Disclaimer: I don't own the wonderful world of Harry Potter, so if there are characters, locations and other things you recognize, J.K. Rowling owns them.
Chapter 1: Boys Are Such Obnoxious Jerks
"You're kidding! He did?" squealed Lily Evans. Lily and her friends, Alice Robertson and Sienna Lawson, were sitting around in their compartment in the Hogwarts Express, heading to Hogwarts to start their sixth year. It was a hot and humid day and the sunlight streamed through the open window.
Sienna, who was fanning herself with a copy of Witch Weekly, was doubtful. "Liz, I'm happy for you, but it's kind of a known fact that Frank Longbottom has liked you since you two met. And it only took him years to admit that? No offense, but that's not exactly a turn-on."
Lily rolled her eyes in mock annoyance. It was typical of Sienna to find something wrong with the situation. "Sienna, you are such a pessimist." She said, fishing out an ice cube from her pumpkin juice and dropping it in her mouth.
Sienna just smiled slightly. "No, Lil, I'm being realistic."
"At least it's not just a rumor anymore. The fact that Frank likes you, I mean. The question is, do you like him, too?" asked Lily, glancing pointedly at Alice.
Alice blushed. "Well, erm…" she stammered. "Yeah, I guess."
"'Yeah, I guess.'" said Sienna, shaking her head in distaste. "What kind of answer is that? You really don't want to give that answer when he's asking you if you love him, I'm telling you."
Alice blushed harder. Lily stepped in before Sienna could let her mouth go on rampage. "C'mon Sienna, he's not bound to ask that question anytime soon."
"Oh, really? I'm serious—" Sienna started to say before she was interrupted by a voice outside the compartment.
"No, I'm Sirius."
Lily, Alice and Sienna turned and saw James Potter, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin standing outside the door.
"What are you doing here?" the three girls demanded in unison.
"We just thought you might want some male company, girls," drawled Sirius, strolling into the compartment. James followed him in, rumpling his already messy jet-black hair. Lily scowled at the gesture.
"Well, you thought wrong," snapped Sienna. She pointed to the door. "Now, get out." James and Sirius ignored her and settled down on the spare seats, which, unfortunately, were on either side of her.
Lily glanced at Remus, who shrugged apologetically and stepped in the room. He settled down on the seat across James. Sienna smiled at Remus, but he seemed to have trouble returning it.
"So, what are we talking about here?" asked Sirius conversationally, looking around the room.
Lily rolled her eyes. Alice sighed. Sienna, with a vindictive glint in her eye, put a hand on her waist and accidentally-on-purpose poked Sirius' ribs with her elbow. Lily and Alice stifled giggles. Leave it to Sienna to do something about the situation.
Sirius swore, rubbing his side. "Come on, don't be so unfriendly. I was getting really interested in your conversation."
Alice blushed deeply. "You were listening to us?" hissed Lily, her green eyes shooting daggers.
Sirius took on a mock innocent expression and he raised his hands. "Hey, it wasn't my fault you three were shrieking so loudly."
"Why were you outside the compartment anyway?" Lily shot at them.
"No reason we shouldn't be." answered James before Sirius could even open his mouth. "So would you please get off our case?"
"No, not unless you get out of here." Sienna snapped back, crossing her arms.
"What if we won't?" said Sirius, fixing a challenging stare at Sienna.
Sienna pulled out her wand. "Then I guess," She said with a wicked smile. "We'll have to do it the hard way."
"Ouch," complained James, rubbing his backside as they entered their compartment. "Why'd you have to go and annoy Sienna Lawson, Padfoot?"
Sirius winced as he limped to a chair and plopped on it. "Who would've thought she could throw both of us out the compartment at once? We're lucky she didn't change our appearance into something nasty or anything." He shuddered at the thought.
"Of course she could take on both of you; she is one of the smartest students in Hogwarts." reminded Remus, chuckling. He walked into the compartment and settled comfortably in a seat.
Sirius scowled at him. "How did you get away from her without a scratch, Moony?"
