Lily checked her watch as she headed for the Prefects' Car. Thirty minutes. That would be enough time wouldn't it? There was so much to consider. Of course, she wanted to make a good first impression – friendly and prepared, but not overeager. There were the names of the new fifth-year prefects to memorize so she looked as if she already knew everyone and not just those she'd worked with in the past. If she had time she would also be able to draw up an initial rounds schedule that would save her enormous time over the first two weeks of classes. Potter was bound to be clueless and on top of that, she'd be able to minimize the time they spent together. In the aftermath of Professor Dumbledore's visit, she'd accepted the fact that there would be no way to avoid him completely, but at least with careful preparation, which Potter would doubtless accept without analysis if it reduced his own workload, it could all be kept to a minimum.
As she approached, she could hear muttering coming from inside the car. Probably an excited fifth year. She listened closer. The voice was definitely male. Dear God, she thought as she opened the door. Just don't let it be Bryll Hemsworth. The smarmy Slytherin's presence would be more than she could tolerate given what was surely to come. Instead, as the door slid open, she found herself confronted with a head of disheveled black hair. Lily inhaled deeply. This was fine. Perfectly fine. It would be exercise in how things might go throughout the year and she could react accordingly.
Potter seemed not to notice her entrance, eyes fixed downward on a piece of parchment covered in scribbles and smeared ink. Predictably, he'd taken a spot in the center of the carriage, planting himself on the long bench-style seat directly across from the short table that had been added to the middle of the aisle. He always had to be the center of everything.
She paused, looking him over for a moment. Though his hair was at its ordinary level of messiness, his robes were far from their standard disordered appearance. On the contrary, they appeared to have been carefully maintained since being purchased and he hadn't done anything to make his Head Boy pin stand out, positioning it unceremoniously to the left of his captain's badge.
Finally he seemed to sense her presence, looking up wide-eyed, as if he'd been caught someplace he wasn't supposed to be. "Oi, Evans," he offered tamely.
"Potter," she nodded, settling onto the same bench as her rival, while taking care to maintain a safe distance between them. "Didn't expect you so early."
"Yeah…well," he shrugged, seeming to gesture toward the messy parchment in his lap.
"What's that?"
"Notes," he chirped, suddenly seeming slightly more at ease. "From my Dad. And Remus. They're old hands at this I guess so I figured…"
Lily regarded him skeptically. James Potter had sought advice on being Head Boy?
"I mean, I'm sure you know all this stuff already," he rambled on, "I just…you know, this year – this job – it's important right, so I want to be ready. I don't want to weigh us down."
"You don't want to weigh me down you mean?" she corrected.
"Well, course not, but I more meant everybody I guess…you know the whole team."
Lily couldn't suppress a chuckle. The Heads and Prefects as a team. Well, she'd never heard that before. Typically the system was much more autocratic. And divided. Slytherin prefects on board with Gryffindors. That sounded like quite the pipe dream. The Ravenclaws were trouble enough when it came to planning, always complaining about needing to balance their academic demands.
"I'm sure you won't," she said calmly, feeling relief wash over her as she managed to keep herself from sounding patronizing.
"So do you want to talk rounds then? I thought we could be proactive and start thinking of good pairs."
Lily cocked her head to the side. She hadn't expected Potter to actually show interest in the behind the scenes work involved in their positions. Truth be told, she'd rather expected to be dumped on.
"Well…I think you're getting ahead of yourself. We don't have anyone's schedules yet. It would be a lot of effort to plan on something and then have Double Divination or something equally ridiculous turn it into a tangled mess."
Potter shrugged. "I think we'd save time. It's like Quidditch. You go into every match with a plan, but if circumstances change, you just have to adjust accordingly," the raven-haired wizard pressed.
Lily frowned slightly. How could she brush this off without him taking offense? Silently, she cursed Dumbledore. Things were easier with Potter when there wasn't any pressure to find a resolution. But the prefects would arrive for the meeting soon and they hadn't even talked about handling their speeches yet.
"Can we talk about it later?" she offered diplomatically. "It would give us each more time to prepare our positions."
"Sure. I suppose it's all on us the first week or so anyway, right?"
Lily nodded, sparing a glance out the window at the passing countryside. She wondered what it would be like to live in a more remote place like this. Cokeworth was home, but at the same time, it had always felt somewhat oppressive to her. The empty factory loomed in the distance and if you got too close, there was the smell. Here she imagined things were simpler. Clearer.
"How did you do it anyway?" she asked idly.
"What?"
"This," she said, gesturing between them.
