They arrived at Hogwarts when it was pelting huge drops about the size of someone's thumbnail. They had to stay in the train for several minutes till it cleared up and the gamekeeper could retrieve all the boats from the middle and bottom of the lake (someone had cut the ropes that had held them to the bank).
It gave them time to slip into their Hogwarts robes; Remus had also been made a prefect, as they found out when he pulled out his badge. No one expressed any surprise at all when they saw Lily's.
When Lily stepped into the faintly damp, moth-ball smelling carriage, she was quite thankful she wasn't a first year. She didn't see how they could make it across that lake without drowning, especially since there was a nice giant squid that lived inside the stormy water.
By the time the carriages reached Hogwarts, everyone was reasonably dry, though they had to soak their robes as they held them over their heads in order to get inside without looking as though they'd just taken a quick dip in the oh-so-calm lake with their clothes on. Damp and dripping, everyone filed into the Great Hall, ready to welcome the first years, who filed in and stuck together in a large clump.
Professor McGonagall carried the Sorting Hat up to the three-legged stool that sat on a stage, and immediately, the hat opened its brim and lost it, with a plop. The brim, that is. It was simply a pointy thing with a patched, round bit of cloth draped around the stool. Everyone tried not to roar with laughter, but it was too funny not to.
Professor Dumbledore finally got the noise down to a semblance of quiet, flicking his wand and replacing the brim. Then, for the second time, the hat opened its 'mouth' and began to sing amid suppressed giggles.

In days when I was new and young
This school was bright and clean.
And the Four Heads of Houses swung
Small wizards into streams.

Gryffindor's stream ran sunset red;
And into it he threw
The bravest from their safe, warm beds
And the daring from their pew.

The trickle of Hufflepuff widened large
Flowing with liquid gold.
And in the river rode a barge
Filled with a loyal, trusty mould.

Ravenclaw's torrent took to the sea
Azure and blue and bronze
The smartest, the brightest one could see
For miles all around.

The silver watercourse among the rocks
Tinted with streaks of green
Took to Slytherin the smartest locks
The sneakiest in between.

And when they were quite old and gone
I was left instead
To do my best for wizards at dawn
Of their new life's stead.

So try me on and do not shake;
Your insides are still there.
And I have yet made no mistake
Of this, your life's first scare.

