Disclaimer: Everything in this story belongs to J.K. Rowling. Anything that sounds familiar is hers. I just enjoy playing with the world she created. All of the chapter names are lyrics from songs from the various bands, named.

Chapter named after "I Must Be Dreaming" by The Maine.

I lurched forward in my seat slightly as the train rolled to an abrupt halt. A gentle laugh broke through my momentary cloud of annoyance, resulting from the fact that the stop had caused my book to fall out of my lap and lose my bookmark. I looked up from hurriedly turning pages to see Alice's amused expression, her laugh sounding pure and light as air in the loud train atmosphere. Her gaze was directed to the floor in front of her, where, tangled up in her mess of headphones, lay Aurie, glaring at no one in particular.

I choked back a laugh but didn't bother to hide the stubborn smile that crawled across my face.

"It's not funny," Aurie growled, picking herself up from the floor. "I think I scratched my iPod." She bent over the tiny orange electronic, inspecting it for damage with an experienced eye. Her affinity for clumsiness and mishaps with her possessions had led her to become an expert at mending spells, rendering them the only spells she could perform nonverbally.

Alice smiled and shook her head at Aurie in bemusement as she straightened up her willowy figure and began to gather up the various books and magazines that had managed to spill from her oversized red and gold striped duffel bag. I followed suit, shoving my bookmark in a random place in my book and then tossing the book quickly into my yellow-and-black-checkered messenger bag, throwing it over my shoulder quickly.

Aurie was the first one to reach the sliding doors of the compartment, pushing it open so hard that it rebounded against the frame, much the same way it had when I made my entrance. As I followed close behind her, trying to push through the multitude of distracted students spilling out of the compartments simultaneously, I heard the faint noises of a fast rock song echoing from her trusty headphones, plugged into her ears dutifully. I rolled my eyes and grabbed her shoulder lightly so we wouldn't be separated.

We finally made it out of the train and onto the landing, all in one piece. It was then that Alice's knowing eyes found their way to the shiny gold badge pinned onto my black robes, just under the Gryffindor lion symbol.

"Lily…" she began, her tone questioning, probably wondering why I hadn't bothered to mention my success to her earlier.

"Yes?" I asked innocently, blinking at her as if I had no idea why she was staring at me so suspiciously. She just raised her eyebrows.

Before she could question me about the badge, Aurie jumped a little in surprise and tore the headphones out of her ears, music still blasting from them, and made to shove them into her huge and colorful bag, covered with so many pins that it clanked with the slightest movement.

"What the—?" I started, but my inquiry was cut off by a louder, deeper, male voice.

"Hello there, ladies," said Sirius Black, walking toward us with a cocky grin on his attractive face. However much I hated his best friend, the ever-pestering James Potter, I couldn't deny that Sirius was rather handsome. With his shaggy black wavy hair, always hanging so perfectly in his deep brown eyes, tall built, and toned body, Sirius was the object of affection for almost every single female student at Hogwarts. "Almost" meaning the only two who weren't interested were Alice and myself.

"Sirius." Aurie acknowledged his presence with a curt nod.

Sirius turned his eyes onto Aurie, a warm and playful expression residing in them, making them twinkle with interest.

"Aurie!" he yelled, throwing his arms around her and crushing her in a bear hug. "How much I've missed your sarcastic humor all summer!" he remarked dramatically as he released her, putting a hand to his heart.

Aurie rolled her eyes and pretended to be very busy arranging the pins on her bag. Sirius grinned and looked to me.

"Lilykins!" he exclaimed, pulling me into the same overdramatic hug that he had shown Aurie a minute earlier, ignoring my grumbling.

Sirius pulled away from me a second later, as we both heard the distinct sound of someone clearing their throat. James Potter stood right beside his best friend, looking annoyed. Behind him was tall, slender, blonde and good-looking Remus Lupin and short, plump and mousy Peter Pettigrew, the remaining two Marauders.

"Better watch it, Black, or I'll give you detention," James said, half joking. Sirius let out his bark-like laugh while my eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion. James wasn't a Prefect… He didn't have the authority to give detentions.

"I still can't believe you got Head Boy," Sirius commented in disbelief, shaking his head. "I always thought it would be good old Moony."

Alice gasped, Aurie's eyes left her bag, and I stood rooted to the ground, thinking my ears had deceived me. James Potter? Head Boy? Those words didn't belong in the same sentence!

"What?" asked James, looking at us as if we had gone crazy.

"You—Head Boy—not possible!" I spluttered, eyes wide.

James pretended to be offended. "Ouch, Evans. No faith in me?"

"I don't believe it," Aurie declared, crossing her arms. "There's no way in hell that Potter's Head Boy. Don't let him get to you, Lily."

"Challenging my boy, are you?" Sirius exchanged a look with James, who began to rummage through his book bag, finally pulling out a small gold badge and holding it above his head in triumph. It was really true.

"Jealous, are we, Evans?" said Potter arrogantly, pinning the badge to his robes. "I know you've wanted to be a Head since you found out what it was."

"Why would Lily be jealous?" Alice defended me. "She's Head Girl."

James grinned while Sirius laughed and slapped his friend on the back.

"Congratulations, Lily," said Remus politely, ignoring the antics of his best friends. I had always liked Remus; we had been Prefects together for the past two years.

I felt a light touch on my neck and looked down to see a hand gently pushing away my wavy red hair to reveal the gold badge underneath. I looked up and met James's eyes. I instantly slapped his hand away.

"Ow! What was that for?" He clutched his smarting hand in the other one, a puzzled expression on his face.

"You were touching my neck!" I protested angrily.

"I was just moving your hair! I wanted to see your badge!" James yelled back defensively. Then in a lower tone he added, "I wasn't going to hurt you, Lily."

"Well, I never gave you permission to touch me!" I was slightly off-balance by his use of my first name. He had always called me Evans, never Lily. And I had always called him Potter, not James. We weren't on friendly terms.

James narrowed his eyebrows. "Great comeback, Lily," he teased, smiling again.

"I'm emotionally distraught." I turned away from him, only to realize that no one else was around. Our friends had left us alone.

James didn't seem to care. "Oh, really?" he asked in an interested tone. "Please do tell me why."

I started walking, contemplating my answer. He caught stride with me easily, staring at me all the while.

"Because you called me Lily," I answered finally, biting my lip and refusing to look at him.

An awkward silence ensued. James Potter was at a loss for words? I finally turned my attention to him in shock. He was gazing determinedly at the ground, his eyes slightly hard.

"Sorry," he muttered, sounding bitter. I was completely confused. His mood swings were driving me insane.

We finally reached the carriages, the last one waiting for us. James jumped up first, then in an unusual show of manners, stuck out his arm and helped me up, then continued in his act of moody silence. I sighed and leaned back in my seat, dreading the long ride. I never thought the day would come where James would be mad at me, and I certainly didn't expect that I would dislike it even more than his normal behavior.