The loud chatter of excited witches and wizards echoed down the old streets, amplified by the sounds of footsteps on cobblestone. The smell of assorted foods, potions and magical creatures filled the air, creating an odd but pleasurable experience for the senses. Standing at the end of Diagon Alley was a fifteen year old girl with a shock of red hair and bright green eyes, scanning the crowd bustling about before her.
The pallid, stringy boy beside her couldn't look away from his friend, "You have that look on your face every time we come here."
Lily Evans turned to her friend, a bright smile on her face. "And it is just as wonderful every time we come. Come on, Sev, let's go to Gringotts." She made her way through the crowd, admiring all the shops as they passed. "Sev, I really need to get a new cauldron- you remember what happened to the last one, don't you?"
Her friend gave a small smile, "How could I forget? You lent it to that imbecile Pettigrew before the Potions final exam."
Lily laughed, covering her hands over her face for the slightest moment, "Such a disaster. I was devastated. Fortunately Professor Slughorn had an extra."
Severus scoffed, "You are one of his favorites."
Lily gave him a smirk, "You would be too if you wiped that sullen expression off your face once in a while. You're better in Potions than I'll ever be." The dark haired boy looked away, a light tinge of pink on his otherwise sallow face. Lily chuckled at his lack of response, as they passed Madam Malkin's. Gringotts loomed before them, and Lily suppressed the urge to rub her hands together in excitement.
When she was younger, her parents used to take their family to the Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach in Norfolk during the summers, but none of the rides could even compare to Gringotts. They walked inside, Lily waving to a few acquaintances as she and Severus stood in line for a goblin to assist them. Despite how delighted she was to see a few of her Slug Club cohorts, it didn't escape her notice how none of them even acknowledged her friend beside her. Though, attempting to get Severus to be more social was a losing battle. It simply wasn't in his nature.
About an hour later, after exchanging muggle money and adding more to her bank account, Lily and Severus stepped out into the sunlit cobblestone street. "Where first?" Lily asked, attempting to smooth down her hair (which had gotten out of control during the Gringotts cart ride).
Her friend didn't answer and was distractedly looking at the alleyway across the road from them, which made a sharp turn into darker, less-welcoming territory. A group of familiar Slytherin boys from their year were gathering by its edge, one of the most brutish looking ones, Flavius Avery, cupped his hands and shouted at them. "Snape! Get over here!"
Lily pursed her lips, looking at Severus expectantly. Green eyes met black in a silent battle that only lasted mere seconds, before Severus looked away. "I'll meet you at Madam Malkins in a half an hour, I promise," He murmured without even meeting her eye and shuffled off across the street, joining the group of boys that gave Lily chills.
Severus hung out with a very unpleasant crowd who enjoyed the less wholesome side of magic. They tormented muggleborns such as herself, though Lily usually managed to escape their ire, fortunately. But their ideology was frightening and Lily suspected they harbored dangerous resentments and a fanatical desire to join He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. While she didn't think Severus harbored this desire, she couldn't help but notice the influence his friends had on him. It began with the occasional disparaging remark on a particular muggle contraption, which was usually acceptable since many magical things functioned better. However, towards the end of the last year especially, Severus had said some things about muggles as a whole that simply made Lily uneasy. He always said that she was an exception, but that hardly made it acceptable.
And every time she attempted to speak to him about it, he barely listened or dodged the subject. It was beginning to become a problem Lily could not ignore, especially when all of her friends constantly questioned her association with a Death Eater 'groupie'. Frowning as she walked down the alleyway, the redhead made her way into Madam Malkin's.
She had certainly grown a fair bit since last year, and had a little more curvature going on than before, so new robes were certainly in order. Even more so since her love for potion making had ruined a few of her older robes. "New year, new robes." She muttered to herself, attempting to push out the feelings of irritation and hurt from Severus' abandonment.
She browsed the racks of robes, touching the fabrics as she went. Ideally, she needed a new set of black robes with a red trim, though she couldn't help but eye the flashier dress robes. What would she ever need them for? Her hand rested on the silky fabric of a light, pastel green dress robe with a simple white trim.
"That would look lovely on you, dear." Lily jumped, her heart beating rapidly as she fumbled for a smile. An older woman, with a kind wrinkled face and unruly white hair (that she'd clearly attempted to unsuccessfully pin down), stood at her side with a few robes draped over her arm.
"Thank you," Lily beamed, feeling her face warm at the compliment. She examined the price tag discreetly and sighed with relief, thank goodness for all those hours watching the Baker's children this summer. "I think I will take it." She glanced at the robes in the woman's arms, noting several black robes with red hems. "Are those Gryffindor robes?" The question came out her mouth before she realized it.
The woman smiled, her brown eyes seemed to light up. "My son is in Gryffindor, he's beginning his fifth year. He's so talented, my son, such a delightful boy." Lily had the sense that this mother could talk at length about her son, a trait she found rather endearing. Clearly her son was well loved. The woman paused and gave Lily a look, "Are you a Gryffindor?" Lily nodded, hearing the door to the shop open and close behind them. "Oh, there you are James- I was beginning to worry you were up to trouble with Sirius."
