Disclaimer: still not J.K. Rowling. Surprised?

Author's Note: Ugh. I have my chapters mapped out, but writing this one was really hard for some reason. I think my massive intake of Thanksgiving leftovers impaired my brain function. Also...I've just begun to write Sirius. I love him (yes, I sobbed when he died) but he's a challenge to write. He's cliched and just tooun-serious (I refuse to make that pun ;) in so many fanfics. I want to develop his relationship with Lily properly-clues in the books tell us they were close. She entrusted Harry with him as godfather, then there was that letter in Deathly Hallows, etc...anyway, I'm looking forward to writing it.
P.S. Reviewers, I love you.

Chapter 4

On September 1, 1977, I woke to torrential rain. Slowly, I got out of bed, showered, and dressed, vaguely emotional over the fact that this was my last first day of Hogwarts. I wondered where I would be a year from now. Auror training? Likely. Married? Ha. Dead? Morbid, but possible. Levitating my trunk in front of me, I descended the stairs and walked into the kitchen.

My father sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and the crossword while my mother hovered over the pancakes on the stove.

"Morning, Lils," my dad said, looking up.

I took the chair beside him. "Morning dad, morning mum."

"Pancakes, sweetheart?" Mum asked.

"Thanks." I glanced at my father. "Hey, dad," I said hesitantly, "I thought I could just apperate to King's Cross today so you don't have to drive-the rain is so heavy."

He smiled a bit sadly. He had driven me to the train station every year since I was eleven. "That sounds fine, darling."

After I finished breakfast, I returned to my room, made my bed, and cleaned up a bit. For some reason, I felt inordinately depressed and unready to become an adult. I scowled. What was wrong with me? I had ten more months of school before I entered the real world-I still had to take my NEWTs!

OH Merlin. NEWTs.

I took another shower to try and repress my impending insanity. By the time I had done my hair and dressed, it was time to leave.

"Bye, Mum," I said, hugging her tightly. "Bye, Dad," I hugged him and he kissed the top of my head. "See you in a few weeks for the wedding. James and I will apperate that Thursday morning...okay?" I took hold of my trunk, wand, and owl cage, and disapperated.

Platform 9 ¾ bustled with witches and wizards of all ages-parents, schoolchildren, and siblings too young for Hogwarts. There was an air of back-to-school excitement in the air. Feeling slightly cheered, I boarded the train and set off to find a compartment.

I ended up in the prefect's compartment as James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were nowhere to be found. I changed quickly into my Hogwarts robes and started reviewing the written agenda for the prefect meeting.

James and Remus entered a few minutes later. "Hey, Lily! Why didn't you come join us in our compartment? You missed dangerous game of Exploding Snap," James greeted.

"I prefer not to live life on the edge," I replied dryly, shuffling my papers and setting them in a neat stack.

Remus sniggered and James smirked. "Avoid chess with Sirius, then."

I laughed and plonked down in one of the large, cushy armchairs.

"So," James began, "what exactly happens in these prefect meetings?"

"We give all the passwords to the common rooms out and explain patrol schedules," I answered. "Nothing too complicated."

"So what do I do?"

"Sit there and look pretty," Remus retorted.

"So you think I'm pretty, do you?" James grinned, flopping down in the other armchair.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure he does. You're even prettier with your mouth shut."

James did not keep his mouth shut, but I was rather impressed with what came out of said mouth. As I had predicted, the position of leadership came easily to him, and the prefects, despite the shock (and in some cases, horror) of finding him Head Boy, fell prey one by one to his natural charisma and warmth.

"I thought that went well," James declared as the last prefect left.

"Yeah," I said thoughtfully, "quite well."

"Should we go see if Sirius and Peter have burned down their compartment yet?" suggested Remus.

We left the carriage and for the millionth time I wondered what this year would be like with the marauders as my main companions.

"I hate the sorting," grumbled Sirius. "It brings back bad memories and delays dinner."

After an uneventful train ride and journey to the castle, we were seated at the Gryffindor table waiting for the sorting to finish and the feast to begin.

"I like the sorting," I offered. "I silently thank that hat every year for not putting it in Slytherin like I asked it to."

James looked horrified. "You wanted to be in Slytherin?"

I shrugged. "I was a muggleborn-I didn't know about the house's reputation; all I knew was that my best friend was in Slytherin."

James nodded silently, obviously feeling a bit awkward around the subject of Snape.

"So," said Remus, sensing his friend's discomfort and tactfully changing the subject, "what classes are you taking this year, Lily?"

We all fell gratefully into discussing this new subject, awkwardness forgotten.

