The first year at Hogwarts passed faster than Lily could have fathomed. The first summer was even faster. Before she even realized, she was back on Platform 9¾ , en route to her second year at the wizarding school. Most of her summer was spent at the park with Sev, or helping her mum around the house. Petunia refused to speak to Lily all throughout summer. One of the only memories she held of contact with her sister was a forced greeting and salutation as she left for the next year. Mum told Lily that it was simply a phase Petunia was going through, and it would pass. Lily nodded and took her mother's word as the dutiful daughter, but didn't believe a word she said. When they were little, Petunia and Lily would sleep in the same bed at night and stay awake until the sun rises, talking about why their mother had such a direct outlook on life. Petunia said it was because daddy left her. Lily always believed it was because that was simply the way she was raised. Petunia would then say maybe that was why daddy left her.

"Lily!" A girl screamed across the platform and ran encasing the unsuspecting redhead in an attack hug, rescuing the twelve year old from her thoughts. When Lily was finally released, she realized the girl was Alice Williams, her friend from first year.

"Oh, Alice I've missed you." Lily smiled and hugged the girl once more. The brunette seemed to have cut her hair again during the summer, as it now went to her chin, similar to how Marlene's was cut.

"You didn't write me at all, you traitor." Alice pouted.

"I swear I would have, but honestly Alice I have no idea how owls work." Lily lied. In truth, Petunia made a fuss about the owl the first day Lily arrived home. To appease her sister, and her mother who was having a migraine from Petunia's screaming, Lily promised to keep Lewis caged up in her room all summer and nothing else. Alice huffed as a response and dragged Lily onto Hogwarts Express. When they stepped onboard, she could see Sev already attempting to choose a compartment for the both of them.

"Oh, Sev is it alright if I sit with Alice?" Lily asked him as Alice left to put her trunk away. "I haven't seen her all summer. And I would ask you to sit with us but I reckon…"

"No, it's alright. Go sit with her." Sev gave Lily a reassuring smile as she left the compartment. When she cleared out, he sat on the cushion and retrieved his book and read during the entire train ride. Perhaps if Lily knew no one was going to sit with Severus, she would not have gone with Alice.

"Guys, look, the stranger finally decided to drop by." Alice opened the compartment door revealing a handful of Gryffindors such as Marlene McKinnon, Kyra Bell, Amira Rae, and even Dorcas Meadowes and Emmeline Vance who were both a year above them. Lily smiled and sat down next to Marlene, who grew her hair out over the summer, even her wispy bangs. During the train ride, all the girls shared what they did during the few months they were away. Lily admitted she stayed with her family the entirety of the summer, earning a handful of boo's and complaints as to why she did not attempt to owl any of them. Alice claimed the only note worthy activity she partook in was having a haircut and go around Diagon Alley several times with Dorcas and Emmeline. Marlene went on a vacation back to the states for the summer with her family, while Amira Rae visited her relatives in India with her mum and dad, apparently a yearly tradition. Kyra stated that she proudly won an eating contest, and learned how to recite her alphabet in French. Emmeline on the other hand, learned basic level one Italian from her grandparents, which earned a scowl from Kyra. Lastly, Dorcas admitted with a smug grin that she spent the summer with Zachary Ayers, as if that was the biggest feat in her life. Both Emmeline and Kyra's jaws dropped at the mere mention of the name.

"No way did you spend your summer with Zach Ayers." Kyra repeated incredulously. The girls acted as if he was some sort of ethereal being, but then Lily remembered he was voted as the 'Cutest Second Year Gryffindor' last year at the annual Welcome Sleepover.

"I did." Dorcas smiled smugly. "My family was vacationing next to his summer house, and we spent the summer on the beach."

If Kyra and Emmeline weren't jealous before, they were positively livid at that point. In the middle of the enthralling argument between the three girls, Amira pulled a large camera from her purse, and when all the girls stared at her weirdly, she simply claimed she was practicing for when she'd be a professional photographer for the Daily Prophet. With that, she forced all the girls in the compartment to be pushed together into one small moving picture, arguing and laughing without a care in the world. Lily wished they could have stayed like that forever.

"My summer was boring, that's what it was." James Potter announced as soon as he arrived in the designated compartment with Sirius, Peter and Remus. He groaned and sat down right beside Sirius, who acted like he didn't hear a word James said. Instead,

"James, mate, you're wearing glasses!" Sirius pointed out as if James had a wasp having a go on his shoulder. Indeed, James wore rectangular spectacles that sat right at the top of his nose.

