With frustration, the young witch turned over in her bed and checked the glowing numbers on her alarm clock. The time was seven thirty. What felt like an hour ago when she checked, the numbers read seven twenty five. Normally, Lily Evans enjoyed an opportunity to relax but today marked the beginning of her return to the wizarding world for her fifth year at Hogwarts. It was the 25th of August and her parents had agreed to take her to Diagon Alley to get her books and uniform. As a result, she was excited to run into some friends and spend time introducing her parents to the world where she really belonged.
"Tuney, are you awake?" she whispered.
"Yes," came a bitter response from across the room.
"Please come with us today, I really want to show you what it's like."
"Forget it," Petunia Evans snapped back, "I've had to hear about your freakish life all holiday, why would I want to spend a whole day looking at it?"
Sighing deeply, Lily tried to ignore the growing sinking feeling in her stomach. She often tried to hide it but she desperately ached to fix her relationship with her sister. Ever since she found out that she was a witch, the distance between her and Petunia grew. Their parents attepted to disguise their pride of their magical daughter, but their constant curiosity and discussions at home made Petunia feel inferior. Of course this was exaggurated by the fact that Lily only saw her parents during large holidays, whereas Petunia was home every day.
Nevertheless, Lily pushed her disappointment to the side and got herself ready for the day. After showering, she dug through her Hogwarts trunk. Many of her possessions that related to the wizarding world had remained packed as she was unable to use them. Scraping from the bottom of the enormous case, she pulled a woolen cloak to wear above her comfy denim jeans and yellow jumper. Even though she knew she couldn't use it, she still took her wand carefully from its compartment in her trunk and placed it in her cloak pocket. It felt good to feel like herself again. Her summer holidays had consisted mainly of visiting family members, pretending as though she attended a boarding school in Scotland for talented art students. Lily herself, had little interest in painting. Throughout the holidays, she had recieved a few letters from James, who she often bluntly responded to; a few from Mary and Alice, mostly complaining about family; and several from Remus, sharing trivia and facts that they picked up throughout the holidays. The days she had enjoyed, were the ones she spent with Severus. When they were at home, they were themselves. Lily felt that she could share anything and everything with him, and he would do the same. He had introduced her to this magical side of her, and she had always looked up to him for this. It dissappointed her that she didn't get to speak to him much at school anymore, it seems like the holidays were the only times they spent together where neither of them had to pretend to be someone else.
By the time Lily made it downstairs for breakfast, Mrs Evans was busying herself, overpacking for the day as usual. It seems her parents were just as eager to be ready for the day as she was, Lily often felt it was like taking her parents to a museum but she enjoyed showing her parents a side of her that she was often unable to share. Within moments, Mr Evans stumbled into the small kitchen with a pointed, violet hat on his head. Beneath the wide, gold starred brim, he broke out into a playful smile.
"Dad, no." Lily insisted, shaking her head.
Mr Evans placed a hand to his forehead to remove a wizard's hat, that had defenitely been sold as a part of a halloween costume, revealing a head of thick, red hair. Lily looked mostly like her mother, bright green eyes, tall and relatively slim. Her hair, however, she had taken from her dad, in addition to pale freckled skin that instantly reacted to a hint of sunshine. "Why not?" he cried out. "All the witches and wizards are wearing them!"
"Trust me dad, they aren't," she chuckled and shot her mum a knowing glance. Mr Evans trying to act more wizardly in the house was a common occurance and was rarely very convincing.
Before long, Lily was in the back of her parents' Volvo, school list in hand, on the way to the leaky cauldron in London.
"Honey, there's that shop with that dear old man. Are you going to get a wand?" Mrs Evans called above the crowds. The cobbled streets of Diagon Alley were packed with families trying to navigate the different shops. Each window was piled high with tatty posters and displays of each shop's newest ideas or models. As usual, Mr Evans was tutting about the structural integrety of each building, with walls that curved and stuck out, some looked as though a breeze could knock them crashing to the ground. Mrs Evans, was fascinated by the potions shop, which advertised its new temperature sensitive, self-stirring cauldron. Causing the most issues were the first years, with handfuls of equipment. Cages of owls bobbed above the crowds and cauldrons full of books bounced of passersby as they wrestled their way through to Mr Ollivanders.
