Disclaimer and Authors Note: Still don't own Harry Potter. I haven't written one of these since I was 15, but here I am, six years later. It's garbage, like always, sticking on brand. If you're a raccoon follow my equally garbage tumblr: headquartersofanobsessionwithhp.

Chapter 1: The Letters

We start the story with when Lily was assessing her hair. At this point in time, she was still undecided as to if she liked it or not. She ran her hands through her hair. It reached just past her shoulders. The last time it was this length, she was approximately eleven. She would have liked to have kept her long locks, but her sister had thrown a piece of chewing gum in it last week. This incident resulted in a screaming match, followed by a hair cut.

Lily arrived at the train station, got to Platform 9 and 3/4, and met up with her friends. They gawked over her hair when Marlene accidentally let slip that —

"James stole the photo you sent so I didn't get a good look, really."

Lily gasped, "He stole it? What a creep!" Lily was repulsed, but a little flattered.

"He said he wanted to study how it didn't move but I don't buy it for a second."

The three girls: Lily, Marlene, and Dorcas, caught up on their summers. Marlene spent two weeks coaching at a quidditch camp with Potter. Lily figured this was where he stole the photo of her hair cut she had sent to Marlene in confidence. Dorcas spent the summer bartending at a muggle bar near her house. Her mother had urged her to get a job to pay for her school books. While working, Dorcas perfected her nonverbal confundus charm to get extra tips. Lily had spent the summer with her mother. She had received an unfortunate diagnosis from their doctor, and Lily wanted to appreciate every moment she could with her.

Lily was spared from having to talk about it. The door to their compartment opened. The Marauders, the boys from the Gryffindor house in their year, welcomed themselves in. Sirius and James sandwiched Lily between them, and Peter sat beside Dorcas. Remus remained standing to ensure their stay did not last too long.

The seven of them began talking. They immediately discussed events of the summer and the homework assignments. The volume level of the compartment increased exponentially in a short amount of time.

"Slughorn's essay was interesting. I'm assuming we're going to begin this year with amortentia. He usually does that," Lily said loudly, trying to talk over all the other voices.

"I haven't finishes McGonagall's yet," Peter said. He was nervous about it. "I hope we don't have her first, I need more time-"

"We'll help you, Little Peter," Sirius assured him.

Lily felt James tap her knee and she turned to him.

"Did you get my letters?" he asked, almost as nervous as Peter.

Lily gave a small grin and nodded.

"You didn't respond to any of them."

"I know." Lily's grin grew to a smirk.

James had sent her many letters throughout the break, starting from the first week. Each one made her roll her eyes when she received it, then smile as she read it. Her mother would ask her what was making her smile so much, so Lily began reading them to her. Toward the end of the summer, Lily and her mother both began looking forward to James's recountments of he and Sirius's mischief.

"I wasn't sure you were getting them is all," James explained to her. "With the rumors of owls getting intercepted..." his voice trailed off.

"I enjoyed them," Lily said softy. The confidence and pride returned to James's eyes, so she added, "And so did my mother."

His face flushed pink. Lily's considered her goal reached.

James stood up immediately, saying, "alright boys, visiting hours are over."

James crossed the compartment in two steps. He pushed Remus out of the way in an attempt to exit the compartment immediately. The other boys followed his lead.

Before leaving, Sirius turned to Lily and asked, "See you for our walk in the morning?"

Lily's face broke into a large smile and she looked up at Sirius, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Sirius left the girls with a wink.

The second the door closed, Marlene and Dorcas turned to Lily. They had identical looks of curiosity, dying to burst through every orifice. It was written all over their faces. Holding in their questions was hurting them, and Lily knew it. She nodded once, giving them the sign, and they erupted like a volcano of excitement.

"What did you say to James?"

"The look on his face—"

"Priceless!"

"Never seen that before—"

"I worship the ground you walk on!"

Dorcas fell to the floor and began bowing at Lily's feet. Lily threw her head back in laughter. When she looked back, Marlene had joined Dorcas in bowing.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Lily pleaded.

She had stitches in her side from laughing so hard. A first year walked by the compartment, confusion written on their face. Dorcas and Marlene returned to their seats. Marlene wiped her knees off. All three of them were out of breath. They allowed the adrenaline to settle before-

"But seriously, Lily," Dorcas began.

"What did you tell Potter-" Marlene continued.

"To make him blush like that?" The two of them ended the question together in a shriek.

Lily sighed dramatically, with the purpose of dragging it on, "He sent me letters over break—"

"Oh!" Dorcas emphasized sarcastically.

"How scandalous," Marlene added with a giggle.

The three girls were just about vibrating with excitement. Lily couldn't wait to tell the girls what she said, and the girls couldn't wait to hear. Unfortunate for them, Lily enjoyed the dramatics of it all. And so, she dragged it on. She recounted the entire story. She included unnecessary detail, as Marlene and Dorcas added their own commentary. It took an entire 25 minutes for Lily bring them to the point on the train.

"… and so I said, to deflate that giant head of his, 'my mother enjoyed them as well'."

Dorcas and Marlene screamed. Marlene even stood from her seat for a moment. They settled down into yet another fit of giggles.

"Did you actually read them do your mother, tho?" Dorcas asked.

"Of course!" Lily said, "They always cheered her up after a doctors appointment."

Marlene asked the billion dollar question, "What did they say?"

Lily looked to Marlene. She looked to Dorcas. She then looked to the luggage rack, where her purse sat with the letters inside them. She stood up, reached up, and tugged her purse down. It fell into her arms. She looks to the girls with a smile. They were eager. They knew what was in the bag before she said it. Lily shoved her entire forearm into the purse and pulled out a stack of parchment.

"Would you like to read them?"

"Yes!" Marlene screamed and she grabbed the letters from Lily's hand.

Marlene handed half of them to Dorcas. They spent the rest of the train ride devouring every word that had been written. Dorcas insisted there was a secret meaning hidden between the lines, and tried to decode it. Her theories got more and more absurd as the train ride went on. Lily maybe forgot to mention that there was another letter. The first one that James had sent, that wasn't with the rest of them. Lily had decided to leave that one at home, because she felt as though it was too personal. Something she didn't want the girls, or her mother, to read. It was tucked safely under mattress.

After reading every letter twice, Dorcas asked, "So are you finally going to go out with him?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Lily said, her eyes mid-roll, "He's just in it for the chase."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Marlene warned, trading letters with Dorcas. "He was telling witches at the quidditch camp he was betrothed."

Lily let out one loud laugh, and was about to make fun of her choice of words, but Marlene spoke before she could.

"His word, not mine."

"I think it's sweet," Dorcas defended him.

"We'll see if he's matured at all this year. Then, we can come back to the topic," was as close to a compromise as Lily was willing to offer.

It seemed, however, that James's maturity was a pipe dream. At the feast, just an hour later, Lily noticed James and Sirius whispering with their heads together. Of course, she assumed conspiring something, and that something was immature. Although the feast had began and there was plenty of food for them to eat, their plates were still empty. They were the only ones in the entire great hall who weren't eating. Lily pointed this out to Marlene, who just rolled her eyes at Lily in response. Lily turned back to her food, a pile of mashed potatoes, when just then her forehead was accosted by a dinner roll. Lily looked in the direction it came from, and it was Sirius Black. Lily heard Dorcas mutter, "if looks could kill."

Sirius waved to Lily then said, "Prongs likes your haircut." He pointed to a blushing James, who was scooping himself a mountain of food.

Lily smirked.

"Tell prongs I appreciate it."

"Of course, love!" And Sirius turned back to James to share the good news.