Lily was extremely nervous about seeing the two people she considered to
be like second parents to her. Right now, Lily and the four guys were
sitting on the train that was taking them to their homes.
"I'm so nervous." Lily said, biting her lip absently.
"Don't be. Mum and dad are so excited to have you staying with us. They've made up your room for you. It was bloody annoying getting those owls asking what your favorite color was and whatnot. I don't see why they didn't just owl you or something." James shrugged.
"Maybe they wanted it to be a surprise." Lily said thoughtfully, as James paled.
"That probably was the reason. Oh crap!" James exclaimed. Lily just laughed.
"Don't worry James. I'll act surprised. They won't even know you told." She said. He relaxed. "But I am going to miss you three." She said, turning her attention to Sirius, Remus and Peter. "Are you going to be visiting us or anything during the summer?"
Then she saw menacing smiles form on their lips. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, curiously.
"Do you not remember what we told you when we first met you?" Remus asked.
"No. What did you tell me?"
"We all live on the same street, Lilz. We'll be seeing each other everyday." Sirius exclaimed.
Lily feigned dread. "So I guess I'm stuck with you all for the entire summer, eh?" she said, a smile playing on her face.
The boys just smiled smugly. "That's right my little Lily Billy. For the ENTIRE summer." Sirius said, flinging an arm around her summer while she just laughed and shook her head.
"Oh woe is me." She said, sarcastically.
Just then, the compartment door opened and Melanie entered. "Hello people.. And Sirius." She added, earning a 'humph' from Sirius and laughs from the others.
"Well put, Melly." Lily said, giving Sirius a smile to show she was joking.
"Well, I've just talked to one of the prefects and she said we should be there in about 5 minutes. Better get your stuff together, children." She pinched James' cheek, causing him to scowl. She waved and left the compartment.
Sure enough, five minutes later, they pulled into the train station. Lily glanced out the window, as though looking for someone. Really, for a few seconds, she was looking out the window for her parents. Then she remembered and slumped back in her seat, trying to not cry. James noticed all this.
"Hey Lilz." He said softly, taking a seat next to her. She looked over at him and gave a small smile.
"Hey James. Looks like we're here." She said quietly.
"Lily, I know you're still sad about your parents. That's something you will never fully heal over. But just remember, you're not alone. I'm here for you. So are Sirius, Remus and Peter. Melanie's always ready to lend an ear if you feel like talking to someone other than a boy. My parents will be there for you to. They love you just like a daughter. Just remember, you're not alone." He repeated. She looked at him in the eyes. He almost gasped at how pretty her eyes were. The tears in them just made them sparkle more. She smiled fully at him now. Without a word, she threw her arms around him. He just hugged her back.
"Thanks James." She mumbled then said, "We'd better get going. The other three are already off the train. And I'm sure your parents are waiting."
"Yeah." He replied, "Let's go."
When they got off the train, they spotted Remus talking to an older woman and man. Most likely his parents. Sirius wasn't too far off, already getting scolded by an older woman that was telling him to not but bugs in other people's hair. Lily almost burst out laughing when she heard that. Peter was another few feet away, hugging and older man and woman.
"Guess we'll see them later on, then." James said. Lily nodded and the two of them looked around for James' parents. It was so crowded; they could barely see anything through the mill of people. They decided to split up and search.
Another few minutes or so, Lily heard someone exclaim a few feet away from her, "Lily, is that you!?" she spun around quickly at the mention of her name. There they were, a few feet away from her with James and Melanie at their side.
"Mr. and Mrs. Potter!" she exclaimed, running towards them. She stopped when she reached them, starting to feel a little shy. It went by unnoticed as Mrs. Potter scooped her up in a big hug.
"Oh my, sweetie. Lat time we seen you, you were still in your 'mud pie' and 'I'm a fairy princess' stage." She exclaimed as she examined her. "Now look at you. My goodness! You look gorgeous." It was true. She was wearing white capris and a white and jade green halter top with white flip flops. Her completely straight hair was back in a half pony tail with a few loose hairs down framing her face.
She blushed as Mrs. Potter went on and on about how much Lily grew and now looked much more mature. James, Melanie, and Mr. Potter noticed this.
"Mum! Quit it, you're embarrassing her." Melanie said.
"Oh, nonsense." Mrs. Potter said nonchalantly. While she said this, Mr. Potter saved Lily by engulfing her in a big bear hug.
"How are you doing, Lily? We're very sorry to hear about your parents." He said sympathetically.
"Yes. We were devastated to hear about them. They were very good people. One of the few muggle couples we've met. Lovely people, they were." Mrs. Potter said, tears coming to her eyes as she joined back into the conversation.
Lily swallowed hard and fought to keep on a brave face. "I'm alright. I still miss them, but I realize, now, that I'm not alone. I have you two, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and I have James and Melanie and my other friends."
"Please dear, call us Harry and Anastasia. You don't have to be so formal." She interrupted.
Lily smiled, gratefully. "Thank you so much for taking me in. I really hope I'm not being to much of a burden on you."
James sighed exasperatedly. "Lily, I already told you-,"
"Nonsense, Lily. You are like part of the family now. You are most certainly 'not' a burden to us. So don't give it another thought. Come on, all. We should probably get on home. I do believe we have a surprise for Lily." Harry said, his eyes twinkling merrily much like James' does when he's excited.
Lily noticed James pale slightly. As their chauffeur and Mr. Potter managed to get all the trunks into the back of the Potter limousine, Lily walked over to James.
"Don't worry. I'll act very surprised." She whispered so only he could hear.
He turned to look at her and smiled gratefully. The ride to the Potter's estate wasn't very exciting. They mostly chatted and got caught up in what had been happening since they had last seen Lily.
When the limousine drove up to the estate, James was awaiting the surprised reaction of Lily. He didn't tell her how big his house was, and since every one of his friends he brought over made a big deal about it, he assumed Lily would also. But, he was the one that was surprised by her reaction. She just got out of the limo and walked up the large staircase with his parents, barely giving the mansion a second thought.
Lily soon found out her big surprise was just as James mentioned earlier. It was a good thing she was a good actor. Her room was quite large, though it was about the same size as Lily's old one. This was painted a lavender color and had white trimmings. The bed was a queen size and the quilt on top of it was the same texture and the same shade of white as the lace curtains hiding her windows. Through the lace curtains, Lily could see that two of the large windows were really French doors leading to two different balconies. Lily expressed her gratitude greatly and sincerely. She had already started to feel like she belonged.
