Endings and Beginnings

A cool June breeze curled over Lily's face as she leaned over the balcony, breathing deeply. The stuffy atmosphere of the party raging in the Gryffindor common room below had driven her outside to seek fresh air. She leaned against the railing, sipping her butterbeer and lost in thought when she was interrupted by a giggly voice.

"Lils! You'll never guess what just happened!" Marlene Smith cried gleefully. "Ooh, it was amazing!"

Lily turned around at the interruption to see her friend smiling broadly. She couldn't help but also smile, asking, "Well, what was it?"

"David Vance kissed Emmeline! They were talking in the corner when he finally just swooped in and did it! Oh, and I do believe they disappeared soon after that," Marlene finished slyly.

"I can't believe it! Emmeline thought she'd never get her chance before the end of the year!"

"Oh, I know! I'm going to go find Dorcas to tell her too. Bye!" Marlene rushed away, back into the throng of people dancing.

Lily waved her on, then turned back to the balcony. Her thoughts lingered on Emmeline and David for a moment, who had apparently joined Alice and Frank in the world of happy couples. Lily had not had a steady boyfriend yet, even though she had dated Randy Jones from Ravenclaw a bit at the beginning of the year. He had turned out to be a complete nightmare, becoming very jealous of any boy who tried to talk to Lily. Since then, she, along with her friends Mary, Dorcas, Emmeline, and Marlene, had remained single for most of sixth year. She'd never thought about it much, but since Petunia had gotten engaged a month ago, her mind couldn't help but wonder if she was destined to find love. It seemed like no guys noticed her. Even James Potter had ceased his unrequited declarations of love to instead chase other girls. Lily sighed ruefully. I need to get rid of these depressing thoughts. Honestly, you're supposed to be enjoying a party. Maybe a cute boy wandered in while I was up here…

Turning to leave, Lily was nearly knocked over by one James Potter practically running onto her balcony, face flushed and hair a wild mess. "Hey!" she cried out, irritated. "What in the world are you doing?"

James leaned over the railing, breathing hard and attempting to readjust his clothes and glasses. He looked up at Lily as though he hadn't realized she was there.

"Ooh, hey there, Evans. I, uh, came to escape Sirius's singing." James tried to look innocent, but Lily was having none of it.

"Oh, really," she scoffed. "I seem to remember you frequently encouraging Sirius to sing late at night. Loudly. I can't see you getting bothered by it now." She glared at him pointedly. "What is it, Potter?"

James sighed, then reluctantly admitted, "I'm trying to avoid Claire. She's convinced we should get back together."

Lily stifled a laugh. Poor James Potter, hiding from one of his many exes. Trying to muster up a sympathetic look, she asked, "But didn't you break up a while ago? Surely you have some new girlfriend to prove her wrong."

At that, James's cheeks flushed darker. He muttered, "Well, no, not exactly." Lily's surprise must've registered on her face, for then he continued, "What's it to you, Evans?"

"Nothing! It just seems like you've dated a new girl practically every month this year, and now you're staying single? I'm merely noting a pattern, is all."

James pretended to look hurt. "I didn't come here to be mocked by you, Evans. Besides, shouldn't you be inside, enjoying the party? I heard from a little bird that there's going to be a big surprise later…" He winked at Lily as she huffed and left James alone on the balcony, where she caught a last glimpse of him slumped against the railing.

Lily was a bit puzzled by James's behavior regarding Claire, but soon put it out of her mind upon rejoining her friends, who were clustered in the middle of the dancing area (which was little more than the area with the least amount of furniture to get in the way), gyrating wildly to some wizarding pop music. But she had scarcely been there more than ten minutes when James's surprise announced itself.

Small explosions of golden glitter and miniature dragon fireworks burst from all around the room. Many poured straight down from the ceiling, lighting up the whole room in a glow and showering people in gold. Others launched from beneath furniture, often hitting an unsuspecting partygoer in the butt. Although usually disapproving of the pranks James and his friends put together, there really no harm done and Lily couldn't help but shake with laughter as Sirius turned a chair just right so that a firework launched right at Peter Pettigrew's chest and splattered him with sparkles.

Unfortunately, soon after the loud explosions began, McGonagall arrived to break up the festivities. Despite it being the end of the year, she didn't show any mercy as she Vanished the remaining fireworks, glitter, and food someone had pilfered from the kitchens. Many of the students groaned in disappointment, but everyone quickly went to bed rather than risk a detention on the last days of term.

Lily reluctantly dragged herself up the stairs to her dormitory along with her friends. She hadn't realized that it was nearly two in the morning, and she had early morning prefect duties the next day. She flopped onto her squishy bed and promptly fell asleep.

xxxxxxx

Lily was awoken by a violent shaking, courtesy of Dorcas. She blearily opened her eyes, only to squeeze them shut again because of the bright sunlight streaming through the window.

