A/N- OH MY GOLLY GOSH! I updated! Sorry for taking two weeks- I was in the States to visit boarding schools that I might go to next year.

A great bog thanks to all my wonderful reviews and (because I know how much I love this in other people's stories) some replies:

Prongsxlily: Hahaha! I'm sure James would appreciate that… although Lily and Jacob might not. Your Jamesie-poo (GACK) is rather horrid in this chapter… PLEASE FORGIVE ME! –runs and hides-

Truth In the Moon: Love your name! I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next few years too (heh.). I've got a vague plot lined up, but really, this is really just a connected series of oneshots… kind of. Heh. The 'plot' is a little fuzzy.

Marauerer13: Thanks for the review! I'm really enjoying this story, so hopefully there will be more very soon.

Love-horses: wow! I guess it wasn't so bad after all. Thankees!

This chappie is dedicated to prongsxlily for having the most entertaining review. Thankees!

And now… onto the chapter. Joy! Warning: James is a total loser in this chapter. Don't worry… he gets nicer… eventually. I just wanted Lily to have a real reason for hating the kid.

Disclaimer: Ha! Foiled again lawyers! See? I DON'T OWN IT. You still can't sue me! Muahahaha! Heh… Asylum here I come.

Rhythm of the Rails- Chapter Two

As she hurried along the platform, Lily checked her watch yet again, and sped up. She cursed the law against using magic in the presence of Muggles as she dragged her trunk along. It made its way slowly, refusing to hurry no matter how hard she pulled. She turned to give it another yank.

This was a mistake. The minute she focused her attention on something besides walking, the foot of a certain someone connected with hers and she went sprawling, though that person gave her enough time to give her trunk the final pull that sent it trundling by without her. Without having to look up, Lily knew who her tormentor was.

"Potter!" she yelled, jumping to her feet in fury, "That was not funny! Don't you have something better to do besides-" Her lecture was cut short by a loud squeal as her trunk rolled over the edge of the platform onto the train tracks. It split open, spilling all of her possessions all over the rails. And there was nothing she could do about it.

She wheeled to face her enemy. James stood there, leaning against a pillar, the expression on his face smug. He ran a hand through his black hair in mockery.

"Good luck making the train, Evans." He said calmly before strutting away. Lily was left standing alone, radiating anger. She stalked over to the edge to examine the situation. It was a mess.

'Should I get on the train without my things?' she wondered. But such thoughts were interrupted by a kindly voice behind her.

"Having trouble there Lils? How is it that I always find you in these situations?"

Lily sighed in relief and turned to face Ethan. "Maybe because I'm always in these situations." She replied, "What am I going to do about my trunk?" she asked, pointing to it. Ethan peered over the edge and whistled.

"Potter?" he asked quietly, surveying the damage.

Lily nodded. "Who else?"

Ethan began climbing down. Lily bit back a warning and climbed after him, though she knew how stupid it was. Still, Ethan was a muggle born too, so he knew what he was getting himself into when he stepped onto a train track. The boy started sorting through her stuff.

"Pick what's important." He told her, gathering her spell books and dumping them into a cauldron along with her robes. Lily just nodded again, and selected her favorite shirt, her moneybag and her sketchbook. Then she carefully pulled Smudge, her new cat, out of her carrying case. She threw them all into the cauldron and crawled back onto the platform.

"Pass them up!" she called to Ethan. He hefted the pot onto his shoulders and, with much effort; she managed to pull it onto the platform. Then she checked her watch again.

"Ethan!" she cried, "Hurry! We've only got a minute… if that!" The boy crawled joined he on the platform and started to run. She ran after him, dragging her cauldron behind.

One short minute later, they were on the train. Lily pulled her indignant cat out of its prison and soothed it quietly. Soon she had the grey striped creature purring, though its claws were still embedded in her arms. She winced and looked up at Ethan. He was sitting next to her, his back pressed against the train door.

"I reckon we should find our compartment," he began. Then he stopped and blanched. "Lily!" he exclaimed, "I forgot my bag on the platform!"

They stared at each other for a second before dissolving into fits of laughter.

Two subdued individuals entered the last compartment on the train in silence, having exhausted their giggles. They were met with surprise and relief from their fellows.

"Ethan! Lils! We thought you'd missed the train!" exclaimed Jacob, leaping up to hug the two. Then he caught sight of Lily's cauldron. "Suitcases just not fashionable enough for you Lils?" he joked. She glared at him and sat down angrily, shoving her pot under the seat. Jacob looked to Ethan for explanation.

"Don't ask me!" Ethan sighed, "I don't even have a cauldron."

"Ask Potter." Grumbled Lily.

"Speak of the devil." Said Alex bitterly as the compartment door swung open. Their visitor was indeed Potter, though his cronies were nowhere to be seen. He looked at Lily in mild surprise.

"Didn't think you'd make it Evans." He commented blithely. All four boys stood up, though it was, surprisingly, good-tempered Alex who spoke first.

"Potter, if you have anything to do with Lily having a cauldron for a trunk and Ethan having no trunk at all, I suggest you get out of this compartment." He advised quietly, drawing himself to his full height.

Unfazed, James merely raised his hands in mock surrender. "I have no quarrel with any of you." He stated calmly, gesturing to each of the boys in turn.

