So there you go! This is sort of a filler chapter, and I do apologize as it's quite long. You might find inconsistencies in between paragraphs- again, I apologize. I'd already written this chapter before, but I wasn't satisfied with it and recycled some of the parts that I did like. I'm much happier with it now. The previous version had wayyyy too many adjectives to describe things as simple as common rooms. Read and review, and I hope you like it!
Chapter Four: A Train of Two Thoughts
The scarlet engine billowed steam out of its chimney that drifted off towards the platform and covered the would-be-passengers in its silver haze. James and Sirius stood near the barrier between this world and the other; they had just gone through.
"You go ahead," said James to Sirius a little while later. "I have Head duties to attend to."
"Well, aren't we being modest about it," Sirius rolled his eyes at him. "I hope this won't stop you from pranking –"
"Sirius, you know full well that nothing could ever stop me," James smirked. "We just have to be extra careful this year…"
"Noted," Sirius took hold of his trolley. "Any chance of me receiving a parting gift from the esteemed Head Boy before he starts ordering everyone around?"
James slapped his shoulder. "You know it's not like that, you prat. As for the gift…"
He felt in his robes and pulled out a single piece of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean. "There you go, Padfoot. You can't say no to this."
Sirius laughed and popped the bean into his mouth. His eyes widened in surprise; apparently, it tasted quite good.
"What about my present, then?" asked James.
"I'll give it to you once you're done with your meeting," promised Sirius, already rolling his trolley towards the train, "I promise it's much better, Prongs!"
James shook his head. "It better not be a turd, Sirius!"
They shared one last laugh before Sirius vanished out of sight; James smoothed his robes and cleaned his badge with the cuff of his sleeve. He started his march through the platform, inspecting the train and helping the younger kids lift their trunks, all the while secretly hoping to meet someone.
Lily Evans was late. She couldn't believe herself. The one year in which it mattered – and she had ruined it!
She wasn't the only culprit, though. That morning, after she'd woken up, Petunia had – for some unfathomable reason – decided that she was going to be taking an hour-long shower. Why she'd done that, Lily had no idea, though she suspected some of it had to do with her accidentally turning her sister's hair bright orange the night before.
It had been an accident, really, but Petunia was being so damned insufferable. Lily had apologized and had offered to change it back. She no longer had the trace, after all, so there was no problem with whipping her wand out and recolouring Petunia's hair, right?
Except, as far as Petunia was concerned, she wanted nothing to do with magic. Petunia had gotten into her car that morning wearing a shawl over her head as she headed to work at Grunnings, a drilling company.
Then, Lily reminisced as she kissed her parents goodbye and made towards the magical barrier, just before she'd boarded her dad's car, she'd come across Snape.
That had also been an accident, but her insides still squirmed uncomfortably at the sight of him, and not in a good way. Her heart still broke whenever she remembered the way he had called her a Mudblood, that day at the lake – the word that was used to describe people like her, like Lily: dirty blood, unworthy blood, mud's blood.
They had exchanged no words during their encounter. Lily had merely glared at him, betraying no emotions, daring Snape to say something – but he remained glued to the spot, staring back with those empty eyes of his; eyes she had once thought she knew so well, that had once been full of childish joy and affection but were now sunken and hard.
Lily shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She had passed through the barrier. According to her watch, it was five to eleven, so she had no time to patrol the platform. What McGonagall would say after she'd learned that Lily had slacked off in her duties as Head Girl, she didn't want to think about.
A few feet in front of her, she heard a voice speak softly and gently. It was a voice she knew all too well, though she had to admit, it sounded rather nice when he wasn't yelling himself silly.
Pushing past a family, she saw James.
Her vision tunnelled slightly. He looked quite good, if she said so herself. He was sitting on the platform, arms folded, and staring up at a young boy – he couldn't have been more than 11.
"...it's going to be all right," James kept on saying. "It's scary at first, I know, but once you get there, you'll never want to leave. Hogwarts does that to people."
The boy sniffed and nodded. James, satisfied, got up.
"What if I don't have any friends?" the boy asked, sounding scared. James smiled and put an arm on the boy's shoulder.