The Great Hall burst into applause. Lily turned to Sirius.
"It did pretty well, even if that brim did fall off!"
"It's a talented hat."
Lily laughed. "Yes!"
They were terribly hungry; the lady with the cart on the train had run out of food quite early, and everyone was more than ready for dinner. As Dumbledore stood up at the teacher's table, several groans could be heard throughout the Hall.
"I trust you have all had an eventful summer; time for all that nice knowledge to seep out of your heads. I know you are all anxious to eat, but before you do so, I would like to say a few words.
"First, all of you who are excited about the Quidditch World Cup, we are allowing you to leave Hogwarts on weekends with permission from your parents. We shall be transporting you there and directing you to the group you shall be with. Needless to say, if the Cup lasts into the week, you shall be back at school." The Great Hall groaned even more loudly. "Another thing, before I shall allow you to nourish yourselves. You are, as usual, not allowed inside the Forbidden Forest, and no one is to visit Hogsmeade without a signed form or when a visit is not announced." Lily saw Sirius and James turn their heads to look at each other as Peter sat in his seat, looking smug.
"We shall be asking you, as usual, to pay strict attention to out prefects and Head Boy and Girl." James stole a glance down the table to where Lily was sitting, and was surprised to find that she hadn't displayed her prefect badge prominently, and that she wasn't looking half as smug as Peter was. Her head was sort of down, and it looked like she had a faint sunburn.
The Great Hall burst into applause. Lily turned to Sirius.
"It did pretty well, even if that brim did fall off!"
"It's a talented hat."
Lily laughed. "Yes!"
They were terribly hungry; the lady with the cart on the train had run out of food quite early, and everyone was more than ready for dinner. As Dumbledore stood up at the teacher's table, several groans could be heard throughout the Hall.
"I trust you have all had an eventful summer; time for all that nice knowledge to seep out of your heads. I know you are all anxious to eat, but before you do so, I would like to say a few words.
"First, all of you who are excited about the Quidditch World Cup, we are allowing you to leave Hogwarts on weekends with permission from your parents. We shall be transporting you there and directing you to the group you shall be with. Needless to say, if the Cup lasts into the week, you shall be back at school." The Great Hall groaned even more loudly. "Another thing, before I shall allow you to nourish yourselves. You are, as usual, not allowed inside the Forbidden Forest, and no one is to visit Hogsmeade without a signed form or when a visit is not announced." Lily saw Sirius and James turn their heads to look at each other as Peter sat in his seat, looking smug.
"We shall be asking you, as usual, to pay strict attention to out prefects and Head Boy and Girl." James stole a glance down the table to where Lily was sitting, and was surprised to find that she hadn't displayed her prefect badge prominently, and that she wasn't looking half as smug as Peter was. Her head was sort of down, and it looked like she had a faint sunburn.
"I'll take your word for it."
Lily motioned for him to shut up as Dumbledore began to speak again.
"And as that is all I can say, let us begin!" He clapped his hands once, and the golden plates in front of them filled with the usual delicious food. But, tired as everyone was and drenched as more than everyone was, no one really enjoyed the feast as much as they would have normally. When Dumbledore finally let them leave the Great Hall, the first moves of everyone were towards the common room fire. Lily was pushed in front of the mass of Gryfffindors rushing towards their Tower, and only a few feet away from the portrait hole did she remember that prefects gave the students the password into the Tower.
Her mind searched frantically for something, and finally, in a bit of drenched and dazed desperation, she hit on the first thing that came to mind; something out of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
"Greek fire."
The Gryffindors, satisfied with their password, pushed the Fat Lady open and piled into the common room. Whether it was because they were wetter and colder than usual or that the fire was larger and higher than it usually was, it definitely seemed warmer. However, the space in front of it could only be occupied by so many people, so about a fourth of the Gryffindors had to go upstairs to the bathrooms so as to take hot showers. Lily did so, mainly because she was more than ready for bed, which she got into at about eleven; the feast had lasted so long. She said a quick hello to Diana, Elspeth, and Abigail before her head hit the pillow and she fell asleep. It was debatable if she was asleep before her hair touched the pillow or after, though if anyone had watched, they would be inclined to say the former.

