A.N - So here's the second chapter. It's a bit slow as well, just sort of lining everything up for the story, but there will be much more Lily/James interaction in the next chapter, and also, I'm hoping, some more Remus and Peter. I'll try and update as quickly as possible and really get the story under way. Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and, sadly, I am not her.

The Hogwarts Express chugged to a standstill at the station in Hogsmeade village. Lily, Dorcas and Alice exited the train eagerly, excited for their final year of school to start. Lily was laughing and joking with Dorcas and Alice, when she spotted James, waving jovially to her beside Sirius, Remus and Peter. She glanced swiftly away from him, looking irritated.

Alice and Dorcas looked over their shoulder to see what had annoyed Lily, although they needn't have bothered. They both knew all too well that only James Potter could cause that amount of irritation to their best friend.

"Ah, Lily. Cheer up! You'll be working beside him all year, you know," Alice reminded her. "It's a new year, our last year at that. Can't you two be civil?"

Lily sniffed indignantly. "I am perfectly civil. Unfortunately, that is not a word you will find in Potter's vocabulary."

Dorcas and Alice stared pointedly at her, their eyebrows raised. Lily sighed. "All right, fine. I'll be civil towards Potter. But that's all he's getting. And so help me, if he asks me out I reserve the right to hex his socks off."

Dorcas and Alice beamed at her. "Look how much our Lily-flower is growing up," Dorcas said, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. "Promising to be civil to our very own James Potter. I'm just so proud!"

Alice stifled a laugh as Lily glared at Dorcas. Dorcas winked, causing even Lily to crack a smile. It was just impossible to stay mad at Dorcas for long.

After a tedious carriage ride ("Can't these things go any faster, I'm starving!"), the girl's were facing Hogwarts, their home away from home for the past six years. They hurried up the stone steps with the rest of their classmates, and walked through the entrance hall into the Great Hall.

Lily looked up, as she did every time she walked into the Great Hall, to admire the enchanted ceiling. Tonight there were hundreds of stars across the ceiling, glowing brightly against the inky black sky. Taking their seats at the Gryffindor table, the girls looked around eagerly, waiting for the first years to enter.

"Miss Evans?"

Lily spun around in her seat to face Professor McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. Although many students found Professor McGonagall to be much too strict, Lily had always loved her.

"Miss Evans, Professor Dumbledore would like a word with you before the feast begins," Professor McGonagall said in her crisp voice. "He's just outside in the entrance hall with Mr Potter, if you would be so kind as to see him at once."

"Of course, Professor," Lily said, and, with a bemused glance at Alice and Dorcas, Lily stood and made her way towards the entrance hall.

Standing just beside the marble staircase, and looking more serious than Lily had every seen either of them look, were Professor Dumbledore and James. They both turned as they heard her footsteps, but James made no frantic gestures towards her, or anything other than a small smile.

"Miss Evans, I have just been speaking with Mr Potter here about something I feel the both of you should be informed about. Being our Heads this year, I look to you both to help me enforce some safety policies this year," Dumbledore said, staring down his crooked nose at the pair of them.

"As you both know, Lord Voldemort has been gaining supporters for the past few years now. It's been kept rather quiet these past years, but this summer saw some serious attacks. There have been several attacks on Muggles and Muggleborns, some ending in deaths. The Ministry has been trying to gloss this over, but I feel the two of you need to know what we're up against. While I highly doubt Voldemort would attempt an attack on the school, we must always be on our guard."

Lily and James nodded forcefully. Lily felt a twinge of panic at how serious things seemed to have gotten. Over the past few years, talk of Voldemort had been circling throughout the school, but nothing had ever been proven. It seemed Voldemort was posing a bigger threat than Lily had expected.

"Alert the prefects of the danger. I press on you the seriousness of the matter, in hopes that you will help them to stay on their guard. Do not allow prefects to patrol alone – groups of twos and threes, no less. Students caught out of bed will be given detentions, to enforce no night-time excursions." At this, Dumbledore turned his sparkling blue eyes on James, and the shadow of a smile was visible behind his beard.

"We understand, professor," Lily said, as James nodded beside her.

"Excellent, excellent. Now, then, let us go and enjoy the start of term feast! Off you go," Dumbledore waved them away as he swept into the Great Hall, taking his seat in the middle of the long High Table.

Lily and James walked silently into the Great Hall, James sitting beside Remus and Lily making her way over to Alice and Dorcas. She had missed the Sorting, but Lily hardly registered that fact as she filled her friends in on what Dumbledore had said.

"Wow, I guess this Voldemort is more than a bunch of rumours," Dorcas said, looking strained. Alice gazed fearfully at her friends, and they all seemed to be thinking the same thing. Would Voldemort continue to gain more power and supporters?

