Disclaimer: I do not own harry potter, or anything remotely related to it. (except for the books, but not really because they were written by J.K Rowling, obviously. I just bought them from a bookstore...) I wish I didm because then I would know what's going to happen. But alas, I don't so time for me to shut up.

(A/N This chapter might be a little too long... I got kind of carried away I think. Anyways, let me know what you think :) )

Lily Evans stood on tip toe to kiss her Father goodbye, before turning to her mother to do the same.

“Have a great year, honey.�

“We’re so proud of you.�

Lily smiled, and forced back the tears that were threatening to spill. This was her seventh year, and she still found it hard to say goodbye. Of course, once she was on the train she always forgot about her homesickness.

She faced her sister. “Bye Petunia, I’ll miss you,� she said, not very sincerely, but appropriately.
Her sister’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes when she replied, “I’ll miss you too, make sure to write.�

Lily nodded, and hugged her sister who remained as stiff as a board. Lily didn’t expect anymore from her. When Lily was fourteen, Petunia and her had made a pact to be civil to each other for their parents sake. Lily had come up with the idea with hopes that Petunia would eventually be sincere instead of faking it. No such luck though, it was still all an act.

“We’d better get going, the train will be here soon. Love you sweetie,� her parents kissed her again, before walking away. Lily waited until they were out of sight, and then went through the barrier. Her parents never went with her, it made Petunia too nervous being around so many ‘freaks’.

Lily pushed those thoughts out of her head. She couldn’t help but grin at the sight of the red steam engine. Soon, she’d be home, where everything was perfect, happy and wonderful...

“Hey Lily!!�

Or almost perfect... Lily tried not to visibly cringe as a third year boy came up to her. Timothy was a fellow Gryffindor, he’d been having some problem with charms last year and Professor Flitwick had recommended he go to her. It hadn’t taken many tutoring sessions for him to develop a crush on her. Since then, she couldn’t quite shake him.

“Hello Timothy,� she greeted him with a forced smile.

“Do you want help with your trunk, Lily?� He asked with wide enthusiastic eyes.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary, thanks. I’m a seventh year now, I’ll just levitate it into my compartment. I’ll see you around though,� she politely dismissed him. It was true, she could do magic without having Ministry of Magic owls sent after her, that it just so happened to give her an excuse to get away from Timothy’s admiration was just an added bonus. Lily doubted he could have helped her anyways, he was rather short and scrawny. As he walked away, looking a little disappointed, Lily told herself that she’d done the right thing. He needed to find someone his own age, and pursue her. If he kept on chasing Lily all he’d get was rejection, and that was harsh for a thirteen year old.

She whipped her wand out of her jeans pocket, and a few spells later her trunk was soundly in the Heads’ compartment at the front of the train. Lily decided to take a quick look for her friends before the train left, which was in five minutes.

“Lily!� A familiar voice called. Lily span to see her best friend Raven Sheppard running towards her. She laughed and opened her arms as Raven came in for a hug.

“Oh my god, I’ve missed you so much! There’s so much I have to tell you!� She said excitedly.

Lily grinned, “I’ve missed you too! How was Germany? I can’t believe you went away and left me all alone for the whole holiday!�

Raven had long brown hair, so dark that it was almost black. Her face was dusted with freckles and her skin was tanned from the summer sun. Being a red head, and fairly pale, Lily didn’t tan noticeably like her friend did.

Raven smiled, and as she did so her blue eyes sparkled, “It was such a blast! Next year we should travel the world Lily! Foreign boys are so attractive!�

Lily laughed at Raven’s enthusiasm. She was always making plans for what they should do once they left Hogwarts. Sometimes they’d talk long into the night, dreaming up things to do. Lily was about to respond, when suddenly she was lifted up off her feet and twirled around.

“Potter! GET OFF!!� She screeched. This was a tradition he’d been practicing since second year, and to be truthful, Lily found it rather amusing but she wasn’t about to let him know that.

“As you wish!� He said, as he always did, and let her down. She stumbled, dizzily for a moment, grabbing on to Raven for support, who was laughing so much she couldn’t breathe. Lily looked around for James, but as usual he’d run off before she could compose herself and curse him. She sighed and rolled her eyes at Raven, who had leaned against a wall for support.
“It’s not that funny,� she scowled.

“It’s pretty funny,� Raven laughed, “Your face is always so funny when he puts you down.� And she went on to describe how Lily’s face got red (which clashed horribly with her hair), and her eyes were sort of crossed and confused looking. Lily shook her head at her friend, but couldn’t help laughing a bit too.

“I’ve got to get to the heads’ compartment!� Lily said quickly as she felt the train jerk into motion, “I’ll come find you later, okay?� Raven nodded and the two girls went their separate ways.

It’s good to be back, Lily thought, waving to people as she made her way to the front of the train. She pondered who the head boy would be. Maybe it was Remus, but she thought it unlikely to be two Gryffindors. Probably one of the Ravenclaws she decided. That wasn’t too bad though, they were very responsible people. Although she hoped it wasn’t Gary. She’d dated him for a while last year, and it hadn’t ended very nicely. They could probably set aside their differences if they had to, but it was an extra effort Lily wasn’t really wanting to make.
Oh well, here we go, she thought as she pushed open the compartment door. A familiar pair of hazel eyes met her green ones.

“Hey Evans,� he smiled, but his voice was cautious as though afraid she might curse him. Which wasn’t such a bad idea, in her opinion.
Was this some sort of mistake? Was she in the wrong compartment? Lily frowned, leaned back and double checked. This was definitely the right compartment, she could see some of last years prefects across the hall.
“Yes, this is the heads’ compartment,� he seemed to have read her mind.

Lily realized how stupid she must look, and tried to recover. “Er... no, I was just uh... I thought I heard my name being called.� James raised his eyebrows at her disbelievingly. She didn’t blame him, she wouldn’t have believed herself either, she was a terrible liar.

“So, you’re Head Boy?� She asked, frowning.

“Yeah, shocking isn’t it?�

Only a lot, Lily wanted to say, but instead she said in a forcibly polite voice, “Just a little bit, congratulations, Potter.�

James’s eyes widened. He’d probably been expecting one of Lily’s infamous angry outbursts. “You don’t mean it,� he said simply, with a shrug.

Lily tried not to scowl. She knew she didn’t mean it, but she didn’t like how he knew it too and that he’d actually said it. “Yes I do,� she snapped, “Your parents must be very proud.�

“They are.� There was a brief moment of awkward silence. “Er... are you going to sit down? It’d probably be more comfortable than just standing there.�

Lily realized she was, indeed, still standing. Oops, she thought turning a bit red. She took a seat across from James, next to the window. She always had the window seat when on the Hogwarts Express and she was determined that James wasn’t going to ruin her own little tradition. They sat like that for awhile, neither talking, just staring out the window, watching as the city was slowly replaced with the countryside.

“Ah, excellent, you’re both here,� said a voice from the doorway. Lily and James both looked up to see Professor McGonagall, a severe looking woman with her hair tied tightly into a bun and an air of someone very strict.

“Hello Professor,� Lily and James said simultaneously, they glanced at each other before looking back up at Professor McGonagall.

“First off, congratulations on becoming Head Boy and Girl. There are many responsibilities, but I’m sure you will be able to handle them maturely,� she gave James a look that said plainly ‘or else’. Lily smiled a bit, some of her worries vanishing. Professor McGonagall would make sure James didn’t leave her with all the work.

“On the third Saturday of every month you will have a meeting in Professor Dumbledore’s office, consulting him in what you are planning for the school. The prefect meetings are the same as last year, once a week on Sundays,� she added for James’s benefit, since he’d never been a prefect. “You will run these meetings, and receive news of each house which you will later inform the Headmaster of. The patrolling schedule will be posted in the prefects meeting rooms and of course the Heads’ bathrooms and such. As Head Girl and Boy you will be the first to patrol, starting tonight. And you must patrol together,� she added emphasis on the word, probably because she knew Lily would’ve gone by herself, it wasn’t like the fact that Lily practically hated James was a secret. The whole school knew. It was also well known that James probably held the record for having a crush on the same girl for the longest amount of time ever. This was one of the things that made James so popular with the girls at school. Each one wanted to make him fall in love with her, to break that crush and to ‘claim’ him. He left pretty much all of them bitterly disappointed, going out with them for no more than a month, before dropping them and once again chasing Lily.
“Here are a list of passwords,� she handed them both a piece of parchment before continuing, “Good luck to both of you, I know you’ll make me proud,� she concluded, giving them both a warm smile. McGonagall really was an old softy when it came down to it, Lily thought.

“Thanks Professor,� Lily said.

“Bye Professor,� James waved and then Professor McGonagall was gone.

“Well, see you,� Lily and James said, again in unison. They jumped up and, since there wasn’t really all that much room, ended up bumping into each other. Lily couldn’t help it, this time she scowled. She stormed out of the compartment, limping a bit because her knee had collided painfully with his. She began to look through the windows on the compartment doors, looking for her friends. She quickly looked away when it was people she didn’t know, but more often than not a few kindly words were exchanged. Lily was fairly popular, she was nice to everyone, except for James Potter, but in a weird way that helped her popularity. She was smart, and always helping others.
She looked through a window to see Severus Snape, sitting by his lonesome self. Lily felt her heart ache for him, even though he was wretched and called her a mudblood, she still felt bad for him.
“What do you want, mudblood?� He asked coldly, sneering at her.

“Just looking for my friends, Snivellus. Sorry to disturb you, I can tell you were in deep concentration,� She replied sarcastically, walking away. Once upon a time she would have stammered a sincere apology, but she no longer felt sorry enough to even make an attempt at being nice.

“And for once, that wasn’t directed towards me!� James had caught up with her.

“You must feel deprived,� Lily said cooly, not even facing him, just making her way along, still checking windows.

“I’ll get over it, after all, we have to patrol for an hour tonight. I’ll have you all to myself,� James said in a tauntingly happy way. Lily sometimes wondered if James purposely wanted to get her mad.

“That doesn’t mean I have to talk to you,� Lily retorted. James was about to reply, but Lily had finally found her friends. Unfortunately, so had James. There sat Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew on one side, while Raven and Stephanie, another one of Lily’s close friends, sat on the other.

“Not the Head Boy and Girl! Honestly, we haven’t been doing anything wrong! Don’t put us in detention!� Sirius squealed jokingly. He held the title of school ‘hottie’, and always had girls fawning over him. Lily didn’t mind Sirius very much anymore, although she still got mad at him when he bullied Snape. Last year they’d been paired up by their Care of Magical Creatures teacher and Lily had found out that Sirius was actually a pretty nice guy. She never fancied him though, in her opinion he was just a friendly acquaintance.

Lily rolled her eyes in response and took a seat next to Stephanie, who was eyeing Sirius. Lily knew that look in Stephanie’s brown eyes, she’d developed a crush on Sirius Black. Even sensible girls like her weren’t immune to his charms.
Lily turned to Raven, who began to fill her in on what happened during her summer. The three girls were laughing and joking, and on the other side the Marauders (Remus had joined them shortly after Lily and James’s arrival) were doing the same. Lily and Raven were decidedly ignoring them, as though they didn’t exist, but Stephanie took quick glances of Sirius every once in a while. My poor smitten friend, Lily thought, knowing that even if Stephanie and Sirius did end up going out her friend’s heart had a good chance of being broken. Sirius was a good friend, but when it came to girls he was a definite heartbreaker.

“So that’s all there really was to my summer,� Raven said, snapping Lily out of her thoughts about Sirius and Stephanie.

“That’s all? That took almost two hours!� said Remus, looking up from the game of exploding snap he and Sirius were playing.

“Well you didn’t have to listen you know,� Raven said in a matter of factly way. “Anyways, how was your summer?� She asked Lily.

“It wasn’t very special. Petunia was usually out with her boyfriend, so I got some peace for awhile,� Lily said.

Raven gave her a sympathetic look, “You and her still don’t get along?� she questioned.

“It’s fine as long as my parents are in the room. When it’s just us though, it’s either I’m not there or I’m being snapped at every two seconds. She even said I was breathing too loud once,� Lily kept her voice light, but inside she was rather hurt by her sister’s actions. Weren’t family supposed to love each other no matter what?

“I know what you mean,� Sirius said, surprising Lily. Everyone knew Sirius did not get along with his family. He’d been the first Black in over a century to be in Gryffindor, and as a consequence got a howler from his mother the first morning of school expressing her outrage.

“At least it’s only my sister. It must have been horrible spending time with them all summer,� Lily said, deciding to be nice since she and Sirius were on common ground here.

“I didn’t actually see them very much. I ran away after a couple of days and spent the summer at James’s house,� Sirius said shrugging.

“My god, the poor village,� Lily semi-joked. They had probably terrorized the neighbors with countless pranks.

“We weren’t too bad, were we Prongs?� Sirius said with a mischievous grin.

“I do remember being chased away with cursed pots and pans every once in a while, but all in all I think they’ll miss us,� James replied and with that the two boys burst into laughter, obviously remembering some particular moment in the summer.

Lily shook her head, and turned back to Raven, smiling. “Is your little brother nervous? I remember how scared I was in first year... it seems like forever ago though.�

“He’s mostly excited, although I got him pretty scared about the sorting,� Raven laughed.

“What’d you tell him?� Lily asked.

“I said he had to do a dance routine in front of the entire school, and which ever house liked it the best was the one he got into. It was hilarious, he was practicing all summer.�

Lily’s jaw dropped, but she laughed along with Raven, “That’s so mean!� she said, not meaning it at all.

“Oh, come on. It’s tradition,� Raven said.

“Yeah, my brother said you had to get through an obstacle course, which had a snake pit,� Stephanie pitched in, laughing. “I was so scared, and when I found out we just had to try on a hat, I wanted to kill him.�

They continued to chatter, eventually getting up to change into their robes in the train’s bathroom. This is where Raven brought up James.

“So, James Potter, head boy. Who would’ve thought?� she said.

“Not me, I thought it would be Remus or Gary,� Lily replied.

“Looks like you two will be spending a lot of time together,� Stephanie said.

Lily groaned, “Don’t remind me.�

“He’ll be dead by the end of the month,� laughed Stephanie.

“Or they’ll be grotesquely in love,� Lily could hear the smugness in Raven’s voice. Ever since sixth year, she had though Lily and James were a match in heaven or something. She said she didn’t get why Lily still harbored ill-feelings towards him, he didn’t hex so many people in the halls anymore and if he did they were just Slytherins. Lily argued that Slytherins were human too, even though they did constantly aggravate her. Raven would respond with ‘He doesn’t just pick on Snivellus anymore though, and you know that most of the Slytherins probably provoked him. They hate Potter.’ Lily would roll her eyes and come back with some mediocre argument. The truth was she wasn’t really sure why she disliked him so much anymore. She decided she hated him because of the way he was always so arrogant and thought he was better than the people around him.

“I sincerely doubt that,� Lily said dryly, in response to Raven.

Raven just smiled one of those knowing smiles that made Lily scowl. She decided to change the conversation topic, “So Steph, when did you start fancying Sirius?� Lily said and Stephanie turned bright red, you could even see the red colour through her blond hair.

“Don’t be silly, Lily!� she said, but her voice had gone to a high pitch and she was blushing even more furiously.
Lily and Raven burst out laughing and made their way back to their compartment. The train started to slow down. They shrugged and went to wait by the exit. Being one of the first people out of the train, they got first choice of carriages, and were able to sit anywhere they wanted at the Gryffindor table.
Lily received a glare from Gary, as he sat at the Ravenclaw table with his obnoxious buddies. She gave him a bored look, that said clearly she didn’t care.

“Why are guys such jerks?� she asked aloud. Raven and Stephanie looked behind and saw Gary.

“We’re not all bad,� said James taking a seat next to Lily. This was also a tradition, during every feast he sat beside her. Everyone knew that, since if anyone sat next to her he’d hex them so badly they’d end up in the hospital wing. A poor classmate had met that fate in fifth year.

“Really, do you know of any?� she asked cooly.

He grinned, “I’d say something, but I think I like my face the way it is.�

Lily laughed, “Good call Potter, you’re learning.�

The hall fell silent as Professor McGonagall lead the first years towards the staff table, where there was the classic set up consisting of a three legged stool and the sorting hat.

Lily saw Raven’s little brother, David, looking around nervously. He looked at her and she gave him a reassuring smile. Over the past few years, Lily had spent a lot of the holidays at Raven’s house and she considered David a little brother.

Lily admired the ceiling as Professor McGonagall started to instruct the first years about the sorting. It was a slightly cloudy night, but she could still see some of the stars. Lily loved the ceiling, because she loved the sky. This way, during winter when it was bitingly cold she could still admire it while staying warm. She turned her attention back to the sorting when McGonagall started to read off names, trying to set an example of herself. If people saw the Head Girl not paying attention, they’d think it was okay.

She applauded along with the other gryffindors whenever a first year was sorted into their house, although she really wanted it to be over soon. The Marauders had made purchases from the food trolley, but Lily hadn’t really been hungry at the time, she was regretting her actions now. She was about to remind herself to buy something next time, even if she wasn’t hungry but then remembered there was no next time. The thought depressed her considerably.

After what seemed like ages, the last first year Zimmerman, Jared was sorted into hufflepuff.

Dumbledore stood and opened his arms in welcome, “It’s the start of a new year. We don’t want to delay the food any longer, so let’s eat.� And with that food suddenly appeared on the previously empty platters, bowls and the like. Lily dag in immediately, with enough enthusiasm to rival Peter, who was known for stuffing his face.

Lily finished off her main course and began to take seconds. James noticed. “Hungry much?� he asked jokingly, as Lily took a rather large bite out of a bread roll.

After swallowing, she replied, “I didn’t have anything to eat on the train, and my breakfast was fairly light. Offended that I’m not being all lady like just for you, Potter?� she ended cooly and almost instantly regretted it. He hadn’t said it mockingly, actually he’d said it in a way not many people could. Like he was just merely pointing out something.

“Yes, it breaks my heart. Please stop eating and become anorexic for me Lily!� He said lightly and in good humor. Lily’s response was to throw a bit of her roll at him, before continuing to eat. Although, this time, she did at a slower pace.

Eventually, when the majority of the student population was finished eating, the food faded from the platters and Dumbledore again stood.

Lily fixed her gaze on him, and pretended to be listening. She knew the speech off by heart, it was always the same. First starting with the forbidden forest speech, then it would go to the caretaker reminding them all that no magic was allowed in the corridors in between classes, and finally the quidditch tryouts. She sat there and thought of nothing, just enjoying being back. How she was going to miss this place. She decided right then that she’d make this year the best. She wasn’t going to waste it, this would be the year she’d remember forever.