"I think he knows by now that he's wearing glasses." Remus sighed, finding the cushions under his seat mildly fascinating at that point. Sirius ignored Remus' remark and demanded to know why all of a sudden his best mate gained four eyes. So James dutifully explained that he had glasses all along really, he just refused to wear them all first year. When his parents mentioned something about his glasses at the dinner table one summer night, his cousin Zach decided to let it slip that he never saw James wearing his spectacles around Hogwarts. His parents gave him a firm lecture on how it was healthy for him to wear his glasses everyday for whatever he was doing, especially now since he fully intended to try out for Quidditch.

"You could just… not wear them again?" Peter pointed out the obvious.

"Except my parents promised Zach an extra grand Christmas gift if he promises to relay to them that I'm wearing my glasses every day. They're evil just bribing him like that. And it's not like he could do his duty as the 'cool older cousin'; he's a bloody dreadful liar."

"I thought your cousin went to a beach house for the summer." Sirius asked curiously.

"Yeah, apparently they made the deal over owls."

"It's alright; you really don't look that bad. In fact, you look… like your father even." Remus laughed at that fact as soon as he pointed it out. The group made sparse visits to the Potter manor, and in every visit they saw James' father wearing his own spectacles atop his nose, a mirror of James. "Does horrid eyesight run in your family or something?"

"Apparently," James huffed, his mood having not improved since his arrival on the train. The four boys sat in thoughtful silence until all Remus, Peter and even Sirius also admitted they had an equally dreadful summer.

"I think I know how to lighten the mood just in time to ring in the new school year." Sirius smiled devilishly. James already knew some twisted plan was already evolving in the boy's head. So James, Remus and Peter all listened in studiously, fully intrigued by Sirius' plot. It was evil, it was funny, and it was completely like Sirius to even think of such a strategy. Together, the four boys spent their entire train ride planning it more in depth and thinking out each step thoroughly to get the perfect results. None of them realized this was to be the start of their legacy.

When the Sorting Ceremony was finished, food instantly materialized onto the tables. Lily waited before digging in to greet the newest Gryffindors who sat beside her, Justine and Justin, also now known as the Jamison twins. They both smiled at Lily shyly, and when she found the twins were fellow muggle-borns, the Jamisons told Lily of how when their grandparents found out Justine and Justin received their letters, they threw a party disguised as a "farewell party" for boarding school against their parents' wishes not to make a fuss about it. Lily laughed and told them of how her mum positively rejoiced when Lily received her own letter. Before Lily could take her first bite of the turkey in front of her, she noticed the four young troublemakers suddenly appeared by the table next to her without further preamble.

"When did they get here?" Lily whispered to Amira, subtly beckoning towards Remus, Peter, James and Sirius. "I thought they were absent at the Sorting."

"Perhaps we just didn't see them before." Amira shrugged and helped herself to a generous serving of the roasted turkey. When she asked Kyra as well, the girl already had turkey in her mouth and was shoving mash onto her plate, but Lily did not give up so easily. Throughout the beginning of the feast Lily kept a close and suspicious eye on the boys. They each snickered as if they knew something no one else did, and whispered amongst themselves. They didn't touch a crumb of any food on the table, and only took random sips of their pumpkin juice. Mildly suspicious, Lily followed suit and only drank her pumpkin juice as well. About five minutes into the feast she watched as each of the boys hid their wands under the table and started to chant some sort of charm that she couldn't hear. Before she could intervene, the entire Great Hall broke into chaos.

A handful of students started to pick up their platters, dropping any food that was on it in the process, and stare at their reflection then continue to kiss it or any shiny object they could find uncontrollably. Others started to laugh uncontrollably to the point where a few even dropped to the floor holding their sides as if they were being tickled by an invisible force. A few Hufflepuffs started to hiccup incoherently. Some Ravenclaws and Slytherins grew a hawk head, while the rest of the students simply started to quack whenever they tried to make a noise, a tribute to the unfortunate hex sent to Kyra the year before. Sure enough, when Lily glanced at Kyra she was beginning to quack louder than anyone else with a hawk head. It was enough to make anyone double over in laughter, and sure enough Lily found herself laughing at the ordeal of it all. The entire Hogwarts student body fell to chaos in a matter of minutes. The teachers however, did not seem to find it as amusing. Professor McGonagall and Slughorn repeatedly asked Dumbledore what to do, but the headmaster simply acted oblivious to the chaos in front of him as if nothing was happening. It wasn't long before the teachers decided to intervene without the headmaster's help. All of the teachers together managed to cast some sort of calming spell on the Great Hall, and whatever jinx or charm that was casted on the students instantly receded.

