A/N: Short, I know, and not very good, but I should have another chapter up tomorrow, and it should be about 10 times better, so don't fret! Read and review :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Jk Rowling's wonderful work. Just the plot and a few OCs
The carriage ride to the castle passed far too quickly for Lily's liking, she found herself seating with Hufflepuff's Alice Prewitt , a sweet, slightly round faced girl who was entering her 5th year, along with her boyfriend Frank Longbottom, who like Lily was in his 7th year. Lily found herself exiting the carriage slowly, taking the time to look up at the brightly lit castle in awe for a couple seconds, for the first time in months, feeling peaceful: feeling like she was home.
Her peace didn't last for long, however, as it was soon interrupted by a sharp jab in her back.
"Oi, I'm hungry!" A voice whined, "why are you just standing there?"
Lily spun around quickly, turning to see the grinning face of Marlene McKinnon, processing only for a second before tackling her friend in a massive hug.
"You're here!" Lily cried into Marlene's hair, "I was so worried!"
Marlene laughed, patting her friend softly on the back, "And miss all you're James Potter drama? Which you need to catch me up on: fighting already Lil? Never!"
Lily rolled her eyes and pulled away from Marlene (who of course would have heard of her and Potters latest fight within minutes of the carriages arriving), only to see the third member of the quartet (the fourth being Dale), standing off to the side, grinning just as broadly as Marlene.
Cassie held her arms open to Lily, "What about me? Do I not get one of the famous Lily Evans' hugs?"
"Cass!" Lily yelled, pulling away from Marlene to grab onto Cassie, who squeezed her back just as tight, saying as she did so, "We're sorry you were worried- we wanted to send you a letter while you were on the train to explain-"
"But our parents wouldn't let us, security and all that," Marlene interrupted. "Our parents arrived at Hogwarts to speak to Professor Dumbledore before term started and insisted we just travel with them," She lowered her voice as she leaned in a little, "It was Order business."
Lily, who already knew of the Order of the Phoenix from her two friends before her, simply nodded with an understanding smile on her face.
Cassie and Marlene, noticing the slightly melancholy look on their friend's face, exchanged quick mischievous glances before they each grabbed one of Lily's arms, effectively dragging her toward the castle, both ignoring her shrieks.
Lily sank into her four-poster bed at the top of Gryffindor tower gratefully, letting out an exhausted sigh. Cassie, who was on the bed next to hers, laughed at her dramatics. Lily turned her head towards her, scrunching up her face.
"It's not funny! Do you know how many times I had to stop on the way up here to convince half of the first years that no, they weren't going crazy, the portraits are supposed to talk to them!?" Cassie just laughed harder, prompting Lily to continue. "Nine. Nine times! And then there was the other half who thought it would be funny to push the others onto stairs that were already moving, so we had to stop and wait for either the stair to come back, or find them a different way back to the group! And of course," she continued, getting slightly louder with each word, attracting the attention of Marlene, who stepped out of the bathroom to listen. "Potter was no help! The opposite actually! He thought the whole thing was hilarious! Each time a student got trapped on the stairs, he gave the culprits high fives. He congratulated them!" she finished the whole thing in a huff, her eyes wide.
"You gotta admit Lils, it was rather funny," Marlene reasoned, smirking. "Frankly I'm just surprised that no one else has done it before."
"And by no one, she means the Marauders," Cassie laughed.
Lily turned up her face at this, trying to hide her smile. "Maybe because it was just so immature- who am I kidding," she cut herself off, "Immature? Yes then, I'm surprised the Marauders haven't done it yet either." the fact that a group of first years had come up with a prank that the marauders had never done before, on their first day at Hogwarts, cheered her up slightly. Maybe this group of students could deflate their ego a little. If that was even possible.
They talked about the feast for a while – mainly about Dumbledore's new hat ("It was orange! Did you see it? Orange!"), and Marie Higgins of Hufflepuff's new boyfriend ("I swear she has a new one every 2 weeks! And Paul Revers? I thought he was better than that!"). They were just starting into talking about the classes they wanted for the year when the door to the dormitory burst open dramatically.
Of course, they always did like a dramatic entrance, Lily thought, as the final two of the Gryffindor 7th years walked into the room. Janet, the more outspoken of the two, her usually straight long black hair curled into loose curls around her face. She was pretty, Lily admitted, but the constant sneer on her face- a sneer worthy of Slytherin, Lily often thought- took away from her beauty. The girl next to her, Talia, had blonde hair. Hers too was curled, but was visibly shorter than Janet's. Lily really didn't see the point of messing with her hair – it never lasted long enough anyways – why take so much time for something that'll be gone the next day? No, she thought, she had much more practical things to do with her time.
Janet looked over the room before huffing loudly. "I thought you'd have your own dorm Lily? What are you still doing here?" she whined, glaring at Lily.
Lily narrowed her eyes immediately; she was used to this kind of stuff from Janet and Talia: the pair had hated her from day one at Hogwarts.
"Yes, actually, I do have my own dorm. Or at least I will. It's being finished up. apparently this is the first time in years two Gryffindors have been the heads of the school," Lily finished rather proudly.
"Yeah, if only it wasn't Potter," Cassie snickered.
"Well personally I think James is the only sensible choice. At least he has friends. And the sooner you can stay there the better." Janet snapped, glaring at Lily and Cassie.
"She obviously does has friends, they're sitting right in front of you!" Marlene cried angrily, entering into the argument. "Besides," she added with an upturned nose, "She certainly has more than the two of you."
"She's just sore that James likes you and not her Lily," Cassie whispered to the whole room amid Janet's angry spluttering.
"He doesn't though," Janet insisted. "Anyone can see he clearly likes me!"
Lily laughed loudly at this. While she really didn't want to get on the topic of James Potter obsession with her – Janet's comment was too good to pass up.
"Is that why he never talks to you? It all makes sense now! I understand!" she cried, throwing her hands up. "Now I'm going to bed. And unless you want to see just why I'm so good at charms and jinxes, I'd suggest you don't continue to talk and bother me," Lily replied, turning her back on her, so she was facing Cassie and Marlene. She grinned at them and winked, while they both tried (unsuccessfully) to smother the laughter at the look on Janet's face.
"Night Lily, Marlene," Cassie said, recovering from laughing first, laying down into her bed, Marlene doing the same from across the room.
Lily followed suit, casting a sly look in Janet and Talia's direction as they worked on unpacking their trunks, before pointing her wand at the lights in the room, putting them all out suddenly. "Good night Janet," she said sweetly.
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