Potter looked down. "Don't know. Last thing I expected. You make sense. Top of the class. Not a single detention."
Lily squirmed slightly. It was like the bizarre end to last year, Potter complimenting her. She sniffed and looked into the empty carriage. "Anyway, how was summer?"
Her housemate's expression immediately darkened, the dark-haired wizard scratching the back of his head before casting his eyes out the window. From Lily's vantage point he seemed to look off into clouds above the horizon.
"Was life on the estate really that bad?" she teased, trying to lighten the mood.
After a few moments of silence, he locked eyes with her, staring into Lily with a troubled, even mournful intensity she'd never seen before. "Look, Evans. I don't mean to be rude…but summer's a sore subject."
Lily frowned and broke eye contact.
When she looked up again, Potter had shoved the parchment and quill off his lap and onto the bench next to him. His forehead faced squarely downward, resting on the top of two closed fists.
Eventually footsteps and voices approached the door and Lily stood to greet them, a smile on her face. To her surprise, when she looked to her immediate right, she found that Potter had joined her, cracking his neck before straightening up. He wore his trademark half-smile as if nothing had happened.
When the prefects filed in, Lily busied herself with all the normal pleasantries, basking in the warmth of the congratulations heaped on her. Only Briony Burke and her fellow Slytherins were less than cordial, but then she supposed that was to be expected. The blonde witch had been quite open about her expectation of making Head Girl and indeed, Lily had spent a few restless night worrying about it since Briony was one of the few Slytherins not heavily linked to the Dark Arts and the troubling movement afoot outside the castle.
Once everyone had taken their seats, Lily retreated to standing near the empty bench-seat where Potter had been seated before. Looking out over the group, she could tell now that it was actually an ideal position for an opening address. She could see everyone while not being overly aligned with any one group of people. Had Potter…no she reassured herself. It had been happenstance.
"Hello everyone," she said brightly. "I'm sure you're all as glad as me to be back for another year at Hogwarts!"
Silence. Dull expressions.
"Anyway…as Head Girl this year I just wanted to talk to everyone about how things are going to work. For those of you who've been here before, obviously some of it's going to be old news…"
Lily ignored the sniggering by Briony and her vipers-in-training.
"…but it's all important, especially when it comes to the refreshers on rules and points in particular."
Now she could notice a scrap of parchment being passed between the Hufflepuffs. Only Remus and a few of the new Prefects were looking on at all encouragingly.
Suddenly, Lily felt a touch of the back of her shoulder. No. Please no.
"Oi, you lot!" James Potter barked loudly, at least momentarily drawing all the wayward eyes in the room to where he and his red-haired housemate were standing. "I don't know if you're upset you might miss the trolley or maybe your owl caught mange over the summer and you've got to pass notes about it," he started, staring pointedly at sixth year Hufflepuff Nicollette DuPre, who blushed deeply at being caught in possession, "but Evans is trying to share some relatively crucial information for this year."
"Yeah, well…we've heard it all before," snapped Bryll Hemsworth, Slytherin's other seventh year prefect, "though I suppose it probably is crucial to you, seeing as you're standing up here clueless…"
Potter snorted. "You know, Hemsworth, that's an excellent lesson for our new prefects. Despite the obvious disrespect, I can't take any points away for it. Bit of a shame really. But you know what I've worked out is a wonderful recourse? I've got a wand, Hogwarts has a pensieve, and I'm sure there are plenty of Professors who'd be only too happy to take those points for me. Remember that whether you're on rounds or off," he crowed. "Just because you're in this room doesn't mean you don't have to play by the rules," he finished pointedly, causing the Slytherin to scowl and fall silent.
Lily noticed the room was suddenly paying rapt attention again.
"Right then. Evans…I do believe you were about to start breaking everything down for us?"
For the remainder of the meeting, Lily took point, delivering her spiel exactly as she'd planned to. To her surprise, Potter never once interrupted it further, even offering a polite clap that sparked applause from the group when she'd finished. Alas, before she could stop him to offer a thank-you, the black-haired boy was out the door, doubtless striding off to find his friends ahead of their final journey to the castle together.
After disembarking, Lily made her way slowly to the carriages. The redhead considered the operation of the old-fashioned system of transport to be one of the enduring mysteries of Hogwarts. To her great irritation Professor Flitwick refused to explain how they could transport students across the magical boundary to the school without the charm that surely powered them being dispelled by the protective enchantments that guarded the grounds. When she'd last considered it, Lily hypothesized that perhaps the path had been augmented with an area of effect trigger that would reinstitute the charm, but alas her research had dispelled that. The boundary wards would have too great a thickness for there not to be a perceptible decrease in speed and motion.
