The full bright moon reflected off of the sparkling waters of the lake.
Heavy mist drifted lazily in front of the white orb, obstructing it from
view. Leafless and still trees firmly stood, dotting the Hogwarts grounds.
Lily Evans was sitting on the window seat in her dormitory, staring absentmindedly out of the window. Her back was throbbing against the stone wall, her knees breathtakingly cold against the December pane of glass; but she didn't care.
No, this sixteen year old girl had other matters on her mind. Her bright red hair hung almost halfway down her back; her pale skin gave a startling contrast against the grey nightdress she was wearing.
Lily wondered, deep in thought. Where had her sixth year gone? Already she was in her fourth month of the school year, when it had just seemed like last week she had been enjoying the sorting, eager for the year to begin. Lily had not had many surprises after that, apart from the fact that the teachers had been piling on the homework, when they had just taken their OWLs last year.
She had become a prefect again - her parents were delighted - and she had helped organize the Halloween feast, but other than that, nothing had happened. Soon days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and Lily now realized she was almost out of Hogwarts.
A soft Purr-row? disrupted the silence. Lily glanced over, and saw her cat Sheba walking towards her, tail held high.
"Hello Sheba. You wouldn't have any surprises for me, would you?" Lily whispered. Sheba ignored Lily's voice and jumped up on the window ledge, staring out at the grounds.
Suddenly, Sheba's ears twitched. Lily looked up at the window – and saw it. A tree near the forest was swinging violently. Suddenly, a large branch fell off the top of the tree, and everything went still again.
For a fleeting second, Lily was oddly reminded of another boy in her year, Remus. He, like Lily, was a prefect. In fact, he seemed like a perfectly nice boy, if you didn't count who he hanged around with. Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and worst of all - James Potter. If Peter Pettigrew was annoying, James Potter was 100 times worse. Lily's hand clenched at the thought of him. She remembered one day this year asking Remus why he hung around with such fools. His answer was nothing more than a mouthful of mumbles, and then he disappeared from behind a book.
Lily yawned, and slowly crept into bed, wishing more than anything something would happen to her - something exiting. Little did she know, that her wish was to be granted for her, many, many times.
The next morning, Lily awoke to find all the girls in her doritary gone except for her friend, Sarah. No matter - all the girls in her dorm would always hurry up to go visit their Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff boyfriends before breakfast. Lily was actually quite glad she didn't have a boyfriend - freezing outside at 5AM to watch another House practice quidditch was not her idea of fun. Sarah was snoring lightly, like she always did. Lily didn't bother waking her - she knew Sarah liked to sleep in on Saturdays.
The redheaded girl quickly dressed, and then decided to do something fun with her hair, seeing as how she had time this morning. Separating her hair into two parts, Lily braided each section, then emerged from her dormitory.
Peeking down the staircase, Lily rolled her eyes in annoyance. James Potter and Sirius Black were down by the portrait, amusing a couple of first years. Lily bit her lip, then hurried down the staircase. If she just walked quickly with her head bent, maybe they wouldn't notice her and -
"Hey Evans! I like your hair! What gave you the idea to make it even more frizzy?"
Lily, panicking inside, kept her head bent and then pushed out the portrait, hurrying away. Her bright green eyes stung with tears. Why couldn't that boy just leave her alone? She never talked to him!
Lily hurried down to breakfast, nearly tripping over a staircase. Once down in the Great Hall, she hurried towards the Griffindor table. Lily sat down, and saw that Remus Lupin was seated opposite her. He gave her a wry smile, just before James slid in next to him.
Lily was shocked. Had James followed her all the way down? Lily, practicing her usual routine, kept her eyes on her plate, never looking up once. She could, however, hear James boasting about quidditch loudly to Remus.
Just when Lily had finished her rather -filling- meal, (half of an unbuttered roll) she thought she had gotten away, but as she was standing up, James loudly asked,
"Hey Evans! Will you go out with me?"
Face burning, Lily ran towards the Entrance Hall.
Lily had just gotten to the doors, and might have made it too, if she hadn't bumped into someone. With tears clouding her vision, she looked into the face of Sirius Black. But clearly his mind wasn't set on her. He was staring at another person exiting the hall. A greasy haired, hook nosed someone.
