Author's Note: Thank you to all that reviewed, favorited and followed, it motivates me to continue writing. In fact the only reason I started writing this fanfic, because my original fiction seemed like it was going no place and fan fiction always reminds to just write for the fun of it, even if it isn't very good. This feels a bit filler-y to me, but there is James/Lily is some more of Alice and Marlene, but honestly I like writing Frank better for some reason. I will continue to update as much as possible this week and next, but I can't guarantee much after that because I have Band Camp for a week.
For some reason it felt natural to go to James. Three months ago she would have ran to her best friends. Marlene would listen for a bit as Alice slipped an arm around her shoulder with soothing words, then Marlene would start in on how awful all Slytherins were. She knew that wouldn't make her feel better today.
Lily sat across from the two friends smoothing her hair as she relayed the story to them. It was short and she censored some of it. She knew if she told him what Regulus said about her father they would have a crisis in their hands.
"I always liked Longbottom, regular knight in shiny armor. We see him polish his suit every night," Sirius commented. Lily didn't have a chance to correct him. "Frank is right about Reggie hating Remus...Wait, not that we don't adore you Evans, but why are you here?"
"To add fuel to the rumor mill," James said. "Besides Reggie's accusations weren't that far off. Lily did sleep in my room," he pointed out, winking at Lily.
"Aren't you two going to take this the least bit seriously?" she asked.
"Well, seeing as how I'm James..."
Lily rolled her eyes at the old pun. "Potter..."
"Listen, we may not be a knight in shiny armor or King Wonderful-" Sirius began.
"Prince Charming." Lily rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Enough, Padfoot. Yes, the Marauders will devise a plan of revenge. Nobody will dare use that foul word to describe a muggle again or insult my brother." James looked at Lily, then at Sirius. "I just can't believe that you're asking for our expertise."
"I was under the assumption that Sirius would send a strongly worded letter to his brother." Lily got to her feet. "I need to change." She moved to leave the compartment and noticed that James Potter was following she walked a bit before he pulled her by the elbow into a secluded corner.
"You're already in uniform," he said, a smirk on his face.
"James..." Lily whispered.
"What?" He leaned in, bending his head down so his lips were a mere centimeter from hers. "Just say the word and I'll be done waiting." He wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her in. "You don't think I analyze situations? You came to us, not Alice and Marlene, not Remus, Sirius and me."
Lily looked into his eyes, as she tried to regulate her breathing she inhaled the scent of James. The earthy smell that clung to his clothes from when he and Sirius played Quidditch in the forest in this morning; something smelled slightly spicy, amplified by the warmth from his body… "I…"
"Lily," a feminine voice called. Alice.
"I have to go," she replied.
"You don't have to." His arm tightened around her. James Potter wanted this moment to last, he had never been this close to Lily and had her this still. "Stay with me." His hand went up touch her hair when they heard a squeak of surprise.
"I'm sorry...I heard voices…"
Lily pulled away and saw her best friend with color tinged cheeks, eyes widened in shock. "You didn't interrupt anything," she said. "Right James?"
"Yeah," he replied. "I don't want Sirius to think I'd abandoned him."
Alice stood silently until she saw that James had re-entered the compartment. "Frank told me what happened and I came to find you. I thought you would be a mess, you always get so bent out of shape...You have every right to…" she looked at the ground and then took in her friend. "You've changed, you know that?"
"Alice, I'm still the same-"
"No, I like this Lily." She smiled. "You're different...Now, are you going to tell me what's happening between you and Potter?"
Lily didn't say anything, but bit her lip and began to rub the back of her neck. How could she describe her and James?
"Marlene said something was going on, but I didn't believe her and now I've seen it with my own eyes."
"That...it wasn't anything. James and I are complicated. I finally told him I would...I would give us a try but I couldn't handle it right now." Lily sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. "Everything is changing and my parents are gone...I want James, but I want to know him as a friend first. I don't want to dive into bed with him." She forced a laugh, using Sirius' technique of turning to humor to cope with sadness and anger.
