Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other lovely characters JK Rowling has invented. But they're oh so fun to play with.

Warning: Might have some minor OotP spoilers, since I'm basing this story on the chapter "Snape's Worst Memory" and also about Sirius's home life.

Prologue: How She Loves To Hate Me

September 1st, 1977

"Lily! Time to get up, honey! Don't want to miss the train, do you?"

Lily groaned, rolling over in her bed. "Coming, mum!" she mumbled, before promptly falling back to sleep.

Ringg.

Ringg.

Lily stuck a hand out from the folds of blankets surrounding her, slamming her fist rather hard on top of the alarm clock. She smiled at the blissful silence, letting slumber take her once more.

"Lily! Get up, you freak!" Petunia screeched, snatching her sister's comforter off her. Lily tumbled rather unceremoniously from the bed, landing in a -still sleeping- heap upon the floor. Petunia rolled her eyes at her sister's antics, before grabbing the pitcher of water that sat on her end table.

Pouring the ice cold water on top of her sister's red hair, she was satisfied to hear a profanity tumble from Lily's mouth. "Good, you're awake. It's already a quarter to ten, and you know how long it takes to reach King's Cross Station."

Lily glared at her scrawny sister from beneath her sleep ridden eyes. "Why does the train have to come so bloody early?!"

Petunia snorted. "It doesn't come early. You simply are a freak who refuses to wake up, at any given time of day." She whirled around and left the room quickly, not wanting her sister's freakishness to rub off on her. What would Vernon say?!

Lily slowly rose, cursing the gods for giving her a splitting headache. Although her morning bitterness wore off quickly; she was going back to Hogwarts! Even though she loved the summers with her family (aside from the occasional fight with Petunia), Hogwarts was the place for her. She loved the magic that lined its walls, and the portraits that all seemed as if they should belong in St. Mungo's. She loved her friends, witches and wizards both, who made her laugh at their antics, and pranks. The only thing she didn't love was James Potter.

Oh, no. Quite the opposite, in fact. She hated James Potter. Her mouth formed into a scowl at the thought of him, as she mentally spoke the speech that all her friends had heard many a time.

Potter. He's an egotistical, arrogant, intolerable prick. I despise him. He's rude, self-centered, and doesn't care about anyone aside from himself and the Marauders. He can never be serious, always playing pranks. I hate him. Oh, how I hate James Potter.

***

"Oi! Prongs, time to get up!" Sirius nudged his sleeping friend, snorting when James reached out a hand to hit him. "Alright then, mate, miss the train. I'm going to go." He walked out the door, shaking his head in amusement.

James rolled over, not taking any heed of Sirius's words. Sleep…

"Mister Potter, it is time to get up. Master Potter is telling Binty to wake yous up, sir."

James reached out a hand, groping his end table until he found the item he was searching for. He pointed his wand at the house elf, his eyes still shut.

Binty mumbled a startled 'Eep!' and disapparated. James smiled, reveling in the absense of sqeaky elf voices.

Sirius snuck back into the room, raising an eyebrow at James's current state. He was sprawled across the bed, drool coming from the side of his mouth onto his pillow. Sirius sighed, knowing it would do no good to yell at his friend; nothing short of a freight train would be able to wake him up.

He raised his wand, stalking stealthily over to where James slept, not that it made much difference. Whispering a spell, he watched in contentment as ice cold water fell onto James's ever messy hair.

"Yeee!" James shrieked, his voice quite reminiscent of a girl. He shook his head, sending droplets of water flying everywhere.

Sirius jumped back, not very keen on becoming as soaked as James. "Hey, mate, watch the hair!" He sheltered the aforementioned hair protectively, retreating to a far corner of the room.

"What did you do that for?" James grumbled, as he picked himself up from the soaked bed sheets.

Sirius grinned impishly. "Well, Prongs, could anything else honestly have woken you up?"

James smiled, shaking his head in assent. "Guess not. But couldn't you have thought up something not quite so…wet?"

"Well, I could have. Although, it wouldn't have been nearly as amusing." Sirius sauntered out the door. "Hurry up, mate, we only have around ten minutes to get to the station. And I want to try to Apparate!"

James yelped. "Why didn't anyone wake me up?!"

"We tried, Jamesie, we tried. It's physically impossible." Sirius called, his voice echoing through the corridor.

James scowled; he despised the nickname. His mood quickly lightened, however. Going back to Hogwarts today! He beamed, throwing his possessions haphazardly into his trunk. The only object that wasn't carelessly placed was his broomstick, which he put reverently on top of everything else, cushioning it so it wouldn't be scratched, let alone broken.

Nothing could keep James down today. He was going back to what he considered his second home. He loved Hogwarts, if it was possible, even more than his own house. Everything about the castle was terrific; the moving stairwells, the talking portraits, the trick steps. He loved it all, not to mention his friends, the Marauders, and of course, Dumbledore. But above all else, he adored Lily Evans.

His mouth morphed unconsciously into a smile simply at the thought of her. He mentally went through his speech, the one his friends had heard too many a time.

Evans. She's a wonderful, beautiful, perfect girl. I love her. She's intelligent, pretty, and so very nice (to everyone but me, of course.) She's always so serious, never breaking a rule. I love her. Oh, how I love Lily Evans.

He sighed, smelling a sock to make sure it wasn't dirty. His nose wrinkled, but he shrugged his shoulders, stuffing the sock into his trunk anyways.

Now, if he could only make Lily love him, too.

Author's Note: Well…what do you think? It's pretty short, I know, but it's only the prologue; the rest of the chapters will be quite a bit longer. Please review…it makes me happy! ^-^