~*~*~*~
Living in the same house as your best friend and having your three other friends living on the same street of Godric's Hollows turned out to be the best time. Everyday, the five would either be found the lake behind James' house or roaming around the forest located in Sirius' backyard. Lily was feeling better and better everyday.
One of the best days of the summer was her birthday. She was sleeping soundly in her bed. When she had decided to wake up, she practically screamed when James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting all around her on the big bed. She let out a surprised gasp, gaining the boys' attention.
"What are you four doing in here?" She asked, wide-eyed.
They grinned and all shouted at once, "Happy Birthday, Lilz!"
Her eyes widen even more and she broke out into a big smile. "Oh, yeah." She said. Then she let out an excited shriek and flung the covers of her, then sat up. The boys wasted no time to pull out their gifts. Lily was one of those people that took their time and carefully opened each package, trying not to ruin the wrapping paper. It appeared that the boys took a little more time and effort into her gift than she had expected.
Peter's gift was wrapped in shiny, glittery emerald paper. Inside the paper was a beautiful, elegant-looking hardcover novel. 'Alice In Wonderland' was one of her favorite books. She was a little surprised that Peter would know that; she didn't think she told the boys, except for James, but that was different because she knew James longer, what her favorite novel was. She looked up, curiously and caught James' eye. A small smile appeared on his face, telling her he had helped Peter pick it out. She smiled fondly at him. She leaned closer to Peter and gave him a hug, causing him to squeak nervously. Then she went to the next present.
Sirius' present was wrapped in, she smirked at this, moving broomsticks that were playing Quidditch. She opened it carefully. A beautiful picture frame held a picture of a captured moment showing the five of them hanging out in the common room, no doubt at the late hours of the night when the rest of the Gryffindors went to bed. They were all seated in various places, surrounding the fire. Peter was on the floor, playing a game of exploding snaps. Remus was sitting on a chair near the couch, reading a book, occasionally glancing around the room, different expressions on his face as he looked at different places. Whenever Peter's eyebrows were cinched off when the game exploded, he would shake his head, amused and a small smile playing on his lips. Then, on the couch, sat Lily, James, and Sirius, with Lily in the middle of them. Lily was looking over her homework. James, who sat on her right, tapped her shoulder to get her attention, holding a piece of parchment, and appeared to be asking her a question about it. While her attention was all on James, Sirius, who sat on Lily's left peaked over her shoulder and copied down her answers, going unnoticed by anyone else other than Remus, who shook his head.
That wasn't all of the present, though. Sirius had also gotten her a gold locket. She opened it and inside held two pictures. On one side, it showed her and James as six years olds. One the other side, there was a picture of the five of them all smiling at the camera outside of Hogwarts. Lily then hugged Sirius tightly, muttering her thanks.
Her next present was Remus'. When she opened the white lily wrapping paper, she saw another book. This one was a book on quotes. She looking up at Remus, both of them sharing a knowing smile. He mouthed 'open it' to her. She opened it to a bookmarked page and her heart gave a jolt. Remus had highlighted some quotes that her mother had used to say. She then gave him a watery smile and hugged him tightly, unable to thank him for fear of bursting into tears.
Her last present was from James. The wrapping paper was red and gold stripes. She opened it carefully, like the others. This time, though, unlike the others, she gasped when she opened it. Tears threatened to fall more so when she saw it. It was a photo album and the front cover was a picture of Lily's parents smiling brightly at the camera. Lily trailed her fingers over the picture softly, then opened the book. As Lily leafed through it, the tears she was trying so desperately to stop came. Various pictures of her life with her family, her friends, moments she couldn't recall happening, were in there. It was the best birthday present she had ever gotten. She leaped up out of her covers and hugged James so tightly he was about ready to ask for air. She sobbed into his shirt and he held her back just as tightly. "Thank you James." She whispered. He just smiled and held her until she let go and suggested they all go downstairs while she gets dressed then they could all get some breakfast. They spent the entire day down by the lake close to James' backyard. Life was perfect for Lily.
~*~Fifth Year~*~
They were now in their fifth year at Hogwarts. Well, sort of. They still had a week until summer vacation ended and they made sure to enjoy every minute of it.
"Jamsie!" Lily shouted from the parlor. James raced down the stairs from his bedroom. When he entered the room, Lily smirked at his appearance. He walked over to where she was sitting on the sofa and took a seat next to her.
"Love the boxers, Potter." She leaned closer to him and it appeared she was trying to look serious, but failing miserably, "very stylin'." She couldn't take it anymore, she burst out laughing. He was wearing white boxers with red hearts on them. With it being all he was wearing, any other girl would drop over dead at the sight of the cutest guy at Hogwarts dressed like that. But, Lily wasn't like the other girls there. She was used to it by now and it didn't really affect her. Well, actually it 'did' affect her a little. Over the years, she had developed a little crush on James, but she never admitted it to anyone. She thought it would just go away. But it didn't, if anything it only grown stronger. And who could blame her; she and the rest of the girls at school couldn't help but have even the tinniest crush on him. He had the same messy hair, with warm chocolate eyes framed by wired-rimmed glasses. Some things never changed, though he was more in shape than he was before. Being Quidditch seeker and captain for the Gryffindor team will do that to you, though. Over the years, the guys' maturity level pretty much remained the same, along with their personalities. Remus and Sirius had grown to be even hotter than they were before, though Lily would never EVER think of them that way. Sirius had grown into quite the ladies man. He never kept a girlfriend for more than a week and usually let them down insensitively. Remus was a little calmer with that kind of thing. He barely dated and when he did, they usually never lasted but he let them down gently. James was a little in between. He'd date a lot and usually break it off within a week, but he would do it gently. Peter wasn't very popular, but he was still friends with James and the gang. They got so used to him and they felt sorry for him, so they were still close to them. The three, not Peter, were the most sought after guys at the school by the entire female population, and the most hated guys at the school by the male population. Being Lily Evans closest friends, and being guys no less, helped them in that category. Lily was probably the most sought after girl in the entire school. She was probably the prettiest one as well. Her shiny auburn hair reached her mid-back and was wavy. She had a slim, but curvy figure that most of the female population would have loved to hate her for, but they couldn't. (explanation later.) She never dated. There were two reasons behind this. One was she never felt the need to date. No one at her school interested her and she was too busy studying and maintaining her good grades to worry about a boyfriend. The other reason was that even if she DID want to date, it was an unlikely chance that any guy would get through James, Sirius, or Remus. They were still extremely protective of her. Anytime a guy would get up enough courage to ask her out, one of them or all of them would glare or do something to him that would cut his courage level down to none.
