December 22nd, 1976

Lily Evans nearly screamed when Marlene McKinnon tried to snatch away her blanket. The shinning light from the sun pierced her eyes, making her want to melt and hide. She immediately slid on her round sunglasses and glared at the curly blond girl, who put the blanket around her head like a scarf. Hangovers turned both Gryffindor girls rather moody. Lily had a few choice words for her friend, but Marlene beat her to it.

"Trolley Witch is back," Marlene said in a rather drab voice, already munching on a chocolate frog.

"Oh thank Merlin," Lily nearly cried as she dug into her pocket for some loose change. She looked to her left and saw that Emmeline Kim was still sleeping soundly, and decided that the Hufflepuff girl would probably enjoy some jelly beans when she woke up. Lily smiled wearily at the witch and said, "Three chocolate frogs and jelly beans please."

"Coming right up," The witch said happily. She passed the items to Lily and gave her a knowing look. "Long night?"

Lily gave a rather defeated smile and said, "You don't even know the half of it."

Mary, who was also laying on the couch, raised a hand up and patted Lily's behind. "Get me a biscuit please," she mumbled.

The Trolley Witch let out a hearty laugh and placed another biscuit in Lily's hands. "It's on the house, Love. Rest up."

"Thank you," Lily called out as the witch went onto the next compartment. "What a nice witch," she said, closing the door. She plopped the biscuit on Mary's leg and resumed her original seat.

Mary sat up straight and let out a big yawn. She looked outside and saw the snow and noticed that the country side was becoming more city-like. The pastures were replaced by houses lined up next to one another. "How long did we sleep for?"

"We slept most of the way," noted Marlene as she opened a window. The cold December air was refreshing as she pulled out a cigarette. "We'll be there within the next half hour."

Mary let out a loud groan as she slid her glasses back on. "I never want to drink again," she said in a determined voice.

Marlene let out a short, but loud laugh. "Darling, you have eight days to rally up because come December 31st, we're doing it all again," she said in a dreamy voice.

"I don't know how you do it," insisted Mary.

"You know what," Lily joined in as she finished her frog, "I'm more interested in how Meadows did it."

"Did what?" Mary asked.

"Got Parkinson and his lot to leave the party alone," the prefect explained. "I was sure that McGonagall was going to come yelling at us in the morning, but nothing. It's curious, innit?"

"Maybe she shagged them?" Mary offered innocently as she slowly opened her biscuit.

Marlene let out a big cloud of smoke and gave Mary a dubious look. "She shagged all three of them?" She asked.

"Times are changing," Mary murmured.

Marlene gave a shrug, "Fair point." She continued to smoke a little before adding, "She did save the entire party though. I've never even seen her speak her entire time at Hogwarts."

"If she didn't convince them," Lily stated, opening her second chocolate frog, "you wouldn't have gotten to hook up with Curtis Nelson, would you?"

Marlene produced a sleazy sort of smile; the smoke slowly released from her lips. "No, no I would not have," she said in sultry tone.

"Maybe you should invite her to your New Year's Party," Mary suggested.

"Yeah!" Lily concurred excitedly. "She didn't get to finish her round of the party last night."

Marlene gave her friends a weary sort of look. "I don't know," she said in an unsure voice, "she seems to keep to herself. You'd think she'd be interested?"

Lily crossed her arms over her chest and gave Marlene a stern look. "If someone sacrifices themselves for the sake of the party, I would imagine Marlene McKinnon to definitely show some respect."

Marlene thought about this for a moment before she flicked the butt of her cig off the train. "Fair point," she grinned. "I'll ask her when we get into King's Cross."

"So, tell us, Mr. Padfoot," James Potter said with a devilish grin on his face, leaning forward towards his friend, "on a scale of one to ten, how good was Dorcas Meadowes? You've been keeping us in the dark."

Sirius Black let a quiet scoff and said, "Gentlemen, you know I never shag and tell."

Remus coughed loudly into his fist, "Bullshit."

Sirius scowled at Remus, but noticed the intrigued look on James' and Peter's face. How could he not divulge the information on his first Slytherin Shag. He put his index finger up and gave a coy smile, "Only one word: limber."

James clapped his hands laughing as Peter covered his hands with his mouth. Remus raised his eyebrows and chuckled with an approving nod.

"Considering we were in a bloody cupboard, she made it work wonderfully," Sirius said coolly. "And what a pair of lips."

