A/N: This chapter is fun, I love my OCs, i hope you do too.

Disclaimer: I only own Harry Potter in my dreams. So that means I don't. JK Rowling however, does.

For the first time in years, Lily woke early and greeted the sunrise. When she was a young girl, she and Petunia would sneak out the back door every Sunday morning to watch the sun creep out from under their fence. Now, many years later, Lily sat alone on her back steps, watching what she had believed to be the furthest extent of magic in the world.

"I was quite wrong." She muttered to herself.

Watching the large glowing circle rise over the fence was calming to Lily, somehow it gave her confidence to face her first real day without her father. She ran up to her bedroom, carefully avoiding the living room, and dressed quickly. For some strange reason, she couldn't help but want to look her best. Today was the first day she would be facing the wizarding world—any world for that matter—since it had happened. Lily couldn't help but think to herself, If I had never gone to Hogwarts, this never would have happened.

Lily sat by herself in the kitchen for quite a long time before Rosemary or Petunia awoke. Before it had happened, times like these would be spent with her father, perhaps discussing her most recent magical finds, perhaps a book the two of them had read, maybe even the book he was writing, though that would be a rare occurrence. This time, however, Lily was alone.

"Already up and ready?" she heard a voice ask from the kitchen door. Lily turned to see her mother standing there, still in her bed things, yawning and stretching. "We won't be leaving for about an hour."

"I know," Lily replied, "I just wanted to greet the sun this morning."

"You always did like that didn't you?"

"Petunia and I used to do it every morning."

"I know," Rosemary smiled dreamily, "Sometimes I would watch you do it. It always amazed me that two young girls could have so much energy that early in the morning, and still be getting along just fine."

"I guess we just grew out of it…"

"No, I don't think you will ever grow out of it, and I think you will always love each other. Somewhere along the way, you just… forgot."

At this, Petunia entered the kitchen.

"Honey, we're going in to London today," Rosemary began in a sweet voice, "We need to get your sister's school supplies."

"No." Petunia said firmly.

"But I thought that after we were finished there we could—"

"NO! I am not going anywhere with that... that… that freak!"

"It will only be for a little while darling…"

"NO!"

Lily swore Petunia's scream could be heard in Portugal, but she didn't care. She was used to being called "freak," "abnormal," or anything of the sort. Once Petunia told her that "her kind"—as she so lovingly referred to witches and wizards—would be much better off if they just burned the lot of them.

Two hours later Lily and her mother were barreling down the road on their way to London. A very angry Petunia was also sitting in the back seat, muttering inaudible phrases which included the words as "odd" and "anomalous." Lily even thought she heard her mutter, "burned at the stake, they had the right idea."

Lily snorted at this. She knew, of course, that burning witches at the stake had no effect at all, and had just turned to tell Petunia this when her mother cried cheerily "We're here!"

"Lovely," Petunia said in a not-so-lovely voice.

Lily, however, jumped immediately from the car. Why had she been so apprehensive? This was her element, this was where she belonged.

The three Evans women made there way through the Leaky Cauldron. Lily smiled; the pub was quite as run-down and grubby as she remembered. In the back courtyard, Lily took out her wand.

"Put that thing away!" Petunia cried instantly.

"Would you just like us all to hang around here with the trash can all day?" Lily retorted, "If you want to get this done with, I need my wand."

She traced the bricks, three up, two across, and tapped three times. Petunia squealed and covered her eyes, for she knew what was coming next. When she had plucked up the courage to spread her fingers a bit, she was no longer facing the brick wall of the courtyard, but a bustling street, and Lily hurried through excitedly.

"Where do we need to go first?" Rosemary asked. Lily could tell she was trying to be cheerful, but the truth of the matter was she was quite as uncomfortable as Petunia.

"I'm not sure yet," Lily said truthfully. She had gotten her Hogwarts letter a few days ago, but she hadn't bothered to open it, her fury at the entire wizarding world being fat too great. She pulled it from her pocket, however, and, sitting on a nearby bench, read the first letter.

Dear Ms. Evans,

Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross station, platform nine and three-quarters, at eleven o'clock.