At the end of fourth year, Sirius came up with an idea. Since the entire school knew them as the pranksters, they should actually come up with a name to call themselves. So, being the typical Sirius he is, he came up with the Marauders. It was originally meant for just the guys so Lily wouldn't have to repeat their names all the time. She could just call them the Marauders. But, they decided she was just as part of the group as the rest, so she was called a Marauder as well. It was really like a hierarchy. James was like the king, or the unofficial leader. Lily was like their queen. If James wasn't around, which was pretty much never, she would be placed in charge of pulling pranks. It worked pretty well since no one in the entire school would even think that sweet innocent Lily Evans would pull pranks. She wouldn't hurt a fly, they thought. In all honesty... they were right. Usually she just came up with the pranks, with the help of Remus. James and Sirius were the ones that actually pulled them off and Peter mostly did nothing but try to talk them out of it. (the little wuss).
A lot of people wondered were curious as to how Lily still hung out with the guys. She was so different than them. She was so kind and sweet to anyone. She was the school sweetheart. Even the girls that were jealous of her and tried to despise her couldn't help but love her. She was practically perfect. She would stick up for anyone that was being put down and she would tutor anyone at even the wee hours of the night, even if it meant sacrificing her own homework. James and Sirius on the other hand, were loud and didn't mind at all to be the center of attention. In fact, they craved it. They waited till the last moment to get their homework done and usually had to have help from either Lily or Remus to finish it on time. Remus was still the kindest guy of the group. Peter was still the wimp of the group, though if anyone dared to call him that, they'd have to face the wrath of the Marauders.
To make an already long story a little shorter, things were basically still the same.
James rolled his eyes and mumbled something incoherent that only made Lily laugh harder. James was now trying his hardest to scowl at her, but he couldn't do it. He burst out laughing along with her. There was just something about her laugh. It was the kind that could get the gloomiest person to crack a smile. When they finished laughing, James said, "So, what's up my little Flower?"
He noticed for the first time that she was holding two letters in her hand. One was already opened. "Oooh. We got our Hogwarts letters!" he exclaimed.
"Yep. And that's not all I got." She said. He look back at her.
"What else did you get?" he raised an eyebrow at her. He knew Lily very well, and he knew that she had something big she wanted to say. She looked as though she would burst at any moment.
She smiled widely, making James' heart skip a beat for some reason. "I'm a PREFECT!" she exclaimed. He widened his eyes, although he wasn't really surprised. Everyone pretty much knew that Lily would be made a prefect this year. She was the top of all her classes except for Transfig, which James was still in the lead for with her at a close second. "I can't believe it!"
"I can. Lilz, you've got the highest scores in the entire Gryffindor population." James said, a little fondly and a little exasperated at the same time.
"No I don't. Really, I'm not even that good at my schoolwork." Lily mumbled. James inwardly seethed. It was obvious that Petunia had done a great job of making sure Lily had no confidence whatsoever. James and the guys had made her gain most of it, but there were times when she would feel self-conscious about something she did. James really hated Petunia and the rest of Lily's family that had abandoned her when they found out about her wizards blood.
He put an arm around her shoulder and said in an assuring voice, "Lily, you 'are' the best. How many times do we have to tell you that? You're excellent at your schoolwork. You'll probably even get Head Girl." Lily smiled a little at this and instantly perked up.
"Oh yeah, guess who's the Gryffindor boy prefect." She said.
James thought about it and said, "Frank Longbottom?"
Lily said, looking surprised, "actually no. Surprising, huh?"
"Yeah, I thought for sure he would be it again this year. But anyway, who?"
She didn't answer him directly. She just said, "Here." And handed him his letter.
When he opened it, his face dropped in absolute shock. "Me?! I'm a prefect. I don't believe it."
"Well, aside from the fact that you pull pranks 24/7, you are the smartest guy at Hogwarts." Lily said. They spent the rest of the day with Sirius, Remus (Peter was out of town) playing Quidditch in the Potter's stadium. That was another reason that the four were so popular. They were all on the Quidditch team. With, as stated before, James as the seeker and captain, and Remus and Sirius as the teams beaters, and surprisingly, with Lily as one of the catchers, they were unstoppable. Peter wasn't on the team, but he was the commentator. The other two chasers were a sixth year named Eric Blane and a seventh year named Molly Shultz. The keeper was a sixth year also, named Derek Greene.
~*~*~
Before they knew it, October 1st came and the five of them were all seated in a compartment waiting to arrive at Hogwarts.
"Can you believe I actually made a prefect?" James asked, astonished.
"Yeah. Now you'll have to stay out of trouble." Lily said, smiling smugly.
"That goes both ways, Lilz" Sirius said, causing the others to snort with laughter and Lily to grin sheepishly.
"I suppose it would be better if I lay off some of the pranks this year. Just to set a good example for the first years." She said thoughtfully.
"Nonsense, Flower. What 'would' we do without you?" Sirius replied, ruffling her hair affectionately. She squealed in protest and took out her wand, putting the tickling charm on him.
"Li-Lily! T-take (laughs) this s-spell off of m-me!" Sirius managed to get out. Lily pretended to think real hard.
"Hmm. Well, I suppose I 'could'." She grinned evilly, then put on a confused act, "Though I 'do' have to wonder. What 'would' be in it for me, Siri-poo?"
"I-I'll give you...20 galleons!" he weezed.
She crinkled her nose, "Now, how tacky do you think I am? Honestly! Do I look like Cassandra to you?"
"Good point. I-I'll do your homework for a MONTH!" he laughed, turning desperate.
Lily raised an eyebrow, as did Remus and James, who had been enjoying this little display in front of them. "Sirius, Lily pretty much does 'your' homework. Plus I don't think she wants to give up her position as the smartest student in our year." Remus chuckled.
"Another good point. (laughs) I-I've GOT IT! 'I'll' do my 'own' homework for a month." Sirius replied.
Lily took the Charm off him. "Deal. I do hope you were serious," he was about to say something REALLy corny (I think you know what it is), but Lily kept talking, "'and' if you were thinking of breaking our agreement, don't think I won't do this again." She tried to look dangerous, but failed miserably. She burst out laughing, causing the others to join in.