She climbed into one of the last remaining carriages with Alana and Marlene nearly without being conscious of it. Before she knew it, they were rolling toward the castle, her friends chatting on gaily as Lily's mind wandered. This was the last of these trips the girls would share. Soon they would reach the castle and it would be the last time she experienced the Sorting Ceremony. Obviously she had known and expected it all summer, but she couldn't help but be struck by the thought of everything that was ending around her.
Lily desperately hoped the rumors were true. If Petunia had been any indication, connections forged at this age were tenuous at best in the Muggle world. Looking at the smiling faces of her two most constant companions, she didn't want to imagine their friendship disintegrating slowly into a pattern of bland, obligatory owls that eventually faded away with a lonely unanswered letter, forgotten amid the inevitable surge of work and family responsibilities. Still, Marlene was adamant that friends at Hogwarts were friends for life.
"I love your braid!" the small brunette gushed as she touched the ribboned end of her blonde roommate's hair. "How did you do it already? It was down at the sorting!"
The blonde waggled a wand that seemed almost too large for her little hand.
"My mum taught me the movements before we left. Didn't you see me practicing on the train?"
"So that's what you were doing."
"Yeah. Mum says my hair gets scraggly if I leave it down."
As the girls kept chatting, Lily quietly unpacked her trunk. Her roommate already knew a spell. The other kids must too. Even here, with other people who were…like her…she felt out of place. The sorting had severed her from the only friend she knew too. From what she understood, she was supposed to be placed with people she shared traits in common with. Then why did that old hat put her in the same place as those two stupid boys on the platform. She huffed lightly at the memory, roughly laying her stack of uniform blouses on the bed.
"Hey! You're Lily, right?" a voice rang out.
Lily turned around, holding a pile of skirts in her hands. It was the brunette.
"Yes," she said quietly.
"I'm Alana! Alana Hooper!" the girl said brightly, thrusting out a hand.
Lily set the skirts on her bed and shook it graciously
Across the room, the blonde flicked her wand at the empty wardrobe, sending the contents of her trunk rushing inside. Pocketing it, she strode toward them.
"Marlene McKinnon."
Lily shook her offered hand as well.
"So," started Alana, "do you know any spells?"
"No. I mean, I've done things. The Headmaster said they were magic, but it wasn't…like that," she finished, gesturing toward Marlene's packed wardrobe.
"Uncontrolled magic. Yeah," Alana said hurriedly. "I accidentally made the last slice of pie disappear last month after dinner when Daddy told me I couldn't have it." She blushed furiously at the admission before offering a nervous giggle. "That was before I had my wand."
Glancing at Marlene, Lily saw the other girl had a curious expression on her face.
"Is something wrong?"
"No. It's just you're the first I've actually met."
"The first what?" Alana asked uneloquently.
Marlene shook her head, as if the brunette was the dullest girl she'd ever met. "She's a muggle-born."
Lily looked at her feet. That was a term the Headmaster had specifically mentioned. Something else that made her different. He said special, but of course she knew what he really meant. It was like some of her aunts and uncles had been over the years.
"Really?!" Alana enthused. "That's brilliant. I have a muggle-born older cousin. Tabitha. She knows the coolest things. Like she can hold her hair together with sticks!"
Lily couldn't help but laugh loudly.
"What?"
"Nothing," Lily said. "It's just…there's cars…and airplanes…and God knows everything else and you like hair sticks?"
"Sure!" Alana defended. "They look a lot neater than your hair just hanging there with a potion or something."
Marlene rolled her eyes. "You'll have to show her the trick later, Lily. Want me to show you the bit with the wardrobe?"
"Of course!" Lily said excitedly.
By the time the girls finally turned in they had unpacked and repacked their wardrobes over a dozen times. Lily drifted off to sleep dreaming of what lessons would bring, her red hair secured in an immaculate braid with a length of gold ribbon tied perfectly on the end.
The newly-minted Head Girl returned to the present as the carriage rolled over a large rock, jostling the trio.
"Okay, Lily?" Marlene asked, taking a time out from her conversation with Alana to check on their pensive friend.
Lily nodded, smiling back brightly. The end is the beginning is the end.
When the Gryffindors finally massed in the Great Hall to await the arrival of the new students for sorting, a heavy murmuring quickly broke out around the table. Lily initially paid it little heed, as everyone tended to catch up to an even greater degree once they'd actually reached the castle than they did on the way.
