Marlene, Henry and Nate stepped through the barrier one after the other and Marlene grinned.
"This is the last time we'll ever be going to Hogwarts." She leaned her head on his shoulder.
"That sounds depressing," Nate frowned.
"It's not," she assured him. "Oh … well, maybe a little. But after this our lives can begin! It's all so exciting."
"You don't even know what you want to do after Hogwarts."
"I told you I want to be a healer."
"Marly, you change your mind every three months so once you want to be a healer for more than three months, I've decided that your undecided."
"Yeah, well, what do you want to be? Hmmm?"
"Let's go put our trunks on the train."
"Ha! That's what I thought," she sung and Nate laughed. They started moving towards the train, Marlene keeping her eye out for her other friends but the only people she saw worth speaking to were Black and Potter and even they didn't interest her much. They stood near the front of the train with Mrs Potter who was talking with Mr and Mrs Flawley. Everyone knew that Nicolea Flawley and James Potter were cousins but Marlene had never considered them close — they hardly hung out together.
"Back of the train?" he asked.
"Always," Marlene confirmed and they redirected their trolleys to the end but something irked her. Black headed to the end of the train whilst Potter got into a compartment at the front. "Why's Potter getting on at the front?"
"Weird," Nat agreed. "Come on, I think I see Ella."
Marlene spotted Ella as well. She was using her wand to float her trunk onto the last compartment and Marlene shouted, "Ella!" She looked up and smiled.
"My mum has been pestering me to give you your books back," Ella said coming up to them.
"So that means I won't be getting them back until next summer. Lovely."
"Can't pass up the opportunity to piss her off," Ella shrugged. "Hey, Nate."
"Hey, Ella. How've you been?"
"I'd be better if I weren't about to spend eight hours on a train," Ella smiled.
Nate shrugged. "Fair enough." He flicked his wrist and his trunk floated up into the compartment overhead.
"Show off," Ella muttered.
"He's been practising all summer," Marlene complained. "Locomotor trunk," she flicked her own wand and floated her trunk into the overhead compartment next to Nate's trunk. "Have you seen Della or Alice yet?"
"Nope. I've been to busy getting my mum to leave me alone." Ella hopped onto the train and Marlene followed.
"You coming, Nate?"
"I'm going to go find Joey and Victor. I'll catch up with you later," he said with a wave he turned to walk away, "Oh, hey Della!"
"Hi Nate."
"Well, see you."
Adaline tugged her trunk into the compartment. Adaline Bennett was a strong girl with long brown hair that she usually wore down in tumbling curls and Marlene zeroed in on a shiny new watch on her wrist.
"Pretty watch!" she exclaimed, grabbing Adaline's hand to get a better look at it. "Where's Alice?"
"Hello to you too, Marly," Adaline snorted. "And thanks my brother sent it from New York as a back to school present and Alice is busy sucking face with Longbottom. They look like she's going to war."
"First year apart," Ella noted.
"Poor them," Marlene sighed.
"Oh boo hoo, they can still write," Ella waved off.
"Oh come on, how would you feel if you didn't get to see Tommy every day?" Della asked.
"I wouldn't mind so much considering I broke up with him a month ago."
"Wait! What?" Marlene exclaimed, turning in her seat to face Ella. "You didn't mention anything!"
"It's not a big deal. He was a good shag but during the summer I didn't see him much so I cut him loose," Ella shrugged. "No biggie."
"You were with him for a year-" "Nine months" "How is it not a big deal?"
Ella shrugged when Alice stepped into the compartment her lips a little swollen.
"How's Frank?" Adaline smirked.
"Shut it, Della," Alice sighed flopping down next to her. "Hello everyone."
"Do we get a ten minute snog as well or is that only reserved for men?"
Alice rolled her eyes, "I was glad to be back for all of three seconds. Thanks, Ella."
"You know," Ella continued, "I'm surprised, the train doesn't leave for another five minutes. You could've gotten another four minutes of snogging time."
Alice rolled her eyes again.
"How is Frank?" Marlene asked.
"He's great. He's training under Moody in the Auror Office so it's tough, he had to get back now."
"Ah, that's why you graced us with your presence so early," Ella commented and Adaline stifled a giggle. Alice glared at them and Adaline pulled on a straight face, "I was not laughing."
"You were," Ella countered. "Just face it, Della. I am too funny for this planet."
"Maybe we should try sending you to Mars then."
"I read an article about that over the summer!" Marlene exclaimed and the three girls groaned as Marlene went off a tangent explaining all the problems with space travel and how she'd love to one day go to a different planet and that maybe she should work in the Department of Mysteries because apparently they deal with that sort of stuff.
—
The Hogwarts Express spewed white steam around the platform and the sounds of owls hooting, cats meowing and people chattering filled Lily's ears. She had left her parents at the barrier after promising to write to them every week. Petunia hadn't come to say goodbye not that it particularly shocked Lily. Petunia hadn't come to the station to bid Lily goodbye in three years. She always came up with an excuse; a friend's party, school work or plans with friends. This year, Petunia had been 'working' according to Lily's mother.