"I understand, now come to my compartment with me. We're almost at Hogwarts and are going to be ambushed by first years." Alice's hand went to her friends and pulled her quickly down aisle as the train pulled to the stop.
Ten minutes later the first years were herded onto boats as the older students descended. "Four to a carriage, we can sit with Frank and Marlene," Alice said to Lily as the short year girl pushed her way to the crowds. The horseless carriages stood waiting for the students to board. Lily was about to board when she saw Michael Reeves back away from the carriages. "Lily, come on, we'll set off in a few minutes."
"Just a second." She rushed over to the boy, his face gone pale. "What's the matter?"
"Don't you see them?" he questioned.
Lily shook her head and then recalled something she had read in Hogwarts, A History. The carriages were pulled by Thestrals, you could only see them if you saw death. "Your mother…" Lily began, Michael was puzzled. "You can only see them if someone you know died."
"Can you see them?"
"I only saw a house burning…Did you…?"
"We were-"
Michael was cut off by a group of Hufflepuff boys shouting for him. "Go, we can talk later. Remember, I'm your first Hogsmeade date." She wrapped an arm around his shoulder for a quick side hug before rushing to the carriages.
As Lily and her friends entered the hall a wave of reassurance washed over her. She was home. This castle was where she had lived for the majority of five years of her life. Everything about it was familiar. "Lil, come on!" Marlene said, dragging her towards the red and gold table. She wanted to sit towards the front of the table to scope out the new first years, but Lily stopped at the middle. James and Sirius sat across from Remus and Peter.
"Evans," James said, patting the bench beside him. "Sit here,"
She did. Marlene followed, frowning as Alice sat next to Remus. Frank was on her other side and a group of seventh years followed. Lily had always avoided the middle of the table. She may have been personable, but the middle of the table was the center of the action. As much as people pretended to be irked by the antics of the four best friends, but everyone adored the four boys.
"So, about…"
"Hush, Potter," Lily teased as the nervous first years shuffled in. Professor McGonagall unrolled a piece of parchment and held the sorting hat by the very top of it.
"I can't believe it's my last sorting," Frank said as he surveyed the eleven year olds that seemed impossibly small.
"I'm starving, roll?" Alice passed the basket to Frank, suddenly looking very nervous. It was clear that she wanted this year to last as long as possible.
"He doesn't look hungry, pass them to me," Sirius said, causing all three girls to roll their eyes as he plopped two down on his plate. Everyone else silently filled their plates as the did the obligatory clapping after each sorting and cheered whenever there was a new member of their house. "This sorting is dreadfully boring, Prongs, where are the members of the pureblood family with the potential to be disowned?" Sirius questioned.
"Padfoot…" James started. "There aren't any legacies this crop, you know that. Besides, we have the standard mix, that's good enough."
"Legacies?" Lily questioned.
"Students like James and Sirius. James' entire family has been in Gryffindor, just like all the Blacks were in Slytherin," Remus explained.
"Except me," Black said.
Lily leaned over, close to James. "Am I part of the standard mix?"
"You will never be standard," James replied as touched a lock of her dark red hair. He was obviously pleased that Lily no longer threatened him whenever he came within a metre of her.
"Aren't you supposed to be setting a standard?" Marlene asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"If you want to woo each other, get a room," she huffed. "Besides, aren't prefects supposed to be against PDA?"
"That reminds me," Frank said. "Head Boy says that you have to take the first years up to the room since you didn't pull a patrol shift on the train."
"Ugh...Diggory knows I didn't want that." Lily's eyes flicked over to the Hufflepuff table where the attractive seventh year sat talking to a pair of first year girls. "Can someone take over my late night patrol?" she questioned.
"I can," Remus interjected. "You were paired with Finnigan, right?"
"Thank you," Lily said as she looked to her roommates. "We have a lot to talk about."
