Lily POV
"Hey, Bean, how ya doing?" Alice said, walking in to our dorm.
"Al, can you please stop asking me that? My answer obviously hasn't changed since three hours ago."
"Right. Sorry. So what are you thinking about then?"
"I don't know…everything. James, Sirius, and Remus are all getting ready for school, ya know? And I was a part of that. As weird as it sounds, I really looking forward to Hogwarts. The boys had talked about all these secret passageways and places to go and the quidditch games…"
"And now you keep imagining how senior year could have gone?"
"Yeah," I sighed, visibly deflating. "I just miss it all…I miss James."
"I thought you guys were keeping in touch?"
"We're going to try, but it's hard. When will I see him again? Christmas? Then next summer? Besides, it'll be a lot harder to go find a job in England if I haven't studied there. They'd have to give me a visa and what job would I say I was doing? Mediwitch? Auror? I mean come on, there is no way this could work-"
"Slow down there Lils! No one said you were going to marry the boy."
"I know, all I'm saying is there is no chance of a future for us, so why exactly am I extending this torture? I just want to be back in England."
Alice just sat in silence for a while before perking up, "Lils, I have somewhere to go. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Yeah, whatever," I said before lowering my face back into the pillow, "I'll be right here…miserable."
James POV
"Have you packed anything yet, James?" Remus asked, walking into the room.
"No. What's the point?"
"The point is that we start school tomorrow and you have nothing ready to go. Damn it, James! Why did you tell Lily she should go if you would be this pathetic with her gone?"
I just shrugged my shoulders, "I couldn't hold her back from the senior year she was supposed to have. I couldn't ask her to give all that up just for me, I care about her too much for that."
Remus just shook his head in disappointment, "she wouldn't be giving anything up, you idiot, and it's what she wanted too. So now you're both just miserable."
"Yeah well, it's too late to change any of that. Like you said, school starts tomorrow."
Lily POV
"You know," Alice said, walking into the room six hours later, "I wouldn't mind going to school in England- wait, have you not moved since I left?"
I didn't have time to process the second part of the sentence, at the first I started, "Alice, what are you saying?"
"You haven't moved, have you? Jeez, Bean, you've reached a whole new low if that's how long you've been-"
"Alice! Let's forget how low I've sunk and get back to what you were saying!"
She smirked before continuing, "England's not too shabby a place, besides, maybe I could find my own James there. And those accents! I mean talk about making me swoon-"
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?!"
"I can't let you have all the fun, Lils. Besides, what kind of best friend would I be if I made you go to Hogwarts alone?"
Before she could say anything else, I pounced. We'd talk about whom she had talked to and what strings were pulled for this later. Right then, I just wanted to cry and hug my best friend.
James POV
"Hey, James," Addie Hannock squealed, "summer's been kind to you."
I controlled the urge to hit a girl and just smiled before walking to the Gryffindor table.
"Chin up, mate," Remus said, "I think the girls like you a bit more than they do Pads this year."
"Stuff it, Moons, Prongs just has that sullen brooding look going. The girls will get sick of it soon enough."
"Shut it," I hissed, punching them both in the side, "I'm not in the mood to hear it."
"Oh, is poor Jamsie-poo on his period?"
Before I could punch Sirius again, Dumbledore started speaking, "Welcome students! It is lovely to see all your faces again; I trust you are all in excellent condition and excited for a new school year." There was muffled applause before he continued, "now, I know the Head Boy and Girl usually receive a letter in the mail regarding their position; but this year, selecting two worthy candidates was rather challenging. So, if you could all join me in applauding this year's Head Boy and Girl: James Potter and Lindsay Walsh!"
At this announcement, wolf whistles and catcalls rang out. I didn't quite believe my ears, "did he really just say what I think he said?" I whispered to Sirius and Remus.
Neither could answer me, they were both in hysterics on the floor; well, I definitely heard correctly then.
Lily POV
"Is there a reason you didn't just write to James telling him you'd be here?"
