Updated 14th September 2022

Authors note: Hi! I promised that I was trying! I really am!

I hope you enjoy and if you have any questions, constructive criticisms or any kind of advice or things you want to see more of, leave a message or send me a private message. I'll gladly try and take things on board. I've noticed, reading back that I seem to flit between character POV and 3rd person… Apologies. I've updated this chapter and probably will update more chapters, but any new ones I'll probably write from the POV of the character.

As usual, all the rights to Harry Potter and anything that resembles Queen JK Rowling's work or contains anything she has written, always belongs to her. I am not in any way trying to take ownership of Harry Potter or anything, just trying to satisfy my curiosity with Lily & James' story (and hopefully yours as well!).

NOW: Happy Reading!

SECOND YEAR AND THAT POTTER BOY

It was September 1st, 1972 and Lily was already sitting in a compartment with Sev — she promised the girls that she would come and visit later, but she wanted to spend time catching up with her best friend from childhood first.

"…And he just walked out." Sev finished his story sadly. His parents had split up briefly over the summer holidays and he was as miserable as ever. Even though he had a great dislike for his father, who he described as cruel and hateful and never showed any care for him, it still had hurt Sev to see his father walk out.

"But… he came back?" Lily asked, timidly; she could never accurately judge how to approach the subject of Sev's parents.

Sev nodded. "After a couple of weeks, yeah. Still as cruel as ever and they're still arguing; dad doesn't want mum using magic in front of him."

"Oh…"

The compartment slid open suddenly and Lily and Severus were interrupted.

"Alright, Evans?" It was James Potter.

"What do you want, Potter? Lost your pals?" Sev snapped.

James laughed. "Wasn't talking to you, snivellus."

Lily sighed. "What do you want, Potter?"

"Just wanted to see if you wanted to come and join the party in our compartment; we're all a lot more fun and, although I can't speak for the others, a right sight better than this one." James shrugged.

"Sod off Potter."

"We've got exploding snap" James said in a sing-song voice.

"If you keep pestering me, I'll make sure I singe your eyebrows." Lily said sweetly.

James laughed and said as he shut the compartment door, "Later, Evans!"

After he left, Sev frowned at Lily. "I don't know why you bother even talking to Potter. He's arrogant, rude and he thinks the world of himself!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "I know Potter is an arrogant toe-rag, but he's just being a pest for the sake of it — I don't know why you take the bait, Sev."

Sev perked up when she agreed with him. "But he's a bully!"

"And I tell him off for being one, but he's just trying to get a reaction from you Sev. Look, I'm going to go find Alice and the girls — I'll catch up with you later." Lily said, starting to stand up.

Sev sniffed. "Why can't you sit with me on the train? You see the girls all the time!"

"Because I promised them Sev, on the platform. You know I'll walk with you to classes that we have together any way and see you on weekends or in the library." Lily said politely. "Still Potions partners?"

"Fine." Sev grumbled. "I'll go fine Avery and Mulciber and sit with them."

"I don't know what you see in them Sev. I might bring the girls back to this compartment, if that's ok."

"Fine." He said again. He got up and strode out, shutting the compartment door with a snap.

Lily shook her head, she didn't understand why he was so grumpy — she was only trying to maintain her friendship with both Sev and the girls she shared a Dorm with… neither of whom could stand the other. She went and found the girls in the corridor talking to people in various compartments; after a while of talking to various Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws in their year that they had come to like, the four girls came back to the compartment that she shared with Sev earlier.

They all shared their stories from their summer holidays and when the trolley came around, they shared some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans (Lily's favorite), Cauldron cakes, Licorice wands and Pumpkin Pasties.

"Lil…" Marlene started. "Why do you stay friends with that Snape boy? You know he hangs around with Avery and Mulciber and they're just downright horrid…"

Lily sighed. "I know Marls, but he did teach me a lot about the wizarding world when I had no-one else. I feel like I owe it to him to be a friend, but I'm also trying to help him find better friends. I know he has a lot of trouble making friends."

