Just a fun side project, while I work on my own novel. I have taken some liberties with the timeline of the Marauders canon, though it is all done in the spirit of canon.
Lily Evans sat with her chin propped up on her hand, staring out of the window of the Hogwarts Express without really seeing any of the activity going on at the station. It was five minutes till eleven and she was alone in her compartment at the end of the train. Her only companion was her cat, curled up on her lap. It wasn't surprising that she was alone, given that she'd cast a repelling charm on the corridor outside her compartment. She didn't want company.
Lily Evans's summer had been positively awful, and so far her return to the magic world had been no better.
It had been a quiet drive to King's Cross station with her mother. The strained silence had stretched between them as neither of them knew what to say. Lily knew what was on her mother's mind, because it was the same thing that was on her mind. She had been thinking of her father, and how much he loved dropping her off at King's Cross Station. He loved hearing everything about her magical world, and any glimpse he could get of it. She loved telling him stories, because he was the best audience as his face lit up and he asked her more questions about the wonderful world she got to participate in.
But he wasn't dropping her off this morning, because he was still unconscious in the hospital after the heart attack he'd had. He'd been there for two weeks, with varying degrees of complications occurring one after the other.
Lily hadn't wanted to come back at all. She'd wanted to stay there with her dad, sitting at his side like she'd spent most of the last two weeks. When she'd written to McGonagall, the understanding professor had offered to make other arrangements for Lily to stay at home a few extra days and then travel to school. But when Lily had talked to her mother about it, Rose Evans had been adamant about Lily going back to school like she was supposed to. It was what her father would have wanted, Rose had said.
But it sucked, leaving. She still saw the cold expression on Petunia's face as she'd said goodbye to her father last night. Petunia had criticized her for leaving, even though Lily had made her mother swear to contact her if anything changed.
Lily looked down at the large orange cat sprawled across her lap. Leo was by no means a cute cat. She couldn't even go so far as to call him merely good-looking. His face was squashed, his hair was scruffy, his legs were bandy, and he could get into very impressive moods when he was grumpy. But he had always been there for her, and he was purring contentedly as he readjusted himself on her lap. She reached down, scratching him behind the ears, and his purring increased.
She heard the whistle of the train that meant they were about to leave. She glanced out the window, watching families call their final farewells. Goodbye and I love you and Have a good year. Movement caught Lily's eye as she watched someone run across the platform towards the train as she felt it begin to shudder beneath her. The train whistled loudly again, and the boy—Sirius Black, judging by the long hair and Beatles t-shirt—sprinted towards it with his trunk floating along in the air behind him. Lily leaned over to watch as he just managed to jump onto the train as it started moving.
"Stupid boys," Lily muttered, stroking Leo's back. He let out a disgruntled meow. "Except for you, of course." Lily was nearly positive that Leo understood most of what she said to him. She attributed it to the fact that she was a witch. She had read that pets could sometimes take on some of the magic themselves.
Now that the train was moving, pulling out of the station, Lily reached over to her book bag on the seat next to her. She'd already levitated her trunk to the rack above her head, but she kept the book bag within easy reach. She pulled out a battered copy of Alice in Wonderland, opening it up at random and beginning to read as she settled down. Leo was used to Lily resting her hands on his back as she read a book and after a brief adjustment of his position he lowered his head again and closed his eyes.
She'd opened up to the part with the Mad Hatter's tea party. Lily smiled sadly at the book, which had long been her solace. She and Petunia had loved to read it together, Petunia helping her through it until Lily had been able to read it aloud on her own. It had been their favorite way to indulge in a fantasy world.
The tea party gave her another thought, though—the trolley. Holding the book open in her left hand, Lily grabbed her wand with her other hand and pointed it at the corridor. Muttering the counterspell to her earlier charm, Lily undid the repelling charm. Most students would be settled by now, and she didn't want the trolley to skip her. She hadn't had time to pack a lunch, and would want to buy some food later.
She'd only gotten through a few pages when she heard the glass door sliding open to her compartment. Lily looked up in alarm, Leo raising his head as well to look at the intruder. He hissed, and Sirius paused in the doorway.
"Sorry, Lily. D'you mind if I join you?" he asked, sounding tired. His trunk still levitated behind him, his wand held at his side.
It was strange to see Sirius without his constant companions. Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew had all been thick as thieves since the middle of their second year. She'd rarely seen Sirius without Potter since they'd met on the train that first day.
"But something had happened at the end of last year—something major that caused a rift in the ranks of the Marauders. Sirius had been cut loose.
Apparently the freeze out was still going on.
Lily glanced at the seat across from her, the empty bench, and sighed. She had a soft spot for underdogs and lost souls, and Sirius looked to be both right now.
"On one condition," she told him. He'd already started walking into the compartment, but he froze and looked at her in confusion. "Tell me why a raven is like a writing desk."
"Blimey, Lily," Sirius said, blinking. "I need a minute for that one." He dropped his trunk on the ground next to him, standing it up on its side as he leaned against the door frame. He stared off into the distance, lips moving soundlessly as he thought.
Shrugging, Lily turned back to her book and curled her legs up underneath her. She really didn't care what Sirius did.
Lily liked to begin her school year with reading the book, imagining that the Hogwarts Express was a version of tumbling down the rabbit hole. She'd nearly memorized the book, but it didn't matter. It mesmerized her with each read.
"Notes."