"No mum. We have this every year!" Lily sighed, bumping into Mr Evans again as another cloaked blurr dashed past her. "Your wand should last forever if you take care of it. I am trying to get to Madame Malkin's but she's absolutely packed!"
Finally, the trio had managed to elbow and excuse their way through the crowd and into the door of the clothes shop. Luckily, once they were in, the wait was short and it wasn't long before they were on their way to Florish and Blotts, bags in hand, to get some books. Upon entering the shop, Mr Evans had more complaints to make about the waving pile of hard back books, stacked as tall as sixty books high. To their left, Mrs Evans gasped at the sight of the wizarding equivalent of a child's pop up book. When you opened the cover, the characters flew up and looped a series of actions to enhance the telling of the story. Henny's Hurricane Adventure showed an actual miniture hurricane of pages, dust and tiny houses swirling around as a young, blond haired witch circled the chaotic swirl.
"Evans!" A familiar and joyful voice called above the crowds at the door. Soon, a familiar head could be seen popping up and down above the sea of people. Ashy brown hair flopped in the eyes of Remus Lupin as he stood before her. It was hard not to notice the pale, greyish hue to his skin, the dark circles below his eyes and the way his skin clung to his cheekbones. He always looked slightly sickly and in addition to this, he had a thin, raised line from his temple, just narrowly missing the edge of his eyebrow. It was often difficult to see the scar as he hid it well under his hair. Lily had always wanted to ask, but she never did. She had a feeling that it was not a battle wound that Remus wanted to discuss.
"Hey Remus," Lily greeted him politely, of all of the Gryffindors, she was very fond of Lupin but she was less fond of the group he chose to spend time with.
"Good luck finding this year's reading," he chattered playfully, "I've been here 20 minutes already and I've only managed to find four of them."
"We should know better by now than to leave it to the last week," Lily laughed back, "it's all these first years. Mum and Dad aren't making the experience any easier." They both turned to see Mr and Mrs Evans pointing and whispering in awe at the tattered books, that looked as though they belonged in an ancient library, floating to their place on the shelf. Everything they saw was fascinating: portraits, photographs, magical creatures, floating spells and potions.
"Mum used to be the same," Lupin laughed knowingly, "And Dad is regularly confused when we go muggle shopping. At least you get some escape!".
Between the four of them, they managed to collect all of the books on the reading list for fifth years. Lily's parents were more of a hindrance than a help, but she enjoyed seeing the fascination on their face as books drifted elegantly from shelves into her cauldron. With Lupin's encouragement, she also ended up with several extra books for additional reading. Her parents each held a pile of leather backed books, every page was crisp and smooth and each spine was carefulle outlined with shimmering letters and pages full of magic secrets.
After an exhausting day of searching the many shelves for various books and pieces of equipment, Lily and her parents finally settled for a meal at the Leaky Cauldron where she took in her last moments of magic before she would set off for Hogwarts on September 1st.
"This one looks good," Lily gestured for Severus Snape to come and join her in the empty compartment she had found on the train. Snape was taller than he seemed, he often hunched his shoulders causing his cloak to trail on the floor. His eyes were dark and hidden in the shadow of his shiny black hair that was usually hanging down across his face. She slid the stiff wooden door sideways and stepped inside, grateful to have found somewhere to sit. She placed her trunk above her head and retrieved from her satchel an emrald green book, "Charming Enchantments; Level 5 spells," Lupin had recommended it as it had lots of useful little charms that help save time. She figured she would need it to allow her to make the most of her time at school. Outside the rain spotted window, Lily watched as her parents darted their eyes up and down the carriage; they lit up when they settled on the window where their daughter was. Smiling, Lily and waved enthusiastically towards her parents. Snape also raised a hand and gave them an acknowledging smile and a nod. As the train jolted into motion, she hung her head out of the window to get one last glimpse of them.
