As it was Meant to Be

A/N: Two lovely reviews, almost immediately after posting this story! Thanks for reading and reviewing so quickly, my dear readers.

So anyway, I forgot to mention in my last chapter that everything you recognize from Harry Potter belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling, and everything else is mine. Don't take it. *gives you stern look*

In any case, here is chapter two of the love story of James Potter and Lily Evans. We'll finally be seeing the Marauders and meeting Lily's best friends Shannon and Anaral. And we'll be seeing how Hogwarts was, years and years before Harry ever arrived.

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Chapter Two: The First Day of the Last Year

"Lily, are you ready to go yet?" Her mother's voice echoed down the hallway. "Your father is waiting out in the car!"

As it had been all summer, it was raining outside, and Lily was trying to squeeze a few last minute things into her trunk. Her owl (whom she had finally named Taliesin) was hooting downstairs and she could only imagine how much her family was enjoying it. She finally gave up on trying to get the trunk to stay closed with non-magical means and conjured some braided rope and a padlock to hold the overstuffed trunk closed until she reached her bedroom. With a final glance at her room, Lily grabbed the handle of the trunk and dragged it down the hall and down the stairs behind her.

"Sorry about the wait!" she sang out, reaching the living room where her mother stood. "I just wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything."

"Of course, dear," her mother said tolerantly, handing Lily an umbrella. "And you're sure you've got everything? I don't want another peck of owls interrupting your father and my anniversary dinner this year."

Lily smiled at her mother's reminding of what happened the previous year. "Yes, I'm sure that I have everything. Even Taliesin." She patted the owl's cage fondly.

"Good; that beast doesn't belong here," her sister, commented from the dining room. Mrs. Evans gave Petunia a warning glare then turned back to her younger daughter.

"Don't you mind your sister; you write to us all you want, and Taliesin can stay here as long as you are," she announced with a loving smile. She pulled Lily into a tight hug and released her. "Have a good time at school, dear."

"I will, Mum. And I'll write, I promise. 'Bye, Petunia!" Lily called at her sister, who didn't respond. Without waiting longer than was necessary, she hurried out to the car where her father sat waiting, the windshield wipers slapping back and forth rhythmically. She shoved her trunk and Taliesin's cage into the back of the car as quickly as she could, but she was still soaked by the time she collapsed into the passenger's seat.

"Bit wet out, eh?" Mr. Evans quipped as he backed out of the driveway.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you, Dad?" Lily answered with a laugh, wringing out her hair. "I'm soaked to the bone!"

"Do they give out towels on that train of yours?" He was still smiling as they began the drive to King's Cross Station. "I certainly hope so."

"They should," Lily answered with a shrug. "They always give us food. . .granted, we have to pay for it, but still. . ."

"Speaking of which, do you have your money?"

"Yes." Lily held up a small leather pouch that jangled with the sound of coins: gold Galleons, Silver Sickles and Bronze Knuts for which her father had exchanged a great deal of Muggle money. "It should be enough to last me until Christmas; if not, I'll be able to withdraw some from the Gringott's in Hogsmeade."

Her father thought about it for a second then laughed as he finally figured out what Gringott's and Hogsmeade were. "Lily, I love how your vocabulary changes every time you come back for summer vacation. Do you suppose your mother and I would ever be allowed into Hogsmeade? It sounds like a fantastic town."

Mr. Evans had a deep interest in anything fantastic or related to anything outside the Muggle world. He was exactly the kind of Muggle most wizards dreaded meeting; it always would seem a shame to put any sort of memory charm on them. She smiled and patted his arm affectionately. "Perhaps for my graduation from Hogwarts." To be honest, she wasn't sure what would happen when she graduated from Hogwarts, but she assumed that all family, Muggle or not, was invited to the ceremony. It would certainly make her father happy to see the ins and outs of the wizarding world. "I'll talk to the Headmaster about it."

"You do that, Lils." Her father then sighed. "I doubt Petunia will come."

"Good!" Lily exclaimed, without intending to do so. "She's never wanted to have anything to do with me before; why mess with imperfection?"