"Hi Snivellus!" Sirius called out.
Lily had had enough. Bursting into a full set of tears, she ran up the marble staircase. Her voice wailing off corridors, Lily ran, not knowing where she was going. Her head bent, eyes streaming, so you quite understand why Lily screamed when someone grabbed her around the shoulders and pulled her in.
"Lily, it's me," a calming voice said.
Lily sniffed. Sarah's brown eyes and messy blonde hair came into view.
"Lets go up to our dorm and talk." She said softly. Lily nodded and wiped her eyes.
Half an hour later, Lily was surrounded by what every freshly humiliated girl could want. After ten minutes of consoling, Sarah had disappeared and then arrived back with a proper breakfast for Lily, and a report that the Marauders were currently in the common room, minding their own business.
Lily was in such a bad state that, as Sarah later said, it was no wonder she was looking so poorly.
Lily stayed ill all Sunday. When Monday rolled around, Sarah recommended going to the hospital wing, but Lily refused.
For the next week, Lily was careful to avoid the Mauruders, especially James. She kept her head down and studied, glad it was the last week before Christmas break. However, that Friday night, James struck again.
He had just been showing off by catching a snitch for the entire night. Very peeved, Lily closed her copy of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Six and was just heading to the dormitories when James called out,
"Hey Evans! Evans!"
Heads turned in the Griffindor common room; they were eager to see what would happen after last time.
"Lils!" James had ran over, the snitch zooming over his head.
"Don't you ever call me 'Lils'" Lily said, her voice shaky but confident.
James choose to ignore that comment.
"Listen, I'm just heading out for the hols, and I'd like to-"
"Oh leaving to rich mummy and daddies' house are we?" Lily said mockingly.
James looked extremely taken aback. His eyes were wide, his mouth a straight line. Lily couldn't stand it; that stupid face of his, looking so dumb, looking so... so...
Lily was actually shocked when it happened, even she let out a small scream.
Her hand flew up to James' face, and she slapped him hard. After it, Lily came back to her senses.
"Merry Christmas." She snarled, and then stormed up the girls staircase.
She had just gotten to the top when the stone steps melted into a slide. Hopping smartly, she slammed the dormitory door shut after her.
Lily Evans was sitting on the window seat in her dormitory, staring absentmindedly out of the window. Her back was throbbing against the stone wall, her knees breathtakingly cold against the December pane of glass; but she didn't care.
No, this sixteen year old girl had other matters on her mind. Her bright red hair hung almost halfway down her back; her pale skin gave a startling contrast against the grey nightdress she was wearing.
Lily wondered, deep in thought. Where had her sixth year gone? Already she was in her fourth month of the school year, when it had just seemed like last week she had been enjoying the sorting, eager for the year to begin. Lily had not had many surprises after that, apart from the fact that the teachers had been piling on the homework, when they had just taken their OWLs last year.
She had become a prefect again - her parents were delighted - and she had helped organize the Halloween feast, but other than that, nothing had happened. Soon days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and Lily now realized she was almost out of Hogwarts.
A soft Purr-row? disrupted the silence. Lily glanced over, and saw her cat Sheba walking towards her, tail held high.
"Hello Sheba. You wouldn't have any surprises for me, would you?" Lily whispered. Sheba ignored Lily's voice and jumped up on the window ledge, staring out at the grounds.
Suddenly, Sheba's ears twitched. Lily looked up at the window – and saw it. A tree near the forest was swinging violently. Suddenly, a large branch fell off the top of the tree, and everything went still again.
For a fleeting second, Lily was oddly reminded of another boy in her year, Remus. He, like Lily, was a prefect. In fact, he seemed like a perfectly nice boy, if you didn't count who he hanged around with. Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and worst of all - James Potter. If Peter Pettigrew was annoying, James Potter was 100 times worse. Lily's hand clenched at the thought of him. She remembered one day this year asking Remus why he hung around with such fools. His answer was nothing more than a mouthful of mumbles, and then he disappeared from behind a book.
Lily yawned, and slowly crept into bed, wishing more than anything something would happen to her - something exiting. Little did she know, that her wish was to be granted for her, many, many times.