"Yeah, because he's rude to the people you hang around with." Mary said, rolling her eyes. "Sorry Lil, but I tried to be nice."

"I'm not asking any of you to be friends with him. I know you all tried, I'm sorry." Lily hated being caught in the middle. "Just, trust me…"

Alice had never asked or mentioned anything since first year, but she felt like she owed it to her best friend what she had heard. "Lil, you know I don't interfere with your friendship with Snape— uh, Severus. But I heard him talking on the platform to Avery and Mulciber; he was calling muggleborns a you-know-what…"

Lily was confused. "What's a you-know-what?"

"Um…" Alice had banked on her best friend not knowing. "It's a really foul name for muggleborns… Not a term one usually would hear in civilized conversation… um…"

"Mudblood." Marlene shivered. "Don't make me say it again, I hate the word!"

Lily sat, dumbfounded. Why would Sev call people of her heritage that horrible name?

"I'm sorry Lil, I just thought you should know…" Alice said softly, she then tried to change the topic. "How about we play a game with the Every Flavor Beans?"

"Yeah!" Mary exclaimed, trying to shift the focus for the remainder of the train ride. The girls played their game, Mary and Marlene believing to have successfully distracted Lily; Alice knew her best friend better than that.

It was a Saturday and Lily and Sev were sitting on the lake's edge, doing their Transfiguration homework.

"How are we supposed to write about the proper way to transfigure an animal into a water goblet?" Lily said, frustrated. "If we can't fully do it!"

"Snivellus!" It was James and Sirius, followed by Peter; Remus was sitting a while away, hiding behind a book. "Expelliarmus!"

Sev's wand flew out of his hand and landed in front of Sirius. Lily stood up. "Leave him alone!"

"Impedimenta!" Sirius aimed his wand at Sev, hitting him in the chest. "That'll slow you down a bit Snivelly."

"I said, LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily said furiously, drawing out her own wand.

James and Sirius looked at each other, muttered the counter-curses and kicked Sev's wand back towards him. Sev grabbed his wand and aimed it back at James, "Stupefy!"

"Snape! Black! Potter! Evans! Pettigrew!" It was Professor McGonagall, walking across the grounds looking angry; she reversed the spell on James and looked at them all. "Ten points from each of you! And if I catch you at it again, it will be detention." She turned and walked away.

Lily scowled at James and Sirius, she wasn't a trouble-maker and they got her in trouble for bullying Sev. "You better leave us alone or once Professor McGonagall is gone, I'll hex you." She muttered furiously.

"Aw, Evans. You're cute when you're mad." James teased as he, Sirius and Peter went back to where Remus sat.

Lily and Sev sat back down angrily, they could barely think about Transfiguration homework now…

Lily and Sev were walking to Potions, where they always worked together; they both had a great aptitude for Potions, although Sev excelled at it.

"I heard Professor Slughorn talking about making a Sleeping Draught this week! I wonder if we will be able to start today?" Lily said excitedly. She had her potions book in her arms as her satchel was rather full with her other books for the day.

"I don't know, Lily." Sev said, also carrying a number of books — his bag was much smaller. "Maybe. Have you heard that he hosts dinner parties for his favorite students? The Slug Club — I'd rather battle the Whomping Willow than be in the Slug Club."

Lily frowned, she liked Professor Slughorn. "That's mean Severus. I would go if I was asked…"

Just then, two boys ran through, pushing between Lily and Severus, making Lily drop her book and nearly tumble — It was James Potter and Sirius Black, they stopped to look around.

"Alright Evans?" James asked, ruffling his hair.

"I was before you idiots pushed us!" Lily said angrily.

Sirius laughed as Sev picked up their books from the ground. "What's wrong snivellus? I don't know how you can see where you're going with that mop of grease on your head." James laughed at Sirius' joke and with a smile at Lily, they took off again to the Dungeons.

Lily sighed. "Thanks for getting my book, Sev."

The whole way to the dungeons, Lily heard nothing else but how rude, arrogant and lazy James Potter and Sirius Black were. She knew they were arrogant, but it was hard to listen to the same comments from Sev every day.