"You will, Marlon," he insisted. "Because Hogwarts does that, too – it brings people together and builds lifelong friendships. Don't you worry; there are tons of muggle-borns just like you that don't know a thing about magic. That doesn't mean that they'll be worse than the people who grew up with it."
James glanced back, as if he had felt Lily's eyes on him. He smiled widely and turned around, steering Marlon around him so that Lily could fully see him.
"This is Lily Evans, Marlon," explained James to the first year. "She's a muggle-born too, and she's one of the best witches I know."
"She is?" asked Marlon with wide eyes.
"Sure am," said Lily, stepping forwards so that she could smile clearly at him. "It was hard for me, too, at first. But then I got sorted into Gryffindor and met my best friends, and ever since, I couldn't wait to go back to Hogwarts during the summer."
"Wow, that's something!" The little boy's eyes were shining, and he no longer looked as scared.
"She's also Head Girl, just like me," added James. At that, Marlon's head whipped around to her chest and his eyes found the badge. He let out a loud gasp. James and she shared a knowing smile.
Right then, the train whistle sounded, and the conductor yelled, "All aboard the Hogwarts Express!"
"We should get up now," said James. Marlon nodded and climbed up the steps. James turned to Lily and raised his eyebrows.
"What?" asked Lily innocently.
"Didn't see you while I was patrolling, so I can only assume one thing – you were late," teased James. Lily rolled her eyes and pushed him so that he was forced to board the carriage.
"Let's just get to the meeting, James." He smiled one last time, and they headed towards the front carriage.
"That was quite sweet of you," said Lily a few moments later. James turned his neck to look at her.
"What was that, Lil?"
"I just thought that it was thoughtful of you to comfort that first year," muttered Lily.
James grinned. "It was, wasn't it?"
"You had to ruin the moment, Potter," Lily sighed. James slowed his pace so that he was behind her. "Just take the compliment, will you?"
She heard his deep laugh behind her. "Only joking, Lily. Thanks."
"You're quite welcome."
They reached the front carriage as the train started moving. Opening the door, they found that they were the only ones that had arrived.
They settled themselves in the chairs on top of the dais – James had transfigured his to a squishy–looking armchair. Lily declined when he offered to do the same for her. Remus Lupin came in a few moments later, smiling at both her and James; he took a seat at the very front.
"So, had a good summer, Remus?" Lily began.
"Oh yes, we managed to get into James's mum's study and found a couple of things…"
The three of them made light conversation when the door opened suddenly, and the rest of the prefects filed in. Some took a double-take at James, noted Lily, but otherwise, the prefects stayed silent. She noticed a few familiar faces: she spotted 7th year Benjy Fenwick, a soft-spoken Hufflepuff that had a talent for Charms. She smiled at Dorcas Meadowes, a Ravenclaw one year below her whom she had previously tutored in Potions. She saw various others, including Regulus Black, Sirius's brother, and Fortuna Greengrass, a Slytherin in Snape's year.
"So," said James nervously as he stood up, once the prefects had settled down. "As you can see, Lily and I are the new Heads. And I know you may be wondering how I got here," and he forced a little more strength into his voice, "but what's done is done. I can't say that I expected it, and Merlin knows Dumbledore was slightly mad when he chose me –" there were a few titters at that, and Lily rolled her eyes beside him, but she was smiling, "– but I'll try to be a Head Boy worthy of the title. I won't let any of you down."
He ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Lily, who was a bit taken aback from how he had ended his little speech but composed herself quickly.
"To business, then," she said and stood up. She then proceeded to explain the usual rules that prefects had to follow and enforce. She eyed the Slytherin prefects, but mostly Regulus, who had a slight scowl on his face. He looked very like Sirius. Half an hour later, after answering a multitude of questions, and having had James back her up a couple of times, she decided to wrap things up by giving out their normal instructions.
"The older prefects have done this a hundred times: patrol the train, Gryffindors the first carriage, Ravenclaws the next; Hufflepuff, I'm sorry, but it's your turn to patrol carriages four and five, and Slytherins the last. New prefects, just watch your seniors and do whatever they're doing. If you encounter any problems, kindly report back to James or myself. Reign in the younger kids, if you don't mind, and take care to maintain order between the older students as well."