"Lily." Her father's voice had a warning tone to it. "She's still your sister. Write to her yourself and ask her to come. You never know, she might have changed her mind."

"Not likely," Lily sighed, and they pulled up to King's Cross Station. Her father helped her remove her trunk and Taliesin's cage from the back of the car, found her a trolley, then walked with her to the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10.

"Ten minutes," he commented, looking at the clock, and then turning to smile at his daughter. "Be good, Lily. And don't forget to write."

"I won't, Daddy." Lily reached over and hugged her father tightly. "I'll see you in a few months for Christmas."

He stepped back politely and nodded at her. Lily knew her father always enjoyed watching her run at the barrier between the two platforms, so she gave him a final farewell smile and ran with all her might toward the barrier, closing her eyes as always. Moments later, she was standing on Platform 9 ¾ , and her father was on the other side, still in the Muggle world.

This made Lily sad for a moment, but before she could dwell on it, she heard her name being called. "Lily! Oy, Lily! Over here!" She turned and saw Anaral Karadhras waving at her, blonde braid sweeping one way and the other across her back. Lily ran to her friend and hugged her.

"Sirius and James got here half an hour ago; they saved seats for you and me and Shannon. She's already in there," Anaral explained, breaking from the hug. "They sent me out here to wait for you."

Lily laughed, recovering quickly from her heart skipping a beat at the mention of James Potter. "Why on earth did they get here half an hour early?" she asked as Anaral led the way to their compartment. "It seems a bit redundant, if you ask me."

Anaral shrugged, but a smile bridged her face at the same time, and her cheeks turned faintly pink. "Well. . .I don't know for sure, but I think Sirius wanted to meet me early."

Lily giggled, feeling utterly girlish. "Was he happy to see you?"

"Well, it's not like we hadn't been visiting back and forth all summer," Anaral admitted. "Most of the time it was great fun, but then-there was this one time that his mother was visiting my mother. That turned ugly."

"Why? I thought his mum liked you?" Lily stated as a question.

"She does-I'm a pureblood. No, the problem was that this summer, Sirius ran away from home and was living at James' house. When his mother saw him at my house, it wasn't very pretty, on either side. His mum started yelling at him for associating with James and Remus, especially Remus. Then my mum started yelling at his mother and at me-his mother for yelling at him, and at me for not telling her that he'd run away from home." Anaral sighed heavily. "It wasn't very much fun, I can tell you that much."

"Wow," Lily breathed and was about to make another comment, when Anaral stopped short and walked into one of the compartments. Lily felt her heart pounding the second she saw James. His black hair was charmingly messy, his hazel eyes twinkled behind a pair of glasses. He was lazily playing with a Golden Snitch he'd stolen during their fifth year, and was laughing at something Sirius had said. He was still laughing as he turned to look at Lily.

"Hullo, Evans. Had a good holiday?" he asked.

For a moment, Lily couldn't remember any words, but she finally managed to force something out. "Good morning, Potter. Yes, I had a good holiday, or at least as good as one can have living with my sister," she managed, perching on the edge of the bench inside the compartment. Anaral slipped in around her and squeezed onto the seat next to Sirius.

"Lils, you've got nothing to complain about," Sirius commented with a barking laugh, dropping an arm on the back of the seat behind Anaral. His black hair was short and neatly cut, giving him a dashing appearance. But, as Lily had observed on more than one occasion, his eyes were fixed only on Anaral. "Trust me."

She forced a smile at this. "I know," she answered quietly, and was about to add more, when she was cut off by a familiar face and voice.

"Look who I found wandering about, being all official!" Shannon laughed, poking her head into the compartment and pushing Remus Lupin in ahead of her. "Lily! When did you get here?"

Lily felt another laugh bubbling out at her friend's exuberance. "Only a little while ago. Annie found me and dragged me up here," she answered as concisely as possible then turned to focus on Remus Lupin. His robes were as shabby as usual, and he looked a bit peaky. Gleaming on his chest was a bright "Head Boy" badge. "Head Boy! Remus, that's great!" she cheered.

He laughed merrily. "Just as long as there aren't any serious problems around the full moon," he commented, holding up a pair of crossed fingers. "But I'm not too worried. It should be fun."