In their class, Professor Slughorn set them the task of brewing up the Sleeping Draught; he walked around the class offering tips to students that appeared to struggle. He walked over to Lily and Severus and, as always with the unlikely friends, their potions were the best in the class; Professor Slughorn awarded them each 10 points.

"Lily, with your brains, you should be in Slytherin." Professor Slughorn said to her.

Lily laughed. "I don't think Slytherin is a good match for me sir, I'm quite happy in Gryffindor."

Professor Slughorn smiled at her. "Lily, stay back after class, I would like to talk to you — oh dear girl, you aren't in trouble at all!" He added as Lily suddenly looked a bit worried.

"Yes, Professor."

The bell signalled the end of the lesson and that it was lunch time; the class packed away their belongings and hurried out of the door. Lily told Alice that she would catch up and said goodbye to Sev. When the class was empty, she walked up to Professor Slughorn's desk where he was packing his briefcase. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes, Lily, I did." He smiled. "I don't know if you have heard, but I like to throw the occasional supper party for the select student or two… Would you be game?"

Lily smiled brightly. "I'd be delighted, sir."

"Splendid! You would be welcome to bring a friend of course." Professor Slughorn snapped his briefcase shut. "Look for my owl!"

"Thank you, sir. I will." Lily said, and she walked out of the dungeons with a bright smile on her face.

Lily and Alice were walking along the cold halls back to the Gryffindor Common Room together after Professor Slughorn's party; as it turned out, they were the youngest at the supper party, along with James Potter — of all people. Lily and Alice had noticed that everyone that had been invited (except for themselves) had ties to someone rich, famous or powerful; Professor Slughorn had put on a lovely hot supper with a warm pudding and in the bitter winter that had started, it was most welcome and delightful.

"I didn't know that James' father was the inventor of the Sleakeazy Hair Potion!" Alice said. "I thought the inventor would be much older!"

"Potter's parents are older, much older than mine at least." Lily said. "I met them last year when I was trying to get onto the platform for the first time. Shame they have such an arrogant son, they're both so lovely."

Alice laughed. "Ok, James gives Severus a lot of trouble and he has a big head, but he isn't that bad."

"Both he and Sirius are troublemakers, Alice. They pull pranks all the time and they bully Sev." Lily said. "AND they got me into trouble when I didn't do anything."

"Chizpurfle." Alice said to the portrait of the Fat Lady; she swung open. "I know, but they can be funny."

Lily sighed. "I wouldn't say that too loud, their heads will get bigger. I still cannot fathom how they can get through the portrait hole with their heads the size of the moon."

Alice laughed. As they walked through the common room, they spotted James, Sirius, Remus and Peter in a corner near the fire, away from everyone, talking quietly to one another; they were obviously up to something. "Come on Lil, let's just pretend we don't know they're planning something."

Lily shrugged and followed her friend to the staircase to the Girls' Dorms. "Oi, Evans!" She turned and saw Sirius calling to her. She looked at Alice and sighed; Alice gestured for her to go and continued up the staircase. Lily walked over to the group.

"What, Black?"

"You're good at charms, right?" Sirius smiled. "Moony here won't help us."

Remus sighed. "Sorry Lily, I've tried to talk them out of this."

"That's ok, Remus." She said kindly to him, she placed her hands on her hips and frowned slightly at Sirius. "I'm good with charms, yes, but I won't help you with a prank, Black."

"Come on Evans." James said smoothly. "Pleeeeeeeease?"

"No, absolutely not Potter." Lily turned on her heel and headed to the Girls Dorm.

"Killjoy." Muttered Sirius as Lily left the room.

The next day, Lily found out what they wanted her help with — changing the hair colors of the teachers at the high table as they drank from their goblets. Professor Dumbledore's hair and beard turned bright pink, and the other professors on the high table had all different hair colors. Professor Dumbledore chuckled and left his hair bright pink, but the other professors were not as amused and changed their hair colors back. James, Sirius and Peter were all laughing with the students, although a lot harder; Remus chuckled but hid behind a book. Lily had to admit, it was funny to see Professor Dumbledore with bright pink hair and Professor McGonagall with blue hair…

"See Lil, not all their pranks are bad." Alice laughed as they walked out of the Great Hall. "That one was actually pretty good."