It took Lily a moment to realize Sirius had spoken. Putting her finger on the page where she'd left off, she looked up at him and frowned. "Come again?"
"Notes," he said, grinning triumphantly. With a quick spell, he levitated his trunk to the storage above his head, flopping down on the bench across from her and sprawling out. "They both produce notes. Y'know, ravens sing, and you write notes at a desk."
A smile crept across Lily's face. "I didn't expect you to actually come up with an answer. Color me impressed, Black."
His grin only widened as he made himself comfortable on the bench, his back to the side of the compartment. One leg was propped up on the cushions, while the other foot dangled and swung back and forth. "So what was the answer?"
Lily shrugged, closing the book and setting it down next to her. "No one knows. It's a riddle in the book without an answer. Personally, I'm fond of the theory that Poe wrote on both." Leo got off her lap, moving slowly as he stretched and then settled down on the bench next to her, crouched and staring with solemn eyes at Sirius.
"Poe?"
"Muggle author," Lily said. "He wrote a famous poem called 'The Raven'."
"Presumably on a writing desk."
"Presumably."
Sirius nodded. "Solid theory." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. Lily watched as he waved his wand over it, and it refolded itself into the shape of a bird. With another word, it turned black. She chuckled as he lifted his wand and the little bird began to fly as if it was on puppet strings.
Lily knew that Leo loved hunting and chasing all the toys she had for him. But instead of focusing on the bird that Sirius had transfigured, flitting around the cabin, Leo's dark eyes focused only on him.
"Your cat doesn't look like he likes me," Sirius observed, glancing over at them. At his gaze, Leo's lip curled and he let out a faint hiss.
"Leo!" Lily scolded, gently shaking her cat by the ruff. "I mean, he's always a bit disgruntled, but he rarely dislikes people."
Sirius grinned, a secretive and sly smile as he chuckled. "I'm much more of a dog person. Maybe he knows that."
Lily just frowned down at her cat. "Be nice," she chided. Leo just hissed again, and she rolled her eyes.
Sirius just shrugged, and turned back to playing with his paper bird, now flying in loops. Leo's eyes were still fixed on him, but Lily was certain his gaze flitted to the bird once or twice. "Don't you have a prefect meeting to get to? Remus always had one on the train."
The slight hitch in his voice when he said Remus's name did not go unnoticed, and Lily's brow furrowed as she wondered just what had happened to the Marauders to divide them so spectacularly. Even if Black and Potter had been the best friends out of the four of them, attached at the hip and always in detention together, there was no doubt that the four of them were an inseparable group.
Lily didn't like the Marauders as a whole. The four of them tended to act like blithering idiots—usually started by Potter or Black—and always caused trouble and got into detention. Peter was quiet enough that Lily didn't know him too well, and nothing really made him stand out in class. Sirius was mostly fine if he was alone, though she could count on one hand the number of times she had talked to him without Potter there. When he was with Potter, he was just as bad. She liked Remus, having gotten to really know him over the past year as they had prefect duty together. He was quieter than Potter or Black, but well spoken and very nice and polite.
And Potter…she was pretty sure there was a special place in hell reserved for arrogant toe rags who feigned an attraction to her and wouldn't stop asking her out, even though they harassed her best mate.
Lily swallowed at that thought, pressing her lips together. Former best mate. She and Snape hadn't talked since The Incident, although it wasn't for a lack of trying on his part. She frowned at the thought of seeing him at the prefect meeting. He would probably try to make nice with her, again.
She was startled out of her thoughts by a commotion in the compartment. A blur of orange leaping off the bench, Sirius yelling "Bloody hell!" and a loud thud.
Lily lifted her head from her book, staring agape across the compartment. "What happened?" she demanded, taking in Sirius leaning back against the wall and Leo crouched on the bench next to him, batting with one paw at the bird that had now fallen limply to the bench.
"Your…monster over there decided he wanted to fly over here and attack me!" Sirius said indignantly.
Leo let out a large mrrrow, staring at Sirius with beady eyes. Sirius looked at him, eyebrows raised.
"What was that for?" Sirius demanded of the cat. "You attacked me!"
The cat harrumphed, sitting on his haunches. He looked at Sirius, and then back at the paper bird. He hit it with a paw, but nothing happened. He looked back up at Sirius.
"What do you want me to do?" Sirius asked. Lily snickered at the sight of the boy talking to the cat in front of her. "This is all your fault, Evans."
Lily laughed, putting the book down and standing up. "He wants you to make it fly again." She pulled her robes out of her book bag, slipping them on over her Muggle clothes. She arranged them carefully, making sure her prefect badge and Gryffindor sigil were prominently displayed. "I'm going to the meeting now."
"You're leaving me alone with this thing?" Sirius's voice was indignant, and Leo swatted at his shoe with a paw. "Hey!"
"Would you rather go sit in a compartment with other people?" Lily asked. At his wince, she realized her voice was sharper than it needed to be, her irritation from earlier coming back at the thought of interacting with more students. "Just make the bird fly again—not above you—and he'll be entertained. Don't insult him, he'll understand you. Here." She dug around her pockets, pulling up a couple of coins. She tossed him a silver sickle. "Buy him a piece of Galloping Jerky and he'll be your best friend. Only let him eat half, though."
Sirius caught the sickle easily, glancing from it to the cat. "You promise not to kill me?"
Leo purred. A paw batted at the unmoving bird.
