~ Prologue ~

To a stranger, someone who did not know the ins and outs of Hogwarts in the glorious age of the nineteen-seventies, the current scene unfolding in car number six of the Hogwarts Express might have been alarming.

But to those who do know the ins and outs, or at least, paid attention to the letters sent from siblings or children attending their education at Hogwarts during this time, one might not be so surprised after all.

"Honestly, Potter, when will you get it through that thick skull of yours?" Lily demanded, crossing her arms, glaring at the boy in front of her as if she could not quite believe him. But, sadly, she could. This was Potter. Only he would have the audacity.

"Well," he said, with the air and look of someone desperately attempting to save face. "Maybe if you do go out with me, I'll be more obliged to—"

"Oh, that's rich," she interrupted, her voice dripping with annoyance. "Twice in five minutes. I think that must be some kind of record for you. Oh no," she corrected, smiling benignly at him. "There was that time last year that you asked me out on a date at least ten times in a minute."

"I'll admit that was an oversight," he admitted reluctantly, cheeks flaming. "But really, Evans, I don't ask you out that much."

She narrowed her eyes. It was true, of course. He at least didn't ask her out every day. But it was not the quantity of his obnoxious pursuing of her that bothered her so much. It was the quality.

Sure, he flirted with, or at her, more like, on a daily basis, but he seemed to hold out on asking her out until he had something, or someone, to ransom, or an elaborate prank to pull, or when he and his little friends could pull off a barber shop quartet to sing a love ballad to her (that, in particular, was at least memorable, if not humiliating.)

Which was why this was so peculiar to her, and caught her off guard. Off guard, because she had just had a little run-in with Severus, her old and former friend. Just her luck that Potter happened to spring upon her just as Severus was leaving her vicinity. Peculiar, because Potter never did anything by halves. He always made a show of it—asking her out where he could make an elaborate effort that, she suspected was most important, was visible to everyone and anyone who could possible be able to watch him.

"Why would I write you?" she cut him off. "I hate you more than anyone else I've met."

She regretted the words instantly, the moment they left her mouth. Immediately, his brows furrowed, and she could see a storm brewing just below the surface of his countenance. She felt guilt trickle down her back, engulfing her. I shouldn't have said that… she thought, I shouldn't have said any of it. And she wouldn't have. If not for the rawness that the run-in with Severus left in the pit of her stomach.

She sighed, preparing to apologize for her sharp, and untoward, and, dare she say it, untrue, words when he spoke again.

"Fine," he said shortly, running his hand irritably through his hair. He turned and walked stiffly away. She watched him leave, the guilty feeling not subsiding. She took a deep breath, preparing herself yet again, this time to hurry after him. But in a moment of weakness, stayed herself.

That would only encourage him. She regretted her words… but she almost would rather let him think her catty than encourage him to pursue her in such humiliating and self-serving ways. The last thing she wanted was the encourage Potter into thinking she was interested in him. But she should apologize.

But what did it matter? she asked herself dismally, resolving to sending him a letter once she got home, as she slid open the door to her compartment and slipped inside. He'll only irritate me again the next time we see each other—and I'll end up saying something cruel and untrue to him again.

"What did Potter want?" Marlene asked cheerily. "Ask you out again? Looked like the two of you were having a row."

"Oh," Mary said, frowning. "I hope you let him down easy, Lils… otherwise his summer is going to start off rather unfortunately."

"It won't be anything of the sort," Lily said, automatically gaining a dismissive voice. She sat down with a heavy sigh of contempt. "I'm sure he's forgotten about it already."

Marlene chuckled, before looking down at the game of Wizard's Chess she and Alice were playing. "Oh, shit," she muttered, as one of Alice's knights disemboweled her last pawn. Alice turned her attention to Lily, as Marlene focused hers on the board.

"Lily," Alice chastised. "I really think, Lily, you should be nicer to James. He's not a bad guy—"

"Oh, no," Lily said, a tad sarcastically. "He's not bad at all. Except for being an arrogant ass who's constantly hexing poor third years—"

"Slytherin third years," Marlene pointed out, as if this justified Potter and Black's constant actions.