Next morning, everyone woke up a bit later than usual. They got dressed, yawning, and went down to breakfast, where Professor McGonagall was busy handing out schedules.
Lily slid into a seat next to Remus and Eva. "Hullo."
"Hallo, Miss Prefect." Eva was in a good mood. "Tired."
"Very. What's for breakfast?"
"The usual. Have some sausages?"
"Sure; why not." Lily watched lazily as Eva piled her plate.
Professor McGonagall went around handing out schedules, and Lily grabbed hers as it went flying onto her milk jug. "Remus, schedules!"
"Um." His mouth was full and he had to swallow twice before it became empty. "I can see. What do we have first?"
"Potions. With the Slytherins."
"Wow." Remus rolled his eyes. "What a great way to start our day."
"It won't kill you. Really; it won't. Come on—they're not really all that bad."
"To you, maybe."
"That's because I was nice to them. Come on, get rid of that stupid prejudice. Remember, they could say worse about you if they knew."
"Oh, right." Remus picked up his own schedule. "I've got Transfiguration second…how about you?"
James plopped into a chair across from Remus, next to Lily. "Anatomy."
"And how would you know that?"
"I'm in her class. Come on, Rem, it's almost time for—POTIONS!?" His voice echoed all over the Great Hall, and everyone turned to stare. James waved to everyone, a bit sheepishly, because Professor Cauldwell was seated at the teacher's table.
"Hi, all?"
They laughed quietly, turning back to their breakfast. Soon, however, it was time for them to go to class, and they all filed out of the Great Hall quickly, grabbing book bags as they raced to respective classrooms.
Professor Cauldwell was more animated than usual; this time he actually had notes, and he gave a long lecture on the different potions that could be used to ward off Dark creatures. Lily had a roll of parchment of jotted notes on how to use them and what they were made of and how long they were to simmer. It was interesting, for once, and they had to research one of two potions he gave them; they would be making them on Wednesday.
Anatomy was next. Professor Maar had become even more demanding over the summer, and he told them that they would be studying unicorns before Christmas holidays and that he would be bringing a specimen into class. Everyone was excited and couldn't wait, but their excitement was crushed when he told them that they had two rolls of parchment on unicorns due Friday.Lily wasn't the only one delighted to find that they didn't have Divination that day. It had been moved to right before lunch on Tuesday, which was wonderful, since it didn't get so hot in the morning. They had Herbology instead; they were planting a grove of small birch dryads near the Forbidden Forest.
Lily and her friends stayed up late that night in the common room, talking about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Lily would have her on Wednesday, and she could hardly wait.
Lily yawned her way through Divination next morning. Sirius and James were absent, and Professor Trelawney was teaching them about the different ways to use crystals when stargazing. It made no sense whatsoever, and she slid into her seat at lunch with an air that suggested that she wanted to go to sleep.
Sirius handed her a glass of pumpkin juice. "Tired?"
"Aren't you?"
"Nope. We skipped."
"I noticed."
He shrugged. "Well, we've got a good excuse."
She looked skeptical. "I see."
"We do! Well, that is, we will once we think up one."
"I see."
They trooped into History of Magic at the end of the day, not at all looking forward to this. They were his first class after lunch, and he usually took a nap during lunchtime. And this year, he had an extra hour and a half to sleep, so when they walked inside it was natural for them to see an empty classroom. It was only when he didn't show up for fifteen minutes that they began to get edgy.
"D'you think he's all right?"
"Of course! The old git just overslept."
"Well, something's wrong!"
"Go get him, why don't you?"
"I'm just worried about our teacher! Stop it!"
"Why worry?"
'...Yeah; he never teaches anyway; what's the point?"
"There isn't one. Binns never has one; at least that I can discern."
"No, but something could be seriously wrong!"
"All right then, Miss Prefect, go see what's wrong while our other prefect supervises us unruly children."
"James! Don't call me that!"
"Touchy, are we?"
"Come on, Lily, give it a break!"
"Lily, we're perfectly fine without him; we can even do the same thing we do when he's here."
"What's that?"
"Go to sleep."
"Yeah, Lily, go to sleep."
"But something could be seriously wrong!"
"So what? Lily, you can be one of the most annoying people on earth, do you know that?"
"But if something happened…"

Remus finally lost it, too. "Good God, Lily, will you shut up? You're the only one in here that cares or pretends to like our teachers—go find him then! And when you catch him coming out of some bathroom, I reserve the right to say 'I told you so.'"
"All right then!" Lily was angry now. She slid her chair back and walked in the direction of Binns' office; she'd been there once before to discuss a paper. It was around several winding stairways and corners; when she finally got to it, she wouldn't have been surprised at all to find the door locked. It was open, however; ajar, even, and she pushed it open easily.
Professor Binns was dozing in a large armchair in front of a blazing fire. Lily walked towards him, coughing deliberately and loudly. When he didn't wake up, she tapped him on the shoulder.
"Er—Professor Binns?"
No answer.
"Professor?"
No answer.
She shook his shoulder.
No response.
Harder.
No response.
"ProfessShe touched him again, and the coldness flooded her arm again. She shook him again, and this time his head dropped to one side, leaving a pearly replica of his head drooping on his chest. Lily's breath started to come faster and shorter.
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my…PROFESSOR!"
She heard running footsteps in the hall, and James and Sirius were at the door. "Lil! What's up?"
With a shaking hand, Lily pointed to the transparent second head of their teacher. The boys moved into the room.