Giving a small smile, Lily grabbed her wand off the bench and left the compartment. As she closed the door behind her, she watched Sirius reanimate the bird and make it fly across the compartment. Leo leapt after it, seemingly over his dislike of Sirius.
She kept that image in her head as her happy thought to sustain her and keep the annoyance and frustration from earlier out of her thoughts. She strode down the train corridor, glancing in compartments as she passed them. Students were loud and raucous, enjoying the chance to see friends after having two months of summer. Plenty of magic was being used, too, and Lily had to nimbly avoid people running down the corridors.
"Lily!" The voice came from behind her, and she turned around to see Alice Wood sticking her head out of a compartment door. She was dressed in her robes, too, with the Gryffindor badge on her chest. "Are you going to the meeting?" Her voice was strained, and her lips were quirked.
"Hey, Alice," Lily said, with true warmth in her voice. She backtracked, joining her at the compartment. "Yeah I am."
"I can't find my badge," Alice complained, shaking her head and going back to rummage through her book bag on the bench. "I thought it was—"
"Lily!" Marlene McKinnon had been sitting on the bench on the far side, and she jumped to her feet. "Move it, Wood!" Alice groaned, plopping down on the bench as she pulled out her wand. "Hey," Marlene greeted, pulling Lily into a hug.
"Hi, Marlene," Lily said, hugging the seventh year. She was a good several inches taller than Lily, a fact she often complained about.
"Hi Lily!" Mary MacDonald and Helen Vane were also reclining on the other side of the compartment, and they waved at Lily, who waved and called greetings back.
"Accio prefect's badge!" Alice said firmly, flourishing her wand.
"Alice!" Lily squawked as her prefect's badge flew off of her chest, and Marlene squealed as it nearly hit her in the face, flying towards Alice.
The older prefect groaned as the badge landed in her lap. "No, not that one," she grumbled, picking it up and getting to her feet. "Sorry, Lily." She handed back the badge.
"Just go to your stupid meeting without it," Marlene said, pushing Alice out the door. Lily moved aside as she repinned her badge. "It's not like people don't know you're a prefect, after two years. It's probably just in your trunk."
"Probably," Alice said absently, looking around her various pockets in her robes. She sighed.
"Come on," Lily said, looping her arm through Alice's. "Mare's right. It'll all be fine."
Reluctantly, Alice followed her, and Lily waved goodbye to Marlene. She liked the two seventh year girls, despite them being a grade above her. She'd never gotten along particularly well with the other girls in her year. She liked Helen and Mary better than Gwen and Valerie, but they all had their best friends and Lily kind of got left out. Alice and Marlene had taken her in, though, and she'd made great friends with them, especially after being prefects with Alice last year.
"So where did you sit?" Alice asked Lily quizzically. "I didn't see you at all earlier."
Lily blushed at the thought of hiding away at the end of the train. "I got here early and didn't feel much like company."
"So you sat all alone?"
Lily winced at the sound of Exploding Snap. She thought it was Exploding Snap, but it was five times as loud and lasted three times as long as a normal pack. "No, I sat with Sirius."
"Sirius?" Remus's voice interrupted them, and she looked up to see her fellow prefect in the hallway in front of them, making his way out of a compartment. She glanced in and saw Potter and Peter playing a game of Exploding Snap—that would explain why it sounded so much worse. "You saw him?"
"Um, yeah," Lily said, frowning at the dark expression that crossed Remus's face. He was a private person, often appearing withdrawn and melancholy when he was on his own. It was an appearance not helped by the thin lines of old scars on his face and hands. She shuddered to think of where those might have come from. "He's down at that—"
"I don't want to know," Remus said, voice hard as he closed the door behind him with a little more force than necessary.
"Oh. Okay," Lily said. Bloody hell, she could not stop wondering what the Marauders had gone through. She thought it might have involved Severus—he'd insinuated as much when he'd tried to talk to her, but that was after The Incident and she refused to hear him out.
Alice looked between Lily and Remus, obviously confused, but Remus cleared his throat and gestured. "Prefect meeting?"
Finally, Lily arrived at the second compartment on the train, the magically expanded one for the prefects and Head students to meet in to discuss some upcoming policies and things to be monitored on the train. It was only a temporary meeting to hold them over until they would have a real one with the Heads of houses in a few days.
It was still relatively empty in there. Frank Longbottom, Alice's boyfriend and fellow prefect, was already there and talking with Jenna Figg, a seventh year Ravenclaw, as they stood in the middle of the expanded room. A few other prefects were sitting on the assorted benches and seats.
"Frank!" Alice said, launching herself at him. "Have you seen my prefect's badge?" Lily offered him a small wave as she and Remus made their way to benches.
Frank laughed, kissing his girlfriend on the cheek and reaching into his pocket of his robes. "You left it on the counter when you were packing. I grabbed it for you."
"Thank you thank you thank you," Alice said fervently, giving him a quick peck on the lips. "Do you have this meeting all planned out?"
"Yeah, Jenna and I went over the instructions from McGonagall, and we think we have everything covered between us," he said, smiling at her.
Lily sighed. She envied Frank and Alice's relationship. They'd been dating since fourth year, and to hear Alice tell it they'd been in love ever since they'd sat next to each other at the Gryffindor table after the sorting. She wanted a boyfriend to take care of her like Frank took care of Alice, grabbing things she'd forgotten.
