James Potter felt certain that this was the best idea he'd ever had. It had taken him six years of relentless pursuit, showers of gifts, a combination of teasing and flirting and several impromptu visits over the past summer, but Lily Evans had finally agreed to go on a date with him. Naturally, the best course of action would be to throw a massive party as soon as he got back to Hogwarts – and who better to lead the festivities than Lily's favorite singer?

As soon as he heard the opening strains of the song, James Potter had catapulted off the Gryffindor bench and conjured up a magical guitar. Granted, he couldn't play the guitar, but it was all for show anyways. He slid and danced up and down the aisles, singing and winking at the younger girls who blushed and giggled like crazy. Nothing could tear him out of his element.

Remus Lupin was certain that James Potter was the world's biggest idiot. Yes, it had taken James six years to convince Lily to go on a date with him – and honestly, how did he even manage THAT? Remus asked himself – but who had been the one to counsel both Lily and James through all of their fights? Remus Lupin, of course. And now that James had finally convinced Lily he was man enough to deserve a date, he threw it out the window.

Remus groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. This was the worst idea James had ever dreamed up. No, Remus thought, this is the worst idea Sirius ever dreamed up. James was a very smart guy, but Sirius Black was famous for his shenanigans and utter disregard for appropriate conduct. Remus turned to his right and saw Sirius necking with Iris Brown, a sixth year Gryffindor who had more hair than brains. Remus sighed again, and turned back to look at Lily Evans, who was the only other Gryffindor student ignoring the commotion.

Remus gazed at her sympathetically, but Lily Evans didn't notice. She was intently staring at the table, blinded by her fury and the few stubborn tears that refused to remain in her eyes. She clutched her head in her hands and groaned, trying to block out the noise. This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't happening, she repeated to herself over and over again. Lily focused on that mantra and ignored the joy-filled screams of her classmates and the fireworks that erupted. Just breathe, Lily. Just breathe. Lily was about to hex James Potter into oblivion as the song picked up again when she heard an indignant "Stupefy!" ring out across the Great Hall. Startled, she whirled around in her seat just as Dumbledore announced that her savior was none other than her new roommate, Ms. Mya Delacourt.

Hermione could still feel the shocked stares of her classmates as she landed daintily on the floor. Now, if I was Sirius Black, where would I be sitting? Hermione turned her head to the right and found her target. James Potter was in the middle of the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, frozen in shock. Remus Lupin was sitting close to the far wall, mouthing the words "thank you" over and over again. And sitting on Remus Lupin's right was none other than Sirius Black.

At least, it looked sort of like Sirius Black. The young man had wavy black hair that curled down to his shoulders and the faintest hint of stubble. Hermione tried to get a better look at his face, but the young man was preoccupied by the young woman – who looked suspiciously similar to Lavender Brown – who was perched on his lap, smothering his face with kisses and giggles.

Hermione smirked and rolled her eyes. Of course. Why am I not surprised?

Dumbledore's smooth baritone finally broke her piercing stare away from Sirius Black. "Now, as I was saying before the, uh, celebration," Dumbledore began, shooting a heated look at James who, thankfully, had enough sense to look ashamed, "We are honored to be joined by our first ever transfer student from Beauxbatons, Ms. Mya Delacourt. She is a seventh year who will finish up her education here, and she has already been sorted into Gryffindor." Dumbledore's eyes found Hermione and he smiled. "Now, if that's the end of the interruptions, let us feast."

Peels of excitement echoed throughout the Great Hall as the food magically appeared. Hermione slowly felt the eyes of the congregation leaving her, and as the students began to dig in Hermione exhaled slowly through her nose. Relax, Hermione. You've got this.

"Excuse me, Ms. Delacourt?" Hermione heard a man clear his throat. She whirled around and saw none other Frank Longbottom. His slightly shaggy hair hung across his face, and he whipped it out of the way as he extended his hand to Hermione. "My name's Frank Longbottom, I'm the Head Boy here at Hogwarts. I'm so glad you're hear, you're going to have a great time!"

