The first time I laid eyes on Lily Evans was that my first day as a 5th year Gryffindor prefect. I tucked all of my luggage into its rightful place, attended the prefect's meeting, and I proceeded to the compartment that I had shared for the last 4 years with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. As the other 3 were talking animately about their summers, I stole a glance out the window…

…And I saw her…

She was a 4th year Gryffindor, but I had never recalled seeing her at all in the last 3 years. She wasn't the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, but definitely not the ugliest. Just about every Slytherin I knew would beat her in the "ugly" category. She was with her friends, whom I didn't know because I didn't associate much with the 4th years. But the first thing that I noticed about her was that she liked to laugh…a lot, which is okay because I have a strong admiration for those who laugh a lot. They are often the more innocent ones who either don't know about the evils in the world or don't care. Voldemort terrorized the wizarding world so much that most wizards lived life in fear, but this girl seemed to live in a paradise, something I had longed for so much since my parents were killed by Voldemort last year.

I was rudely awakened from these thoughts by my friends' voices and Sirius shaking me.

"Yo! Earth to Prongs!"

"Padfoot, could you please stop shaking James. He's going to have a seizure if you keep doing that."

I shook my head, clearing it, and stared at them. All 3 of them returned my stare.

Sirius finally broke the silence, "James, buddy, what's up with that look? I could swear that you were checking out girls again, but you've never looked so thoughtful while doing it before." He cracked a large grin.

"He's right, James, you looked like you were almost analyzing them." Remus joked.

"Yeah, actually sizing them up before the taking." Sirius added. Peter merely chuckled and nodded vigorously before mumbling, "What would Angel say if she saw you staring at another girl?" Angel was my girlfriend of 4 months.

"I don't know what came over me. It was nothing, I'm sure." I said. Then I quickly suggested a game of wizard's chess before they decided to question me further.

The rest of the train ride was rather uneventful. After playing one game against Remus and losing horribly, Sirius took over. Thus, I was free again to think about Lily Evans for only a few seconds because Angel then wandered into the compartment.

"Hey, handsome", she walked over to me and held my hand. "I missed you this summer."

I sighed. "Yeah, me too." Sirius cast a mischievous look at me and Remus rolled his eyes.

Angel didn't notice their faces and started chatting about her summer. "I got a job as a muggle pharmacist, you know, those muggles who give other muggles their medicine and stuff. So yeah, this should look good when I apply for a job as a healer later. It was so fun! The guy I work with, his name is David, is so funny! He keeps me entertained at the counter while I'm waiting for customers to come by. I hope I can do this again next summer…"

All this time, I could only stare blankly because Angel was the kind of girl who just couldn't stop talking after she started. It didn't bother me last year, but this year I felt the need for quiet and she definitely wasn't helping.

Luckily, she had a lot to say about her summer all through the train ride so while she was sitting there talking nonstop, I drifted off into my thoughts…and Lily Evans. There was something about her that kept me thinking about her, and I was determined to know what it was…