"Me?" James questioned as he reached across the table for another chicken leg and looked at Lily's nearly untouched food on her plate. "Better eat up or I'll owl mum and tell your not eating."
"I'll owl Charles and tell him that you got detention on the first day."
"I didn't."
"And I'm eating." Lily stabbed a cooked carrot and popped it into her mouth before spearing a piece of chicken to put on her plate. "And I think you should attach a 'yet' onto that statement, I am a prefect after all."
"I love a woman in uniform," he teased.
Lily rolled her eyes and set on to tucking in dinner. At the front of the table first years were getting restless. Most everyone was done and she sighed as she wrapped a treacle tart in a napkin for later before passing it to Alice. "I have to take them up." She looked at Frank. "Are you going with me?"
"Night shift with Remus," he said. "You're with Ben." He pointed to the fifth year with a mess of blonde curls. "Diggory thought the first years would like him."
Lily got to her feet with a sigh, signalling to Ben to do the same. McGonagall gave her a nod as Dumbledore rose to announce that first years should make their way to their dormitories. Pinning a smile on her face she waved to the eleven year olds and gestured for them to follow. "Want to give the spiel?" she asked Ben.
"Uh…" he gulped. "I thought we were just supposed to lead them up so they didn't get lost."
"Take the rear, I'll do it," she grumbled, then turned around with a widening smile. "My name is Lily Evans, that's Ben Crenshaw. We are two of the Gryffindor prefects. Prefects are always here to help you, whether it's school related or not. We all have the same badge." She gestured to the ornament on her robe that had a Hogwarts crest with a 'P' on it. "Now, step lively, the staircases change. The Common Room is located on the seventh floor in Gryffindor Tower. To find the entrance it is guarded by the Fat Lady."
She didn't make small talk, instead pushed on, hoping they could keep up. When they reached the portrait the Fat Lady smiled at her. "Dearie I heard about everything," the woman said with a pout. "Are these the new students?" She surveyed them, making a great show. "I suppose they will have to do? Password?"
"You must have a password to be let in, we change them bi-weekly and they will be posted on the bulletin board inside." Lily looked over the first years. "This time it is 'Quid Agis'." They all followed her in, gasping in awe at the inviting common room. It was well-lit with plenty of seats, plush carpets and a stone fireplace roaring to life. "The boys' staircase is on the left, the girls' staircase is on the right. The rooms are labelled and your trunks will be waiting."
She knew she should follow them up, but instead she collapsed on the coach, mentally exhausted from the day. There was almost too much to absorb, from the conversation with Charles, the argument with Regulus, and that moment with James. Unconsciously she touched her lips wondering why James just didn't kiss her. Although Agatha had raised him to be a gentleman, he threw most of the propriety out of the window.
A few minutes later all the other Gryffindor students poured the portrait hole. She caught a glimpse of the four Marauders heading up the stairs, James' eyes not even drifting in her direction. Alice kissed Frank goodbye before she and Marlene headed over to Lily to pull her off the couch. The light year girl thrust the tart into her hands as they each put an arm around her shoulder to pull her up the stairs.
In the room their other roommate was already getting settled in. The girl was sweet enough, rather quiet with them, but she wasn't close. "Hello, nice to see you again," she greeted to be polite.
"Athena," they all chorused before murmuring their own greetings. At times Lily felt guilty that they excluded her, but the girl had never clicked with them. She preferred to hang out with the Ravenclaws in their grade and the older members of Gryffindor.
"Lily, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about your parents. I read it in the Prophet this summer."
"That means a lot."
"I'm going to the seventh year dorm," she informed them, shutting her trunk before wandering out of the room.
Marlene pulled back the curtains on her bed and they all three plopped on it, then pulled off their shoes leaving them in a pile at the end of the bed. Alice dug out a bag of sweets that she always kept in her trunks and Marlene pulled out a paper bag with bottles of butterbeer that had started two years ago as a welcome back tradition. "Tell us everything," Alice said.
And she did.