This story is dedicated to: Cam, Ella, Lys, Ellen and Nura

4

Lily slid the door open and determinedly looked at the floor, avoiding looking Sirius or James in the face. Sirius passed her with a snicker, making her blush, and Remus and Peter passed with confused looks, wondering what had happened a minute ago. James stepped in front of her and placed two fingers under her chin, lifting her head so she looked him in the eye, and smiled.

'Come on,' he whispered softly, and led her into the compartment, her face bright red. Remus had taken Claire's seat, and was currently starting a new chess game with Nura. Claire had taken a seat next to Nura, with Peter next to her and Sirius opposite her, whom she was talking to. Alice had gone off to find her boyfriend Frank Longbottom, who was a 7th year Ravenclaw, and a close friend of the Marauders. This left one seat, next to the window. James and Lily glanced at each other, and James motioned for Lily to take it. When she sat down, he placed himself on the floor close to her, his back against the wall of the compartment.

'So Lily-Billy did you like your birthday present?' asked Sirius, pausing his conversation with Claire for the time being. Lily turned away from the window and scowled at him.

'You prat, that wasn't funny. My parents thought that there was a real lion in the house.' Sirius let out a bark- like laugh, and Claire raised her eyebrow quizzically at Lily. Scowling, Lily reached up and pulled the box out from her trunk, and silently handed it over to Claire. Claire opened it, and the lion's roar filled the compartment. Claire laughed while she snapped the box shut and turned to Sirius.

'Wow, how did you get such a good recording of our dear Lily's snoring?' Sirius let out another bark like laugh, and Nura giggled softly. Glaring at Claire, Lily picked up one of Nura's pawns and threw it at her so-called friend.


When Alice re-entered the compartment, she found Nura and Remus still in a chess match, although Remus was watching Nura instead on the game board when she wasn't looking. Looking closely, Alice noticed that he had changed drastically from the boy she had dated in 4th year, and even from the young man that had waved goodbye to them at the end of 6th year. His brown hair had grown long, just passing his neck, and he wore it tied back at the base of his skull, except for a few threads that had escaped and continuously fell into his eyes. His eyes were amber in colour, and drew your attention right away. His jaw had grown more defined, and Alice judged he was about 5 foot 11, but wasn't sure as he was sitting. She turned her gaze to the rest of the compartment.

Peter was reading the Charms book assigned for the year, his nose wrinkled in confusion. Sirius and Claire were playing footsies, occasionally kicking Peter on accident, at which he would look up and glare at them before returning to his book. Peter was a person of pure confusion to Alice, as she never understood why he was one of the Marauders. In first year, he had been this scared, unconfident little boy who stood up to no-one. He hadn't had any particular talents, and wasn't attractive. After six years of companionship with Remus, James and Sirius though, he had changed. He had grown some confidence, and spoke his mind more. He had watery blue eyes, and a slightly pointed face, dirty blonde hair, and only stood 5 foot 5. He wasn't exactly unattractive anymore, but he wasn't handsome either.

Turning her gaze to the seat opposite Peter, she saw Lily looking down at James with a confused expression on her face. James himself was still sitting on the floor, now asleep, resting his head Lily's lap. There was no expression on his face, but flickering eyelids and an occasional twitch showed that he wasn't enjoying whatever dream held his mind. Feeling eyes on her, Lily looked up at Alice. Her face showed worry for a moment before it was replaced with a mask of calm. Gently, she slid out from under James's head, sat down next to him, and motioned for Alice to take her seat.


'Abbott, Henry.' Alice watched her brother closely as he sat down on the stool and placed the patched hat on his head. There was silence for a moment before the hats' shout of 'HUFFLEPUFF!' rang out across the hall. Henry made his way over to the table full of his new house members, but waved at his sister on the way.