~*~*~*~
After the sorting and the feast was over and done with, after Lily and James escorted the new first years to the Gryffindor tower, Lily finally made her way to her dormitory. When she opened the door, she was awarded with the same unpleasant situation she had been putting up with ever since first year. Cassandra was sitting on her bed, painting her toenails with her two little minions. There's really nothing too different about them. They just got stupider and ditzyer over the years.
"Oh, like, great." She said, snottily, "It's, like, the ugly, mudblood Evans."
"Glad to see your vocabulary has improved over the summer, Cassandra." Lily replied, dryly. Lily walked her way over to her bed, changed into her pajamas and closed her curtains, completely ignoring the evil looks sent her way.
"That Lily Evans thinks she's, like, so popular and pretty." Cassandra said quietly, unnoticed by Lily, who had fallen asleep instantly. "Just because she, like, hangs out with the absolutely, unbelievable 'hot' James Potter and his friends, she thinks she, like, owns the entire school."
"But there's nothing, like, we can, like, do about it, Cass." Stacy said, her voice squeaking in an annoyingly high pitch.
"Yeah, like, she's loved by, like, 'everyone, in this school. Even, like, the girls that are jealous of her can't help but love her." Kelly said in the same high pitch voice.
"Well, I don't like her." Cassandra said, haughtily, "She'll, like, get what she deserves. Just in good time."
~*~*~*~
The next few weeks of school went by pretty much normally. The five, with the exception of Remus, who said he'd be down later, were all in the Great Hall, eating breakfast.
"Lilyyyyy! You've got to stop this obsession with trying to be the 'good little prefect'. We haven't pulled a decent prank in FIVE days." Sirius whined. She laughed, still unfazed by what he was saying. A book of hers was propped up against the pumpkin juice jug. "James. Tell her to stop." That caused Lily to laugh harder and James to snap out of his daydream. Lately, James couldn't respond correctly when he was around Lily. He couldn't help it. She was so beautiful. Though, he would never admit it to anyone. He started having feelings for Lily when he first saw her again and when she gave him that kiss towards the end of first year. Sure, he had been attracted to her then, but now, he was starting to think it was something more. He could never tell anyone. She would never like him anymore as a friend.
"Where have you been all morning? La-la Land?" Sirius asked, noticing his friend's weird behavior.
"No, I'm just tired." James said, a little uneasy. He hated to lie to his friends, but he couldn't very well tell them the truth.
"Hi, Jamsie!" said a gaggle of airheads at the Hufflepuff table. They were so in love with him that they even started their own James Potter fan club. James just groaned and rolled his eyes, not answering them. Lily smirked, amused by all this.
"Oh, Siri-wiri! Come sit with us!" said another group of girls from across the hall. Sirius did the same as James. Rolled his eyes and groaned.
"Oh come on guys. They're your admirers. Best not keep them waiting." Lily giggled.
The two just tried to glare at her in mock anger. That just caused Lily to laugh harder, making several of the males in the hall turn her way lovingly. Of course, James and Sirius noticed this while Peter just ate his pancakes greedily. James and Sirius shot glares to any of the boys still looking. Lily didn't' notice because she went back to her textbooks, fazing out the world around her. That was when Remus walked up to the table.
"Hi, Remus" Lily mumbled, not really paying attention to the guys in front of her.
*"Ugh." He said, "You will not 'believe' what I just found out."
"What is it?" James asked, looking over at his friend. Sirius and Peter turned to look at him, curiously. Lily was too absorbed in her book to notice.
"Snape 'fancies' Lily." Remus replies, shuddering. Lily still didn't hear what they were talking about.
"WHAT!? SNAPE 'FANCIES' LILY!?" James exclaimed. 'That' got Lily's attention.
*"Ewww!" she exclaimed, quite loudly. The entire Great Hall turned from what they were doing and looked over curiously to see what all the commotion was about. What they saw was four of the most popular guys laughing their heads off and the most popular girl in school looking pale with her eyes wide open looking terribly grossed out.
"Guys, it's 'not' funny." She protested. "It's 'creepy'." She turned to James for support, "Come on James. Even you have to admit it's a little..." she shuddered, "wrong. I mean, he's hated me for as long as he's hated you." Then her attitude turned to one of a small child as they just kept laughing, "It's not fair!" she exclaimed, stomping her foot childishly, "Why couldn't he have liked 'you'?" she asked James.
~*~*~*~*~
Two weeks later, things had died down yet again. Though, the Marauders and Lily had managed to pull off the animagi potion. Now they were all animagi, except for Lily who insisted she just help with the potion. James was a stag, Sirius a dog, and Peter a rat. It was the night after the full moon and James was sitting in the common room alone. Sirius had gone down to the kitchens to get some food, Peter was who knows where, and Lily was, surprise surprise, in the library. Remus was still in the hospital wing resting. James had just finished his potions homework when Sirius stalked into the common room, looking quite furious.
"Malfoy knows." He said simply. James' eyebrows furrowed.
"Knows what?"
"He knows about Remus. He came up to me as I was walking to the kitchens. Who knows who he could tell!" Sirius almost yelled. Then he calmed down a little, saying in a voice that showed his surprise "And that's not all. Guess who told him."
"Who could have told Malfoy?" James he angrily, not hearing the last thing Sirius said.
"It was Lily." He replied, looking astonished. James looked up sharply.
"Lily told Malfoy!? Why would she do that? That's not at all like her." James said, sounding confused.
"I guess Lily wasn't the person we thought she was." Sirius said, sounding almost regretful.
James then got angry. "That's it. She can be sure that we're not going to have anything to do with her anymore. I mean, how could she sell Remus out like that?"
Sirius looked enraged as well. "I guess we'll just have to find out when she gets back from the library."
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N- phew. That's the end of that chapter. So how'd you like it? I am 'beat'. I still have one more day of finals, but then I'm done with school for the year. Yippie! Well, thank you to everyone to reviewed and here's the preview of the next chapter.
*"Hey guys! What's wrong?" she asked, seeing the angry looks on their
faces.
*"G-guys. I swear. I didn't tell any-," "save it. We know you told so don't lie"
*"she deserved it." James replied angrily to Sirius.
*"Aw. I guess you're not so popular anymore, huh Evans." Cassandra
said snottily, hanging on the arm of James, who looked away from Lily,
ignoring her.
* "What, are you gonna cry Evans?" he said, continuing to taunt her
with the rest of the crowd.
* "The students seem to have acted differently around Miss Evans
lately, haven't they Professor?" Dumbledore said, looking baffled.
* "James? Have you noticed how...unhealthy Lily has been looking
recently."
