Before he knew it, Harry became immersed in the next memory. He was sitting outside by the lake on what Harry judged to be one of the final nice days of the year, with Lily and Snape, who were doing homework.

"Hey, Snivellus!" Sirius called from across the grounds. "I'll wait for you tonight at the Whomping Willow, and we can run away together!"

"Don't," said Lily warningly, in a low voice. She took Snape's wrist, and Harry saw color rising in Snape's neck immediately. "It's what he wants."

Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter laughed, making kissy faces at Snape.

"Come on, Snivellus!" taunted Sirius. "Or are you too…what was it? Oh, yeah, embarrassed by the sexual tension brought on by my presence?"

"I'll give him sexual tension," said Snape through gritted teeth. Lily looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Uh…that sounded a lot more threatening in my head." Lily laughed, and Snape even cracked a smile. Harry was taken by surprise—he had never seen a genuine smile on Snape's face.

"Come on, I overheard McGonagall yelling at them. Black and Potter've got a weeks worth of detentions," said Lily, re-directing Snape's attention to their notes, which were strewn across the lawn. Snape took a look at the four Gryffindor boys, who were still laughing, and then turned back to Lily.

"Right," he said bracingly, picking up his Potions book and leafing through it. "Oh, here. So it says that in a Color-Change solution, the lacewing flies need to be added at the last possible moment to make the new color hold."

"Good," said Lily, printing this new information on a piece of parchment with impeccable handwriting. "What does it say about the pomegranate juice?"

"Let me check." Snape flipped through his textbook. "Is…uh…your sister still mad at you?"

"Yes," said Lily sadly. "I haven't heard from her at all. Well, you know how she can be. I expect she'll come around…eventually."

"She will," said Snape confidently, apparently regretting this question, for Lily now looked downcast. "You shouldn't worry about her. She's only jealous." Lily shrugged.

"I think she hates me, Sev."

"No," said Snape, looking horrified, for Lily looked like she was about to cry. "No, Lily, nobody could hate you. It's impossible."

"Potter and Black seem to be doing a pretty good job of it."

"Well, Potter and Black seem to have transcended all levels of possible idiocy," said Snape. "Who cares about them? They're stupid blasted gits."

"Fair enough," said Lily, smiling a little. "Did you find the paragraph on pomegranate juice?"

The memory dissolved again, and Harry found himself in the Gryffindor dormitories again, except there were several deliberate differences. The room was cleaner, the window was on a different wall, and it smelled a lot better. The door to the bathroom opened and a thin girl with wet, dark red hair stepped out, dressed in her pajamas.

Harry looked around. Was James here? These were his memories, after all. Where was he? Harry hoped beyond hope that James hadn't hidden here to spy on the girls. He knew his father was obnoxious, but he hoped at least that James knew his boundaries. He didn't want to add "creeper" to the list of adjectives used to describe his father.

Lily sat down on her bed, and rummaged through her bedside table. Harry sat next to her. Forgetting himself for a second, he reached out to touch her shoulder, but his hand went right through her. Something inside of Harry seemed to drop a little; he had forgotten he wasn't solid. He could see each of the freckles on her face, smell the shampoo she had just washed out of her hair, and feel the heat radiating from her living body. His mother was sitting there, alive, healthy, and happy, and Harry could not touch or speak to her.

Lily had found what she was looking for—a little purple diary. She took out a quill and some ink and began to write:

17 November 1971

Dear Diary,

It's been so long since I've written in you! I'm sorry, but I've just been so busy with everything! I am all settled in here at Hogwarts, now. It's everything Sev said it would be. I am taking Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, and Astronomy. My favorite by far is Charms, although Professor Slughorn, my Potions professor, tells me I am a Potions genius. He is very kind, but I wish he wouldn't compliment me so much. It's kinda creepy. History of Magic seems like it would be interesting, but it has GOT to be the most boring thing in the whole world. It's taught by a ghost. I'll bet he died of boredom during one of his own lectures.

Harry snorted.

I have three roommates—Alice, Marlene, and Mary, who I get on very well with. I spend a lot of time with Sev, though, but they don't understand why. Sometimes I kind of wish they'd shut up. Marlene keeps calling Sev gross and creepy. Just because he always looks like he needs a shower doesn't mean he's either of those things. He's just shy, is all. He can't talk to Alice or Mary or Marlene (I actually think he's rather afraid of Marlene). He's really nice, when you get to know him. He's so much smarter than the other boys I know. I wish I was in Slytherin with Sev so I wouldn't have to put up with the Gryffindor boys. There are four of them: Lupin, Potter, Black, and Pettigrew.