Throughout the sorting, Remus and Nura swapped between talking to each other and watching the ceremony, Peter kept looking at his watch and glaring at the empty food dishes, Claire and Sirius teased each other, and James, Lily and Alice held a quiet discussion. When finally the last student was sorted into their house (Maree Vanderzant into Ravenclaw) Albus Dumbledore stood and the Hall fell silent. Dumbledore was a tall and thin man, with a long, silver beard which could be tucked into his belt, and often was at meal times. He wore half-moon spectacles halfway down his nose and bright robes, often with patterns on them. He was considered a genius, and a little mad, but was polite to everyone he met, and nearly always had a sparkle in his eyes.

'Welcome to yet another year at Hogwarts. I can hear your stomachs grumbling from here, so I won't keep you from this brilliant feast soon to be before us. May I just say; enjoy.' He clapped his hands once, and sat down. Across the house and staff tables, food appeared in the food dishes. People reached forward and piled their plates with anything they could reach, and began their meals and discussions.

'So James, what did you do once I left?' asked Nura, looking closely at her close friend. He gave her a small smile and shrugged.

'Not much. Tried to stop Padfoot from destroying the house ('Hey!'), swam a bit, did my homework, convinced Padfoot that I wouldn't be a good idea to break into your room and go through your underwear drawer ('I got bored!'), and had to avoid mum, she was so excited that I got Head Boy.' Nura glared at Sirius, who was trying to look innocent, before she turned back to Lily and drew her into a private conversation. Alice turned to talk to Remus as James and Claire looked at Sirius.

'She's going to kill you Padfoot,' said James.

'Once there are no witnesses around,' added Claire. Sirius gulped audibly and turned back to his food, slightly pale.

Finally the last dish disappeared, and Dumbledore stood once again.

'Ok, now that you are filled up, I wish to give you a few notices. Our Caretaker, Argus Filch, asks me to remind you once again that there are to be no spells in the corridors, that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds, that the Whomping Willow is to be left alone, and that the list of forbidden items has grown once again.

Now, I would like to introduce our new Heads: Head Boy James Potter and Head Girl Lily Evans.' As their names were called, James and Lily stood and waved to the students before taking their seat again. 'Now, I shall let you go back to your dorms for some sleep. If the prefects could take the students up to the common rooms, and the Heads could remain behind, all will be well. Dismissed.' The students left the hall, as did the teachers, while Lily and James walked up to Dumbledore.

'I was going to take you up to your dorms, but I am rather tired. Am I right in assuming that you know where they are Mr. Potter?' he looked at James knowingly, and hid a smile.

'You might be,' replied James, once again only giving a small smile. Dumbledore nodded and began unwrapping a sweet.

'Well then, I trust you can lead the way for Miss Evans. You will be required to make up a password when you arrive. Good night, Mr. Potter, Miss Evans.' He nodded his head and turned towards his office. Lily glanced at James, who smiled at her and held out his hand. She rolled her eyes, but took it. Together, with James leading, they made their way to the head dorms. It was guarded by a portrait of a girl in a white dress. She curtsied and smiled at them.

'You must be James and Lily, correct?' at their nod, her smile grew 'Congratulations for becoming Head students. What would you like your password to be?' Lily looked at James and shrugged, but James wasn't looking at her face. Slowly, he reached forward until he could lift the chain around her neck. The chain that held the golden lily that James had given her for her birthday. He pulled her into a hug, catching her by surprise, and buried his face in her hair. Before she could react, he pulled away, and faced the painting.

'Golden Lily.' The portrait nodded and swung open to reveal the common room. They stepped inside and found a completely white room, about half the size of the Gryffindor common room, and filled with chairs, a table, a couch, and several desks. Looking around in confusion, Lily's eyes gasped when they saw the floor. Colour was spreading from them, washing over the plain white. Soon, the whole room was coloured in reds and gold. Turning to Lily, James gave her a swift hug and murmured a soft 'Good night, Lily' before heading for the left most door labeled 'James Potter'. Lily watched him go, and just as he was about to step inside, she replied.

'Good night… James.' James gave her a smile, a proper one, and vanished into his room.