* Lily wasn't looking forward to the Qudditch game tomorrow morning.
"I'm so nervous." Lily said, biting her lip absently.
"Don't be. Mum and dad are so excited to have you staying with us. They've made up your room for you. It was bloody annoying getting those owls asking what your favorite color was and whatnot. I don't see why they didn't just owl you or something." James shrugged.
"Maybe they wanted it to be a surprise." Lily said thoughtfully, as James paled.
"That probably was the reason. Oh crap!" James exclaimed. Lily just laughed.
"Don't worry James. I'll act surprised. They won't even know you told." She said. He relaxed. "But I am going to miss you three." She said, turning her attention to Sirius, Remus and Peter. "Are you going to be visiting us or anything during the summer?"
Then she saw menacing smiles form on their lips. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, curiously.
"Do you not remember what we told you when we first met you?" Remus asked.
"No. What did you tell me?"
"We all live on the same street, Lilz. We'll be seeing each other everyday." Sirius exclaimed.
Lily feigned dread. "So I guess I'm stuck with you all for the entire summer, eh?" she said, a smile playing on her face.
The boys just smiled smugly. "That's right my little Lily Billy. For the ENTIRE summer." Sirius said, flinging an arm around her summer while she just laughed and shook her head.
"Oh woe is me." She said, sarcastically.
Just then, the compartment door opened and Melanie entered. "Hello people.. And Sirius." She added, earning a 'humph' from Sirius and laughs from the others.
"Well put, Melly." Lily said, giving Sirius a smile to show she was joking.
"Well, I've just talked to one of the prefects and she said we should be there in about 5 minutes. Better get your stuff together, children." She pinched James' cheek, causing him to scowl. She waved and left the compartment.
Sure enough, five minutes later, they pulled into the train station. Lily glanced out the window, as though looking for someone. Really, for a few seconds, she was looking out the window for her parents. Then she remembered and slumped back in her seat, trying to not cry. James noticed all this.
"Hey Lilz." He said softly, taking a seat next to her. She looked over at him and gave a small smile.
"Hey James. Looks like we're here." She said quietly.
"Lily, I know you're still sad about your parents. That's something you will never fully heal over. But just remember, you're not alone. I'm here for you. So are Sirius, Remus and Peter. Melanie's always ready to lend an ear if you feel like talking to someone other than a boy. My parents will be there for you to. They love you just like a daughter. Just remember, you're not alone." He repeated. She looked at him in the eyes. He almost gasped at how pretty her eyes were. The tears in them just made them sparkle more. She smiled fully at him now. Without a word, she threw her arms around him. He just hugged her back.
"Thanks James." She mumbled then said, "We'd better get going. The other three are already off the train. And I'm sure your parents are waiting."
"Yeah." He replied, "Let's go."
When they got off the train, they spotted Remus talking to an older woman and man. Most likely his parents. Sirius wasn't too far off, already getting scolded by an older woman that was telling him to not but bugs in other people's hair. Lily almost burst out laughing when she heard that. Peter was another few feet away, hugging and older man and woman.
"Guess we'll see them later on, then." James said. Lily nodded and the two of them looked around for James' parents. It was so crowded; they could barely see anything through the mill of people. They decided to split up and search.
Another few minutes or so, Lily heard someone exclaim a few feet away from her, "Lily, is that you!?" she spun around quickly at the mention of her name. There they were, a few feet away from her with James and Melanie at their side.
"Mr. and Mrs. Potter!" she exclaimed, running towards them. She stopped when she reached them, starting to feel a little shy. It went by unnoticed as Mrs. Potter scooped her up in a big hug.
"Oh my, sweetie. Lat time we seen you, you were still in your 'mud pie' and 'I'm a fairy princess' stage." She exclaimed as she examined her. "Now look at you. My goodness! You look gorgeous." It was true. She was wearing white capris and a white and jade green halter top with white flip flops. Her completely straight hair was back in a half pony tail with a few loose hairs down framing her face.
She blushed as Mrs. Potter went on and on about how much Lily grew and now looked much more mature. James, Melanie, and Mr. Potter noticed this.
"Mum! Quit it, you're embarrassing her." Melanie said.
"Oh, nonsense." Mrs. Potter said nonchalantly. While she said this, Mr. Potter saved Lily by engulfing her in a big bear hug.
"How are you doing, Lily? We're very sorry to hear about your parents." He said sympathetically.
"Yes. We were devastated to hear about them. They were very good people. One of the few muggle couples we've met. Lovely people, they were." Mrs. Potter said, tears coming to her eyes as she joined back into the conversation.
Lily swallowed hard and fought to keep on a brave face. "I'm alright. I still miss them, but I realize, now, that I'm not alone. I have you two, Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and I have James and Melanie and my other friends."
"Please dear, call us Harry and Anastasia. You don't have to be so formal." She interrupted.
Lily smiled, gratefully. "Thank you so much for taking me in. I really hope I'm not being to much of a burden on you."
James sighed exasperatedly. "Lily, I already told you-,"
"Nonsense, Lily. You are like part of the family now. You are most certainly 'not' a burden to us. So don't give it another thought. Come on, all. We should probably get on home. I do believe we have a surprise for Lily." Harry said, his eyes twinkling merrily much like James' does when he's excited.
Lily noticed James pale slightly. As their chauffeur and Mr. Potter managed to get all the trunks into the back of the Potter limousine, Lily walked over to James.
"Don't worry. I'll act very surprised." She whispered so only he could hear.
He turned to look at her and smiled gratefully. The ride to the Potter's estate wasn't very exciting. They mostly chatted and got caught up in what had been happening since they had last seen Lily.
When the limousine drove up to the estate, James was awaiting the surprised reaction of Lily. He didn't tell her how big his house was, and since every one of his friends he brought over made a big deal about it, he assumed Lily would also. But, he was the one that was surprised by her reaction. She just got out of the limo and walked up the large staircase with his parents, barely giving the mansion a second thought.
Lily soon found out her big surprise was just as James mentioned earlier. It was a good thing she was a good actor. Her room was quite large, though it was about the same size as Lily's old one. This was painted a lavender color and had white trimmings. The bed was a queen size and the quilt on top of it was the same texture and the same shade of white as the lace curtains hiding her windows. Through the lace curtains, Lily could see that two of the large windows were really French doors leading to two different balconies. Lily expressed her gratitude greatly and sincerely. She had already started to feel like she belonged.