Pushing her trolley through the crowd, she set about finding Marlene, Adaline, Alice or Ella. The snowy owl, Beedle, in the large circular cage perched on top of Lily's trunk, peered at Lily with its beady black eyes as Lily shoved through the crowd searching for familiar faces.
Lily was too focused on finding her friends instead of where she was going that she walked straight into another person's trolley. Beedle flapped his wings and Lily apologised to the bird quickly, using a hand to steady the cage before looking up to see what she had smashed into.
"Watch where you're going, Mudblood!" a Slytherin by the name of Alvena Aitken spat. She was a petite girl with blonde hair pushed back by a green headband, her hair straighter than a pin and pale blue eyes. Her hand was holding her wand and Lily eyed it cautiously. Alvena may be small but everyone knew she and her wretched twin were quick to throw curses about.
"Wouldn't want to scratch the superior pure-blood, would we?" Lily said coolly before taking hold of her trolley and walking away.
Not being able to find her friends and with the train getting ready to depart in less than ten minutes, she headed to the front of the train where the two prefect compartments were and started loading her trunk onto the train. Her trunk provided a little tricky to carry so she murmured "Locomotor trunk," whilst she tapped the trunk with her wand. Effectively the trunk hovered and she floated it onto the train next to Beedle's cage.
"Neat, Evans," a voice said behind her but this time she recognised it.
"Potter," she greeted turning around and surprised by his presence. Usually he stayed down the back of the train where Prefects hardly patrolled. She couldn't fault him for that because her friends tended to hang out at the back of the train as well. Over the years, it had become a competition to see who could score the very last compartment — the Marauders usually won. Lily suspected they charmed the compartment door to open for only them. "What're you doing down this end of the train? Aren't you meant to be causing havoc down the end with the other three?"
"Nice to see you still have a sharp tongue," Potter noted and Lily rolled her eyes. "We've got to sort out the patrol schedule, don't we?"
"Why – You got Head Boy?" Lily asked catching on quickly though barely masking her surprise. Out of all her worries over who Head Boy would be, James Potter being one of the options had never even crossed her mind. She couldn't imagine why Dumbledore had thought Potter a viable candidate, she clearly remembered the time him and his gang of friends made clouds of rain follow any student they hadn't liked – mainly Slytherins, but still. James nodded and said, "Don't look too disappointed, Evans." Lily had to strain her face into a smile but she was sure she still looked like a stunned pixie.
"Sirius thinks we'll be able to get away with even more stuff now," James said causing Lily to frown, which fixed her problem of looking like a stunned pixie.
"Look, if I catch you and your friends abusing your position, I'm reporting you to McGonagall."
"Take a calming potions, Evans, we haven't even got on the train."
"I'm just saying."
"Duly noted."
"Prongs!" shouted Sirius Black — where there was one, there was the other. Lily learnt that to be a general rule over the years. James ran a hand through his hair and Lily took pleasure in watching as his arms flexed and then admired the way his messy hair fell on his head. Lily doubted that Potter had ever even attempted to tame his hair which was ironic considering his father was world famous for Sleakeazy's Hair Potion, he clearly invented it when he realised his son had the messiest hair to ever exist. But Lily knew the way his hair felt in her hand and Merlin, did she want to run her hand through it now. Why was she even thinking about Potter's hair so much? She was over him — in fact, she had never been into him — and over everything that transpired between them last year, whatever that was. It was two months of sneaking around and, Lily admitted, good times, but it was nothing. Something less than a fling. Lily hadn't even told her friends because Potter and her had agreed to keep it between the two of them. It was more fun that way. Sirius Black didn't even know which was amazing considering the rule.
"Moony and Wormtail don't believe you've got the badge. Of course, I only believed you because I opened your letter but they think you've had a summer fling with Helena Bonham, of all people, and that you're sitting with her for the train ride."
"What'd you tell them?" James asked looking skeptical, his eyebrow raised. Lily looked away. Potter had ever right to snog who ever he wanted. It shouldn't sting that he'd hooked up with another girl over the summer.
"I told them that I caught you guys snogging three times over the summer."
"Padfoot, for a dog you aren't very loyal."
Lily's eyebrows drew together in momentary confusion as James and Sirius shared a knowing smile and Sirius said, "Don't stress over it, Evans. Prongs is just being a deer."
James rolled his eyes, but chuckled and said, "That was a good one, Padfoot."
Lily thought they they should go to St Mungo's to fix their brains from laughing at jokes that weren't remotely funny because clearly they'd lost their minds. Giving them a disdainful glance she hopped onto the train as the whistle bellowed and all the students said the last goodbyes to their parents and ran onto the train.
"Oh and Evans! We got the last compartment again!" Sirius shouted at her.
"Get on the train, Black, before it leaves without you!"
Lily settled herself into the prefects' compartment and watched through the window as Euphemia Potter, her hair tied up in a low bun and her navy blue robes skimming the floor, kissed and hugged James good bye. Lily's eyes widened in surprise for a moment as she watched Euphemia go through the same ritual with Sirius, looking at him as though he were her own son.