“And now, everyone pick a favourite tune! It’s time for the school song!� Lily grinned, she loved Dumbledore’s enthusiasm about school spirit. She noticed how the teachers attempted not to roll their eyes. Dumbledore waved his wand and the words appeared in mid- air over the staff table.
Lily began to sing quietly, using a muggle tune for the words. She heard James singing beside her and couldn’t help but smile a bit. His voice was deep and mature, she remembered in second year when he sang in a soprano type of way. She laughed a bit at the thought.

Sirius was the last person to finish, this was always the case. He thrived in attention.

“And now off to bed! There is learning to be done tomorrow!� Dumbledore dismissed them, and the entire school got up and slowly shuffled out of the Great Hall and towards their houses. The fifth year prefects were in charge of the first years, and Lily was grateful. She stifled a yawn, not looking forward to patrolling. Glancing at her watch she calculated that she had two hours. She decided she’d nap for a bit in the common room. Most students went to sleep right after the feast, so she’d be able to get one of the comfy chairs by the fire.

They reached the fat lady and Lily said the password (“Gillyweed�). Raven and Stephanie hugged her before making their way up to their dormitory. Lucky, Lily thought, I wish I could go straight to sleep. She slumped on her favourite red chair by the fire, set the alarm on her watch and slowly drifted off to sleep.

(Disclaimer: Yet again, I remind you that I do NOT own Harry Potter.)

(A/N: Thanks to everyone who's taking the time to read this :) It makes me happy! If you have any suggestions than please do tell, otherwise I will never improve and I must!! So yeah, thanks and have a great day :) )

(A/N I forgot to add: Have fun watching your POA DVD!! :) It was so painful, I was in school the whole day and I swear the minute hand moved once per hour. It was torture. Hopefully that wasn't what it was like for you guys.)

Chapter Two: Starting Over

“Evans... Evans!! It’s time to wake up...� someone was shaking Lily gently, bringing her out of a deep sleep.

“Huh? Just a few more minutes...� She muttered, turning over.

“We’re already five minutes late. Come on, get up,� the person continued shaking her.

Lily wondered why someone was trying to wake her up when it was still dark, and how come she was curled into a tight ball in a sitting up position... Then it all came back to her. She had to patrol the corridors with James!

She jumped up out of the chair, startling James, who had been the person trying to wake her. “Come on, what are you waiting for? Let’s go!� she strode briskly towards the portrait hole, and climbed out.

“What was I waiting for?� James asked disbelievingly, following close behind. “You were the one sleeping!�

“I must’ve slept through my alarm,� Lily explained.

“It’s a good thing you had someone responsible, like me, to wake you up,� James was trying not to laugh.

Lily saw the humor in it. James the responsible one? Yeah, right. She responded by rolling her eyes at him, and then quickly looked away so he wouldn’t see her smiling.

They turned down a particularly dark corridor, checking empty classrooms and alcoves as they went. Lily nearly bumped into two suits of armor before she finally got frustrated and whispered “lumos.� She held up her wand, lighting the way before her.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw James smirking. “What?� she demanded, she hated being laughed at.


“You haven’t snuck out many times have you?� he said, grinning.

“In comparison to you? I guess not. Why is it important?� Lily asked icily.

“If anyone was out they’d see you coming from a mile away. Although, if you put out your wand, they’d probably hear you.� Lily scowled, knowing that he was talking about how she jumped whenever she almost collided with the suits of armor. “I bet you’ve never caught a single person during your patrols,� he concluded.

Lily quickly cancelled her light spell, hoping that the sudden darkness would hide her blush. He was right, she hadn’t caught anyone. Remus hadn’t either... except for the one time she’d been in the hospital wing with the flu. He’d caught Snape out and about. When Lily came back from being sick he told her all about it. Snape had refused to cooperate and it resulted in Remus hexing him pretty badly. She wasn’t as mad that day as she probably would have been, Snape’d made her rather upset a few days before and that way she didn’t really need to think up a way of personal revenge..

“So what if I haven’t?� Lily snapped. “Besides, it’s the first night back. No one ever sneaks out.�

“Yeah, you’re probably right,� James said, but Lily could still hear a hint of amusement in his voice. How annoying, she thought.

“Don’t tell me that the ‘marauders’ sneak out on the first night,� she made sure that her reference to the marauders sounded sarcastic. Although, she actually thought it was rather cute that they’d fashioned a name for their little group. She’d expected James to answer right away, and when he didn’t she looked at him curiously, stepping out of the classroom she’d been checking. She couldn’t see very well, but from what she read of the frown on his face, he and his little group did sneak out on the first night.

“You do?�

“How else would we set up the start of term prank?� James replied, leaning against a wall, totally at ease. Ah, yes. How could Lily have forgotten the start of term prank. It had started in second year and since then it was tradition. They were played on the whole school, and actually quite funny, although Lily would never admit it.

She looked at James as he brought a hand up to cover his mouth while he yawned. Lily watched him as she moved to the next door. He was handsome, even when he was tired and his eyes were half shut. No, Lily thought, I can’t think about Potter that way. I’m just so sleep deprived, I must be delusional. She still watched him though, and as a consequence walked smack into a wall. She stumbled back, trying to catch her balance but she tripped over the hem of her robes and fell into a suit of armor. She tumbled over, and so did it, making a horribly loud noise that Lily was sure would wake the whole castle.

“Lil– Evans! Are you okay? I can’t see anything. Lumos!�

Lily squinted as James pointed his wand light right at her. She lay sprawled on the floor. Luckily she’d fallen on top of the suit of armor instead of the other way around, or she’d probably have a lot of broken bones. As it was, the side of her face that had connected with the wall was throbbing painfully and she was having trouble breathing. When she’d landed the wind had been knocked out of her.

“Are you okay?� James repeated, kneeling next to her. Lily couldn’t see much except for white light, but from the tone of the voice he was sincerely concerned for her.

“You’re blinding me Potter...� she groaned, putting an arm up to shield her eyes. Instantly the wand light went out.

“Here, let me help you up,� James held out his hand, but Lily ignored it slowly getting up on her own. She stood up, her legs a little wobbly but at least her ankle wasn’t broken or something. Lily looked down at the suit of armor that lay in parts on the ground, then at the wall she’d banged into and started to laugh.

“I think that was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done!� She exclaimed, still laughing. Lily saw that James was about to laugh, but an angry outburst wiped the smiles from both their faces.

“Look at this mess!� Filch, the caretaker, screeched. “That was a rare and historic suit of armor!� He turned wildly and faced James. “I’ve got you now Potter!� He spat. “You’ll be on the train tomorrow! Mark my words!�

Lily watched as James’s jaw dropped in what she could only guess was horror and disbelief. She knew she had to tell, as much as she would have liked to never see James again, she couldn’t do that to him. She didn’t want to get in trouble either. She’d been in detention once, and didn’t want to repeat the experience. So she did what all Gryffindors do in a tight spot. She lied.

“Oh, no sir,� she said, interrupting the angry lecture he was giving James. He jumped, and Lily guessed that he wasn’t called ‘sir’ very often. “We were patrolling the corridors when we heard this awful racket, no doubt you heard it too. We thought it must have been a student out of bed, or maybe Peeves. Don’t you think, sir?�

Filch squinted his usually bulging eyes in thought, making his face look even more pouched than normal. Lily chanced a look at James, he still had his mouth open. She wished he’d close it, he didn’t look very innocent standing there with a shocked look on his face.

“I don’t believe... are you sure?� Filch asked suspiciously.

“Well, what point would we have in knocking it down?� Lily questioned sensibly.

“I thought I heard laughter...� It appeared Filch wasn’t going to believe her story without getting everything straightened out.

“Er... well, this is rather embarrassing, you see we didn’t put our wand light on because then the student would see us and get away. It was terribly dark... and I well... I tripped over the thing. Once I realized that I was okay, I started laughing. It was a fairly stupid thing, wasn’t it?� Lily knew she had started to ramble. She looked up into Filch’s eyes, determined that he’d believe her and leave.

“The culprit must still be about then. We should split up, we’ll cover more ground that way,� and with that he ran quickly down a corridor opposite them. Lily and James continued to make their way down their own corridor, not daring to disobey Filch.

“I can’t believe you, Miss Saint Evans, just lied. And to save me from suspension no less,� James said after the pounding footsteps of Filch couldn’t be heard anymore.

“I have morals you know, Potter. I couldn’t have just stood aside and let you get suspended when it was my fault, no matter how much that would have made my life happier,� Lily said not looking at James. She held her head high, determined to keep her composure. Lying to Filch wasn’t really that big of a deal in her opinion. Had it been a professor, then she would have been a little bothered by it, but not much.

“Here I was getting the idea that you might be warming up to me,� said James.

“Still cold as ever, Potter,� Lily said huffily. There was a moment of decidedly awkward silence between them.

“What’d I ever do to you to make you hate me so much?� James asked lightly, trying to make it seem like just a throw away question, like he was asking about the weather or something.

Lily thought about it and opened her mouth to answer. “Besides the time in first year when I called you pumpkin head,� James threw in quickly.

Lily frowned, how did he know that was exactly what she was going to say? She’d been incredibly self-conscious of her red hair when she was younger. In second year she’d attempted to make a potion to change it into a beautiful strawberry blond colour. She’d ended up in the hospital wing for a week, coughing up blond fur balls and with painful yellow and black sores all over her face. After that little incident she’d learnt to accept her red hair and now she actually really liked it.

“I don’t like the way you bully people, especially Severus Snape,� Lily said, glaring at him.

“I didn’t do that at all last year!� James protested.

He was right, and Lily hated that. By June of last year he could walk through the corridors without Slytherins recoiling in too much terror. “Yeah, well you used to! Just because I haven’t seen it doesn’t mean you’re not continuing!� she argued, a bit lamely in her opinion.

James scowled, “I asked what I’d ever done to you, not to others! I’ve never laid a wand on you.�

Lily threw him a disgusted look, and glanced at her watch. “It’s almost time, I’m heading back.� She turned directions, taking a short cut behind a tapestry. She’d been hoping James would leave her alone, but she could feel his presence right behind her.

“Look,� he started, grabbing her arm in a gentle but firm way. “Let’s just start over, okay? Get to really know me.�

Lily tried in vain to yank her arm out of his grasp. “No. I don’t even want to get to know you!� She said vehemently, continuing to tug her arm in hopes of freeing it.

“Like it or not, you don’t really have a choice. We’re head boy and girl, and we’re supposed to be a team. What with all the meetings and patrols we’ll spending lots of time together. Let’s make it easier on ourselves and at least attempt to be nice to each other, if you can’t handle being friends.� James said quietly in a dead serious voice, but Lily heard every word.

She thought it over and realized how much sense it made. All throughout the year they’d probably be seeing each other at least once a day, if not twice. Lily wanted to be a good head girl, one that would be well remembered. She stopped trying to get free from James, and sensing that she wasn’t about to run away, he let go. Nice to James Potter, she thought, what a weird concept. Could she do it? She’d been cold and harsh to him from almost the first day of her first year.

“So, shall we try again?� He asked after a few minutes silence in which Lily had been thinking.

“Alright,� she agreed reluctantly.

“Brilliant. Okay so, hi, I’m James Potter. Nice to meet you,� he said smiling. He extended his hand. Lily paused a moment before taking it.

“Lily Evans, nice to meet you to,� She said, shaking his hand and feeling a bit silly. After one shake, she let go of his hand like it pained her to be in touch with it.

“We’ve got five minutes to be back to Gryffindor Tower, and I don’t know about you, but I need my beauty sleep,� James said cheerfully. He started walking again, with Lily following.

This, Lily thought watching James’s back looming ahead in the darkness, this is going to be a challenge.

Disclaimer: Nothing Harry Potter is mine. That's depressing.

(A/N I tried to make this fairly long because I havn't posted in a while. Sorry about that. I hope you enjoy it :) Thanks for reading!)


Chapter 3: Cowboys, Mudbloods and NEWTs

Lily made her way somewhat groggily into the great hall, with her friends Raven and Stephanie on either side of her. They took a seat at the first available spot and instantly Lily began piling things on her plate. The breakfast layout was always the same every year. She knew where all her favourite things were off by heart.

She was almost done her meal, when the hooting of owls announced that the post had arrived. Lily looked up and spotted the usual sleek Daily Prophet owl. When Voldemort’s attacks had started to involve muggle communities in fifth year, Lily had subscribed to the Daily Prophet. Besides, it was far better finding things out for herself than by Hogwarts twisted rumors that were usually contained a quarter of truth at the most. She scanned the front page, and then a few inside pages. Seeing no alarming headings, she rolled up the paper and shoved it in her book-bag. That’s when it happened. The bench under her gave a horrible lurch, almost unseating her. She sat up fast as lighting and gripped the bench tightly with her hands.


“Did you feel that?� She demanded of Raven and Stephanie. Judging by the nervous looks on their faces and the way they were clutching the bench as Lily was, they had.

Before they could respond, the bench gave a shudder and did an odd sort of leap into the air, only to come back down and repeat the action. Not only that, Lily could feel an odd sensation along the parts of her body covered by her robes and on her head. She looked down to see them turning into a tan coloured, decorative outfit. Like a muggle cowgirl outfit, Lily thought. And it was. It had a red lining and a little Gryffindor symbol on one of the chest pockets. If Lily could have seen the back of herself, she would have noticed a larger Gryffindor symbol embroidered on the back of her new cowgirl jacket. She could see the brim of a stereotypical old western hat forming over her brow. All around the Great Hall, everyone was experiencing the same thing she was.

The bench hit the ground again, and this time Lily took the opportunity to grab her wand from inside her bag. Clinging on desperately with one hand, she tapped her wand on the bench and commanded, “Finite Incantatem!� Bad move, Lily thought as the bench gave a frightening lurch into the air as though angry at her for trying to stop it. She wasn’t about to give up though. All this bouncing around was making her breakfast start to come up.

She flicked her wand in a complicated motion and whispered a few well chosen words. Instantly the bench stopped mid-leap. It gave a shudder and then collapsed into a normal bench position. Lily didn’t let go. When she was certain that it wasn’t about to spring back into like she looked around her. Chaos had broken out in the great hall. Most people lay on the floor, and those who had managed to cling on were looking rather green faced. Everyone wore an outfit similar to hers. The only difference was that each house had their own emblem embroidered in the same places Lily did.

The only people who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves were the marauders. James and Sirius in particular were riding separate benches like they were bucking broncos (which Lily was pretty sure they were meant to be) and laughing. They were suited in cowboy attire as well. Similar to Lily’s except slightly more masculine: instead of a skirt, they had pants. The staff were all around. Casting charms on the out of control benches like Lily had just done. Most Professors were concentrating on the first years, who looked petrified. Lily swung herself off her bench and got into action, freezing benches as she went along, and picking people off the floor.

Twenty minutes later, order in the Great hall was somewhat restored. However, no one seemed to be able to charm their clothes back to their Hogwarts robes. Everyone’s outfits were similar, except each houses’ emblem was embroidered on their front and back.

Most people were laughing at each other, remembering moments of hilarity. Raven had come over after the chaos had died down a bit and was currently laughing herself silly at the look of terror Lily had given her when she’d felt the first lurch.

Lily grinned. “Well your face was pretty funny too!� she said and then made an imitation Raven’s face. They burst into laughter, but quickly stifled it as a bunch of fireworks were shot out of Dumbledore’s wand.

“I know you are all worked up from this morning’s amusing events, but we must not forget that there are still classes to attend. Please stay seated as the head of your house hands out your timetables,� Dumbledore said cheerfully, with a bit more of a twinkle in his eye then usual. There was some shuffling as everyone got (somewhat hesitantly) back to their seats “As for these rather creative outfits, I see no harm in them, but if you must go to your dormitory and change then do so. Classes, however, will not wait for you.�

Dumbledore paused, looking around at everyone, beaming.

“Actually, all robes have been transfigured. But at midnight they’ll transform back,� James had stood up and was smiling at everyone. It was a cheerful smile, but Lily also got the hidden meaning. He was daring anyone to object, even though he knew perfectly well that no one would. Everyone knew better than to challenge James Potter, except for Severus Snape and Lily herself. There were always predictable results after every confrontation. Snape would end up completely humiliated, or/and in the hospital wing. Lily would end up turning James down for yet another date, and life in Hogwarts would go on.

Lily couldn’t deny that it had taken a lot of planning, not to mention power, to set up this prank properly. Plus the spells had to be timed to go off at a precise point. Probably spent their whole summer on it, Lily thought shaking her head a little and smiling to herself.

“What’re you smiling at?� Stephanie asked.

“What? Oh nothing...� Lily said, taking the timetable the McGonagall was handing to her. “Hey look! We have Transfiguration first!� She said happily, getting off her seat.

The three girls made their way out of the Great Hall, past the marauders who were currently being scolded by Professor McGonagall and Professor Morton, the potions teacher.

~*~

“This year will be your last at Hogwarts,� Professor McGonagall had decided to open up her lesson with a lecture. “But before you start to celebrate remember that this year you can expect to be loaded down with all the information you can possibly handle, maybe impossibly for some of you. NEWTs testing is at the end of the year and to do well you must pay attention,� she directed this comment towards James and Sirius who were attempting to throw their cowboy hats on top of Remus and Peter’s. Whenever they missed, they’d summon it back. Under McGonagall’s piercing stare though, they stopped and composed themselves into what Lily guessed, they thought was an excellent imitation of well-mannered students.

Somewhat convinced that she now had the whole classes attention, Professor McGonagall continued, “I have no doubts that all of you will achieve at least an ‘Acceptable’ in your transfiguration NEWT exam. That is, as long as you apply yourselves. Now, for today’s lesson...�

Fifteen minutes later, Lily found herself paired with Raven. They were trying to turn one another into an animal, and then use the counter-spell to change back.

“You transfigure me first, Lily,� Raven said, looking a little nervous.

“What? Why?� Lily asked. Raven always wanted to go first. In everything. She was quite competitive. It was one of the reasons why she was such a formidable beater on the Gryffindor quidditch team. That’s why she was so convinced that James was a good person. Apparently he was a great quidditch captain, and had earned her respect on many occasion. She could never quite get Lily to see it her way though.

“I might do it wrong, and you’ll get stuck as half a flamingo or something,� Raven explained.

“How comforting of you to say so,� Lily responded sarcastically, but she rolled up her sleeves and held her wand out in front of her. “Ready?� she asked Raven, who nodded, but closed her eyes as though afraid of the impact.