Hermione shook his hand vigorously and grinned widely. "Thank you so much Frank! And please, call me Mya."

Frank grinned back and opened his mouth as if he was going to reply, when a sudden commotion caught his attention and the conversation in the Great Hall lowered to a murmur.

Hermione turned around just in time to see Lily Potter – No, she's not a Potter yet, Hermione thought – cast a body-bind curse on James Potter. Lily hopped up from the bench and began stalking down towards the doors. "Lily-" James began. Lily turned back around, her furious gaze instantly silencing him.

"If you know what's good for you, James Potter, you will never speak to me again." Lily glanced up and shot a look at Sirius Black, who had pushed aside Iris Brown in order to have better access to the food. "You too, Black," she spat.

Lily turned back and marched towards Hermione and Frank. The further she walked away from the table, the more composed her countenance became, until finally she reached Hermione and smiled like she had just won the Quidditch World Cup.

"Hi there, I'm Lily Evans! It's wonderful to meet you, Mya, and thank you so much for-" she threw her hands in the air, gesturing towards the portraits on the walls.

Hermione chuckled. "Not a problem Lily! I'm so happy to meet you, I've heard so many great things!"

Lily chuckled, her laughter tinkling through the air. "Dumbledore is much too kind." She turned back and pointed at the Gryffindor table. "If you're hungry, I'm sure there is still some food left for you."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Aren't you going to be eating dinner?"

Lily forced a smile. "I'm suddenly not hungry."

Hermione nodded, and turned to look at Frank. "It was so great to meet you Frank, but if it's all right with you two I think I'd like to retire. I'm still catching up on sleep from all of my travelling."

Frank nodded. "Of course! That's completely understandable. Lily, would you be willing to escort Mya back to your tower? I'm sure you can find some snacks to eat there if you get hungry." He winked at Lily, who smiled back gratefully.

"Of course!" Lily stated. Smiling at Hermione, she grabbed her hand and walked as quickly as she could out of the Great Hall. "I need to unpack anyways."

Ten minutes later Hermione found herself sprawled across one of the couches in the common area of their tower. Lily sat in one of the chairs right next to the fireplaces, and the girls were stuffing themselves with the turkey and pie that Tunie had so graciously delivered.

Lily chewed her food thoughtfully and gazed at the portrait of Elvis that hung above the fireplace. "As much as I love Elvis, the last thing I want to do is look at that thing every day for the next year."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "I'm sure we could ask the elves to remove it."

Lily tilted her head. "Do you think they would?"

Hermione nodded again as she chewed her piece of dragonberry pie. "I think so! Although, if we cast the correct charm it would probably make a nice alarm clock."

Lily jumped up. "You're a genius! I have my copy of "Practical Charms for the Modern Day Witch" in my bag!" Lily raced into her room and returned with her well-loved copy of the book. After spending a few minutes flipping through the pages, she finally found the charm she was looking for.
As she began casting the spell, Hermione took the opportunity to take a better look at Harry's mother. She was a tall, lithe redhead would walked with a certain elegance and grace that came from a place of confidence and self-knowledge. Her fiery red hair cascaded down her back, and her green eyes were alight with concentration. Lily Evans was absolutely breathtaking. It was no wonder that James Potter was so taken with her. Or Severus Snape for that matter, Hermione's brain added.

"There!" Lily sat back, smiling in triumph. "Elvis will wake us up at the same time every day, except on weekends, unless we modify the charm."

"That's awesome!" Hermione exclaimed.

Lily settled back into her chair and began devouring her piece of pie. "So Mya," she said in between bites, "tell me more about yourself."

"Well," Hermione began, rushing through all of her conversations about her history with Dumbledore, "My father was a professor at Beauxbatons and he was on assignment with the French Ministry when he met my mother, who is from England. They had a whirlwind romance and I was born a year later. My childhood home was here in England, and most of the time it was just my mother and I, but when I finally came of age I began attending Beauxbatons, where my father taught. My mother became a herbology assistant at the school, and so we spent the school year in France and the summer holiday in England. Everything was great until my parents went out one night." Hermione broke off her narrative and gazed into the fire. "There was an attack."