"Congratulations on Head Boy, Frank," Remus said, and Lily glanced up, realizing that Frank did indeed have a gold and maroon edged badge that said HB on it, sitting right above the Gryffindor crest. Lily offered her congratulations as Alice sat down next to her.
Prefects were beginning to file in more steadily now. Lily and Alice chatted, catching up about their summers. Alice and Frank had done internships through the Auror department in the Ministry, gaining experience and getting extra practice. Lily had simply been at home, trying to avoid Petunia and her new boyfriend, but Alice had a wonderful way of appearing so interested in what Lily said that you would have thought she merited an award.
Finally, Jenna cleared her throat. "Alright, everybody, if you'll settle down, I think we're about to get started." After a moment, the chatter died down. Lily looked around, seeing a number of familiar faces from last year, and some new ones from the new fifth years. "Frank, head count?"
Frank frowned as he finished looking around. "We're missing four."
"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Longbottom, we're here," a drawling voice announced. Lily frowned as four Slytherins entered, obviously having timed it for dramatic effect. The speaker was Rowan Malfoy, tall and abnormally pale.
"So you two are it, eh?" Alsbet Wilkes, the seventh year Slytherin prefect, expression filled with disdain as she looked around. Where Malfoy was tall and pale, she was short and dark. "At least Dumbledore chose some quality for the Heads this year. Purebloods, none of that Mudblood trash like last year." She sniffed haughtily.
"Although Figg here has an older sister that's a Squib, don't you? What does that say about blood purity?" Lucinda Iren asked cagily, a glint in her eye. She was the female prefect for Slytherin in Lily's year, and Lily had a great distaste for her.
Frank glowered. "Enough, you lot. I won't have any of that language in here."
"We're meant to be model students," Jenna added, ignoring Alsbet's face as she mimicked model with a scowl on her face. "Please, take your seats so we can begin."
Lily watched them troop in, sitting removed from everyone else. Out of the corner of her eye, she studied the fourth member of their group—him. Severus walked with his head down. Not actively participating in their little demonstration, but not resisting it, either.
Typical coward. She scowled as she turned back to Frank and Jenna.
They shared a brief glance, clearly not pleased at the start of this meeting, and then Frank cleared his throat. "Let's start with some brief introductions. I know our returners know each other, but we have some new faces too. I'm Frank Longbottom, from Gryffindor. I'm a seventh year and Head Boy this year, and my favorite subject is Transfiguration."
"I'm Jenna Figg from Ravenclaw," Jenna announced next. "I'm the Head Girl, so I'm also a seventh year, and my favorite subject is charms."
"Squib," Malfoy hissed, causing Jenna to narrow her eyes at him.
"I'll go next," Alice announced, to cover up the silence that followed.
Introductions went like that around the large room. Lily could see the ire growing in Frank's expression as the Slytherins continued to interject comments about blood purity throughout—they were silent when people who had wizarding families spoke up, but jeered and taunted when the Muggleborns in the crowd spoke up.
When Lily went, after hearing them make fun of two others like her, she spoke down towards her hands. All she could think of was Severus's voice spitting the word mudblood at her. "Lily Evans, Gryffindor, sixth—"
"Mudblood," Alsbet muttered, in a tone that carried.
"Enough!" Frank finally thundered, glaring at the Slytherin pack. "One of our goals this year as the patrolling student body is to create unity, not division. I will not tolerate name calling and comments about blood status. I will speak to Professor Slughorn about this."
Malfoy just stared at him, raising an eyebrow in defiance, while Alsbet let out a loud laugh.
Lily's cheeks heated, and she was glad for Alice's reassuring arm around her shoulders.
"That was quite the meeting," Alice said, shaking her head as they walked out of the compartment. Frank had stayed behind to talk to Jenna about something else.
"That's one way to describe it," Lily sighed, the name calling only having brought back memories of last year. It had only worsened her spirits.
"Come sit with us. Don't go back to your compartment," Alice urged, grabbing Lily's arm. "You look melancholy."
Lily laughed, pulling away. "I'll be fine, Al. I'd rather be alone. Besides, I have Leo."
Alice rolled her eyes, pausing outside her compartment. "Fine. But come find us later, and sit with us at dinner, yeah?"
"Yeah," Lily said, smiling at her friend. "Thanks."
Alice nodded before disappearing and beginning to talk to Marlene. Lily wandered down the train until she found her compartment.
When Lily entered, she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "What happened to he was trying to kill me?"
Sirius looked up at her over the copy of the Quibbler he was reading. He was reclined against the side of the compartment, his legs spread out on the bench once more, but Leo was curled up on his lap and purring loud enough that Lily could hear it.
"Thanks for the tip on the Galloping Jerky," Sirius said. "That did the trick. Got you a chocolate frog, too."
Lily glanced over to see the box on top of her book bag. Sighing, she plopped down on the bench. "I need a dozen of these after that meeting," she muttered.
Sirius was quiet for a moment. "That bad?"
Lily just sighed, opening up the box. With a practiced hand she grabbed the frog as it made a leap for freedom, waiting until the movement charm wore off before she bit into it. She flipped over the card to see what she got.
"Sirius, do you collect these?" she asked absently, reading the description of the scowling red-haired witch who was bound to a wooden stake on top of a stack of wood. Rather gruesome, seeing it was about a witch burning.
"Depends. Who you got?"
