Her first year at Hogwarts gradually becomes more of an amalgamation of faces and feelings, rather than a collection of events as years Sorting becomes defined by uneasy excitement, then disappointment when the Hat almost instantly places her in Gryffindor (and Severus obviously goes straight to Slytherin, and thus the first strands of future discord spread through their friendship) and then a wary happiness when she sees the scarlet and gold clad table erupt at the announcement. Her first year is spent mostly in shock, and by the end of first term, any misgivings she might have had about Gryffindor turn, quite unexpectedly, into fierce house pride. Unsurprising to everyone but her, she has no trouble making friends and by the end of first year, Alice Burke, Dorcas Meadows and Marlene McKinnon become her best friends—apart from Severus, of course. Severus, who she sees less and less of as the year passes by; Severus, who more often than not she sees hanging out with the same Slytherins who shout slurs at her when they see her alone; Severus, who is bullied then there is James Potter, who is the bully; James Potter who helped her on her very first day but who Severus turned out to be completely right about—she couldn't stand him. Sirius Black, with his wolfish grin wasn't much better, and Peter Pettigrew was treated with a sort of unconscious indifference. In fact, by the end of the year, Lily is convinced the only one from their 'clique' she can even slightly tolerate is Remus Lupin. And so, when her second year at Hogwarts begins, she has firmly found her place in the social hierarchy, and formulated opinions about everyone who may matter. However, nothing is set in stone and slowly, her opinions begin to change.
By the end of first year, James Potter's decided he's in love—how to go about it, now that is a completely different matter.

The summer preceding their second year is largely uneventful, although that is when the Marauders give themselves the title (blissfully unaware of how pretentious they sound).That year at the platform, Lily picks up her own trunk and shares a compartment with Severus, as well as the other Gryffindor second-years (some of whom are unwelcome). That year, James becomes only more determined to win her over, even as she blatantly ignores him on the train ride. It is also the year the Whomping Willow grows fully and Remus Lupin begins to feel slightly less lonely, first when Lily guesses his secret and then later, when the Marauders one day in November when the moon is new and barely visible, when the wind bites hard at Lily's cheeks, she watches Remus laugh—really laugh, for the first time since she's known him, and decides that perhaps she had been somewhat wrong about James Potter. If nothing else, he was unfailingly loyal to his friends, prepared to stand up for them at every turn, and that was something she couldn't help but admire. Lily's new-found appreciation for James' better qualities quite predictably causes arguments between her and Severus;
("Are you defending Potter? Do you know what he said to me tod-"
"I'm not defending how he treats you! God, Severus, I can't say anything without you attack me!"
"Well-").
And they don't speak for days, days during which Lily bonds with Alice, days during which she lets herself listen to what everyone says about Slytherin. Days during which she finds herself speaking to Sirius Black more and more; suddenly having a lot in common in terms of having someone they care about in a house so widely disliked.

Sirius Black found himself stuck in somewhat of a conundrum. While he was somewhat infamous for hating his family, he never could find it within him to extend that hatred towards his little brother. And as his luck would have it, the one thing he needed to talk about was the only thing the Marauders had no advice to offer on. He found himself withdrawing; spending more time alone, thinking about his brother. The pro-You-Know-Who propaganda his parents had recently been spouting would no doubt encourage Regulus to join the Death Eaters (or as the Marauders called them: the Shit Eaters). Perhaps he already had; with people like Snivellus, Avery and Mulciber around him the possibility seemed likely. But what could he do that would help his brother? What could he do to show his brother that he needn't reduce himself to the stereotype attributed to Slytherins; to show him that he could be his own person, not a mindless follower?

During their second year, he broods on these problems more or less alone. But as the winter of their second year bleeds into the summer of their third, he finds his concerns are shared by one other person at least. And the comfort this knowledge brings him is inexpressible.