"Evans, hey, Evans wait up!" I sighed in frustration, but waited all the same for the famous James Potter to catch up to me. I knew that if I kept walking he would still catch up; might as well speed things up. When he reached me, he flashed me his prize-winning smile, and I flashed him my signature eye-roll. He looked kind of downhearted at my gesture, and ran his fingers through his messy black hair. It was an annoying habit of his. We walked in silence until I spotted my best friend Megan, standing with her boyfriend Tyler. I ran over to her and we gave each other lung crushing hugs. "Oh my Lilykins, I've missed you soooo much. Lils you have to promise me that you will break a few rules this year; it is 7th year. It's our last year together, please lets have some fun." Her green eyes pleaded up to me, and made me giggle. "Alright you little trouble maker, we'll have loads of fun this year." She squealed in anticipation, and then gave me a huge kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Lils, and I will try to turn my work in this year" she smiled in a sheepish way. Megan was very talented and gifted, but she had trouble applying herself. If she didn't see the point in the assignment, she didn't do it; which didn't' help her grades much. The two boys stood awkwardly next to us. Megan then screamed and loped away her long brown hair flowing behind her. I followed her, and we quickly embraced our best friends, Alice and Amanda. We girls called ourselves the "Bittersweets" or the BS for short. Everyone knew us, and associated us with each other. We were like the girl Marauders; except we were nice. Megan quickly told Alice and Amanda that I was going to be fun this year. Alice screamed in joy, but Amanda, the sarcastic one, remarked "Lily is going to be fun? Wow I never thought I would see the day; write it down in your history books: LILY EVANS IS GOING TO BE FUN." She screamed the last part, and made everyone look at us. I blushed, but flipped my hair over my shoulder and laughed it off. We all smiled at each other and began to talk about our summers. I was right in the middle of my story on my sister's Pig friend—I mean boyfriend Vernon, when I was tapped on the shoulder. We all spun around, giggling, but stopped short at who it was. My ex-best friend Severus Snape, Slythirin Prefect, stood before us. "Lily I.." He was interrupted by the loud and obnoxious voice of James Potter, immediately followed by the loud guffaw of Sirius Black. "Snevillus, step away from my princess. How many times do we have to tell you this for it to enter into through your greasy hair and thick skull? Lily doesn't like you, get it? She doesn't want to talk to you. You are not her friend so go away, slime ball." He smirked, and high-fived Sirius. I looked at him in disgust, and slapped him lightly enough on the shoulder. I turned back to talk to Severus but he had gone. I sighed; James was always in the way. What had Severus wanted? My friends were all watching me, so I turned around and smiled; inwardly shrugging away all thoughts of Severus. "All aboard," called Sirius who had mounted the train. Amanda giggled, and jumped up beside him. My girls and I followed soon after, and we scurried through the train to our regular compartment. As we opened the door, we all saw 4 letters levitating in mid air. There was one for each of us. We each grabbed our and opened them hurriedly. Mine read:
My Dearest Lily,
If you could join us in our compartment for tea today, we would be forever in your debt.