Hermione swallowed her tears back. The story she was telling Lily was only a small lie. Granted, her parents were muggles and she had never been to France, let alone studied there, but her parents had been attacked the summer before her sixth year. They hadn't survived their injuries.
Hermione swallowed again and resumed her story. "They were killed during the attack, and I was captured shortly afterwards. For some reason the Death Eaters thought I would know where the other professors at Beauxbatons were hiding. I had no idea, but that didn't stop them from-"
She cut off and quickly wiped away her tears. "It doesn't matter, really. All that matters is that I'm here now and I'm safe and I have a new beginning. My parents wouldn't want me to forget to live because they aren't here anymore. They would want me to embrace life. And I will." Hermione finally gazed up and looked at Lily, who nodded at her sadly. "What about you?" Hermione asked. "What's your story?"

Lily swallowed the last piece of her pie and cleared her throat. "My parents are muggles," she began, avoiding Hermione's eyes. "I didn't know about the wizarding world until Dumbledore showed up at my house one day. He offered me the chance to be something truly special, and I said yes. My family has hated me ever since."

"Do you like it here?" Hermione prodded.

Lily nodded. "I do. I love learning, and I've met so many amazing people here. But when you're muggleborn, it sometimes feels like you're fighting an uphill battle, you know?"

She gathered her mug of hot chocolate into her hands and gazed into the fire. "Severus Snape was my best friend here. He'll be in all of our classes, so I'm sure you'll meet him. He was nice to me from the beginning, but then he fell in with the wrong crowd. And when I wouldn't date him, he called me a "Mudblood" in front of the entire school."

Soft shudders began coursing down Lily's back, and Hermione watched, frozen in her seat, as Harry's mother cried over her crotchety potions professor. "We haven't spoken since. The one person that I thought would always be on my side! And I have worked so hard to prove to everyone that I am more than capable, that I deserve my powers, and now James Potter has made me the laughingstock of my school!"

Lily continued to cry silently. After arguing back and forth between herself for a few minutes, Hermione stood up, slid off the ring that concealed her scars from Bellatrix, and walked over to Lily.

"I want to show you something." As Lily turned to face her, Hermione lifted up the sleeve of her robe and showed her the scar. "I'm a Mudblood too - well, both of my parents are - were." she clarified, grimacing.
Lily gasped, clutching Hermione's arm in her hands. "Mya! How?" Lily was too shocked to even finish her sentence.

Hermione pushed her lips together. "Someone with a small mind." Hermione put the ring back on her finger and Lily gasped as the offending word disappeared. Hermione tossed her hair back over her shoulder and grabbed Lily's hand. "It doesn't matter what they say. We're in this together."

Lily smiled and threw her arms around Hermione. Hermione hugged her back. This is a memory I'm going to have to show Harry, she thought to her herself. Pulling back, she saw Lily chuckle as she wiped away her tears. "And if anything, James Potter has made you the most envied girl in the school," Hermione laughed.

Lily groaned. "I still can't believe it happened!"

"I can! That boy is crazy about you. I've only been here a day and I can tell, he's nutso." And, I've met your son, but whatever, that's just a minor detail.

Lily threw her head back over the edge of the armchair. "What am I going to do?" she asked, slapping her palm against her head. "I mean, I like him, but I don't want to date a boy anymore, you know? I want to date a man! Someone who respects me and my wishes!"

Hermione snorted. "Preach it, sister."

Lily sighed and swung her legs off the arm of her chair and stood up. "I guess we can figure that out tomorrow."

"We?" Hermione asked cautiously, grinning.

"Yes, we!" Lily smiled back. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted and I want to be well-rested for our first day of classes."

Hermione sighed. "Music to my ears!" And with that, the two new friends hugged each other a good night and went their separate ways, glad to have someone on their side to navigate through what was sure to be an interesting year.