She looked at James, who was sitting comfortably. He gave an approving nod and Lily quickly turned back towards the prefects.
"That's all, I guess," she said, "Dismissed."
Lily sidled into Marlene and Alice's compartment once she'd finished the meeting and found it to be occupied not only by her aforementioned friends but by her other roommates as well.
She smiled at Mary and Emmeline as she sat across from them. The Trolly Witch had already passed by, she was sad to hear, but fortunately, her friends had stocked up in sweets that they were glad to share with Lily.
"So, Lily," asked Marlene in a sickeningly sweet voice. "What's sharing duties with James like?"
"A bit odd, I suppose," she answered, "but he's nice most of the time. We're getting along fine."
At this, her friends looked at each other and fell about laughing. Lily, confused as to what was going on, stared at them. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing, love," snorted Emmeline. "It's just – well, it's a bit ironic, don't you think?"
"Not really, no."
"Lils, you're hopeless," exclaimed Mary despairingly. "How thick can you get?"
"You're all crazy."
"Yeah, but not as crazy as you are for one certain Head Boy," said Marlene, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Lily felt her face heat up.
"I am not!"
"Oh, I think you are, Lily dear," chortled Alice. "You just haven't come to terms with it yet."
Lily threw a Chocolate Frog at her.
They spent the rest of the train ride bickering back and forth, but not before changing subjects as quickly as Lily could hope, for their words held a semblance of truth to her.
She wasn't stupid. She'd noticed the emotions she felt whenever James was near her. She liked this James – the James who was smart and funny and kind, who teased Sirius and Marlene with her, who always valued her opinion before anyone else's, who listened to her vent about Petunia, who shared looks with her whenever Professor Binns had started to drone on about the Giant Rebellion led by Porphyrion, Greatest of the Giants...
All right, maybe Lily did like him more than she had realized. But crazy? Definitely not. She congratulated herself on her little lie.
"We'd better change, I can see Hogwarts," said Mary Macdonald after a conversation concerning the recent attacks on Ministry strongholds.
Lily sighed to herself. Whether this year would turn out better or worse than last year, she had no idea.
Shaking these thoughts out of her head, she opened her trunk and changed into her robes.
The train slowed down and finally stopped. The sound of many hundreds of feet stomping was heard all throughout the carriage as everybody hurried to get their bags and pets assembled. Lily exited the compartment first, looking for James.
She found him already outside of the train – how he'd gotten there so quickly she had no idea, but she pushed past the crowd thronging near the doors and descended onto the platform.
She gasped quietly as the cold of the night air stung her face. They marched back and forth, leaning down so that they could see whether there were any problems with the train. When Lily found none, she headed back to James.
"Everything all right?" he bellowed. The sound of the steam engine made him barely audible.
"Seems fine!" she shouted back. James waved his arms wildly to signal the conductor that it was safe to open the carriages.
Students poured out of the train doors. Hagrid loomed over them, carrying a large lantern, calling out the familiar cry, "Firs' years, firs' years over here!" and when he spotted Lily, he boomed, "All right, Lily? Excited abou' being Head Girl, eh?"
Lily grinned and waved. "Hi, Hagrid! I'm fine, how're you?"
"I'm doin' fantastic! See ye at the feast!"
A large group of small students separated themselves from the main crowd and followed Hagrid to the Black Lake. Lily turned to James.
"Shall we get on the carriages, then?"
James nodded. He looked different when he was serious. "Yeah, let's get on."
The first stagecoach rolled up to them, pulled by what Lily knew to be thestrals. James got on first and helped Lily up. She scanned the students waiting out behind her, talking amongst themselves. Then slowly, the coach started to move, following the road to the castle.
She and James didn't talk much. They passed through the gates of the grounds, where, at last, Hogwarts emerged: a towering black castle barely visible in the dark of night, ringed by turrets and high towers. Some windows were blazed fiery bright above them.
The bells of the carriage jingled and it came to a halt near the stone steps that led up to the front doors. Lily exited first and entered with James, where they found Professor McGonagall waiting.
"Potter. Evans." McGonagall had a satisfied look about her face. "No troubles, I presume?"