"Mmmmrghh. Whaaa…" she mumbled vaguely.

"Remus has been shouting up here for five minutes! He says you're going to be late for…"

"Lost and Found duty," Mary interjected.

"Yeah. That," Dorcas said. "We all want him to shut up and also you need to get up, so hurry!"

Lily jolted awake once she realized what was going on, and could faintly hear Remus's intermittent yelling for her to come down. "Crap, crap, crap. I knew I would do this… jeez, where is my cloak?" She rummaged about, still blinking the sleep out of her eyes.

Marlene leaned over from her bed, throwing Lily her cloak. "Here, just use mine. Now go downstairs quickly, and kindly tell Remus to shut up."

Lily nodded her thanks, slipped on shoes, wrapped her hair up in a bun and stabbed it with her wand, and ran downstairs. Thankfully, she had slept in her clothes, so at least she wasn't in her pyjamas, and now she had Marlene's cloak. It swished on the floor around her since Marlene was a good four inches taller, which wasn't a big deal until Lily caught her foot on the hem and tripped.

It was almost an out-of-body experience. Lily saw herself fall down three stairs, right into Sirius, which knocked her off her feet and into James, who caught her. They had been chatting with Remus while he waited for her, who had fortunately stepped back and not been hit by Lily as she flailed down the stairs.

Lily stumbled to get her balance as she quickly realized that James had his arms halfway around her. She wriggled out of his grip and turned away, cheeks flushed red from embarrassment.

"Well, that was a spectacular entrance, Evans. Feel free to do an encore," Sirius drawled. He looked unruffled by Lily slamming into him a moment ago.

She whipped around and glared at him angrily. "Shut it, Black."

Remus chuckled lightly. "I wouldn't cross her in this state, Pads. I believe she could beat you up if provoked further."

Sirius merely raised an eyebrow. Lily shot him one last ugly look and then glanced at Remus.

"Ready to go, then?"

Before Remus could say anything, James interrupted. "But are you sure you're all right, Evans? You wouldn't want to go falling into anyone else's arms. Why, if you do it to poor Remus, he might just fall over!"

"I'm perfectly fine. In fact, I'd feel great if we could just get on with our assignment?" This was accompanied by a pointed look at Remus. He got the hint and smiled apologetically at his mates, then followed Lily out the portrait hole and towards McGonagall's classroom.

xxxxxxx

About fifteen minutes into the tedious task of sorting lost Gryffindor objects by type, magical properties, importance, and so on, Remus struck up a friendly conversation with Lily. They talked about their goals in life, plans for school next year and such. Suddenly Lily felt pressed to ask him about something she'd wondered for a while.

"Remus, why do you hang out with James and Sirius? I mean, you're smart, and more relaxed, and you don't antagonize people incessantly. I just don't get it."

Remus laughed quietly. "It does seem strange, doesn't it, that we ended up together. But James and Sirius… they're also incredibly clever, and they are some of the most loyal and deeply caring people I know, despite their several layers of snark and ego covering it. I… don't have a great home life, and they're always there for me when times are tough. And while it may seem like I'm the boring voice of reason sometimes, I really enjoy planning the pranks we do together."

"I guess…" Lily said, unconvinced. "They just always seem so immature. And I know, I've known them since they were just eleven. But we're seventeen now. I don't understand their antics."

"The interesting thing is, if you pay attention, they really are growing up. I think even James could surprise you. Just give it time." With that strange statement, Remus busied himself quietly in sorting items and Lily puzzled over the unfamiliar possibility that James Potter was maturing.

xxxxxxx

The last day of term and the end-of-year feast flew by, and too soon Lily was on the Hogwarts Express, heading back into the Muggle World. Her compartment was filled with the usual gang, minus Emmeline, who had snuck away early on to snog David Vance.

"I can't believe this is the summer before our last year at Hogwarts," Mary murmured. "We've all grown up together, and now it's ending."

"Hush, you! We've still got a whole summer and a whole year. Plus, we can now all officially do magic outside of school! Isn't that great?" Dorcas chimed in optimistically.

"Yeah… I can't imagine my sister being too thrilled about that, though," said Lily dismally.

"Hey, don't stress. She's living with her husband anyway. You can show off to your parents! You know they're proud of you. Mine sure are, at least. They love learning about the wizarding world," Mary said.

Lily nodded, realizing that she would not have Tuney at home this time. It might get lonely

"Hey guys, you should all come visit over the summer! We don't have to worry about anybody but my parents being home, really. It would be awesome!"

The other girls voiced their delight at Lily's idea. They agreed upon the first week of July to stay at her home. Lily smiled happily. She didn't need to worry about boys, or the future, or James Potter… she had her circle of friends, and they were embarking into adulthood soon.