"Sirius Black sounds like he's in love," James teased, giving his friend a slight nudge in the ribs.

"Sirius Black doesn't do love," Sirius corrected, "but he will do that bird again. Anytime. Maybe she would be interested some time when we get back from vacation."

"Until then, we have the McKinnon Clan New Year's party!" the defacto leader said joyously. "Marlene has a bunch of really fit friends coming in from all over Europe. Some Beauxbaton's girls, I heard."

Peter's head dropped. "I can't come."

"Peter!" The three boys shouted together.

"What on earth do you mean?" James accused.

Peter scratched the back of his neck and looked up at his friends miserably. "My parents want to go on a vacation. We're going to New York to see the 'ball drop,' it's some muggle thing."

"If it's called a ball-dropping," Sirius mentioned, "then yeah, that sounds like a dumb muggle thing."

"But my parents thought it would be nice to get away from Europe and the War for a moment," Peter sighed heavily.

James nodded appreciatively. Yes, he would miss his little friend, but he could completely understand that. The War was getting nastier by the second. A lot of his parents' friends were leaving Europe for extended vacations, fear of being hunted down by Voldemort and his motley gang of inbreeds. "Your parents may have a point, Peter," he said after a long moment.

Peter shrugged, "I guess so." He looked up to James, Sirius, and Remus and smiled, "Take a shot for me, won't you?"

"Of course, Mate," Remus laughed encouragingly, "We'll take two for you even."

"Speaking of two," grumbled Sirius, "Won't those two ever get a room. I mean, seriously, I already threw up this morning, I have no intention of doing it again."

The Marauders peered outside the compartment door to see Connor Greyson holding Lily Evans tightly in his arms. They were both smiling bittersweetly, probably saying their goodbyes before getting off the Express. He moved a strand of her hair from her face, and she got on her tip-toes to press a long kiss to his lips.

"Leave'em alone," James muttered after a moment, trying to settle his own envy. He pulled out a cigarette and pressed it to his lips. He pulled out a lighter than Marlene had bought him in Hong Kong a while back and flicked it on.

"I would imagine that you would be the most troubled by this scene," Peter whispered sympathetically.

"I just choose not to look in their direction anymore," James said as she slammed the compartment window open. The statement wasn't entirely true, but it was something he tried to do instead.

"Look for something cute for me," Lily teased as she toyed with the short tufts of her boyfriend's hair. "I'm kidding, please don't get me anything." She didn't want to be the girlfriend who constantly demanded material items from her one-month boyfriend.

"Oh, I will," Connor promised. "Some sexy french lingerie, maybe." He kissed the temple of her forehead.

Lily tried not stiffen in his arms when she thought of Connor seeing her in lingerie. It's not that she didn't want to dress up for him; it was the dressing down aftermath. In her past relations, Lily had gone part way and half way, but never the final show. She knew Connor wasn't a virgin, for sure, and she also knew that he was never going to pressure her into it, but still. The thought of being completely bare and intimate with someone made her stomach churn.

Connor noticed it. He gulped and said honestly, "You know that's not what I meant - it was a joke. A stupid one surely, with not much thought. My humor is pretty lackluster-"

"Shut up," Lily insisted with some humor to her voice, "how can a girl pass up the idea of lingerie?"

Connor's awkwardness turned into a smile. He pressed a quick kiss to Lily's nose and said, "You're marvelous, Lily Evans. Truly marvelous."

Lily smiled and flipped her hair dramatically, "it's au naturale!"

Connor grabbed her closer and whispered into her ear, "Oh definitely getting you some lingerie." He then turned his head and captured her lips with his. It was a tender and gentle kiss, and it would be their last until 1977.

They broke the kiss when they felt the Express came to a halt in Platform 9 and 3/4. The couple looked at each other sheepishly before pressing another quick peck in before returning to their respective compartments. "See you soon, Lil," he said.

"See you, Connor-"

"Oy!" a loud voice called from the side, "no snogging in the Express! Don't want to blind the youth now do we, Head Boy?" The voice, of course, belonged to Sirius Black. The couple glared at him as he put his fingers, like two pistols, and shot them both, like an old Western Movie.

"Why do I have nothing to hit you with?" Lily asked earnestly, as she began to pat down her coat, "Ever?" She stopped her search when she saw the Sirius was joined by crew. Remus and Peter her gave her small waves, but James Potter looked rather indifferent.