"None, Professor," answered James. McGonagall nodded approvingly.
"Excellent. Now, you two: Professor Dumbledore wishes to see you after the feast." The sound of wooden wheels outside of the Entrance Hall made her pause. "It has been a long time since both Head Students originated from the same house, much less from Gryffindor. I'm very proud of you two." Professor McGonagall then smiled – a genuine expression of happiness. "I'll be on my way. The password is Lifesaver!"
They made their way over to the Great Hall's double doors, which were already open. The four house tables were empty, but not for long. Lily glanced up and saw the starless black ceiling, which mirrored the sky outside. She and James settled down at the Gryffindor table.
Soon hundreds of students began to enter the Great Hall. Marlene and Alice, flanked by the rest of the Gryffindor boys, spotted her sitting with James and went over to join them. Lily felt the wooden bench lower itself as her fellow Gryffindors sat down. She turned to Marlene.
"You have a brother, don't you, Marls?"
"Yeah," Marlene answered distractedly, having just finished listening to Sirius talk about who-knew-what. "Cygnus. I do hope he gets Gryffindor."
Hagrid suddenly appeared at the staff table, which meant that the first years had already crossed the lake. Sure enough, a few moments later, Professor McGonagall entered, carrying an ancient-looking wizard's hat, heavily patched and frayed: the Sorting Hat. The first years scrambled in after her, soaking wet and looking scared.
The Great Hall died down. The first years lined up facing the students, and Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on a stool. A rip opened near its brim, and it began to sing.
Lily drowned out the noise of the hat; she'd never liked its songs. She clapped loudly with the rest of the students once it had finished, and waited for the first years to get sorted.
Professor McGonagall lowered her eyes to her long piece of parchment and called out the first name.
"Abernathy, Marlon."
The small boy that she and James had encountered on the station stumbled forwards and put on the Hat. It covered nearly half of his face and Lily could only see the tip of his nose jutting out. Sirius laughed loudly from across her, and she gave him a venomous look. The Hat stayed silent for a moment, then the rip near the brim opened and it shouted:
"Hufflepuff!"
Slowly, the long line of first-years thinned. Marlene's brother, Cygnus McKinnon, was sorted into Gryffindor.
"Well done, Cyg!" called Marlene as the blond-haired, knobbly-kneed boy sat down shakily at the Gryffindor table.
And finally, Welshter, Alexander was called into Slytherin, and Dumbledore stood up. Lily smiled at him subconsciously, and Dumbledore turned to her and smiled serenely back.
"Welcome!" beamed the great wizard Dumbledore, "welcome all, to another year of magical education. I won't bore you with an old man's rambling, so I'm keeping this short and simple: the Forbidden Forest, as always, is forbidden –," his piercing blue eyes regarded the Marauders next to Lily, but his mouth twitched slightly, "– Zonko's products are banned and magic is not allowed in the corridors, but seeing as none of you listen to any of those rules, I don't see any reason to list anymore other than the obvious. Dine well, and here's to another magical year!"
The students repeated the toast.
Lily's mouth watered as plates upon plates of the most lavish food imaginable appeared before her. She grabbed a platter and helped herself to pork chops. Beside her, Marlene struck a conversation with her brother.
Time passed quickly after she finished her meal, and before she knew it, Dumbledore had stood up.
"An excellent feast, if I may so myself! Especially when one considers the day you will be having tomorrow," he said jovially. "You have a full day of magical studies starting in the morning, and I believe it best to retire for the night. Off to bed with you all, toodle-oo!"
Lily stood up as the Great Hall was filled with the buzz of conversation and the sound of scraping as the weight of the students was lifted off of the wooden benches. She heard Remus and the other prefects calling to the first–years when she was tapped on the shoulder by James.
"Ready?" he asked. He sounded tired and sleepy.
"Yes, let's go."
It took them a couple of minutes to get to the Headmaster's quarters. James gave the password to the stone gargoyles (Lifesaver), who jumped aside and let them enter. They ascended the steps and soon found themselves face to face with Dumbledore's wooden door. It was James who knocked on it.
"Come in," said Dumbledore from behind the door. James pushed it open.