"Who jinxed the entirety of Hogwarts?" Hagrid asked somewhat calmly as if he was announcing what he had for dinner.

"We did, sir." Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black and James Potter all stood from their seats proudly with a cheeky smile on each of their faces as if they deserved some sort of prize for successfully pranking all the students. Lily realized that perhaps they did, it was quite a large feat after all, and rather funny, but still some of the first years were scared out of their minds.

"I want you four marauders in my office this instant." Professor McGonagall, the head of their house, seemed positively livid that the Welcoming Feast tumbled into chaos.

"As you wish, Minnie." Sirius saluted the elder witch. Some seventh years snorted in laughter despite being jinxed only moments before.

It was December, the day before students would leave for winter holidays. James and his cousin were engaged in a terribly intricate match of wizard's chess, which already seemed to last for over half an hour. Zach was bright and knew his younger cousin well, guessing his moves before James could even command his chess piece, but James was equally wise for his young age and strategized against his cousin. To his surprise, Zach actually fell for one of his rather developed strategies, resulting in the loss of his queen.

"Who's winning?" A girl casually dropped her green bag on the seat next to Zach and sat down fully interested in the match between the young boys. When James looked up from the chess board, his jaw practically dropped to his shoes when he realized the girl was a Slytherin, clad in a pleated black skirt and an emerald tie and headband and all that jazz. To seal the deal, it took him a moment to realize the girl was Helen Haley, a fellow Quidditch player and the newest and youngest seeker the Slytherin team had in a decade, being James' very age. She was fairly pretty for even a twelve year old's standards. In her hand she held a rather large herbology book she borrowed from the library, and in her other hand a half finished charms essay. If she wasn't a Slytherin, James didn't want to know how many boys would be falling to her feet given a few years.

"I'm winning." Zach proclaimed. James could have sworn his cousin's chest doubled in size and puffed up proudly.

"Isn't that your queen that's dead?" Helen Haley asked plainly with a thin frown on her lips while pointing to the chess board.

"What? Of course not." Zach sputtered and turned the chess board so James' pieces were on Zach's side. "Jamesie here simply turned the chess board. These are all my pieces, see?"

"Right…" Helen Haley frowned unimpressed. She shook her head and decided to dismiss the subject. "Are you going to stay here for the holidays?"

"No, I'm going to Jamesie's house for Christmas. We're having an annual family dinner… it's tradition." Zach admitted as if it was something to be embarrassed about. In reality, it truly was a small gathering, even Peter, Sirius and Remus were visiting.

"Oh, well alright then. I suppose I'll see you after the holidays then." She picked up her messenger back and slung it over her shoulder again, but before she left she hugged Zach playfully and turned to James as if she didn't just hug his cousin. It would not have been a big deal, and on normal standards it shouldn't have, but at that time, James very much believed girls possessed cooties. "Oh, Potter I forgot to tell you before. But nice match back in November. You play well."

"Thanks, Helen Haley." James said automatically, wide eyed and still trying to recover from shock.

"Bye," Zach practically drooled staring at Helen Haley as she skipped out of the Great Hall. It took about a minute until both of the boys fully recovered.

"You fancy Helen Haley." James pointed out the obvious.

"I don't."

"You do. You fancy a Slytherin." James jumped out of his seat and did a happy dance as if he won the jackpot. Other students lounging in the Great Hall began to watch him oddly, but he didn't care. When he sat back down on his seat, he pointed at his cousin. "You fancy a Slytherin, I'm so telling your mum and dad."

"You wouldn't."

"I would." James smiled smugly and removed his glasses and placed it on the table ceremoniously. "However, I might forget to casually mention it at the Christmas table if you somehow forget to mention to my parents that I won't be wearing my glasses for the rest of this year."

"Deal."

That Christmas Eve was one Lily Evans would much rather forget. The Evans girls sat at the small circular dining table, the food dimly lit by the yellow bulb above them and the full moon outside the window. Her mother always preferred not to have too much artificial lighting at holiday dinners anyways, as she proclaimed they could connect with the Lord easier. It was Lily's turn to recite Grace that year, and Lily dutifully clasped her hands together and closed her eyes.

