Chapter 1
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize belongs to me (What else is new)
A/N- This was inspired by The Secret Agent. It's a wonderful story, and I encourage you all to read it.
One more thing- This is the third time I'm writing this, so if it seems familiar, you may have read a previous version.
EAEAEA
"Evans," James said shortly as he passed her just inside the barrier between platforms nine and ten of Kings Cross train station.
"Potter," she said quietly, but James wasn't surprised. She was always quiet when she wasn't yelling at him.
"Morning, Lils," Sirius said, swooping up behind her and throwing an arm around her shoulders.
Lily shrugged away, leaving Sirius Black and James Potter stunned. They would never get used to interacting with a girl that didn't like them.
"That girl is SO strange," James muttered before hopping onto the train. Sirius merely nodded in response while thinking deep thoughts about the available girls on the train.
It was the morning before their first day back at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their seventh and final year. They passed a few compartments full of girls looking at them hopefully.
Maybe one of the boys would sit with them; and maybe they'd invite Remus?
"Yaknow," Sirius began with a twinkle in his eye, "I think Lily kinda likes me!"
"Please." James spat, "She wouldn't date you in a million years."
This sparked one of Sirius' favorite games to play: James Is Ridiculous. In his opinion, no seventh year had a good reason to be tied down to one girl- physically or mentally. In order to break James of his Lily habit, Sirius liked to see how far he could push James' heart before his head kicked in.
As they bantered, they passed Lily Evans, sitting in a compartment alone save for a large stack of papers. James couldn't resist speaking to her.
"What are you doing?" he asked loudly, startling her.
Lily smiled when she saw what was pinned to James' chest: the badge of the head boy. She would be working beside him for most of the year, having been appointed head girl. "You're Head Boy?" she asked.
James grinned, not noticing the change of subject. "No idea. Wish I could take this thing off though!" he shot a pointed glare at Sirius, who shook his head somberly.
"Prefect meeting," Lily said, standing and carefully placing her papers in a bag.
"Oh yeah," James said nonsensically, "Actually, I was wondering if I could rain check that... See; Sluggy asked me to lunch, and I'm supposed to be in his compartment right now." He knew as his sentence pattered out that he had said the wrong thing. Lily knew, too.
Lily wished she were surprised. "If you don't want to go, don't." she said shortly, then strode out of the compartment to speak with the prefects.
"I'd go, mate." Sirius said soberly, "That glare could melt your face off…I'll save you a crumpet." James nodded and followed the head girl hurriedly to the prefects.
EAEAEA
"…So if you have any questions, find me." Lily said almost half and hour later, pointedly leaving James out. He had remained silent through her speech.
"You know what you're supposed to do." Lily said to everyone, "Go on." The prefects rose as one to go patrol the halls, and Lily sat down to try to keep going with her paperwork. It was simultaneously fascinating and exhausting.
"Evans?" James asked tentatively.
Lily would have jumped at the sound of his voice if she weren't so used to the things one ought not get used to. "Yes?"
"Would you like to sit with the Marauders?" James asked, barely allowing his hopes to rise. He'd been in love with Lily Evans since fourth year, but so far there had been nothing on her part to suggest that she even liked him as a friend.
The girl considered this; she could always do this paperwork later, and she would like to spend some time with James. She had discovered the year before that through all of their arguments and all of her disapproval, she had feelings for him. For reasons to complicated to verbalize, she could never act upon them. But innocently sitting in his compartment...she could do that.
"Sure." She said with a smile, and followed him to the self proclaimed 'Marauders' compartment'.
The Marauders consisted of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. The first three were equally gorgeous to the female population. The last was just a mess.
There was James Potter with his unruly black hair, Quidditch tan and mischievous hazel eyes; Sirius Black with his pale skin, long, elegant could-care-less hair and electric blue eyes; Remus Lupin with his thick, dark sandy blonde hair and deep, thoughtful blue eyes.
