Lily entered Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, pushing her things in front of her. Her mother waved at her from the car; she had told her that she didn't need her to come on the platform with her anymore. She was sixteen now, she wasn't a little kid who had to be seen off everywhere. Petunia still wasn't there, and evidently would never touch the magical world ever again. She and Lily had hardly talked all summer; even when they had, it was nothing more than small talk. She had been lonelier this summer than possibly even the last; Severus lived just a couple blocks away from her, but she hadn't gone over to see him once. He had come to her place. Her mother had informed when she returned from the library one day that he had stopped by asking to see her. Lily had informed her mother that they were no longer speaking, and Severus would have nothing to say to her. She had seen his Death Eaters sympathies building, but she had still been shocked to hear him call her something so awful in front of all of those people. At least she had ended their friendship now, and not after he had enlisted in the Death Eaters and started killing people.

As she walked down the platform, hair flying everywhere, she saw Remus and his father. "Hey," she said, stopping her cart for a second.

"Hey, Lily," he replied. He sounded distracted.

"Oh, so this is the famous Lily Evans," said his father, grinning and holding out his hand. "Lyall Lupin, nice to meet you."

"Famous?" Lily raised her eyebrows.

"I don't know, I mentioned you maybe twice," said Remus, shrugging.

"True, but James has talked quite a bit about you."

Lily snorted and rolled her eyes. "Great." She was still furious with James for what he had done to Severus; it wasn't fair to blame him for what he had called her, but a part of her wondered if maybe he hadn't done it, and Severus hadn't called her that, she might still have been able to change his views. Even if she knew somewhere that he was too far gone already.

"Well, I should probably head out," said Mr. Lupin, "Don't want to leave your mother alone in the house while she's ill."

"Bye, Dad," said Remus.

"Goodbye, son."

He left, and Lily frowned. "Your mother's sick?"

"Yeah," said Remus. "I'm... kind of worried, actually."

"Well, I hope she's alright," Lily said.

"Yeah, me too." He shook his head. "So. How was your summer?"

She shrugged. "Uneventful." She nodded to the train. "Should we head to the prefect car?"

"Yeah."

As they walked towards the train, Marlene came up to them. "Lily! Did you read about the Quidditch match last Friday?"

"Um, no, I don't think so."

"It was amazing!"

"I'm sure it was, Marlene. I'll read about it later."

"Okay." She rolled her eyes. "Oh, looks like Mary's here. Talk to you later." She ran off.

"Well, that was brief," said Lily.

The next people to walk up to them were less welcome, to Lily at least: James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew.

"Remus!" James said. "Been a little while since we saw you."

"I've been busy," said Remus. "My mother's still sick."

The grin disappeared off of James's face. "Still? That's nearly a month, isn't it?"

"I... wasn't really keeping track," Remus said, but Lily could see that he was lying. "Anyway. What's been going on at the Potter residence?"

"Well, I almost burned it down trying to practice that spell," James said. "Mum and Dad weren't pleased."

"It was really something to watch, though," said Sirius, and Lily frowned. Why had he been at James's house when the others weren't there? Whatever. It wasn't any of her business.

"They finished the-" Peter began, before Sirius cut him off.

"Project."

"That's what I was going to say," Peter said.

"Oh, cool! Worked out the bugs, then?" Remus asked.

"Yep." James grinned.

Lily watched the exchange with mild amusement. "Secret project, huh? Something Remus should be reporting you for?"

"No," they all chorused in unison, and she actually laughed.

"How're you doing, Evans?" James asked.

"Fine, Potter." She tried to make her voice sound as cold as possible, and rolled her eyes for good measure.

"I, uh, I'm sorry for... what happened at the end of last year."

She blinked. Was James Potter actually apologizing for something? The arrogant toerag? It probably wasn't an apology of remorse, she figured, just another attempt to get her to go out with him or something, but at least it was an apology. "Uh... thanks," she managed to get out. Thanks? That was stupid, he wasn't giving her a gift, he was giving her an apology for something terrible he had done. Why did she always seem to lose her senses when she was talking to James?

"Well, uh, we have prefect business to get to," said Remus, "So, it was great seeing you guys."

"Right, off to the fancy car," said Peter.

"Later, Remus," said Sirius, and the three of them walked away.

"Arrogant toerag," Lily muttered.

Remus chuckled. "I'm sure he'd be thrilled to know you said that."

"Like I care." She sighed. "Do I want to know what that secret project you lot were on about is?"

"Probably not," said Remus.

"Figured."

They walked into the prefect car and put their things on the luggage rack, and then Lily encountered an even more unwanted face: Severus Snape.

"Lily-" he started, but she walked past him and sat on the other side of the compartment.

When Remus walked by her, she quietly said, "Sit next to me."

He obliged, whispering back, "Why?"

"It'll annoy Severus."

"Ah." He looked from Lily to Severus. "Right."

She knew she was being petty, but she didn't care anymore. He had called her the most offensive thing a Muggle-born person could be called, and he very clearly believed the philosophy behind the word. He was going to end up being a Death Eater, and she wanted no part of that.

He sat down, and she avoided his gaze as the train pulled away from the station.