"Bless us, O Lord…" Lily began, but a crawling feeling burned in between her brows. She peeked her right eye open to see Petunia glaring daggers at her, a pout taut on her lips. Now, Lily was a tolerant girl. She was mature for her age, and an equally smart and willful witch, but even the most mature of people lose their tempers at times. But Lily was still a young girl, and she was sick of her sister treating her like trash every visit. She was sick of her mother acting as if nothing was wrong between the two sisters, and for some reason the twelve year-old wanted to blame it all on her father, who wasn't even present in her life. She growled and continued the prayer, "Thank you, God, for Petunia's stinky breath. Whenever the mouth-breather is glaring at me, I always know, thanks to your generous gift. Also, thank you for gracing my dear sister with the gift of understanding. Who knows what she would be like if she wasn't the understanding and forgiving angel she is today? Oh wait…"

She opened her eyes again with a smile on her face to see Petunia practically fuming in her seat.

"Amen."

Lily counted a full three seconds before Petunia started to yell at their mother to punish Lily. Record timing, she mused to herself. Their dear mother did her best to subdue the livid girl, but with no success.

"Mum, how could you let Lily recite Grace like that? She's teasing God, and she's teasing me!" Petunia spoke as if teasing her was worse than speaking ill of God.

"It's called sarcasm, dear Tuney. It's something I learned in my school of 'freaks'."

"Lily Evans!" Their mum bellowed at her youngest daughter.

"That's right, that's what you are. A freak!"

"Petunia Evans!" Mrs. Evans yelled again, her bones practically shaking in fury. "Go up to your room this instant-"

"No, it's alright, mum. I'll go." Lily jumped off the dining chair and grabbed her plate of food, scurrying to her room on the second floor, leaving behind her arguing sister. Her mum could only watch in pain as her youngest daughter walked away.

Lily did not realize she was crying until she raised her head from her pillow, revealing soaked cotton. The realization made Lily sniff, and wipe away the tears on her cheeks with her sleeve. She was supposed to be the stronger daughter, if not for herself, then for her mother. She silently cursed herself for acting so stupid at Christmas Eve dinner, for setting off future events that could never be stopped. She stuffed a spoonful of mash into her mouth to muffle her tears. Kyra always told her that was the best way, anyways. Just eat your pain away. By the time Lily finished her mash, the tears left on her chin were dried, and she was staring at the menacing full moon, wishing, wondering what a normal Christmas dinner was like, with both parents and friends and a sister that loved you. She was shaken out of her thoughts when she spotted an owl flying in the distance, making its way towards her window. When it perched itself on her window sill and pecked at the glass, she gasped and quickly opened the window before anyone downstairs could hear the commotion. In waddled Alice's sandy brown elf owl.

"Come here, Winnie." Lily cooed. Her own owl, Lewis, rattled excitedly in his cage. Winnie flew to Lily's desk and dropped a neat crisp envelope on top a messy pile of papers. With that, Winnie flew out of her window and into the night. Lily grabbed the letter and moved onto her bed, making an effort to hush Lewis in the process. When she tore open the envelope, a simple red folded card was revealed, written in with gold ink.

Happy Christmas, Lils.

Love, your group of dolts.

When she opened the card, a moving picture fell to the floor. When Lily picked it up, she realized it was the picture the girls took in the Hogwarts Express, all the way back in September. Dorcas and Kyra were still glaring at Emmeline, who smiled cheekily, having just admitted that she spent the summer with now Gryffindor's "cutest third year" (as voted at the latest Annual Welcoming Sleepover), Zach Ayers. Marlene's hands were around Lily's shoulders pulling her into a hug, and Alice was behind them, playfully sporting bunny ears behind both Lily's and Marlene's heads.

Momentarily forgetting the horrid Christmas Eve family dinner that transpired only minutes ago, Lily laughed, remembering the exact moment when Amira forced the girls into the picture. When Lily turned over the card, it revealed more of Alice's messy handwriting in the gold ink, but only a short note.

P.S, you liar. There is no way the Elusive Lily Evans doesn't know how an owl works.

It was supposed to be a normal Charms class, really. It was the first Monday since the students returned from holidays. Given that it was the first class on that Monday, the students were quite lively, asking each other what they did for the holidays and how they've been and what presents they received. Lily sat next to Marlene near the front of the room, and the two girls were in a heated discussion over who had the most unfavorable winter break.

"I had to babysit my little brothers and sisters, and the oldest of which is only five." Marlene huffed.

"I had to babysit my sister."

"Isn't she older than you?"

"Yeah."

"Ouch."

"Tell me about it." Lily sighed. She was about to continue, if Professor Flitwick didn't interrupt her incoming speech.

"Marlene McKinnon and Lily Evans, do you two have anything to share with the class?" Professor Flitwick raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his shoulder, his wand in hand. Marlene shrugged and muttered her apologies.