Lily smiled. "Ok, yes that one didn't hurt anyone… and it was funny to see Professor Dumbledore with pink hair."

"Do mine ears deceive me, Evans?" came a smug voice behind Lily. They girls turned and saw James Potter walking behind then, grinning from ear to ear. "Did Evans actually like one of our pranks?"

Lily smiled. "Pranks like that are harmless, so yes, I didn't mind that one."

"Wait until the next one, you'll love it." He winked and slowed down for his best friends.

"I can hardly wait for excitement." Lily mumbled to Alice. She laughed as they continued to their lesson.

It was the Christmas break and, as usual, Lily went home for the holidays. She decided this year to spend it just with her family, even if Petuniaa disliked having her around. Lily was much too excited and woke up early, she got dressed in a sweater her mother had knitted her the previous year and her warmest pair of jeans; she also fitted on a pair of thick woolen socks. She grabbed the presents for her family and went downstairs to find her parents already awake and making breakfast; Lily placed the gifts under the Christmas tree and hugged her parents.

"Harold, would you mind waking Petunia for breakfast?" Mrs. Evans asked as she flipped a pancake.

Mr. Evans finished putting plates on the table and walked upstairs to their oldest daughter's bedroom; they heard a grumble and footsteps on the stairs as he came back down.

After breakfast, it was time for gifts, this year Lily had owl-ordered special gifts for her parents and bought nice, normal gift for her sister.

Lily handed her parents a large, wrapped box. Her parents opened it and inside was a glass sphere containing an exact, moving model of the solar system; there also happened to be some Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and Licorice wands. Her parents gushed over their daughter's gift and Lily handed Petunia her gift, a small rectangular parcel that contained a nice make-up set that she knew her sister would love (as she was very much into make-up). Petunia grumbled her thanks and put it down, turning to her parents expectantly. Mrs. Evans handed Petunia her gift, which turned out to be a beautiful red dress that she had asked for and some matching shoes. Meanwhile Mr. Evans gave Lily her gift, who thanked her parents before opening it. Her gift contained a new pair of high waisted, white jeans and a blue and white, striped top; she got up and hugged bother her parents.

Lily received a few owls that day, Christmas wishes from Alice, Marlene, Mary and surprisingly, James Potter. She couldn't fathom why he would wish her a Happy Christmas as they weren't friends, but she was polite and wished him a Merry Christmas in return. It had been a good day, even if Petunia didn't want to join her in making a snowman.

"That Lupin kid is away again."

"Hmm?" Lily was sitting with Sev in Herbology, she had been listening to Professor Sprout.

"I said: Lupin is away again. He's away every month." Sev whispered quickly.

"I know your theories, Sev." Lily sighed, she couldn't understand Sev's fascination with the four boys. "And I think you're jumping to conclusions. His mother has been very ill; you've heard him. He never looks happy when he comes back…"

"But it was a full moon again last night!" He said quietly. "A. Full. Moon. And I bet you anything that he is lying in the Hospital Wing."

Lily rolled her eyes, she had looked into it and she was fairly sure Sev was right in believing that Remus was a werewolf, but she didn't need to add to his hatred of the boys; she liked Remus, he was always nice to her. "I highly doubt that, Sev."

"Hmph!" Sev huffed and ignored her for the rest of the lesson. It allowed Lily to actually pay attention in Herbology, but she couldn't understand Sev sometimes. He hung around with Avery and Mulciber, two vile human beings, but he couldn't stand Remus Lupin just because he hung out with Potter and Black. Granted, Lily was sure that he occasionally helped with the planning of some pranks, but he was otherwise harmless…

After Herbology, Sev stalked off with a sullen look on his face. Lily shrugged and figured he would talk to her when he got over his mood-swing; she put her books in her bag and pulled her winter cloak out. It was February, which meant it was still cold weather. She found Mary, Marlene and Alice easily and walked with them back to the castle for lunch, laughing at Mary's joke.

