Lily was the first one in her dormitory to wake. She always was. And she loved it. She loved being alone, right at the break of dawn. She loved reading in her bed, with the light from the rising sun. She loved watching Hogwarts wake up. What she loved the most, although she would never admit it, was watching her roommates sleep. This sounds creepy, and Lily was very aware that it was a bit strange, but she couldn't help it. She did it when she had sleepovers with Helen also. When they were awake, they were judgy, and fake, wearing masks, and making themselves feel better by putting other people down. But when they were sleeping, they were real. They looked calm, and they looked unworried about what other people would think. They looked angelic. Especially Juniper.

The bathrooms were always empty in the mornings before everyone woke up, so that was always a plus in Lily's book. If there was one bad thing about Hogwarts, besides the homework, annoying roommates, and boring classes, it would be a lack of personal space. Sharing a room wasn't so bad, but the bathroom situation was awful. Of course, it would be fine if you actually liked the other people in your house, but Lily hated the bathrooms at Hogwarts. First, the showers were only warm for the first two minutes, and the toilets were never all that clean. The sinks were fine if you could actually get to one. Twenty girls sharing two mirrors equals chaos. So having the bathroom to oneself was amazing.

Lily took her time showering and washing her face before returning to her room and changing. The other girls were just waking up and beginning to talk amongst themselves, so Lily put in her earbuds and tuned the world out. So she could think.

Juniper was the last one to wake up. Everyone else had already gone to breakfast, except Lily, who hated being the first out of her four friends to be at the Great Hall, because that meant that she would have to sit with her roommates until Cyrus or Helen or Hugo showed up. So she waited.

Juniper was surprisingly not in a rush to meet up with her friends. If anything, she seemed to take her time, slowly putting on her robes and gathering her books. Lily still had her earbuds and was unpacking her trunk in a very organized way. In Lily's mind, everything needed to have a place where it fits, perfectly. So all of her shoes were lined up meticulously, and her clothing stacked neatly in the drawers. Lily had a touch of OCD. If things were out of order, then it drove a little bit crazy. She straightened her pillows and grabbed her bag, heading out the door.

"Wait."

Juniper's voice cut through Lily's music, and she stopped in the doorway of the dormitory. She paused her music and removed one earbud as she turned to face Juniper, who was standing by her bed.

"I just had a question," Juniper said, tentatively. "Why are you always wearing those headphones?"

This was strange. Juniper hardly ever talked to Lily except for basic politeness and to ask for help. She had never asked such an out of the ordinary question. For a moment, Lily didn't want to tell her roommate. Juniper would probably just make fun of her anyway. But something about the look on Juniper's face made Lily think that Juniper actually cared.

Lily cleared her throat. "They help me ignore the world, so I don't have to think about other people. They help me…" Lily didn't know how to put it into words. She looked down "I don't know. Listening to music keeps me from overthinking, from…"

"Spiraling?" Juniper offered.

Lily raised her head to look at Juniper. "Yes, exactly," Lily said, in a somewhat astonished tone.

Juniper smiled and nodded her head. "Thanks," she said. "I'll see you at breakfast." And she left.

Lily was left feeling shocked. How was it that Juniper understood this thing that felt like it was in Lily's head exclusively? She had practically put the words into Lily's mouth. Lily tried to ignore the appalling thoughts that entered her head without her permission. No, Juniper had not been making fun of you. No, Juniper was not going to tell the entire school that Lily. Probably.

Taking a deep breath, Lily shook her head and headed down to breakfast.

The Great Hall was abuzz with the beginning of term excitement. Friends were comparing schedules and discussing their class. The first-years look nervous, as did the fifth years. The OWLs were the main cause of stress for the fifth years. It was necessary to do well on your OWLs, for your future depended on your scores. Cyrus tried not to let all the pressure get to him. It was the first day of school, for godsakes.

He was sitting at the Hufflepuff table next to Hugo. After five years of experience, Cyrus had learned that the Hufflepuff table was by far the most welcoming. Sitting with the Ravenclaws was incredibly uncomfortable; it felt like they all looked down at you. The Gryffindors just gave you death stares, daring you to challenge them. And Cyrus hated sitting at the Slytherin table. It felt cold and unforgiving. It felt expectant. It felt like home.

Helen was the last one to arrive in the Great Hall. She slid in next to Lily, who sat across from Cyrus and Hugo.

"Morning, Helen," Cyrus said, his mouth full of food.

"Good morning, Cyrus. Lily. Hugo" responded Helena. She reached for a delicious looking plate of scones. "So, let's see them schedules."

There was a quick silence while everyone searched in their bag for their schedules and began to compare them

Lily sighed. "Ugh, I have Potions alone."

"Yeah but we have Transfiguration together, " said Hugo.