"Doesn't matter," Lily insisted. "The point is, he an… an… absolute toerag."

"Nice," Marlene snickered. "Totally original, Lils. Not like you use that word to describe Potter every fifteen minutes. Get a dictionary.'

"Thesaurus," Lily retorted, rolling her eyes. "If you're going to use insults, at least use the right ones, harebrain." She quickly ducked the chocolate frog that Marlene tossed at her head, and all four girls giggled. The poor thing hopped desperately for the window, but before it was able to reach it, Alice snatched it up, nibbling on a webbed foot, much to Marlene's outburst of protest. "The point is," Lily continued, "The point is, I can't stand him. Potter."

"You absolutely can," Alice said, grinning slyly at her. "Don't think I don't see you goggling at him when you think no one's looking."

Lily's face flushed and she glared at her friend.

"Just think, Lily," Marlene said, scowling as Alice's queen took her king. "With Alice gone next year, you won't have anyone making keen observations about how much you want to suck Potter's—"

"Oh, don't talk like that," Mary interrupted, blushing deeply.

"What?" Marlene raised an eyebrow. "It's true, isn't it Lils?"

"It's not," Lily said adamantly. "And Mary is right. That's crass."

"It's true, isn't it, Alice?" Marlene turned to Alice for support, and the other girl winked at her. "I personally don't see why you're into him, Lils," Marlene continued, making a face. "But I don't really get why anyone would want to date a boy," she added, as a thoughtful afterthought. "They're all prats."

"Frank isn't," Alice said dreamily.

"Oh, yes he is," Marlene said, waving her wand, the chess board resetting itself. "He's male, thereby by default, he's a prat."

"You're a prat," Alice retorted, her voice playful.

Marlene made a great show of rolling her eyes. "I just hope I do well on my NEWTs next year," she said, looking a little worried. "I'm so jealous of you, Alice. Early acceptance into the Auror's Program…" she sighed dreamily, "That's got to be some kind of record…"

"Well, I won't be an Auror for a few years," Alice said dismissively. "I may have passed some of the preliminary tests, but I've got to take the others, and then three long years of training before—"

"Yeah," Marlene said, grinning broadly at her. "But think… three long years with Frank."

Alice blushed, but it didn't stop her from sniggering along with Marlene.

Lily tuned out her friends' conversation as she stared out the window, watching as the train set off from Hogsmeade station and began to pick up speed. Her and Potter's 'row' returned to the forefront of her attention, as guilt once again began to make itself uncomfortably known to her.

She hated how cruel she could be to him sometimes. It wasn't that she hated him. In fact, though she would never admit it out loud, to anyone, let alone her smug friends, and never to Potter himself, there was some truth to with her friends liked to tease her with.

She would write him a letter this summer. Apologize.

But for now, she would put him out of her mind.

And enjoy the start of her holiday.

"Well," Marlene said irritably, as Alice took her King yet again. "One thing is certain. I'm glad you're gone next year, Alice, because I'm sick of losing at chess all the time."

To be continued…

Hi! Here is my Lily and Sirius Bromance story! While the story will center around Lily and James' relationship (i.e., getting together, and perhaps what happens afterwards,) it will be through the eyes of Lily and Sirius, and will focus quite a bit on their budding friendship.

I've been wanting to write a Marauder's Era fic since I was about eleven/twelve years old, so to satisfy my former pre-teen childhood self, this story will be a little tropey ;) But hopefully it won't be too obnoxious haha

(SIDE NOTE: The image for this fic is Lily and James kissing, not Sirius. I wanted to use that illustration because I'm proud of how it turned out, but I just realized it could at first glance be construed as Lily and Sirius kissing. It's James, not Sirius haha)

Thanks again for reading!

I'd love to hear if you'd like to read more, and, as always, I hope you have a wonderful day!