~*~*~*~
Living in the same house as your best friend and having your three other friends living on the same street of Godric's Hollows turned out to be the best time. Everyday, the five would either be found the lake behind James' house or roaming around the forest located in Sirius' backyard. Lily was feeling better and better everyday.
One of the best days of the summer was her birthday. She was sleeping soundly in her bed. When she had decided to wake up, she practically screamed when James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were sitting all around her on the big bed. She let out a surprised gasp, gaining the boys' attention.
"What are you four doing in here?" She asked, wide-eyed.
They grinned and all shouted at once, "Happy Birthday, Lilz!"
Her eyes widen even more and she broke out into a big smile. "Oh, yeah." She said. Then she let out an excited shriek and flung the covers of her, then sat up. The boys wasted no time to pull out their gifts. Lily was one of those people that took their time and carefully opened each package, trying not to ruin the wrapping paper. It appeared that the boys took a little more time and effort into her gift than she had expected.
Peter's gift was wrapped in shiny, glittery emerald paper. Inside the paper was a beautiful, elegant-looking hardcover novel. 'Alice In Wonderland' was one of her favorite books. She was a little surprised that Peter would know that; she didn't think she told the boys, except for James, but that was different because she knew James longer, what her favorite novel was. She looked up, curiously and caught James' eye. A small smile appeared on his face, telling her he had helped Peter pick it out. She smiled fondly at him. She leaned closer to Peter and gave him a hug, causing him to squeak nervously. Then she went to the next present.
Sirius' present was wrapped in, she smirked at this, moving broomsticks that were playing Quidditch. She opened it carefully. A beautiful picture frame held a picture of a captured moment showing the five of them hanging out in the common room, no doubt at the late hours of the night when the rest of the Gryffindors went to bed. They were all seated in various places, surrounding the fire. Peter was on the floor, playing a game of exploding snaps. Remus was sitting on a chair near the couch, reading a book, occasionally glancing around the room, different expressions on his face as he looked at different places. Whenever Peter's eyebrows were cinched off when the game exploded, he would shake his head, amused and a small smile playing on his lips. Then, on the couch, sat Lily, James, and Sirius, with Lily in the middle of them. Lily was looking over her homework. James, who sat on her right, tapped her shoulder to get her attention, holding a piece of parchment, and appeared to be asking her a question about it. While her attention was all on James, Sirius, who sat on Lily's left peaked over her shoulder and copied down her answers, going unnoticed by anyone else other than Remus, who shook his head.
That wasn't all of the present, though. Sirius had also gotten her a gold locket. She opened it and inside held two pictures. On one side, it showed her and James as six years olds. One the other side, there was a picture of the five of them all smiling at the camera outside of Hogwarts. Lily then hugged Sirius tightly, muttering her thanks.
Her next present was Remus'. When she opened the white lily wrapping paper, she saw another book. This one was a book on quotes. She looking up at Remus, both of them sharing a knowing smile. He mouthed 'open it' to her. She opened it to a bookmarked page and her heart gave a jolt. Remus had highlighted some quotes that her mother had used to say. She then gave him a watery smile and hugged him tightly, unable to thank him for fear of bursting into tears.
Her last present was from James. The wrapping paper was red and gold stripes. She opened it carefully, like the others. This time, though, unlike the others, she gasped when she opened it. Tears threatened to fall more so when she saw it. It was a photo album and the front cover was a picture of Lily's parents smiling brightly at the camera. Lily trailed her fingers over the picture softly, then opened the book. As Lily leafed through it, the tears she was trying so desperately to stop came. Various pictures of her life with her family, her friends, moments she couldn't recall happening, were in there. It was the best birthday present she had ever gotten. She leaped up out of her covers and hugged James so tightly he was about ready to ask for air. She sobbed into his shirt and he held her back just as tightly. "Thank you James." She whispered. He just smiled and held her until she let go and suggested they all go downstairs while she gets dressed then they could all get some breakfast. They spent the entire day down by the lake close to James' backyard. Life was perfect for Lily.
~*~Fifth Year~*~
They were now in their fifth year at Hogwarts. Well, sort of. They still had a week until summer vacation ended and they made sure to enjoy every minute of it.
"Jamsie!" Lily shouted from the parlor. James raced down the stairs from his bedroom. When he entered the room, Lily smirked at his appearance. He walked over to where she was sitting on the sofa and took a seat next to her.
"Love the boxers, Potter." She leaned closer to him and it appeared she was trying to look serious, but failing miserably, "very stylin'." She couldn't take it anymore, she burst out laughing. He was wearing white boxers with red hearts on them. With it being all he was wearing, any other girl would drop over dead at the sight of the cutest guy at Hogwarts dressed like that. But, Lily wasn't like the other girls there. She was used to it by now and it didn't really affect her. Well, actually it 'did' affect her a little. Over the years, she had developed a little crush on James, but she never admitted it to anyone. She thought it would just go away. But it didn't, if anything it only grown stronger. And who could blame her; she and the rest of the girls at school couldn't help but have even the tinniest crush on him. He had the same messy hair, with warm chocolate eyes framed by wired-rimmed glasses. Some things never changed, though he was more in shape than he was before. Being Quidditch seeker and captain for the Gryffindor team will do that to you, though. Over the years, the guys' maturity level pretty much remained the same, along with their personalities. Remus and Sirius had grown to be even hotter than they were before, though Lily would never EVER think of them that way. Sirius had grown into quite the ladies man. He never kept a girlfriend for more than a week and usually let them down insensitively. Remus was a little calmer with that kind of thing. He barely dated and when he did, they usually never lasted but he let them down gently. James was a little in between. He'd date a lot and usually break it off within a week, but he would do it gently. Peter wasn't very popular, but he was still friends with James and the gang. They got so used to him and they felt sorry for him, so they were still close to them. The three, not Peter, were the most sought after guys at the school by the entire female population, and the most hated guys at the school by the male population. Being Lily Evans closest friends, and being guys no less, helped them in that category. Lily was probably the most sought after girl in the entire school. She was probably the prettiest one as well. Her shiny auburn hair reached her mid-back and was wavy. She had a slim, but curvy figure that most of the female population would have loved to hate her for, but they couldn't. (explanation later.) She never dated. There were two reasons behind this. One was she never felt the need to date. No one at her school interested her and she was too busy studying and maintaining her good grades to worry about a boyfriend. The other reason was that even if she DID want to date, it was an unlikely chance that any guy would get through James, Sirius, or Remus. They were still extremely protective of her. Anytime a guy would get up enough courage to ask her out, one of them or all of them would glare or do something to him that would cut his courage level down to none.