"I'm telling you. They are all full!" A loud voice echoed down the carriage. Sirius Black rushed past the inside window, his curly brown hair bouncing on his shoulders.
"Padfoot, this one has space. Evans won't mind." James Potter bounced into view and grinned in the doorway.
"It's full." Severus' voice was flat and irritable.
"Check again Snivellus. If you poke that huge nose at the window there will be plenty of room for us." James smirked.
This was a regular occurance at school but it didn't stop the irritation rising in Lily's chest, "I'm impressed your big head can even fit on the carriage," she snapped back at him coldly.
"Forget it. I'll see you later," Snape stood up, pushed past Sirius and headed down the corridor. This upset Lily for two reasons: Severus rarely speaks to her at school so this was her last opportunity to spend time with him, and she knew that he was headed straight for the Slytherin end of the train where they would be making far from kind comments about her.
Snape had hardly vacated his seat when James placed his case above her head and collapsed into the cushion beside her. She hated how casually he threw his arm over the seat behind her head, stretched his legs and made himself comfortable. Sirius quickly followed, he carelessly flung his weighty suitcase on the storage opposite and sat by the window, which was already frosted with condensation, stretching his legs across the seat next to him. Following sheepishly, Lupin cast Lily an apologetic glance. Whilst he found his friends humorous, he knew that their behaviour caused upset to those around them. He neatly placed his case above Sirius' head before pushing the booted feet from his seat and on to the ground. Quietly, the final member slunk into the compartment, Peter watched his friends in admiration and perched beside James.
Although their lively company was almost always unwelcome, Lily found herself surrounded by this same group more and more of her time at school. Much to her annoyance, James regularly sought opportunities to infuriate her, this was often encouraged by her unusual friendship with a Slytherin. If he wasn't so horrid, she may have found him rather attractive. He had a slim face, rugged, jet black hair that fell into his deep hazel eyes, which were framed by round glasses. To irritate her further, he was effortlessly intelligent with a knack for practical magic and a disregard for written work and rules. He was arrogant, rude and she hated his assumption that his presence was not only welcome, but wanted, in all situations. His best friend, Sirius, was often a more acceptable version of James. Sirius was made more tolerable by the fact that his attention was often divided across work and a range of girls across the year. Lupin was Lily's favourite of the group, she considered him the Jiminy Cricket of them all. He would entertain most of their jokes, but would ocassionally step in to remind them of responsibilities or to set them straight. He and Lily would often spend time in the library together, sometimes with the addition of Peter. It was a surprise to many Gryffindors when James and Sirius allowed Peter to join their group, he was small and quiet, but they seemed to like his company.
"So, answer me this," James began, Lily could tell by his tone of voice and the way his thin lips were already twisting at the corners that whatever he was going to say would immediately irritate her, "if you had to kiss one of the following, which would it be: Snivellus or..." he pretended to think, "a dementor."
"Easy. Dementor." Sirus responded quickly. The two of them spoke almost as though it was a rehearsed routine. "Whichever one I kiss, I would lose my soul. At least a Dementor would have better breath."
"Brilliant." Peter grinned, "And a Dementor would um... A Dementor would be more attractive."
"Nice one Pettigrew." James chortled. "What about you Evans? Dementor or that slimey excuse for a wizard?"
"I'm not engaging Potter," Lily responded tunefully opening the book she'd brought for the journey.
"I knew it," Potter prompted, unphased by her disinterest.
"A dementor. Ouch." Sirius leaned back in his seat, "Poor Snivellus."
Much to Lily's annoyance, this game of would you rather continued for most of the trip. She occasionally sniped back with a witty comment, but generally chose to ignore them. As darkness fell and they got closer to Hogwarts, she excused herself to put on her robes and returned to her seat.
"Oh well this is embarrasing," Sirius entered the cabin. He tugged on the collar of his cloak and undid his tie.
"Not again..." Lupin's face broke into a grin. He usually looked pale and sickly, but when he smiled it changed his whole appearance.
