Okay, thanks to the two people (out of the 46 that checked this out) who reviewed. Thanks to jonaslovers1421 and R.I.P. to all that died.
Here's the next chapter.
Part I: Friends
Lily opened the door to her compartment and was immediately engulfed by the arms the belonged to a flash of blonde hair. Over the girl's shoulder she could see her two other best friends sitting patiently in their seats as the train rushed on toward Hogwarts.
"Oh, Lily! We knew you made Head Girl!" exclaimed the girl who had given her the fierce hug. Lily smiled at the girl. She was beautiful with pin straight blonde hair that fell to her shoulders, deep brown eyes, and a smile that had the ability to brighten an entire room. Her lovable personality was one of the many reasons why Michelle D'Aubigne was Lily's best friend out of the foursome they had made in first year.
"Yes, Lily, congratulations," Cecily Van Buren spoke, her calm voice masking the pride that was apparent in her cerulean eyes. With a flawless complexion and glossy, midnight black hair paired with her pureblood lineage and wealth, many students believed Cecily to be conceited and snobby, but Lily knew the girl had a heart of gold and loyalty to her friends that would rival any of her fellow Gryffindors.
Sitting beside Cecily was Ivy Burns, the fourth member of Lily's group of friends. She sat in her seat with a dreamy expression on her face, not noticing Lily's arrival. Ivy was the dreamer of the group with her mind always in the clouds. She had bushy brown hair and gray eyes and a constant smile on her features. Cecily elbowed the girl in the side and she looked up, shaking the faraway look from her eyes before glancing to Lily, who had since been let go of and was sitting down across from the two girls and beside Michelle.
"Lils, it was no surprise when we found your stuff in here with no you. We knew where you were," she said happily. "We were just talking about our summers."
"Yeah, anything interesting happen to Miss Evans?" Michelle asked curiously.
Lily had yet to smile since seeing James Potter in the prefect compartment and she couldn't get her mind off the fact he was Head Boy. When she didn't answer, Cecily frowned. "Uh oh, something bad happened. What'd Petunia do this time?"
Letting out a sigh, Lily looked to her three friends before huffing once and replying, "James Potter's Head Boy!"
All three sets of eyes widened at Lily's outburst and then there was nothing but chaos. Lily could barely hear what any of them were saying except small snippets of each rambling rant. Each girl was angrier than the next and questioning how the boy got the position.
"You must be kidding. Remus was a sure fire pick for Head Boy!" came Ivy's comment.
"How could Dumbledore be so oblivious? He picked the ringleader of the Marauders!" Michelle complained, loud enough for the entire train to hear.
"I bet his parents paid Professor Dumbledore to do it. They had to save their name from the complete destruction Potter was putting it through." Of course, Cecily's voice remained calm despite her anger, and it almost made Lily laugh.
Michelle turned, hugging her friend tightly before pulling away and looking at her with sympathetic eyes. "Lily, I am so sorry! I can't believe Dumbledore would do that to you!"
"Maybe it's a trick," Ivy suggested. "Do you think they convinced Remus to give him his badge for a few minutes so he could get to you?"
Lily shook her head. "Nice idea, Ivy, but Remus looked just as surprised to see him as I was."
The compartment was silent for a few moments, each girl thinking pensively for a reason why Dumbledore would pick James Potter to be Head Boy. None of the four could reach a decision and Lily stared blankly into her lap.
It was no secret that she and James Potter didn't get along. At first it was mutual hatred – mainly because Lily was friends with Severus Snape and James thought he was a "greasy git" that needed to tortured – but sometime around fourth year, James had taken interest in Lily and had asked her out on a date – every day since then. Even over the summer he sent his owl to her home asking the same question. And every time he asked, Lily responded with a firm decline, and usually a nasty word or two, and told him she would rather die. It didn't stop his asking though, and it had begun to get annoying, not only to herself but to her friends as well. James was, to this day, the only part of Gryffindor daily life that she refused to tell her parents about. She was afraid her father wouldn't allow her to return to school with James constantly on her.
In fact, Lily was surprised that James hadn't asked her out in the compartment. When they were alone, or when they were in front of the prefects it wouldn't have mattered to James, would have been the perfect time for him to begin his ritual. Yet, he almost seemed nervous around her, shy and scared. It almost intrigued her.
And if it had been anyone else beside James Potter, it would have.
"Anyway, Lily, let's try to get your mind off Potter," Ivy said, sneering out the final word. "You remember the muggle boy I wrote you a letter about?"
Lily nodded halfheartedly, knowing where the conversation as heading. She was going to hear the letter in full context for the remainder of the train ride. Ivy could become obsessive very quickly and Lily was sure this boy was the only thing she could think about for more than a few minutes. True love, Lily thought to herself, it's more like infatuation.