"So, Lil, have you got a Valentine in mind?" Alice asked.

Lily smiled. "No, what about you?"

"There's a Gryffindor boy, a year above us… He's cute, but I don't think I will send a Valentine." Alice blushed.

The girls stopped, Alice hadn't disclosed any details on a potential crush recently. "Um, excuse me? Details, please!" Marlene squealed.

Alice blushed harder. "His name is Frank Longbottom. He's a year above us — I don't want to send a valentine, I'm only admiring at the moment."

The girls all giggled, talking about Alice's crush as they walked into the Great Hall.

On Valentine's Day, Lily received a note from Sev, wishing her a Happy Valentines Day; she smiled when he handed it to her and he blushed slightly before hurrying off, Sirius trying to trip him on the way.

Lily also received a bright red, hand-made card from… James Potter.

Dear Lily,
Are you a Dementor?
Because if you kissed me,
I'd never recover.
Be my Valentine?
James x

Alice looked over Lily's shoulder as she read the card, she doubled over with laughter. "That's sweet! Ridiculous, but sweet!"

Lily rolled her eyes and looked down the table where James Potter was getting up and walking towards her.

"Alright, Evans?" James asked as he ruffled his hair. "Be my Valentine?"

"No, thank you." Lily said politely.

"What if I stopped hexing ol' snivelly?" James suggested with a wink.

Lily shook her head. "No thanks, Potter."

"I won't give up, you know." James said, and he walked back to Sirius.

Lily turned to Alice, walking away. "That's what I'm afraid of…"

It was the last morning at Hogwarts and Lily saw Remus, walking upstairs from breakfast, alone for a change. She caught up to him as she needed to finish packing before getting on the train home.

"Remus!"

He turned, when saw that it was Lily, he smiled kindly. "Hello Lily, is everything alright?"

She smiled. "I need to finish packing quickly before getting on the train. What about you?"

"Oh, I just have a few books to put in and then I'm ready."

"Remus…" Lily started. "Why don't you stop James and Sirius from hexing Sev?"

"I'm sorry Lily, but even if I tried, it wouldn't stop them." He said slowly. "It bothers you a lot, doesn't it?"

Lily nodded. "I wish that they would stop and seeing as you're the reasonable one in your group…"

Remus laughed, "Thank you, but I'm afraid I will have to disappoint you, Lily."

"Where are they, anyway?" she asked, wondering why he was alone.

"They're already up in the Dormitory."

"Oh… I thought you all travelled in a pack?" Lily laughed.

Remus flinched slightly and said, "what do you mean?"

"I just mean that usually you see the four of you together." Lily shrugged and then added quietly, as casually as she could. "I wasn't talking about being a werewolf."

Remus stopped dead and all the color from his face drained away. "How did you know?" He whispered.

"Oh, Sev has been talking about it for ages. I figured it out a while ago but I keep trying to throw him off the subject." Lily smiled. "I don't care, Remus. You've always been nice to me."

He smiled, shyly. "I should have known the brightest witch in our grade would figure it out."

Lily blushed. "Oh I wouldn't go that far, Alice is much better than I am."

"You are very bright though." He said. "Snape knows too?"

"He thinks he does. I keep telling him that his theory is wrong and trying to throw him off — I didn't think he needed another reason to dislike you." Lily shrugged.

Remus shook his head. "You know, you've been the most blasé about my 'fuzzy little problem'… When James and Sirius figured it out, they got annoyed that I didn't tell them."

"It's your life, Remus." She said as they walked through the portrait hole together. "It's none of their business if you want to tell them or not."

"Thank you Lily." He smiled sadly. "I'm still a monster though."

"No you aren't. You're still Remus, you just have - like you said, a 'fuzzy little problem'. That's all."

Remus laughed, "yes a very badly behaved rabbit some people believe."

AUTHORS NOTE: I hope you enjoyed! I thought that Lily would be very casual when she mentioned Remus' "fuzzy little problem". As always, please leave reviews and anything you want to see in future chapters :)