The gang all met up at Platform 9 3/4 just before they were expected to board.
Amy, a very TAN Amy (she had naturally tan skin anyway), with long chocolate brown hair down to her butt, with blonde streaks in it, was very happy to see everyone. She had gotten her belly button pierced, and she was wearing a belly shirt to show it off. She was wearing large silver hoop earrings in her ears and she looked fantastic.
"Amy its so good to see you!" Lily exclaimed, hugging her friend enthusiastically.
"Its great to see you too! I had to get through the bloody traffic on my way here. I tell ya, flying is way easier than this muggle driving." Amy replied, eyes shining.
Amy gave Sirius a huge kiss and he put his arm around her slender waist, his face telling them that he had missed her.
Gin, with her frizzy blonde hair, gray eyes, and braces, hurried over to them, looking very pleased with herself.
" 'ello ever'one, 'ow are yas? You won' believe wha' jus' 'appened ta me." she exclaimed.
"What happened Gin?" Lily and Amy asked at the same time.
" I jus' got asked to be an exchange student to Beauxbatons!" she exclaimed.
"You're gonna go?" Lily asked, sad at the thought of one of her very best friends leaving.
"No, o' course not!" But do you know how hard it is to get asked?!" Gin squealed.
"Oh cool! Jeeze, you almost gave me a heart attack when you said you were asked to go. You can't leave us Gin!" Lily exclaimed, giving Gin a smile.
Gin grinned back, showing her silver braces to their full extent.
James let out a low whistle.
Lily turned around and saw Remus and James staring at a girl that was walking past them.
"Ok fine drool in front of me. Thats just wonderful." Lily said sarcastically.
James continued to stare.
"Why don't you just go ask HER out then?!" Lily asked angrily.
"She's hot." James mumbled to Remus, but Lily heard.
"JAMES POTTER!!!" she shouted.
James jumped, startled.
"What?!" he asked.
"Thats REALLY, EXTREMELY rude of you to do in front of me." she said, glaring, hurt.
"Sorry." he muttered sheepishly.
"Ugh you always do that! Sorry. And then you look at the ground." she said disgustedly.
"WHAT would you rather I DIDN'T say sorry and I looked straight at you?" he asked angrily.
"You're impossible!" Lily exclaimed, before turning on her heel and charging through the barrier, Amy and Gin right behind her.
"And the summer went so well. I haven't fought with her since last year." James said wistfully.
"Well you DID kinda blow it." Sirius said, not helping at all.
James threw him a nasty look and stalked off after the girls, dragging his trunk behind him.
They all settled into the compartment (lily glaring out the window).
Sirius, James, and Remus spent the next 2 hours argueing about some stupid muggle wrestling sport, and all the girls fell asleep.
Soon the train stopped, and they all hurried into Hogwarts and unpacked their things.
Lily changed into a pair of pinkish purple robes that had the Hogwarts crest in the corner. (the list told her to buy black, but she had bought every color BUT black...she thought it made her look old.)
She whipped out a piece of parchment and a quill, and began writing James a note.
She sat down in her usual spot, next to James, and she listened to the Welcoming Speech. When that was over, the feast began.
James turned towards her.
"Sorry." he said simply, before kissing her quickly on the cheek.
Lily pursed her lips and tried to stay angry...but she couldn't. It didn't work as well as it used to.
She ripped up the envelope and turned to eat her food.
She was angry with herself because she couldn't stay angry at her boyfriend for more than an hour without wanting to get back together.
"You're much prettier than that girl at the station." James whispered in her ear softly.
Lily grinned and continued eating.
"Ames how was Majorca? Obviously you got some sun." Lily said, jealously eyeing her best friends tan.
"No kidding. I spent my summer on the beach. TONS of hot guys. Lily you wouldn't believe this one guy i met--" Amy trailed off at the murderous look on Sirius' face. "But Sirius is much cuter and, um, I guess the other guy wasn't THAT cute." she finished lamely, giving Lily an 'ill tell you about him later' look.
Lily nodded and cleared her throat nervously.
The group saw Dumbledore hurrying over to their table looking very serious indeed
"Lily Evans would you please meet me in my office?" Dumbledore asked gravely.
"Sure. I'll be back in a minute James." Lily said, excusing herself from the table and hurrying after Dumbledore.
James didn't see Lily again until he went up to her dorm himself.
She was sitting in the center of the room, on the floor, staring at a piece of parchment.
"What is it?" he asked softly.
"My parents are dead." she said in a hollow voice as if she couldn't believe it.
James hurried over to Lily.
He sat down next to her on the floor.
"I'm so sorry." James said, his voice choked. Lily
's parents had been like his second parents for the past 2 years and
he couldn't believe that they were gone.
Lily wasn't crying, she just looked incredibly sad. Her eyes were bloodshot from holding back tears. All in all, she looked terrible.
"I can't believe they're gone." Lily said softly.
"H-how did it happen?" James asked hesitantly.
"Voldemort." Lily said bitterly.
James took a sharp intake of breath.
"Why?" he asked, shocked.
"Look, James, if I knew, I'd tell you. He's a raving lunatic...he doesn't need a reason to kill someone. He just does it." Lily replied impatiently.
"Sorry." he muttered, suddenly feeling stupid.
"Its not your fault...I just need to be alone for awhile ok? If you hear crashing noises its me breaking stuff." she said, standing up and crossing the room over to her bed.