"Well," she continued. "Chris is just absolutely lovely–"
"Ivy, please," Cecily moaned, hitting her head on the compartment wall. "I read a letter and listened to you while Lily was with the prefects. I do not want to listen to anything else about Christopher what's-his-face–"
"Aarons," Ivy supplied.
Cecily sarcastically smiled at her friend. "Aarons." Then she looked to Lily. "Anyway, you'll never guess who I met over summer holidays."
Lily shrugged. In the past Cecily had met many famous wizards through her parents and she didn't have clue who she could add.
A smile spread across the girl's face. "Andrei Bachev."
Lily's eyes widened and she heard Michelle gasp beside her. Andrei Bachev was the boy Cecily was arranged to marry. As she came from a wealthy pureblooded family, Cecily had been betrothed to marry the boy since she was a small child. Lily and Ivy, who were both muggleborn, had been shocked to hear that this continued in the Wizarding world.
Of course, it was dying out in magical families. Most pureblooded families had begun the process of abandoning the practice or had long since. Only certain families that still held onto certain ideals continued it. Many Slytherin families continued the tradition, and so did the Van Burens who, while Gryffindors through and through, didn't mess with tradition.
Other pureblooded families had since stopped the arranged marriage mess, as Cecily called it. Michelle's family gave her the right to choose her husband – as long any children she were taught to speak French to honor their heritage. And, unfortunately for Lily, it seemed the Potters had granted James the same right.
"What's he like?" Michelle asked curiously. Ever since Cecily had told them about Andrei, all of them – including Cecily herself – wanted to know everything about him. But, Cecily's parents had been adamant not to tell her anything.
"Andrei is in his seventh year at Durmstrang," Cecily continued. "And he is so much better looking than that Krum character my sister was married off to last year."
Lily rolled her eyes at her friends comment and Cecily smirked. "And he's the perfect gentleman. My parents made a great choice."
"But don't you want to fall in love?" Michelle asked. "I mean, don't you want it to be your choice?"
Cecily shook her head. "I've known this is how it was going to end for a long time and I've come to terms with it. And besides, who says I can't fall in love with him?"
Michelle leaned against the back of her seat. "It just seems a little unromantic to fall in love after your wedding."
"And a little unconventional," Ivy added.
Cecily's eyes widened in disbelief of her two friends. "You have got to be kidding me!" she exclaimed in an even tone. "You two of all people should know how my family views marriage. Plus, this is just as rich coming from Miss I'm-falling-all-over-a-muggle and Miss I'm-infatuated-with-a-womanizer."
Lily's mouth dropped to the floor and she temporarily stopped breathing. It wasn't very often that her friends argued over non-trivial issues. And, she had to admit that while questioning the values of Cecily's family was terrible, her retaliatory punch was a bit under the belt. Her comment about falling over muggles could nearly be counted as pureblooded chauvinism, but Lily, and Ivy, quickly forgot when they looked to Michelle in curiosity.
"I am not infatuated with a womanizer," she hissed quietly.
The door slid open, but neither girl noticed. Instead Cecily smirked at her blonde friend, slyness filling her eyes. "Oh really, so that letter–"
"It had nothing to do with him," she muttered quietly. She glanced over at Lily quickly, but Lily couldn't figure out if it was apologetic because she hadn't written her the letter or because of something else. Quickly in her head, Lily began to run through all "womanizers" of the school and thought of one in particular. One which Michelle had a monstrous crush on in first year.
There was a small knock on the compartment door and the four girls looked up. James stood in the doorway, biting his lower lip and glancing from girl to girl. "Uh, Evans," he started, sounding as if he was unsure of what to say. "Remus said that the Head Boy and Girl usually go in the carriages together, you know, to present a united front. But…um, you look like you're in the middle of a conversation. I'll just meet you up there." And then he darted out.
Lily stared at the vacant doorway before turning to her friends. All three looked slightly confused – and Michelle's eyes betrayed her other emotion of nervousness, which Lily would have to find out about. It was finally Ivy that broke the silence of the compartment.
"What was that?" she asked, baffled by James's uncharacteristically small speech.
It remained silent for a moment before Cecily stood. "Well, as odd as that was, we need to get off this train before all the carriages leave with us still here."
Ivy and Michelle stood to follow her but Lily continued to stare at the doorway. This behavior was peculiar for the boy, and frankly it made Lily a little scared. Perhaps the Marauders are planning something, she thought. Once noticing her friends had walked out without her, Lily rushed to join them with one thought plaguing her mind until she reached the carriage her friends were stepping in. What was up with James Potter?
Okay, so a little constructive criticism would be good here. Good or bad, review!