Enclosed are your O.W.L. results, as well as a list of N.E.W.T. level classes you will be taking. Please note that if for any reason you show you are less than completely dedicated to any of these classes, you will be put back into the remedial class.

A list of books and materials for next year is enclosed.

Yours Sincerely,

Professor M. McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

O.W.L. results. That was what Lily was most interested. Immediately she scanned the next page. Eleven O.W.L.s? She could hardly believe it. Outstanding in Charms, well, that was easily her best subject. Exceeds Expectations in Transfiguration, not bad at all. She continued to scan her results, she could hardly believe it. Petunia cleared her throat, obviously eager to get their shopping done. Lily took out her book list and began to read.

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 6, Edition II)

By Miranda Goshawk

Transfiguration for the Advanced

By Emeric Switch

Advanced Dark Arts and Protection

By Varick Warner

Lily continued to read the booklist. Advanced ingredients for potions, which would mean a trip to the apothecary, something she always avoided when she could. Her robes, too, seemed to have shrunk over the past year; it would be wise to get some new ones.

"Well," Lily said to her mother and sister, "We're off to Gringotts."

They walked down the crowded street with some difficulty, owing to the fact that many Hogwarts students were busy doing last minute shopping. Lily ran into a couple of people she knew, none that she was particular friends with, but she liked most of them just as well. They smiled and each muttered a quick 'hello' before being on their way.

It wasn't long before the three Evans women found themselves standing in front of a towering ivory building. Lily made to go in, but her mother grabbed her arm and pulled her back, pointing at Petunia.

"She really doesn't like that place, Lily," Rosemary began.

"I know," Lily sighed. "Why don't you just give me the money and I'll exchange it by myself?"

Rosemary nodded in agreement and handed Lily a large roll of notes.

"That should be enough to cover your school supplies, plus I've included the money you earned working so much over the summer. Do you think that will last you through the year?"

Lily thumbed through the roll.

"Yes," she agreed. Besides sporadic trips to Hogsmeade village, she didn't really have occasion to spend her money. She knew, someway or another, many fifth, sixth, and seventh year students pooled together to buy bottles of firewhiskey from some of the more daring thieves—James Potter and his friends for example—but she had never participated in one of these pools, and didn't plan on it anytime soon. She didn't really remember what had happened the night her friends had convinced her to drink some after the last day of O.W.L.s, but she remembered the headache she had the next morning, and that was enough for her.

So Lily made her way into Gringotts alone. Truth be told, she didn't much care for the place either, but it was very safe. She stopped in front of the polished silver doors and read the warning engraved upon them, thinking about two of the lines.

Those who take but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

The death eater had taken her father's life without a second thought. But had he earned that right? No. No one had the right to take a life. Lily pondered the second line. Voldemort and all his death eaters were taking things they hadn't earned. Some time, somewhere, they would be paying most dearly.

Lily made her way to the counter and approached a Goblin who was writing something. He looked up at her with suspicious eyes.

"Yes?" he sneered.

"I would like to exchange some muggle money." Lily said in a business-like manner. It was best not to get too snappish or too friendly with the goblins.

The goblin held out his hand and began to examine the notes, as if checking their authenticity. She wondered at this for a moment until she realized many crooked wizards probably brought in fake muggle money, hoping to make a quick Galleon.

When the goblin had decided that the money Lily had handed him was in fact genuine, he began making difficult calculations on a piece of parchment he had in front of him. He handed her quite a large stack of coins, which she hastily stuffed inter her purse, muttering a quick "thank you" and going on her way.

When she emerged from the doors of the bank, she was greeted with a very embarrassing sight. Petunia was sitting on a bench near the entrance, wailing about 'abnormalities' and the like. Rosemary was trying to calm her, but her soothing words seemed only to be making her daughter more angry.

"It's her fault Daddy's dead!" Petunia screamed, and Lily stopped dead, horrified. Her fault? How could Petunia even think to blame that on Lily? She couldn't have done anything to help him. Perhaps if she had never gone to Hogwarts, though. Maybe then things would have turned out different. Lily felt her eyes welling up, tears were going to start pouring down her face any second. It was her fault.