They left Euphemia and Lily didn't want to look like she'd been watching and pulled out a quill and a piece of parchment from her trunk and wrote the title 'Prefect Schedule' and underlined it three times. She had just finished the last line when James entered the compartment and sat opposite Lily.
Lily glanced at him for a moment and then froze for a moment. The last time they'd been alone ran through her head like a video on replay and she wasn't sure how he was going to act around her. She focused on her list, drawing up a table and then adding Week One to the top. But James tapped his fingers against the table lightly as though demanding to be noticed and how could Lily not notice him? He was sitting right there with his perfect hair and eyes and mouth and body and was it really so bad that she just wanted to kiss him like she use to?
Noticing Lily's list, he asked, "Who are the new prefects anyways?"
Lily glad for something to talk about said, "I heard that Gryffindor fifth year prefects are Illia Drake and Logan Cammos. Apparently Slytherin fifth year prefects are Victoria de Vaux and Draco Zabini. Ravenclaw are Peter Fell and Marie Love. Hufflepuff are Lisa White and Joseph Duke."
"Zabini? You mean that little twit that tried, and failed, to turn Peter's robes pink?"
"Yep."
Lily breathed out in relief. She'd managed a civil conversation with him. Maybe him snogging Bonham had made him get over her and Lily was glad for it. She liked it when they could just talk. Of course, they never could manage long without arguing.
The rest of the prefects started to file into the carriage and sat around the large table. Lily purposely avoided Snape's eye as she felt his eyes on her and she noticed James' scowl as Snape took a seat with the rest of the Slytherins. The train was going full speed by the time Lily and James were ready to start the meeting.
"Hello everyone," Lily greeted, "Welcome back, I guess. James and I are the Heads this year and as you all know as prefects we are the leaders of the school. You all set the standards and we expect you to hold up those standards. Fifth and Sixth year prefects, you are allowed to reprimand students for bad conduct, you are allowed to confiscate banned items, you are not allowed to dock points from houses!" Lily stressed. "Seventh year prefects only are allowed to dock points but you must fill out appropriate documentation and it must be approved by a Head of House. You are all only allowed to leave your common rooms after curfew if and when you have a patrol. Once your patrol finishes you must get back to your common rooms within ten minutes. On patrol you and the person you are patrolling with must stick together. I cannot emphasise that enough. You must attend all prefect meetings. You are not allowed to abuse your power and if Potter and I catch anyone mistreating their power we will report you to your Head of House. Your status as a prefect is a responsibility not a privilege. I cannot make it anymore obvious. Potter and I will have a list of do's and don't's pinned up in the Head's Office. Does anyone have any questions?"
A small boy with tousled brown hair and a crooked nose out his hand up.
"When do the patrol schedules come out?"
"The patrol schedules will come out weekly. Potter and I will post them on the notice board in front of the Head Boy and Girl office. You'll notice that the prefect bathroom is directly opposite. If you know that you will not be able to patrol on certain nights or would prefer to patrol on certain nights, I will leave a book in the office. The book has all the dates of the year written in, all you have to do is find the date you are looking for, write your name and if you can or can't patrol on that night. If your name is not written under a date, I will assume you are free to work. Once the schedule is out we will not be making alterations."
"As for the schedule on the train," James butted in, pulling a piece of parchment out, "It will go as follows: Ravenclaw prefects are to patrol for the first two hours. Slytherin will start their patrol at one o'clock followed by Hufflepuff at three o'clock and Gryffindor will take the last patrol at five until the end of the trip."
Lily was startled at his sudden organisation of the train schedule. He'd been silent since the beginning of the meeting but then again she hadn't really given him a chance to talk.
"Any other questions?" Lily asked, happy with the schedule James had come up with, and no one put up their hands so James concluded the meeting and the Ravenclaw prefects went off to start their patrol on the train.
Lily started packing up her things and started walking towards the door, leaving Potter behind.
"Where you off to?" he questioned and Lily turned.
"My friends. You didn't think I'd hang out with a buffoon like you all day? I'll see you at five, Potter. Don't miss me too much," she winked before she could stop herself. It's something she would've said before but things had changed. She kicked herself before going to find her friends.
—
Sirius was going to throw himself off of the train if he had to listen to one more minute of whatever Peter was babbling on about. James had yet to return and Remus was too polite to tell Peter that they didn't actually care about the customer who demanded a refund on a perfectly good toy in his dad's shop. Usually Sirius would tell him to shut it but James had said he'd been a little mean to Peter (he didn't think he was) and it had been playing on his mind so he was letting Peter babble on about his dad's toy shop despite the fact that he wanted to throw himself off a moving train.
Sirius glanced over to Remus who was listening and nodding and giving appropriate reactions to everything and Sirius rolled his eyes. This was worse than tea with his stuck up mother and Aunt. Nonetheless, Sirius waited until Peter finished his lame story to ask, "When is James getting back?"
Remus shrugged, "Meeting finished ten minutes ago."
"I'm going to go find him."
Remus shrugged again and Sirius hopped up and left the compartment turning around again to jinx the door so that it would slam shut on the next person to enter.
"What are you doing, Black?"
