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Hogwarts Express
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Lily glided through the wall between the 9 and 10 platforms into 9 ¾. Her parents had bid her farewell on the Muggle side after many promises to write as often as she could. She put her foot down right before she ran into a first year.
"Oi, watch it," the first year's father said. Lily smiled grimly and walked past. She handed her trunk and owl away before searching the platform for any signs of friends. She had seen them just three days ago, but she was eager to have the school year started and it started when they boarded the train.
"Lily!" she heard. Her head turned swiftly before she was rammed by no other than Dorcas Meadows. Dorcas wrapped Lily in a quick hug before pulling away a split second later.
"Dorcas," Lily said laughing. "What's go you so open today?" she asked. Dorcas looked at her innocently. Lily narrowed her eyes. Dorcas sighed and threw her head back.
"My brother called me unfeeling this morning." She groaned. "I thought you wouldn't notice." Lily laughed.
"You never hug anyone, not even Alice."
"That's not true! I give hugs when they're needed."
"Desperately needed," a voice behind Dorcas said. Dorcas turned around and wrapped her arms around Marlene. Marlene's eyes widened and she held her hands out to the side not quite knowing what to do. Dorcas pulled back and dropped her hands after a moment.
"It's not a big deal, Dorcas," Lily said. Dorcas quirked her mouth to the side and furrowed her brow in disbelief. "You're not that great a hugger anyways." Dorcas gasped.
"Yay!" Marlene clapped her hands together. "We have Snarky Lily today. She's in a good mood."
"Yay?" Dorcas asked. "Snarky Lily is the good mood Lily? I thought Kind Lily was the good mood Lily." Marlene shook her head.
"No," Alice said coming up behind Lily. "Snarky Lily is a good mood Lily. Kind Lily are all Lilys, but when she's extra kind that's Guilty Lily. Sassy and Flirty Lily is the best mood Lily. The worst mood Lily is the Hexing-Yelling Lily."
"And the absolute worst Lily is Silent-Lily," Mary added coming up behind Dorcas. Dorcas nodded her head in understanding.
"Right. Forgot."
"Is this what you talk about when I fall asleep?" Lily asked.
"That and who's your next boyfriend going to be," Marlene sniggered. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Who's it going to be?" she asked after a moment's pause.
"I bet two more until James," Marlene said proudly.
"I bet one," Mary said. Lily's eyes popped out of her head.
"I bet no James because you'll be to upset with everyone to ever go to him. But I'm thinking I did not bet right," confessed Dorcas.
"I bet next is James." Alice smirked.
"What the hell, Alice?" Lily shouted. "I thought you told me I was supposed to be friends with him before I even thought of anything more. I was supposed to give him a chance as a human being." Alice nodded eagerly.
"You are. We just all have our own thoughts. Do you want to bet? You have to give you money to Frank if you bet. He refused to bet. Have you seen him, by the way?" She looked around the platform.
"No. He's probably on the train already. In the Heads compartment," Lily said. Alice sighed and walked onto the train.
"You want to share a compartment or separate ones?" Alice asked Mary, Marlene, and Lily hanging off the train.
"Get the biggest one you can find!" James shouting running down the platform with Sirius on his tale.
"No. We're not sharing with you," Marlene snapped. She placed a hand on Sirius' chest effectively stopping him from kissing her.
"Get your own compartment," Dorcas said. Sirius turned into a puppy. Lily chuckled lowly at the thought of his animagus being a puppy instead of a huge black dog.
"Fine," Sirius snapped. He turned on his heel and walked down to the next train door. He boarded. James saluted the girls before following his best mate. The Marauders snatched the compartment next across from the girls. They left their door open and tried their hardest to open the girls door, but they had it locked talking about something or another leaned in together in a tight circle.
"What are they talking about?" Sirius whined.
"Don't know. But Alice seems to be talking the most. Mary almost as much. Dorcas seems to be adding some opinion," Remus said casually from his position where he could see straight into their compartment.
"What about Lily?" James asked. "Or… Marlene?"
"Lily's adding some things here and there. Marlene… not so much."