"Get a grip," Lily muttered to herself, and took a deep breath. Petunia couldn't seriously blame this on her, and Lily couldn't take all the credit for herself. She walked carefully over to her howling sister and spoke directly to Rosemary.

"Mum, listen," Lily began. "I know you want to be here for me to buy all my school stuff and all, but I am sixteen and I think I can manage on my own. I think the best thing for you to do is to get her out of here as quickly as possible. Take her into London or something."

"You're right Lily," her mother agreed. "Are you sure you can manage on your own?"

"Positive," Lily said, "We'll meet back in the Leaky Cauldron around six."

The three said their goodbyes. Petunia's sobs were reduced to a small whimper at the thought of leaving Diagon Alley. AS Lily walked them walk back towards the Leaky Cauldron and muggle London, she half-wished they weren't going. True, they were highly embarrassing and very uncomfortable, but they were her family.

Lily wandered down the street, half-searching for a familiar face. She had gotten a few letters from her good friends, but none mentioned when they were coming into Diagon Alley. She looked around, hoping to spot her best friend Caron Trynt. Lily and Caron had met on the very first train-ride to Hogwarts. When they were both placed in Gryffindor, they became instant friends. Not long after, they had met up with Rianne Shield, who, apart from being extremely feisty, was the most loyal friend anyone could have.

Just as Lily had decided to abandon her search and get on with her shopping, a familiar voice caught her ear.

"Hey Prongs! Look who it is!" Lily turned to see Sirius Black and James Potter quickly approaching. She didn't really feel like talking to them at the moment, but as she was trying to think of a quick getaway, James Potter spoke.

"Er… hi Evans," he said quietly. Lily didn't really know what he was playing at. Evans? They had spent a day together recently, and he had used her first name then.

"Hello, Potter," she replied coolly. Two could play at this game.

"I'll just leave you two to talk then," Sirius said. "Oy! Shield!"

So Rianne was here. That was good; at least Lily had someone to get all of her supplies with, instead of looking like a complete idiot with out any friends.

"So…" James said, breaking the silence but having no clue as to what to say.

"Have a good rest of the summer?" Lily asked.

"Er, yeah actually. You'll never guess who was sitting on my doorstep when we got home though."

"Bet I will—Sirius."

"Yup. So… er… I heard about your Dad." James paused, surveying Lily's face. "I'm really sorry about that."

"Thanks," Lily said, "That means something, but you're not the one who should be sorry."

Just at that moment, Sirius strutted back to the spot where they were talking. "Rianne's waiting for you back over there, Lily," He said. "Wants to talk about hair, or makeup, or whatever it is you girls talk about when we men aren't around."

"Thanks, Black," she said in a sarcastic tone. He was never going to understand girls. Sirius gave James a meaningful look. James took a deep breath and the tone of his voice was strikingly different from what it had been previously.

"So Evans," he began, stepping closer, and Lily was immediately taken aback. "I suppose since we had such a great time together this summer, you want to reconsider my offer?"

"Excuse me?" Lily said in a menacing voice. She couldn't believe it, she had thought he'd changed.

"Well you want to go out with me, right?" He took an arm and made to wrap it around her waist, but seemed to think better of it, because an instant later he had pulled back a couple of steps.

Lily raised her eyebrows so far one might swear they had disappeared into her hair. Before she knew what she was doing, she had slapped him right across the face and turned on her heel, walking purposefully towards Rianne. Through the crowd, she distinctly heard Sirius yell, "You stupid git!"

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" Rianne asked. Lily smiled. Rianne was perhaps the bluntest person she had ever met, and Lily admired her for that.

"Long or short version?" Lily asked.

"Short for now, I'm running a tight schedule," Rianne answered with a smirk.

"He asked me out again," Lily replied with a sort of grimace.

"That's it?" Rianne said disbelievingly. "Okay then, I guess I need the long version, because the Lily Evans I know isn't extremely likely to slap a guy around just because he asked her out, even if it is James Potter."

Lily told Rianne the story of her summer. How she and James had spent a day together without either of them suffering bodily injuries, and how that night her father had been killed. At this Lily began to cry, and Rianne soothed her, before she continued with her story.

"—And now he's back to being a prat again, and I cannot believe I fell for that act. I don't know what came over me. I just… hit him."