James hurried down to breakfast the next morning, Sirius galloping beside him. They had woken up late as usual, and needed to get their timetables from Professor McGonagall before the bell rang.

Hurtling through the doorway of the Great Hall, James wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings, and smacked into something very solid. James fell to the ground, and rubbing his head, looked around to see what he had run into. Lily was smack on the ground in front of him, glaring at him angrily.

"You do have eyes for a reason, Potter," she growled, getting to her feet and smoothing out her skirt. James staggered to his feet as well, looking sheepish.

"Sorry, Lily, but I need to get my timetable from Minnie before the bell rings," James said apologetically. "See you in class!"

Lily stared open-mouthed as James raced towards the High table, conversing happily with a tight-lipped Professor McGonagall.

"Good Heavens, what did James do now? You look like Sirius did when he found out there was no Santa Clause," Dorcas snickered from behind Lily, Alice and Frank beside her.

"I remember when you told him that, Dorcas. I never thought I'd see Sirius crying – in sixth year mind you," Frank Longbottom, Alice's boyfriend said, chuckling.

Lily turned towards the three, closing her mouth. "He – well, I can't imagine why, but he…" Lily frowned, confused.

"He what?" Alice, Frank and Dorcas chorused.

"Erm, well, he called me 'Lily'," Lily muttered. "It's just strange; he's never called me it before."

"Good gracious James Potter is being courteous," Alice gasped, shaking her head in disbelief. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"I never thought I'd see the day when James Potter had Lily staring at him. He is making progress, isn't he?" Dorcas snorted, trying to keep a straight face.

"Oh, shut up," Lily snapped, grabbing Dorcas' timetable to examine it, and sighing heavily. "Almost all the same classes, I see, well that's just rotten luck."

Dorcas laughed and put her arm around Lily. "Alice too, Lils. You have to admit, class just wouldn't be the same without us, would it?"

Lily laughed. "No, it definitely would not. I might learn a thing or two without you two yapping beside me. Now let's get to Potions before Slughorn gives us all detention for being late on the first day back."

The girls waved goodbye to Frank, who was on his way to Transfiguration, and then made their way to the dungeon, where Potions class took place. Taking three seats near the back, the girls pulled out their Advanced-Potions Making textbooks, chatting happily. Professor Slughorn was at the front of the class, waving his wand lazily as words appeared across the blackboard.

Just as the bell rang, Lily heard muttering and shuffling behind her. Turning around, Lily saw Remus, Sirius and James pulling their books out and taking the seats directly behind Lily, Dorcas and Alice. Lily turned around quickly, groaning in annoyance.

"Just our luck, these dimwits somehow managed to stay in NEWT potions," Lily grumbled, causing the other two girls to stifle their laughter.

Lily heard James say, "Padfoot, mate, I think Lily just called us dimwits!"

Lily sighed and was about to turn around and spit back a scathing reply, when Slughorn began the lesson.

Behind her, James and Remus were having a quiet argument.

"Moony, how will I know if I'm making progress if I don't ask her out?" James whined, staring at the mass of dark red hair directly in front of him longingly.

"James, it's been less than a day! For Merlin's sake, just give it some time. Couldn't you start by being friends with her?" Remus whispered back, frantically scribbling down the notes Slughorn had written on the blackboard.

"Friends?! Have you gone mad, Moony? I love her, I couldn't just be friends with her!" James said, sounding outraged.

Remus hushed him and said quickly, "I just meant at first, Prongs. Better friends than her hating you, right?"

James shrugged, pouting. Beside him, Sirius looked deep in thought, something that rarely occurred.

"Alright there, Padfoot?" James asked, noticing the look on Sirius' face.

"I was just thinking –" Sirius began.

"For once."

Sirius glared. "I was just thinking that there are eleven seventh year girls and there are only three I have not met up with in a broom closet. Alice, obviously, because she and Frank have been dating since fourth year; Lily obviously, because Prongs is an obsessed git-" James rolled his eyes at this. "And Dorcas Meadowes."

"First of all, Sirius, there's fourteen seventh year girls," Remus said, shaking his head.

Sirius waved a hand impatiently. "I don't count Slytherins!" He said indignantly. "And besides, you're missing the point!" Sirius pointed at the back of Dorcas' head, who was seated right in front of him.

James and Remus stared at him nonplussed.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Honestly, and we say Moony is the smart one. I mean, why is it that I've never been with Dorcas?"

Remus banged his head on the table and James stared pityingly at Sirius. Sirius stared between the two, looking completely confused.

"Because, Padfoot, she would never do anything with you," James said, patting Sirius on the shoulder and grinning. "Bit out of your league, mate."

"She is not!" Sirius said crossly. "I can get any girl I want!"

"Yeah, but Dorcas can get any guy she wants," James pointed out. "And besides, Lily is her best friend. Clearly Dorcas doesn't have a very high opinion of you if her best friend hates you."