Lily waved her wand in the complicated motion that Professor McGonagall had demonstrated earlier. She opened her mouth to say the incantation, but suddenly Sirius was stumbling into her view. Lily watched as he collided with Raven and they both fell onto the floor. Instantly they started to morph into what looked like someone had attached a horse and giraffe together as some sort of cruel joke. But, oddly, they still had human characteristics. The horse had Raven’s hair style (tied back into a messy bun), and it was wearing her cowgirl vest. The giraffe was considerably short, it had human lips and, funnily enough, it had a cowboy hat on the top of it’s head. It seemed that even without the incantation, Lily’s spell had half worked. But who had cast the spell on Sirius?

Lily ran to the creature that was half her friend. “Raven! Are you okay?� she asked in a high-pitched voice.

“Sirius! I told you to brace yourself!� A familiar voice said harshly. Lily turned to see James coming towards her. As he sat down she took a glance at him. He looked a bit ashen faced, and Lily guessed that, although his voice was harsh, he was actually quite concerned for his best friend’s well-being.

“What happened here?� McGonagall demanded sharply. Lily and James hurriedly explained what they thought had happened, while Sirius and Raven simply complained in the background. Lily caught a few curses and once ‘A giraffe? A giraffe??’

“Take them down to the hospital wing you two! Don’t delay!� McGonagall commanded. James and Lily wasted no time in doing as they were told, grabbing onto their literally attached friends and leading them through the corridors. It was slow going. Especially on the stairs, and some corridors were too small for the horse-giraffe to fit in. They had to keep on taking detours and once in a while one of James’s shortcuts.

“I am so sorry Raven!� Lily kept apologizing. “This is why you always go first!�

And every time she said this James would say, “It’s not your fault. Sirius wasn’t paying attention. Blundering idiot�

To which Sirius-the-giraffe would make a snorting sound and angrily attempt to stomp on James’s foot. Lily was rather greatful for Sirius’s reaction. This prevented her from having to respond to James. She so wanted to point out that if James had given Sirius proper warning, this probably wouldn’t have happened. She remembered the agreement they had made the night before though, so she held her tongue and busied herself with assisting Raven and Sirius through particularly difficult passages.

After what seemed like ages to Lily, they finally entered the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey hurried over to them instantly, and once again Lily and James found themselves muttering explanations. In the end Madam Pomfrey practically kicked them out, demanding that her patients needed rest.

“I hope that’s not an indication of how the rest of the day will be...� James said, as they headed back to the Transfiguration classroom.

“I can’t believe that happened. What a weird effect,� Lily mused. “Well, Raven should be thankful that she gets to miss some classes. Although she’s attached to a person she despises...�

James nodded in agreement. “They’ll either both be dead, or the best of friends when we see them again.�

“I don’t know which would be worse,� Lily said mockingly. She looked up at James to see him smiling at her, and felt an odd fluttery feeling in her chest. What was that? She thought.

Lily went to turn a corner. BAM. She walked head on into someone.

“Oh, I’m so...� Lily stopped, catching sight of the person. Standing in front of her was none other than Severus Snape.

“Filthy little mudblood! Watch where you’re going!� Snape spat. He’d probably meant to be intimidating, but that’s a rare feat when one is outfitted in a cowboy outfit.

“Appol – � James started angrily but Lily cut him off.

“After six years you’d think you’d be able to come up with something new,� Lily said icily. “I’m not the one who has such greasy hair, it looks like they’ve never taken a shower in their life. If being pure-blood means being exactly like you, then I’m glad I’m a muggle-born.� She walked past him, holding her head determinedly high. She didn’t see the flash of light, nor did she see a Slytherin Cowboy slump to the floor, unconscious, with fish tails spilling out of his mouth and purple boils covering his face. She didn’t notice that James, after a disgusted look, turned the boy on his side so he wouldn’t choke to death on the fish tails.

In fact, Lily was very good at missing the moments in which James’s more human side pronounced itself.

Lily was walking so fast through the corridors that James only really caught up to her in time to walk into the classroom together.

McGonagall, noticing their return, said sharply, “You two will have to be partners now, and let’s hope this time there will be better results!�

“That wasn’t my fault!� both Lily and James protested at the same time.

McGonagall responded with a severe look, and the two hurried to find a clear spot to preform the spell on each other. McGonagall’s looks always had that effect on students.

“Ladies first,� James said, once they’d settled into a place.

Lily fought back the hundreds of comebacks she had to that simple line. She raised her wand a little hesitant because of what had just happened to Raven. “Ready?� she asked.

James nodded, bracing himself, but unlike Raven he didn’t seem scared. He’d simply shifted his feet so that he was in a more stable position. The corners of his mouth were turned up in a small smile, and Lily felt like he had confidence in her. She felt braver because of it.

She thought of the animal to turn him into, and then once again waved her wand in a complicated motion and uttered the incantation. Instantly James started to morph in a big grizzly bear. Although, the effect was a bit ruined by it standing up on it’s hind legs and looking down at itself. It gave Lily what she thought was meant to be an incredulous look.

“Well done! Everyone take a look over here. Miss Evans has successfully transfigured Mr Potter!� James was stuck as a bear for about ten minutes as McGonagall walked around him, pointing out to the class how Lily had managed to avoid the common effect of transfiguring someone only partly, so they were still human but with some animal features.

“Alright, Miss Evans, you may turn him back now,� Professor McGonagall said once she had finished and everyone had gone back to transfiguring each other.

“But Professor, I was hoping we could submit him into a muggle zoo,� Lily said, grinning as James-the-bear shook it’s head and stared up at her reproachfully.

Professor McGonagall gave Lily a rare smile and said, “As tempting as that is, Hogwarts needs a Head Boy, Miss Evans.�

The bear gave a kind of snort, but McGonagall ignored it. She walked off to supervise other groups and give help to those who needed it.

Lily muttered the counter-spell and the bear disappeared. In it’s place now stood James. Lily grinned. “Did you enjoy your time as a bear?� she asked, her eyes sparkling with hidden laughter.

“Well done, but you wouldn’t have had the heart to put me in a zoo,� James replied, ignoring her question.

Lily shrugged. “I might’ve,� she said. “Anyways, it’s your turn.�

“Revenge will be sweet,� he joked, raising his wand. Lily poked her tongue out at him childishly, but shifted herself into a more steady position.

“Do your worst,� she dared, but it was somewhat ruined by the smile on her face that she was not aware of.

By the end of the class Lily had been turned into a tiger, an eagle, a parrot and (oddly enough) a newt. She, in turn, had successfully transfigured James into a kangaroo, a turtle and a coyote as well as the bear. She was in a considerably happy mood for the rest of her morning classes (Arithmancy and Charms). She’d completely forgotten about the state Raven was in, until she noticed her absence at lunch. She felt a pang of guilt at not remembering, and quickly began to gather food into a napkin.

“I’m going to the hospital wing to visit Raven,� Lily told Stephanie.

“Oh, I’ll come with you,� Stephanie said. There was a slight red tinge to her cheeks and Lily thought she knew who else Stephanie wanted to see. She didn’t say anything to Stephanie about it, just waited as she grabbed food and put it into her napkin as Lily had done. They started to walk down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables.

“Hey, Lily!� Lily stopped and turned to face James. She mentally noted that he had called her by her first name, and not last. If it had been a year earlier, Lily would have reacted angrily. However, it was not last year, so she gave him a mild look of polite interest.

I’m being civil for now, but if he asks me out, I’ll curse him, she thought, fingering the wand in her pocket.

But it turned out that James didn’t want a date, he wanted to join her and Stephanie on their visit to the hospital wing. Lily found no harm in it, so as a response she shrugged and said, “Shove some food in your pockets, and come on. Lunch will be half over by the time we get there.�

She purposely ignored the amazed looks Stephanie, Peter and Remus were giving her. She hadn’t told Stephanie or Raven about her patrol with James the night before, but she supposed she was going to have to later in the common room.

They walked for a bit in a silence that Lily couldn’t stand, so she decided to keep up a friendly conversation. “Nice prank this morning. How long do you have detention for?� she asked James.

“Only for one night since no one was harmed by it. Don't worry, I’ll still be able to patrol with you,� he said, grinning.

“Oh, joy,� Lily said sarcastically, but she was smiling. “That reminds me. We have the first prefect meeting tonight, and I still don’t know who took my place.�

“Elise did,� Stephanie said. “I should know, she wouldn’t shut up about it during Ancient Runes.�

“Well, she was probably just excited about it,� Lily offered in Elise’s defense. Although Lily never really hung out with Elise, she was a nice girl, a little talkative, but nice none the less.

Stephanie replied by rolling her eyes, “You have an excuse for everyone, don’t you?�

“No, you just make people seem worse than they really are,� Lily countered.

“Huh. I wonder who else does that...� Stephanie replied. Lily blushed a bit, knowing she was referring to the way she’d treated James for the past few years.

Lily hastily changed the conversation topic to quidditch, and it held them until they entered the hospital wing. They saw that Raven and Sirius were human, but still attached at the shoulder. They lay on the same hospital bed, bickering.

“It is all your bloody fault! You better run for your life once we’re separated because I am going to curse the living daylights out of you!� Raven shouted.

Sirius opened his mouth to retort something back, but James hastily went, “Hey mate, how are things holding up?�

Both Raven and Sirius looked over and saw the three coming over to them.

“I’ll never forgive you, Prongs,� Sirius replied icily. “I can’t believe you attached me to this... this... thing,� he said grotesquely.

James grinned. “I see that you’ve suffered no lasting damage,� he said.

“No lasting damage? Are you kidding me? She is– �

But what Raven was, they never found out. For at that moment, a group of sixth year Ravenclaw girls rushed in. Some were crying, and others were dead white. They were carrying what looked like a fellow Ravenclaw girl.

“Where’s Madam Pomfrey?� One demanded of Lily, after helping set the girl on the bed next to Raven and Sirius’s.

“Here, what’s wrong?� Lily jumped, Madam Pomfrey had arrived, seemingly from no where.

The girls all started explaining at once, making it impossible to understand. Madam Pomfrey held up her hand and said, “Quiet!� in such a commanding voice, that they all fell silent at once.

“You,� she addressed the girl who had asked for her whereabouts upon entering. “What happened?�

“Well,� she began tearfully, “We found her unconscious on the third floor, in the little niche behind the statue of that witch. We tried to use the energizing spell, but it didn’t work. And there’s this thing on her forehead...� she reached over and brushed back Darlene’s bangs with her hand. Lily saw the words ‘First Mudblood’ etched there, as though someone had indented them into her forehead.

Everyone gasped, but the girl wasn’t done. “And there was a note lying on her,� she said, handing it to Madam Pomfrey. She took it and unfolded it. Lily stared as Madam Pomfrey went a horrible grey colour.

“Someone get the Head Master!� She cried, and dropped the piece of parchment. Lily bent down and scooped it up as one of the Ravenclaw girls ran out of the hospital wing.

She read it and trembled violently, for written in dark green ink was “The cleansing of Hogwarts begins� and underneath the Dark Mark sparkled threateningly.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

(A/N I hope you enjoy, Please review :) They make me happy. Thanks for reading!)


Chapter 4: What's the World Coming To?

On the Headmaster’s orders, Lily attended her afternoon classes. But for all the effort she gave, she may as well have stayed in the hospital wing. She couldn’t help wondering who would do such a thing. Unconsciously she made lists of all the people she thought capable of such malice. Unsurprisingly, Snape was one of the first persons she thought of. Hadn’t he been wandering the halls by himself just earlier that day? If James hadn’t been there, would she have been in the hospital wing instead of that poor girl, Darlene? Maybe she should have hit him with a curse... perhaps it would’ve prevented this all from happening...

“Miss Evans!� Lily’s gaze went sharply into focus on a stout woman who looked very put out.

“Sorry, what was that professor?� Lily asked politely, the picture of a perfect student, who was just a little hard of hearing.

“If you would take a look around, you would notice that every one of your classmates are working on the filitrius plants. Please, get out of your dreamworld and join a group!� Professor Sprout said impatiently.

Lily went a slight shade of red as she walked over to join a pair of Hufflepuff boys. She saw Remus motion for her to join his table (with James), but at the moment they were surrounded by giggling girls that Lily didn’t think she could handle. She shook her head, smiling in a way that made her look sincerely sorry she couldn’t join them.

Lily soon learned that if she were to ever daydream again in class, it’d better not be during a Herbology lesson. The filitrius plant had a habit of spraying people with a nasty liquid that smelt horrible, if they didn’t care for them in a certain way. What made them so popular, was that the liquid (which they so often sprayed Lily with) was the very same that filled the stones in the popular gobstones game. The Hufflepuff boys tried their best to help her, but soon gave her up as a lost cause.

Lily was so frustrated, that when the class was finally over she was one of the first people out of the greenhouse. Stomping her way up to the castle, she ignored the calls of ‘Wait up!’ from Stephanie, deciding that if she wanted to talk to her so badly she could run.

“What is wrong with you? Didn’t you hear me calling to you? Ew, what’s that smell?� Stephanie exclaimed, plugging her nose.

Lily’s eyes narrowed into slits. “I suppose you weren't victim of the filitrius plant’s spray back there.�

Stephanie started to laugh, but had the decency to try to cover it with a cough when she saw the anger in Lily’s emerald green eyes.

“Here, I’m sorry, let me help out,� Stephanie said and waved her wand. Instantly the rancid odor was replaced with the smell of a lavender perfume.

Lily sighed, relaxing somewhat. “Thanks,� she said, giving Stephanie an apologetic look. “I’ve just been really edgy since what happened at lunch.�

“I know, but come on Lily. No one would dare to attack you,� Stephanie said, her brown eyes wide and sympathetic.

Stephanie was a pureblood, and usually had difficulty understanding what kind of treatment Lily received as a Muggle-born. Raven was a little more understanding, having been with Lily a lot of the time when she was taunted. Raven herself was sometimes considered a Muggle-born, or as bad as. Her father was a half-blood wizard, but her mother was a Muggle.

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,� Lily muttered in response, but Stephanie didn’t seem to hear. They had entered the Great Hall and the noise from all the other students drowned out Lily’s comment. They found a spot and began eating, although not much in Lily’s case. She sat in silence, poking at her food, only rarely putting some in her mouth.

“Miss me?� came a cheerful voice, disturbing the silence in which Lily and Stephanie sat.

Lily smiled as Raven squeezed in beside her with a ‘Budge over, you’ to a Gryffindor first year, who hastily did as he was told. Usually Lily would have scolded Raven for scaring first years, but tonight she was so happy to see her best friend, that she didn’t care.

“You made it out alive!� Lily exclaimed. “Is the other in pieces?� she asked, referring to Sirius.

“To my great dismay, yes he is. Madam Pomfrey separated us before I could do any lasting damage,� Raven’s face looked so sincerely woebegone by this that Lily had to laugh.

“There will be other opportunities,� she said in a comforting type of voice. Stephanie raised her eyebrows at the two, but didn’t say anything. Smitten with a Marauder, Lily mused, how tragic.

Thinking of Marauders, Lily glanced down the Gryffindor table to look at the group of four. Sirius had obviously returned at the same time as Raven. They were all laughing merrily at something and Lily wondered what it was. A prank maybe?

Their laughter died down, and as it did, James looked down the table, catching Lily’s eye. She jerked her head away quickly, but not before she saw him wink at her.

He may not bully anyone anymore, but he’s still the same arrogant toe-rag he’s always been, Lily thought disgustedly. But as much as she thought ill of him, she couldn’t quite deny that her stomach had done an odd sort of flip-flop when he’d winked. She brushed it off as lack of food, and began to eat properly. Raven always had this effect on Lily. She could calm her down with just her presence and Lily loved that.

“So how were classes?� Raven asked with a cocky grin, seemingly pleased that she had gotten something out of being attached to Sirius for a few hours.

Lily shrugged. “The usual. You missed a bunch of NEWTs lectures and some homework, but nothing you can’t catch up on.�

“Assuming I was worried about that in the first place,� Raven said, smiling.

“Lily was sprayed from head to toe in an awful smelling liquid by the filitrius plant. She was a walking skunk,� Stephanie laughed, receiving a scowl from Lily.

“The filitrius plant?� Raven asked, looking a bit put out. “That’s the liquid that gobstones are filled with.� Raven had a slight passion for the game as well, Herbology was her best class.

“We’re continuing work with them next class,� Stephanie reassured Raven, who looked happier at this. The three girls got up from the table, having finished their meal. They laughed and talked amongst each other, and Darlene slipped from Lily’s mind. She felt carefree, like nothing could bring her down.

“Hey! Hey, Lily!� the familiar voice of James Potter called after her as she and her friends ascended one of the many staircases.

Lily let out a small frustrated sigh, that only Raven and Stephanie heard. “Yes?� she asked, turning to face him.

“Where are you going? You do know that we have a prefect meeting in about five minutes, right?� James questioned, frowning at her.

Lily’s eyes widened, she’d forgotten all about it. However, she didn’t want to admit it, so she quickly came up with a false explanation. “I know, I was just going to run up to my dorm to get something.�

“What could you possibly need?� James asked in a friendly way, but Lily immediately got defensive.

“Parchment,� she said a little icily. “I’ve run out.�

“I’ll lend you some,� James replied, shrugging. “So, are you coming or not?� he persisted when Lily didn’t move.

“Er, yeah. I’ll see you guys later,� she said to Raven and Stephanie and began walking in the opposite direction with James.

They walked in silence for a bit, Lily not particularly interested in striking up a conversation with him at the moment. Although, she did find it funny that she could go from having a great time with him that morning, to slightly detesting his presence now.

“You forgot, didn’t you?� he said, after giving her a searching look.

“No,� Lily said, a little too quickly and defensively. She grimaced inwardly, hating how she sounded so guilty.

James seemed to have caught onto it too, because he said in a friendly mocking sort of way, “Well, colour me pink. Lily Evans, forgetting such an important commitment. What is the world coming to?�

Lily smirked, and carefully pulled out her wand in a way that James wouldn’t notice. “I don’t think pink really suits you, James,� she gave him an innocent kind of smirk, “But if you insist.� With that she took aim and fired a spell at him. James’s cowboy outfit turned from tan to shocking pink within a matter of seconds.

He looked down at himself, his mouth agape. Looking back up at her, Lily saw his expression change from surprise, to slight horror and disbelief. “You didn’t,� was all he could manage.

Lily nodded and smiled smugly, “I did. Oh, here’s the room. Grindylow,� she said to the portrait guarding the entrance to the meeting room. “Aren’t you coming?� she asked him innocently. He gave her a look that said plainly that as long as he was pink, his answer was no.

“Big baby,� she said, flicking her wand so that his outfit was the normal tan colour.