Sirius looked up and grinned. Ella Dearborn was shutting the door to her compartment. "Dearborn. Lovely to see you as always."
"What are you doing? You know, Lily's in there and she won't appreciate you tampering with the train."
"Good thing I'm only tampering the door, then."
Ella pursed her lips. "Right. Have a good holiday then?"
Sirius shrugged. "It was hot. I got drunk on several occasions. I vacationed in France for two weeks. All in all, I'd say it was above average. You aren't going to dob me into Evans, are you? Oh, and have you seen James?"
"Potter? Nah, haven't seen him and I won't tell Lily but if she catches you, I knew nothing."
"Fair enough," Sirius agreed. "How was your holiday then?" Ella grimaced. "That bad?"
"Let's just say I wish I had only seen my folks once the entire summer."
"Pretty bad then," Sirius concluded, sticking his wand back into his pocket. They both started walking down the train together.
"I saw The Killer Veelas in concert," Ella offered. "And my brother and I went to Brazil for two weeks."
"Which concert did you go to? The one near Appleby or the one down near Brighton?"
"Appleby."
"I went to the one in Brighton. They were pretty good."
"They were," Ella agreed. "Do you really not talk to your parents?"
Sirius went stony faced, "I gotta go find James. See you around, Dearborn." He took off down the train leaving Ella stunned momentarily. His family had always been a sore subject and he preferred to avoid them in conversation and in real life. The whole summer had gone by and he'd only seen his mother once at King's Cross where she was standing with Regulus, her lips pursed as usual as though everything displeased her. Sirius liked it better this way. He lived with the Potters' and it was much better. He often marvelled at the fact that he cared a great deal more for James' parents than he did his own.
"Oi! Black!" she called out and he stopped, "I bet you a galleon your jinx on the door breaks Potter's glasses."
Sirius grinned. "You're on!" With that Sirius continued on down the train in a considerably good mood considering he was pretty sure by the end of the train ride he'd owe Dearborn a galleon. Random students greeted him as he walked and he acknowledged their presence with a nod until Isadora Spinnet stepped in front of him, blocking his path.
She was tall for a girl, only a centimetre shorter than Sirius, and she had a lanky body to match. Her chestnut hair was piled in a bun on her hair and her lips were glossed. She was by all standards pretty but she was a Hufflepuff and Hufflepuff girls always wanted a relationship making her unsuitable for Sirius. James and he had decided at the beginning of summer that the one time hook-up with a hot Hufflepuff girl was not worth the weeks of harassment that would surely follow.
"Hello, Isadora," Sirius greeted, "You seen James by any chance?"
"It's Izzy, silly," she giggled, her hand lightly hitting his arm.
"Right, James then?" Sirius tried.
"No, I haven't seen him. I could help you look," she offered and Sirius was deliberating how to politely say no when James called out his name.
"Sirius!"
"Just the man I was looking for," Sirius chirped, carefully stepping around Isadora. "Peter was boring me with a story about his dad."
"Sirius," James warned.
"I know, I know. Don't worry I sat through the boring monologue of whatever it was Peter was going on about before going to find you."
James nodded. "I'm starved, have you seen the trolley lady?"
"Haven't passed her."
"Me either."
"Moony has chocolate."
James wagged his eyebrows in consideration. "Reckon he'll give us some? You need something, Spinnet?" James looked pointedly at Spinnet who seemed to be waiting for something.
She huffed, "I guess not," and disappeared into her compartment.
"What have I said about going after Hufflepuff chicks?" James said annoyed. "They get attached."
"Helena Bonham," Sirius coughed, "And it's not my fault if I'm so devilishly handsome that the girl wants to stalk me."
"Helena Bonham was a summer fling, we were in a relationship of sorts and then at the end of the summer, I broke up with her and she cried and it was awful. You reckon Moony will give us chocolate?"
"I reckon he will if you act depressed over Evans."
"Why would I be upset over Evans?"
Sirius just looked at him. "Well, why did you need a summer fling with a Hufflepuff?"
"Sex."
Sirius rolled his eyes because anyone with two eyes knew that James was hung up on Evans — has been for a good two years — and anyone else was just a distraction. But Sirius knew James would hear none of it so instead, "You're always upset over Evans. Just have an existential crisis over the fact that Evans doesn't like you and Remus will hand you chocolate like you're a sad, lost, abandoned puppy."
"You know you're not supposed to feed chocolate to a dog, right?" James inquired.
"It was a metaphor, James."
"Technically, it was a simile. And I wonder if you'd die if I fed you chocolate when you were in dog form."
"I'd rather not find out, mate."
James considered it for a moment, "Eh." Sirius glared at him. "Kidding. Mum would disown me if I let you die." Sirius glared at him again. "Wha — oh right, no mother disownment jokes. Sorry." Sirius kept glaring at him. "Cut it out, I said I was sorry."
They continued down the train until they reached their compartment and Sirius purposely let James ahead of him and was thoroughly amused when the door slammed on him. Sirius could hear the sound of a galleon disappearing as James' glasses cracked. James glared at Sirius.
"It wasn't me."