At the end of fourth year, Sirius came up with an idea. Since the entire school knew them as the pranksters, they should actually come up with a name to call themselves. So, being the typical Sirius he is, he came up with the Marauders. It was originally meant for just the guys so Lily wouldn't have to repeat their names all the time. She could just call them the Marauders. But, they decided she was just as part of the group as the rest, so she was called a Marauder as well. It was really like a hierarchy. James was like the king, or the unofficial leader. Lily was like their queen. If James wasn't around, which was pretty much never, she would be placed in charge of pulling pranks. It worked pretty well since no one in the entire school would even think that sweet innocent Lily Evans would pull pranks. She wouldn't hurt a fly, they thought. In all honesty... they were right. Usually she just came up with the pranks, with the help of Remus. James and Sirius were the ones that actually pulled them off and Peter mostly did nothing but try to talk them out of it. (the little wuss).
A lot of people wondered were curious as to how Lily still hung out with the guys. She was so different than them. She was so kind and sweet to anyone. She was the school sweetheart. Even the girls that were jealous of her and tried to despise her couldn't help but love her. She was practically perfect. She would stick up for anyone that was being put down and she would tutor anyone at even the wee hours of the night, even if it meant sacrificing her own homework. James and Sirius on the other hand, were loud and didn't mind at all to be the center of attention. In fact, they craved it. They waited till the last moment to get their homework done and usually had to have help from either Lily or Remus to finish it on time. Remus was still the kindest guy of the group. Peter was still the wimp of the group, though if anyone dared to call him that, they'd have to face the wrath of the Marauders.
To make an already long story a little shorter, things were basically still the same.
James rolled his eyes and mumbled something incoherent that only made Lily laugh harder. James was now trying his hardest to scowl at her, but he couldn't do it. He burst out laughing along with her. There was just something about her laugh. It was the kind that could get the gloomiest person to crack a smile. When they finished laughing, James said, "So, what's up my little Flower?"
He noticed for the first time that she was holding two letters in her hand. One was already opened. "Oooh. We got our Hogwarts letters!" he exclaimed.
"Yep. And that's not all I got." She said. He look back at her.
"What else did you get?" he raised an eyebrow at her. He knew Lily very well, and he knew that she had something big she wanted to say. She looked as though she would burst at any moment.
She smiled widely, making James' heart skip a beat for some reason. "I'm a PREFECT!" she exclaimed. He widened his eyes, although he wasn't really surprised. Everyone pretty much knew that Lily would be made a prefect this year. She was the top of all her classes except for Transfig, which James was still in the lead for with her at a close second. "I can't believe it!"
"I can. Lilz, you've got the highest scores in the entire Gryffindor population." James said, a little fondly and a little exasperated at the same time.
"No I don't. Really, I'm not even that good at my schoolwork." Lily mumbled. James inwardly seethed. It was obvious that Petunia had done a great job of making sure Lily had no confidence whatsoever. James and the guys had made her gain most of it, but there were times when she would feel self-conscious about something she did. James really hated Petunia and the rest of Lily's family that had abandoned her when they found out about her wizards blood.
He put an arm around her shoulder and said in an assuring voice, "Lily, you 'are' the best. How many times do we have to tell you that? You're excellent at your schoolwork. You'll probably even get Head Girl." Lily smiled a little at this and instantly perked up.
"Oh yeah, guess who's the Gryffindor boy prefect." She said.
James thought about it and said, "Frank Longbottom?"
Lily said, looking surprised, "actually no. Surprising, huh?"
"Yeah, I thought for sure he would be it again this year. But anyway, who?"
She didn't answer him directly. She just said, "Here." And handed him his letter.
When he opened it, his face dropped in absolute shock. "Me?! I'm a prefect. I don't believe it."
"Well, aside from the fact that you pull pranks 24/7, you are the smartest guy at Hogwarts." Lily said. They spent the rest of the day with Sirius, Remus (Peter was out of town) playing Quidditch in the Potter's stadium. That was another reason that the four were so popular. They were all on the Quidditch team. With, as stated before, James as the seeker and captain, and Remus and Sirius as the teams beaters, and surprisingly, with Lily as one of the catchers, they were unstoppable. Peter wasn't on the team, but he was the commentator. The other two chasers were a sixth year named Eric Blane and a seventh year named Molly Shultz. The keeper was a sixth year also, named Derek Greene.
~*~*~
Before they knew it, October 1st came and the five of them were all seated in a compartment waiting to arrive at Hogwarts.
"Can you believe I actually made a prefect?" James asked, astonished.
"Yeah. Now you'll have to stay out of trouble." Lily said, smiling smugly.
"That goes both ways, Lilz" Sirius said, causing the others to snort with laughter and Lily to grin sheepishly.
"I suppose it would be better if I lay off some of the pranks this year. Just to set a good example for the first years." She said thoughtfully.
"Nonsense, Flower. What 'would' we do without you?" Sirius replied, ruffling her hair affectionately. She squealed in protest and took out her wand, putting the tickling charm on him.
"Li-Lily! T-take (laughs) this s-spell off of m-me!" Sirius managed to get out. Lily pretended to think real hard.
"Hmm. Well, I suppose I 'could'." She grinned evilly, then put on a confused act, "Though I 'do' have to wonder. What 'would' be in it for me, Siri-poo?"
"I-I'll give you...20 galleons!" he weezed.
She crinkled her nose, "Now, how tacky do you think I am? Honestly! Do I look like Cassandra to you?"
"Good point. I-I'll do your homework for a MONTH!" he laughed, turning desperate.
Lily raised an eyebrow, as did Remus and James, who had been enjoying this little display in front of them. "Sirius, Lily pretty much does 'your' homework. Plus I don't think she wants to give up her position as the smartest student in our year." Remus chuckled.
"Another good point. (laughs) I-I've GOT IT! 'I'll' do my 'own' homework for a month." Sirius replied.
Lily took the Charm off him. "Deal. I do hope you were serious," he was about to say something REALLy corny (I think you know what it is), but Lily kept talking, "'and' if you were thinking of breaking our agreement, don't think I won't do this again." She tried to look dangerous, but failed miserably. She burst out laughing, causing the others to join in.
~*~*~*~
After the sorting and the feast was over and done with, after Lily and James escorted the new first years to the Gryffindor tower, Lily finally made her way to her dormitory. When she opened the door, she was awarded with the same unpleasant situation she had been putting up with ever since first year. Cassandra was sitting on her bed, painting her toenails with her two little minions. There's really nothing too different about them. They just got stupider and ditzyer over the years.