"I might just have a problem with you though Potter." Ethan said, stepping forwards, everything about his body language holding the vague hint of a threat. Even his hands, usually loose, were almost balled into fists.

"Ignore the prat." Lily interrupted, not wanting to watch a scene. "He's caused enough trouble. Don't give him any more attention. Positive or negative it inflates his oversized ego anyway. His mind twists everything into a compliment."

"Why thank you Evans." James said, still calm.

"See what I mean?" she demanded, shutting the door in his face.

--

The Potter incident, though not forgotten, had been pushed to the very back of Lily's mind by the time the trolley lady had passed. It had been a mild one, especially since, as James's favorite prank target, she was used to the boys arguing with him.

The various candies from the cart led the foursome to start a conversation about Honeydukes, which led, as was inevitable, to a discussion about Hogsmeade.

"All I'm saying is that I was to try some of the blood flavored lollipops." Lily said as she leaned back in her seat and rested her feet on the little table jutting from the window. She glanced playfully at Jacob. They had an ongoing joke about her 'vampirical tendencies'.

Ethan sighed. "And all I'm saying is that there's no way we can take a second year with us, even if you are our best friend."

Lily huffed quietly into her shirt. Then she brightened. "We could sneak in!" she said, only half joking.

Alex grinned. "You're too chicken." He informed her teasingly. She gasped in mock offense.

"Is that a challenge Alex?" she asked, curling her upper lip into her best 'bring it on' smile. He met her eye to eye.

"It is." He agreed, "Truth or Dare Evans?"

"Truth." She said sweetly, fighting not to laugh, as it would have ruined her innocent expression. Alex threw a Chocolate Frog at her.

"Wuss." He mumbled, and continued muttering about girls who said one thing and did another. Then he gave in. "Fine. An easy dare for the chicken. Climb up onto the luggage rack." Lily stuck her tongue out at him.

"I said 'Truth' you know." She reminded him as she stood up and prodded the rack tentatively. He rolled his eyes as she continued, "I doubt that the rack will hold me anyway." Nevertheless, Lily Evans was not going to be called a coward. IN front of her three best friends she clambered nimbly onto her seat, and from there onto the little table next to the window. As she did so, she took great care to step on Alex's mound of candy.

"Oops!" she exclaimed in mock surprise, holding in her giggles.

Alex glared at her playfully, but remained silent. It was a custom for the group to remain silent during dares because it increased the tension. Only the person doing the dare was allowed to speak. Lily turned her attention back to the luggage. She put her two hands on the edge and tried to lift herself up. The result had her friends rolling on the ground laughing: Lily was stuck halfway onto the rack with her legs waving around in midair like a penguin.

"Shut up!" Lily yelled through irrepressible giggles.

Then the rack gave a quiet creak. Lily started to climb own, but it was too late. With a quick shudder the whole thing peeled off the wall and fell to the floor with a car. Lily landed on top of Jacob and Ethan, who were still laughing. Smudge exploded from underneath the rack, hissing angrily.

Then the compartment door came open a second time.

"Having fun Evans?" James asked, his voice jeering, "I understand how you stay friends with these boys now. You throw yourselves at them."

Lily leapt quickly off the boys' laps, blushing crimson.

"What do you want, Potter?" she spat, glaring daggers.

"I was hoping to see you embarrass yourself again before the end of the ride," he replied smoothly, sounding as unconcerned as he usually did. Lily wondered briefly why no one else ever saw this horrible side of the boy. He continued, "I was not disappointed."

"In that case, please let me show you the sliding door," Lily said, a sweet smile on her face. She grabbed the door and slid it shut on his face. Violently. There was a satisfying crunch as door met jaw. Lily turned to face her friends again, ignoring James's wimpers. "He'll be alright when Madame Pomfrey gets to him." She told them in response to the alarm on their faces.

Lily Evans was not a girl to be messed with.

"So wait… what were we going to name our group again?" asked Ethan quietly, trying to lessen the tension.

"I was thinking of an acronym that used the first letters of all our names." Ethan answered, sounding relieved about the change of subject, "Like… L-A-J-E… or… I don't know… If Jacob's name started with a 'K' we could be named 'K-A-L-E'"

"Right." Jacob drawled, "Because I've always wanted to be in a group named after a vegetable. It's been my lifelong dream."

"What about J-A-L-E?" proposed Lily.

"Lils, we aren't all criminals who go beating up Potters…"

"Shut up Ethan! He deserved it!"

Insufficient luggage, broken luggage racks, insufferable Potters, vampires, Hogsmeade, criminal records and angry cats. It was going to be an interesting year.

A/N (TWO! Ooo… a sequel) (Sorry… I'm hyper)-

Aaah! I really, really, REALLY want to write a chapter about what happens during the year. –sigh-. I must resist though. Anyway… hope y'all are pretty darn annoyed at James.

Thanks so much for reading! If you find any mistakes, PLEASE tell me. I tried sending this story to me 'beta'… but she didn't reply. Hmm. My 'd' key isn't working properly, and my understanding of grammar is almost non-existent (I know French and German grammar better than English grammar. How sad is that) so I really need help.

Thankees again for reading!

.:froggie:.