Later that night, after a meeting with Professor McGonagall to discuss our Head duties and a fierce game of Wizard's chess with James (he won), I went upstairs to bed. Currently, I was in bed missing Marlene.

As Marlene had moved to France and the parents of the twins who shared a dormitory with us had withdrawn the two girls, I was the only one in the seventh year girls' dormitory. It felt empty, very dark, and eerily quiet. I hated it. Marlene and I used to stay up and talk for hours, often falling asleep in the same bed. We discussed classes, boys, the future, our families-and I was having a hard time falling asleep without my evening heart-to-heart with my best friend. I missed her laughing brown eyes, snarky sense of humour, clumsiness, and love of potions, the class we had bonded over.

I scowled fiercely and flopped over onto my stomach. I refused to cry. Marlene planned to move back to England when we graduated-we had planned to share a flat in London while I attended the Auror Academy and she started Healer training-so it wasn't as if she was gone for forever. With this cheerier thought, I tried to fall asleep.

I couldn't.

Eventually, I escaped my creepy empty dorm and crept down the stairs to the common room, settling on the couch.

The next thing I knew, someone was shaking my shoulders. I buried my head in a cushion and mumbled about Marlene going away.

"Lily!" the voice persisted.

I tried to sit up and fell off...the couch? The previous night came rushing back.

"Classes!" I shrieked, springing to my feet.

"Whoa! Lily, it's Saturday!" I blinked and swiveled around to see James, who looked highly amused.

"I got up early to go out to the Quidditch pitch and saw you on the couch. Figured you'd want up before everyone else comes down," he explained.

I rubbed my eyes and tried to drag my fingers through my crazy hair. "Er, thanks," I said awkwardly. "I'll just go up, then."

"You can come with me, if you like," he offered. "You'd probably rather sleep, though."

"S'okay," I yawned. "I can't fly anyway."

Sleep deprivation does odd things to my brain. In a normal situation, I would have never admitted I couldn't fly, much less to the Quidditch prodigy that was James Potter.

His eyes widened and his jaw went slack. "You can't fly? Have you ever been on a broom?" he sounded slightly hysterical.

I was in too deep to wiggle my way out now. "I was sick during our flying lesson in first year," I admitted. "I've never been on a broomstick in my life."

"That's so...weird!" James exclaimed. "Never been on a broomstick," he mumbled to himself. "I started flying before I could walk!"

It was my turn to frown. "That's weird! You could've killed yourself!"

"It was a toy broomstick," he shrugged. "Nothing dangerous."

"Still! Would you let your children on a toy broomstick?" Stupid question, Lily.

He looked at me as though I had gone insane. "Of course I would!"

"That's mad!" I exclaimed. "Wouldn't you feel bad if they were killed?"

He rolled his eyes. "You can't treat them like glass."

"They're babies!" I protested. "They practically are glass!"

He sighed and twirled the broomstick he held. "Whatever. I'll raise my kids my way and you can raise yours however you like, but it's too bloody early to be arguing, about baby's first broomstick no less."

I grinned reluctantly at the absurdity of our conversation. "Right. Well then, I'm going back to sleep." I turned and headed up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

"Hey," he called after me, "I will get you on a broomstick before this year is over."

"Good luck with that, Potter," I called over my shoulder.

"You'll see, Evans," he replied, grinning.

When I got up again several hours later, I resigned myself to the fact that I had missed both breakfast and lunch and was cursed to suffer hungrily until dinner. As I scrambled around looking for my shoes, I heard a knock on the door. "Come in," I called.

I hopped up from the floor triumphantly holding my shoes and raised my eyebrows. "Aren't you not supposed to be able to get up here?"

Sirius grinned and shrugged. "Are you hungry?"

I frowned suspiciously at him. "Maybe."

He sighed. "Look, Miss Head Girl. I came up here to reveal one of the best kept secrets of the castle, and if you're going to be hostile..."

James appeared behind him. "C'mon Lily! It's not against the rules...well, it sort of is...but..."

Sirius kicked him. "Shutup, Prongs. Now, Lily, come with us and you'll be happy. Refuse to come with us and you'll be sad. Give us detention and you'll be sorry."

I rolled my eyes. "Are you threatening me, Sirius?"

"You can choose to believe so. Or you can just come with us..."

"Merlin, Padfoot," came the muffled voice of Remus. "Lily," he said, popping his head in, "do you want to come to the kitchens with us, since we missed breakfast and lunch?"

"You know where the kitchens are?" I marvelled.

"Marauders' secret, milady," Sirius said pleasantly. "Now-food."

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The Quirky Quill