"You're a terrible liar. Moony my man, I heard you have chocolate and I am famished," James entered the compartment, flopping down on the seat opposite him, not bothering to fix his glasses — he'd had worse than a crack.
"That's my chocolate. Go find the Trolley Lady."
Sirius raised his eyebrows pointedly at James and James sighed.
"I just wish Lily would give me a chance you know-"
Remus put down the crossword he was doing and looked at James. "What happened this time? You two seemed fine in the meeting."
"It's not anything that really happened," James explained feigning a look of pure unhappiness. "It's just, all of last year I was her friend and I thought I would be over her by now, you know, but I'm just not. It's quite the problem, Moony. I'm in love with a girl who will never love me back."
"Maybe you should try asking her out again?" Remus suggested.
"What so he can be rejected? Again," Sirius added as an afterthought.
"But he didn't spend all of last year acting like a total toerag."
"Thanks, Remus. You really know how to comfort a friend."
Remus narrowed his eyes. "You're not upset at all!" he realised horrified. "You're trying to con me into giving you chocolate!"
"That's low," Sirius told James. "How could you try to fool dear, old Moony that way?"
"I'm not fooled, Padfoot. It was probably your idea."
"Ha!"
"Should I bother to ask if either of you did your homework over the summer?"
Sirius shrugged whilst James answered, "No."
"Oh, good you can help me with my Herbology essay!" Peter exclaimed.
"Seriously, Wormtail? Herbology?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "An idiot could pass herbology whilst sleeping." James coughed loudly and nudged Sirius who rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll help you."
—
At five o'clock Lily found Potter with his glasses cracked in the middle, in a compartment at the end of the train with his three mates, like they usually were. The Marauders, Lily thought, the group that had turned Professor McGonagall's hair grey. Their infamous nickname that had been given to them in the second year by their strict Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Gilbert.
"Occulus Reparo," Lily said pointing her wand at his glasses when James had joined her in the corridor. The crack vanished and James lifted his glasses off his nose to inspect them and he hummed in approval, though Lily wasn't sure how good his vision was without the glasses.
"Thanks."
"What happened?" Lily asked as they continued down the train.
"Sirius bewitched the door to slam close whenever someone tried to walk through."
Lily laughed and James frowned indignantly. He shoved his hands into his pockets and pulled out a small mirror.
"Sirius Black," he said, though Sirius was nowhere in sight and Lily looked at him in confusion before looking at the mirror. A small gasp escaped her lips and her eyes went wide with wonder and excitement. The mirror was not reflecting James or Lily, it was showing them Sirius.
"Miss me already, Prongs?"
Lily gasped again and smiled widely, "How did you get one of those? That's really amazing magic, I mean it's complex and a little difficult but amazing! I've never seen anything like it!"
"Thanks, Evans," Sirius said and James chuckled.
"It's a simple charm really," he said.
"You made that yourself?"
"We just enchanted the mirrors," James said, "No big deal."
"Stop being modest, Prongs," Sirius said and he turned to Lily, "It took the better half of a month and serious corresponding with my dear friend John Garrowick before we finally got it to work properly."
"That's amazing, so clever," Lily praised their work.
"James, I think we just got Lily Evans' stamp of approval!" he said in a shocked voice.
Lily found herself enjoying talking to James and Sirius, although there were times she didn't understand their jokes she did find them quite funny not that she'd ever admit it. About a half hour in Sirius told them that he had to go and help Peter Pettigrew with the Transfiguration homework Professor McGonagall had set for the holidays.
"Honestly," Sirius had said, "It's amazing how dumb he is at transfiguration considering he-" Sirius's words were drowned out by James coughing loudly and Lily was wondering what Peter had done that should make him so accomplished in transfiguration. "Well anyways, bye!" he said and the mirror became a normal mirror again. Lily marvelled over the glorious magic.
—
James watched as Lily marvelled over the enchanted mirrors. He found it endearing that she always seemed surprised and overjoyed by magic. To James, magic had always seemed ordinary. When he was little his dad would make his toys fly around his room. The dishes always washed themselves and his mother would have made his bed with a flick of a wand. It had always been natural. Magic existed and there was no question about it.
James had always thought Lily Evans was beautiful. He didn't know what it was about her that he couldn't quite forget. Perhaps it was her auburn red hair that came to an abrupt stop after her shoulders or perhaps it was the piercing green eyes and the way that her face seemed to be all sharp edges yet she was incredibly kind — to everyone but him, of course, that was the infuriating part. Or perhaps it had to do with the little quirky stuff she did like the way she'd always have a quill in her hand whenever she studied or the way her hand hovered slightly over her mouth when she couldn't control her laughter. James didn't have the slightest inclination as to why he couldn't forget Lily Evans but he knew he should forget her now. The end of the school year had proven that. Lily would never go out with James and it was time he accept that.
"How was your summer then?" Lily asked, trying to keep the conversation flowing but James answered with a simple, "Good." He didn't particularly want to talk to Evans.
"So we're just going to forget about all of last year then?" Lily asked James and he shoved his hands into the pockets of his robes.