"You think they're talking about us?" Peter asked.
"No," Remus frowned. "The way they're leaning in and talking slowly, no nodding." He furrowed his brow thinking. "Oh Merlin," he gasped.
"What?" Peter asked.
"What is it?" James jumped up and looked into the compartment window.
"They're talking about sex!" Remus exclaimed. James looked taken back.
"No," he said. "No way."
"Yes, way. Alice just mocked a face of pure pleasure. Then they all laughed and she said something that made them all say something of an apology for laughing."
"That's why they didn't want me?" Sirius asked. "I'm the best at talking about sex." He stood up and walked to the girls' door. He pounded on it. "I can talk about this subject very well, I'll have you know." They all sniggered then Lily came out. "Finally, you let me in. I can talk about sex for hours. If you just let me in." Lily blocked the door then shut it. Alice flicked her wand and the lock sounded.
"Were you really talking about sex?" James asked. Lily bent her brow in thought. Then her eyes twinkled.
"What's it to you?" she pipped. "Remus, it's time to go to the Prefect's meeting." Remus jumped up and they walked down the carriage. James grabbed Sirius and Peter by the shirt collars after a few minutes. He summoned their trunks to follow and he dragged them toward the Prefect's carriage. He opened a compartment just in front of the Prefect's carriage and ordered a group of third years out.
"This is our compartment," one of them shouted.
"Ours is down the hall, doors open. It's bigger, take it," James snapped. They grumbled and walked down the corridor. James leaned his ear against the wall and tried his hardest to listen in.
"Didn't know you wanted to be a Prefect, Prongsie," Sirius teased.
"What?" James asked looking back for a second before pressing his ear against the compartment.
"Well you're trying so hard to listen in, I'd just assume you wanted to be in there." Sirius shrugged.
"Why don't you just take your invisibility cloak in there," Peter suggested. James popped off the bench and dug in his trunk. "You don't have it in your pocket?" Peter asked. James rolled his eyes.
"I packed it this morning, didn't think I'd need it till we got to school." He pulled his cloak out and put it on before the door seemed to open on its own. Then he went into the corridor for about five minutes before he appeared out of thin air on the seat. Peter and Sirius jumped.
"What?" Peter asked.
"I forgot the door can't open on its own," James said sadly. Sirius barked out laughter.
After an hour, the prefects and new Heads left the compartment. Lily tugged on Remus' arm before he could join the rest of them. Remus turned back at her and smiled brightly.
"What was Sirius going on about?" Lily asked quietly. Remus laughed loudly. Lily looked around the empty compartment to make sure no one would be able to hear in case it got private.
"I told him you girls were talking about sex. He really wanted to join the conversation." A small smile graced Lily's lips.
"We were talking about sex." Remus' eyes about popped out of his head. Lily motioned for him to join her on the walk out of the compartment. They were two steps out of the door when a head popped out of the nearest compartment.
"Heyo," James said. Lily grimaced. Remus looked around the carriage.
"Did we suddenly apparate without thought?" he asked sarcastically. "I could have sworn our compartment was two carriages down." He looked around comically. James grumbled. Lily laughed. Remus stopped looking around and chuckled at his own joke.
"Hey, Silly-Lily," Sirius called leaning his body against the doorframe. James stepped out into the carriage. Remus walked into their compartment and sat down next to Peter. "How was the rest of your summer? Go on anymore dates, you know besides us three?" Sirius teased and pointed to him, James, and Remus. Lily rolled her eyes.
"What?" a voice came from behind her. Lily whipped her head around and was shocked to see Severus Snape standing in the doorway. He narrowed his eyes at Sirius then raised his wand. "You filthy liar," he snarled as he shot a curse Sirius' way.
Suddenly, James' arm was wrapped around Lily's waist and she was catapulted in the direction of the compartment, problem was she slammed her head into the doorframe. James gasped at the horrid crack that rebounded off her head. He caught her falling body in his arms and swooped her up bridal style. Lily moaned deeply.