Lily held it up. "Isobel Gowdie. Apparently she was burned at the stake after people tricked her into confessing that her magic came from talking to the devil. Let herself be truly burned to death, too, in hopes of ending the witch hunts."
"Merlin's balls," Sirius said, leaning forward and snatching it out of Lily's hand. Her eyebrows raised at the quick moment. Leo grumbled, having fallen out of Sirius's lap. He hopped up to sit next to Lily, who petted him with her free hand.
"What? Who is she?" Lily asked, frowning.
Sirius let out a low whistle. "Man, I can't believe you got her. They actually discontinued this card a while ago. James and I have been—" he cut off, clearing his throat as he lowered the card. "Well, at any rate, it's an incredibly rare card. You could probably sell it and make some money off of it, if nothing else," he said awkwardly, holding it back out to her. She didn't miss the mood swing that had come after the mention of Potter's name.
"Oh," Lily said, not really sure how to address Sirius's slip up. She looked down at Isobel Gowdie. She was dressed in a roughspun woolen dress, her long red hair a large tangled mess around her head as she thrashed and tried to escape her bonds, flames licking up her dress. She could see why they'd discontinued the disconcerting card.
Regardless, Lily slipped it into her bag. She might as well keep it. If nothing else, it would be fun to slip into Petunia's room and hear her shrieks about the freakish wizarding pictures.
"So…" Lily said, licking the last bit of chocolate off her thumb. She glanced at Sirius out of the corner of her eye. "Why aren't you with the rest of your gang, anyway?"
Sirius stiffened, though he kept staring down at his magazine. "Why aren't you with the rest of your friends?"
"Touché."
They sat in silence for a while. Lily read her book, Sirius read his magazine, and Leo took a nap.
The trolley came by again, and Lily bought another Galloping Jerky. This one was shaped like a horse, and it cantered around the floor as Leo watched it with keen eyes. Before he could pounce and catch it, Lily swept it up so she could eat this one herself. She was hungry.
Finally, the world outside grew dark, and Lily soon saw the lights of Hogsmeade. Then came the shuffle of getting everyone and everything off of the train. Sirius made his trunk levitate and follow him again. He started heading out the compartment, and then hesitated.
"You want to try to get a carriage together?" he asked, his brow furrowed as if he wasn't sure if he was supposed to ask that.
Lily shook her head. "No, I'm supposed to help make sure everyone gets off the train properly."
Sirius nodded. "Well, then…thanks. For letting me join you."
A thought suddenly struck Lily. "Hey, could you do me a favor?"
"What kind?"
She gestured to Leo. "Take him with you? Just get him to the castle and then he'll make his own way up to Gryffindor tower. He'll get irritated with me if I make him stay behind."
Sirius looked at the cat. "Your cat's weird, but I guess I can stand a little more of his company. Come on, then." He gathered up Leo in one arm. The cat looked ridiculous, bottlebrush tail flicking in irritation as he hung awkwardly from Sirius's grip. Leo gave Lily a disparaging look, as if asking how she could send him with this strange man. "Farewell, Evans."
She waved goodbye, pulling her trolley down from the top with a wave of her wand. She decided to take a leaf out of Sirius's book, enchanting her trunk so it floated behind her as she walked down the hallway.
Lily helped first years, whose cumbersome trunks seemed to weigh twice as much as the scrawny little kids. Surely she hadn't been that little when she was eleven, had she? She found a spare pair of robes someone had left behind, making her laugh when she'd seen the blue and bronze embroidery. A forgetful Ravenclaw, that was a new one. There were initials in the collar, though, and she figured Professor Flitwick could get the robes back to their proper owner.
She met Remus about halfway through. "Did you do that half?" Lily asked, holding the robes draped over her arm.
Remus nodded. "And if you did the back, then our job is done and we can head out."
"Not too bad this time," Lily said, shrugging as they came out onto the platform. One of the horseless carriages had been reserved for them, though the others had long gone. She saw Frank sitting in it, reading a piece of parchment.
"Jenna told me about one year when she found a pair of Hufflepuffs shagging in the loo," Remus said, shuddering. "I'd hate to be any of them in that situation."
"Blimey, I remember when she told me about that," Frank called from the carriage, looking up at their approach. He shook his head. "She was scarred. Adrian Clearwater wasn't the best looking bloke, especially not with his trousers around his ankles."
Lily snickered, hopping up in the carriage. Her trunk had settled in the luggage compartment with the rest. "I'd be scarred if I'd seen him starkers, too." She sat down across from Remus, who had sat down next to Frank. The carriage began rattling across the cobblestones to the dirt path to the school.
Remus screwed up his face. "I regret bringing it up. Please stop talking."
Frank clapped Remus on the shoulder. "What, you never walked in on one of your mates in the middle of a shag in the dormitory?"
Lily laughed as Remus turned redder than a tomato. "I did not need to be reminded of that," he muttered.
The head boy just shrugged, pulling out his parchment again. He'd brought out a quill, marking things off. Lily didn't know how he managed to mark it up properly, with all the bumping and jolting going on in the carriage. "Part of that dormitory life, mate. It always happens, sooner or later."
"So what are you working on?" Lily asked, to change the subject.
Frank sighed, lowering the parchment down to his lap. "A list of some suggestions for this year that Jenna and I were working on, off of McGonagall's ideas."
"That was a bad prefect meeting this morning," Remus said, shaking his head. The blush was slowly fading from his face. "Looks like it will be a difficult group this year."