Suddenly there was a clamour around them as students paired off to attempt the potion Slughorn had assigned for today; Blood-replenishing potion. Before James or Remus could say anything, Sirius had hopped off his stool and marched up to Dorcas. Remus groaned but James hushed him, eager to see what would happen.

Dorcas had just been about to see if there was anyone in the class she wouldn't mind pairing with, as Alice and Lily partnered together, when a shadow fell across her desk. Looking up, she looked into the eyes of Sirius Black, who was smirking confidently at her.

"Meadowes," he acknowledged, flopping down in a seat beside her.

"Black," she replied, watching him curiously.

"Well, I reckon we better get going on this potion. It looks like it takes a while," Sirius said, leaning over so he could read off Dorcas' potion book. Dorcas shivered slightly as his arm brushed hers and she moved away from him.

Feeling utterly bewildered, Dorcas glanced over to Alice and Lily. They were staring between her and Sirius, looking just as confused as Dorcas felt.

"I'll go get the ingredients, could you heat up the cauldron, love?" Sirius said, his breath blowing gently on Dorcas' ear. She nodded, prodding underneath her cauldron with her wand while he leapt up to fetch the ingredients.

Dorcas was completely puzzled as to why Sirius seemed so eager to pair up with her. After all, they weren't exactly friends; it would be rather impossible considering he was best friends with James and she best friends with Lily.

Before she could ponder this any further, Sirius had returned, his arms full of different ingredients. The Blood-replenishing potion was dull work; it was a lot of grinding up ingredients, and stirring for several minutes.

"Meadowes, you're grinding the Billywig stings up wrong."

Sirius leaned over and wrapped his hand around Dorcas'. He turned their hands sharply, pushing down. After a few moments, the Billywig stings ground into a fine powder.

"Thanks," Dorcas muttered, pushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. She squinted at the book, and then dumped all of the ground up Billywig stings into the cauldron. Immediately, the potion turned a deep green and began hissing.

"Oh crap!" Dorcas muttered, as smoke began emitting from the cauldron. She glanced down at her book to see what she had done wrong, when all of a sudden, the potion sprayed all over her, Sirius and their table.

Sirius, who had been messing around with James, yelped as green, sticky potion drenched him from head to foot. He glanced up, dazed, and saw Dorcas standing by their cauldron sheepishly.

"Merlin, I'm so sorry, Sirius! I wasn't paying attention, I put too much of the Billywig stings in and…" Dorcas trailed off as Slughorn appeared beside her.

"What's happened here?" He asked sternly, glaring at Dorcas. Dorcas began to mumble an explanation when Sirius cut across her.

"It's my fault, Professor. I told Dorcas to add more Billywig Stings than she should have. I must have read the directions wrong."

"Hmm," Slughorn said, while Dorcas stared in amazement at Sirius. Sure, getting in trouble was nothing new to Sirius Black, but why would he waste his time helping her out?

"Well, Mr Black, be sure to read extra carefully next time you're concocting a potion in my classroom. You and Miss Meadowes should go up to the hospital wing and get Madam Pomfrey to clear that off, it could be tricky."

Sirius nodded and grabbed Dorcas' hand, who was still looking shocked. As they marched out of the dungeon room Dorcas finally found her voice.

"Thanks for that," she murmured as they climbed a flight of stairs.

"Don't mention it," Sirius replied. "I thought you were smart, Meadowes. How could you possibly mess up something as simple as Blood-replenishing potion?"

Dorcas opened her mouth angrily, but closed it when she glanced up and noticed he was trying to hide a smirk. Looking at him, Dorcas noticed that almost all of his silky, raven black, pride and joy hair was covered in slimy green potion. Observing the rest of him, she noticed that his clothes were also completely drenched in the green mixture. He looked absolutely absurd. Unable to help it, Dorcas let out a giggle, which she quickly tried to stifle.

Sirius glanced at her, one eyebrow arched.

"Sorry," she said, grinning. "It's just, you look absolutely ridiculous!" She laughed.

Sirius grinned at her. "You look pretty ridiculous yourself. So help me, Meadowes, I'll kill you if Pomfrey can't get this out of my hair."

"Dorcas," Dorcas said to him.

"What?" He asked.

"You can call me Dorcas, I do have a first name, you know," Dorcas said, smirking.

"Well I do too Me-Dorcas."

"Good to know, Sirius."

They had reached the hospital wing, and as Sirius threw the door open, smiling at Dorcas, they heard a shriek.

"What the devil were you two doing, covered in green slime?!" Madam Pomfrey stormed, rushing over and pulling them both inside.

Sirius explained hastily what had happened as Madam Pomfrey stared at him, lips pursed.

"Very well, Mr Black. You get behind that curtain there, Miss Meadowes, you to the one on the left. Hopefully we can get this off you two."