recognised the boy hugging the older lady, whom she now assumed to be his mother.
James Potter was looking down at Lily with a smile that could be easily confused as a smirk.
"Hello Evans, fancy seeing you here."
He leant down and offered Lily a helping hand up, one that she took.
"Evans, this is my mum, Euphemia."
Lily wiped her hands on her jeans before offering a hand to Euphemia.
"Nice to meet you Mrs Potter."
Euphemia Potter shook Lily's hand with a laugh.
"Lovely to finally meet you dear, I've heard plenty about you", Euphemia said with a look at James who was going slightly red in the face and rubbing the back of his neck, obviously avoiding meeting Lily or his mothers gaze.
Just then, a whistle blew, and Lily jumped. Her wide eyes she turned to her trolley with her heavy trunk, she hadn't even managed to get it on the train yet and that usually took her a solid five minutes.
Lily started trying to heave the trunk towards the train the was slowly starting to move.
"I'm sorry for being so rude Mrs Potter but I really must hurry!" she called as she moved as quickly as she could towards the moving train.
"Don't worry dear, James here will help you!" Mrs Potter called out with a wave. "It was lovely to meet you!"
"You too Mrs Potter!" Lily called back with a smile and a brief wave.
As she finished talking James appeared at her side gently taking the trunk from her hands with a smile. Lily was so stressed about missing the train the she let him help her.
"Thanks." She huffed, James just nodded in response, focused on getting on the train before it was too late.
Together they rushed forward, James managing to lift Lily's trunk onto the train while it was still moving at walking speed. It picked up speed just as he hopped onto the train. James turned to look at Lily who was jogging next to the train, trying to get the right footing before jumping on the train. She shot James a nervous look before grabbing on the bar on the side of the train. James reached out and Lily grabbed hold of his arm before taking the leap onto the moving train.
Lily's feet landed on the train, but her body kept propelling forward due to the momentum of her jog. This normally wouldn't be an issue as there's plenty of room on the back platform of the train, but James was standing just on the edge trying to help her up. The weight of Lily suddenly forced onto him threw off his balance and they ended up in a jumbled-up pile of limbs on the ground.
Lily and James laid there for a moment, both out of breath from the effort of getting on the train. After what was realistically only about thirty seconds, Lily pushed herself up and looked down at James underneath her.
James looked at Lily with a smirk on his face.
"Missed me then, Evans?"
Lily felt her face go red, probably a similar shade to her hair that was currently enclosing both of their face. Despite the colour of her face, Lily smirked down at the boy beneath her.
"Feels like you missed me a lot too Potter."
James' eyes wide as the words left Lily's mouth. He opened and closed his mouth, lost for words.
Lily laughed and rolled off James and sat up.
"I'm kidding Potter, relax." She said grinning at the boy as he sat up. "Thanks for the help, I really do appreciate it."
James ran his hand through his hair.
"Anytime Lily. Especially if I get a thank you like that every time." James replied with another lopsided grin at her.
Lily laughed and stood up. "Your jokes are actually funny when there's no hexing involved." Lily said with a smirk, she could never resist the urge for a dig, especially where James Potter was involved. "Well I had better get up to the prefects' cart, I have a meeting to sort out".
James' eyes flashed to the badge on her sweater.
"Well about that Evans," he said rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. "Do you know who the new Head Boy is yet?"
Lily shook her head.
"No, I haven't heard yet. Do you know? Is it Remus? I figured he'd be the best bet."
James kind of winced and put his hand into his pocket, pulling his hand out in a fist. He opened it and presented the Head Boy badge to Lily.
Lily's eye widened, and her eyebrows went so high James thought they might soon disappear into her hairline.
Lily took a depth breath and sighed.
"Well it's official, Dumbledore has lost the plot."
They stood and sat in silence for a moment before Lily turned towards her trunk, pulling it towards the door. After she had successfully manoeuvred it into the train she took a breath and looked back at James who was still siting on the ground. He was fiddling with the badge, a look of defeat on his face.
Lily looked at him for a moment, her heart softening. She called back to him from the doorway.
"Well? Are you coming? I'm not going to run the meeting all by myself."
Lily offered James small smile, a peace offering.
James looked up sharply, as if he expected her to have left and not looked back. A smile similar to hers broke out onto her face and he stood up.
Lily tilted her head towards the front of the train, telling him silently to come with her.
James smile split into a grin and he moved towards her.
Together they made their way down to the prefects' compartment, a new friendship in the making.