I, Lily Evans, had been made Head Girl. I'd been working hard for it all year – and wanted it desperately, I won't deny it – so it came as a very pleasant surprise. Not to mention, the look on my parents' faces made it doubly worth it. And that on Petunia's – priceless. A week later, another letter arrived from Hogwarts. This time, it was the list of books and other essential items I had to purchase my supplies for the upcoming year. I had to board the Hogwarts Express on the 1st of September, as usual. Which left me with 10 more days to finish buying all the necessary items.
Meanwhile, I had received letters from my best friends at Hogwarts, Marlene and Alice.
A little introduction of them here.
Marlene was the kind of person you couldn't help liking instantly, thanks to her pollyannaish nature. She was unbelievably optimistic, though she was probably the only girl in our year with a temper to rival mine. We agreed on almost everything, except one thing – Quidditch. That girl had an insane passion for the game which I didn't understand at all. Often, I strongly suspected that she suffered from hyperactivity disorder, because no one could possibly be that energetic the whole day.
Alice was, you could say, the only voice of reason in our group of three. Not even James Potter and Sirius Black could irritate her. She was the most un-teenager-like girl I'd ever come across. When it came to her, there were no dramatic fits of temper, girlish squealing over the newest fads, or gossip about the latest rumors. She was the sole reason Marlene and I were still sane. Actually, I often wondered how she'd managed to land up with the two of us as friends, and why she hadn't run away yet. Her letter to me was surprising, because it revealed an unexpected girlish side of Alice. For three-fourths of the letter, she'd been gushing about Frank Longbottom (I found his last name kinda funny, but I'd never tell her that), her boyfriend of just one week. She rambled endlessly about how charming he was, how awesome he was, how amazing he was and how wonderful he was.
Looks like someone is obsessed, I smirked to myself.
They had both suggested a one week stay at Diagon Alley. Truthfully, the offer was too tempting to pass up. I had to get permission from my parents (I was planning to use my best poker face to persuade them, and of course, the Head Girl badge would help). Besides, this was my last year at Hogwarts. To actually make our time there productive, though, we had to reach Diagon Alley in 3 days. Which would give us a full one week's time to explore the place – shopping, eating, etc. Merlin, I couldn't wait to go to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour again. The mere thought made my mouth water. I realised I had to start packing as soon as possible. I let my owl Alba fly out of the window, with a reply to Alice and Marlene each.
From the corner of my eyes, I noticed Petunia spying on me. This attitude of hers was usual. I didn't know what I wanted more – to get completely rid of her and her snide remarks or to have her back as my sister.
"Petunia, you can come in if you want. I am going downstairs anyway," I informed her and left the room.
"I wouldn't enter your room willingly in a million years, freak. Who knows what I'll find in there? Frog spawn and white mice, maybe?" She shouted after me.
What do you do at my door, then, take in the scenery? I wanted to retort. Instead, I ignored her, and cornered my parents to convince them to let me go.
All was set. I was going to leave for Diagon Alley in two days. My stomach fluttered in anticipation. I was going to meet my friends after a long vacation. My parents were accompanying me there. I bid goodbyes to everyone I had to. I bid farewell to the only member of my family who wasn't accompanying me, Petunia. She didn't care to acknowledge me, though. She was busy texting her pig of a boyfriend, Vernon Dursley.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Diagon Alley it was! I had finally reached my destination. This was the world where I truly belonged. Here, I wasn't considered a freak, I was just another witch. I saw a few familiar faces from Hogwarts.
I finally decided to shop for the books I required. I'm called a bookworm, but I think I own up to the title. I'd prefer books over people anyday. I went to get myself the Defence against the Dark Arts books. It was my favourite subject after Potions. It was a kind of intellectual subject; it thrilled me immensely. From what I had heard, 'Lord' Voldemort (who the hell takes up a title like that in the 20th century?) had started waging a war against a particular faction of the wizards. The papers were always filled with news of mysterious murders and wizards turning into Death Eaters. Hardly any positive news to read in the paper.
I shoved aside all these thoughts and walked into the store. I asked for the books I required and started walking around the place and reading random books I found interesting.
Just as I turned around to walk back, I banged into a hard chest. The devilishly handsome face it belonged to smirked at me.
"Evans, what a pleasant surprise!"
"Hello, Black. Fancy seeing you in abookstore," I retorted. The smile never faltered from the arrogant git's face. Surprisingly, Sirius had never shown a flair for Slytherin unlike the rest of his family. He had been the first one ever in his family to belong to the Gryffindor. Despite his haughtiness, I had never found Sirius to be 'evil'. Somewhere, I believed he was a true Gryffindor at heart. My dislike for him apart, he had his finer points too, like everyone.
"Evans, are you listening?" asked Sirius.
"Um, yeah. My holidays were pretty good. I made Head Girl! And – "
"You're the Head Girl?" Sirius exclaimed with a somewhat scandalized expression.
I felt offended.
"Why, you think a muggle-born would be unworthy of the post?" I snapped, though somewhere I knew Sirius wouldn't be thinking along those lines. He wasn't like other pure-bloods.
"No! That's not what I meant! But Lily, love, I'd be so happy to be the one to tell you that our dear Prongs here –"
"Yes Lily. Our holidays were good too. Thank you," This was from someone else. The better half of Sirius Black, James Potter. Obnox- Wait, had he just called me 'Lily' and not 'Evans'? And was I dreaming, or had he actually thanked me? I was too stunned to reply.
And what was Sirius about to say?
"See you on September 1st, Lily."
He elbowed Sirius pointedly.
"Yeah, see you in the train, Evans! Goodbye!" Sirius said hurriedly and left along with James. I barely managed to wave. I was shocked beyond question. What had happened to James Potter? Had he finally learnt manners?
And there was definitely something suspicious going on between Potter and Black.
I guess maybe miracles did happen, such that people like Potter became civil, but this was Potter I was referring to, not a normal person. I assured myself that he was probably up to some mischief. I definitely wouldn't fall for it this time. I collected the books and left the shop to meet my parents waiting for me.