Lily had only been in the Headmaster's office a handful of times, none of them for trouble or detention. Yet, it never failed to impress her: there was an aura of magnificence and grandeur about it unlike any other room in the castle, but there was also the sense of timeless knowledge and ancient wisdom lurking beneath. Paintings of previous headmasters decorated the stone walls, all of whom appeared to be sleeping. Shelves and racks filled with timeworn books stood side by side around the room.
All across the floor, tables displaying various silver instruments were shrouded in half-darkness, and a swirling Pensieve was visible behind the doors of a cabinet. The headmaster himself was seated behind a large marble table on top of a small dais. A large, red–and–gold bird stood on its perch beside Dumbledore. A phoenix, remembered Lily, whom she knew was called Fawkes.
"Ah, James, Lily, welcome. Take a seat, please," he greeted them, and gestured towards two large squishy chairs in front of his desk. Lily took a seat on the right.
"I trust the train ride was uneventful?" asked Dumbledore, merely to start the conversation. James and Lily both nodded.
"Excellent, then. Now, I only wanted to discuss your job descriptions, so stop looking so apprehensive, James," said Dumbledore, and twinkled at the Head Boy, who visibly relaxed. "As Heads, you two have unparalleled authority over the student body, save for the teachers and myself, of course. Both of you will handle most of the events that take place during the school year, including the Gathering of Many Faces, which falls on Halloween."
Dumbledore leaned forwards on his table, studying James and Lily. It was a moment before he spoke again.
"I also wanted to dispel any doubt left in both of your minds," said Dumbledore quietly, looking at James, "I believe I have chosen well. I seem to remember that you have gotten over your differences, so I applaud you for that; I know that Hogwarts will thrive. James, you have matured quite well ever since your last – er, shall I say, fiasco – and I expect you to set an example for the student body." Dumbledore turned his gaze on Lily, and his blue eyes surveyed her magisterially over the top of his half-moon spectacles, "You both have to work together, and hopefully get to know each other a bit more, seeing as you are now sharing living quarters."
The silence that followed was so thick Lily was certain she could have cut it with a well placed Diffindo. Lily spoke first, her voice a little dry.
"I'm sorry, Professor, but did I hear you right? Living quarters?"
"Oh yes, Lily, you certainly heard me right," said Professor Dumbledore, now quite cheerfully, "as Heads, you have access to your own tower. Inside it is a common room, two separate beds and two separate bathrooms. I think I am correct in saying that you know where this tower lies, James?"
James smiled sheepishly. "You're correct in believing that, Professor." Dumbledore nodded approvingly.
"Oh, and one more thing," added Dumbledore, his voice now serious. "There have been recent events in the world that have given me no choice but to reinforce the rules around Hogwarts. And while Hogwarts is, and will always be, the safest place for you should violence arise, one can never be too at ease. The enemy is rising, and tension in the school has never been higher." He paused, and to Lily, he appeared to be choosing his words.
"I cannot change the mind of others, so believe me when I say that both of you will encounter hate and prejudice in all parts of the castle, some parts more prominent than others," he regarded them both, and there was a slight tinge of disappointment in his eyes, "I will not tolerate bigotry in my school. As heads, however, it is imperative that both of you keep order and not let your emotions rule you. To outsiders of Hogwarts, the two of you are the face of the student body."
"We understand, Professor," said Lily, "but is it really as extreme as you say, sir? Has he started recruiting here? Has You-Know-Who's influence reached Hogwarts at last?"
Dumbledore smiled sadly.
"It has for a long time, my dear girl," sighed Dumbledore, "Voldemort has poisoned the minds of many in Hogwarts. It is foolish not to take precautions. It is also silly," he added with a glance at Lily, who had twitched at the mention of Voldemort, "to be afraid to say a name. Voldemort is a great wizard, yes, but he is a man. A name should not be feared."
James suddenly gave a great yawn. He closed his mouth quickly, but it had not gone unnoticed by either Dumbledore or Lily.