"Get off her you, you-…" James didn't hear Snape insult. He was hit with a spell and instantly when stiff, his arms around Lily gripping her tightly. She groaned and her eyes cracked open. "I said drop her," Severus shouted.
"You idiot," Sirius shouted back throwing a hex Severus' way, but he deflected it. "You just froze him, he can't move to drop her," Sirius shouted throwing another hex. Severus deflected it then shot a curse at James. Suddenly James was flying through the air letting go of Lily. Lily flew with him. She landed roughly on the bench, banging her head in the same spot. James fell and broke his nose on the wall then went directly down and busted his lip open on the edge of the bench.
Remus and Peter jumped to their feet. Sirius took his chance and hexed Snape. Snape put a hand on his cheeks and saw blood. He instantly threw a curse at Sirius. Sirius fell to the ground gasping and holding his chest. Then blood was pouring out of his shirt. Remus checked on Lily as Peter checked on James. Remus then poked his head out of the compartment to see Severus standing over Sirius ready to fire another hex.
"You should just go," Remus said threateningly. "You've done enough damage," he spit. Severus looked up at him and turned his wand.
"Filthy werewolf," Snape sneered. Remus chest tightened at the insult. He clenched his muscles preparing for a nasty curse. But a savior came.
"Sirius!" Frank shouted. He ran down the corridor and kneeled next to a bleeding Sirius. Frank looked up and noticed Severus Snape standing there. He reached for Severus' arm but Severus slipped out of reach and ran down the corridor and into another carriage. Frank let him go and helped Sirius to his feet.
James meanwhile carefully moved Lily into his lap. She moaned but was out cold. James didn't even bother to wipe the blood off his face. Frank laid Sirius down on the other bench, pushing Peter onto the floor, and letting Remus sit with Lily's feet in his lap. Frank unbuttoned Sirius' shirt and started to clean the blood away with his wand.
"What was he hit with?" Remus asks.
"I think just a cutting spell. Probably a similar one to the one Severus had on his cheek." Frank uttered, "Tergeo," and cleaned the blood off of Sirius' wound. Remus took to petting Lily's shoes. Peter shivered on the floor. James stared at Lily's sleeping face.
"Will she be okay?" he croaked. Frank looked back at them and his eyes widened, not having noticed Lily until then.
"I'll be right over. Let me close Sirius' wound." He uttered, "Vulnera Sanetum," and closed Sirius' wound. "Merlin, I just came back for my notebook." Frank shook his head.
James carefully ran his hand through Lily's long red hair. He sniffled a little and watched her sleep. His hand ran down the side of her face and he noticed a purple spot near her temple. He leaned over and saw the large purple egg on the side of her head. "Frank," he warned. Frank shot a look over his shoulder.
"What? Is she waking?" he asked.
"No. I just found a purple dragon egg on the side of her head!" James' voice rose in octaves each word. Frank quickly let the yellow light stop from his wand and he twirled on the spot. He leaned over Lily and looked at the spot.
"Oh thank Merlin," Frank sighed.
"What do you mean thank Merlin?" James snapped. "She's got a dragon-."
"It's a knot, James. She'll be fine. It'll hurt, but she'll be fine. We'll have Madam Nickel check her out before the feast." James took deep breaths. "Here, let me fix your nose. Episkey." James felt his nose heat then freeze. "Want me to fix your lip."
"What?" James asked. Remus pointed to his bottom lip. Lily moved slightly and rested her head on James' stomach. James froze. Then Lily's eyes were blinking open. She cringed deeply and noticed Sirius was resting across from her with his shirt undone and blood dripping down his abs.
"What happened to you?" she asked. Sirius looked to her with an expression that shot the same question to her.
"Lily, do you know who I am?" Frank asked. Lily frowned.
"Of course I do, Frank. Why would you ask me that?" She furrowed her brow, groaned, and reached up to her temple. "Jesus!" She felt the large lump on the side of her head.
"Jesus?" Remus, Sirius, Frank, and James asked. Lily blinked.
"Merlin," she corrected. "What happened?" Then her head cleared. "Why was Snape hexing us?"