"We have got to stop doing this," James flung his cloak to the ground with a sigh.
"Well one of us is going to have to change..." Sirius gestured to their uniforms. "We can't all wear the same outfit."
Lily tried to hide a smile, unfortunately she had already made eye contact with James. His eyes twinkled, clearly pleased that she had acknowledged his joke. Once the train had come to a stop, the five of them filed off the train towards the carriages. Each wooden vehicle was uniform in size and appearance, they looked as though they should be horse drawn, but she assumed they must be enchanted to travel without aid. In the distance, Lily caught a glimpse of Snape in the distance. Although he was much taller than her, he looked small, he hung his head low and trailed behind the group of green cloaked students.
"Where have you been hiding?" Lily heard the voice of Alice Fortescue, her roommate and friend. Very different from Lily, Alice was a head smaller than Lily, only reaching above her shoulder, she had short, dark curly hair that bounced on her shoulders in beautiful ringlets. Although they had sent owls over the holidays, Lily was relieved to see her friend in person, and to be in the company of someone that didn't zap her energy to be around.
"I was in the baggage compartment the whole time... did you not see me?" Lily joked.
"Of course... How silly of me." Alice's eyes darted to James and his crew before looking knowingly at Lily. She linked a slender arm through Lily's and dragged her forwards, "come on, let's go. I'm starving."
The two girls joined with Mary and Dorcas and headed towards their final ride to the castle. The four girls had been good friends since their first day a Hogwarts, they were all sorted together and placed in the same dormitory. They often walked together to classes that they shared, and spent many hours complaining about the insufferable group of marauders. It wasn't long before everything started to feel normal, Lily began to let the familiar wave of happiness wash over her. Although Hogwarts was home and she had spent the best part of four years here, each time it filled her with awe. As they neared the school, the torrets of the castle came into view. Each window glowed and winked, welcoming her in. Lily could picture the empty halls, warming to life again as fire places were lit; portraits dashing between frames, readying themselves to welcome new students; house elves running about the kitchen, preparing dish upon dish of delicious food; and the great hall, with its long tables where the hat perched on its stool ready to perform.
"Oh don't they look small!" Mary whispered as they briskly walked past the anxious looking first years on their way up the stairs to the Great Hall.
"You say that every year," Alice teased, taking the steps two at a time, being careful not to trap her cloak under her foot.
"I wonder what the hat will sing this year..." Lily changed the subject, speaking absent mindedly as she glanced around her for a sign of Peeves. Last year, she had been caught out by him flinging peas from behind a pillar and shouting, 'Watch out, Peeves will pea ya!'.
"I don't give a toss what the hat sings, I just hope he sings it quick. I am absolutely starving," Dorcas complained.
"That's what you get for not having train snacks," Mary warned.
Despite this being their fifth year, the sight of the Great Hall still took their breath away. The dark wood benches were seemingly endless and each poloished surface was decorated with thousands of empty silver plates and serving dishes. Above them, hundreds of wax candles lit the room, suspended in the air. The roar of chatter from all of the tables was deafening. Eagerly, the four girls took their seat at the bench.
"Right, 5 galleons, which one do you think will cry first?" already the sound of James' voice had returned to her ears.
"I'll bet you ten it will be the one with the pointy ears. He's definitely going to hufflepuff." Sirius' voice confidently followed.
"Are you joking? The one at the front with his shoe lace undone is already cracking. Look his eyes are watering."
"Keep your eyes on Fildin's little sister," Peter joined in, "he's told her she's got to fight a troll to prove she's brave enough for Gryffindor."
Lily tried to ignore them, but she couldn't help glancing backwards to see the first years now filing through the doors. She wouldn't say it aloud, but she definitely felt it was going to be one of the poor muggleborns in the middle who had been told by some second years that they would have to perform magic or go home. It happened every year.
"Oh Merlin's beard. Every year." Sirius groaned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out 5 gold coins.
"Do you prod them before coming into the hall?" James grumbled accusingly.