Sirius gave her a smirk, but it quickly vanished when James tugged on his best mate's arm. "Leave'em alone, Sirius," he said sternly. He nodded his head to Greyson and Lily apathetically before turning away himself.

"Just having a little holiday fun," Sirius said innocently. "See you at New Year's, Evans. Ta-ta, Greyson!"

"New Year's?" Connor asked his girlfriend curiously once the Marauders walked away.

Lily let out an exasperated sigh. "The McKinnon Clan has an annual New Year's bash. Naturally, Potter's invited, which now includes Black since he now lives with the Potters full-time. I think she invited Remus and Peter too."

Connor put on his biggest smile. He didn't want his girlfriend knowing that those two being at the same party made every ounce of confidence in him run as far far away. "Don't let them aggravate you too much, okay?"

"We'll see," Lily laughed mirthlessly.

"I'll miss you," Connor said as he kissed her one last time.

"I'll miss you too," Lily agreed.

"You know, I will miss you," Emma Vanity said to Dorcas Meadowes once they got out of King's Cross. "You're the closest thing I've ever had to a friend at this school."

Dorcas dropped her suitcase and wrapped her jacket around her more tightly. She wanted it to be as tight as the twisting in her chest felt. "I'm going to miss you too, Em," she said earnestly. Emma Vanity might've been the first person Dorcas has ever said that to.

Emma pulled her friend in for a hug, a real hug. Even Dorcas could feel that; it may have been the most genuine gesture Emma had expressed towards her. In return Dorcas squeezed her friend back.

A distinct car honk rang through the streets of London. Dorcas and Emma looked back and saw Emma's thirty-something year old fiance waving his cap at them. Emma waved back and shouted, "Coming, Carl!"

"You know," Dorcas said dryly, "I can hit him with a memory loss charm and he'll never know what happened to him."

"No, Dorcas," Emma said grimly. "This is what I want."

"How does a seventeen year old know what she wants? You're just a teenager."

Emma put a hand on her shoulder. "I know I want to protect myself," she insisted truthfully. "And the War took our privileges of being children away the moment they started killing people like you."

Dorcas rolled her eyes. "We can't use that as an excuse to marry rich men and steal their fortunes, can we?" She challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Emma scoffed and took Dorcas' hands into her gloved ones. "I want you to come to the Wedding."

Dorcas made a gagging noise. "Only if there's a guaranteed free bar and bachelor party full of male strippers," she added dryly.

Emma giggled, "Yes, Doe, I promise." She leaned in for another tight, but faster, hug and said, "Take care of yourself."

"You too," the other demanded. "If he does anything to you, I'll kill him, or force him to walk off a cliff."

Emma gave her a weary look that even made Dorcas concerned for saying such a statement. "Dorcas, what you did last night… People noticed."

Dorcas straightened up. "How much did they notice?"

"Enough to ask questions, and luckily since you won't even discuss whatever it is that you can do with me, the interrogators don't have answers" Emma said as she took a few steps back. "But, be careful, Dorcas. I'm serious"

"I will," Dorcas said, not knowing how possible that would be. However, in the almost seventeen years of life she had been living, she had always managed to keep herself alive, safe, and relatively sane. She watched as Emma slid into the car with the older man and just the thought of what she was going to do this poor fellow was now beyond her control.

Without Emma, the outside King's Cross became extremely noisy. The loud voices pounded through her ears at an uncomfortable decibel range. She needed a cigarette. She pulled out her tin and pulled out one. She put it to her lips hurriedly and lit it; she felt an immediate rush of calm roll through the top of her head all the way down to the tip of her toes. She concentrated on the smoke, not the voices. It wasn't long before she saw one of her father's company cars pull up. She was about to kill the cigarette when she heard her surname being called loudly.

"Oy, Meadowes!"

Dorcas turned around and saw Marlene McKinnon and Lily Evans running after her. Honestly, she'd never thought she'd see the day when those two would be calling after her. Neither one had ever spoken a word to her, except when McKinnon cheered when Dorcas had punched Sirius in the nose last year.

"I thought you'd already left," Lily said happily, "Thank Merlin."

"Still here," Dorcas murmured awkwardly as she glanced back and forth between the two breathless Gryffindors.