James rolled his eyes. "Bet she just wants to rub off the fact that Moony's a prefect while we're not." Then his expression became thoughtful. "Either that, or she likes him, too." He added, grinning knowingly at Remus, who flushed and glared at James.
"You like her?" blurted out Sirius, jumping up from his seat.
James stared up at him. "Whoa, man, calm down. It's not like it's the end of the world if Remus likes someone."
'No, it's not,' agreed Sirius silently, looking out the window of the compartment. 'The only problem is that that someone is Sienna, of all people.' He realized James and Remus were still staring at him expectantly so he tried to calm down. He cleared his throat. "I meant that he should have told me." he amended.
James grinned. "You're not exactly the best secret keeper, Padfoot. That's why he didn't tell you." He explained. "Anyway, Remus didn't tell Wormtail, too."
Remus frowned. "Speaking of Peter, where is he?" he asked, looking around, as though Peter Pettigrew might suddenly appear inside the compartment.
"Dunno. I haven't seen him at all. Not even at the platform." said James.
Sirius shrugged distractedly. "Oh, well, he'll turn up sooner or later. C'mon, let's play Exploding Snap."
During the rest of the train ride, the incredibly hot weather gradually turned cool and a fine, misty drizzle had started by the time they were disembarking from the train. The three Marauders ran to the horseless carriages waiting to take the students to the castle.
When they reached the Hogwarts castle, heavy raindrops started to fall, causing them to make a dash up the stone steps and inside the castle doors.
Lily, Alice and Sienna had just entered the Great Hall when a tall, handsome sixth-year Ravenclaw stepped in front of them, causing the three girls to stop.
"Hey, ladies," drawled Russell Newton in what he clearly thought was a charming voice. "Fancy meeting you here."
Sienna laughed derisively. "Of course we would be here, Newton. It's the start of the school year," she said, as if he were the stupidest person in the world.
Lily nudged her and received a glare from Sienna in return. "Hi, Russell." greeted Lily. "How was your summer?"
Sienna yawned and tuned out as Russell launched into a long, boring story of his family's vacation in France. 'Great,' she thought, glaring at a bunch of seventh year Hufflepuff boys who whistled and waved, trying to catch her attention. 'Boys are such obnoxious jerks. And this Russell Newton's the worst.' She rolled her eyes and turned back to her friends, who were still engrossed in Russell's story.
"Hey, guys, we better sit down at our table," said Sienna, interrupting Russell in midsentence. He glared at her, trying to appear intimidating, but she just smiled serenely.
"Yeah, let's go." agreed Alice reluctantly. Sienna immediately marched off to the Gryffindor table. Alice and Lily followed her, with Lily looking over her shoulder at Russell and waving.
"I don't get why you're so upset," said Lily when they had settled down on their seats. "Russell's just being polite."
Sienna scoffed. "He's a total jerk, basing from personal experience."
"What exactly did he do to you, anyway?" asked Alice, trying to diffuse the tension.
"Oh, nothing much other than treating me like I'm dirt." Sienna told them sarcastically. "When we were dating, he was always flirting with other girls, always giving them more attention than necessary. So, like any girl in her right mind, I ditched him."
"But you didn't have any actual proof he cheated on you, did you?" questioned Lily, eyeing her skeptically.
Sienna frowned at her. "Lily, don't be dense. Do you think I'll wait to see him kissing another girl before I dump him?" she said. She could not believe her friends would act like this, especially Lily.
"Sienna, calm down." Alice cut in as Lily opened her mouth, looking furious. "Lily didn't mean it that way. Look, could we just forget about this?"
Sienna set her mouth in a tight line but did not say anything. Lily looked away from her friends, a slight frown on her face. Alice felt her shoulders slump. It looked like she had a bit of talking to do.
A/N: This chapter doesn't exactly center on the James/Lily pairing but rest assured that'll develop in later chapters. I'm
just developing the plot a little bit. Thanks to my friends (who are fellow fanfic writers), who acted as personal betas.
Please read and review!