Last Chance

Chapter Two: Reunions

It was Saturday morning, and to Lily Evans that meant two things: friends and shopping. Daniela, Madeline and Lydia had each replied to her letters, and they had planned a shopping trip to Diagon Alley for this morning. Lily hadn't seen her friends in months, and was glad for a chance to catch up before going back to school.

She would meet her friends at the Leaky Cauldron at noon. Lily sat up in bed and glanced at the clock. It was only eight o'clock in the morning. She stretched and got out of bed. She made her way down to the kitchen, wolfed down an apple and a piece of toast, said good morning to her parents and then retreated upstairs once again.

She dressed, and did her hair and make-up as slowly as she could, trying to waste as much time as possible. When she finally gave up trying to perfect her ponytail, she sat on her bed and tried to think of what else she could do. She realised that she still had to pack her trunk. She had been waiting to pack until she had all of her new school supplies, but as she was leaving in just two days, she could wait no longer. She packed up her clothes, textbooks, and potions ingredients. She filled her cauldron with quills, parchment, and ink before squeezing it into her trunk along with everything else.

By the time Lily had finished packing it was nearing eleven o'clock. She went off to find her mother and let her know that she was leaving. Lily found her in the living room, watching an old soap opera with a box of tissues on hand.

Lily laughed inwardly at her mother. "Hey mum, I'm going shopping now." She said.

Her mother looked away from the television and nodded at her daughter before turning back to the show.

Lily went the door that led to the garage and grabbed her keys from the hook beside the door. She hadn't thought that she needed a car, what with being away at school for most of the year. But as she got older and wanted more independence, she realized that she wanted one. Her parents had agreed to buy her a used car since they didn't have to pay tuition for Hogwarts.

Lily got in her car, started the engine, and began an uneventful drive through London, to the Leaky Cauldron.

"James, Sirius, get up! Peter and Remus will be here soon!" Mrs. Potter called up the stairs. Sirius groaned and turned over in his bed, eyes open and staring at the ceiling. Might as well, he thought and rolled out of bed to get dressed.

James heard his mother call and he laughed. Little did she know that he was already up and ready to leave. He and Sirius had planned things out with the other marauders. Remus and Peter would use floo powder to get to the Potters' enormous house in Godric's Hollow and from there they would Apparate to the Leaky Cauldron. They would be arriving in an hour or so.

James opened his bedroom door, crossed the hall and banged on Sirius's door.

Sirius had run away from his own home during the previous summer. His parents were purebloods, and they supported the rise of a power-hungry dark wizard by the name of Voldemort. Sirius's entire family had been Slytherins at Hogwarts, the type of people he and the other marauders pranked constantly. Sirius didn't agree with the beliefs that the other Blacks held. They loved the dark arts and they thought that muggle-borns were the scum of the earth and should be eradicated. So he left them, much to the dismay of his mother; she was determined to make him see things her way

Sirius opened the door and yawned. "What?" he said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Moony and Wormtail will be here in less than an hour, so get dressed."

"Oh, right, it's Saturday! Hang on." He shut the door in James's face and rushed around his room. He threw on his clothes and ran to his bathroom to brush his teeth and hair. He was ready to go in ten minutes.

Sirius opened his door again to a very annoyed James.

"That hurt you know." James said accusingly as they walked down the many flights of stairs.

"What?" Sirius was confused, as usual. And yet he and James were two of the best students in their year.

"When you slammed the door in my face, it hit my nose." Sirius laughed and James glared at him. "I'm serious; that really hurt!" They looked each other on the eye and they both burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Mrs. Potter emerged from the dining room.

"Nothing, Mum." James said, still shaking with laughter.

"Alright then. Let me know when you're about to leave." She said as she turned and headed back into the dining room. She stopped and turned back to James, "Oh, and your father is coming home tonight." She said with a smile.

