As I ran through the platform for the final time, I felt almost melancholy. School for me had been the only place I had ever really fit in. My sister had hated me the whole time I was at school, and though I knew my parents supported me, it wasn't really home until I got back to school.

I boarded the train and immediately started looking for my best friends. Alice and Marlene told me that they were going to save me a compartment. I hadn't told them about becoming Head Girl, so I wanted to tell them as soon as possible.

They had saved the best compartment in the train, the one as close to the door as you can get. When I walked in, Alice squealed and hugged me tightly.

"Alice, I can't breathe!" I gasped. She let go of me, but didn't look apologetic.

She looked at me expectantly and asked, "So, what happened this summer?"

I screamed, "I'm Head Girl!" Marlene got up and hugged me tightly, and we all jumped around excitedly.

"How did we know that it was going to be Lily?" Marlene asked.

Alice replied, "Because our darling Lily gets EVERYTHING. Prefect, Head Girl, James Potter…"

"Speaking of James Potter, I need to talk to you, Lily!" Remus Lupin strolled into the compartment. He was the only one of the Marauders that I actually enjoyed spending time with. Sirius was annoying, Peter was needy, and James was… James.

"Sure, Remus. Here, or…?" I asked. He motioned for me to follow, and I did. We walked a bit further down, to a compartment filled with two out of the three other boys.

I asked, "Where's James?" The three exchanged sad glances. Sirius was especially looking torn up. "Guys, what's going on?" None of them ever looked like this…

Remus took a deep breath, and said, "Lily, James's father was killed last week by a Death Eater. The funeral is tomorrow, so Professor Dumbledore gave him special permission to skip the first week and be with his mother."

Sirius muttered, "The damn man wouldn't let me be with my family…" A tear rolled down his face. I moved to the other side of the compartment and put my arm around him. I was close to tears myself.

I whispered, "Oh no, not Mr. Harold…" Harold Potter was a great man, his legacy surrounding wizards wherever they went, and I knew that James was very close to him. He must be devastated.

Peter asked, "Lily, we wanted to know if you would write to him, maybe try and cheer him up?"

"Yes, I think that you and Sirius are really the only people who could possibly cheer him up. Padfoot has tried, but…" He gestured to Sirius. "We think it would be best if you tried."

I wiped the tears coming down my face. "Of course I will," I choked.

Remus continued, "He's also Head Boy, so you're going to need to pick up some of the extra responsibilities. If you need my help, I'm here."

I nodded, "That would be best." Sirius started sobbing more heavily than before.

"Head Boy," he choked out. "That was the last thing we ever talked to him about. James told Dad that he was Head Boy. We were going to have a party, and have everyone over. I was even going to invite you, Lily, without telling James. The last thing he told us was that he loved us. And… h-he's… gone!" Sirius put his head in my lap, and I smoothed his hair over.

Remus stood up. "I think you should stay here, with Sirius. Wormtail and I will go to the Prefect's meeting and take care of everything," he whispered.

"Thank you!" I mouthed, and with that the two of them left. It was just the two of us, crying harder and harder with each passing moment.

When we were close to arriving at Hogwarts, Sirius picked himself up. "We should probably get changed. You can leave, if you want to," he told me, a bit too harshly in my opinion.

"Should I come back, or do you want me to get Remus and Peter?"

His gaze softened a bit. "Can you come back? They don't really understand that well, and I know you don't either, but you need to understand what happened. I think I'm ready to tell you now."

I nodded, and ran back to my compartment. The girls looked at me in shock, as I pulled out my bag, and shoved on my robes.

"Sweetheart, your makeup is all messed up. And shouldn't you be patrolling the train? What's going on?" Alice embraced me.

"James's dad is dead. I need to go back to Sirius. They say I need to know what happened. I'll take my makeup off when we get to the castle. I'll see you at the feast, all right?" I quickly explained.

Marlene hugged me, too. "Of course, we'll see you as soon as you get back." I shut the compartment door and returned to Sirius.

"OK," I breathed, scared of what was to come. "I'm ready."