He smirked, walking up to her. “Thank you Lily, my torturer and saviour,� he said in a playful mocking voice. Lily rolled her eyes at him before walking in, smiling. The room was furnished with big squishy couches and armchairs, that were currently occupied with Hogwarts’ prefects. There was a desk at the front of the room, and two imperial looking armchairs. Lily always thought the Head Boy and Girl looked a bit like a king and queen when seated there. She went over and sat down in one, wondering if one of the prefects thought the same of her. It was a little scary being up here, but at the same time she liked the authority. James settled in the armchair next to hers and the room fell silent.

Eerie, Lily thought, I feel like Professor McGonagall or something.

Lily gave James a side glance, but he didn’t seem like he was about to say anything. The one time I actually want to hear something come from that huge mouth of his and he stays silent, she thought disbelievingly.

“So, I’m assuming we’re all here,� she started, receiving small nods from her audience (excluding the Slytherins, and one Ravenclaw). “I recognize some of you from last year, but there are some new people here. Why don’t we take time to get acquainted before we actually discuss things?� she suggested. “I know it’s boring, but let’s just go around, saying our names. I’m Lily Evans,� she turned to James who caught on, and introduced himself. The introductions continued and Lily tried her best to memorize names and faces. She wondered how James was doing, at least she knew some people from the years before. The last person introduced themselves, and Lily felt that it had gone a little too quickly. In the hospital wing, Dumbledore had told James and Lily that they needed to tell the prefects about the ‘situation’ at Hogwarts. Lily, however, didn’t want to bring it up. Why couldn’t Dumbledore just address the entire school?

“So let’s get the obvious out of the way,� James said suddenly, startling Lily. “Rumors are going around the school. But I’m sure we all know stories can get exaggerated, so let’s have it. What’ve you heard?�

Lily was surprised at James’s bluntness. She looked around the room and saw people exchanging uneasy looks.

“There’s a cult going around killing off Muggle-borns,� said a timid Hufflepuff prefect. Lily looked over at her, trying to remember her name. Michele, or something like that she guessed.

“Not quite,� James said in a kind way that Lily hadn’t known he was capable of. “Fortunately, Lily and I were there, so what we’re about to tell you is reliable. Forget whatever you’ve heard up until now, alright?� Again, several people nodded.

“Why were you there?� Gary questioned skeptically, with a glare at Lily.

She gave him a look, that clearly belittled him. “We were visiting our friends in the hospital wing,� she replied in a normal voice, determined to show him that he didn’t affect her.

“What twit gets themselves in the hospital wing on the first day?� he demanded.

“Keep that up, and you’ll find out for yourself,� James threatened. Being notorious for his hexing abilities (no one forgot the Snape underwear incident), Gary made the wise decision of shutting up, instead of seeing if James would follow through.

“As we were saying...� Lily began to describe the incident, images flashing in her mind’s eye. James added details every time she accidentally left something out. When they had finished, the whole room was silent for about two seconds before they all erupted into angry speech.

“Who would do that?�

“That’s sick.�

“Is the girl dead?�

“Do you know who did it?�

“What’s going to happen now?�

Questions were fired at James and Lily. No matter how much they tried to hush people, it didn’t work. Finally, Lily lost her temper and bellowed in a dangerous voice much like Professor McGonagall’s, “Be quiet! Now!� The effect was instantaneous, people stopped mid-sentence, with their mouths still hanging open.

“We don’t know who did it. Doubtless, there will be an investigation made, but with all the attacks going on right now, we don’t know how soon it could be. However,� Lily said sharply, for people had begun to talk again, “students are currently threatened, so I’m sure it will be as soon as possible.�

“For now, though, we want you guys on the alert. Pay attention to your surroundings, we can’t stress that enough. If you see someone walk off alone, go with them, especially if they are in a younger grade. As long as the attackers are at large, houses, grudges, enemies... anything you have against someone doesn’t matter. It could be someone’s life on the line.�

Lily tried to picture James following Snape to insure his protection and couldn’t imagine it. Though, she didn’t think Snape was in any real danger, being a pure-blood who hated anything Muggle and obsessed with the dark arts. No, Snape didn’t have anything to fear.

“Are they just after Muggle-borns?� Elise questioned.

Lily felt uncomfortably aware of everyone looking at her. Being a well known Muggle-born, they wanted to see her reaction. She wasn’t going to show fear though, before James could answer, she did. “It would seem so at the moment, but we can’t make that assumption.�

“Why don’t we just chuck those lot out of the castle?� Gary asked coldly, gesturing to the Slytherins. Had they been dogs, their hackles would have been up and their teeth bared, as it was the looked furious. Gary didn’t seem to be able to take a hint though, “It’s bound to be someone from their house.�

“Gary, is it?� James said cooly, but didn’t wait for an answer. “I thought that would be obvious. The attackers aren’t necessarily all from one house, they could be scattered through out. Also, as unlikely as it may be, these could be attacks from outside. Death Eaters sneaking in. It’s improbable, but these people obviously have a very thorough knowledge of the Dark Arts. It wouldn’t take much to slip in, attack, and then slip back out.�

He speaks with such power, Lily thought. She never considered the possibility of Death Eaters entering the school from the outside. Her imagination began to go into action, thinking of ways to break into Hogwarts. During the day though? How would they? She snapped back into reality when another question was asked.

“Do we really have to patrol? With all this going on?� A fifth year asked nervously.

“All patrols are in pairs. You have your wands,� James said, some people did not look very reassured at this though.

“We could get a panic device of some sort,� Lily suggested. “A charmed object that will alert a professor or the Headmaster. The only problem is, it must only be used when you are sure. If you’re constantly pressing it... if a real attack were to happen, no one may believe you.�

All around the room, people were showing agreement. Even, to Lily’s surprise, the Slytherins and (a little reluctantly) Gary.

“We can talk to Professor Dumbledore about that next week,� James said, taking a note of it. “Anything else?� When no one responded he said, “Alright then, see you on Sunday.� People began to file out, some stayed behind to talk to Lily and James though. One of them being a seventh year female Slytherin prefect named Annabella.

“I appreciate you putting that Gary in his place,� she said to them, a smile on her face. Lily was so shocked that a Slytherin was actually being human to her. Especially Annabella, who’d always seemed to hate her.

“Gladly,� James said. He too, looked a bit taken aback that someone from such a rival house was talking to him sensibly.

“You’ve always been nice to me,� she continued, speaking to Lily. “Even when I was so horrible to you on our patrol together last year.�

Lily remembered, she referred to it as the patrol from hell whenever it came up. Every time Annabella had addressed her, she’d called her ‘Mudblood’ or ‘filth’. She cast a trip jinx on Lily, although at the time she had ruled it off as clumsiness.

“I’m sorry,� Annabella said when Lily didn’t respond. “This summer... well, I’ve had my eyes opened. I no longer think like I used to.� There were tears forming in Annabella’s silvery eyes, and Lily’s heart went out to her.

“It’s a hard time for everyone,� she said sympathetically, reaching out hesitantly to Annabella, afraid of rejection. Annabella, however, embraced Lily in a quick hug and wiped at her eyes.

“Well, I’d better be off,� she said, hurriedly, going red in the face. “I feel so embarrassed,� she cried suddenly, catching Lily and James off guard.

“It’s okay,� Lily said in a soothing voice, “you don’t have to be embarrassed. Do you want to talk about it?�

“No, no, I’ll be on for hours and you don’t have that kind of time. No... no...� and she swept out of the room before James or Lily could stop her. They stared at each other for a few moments, amazed at what had just occurred, and unaware that they were the only ones left.

“You know we’re in desperate times when Slytherins start reaching out to Gryffindors,� James said quietly in a sad voice.

“What’s the world coming to?� Lily asked, and she began to shake.

Disclaimer: I am not J.K Rowling, therefore I do not own Harry Potter.

(A/N Thank you so much to everyone for reviewing and reading and what not. This chapter is a lot less dark and (in my opinion) fairly lovey-dovey, although not extremely because obviously they haven't hooked up... but yes, enjoy ^_^)

Chapter 5: Changes and Denial


Throughout the rest of the first week, nothing very eventful happened. Quidditch tryouts were announced to begin on Thursday evening, so James and Raven were quite busy studying replacements. James in particular, being captain of the team. Raven began talking non-stop about Quidditch, and how she’d been researching some beaters’ moves that she couldn’t wait to try out. She was like this one night in the common room. Stephanie and Lily were trying to concentrate on an extremely nasty potions essay and were finding it difficult to do so with Raven’s incessant talking. All it took was an exchange of looks, and Raven suddenly found that although her lips were still moving, no sound was to be heard. She glared at her friends, who simply gave her a smug look in return. They only took the charm off her once they’d finished (and because they were tired of how she kept waving her wand in an attempt to curse them, but since she couldn’t speak the incantation nothing happened).

Lily began to tutor Timothy in transfiguration once again. She sometimes suspected that he purposely did badly in class, because he did fine when she taught him. He was always so happy and enthusiastic though, that she didn’t have the heart to confront him about it. It did feel like a bit of a waste of her Wednesday nights, and it didn’t help that the work load this year was worse than it ever had been. One of her dorm mates, Sarah, had already had to go to Madam Pomfrey for a calming solution. Lily knew she would continue to make frequent trips to the hospital wing, as she was a very high strung individual.

When Friday came along Lily thought the weekend couldn’t have arrived any sooner. She was tired of hearing mutters of ‘you’ll be next, pompous mudblood’ at first it had been unnerving, but it quickly got boring. The rumors had also grown so that now a majority of the school swore that Voldemort himself had broken in and cursed Darlene. The girl had woken up, but there still seemed to be something wrong with her, although Lily didn’t know what. Her parents had come and gone. Everything seemed to be under control. Lily wondered why Darlene wanted to stay. Wouldn’t she want to be as far away from this place as possible now? And how was it that the attackers hadn’t been caught yet? No one seemed to care as much as Lily did.

“What do you guys want to do today?� Stephanie asked. The three were sprawled on the armchairs closest to the fire in the common room. It was Saturday, and none of them felt very motivated to do anything at all.

“I have quidditch practice later. James wants us to get an early start. ‘We’ve got to adjust to the change in recruits,’ he says,� Raven told them, imitating James marvelously.

“What should we do then Steph?� Lily asked.

“I happen to know that Sirius, along with the other marauders, will be watching us practice this afternoon,� Raven said quickly.

“Maybe we should watch Raven play,� Stephanie suggested, to no one’s surprise.

Lily groaned. “Come on Steph, how interesting can quidditch be when there’s only one team playing?�

“Excuse me?� Raven was indignant. Quidditch was always interesting, in her mind.

Lily and Stephanie ignored her. “I wasn’t really planning on watching them play quidditch,� Stephanie said with a sly grin, blushing a bit.

So, about an hour later, Lily found herself sitting in the quidditch stands, watching seven red blurs. Stephanie had engaged Sirius in a lengthy discussion about something Lily didn’t quite care to follow. She now understood why James had been so good at speaking with authority during the prefect meeting earlier that week. He, of course, had developed it while being quidditch captain. She watched as he’d bellow orders to his team, and they followed his directions without question. There were two new players, one was a fifth year scrawny boy that was now seeker and the other was a square-faced dirty-blond haired fourth year girl, who Lily recognized as Kara, because she was often at Hagrid’s hut when Lily went down for a visit. They were both fairly good, they weren’t playing as well as the players they’d replace, but they hadn’t quite adjusted yet, Lily thought.

Lily remembered the first time she’d ridden a broomstick during flying lessons in first year. It hadn’t been pretty. During the first lesson, she’d floated in mid-air, clutching onto her broom awkwardly while James flew around her in circles. Lily would get dizzy, trying to watch him and he’d laugh at her. Eventually he’d taken pity on her and given her a sort of private tutorial while Madam Hooch was busy coaching the other students. He was a good teacher, by the end of the term she was one of the best in the class. She never went out for quidditch though, the thought of having more to concentrate on then simply flying was intimidating.

“Lily? Earth to Lily!!�

“Sorry, what?� Lily asked Stephanie, who had obviously been trying to get her attention for awhile.

“They’re done, let’s go meet Raven on the field!�

Yes, because it’s Raven you want to see, nothing to with Sirius being down there as well, Lily thought, but followed Stephanie out onto the quidditch pitch. Raven grinned as they made their way towards her and the rest of the team.

“Ah, you’ve decided to grace me with your presence!� she laughed. Raven was always in a very happy mood after quidditch practice. Lily always ruled it off as lightheadedness from being up in the air for such a long time.

“You?� Lily muttered once she was right beside Raven, “Stephanie’s been drooling after Sirius all afternoon. I say we threaten him into going out with her. I can’t take the obsessive flirting anymore!�

Raven grinned. “Yes, but then we’d have them snogging in front of us all the time,� she whispered back in a mock wise type of voice.

“What’re you two whispering about?� James asked curiously.

“My perfect flying today,� Raven said innocently. “Lily was just saying how graceful I was,� she added snobbily.

“Ah yes, you had all the grace of a hippo my dear lady,� Sirius said, having over heard.

Raven muttered something Lily couldn’t hear before saying, “Si-i-irius.� He gave her a curious look and she grinned. “Your robes are on fire,� she continued sweetly.

Everyone looked at Sirius to see that the hem of his robes was covered in orange flame that was growing larger by the second. Stephanie and James were the first to react, both shooting water out of their wands at the flames. James was grinning, but Stephanie looked furious.

“That wasn’t funny, Raven!� she exclaimed shrilly. Lily and Raven were laughing too hard to respond. Sirius’s reaction had been priceless when he’d seen that he was on fire. His eyes had widened in shock and he’d done a weird sort of jumpy movement, a pirouette of some sort. It was especially funny since he was usually so at ease and laid back most of the time. They’d never seen him move so quickly, except for that time James had got fed up with him one time in charms and bewitched a desk to chase him around the room.

Sirius wasn’t about to let Raven show him up like that. “If you weren’t a girl... so help me...� he threatened, glaring at her.

“What? You’d curse me? Go on Black, I dare you,� Raven said in a dangerous voice.

Sirius looked like he was considering taking out his wand and challenging her to a duel. Lily, sensing trouble, quickly intervened. “Let’s just drop it,� she said in a calm voice. “You’re even now.�

Lily was sure Sirius was about to retort something, but James stepped in. “Come on Padfoot, you called her a hippo. Did you honestly think she’d take that lying down?�

“I suppose not, she is rather touchy though,� Sirius said, talking about Raven as though she wasn’t there. Lily felt Raven tense, but she put a hand on her friend’s wand arm to prevent her from hexing Sirius into oblivion.

There was an uncomfortable silence and the rest of the team, that wasn’t involved, started to edge towards the changing rooms, they obviously thought they were being rather subtle, but they weren’t.

“Supper’s bound to begin soon,� Peter commented, breaking the silence. “Let’s head up to the castle.�

“Is that all you ever think about, Peter?� asked Remus, exasperated, but he looked relieved that some of the tension had been lifted.

“I’m just hungry!� Peter protested in a whiney voice.

“Alright, we’ll meet you at the castle, eh, Prongs?� Sirius said to James, who nodded. “Right, will you accompany me?� he added to Stephanie in a fake gentlemen’s voice, offering her his arm. She giggled and blushed. Taking it, they began to walk up to the castle, Remus and Peter following along behind them.

Lily and Raven exchanged brief disgusted looks. “I’ll wait for you,� Lily said to Raven, who then went off to the changing rooms. She expected James to follow along, but he stayed where he was.

“Thanks for helping me stop a duel back there,� Lily said appreciatively. She no longer felt threatened in James’s presence. They’d had an excellent conversation, walking back from the prefects meeting at the beginning of the week. Most of it had involved making fun of Gary, which made Lily considerably happy. She was sure James knew that he and her had once gone out (it hadn’t been a very well kept secret), but he hadn’t made fun of her lack of judgement. Nor did he say she’d be better off with him. She felt relieved now, because he’d obviously gotten over fancying her, and that’s what she wanted. At least, she was fairly certain it was.

James shrugged. “I thought Madam Pomfrey would kill them for being deformed again so soon,� he replied with a smile.

“You’re right, I wasn’t even thinking about that,� Lily mused. “They really don’t get along, do they?�

James rolled his eyes. “Sirius doesn’t mean half the things he says to Raven. He’s just upset that she doesn’t him at all appealing.�

“How do you know?� Lily asked curiously.

“He reminds me of someone I know who used to feel the exact same way,� James replied calmly, with a little shrug.

Oh god, does he mean himself? Lily thought, panicked. The way he used to be with me?

“I see...� was all she could manage. Lamely, in her opinion.

Some of his teammates exited the change rooms, bidding him a good night. “I’d better get changed,� he said, and started to walk away.

“If you hurry, Raven and I will wait for you,� Lily called out impulsively.

“I knew you would. You’re far too nice to leave me to walk to the castle all by my lonesome self!� He said cheekily.

Lily laughed in spite of herself. “Just hurry up,� she said and he ran off.

~*~

James, Raven and Lily all entered the Great Hall, laughing and talking happily. They joined the rest of the marauders and Stephanie. Lily was vaguely aware of students heads turning to stare at them. She could tell what they were thinking; Lily and James? Sitting together? When it’s not a feast? Was she under the Imperius curse, or what? But, frankly, Lily didn’t care. She was having to much fun to be bothered with what other people thought.

Stephanie seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Lily. She was sitting as close to Sirius as possible without being right on his lap. He was looking fairly bored with her now, and wasn’t paying her much attention. Lily caught him give Raven a sneer, and immediately looked at her friend, afraid of her reaction. But Raven merely grinned at him in a way that said he could sneer at her all he wanted, she wasn’t going to respond. I guess we’re really growing up, Lily thought, remembering a time when Raven would have responded with a snide remark which would cause the two to be at each other’s throats for the whole meal, if not for longer.

“Sirius, you really should have tried out for quidditch,� Stephanie said brightly, trying to get his focus back onto her. Lily saw Raven roll her eyes and had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. But Stephanie didn’t stop there. “I think you would’ve been brilliant,� she added.

James grimaced and responded before Sirius could. “No way. He’s a bloody horror on a broomstick,� he said.

“Thanks for that mate,� Sirius replied sarcastically.

James shrugged. “You know it’s true. I mean, even Lily is better than you,� he said with an apologetic smile to Lily. She scowled at him, but in truth she didn’t really care.

“No one could be as bad as Lily,� Stephanie said. “I’m sure you aren’t as bad as he says.�

Lily raised her eyebrows at Stephanie. She was so lucky to have such a supportive friend who always took her side. Oh wait, where had that friend gone? At least Raven still defended her...

