A week into the first term, Lily was enjoying her new classes: Astronomy; Charms; Defense Against the Dark Arts; Herbology; History of Magic; Potions; and Transfiguration. Potions was the most fun, because it included spending time with Severus; Lily picked her cauldron space next to his. She had been spending more time with Marlene, Mary, and Alice even after she told them her parents were Muggles. She was mortified when they first talked about their families during Transfiguration class ever since Severus previously warned her about some wizards prejudice over Muggle-born students. She could've lied, and she almost did until Mary said that she and her parents were shell-shocked by the news of the magical world when she received her letter.
"I mean, there were weird things going on like, candles flickering on randomly or something like that, but we'd always assumed we lived with a ghost. It'd be fine either way, really."
Lily mentioned how she was relatively the same but she once levitated off of a swing set. The others stared at her in awe.
"Seriously? That's so cool!" Mary gaped. "Is that when you knew you had magic?"
"Well, someone told me I was a witch right after that happened the first time. He's my best friend now."
"Really? What's his name?" Marlene smirked.
"Severus. You wouldn't know him, though. He's in Slytherin," Lily casually mentioned.
"Snivellus!" Sirius chortled, overhearing the conversation.
"Shut up Black!" Marlene automatically muttered.
"Oooo harsh words. Be careful, or you might actually offend someone these days," Sirius sneered back.
Professor McGonagall tapped her wand menacingly on her desk, ordering students back to their tasks. Sirius turned back to James, Peter, and Remus who were all supporting devilish grins and biting back laughter. Lily rolled her eyes.
Everyone had been tasked with changing a snail's shell into porcelain as the first step in turning them fully into teacups. A few minutes passed and all of a sudden, a spell jet cast and struck the ancient globe sitting next to the desk at the head of the room. McGonagall stood abruptly.
"James Potter. Detention."
"Why do you assume it was me?" James immediately protested.
"I hardly need to explain my reasonings to you, Mr. Potter. Detention."
"But Professor, I hardly think that it's fair to get in trouble for doing magic in a magic school."
"Thus, you admit your guilt. I'll see you at seven tonight."
James turned back around and sneered at Sirius who was sporting a satisfied smirk at him.
"You too Mr. Black," Mcgonagall stated.
Before there could be further objection from Sirius, the bell sounded, signalling the end of class. James and Sirius quickly ducked out into the corridor, trailing Remus and Peter behind them. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Honestly, they're so exhausting! All they do is muck around and get into fights!" she exclaimed.
"It's like they are completely immune to being expelled." Marlene agreed.
"Just ignore it. The teachers can set them straight. And if they can't, there's always Dumbledore," Mary pointed out.
"That's true. But if they test me, I'll charm them right in the face. Especially Potter," Lily vowed. "He's an absolute––absolute toerag. I can think of no better name for it." The others laughed.
A commotion sounded when the group rounded the hallway to the Fat Lady portrait. None other than Peeves the Poltergeist loomed over the Gryffindor doorway turned downward at a cluster of students, making a marvel of himself. Lily stopped suddenly.
"Actually, I think I'll catch up with you later. I promised Severus that I'd meet him in the library."
Marlene and Mary stopped on the stairs. "Um… okay! Don't make Madame Pince angry!" Marlene warned.
"Oh, never," Lily laughed as she retreated back down the steps.
././././././././././././.
Stepping into the library gave a fresh aroma of perfectly aged paper. These aged books were always under a watchful and possibly overbearing eye of Madame Pince. You couldn't find a speck of dust on any of the shelves, or an out of place quill mark on any page. Lily entered quickly and quietly with a bowed head because she was still frankly intimidated by the librarian. Thankfully, Severus was sitting at one of the tables closest to the door.
"I'm here," Lily greeted with a smile as she slid onto the bench next to her friend. Severus stood up the book he had in his hand to shield the two from the view of the rest of the students.
"Hey. I was afraid you might not show up," he whispered.
"Well, of course I came. We hardly caught up during Potions,"
"How do you expect me to do well in that class when you're trying to talk to me all the time?" Severus smiled and so did Lily. She knew that no matter how hard he tried, Severus would never be able to ignore her.
There came a loud, raspy shush as Madame Pince dropped down beside them, causing the two to jump.
"If you want social time, do it in the Great Hall! Please get out! You're disrupting other students." Madame ordered while disrupting the students more than either Lily or Severus. As they stood to leave, Lily saw Severus wave goodbye to a small group of kids sitting at a table next to theirs. When one of them made eye contact with Lily, they quickly turned away. She decided to ask about them to Severus when they were walking in the corridors.
"Who were you waving at in the library?"
Severus looked down at the tall stack of books he was carrying. "They were just a few Slytherins I know now."
"So you're making friends?" Lily smiled.
"Yeah. Why?"
"I was just worried I guess," Lily winced; she had meant to say she was wondering but instead said what she considered to be slightly rude. Luckily, Severus took no notice of the exact meaning of her comment.
"You worry about me?"
"Well, of course I do! You're my best friend and I'm glad you're fitting in."
The two smiled at each other, the matter dropped for the time being. In their comfortable silence, slapping of shoes on the floors thundered behind them and before they could move, they were being shoved aside by none other than James Potter and Sirius Black.
"Hey! A little heads up would be nice. Say you're sorry!" Lily demanded as she stood up.
James scoffed at her. "Don't expect me to be nice to you just because you're a girl. Besides, he deserves it," James nodded at Severus. "Slytherins deserve to be in the dirt." Sirius smiled and smacked James on the back and they took off down the corridor while Sirius chanted, "GRYFFINDOR RULES!"
Lily glared after them and continued with Severus, reassuring him that James Potter was full of himself all the way. To change the subject, Lily playfully suggested braiding Severus' hair.
././././././././././././
James and Sirius rounded the corner to see Remus and Peter staring intently out the window of the corridor. Sirius called out their arrival.
"Wotcher James!" Remus greeted before looking to Sirius. "Have you told him yet?"
"I was waiting for the big reveal. Has it done anything since I left?"
"Completely stationary," Peter replied. "That bird seems to have disappeared too. I wonder if we should be concerned."
"What on earth are you three talking about?" James asked.
"Something amazing–"
"They just got finished planting it–"
"It's a spectacle only read about in myth–"
Sirius, Peter and Remus pushed James to the window onlooking the grassy hills near the border of the Forbidden Forest. Placed on the hills was a looming willow tree. Doing absolutely nothing.
"Am I missing something?"
"Oh you should've seen it! Sirius was the first one to spot it –" Remus started.
"It was swinging it's branches like arms!" Sirius interrupted.
"I think you're referring to the wind, there, friend," James said after a few seconds of thought.
"No no! We can prove it. Go out and touch it," Sirius exclaimed, earning a gasp from Peter.
James stared unbelievingly at Sirius. "You're freaking me out. I'm not going to go out there just to prod at a tree, mate. I'm nearly late to my next class."
After being stared with an equally bewildered stare by the three boys, James doubled over with laughter. "Merlin, you thought I was serious?! You guys are really gullible. I'm no priss."
And with those last words, James jogged outside straight up to the willow tree. He spun around and gave a big wave to the window his audience was watching out of. In fluid motion, James turned on his heel, gave the trunk of the willow a hefty slap and was sent sprawling through the air as the tree hit him heavily in retaliation. James ended up in the Hospital Wing with a broken shoulder blade while sporting a broken nose from his landing and Gryffindor was docked 200 points for the stupidity of a first year.