"The owl wouldn't have been able to handle a transatlantic flight! Besides, I want to surprise him."
"Oh, he'll be surprised alright; and he won't be the only one."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked her as we walked from the carriage to the Hogwarts gate.
"Nothing. Only that from what you've told me, James is a hot commodity, and the ladies of Hogwarts will not be happy to see him with a girl."
"Well, they'll just have to get used to it then," I said with conviction as the gates opened in front of us. We made our way a football field length up the path before we were greeted by a rather large man, so large in fact, I didn't think he was all human.
"You must be Lily and Alice," he shouted by way of greeting, "the name is Hagrid, groundskeeper here at Hogwarts. You look tired, let's get you inside and sorted, alright?"
"Thank you, Hagrid," I mumbled, almost entirely out of fear of the large man.
However, after the walk through the school and to the Headmaster's office I learned not to be scared of him. Hagrid was actually just a huge teddy bear.
"Here ya are, girls. Password is Bertie Bott's."
"Thanks, Hagrid!" I said with much more enthusiasm this time. Alice said the password and then we were on our way up the stairs. We knocked on the door and heard a faint, "come in" from inside. Sitting at a desk in the middle of a perfectly circular room, was none other than Albus Dumbledore. His pointed hat was navy blue with silver stars, his cloak of a matching design. His had his silver beard tucked into his belt and had his fingers propping his head up in a moment of contemplation.
"Ah, you must be Lily and Alice," his voice rumbled, "welcome to Hogwarts, we are very pleased to have you here. Now, because it is the third day of school and the first day of class, I thought you two would much rather be sorted up here away from prying eyes than down at breakfast."
"Yes, we'd like that very much, sir," Alice breathed. Dumbledore chuckled for a moment before rising and pulling a worn hat down from the top shelf of his bookcase.
"Alice, my dear, if you wouldn't mind placing this on your head." Alice looked at me skeptically for a moment before doing as he asked. The hat seemed to cough, giving both Alice and I a fright. Then, it proceeded to mumble for three minutes before finally saying,, "Gryffindor!"
"Yes!" Alice yelled in excitement before becoming totally embarrassed, "I mean, I would have been happy with any house, sir. It's just-"
"No need to explain, my dear," Dumbledore said, failing to keep the laugh entirely out of his voice, "I understand. Now, Lily, if you'd be so kind," he gestured toward the hat. He placed the hat on my head, I didn't even have time to hear what it said to me before announcing my house, "Gryffindor!"'
I didn't realize how stressed I was about the chance of not being put in Gryffindor until I heard the hat announce my fate and my shoulders finally relaxed. Now, all I had to do was find James…
James POV
"Mate," I heard from somewhere outside of my bed. I groaned and continued on with my moping.
It came again, "Mate! GET UP!"
"Mmm," was all I could manage.
"James! I swear to god if you don't get out of bed in the next minute I will start throwing my dirty underwear at you, and we all know that is a scent your delicate nostrils cannot stand."
"Pads….just…I mean…"
"I'm doing it."
"No you're not." …I was wrong. I popped out of bed faster than Sirius when bikini season starts.
"Ew! Man, that's gross, no one, and I mean no one needs to smell that."
"It got you out of bed, didn't it?"
"Yeah, well. I'm about to get back in it."
"Why must you insist on being so pathetic?"
"Because I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself."
"Prongs, it's the first day of class…don't you think you should, oh I don't know, maybe go to class?"
"Yeah, seriously," Remus said coming in from the bathroom, "you know it's bad when Padfoot, of all people, is telling you to go to class."
"I think that's why I should stay in bed, actually. It's a sign of the apocalypse that Pads is telling me to go to class…. So that actually means I should stay in bed. It makes sense if you don't think about it."
Remus just sighed, " Sirius, leave him. I don't think I can even stand to look at him."
"You're right, Moony. He's just getting weird."
"It's not weird!" I yelled after them, "I'm healing!"