The next morning, Lily awoke to find all the girls in her doritary gone except for her friend, Sarah. No matter - all the girls in her dorm would always hurry up to go visit their Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff boyfriends before breakfast. Lily was actually quite glad she didn't have a boyfriend - freezing outside at 5AM to watch another House practice quidditch was not her idea of fun. Sarah was snoring lightly, like she always did. Lily didn't bother waking her - she knew Sarah liked to sleep in on Saturdays.
The redheaded girl quickly dressed, and then decided to do something fun with her hair, seeing as how she had time this morning. Separating her hair into two parts, Lily braided each section, then emerged from her dormitory.
Peeking down the staircase, Lily rolled her eyes in annoyance. James Potter and Sirius Black were down by the portrait, amusing a couple of first years. Lily bit her lip, then hurried down the staircase. If she just walked quickly with her head bent, maybe they wouldn't notice her and -
"Hey Evans! I like your hair! What gave you the idea to make it even more frizzy?"
Lily, panicking inside, kept her head bent and then pushed out the portrait, hurrying away. Her bright green eyes stung with tears. Why couldn't that boy just leave her alone? She never talked to him!
Lily hurried down to breakfast, nearly tripping over a staircase. Once down in the Great Hall, she hurried towards the Griffindor table. Lily sat down, and saw that Remus Lupin was seated opposite her. He gave her a wry smile, just before James slid in next to him.
Lily was shocked. Had James followed her all the way down? Lily, practicing her usual routine, kept her eyes on her plate, never looking up once. She could, however, hear James boasting about quidditch loudly to Remus.
Just when Lily had finished her rather -filling- meal, (half of an unbuttered roll) she thought she had gotten away, but as she was standing up, James loudly asked,
"Hey Evans! Will you go out with me?"
Face burning, Lily ran towards the Entrance Hall.
Lily had just gotten to the doors, and might have made it too, if she hadn't bumped into someone. With tears clouding her vision, she looked into the face of Sirius Black. But clearly his mind wasn't set on her. He was staring at another person exiting the hall. A greasy haired, hook nosed someone.
"Hi Snivellus!" Sirius called out.
Lily had had enough. Bursting into a full set of tears, she ran up the marble staircase. Her voice wailing off corridors, Lily ran, not knowing where she was going. Her head bent, eyes streaming, so you quite understand why Lily screamed when someone grabbed her around the shoulders and pulled her in.
"Lily, it's me," a calming voice said.
Lily sniffed. Sarah's brown eyes and messy blonde hair came into view.
"Lets go up to our dorm and talk." She said softly. Lily nodded and wiped her eyes.
Half an hour later, Lily was surrounded by what every freshly humiliated girl could want. After ten minutes of consoling, Sarah had disappeared and then arrived back with a proper breakfast for Lily, and a report that the Marauders were currently in the common room, minding their own business.
Lily was in such a bad state that, as Sarah later said, it was no wonder she was looking so poorly.
Lily stayed ill all Sunday. When Monday rolled around, Sarah recommended going to the hospital wing, but Lily refused.
For the next week, Lily was careful to avoid the Mauruders, especially James. She kept her head down and studied, glad it was the last week before Christmas break. However, that Friday night, James struck again.
He had just been showing off by catching a snitch for the entire night. Very peeved, Lily closed her copy of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Six and was just heading to the dormitories when James called out,
"Hey Evans! Evans!"
Heads turned in the Griffindor common room; they were eager to see what would happen after last time.
"Lils!" James had ran over, the snitch zooming over his head.
"Don't you ever call me 'Lils'" Lily said, her voice shaky but confident.
James choose to ignore that comment.
"Listen, I'm just heading out for the hols, and I'd like to-"
"Oh leaving to rich mummy and daddies' house are we?" Lily said mockingly.
James looked extremely taken aback. His eyes were wide, his mouth a straight line. Lily couldn't stand it; that stupid face of his, looking so dumb, looking so... so...
Lily was actually shocked when it happened, even she let out a small scream.
Her hand flew up to James' face, and she slapped him hard. After it, Lily came back to her senses.
"Merry Christmas." She snarled, and then stormed up the girls staircase.
She had just gotten to the top when the stone steps melted into a slide. Hopping smartly, she slammed the dormitory door shut after her.