Then there was Peter.
He was pudgy and had limp, mousy brown hair and foul beady brown eyes. He was the underdog in this group: stupid where the others were brilliant; pudgy where the others were fit. He was the one that they all needed to help, and he played that role perfectly.
"Hi," Lily said cautiously upon entrance.
"Hello, Lily," Remus said kindly. They knew each other well from their previous years of prefect duty together.
Sirius grinned, but didn't say anything. Peter waved excitedly. She was reminded of a puppy that peed out of over stimulation.
James stared at the girl in what he half-hoped was a discrete manner. Her waist long auburn hair was down for once, and her emerald green eyes shone optimistically. He took in her pale skin and almost breakable composure. But he knew that she was stronger than she let on. After all, he had asked her out every day since fifth year, and she hadn't even begun to say yes.
As much as she disliked some of the things they did, Lily really enjoyed letting herself free with the Marauders. She didn't have many friends at Hogwarts- a blessing and a curse. She enjoyed her solitude, and it certainly made her job easier. But sitting in the compartment with these silly, rambunctious boys almost made her miss the ways things used to be.
"Come on," James said kindly. The train had stopped. Lily nodded and followed him to a carriage that would carry them up to school. She stopped only a moment to pat the exquisitely frightening black threstle that pulled the craft, then stepped inside and rode up to Hogwarts.
"That is all. Would the head girl and boy please see me in my office?" Professor Dumbledore had just finished giving the Headmaster's speech, and now stood to go to his office.
James glanced at Lily who hadn't eaten nearly enough through the colossal start-of-term feast, and asked, "Shall we?" in his most sarcastically chivalrous voice.
Lily smiled and followed him in silence out the doors and all the way through Hogwarts' many staircases and corridors to Dumbledores office.
"Welcome," Dumbledore said happily; grandly. "I am very proud of you both, and know that you will make very good heads." He paused and allowed the two of them to bask in his praise momentarily.
"As you know, Lord Voldemort has been gaining power." James looked surprised, but Lily didn't bat an eye. She knew everything about him.
"I just wanted to warn you that he may attempt to take over this school." He paused again. "This is one of the easiest accesses to young wizards with dangerous, untamed powers. He may try to corrupt our students-" Lily thought she heard James mutter something that sounded a lot like 'Slytherins', "but I know that you both will do a wonderful job aiding the forces of light."
Lily nodded and understood that she was being dismissed. She turned and exited the office, barely hearing James' footsteps behind her. He trailed her the whole way to Gryffindor tower, her legs leading the way and her mind in another world.
Lily was exhausted and longed for the sleep that came instantly in the castle. She stepped up to the portrait of the fat lady in the pink dress that concealed the entrance to Gryffindor common room.
"Welcome home," the lady said kindly.
Lily smiled, "Charms," she said. She had unilaterally chosen her favorite subject as the first password of the term.
James followed her in and looked over in confusion when she headed for the girls dormitory.
"Lils?" he asked, "The Head Tower."
"Oh." Lily mumbled, "Right," She followed him over to a grand painting to the left of the fireplace. There was a knight on a white horse with his sword drawn. "Not him," Lily begged quietly. This crazed knight thought he was the greatest thing since mini marshmallows, and flaunted his 'skills' constantly.
"Nope," James answered merrily. "Sir Cadagon, please go to your own painting." The knight huffed, but left.
Behind him was a large purple throne with a tired looking king sitting in it. A golden crown lay perched upon his head haphazardly.
"Password?" he asked lazily.
James grinned, "Evening, Thomas," he said happily.
The king's eyes lit up. "James Potter?" he asked incredulously; "I haven't seen you in ages! But you're head boy! Of course, only the heads may enter- I was so glad when I heard I would be working with you this year!"
"Um…can we catch up later?" James asked coarsely. Lily looked as if she could fall asleep at any moment and he would prefer that she not reach that state in a vertical position.