“I agree. No one could be as bad as Lily.�

....Or not, Lily thought as Raven agreed with Stephanie. She hadn’t thought she was such a terrible flier. She could stay on, couldn’t she? Wasn’t that good enough?

“I’m going to get one of those flying motorcycles when I graduate, so it doesn’t even matter,� Sirius huffed. The conversation turned to the best kind of flying motorcycles. Lily was surprised that Remus knew a lot of little facts about the different companies and such, he didn’t seem to be that kind of guy. More the gentle soul type who liked to garden, or something. He was looking a bit pale, but he usually did sometime during each month. Lily found it odd that he went to visit his mother or some other relative once a month.

“I’m going to start on homework,� Lily groaned to the others and went up the dormitory stairs to get her books. Raven and Stephanie followed, knowing that if they didn’t do their homework when Lily did, they’d never get it done.

“You are the biggest flirt,� Raven said to Stephanie when they entered their dorm.

“I know, but I think he may ask me out soon!� Stephanie exclaimed excitedly. Then she frowned. “That is if you don’t chase him away with curses.�

“Me? I would never!� Raven said innocently. “So Lily, getting pretty comfortable with James, aren’t you? Admit it, I was right, he’s not such a terrible person after all, is he?�

Lily rolled her eyes at her beaming friend. “He’s fine at the moment, but we’ll see,� she said.

“Yes, we’ll see mini James and Lily Potters running around!� she said triumphantly.

Lily gave her a disbelieving and slightly disgusted look. “Ew Raven. I wouldn’t put the world through such horror,� she said and grabbed her bag.

“Yeah, we’ll see,� Raven replied with an annoyingly smug look on her face. She skipped out of the dormitory, Stephanie and a slightly disgruntled Lily, following.

When she entered the common room, Lily was surprised to see all four marauders sitting at a table, pulling out books, parchment, quills and ink. They were about to do homework? On a Saturday night? What happened to the usual scribbling down of nonsense on Sunday evening?

Raven and Lily went towards an empty table on the opposite side of the common room, but Stephanie gave them a look and made for the table closest to the marauders. Raven and Lily exchanged bored looks before following her. Lily was half way through a chapter she had been assigned to read in Ancient Runes, when a voice called her. She looked up, annoyed that someone was disrupting her.

“Hi,� Timothy said, his grey eyes sparkling.

“Hello Timothy,� Lily responded. He continued to stand there, staring at her so she added, “How are things?�

“Um, fine. I’m just having difficulty with this question, I was wondering if, er, you could possibly help me out...� Timothy said nervously.

“Sure,� Lily replied with a smile on her face that was only a little bit forced. “What’s the question?�

“We’re studying animagi in transfiguration and we’re supposed to give a detailed explanation of the registration process,� he said.

Lily frowned and rubbed her forehead, trying to remember the details of animagus registration Professor McGonagall had taught back in third year. She motioned for Timothy to sit in the spare chair, and he did so.

“Here, take notes,� she said, offering him some parchment, a quill and her ink glass. She began to describe what she knew in short sentences, so Timothy could jot what she said down.

“A tally is kept of how many times the witch or wizard turns into their animagus form...� Lily was saying, but she was interrupted.

“Hey, Lily,� James said, pushing his chair back from his table so that he was now beside her. “I need to know that symbol thing, for Ancient Runes. It’s missing from my notes.�

“In a minute,� Lily said tiredly. “I’m helping Timothy at the moment.�

“Oh, with what?� James asked, looking at Timothy as though he just noticed him. Which, Lily thought, he probably had.

“Animagus registration,� Timothy said promptly.

“I know all about that. Let’s see what you have down so far,� and with that he took Timothy’s parchment and began to scan it. “That’s pretty good. Here, let’s give Lily a break and I’ll finish telling you about it,� he said, making room for Timothy at his table and beckoning the third year over.

“That’s really not necessary,� Lily protested. Timothy was eyeing James warily, and she knew the young boy was feeling intimidated.

“It’s no trouble,� James said. “Just pull your chair up here Timothy, I haven’t got all day.�

Timothy did as he was told. Lily gave James a thankful look, and he responded with a grin before starting to recite things to Timothy who scribbled them down a lot faster than he had been doing with Lily. She turned back to the Ancient Runes work she’d started earlier, but found it hard to concentrate. James Potter was helping out a younger student. She couldn’t remember it having ever happened before. She listened to him patiently correct one of Timothy’s mistakes, and couldn’t help smiling to herself. Maybe, just maybe, Raven had been right all along. Perhaps James had been human deep down through all those years and he was just letting it show this year. Sure, he was still a bit arrogant, but it always made her laugh when he’d say something cocky. She remembered the start of term prank; it’d been played on all of the houses, not just on the Slytherins like the previous years.

She looked him over, then realizing what she was doing, quickly looked back at her book. If this kept up, Stephanie wasn’t going to be the only person smitten with a marauder.


(A/N Congratulations on getting through it all! I know the chapter title sucks. I couldn't really think of one that went with it and wasn't more than like 500 words hehe. Anyways, I hope the chapter itself has lived up to your expectations. Thanks for reading!)

Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter I wouldn't be writting a fan fic about it. I'd be on the set of Goblet of Fire chatting up Daniel Radcliffe!!! ;) So yes... I don't Harry Potter. *cries*

(A/N Thank you so much for reading!!!!!! Enjoy!! There's a longer note from me at the bottom)

Chapter 6: Welcome to Reality

A week later Lily was hurrying through the corridors towards Dumbledore’s office. She was running a bit late as she had been caught up in the library, looking up spells. Lately, the prefects had been quite insistent on some sort of extra protection while patrolling. There hadn’t been anymore attacks, but all the same they were worried. Lily understood where they were coming from; the corridors were creepy enough at night without having the extra possibility of being attacked. Elise was especially paranoid. Just the day before she approached Lily and confessed some of her concerns.

“Aren’t you scared Lily?� Elise had asked.

“Of what?� Lily responded, although she knew full well what Elise meant. She had been busy at the time, thinking of what object they could charm to act as a panic button and send for help. It couldn’t be too obvious, something that people would wear everyday, like a charm bracelet or a tie pin.

“Of being attacked!� Elise had whispered furiously, eyeing the other prefects in the room warily. “I don’t know how you can be so incredibly calm. I’m so frightened!�

Elise was a muggle-born like Lily. But unlike Lily, she didn’t have many friends. “Listen,� Lily had whispered back, “everything is going to be fine. Ministry officials are coming on Monday. They’ll find out who the attackers are and everything will be fine. There haven’t been anymore attacks either, and I bet there won’t be. I mean, everyone’s looking for them, they know they’ll be caught and sent to Azkaban if they continue.�

Despite Lily’s soothing tone, Elise wasn’t much consoled. So Lily had told Elise to hang around with her more often, as they were less likely to be attacked in groups. Much to Stephanie’s annoyance, Elise had taken Lily up on the offer and now trailed her around everywhere. Raven didn’t mind so much, but Stephanie had never really liked Elise. This was the first time since yesterday that Lily had been able to go somewhere without Elise tagging along, although she’d wanted to.

“Hi,� Lily greeted James as she rounded a corner and saw him waiting for her patiently out of the stone gargoyle that hid the entrance to Dumbledore’s office. “Sorry I’m late, I was in the library.�

James shrugged. “I just got here myself. What were you doing in the library? You always finish your homework on Saturday.�

“I was looking up some charms and such for those panic things the prefects want so badly,� Lily explained. “Sugar Quills,� she said to the gargoyle, and it sprang to life, stepping aside to reveal the spiraling staircase. She stepped onto it.

“Any luck?� James asked, stepping on the stair behind hers and then coming up to stand next to her.

“A little. I’m sure Professor Dumbledore will have a better way,� she said and looked at James. He was scowling. He hadn’t been very fond of the panic item project. He thought it was unnecessary.

“You have your wands,� he’d always say, “Those are enough.�

But to everyone else it wasn’t enough, especially the fifth years. They were young, and probably couldn’t defend themselves as well as the older grades could, so Lily understood. It was annoying, though, when people like Gary (who was a pure-blood) asked constantly about the extra precaution as well. He came up to her a lot and demanded to know how far she was in the process of making the panic items. He’d done the same a couple of days earlier.

“So? Have you finished yet?� He demanded of Lily, who was talking to James about scheduling Head duties around quidditch practices.

“Er, no. Not yet,� Lily had said, as she always did when he came up to her.

He sneered. “Slacking off are you? Not very good Head Girl material after all.�

Lily’s jaw had dropped at the unfairness of his statement. She’d been putting every extra second she had into those things, but they were rare. Between tutoring Timothy, her own homework and patrolling she hardly had any time. She’d been about to reply when James cut in.

“Gary, is it? Get lost before I take points off you for being an insufferable jackass,� James’s voice had been so low and dangerous that Gary took no time in scuttling away.

Lily couldn’t forget the way James had given her a slightly guilty look and apologized for losing his temper. She didn’t need James to defend her, but she wasn’t about to get mad at him for it. She would’ve in previous years, but not now. There were always those moments when Lily was strongly reminded of the ways things used to be with her and James, but most of the time she felt as though he was someone new; someone she had just met and was turning out to be a great friend... if not, maybe, a little more.

She came back to the present when James knocked on the door and it opened silently. Dumbledore sat at his desk, looking calmly through his half-moon spectacles at them. There were too comfortable looking blue armchairs in front of him which he motioned at for Lily and James to sit down in.

“Good afternoon,� he said to them brightly. “I trust you are doing well?�

They both nodded.

“Excellent. And how are you finding being Head Boy and Girl?� Dumbledore asked with a kind smile.

“Great,� Lily said, “but it’s a lot of responsibility.�

“Yeah,� James agreed, “But it’s fun too.�

Dumbledore nodded. “It is particularly hard now because of recent events, but I have faith that you two will manage spectacularly. You’ve already begun to work as a team, that was the hardest obstacle to overcome... considering past happenings between the two of you...� his smile faltered for barely a second and then he beamed at them again, his blue eyes twinkling. Lily smiled at James who had an adorable little pink tinge to his cheeks. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him blush before, Lily thought.

“There have been a few complaints, directed from a Mr Gary Anderson I believe.�

Lily and James both opened their mouths to protest but Dumbledore cut them off. “That is to be expected,� he said, “There will always be a small group of people who do not agree with you. It is a rare feat to have one side in such political environments. Now, that is all I have to say on matters for the moment. I do believe that you two have put together some type of report for me.�

Lily began to tell him all the details about the extra precaution panic items the prefects wanted so badly. Dumbledore smiled at her as she did. It was a smile that revealed nothing of his thoughts and it made Lily nervous.

When she finished, Dumbledore nodded at her and then turned to James. “And your thoughts on this, Mr. Potter?�

“I don’t think it’s necessary, but that opinion doesn’t seem to be too popular,� he gave Lily a look that clearly said he meant her as well as the prefects. She gave him an innocent smile, knowing he wasn’t being hurtful towards her. They often teased each other in a fun, carefree way; not at all like the way they used to.

“It’s their right to feel safe while patrolling and if this is what it takes than I think it should be done,� Lily defended herself in a relaxed way.

“I agree Miss Evans. I believe that you are quite exceptional at charms. The Flaria charm should do nicely for this project,� Dumbledore said, beaming at her.

Lily, blushing a bit, nodded, “That’s the one I thought would be best as well.�

Dumbledore gave her another smile before turning his attention to James. “Transfiguration may also be the key to success during this project, please keep that in mind.�

~*~

Half and hour later James and Lily walked out of the Gargoyle passage. They’d arranged the first Hogsmede meeting with Dumbledore and discussed plans for a possible school event that would lift the students’ spirits in these uncertain.

“I realized a couple of things back there,� James said, breaking the comfortable silence they had fallen into.

“Like what?� Lily asked.

“Dumbledore’s getting old,� James said sadly.

Lily frowned, he did seem to be a little older. “It’s probably just all the pressure. You know, with Voldemort out there and what not. Dumbledore’s the strongest wizard this side’s got.�

“You say his name?� James asked, eyes wide, referring to the way everyone in the wizarding world seemed to be calling Voldemort ‘you-know-who’.

“I can’t stand all that you-know-who nonsense. In fact, I think it makes me more afraid, not saying his name. It’s not like he pops up if you say his real name,� Lily responded, a little bitterly.

James seemed to be thinking this over. He didn’t say anything for awhile so Lily began to look out the windows as she walked. She caught a glimpse of the gamekeeper, Hagrid’s, hut.

“I think I’ll visit Hagrid before I go back to the common room. I haven’t seen him in ages.� Lily said her thoughts out loud.

“The gamekeeper?� James asked and when Lily nodded he added, “He used to chase Sirius and I out of the forest all the time.�

“He’s really nice. I know he looks mean, but he wouldn’t hurt anyone, ever. You should come with me.�

“Er... I dunno. I don’t think he likes me very much.�

Lily rolled her eyes. “He was only trying to protect you two. Keeping people out of the forest is all part of his job.�

“And you don’t think he holds grudges against those people?� James said and raised his eyebrows at her in a disbelieving way.

“He’s not like Filch. I’m sure he’d be glad to meet you,� Lily insisted. It felt weird; inviting James to come with her. This would be the first time they’d spent time together not doing homework or one of their head duties. She knew she didn’t want to go to Hagrid’s alone, but if she went to the Gryffindor common room to get Raven and Stephanie, Elise was bound to follow them. Introducing Hagrid to James was fine by her; she knew he’d probably like him. She doubted he’d like Elise very much. It was just a feeling she had.

“Alright, I’ll come,� James finally submitted and she grinned.

“I promise it’ll be fun.� They started heading down towards the entrance hall and then out onto the grounds.

“What was that other thing you realized?� Lily asked, having just remembered that James only told her one of the two realizations he said he’d had in Dumbledore’s office.

“Huh? Oh, right. When you first arrived, you know, at the gargoyle, you were walking all alone. Why weren’t you with someone?� James asked, and when Lily looked up at him she saw he was giving her a kind of disappointed look.

“Er, because I came from the library. I told you that,� Lily said, not understanding what James was getting at.

“You should’ve got Raven or Stephanie to walk with you!� James exclaimed.

“What? Why?� Lily asked, dumfounded.

“I’m not sure if you’ve really noticed Lily, but the attackers are going after muggle-borns. You’re a muggle-born!�

Lily laughed. “James, come on, I’m not going to get attacked!�

“Oh really? What makes you think so? Are you more protected than the others?� James asked skeptically.

Lily opened her mouth and then closed it, realizing that she had no idea why she wouldn’t get attacked. A muggle-born being Head Girl... that was bound to make them angry. She determinedly looked away from James’s acusing face and saw Hagrid outside in his pumpkin patch. “There’s Hagrid!� She said, beginning to run to meet him, but not before hearing a sarcastic “What a vocal explanation� from James. She chose to ignore it and greeted Hagrid enthusiastically.

“How are ye Lily?� He asked.

“I’m great Hagrid, thank you. This is my friend, James Potter. I think you’ve chased him out of the forest a couple of times,� Lily said grinning.

“Mighta actually done a good job o’ keeping ye out o’ it. I haven’ seen ye or yer friends in a while,� Hagrid said smiling at James. “Nice ter meet ya properly.�

“Nice to meet you too,� James said. “These are incredible pumpkins.� He gestured to the boulder-sized pumpkins all around them.

“Yes, you’ve done an amazing job on them Hagrid,� Lily agreed.

Hagrid blushed and waved their comments aside. “Wait until you see ‘em at the Hallowe’en feast. That is if I get ter finish ‘em,� he added bitterly, leading them into the hut. They were greeted by a huge Doberman dog. Lily fended it off her (if she didn’t, it would knock her over) and once it had calmed down a bit, she began to scratch it’s ears.

“Hello Sweetie!� She said to it. She took a seat across from James at the kitchen table and Sweetie rested her head on Lily’s knee. She continued to pet it as Hagrid put a kettle on the stove to make tea.

“Why wouldn’t you get to finish the pumpkins?� James asked, and Lily gave Hagrid a curious look as well.

“Never mind, s’ not important,� he waved the matter aside and held out a dish of pastries. “Rock cakes you two?�

Lily declined politely, saying that she had eaten a lot at lunch, but she couldn’t warn James so he helped himself to one. He’s going to hate me, Lily thought as he took a bite. She had learned from past experiences that Hagrid’s baking wasn’t very appetizing.

“So, Hagrid what’s wrong? You’re not going to get sacked, are you?� Lily asked, not fooled by Hagrid’s attempt to change the subject. She was also trying to take his attention off of James; he seemed to be using all of his will-power not to spit out the bit of rock cake he’d eaten.

“No, no, not sacked. When the ministry officials come ter Hogwarts... Dumbledore says they want ter question me; think I have something ter do with the attacks,� Hagrid said scowling.

“What? That’s ridiculous Hagrid! They can’t be serious,� Lily said, appalled.

“Yer well, s’ no big deal, I have nothin ter hide,� Hagrid shrugged, taking the kettle (which had begun to scream that it was ready) off of the stove and pouring them all tea.

“They shouldn’t even be doing it in the first place,� James pointed out. “You’ve been working here a long time and the attacks only just started.�

Lily nodded in agreement. “How could they even think you’d do such a thing?�

“Ah, well, doesn’ really matter. How’s school?� Hagrid clearly wanted to drop the subject, so Lily sighed and began telling him, along with James, all about school.

~*~

It was close to supper by the time Lily and James finally made their way back up to the castle from Hagrid’s. Their pockets were both stuffed with different kinds of food that neither of them had any intention of eating, but had been too polite to refuse.

Lily was still angry about the ministry suspecting Hagrid. “It’s just because he’s part giant,� she said bitterly; she didn’t exactly know if he was part giant, it was only a suspicion. “Because all the giants have gone over to Voldemort’s side, they just automatically suspect him. ‘It’s in a giant’s nature to be violent’ they say, but Hagrid hasn’t harmed a single student at this school ever!� She could feel her face growing hot and knew that it was turning an uncomplimentary shade of red.

“Everyone’s terrified, Lily. They don’t know who to suspect and who not to,� James said rationally.

She glared at him, “If you’re going to be totally sensible about all this, I don’t think I want to talk to you at the moment!�

James laughed. “Come on, let’s get to dinner. Maybe the food will help your insanity disappear for awhile. That reminds me, why didn’t you warn me not to eat anything?�

“I forgot,� Lily said sheepishly, and then caught what he was trying to do. “Don’t change the subject! I still don’t get why he wouldn’t be able to finish the pumpkins. They wouldn’t take him away would they?�

“Not unless they had a good reason,� James said, but Lily could tell he didn’t quite believe what he was saying.

