Chapter 2: A New Leaf
Lily Evans let her mother hug her one more time. "I promise I'll write, Mum…" Her mother gave her one more squeeze and released her.
"I know dear, it still doesn't make it any easier not to see you until Christmas." She wiped away the tears that had escaped her, and smiled. "Have a good year Lily; make the last your best."
Lily stepped on the train, waving back to her mother. "I will Mum, I love you!" She then disappeared into the train which was about to depart. Pulling her luggage down the packed corridors, she finally found the compartment with her friends from 7th year. To her dismay however, it was full of the 7th year male Gryffindors as well.
"Lily!" her best friend, Ellie Adams had noticed her come in. "What took you so long?"
"My mum was getting all teary as usual," replied Lily quietly. She wasn't sure how she felt about the boys sharing their compartment, especially James. But he hadn't jumped on her as she came in, in fact, he didn't seem to have noticed her at all. He was busy talking to Remus about some spell his father had taught him over the summer.
In the compartment were also Callista Moon and Helen Dames, who were the same year as Lily, but in Ravenclaw. "Hi Lily!" they said in unison, which they did a lot.
"Hi guys," Lily said with a little wave. "How was your summer?"
"Terrible," started Callista.
"Yeah, we could barely find any guys," continued Helen.
"And we were in Italy!"
"They're supposed to be all over the place there…"
"Oh, yeah, that's too bad," said Lily with a smile. As much as she enjoyed Helen and Callista, their obsession over boys got a little overwhelming.
"Look no further girls, all the man you'll ever need is right here!" interrupted Sirius.
Lily wasn't sure how she felt about Sirius. The fact that he constantly hit on her did not put him in her good books, but the face he didn't constantly ask her out was a perk. But that didn't mean she wasn't disgusted with him most of the time. "Hi Sirius, good summer?"
"Wonderful. Mrs. Potter definitely knows how to cook her pancakes!" Sirius pulled Lily next to him and draped his arm around her.
"Oh, you were at Potter's?" asked Lily, curious.
"Yeah, got in a bit of a row with my mum, you know how it goes…"
"Right…" said Lily, who wasn't sure what else to say.
"Anyways, Lily, my dear, how was your summer? Miss me much?" Lily could feel James' eyes on her and Sirius.
"Well, it was alright. I mean, my sister is horrible, but I get along with my parents fine. Oh, and I got Head Girl-"
"WHAT?!" shouted Ellie. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Lily looked at her apologetically. "Well, I found out after you last sent me an owl, so I couldn't write you."
"Yeah, whatever, do you know who the Head Boy is?" asked Ellie.
"Uh, I am," said James quietly.
Silence filled the compartment. Even Callista and Helen stopped talking. Lily's eyes were wide, and she stared at James.
"But…you're not even a prefect!"
"Yeah," he said sheepishly, "I guess Dumbledore thought I earned it or something."
"Why?" said Lily before she could help herself.
James looked a little taken aback. "Well, I guess it could be that I get good grades, or…something…" he looked away from her, trying not to show his disappointment. He had been hoping that maybe earning Head Boy would change Lily's outlook on him.
"Yeah, that must have been it," Lily said after a moment. "Well, uh…congratulations?"
"Yeah, you too," James tried to put as much sincerity in his words as possible.
"Uh, guys? You do realize we have a meeting in two minutes," said Remus.
"Oh, I forgot!" said Lily jumping to her feet.
"I'll be there in a second," said Remus, as James stepped out of the compartment with Lily following him.
As soon as the compartment door shut, James turned to Lily who was much closer than he had thought. As a result, Lily's face was directly in front of his chest, which made her step back hurriedly.
"Look, Lily…" James started. When she didn't object, he continued, "I just want you to know I won't bother you this year. I mean, with us working together and stuff. I'll try to make working with me as painless as possible, I promise," he flashed his stupid grin, which for once didn't piss Lily off.
"Oh, that's…thank you. I'm sure we'll work together fine." James snorted, which caused Lily to grin too. "I mean, I won't cause problems either. Unless," she said with her finger pointed at him, "You start something first."
"What if I want to start something first?" James teased.
Much to Lily's embarrassment she started to turn red. She was used to Sirius' pick-up lines, but not James'. Just as James started to regret what he had said, Remus joined them in the corridor.
"What, you guys not there already? Well come on!"