"That it should, my friend," James agreed. "We'll never get in trouble again."

Remus sent his friend a withering glance before turning his attention to Anaral who was asking, "Who's the Head Girl again?"

Another grin crossed Remus' face. "You'll never believe it."

"Try us," Sirius dared with a crooked grin.

"Well, you know her best, Sirius. It's your cousin-our friend Narcissa Black."

Everyone in the compartment reacted with similar shock. Sirius was the first to speak. "Narcissa? Head Girl? How the bloody hell did she pull that off?"

"One guess," James answered wryly, jangling a sack of coins. Everyone nodded in agreement. The train gave a whistle and began to move, just as the final member of their party managed to find his way into the compartment.

"I finally found you!" Peter Pettigrew gasped, his watery eyes wide and shocked. "I've been looking up and down the train for the past ten minutes!"

"Because we were really that hard to find, Pete," commented Sirius with a laugh. "Come in, sit down."

Peter squeezed his way through the door and slid himself between Lily and the wall. "Hullo, Lily," he greeted her in a breathless way.

"Hello, Peter. How was your summer holiday?" Lily asked politely, wishing that he'd breathe somewhere else. He grinned as if she'd just granted his dearest wish.

"It was grand, Lily. I had the best time," he stated heavily, leaning closer to Lily. She tried to slide closer to James on the other end of the bench and father from Peter, but the latter didn't seem to be getting the hint. Thankfully, Shannon saw her plight.

"Lily, fancy a trip to the loo?" she asked. Lily gratefully stood and walked with Shannon out of the compartment and down a couple of cars to the restrooms.

"Thank heavens! As if James liking you wasn't enough, now you've got Peter drooling all over the place as well!" Shannon laughed, once they were out of hearing range. She adjusted a large clip in her brown curls and led the way into the ladies' room. A few fourth year girls were trying to apply makeup magically, but they quickly left once Shannon sent them a disdainful glance.

"It's really quite strange," Lily admitted. "Just when I've grown used to the idea of James liking me, now Peter decides to follow in his footsteps."

"Wait." Shannon had been perching precariously on the edge of one of the sinks, but she slid down when she heard this. "Lily Evans, do you mean to tell me that you don't mind the fact that James Potter is after you like a hawk?"

Lily felt her face grow hot. "Well. . .I mean. . ."

Shannon clapped a hand over her mouth. "Lily! Are you trying not to say what I think you're trying not to say?" Her voice was too loud. Lily looked at her, one eyebrow raised, and Shannon's eyes widened. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "You mean to tell me, in fewer words, that you're falling for James Potter?"

Lily was clasping her hands over her mouth as well, to hide the enormous grin there, but she nodded just the same. Shannon squealed very loudly so that some second years that had been coming in quickly turned around and left. Lily wasn't sure whether to take Shannon's response in a good or a bad way. Shannon managed to clear things up shortly thereafter.

"This is so great, Lils! I mean. . .and don't tell anyone yet. . .but Remus and I went on our first date last week."

"What?" Now it was Lily's turn to widen her eyes. "What about that Muggle you were seeing, that Finnegan character?"

"We-ell," Shannon looked uncomfortable. "He found out I was a witch and said he needed some time to think about it. I told him that he'd have to make up his mind damned quick or it was over between us. Well, that was at the beginning of the summer."

Lily sighed and shook her head. "Boys are so dumb," she asserted, and Shannon nodded.

"But, Lils, don't tell anyone yet. I don't want to get everyone excited about something that won't work out." She flashed a quick glance at the mirror and pulled a few loose curls from her clip. "Let's get back."

They headed back through several cars to their compartment, where Sirius and James had picked up a typical banter and were making Peter crow with laughter. Anaral was smiling sweetly and resting her head on Sirius' shoulder.

"We're ba-ack!" Shannon sang out. "Hey, where'd Remus go?"

"Prefect training," James answered shortly. "Come sit down, girls; the trolley should be around any minute."

Sure enough, the trolley came a few minutes later, and the friends stocked up on box upon box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizbees and bottles of butterbeer. Lily was just chewing on an apple pie flavored bean when Remus reentered the compartment.