Frank grimaced. "Yeah. You know I hate pointing fingers, but those Slytherins…"
"I hate that it's always by houses, too," Lily said, grimacing as she looked out the window and watched the trees go by as Hogsmeade dwindled in the distance.
"Unfortunately, house rivalry has set it up that way," Frank said.
Remus made a noise of agreement. "I've always wondered if it could be any other way, though."
"Quidditch alone causes so many rivalries," Lily added, glancing at Remus. "The way James and Sirius talk about beating the other teams…"
Remus winced. "Don't remind me."
They all fell silent. Lily knew she was contemplating what could change at Hogwarts to create more unity. Could there be anything to reach people at a time when it was already so divided? With all the extra strife in the world?
When they reached the castle, the three students were still rather quiet as they made their way into the Great Hall. Since they had stayed so much longer than everyone else, it looked like the Sorting Hat had already sung and they'd just begun sorting.
They weren't very far into it, though. "Adams, Nicolas," had just become a Gryffindor. All three of them whooped with the rest of Gryffindor table as the small blonde made his timid way down to sit at the table, where a couple of second years made room for him.
"I'm off to join Alice," Frank murmured quietly. "Lily, you want to come?"
Lily glanced at the table to see that as expected, James and Peter had saved a seat for Remus. As she would have also guessed, Sirius sat apart from all of them. Leo was nowhere to be seen, but she had told Sirius to just let him roam free once they got to the castle.
"Sure," Lily said, still studying the quiet and somber boy that Sirius had become. He looked…deflated, empty, without the rest of the Marauders by his side.
Remus waved goodbye and sat down between James and Peter as "Casano, Madeline," became a Hufflepuff.
"How was the song this year?" Frank asked Alice as he sat down next to her and draped an arm around her. Lily sat on the other side of them, next to Marlene.
Alice frowned. "Rather depressing, actually," she whispered back to him, giving a pointed look at Lily as well. "You know how usually it just talks about all the Houses and such?"
They all nodded.
"This year there was some other stuff in it too," Marlene added. "It went on about how we need to unite in the face of danger, and not letting superficial disputes create deeper bonds."
Lily's eyebrows rose as she looked at Frank, who nodded somberly. Even the Hat felt that it was going to be a difficult year. She wondered if it simply spent all year making up a song for the next year. How did it stay current on events?
When the Sorting finished—Slytherin got the last student, which caused even louder cheering and whoops—Dumbledore cleared his throat and got to his feet.
"I would like, first and foremost, to welcome you all to another year at Hogwarts," the headmaster said grandly, sweeping his arms out to another round of cheers. "I welcome you all to another year of learning and feasts, another year of hijinks and mischief."
Lily didn't miss the way that Dumbledore's eyes swept over the Marauders, brow furrowing ever so slightly in concern as his gaze flicked to Sirius, sitting alone at one end of the table. The headmaster hesitated for only a fraction of a second, however, and continued smoothly.
"I know it has been a rough and difficult summer for some of you, and I hope you find solace here within our walls." His gaze flicked to Lily, and she blushed, wondering how much McGonagall had told Dumbledore about her personal troubles. And how much he remembered.
That was one of the greatest things about Dumbledore that people didn't often appreciate. He was one of the world's greatest wizards, one of the most brilliant scholars, and perhaps the best headmaster any wizarding school could ask for.
But he was humble. He remembered students. He remembered who they were, what they talked to him. Lily had spoken to him on several occasions last year, during Prefect meetings, and even though she'd been a little fifth year, his firm gaze on her while she timidly offered her ideas had made her feel an equal.
It had made her respect for him deepen all that much.
He'd continued speaking, though.
"The world outside is sown with distrust and discord, and I hope that here we will strive to combat that with love, trust, and understanding."
He was asking a lot of some of the students, Lily thought, her gaze wandering over to the Slytherin table. When she caught sight of Severus staring at her, his eyes widening when their eyes met, she hastily looked back at the headmaster.
"I will not promise that you have come to a safe place," Dumbledore said gravely, shaking his head. "Many dangers lay within the walls of Hogwarts. Some we encounter outside of ourselves, and some we create within. Some lurk deep in the forests which I must remind students every year not to go into." His eyes twinkled as he looked back at the fractured Marauders. "But I will promise you that all our teachers and staff are here for you. We are all united, and we will bring with us love, trust, and understanding. Whatever the danger is, we will stand together in the face of it."
The hall was silent, all staring at Dumbledore. It was more grave and serious than any talk he had ever given in Lily's memory. It made the danger and the strife in the world outside seem more real. Hogwarts always seemed like a little bubble that the students could escape into—but Dumbledore was reminding them that the danger was inside as well, that they brought it with them. She wanted to glare at the Slytherin prefects now, scolding them for the discord they had already sown at the prefects meeting.
"Unless, of course, you incur Mr. Filch's wrath by breaking one of the eighty-seven—no, eighty-nine—rules that he has posted on the seven foot long parchment hanging outside of his door," Dumbledore said in a very serious voice, gesturing to the cranky caretaker in question. "Then you have only yourself to thank for that situation."
Nervous laughter rippled through the house tables, breaking up the tension as Dumbledore continued with the lighter aspects of his speech. He reminded them of the two new rules that Filch had decided to instate this year. Plants from Greenhouse Three were not to be carried anywhere within the castle walls unless with explicit written permission from Professor Sprout herself.
