She heard it before she saw it; right after she'd pushed her trolley through the solid brick wall onto platform nine and three quarters. The huge red steam engine seemed to welcome her back, billowing smoke loudly from a huge black pipe at the front.
Lily Evans smiled slowly, completely forgetting she'd stopped moving. She was stood right in front of the barrier and sure enough, she felt her knees give way as another huge metal trolley banged into her legs.
"Oh!" She said, before falling into a strong pair of Quidditch-toned arms.
"Careful there Lily flower, I wouldn't want you hurt would I?" asked the voice that went with the mysterious arms.
Practically jumping out of her skin, Lily went stiff and straightened up; "Potter. Please remove your arms from that position."
James potter grinned, but kept his hand on the red head's waist. "Well I don't see why I should do that."
"Because if you refuse, I will hex you into next week." Lily replied stiffly.
He opened his mouth to reply, but they were both distracted by somebody else flying out of the brick wall, dragging a battered trunk behind him. His hair was wavy and slightly tangled, while his face wore an expression of pure happiness.
"Sirius!" shouted James; slapping his best friend on the back.
"Jamesie poo!" grinned Sirius while messing up James' hair even more.
"You live with him!" exclaimed Lily, tearing James' hand off her waist and folding her arms.
Sirius looked at her with a dumbfounded expression, as if to say "So?" however he seemed to notice who he was talking to and dived on her with a giddy expression on his face.
"LILY!"
"Sirius! What the hell?"
"Sorry, I missed you man! Wow summer has treated you well!"
Lily couldn't help but laugh at that. "Alright then, well I'm just going to go and..." She gestured towards the train and began to turn around.
"Lily wait." James spoke softly, but somehow Lily heard him above even the roar of the engine.
She didn't turn around right away; she just stopped walking and dropped her arms to each side. Then, slowly she span on the spot with her eyebrows raised.
"What?" It wasn't her usual nasty hiss that she reserved especially for James. It was merely a question.
"I've changed." He sounded sincere and she wondered what on earth he was about to say, as he was usually so predictable "Go out with me?"
Yep, there it was. "Really Potter? We're not even on the train yet."
He sniggered, but Lily saw something else behind his smirk. "Worth a shot I suppose." He shrugged, and turned round as Sirius clapped him on the back proudly.
Lily sighed, shook her head and made for the train doors. She'd barely stepped inside the first empty compartment however, when she was shoved head first against the window as two girls dived on her.
"Lily! I've not seen you for ages!" squeaked Nia.
"Lil! Wow you look amazing! How've you been?" asked Aura.
"Not bad, just ran into Potter and Black, or rather they ran into me." She launched into the tail as the two girls sat like a good audience opposite her, Aura leaning against the window and Nia with her feet resting on Lily's side, her back against the padded cushion behind her. They were both beautiful in their own way, Aura had bright blue eyes and a backcombed mass of white blonde hair, inside of which you could find various colours of grips. She was as pale as lily, and wore bright red lipstick. Nia's father was Mediterranean, so her straight black hair that fell to her waist looked beautiful with her tanned skin and dark eyes. She was tall whereas Aura was about normal height. Lily on the other hand was tiny. She was seventeen and only five foot eight, however with her flame red hair and emerald eyes she often caught more boys' attention than her friends.
"Lil, aren't you Head Girl?" Asked Aura with her eyes closed as the train set off. She liked to call this her twenty minutes of rest, it gave her energy for the rest of the day.
"Yes why?"
"You should be in the prefect compartment then." Nia beat her to it.
"Oh crap!" shouted Lily, standing up and tripping over her trunk while the door opened and, for the second time that day, she fell into the arms of James Potter.
"You really are going to have to start being careful darling; I can't be doing this all year!" He grinned as she stood up angrily.
"Get off me."
"Already have done!" He held up his hands as if to prove his point.
"Right well then..."
"I was just looking for you actually!" He grinned, knowing the explosion that was coming, while his left hand wrapped around a metal badge inside his pocket.
"Well as much as I'd love to stay I'm afraid I have to go to the prefect's compartment." Lily smiled, this was sure to shut him up.
"Exactly why I was looking for you!" He smirked at her confused expression. It was odd, she was always so sure of herself it gave him some relief when she pulled this face, convinced him she was actually human.
"What do you mean..."She was piecing this together, the letter, the stupid remark about a pleasant surprise, the fact he was looking for her... "NO!"
"Yep!" James pulled out the small black badge with 'head boy' written on it and held it out in his palm.
"No! Dumbledore? Dumbledore did this to me? Dumbledore? You! Of all people! I'd rather it was Sirius!" She shrieked.
James' smile faltered "Hey, that's drastic!"
"Yes well I am, now hurry up or we'll be sacked." She sighed, and although she was shaking with anger she knew she couldn't let it bother her too much, after all, she didn't want the prefects to hate their new head girl. She would do what she could to get on with Potter, and spend as little time with him as possible, despite the fact they would be sharing a dormitory.
"Lily...?" Potter smirked that annoying smile that made girls weak at the knees. It occurred to Lily that this time he seemed to not be doing it on purpose, no, he probably was, and he wanted her to think that.
She mentally shook herself. "Get a grip of yourself." She murmured, before looking up, smiling somewhat forcefully and pulling open the compartment door to let herself out.
Aura Lovegood and Nia Hargreves grinned, just as Sirius Black and Remus Lupin did when they saw the pair march past, one with a forced smile, and one with an expression so joyful they couldn't imagine what had put it there. Of course, they all knew the answer. And they all knew what was coming. It would be a difficult year, no doubt about it, but at the end, the four of them knew that their friends would each find the person they'd dreamt about.
