***
Lily brushed her hair anxiously. She was sixteen now, and it was her sixth year at Hogwarts. She had matured over the summer, and had become a tall, slim, beautiful young woman, and all the boys in France had noticed. She smiled to herself. What a good holiday, she thought. A scowl crossed her face. Except for Petunia. She shook her head. She hated her sister, and vice-versa. Petunia just couldn't handle the fact that Lily was the special one; Lily was (now, anyway) the pretty one.
Lily, in her teenage years, was chubby, very chubby, actually, has mousy, dull red hair and acne. She was smart, but got teased a lot. Now? She thought. I'll show them who Lily Evans is.
She had a wonderful halo of rich, deep red hair, silky and smooth. Her best friend at Hogwarts, Kiki, had hair like that, and Lily had always wanted it.
She finished brushing her hair, and cast an anxious look towards her trunk. Do I have everything? She asked herself mentally. She wasn't going on the train this year, as she wanted her entrance to be a surprise, and besides, her new house, was close enough to Hogwarts, so that she could take a broomstick there. Of course, there was no way a full trunk was going to fit on the end of a broomstick, but Lily, over the summer had enchanted it so that it would shrink or enlarge to whatever size that was needed.
She performed the spell to shrink the trunk, and fitted it onto the end of her Star Shooter 280, and went downstairs where her parents were gathered.
"Bye Mum, bye Dad. I'll send you an owl later, ok?" she said, kissing her parents goodbye.
"Ok, sweetheart, if anything goes wrong, just contact us, alright?" Mrs Evans looked down on her daughter with a worried expression.
"I'll be fine Mum, I promise. Bye!" And with that, she walked outside and kicked off. She didn't bother asking where Petunia was, and to be honest, she didn't really care.
The wind blew her silky hair back, and showed her new earrings. She had gotten them pierced over the summer, and they now displayed shooting stars, to go with her new broomstick. She was enjoying the wind in her face, and was relaxing on her broomstick, until she caught sight of the giant castle in the distance. She frowned, and looked at her watch. That was quick, she thought. Only forty minutes.
She swooped down, entered the Ravenclaw dormitory, and began to unpack.
***
"Oh my God, Lily!" A loud voice broke into her thoughts. Looking up, she discovered a vivacious brunette smiling and dragging a large trunk.
"Kiki!" Lily cried. They ran to embrace each other, but Kiki drew back. "You look so… so… beautiful! Where did your go for your holiday?"
"France."
"Oh, cool. I love Paris. But you look so different; I can't believe that it's you! I almost thought I had a new roommate when I first came in. Ooh, watch out Sirius Black!"
"Sirius?" Lily said, wrinkling her nose. "I thought you were going out with him."
"I am, so paws off!" Kiki smiled, her eyes twinkling.
"Speaking of paws, where's Jake?"
"Meow?" came a weak cry from under the bed.
"There he is."
Kiki and Lily gossiped all the way down to the common room. They were so engrossed with their descriptions of their summers that they failed to notice every boy in the room stop and gawp as they entered.
They collapsed in front of the fire in overstuffed armchairs, and talked well into the night.
***
"—but Snape's hair would look good green—"
"—I'm more partial to pink, really—"
"—oh, you too, just stop already and feed him a snake at dinner or something—"
"—that's a good idea, Remus, why didn't we think of that before—"
"—maybe because you were too busy transfiguring him into a desk and carving 'James and Sirius Rule' into him—"
"—now that was funny—"
"—it lost Gryffindor two hundred points—"
"—it was worth it—"
Lily could hear snatches of the Marauders' conversation long before she bumped into them at the corner. She had always been friends with the four of them, although, judging by the conversation, Peter wasn't there by now.
She rounded a corner, and passed them. "Hi guys," she said smoothly as she walked by.
They nodded as they passed, but then all three of them stopped and turned in unison. "Lily!" They shouted.
She hugged them quickly, and smiled.
"Sorry, Lily. You just look so… different!" Sirius, tactful as always.
"Good or bad?" she asked, teasing them deliberately.
"Good, of course." James' eyes sparkled as he said this, and he put an arm around her waist in a friendly gesture. "Now, you see," he began loudly, guiding them down the hall. Remus and Sirius rolled their eyes. "We have big plans for this year, Lils. Big plans!"
"And let me guess!" she said, playing along. "They all involve Snape!"
They all tapped their noses, and began laughing. It was going to be a good year.
***