“Then he won’t be taken away,� Lily said stubbornly. She had begun to tremble, she was so upset.

James, after a brief hesitation, put his arm around her in a comforting way. Lily tensed for a moment, before relaxing into his embrace. Everything will be fine, she told herself and, at that time, she believed it.

(A/N: Okay, I'm sorry if that chapter was a bit boring. The next one is (most likely) a lot more exciting. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed! You guys rock, I love you all!! Please give me feed back. You know, of the constructive kind. Thanks ^_^)

(A/N2: Oh yeah, I forgot to include that I really like Hagrid, he's one of my (many) favourite characters. If you like him too and I've managed to totally distroy the beautiful character J.K Rowling made up, I am so sorry!)

Disclaimer: still don't own harry potter...

(A/N: thank you for all the lovely reviews!! You guys are really inspiring and always make me want to write more! This chapter is FAIRLY long, but I hope it's interesting enough that you'll get through it alright. If you have any questions or constructive critisism, don't hesitate in asking/telling)

Chapter 7: Discoveries

That evening, Lily lounged in one of the armchairs by the fire in the common room. She was reading a romance novel that Stephanie had leant to her. It was the first non-muggle novel she had read outside of her school work and it was extremely odd, but she liked it none the less even though it was annoying when it’d scream at her not to put it down. Wizard books had a mind of their own, not unlike the wizard chess pieces. Beside her, Stephanie sat knitting by magic. Lily caught her glancing every once and a while at the corner of the room where the marauders (and more importantly, Sirius) sat, whispering furiously to one another about Lily could only assume, was a prank.

Raven was chatting amiably to the both of them, not very concerned that neither were paying her much attention. She was so peaceful and comfortable that Lily never wanted Monday to come. She put down her book, a little bored with the ever tragic history of Wendell and Wanda, and decided to actually listen to Raven, who was rambling about pumped up first years.

"They are so full of themselves! They just gather in the hall in these stupid circles that make it impossible to get by! I swear one of these days I’m going to hex them, teach them a bloody lesson! " Raven ranted.

"Just don’t do it in front of me. I don’t want to take points from my own house, let alone my best friend," Lily told her.

"Alright, I’ll just tell you to look the other way," Raven said.

Lily grinned and was about to say something but Stephanie poked her with a knitting needle. When Lily looked at her, she indicated to the back corner. Lily looked and saw that James and Remus seemed to be in an argument of some sort. Their whispers were growing increasingly louder and both were extremely red in the face.

Remus stood up abruptly, causing his chair to fall over backwards. "You are the biggest bloody git in the world!" he shouted at James, causing the whole room to fall silent.

James gave Remus a disgusted look like he was something nasty that had just climbed out from under a rock, instead of one of his best friends. Remus, in return, shot him a loathing look before stomping past a group of scared second year girls and clambering out of the portrait hole.

The whole common room was deadly silent. No one could ever remember a pair of marauders in a fight with each other before. Silly arguments, sure, all the time; but never ever an actual fight.

Lily watched as Sirius leant over to James and whispered something she couldn’t hear into his ear. James seemed to relax a bit, but not much; he still looked angry. He got up off his chair and headed towards the boys’ dormitory stairs where he promptly stormed up them. For the first time in her entire life, Lily felt like she wanted to comfort James, to run up the stairs after him and find out what was wrong. She remained sitting however, controlling her random emotions. The common room was still eerily silent, it didn’t fit well with the happily crackling fire and the comfortable appearance.

"Oi, Sirius, next time you and your friends feel like putting on a skit don’t make it a drama!" Raven said loudly.

The tense silence evaporated and everyone slowly began chatting merrily once again. It had only been a joke, they thought, it hadn’t been real. They didn’t notice that Sirius was gaping like a fish and Stephanie was shooting daggers at her friend.
~*~

Later, up in the girls’ dormitory, as Raven, Stephanie and Lily were getting ready for bed, Stephanie accused Raven of liking Sirius.

"You think I what!?" Raven exclaimed, looking shocked.

"You like him!" Stephanie said, "I don’t know why I didn’t see it. The teasing, cursing and constant anger between you two! Clear signs that you’re in love!"

"You’re mad," Raven said simply, her eyes wide. "If I was in love that stupid blighter I wouldn’t be acting like I hated him or whatever odd thing you’re accusing me of! I’d be like you: hanging all over him and constantly making ridiculous giggling noises!"

"I do not!" Stephanie protested, but she was blushing.

"Do too!" Raven retorted, rather wittily in Lily’s sarcastic opinion.

They went on like this for awhile before Lily finally burst out, "Would you two shut up? Stephanie there is nothing wrong with the way you’ve been flirting with Sirius! Raven, would you quit being so obviously hateful towards the guy she fancies! She doesn’t know who to defend when you do!"

Raven scowled at Lily and opened her mouth to say something, but Lily held up a hand and went on, "I know he’s annoying and spiteful but just don’t say such nasty things about him in front of Stephanie. Besides, he’s not that bad."

"He called me a hippo!" she protested lamely.

"It was a joke," Lily said rolling her eyes. "And you set his robes on fire! Let’s just all go to bed and if you two still want to fight in the morning that’s fine by me. For now would you let it go? I want to go to sleep!"

They agreed, grudgingly, knowing that they hadn’t seen the half of Lily’s temper. She sighed her relief and got into bed, drawing the curtains around it. Slowly she drifted off to sleep, dreading the next day.

~*~

Raven and Stephanie didn’t continue their argument the next morning and Lily was thankful since Monday mornings were bad enough as it was without her two friends arguing throughout it all. She did, however, notice that Remus was sitting by himself at the end of the Gryffindor table. When they went to charms Remus had no partner, so Lily asked him to be hers. She would’ve had to go with someone else anyways since Raven and Stephanie usually were partners in charms class, having gotten tired of Lily’s annoying perfectness at the subject.

Flitwick told them all to review the charms he’d spent all of September, and the last six years, teaching them. The student with the most interesting combination of charms would win house points. So Lily stood next to Remus, charming the items on her desk non-stop. She waited until everyone was fully immersed in their work before asking, "Is everything alright, Remus?"

"Everything is fine," he told her in an even tone.

"Sure it is," Lily agreed, "I mean you just felt like sitting by yourself at breakfast this morning and Peter is a horrible partner in charms class."

She knew he was looking at her to see if she was being sarcastic, but she kept her face expressionless. Living with her sister Petunia had it’s advantages. She was now very good at masking her emotions. They both went back to charming things for awhile. Lily made her apple flash different colours and lyrics to the songs it was signing would appear across it’s surface, allowing people to sing along. Professor Flitwick came and giggled at it, complimenting her on her creativity. He went away and Lily became rather bored.

"It’s stupid," Remus finally muttered. Lily didn’t say anything, but she looked at him with an expression of concern. He glanced at her and then went on quietly, purposely avoiding looking into her eyes again. "I thought I was going to be made Head Boy, not him. I know it’s not his fault, he didn’t ask for it, but it’s annoying. He’s already quidditch captain, why does he have to be Head Boy too?" He murmured a charm, trying to make the stuffed toy in front of him dance, but since he was upset all it did was a kind of pathetic jig before falling off the desk and becoming still once more.

"I bet James was surprised you weren’t made Head Boy too," Lily said comfortingly.

"It was the first thing he said to me about it. That just made it worse, he had to be all nice about it so I couldn’t even be mad at the stupid prick without feeling even more guilty about it," Remus said bitterly, picking the stuffed toy he was charming and throwing it roughly back onto the desk.

"He was probably worried something like this would happen, you know? He didn’t want to lose a best friend," Lily said soothingly.

Remus shrugged his shoulders. "Perfect Potter," she heard him mutter, but he seemed to be thinking things over. He tried to charm the stuffed toy again and this time he was successful. Fireworks were spurting out of the bouquet of flowers the thing was holding.

Professor Flitwick applauded enthusiastically. "Oh! Very well done Mr Lupin!" he exclaimed, jumping up and down. Several people laughed at the small man’s cheeriness, and everyone was looking over at Lily and Remus. Lily caught a pair of hazel eyes on her and smiled at James. He gave a weak smile back before his gaze shifted obviously to Remus and then back to Lily. She gave him a curious look and he shrugged, breaking eye contact with her. He’s upset too, Lily thought. He obviously cared a lot more for his friends than she had ever given him credit for.

"Is it worth losing one of your best friends over this?" she asked him quietly.

Remus didn’t get the chance to respond as Flitwick called for silence and announced that he and Lily had tied for first and Gryffindor was awarded thirty points.

Lily went through the rest of her morning classes without any problem. When she entered the Great Hall for lunch she was pleased to see the Remus was once again sitting with the other marauders. They were talking happily and seemed to have put their troubles behind them. She allowed herself a little self-satisfied gloat that it was all because of her before joining her friends, and Elise at the lunch table.

~*~

"James, come on! We’ve got to go!" Lily said impatiently. They had to patrol the corridors tonight and he was sitting, goofing off, with Sirius and Peter and... "Where’s Remus?" she asked curiously, noting his absence.

"He’s not feeling too well. Went to the hospital wing. Shall we go then?" James said hurriedly.

"Alright..." Lily said in suspicious way. He had spoken so quickly that she was sure he was lying to her. He practically dragged her out of the portrait hole. "You didn’t lock him in a suit of armor or something did you?" she asked anxiously once they were outside, in the corridors.

"No, Lily, you know how often he gets sick," James said innocently, but Lily couldn’t shake the feeling that he was lying to her. That seemed to be happening a lot that evening. Moments before she told James it was time to go Timothy had come up to her, looking scared about something. But when she asked what wrong he simply asked when did a werewolf transform.

"During the full moon," she told him. "Almost every twenty-eight days." He had nodded and then shuffled back over to his little group of friends. Lily knew that wasn’t what he had wanted to ask her. He may have been poor at schoolwork, but everyone knew when werewolves transformed. Even muggle-borns like him would know, since they were frequently in their movies and books.

Lily and James walked through the corridors in a comfortable silence, checking classrooms as they went along. Moonlight illuminated the dark school. Lily walked over to a window and gazed out at the full moon, admiring its beauty.

“It’s so pretty,� she said to James and he walked over to look out the window with her.

“Yeah…� he replied, but didn’t sound like he agreed so much.

“I love patrolling when there is a full moon,� Lily said sighing, and then she thought of something curious. “It’s odd,� she mused, “I don’t ever remember Remus being with me when we had a patrol during the full moon. He was always ill…�

“Huh. Imagine that,� James said, and the awkwardness was not lost on Lily. In fact, she thought, Remus disappeared at least once a month... and it always seemed to be around the time of the full moon...

“Oh my god,� she said as realization hit her. Remus was a werewolf! All those lame excuses he made up; his mother was sick, he had to visit his father, a family member died; why didn’t she see through them all? It was so obvious, yet she didn’t want to believe it. It was crazy. She span to face James. “He can’t be!�

“Sorry?� James asked in a determinedly innocent voice.

“You know! You know Remus is a– �

“Don’t!� James said furiously, covering her mouth with a cold hand. “Lily, don’t say anything. You can’t just go around shouting those things out,�he added in a hoarse whisper.

Lily nodded, and sensing that she wasn’t about to scream for the world to hear that his friend was a werewolf, he took his hand from her face. “How long has he...?� she asked quietly.

“Since before Hogwarts,� James whispered. “You won’t tell anyone will you?�

“What do you take me for? Of course I won’t tell!� Lily snapped. She knew what would happen if Remus’s secret leaked out. She imagined him running for his life as a group of angry students ran after him with pitchforks.

“At least now I don’t have to curse you,� James said in a friendly joking way.

Lily could tell that he wanted to drop the subject, but she had so many questions. “How long have you known?� she asked in a whisper.

“Since third year. Sirius and I figured it out,� he replied.

Lily nodded. She felt so sorry for Remus, and then she remembered something that made her feel worse. In third year, when they’d been studying werewolves, the whole class had gotten into a very heated discussion of how dangerous and horrible werewolves were. Thinking back, she remembered how James and Sirius argued with everyone, saying that werewolves weren’t that bad.

She couldn’t believe that James and Sirius hadn’t told anyone, hadn’t spread it around the school. They were both pure-blooded and must’ve grown up with prejudices against werewolves. Her head was going around in circles. Maybe James hadn’t changed this year, maybe he’d always been the way she knew him to be now. Maybe she was the one who had changed. Or was it simply because she’d finally given him a chance?

She lifted her gaze to find the person who filled her thoughts staring at her. He didn’t look away when their eyes met like any person would usually do. “We should go,� Lily said nervously, her heart pounding oddly fast. She swept past James, and they continued their patrol as if nothing had happened. Though, Lily was thinking about it quite a lot, thoughts of James Potter also filled her head.

~*~

Three weeks later, it was the Hogsmede Halloween weekend and Lily still hadn’t totally figured things out. Remus knew she’d discovered his secret and he was very calm about it, although she felt rather insulted when he said he was surprised she hadn’t figured it out sooner. She didn’t just automatically assume people were werewolves if they got sick every once and a while! She was in silent awe of Remus for being so calm about his situation. Had it been her, she would have been freaking out constantly every time the full moon approached. Or maybe perhaps after a period of time she would have gotten used to it...

“Lily? Lily!� Raven’s frustrated voice penetrated Lily’s thoughts.

“What?� she asked, pushing away the hand Raven was waving obnoxiously in front of her face. The three girls had just entered Hogsmede and Lily hadn’t even noticed.

“If you had been listening you would know that Steph and I want to go to Zonko’s first,� Raven said, her tan face flushed with impatience.

“Sorry,� Lily said, “I’ve just got– �

“A lot on your mind,� Stephanie and Raven chanted along. Lately, Lily always had a lot on her mind.

“You’ve had a lot on your mind ever since the ministry officials came and went with no leads to who was responsible for that girl’s attack,� Stephanie said, finger-combing her blond hair (a nervous habit) and looking at Lily in a concerned way. Raven nodded her head in agreement, making her brown ringlets bounce funnily.

Lily was thankful that they assumed that was the only thing on her mind. It was an extreme disappointment to everyone at Hogwarts when the ministry officials had left empty handed, but Lily had been relieved that they hadn’t taken Hagrid away. He’d told her about how they questioned him. Looking at him like he had already been convicted. She couldn’t imagine being treated that way. Hagrid had told her that he was surprised they hadn’t taken him away, it certainly seemed like they would after they finished questioning him.

“Ah... Zonko’s... I wish I could marry it,� Raven sighed as they entered the store. Lily and Stephanie laughed as their friend ran to the shelves upon shelves of pranking devices, her eyes sparkling like a child’s on Christmas day. Stephanie and Lily went a little more slowly, but they were having fun looking at all the weird items in the shop. Lily stopped and picked up a kit that would allow you to inflate someone’s head.

“Too bad they didn’t have these last year,� she sighed, putting it back on the shelves. She saw Stephanie and Raven exchange secretive looks. “What?�

“Oh, nothing,� they both said at the same time, which completely contradicted them.

“Tell me!� Lily demanded, but they wouldn’t budge even though she didn’t give it up until after they had all made purchases (Raven’s quite a lot larger than the other two) and decided it was time for the traditional Three Broomsticks visit.

When they stepped inside it was so packed with students they could hardly move without bumping into someone. It was slow going, making their way to a table in the far back corner that was empty. Raven had to fight off a group of fourth years who had also spotted the table.

“See what I mean about the younger grades? They just don’t respect their elders!� Raven exclaimed.

“Funny,� Lily mused, “I seem to recall you making a seventh year cry in fifth year...�

Raven blushed a little bit. “That doesn’t count! He was a Hufflepuff, they’re all a bunch of saps!�

“Hey!� said a Hufflepuff at a near-by table. She was a fellow seventh year by the name of Natalie Jada, one that Lily liked a lot as a herbology partner. “We are not!�

“Of course not. You didn’t let me finish!� Raven exclaimed.

Natalie’s brown eyes narrowed in disbelief and her lips were pursed. “Oh yeah? What were you going to say then?�

“I believe it was; Not only are they a bunch of saps, but they’re terrible at quidditch as well!� all four girls span around to see Sirius Black and his fellow marauders. Sirius’s usually low voice had gone up a few pitches to mimic Raven who was currently scowling.

"That's not true," Lily said "They were second in the league last year." Natalie gave a distinct ‘hmpf’ before getting up from her table and pushing her way out of the place. This was understandable, as no female (with the exception of Raven and perhaps Lily) ever argued with Sirius. He flashed a cocky grin at the girl’s back and slid in beside Stephanie.

“You don’t mind do you? There’s no extra tables,� he pouted at her, his dark eyes sparkling with mischief.

Stephanie shook her head and let out a girly giggle that Raven rolled her eyes at. Lily moved over to make room for James as he slid in next to her. Remus sat beside Raven and Peter on the other side of Stephanie. Lily was uncomfortably aware that most of the left-side of her body was touching James. She having trouble breathing and her heart was pounding uncomfortably in her chest.

Oh no, Lily thought remembering that just the night before Wanda (from her wizard romance novel) had felt the same things when in contact with Wendell. But that was just a silly romance novel! She wasn’t falling in love with James. No... she couldn’t be...

“Are you looking forward to the feast, Lily?� James asked her, and her breath caught in her throat. His hair was so adorably messy. She remembered how she used to hate the way he constantly messed it up, but now... the way it stood up at the back...

“ATTACK! ATTACK! THERE’S BEEN ANOTHER ATTACK!� Natalie Jada had returned and she was in hysterics. Everyone fell silent and she made her way towards Lily, who got up and went to meet her.

“What do you mean, Natalie?� she tried to ask calmly, but her voice shook.

“There’s been another attack! It’s that boy you’re always tutoring in the library!� she screeched, her face deadly white.

Lily felt all the colour drain from her and her legs trembled, suddenly finding it difficult to support her bodies weight.

“Timothy? Did you find Timothy? Where is he!� she demanded shakily.

“In the alley! He’s... he’s...� but Natalie seemed to have started hyperventilating. Her hand went to her chest and her face was in a pained expression. Lily looked into her terrified brown eyes to find that they were glistening with tears.

“Somebody get her some water!� Lily shouted, from the corner of her eye she saw someone obey her. “If there’s a healer in here, you’d better follow me NOW!� she commanded and stormed out of the Three Broomsticks, leaving Natalie to someone else’s care. She ran down the ally that was beside the Three Broomsticks. Many students used this as a shortcut from Zonko’s, Lily herself had just used it...

Beside a waste disposal unit lay a small body. Lily skidded to a halt beside it and fell to her knees. She shook violently as she turned Timothy’s frail frame over. Plastered on the middle of his pale for head was the Dark Mark, over the brick wall behind him were the words ‘Guess who’s next?’ in a violent shimmering deep green.