"I know that I'm asking pretty late and you may or may not have plans, but my family hosts an annual New Year's Eve Party at our place in Scotland - right outside of Gasglow," Marlene explained after she caught her breath. "I'd really like it if you came."

Dorcas blinked a few times at the two girls. Neither one had ever shown interest in her before, and it wasn't like they were all made to be the best of friends. Gryffindors and Slytherins always had a mutual rivalry going on, going way back to their namesakes. Also, Marlene McKinnon was a long lineage name of great Chasers in the family, while Lily Evans made her own name of being one of the most confident and bright prefects in their year. They were two extremely popular and well-liked girls. What were they doing talking to her? "Is this a joke?" Dorcas asked honestly. She was just downright confused at this point.

Marlene slapped Lily's shoulder. "See, I told you she wouldn't be interested," she groaned to her friend. She then turned back to Dorcas. "I'm sorry for bothering you; I hope you have a solid holiday-"

"Shut it, Marlene," insisted Lily as she stepped forward. She looked to Dorcas kindly with those big green eyes that everyone loved. Dorcas could see why. "What Marlene is trying to say, just not in the best words, is that you, out of everyone last night, deserve another night of good fun."

Pause.

"Oh." This was not what Dorcas was expecting.

"And no one throws a better party than the McKinnons," Lily continued in a chipper voice. "If I'm correct there'll be plenty of booze, fabulous music, and a lot of drunk good-looking Scottish men."

Marlene nodded in agreement. "A lot of them."

Dorcas couldn't help but chuckle.

"So, what do yo say, Meadowes? Ready for round two?" Lily said enticingly, wagging an eyebrow.

Dorcas knew that this probably wasn't the best idea since she knew that Marlene and Lily were there when she lured Parkinson a way from the party. They probably had questions, which she didn't blame them for. But, this could be a chance to prove to them, and another spectators of the event, that she was just a normal, quiet, and reserved Slytherin. Or, maybe she was just being paranoid, like she was for the majority of her life. Dorcas took her last drag before chucking her cigarette and flipped the mental bird to all of her insecurities about large crowds. "Why not?" She shrugged with a small crooked grin on her face.

"Excellent!" Lily squealed as she clapped her hands together.

Marlene gave Dorcas the address on a piece of loose parchment, along with the arrival time and "dress code." The blond explained that no one really cared though because they'll all be too besotted to see anything besides blurred colors, but it was just a formality.

"Thanks for the invite too, McKinnon."

"Don't worry about it, Meadowes," Marlene smiled, "you saved me from another detention and allowed for me to shag Curtis Nelson. That deserves limitless drinks in my book."

Dorcas smiled as she stepped backward to waiting black car her father had sent. "Have a lovely break until then," she said with a wave. "Bye, Evans."

"Bye!" Lily waved. She observed that a well-dressed chauffeur offered to help her with her bags, which Dorcas readily dismissed proving that she did not need help. She dropped her hand when she noticed an insignia on the car that Dorcas slid into. It had a capital "M" with a circle around it and it almost had a tail when the circle's line cut off, like a balloon. She knew that sign somewhere.

"She's actually pretty decent," Marlene commented, crossing her arms. "I expected her to be a little more drab and dark, like Snape."

Lily ignored the blatant diss and focused on the insignia as the car pulled out of the lot and drove further into the heart of London. It took her another minute but Lily soon realized what it was. "Holy shit…" Lily said with wide eyes.

"What?" Marlene asked.

"Meadowes… Meadowes," Lily repeated. "I should've put that together much sooner."

"Put what together?" Marlene asked, impatient now.

"Meadowes Bank," Lily said simply. "Dorcas Meadowes must somehow be related to the Meadowes family. Bloody hell, she's got to be loaded."

"A bank? Interesting," the blond said in an impressed tone. "You wouldn't notice it though. She doesn't really flaunt it."

"Good for her," Lily said in a short voice. "Can't say the same about every rich brat at our school."

"I can feel that was a jab at my cousin," Marlene glared.

Lily looked up at her, trying to express regret. "Sorry, it's kind of a habit at this point. Potter just boils my blood."

Speaking of boiled blood, another student approached them that boiled both of their blood. He had greasy black hair tied in a ponytail, a hooked nose, and a lifted-chin. This was Severus Snape.