"I don't blame you!" Rianne exclaimed. "Listen, my whole family is staying in the Leaky Cauldron until I leave for Hogwarts. Mum says she needs to get away from the office, but I don't know if I believe her, I think she's got some business going on here. Anyway, why don't you stay with us, and we can just relax."

"That would be great," Lily said. "But, I don't have my school stuff; I wasn't planning on staying here."

"You forget, darling," Rianne said in a mock-drawl, "That my Mum works at the Department of Magical Transportation! She can get a portkey to your house like that," she snapped her fingers, "and no one at the office will give it a second thought."

Lily smiled and agreed, telling Rianne that she was meeting her mother at six, and she would ask her then. The pair of them set off to get their school supplies, happily discussing the N.E.W.T. classes each of them would be taking. Rianne immediately plunged into a story about her massive schedule.

"—I really don't know what came over me. I guess I thought studying for those O.W.L.s was a good idea. Boy was I wrong. Those remedial kids are going to have it so easy! I mean, N.E.W.T level Arithmancy?"

"Hey I've got Arithmancy too!" Lily squeezed in.

"Yeah, well you're only taking one more class than I am…" Rianne continued, "Ancient Runes! That's gonna be a killer!"

"I suppose," Lily said. She hadn't really thought of the fact that her schedule was difficult. She was N.E.W.T. level in almost every subject, except Astronomy, which she had dropped because she wasn't really planning on any career that involved stargazing. At least Rianne was in every class with her, besides Care of Magical Creatures, which Caron was sure to have.

Lily thought about Caron. Sure, she was friendly, pretty, and caring, but she struggled in her classes. It was highly unlikely that she would be placed in the N.E.W.T. level classes. The only class that she was really good at, History of Magic, both Lily and Rianne had resolutely dropped at the end of last year, vowing not to take it back up even if they received Outstanding O.W.L.s, voicing that they had better things to do with that hour than pretend to listen to Professor Binns. The only reason they had made it through five years was because they had Caron whispering names and dates in their ears at all hours of the day.

The pair continued shopping for the rest of the day, occasionally resting and summing up their purchases. When they entered Madame Malkin's, Rianne had insisted they look at dress robes.

"Oh! These match your eyes Lily!" Rianne exclaimed, holding up pretty sea foam green ones. Lily smiled and told Rianne that they better buy their school robes and get on with it.

Around five forty-five, the two girls made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron, where both of their families were waiting. Lily spotted Rosemary and immediately asked her if she could stay with Rianne. Rosemary was hesitant at first, but told her she could stay, as long as she promised to come home for Christmas. Lily hastily agreed. After quite a long goodbye, Lily's mother and sister left, and Rianne brought her mother over to Lily.

"Alright girls," she said. "Technically I am not supposed to do this, so don't make a habit of asking." But she smiled warmly all the same, and whispered "portus," tapping an empty butterbeer bottle with her wand. This is getting too familiar, Lily thought as the portkey jerked her, and she found herself face down in her living room, with quite a disgruntled Rianne on top of her.

"I never much liked that," Rianne said shortly.

It didn't take long for Lily to gather up her school stuff. She placed her purchases in her trunk, along with all her old supplies. Rianne entered her room while she was placing her muggle clothes in the trunk.

"Rather bare, don't you think?" Rianne said in a straightforward tone.

"Yes," Lily agreed. "I tore all my pictures down after… after it happened."

"Oh," Rianne said quietly.

"Done!" Lily said, after quite a few minutes of awkward silence. She had checked, double checked and triple checked, she was quite sure she had everything. The two girls heaved her trunk down the stairs ("Packed a ton of bricks for good measure, have you?" Rianne said,) and saw Mrs. Shield standing there.

"Let's be off then!" She exclaimed. Lily checked her coat pocket one last time for her wand, but found it wasn't the only item there. A small slip of paper had somehow entered her pocket. She had no time to examine it, however, because Rianne's mother was once again holding out the empty bottle.

When they arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron, Lily took her things up to the room in which she would be staying with Rianne, where Rianne quickly excused herself to the loo, claiming to be sick from the portkeys. Lily took out the

The Marauders offer their condolences to Lily Evans, and wish her all the best in these troubled times.