The last thing she remembered was James running up behind her and swearing as he saw what was written and how Timothy was. She felt his arms wrap around her in a comforting hug. After that, there were only giant blurs and a lot of black.


(A/N: congrats on getting through it all! *gives you a sparkly tiara (or whatever you fancy really)* hope you enjoyed it!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Never have, never will.

(A/N Thank you so much to everyone for all your lovely reviews! I know it took me awhile to get this out and it's not extremely long so I don't really have an excuse except that I blame school!!!!!! Hope you enjoy ^_^)

Chapter 8: Pure-blood Prejudice

She didn’t attend the Halloween feast. Lily remained in Dumbledore’s office, seated in an armchair next to Natalie and James. They had all been asked to remain there by Dumbledore and received a ‘feast’ of sandwiches and pumpkin juice, which none of them touched.

Although it was about three hours later from the moment Lily had first found Timothy’s seemingly lifeless body, to Lily it seemed she had only just woken up from a weird dream. She finally had a sense of where she was and wasn’t just floating around hearing odd muffled noises. She looked over at Natalie who was sobbing loudly in her chair and was amazed she hadn’t heard her sooner.

“It’ll be okay Nat,� she said, leaning over and patting the distressed girl’s arm. Of course, everything wasn’t going to be okay. How could it? Timothy had been attacked and Lily couldn’t help but blame herself. She kept remembering the time when Timothy had come up to her looking scared and she had let him get away with some stupid answer to an obviously fake question about werewolves.

“I d-don’t want to b-be questioned by the m-ministry!� Natalie sobbed. When Dumbledore had shown them into his office he had said that the ministry had questions for all of them and they’d be there shortly after he had discussed something with them. He had also reassured them that Timothy would live, but he would be unconscious for several days time most probably.

“Don’t worry, they just want to know what we saw. It’ll help them catch whoever did this,� Lily said soothingly.

Lily was still comforting Natalie, and James was looking at the many portraits of past Head Masters who appeared to be sleeping, when Remus came in. At the sound of him entering they all span around in their chairs. He looked pail, but not in a sick way, it looked more like he was frightened.

“Moony?� James asked giving him a curious look. “What’re you doing here?�

“You will find out later, if Mr Lupin desires to tell you,� Dumbledore entered behind Remus, looking at them all with a small sad expression on his usually cheerful face. “I must ask you, however, to leave him be for now.�

James eyebrows arched in a confused expression. He shot Remus a concerned look before nodding at Dumbledore.

“I know this has been a terrible day for all of you, but I must ask you to answer the Ministry’s questions as truthfully and descriptively as you can.� He looked at all of them kindly and Lily felt a little more confident. “Now I– �

Dumbledore was interrupted by a stout young man with sandy brown hair and a long nose banging his way into the office. “The child was a pureblood! He was a pureblood Dumbledore! We found this note on him...� He reached out to Dumbledore, a small piece of parchment in his hand. Dumbledore took it, unfolded it and read it quickly. He returned it to the wide-eyed young man standing in front of him.

Lily’s whole body felt like it had been plunged in a bucket of ice. If Timothy had been a pure-blood than that meant...

“What’re we going to do Dumbledore? No student is safe...�

“No one has been completely safe for a long time, Paul,� Dumbledore sighed. “We will increase security around the castle. Do your Ministry officials still have questions for these students?� he asked, indicating to Lily, James and Natalie.

The man named Paul show his head. “No, not now. Maybe later on, we need to– �

Dumbledore gave him a silencing look and Paul shut up mid-sentence. He turned to his confused students and said, “You may go back to your common rooms. Miss Jada, I realize that you are the only Hufflepuff here. Professor Sprout is waiting for you out in the corridor. She will escort you to your house.� Natalie nodded and stood up from her chair. She walked out of the office with a tired look on her face. “Lily, James, if you could wait outside a moment; I’d like to have a quick word with Mr Lupin,� Lily vaguely noted that Dumbledore had addressed them by their first names. It seemed natural really. She walked beside James as they exited the office, went down the spiral staircase and out behind the gargoyle into the corridor.

“Hey, are you okay?� James turned to her, a concerned expression on his face. He reached out and grabbed Lily’s hand, gently squeezing it.

“Fine. I’m fine,� she managed. For some reason she was having difficulty breathing.

James reached up and ran a hand through his messy black hair, making it even untidier. Lily remembered the last time she’d seen him do that. It was in fifth year, by the lake when she’d yelled at him for it, among other things.

“No you’re not,� James said bluntly, but in a soft voice. “I know you cared about him.�

“I can’t believe he was a pureblood.� She found it difficult to speak around the lump in her throat. “James, I can’t believe this. It means you’re endanger too...�

James shook his head. “I’ll be fine.� He stepped closer to Lily and she didn’t back away. Their eyes met and that one moment was like magic. He started leaning in towards her and Lily went to meet him, their lips were barely an inch apart. The loud crunching noise of the stone gargoyle sliding aside to let someone out forced them to their senses and Lily jumped away from him as Remus walked out.

“Thanks for waiting,� he said in a depressed way. He didn’t seem to notice that both James and Lily were looking extremely awkward after their almost-kiss.

They began making their way towards Gryffindor tower. As they passed the hospital wing, Lily craned her neck, attempting to catch a glimpse of Timothy to see if he had gotten better or not. She didn’t see him, but a pair of male voices reached her ears.

“Parents were killed by dark wizards back in the fifties. That was the attack that got everyone raving about Grindelwald again. Poor boy was sent to an orphanage and then he was adopted by muggles. Been living with them ever since.� said the first voice. Lily stopped walking and edged closer to the hospital wing entrance, making sure to keep out of site. James and Remus did the same. All of them eager for more information.

“You think that’s why they attacked him?� Asked a second voice.

“Dunno. I think it was the werewolf. Mighty suspicious if you ask me.�

Lily and James both looked at Remus, who shrugged his shoulders. Lily was burning with anger. First Hagrid, now Remus? And on what grounds? That they were simply a little different from the rest of the wizarding world?

“Naw, he’s just a kid. Dumbledore trusts him, I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t.� said the other man, and Lily felt a rush of liking towards him.

“I’m not saying that Dumbledore’s not a good man, but he can sometimes be blind when it comes to situations like these. He likes to believe the best of people. But me? I didn’t like the look of him. He was too nervous for my liking,� the first voice said darkly. Lily, on impulse, plunged her hand into her robes, fingering her wand. Debating whether or not to hex the guy.

She felts James’s hand on her wand arm and looked at him. “Lily, you can’t take on a ministry official, no matter how thick they are,� he whispered, and Lily felt his breath tickle her ear, he was so close. She relaxed and took her hand out of her pocket, but her whole body was tingling. Painfully aware that James was still extremely close to her.

“I don’t know, these days it’s hard to tell who’s on your side and who’s the one about to curse you,� the other man said sadly. “Let’s go catch up with the others.�

Lily, Remus and James took this as their cue to leave and hurriedly ran around the corner towards one of Hogwarts’s many staircases, just as the two men exited the hospital wing. They didn’t know what would have happened if they’d gotten caught for eavesdropping, but Lily was sure that it would’ve made Remus look worse in the eyes of that one man, and maybe even change the other’s mind about him.

“That is so stupid Remus, I can’t believe they actually questioned you! It’s not like you’re a werewolf all the time,� Lily whispered as quietly as she could. “If only they knew you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you hurt someone.�

“He hasn’t hurt anyone. Not ever,� James confirmed. “Don’t listen to them Moony, they’re paranoid right now. You just happen to be an excuse that fits with their prejudice. They never would have questioned you otherwise.�

Remus gave them both a small, thankful smile. “That’s what Dumbledore told me.� But he looked much happier now that James and Lily had reinforced the Head Master’s words. They spent the rest of their walk to Gryffindor tower talking about the upcoming quidditch match that would take place in November. They purposely avoided the subject of Timothy’s attack, although it was still on Lily’s mind.

When they walked into the common room through the portrait hole, Lily was immediately ambushed by Raven and Stephanie. They were like two blurs running straight at her.

“Lily! Are you alright?� They demanded, throwing their arms around her and squeezing her tightly in what was supposed to be a hug, but was practically giving Lily a spinal injury.

“I’m fine!� Lily forced out. “Let go! You’re hurting me!�

“Oi! Prongs! Moony! Stop goggling and get over here! We have mischief to plan!� Sirius called loudly, disrupting the girls’ moment.

James rolled his eyes. “Come on Moony. We’d better go before Padfoot wets himself with impatience.�

“Then let’s stay here. That could be fun to see,� Remus replied, but despite his threat he started walking towards the back corner where Sirius and Peter sat, with James beside him.

Lily watched them, wondering what it was they were planning. Perhaps a prank, but maybe it was just a simple raid of the kitchens. Remus and James hadn’t attended the feast after all. And although Dumbledore had provided them with sandwiches, they hadn’t actually eaten any.

“We’ve got so much to tell you Lily!� Stephanie said, her face illuminated with joy. One of her favourite things to do was fill people in on events they didn’t know about.

“Alright,� Lily yawned. She felt so tired. “Let’s talk about it in our dorm, okay? I’m really sleepy.�

Stephanie nodded in agreement and the three girls made their way up the spiral staircase and into their dorm. Lily immediately collapsed on her bed.

“What did I miss at the feast?� she mumbled into her bedspread.

“Just delicious food and fantastic entertainment,� Raven said, plopping down onto her own bed.

Lily looked at them curiously. “Then what do you have to tell me?�

“They have a suspect for the attacks!� Stephanie exclaimed.

“Really? Who?� Lily asked eagerly. If they had a suspect than that meant this whole thing would be over soon!

“Remus Lupin,� Stephanie said with a lopsided smile on her face.

Lily snorted. “He’s not a suspect.�

“He is! He was taken in for questioning right before the feast began!� Stephanie exclaimed.

“Steph, that doesn’t mean he’s a suspect. That just means he might’ve had some helpful information or something. Do you think they would’ve let him go if they honestly thought he was responsible? Do you think they would’ve let James and I walk with him back here?� Lily pointed out sensibly.

Stephanie opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it. She seemed to be thinking things over.

“Stupid of us to believe the rumors anyways,� Raven said after a while. “Especially this one. Remus Lupin, a vicious attacker of muggle-borns? That’d be the day.�

“It’s not just muggle-borns,� Lily said suddenly, before she could stop herself. Raven and Stephanie looked at her curiously.

“What do you mean?�

Lily looked at her two friends, wondering if she should tell them or not. If they spread it around the school than everyone would panic. But if she couldn’t trust her best friends, who could she trust? “This is one of those things you can’t tell a single soul,� she said, making up her mind. Raven and Stephanie had never told anyone any of her secrets before, partly because they knew if they did, Lily would probably hex them into oblivion. No one liked being on the receiving end of her fiery temper.


(A/N yay! Congrats on getting through it all! I'm not extremely please with that chapter. I don't think it's my best work, but hopefully it wasn't so bad that you are now scratching your eyes out from the pain of reading it. Let me know what you think ^_^)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

(A/N Hello again! I haven't fallen off the face of the earth! Here's your new chapter! It would've been here like... an hour sooner but I had to find out what was behind the door! It's open people! GO SEE IT!! YOU MUST!! It's more important than this!!! lol, hope you enjoy ^_^)


Chapter 9: Quidditch Before Christmas

Lily and Stephanie filed into the Quidditch stands along with all the other Gryffindors. Everyone was excited for the first match of the season, many held banners they would use to cheer for their house. Lily had participated in such practices a few years before when Raven had first made the house team. She hadn’t the time to make one for this match, and when she apologized to Raven for her lack of support the night before in the common room she had been surprised to find that Raven was actually relieved.

“Well, no offense Lily, but you and Stephanie are not the greatest artists. It was embarrassing sometimes really,� she had told Lily with a lopsided grin. It took Lily a moment before she realized that she wasn’t extremely insulted by that. Art wasn’t really her thing anyways and she’d learnt that back when she attended muggle school.

“Oi, watch it, coming through,� Lily turned in her seat to see Sirius, Peter and Remus making their way through the crowded stands to the empty seats located behind Stephanie and herself.

Lily looked to her friend to see that she wasn’t showing the faintest bit of interest. Was Stephanie over her crush? Lily didn’t think so, just yesterday Stephanie had forced her and Raven to hang out by the lake just because the marauders were at their usual place underneath the beech tree.

“And here come the Gryffindors, lead by their Captain, James Potter. Quite a formidable chaser he is, just recently switched over from seeker. Said seeker was too boring for him... honestly...�

“Yeah, that and I told him seekers were wimps,� Lily heard Sirius laugh.

“Plus Peter and I said that he wasn’t cut out to be a chaser. Way too much team work involved and he’s all for himself,� Remus muttered.

Lily laughed inwardly, imagining the look on James’s face when his friends turned on him like that. The commentator, Thomas Snider was cut off in his description of James’s past quidditch statistics by Professor McGonagall’s sharp voice, “We don’t need his life history Tom! Just the name will due!�

“Right, sorry Professor. Potter followed by Raven Sheppard who has been on the team since third year and is quite the asset. Threatened to beat me with her beater’s club if I didn’t stop giving her long introductions when she entered the quidditch pitch, but honestly, how can I not?� McGonagall gave him a sharp look and he quickly went on. “Sheppard followed by her fellow beater, Robbins, new seeker and quite a good find I might add, Kelly Keelson, chasers Terry Graham and Matt Jefferson. Last, but not least by any means, Keeper Julian Wood.�

There was wild applause from the Gryffindor stands as Thomas finished listing off the members of their team.

“Slytherin team goes out onto the field lead by Captain Harper, Gilroy, McCutchen, Pianosi, Lomer, Slater and Brooks,� Thomas listed off the names of the Slytherin team players in a bored tone. "Their team has suffered a great loss as Lucious Malfoy, their Captain, left last year.

The whole school watched as Madam Hooch lectured the teams on fair play. Both sides mounted their brooms and the whistle blew, signaling the beginning of the game.

Immediately James got the quaffle and started zooming towards the Slytherin end. Lily failed to supress a gasp as he narrowly dodged a bludger and passed the quaffle to one of his fellow chasers. They dipped under an approaching Slytherin before tossing the quaffle back to James who threw it at the goal and scored without any trouble.

“TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!� Thomas was barely heard over Gryffindor cheers.

The Gryffindor chasers were, without a doubt, the best at Hogwarts. They seemed to be able to read each others minds and know precisely what their fellow teammates were going to do next. They did countless amazing moves and soon Thomas was calling out, “70 TO ZERO FOR GRYFFINDOR!�

Lily cheered for Raven as she watched the girl whack a bludger with her club at a Slytherin chaser who had managed to get the ball away. He dropped it and James caught it, he pressed low to his broom and sped off to the Slytherin end, dodging players and bludgers as he went. In next to no time Gryffindor was a hundred points up and there was still no sign of the snitch. Both seekers could be seen hovering over top of the game, searching for the tiny golden ball that would end and most probably win their team the game.

The whole crowd gasped and Lily’s attention was snapped back into the heart of the game. Raven was hitting a bludger with her club for all she was worth, but the problem was, she was hitting it straight at James! He did a neat roll and the bludger soared over him straight into the stomach of a Slytherin chaser who had been trailing James. Three quarters of the school cheered, drowning out the Slytherins’ boos and hisses. Lily let out a sigh of relief, happy that it had just been a type of quidditch strategy.

“I told him about that move,� Sirius said proudly. “Although I wish I hadn’t. He was at those bloody quidditch books all summer and forced me to read them too.�

“That’s odd Padfoot, considering you can’t play quidditch to save your life.�

“I don’t see you on the team, Moony!� Sirius retorted and Lily guessed that he had hit Remus because she heard a soft ‘ow’.

Slytherin scored two goals and the Gryffindors were somewhat discouraged, but not very. James and his fellow chasers were attempting a comeback. He passed the ball to a teammate and she fired at the goals, but the Slytherin keeper saved it. He tossed it to a Slytherin chaser and off they went down the pitch once again. It went on like this for a long time, each team attempting to score and the keepers continuing to make miraculous saves.

Lily’s attention was suddenly drawn to the Slytherin seeker going into a dive. She looked to the base of the quidditch pitch and saw a small glimmer of gold. Thomas was cheering on Kelly, the Gryffindor seeker, in his enchanted megaphone, but there was no way she would catch up... the Slytherin seeker was almost there... he was reaching out... at any moment he’d catch the snitch.

Lily winced as a bludger, hit by Raven, connected with the Slytherin seeker’s ribs, he flew off couse and missed grabbing the snitch. No one seemed very concerned about him as Kelly caught the snitch triumphantly and the stands erupted with cheering.

“Are we ever lucky that Raven knows how to hit a bludger,� Sirius said, letting off a few fireworks from the tip of his wand in celebration.

Lily turned around, acknowledging their presence for the first time. “That was quite the compliment coming from you Sirius!� she said with a grin.

He smirked. “I don’t mind complimenting people, as long as it’s not to their face.�

Lily rolled her eyes at him and turned to her friend. “Shall we go down to the pitch Steph?� she asked, wondering if they should meet Raven there or just go to the common room.

“Come, fellow marauders, it’s off to the kitchens for us,� she heard Sirius say and watched from the corner of her eye as they made their way out of the stands and back into the school.

Stephanie shrugged. “May as well go down, she’d probably hex us if we didn’t congratulate her.�

Lily nodded and they made their way down. Raven was just coming out of the change rooms with her quidditch robes rolled up into a bundle and tucked under one arm.

“Great game Raven! That was incredible!� Lily and Stephanie said, hugging their friend.

Raven grinned. “Thanks you guys. Am I ever thankful I’m not Kelly though. When I left James was yelling something about having spotted the snitch five different times while she just lazed about in the air,� she said without any real sympathy in her voice, and her eyes were sparkling with laughter.

Lily frowned. “I thought Kelly was supposed to be a really great seeker...�

“Oh, she is, when she’s concentrating that is. The problem is, she doesn’t do that very often,� Raven explained as they made their way across the grounds to the castle.

“And since James used to be a seeker, he’ll want her to be as good as he was,� Lily guessed.

Raven nodded and Lily let out a sigh. “I feel sorry for Kelly. He was a great seeker, and it'll be hard to llive up to.�

“Do my ears deceive me? Lily giving James a compliment!? Are you ill?� Raven joked, pressing a hand to Lily’s forehead as if she were checking for a fever.