Lily scowled at that rule, casting a sideways look at a beaming James Potter down the table. He and he alone had been the reason for that rule, when he'd tried to give her one of the Poisonheart flowers for Valentine's last year.
In the process, he'd accidentally ruptured one of the delicate red hearts that gave the plant its name. The resulting bile that had poured forth from the plant had dissolved most of the desks in three classrooms in the luckily abandoned east wing of the fourth floor.
And he'd tried to make some romantic gesture out of it, claiming that he melted just like those desks when he saw Lily. He'd served five detentions, in addition to helping Filch rebuild the desks for those classrooms without magic.
None of Dumbledore's other announcements were as large as his declaration of unity. He introduced the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor Imelda Robinson, a woman nearly as short as Flitwick and seemingly twice as wide. She beamed at everyone as if she had just won a prestigious award, a small pink hat cocked sideways on her head.
"Did anyone tell her that no one's held the position for longer than a year in over a decade?" Marlene muttered, sitting next to her.
"She looks as if someone just made her Minister of Magic," Alice said, shaking her head. "I feel bad for her."
"She looks nice. Maybe the streak will end," Frank said optimistically.
Lily had her personal doubts about that. She didn't know what seemed to make the DADA position cursed, but it was true. No one had ever held the position for longer than a year, in her own time at Hogwarts.
Finally, Dumbledore finished his announcements, and the true feast began as food began appearing up and down the length of the table.
Even though she had needed to be alone today in her carriage, Lily was glad for the company of her friends as they began to eat. The talk was light and merry.
"Did you hear that Shelly and Gabe hooked up over the summer?" Marlene asked, glancing at Lily as she heaped more potatoes onto her plate.
Lily gasped. "Shelly Divers? I thought she was dating Adrian Clearwater!"
Alice snickered. "She was."
"Until she and Gabe hooked up over the summer," Marlene said through a mouthful of potatoes. She swallowed. "Alice, did you hear about Lizzy Tillman and Luke Darling snogging at the end of summer bash that James threw?"
Alice frowned. "No, but I saw her snogging Will."
"Did she snog both of them at the same party?" Lily demanded. She'd been woefully out of touch with her friends over the summer, and even though Potter always invited her to his parties, she had no practical way to get there. She wouldn't go for him, of course, and would avoid him if she could, but she'd have liked the opportunity to see her school mates over the summer.
"She snogged both of them and Monica Green," a man's voice offered helpfully from behind Lily and Marlene.
Lily set down her fork, feeling her blood rise at the sound of that voice. She knew it, knew it all too well.
"Are you serious, James?" Marlene demanded. "When did that happen?"
"Somewhere between her third and ninth shot of Firewhisky," James said, squeezing himself down on the bench next to Marlene. "Hey Frank, Alice. Lily."
Frank and Alice said their own greetings to James. Lily muttered something and looked down at her pudding, not wanting to meet Potter's eyes.
"Anyway, while you know I'm always down for a good gossip session," James said, clearing his throat. "Marlene, I wanted to let you know that I'll be holding Quidditch tryouts this Friday evening."
Lily's head came up, frowning at James. He was holding tryouts? She knew he played on the Gryffindor team, but the captain—
"No way!" Marlene said, punching James in the shoulder. "You got it? You're Captain?"
James grinned, brushing off imaginary dust from his shoulders in a casual gesture. "You're not surprised, are you?"
Marlene rolled her eyes. "Congrats, mate. I'll have to buy you a Butterbeer next Hogsmeade weekend."
"C'mon, you're seventeen. Make it a Firewhiskey."
Marlene shrugged. "Fine. As long as Rosmerta doesn't catch us."
"You're on." James and Marlene shook hands. "Hey, Evans, will you be joining us for these drinks? They're on me, apparently." He had leaned past Marlene to look at Lily.
She frowned at him. "While I might go for Marlene's company, I would most certainly not go for yours, Potter. And those drinks are not on you, they are an offer of congratulations from Marlene and you would be a prat to abuse her."
Marlene rolled her eyes. "Calm down, Lily. He was just offering. It might be fun. I'll even buy you a Firewhiskey if it'll get you to tolerate his presence."
Lily sniffed. "I'll be old enough to buy my own Firewhiskey soon, thank you very much."
The friendship between Marlene McKinnon and James Potter was one that mystified Lily. She could never understand how Mare could put up with that insufferable, arrogant git. It was an old argument between them.
Marlene claimed it was because they were both from old families. Their relationship had nothing to do with old blood, but the fact that they'd been raised in the same circles growing up, with some of the same expectations from their older, more conservative relatives. James understood that, she said.
Lily pointed out that Frank and Alice were also pureblood and good people, unlike James.
Marlene also said it was because they were both on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, so they'd spent plenty of time together at Hogwarts as well, and there was bonding that happened between teammates.
Lily was quick to point out that Potter and Black had each other on the Quidditch team, so they didn't need Marlene as a friend, and besides, Marlene never seemed to want to get friendly with Loren Sloper, the second string Keeper who was two years younger and kept asking her out on dates.
Marlene had also said that really, if Lily would sit down and get to know James, she would find that he wasn't so insufferable, but Lily never gave him that chance. Lily also pointed out that he wasn't asking Marlene out every five minutes and declaring his undying love for her.
At this point in the conversation, Marlene had stormed off in annoyance and Lily had been forced to apologize with chocolate from Honeyduke's and a promise to look over her next three Potions essays.