James grinned and Sirius patted him on the back. Mr. Potter was auror, the best in Britain. He had been off with a group of people from his department at the Ministry of Magic, tracking down a few Death Eaters that had gone on a killing spree near the end of May. He hadn't been home since then and James hadn't seen his father since the Christmas before.

Just then the fire in the front room burned emerald green. James and Sirius positioned themselves on either side of the fireplace. Someone was arriving, and if it was one of their friends, they wanted to ambush them. They waited for a moment, poised and silent, for a person to appear amidst the flames. They did not wait very long before Remus Lupin's body could be seen spinning in the fire. When he had stopped spinning, Remus stepped out of the fire and began to brush ash and soot from his black travelling cloak. Sirius and James signalled each other behind their friend's back and jumped at him. Remus shouted out in surprise as he fell to the ground, suddenly being crushed by the bodies of James and Sirius.

"Damn it! I should have known." He chuckled when he realized what had happened.

Sirius stood up and laughed, offering a hand to Remus who took it gladly and pulled himself up.

James got to his feet and patted the newcomer on the back. "Yeah, Moony, if hanging out with us for the past six years hasn't taught you to be aware of your surroundings, nothing will."

Remus sighed dramatically, "I suppose you're right, Prongs. Whatever shall I do?" he looked his friends and they began to laugh hysterically for the second time that day.

Sirius was the first to regain his breath. "Well, now we just have to wait for Wormtail to get here."

They sat on the couch in front of the fire and took out their school lists.

"Heavy reading this year, isn't it?" Remus said.

"Oh please, you'll be fine." Sirius said. Remus was another intelligent marauder. Peter on the other hand… no one really knew why the other three were friends with him.

Remus laughed. "I guess you're right."

"Hey Moony," James said, "you'll never guess what happened."

"Well, if I can't guess, why don't you just tell me?"

"Dumbledore made me Head Boy." James grinned.

"Oh no." Remus's smile disappeared, to be replaced with a troubled frown.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Lily is the most likely candidate for Head Girl."

"And?" Sirius said.

"Well, she's not exactly a fan of Prongs." Remus said matter-of-factly.

James groaned. "Does no one think that it's possible for me to befriend Lily?"

Sirius and Remus glanced at each other and said together, "No." Suddenly, the fire turned green again and out tumbled a small chubby boy with watery eyes: Peter Pettigrew. He brushed himself off and looked up at his friends.

"Hey there, Wormtail." James said cheerily, "Do YOU think I can get Evans to be my friend?" he raised his eyebrows, prompting Peter to answer.

"Nope."

James's shoulders fell and he slumped back onto the couch, muttering sarcastically about them being 'some friends'.

"Hey Wormy, Prongsy here made Head Boy." Sirius said.

"No way!"

"Does no one have faith in me?" James shouted.

"'Course we do." Remus said, "but when it comes to Lily and having authority at school..."

Sirius beat him to the point, "Evans will never take you seriously, mate, never."

James sighed and grabbed a handful of floo powder from the jar on the end table. He went to the fireplace and threw it in, and as soon as the powder touched the flames, they glowed a bright green. "Let's go then." He said. James stepped into the fire, shouted "Diagon Alley!" and was gone.

Remus looked at Sirius and shook his head. "I think you took it a bit too far this time, Padfoot." Then the three remaining marauders took their turns stepping into the fire, on their way to Diagon Alley.

Lily parked her car in front of the Leaky Cauldron. She quickly looked over herself in the rear-view mirror and grabbed her purse from under the passenger seat.

She entered the pub and glanced around the room, searching for her friends. She saw them in the corner by one of the many stone fireplaces. They were standing near a group of boys that probably went to their school, but Lily couldn't see their faces because they were huddled in circle heads bent low in discussion. She smiled and waved to them and they waved back.

As she approached the three girls, Lydia called out to her. "Lily!"

At the sound of her name, one of the boys in the group glanced up at the three friends and followed their gaze, straight to Lily. When Lily saw the shocked grin on his face, her smile disappeared. Of course, he just had to be here.

[A/N]: Three guesses who. ;]

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