Lily smacked her hand playfully away, laughing. “Stop it Raven, it doesn’t mean anything.�

Raven and Stephanie exchanged disbelieving looks, much to Lily’s annoyance. “You both know I have to get along with him if I want to be a good Head Girl!�

They didn’t respond, continuing to look at each other with smirks on their faces and a smug air about them. Lily huffed angrily, but held her tongue knowing that anything she said would not help matters. In fact, it’d probably just make them believe she facied James, which was completely absurd.

Not completely absurd, a nasty little voice inside her said, if it were you wouldn’t have almost kissed him.

~*~

The next morning was a hard one for most Gryffindors. Since a majority of them had stayed up late into the night (and early morning for some) celebrating their victory over Slytherin.

Lily, Raven and Stephanie were all groaning and looking at the breakfast dishes with disgust. Thanks to the marauders, there had been an enormous amount of food in the Gryffindor common room the night before and they had helped themselves to it. Regretting those actions now, Lily poured herself a glass of orange juice and nibbled at an apple.

She gave Remus a small smile as he sat down next to her. Accusing mutters still followed him everywhere. If he tried to sit next to anyone other than Lily or the other marauders they would inch away with scared looks on their faces. She couldn’t imagine how Remus felt, so she tried to always make it known that she was a friend and there if he needed her.

Elise had stopped following Lily around shortly after the rumor about Remus spread around the school. She believed the gossip and avoided Remus at all costs. This was particularly troublesome during prefects meetings because she refused to patrol with him, even though Lily had finally made the alarm devices for them. Annabelle (who maintained her image of a reformed Slytherin) now patrolled with Elise and Remus was left to patrol with Annabelle’s former Slytherin partner.

Lily leaned forward and looked down the table, spotting Elise sitting by herself at the very end. Although it had been annoying having her hang around all the time, Lily wished the girl would reconsider her animosity towards Remus. She was bound to have a very lonely last year at Hogwarts.

The owl post arrived, distracting Lily from her thoughts. She looked up, searching for Raven’s owl that she’d sent away with a letter to her parents shortly after Timothy’s attack. She told them nothing of what was happening at Hogwarts, her letter only contained inquiries about the holidays.

She smiled when she spotted Raven’s beautiful black owl. It dropped a letter in front of her before landing on Raven’s shoulder and stealing some breakfast from her. Lily tore open the seal and pulled out a disappointingly thin letter from her mother.

To my little Lily flower,

I know you’ve been expecting that you would come home for Christmas and we would go skiing as always, but that will be impossible this year. Petunia’s young man, Vernon, has proposed to her. We will be spending the holidays getting to know his side of the family. We would love for you to come, but they haven’t the room for an extra person and we don’t want to be intruding. Hopefully this isn’t too disappointing for you. It is your last year, and I thought you would want to be there for as much of it as possible.
If you really want to come home, we will of course find a way to make it work, but I do believe that it’ll be quite boring for you.
Petunia and Dad send their love, as do I.

– Mum


Lily sighed and folded up the letter, placing it in the envelope and then into her pocket.

“Bad news?� Raven asked, seeing the frown on Lily’s face.

“I’m staying here for Christmas,� Lily explained.

“Excellent,� Raven grinned, “I’ll stay too! I’ve always wondered what it’d be like staying here for Christmas when no one is around.�

“What’s all this talk about staying for Christmas? You always go home,� A curious James said, leaning forward so he could see them from his spot beside Remus.

Lily shrugged. “This year I’m staying,� she told him simply.

James’s face broke into an unexpected grin. “That’s great, I am too. Parents are busy with work,� he explained to the puzzled looks Lily and Raven were giving him.

“That means...� Raven trailed off.

“That I’m staying too! No, spare me the yells of excitement,� Sirius said happily, watching Raven’s face turn into a look of disgust.

“There goes a peaceful Christmas,� Lily and Raven said simultaneously, sighing.

(A/N and *gasp* what a shock! Lily and James staying at the castle for christmas when barely anyone else is around... this can't possibly mean that there will be romance! No... no... that's just foolish thinking! lol I know that was terribly predictable, forgive me! hehe. Oh! And I'm sorry about the Quidditch bit... it was no where near as interesting as it should've been! lol)

Disclaimer: Je n'own pas Harry Potter! (Translation from Franglais to English: I don't own Harry Potter)

(A/N Here's your chapter guys ^_^ Hope your holiday was awesome! Enjoy ^_^)


Chapter 10: I Dare You

Lily rushed through the corridors and hurried down several staircases towards her potions class, Raven following right behind. She’d visited Timothy in the hospital wing, and as a consequence she was now going to be late for the last potions class of term. It’d been worth it though. Madam Pomfrey had informed her that Timothy was awake, and in all physical terms he was completely healthy. The dark mark had curiously faded from his forehead without leaving a single mark to show that it once shimmered there threateningly.

These were all wonderful signs of improvement, but not all was well. Timothy didn’t recognize anyone and often woke up screaming in the middle of the night. Darlene had been sent to Saint Mungos in London. She would not speak to anyone and her eyes were constantly unfocused as though staring at some far away object that no one else could see. Madam Pomfrey, despite her best efforts, could not help her anymore.

Lily jumped the last few stairs and stumbled before the classroom entrance. She and Raven attempted to compose themselves before stepping in.

“You are late, Miss Sheppard, Miss Evans,� Professor Morton greeted them coldly.

“Sorry Professor, there was an accident in the hall that we had to clear up,� Lily lied smoothly.

He raised his eyebrows disbelievingly. “Do you have another Professor’s word on that?�

Lily never let her eyes stray from his. “Professor, as Head Girl I had enough authority to solve the problem on my own, without assistance.�

“You may be Head Girl, but Miss Sheppard is not. Five poi– �

“I wasn’t permitted to leave her alone, Professor, given the current circumstances no one is to walk the corridors by themselves,� Raven interrupted, her voice one of pure innocence.

Professor Morton scowled at them, but he was so comic looking (big bushy grey eyebrows and a pudgy face to suit his pot-belly) that Lily and Raven had to fight very hard to keep from laughing.

“Take a seat then, before you disrupt my class any further!�

They did as they were told, taking their usual spot behind James and Sirius. How that had happened in the first place, neither of them knew. At first Lily had considered it a nuisance, but now she found she quite liked being around James.

The whole class was brewing a particularly difficult potion that they’d been working on for weeks. It was a kind of numbing solution that prevented nervous thoughts. Fears and worries would be wiped from the mind. As usual, one student’s potion would be test. Lily and Raven had a itching feeling that it would be theirs, considering their tardy appearance had left Morton in a bad mood against them.

“You just abused your position as Head Girl.�

Lily’s head snapped up to see James grinning at her. “I did not,� she retorted.

“You’re not that good of a liar, Lily. I recognized that purely innocent face. It was the same one you gave Filch,� his eyes were sparkling with held-back laughter and she felt an odd constriction forming in her chest.

She was about to continue to deny that she had lied, but with once glance at James’s smiling face she knew that he wouldn’t believe her. Throughout all their months of Head duties, James had gotten to know her very well.

“I wasn’t abusing it, really... I wanted to see how Timothy was and I lost track of time,� she explained.

He shook his head at her, still grinning. “Only you Lily, only you,� he said, leaving her in complete bewilderment. Only her, what? She would’ve asked for an explanation, but Professor Morton chose that exact moment to walk by and survey James and Sirius’s potion.

Lily was adding porcupine quills to her potion when Raven slid a piece of parchment to her. She glanced at it and saw a note was written it in Raven’s large print.

What are you waiting for? Ask him out!

Lily’s jaw dropped in shock upon seeing this. She looked over at Raven to see that she was determinedly crushing beatles wings and refused to look over. Lily grabbed her quill and dipped it in ink before scribbling furiously.

Ask him out? Are you mad!? I don’t like James Potter!

She slid the parchment back to Raven, only to receive it again two seconds later, with a fresh message on it.

How did you know I was talking about him? I could’ve meant Black!
But come on Lily, you know you like him and he’s liked you forever. He won’t say no.

Lily grumbled and glared at the parchment as she wrote her reply.

You did not mean Siruis, I know you too well. You’re always on my case about James for you to be talking about anyone else.
Even if I did like him, I wouldn’t ask him out. Imagine if it didn’t work out! It’d be extremely awkward!

Her ink hadn’t even dried on the paper when Raven’s response came sliding back to her.

I’m always on your case because he’s a great guy! You two would be perfect together! Don’t try and hex me, I’ve got my wand ready. Plus, you’d lose points for Gryffindor AND set a bad example as Head Girl!
I do recall you ‘hating’ him at the beginning of the year, and managing to get over it. Who’s to say it would end badly? He’s not Gary, Lily. He won’t completely lose his head and be horrible.

Lily calmly added some newts’ eyes to the potion, giving the appearance of someone who could care less. Inside, however, she was contemplation on how best to reply. When she had finally come up with some sort of response in her head, she slowly wrote it on the parchment, thinking about every word before writing it.

He knows he’s a great guy, Raven. He’s arrogant. We would not be perfect together.
After liking me for so long, do you really think he would take a separation lightly? I don’t.

“Step away from your cauldrons! You should be finished now. We’ll let it simmer for ten minutes and then I will choose one student’s potion to test,� Professor Morton’s nasal voice rang out.

Lily held her hands over the cauldron’s fire to keep them warm, and began talking quietly with Stephanie. Sadly, she would not be staying at Hogwarts over winter break with Lily and Raven.

Lily looked over to see Raven sliding the parchment to her. Her reply was shockingly short.

You’re afraid.

Lily looked at James, who was standing with his back turned to her, totally oblivious to the fact that he was the subject of a small argument. Did he scare her? Whenever she was around him, her emotions went crazy and she couldn’t understand it. It did make her a little nervous that she didn’t have total control. She though about it. She felt comfortable around him, and safe. He could make her laugh and he almost always knew her thoughts. It was startling how often they said things at the same time. Maybe she was afraid, a little, but not of him.

Me afraid of James Potter? Hah, that would be the day! She replied to Raven confidently.

In that case, I dare you to go out with him next time he asks you. Which will, without a doubt be today. It’s tradition after all.

Lily sighed, knowing very well what Raven meant. Every year on the last day of term before Christmas break, James would approach her at sometime, put mistletoe over her head and kiss her cheek. She hexed him for it every time, but Sirius would always be there to mutter the counter-curse.

No way was she going to accept the dare. It wasn’t fair to James to play him around that way. After one date she’d break-up with him and that would bring problems that she didn’t need. Did Raven think that one date would change Lily’s mind about him and they’d live in a fairy-tale ever after? Well, she was wrong. Sure, Lily may have odd feelings around James... nice feelings... but surely that didn’t mean anything!

She was about to respond to Raven when Professor Morton’s cold voice sounded right next to her, startling her out of her thoughts. She hadn’t heard him approach!

“Ah... I think that we shall try Miss Shappard’s potion on Miss Evans.�

Lily kept her expression indifferent as the whole class turned to stare at her and Raven. She glanced at her friend who didn’t look the least bit worried and felt reassured. The potion would work as it was supposed to, otherwise Raven would be giving her frantic nervous looks. Raven was very good at potions anyways, so it was rare that one of her potions would be poison.

The whole class watched at Professor Morton dipped a vial into Raven’s potion and handed it to Lily. He was grinning at her wickedly, but Lily remained unconcerned. If he really wanted to poison her, he’d have given her one of Peter’s potions. But he hadn’t made it into the NEWT level class so that fear was diminished after fifth year.

She smirked at Professor Morton as though to say ‘Bottoms up’ and poured the potion into her mouth. It tasted horrible, like a mixture of rotten vegetables and other rancid things, but other then her taste-buds, she was unharmed.

Professor Morton looked like he was suffering from some kind of internal battle as he said, “Good job, Sheppard, five points to Gryffindor.� He snapped at them all to pack up their things, but not before he assigned them an essay to do over the holidays.

~*~

“That old geezer! An essay! Over the holidays! I can’t believe him,� grumbled Raven as they made their way to Charms – their final class before the holidays. “So, my dare. Do you accept?� she said, completely changing the topic.

Lily didn’t even hesitate before answering, “Yes.�

She frowned upon hearing her own answer, ignoring Raven’s whoop of joy. Hadn’t she had a lot of reasons not to accept earlier on? She pondered it all through out Professor Flitwick’s lesson. Half way through the class she got it. The potion. It wiped away any doubtful thoughts! It’s affects must have started to wear off because Lily was feeling more than a little apprehensive. She couldn’t ask out James!

She drummed her fingers nervously on the desk-top. Looking at Raven, she couldn’t stand the thought of being teased for backing out. Lily had too much pride to succumb to that kind of treatment willingly. There had to be another way...

Lily concentrated hard on her obstinate problem. Her appearance made Professor Flitwick think that she was absorbed in her work. He left her alone, which suited Lily perfectly.

Suddenly an idea popped into her head. Raven had dared her to ask him out only when he did the traditional mistletoe kiss! All she had to do was prevent that from happening!

James, in the past, had always pulled the mistletoe from his pocket before holding it over her head and kissing her. All she had to do was get the mistletoe without him noticing and then when he went to kiss her it wouldn’t be there! It wouldn’t happen and she wouldn’t have to ask him out!

Biting her lip nervously, she carefully took aim. “Accio Mistletoe,� she whispered, concentrating with all her might. It could backfire... the mistletoe could bring James with it! Her face tensed up in the brief moment when nothing seemed to be happening. She noticed a small rip form in James’s robes pocket and then a piece of greenery was flying into her hand. Grinning at her success, she stuffed the mistletoe into her pocket.

~*~

“Hey Lily, can I talk to you for a moment?�

Lily and her friends had been making their way to Gryffindor tower when James came up and grabbed Lily’s arm lightly to get her attention.

She turned to face him. “Yes, sure. What is it?� she asked him calmly, pretending she couldn’t see Raven’s wickedly grinning face.

James smiled at her as he put his hand in his pocket. Lily had to bite the inside of her lip from laughing when his face suddenly fell. He frantically started searching all of his pockets, a delicate frown creasing his forehead as he found them empty.

“Did you want to show me something?� Lily asked politely, her face a mask of pure innocence.

“Ye.. Well, No,� he gave his pockets one last fruitless search. “Sorry, er, nevermind,� he said and turned to go. The look he had given Lily – hazel eyes pleading and a disappointed frown tugging at his lips – made her heart melt and she felt a surge of something she couldn’t described.

“Hey, James,� she called, reaching into her pocket. He turned and she pulled out the mistletoe. Her body and mind seemed to be acting of it’s own accord, as though it knew what was meant to be.

She walked right up to him, her eyes on his. Everything else seemed to dissolve away as she put the green plant over his head and whispered, “Mistletoe.� She pressed her lips to his and an unexpected warmth flushed into her body upon contact. She felt his tense surprise, and then he relaxed, wrapping his arms around her, pulling her closer to him.

They broke the kiss simultaneously, but he didn’t let go of her, and she didn’t make an effort to free herself. A blush had crept up into her cheeks. She was shocked by her own boldness and almost terrified of what would happen next.

He smiled down at her and said in a gentle whisper, “Hey Evans, will you go out with me?�

She grinned at the line she’d heard thousands of times from him, but never put thought into.

“You know, Potter, I think I will.�

They leaned in for another kiss.

“OI! I’m happy you’re together and all but there’s only so much mushiness one man can stand!� Lily hadn’t even noticed that Sirius was there, but in that moment he made his presence plain. She and James stepped slowly away from each other, feeling slightly awkward now the moment was over.

“Black! You bloody git!� Raven yelled. “You ruined the most perfect romantic moment!�

Sirius scowled at her. “You wouldn’t know romance if it bit you on the nose, Madam Hippo!�

Lily and James laughed as Sirius dodged a curse sent at him by a seething Raven. Sirius started running off in the direction of Gryffindor tower, teasing and taunting Raven the whole way. Lily and James followed, slightly behind.

“So what happened? The giant squid wasn’t quite the gentleman you thought him to be?� James asked in a light teasing way that made Lily smile.

“He was a bit too fishy for my taste. Where’s Remus and Peter?� she asked, noticing they weren’t there.

“Peter needed to buy something for his family in the gift shop before he goes home and Remus decided to help him,� he explained, and then with a sly grin he added, “I had other things to take care of.�

“Woman! Would you leave me alone? I take the hippo thing back!� Sirius bellowed at Raven. She had cornered him in a small little niche, her wand was raised threateningly.

Lily laughed as her friend grinned in a triumphant way. She suspected she’d still curse Sirius, just to further emphasize the fact that he shouldn’t mess with her. But Raven surprised her by muttering, “You aren’t worth the energy anyways.�

She stuck her nose in the air proudly as she walked to the portrait of the Fat Lady and gave the password. The rest of them followed her in, Sirius looking curiously thoughtful. Raven stomped up the girls’ stairs without a backwards glance.

Lily frowned at her friend’s odd behavior. “I’ll see you at dinner,� she told James and Sirius. Sirius gave her a playful salute. James smiled at her and nodded slightly. She felt her heart skip a beat, but ignored it and went up the stairs to her friend.

Raven had thrown her book-bag onto the floor and was lying on her bed with the curtains drawn.

“What’s wrong, Raven?� Lily asked kindly, drawing back a curtain and sitting on the edge of Raven’s bed.

“Stupid bloody Black,� she muttered angrily. “‘Look at me, I’m good-looking so I think I rule the world!’� she imitated him and Lily had to fight a laugh. Raven was very good at imitations.

“I feel bad for Stephanie,� was all Lily said.

“Bad for Stephanie?� Raven spluttered. “You should be feeling bad for me!�

“I think, dear friend, that our other friend has realized something and it may be one of the reasons she is not spending the holidays with us,� Lily was being mysterious, and she knew it bugged Raven. But she also knew that if she said what she was thinking it would make matters worth. Sirius fancied Raven, and Stephanie must have seen it. That would explain her indifference during the quidditch match.

“What did she realize? She isn’t staying for Christmas because she wants to see her family,� Raven said.

Lily shrugged. “I think you should start listening to your own advice. Let’s go to dinner, I’m hungry.� She got up off of Raven’s bed, pulling her friend with her.

Raven seemed to have become her usual self again, because she grinned wickedly and said, “You just want to see your lover!�

Lily rolled her eyes, and exited the dorm, Raven beside her making kissing-faces the whole way.

(A/N So yes, I just wanted to comment on the total madness, my first chapter has 500 reads!! 500!!!!! I'm sorry, but I just find that so exciting! I hope you guys enjoyed the romance between L/J ^_^ And you didn't have to wait until their holiday break because it was the day BEFORE ehehehe ^_^ (it can be argued that classes were over so the break had kind of started... but let's not go into that) And yeah, hopefully there will be another chapter for you guys soon! And now, I will wish you an early Happy New Year!!!!)