James chose not to answer because the end of last year was all that really needed to be said about their relationship and he thought leaving it there was a good idea. But apparently for Lily, that was not a good idea.
"So you're just going to ignore me?" James still didn't answer and Lily huffed and crossed her arms. "Really mature, so glad I even bothered to waste my time on you!"
"See, that's your problem," James exclaimed turning to face her. "You think the sun shines out of your ass! You can't believe you bothered to waste your time on me! Ha! News flash, love, you aren't that great. Your hair is two shades away from being the colour of a carrot. You're stubborn. You have too many freckles on your nose. You're a tease. And you are so god damn uptight that it is absolutely infuriating!"
James didn't even see it happen. One moment he was staring at Lily, the next he was clutching his nose, a slow trickle of blood flowing out and Lily was shaking her hand.
"What the hell, Evans?" James shouted, "You've gone mad! I think you broke my nose!"
Lily shrugged, nursing the hand that had collided into James' nose in a fist. "You bloody deserved it!"
"I'm Head Boy!"
"Yeah? What are you going to do about it? Take points from Gryffindor?" she dared.
James narrowed his eyes at her. "You just started a game, Evans. Suit up," he told her before stalking off down the train.
He didn't go back to his mates. He didn't want to explain his bloody nose and Evans — they didn't know anything about Evans — and besides it was Gryffindor's turn to patrol. So he pulled his wand out and fixed his nose up as best as he could before continuing his patrol alone.
Lily Evans. Where did James start? She was beautiful, he'd already mentioned that. She didn't have too many freckles and her hair was just the right shade of red — it looked nothing like a carrot. Instead it was a dark red and shimmered like a red sea in the sunlight. Lily Evans was pretty, there was no denying it. But she was also the most infuriating woman on the entire planet. She was uptight, she was stubborn and she'd certainly proven herself a tease last year. Flirting with him and being friends with him, leading him on until after the Easter holidays their flirting had ended in a passageway hidden by a tapestry on the Fourth Floor, their lips glued together and James so elated he could hardly believe it was happening. And so, it continued like that for the rest of the year. Two glorious months spent sneaking away from their friends to hook-up in broom closets and hidden corridors. It had been tricky to hide it from his mates, he always had to make sure he had the map on him but it had been doable. Lily and James had been like fire, one that Lily effectively dosed a bucket of water on and that had been that. She'd gotten his hopes up only to smack them all away as though he'd been some stranger trying to cop a feel of her arse.
James' summer had been spent forgetting Lily Evans but the thing about Lily Evans was that she was a hard woman to forget. No amount of Quidditch, or snogging with Helena Bonham in the bathroom of the Golden Mermaid had been enough. No book could quite distract him from the memory of Lily's lips on his and no amount of running could quite get rid of the memory of Lily rejecting him. In all, it had been a productive summer, thanks to Lily Evans, and yet it hadn't achieved its desired purpose, to forget her. It was hardly the summer's fault that Lily Evans was quite the unforgettable witch and to top it off, he just had to run into her at Flourish and Blotts. It certainly did not help that her legs looked exquisite in denim shorts — all long and willowy — and his mother had become completely besotted with her, which was just adding fuel to the rage because Lily god damn Evans was not perfect. She was mean, uptight and quite frankly, a tease and yet none of those facts seemed to erase Lily from his mind. Not even the fact that she'd broken his nose — though something would have to be done about that. She got to break his heart and get away with it. She didn't get to get away with breaking his nose, too.
As Head Boy and Girl, James and Lily were required to be the last two students off the train. Usually the Heads walked the length of the train together to ensure everyone was off and no possessions were left behind, but Lily and James were quite angry with each other. Lily, angry that he had his head stuck so far up his arse and James angry that she had her head stuck so far up her arse and so they started at opposite ends of the train and met in the middle. James held a Daily Prophet and had it open to page four as he tsked.
"Another muggle family killed," he explained. He wanted Lily to think he was over their spat.
Lily raised an eyebrow but conceded. "Who were they?"
"Stevens family. They had a muggle-born daughter. She survived but everyone else died. Aurors confirmed the killing curse."
James sighed in relief. If he had to choose a way to go, it'd be the killing curse. Any other way was too painful or too cruel. Killing curse was quick. Spell hits you and you're dead. No pain. Just like going to sleep, he'd imagined.
"Stevens," Lily muttered, trying to think. "Martha - no, Meredith Stevens. She's a Ravenclaw in Third Year I think."
James nodded. "She's on their Quidditch team."
"That's so sad," Lily said, glancing at a black and white photo of a family of five. The younger children couldn't be more than ten years old. She looked away not wanting to think about how that family was killed and turned to James. "We should get off the train now."
James nodded and left the compartment without a word and Lily followed but when her foot was just about to step off the train, she found it stuck in a sickly, black goo that had spread over her foot and trapping it onto the floor of the train that was ready to depart any minute now. Lily felt a panic rise in her voice.
"Potter!" she screeched as a train guard blew a whistle. James turned around and Lily thought she saw a smirk. "My foot is stuck and the train leaves at exactly 7-"
"Fifteen," James finished. "I know the schedule of the train, Evans."