"Bloody gits, the lot of them," he muttered, helping himself to one of Shannon's chocolate frogs. "Narcissa 'let it slip' that I'm a werewolf-you can guess how that went over with the prefects, especially her darling Slytherins."

"My brother included, no doubt," Sirius commented with a sigh. "Don't worry about it, mate. Our opinion's more important than theirs." He went back to picking through his beans and throwing out the less favorable flavors.

"And then Narcissa cornered me on the way out-said that I'd better watch my step and watch out for all of you. I wasn't quite sure what she meant."

"Yeah, something strange is going on, but I don't know what," Anaral added, the smile falling from her face. "It's got my parents rather worried."

Everyone was silent for a moment as the train whistle blew. Lily looked out the window and could see Hogwarts looming on the horizon. Closer, though, was the golden glow of the town of Hogsmeade. She smiled at the cheerful houses and train station behind which the sun was setting.

A strange sight greeted Lily and her friends when they disembarked the train. A rather large man, holding a lantern in one hand, was calling out, "Firs' years this way!" He had a large mat of black hair and beady little eyes. Lily's eyes went wide.

"You don't suppose he's a giant, do you?" she whispered to Anaral, who had taken notice of the new stranger as well.

"He couldn't be-people would be furious! Dumbledore would find himself out of a job faster than James can fly a broom!" Anaral answered in a horrified whisper. "But I've never seen someone that large before!"

"Neither have I," Lily answered, her voice hushed. "Perhaps Professor Dumbledore will explain tonight at supper."

She and Anaral hurried to get seats in the nearest horseless carriage, where James, Sirius, Shannon, Remus and Peter were already sitting. Fortunately, Lily noted, the only space left by the time Anaral had slipped in beside Sirius, was between James and Shannon. She plopped down into the seat just as the carriage began to move. Lily was sitting opposite Anaral and Remus. On Anaral's other side was Sirius, and squeezed between Sirius and the wall of the carriage was Peter. Lily felt herself dozing off as the carriage rocked its way to Hogwarts. Vaguely, she heard her friends discussing Quidditch as her eyes slid closed.

For a moment, she found herself lost in a dream. There was a house, a doorknob rattling. She heard a voice that sounded distinctively like James' calling her name. "Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off. . ." There was the sound of the door bursting open and Lily's vision was suddenly filled with green light. She heard James' voice again. "Evans. . .we're here."

She opened her eyes to see James smiling fondly at her. "Have I been asleep?" she murmured, rubbing her eyes.

"That you have." James continued to smile. "No one else noticed; we were all too busy talking about Quidditch. I did, though."

Lily blushed immediately and felt somewhat vulnerable. To cover this up, she made a big show of tightening her red and gold scarf before stepping out of the carriage. "Did you? I would have thought you would have been too busy talking about the great feats you accomplish on the pitch."

For a moment, James looked stung, but the look was quickly replaced with his usual easy-going grin. "Come on, Evans. We oughtn't be late for the feast. The Sorting Hat is sure to have a new song this year." He guided her by the elbow to the swelling throng of students pushing towards the entrance of Hogwarts. Once among them, Lily almost involuntarily shook his hand off of her arm and began actively seeking Anaral and Shannon.

They were already sitting in the Great Hall when she found them, Anaral with Sirius to her right and Shannon with Remus to her left. Peter was sitting across from them, looking for someone. He smiled when he spotted Lily. "Lily! Come sit by me!" he offered. Lily realized she had no other choice, besides sitting with a group of giggling fifth years. She sat lightly on the bench beside Peter, who was smiling at her as if she was Pallas Athena. It would be a long meal if she had to deal with his gawking the entire time, she realized, but before she could change her mind about the seating arrangement, Lily noticed to her delight that James had taken the seat on her right. She kept from smiling (barely) and pretended to be terribly interested in the teachers' table.

Oddly, Professor Beata was not among the teachers sitting at the front. Minerva McGonagall, the House Head for Gryffindor, was talking quietly to Poppy Pomfrey, the school's nurse. Elsewhere, Professor Flitwick, the Charms professor, and Madam Hooch, the Quidditch referee and flying coach, were in a deep discussion about something. The other professors were also busily engaging in conversation with one another, but Professor Beata was not among them.

