Disclaimer – I own absolutely nothing except bits and pieces of the story line and some lent that I just found in my pocket. Hooray for me.

Thank you to my first four reviewers! Your feedback meant a ton to me. So thank you again to Fairy of Obsession, Chios-gal, ladytithenmamiwen, and Devvehdoo!

As Lily sat tucked into her chair at the table in the dining room, she read from a book that she had stolen from her mother's collection. It was a rather dull story, but it gave her something to do while waiting for her parents to get up and around. It was noon already and they were still getting dressed. "We're only going to Diagon Alley! You don't have anyone to impress. No one's going to care what you're wearing! Come on!" Lily got up from her position on her chair and stood at the bottom of the stairs in the entry hall.

Lily was understandably in a rush. She had put off her shopping until the day before her departure for Hogwarts. In the back of her mind, she was kicking herself for waiting so long, as she knew that Diagon Alley would be swarmed with other procrastinating students. Oh well, she thought to herself. At least I'm getting it done.

"Lily," called her mother from somewhere upstairs. "Lily, are you sure that your father and I need to come with you? You're seventeen and you can Apparate or Disintegrate or whatever that test was that you took. Your father's not feeling very well, honey. Can't you go on your own?"

"But Mum, you're the one with the money."

"Lily, darling, you can get some money out of my pocketbook. Take as much as you need, but don't take all of it. I know how you get when you're put in an environment with shops. Don't spend the money in one place and buy your school things first, all right?"

"Fine, Mother. I'll be home later." At this point, Lily's mother descended the stairs and sent Lily off with a hug and a kiss on the top of her head.

"Be good and don't go off with anyone you don't know."

"Yes, yes, Mum. I know. Goodbye," said Lily as she prepared to Apparate.

"Bye, honey."

And Lily was off. In the blink of an eye, she had gone from her entry hall to an alley beside the Leaky Cauldron. She looked over at Tom and gave him a polite nod to let him know that she was just passing through. As soon as she had tapped the right bricks to get into Diagon Alley, she stepped into the magical world that she had been away from for three months. Students were already greeting Lily as she walked along the crowded shopping area.

The first shop that Lily stopped in after going to Gringotts to convert her money was the Apothecary. She needed to refresh her supplies of ingredients for her NEWT level Potions class. After purchasing her ingredients, Lily made her way over to Flourish and Blotts to purchase all of her books. Once she left Flourish and Blotts, she discovered she only had one place left to go to before her back to school shopping was finished. She made her way to the stationary store to pick up extra quills and parchment.

On her way out, she heard very familiar voices carrying out of Quality Quidditch Supplies. Ugh…

"James, James…Look at this new Beater's Bat model."

"Oh, wow. This is incredible. You should purchase it. We're going to be unstoppable this year, Sirius."

Lily gazed through the front window of the store and spied James Potter and Sirius Black jumping around from item to item in the little shop. By the door, she saw Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. She guessed that they were sulking because, unlike James and Sirius, they didn't participate in Quidditch.

Lily got along very well with Remus when he was alone. There were many times when Lily would find Remus studying alone in the library and she would have a conversation with him.

She never spoke much to Peter. Every once in a while, Lily would feel like someone was following and she would turn around to discover Peter walking close to her. She would smile back politely and increase her speed ever so slightly, but he would be able to keep up. He was also a puppet of James and Sirius' and he was always the bearer of bad news to their enemies and girlfriends. Lily never felt too pressured to go out of her way to be nice to him.

After pausing for little over a second, Lily accidentally caught Remus' eye.

"Hey, Padfoot and Prongs, I think I'm going to step outside for some air," said Remus, excusing himself without bringing too much attention to the fact that he was sneaking out.

"Yeah, all right, Moony. Hey, Prongsie, check out this set of gloves designed for Chasers. I think they'll—" Sirius' comment was lost to Remus' ears as he stepped out of the small shop.

"Hey, Lily. What are you doing out here all by yourself? I would have imagined that you'd be swarmed with your girlfriends by now."

"Hey, Remus. I'm just doing some last minute school shopping. I did plan on meeting any of my friends. I'm sure they're much more organized that I am. Oh well… What are you doing here with the three stooges?"

"Well, I think that we're shopping, but so far, Peter and I haven't visited any shops that interest us yet. You know how James and Sirius get. We got here about an hour ago and the first store we stop in is Quality Quidditch…and we're still here."

"Yeah, leave it to Potter and Black to put you through crap like that," said Lily as she looked back into the store with dismay. She glanced at Remus and noticed him looking a little paler than usual. "Is everything all right? They haven't taken advantage of you have they," she said with a wink.

"Ha ha…Very funny, Lily. But no, they haven't. I'm just not feeling up to par right now. In a few days, I will be fine, I'm sure. Don't worry your little head about," he explained to her, as he ruffled her auburn locks.

"If you want to tag along with me, that's fine. I've just finished my shopping, so we can go wherever you wan to go."

"Nah, that's ok. Someone's got to keep an eye on those two and I'd hate to leave Peter alone. I'll see you tomorrow on the train. Hey, by the way, have you heard who the new Head Girl is?"

"Yeah, it's me. Do you know who Head Boy is?"

"James."

At this point, Lily's face turned a shade redder than her hair. With a wave of her hand, she bid fond farewell to Remus and stormed off back to the Leaky Cauldron to drown her sorrows.

Looking at her retreating back, Remus was sorry that he had delivered such, apparently, disturbing news to Lily. He quite enjoyed her company and felt a pang of sorrow to see her leave. Oh well, he figured. He'd be able to see her all this year since he was a prefect and the Heads always work closely with the prefects.