"No, I'm just perceptive I guess," Peter shrugged. Lily knew for a fact he always guessed correctly because he was probably the first first year to cry on the way to his sorting.
The sorting itself was a very joyous ceremony. Each year, the tables began to feel more like a family and Lily loved cheering and welcoming the newcomers. All around her, people cheered, whistled and shouted each time a house was allocated. Fondly, Lily recalled her own sorting; the hat had a hard time placing her. It nearly placed her in Ravenclaw, but eventually it landed on Gryffindor.
Once the sorting was over, the most magnificant feast appeared on the silver dishes and plates. As much as home cooked food provided comfort, there was nothing on Earth quite like a Hogwart's feast. She ate until she felt as though she couldn't move. She then enjoyed watching Sirius try and feed himself through charming several chicken drumsticks, it was a highly messy but entertaining experience. It was very common for students to use magic as soon as they set foot in Hogwarts because they've been without it for so long.
After several minutes, Sirius grew tired of trying to feed himself, and James had moved onto a new challenge. They had their heads together, plotting at exactly what angle they would have to shoot a pastel for it to land directly up Snape's nostril. Normally, this would anger Lily into a response, but she knew that even those two wouldn't dare try and cause a scene in the Great Hall with Dumbledore watching. Luckily, he knew to keep a close eye on them too. Following the food, the students were all reminded of the usual rules, don't go in the forbidden forest, do not leave your dormitories after dark and do not make choices that will lose your house points.
The prefects led the first years followed by the rest of the house to their dormitories. Pleased to have an audience again, the Fat Lady was somewhat reluctant to allow her house entry to their common room. It took a lot of heckles from 6th and 7th years to finally get her to open the door. Exhausted, Lily went straight to bed, ready for a full day of classes. As usual, she was unaware of James' eyes following her through the room out of sight. He frequently joked, but this year was going to be a serious year for him. If he worked hard, he felt he might be able impress her enough to go on one date.
The first few days of the school year passed quickly and smoothly. It took no time at all to settle back into a routine of studying, attending lesson and occassionally visiting Hagrid for some tea. Of all subjects, charms was her favourite, she enjoyed learning neat spells that were handy and sometimes very pretty. This year was the year that they would all take their Ordinary Wizarding Levels, or OWLS. As a muggleborn, Lily sometimes felt as though she always had the backfoot, some of these students, like James, Alice or Sirius had been learning to control their magic before they could even walk. James had written a broom from the day he could sit up independently, of course this naturally put him on the quidditch team - another chance for him to show off. As a result of this, Lily generally spent far more time in the Great Hall, or the Library, completing homework.
Proffesor Slughorn, the potions teacher, had taken a particular shine to Lily and her dedication to do well. That week marked the first meeting of Slugclub this year. Wasting no time, Slughorn had sent a note to all of his specially chosen students, summoning them to his office at 7pm on the Wednesday. It was to be an informal dinner- a chance for everyone to catch up and for any new members to be introduced. Lily placed on a pair of black jeans, a white blouse and her favourite red cardigan. She waved goodbye to Mary and Dorcas as her and Alice headed down the moving staircase quickly to avoid it changing, towards Slughorn's office.
Besides the first years, Lily and Alice were one of the last to arrive. Looking round the table they could see 15 others from different houses and years. Slughorn encouraged them not to come in house colours, this way everyone entered the room as friends and equals. Exchanging a nervous glance, the girls pulled out a heavy wooden chair from the table and took their seats. The chatter between students was quiet whilst everybody waited for the meeting to start.
"Yes, yes. Well come on in then, quickly take a seat," Slughorn ushered two first years through the door, "welcome back everyone!" he turned to address the whole table as he took his own seat opposite Alice. "I am pleased to introduce this years two newest members, Adrian and Dahlia."
