Lily let out yet another exaggerated sigh, looking at her watch and then looking back up the main staircase. She crossed her arms tightly, she didn't like to be made to wait for things, ever since she'd been a little girl she'd been impatient, probably not as much as her sister Petunia mind, but that was no surprise, considering Petunias constant insistence on having everything her own way, whenever she wanted it.

"They're late, they're late," Lily repeated, clearly not amused by this lack of time keeping.

"They're late by five minutes Lily," Autumn laughed, "Give them a chance, maybe James cant get his hair to stick up properly,"

"It will be that Potter, you're right Autumn," Lily replied, nodding her head, pacing backwards and forwards outside the main hall. She walked towards the bottom of the staircase and glanced up hoping to spot her classmates, to no avail.

"I was only kidding," Autumn whispered to Andrea behind her hand. "She's too ready to attack that boy if you ask me," Andrea nodded in response, there had always been something funny with Lily's insistence to criticize Potter, after all don't children always fight with the children they in fact like. Opposites attract and James would certainly be the opposite of Lily.

After a few more minutes of Lily moaning about the boys non-appearance, Andrea offered to go off and search for the boys, anything to escape Lily's moaning. But as soon as she started towards the staircase, the boys appeared at the top and clattered down loudly, dragging their trunks behind them.

"Hello Ladies, Sorry about the time delay," James smiled at each of the girls in turn. "To look this good it takes time,"

Lily looked at him and snorted, trying to hold in her laughter. He looked like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards, literally.

"Lets get going then," Lily said, covering her need to laugh out loud. "We're late as it is,"

"What's the plan then?" Sirius wondered out loud.

"Weren't you listening in class at all for the last six months?" Remus replied.

Sirius shrugged in reply,

"We're catching the train from Hogsmeade Sirius," Andrea answered, "It'll leave us at platform nine and three quarters. Then, we'll leave the platform, and we'll be on our own from there."

"But how are we supposed to get to our allocated house in London?" Sirius wondered aloud again, "Why can't we use a portkey or the floo network."

"You've done muggle studies for six years Sirius, and you don't have a clue how we're going to make it to our house in London?" Remus laughed. "Did you just not pay attention?"

"All the girls were taking muggle studies," Sirius cried, "Besides, my mother went off it that I was taking muggle studies," He beamed at the memory, "All the more reason for taking it." He turned to James and high fived him.

"Anyway, Lily is here Remus," James continued. "We don't have to think, she's muggle born," he moved towards her, putting his arm around her shoulders "You'll look after us young innocent wizard men wont you Lily?"

"If you put your arm around me once more Potter, I will leave you stranded on the tube," She wriggled out from under his embrace, grabbing her trunk and exiting the main doors with Autumn and Andrea, the boys following behind.

James scratched his head and turned to Sirius, "What's the tube?" he asked.

"Some kind of pipe mate,"

"Oh, that makes no sense, Lily's a bit mental isn't she?" James said.

"And you're just noticing now?" Sirius replied, chuckling as the big massive doors clunked shut behind him.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

When they'd all arrived in Hogsmeade, James and Sirius seemed quite set on the idea of going for a butterbeer. Even Lily had been massively tempted by the offer but assured them, that there would be plenty opportunity for drinks in London, and that if they didn't catch this train, she wasn't sure when the next train would be.

They'd never seen Hogsmeade so deserted, they only normally saw the place when Hogwarts express pulled in, bringing them back from a holiday at home, or if they were allowed to go to Hogsmeade for the day. Today though, two weeks before the express would be arriving to take the students to their respective homes for the summer the platform was empty, and felt cold and lonely and not filled with the buzz the atmosphere normally held at the beginning of a holiday.

Sirius seemed to have enough excitement for the rest of them, he viewed these two weeks as an extension of his summer and not an assignment at all. All of the boys did, and the girls. Lily was concerned that this might make them mess it up, but not concerned enough to try to tame Sirius' excitement.

They'd been sitting on the platform for about ten minutes when the train pulled into the station. They humped their trunks aboard and found a nice private cabin for them to camp out in. It was beginning to get late in the afternoon, but the sun was still shining over the hills. James and Sirius were playing wizard chess, Remus was snoring softly in the corner, drooling on Andrea's shoulder as she read a magazine unaware of the saliva dripping onto her top. Autumn sat quietly reading the muggle newspaper she'd found in the cabin while Lily read over the details of where they would be staying and what they would be doing.

The journey was going peacefully, much quieter and nicer that she'd expected. Once the boys settled down, and had something to occupy their minds, she could deal with them. They weren't particularly nasty, they just thought too much of themselves, and that was their downfall. James for example had been after Lily since the fifth year, his massive ego had been the ultimate turn off for Lily and she'd tried to push him away ever since. He wasn't a nasty person, he was a persistent person, and that was almost just as bad. For this reason she'd never wanted to get to know him that well, maybe these two weeks would show her the real Potter, she thought quietly, glancing at him from behind her sheets of paper.

The train began to slow down, and the familiar sights of Platform nine and three quarters came into view. James and Sirius began to pack up their game, preparing to disembark from the train. Remus was awoken from his slumber, shrieking went on when Andrea found drool all over her top just as the train pulled to a stop with a sharp jerk.

"Lets go," Lily said to the rest of the group, leading the way off the train and off the platform into the unsuspecting muggle world of Kings Cross station.