"Merlin's beard, look at the time! I'm sorry to have kept you so long here," said Dumbledore apologetically, as James rushed to apologize, seeing as it was only 9 o'clock, "no, no, it's my fault. Off to bed with you two. Your trunks and belongings have been taken to your tower. James, seeing as you already know of its location, kindly show Lily where it is," Dumbledore looked at Lily with a slight smile playing on his mouth, "It is a rather extraordinary place, Miss Evans, and I'm sure the both of you will be happy with it."
Realizing they were being dismissed, Lily and James both turned around, exited the room and descended the stone steps until they reached the floor.
"So James," said Lily casually, "where is this rather extraordinary tower?"
James smiled mysteriously. "Oh, a place called Neverland."
Lily raised her eyebrows at him.
"I'm kidding," he said hastily, "it's near the Gryffindor tower, actually. Smaller, of course, but it's only for two people. Shall we go?"
Lily hadn't meant anything by raising her eyebrows; she had been impressed by the fact that he even knew what Neverland was. It had never occurred to her how James might have ever read a muggle book.
"Er, Lily?"
She realized that James was still waiting for her answer.
"I can tell you the directions, of course, if you'd rather not go with me –"
"No!" interjected Lily quickly, "No, I mean, I'd rather go with you, thanks."
James nodded and they started walking towards the direction of Gryffindor tower.
Lily then voiced her earlier thoughts at him, and he laughed a bit before replying, "Yeah, my mum read Peter and Wendy to me a lot when I was a kid. Neverland just sounded so cool, you know, it sort of stuck. I've always wanted to visit Neverland."
They laughed together, and it surprised Lily how easy it was to talk to him. She and James had become good friends over the past year, but she'd never found anything to relate to with James. Now, they were bonding over their shared love over Peter Pan.
"Well, here we are."
They stopped in front of a painting of a pair of wizards with their backs to them striking down a gryphon with their wands. It was a rather messy painting, Lily noted, but then again she never had had an eye for artwork.
"So how do we get in?" asked Lily to James. He shrugged, and then addressed the painting.
"Hullo, I'm James Potter and this is Lily Evans. We're the new Head Boy and Girl of the school. Er, we were told that the Head's Tower was here?"
For a moment, Lily wanted to scold James, that he was being stupid, that that was just a painting, and paintings couldn't talk, silly, before she suddenly remembered where she was, and both wizards turned around and waved at him.
"Hello!" said the one on the right, wearing emerald green robes. "Professor Dumbledore did mention, hm –" he quickly took in James's messy hair and black glasses then glanced at Lily and eyed her dark red locks, before his eyes wandered off to their chests as their badges shined proudly at him. "All right, James Potter and Lily Evans. You'll need to suggest a password before entering."
"Might I suggest a good password, as the head before you, Frank Longbottom, had set it as Flobberworm," quipped in the wizard on the left, who was wearing brown robes.
James and Lily looked at each other. James spoke first, "Well?"
Lily shrugged. "You can set it as anything you want, I really don't care."
James sighed.
"Blimey, I hate deciding for other people," he mumbled. "How about... Neverland?"
Both of the wizards in the painting slapped their painted hands onto their painted faces. Even Lily looked at James incredulously, with a look that spelled, Really?
"What?" asked James defensively, "I told you, I'm not good at deciding this trivial stuff. You can set it if you want."
"No, no, Neverland's fine, it just sort of contradicts what the wizards were saying, don't you think?" Lily turned back to the wizards, who then looked at each other, and swung open to reveal a wooden path that led to a fairly large common room. There were a handful of couches arranged into a square of sorts, with a wooden table at its centre. A fireplace crackled in nearby and bookshelves filled with old tomes lined the walls of the room.
To the north of the common room, behind the couches, two sets of stairs spiralled upwards towards – undoubtedly – their respective rooms. She stepped through the painting and it swung shut behind her and James.
She made for her dorm on the left side. It looked very much like the girls' dormitories back in Gryffindor Tower, with red-and-gold curtains hanging down her windows and her four-poster bed. There was a table and chair to the corner of her room that she was sure to be grateful for as NEWTs approached.
Lily wasted no time in going to bed; she changed into her pyjamas and brushed her teeth. She wondered briefly what James's room looked like, and, deciding that that could wait for tomorrow, she settled into her bed.