"Yes, actually I do, sir. My winter holidays were terrible. How were yours?" Lily announced cheekily, uncaring that the entire class was listening. In fact, it earned her a few giggles from around the room. The professor sighed and uncrossed his arms.

"We can talk all about my holidays after class, Miss Evans. However, right now I am teaching a lesson, and if you and Miss McKinnon were listening, I was just about to start choosing partners for our next project."

A few groans were scattered around the room, not appreciating that the professor was choosing their partners. Lily mentally slapped herself. Her little remark just shot all her chances of being partnered with any of her friends. She practically dozed off while listening to the professor partner her friends off; Amira with Aram Patil, Alice with Joe Chang, and Kyra with Frank Longbottom. At least they got smart partners, Lily thought bitterly, given my luck I'll probably be partnered with the biggest dolt in the class.

"And as for you, Miss McKinnon, I think it will do you good to be partnered with Sirius Black. For you, Miss Evans, James Potter. Perhaps the two smartest students in the class could teach you two girls a few things you missed while you were caught in your little conversation." Professor Flitwick announced. She could hear some giggles from the Gryffindor girls, and Lily sent a quick glare towards their general direction. In all honesty, Lily didn't think it would be too bad to be partnered with James. He truly was, no matter how much she didn't want to admit it, the smartest student in their class, but it was too ironic remembering the latest Welcoming Sleepover. The two boys set a new record, having been the first second years to be left "undecided", and was left as a tie for Second Year's "Cutest Gryffindor Boy". It was even more ironic considering it was Marlene who elected Sirius in the first place, and she who forced Lily to elect James. All the Gryffindor girls were probably thinking the exact same thing.

When Lily slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and moved to the back of the room to discuss the project with her new partner, she realized that James looked quite frazzled, as if he barely got any sleep over the holidays, if his dark circles said anything about him. His hair was in more of a mess than usual, and he even ran his hand through it, making it worse. He didn't wear his glasses, and it seemed as if he couldn't see anything three feet in front of him. In fact, now that she realized it, his entire group of friends looked equally disoriented as they moved from their spots to their own partners.

"You alright?" Lily asked curiously and partly concerned after she made herself comfortable in the seat beside him.

"What?" James snapped his head up as if he just woke up. When he blinked a few times and realized it was Lily next to him, he shrugged. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Right…" Lily trailed off, not believing him for a bit. She leaned over her seat to grab a piece of parchment from her messenger bag.

"Sorry, it's just… holidays were more tiring than relaxing." James muttered an apology.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Mine was bloody terrible." Lily shook her head, remembering her horrid Christmas Eve. James looked as if he wanted her to continue, and so she did, telling him a toned down version of the dinner and her recitation of Grace, and how her sister practically clawed at her. James laughed at that, and even gave her a few suggestions as to how she could prank Petunia when she returned for summer. She gracefully turned down the opportunity, however, and instead asked him about his own holidays. James sighed and confessed his own toned down version of the dinner with Zach and his friends, and how James just noticed he was practically blind as a bat without his glasses, but given his new freedom, he left them hidden in his room at the Potter household. He however failed to tell her of how one of his best friends visited on a full moon, although all attendants (save for the Ayers) were fully aware and prepared, it was a new experience, and he also did fail to mention of their newfound goal to become animagi. Instead, he simply stated that things usually get crazy on full moons, so it was expected.

"Tell me about it. Whenever it's a full moon my sister is always moody and has a headache. Sometimes I think she's part werewolf." Lily joked, and James laughed nervously.

"Wait a minute… moody… full moon… moony…" James furrowed his eyebrows in a trance.

"Potter, you're going to have to start speaking some sense…"

"Moony!" James practically jumped up from his seat. He encased Lily in a bear hug given the revelation. He's been wanting to come up with a nickname for each of the Marauders, as Professor McGonagall so called them, and Lily just provided him with the first one. "You're a genius, Evans."

"Don't I know it." Lily laughed as James released her from his choking hug. "May I ask what that was all about?"

"Nope."

"Alright then."

By the time class was dismissed, the pair realized they barely spoke about their project at all. Lily walked out of class with a skip in her step, her day brightened by one of the funniest students in the class, and walked with Sev along the corridors. Neither of them knew it yet, and it would be well argued upon in the future, but James liked to proudly say that was the day that started it all, the day James unknowingly grew fascinated by the elusive Lily Evans.

A/N: Chapter title inspired by Jake Bugg's song, Simple as This :)

Next up: Year Three! The first Hogsmeade Trip, Lily's birthday, and more Marauder childhood bonding