Lily hadn't asked her again why she was friends with James. Marlene had stopped trying to get her two friends to do more than exist in each other's presence. It worked.
James, it seemed, had only come over to tell Marlene about Quidditch tryouts, and then he'd returned to the other end of the table. Lily breathed out a sigh of relief when he left.
"You really have a problem with him, don't you," Frank observed. "I've never seen you get so uptight about anyone else."
Alice rolled her eyes. "It's ridiculous. I know he can be a bit of a jerk sometimes, but still. Lily can't relax around him."
"You know, a good shag would take care of that," Marlene said, pointing her spoonful of pudding at Lily.
"Marlene!"
Marlene shrugged. "Alice. Back me up here. Does a good shag get rid of excess, uptight energy?"
Lily blushed as Alice beamed at a chuckling Frank, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. "Definitely."
"I do not want to shag James Potter," Lily said, shaking her head and trying to get back to peacefully eating her putting.
"Doesn't necessarily have to be Potter," Marlene said thoughtfully. "Weren't you hanging out with Sirius today? He's pretty good looking."
"Marlene McKinnon!"
"Just saying."
Lily shook her head, pushing herself to her feet. "I'm heading up to to the dorm."
"Lily, don't—" Alice was trying to plead with her to stay, but the laughter ruined it.
Lily smiled at her two best friends to make sure that they knew it wasn't them. "Look, I'm just really tired, and it's been a long day. I want to turn in early to be ready for tomorrow. I'll see you for breakfast at seven?"
"Ungodly hour," Alice said, screwing up her face in distaste.
"But yes," Marlene said. "We'll see you in the common room."
Nodding, Lily waved to them and said her good byes. She started walking out of the hall, striding down the bench between the Gryffindor and the Ravenclaw table.
"Hey, Lily!"
Lily had almost reached the doorway when Sirius jogged up to her. He paused awkwardly next to her. "Erm…are you going up to the common room?"
Lily raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why Sirius was talking to her. Over his shoulder, she saw James glaring at the two of them. She looked away from him hastily and met Sirius's hopeful gaze. "Yes. Why?"
"You know the password?"
"I'm a prefect, Black. Of course I do."
Sirius nodded. "Can you tell me then? Once we're out of here," he added hastily.
"Remus knows it too, you know." The words were out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying, and both Sirius and Lily winced. "Sorry," she muttered. "But yeah. Come on." She turned and resumed her walk out of the hall. Struggling to find another topic of conversation, she finally settled on her cat. "So, you just let Leo go when you got in the castle, right?"
"'Twas a sad parting, but I did as you asked, milady."
Lily shook her head, resigning herself to Sirius's company as they passed the empty hourglasses that marked the House points. "Can you ever be serious?"
"I'm always Sirius."
Lily looked over to see Sirius had a dopey grin on his face, grinning with pride as he looked back at her, completely unabashed. "I walked right into that one, didn't I?"
"Don't feel bad. I use it every chance I get. James—" Sirius cut himself off, pursing his lips. "Well, anyway, get used to it."
After a second mention of the Marauders, conversation between the two of them became too strained to be salvaged. Lily contemplated how often Sirius referenced James, only to cut himself off. They were estranged, for some reason, but she didn't think it was Sirius's choice. They walked in silence to the portrait hole, stopping only when they reached the Fat Lady.
She raised an eyebrow when she saw them. She'd been in the middle of a glass of wine, shared with her friend Violet from a portrait of several druidesses. "You two are here early, aren't you?"
"I don't need any more reminders," Lily said, shaking her head. "I just want to go to bed early."
"As long as you have the password," the Fat Lady said primly, raising her glass to her lips and taking a deep sip.
"Mumpsimus," Lily pronounced firmly. Frank had told her and Remus the password while they'd ridden back in the carriage together.
In the common room, Lily stared awkwardly at Sirius. Were they supposed to do something together? Hang out? She'd just wanted to retreat to her room to read a bit and then hopefully fall asleep before everyone else returned.
"Well, thanks again," Sirius said lamely, gesturing towards the portrait hole. "I didn't want to wait until everyone else came back."
Lily nodded, feeling a bit sorry for the boy standing in front of her. Clearly he wasn't on good terms with the rest of the Marauders, and yet he still had to share a dorm with them. She wondered if he had also wanted to go to bed early to be asleep when they all returned. Or at least pretend to be.
A loud, indignant meow broke the silence, and Lily turned to see Leo padding towards her. He stopped next to her, stretching out his tail and reaching out with a paw to bat at her robes. She reached down and scooped him in her arms.
"Goodnight," Lily said, nodding her head to Sirius and cradling Leo against her chest. "See you tomorrow, then?"
He blinked at her. "What?"
"Classes?"
"Oh. Yeah. See you."
Giving him one last wave with a free hand, Lily turned and carried her cat back up to the dorms.
"He's behaving so strangely," Lily said to Leo, shaking her head as she nudged open her door with her shoulder. She dropped Leo onto her bed and he gave an indignant meow. "Oh hush, you. But I wonder what is going on with the Marauders."
She looked at Leo as if he might offer her answers. But the cat just looked at her, tail twitching, before he leapt off the bed to pounce on something halfway across the room.
"Thanks for all the help," Lily muttered.
Hope you enjoyed! If you want to leave a review, I love to chat!