Disclaimer: Own next to nothing. Yada, yada, yada.

Author's Note: Know what I hate? That silly three-day wait until I can upload my stories because I'm new. So while I was waiting for my time to be up, I decided to type up chapter two.

Chapter 2: Changes

"That was quick." Louise said, surprised as she looked up from her magazine and saw Lily standing by the door.

The three girls exchanged looks as Lily sat down and looked out the window.

"How'd it go?" Victoria asked.

Lily shrugged. "It went fine. All we really had to do was give the prefects their duties."

Victoria sighed. "Come on, Lil, you know that's not what I meant."

"How'd it go with James?" Anna clarified when Lily didn't answer.

"It went fine." She said, shaking her head with a smile on her face. "He did what he was supposed to do and then we were off."

Victoria looked dumbfounded. "How many times did he ask you out?"

"Oh, hang on, let me count." Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Oh, yeah! Zero."

"Zero?!" Louise said, looking at her with her eyes wide.

"Zero." Lily said, grinning at the looks on her friends' faces. "As a matter of fact, he has a girlfriend."
"No way!"

"You can't be serious!"

Lily just nodded. "A very pretty girl by the name of Claire Austen." She elaborated.

Victoria folded her arms over her chest stubbornly. "I don't believe you."

"Suit yourself." Lily muttered, waving her off with her hand and resuming her staring contest with the window while her three friends exchanged suspicious looks.

--

"She seemed nice." Claire said conversationally as she and James returned to their compartment. "I'd never actually spoken to her before."

James nodded with a smile. "Yeah, she is."

He slid the door open and let her step in before he did. Three other boys looked up as they did so.

"What took you so long, Prongs? Moony's been back for ages now." Sirius Black said, grinning up at them.

"Hung back, talking to Evans." He shrugged. The boys exchanged looks as he and Claire sat on the bench across from them.

"What did she have to say?" Remus asked, looking back to the Exploding Snap game he had started with Sirius. Peter sat on his left, eyeing the game with interest.

"Nothing much. I asked her how her summer was." James shrugged again.

Sirius was now laughing to himself. "What did she say when she found out that you were Head Boy?" he asked.

James shook his head. "She didn't say anything, actually." He said, looking puzzled now as he thought back. It was odd that she hadn't said anything about it. "I guess her friends warned her."
"They must have." Remus said. "I'll bet she had a heart attack when she found out."

"You never got along, did you?" Claire asked, peering between the boys.

"Naw, Evans has had it in for Prongsie since he introduced himself in first year." Sirius replied.

"Why?" she asked, quirking her eyebrows. "What did you do?"

James feigned innocence. "I didn't do anything." He said

Remus snorted. "You turned her hair green and wouldn't change it back until Professor McGonagall made you."

"That's practically nothing." James said defensively, though he found that he was smiling mischievously at the memory.

Claire laughed. "You were terrible!" she accused, swatting him playfully on the arm.

"Hey!" James said, pretending to be hurt.

"You were!" she argued, laughing.

It was then that the Express came to a stop.

"We've arrived." Sirius grinned.

"Way to state the obvious, Padfoot." James snorted. Sirius punched him in the arm.

Together, the Marauders and Claire gathered their things and made their way out of the compartment. The crowds of black clad students moved slowly towards the horseless carriages, trying to find an empty one to ride in. Remus led them to the front where finally they were able to squeeze themselves into a carriage.

James sighed as they started up the path to the school.

Claire gave him a curious look. "What?" she asked.

"This is the last time we'll be riding up to the feast in a tiny, uncomfortable carriage." He said sadly.

"You're right." Sirius agreed. "It's our last year."

--

The Sorting had already finished. Petrified looking first years stumbled up to the stool to have the hat whisper their fate in their ears. Some of them looked happy as they skipped off to their tables, others looked gloomy as they trudged their way to tables, away from their friends or siblings. When the process was through, Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet and held his arms out in welcome.

"Welcome to our new students, and to our old students, welcome back." He began his speech, followed by a quick list of rules and guidelines, and of course, his usual tidbit of completely useless wisdom and the students were soon sent off to bed. First years followed their house prefects up to their new common rooms, while the older students walked up in flocks of two or three or four.

James made to get up with the rest of the Marauders and Claire, when he was stopped by Professor McGonagall waving him down. Sirius and Claire both turned around to see what the hold-up was.

Shrugging, James dropped a kiss on the top of Claire's head and nodded at Sirius. "Go on, I'll see you later." He told them, turning to walk over to the professor. That was when he noticed that Lily was standing next to her, looking as confused as he felt.

"What's up, professor?" James asked, joining them with his hands in his pockets.

"I'm to show you to the Heads' Dorm, that is what is up, Mr. Potter." She replied curtly, sweeping past them. "Follow me."

Obediently, they followed along behind her. James chanced a glance over at Lily, whose expression was unreadable. Was she worried about sharing a common room with him?

Finally, Professor McGonagall came to a stop in front of the portrait of a fat old man. She quickly muttered the password, and the portrait swung forward on its hinges. James and Lily followed her as she proceeded into the room.

The walls were painted in the Gryffindor colours: deep scarlet and light gold. James imagined that the colours changed every year, according the Head Boy and Girls' houses. Portraits and paintings lined the walls, some of their subjects moving along in their frames to get a better glimpse at who would be staying in the rooms this year. There was a fireplace on the left side of the room, situated between two doors. There was also a desk, a table, a leather couch and chair, just like the ones in the old Gryffindor common room.

"I'll leave you to get acquainted with the rooms and I expect to see you in class on time tomorrow morning, right Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonagall told them, giving James a stern look.

He grinned sheepishly as she excused herself, the portrait swinging closed behind her. When he turned back, he found Lily was staring at him.

"Nice place, huh?" he said, running a hand through his hair nervously.

"Yeah, it is." She agreed, smiling slightly as she finally looked away. James breathed a sigh of relief; he felt as though he had been shrinking under her stare.

He watched as she crossed the room to the window, peered through the glass, then walked over to one of the doors. James followed her, and as he stood behind her, he saw that her name was painted onto the door. He glanced at the other one, and sure enough, saw his name printed there.

"Well, I better be off to bed, then." He said, looking down at her as she turned to look up at him. "Especially if I have to be in class on time tomorrow morning." He added with a smile and a wink. He was surprised to hear her laugh. He had always loved that laugh…

"Night, Potter." She said, pushing her own door open.

"Night, Evans." He replied, but she had already gone and the door was closed behind her.

--

Lily wasn't sure if it was the excitement of being back at Hogwarts, or something else inside of her that was keeping her from sleeping. She lay awake in her bed, twirling her hair around her fingers as she stared up at the ceiling. She wasn't sure if she minded being awake or not, though. She knew she should be asleep if she wanted to be on time tomorrow, but she also wanted time to think about the many things that she had to think about. One of these things was coming back more than the others, however: The change in James Potter. He had always been so arrogant, so immature, so impossible, but something about him was different this year. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something had changed, and she found that she wasn't complaining in the slightest.

Author's Note: Chapter two? Check. You may have noticed that there is little Peter action in the chapter, and I should probably tell you that there will be very little Peter action throughout the whole story, unless I need him for something. Sorry to any Pettigrew lovers out there. As always, read and reviewww.

Thanks for reading.