"Well, this prick boils my blood," Marlene said shortly, "I'm not dealing with this." She hugged her friend goodbye quickly and said, "See you on New Year's, Darling, and good luck with that."

Lily cursed her elder sister mentally. Why couldn't Petunia be on time for once in her life? Of all the times to be late! Now, Lily had to wait here for her, and let Severus talk to her. She had been so good about avoiding him despite the numerous attempts he's tried to reach out. A few of those times she even thought of budging, but all she could do was think of the word 'mudblood' falling from his lips last May.

"Lily…"

She remained quiet and stared out at the cards. Maybe he was talking to the third year in Hufflepuff with the same name, but spelled Lili.

"Lily, can we talk?"

She closed her eyes tightly and tried to ignore the advances. She did this when she was a child, afraid of the monster in her closet too.

"Lily, please don't ignore me."

Fucking strike me down, why don't you? Lily thought to God, if He was really up there. She turned to Severus and let out a long sigh. She opened her eyes and said, "Yes, Snape?"

Severus looked taken aback by the surname. He gulped and re-composed himself quickly. "I want to try again," he said quickly, "I want to apologize again."

"You've apologized multiple times to me," Lily said impatiently, "through multiple avenues as well. You send me owls, wrote me messages, tried to corner me in the hallways. Bloody hell, Sev, you even tried to bribe Emmeline into talking to you."

Severus froze and wrinkled his nose in contempt. "Kim was not supposed to tell you that," he said in a cold voice.

"Well, Emmeline is a good friend and knew that I would want to know that bit of information," Lily countered. She winced too because even she knew that was a bit harsh and unnecessary, but Severus just had that ability to pull it out of her.

Severus looked down at the pavement, dusted with snow, and kicked some of it around. "You know, people say that Christmas is the time for forgiving. New Year's is the time for resolution and-"

"When did you become religious?" Lily asked curtly.

"Maybe we can take this time to catch up," Severus suggested. "Outside of Hogwarts, away from everyone with a need to share their two cents, and away from your gossip-loving friends-"

Lily nearly twitched because that did it. "Don't blame my friends when it's your friends who are the truly fucked up ones, Severus," she barked.

"Whoa! That's not what I meant!" He shouted defensively. "I'm just saying that we could start over when we're both back in Cokeworth!"

Lily gave Severus a final sort of look. "No, Severus. In the real world, there aren't do-overs. You have messed up one too many times to get a do-over or to start over with me. It's not just me that you hurt. Not only did you call me that racist name, but days before that, you watched my friend Mary get nearly tortured by Avery, who is definitely clinical sociopath, and Mulciber. You're hurting one too many people now, Severus-"

"I never meant to hurt you, Lily, I swear," Severus pleaded; he almost sounded like he was begging. "I would never!"

Lily felt her eyes moisten, but she blinked them back. She saw that Petunia had finally arrived in her small car. Perfect timing, Lily's mind sneered. She looked back at Severus and said in her most honest voice, "I'm sorry, Severus, but I don't care if you won't hurt me. I know that you will hurt others." She turned her heel on him and made way for the car in a flash. She opened the back door quickly and began to shove her luggage in.

"Lily, wait!" Severus called out, moving past other bystanders.

Petunia narrowed her eyes and said, "Is that Snape? What the bloody hell does he want?" She looked back at Lily, who was now obviously tearing up but holding it back. "Oh great, now I'm going to get your tears on the upholstery. Perfect."

"Piss off, Tuney," hissed Lily as she got her purse in the backseat too.

Petunia rolled down the window and pointed a long thin finger at the approaching Severus. "Listen up, you greasy git. This is my freak-sister and only am I allowed to make her feel like shit on a whim. Now bugger off!"

Lily rolled her eyes as she quickly slid into the passenger seat. It wasn't the best defense she's heard, but it was the best that she could ask from Petunia.

"Lily, please," Severus said as he finally got to the car. "Just give me a chance-"

"Fat chance," hissed Petunia as she drove away at the speed of light. "I always knew he was a good-for-nothing creep. He's even more of a freak than you are, Lily."

"Thanks, Petunia," Lily said sarcastically as she wiped away the one tear that actually fell.

I know, major lack of Jily for the past two chapters, but you'll definitely see some well-deserved time in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed and thank you for the reviews, follows, and that favorite. It means so much. 3

I hope everyone had a Happy New Year and wish peaceful beginnings to 2017!

XO,

Rose