"Help me off," Lily demanded trying to move her foot but the more she moved it the more the icky goo grew. James tried to contain his smirk, but he wasn't doing a very good job.
"Nah, I don't think so.," he said to Lily's horror and he turned around and then hesitated and turned back to face her. "You really shouldn't have started the game," he told her, touching his nose with his index finger.
She tried to call after him but it was as though he'd gone deaf. He turned and walked to the area where Lily knew horseless carriages would be waiting. Lily watched in horror as James disappeared from sight but she didn't have time to get angry at him. The train would be leaving any second now she had to think of a way out.
James sauntered into the Great Hall and found his mates immediately. They were sat halfway down the table and were levitating the empty, golden goblets to hit second years on their heads. James went over to them and sat down next to Remus Lupin who was a tired looking boy with light brown hair that fell into his light, almost hazel, green eyes.
"Prongs, Helena Bonham is looking at you," Peter said looking pointedly at the Hufflepuff table.
"Well then stop looking," James snapped. He didn't much care about Helena Bonham. She'd been a shit momentary distraction and that was that. It was not his fault if she got attached.
He looked across the staff table at the front of the hall and noticed a new teacher. She was quite a sight in ripped jeans, a thick, pink woolly sweater and scruffy blonde hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed in days tucked under a blue knit beanie. She also had a horrid scar running down her face. "New defence teacher, do you reckon?"
James asked Remus, Sirius and Peter. They turned to look.
"I'm willing to bet a few galleons on it," Sirius said, before Professor McGonagall marched in with the nervous first years. Sirius aimed a trip jinx at a little boy who held a rat. Remus shook his head and James remained indifferent. Sirius had been tripping first years ever since he learnt how to do the jinx. The little boy stared at Sirius suspiciously and Sirius pretended to be looking at something across the hall.
The Sorting started and James couldn't help but notice that Lily still hadn't come to the feast. He hoped she realised all she needed was to remove the goo with fire, until he remembered that he shouldn't even be thinking about or noticing Lily Evans. He pushed it to the back of his mind. Lily Evans was not his concern. She'd made that perfectly clear on several occasions.
The little boy whom Sirius had tripped turned out to be sorted into Gryffindor. His name was Daniel Wentworth and he concluded the Sorting Ceremony. Dumbledore didn't really say anything of importance, just the usual rubbish, and then the food appeared. Lily still hadn't come to the feast.
—
Marlene pursed her lips as she craned her neck. She thought maybe Lily had chosen a seat up the front to welcome the new firsties but there was no sign of her and Lily was an easy person to spot in a crowd thanks to her dark red hair.
"Has anyone seen Lily since we got off the train?" Marlene asked.
Alice shook her head, "Maybe she had to do something. Head Girl stuff maybe?"
"The Head students are always at the Welcoming Feast," Ella commented. "See? Potter's down the end of the table."
Marlene turned her head and sure enough Potter was sitting with his mates and Marlene's concern grew.
"Marly, eat," Adaline ordered. "Your chicken is going cold."
"Lily is missing!"
"She's around here somewhere. Stop fretting and eat before I eat your food for you."
"Urgh. You know who I can't stand?" Alice asked.
"Who?" Ella asked.
"Frank's mother. She's just so urgh."
"Nice use of vocabulary," Marlene commented.
"Well, she is," Alice defended before going into her story of how Mrs Longbottom expects Alice and Frank to get married before they move in together. "It's completely ridiculous! Frank and I want to move in together as soon as I finish Hogwarts and I'm not going to get married at eighteen. She's completely mental."
"Nate's parents are like that. Felicia wanted to move out when she got engaged but her parents are making her wait until she's married. I think they just want to spend us much time as possible with her until she moves towns for good. They want to go down to Shell Bay."
"I still think she's being unreasonable!" Alice huffed.
"I thought we were supposed to move in together after Hogwarts," Adaline frowned.
"What?"
"We always said that after Hogwarts we'd live together, didn't we?"
Alice looked to Ella and Marlene for help. "Don't look at us, you two did always say that," Ella shrugged before turning to Marlene. "So my mum wants me home for Christmas but if you're staying she'll let me stay."
"Ella, we just got to Hogwarts."
"Yes, but I'd like to know whether I have to count down excitedly til Christmas or whether I'd rather stab my eye with a fork the night before the train leaves."
"Lovely."
"So are you staying or…"
Marlene sighed, "I don't know, yet, El and where is Lily? This is getting ridiculous!"
"It is strange," Ella frowned. "Dinner is almost finished. She loves the Welcoming Feast, even if she had something to do, she would've came to eat, right?"
"Definitely." Marlene agreed.
—
She stopped struggling knowing that the larger the goo got the harder it'd be to remove. Lily looked closely at the goo and noticed that it bubbled and hissed, it was Serpent Glut. Lily was sure of it, she had seen it on sale at Zonko's last year in Hogsmeade. Lily also vaguely remembered how to destroy it. Fire. She'd have to set the goo on fire.
