First year Lily Evans knew this:
In order to cast Wingardium Leviosa you must swish and flick. Potions is interesting but Sev is the only other person who thinks so. Hagrid is much more kind than he looks and his cooking is terrible. Marlene McKinnon is wicked funny and becomes Lily's first friend. Every Thursday morning on the way to Transfiguration the stairs will move and Lily will be late. James Potter and Sirius Black think they're awfully clever. Gryffindor flies circles around the other house's Quidditch teams. You don't hang out with people in other houses but apparently it wasn't always like that. Hogwarts was home.
Second year Lily Evans knew this:
History of magic is a good class to catch up on sleep. Mr. Filch hates the students and Lily wanted to kick his ugly cat anyway. Frank Longbottom is two years older than her and very handsome. The portrait of the Fat Lady enjoys making up ridiculous passwords. Severus' friends don't like her because her parents are muggles. Marlene is her best friend, even when she tells Lily that Sev is evil. James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew are good at making her laugh. She is quite good at charms. Hogwarts was home.
Third year Lily Evans knew this:
She'd rather cut off her hand than admit it, but James Potter is phenomenal at Transfiguration. The greenhouses are relaxing when you can hear the rain pitter patter on the roof while dealing with dangerous plants. Remus Lupin misses class a lot but Lily really does believe his mom is sick. She has to study in the library because the fire in the common room makes her sleepy. There has been a lot of hexing in the corridors between houses and people are getting hurt. She could master anything in charms so fast Professor Flitwick made her practice with her the fourth years sometimes. The Marauders tried to curse Sev but Professor Slughorn caught them and gave them detention. Petunia won't talk to her anymore, except to call her a freak. Hogwarts was home.
Fourth year Lily Evans knew this:
Sev only hangs out with her when he knows his friends won't be around. She sometimes fails her defense against the dark arts test because Sirius is muttering the answers aloud behind her and she gets confused. The house elves in the kitchens make pudding just like her mom and don't mind when she comes down at two in the morning. Marlene is going steady with an older Ravenclaw whose friend likes Lily (they're both jerks though). James Potter tries to ask her out for the first time and she laughed so hard she accidently poked him in the eye with her wand. Gryffindor is going to lose the House Cup because their Quidditch team was so dismal for the first time in years. Professor Dumbledore is on friendly terms with Madam Rosmerta and she gives him free Butterbeer on Hogsemeade trips sometimes. Peeves has made it his personal mission to set up booby traps for the entire school and nowhere is safe. Hogwarts was home.
Fifth year Lily Evans knew this:
Severus is a rotten prat who ruined their friendship when he called her a mudblood in front of the whole school. Petunia no longer even speaks to her and Lily found out about her new boyfriend, Vernon, from her father in a letter. No one in her dorm knows about The Beatles until Lily brought them to muggle London and made them listen to an album at a record store over break. James Potter has an ugly, massive crush on her and she can't stand him ever since the scene at the lake. She is pretty sure that Severus was right about Remus being a werewolf. Being a prefect is a lot of work but at least she gets to boss around the nasty Slytherin boys. Slugclub parties are fun but Slughorn always asks why she won't bring Severus as a date anymore. She and Sirius like to talk about their family problems in the common room when they're supposed to be asleep. Hogwarts was home.
Sixth year Lily Evans knew this:
James Potter grew up a lot over summer (looks and personality wise). Divination is a load of bullshit and she can't believe she signed up to take it again. She and Marlene can sneak Firewhiskey into the dorms when they want to get sloshed. She hasn't spoken to Severus in months, and that's fine with her. She gets kicked out of the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw Quidditch game when she screams that the Ravenclaws tried to seduce her to get the team secrets from James. The Forbidden Forest is scary as shit and one should never go in there, even when she and Peter get dared to. Professor Slughorn doesn't make her work with Severus anymore even though he doesn't like when she works with Remus because they laugh too loudly in class. Her mom is dead and Oh God, she never thought anything could hurt so much. Hogwarts was home.
Seventh year Lily Evans knew this:
Being Headgirl means being mature, even when she's itching to try out some new hexes on the Slytherins. Marlene got her heart broken by a muggle boy and Lily isn't sure she'll ever believe in love again. It took her twenty-six consecutive tries to get the Patronus charm and she isn't sure why Peter and Remus are smirking so much. Some bloke named Voldemort is performing dark magic and rising to power in the Wizarding World and targeting people like her. She and Sirius are the best dancers in their house, which they back up when they swing dance at a party one time and the whole house claps for them. She is definitely dating James Potter and she is also probably in love with him, but keep that on the down low for now. She wants to work as a healer after Hogwarts but Professor McGonagall told her they might now hire muggleborns at the moment. She hasn't talked to Severus in two years but she doesn't really miss him anymore, especially since she saw him flinch when someone touched his left arm. Hogwarts was still home, but not for long.