"Who knows," Sirius replied.
"No. There was a valid reason. It annoyed me." Lily thought back. "Why did you make that date joke, Sirius," she grumbled.
"It was funny," he defended. Then she noticed hands in her hair and she looked straight above her and saw spiked black hair and rimmed glasses. Then she figured out the pillow she was on was not a pillow at all but instead it was James' Potter.
"Sorry," she said trying to sit up. But James' hand gripped her arms tightly.
"You probably have a concussion. If you remember, I had one back in third year. You're not supposed to move quickly," James said in one breath. Lily settled back on him but her eyes flew around the compartment. She noticed Remus petting her shoes.
"I have to go tell Professor Slughorn what happened. I'm going to take points from Slytherin. Did you two fire any hexes?" Sirius and James stared blankly at him.
"Yes," Lily mumbled. "Sirius, don't lie. You defended yourself."
"Okay. I'll tell the girls where you are." Without another look back Frank was out of the compartment. Lily closed her eyes.
"My head is pounding," Lily murmured.
"Do you guys know any pain relieving spells?" James asked hopefully.
"Only a potion." Remus cringed.
"Pete, you okay?" Sirius asked. Peter looked up at him with wide eyes. "What's wrong? You usually handle this well." Sirius did not seem kind as James would be but rather impatient with Peter.
"James," Peter shakily asked. James blinked up at him, still running his hands through Lily's hair. She hadn't mentioned it yet so he would continue until she asked him to stop. "You still have blood on your lip." Peter's finger graced his own bottom lip.
"Doesn't matter," James said. Lily looked up at him.
"Makes you look rugged," she murmured. A twinge of a smile flashed across James' face. James carefully danced his fingers across Lily's scalp. "Ow," she cringed. James pulled his hands away in a flash. "Just... it's fine, Potter. Just not so close to my-."
"Lily!" Mary exclaimed. She immediately stopped in the doorway at the sight of Lily looking up at her from James Potter's lap. Marlene collided with her. Alice and Dorcas asked what was wrong.
"She's in Potter's lap," Marlene hissed. Alice and Dorcas gasped. Then they pushed themselves forward and into the small compartment.
"Black, really. You're just relaxing while poor Peter's on the floor," Dorcas said. Sirius glared at her.
"I'll have you know a minute ago I was pouring blood." Dorcas expression did not soften.
"Yeah, that was a minute ago. But now you're fine. So scoot over and let Alice and me sit down." She knocked Sirius' legs onto the ground and sat down. Alice squeezed in next to her. Marlene and Dorcas walked into the compartment and stood in front of James and Lily.
"Are you okay?" Mary asked.
"I'm fine. A knot on my head. Potter here just won't let me get up."
"Because you probably have a concussion! You're not supposed to move quickly!" James defended.
"That doesn't mean she can't move at all," Marlene saucily replied. James frowned. Lily gave him one hesitant look before she slowly sat up. Remus let her feet go and her hair trailed through James' fingers.
"Okay, everyone won't fit in here," Sirius exclaimed.
"I'll sit on your lap." Marlene sat straight on Sirius' lap.
"Mary can sit on me." Alice opened her arms. Mary sat down.
"See everyone fits," Marlene shot back to Sirius. Sirius rolled his eyes but wrapped his arms tightly around Marlene's waist. He nuzzled her shoulder but she shrugged him off. James watched Lily carefully the rest of the train ride.
At the feast, Lily was feeling much better after Madam Nickel gave her a pain potion and a clean bill of health. But her great feeling didn't last long. Alice, Dorcas, and Frank were the only things separating her and the Marauders.
"Hey, Silly-Lily," Sirius called. Lily glared at him. "Do you remember James giving you mouth to mouth?" James dropped his head into his hands. Lily threw a roll straight in Sirius' face.
Dorcas laughed way too much at the joke and the roll. She was then choking on her beef stroganoff. Alice patted her back. Sirius tossed the offending roll at her. Dorcas coughed out a piece of beef then breathed deeply. "That was funny," she said with a breath. Lily rolled her eyes along with Sirius.
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