Lily Evans sat curled up in a comfy armchair by the fire in Gryffindor common room. The scratching of her quill, the soft popping and crackling of the fire and her own breath was the only thing that could be heard. James and Sirius had gone to bed by now, as had the tall, quiet Remus and their friend Peter, who looked more like a beach ball crossed with a rat than a 15 year old boy. Lily finished the letter to her parents and rolled the parchment up. She would send it in the morning. Right now, she was exhausted.
All the other Gryffindor girls were asleep when Lily entered the girls' dormitory. She was glad for it. Some nights she'd find Katie and Jessica waiting awake for her, teasing her for studying too hard. As she changed into her almost transparent nightie for bed she heard the door creak and saw a tall, male silhouette outlined against the yellow firelight. A boy! she thought frantically, diving for her bed to cover her almost naked body. It better not be bloody James Potter—and it wasn't James.
It was Remus.
Lily met his eyes and a mixture of shock, bewilderment and absolute terror gripped his face so suddenly that Lily couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"I'm so sorry—"he started.
"Remus, what are you doing up here?" she whispered in an attempt at seriousness, but with a grin sliding back onto her face.
"I'm so sorry; James and Sirius dared me to break into the girls dorms, we didn't think anyone was awake!" He cracked a nervous smile.
Those two, Lily thought with equal parts disgust and endearment.
"But…" Lily said, "How did you get past the slide enchantment that stops boys getting in?"
"Oh, I worked that out ages ago. The thing only goes off if you actually walk on the steps, so I just levitated myself up here."
Pretty smart, Lily thought.
"I'll leave then, I guess" Remus said. "But, um, James said I had to bring proof that I'd been in here, so, do you have anything I could borrow? I know it sounds a little pathetic but you know how they are…" he looked a little nervous; no doubt wary of Lily's occasional explosions.
"No problem Remus." Lily smiled and held out her pearl-handled hairbrush. "Just… don't tell them I was awake, alright? I've got enough attention from James Potter as it is."
He took it and smiled back. "No worries. Good night."
"You too" said Lily.
Remus tiptoed out the door and Lily heard him mutter wingardium leviosa, and then a muffled thud on the common room carpet.
Lying back in bed, she smiled to herself. She'd never really thought of Remus as more than a friend or a study partner. He was handsome, she decided, though not in the showy, arrogant way James was. And smart; anyone could tell he was the real brains of the Marauders, and he was the only boy who could keep up with her grades. This year they were also the two Gryffindor Prefects, she remembered; the chaos of the train, the feast and escorting the first years she hadn't had time to talk to him much, and they'd never sent each other letters during the holidays.
Maybe this year Lily would get to know Remus Lupin a little better.
Remus climbed back up the steps to the boys' dormitory, opening the wooden door to Sirius lying on his back with his arms crossed behind his head, James flicking his wand randomly and Peter struggling not to fall asleep. Remus entered the room with the hairbrush held high to a roar of delight.
"Moony! You've finally grown a pair!" James cheered, punching Remus' arm as he made his way over to his 4 poster next to James'. Sirius looked mildly impressed. "Was there anyone awake?" he asked.
Remus thought for a second, then made up his mind. "Nope. But you won't believe whose hairbrush this is." Remus grinned, casting a sly sideways glance at James.
"No way. It isn't." James looked incredulous. "You really have grown a pair, Moony. Give it here, then, if it's Evans'; I bet she uses it for a lot more than just her hair, hey Padfoot?"
Sirius looked very bored by the whole affair. Remus handed the ornate brush over and James turned it over in his hands. "Nice, Moony."
James yawned conspicuously, and handed the hairbrush back to Remus. "Well, this has been fun. See you boys tomorrow." He lay back in bed, imitating Sirius, and the other boys took this as the cue to extinguish their wand light.
"Night Prongs, Moony, Wormtail." Sirius' voice whispered in the dark.
Lily woke early the next morning to send her letter. Being the very first day of school for the term, she encountered no one as she walked through the sunlit grounds, and found only sleeping owls in the Owlery. A little flicker of unease struck Lily when she couldn't find her own owl Thoth, but she woke a disgruntled tawny owl and tied her letter to its leg instead.
Lily's waved to Hagrid on her way back to the castle and noticed that he was starting to grow a beard. By the time she reached the Great Hall, the house tables were starting to fill up.
Lily sat down to eat with a few First-year Gryffindor girls, chatting to them about starting at Hogwarts and the classes they would take. However, halfway through a detailed vilification of the current DADA teacher Ogden Carvinsky she was cut off by a tremendous fanfare of trumpets coming from the Entrance Hall. The familiar round glasses, angular face and tousled black hair of James Potter burst through the doors, drawing the eyes of every student and teacher in the Hall. He sprinted down Gryffindor table, scanning each face. Please not me, please let him have got over it—he stopped at Lily's spot.
Lily sighed into her cereal and turned around. "What. Do. You. Want." she intoned flatly.
"Merely to refurnish a lady with probably her most useful, well, tool! I believe you left it in the Common Room."
James gave her a sly look, reached behind his back and pulled out a very familiar, pearl-handled hairbrush.