"Does anyone have Defense Against the Dark Arts after lunch today?" Helen asked.

Cyrus nodded, "Yep. Hey Hugo, we've got History of Magic together."

"Lily and I have History of Magic together too," Helen commented. "And Care of Magical Creatures."

"I have Charms with you Cyrus," Lily said, examining his paper.

"Oh hey. We all have Care of Magical Creatures together," said Hugo, excitedly.

The group exclaimed happily and continued to eat their food, the mood light and playful. Professor Talpin came by, scolding them for sitting at the wrong table. But he appeared to be joking. It was always difficult to tell with Talpin.

After breakfast, the four headed to their first class. For Helen, it was Transfiguration, taught by Professor Raywood. A fairly interesting class, but Helen really wasn't in the mood, especially because none of her friends were with her. Lily always made classes more bearable. Raywood assigned way to much homework for the first day. An essay on the properties of the transfiguration of animate objects.

Before she headed off to Potions, Helen met up with Cyrus and Lily, who had both just come from Charms. Hugo was waiting for them in an empty staircase, where they had ten minutes between classes to talk. Or simply be in each other's company. Or, as the year went on, finish up last-minute homework.

"Well, how was everyone's first class?" Hugo mumbled, his mouth full of food.

His question was followed by murmurs. No one seemed to be in a very delightful mood.

Hugo swallowed. "Come on, don't tell me that it was that bad."

"Professor Spindle has grown a beard," said Cyrus. "If that is of any interest to any of you."

Lily nodded in agreement. " And his breath stills smells the same."

"Wonderful," Helen said sarcastically, giving Lily's redhead a pat. "Well, I best be going. Bunyip won't be happy if I'm late to potions." She picked up her book bag and waved goodbye. The others followed suit.

Lily and Hugo walked together all the way up to the northernmost tower. The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was light and open. Professor Talpin stood at the door, welcoming the students. She gave Lily a side hug as Lily walked through the door. Professor Talpin had been the head of Gryffindor house ever since first year. Lily felt very close to Talpin. In September of the first year, Lily hardly spoke to anyone, aside from her family. Talpin helped her out of her shell, encouraging her to talk to people and make friends, although never forcing her to always be socializing. Lily gave Talpin a smile and went to take her seat next to Hugo. Professor Talpin's heels clicked on the stone floors as she made her way to the front of the classroom. She grabbed a piece of chalk and scrawled, in large messy letters, OWLs. The class let out a collective groan. Talking about OWLs at the very beginning of class seemed to be a popular trend among Hogwarts professors this year.

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels," Professor Talpin began. "At the end of the year, you all will be taking these tests, that are not only deciding factors in your future but are important milestones as students. Do not fret, I assure that by the end of the year, you will be more than prepared for the test." She picked up a stack of parchment from her desk and walked up and down the aisles, depositing a piece of paper in front of each student. "As a review, please write every single defensive or offensive spell that you remember. You may begin."

Lily pulled out her quill and ink and began to write, starting with the easy ones: expelliarmus, stupefy, reducto.

"Lily!" Juniper had turned around in her chair, facing Lily. She smiled politely. "Do you happen to have a spare quill I could borrow?"

Lily nodded and rummaged in her bag, producing a fresh quill. She handed it over to Juniper, who nodded gratefully and returned to her work. Lily did the same.

Hugo nudged her. "What was that about?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"Juniper," Hugo said. "Why'd she ask you for a quill?"

"Because she needed one?"

"Yeah, but she could have asked one of her many friends."

Lily pondered this for a moment. It was a little bit strange. Maybe... no. She shook off the possibility and shrugged. "I don't know, Hugo. Now shut up so I can focus."

Hugo did shut up. The rest of the class was spent reviewing fourth year.

Hugo and Lily met up with Helen and Cyrus in the Great Hall. They ate in comfortable silence. Hugo and Cyrus amused themselves with throwing grapes into a poor first year's water goblet. It was so simply familiar, Helen had to smile.

This happiness began to seep out of her as she entered hour 2 of History of Magic. Professor Binns just seemed to drone on and on. His voice was just so monotone, and it was so easy to look through the ghost rather than at him. She and Lily half-heartedly passed notes and attempted to amuse themselves, but that soon became tiresome. Absentmindedly, Helen turned to Lily and picked a strand of her friend's reddish-brown, long, rough, hair and twirled it around her finger. Lily gave her a small smile. Helen smiled back and began to weave an intricate braid with her slender fingers. Lily, slumped on the desk next to Helen, had to admit that it felt really nice. For the rest of History of Magic, Helen wove a braid, and then undid it, and repeat, her fingers running through Lily's hair to the soundtrack of Professor Binns talking about the elf rebellion of '64.