Lily POV
"So, what class do you have first?" I asked Alice after we left the dorm. Our stuff had already been put away, and our beds selected. The other girls hadn't been in the room when we got in, but I felt sure when we met, we'd all get along.
"Erm, I think I have Defense Against the Dark Arts. But it won't matter. We'll have all the same classes; we're in the same house and we both take the advanced level."
"Look at you, being smarter than me already."
"Oh hun," Alice said with a pitying look, "I've always been smarter than you."
Before I could retort, two people I had not expected to see so soon spotted us and in a moment, ran towards us.
"Lily?" Sirius shouted, " is that really you?" I didn't even get the chance to answer; Sirius squeezed the air out of me in a vice like hug.
"C'mon now Sirius, give a girl a chance to breathe!"
"But how? Why? When?" then he seemed to see Alice next to me, "Mad Hatter, I should have known. How lovely to meet you in the flesh."
"Wait, you two know each other?"
"Actually, Lils," Alice said, "I know both Remus and Sirius, but that's a story for a later time, don't you think?"
"Um..okay sure." I said before getting swept up in the joy of seeing friends again.
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"So, Lils," Remus while shoveling eggs into his mouth, "when were you planning on telling James of your arrival?"
"Whenever I saw him, I figured it would make a great surprise for him."
"Oh, it'll be a surprise for him alright," Sirius snorted.
"What does that mean?" I asked
"Only that your big, strong boyfriend is currently moping in his bed, which he hasn't gotten out of for the last three days." Sirius said before breaking out in uproarious laughter.
Remus and Alice joined in, so it was left to me to defend James, "Oh shut up! I was the same way too!"
"Oh my god," Alice said inbetween wheezing breaths, "she was so ridiculous, 'Oh my sweet Jamesie poo! Oh Hogwarts!' Oh give it a rest, Lily!"
"Yeah, but at least Lily is a girl! What excuse does James have for such pathetic behavior?" Remus asked.
"He was heartbroken!" That just made them laugh harder.
"You three are impossible!"
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"So. What's the plan, Stan? How is the big surprise going to be unveiled?" Alice asked me as we were walking to Defense Against the Dark Arts.
"I don't know. I haven't really thought that far in advance. I kind of just thought I'd sneak up on him and see what happens."
"Well, good luck finding him," was all Alice said.
"He can't skip class forever," I said. Then after a moment, "can he?'
"Let's hope not, Bean m'dear." Alice wrapped her arm around me and then we walked off to class.
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"So, that class wasn't terrible," I said as Alice and I walked out of class, "what do we have next?"
"Mmm, Potions. Your favorite."
"Not my favorite, but it totally is my best."
"Yeah, yeah, shut up and keep walking."
"Why didn't Sirius and Remus walk with us?"
"They said something about going and grabbing more food, those boys can eat like truckers, I'm telling you."
"Lord, they are ridiculous." We turned the corner and entered the Potions dungeon. I looked back and forth but there were no empty desks for the two of us to sit together.
"Well," I said, "I'm going to go to the front, where are you gonna sit?"
"The back, duh!" Alice said, "Is that even a question, Lils?"
"You're right, how could I even ask?" I waved goodbye and started walking to the front of the room. Maybe boys at Hogwarts were different than those in the states, but I didn't think it made sense for anyone to stare at a new girl that much. I looked around; every time my eye landed on a seat, the boy next to it gave me a creepy smile. One boy was sitting in the front row and seemed oblivious to my entrance, so I walked up to him and sat down. I turned and stuck out my hand, "Hi, I'm Lily Evans."
He looked at me down his slightly large nose and said, "Hello, I am Severus Snape."
Okay, so you know how I said that school would start calming down and I'd have time for writing? Yeahhhh…I was pretty wrong about that. A paper due every week, dance three times a week (fun gym credits), online homework, studying, clubs…it was a lot. I AM SO SORRY! I'll try to write whenever I can, and I really think I should have more time this semester but I'm not making any promises (I'm obviously terrible at keeping those). If anyone reads this, thank you for coming back to the story! Review if you want (I definitely would not complain)