Scanning the table she found Maggie Brinkley engaged in animated conversation with Anders and Lionel and the new Gryffindor prefects, Annaliese Heinrich and Mark O'Donnell showing off their badges proudly to their friends, while taking the obvious subsequent ribbing in stride. Down further, unusually removed from the masses was Potter and his gang. Normally it was commonplace to see them in the center of the action, seated across from each other in pairs. This time, oddly, Potter was sandwiched between the three of them, only visible because he was leaned forward wearing an abnormally flat expression.
"Lily!" Alana hissed loudly.
The red-headed witch startled immediately and glared at her friend. "Merlin, Alana! What?"
"I just talked to Marie and Renee. Katie's not here."
"What do you mean she's not here?"
"Nobody knows the details! First they thought she was with Potter on the train I guess, but apparently not and nobody knows where she is. Nobody's heard from her since the end of July!
Lily stood up immediately as the conversation started growing louder among her housemates, most faces ranging from surprise or shock to heavy concern. She started walking briskly toward the end of the table.
"Where are you going?" Marlene said, temporarily breaking off conversation with Craig Chamberlain to snag Lily's robe as she passed by.
"To get answers about all this."
"Lily…" the blonde witch warned. But it was too late, a hard tug by the redhead had freed her robes from Marlene's grip and she was advancing implacably toward a certain raven-haired wizard once again.
As she reached the group, Black slapped Potter on the back, laughing loudly along with Remus and Pettigrew. For his part, Potter appeared to give a half-hearted chuckle at whatever awful joke had been made before resuming his portrayal of a glum statue, his mouth covered once more as it rested on his fist.
"Well," Black chirped mockingly, "if it isn't the Head Girl. To what do we owe the honor of your presence?"
"Business," Lily said sharply.
"Right. Sorry to say I'm unavailable at the moment, so–"
"I couldn't care less about you," she said dismissively. "Potter," she called, angling her head to get a better look at him, "I need a word."
Before the black-haired boy could answer, Remus put a hand on his shoulder, immediately stepping between Lily and the rest of the group.
"Lily, this really isn't a good time," he said gravely.
"Yes, and now wasn't really the ideal time to find out one of our housemates is missing for me either, but I need to sort it out with him. Put people at ease. It's our responsibility–"
"To deal with real problems. Not the Hogwarts rumor mill. They'll find out soon enough. Everyone always does. See how it's spreading?" he asked, gesturing to the other tables which were now in a similarly disquieted state of animation.
"Remus…"
"I'll explain it to you. After the feast."
"All I'm asking him for is–"
The sandy-haired wizard stepped back to reveal Potter hunched further forward, his head nearly on the table as Pettigrew and Black awkwardly forced themselves into similar positions to shield him from view.
"Think about what you are asking him."
Lily paused. The change was stark. Clearly she'd been right. He knew something. It must have been the source of his refusal to talk about summer on the train. But what? She needed to know or she and the prefects would be useless as resources to concerned students, especially their housemates, who were likely to be most affected.
"I just need a moment. He was fine on the train!"
"In the Prefects' Carriage…" Remus intoned. "But then that's James."
"Just ask–"
"No, Lily," he said firmly. "You can talk to me about it. After the feast."
Lily stood her ground briefly, her hands on her hips as she frowned at Remus and his tightly-crossed arms. The male Gryffindor moved his head slightly, making the insistence in his stare sharper. With a sigh she relented, turning on her heel and walking back to her spot at the table. The faces she saw were all drowned in concern now. The conversations she heard centered on one topic. And Marie Thomas was crying as Renee Haverford hugged her tightly. It was not an auspicious start to the year.
A/N: I decided to write this return chapter in Lily's POV for a few reasons. First, she's the one who's going to need some work over the next several chapters. Second, I don't want to drill too much into James's turmoil right yet, which writing it from his POV would have demanded. At the same time, I wanted to cover some significant things. The start of James and Lily working together as Heads. Some reflection on the fact that this is their last year at Hogwarts and a little exploration of Lily and her friends. And finally the revelation of Katie's absence to the student body and the contrast between Head Boy James and private James at the moment. Naturally, that contrast isn't permanent and the tone of this chapter isn't going to be a fixture of seventh year, but I felt it was necessary for a number of reasons and hopefully you'll continue to bear with me as everything gets fleshed out.
In terms of what's next, I'm expecting (though not necessarily promising) some shorter chapters in the immediate future to deal with some other matters and characters and also to start a necessary progression with both James and Lily's characters. While Lily grows I'll certainly be laying some of the more subtle foundation for what you've all read all this way waiting for and then after that segment is complete is when I think you'll safely be able to expect things to take a more direct turn as regards James/Lily.
Thanks for your continued support!