"Oh, like, great." She said, snottily, "It's, like, the ugly, mudblood Evans."
"Glad to see your vocabulary has improved over the summer, Cassandra." Lily replied, dryly. Lily walked her way over to her bed, changed into her pajamas and closed her curtains, completely ignoring the evil looks sent her way.
"That Lily Evans thinks she's, like, so popular and pretty." Cassandra said quietly, unnoticed by Lily, who had fallen asleep instantly. "Just because she, like, hangs out with the absolutely, unbelievable 'hot' James Potter and his friends, she thinks she, like, owns the entire school."
"But there's nothing, like, we can, like, do about it, Cass." Stacy said, her voice squeaking in an annoyingly high pitch.
"Yeah, like, she's loved by, like, 'everyone, in this school. Even, like, the girls that are jealous of her can't help but love her." Kelly said in the same high pitch voice.
"Well, I don't like her." Cassandra said, haughtily, "She'll, like, get what she deserves. Just in good time."
~*~*~*~
The next few weeks of school went by pretty much normally. The five, with the exception of Remus, who said he'd be down later, were all in the Great Hall, eating breakfast.
"Lilyyyyy! You've got to stop this obsession with trying to be the 'good little prefect'. We haven't pulled a decent prank in FIVE days." Sirius whined. She laughed, still unfazed by what he was saying. A book of hers was propped up against the pumpkin juice jug. "James. Tell her to stop." That caused Lily to laugh harder and James to snap out of his daydream. Lately, James couldn't respond correctly when he was around Lily. He couldn't help it. She was so beautiful. Though, he would never admit it to anyone. He started having feelings for Lily when he first saw her again and when she gave him that kiss towards the end of first year. Sure, he had been attracted to her then, but now, he was starting to think it was something more. He could never tell anyone. She would never like him anymore as a friend.
"Where have you been all morning? La-la Land?" Sirius asked, noticing his friend's weird behavior.
"No, I'm just tired." James said, a little uneasy. He hated to lie to his friends, but he couldn't very well tell them the truth.
"Hi, Jamsie!" said a gaggle of airheads at the Hufflepuff table. They were so in love with him that they even started their own James Potter fan club. James just groaned and rolled his eyes, not answering them. Lily smirked, amused by all this.
"Oh, Siri-wiri! Come sit with us!" said another group of girls from across the hall. Sirius did the same as James. Rolled his eyes and groaned.
"Oh come on guys. They're your admirers. Best not keep them waiting." Lily giggled.
The two just tried to glare at her in mock anger. That just caused Lily to laugh harder, making several of the males in the hall turn her way lovingly. Of course, James and Sirius noticed this while Peter just ate his pancakes greedily. James and Sirius shot glares to any of the boys still looking. Lily didn't' notice because she went back to her textbooks, fazing out the world around her. That was when Remus walked up to the table.
"Hi, Remus" Lily mumbled, not really paying attention to the guys in front of her.
*"Ugh." He said, "You will not 'believe' what I just found out."
"What is it?" James asked, looking over at his friend. Sirius and Peter turned to look at him, curiously. Lily was too absorbed in her book to notice.
"Snape 'fancies' Lily." Remus replies, shuddering. Lily still didn't hear what they were talking about.
"WHAT!? SNAPE 'FANCIES' LILY!?" James exclaimed. 'That' got Lily's attention.
*"Ewww!" she exclaimed, quite loudly. The entire Great Hall turned from what they were doing and looked over curiously to see what all the commotion was about. What they saw was four of the most popular guys laughing their heads off and the most popular girl in school looking pale with her eyes wide open looking terribly grossed out.
"Guys, it's 'not' funny." She protested. "It's 'creepy'." She turned to James for support, "Come on James. Even you have to admit it's a little..." she shuddered, "wrong. I mean, he's hated me for as long as he's hated you." Then her attitude turned to one of a small child as they just kept laughing, "It's not fair!" she exclaimed, stomping her foot childishly, "Why couldn't he have liked 'you'?" she asked James.
~*~*~*~*~
Two weeks later, things had died down yet again. Though, the Marauders and Lily had managed to pull off the animagi potion. Now they were all animagi, except for Lily who insisted she just help with the potion. James was a stag, Sirius a dog, and Peter a rat. It was the night after the full moon and James was sitting in the common room alone. Sirius had gone down to the kitchens to get some food, Peter was who knows where, and Lily was, surprise surprise, in the library. Remus was still in the hospital wing resting. James had just finished his potions homework when Sirius stalked into the common room, looking quite furious.
"Malfoy knows." He said simply. James' eyebrows furrowed.
"Knows what?"
"He knows about Remus. He came up to me as I was walking to the kitchens. Who knows who he could tell!" Sirius almost yelled. Then he calmed down a little, saying in a voice that showed his surprise "And that's not all. Guess who told him."
"Who could have told Malfoy?" James he angrily, not hearing the last thing Sirius said.
"It was Lily." He replied, looking astonished. James looked up sharply.
"Lily told Malfoy!? Why would she do that? That's not at all like her." James said, sounding confused.
"I guess Lily wasn't the person we thought she was." Sirius said, sounding almost regretful.
James then got angry. "That's it. She can be sure that we're not going to have anything to do with her anymore. I mean, how could she sell Remus out like that?"
Sirius looked enraged as well. "I guess we'll just have to find out when she gets back from the library."
~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N- phew. That's the end of that chapter. So how'd you like it? I am 'beat'. I still have one more day of finals, but then I'm done with school for the year. Yippie! Well, thank you to everyone to reviewed and here's the preview of the next chapter.
*"Hey guys! What's wrong?" she asked, seeing the angry looks on their
faces.
*"G-guys. I swear. I didn't tell any-," "save it. We know you told so don't lie"
*"she deserved it." James replied angrily to Sirius.
*"Aw. I guess you're not so popular anymore, huh Evans." Cassandra
said snottily, hanging on the arm of James, who looked away from Lily,
ignoring her.
* "What, are you gonna cry Evans?" he said, continuing to taunt her
with the rest of the crowd.
* "The students seem to have acted differently around Miss Evans
lately, haven't they Professor?" Dumbledore said, looking baffled.
* "James? Have you noticed how...unhealthy Lily has been looking
recently."
* Lily wasn't looking forward to the Qudditch game tomorrow morning.