The king chuckled, "Of course." His portrait swung open, and the head's tower was revealed.
The heads dormitory was opulent and grand. There was an enormous roaring fire in the dark red brick fireplace with comfortable red chairs and a dark red couch.
James wandered over to a staircase and walked up it with Lily on his tail. The short hallway at the top had two doors; on one the left and one on the right. "I think this one is for you," James said, pointing to the door with the scripted 'L' on the door.
Distracted by the notion of sleep, Lily entered silently. The room was as beautiful as she had ever seen. It had a large wooden canopy bed with white blankets and several fluffy pillows. The room had two sub rooms- a bathroom and an impressive closet. Most impressively- it had an antique desk with what seemed like an endless supply of parchment; paper; quills; ink- everything she could possibly need to complete her schoolwork. Lily's sense of curiosity was settled almost immediately, and she looked longingly at her bed before telling herself sternly: Paperwork first; Sleep after.
Lily forced her eyes to remain open. She settled into her desk and pulled out the papers she had worked on before James had interrupted her.
Her biggest secret and deepest preoccupation was British Intelligence; her place of employment and reason for being. The primarily muggle organization began employing a handful of wizards many years ago as an effort to connect itself to the Ministry of Magic and had only recently learned how to use them. Lily had entered the organization around her fifth year at Hogwarts, after certain events had rendered Voldemort too much a part of her life to ignore. She dedicated her life to British Intelligence. She did anything asked of her, be it attending a Death Eater party as a spy, patrolling the Minister's home as a security guard, or toiling over paperwork like an under qualified muggle secretary. Clearly, this kind of task was not her favorite. She loved the action of almost being killed. She thrived under the pressure of carrying a muggle handgun and a wand. She reveled in the responsibility that others at her school could hardly imagine. She was part of the movement against Voldemort and she valued that responsibility more than most knew.
When her paperwork was completed and the death toll for the week was calculated, she whistled low, then high out her window. Moments later, her ebony owl was in her room. He made a habit of perching on the roof near her. She needed Damien close for jobs like tonight where articles needed to remain secret.
He was bred for strength and speed, so was rather large and could handle any duties she required of him. Lily shrunk her papers and slipped them into the small satchel that was consistently attached to his leg.
"You be sure to get these in quickly." Lily instructed. The owl hooted indignantly, as if his delivering anything leisurely was insulting. "Don't get lost," she whispered.
The owl hooted again then flew out the window to British Intelligence. Lily sighed and walked up the stairs to her room to collapse for a few hours.
She woke early to find Damien still absent. Her concern outweighed her exhaustion. Her morning routine was distracted and nervous. She paced around the heads common room anxiously. What was keeping him? James came down the stairs looking cheerful.
Lily silently cursed him in jealousy of his good night's sleep.
"Morning, Lils," he sang.
"Hi, James," she replied shortly.
James smiled at her, undeterred. "Did you sleep at all?" he asked.
"Yep."
"…Why not?" he asked gently.
Lily shook her head slightly, "Nervous about going back to school," she lied. James nodded wisely, as if he understood. Lily had long since moved on to more dangerous things to be nervous about. Damien soared back into the room and landed on Lilys shoulder.
"It's about bloody time." She snapped. She glanced at James cautiously, "Safe trip?" she asked Damien carefully. The owl hooted in soft reply. She nodded and walked towards the Great Hall for breakfast. Lily ate breakfast alone save for Damien who stayed to beg for food, then she walked to the dungeons for potions.
"You are my NEWT class." Professor Slughorn said grandly. "Obviously, I'm quite pleased that you are all taking my class. A few in particular…have abilities beyond my expectations." He paused for a moment and looked pointedly at the Lily, Marauders, then at Severus Snape "All that I request is your effort." He seemed to find that very funny and laughed at himself while the class eyed him warily. "Page 27. You have an hour and twenty minutes. You will finish early." Then he sat at his desk and spent the rest of the period doodling frogs.
