Author's notes: I've been on a real slump where my other fics are concerned, and yet I am inspired to start yet ANOTHER? I must be a glutton for punishment… Well, here you have it. Characters property of J.K. Rowling, creativity outside of canon is property of my twisted mind. Edit (11/20/16):: Decided to break the story up into parts, labeled this chapter accordingly.
Part One: Hogwarts, Seventh Year
Chapter 1: Of Trains, Owls, and Flowers
After six years of passing through what appeared to be a solid brick wall, passage into Platform 9¾ did not even cause Lily Evans to bat an eyelash. After a brisk walk towards the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10, balancing one foot on the back of the luggage trolley, she kicked off with the other and glided onto the Platform where the scarlet Hogwarts Express stood surrounded in mist, her floral dress and long red plaited hair flowing behind her. Her final year of Hogwarts has arrived, and it was off to a brilliant start. No problems getting onto the Platform, Petunia wasn't forced to drive her to King's Cross, she was promoted from prefect to Head Girl…at this point, what could possibly go wrong?
Lily was still fairly early (it was a quarter past ten) and there were not many others on the platform, so she just waited for the momentum to die down on her trolley before setting her free foot down and coming to a stop. Teeney, her tiny Burrowing Owl hooting as though disappointed that the ride was ending, and proceeded to hop around from one foot to the other in the cage to amuse herself. Lily gathered up her bag and Teeney's cage (where the minuscule bird was continuing to skip about, hooting some sort of owlish tune), she gave her trunk to a gentleman from the station to load into the baggage car, then turned her attentions back to the platform, which was growing busier by the minute.
"Oy! Lily!" called an attractive girl with long, super-straight dark hair and chocolate-brown eyes (set off by an obnoxiously perfect complexion, in Lily's opinion). The girl waved and came to Lily and greeted her with a hug. Emmeline Vance's cat, a brown tabby cat called Willow was perched on her shoulder like a furry parrot, it's stubby tail flicking about as it stared at Teeney.
"Hey, Emma. Have you seen Dorcas or Marlene?" asked Lily, and Emmeline shook her head in the negative. Dorcas Meadowes and Marlene McKinnon rounded out the quartet that have been inseparable since September 1, 1971, when three three witches accepted Muggle-born Lily Evans into their ranks. Lily had no friends when she first boarded the train to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Well, no one except Severus Snape, a boy from Spinner's End who helped to keep Lily from feeling like a total outsider. Too bad their relationship fell apart in their fifth year. James Potter and his friends were torturing Severus AGAIN because he happened to enter their line of vision, and when Lily came to his defense, Sev called her a Mudblood (Lily shuddered at the memory), and James asked her out…AGAIN. But, that was all history, now.
Ugh…, thought Lily. Think of the devil….
James Potter, surrounded by the other "Marauders" (really, who calls themselves that? she thought.) and the usual gaggle of giggling females. It was true that Potter and Sirius Black, his best mate, were too handsome for their own good, and Remus Lupin wasn't too bad, either, but the giggling was so annoying! Lily rolled her eyes and Emmeline glanced over her shoulder (the one not occupied by a creature with more fur than what she deemed to be normal) and laughed. "Is it me or did getting appointed Head Boy cause his quantity of admirers to grow?"
Lily choked on air. "W-What? Head boy? Potter?"
"Breathe, Lils!" said Dorcas Meadowes, coming up aside Lily and Emma, Marlene McKinnon behind her. Dorcas gave Lily a hard slap on her back, and Lily's coughs subsided. She shot a glare at Dorcas, who had a knowing smile on her attractive face. There was something almost exotic about Dorcas. She resembled Emma to an extent with her dark hair (hers curled naturally) and eyes, only she was half a head taller and her eyes tilted up at the corners. Marlene was Dorcas's best friend, and was as fair as Dorcas was dark, soft blue eyes and platinum blond hair. They were both on the Quidditch team with James (as a beater and seeker, respectively, and James was a Chaser and Captain).
Marlene smiled. "Hello, Lily, Emma. Yes. James got Head Boy. He wrote me over the summer, and I, of course, told Dorcas."
"But, who in their right mind would make James Potter Head Boy? He was the ringleader in how many hair-brained schemes that foursome got wrapped up in during the last six years?"
"Dumbledore," said Dorcas.
"Beg pardon?"
"You asked, 'Who in their right mind…'," Dorcas was fighting the urge to crack up. It was obvious in that telltale twitch in the corner of her heart-shaped mouth. "Dumbledore made him Head Boy."
Lily about growled, "The rumors are true, then. Dumbledore is going barmy."
Emma sighed, but it was Marlene who spoke next. "Dumbledore is not going barmy. He made Remus prefect fifth year in hopes that he would reign in the other three."
"And look how well that went!" Lily said as the girls made their way through the train to their usual compartment about halfway down. "They still got into trouble."
"Well, this must be Plan B." said Emma, always the voice of reason. "Give James some responsibility, maybe he'll be forced to grow up?"
Lily let out an unladylike snort. "Not bloody likely," ("Lily!" exclaimed Emma.) "Oh, come off it! Between Potter and Sirius Black, there will never be a moment's peace! Now, Potter will think he can do whatever he wants because he is Head Boy! It will be a blatant abuse of power!"
Lily flopped onto a seat as Marlene closed the compartment door. Teeney let out a muffled hoot (she had burrowed into the fleece blanket on the bottom of the cage). Dorcas gave Lily a sideways glance.
"Maybe the Head Girl can keep Mr. Potter in line?" She raised one delicately arched eyebrow.
"I really hate people who can do that."
"Lily, don't dodge the question!"
"I'm not dodging anything! I am not rewarding the question with a response."
"Same difference," said Marlene.
"Oh, don't start, Marles," groaned Lily.