Lily didn't recognise the two students sat before them. Adrian was a timid type, scrawny, with thick locks of golden, curly hair. His eyes darted about the table, searching for a friendly face but avoiding eye contact. Instinctively, Lily tried to shoot him a warming smile, though she wasn't sure he had seen. Dahlia, however, appeared very confident. It was clear from the way that she sat up straight and nodded at each member that she truly felt she belonged there. She had shiny brown hair that reflected the flickering candlelight, she beamed at Professor Slughorn with pride.
"As er you are all aware..." Slughorn began, his voice was slightly croaky. "I believe that at Hogwarts we teach some of the most extraordinary minds that the wizarding world has to offer. It would surely be a waste, if we did not have an opportunity to encourage young intelligent students to build relationships that will later become very useful professional connections in future. Throughout the year, we will partake in feasts, dinners and parties. Now please, enjoy..." As he gestured towards the table, it popped to life with colour. The golden goblets filled with pumpkin juice, the plate in front of her suddenly filled with steaming pork, covered in gravy. The students began to help themselves and share the vegetables, loading their plates with great spoonfuls of carrots, broccoli, mashed potato and Lily's favourite, roast potatoes.
"So tell me, Alice," Slughorn chewed and spoke across the table, "I hear from Professor Sprout that you have changed her approach towards replanting mandrakes. Using a denser soil was a stroke of genius, she said! Shut the noisy beggers right up!"
"It was simple really..." Alice shuffled in her seat, she was never a fan of the attention being on her, "the information was all there... I just really could not bear to listen to the screeching any longer."
"If you put them in a bigger pot, they generally keep quiet for longer," Lily added in attempt to help her friend.
"Yes, but then they become overwhelmed," Alice argued, forgetting where she was, "if the pot is too big then the moisture has nowhere to go."
"In Lily's defence, if they drown, that will shut them up just as quickly," a quiet laugh rippled around the table as Dirk chimed in.
"And Severus," Slughorn turned his attention to Snape, who had been quietly tucking into his meal with his head down, "should I be concerned that you manage to improve upon the Befuddlement Potion. I began to forget where I was from the smell of your cauldron."
"Well sir, you never know when one might come in handy..." Snape replied coolly, without a hint of a joke.
"This young wizard, could very well be one of the most talented potion creators that I have ever had the fortune of teaching. You will do well to persue a career in it." Slughorn praised, "There are always opportunities to look into the healing effects of potions and spells."
The club meeting continued for several hours and it was gone ten o'clock by the time Alice and Lily had made it back to their common room. Her stomach ached with the volume of food eaten, her eye lids were bouncing heavily in an attempt to stay awake before they had even woken The Fat Lady to gain entrance.
The common room was warmly lit, the fire spitting out its final embers. The few oil lamps on the wall were lit, ready to switch off as the last students made their way to bed. The red drapes enhanced the red glow that enveloped the room. Most evenings, the common room was bursting with energy, students took the space to play games, study or just have a bit of a laugh. Since it was past lights out, the room was peaceful. It seemed everyone had retired for the night.
CRASH! Lily instinctively grabbed her wand and breathed in sharply. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Alice had done the same, standing a step behind her. Both of them turned in the direction of the sound, which was to the left of the fireplace, hidden in the shadow of the faded arm chair. Once her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, she made out the outline of thick wavy hair, reflecting the fire's glow. Opposite she could see quick glints of light bouncing from the frames of round glasses.
"Merlin's beard. You two are such arses!" Alice bust out basically unfolding next to her as she placde her wand back in her pocket.
"Holy wizarding hell, a warning would have been nice," It was Sirius' turn to jump, his chair scuffing the stone floor.
"What are you doing still up, sitting in darkness?" Lily scolded, her heart finally returning to a regular pace. She lowered her wand back into her pocket and tucked her firery hair behind her ears.
"Sorry Mum." James' voice rang clear through the room, "didn't realise playing chess was a crime."
"It is when you're doing it in half darkness trying to scare the crap out of anyone coming in to go to bed."
"Perhaps I should ask you why you two are sneaking in way past your bedtime," James scolded.
"Slug club." Alice sighed heading towards the twisted stone staircase to the girls' dormitories.