Affectionately,
Professor Slughorn
I smirked and compared notes with my friends. Each was inviting us to Slughorn's compartment. We were all part of the Slug Club; Slughorn's favorites. Megan and I were amazing at potions, so that won him over; Alice had a great family background, while Amanda was the Star Chaser on Griffindor's team. Megan immediately decided that we were going so we trooped out of our compartment and found the Fancy Compartment; as Slughorn liked his small comforts. Amanda pushed open the door, and pranced in followed by the strutting Megan, and the quiet Alice. I came last, and evaluated the compartment. Just my luck, the only seat open was the one next to James. I glared at my friends, who smiled sweetly back. They were under the impression that James and I were the perfect couple. HA. Never the less, I seated myself primly next to the Head Marauder. "Knew you couldn't resist me, lily-flower" he whispered in my ear. I rolled my eyes, and then scooted farther away from him, closer to a Ravenclaw named Gabe. He smiled cheekily at me, thinking I was making advances to him. I rolled my eyes. James followed my lead and scooted even closer to me, pressing me up against the Ravenclaw. "Come on Lily, go out with me? Please? I don't know what I am going to do if you don't" All my friends and James' friends were watching me, hoping that I would give the coveted YES. Slughorn of course was completely oblivious to all of this, as he was telling a story about one of his old students, Gavin and Riley who ended up getting married. I smiled apologetically at my friends and turned to James. "NOPE" I said, staring straight into his eyes. He sighed, and scooted back away from me. I smirked and stretched. Megan shook her head at me, while Alice stared at me in amazement. Amanda just stuck out her tongue at me. I thought that I could enjoy a peaceful trip to Hogwarts with my friends. I thought that James got the picture. Boy was I wrong. Without warning, he knelt in front of me, and looked up at me starry-eyed. "Please, oh, please go out with me, Lily. Please."Slughorn looked up in surprise, as he was not used to being interrupted; but a smile crossed his face as he took in the situation. Even Slughorn was aware that James was in love with me. I raised my eyebrows, while my friends' ohhed, and ahhed. The other boys snickered. I looked haughtily down at him, and smiled. "My deepest condolences my knight, but I have no love for you. Please, my knight, forgive me." I smirked, but James surprised me by responding. "But of course my fair maiden, there is nothing to forgive. " He bowed deeply, and tried to kiss my hand. I pulled it away giggling. "Come on, BS, let's go." I called, " Sorry Professor Slughorn, but we have to go. Thanks for inviting us; see you in class" I flashed him a smile, which he quickly returned. I stood to leave, and waved good-bye to everyone. I walked out of the compartment, followed by my friends. Once we had reached our own compartment once more, Megan confronted me "Lils, how long are you going to keep this up?" "Until he stops asking" I replied. She looked a little disappointed but stepped away from the situation. The last few hours of the trip were filled with sweets from the trolley (Amanda devoured all the Cauldron Cakes), and gossip from over the summer. My friends and I were in agreement that Vernon was an AJ (Arrogant Jerk),and that my sister needed to see sense. I was glad to finally have them back. This year, as I promised was going to be fun.
Changed into our robes, and giggling like crazy we girls jumped off the train, and ran to the nearest carriage. Alice stopped to pet the Thestrals, which no one else could see. Alice, the quiet one of our group, having seen her older sister Ava die at the age of 7, felt a special pull towards the Thestrals. She claimed that they were sweet creatures, but not being able to see them the other 3 of us couldn't form an opinion. We all piled into our carriage, and waited for it to start, and called Tyler, Frank, and Josh over to sit with us. I was the only one of the Bittersweets who was single. I mean, its' not like I hadn't been asked, but I feel that you shouldn't go out with someone unless you really like them, and I haven't found anyone like that. My sister thinks that it is just scandalous and embarrassing that a girl of my age is single; but since when have I cared about what she thinks? I was seated or more like squashed in between Alice, and Josh, and though all my friends were all there, I felt lonely. It wasn't like I envied the girls' boyfriends, but when they were all together it was like they were in another world. Thinking of the boys always made me think of Severus. We used to be inseparable, and I didn't care that my other friends didn't like him. Now, after what he called me, I can see my friends' points. Amanda tapped my shoulder and brought me out of my daydream. "Lils, check out the Marauders" I glanced to where she was pointing, and the sight that met my eyes shouldn't have surprised me but it did. Sirius and James were flirting with some Huffies (skinny blondes, low cut tank-tops, and bootie shorts, you know the kind.), not surprising at all, but Remus was talking to a girl as well. Not a slut, but a nice, cute Ravenclaw named Audrey. It was nice to see Remus finally talking and from the looks of it flirting with a girl. Remus was usually off by himself lost in the world of whatever book he was reading at the time, unless of course he was playing pranks on people with the other Marauders. Seeing him with a girl, and a nice girl