Remus decided he had stalled the inevitable long enough. It was time to rejoin his friends. As soon as he had stepped into the store, he felt immediately like the warden of the crazy pair that were currently trying on Quidditch robes that featured the names of some of their favorite players.

"Padfoot, Prongs, guys. Seriously, we have been here long enough. Do you think it'd be okay if we visited some of the other shops in Diagon Alley? Come on! This is the last time for four months we'll be able to grab an ice cream from Florean Fortescue's. Let's go grab a cone and maybe buy some books or something from Flourish and Blott's."

His begs had fallen to deaf ears. Actually, Peter's ears had perked up at the sound of ice cream, but his opinion did not sway Sirius and James' in the least.

"Hey, guys, can you tear yourselves away from your reflections for one second!" At that moment, James and Sirius we gazing at themselves while fashioning professional Quidditch robes. "Listen, it's never going to happen. You guys are going to end up in go nowhere jobs and never make anything out of yourself." Remus didn't really mean what he said. He just knew what it would take to shake them out of their reverie.

"You take that back, Moony!" shouted a rather red-in-the-face Sirius.

"I know what you're doing, Remus, and I like it. That's some good strategizing, boys. Moony, I'm glad you're on our side and not Snivellus.' You know, Padfoot, I think that our man Moony may have a point. Let's go get some ice cream and pick up our books." James had a pull with Sirius. It wasn't that James controlled Sirius, but Sirius trusted his judgment. If James felt that it was time to go, then it probably was time to go.

"All right. On to Florean Fortescue's!" eagerly proclaimed Sirius while marching out of Quality Quidditch Supplies.

The boys had originally met many years ago, during their first banquet at Hogwarts. Remus was a bit shy, but quickly befriended by James. James wasn't too eager to become friends with Sirius when his parents first told him that a member of the Black family was coming to Hogwarts the same year as him. James' father had never taught him to be rude to those that don't agree with his ideas, but James was still ready to give Sirius the cold shoulder.

As soon as Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor, however, James realized that this Black must really be different. Their friendship was sealed when they simultaneously reached for the same shepherd's pie. Peter joined the group near the end of the meal, once he realized what families James and Sirius came from. It wasn't that he was using them, but he felt attracted to the popular and powerful blood that surged through his roommates.

Well, the boys reached the ice cream parlour and got their treats to go. They made their way over to Flourish and Blotts and purchased everything they needed. After their shopping spree, they parted ways and went home, promising to meet up on the train the next day.

Once Lily had effectively drank quite a few butterbeers, she felt like she should go home and finish packing. She stepped up and walked out of the Leaky Cauldron and into the alley beside it. She Apparated on the spot back to her house.

"Lily, is that you?"

"Yeah, Mum. I'm home, obviously. I picked up all of my supplies. Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"

Lily's mother descended the stairs to give her daughter a hug. "No, darling, nothing happened. Did you see any of your friends in Dacron Alley?"

"Mum, it's Diagon Alley. It's a magical shopping district, not some fiber. Geesh… But yes, I did run into a friend of mine, Remus Lupin. Do you remember me telling you about him?"

"Yes, he was the quiet boy who hangs out with those boys who cause you trouble, right?"

"Yep. That's him. He was hanging out with the other guys, but he talked to me alone for a while. I feel so sorry for him. If my friends acted like that, I would ditch them. He says that they're good guys and they're maturing little by little. He insists that if I got to know them, that I would become really good friends with them."

"You know that that's probably right, Lily. Maybe you should take some time to get to know them."

"Yeah… Well, actually, that brings me to the worst news. James Potter, the ringleader of the Marauders, is Head Boy." Judging from her mother's vague expression, Lily felt she needed to clarify why this was such a horrible thing. "We have to share a private dorm. We have to share a lot of duties. We have to patrol the corridors late at night…alone together."

"Oh Lily, it can't be too bad. Don't forget who chose him to be Head Boy. Do you really think that your teachers and Headmaster would make the mistake of having the Head Boy be a bad guy?"

"I guess that you're right. I'll give him a chance. I better go finish packing. Don't forget to wake me up early tomorrow, ok?"

"Yes, sweetie. Goodnight," said her mom as she stood on her toes to give her daughter a kiss on the top of her head.

"'Night, Mum."

Lily walked up to her room and realized that she had packed everything she needed. She decided to get an early start on sleeping, so she got dressed into her pajamas. As she laid down on her bed, a small tapping attracted her attention to the window. The same sharp looking owl from a few weeks ago was perched by her window. Lily recognized it as James' owl. Oh boy, what does he want now? She decided she might as well read what he had written to her. She removed the parchment that was carefully tied to the right leg of the owl. The owl flew off after she had taken the letter

Dearest Lily,

Remus told me that you're the new Head Girl. I guess that that means that you know that I'm Head Boy. I hope that you aren't too disappointed. I'm sure that you would have preferred to have one of your boyfriends to take the position. I promise you that I will behave and act maturely. If I don't, you can tell Dumbledore and have me removed. I better go. Sirius is getting antsy. I think he wants to go to sleep and my light is keeping him up. I'll see you tomorrow, lovely Lily.

Yours forever and ever,

J. Potter

Lily tossed the letter into her drawer and plopped down on her bed. If he thinks I'm going to believe he will attempt to be mature, he has another think coming. I hope he tries, though. I don't want to have crow's feet when I'm 17. Lily was still thinking about all the trouble that James could cause her in the coming year. Finally, her consciousness faded away and she fell asleep with the hope that her worst fears would not come true.