"LILY!" Lily Evans flinched when she heard her mothers angry shout. She was 10 minutes off schedule and would surely be late for the Hogwarts Express if she didn't hurry. Lily grabbed some books, threw them into her trunk and slammed it shut. She yanked her trunk out to the hall and lugged it down.
"Lily, what have you been doing up there?" Lily's mother, Eliza demanded.
"I'm sorry, I woke up late. The bloody alarm didn't go off." Lily panted, pushing her flaming red hair out of her eyes.
"Okay, well have you got everything? We're late already so you had better check you've got everything. We don't want to have to stop and come back."
"Yes I think I've got everything.." Lily replied. Her mother nodded and picked up Lily's trunk with surprising strength and walked off towards the car. Lily followed.
"MUM!" A yell came from inside the house just as Eliza Evans proceeded to lock up.
"Oh bloody hell, WHAT IS IT PETUNIA?" Eliza shouted.
"WHERE'S MY HAIR DRYER AND WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Lily could hear Petunia thundering down the creaky wooden stairs.
Eliza opened the door again.
"Tuney, I've told you a million times that your hair dryer is in the second drawer under your desk and I specifically told you last night that we would be leaving early this morning to send Lily to school. And your father left early for work." Eliza sighed.
"Oh. Alright then. Bye mum. Bye freak." Petunia turned on her heel and marched back upstairs as Lily rolled her eyes. Lily had learned long ago not to expect a gracious goodbye.
Lily debated on whether to shout back or keep silent. Her better judgement won over and Lily turned round and went to sit in the car.
Lily was silent the whole car ride which was not unusual as Lily kept most of her thoughts to herself.
They soon arrived at Kings Cross and Lily got out and went to the back of the car to get out her trunk. She dragged it out and into the station.
"Well, have a good time at school Lily. I'm very proud of you. Goodbye dear." Eliza smiled at her younger daughter. Lily smiled back up at her. They hugged briefly and then Eliza departed. Waving, Lily looked around to see if anyone was looking at her.
When Lily had deemed it safe, she dashed towards the barrier to Platform 9 3/4, trolley first.
Lily could not help smiling when she passed through. Witches and wizards of all ages milled around, saying goodbye to their families, catching up with friends or reading books.
Lily pushed her trolley towards the back of the train, where she and her friends usually sat. She took her trunk off the trolley and her cat, Myra off and went aboard the train.
"Hi Lily!" An eager fourth year said as she passed by. Lily recognized the girl but could not for the life of her remember the girls name. So instead Lily smiled and said;
"Hi there!" And went on as normal. Lily reached her usual compartment and slid the door open. Inside, sat Marlene McKinnon and Mary MacDonald.
"Hullo Lily." Marlene said looking up from her conversation with Mary.
"Hullo." Lily replied smiling at both girls. "Mary! Your hair, it looks absolutely gorgeous!"
Mary's hair had gone from blonde to brown and the effect was really quite striking, Lily thought.
Lily sat down and started talking to her room mates. A few minutes later the compartment slid open again. A beautiful blonde girl stepped inside. She had warm brown eyes and a smile that seemed to light up the room.
"Alice! How were your holidays?" Lily asked. Alice Prewett smiled happily.
"Oh it was great! We went to Greece and it was the most beautiful place I've ever seen." Alice replied.
"I stayed in England but I went to Cornwall. It was alright, nothing special. Oi! Did you hear? Sirius and Delia are dating now. Can you imagine? Delia, that one with glasses and boring brown hair. Don't you remember?" Mary said looking around at her friends, seeing the confusion on their faces.
"Oh! Yes I remember Delia, she's a prefect in Ravenclaw isn't she? She is quite ugly. Why would Sirius ever snog her?" Marlene asked.
"Honestly? I'm not quite sure. Perhaps he's run out of fit girls." Lily said with disgust. She frowned. Sirius Black was the biggest prat in the whole school, after Potter of course. She glared out the window as memories of James Potter flooded into her mind. That prat.
"Oh come off it Lily, he's not that bad." Alice told the redhead. Lily rolled her gigantic green eyes.
"Just like World War II was 'not that bad'" Lily replied but still, she smiled in spite of herself. Alice laughed.
Nobody spoke for a few minutes then Alice cleared her throat.
"Well, I better go. Frank asked me to meet him near the front and Hestia should be along soon, she said she would be chatting to Eloise before she came." Alice said.