They are all absolutely appalling boys. They spend all their time trying to disrupt everyone and everything. They like to pull rather amusing pranks, like the time they slipped Sev a love potion that made him fall in love with McGonagall. That was just mean. I thought she was going to kill Potter. Potter is the worst—he's so snotty and spoiled and arrogant, and ever since he made the Quidditch team he's been absolutely unbearable. Just because he scored eight goals in the first game of the season doesn't mean he's anything special.

The worst part? Everyone thinks they're all so funny and cool. There's nothing cool or funny about being annoying. I wish they'd fall in the lake and—

The door opened, and Lily hastily shoved her diary under her pillow just as a tall girl with straggly brown hair and glasses entered the room, tossed her bag on her bed, and said, "Hey, Lily, let me borrow your Potions essay."

"'Borrow' or 'copy?'" said Lily skeptically.

"You know me too well," she smirked, pushing her glasses a little farther up her nose. "So how about it?"

"I dunno, Marlene," said Lily uneasily, chewing on the end of her long red hair. "I don't want to get in trouble with Slughorn…"

"Oh, come off it, Lily!" said Marlene impatiently. "Like he'd get angry with his favorite student!"

"I'm not his favorite," replied Lily, but she blushed, her face clashing slightly with her hair.

"Are you blind and deaf and stupid?" Marlene demanded, standing up and walking over to Lily. "He's like half in love with you or something. He spends more time kissing your ass than he does teaching!"

"That's not—"

"It is so true!" said Marlene exasperatedly. "'Ms. Evans, your Color-Changing Solution is absolutely brilliant!' 'I have never seen such Potions brilliance from a student in all my years of teaching!' 'Ms. Evans, you are almost as talented as you are beautiful!' 'Marry me and have my children—I'll give you extra credit! Not that you need, it, of course—" Marlene was now on her knees, holding Lily's hand as though proposing marriage.

"Marlene, that's so gross!" said Lily, but she was laughing despite herself.

"So come on, don't be a buzz kill," said Marlene. "Let's see that essay!"

"Marlene, you really should do your own work for once."

"I did that Transfiguration paper on my own!" said Marlene.

"No, you didn't, you copied Mary's when she wasn't looking," said Lily reproachfully.

"Whatever, I only got an A," she shrugged.

"You know, maybe if you did the essay yourself, you could actually learn something."

"Ew, I'm allergic to learning," said Marlene, and she actually shuddered a little. Lily rolled her eyes.

"I'm not letting you copy anything," said Lily simply. "Talk to Alice or Mary, if you are so desperate to cheat."

"Don't think about it as cheating," said Marlene. "I'm simply utilizing my resources." Lily rolled her eyes again.

"If you spent as much time and effort doing your homework as you do looking for someone to rip off then you'd have better grades than I do," Lily grumbled. "Where are Alice and Mary?"

"I dunno, probably the common room," said Marlene, who was now looking very put out. "I'm gonna go see who else I can hit up for that stupid essay…" She exited the dormitory.

Lily shook her head and pulled her diary out again.

--I wish they'd fall in the lake and get squished to death by the Giant Squid. Well, no, I don't.; that would be really mean. But they should at least get really bad ear infections or something. They deserve that.

Urgh, just talking about those stupid boys is making me angry. Back to happy topics. So my friends, Mary, Alice, and Marlene. Mary and Alice are both pretty quiet, but that's okay because Marlene's loud enough for the both of them. She looks super geeky but she is actually kind of mean. Not to me, though—only people who really deserve it. And Sev. Alice is really sweet, and Mary is kind of…twitchy. She's always nervous about something or other. I'm really glad to be here at Hogwarts, but I kind of miss home. Mum and Dad write every week, but Petunia is still angry with me. I really want her to forgive me. It's not my fault I'm a witch! I would honestly trade in all my magic if Petunia would be my friend again. We used to get along so well. Maybe I can talk to Professor Dumbledore and see if maybe he'll let Petunia come to school with me next year. Next month are the Christmas holidays, so I'll be going home to see my family again. Maybe Petunia and I can make up then. I really hope so.

Alright, well, I'd better be getting to bed. I'll write in you soon, I promise!

Love,

Lily

And as the memory dissolved, it struck Harry that James had been nowhere to be found. This could only mean one thing: the Pensieve contained some of his mother's memories, too.

A/N: Hey, guys, sorry for the long update and short chapter...I've been having a bit of writer's block lately. This chapter is not quite as exciting as the last, but I have some interesting things planned for next chapter! I have a bit of an outline going on...kind of...so that should give the story some direction! Also, how many of you have seen StarKidPotter's HP musical on YouTube? If you haven't, it's excellent and I seriously encourage you to go look it up...it kind of made my life! Rumbleroar FTW!!

-Dem