Yet while she was not, the large man Lily had seen upon their arrival was. His enormous hands, face and beard seemed almost too much for the entire setting. Lily stared at him in awe, but her attention was soon drawn back to the Sorting Hat as a gaggle of First Years was escorted in behind Old Professor Delphi, the Divination Professor. She led them to the front of the hall and smiled at them mistily. Before she could open her mouth to speak, however, the Sorting Hat began to sing. Lily barely heard the song; she was busy sneaking sideways glances at James until Shannon caught her eye and raised her eyebrows as if to say, "be a little more obvious, why don't you?"

Lily blushed furiously and pretended to be extremely interested in her plate. The sound of students applauding startled her, and she quickly joined in before anyone could say anything about her not. She quickly turned her attention to the front of the hall, where Professor Delphi had begun to call names off of a large line of parchment. "Anderson, Kenneth" was currently being sorted, and when the hat cried out "GRYFFINDOR!" Lily joined in the thunderous applause.

"Wonder if he plays Quidditch," James remarked, staring down the table at Kenneth Anderson, a boy with curly blonde hair.

"Looking at First Years for the team, mate?" Sirius asked incredulously as Lauren Cambridge joined Ravenclaw. "There are plenty of older Gryffindors who would be just as good."

James shrugged. "I just need a new Keeper. You and Ariana are great Beaters, and we've already got our three Chasers. And I wouldn't take Emma off of Seeker for a million Galleons."

"Don't blame you," Remus agreed, and Lily found herself zoning out, ignoring the conversation between the Quidditch players around her and the calling of names at the front of the hall. She wondered where Professor Beata was and when she would be back, and just as she'd begun to think about this, a loud applause startled her.

"Our headmaster would like to say a quick word before we begin," Professor McGonagall announced loudly, and all heads turned to face the front of the hall.

"I have a few brief announcements before the term begins," Professor Dumbledore stated, standing regally. "First, I would like to remind you all, especially the First Years, that the Dark Forest is off-limits to all students. You may have noticed that we have a new gamekeeper." He gestured to the enormous man a few seats down. "This is Rubeus Hagrid. He will be the keeper of the keys and in charge of all game on the Hogwarts ground."

Rubeus Hagrid stood and bobbed his head rather awkwardly at the dubious applause that followed his announcement. Professor Dumbledore continued. "It is now my duty to bring you some most unfortunate news. Professor Maria Beata, your former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," (former! Lily thought) "was found dead two days ago in her native Italy."

There was a murmur of conversation throughout the student body, and Lily's stomach tied itself in a knot. "Dead? How can she be dead?" Shannon whispered in shock. Lily shook her head, not understanding any better, and turned back to listen to Professor Dumbledore, hoping that the rest of his words held some further explanation.

"A replacement for Professor Beata is currently being sought; in the meantime, all Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, with the exception of those at NEWT level, have been cancelled."

"Wonder who is going to be teaching the NEWT class," James muttered to Lily. They were soon answered.

"As for the NEWT level classes, I will take over the teaching until a suitable substitute for Professor Beata can be found," Professor Dumbledore finished, and a louder murmur of conversation rumbled through the room. "In the meantime, my advice to you, as always, is to tuck in!"

And with that, food appeared on the tables, but Lily was too distracted to care. She forced herself to eat a few slices of turkey, but she wasn't very hungry when it came down to it. She was more concerned about Professor Beata.

Later that night, in their room, it became apparent that Anaral and Shannon shared these concerns. "People don't just up and die," Shannon whispered, trying not to disturb the other girls in their bedroom. "Something happened to her."

"I wonder if this is what my parents have been so concerned about," Anaral commented, but neither Lily nor Shannon could answer her.

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A/N: If you are a true Harry Potter fan, you can probably already guess what has happened to poor Professor Beata. But that's beside the point.

As I am writing this, my school's Internet has been down for two weeks. I don't know when I will get a chance to put this chapter up for review, but suffice it to say that I will probably be posting several chapters in succession over the next several weeks/days/whatever.

Keep Reading!