James sidled up to Lily on the way to the ingredients cupboard. "Want to work at our table?" he asked concernedly, "You're dangerously close to Snivellus."
Snivellus was a foul nickname for Severus, which had been created in fourth year. Ordinarily, Lily disapproved of bullies, but in Severus' instance, it was the bully himself playing the victim against other bullies. Lily had stuck up for him in every way until a day in fifth year when he really stepped over the edge in rudeness around their OWL examinations. She was out of empathy and certainly out of patience to give him.
"Sure," she said gratefully.
"Morning, Lily." Remus looked concerned. He was especially good at reading the exhaustion in other's eyes, having seen it in his own for so many years. Remus was a werewolf- a terrible condition following the cycle of the moon. Lily made it a point to place herself in the Forbidden Forest where he transformed every full moon to observe and watch over him. She was an animagus (a wizard who can transform into a particular animal) and could not be permanently hurt by him while in her animal form.
"Alright. We… are… done!" James exclaimed happily, chucking the last few ingredients into the cauldron.
"Really?" Lily asked, checking the potion in the cauldron to be sure. It certainly looked complete.
"Yup," James said, "It's got to brew for an hour."
"Fantastic." Lily muttered. If only she could go back to sleep! Having to wait for an hour in the dungeon was practically torture for someone who thrived outside.
Remus smiled, taking her sentiment for genuine. "What did you do this summer?" he asked everyone.
"I Stayed with the Potters. It was pretty much perfect." Sirius said happily, "Mum's an excellent cook, and Dad taught me so much!" Lily grinned at how happy he was with James' family. He wasn't officially adopted, but he was officially disowned by his blood-relatives as of last year.
"I went to France." Remus offered. "It was really cool. The Louvre was so amazing!"
Lily smiled. She loved Paris. She had been stationed at the Louvre a few times over the summer to protect a painting that supposedly held ancient dark arts secrets. She thought it was baloney, but certainly wouldn't pass up the opportunity to peruse the Louvre for twenty pounds an hour!
"I stayed at home." James said dejectedly, "It was boring!" Sirius rolled his eyes, exasperated that James couldn't appreciate what he had. There was a short pause where the boys stared at Lily expectantly. She didn't say anything.
"What did you do, Lily?" Remus prodded helpfully.
'I saved the world' was what she longed to say. "I stayed at home, too." she answered out loud.
Remus smiled encouragingly. "Oh? How was that?"
"Great, actually. My family was really happy to see me." Lily lied.
They made awkward small talk throughout the lesson, and left to charms the instant that the professor let them.
Eventually, the school day was over. Lily skipped dinner and nearly floated to her bed. She collapsed and found instant sleep.
Damien felt responsible for her, and always perched awake on her headboard while she slept, to keep watch. She hadn't been asleep for more than half an hour when he hooted loudly to alert her.
Lilys eyes snapped open.
"Oh. Hi, James." she said sleepily, her voice slipping into confusion. "Thanks, Damien," she said, while gently stroking his feathers.
"Hi, Lily. I'm sorry. I didn't know you were sleeping." He stepped over to her bed and sat down on the edge.
Lily shrugged, "That's all right." Secretly, she wished he would go away.
"I waited for you at lunch and dinner, but you didn't show up." He complained.
"What did you need?" Lily asked.
"I was just worried about you. I'm glad you're getting some rest." James said, sounding pleased.
James wondered if it would be okay to kiss her goodnight, but her bird was watching which made him feel odd about it. He really cared about her so much he had a difficult time expressing it. It was too bad that she didn't feel the same way.
"I'll um see you tomorrow." He said quietly. Lily nodded blearily and sank back into her pillows.
Damien glared at James until the door was shut. This was why he was there; to remind Lily of what was important.
A/N- I very much prefer this version of this chapter. Hope I keep the motivation to continue revamping the story.