Lily about ripped the note in half. 'The Marauders' was the name of James Potter's silly group. No doubt they had come across the word in a big book in their third year, and thought it seemed rather impressive. Their formal manner of writing all their notes only added to her annoyance. Their condolences were meaningless to her. As she read this, however, a short sentence appeared in quite different handwriting, though Lily didn't know who it belonged to.

Mr. Padfoot would like to add that Mr. Prongs is a stupid prat, especially when he is around a certain Miss Evans.

Lily read this in disbelief, but did not have time to ponder, as another note was being scrawled by what seemed an invisible hand as she read.

Mr. Wormtail would like to register the fact that he quite likes the sound of the name Lily Potter, as it has quite a nice ring to it.

By now Lily was just angry. She looked at the paper again, and saw that yet another note had been added.

Mr. Moony begs Miss Evans not to mention to Mr. Prongs that this note has been tampered with, as it is quite likely he would curse the rest of the Marauders into next year.

Lily was fuming by the time she had finished reading the note. It didn't help that it was written as though she had been graciously handed a note by the queen. Lily read through the note again. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, those were their nicknames for each other. Lily had no idea where they had gotten them, but they had been using them since halfway through the fourth year. Moony was the only one that made any sense at all, Remus being a werewolf.

Lily smiled. Of all the marauders, she certainly liked Remus the best. He was her fellow prefect, and he never involved himself in the other three's crazy antics. She had found out the year before about him being a werewolf, he told her he didn't really feel up to making excuses why he couldn't patrol the castle with her some times, and thought it was best she just found out now, because she was sure to figure it out on her own if he didn't tell her.

Lily was pulled from her thoughts when Rianne entered through the door, still looking slightly green.

"Just gotten an owl from Caron," she said, laying down on her bed, "She'll be in tomorrow to get her school stuff, and she's going to King's Cross with us the next day to catch the train."

"Great!" Lily exclaimed. She liked Rianne very much, and they got on quite well, but there was some sort of unspoken agreement between the three of them. The fact of the matter was that Lily and Caron seemed to have a much better connection. They didn't exclude Rianne though, and she was quite content to be the other best friend to both of them.

Lily and Rianne stayed up for quite a long time. Rianne was blabbering on about people at Hogwarts. Both her parents working at the ministry, she ran in to quite a few of their classmates often enough, and she was quite happy to reveal all the secrets they told her to Lily. After about a half an hour, she had made her way to the Ravenclaw fifth years.

"Seanna West's got an awful crush on James Potter, I've heard," Rianna surveyed Lily's face, which had flickered slightly into a surprised look, but was now as emotionless as ever. "He'll date her of course; he always dates the girls who fancy him, at least the good-looking ones. It won't last though, the bloke's never going to get over you."

At this, Lily chucked a pillow at Rianne's face. "What are you on about?" she laughed at Rianne. "He doesn't even fancy me. He's just trying to get me because he knows he can't have me."

"Maybe," Rianne replied, "But I doubt it!" She threw the pillow back at lily, who immediately began pounding her with it. After about a half hour, Mrs. Shield poked her head into the room. Rianne hastily stuffed her wand under her covers, she had been about to curse Lily, her underage magic probably wouldn't be detected in such a magical place.

"I know you are having fun girls, but it's time to go to bed," she said, giving Rianne a reproachful look and shutting the door. Lily didn't need telling twice, she changed quickly into her bed things and climbed under her covers. Not long after, she dozed off into quite a deep sleep.

A/N: Hope you weren't disappointed! Anyway, I know I introduced quite a few new characters in this chapter, and I want to clarify some names.You are probably all pronouncing them right, I just want to be sure.

Rianne is pronounced like Ryan. It's not Re-Anne.

Caron is pronounced like Karen. I don't think that one is so difficult.

Seanna isn't Shawna, its Shane-a. Kind of like Seamus. I know it seems like this doesn't matter, after all, she was just mentioned in passing, but believe me she'll pop up again. (This spelling can be pronouced either way, I know, so please don't try to tell me I'm wrong)

I hope you noticed that practically all the names I use are Celtic. I love celtic names!