Marlene and Mary frowned at each other.
"Eloise McHale? Why would Hestia talk to that bitch?" Mary asked angrily.
"Not sure. I think it's something to do with the tutoring Hestia is giving Eloise since she's such an idiot." Alice replied then slid out of the compartment.
Lily stared after her. Alice was her best friend and they used to spend every minute together even though she was a year ahead but ever since she started dating that Frank Longbottom in 5th year, they've been inseparable. Not that Lily didn't think it was sweet. Of course it was. Frank and Alice were the reason she believed in love. They were so sweet together and they were positively and utterly in love. Head over heels for each other.
It was that Lily missed her closest friend.
"Eloise McHale is such a bitch. Even if Hestia was tutoring her I don't see the need to talk to that bitch. She kissed my fucking boyfriend." Mary huffed angrily. Clearly, she was still in pain from last years incident when Eloise McHale had snogged Harvey Hodgson. Marlene nodded.
"Yeah she always was a tart even in first year. Did you know, she told me her first snog was when she was 9 years old. Can you believe that? The bloody slut." Marlene said, hoping to make Mary feel better. Instead it seemed to make her angrier.
"9 years old? And I thought my first kiss was early! I was 11. I cannot believe she got her first kiss earlier than me. Bloody hell." Mary glared into space and crossed her arms.
Hestia Jones stepped inside the apartment, her towering height came as quite a shock. Being 5"6 the last time everyone saw her, it was a big surprise to see her 5"9 height now.
"Hestia? Is that really you? I can't see you from all the way down here." Marlene joked. Really, Marlene wasn't very short, being 5"8 herself but she was always the one to add some humor.
"Oh my god Hestia. What did you do? Take steroids or something?" Mary asked, her grey eyes wide open.
"Oh shut up you lot. I've only grown 3 inches. It's not my fault you're all 5"4." Hestia said even though she smiled.
"I am not 5"4 anymore! In fact, I'm 5"7 now." Mary said proudly.
"Oh shit. Now I'm the only one below the height of 5"6." Sighed Lily.
"You can always take some steroids like Hestia did?" Mary suggested, winking.
"I'd rather stay 5"5, thank you."
"Oh but they work really well, as demonstrated here." Mary pointed at Hestia and everyone laughed.
A comfortable silence filled the compartment as everyone settled down. Mary and Marlene started talking quietly and Lily and Hestia read.
~oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo~
Lily stepped off the train into the night, her friends right behind her. She dragged her trunk towards the carriages and grimaced slightly at the sight of the creepy thestrals. She had of course, heard about them but this was the first time she saw them. She had seen her grandmother die in hospital. Lily felt tears come to her eyes at the thought of her grandma who had passed that summer.
Lily clambered aboard and her friend came and sat inside as well. They were about to go when the door opened again and James bloody Potter and Sirius Black climbed on board.
"Hey Evans, Marlene, Mary. Jones." Potter frowned slightly at Jones, remembering their little fight last year.
"Hey Marlene! Mary! Ohh Evans, you've grown! Bloody hell Hestia, did you take steroids? You've grown more than Evans here!" Sirius said, smirking at all of them. Lily shifted uncomfortably.
"Why the hell does everyone think I took steroids? It's been three sodding months, of course I grew a little!" Hestia replied angrily.
"A little? A little? You're mental, that's not a little." Sirius said as he sat down between Mary and Lily. James took a seat next to Marlene.
"What are you doing here anyway?" Lily asked.
"Well, if you must know Evans, there happened to be no more space in the other carriages and Sirius and I being the gentleman we are, offered to come here so Moony and Wormtail could go on the other last carriage. Besides, who wouldn't want to come sit with you Evans?" James winked. Lily rolled her eyes.
Lily shifted again, her eyes darting around. Marlene coughed and Mary smiled.
"Soo... Black. I heard you're with whats her name now..." Mary said, trying to remember the name.
"Delia Hayes." Marlene told her.
"Oi, that's right. Have you gone blind or is there some other strange reason you're dating her?" Mary asked. Sirius smirked.
"What do you mean have I gone blind? She's really good looking." Sirius said.
"Well that's official then, Black's lost his mind." Mary said.
"Lost my mind? Oi! That's right, you haven't seen her yet have you? Bloody hell, you'll freak out when you do."
"Why? What does she look like now?" Marlene asked.
