Chapter – 5

Lily P.O.V

Lily smiled at Remus as she checked him for the fourth time in the game. She was so, so, so close to winning! Remus, for his part, didn't seem too worried. In fact, he looked down-right pleased, if his expression was anything to go by and it almost made Lily scowl.

But there was a problem, Lily had lost a bet to Potter. And now she couldn't scowl for an entire day. An entire day without expressing her displeasure, and that day was today.

The bet itself was so stupid, and Lily had known she was going to lose as soon as she agreed to it. She had bet that James couldn't transfigure a bed into a mini-house structure wandlessly. This was after he had turned a chair into a golem, and she couldn't believe she had bet him that. But he won, and now, she was stuck in this impossible situation.

Unfortunately, it wasn't even the scowling part of it that was giving her a problem. She was slightly irritated (very annoyed) with Remus, who had destroyed her in the past four games of chess. And now, she was so close to winning and Remus didn't even look worried!

"Lupin!" A velvety voice called, and both Gryffindors turned to see who it was. Remus sighed almost immediately but smiled apologetically at Lily.

"Sorry, Lils. I promised I would take the session today!" Remus said, and moved quickly towards Alyssa Parkinson, a Slytherin three years younger than them.

Lily knew that Remus was talking about the tutoring sessions that he took on Sundays for other students, but today was a Wednesday, and Lily had a sneaking suspicion that he had arranged everything exactly like this beforehand. Because now he wouldn't have to complete this game and they would start anew whenever they decided to play again.

Looking at the group Remus was tutoring though, her suspicions seemed unfounded. Parkinson, and the Slytherin group including Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Bartemius Crouch Jr., Mundungus Fletcher and Bertha Jorkins, were one of the more stubborn bunches of third years who were more opposed to getting tutored by Lily. Which is why Slughorn had assigned them to Remus.

The tutoring itself was a compulsory activity until fifth year, because a lot of the material covered in class was more advanced and required background research, which not many were willing to take part in. It was also a paid activity, meaning Lily and Remus as well as Narcissa Black, seventh year Slytherin and Pandora Goldstein, fifth year Ravenclaw got paid 10 galleons a month. Remus was by far the most popular teacher, followed by Narcissa, so he was often busy with that. And this seemed like a genuine need from the Slytherins and not a set-up. So, Lily went back to her work.

She was interrupted, this time by Marlene McKinnon, her dorm-mate sitting down on the chair gracefully. The two got along well enough, but Lily just couldn't connect with them and their fancy, frilly ideas of how a girl should behave. Having been raised alongside a sharp minded and cunning tongued older sister in a middle-class house in the 'muggle' world, Lily had grown up standing up for herself and learning how to defend herself, with both words and fists.

But here, in this 'magical' world, girls grew up with perfect manners and grace, balls and gowns, whispered words and elegance. The purebloods had their arranged marriages and family ideals, alliances and magic. And they didn't know how the muggle world worked, how much wilder it was – with the unspoken 'each person for their own' rule and friends who you drifted apart from, given enough time.

"Hello, Lily." Marlene said, and Lily resists the urge to sprawl further on the chair and grumble out her answer.

"Hey, Marlene." She said instead, pushing other thoughts out of her head. It would take a lot more time for her to get used to the formality that this world had. That was why Remus and Severus, half-bloods who spent more time in the muggle world, were her best friends. "How are you doing today?"

"Perfectly well. I just came to check up with you about our plans for the party at Rola's mansion next week?" Marlene spoke, and Lily wanted to wince at the words used. She was much more used to the free flowing, sometimes inarticulate informal speech, and Marlene already knew that Lily wasn't going to whoever's party this was. Even if it was in a mansion. Especially if it was in a mansion!

"Marlene," Lily started, giving up on the formal speech that made her head ache. "I don't even know who Rola is."

"Oh," Marlene's slightly confused expression seemed a little too forced. Lily had seen Marlene perform complex spell-work and out maneuver the Slytherins in Quidditch (one of the few times she had seen girls giving up their perfect, graceful persona), but her dorm-mate was pretending to be confused by something she already knew.

"I'm not going to Rola's little party anyways." Lily said, interrupting whatever Marlene would have said. The other girl had so much potential and could do so much with her life. Instead, she was wasting it on finding boys and pleasing her parents (neither of them were bad things, but that's only if you have your own life sorted out for yourself.). "I'm going to probably spend some time with Severus."

Not waiting for Marlene's return statement and thoroughly exasperated, Lily shoved her books and parchment into her bag shabbily and skipped out of the library, whistling cheerily.

She never saw the Marlene sigh in frustration, and then the determination that colored her features for but a second before the polite mask was up. Perhaps if she had waited and seen, she would have been prepared for the changes that came for her.