The day had finally arrived. September the first. It was time for Lily to start her seventh year. On that morning, she had spent hours in the bathroom making sure she looked absolutely perfect. This year was going to be the best one yet. After this year, she could move out and find a job in the wizarding world away from her mean older sister. She loved her parents but she knew she had to get away. Lily had agreed to ride with Marlene and said goodbye to her parents at home.

Marlene pulled up in Lily's driveway and honked the horn, "Come on Lily, we're going to be late!" she yelled from the car. Lily ran out the door with her trunk and her owl. She put them in the back seat and jumped in the car with Marlene. She quickly sped off to head to King's Cross Station.

"Sorry I'm late. My little sister was in the bathroom and you know how that goes," she shrugged. Lily only laughed,

"It's fine, as long as we make it on time. I don't think I can bare to sit at home with my sister all year." The girls got caught in traffic but ended up making it to King's Cross just barely in time. They practically ran on the train.

"I have to find Sirius!" Marlene exclaimed, "I haven't seen him all summer."

"Really?" Lily laughed, "I figured your tongues were down each others throats all summer."

"No Lily!" she said, hitting her in the arm, "Our relationship is more sophisticated than that!"

The girls finally located the compartment with all the boys and surprisingly Josie, Alice and Frank were already in there waiting. Marlene practically ignored everyone and ran into Sirius' arms and started kissing him immediately. Lily ignored them and looked around, "What are you all doing in here?"

Josie laughed, "Well we knew Marlene would be in here and you would follow her." Lily sat down in the only available seat(which happened to be right next to James).

"Hello Potter," she smiled. He nodded his head at her, twiddling his thumbs nervously. He didn't know how Lily was going to treat him at all this year. What if she just completely ignored him? That would be even worse than her hating him. For the rest of the ride, they all talked about the summer and what they planned to do in the upcoming year.

The train pulled up to Hogwarts station and all the students began filing off. Lily's trunk was in the very back of the rack and she was jumping trying to grab at it. James smiled, "Do you need some help with that?"

"Yes, please," she smiled, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear nervously. He grabbed the trunk down for her and even carried it up the castle. They were the last ones off the train and ended up having to walk to the castle. They walked in silence for a while. James decided to speak up,

"I can't believe that Marlene and Sirius are still together," he said.

Lily nodded, "Yeah. I would have thought that would have ended a week after it started."

"Maybe Sirius is in love," he said in a mocking way.

She laughed, "I doubt that one." He nodded and continued walking, neither of them saying a thing. He looked over at her,

"You know...I really have changed," he said.

She sighed, "Yes you have."

"Just let me take you on a date, I'll prove it to you."

"I just need a little more time. Maybe one day soon," she smiled.

He nodded his head understandingly and they made their way up to the castle. They joined the others at the table. Marlene saw the two of them together and mouthed "Oh my god!" to Lily. She would definitely hear about this one later. She could feel James looking at her during Dumbledore's speech. It wasn't that she didn't like him. It was more that she didn't trust him yet. There were all the rumors about him and he'd been so mean to her previously. It almost just seemed to good to be true. Lily hadn't even realized that Dumbledore had finished his speech until Josie was shaking her back to reality, "Lily? I said 'Doesn't that sound fun?'"

Lily frowned, "I'm sorry, what? I wasn't paying attention."

Josie laughed, "Well I knew that! We're going to have a welcome back party tonight. Don't you think that sounds fun?"

Lily nodded, "I guess. But what about classes tomorrow?"

Sirius joined in, "Oh come on, don't be a loser Evans. Lighten up a little!"

"Fine. I'll go," she said, scared about what might happen. The last time they threw a party she had almost kissed James. What if that were to happen again?