at that, was a sight for sore eyes. Peter, the scrawny little runt, was just eyeing up some "hot'" girls not far away. What a typical day. With a jolt, the carriages started to move and, as usual, the Marauders jumped into theirs, pulling the Huffies with them, at the last second. We snickered as Sirius almost lost his footing—well, everyone but Amanda and Josh did, as they were sharing their first kiss since last year. We then engaged in conversation over the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Cole Anthony. Rumor has it, according to Megan, that he is hot, and well educated. She and Amanda already have plans for him. I feel pity for a guy I don't even know. As we dismounted the carriages, I saw Severus talking with his new Death Eater Recruits. I rolled my eyes, and headed in the doors, thanking God that I was the prefect on duty for the first years, this year. They just looked so helpless. Alice, who was also a prefect, reminded me that Dumbledore was going to announce Head Girl and Head Boy after supper. I nodded and tried to act as if I hadn't thought about it every day of the summer. Apparently I didn't do a very good job, as Alice whispered in my ear "Lils, we both know that you are going to be chosen. We all know it; we've known it since First Year. STOP WORRING" We exchanged smiles, and followed Megan and Amanda to our seats at the big table. Sitting down next to the Bittersweets once again made me feel right at home. We were just discussing ways to sabotage Vernon and Petunia's relationship; when I felt someone, a very familiar someone, take the seat next to me. "Hello my Lily Flower" James said with a smile. "Hello yourself" I replied, and turned back to my friends. I saw the tiniest twinge of disappointment in Megan's eyes, but it disappeared as fast as it had come, so I didn't know if I'd imagined it or not. The Marauders didn't trouble me again until dessert. While I was digging in to my crème Brule, Sirius pulled on the end of my hair. "Hey Evans, think you're going to be Head Girl? Bet you 20 galleons that you won't" Anger flashed inside me, and I recklessly made the bet, just as Dumbledore stood up. Shoot I cursed myself; I didn't have 20 galleons to spare. Let's just hope Alice was right. I sighed, and looked up at the Headmaster.
"To newcomers, welcome, and to all the others welcome back." Dumbledore smiled at us, "Once again I would like to welcome a new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Mr. Cole Anthony." He gestured to a moderately handsome man, who looked surprised at the cheering he was getting. "I would also like to welcome, Mr. Ruebeus Hagrid, who will be fulfilling our need of a Game keeper." Applause welcomed this big man as well, and he started to tear up, muttering things like "great man Dumbledore, great man" Dumbledore waved his hand, and the room fell silent. "Mr. Filch would like me to remind you that magic is prohibited in the hallways, and that he has the authority to put you in detention." Scattered laughs were heard, among the Marauders hearty guffaws. They never followed any rules, and had had the most detentions in school history. "And now the news you have all been waiting for, through this boring speech, the Head Girl of this year will be—drum roll please, as the muggles would say—Miss Lily Evans of Gryffindor! I screamed in glee, and was then covered my all my friends hugs, kisses and congratulations. I smirked at Sirius over Megan's shoulder, mouthing "Fork it over bubba!" He rolled his eyes but handed me the galleons, which I pocketed, surprised by the weight. The noise soon died down, and Dumbledore spoke "The Head Boy of Hogwarts for this year is Mr. Sirius Orion Black of Gryffindor" That's when all hell broke out. I slumped against my friends, my victory ruined, while all the Marauders pummeled Sirius. All the other tables were complaining about favoritism, except Slythrin, who were planning revenge. Dumbledore, the old crazy, seated himself, smiling, next to all the teachers who looked as surprised as we were. Sirius Black Head Boy? My mind couldn't process it. My whole year was ruined. A Marauder as Head Boy? Severus and I had dreamed about this since first year, and even though our friendship fell through, it stayed my dream. My dream was ruined by a cocky slacker. The tears began to start in my eyes, and I turned away from everyone, putting my head on the table. I was cursing everything, when I was tapped on the shoulder. "Looks like we'll be sharing dorms" said Sirius, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. I could still glare through my puffy eyes, but apparently he didn't' get it, as he continued "If we're lucky, there might be a broom closet there." That was it, I had had enough. I smiled which took him off guard, and then slapped him across the face, leaving a hand-print on it. He looked shocked, but I wasn't finished. "I don't know why Dumbledore chose you, but you had better shape your filthy self up, before I do it for you. Also if you so much as set foot inside my room, I will insure that it is one of the last things that you do" I stood, and looked down at him in disgust, and pushed him, none too gently, into James who was trying his best not to laugh. "As for you Potter, You're just like him! And maybe you deserve a slap too?" I asked with my eyebrows raised, he shook his head very quickly, "Then wipe that smirk off your face, before I do it for you" I was almost shaking in anger, and I stalked off to find my dorm, quickly followed by the rest of BS. I heard James calling after me, but I didn't look back.