Chapter 2:
Home
Lily and her friends stayed up most of the night talking. Lily secretly loved girl talk and gossip, but was not usually the one with all the gossip, that was Kenzie. The five girls sat huddled on Kira's bed, with their bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and some chocolate frogs in the middle. Lily loved it. She loved being with her friends. She loved being back and Gryffindor with her four poster bed and her best friends. She loved the gossip and summer stories. She loved chocolate, even if it might giver her pimples. She loved the feast and Dumbledore's "welcome back, there is an impending doom" speech. She loved the fact that she had classes tomorrow, even if she had History of Magic, which she hated. She even loved James and the Marauders. Wait, no. She didn't love James. She just appreciated his presence, for now. He helped make Hogwarts her home. Everything she loved was at Hogwarts. She fit in at Hogwarts, she was smart at Hogwarts, and Hogwarts was her home.
"So then we were walking on the beach in France, and he was so attractive, with dark blonde hair and bright blue eyes." Kenzie continued her story.
"Oooh, what happened next?!" Claire enthusiastically questioned.
"Well, nothing really happened THAT night." The girls erupted into a fit of giggles.
"So, I noticed that James is taller this year, Lily" Hailey casually stated as a smirk slowly crept higher upon her cheeks.
"Yah, you would notice. But, no, he's not any less of an arrogant snob." Lily replied. She knew James would never change. He had been asking her out every day for the past six years, but Lily knew he didn't actually like her. He just wanted to finally convince her to go out with him, so that he could finally prove just how unbelievably amazing he was.
Soon Kira looked at the clock and noticed that it was already two nineteen in the morning. Of course, Kira being Kira, she forced them all to go to sleep so they wouldn't be tired for their first day of classes. Lily lay quietly in bed as she waited for sleep's gentle arms to envelop her body. During the night, she had a dream tat was frightening and joyous at the same time. She was running through a dark tunnel, and she knew that danger was waiting for her arrival at the end of the tunnel. But, she couldn't make herself stop. She ran farther and farther until she saw silver light burst before her and she suddenly felt weightless as she sped out of the tunnel. She awoke with a feeling of joy and optimism for the coming day. It was seven o'clock when she woke up; the room was silent except for Claire's lovely snores. Lily quickly brushed her teeth and hair and put on her school robes. Lily was never one to use very much make-up, but her friends taught her how last year, and she had begun to use a little eyeliner and mascara ever since. After she was already, she pounced on Hailey's bed to wake her up.
"Ow, MOM! Stop it!" Hailey whined.
"Hello Sunshine, it's our first day of classes, come on!" Lily replied.
Lily eventually dragged Hailey from her bed and forced her to get ready. Luckily, Hailey had planned out her outfit the night before, so this task was not very difficult. Kira was ready soon as well. Lily tried to get Mackenzie and Claire out of bed, but it was no use. Those two could sleep all day. Lily, Kira and Hailey sauntered down to breakfast; excitedly chatting about what classes they thought they would have on their first day. They were about to go over to their usual spot at the Gryffindor table, but there were already people there. They started to head to the other end of the table…
"LILY, MY LOVE!" Lily heard the voice. The voice she heard everyday for the past six years. The voice that tormented her all day. James' voice. Lily and her friends walked over to James, Lily's joy fading with every step.
"Hello, James. How are you?" Lily asked, with as much kindness she could muster even though she was ready to explode.
"Now that your rays of beauty are radiating upon me, my day has improved greatly. I warmed your seat for you." James scooted over. Hailey practically pushed Lily's head into the bowl of oatmeal she shoved her so hard into the seat.
"Well, I guess we're sitting here…" Lily mumbled.
"I guess you are" James gleefully added as he wrapped his arm around Lily's shoulder. Lily shrugged it off and instead began to put food on her plate. Across the table, Sirius was piling food onto his plate like he would never see food again. Lily knew teenaged boys ate a lot, but she didn't know they ate that much! Soon, McGonagall came around with their schedules. Lily had Divination, Double Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts today. She thought that her schedule was pretty good, especially since potions was her favorite class.
"What a coincidence Lily! We have all the same classes!" James slyly stated, Lily had a feeling it was not much of a coincidence. Luckily, Hailey and Kira had the same classes also; they could sit together and hide from James, hopefully. Her friends enjoyed James' infatuation with Lily because it meant they saw James and Sirius very often. Somehow, all of Lily's friends forgot how to form words when around Sirius.
Soon, James, Sirius, and their friends Remus and Peter, along with Hailey, Kira and Lily, all headed to Divination. Lily thought it was strange that Kenzie and Claire hadn't come down to breakfast; it wasn't like Claire to miss an opportunity to eat, but she figured that they both overslept.
"Welcome, younglings, I see bright happenings in your future. You will pursue great things. Doom will set upon you at a young age. Enter. Enter the room of wonder." The divination teacher, Professor Menasha, welcomed the group of seven into the classroom.
"Seven students enter. Seven walking together. Seven is the luckiest number. You will find joy today." Menasha continued. Lily didn't really like divination or Professor Menasha but she took it in case she wanted to pursue a career that required some knowledge of the subject. She looked around for Kenzie and Claire, but saw only Kenzie's blonde head.
"Where's Claire?" Lily asked.
"I haven't seen her, wasn't she with you guys?" Kenzie replied.
"No!" Lily replied frantically, she was getting worried now. Lily got worried about things quickly, whereas Kenzie was the opposite.
"Don't worry Lil, I'm sure she's in the kitchens or something." Kenzie casually answered. But no one saw Claire all morning. She wasn't in potions when Lily arrived. Lily was beyond worried about her friend. She decided that if Claire wasn't at lunch, she would go to Dumbledore. Already, on their first day, there was something to worry about, not to mention the piles of homework they were already getting. Even though Lily loved this home, there were definitely times like these when she hated it too.
Lily headed to lunch, and quickly scanned the Gryffindor table for Claire. She looked around the other three house tables as well, in case she was sitting there. She began to panic when she didn't see her friend and headed straight to Dumbledore, with Kira, Kenzie and Hailey at her heels.
"Really, you don't need to worry Lily." Kenzie gasped as she caught up to Lily.
"Actually, you should." Dumbledore whispered as he popped up behind them.