Pulling her wand out of her robes, she pointed it at the goo and murmured, "Incendio." The goo slowly melted away however Lily was not quick enough to extinguish the flames. Her leg was suddenly alight with flames and Lily quickly shouted, "Aguamenti!" and pointed her wand at her leg. The train slowly started to move and Lily didn't have time to feel the burning sensation on her leg. She jumped from the train and because her leg was weak landed in a sprawl on the hard floor.
Lily jumped up and ran to where the carriages usually awaited, but there were none left. Knowing that the gates closed after a certain time, Lily ignored her burned leg – it could wait until she got to Hogwarts – and hastily made her way up the hill.
Lily remained silent on the trip up when she should have been cursing James Potter to the ends of the Earth. The news from the Prophet had unsettled her. Had Voldemort decided to go after the families of muggle-borns? It would be a clever way to create fear amongst the muggle-borns. Some would flee, some would try to hunt down the Death Eaters who did his bidding and others would keep their heads down. Lily wondered whether the protective charms she had cast around her parents house would keep the Death Eaters out. She had done every spell she had known, she had even bought a book from Flourish and Blotts to try and give her family the most advanced protection. It was hard because, of course, the protection could not interfere with her parents' muggle lives and it had to go unnoticed by the muggles living in the area. The house couldn't just disappear from sight.
Lily arrived at Hogwarts slightly breathless and sighed with relief when she saw the gates were still open. She hurried inside the gates and then walked up to the castle. The doors had been closed but not locked so Lily pushed the heavy door to the Entrance Hall open and then heaved it closed before continuing on to the Great Hall.
Lily went and sat with her friends who all gave her worrying looks as they watched her limp on the leg she had burnt. Marlene lifted Lily's robe and saw the irritated red and bubbly skin and gasped.
"Merlin, Lily! What happened?"
"What happened to your leg?" Alice asked fretfully. Her brown eyes looked at the wound and then she pulled out her wand and waved it over Lily's leg. The pain dyed out like a flame with no oxygen and Lily thanked her as she inspected the leg. There was still a bit of skin discolouration but otherwise the leg was back to normal. She pushed her robes back over her leg and then started her tale.
"I bet Potter put the Serpent Glut there himself! Thought he'd look better if you showed up to the Welcoming Feast late. Hmph!" Adaline said angrily pulling out her wand from her robes, "We'll show him, Lily! What should I hex him with?"
"A bat-bogey hex?" suggested Marlene with a happy twinkle in her blue eyes. "Or maybe you could vanish his hair."
"Or his clothes," Ella suggested and everyone laughed. Even Lily laughed slyly and she never tolerated hexing people or playing magical pranks on people.
"Just leave him be," Lily instructed. The 'game' was between her and Potter. Her friends didn't even know the real reason he'd done it and she had started it. She had punched him, quite brilliantly, if she may say. "I did break his nose with-"
Lily was interrupted by loud, roaring laughter from a few seats down the Gryffindor table. The source none other than James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were laughing like kookaburras on a telegraph pole. Lily turned away from them and sniffed slightly.
"The whole school'll know by tomorrow! Lily Evans made a fool of," she said miserably playing with the food on her plate and a certain feeling rose in Lily. She didn't want anything to do with Potter anymore, she'd been determined to make sure they were on good terms for their final year but suddenly those feelings flew away. She may have hurt his feelings last year but she wasn't obliged to go out with Potter just because he liked her. It certainly didn't warrant the things he'd said about her. Lily looked at the tips of her hair. They were nowhere near the colour of a carrot and did she really have too many freckles? She touched her nose consciously and then shook her head. Potter was being a prat. She wasn't stubborn, she certainly wasn't a tease and she definitely wasn't uptight. He was just arrogant and couldn't take no for an answer.
Marlene shot Lily a stern glance and said, "The only one who can make a fool of Lily Evans is and always will be Lily Evans. Don't let Potter" — "Who is a brainless git!" Alice interrupted — , "Get to you!"
"Besides there are bigger things going on at the moment," Adaline said. "Did you hear what happened to Amelia Bones' and her mother?"
"Amelia Bones? The Head Girl from Ravenclaw, when was it? About Two or three years ago?" Lily asked.
"Last week, a Death Eater or two went to their house trying to recruit Amelia's mother but obviously she declined, you know she's the one who spearheads the campaign against Voldemort with Mrs Potter, and the Death Eaters didn't take that too kindly and Mrs Bones and the Death Eater duelled! Apparently Amelia got home just in time and stunned the Death Eater before apparating her mother to St Mungo's and calling the Ministry. Apparently Mrs Bones has suffered from some memory loss. She still thinks it's 1964!"
"That's so sad!" Lily said, "I hope she's all right. Poor Amelia."
"What a thing to come home to," Marlene tusked with a sombre look in her eyes.
"Did they catch the Death Eater?" Ella asked.
Adaline shook her head, "But apparently, it's Yaxely's dad." The five of them looked over at the Slytherin table where Salvatore Yaxely was laughing with his friends, Severus Snape among them to Lily's disappointment. Yes, she was right to ignore Severus' attempts to talk to her and she didn't know whether that comforted her or disturbed her.