"I'm not going to leave." he called after her. "The worst thing in the world is to have to deal with something like this alone. So I'm staying with you."
"Whatever. I don't really care." Lily replied absently.
James pulled up a chair next to her bed and sat down.
They sat there in silence for almost two hours, until Sirius and Remus walked in, exuberant about some prank they had played.
"HA!!! Jamsie Boy you shoulda seen it! We blew up the WHOLE Slytherin table in the Great Hall and then---whats the matter Lily?" Sirius asked, going from ecstatic to sober in less than a minute.
James put a finger to his lips and he stood up and led Remus and Sirius out of the room.
"Her parents are dead at the hand of Voldemort. Maybe we should just leave hher alone for a while." he whispered.
Sirius and Remus swallowed quickly.
They nodded and walked slowly down the stairs, very subdued and quiet.
James slipped back into the room and resumed his vigil next to Lily, who was staring blankly at the ceiling.
Slowly her eyes began to focus and she looked at him.
"You're still here." she commented.
"Very observant." James said with a slight smile.
Lily sat up, ran her fingers through her hair, and put her face in her hands sadly.
"Why did they have to die James?" she asked through tears, allowing herself to cry for the first time since she had found out.
James eased himself onto the edge of her bed, and gathered her in his arms.
She leaned against him greatfully and cried into his shoulder.
Not long after though, she wiped her eyes, went to go wash up in the bathroom, and she came back out looking normal, being the great actress she was.
"I should probably go downstairs, ya know, so they don't think I've died or something." she said softly, holding out her hand for him to take.
He grasped her hand and kissed the top of her head as they walked out the door.
Gin, Amy, Sirius, and Remus were all sitting on the couch downstairs playing exploding Snape (not SNAP but SNAPE...they had pasted pictures of Snape on all of the cards and they delighted in watching them blow up as the pictures sneered at them.)
"Bloody Hell Amy! How do you do it?! Remus asked as Amy won for the 6th time in a row.
"Language Mister Lupin. And its just because I am that much better than you." Amy replied, smiling quickly.
They all saw Lily and they stopped smiling.
"Don't mind me. Carry on. I could use a couple of blown up Snapes to make me feel better." Lily said with a hint of humor.
Sirius chuckled appreciateivley and dealt out another set of cards to each player.
"HOW DARE HE!" Gin squealed.
"How dare he what?" Amy asked, looking at Gin as if something was seriously wrong with her.
"I swear this picture of Snape just stuck its middle finger up at me!" Gin exclaimed.
"So stick yours up back at him." Sirius replied as if it were the most normal thing in the world to make rude gestures at a picture.
Gin rolled her eyes, sneaking a glance at Lily who was looking at the cards, but seeming to look past them, as if in her own little world.
"Lily have you contacted your sister?" Amy asked, noticing the sick look on Lily's face, almost as if she was about to throw up.
"No. She probably hates me even more now. Oh Ames my life sucks. My whole family hates me! My sister has ALWAYS hated me, I WAS my grandparents favorite grand daughter until they found out I was a witch, now they can't stand me, my aunts and uncles are the same way. What am I going to do on breaks?" Lily asked, lip trembling as if she was about to cry again.
"You'll come home with me. You're just like a sister to me...except we don't fight." Amy said gently.
"I've never even met your parents Amy. You think they'd accept me?" Lily asked.
"Of course they will! I talk about you LOADS at home, so they know as much about you as I do!" Amy exclaimed.
"You're the best Amy." Lily said softly, a tear spilling down her cheek.
"You'll just LOVE France! As much as I do! At my house we speak french to each other, so we'll have to brush up on that, eh?" Amy said, grinning.
"You don't even have an accent." Lily commented.
"It took years of practice to do that." Amy replied, violet eyes dancing.
Lily smiled weakly, and Amy gave her friend a hug.
"When's th' fun'ral?" Gin asked sympathetically.
"Um. Todays tuesday...Its on Saturday. You all have to come with me. I couldn't stand it without you." Lily said, because having her friends around her was like being wrapped in a protective cocoon, and it made her feel safe.
"Of course we'll come." Amy said gently, glaring at Sirius who balked...he hated funerals.
That night, Lily slept fitfully, dreams of her parents overwhelming her to the point where she could hardly breathe.
Finally, she jumped out of her bed, sobbing, and she stumbled out of the room, not caring where she went.
"Mum! Dad! Why did you leave me?! WHY?!" she asked, her throat so choked up she could hardly breathe, let alone talk. Her heart ached with a pain she had thought impossible, and she felt like she would be better off dead.
~*~*~*~*~ Flashback~*~*~*~*~
"Come here Flower, lets play ball." her dad said, smiling at his little girl.
"Ok Daddy! Can I throw first?" asked a 5 year old Lily.
"Sure thing Tiger." her dad replied.
She threw the ball, and for the first time in her life, the ball reached her dad's glove.
"You did it Tiger! You really did it!" her dad exclaimed.
"We love you Flower." her mother said warmly
"I love you too mommy." little Lily said happily.
"You're our angel." her mother said.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~back to reality.
"No! Mom! Come back! PLEASE! Don't leave me!" Lily cried.
We love you Flower.
"NO!!!"
Sure thing Tiger.
"DADDY PLEASE COME BACK!!!! Daddy I need you!!!" Lily cried, collapsing onto the floor in tears, her heart aching so badly that she wanted to just give up.
You're our angel.
"MOM COME BACK!" she shrieked.
"Please come back." she said weakly, giving up.