"Lily, come on," said Dorcas, "The boy is too gorgeous for his own good, and you know it."
"That's the problem." Lily was muffled since her hands were covering her face. "He knows it, as well. He is so arrogant!"
Marlene leaned forward and pulled Lily's hands away from her face. "He's not as arrogant as he was, Lil. We met up a few times over the summer, and he's really growing up."
"You're opinion is skewed," said Lily, standing. "You two have been mates since you were five."
"We were six, and that is not the point. You've were mates with Snape since you were nine and look how well that went."
"Low blow, Marles," Lily deadpanned. "I have to go to the prefect's carriage. Head business. If I am not back when the trolley comes through, grab me some licorice wands, please? There is a chance that Slughorn will have a meeting of the Slug Club. If I can't skive off, I want licorice wands when I get back. My money's in my bag by Teeney."
A mischievous grin spread across Dorcas's face. "Be sure to let us know how that HEAD business goes." Dorcas and Marlene doubled over in laughter, and even Emmeline started to giggle.
Lily stared into the compartment, her hand on the door. "I really need some new mates," she said, to no one in particular.
The Head/Prefect meeting went more or less the way Lily expected. The "less" bit was how professional James Potter was acting. Lily was completely baffled by that one. He introduced the new fifth year prefects to the rest of the group, and even filled in rules where Lily's memory was a little fuzzy on the specifics. Her mind was still reeling when she started to leave and didn't even notice Remus Lupin standing by the door.
…Well, she didn't notice until she ran into him.
"Oh, Remus! I am so sorry! I don't know where my mind went!"
"It's no problem," he replied sincerely. Out of the Marauders, Remus was the only one she actually liked and could label as "mate." He was shy and kind, but often looked like a strong wind could blow him over at any moment. In their fifth year, when they had both been chosen as Gryffindor prefects, Remus confided to Lily that he was a werewolf, and he usually looked a bit worse-for-wear after the full moon is over. Lily was scared at first, but he explained that Madam Pomfrey made him a potion that sedated him (somewhat) and took him off grounds, just in case. He only wanted Lily to know in case she needed to cover his rounds, something she was happy to do. Remus usually would cover rounds for her in return.
They started back down the train in companionable silence before Lily started to realize that they weren't alone. Glancing over her shoulder, she almost groaned aloud.
James ruddy Potter. And he had the end of her long plait in his hand. Why didn't she feel that? It has officially gotten too long, she thought.
"Do you mind, Potter?" She removed her hair from his grasp.
"Not at all," he replied, ignoring the malice in her voice. "It's longer."
"Beg pardon?" Lily turned around, noticing that Remus had vanished. Bloody traitor…
"Your hair. It's longer." The corner of his mouth turned up, and Lily forced herself to ignore how it made her stomach flutter. Dorcas's words surfaced in her mind. The boy is too gorgeous for his own good, and you know it. And Lily, as much as she hated to admit it, wasn't immune to it.
"Yeah, ah, that tends to happen when one doesn't continue cutting it off. It starts growing." She began to twirl the end of the plait around her finger. It now, when not being fidgeted with, reached her waist, it is also less carroty-red and more RED-red. Her father always said that it reminded him of the sunset.
Feeling incredibly awkward under the heat of his gaze, Lily spun on her heel started to walk off.
"Lily, wait!"
Since when did he call her "Lily?" For six years, it was always "Evans." And he was always "Potter." It was easier that way. Safer.
Safer? From what? Lily thought.
She stopped and looked at James. "Er...yes?"
Before he could say anything, a compartment door beside them slid open.
"Oy, Prongs! What's keeping you?" Sirius Black stuck his ridiculously attractive head into the corridor and Lily realized where Remus had disappeared to. James laughed and ran his hand through it hair, mussing it more than it usually was. Sirius noticed Lily standing nearby and turned his attention to her, his gray eyes scanning her up and down, taking in her floral sundress and sandal-clad form. Lily felt like she was being x-rayed, and resisted crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Ah, I see," he said, "Wotcher, Evans! Summer treated you well."
"As eloquent as ever, Black," said a voice from over Lily's shoulder, and she noticed James's and Sirius's eyes darken. She knew the voice, but was hesitant to confirm anything by turning around, but she glanced over her shoulder, anyway.
Today just got worse, she thought. Severus Snape, already in his school robes adorned with the Slytherin colors of emerald and silver, was standing behind her. He must have left something in the prefect's compartment during the meeting and had come back to retrieve it. Lily wanted to either flee the scene or duck into the nearest compartment, and she debated which would be more embarrassing. She had made it through the whole meeting without having to acknowledge her former best mate, and she should have known that it was too good to be true.
"No one asked for your opinion, Snivellus," said Sirius, "Run along now."
Before Lily could think twice, three wands were drawn and spells fired in rapid succession. Lights ricocheted off the walls, shattering the light fixture above Lily's head, showering her with debris as she thanked her lucky stars that they weren't oil lamps. She raised her arms above her head to shield herself from the shards of glass, feeling them cut into her bare arms and tangle into her hair.
More spells were fired, and Lily's world went dark.
Author's Note #2: To new arrivals, welcome to my pet fic project! A Magical Garden will, as mentioned in the summary, cover Lily's seventh year at Hogwarts and finish with her death in 1981. After starting this story, which was intended to only reach to the arrival of baby Harry (as mentioned in an upcoming A/N), I got really enthusiastic about it, and even started to add little one-shots here and there that feature secondary characters. When these occur, they will be labeled as "MGverse" in the summaries, and I will bring them up in the A/N of any corresponding chapters. To anyone rereading the story, welcome back! If you notice little details here and there that seem different, it may be due to how I have been rereading every chapter and fixing inconsistencies and rewording things for better flow. Much love! ~Nimue