"Ahh, you'll just have to wait and see, McKinnon." Sirius smirked.
"Bloody arse."
An uncomfortable silence fell upon the group and Lily prayed for someone to say something. Finally James did (though he was not really the person Lily would've wanted to start a conversation, she was grateful for once to him).
"So, where's Alice?" James asked, looking as uncomfortable as Lily felt.
"She's gone off with Frank." Lily replied when no one else did.
"Longbottom? Merlin, they spend every minute together!" James said.
"Well what do you expect? They've been in love with each other since 2nd year!" Lily exclaimed.
The redhead turned away again. James stared at her then turned to look at his hands. The silent treatment once again. He hated that the most. When she was angry it was actually funny but when she was silent, it made him feel terrible. When she was mad at him and shouted he knew what she was thinking but now, he couldn't figure out one thing that she was thinking. And he hated that. It made him feel guilty about the things he had done. And quite frankly, James didn't like feeling guilty. He never did. He never had. Not until Lily Evans of course though.
They arrived up at Hogwarts and they got out of the carriage and went up to the Great Hall.
Mary, Lily, Marlene and Hestia found some seats next to Mabel Bennett and Gillian Lee. Lily, Mary and Marlene's 2 other room mates.
"Hullo!" Gillian said, grinning. Her curly black hair was tied back in a ponytail and her blue eyes glittered happily.
"Hello Gill!" Lily smiled back.
"Hi Lily. Marlene, Mary, Hestia." Mabel waved at Lily and nodded at the rest.
Mabel Bennett was the last member of their dormitory. She was beautiful but spiteful. She had straight blonde hair and golden brown eyes. She was smart, peaceful and yet somehow, idiotic. She knew nothing of how to treat people and cared only for herself. Lily was the only person in their dorm that she didn't dislike. Mabel was popular with the boys but most unpopular with the girls. She had only two friends that were girls, Emma Vanity and Clara Moore. And even them, did not like her very much.
Gillian Lee on the other hand was liked far much better than Mabel Bennett. Gillian was pretty, more striking than beautiful though. She was nice, helpful and sweet. She cared for others and respected everyone in their individual way. Gillian had a father who was a quarter Chinese and three quarters Irish. Her mother was fully English though. Her black hair was curly and silky and her blue eyes were bright and twinkling.
Lily wished she was more like one or the other. Gillian was completely sweet and Mabel was completely mean. Lily was just in the middle. Mean to Potter, Black and Pettigrew. Sweet to Mary, Marlene, Hestia, Alice, Frank, Gillian and Remus. She had in the middle between bright green and dark green eyes and hair that was neither fire red nor orangey ginger. She was just in the middle of everything.
Lily frowned at her own thoughts. She loved to be optimistic and looking like she did, could not afford to compare herself to others without risking her self esteem.
She was quite wrong though. Lily was beautiful. With big green eyes, obvious red-orange hair and a petite frame she was really much more beautiful than Mabel Bennett.
"So, how were your holidays, Lily?" Gillian asked. Lily smiled.
"Oh they were quite good. Aside from the fact that my sisters oaf of a boyfriend proposed. They're getting married next year. It's going to be utterly dreadful. And she's already planning the bridesmaid dresses. And guess what colour? Pink." Lily shuddered and Gillian laughed.
"Oh merlin. Pink with your hair! What is your sister thinking?" Gillian said, still laughing.
"She probably doesn't want me in the wedding so it doesn't matter so much.." Lily replied.
"Oh she can't possibly kick you out of her wedding! That's evil." Gillian said, looking angry now.
"Well that's what Tuney is. Evil." Lily said. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Lily? Can I talk to you? Please!?" A familiar voice said. Lily turned and looked up at Severus Snape her former best friend. They'd met before Hogwarts because he lived near her and had explained to her that she was a witch. But he had called her a mudblood. The worst name for muggle borns. Lily glared at him.
"No you cannot talk to me. I'm busy and I'm talking to my friend." Lily replied angrily then turned back around.
"Lily please. You don't understand." Snape said.
"Yes I do. You think I'm filth. Please. Just leave me alone." Lily said.
"Lily don't you understand!? I'm sorry! I said I'm sorry! When will you forgive me! Listen to me!" Snape said desperately.
"OI! SNAPE! LEAVE EVANS ALONE!" James bellowed as he came closer. Lily turned to see him walk up to Snape with the Marauders at his side and punch Severus Snape right in the nose.