"OOoooooh. Sorry I forgot you had teachers pet club. Did you say hi to Snivellus whilst you were there?"
"Be nice. Who's winning?" Lily strolled across the room, crawling into the arm chair by the game. She sank her elbows into the back of the cushion leaning over to watch the game. So far, it was a pretty even game. James had just lost one of his pawns but he was clearly on the attack, Sirius however was cleverly defending his important pieces. James played carelessly with confidence, Sirius was far more intelligent than James would ever give him credit for. Amused, Lily would put money on Sirius winning everytime, it was a win win situation for her because a product of this is James' loss.
"You! Knight, E6." James was clearly growing irritated and was demanding pieces to move with little thought for Sirius' pieces. Alice gave Lily a wave as she headed upstairs.
Joyfully, Lily could see that James had not considered the location of Sirius' bishop, he was focused purely on getting as close to the King as possible. She could feel her lips moving to a smile as her eyes met James' accross the table, she quickly darted them towards the bishop. James' brow twitched as he came to the same conclusion, he placed a hand to his forehead, realising he needed to plan his next move more carefully. Secretely, Lily felt pleased that she had shared this little interaction with James. When he wasn't trying to cause trouble, Lily enjoyed the occasional banter they shared. As the game went on, Sirius laughed louder and James leaned further forward in concentration. Lily rested her chin on her bony hands, her eyes darting between the two boys as though she had been watching a game of tennis.
"HA! Checkmate!" Sirius slammed his hands down on the table as his rook took out James' king. There was a screech as James kicked his chair back in frustration. Lily raised her head again, adjusting her position to free her left leg from pins and needles.
"You were doomed to fail abut twelve moves ago," Lily sang, twisting in the chair to sit forwards. It was difficult to disguise her joy that she was able to confidently tease Potter for once. Perhaps she was still on a social high from the Slug club. She felt a weight on the back of the chair where she had just been leaning, a warm face appeared inches away from her own. James was so close she could feel his scruffy hair tickling the side of her cheek and she could feel the warmth of his breath as he spoke.
"Oh yeah? Make me proud then Evans. The board is set and ready." He straightened up and gestured to his seat. The marbled chess board was lined with rows of porcelin figures, ready for battle. Across the table, Sirius was pretending to casually look at his nails. Eagerly, Lily pushed herself from the arm chair, no longer feeling tired. The red fabric of the wooden arm chair was still warm as Lily delicately lowered herself down. She was blacks, so she waited patiently for Sirius to make his move.
"You don't have to do this Evans..." Sirius teased, "E2 to E4." The front row pawn shuffled slowly forwards two spaces.
"Classic move," James nodded, stroking an imaginary beard. Energentically, he jumped up and pulled up a seat next to her, "if you need help, I can always suggest you move-"
"-F2 to F4. If I needed help Potter, I'd ask for it." Lily did her best to maintain a cool exterior but in reality having James this invested in something she was doing without trying to provoke her was making her feel a little nervous. She could feel his knee knocking her as he concentrated on the ongoing game, each time he bumped her she felt a jolt in her stomach but she chose to ignore it the best she could.
Half an hour later and they were still playing. Sirius had ditched his laid back approach, he perched on the edge of his chair, his elbows on his knees and his hands rubbed the sides of his face. Each time she moved, he would stretch and push the sides of his mouth, causing all sorts of hilarious expressions. Equally, whenever Sirius moved, James would dart around the board in an attempt to see all perspectives.
"I don't believe it," James sank to his chair. "She's done it. She's got you. Atta girl Evans!"
Sirius smirked, "Merlin's beard I need a new chess partner. Checkmate."
Lily grimaced, she had been so close. Sirius punched the air silently. Evidently, he was not a very gracious winner. The three congratulated each other on the game before they all headed towards their dormitories, it was pleasant to be able to speak to the two boys without wanting to curse their heads off their shoulders.
Without making a sound, Lily got ready for bed and crept into her room. She could feel the cool stone through her knitted socks. She pulled back the burgandy fabric and slipped into bed.