The laugh behind her made Lily subconsciously tense, and she quickly released the robe she'd been gripping lest she wrinkle the fabric. "Trouble? We never get into any kind of trouble, Mum." James Potter came up beside Lily, giving his mother that classic pompous Potter grin. Lily glanced between mother and son, unable to understand how such a sweet woman could have raised such a self-absorbed, irritating, bullying-
"Evans?" Lily looked up at James' hazel eyes, examining her through his stupidly lopsided glasses. She felt her heart stop in her chest, only to restart at a rapid, uncomfortable pace.
Mrs. Potter glanced at her son and then at Lily with a bright smile, "James- do you know this young lady?"
He nodded slowly, his hand quickly rising to run through his hair. "Evans- erm, we're in the same year."
"That is simply wonderful." Unaware of the developing tension and awkwardness, Mrs. Potter handed her son the pile of robes in her arms. "Take these to the back, go get fitted. And where is Sirius? He needs to get fitted as well," She looked at Lily, "These boys grow at least several inches every year, honest."
Lily attempted a smile, wishing this entire situation would go away. "That they do," She responded. Though I'm sure the weight of their giant egos weighs them down considerably, she thought darkly, picking out the light green dress robe. "It was lovely meeting you, Mrs. Potter." Lily gave the woman her most genuine smile before quickly turning to James, with one significantly less genuine, "I'll see you at school." With that she excused herself and went across the shop to look for robes for classes. She made sure to take a long time, keeping an eye on the fitting area in the back. Once the Potters had left, with Lily avoiding any and all eye contact, she went to the back to get fitted.
As she was being fitted for the dress robe, Severus finally came into the shop. He had several bags, some were distinctly clinking as he moved. "You bought a lot." Lily's voice was measured, given that she had last seen him heading down Knockturn Alley.
He cleared his throat, "I figured you'd need more time. I got some robes." He indicated one of the bags, no doubt from the second-hand robe shop at the other end of Diagon Alley. The witch fitting Lily gave Severus a look of disdain, as if the concept of buying robes from any other store was unfathomable. Severus eyed Lily, something she pretended not to notice. "You look… this robe…"
Lily couldn't help but smile, his words were failing him again. This happened to her friend at times, a trait she couldn't help but love. "I need something nice for Slughorn's gatherings." Granted, Lily's closest female friend, Imogen Peakes, probably had more than enough dress robes to clothe all of Gryffindor's girls. Lily would always have options as long as Imogen was around.
"I saw Potter and his friends." Severus almost spat, his face transformed by a scowl.
Lily held her breath for a moment, she didn't need a reminder of James and his friends. Severus always got so riled up at the mere mention of them, though Lily could hardly blame him. The Marauders, as James and his friends called themselves (such a pretentious name, Lily thought), constantly picked on Severus. "Sev, they're just a bunch of idiots. Arrogant, attention-seeking idiots, no less."
Severus huffed, his thick hair barely moving from his breath. "I don't understand why they're so popular."
Lily's eyes softened. Severus. "Popularity isn't everything."
He looked at her and quietly scoffed, "You wouldn't understand."
Her eyebrows came together and Lily opened her mouth to respond, but the door to the shop slammed open and a gang of four rowdy, obnoxious boys strolled in. "All right, I'm here!" Sirius Black, leading the group, loudly announced his arrival. "Where's your Mum, Potter?"
James laughed, "She's having a drink with an old friend at the Leaky Cauldron." Oh dear. Lily thought, staring at Severus, whose already pale face seemed so devoid of color it was turning green. Fortunately, the witch doing her fitting had finished. "Sev, this way." Lily collected her robes and walked him behind several clothing racks, attempting to make it to the cashier as quickly as possible.
As they paid, fortunately out of sight from the Marauders, the boys' voices carried across the shop easily. "Who'd you say you saw here?" Sirius' voice was distracted as there was the sound of moving cloth.
James' voice responded, "Evans- Lily Evans."
There was a slight pause, Lily couldn't tell if it was because Sirius couldn't remember who she was or if this was some kind of major news, but Lily was relieved to have finished her purchase. With a quick 'thank you' to the witch at the counter, she and Severus basically bolted out of the shop. Once outside, Lily let out a laugh; Severus was less amused, however. "Goodness, you missed it Sev- I accidentally met Potter's mum, and he was so different around her. Like a scared little boy."
Severus cleared his throat, "You met his mum?" His voice had gone slightly high, and he cleared his throat again.
Lily nodded, "She's very sweet. I hardly know how he turned out the way he did." She smirked, "You should have seen his face, Sev. I've never seen him so uncomfortable before."
I've been dying to write a Jily fic for years (since JK probably never will), especially since I feel like there was never a great explanation of how Lily could go from hating to loving James. I'm attempting to put my own spin on what might have occurred. There will be lots of OC's based off of characters that might have gone to school around the same time, I'm trying to keep to the timelines as best as possible. Review/like if you enjoy!