The scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express billowed steam as it waited for its passengers, whistling once to remind everyone on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters of the time.

Lily Evans, with her parents behind her, walked onto the platform cradling a sleek grey cat in her arms. Her deep red hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders, and her creamy skin was pinked by the summer sun, making her emerald eyes glow underneath her fringe. She was one of the prettiest girls at school, but she was self-conscious and therefore modest about it. Beside Lily, a shorter, plumper, slightly older version of her (though with dark brown hair) walked next to a taller, thinner man with flaming red hair that was going grey at the temples. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were there to see their youngest daughter off to her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As Lily walked along, her father pushed a trolley with her trunk. Though she was capable of handling the trunk, he had merely said, “Lily, dear, you’re my little girl; let me do this for you.�

So Lily strolled along the platform attempting to spy her friends. She knew Mary MacDonald, her best female friend, would blend in. She had hair Lily’s mother called golden brown that fell in heavy curls halfway down her back. Mary had a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, and, like Lily, the summer sun gave her pale cheeks a pink glow. From afar, she possessed no distinguishing features, and her short stature didn’t help.

A piercing ‘Screee’ split the air, drawing attention on the platform. Lily knew the sound was Mr. Bitey, Mary’s screech owl, and followed it to its source. Mary stood with her parents, doing everything she could think of to get her owl to quite down. Lily approached as Mary gave up and tossed a school robe over Mr. Bitey’s cage. While Mary and Lily had a small reunion, Mr. and Mrs. MacDonald mingled with Mr. and Mrs. Evans. The girls had been friends for years, so both sets of parents knew one another and were currently exchanging highlights from the summer holidays. Lily and Mary were chatting away when another fifth-year girl wandered over.

‘Oi! Lily! Mary!’ Marlene shouted, knocking people over with her trunk as she hastily crossed the platform. Marlene McKinnon, Lily’s other close friend, always stood out; being nearly six feet tall with platinum blond hair that came to her waist made her relatively easy to spot. Unlike Lily, Marlene was not modest about her looks but was coy enough not to flaunt them either. Lily was sure Marlene spotted her red hair from across the way. ‘Merlin, do I need to talk to you girls,’ she huffed, panting as though she’d run clear from Trafalgar Square. She dropped her trunk gracelessly to embrace her friends, putting one arm around Lily’s shoulders and linking the other through Mary’s arm.

The conductor’s whistle sounded, and Lily looked up to see the station clock read ten to eleven. Lily gently slipped out from under Marlene’s arm and turned to say a final goodbye to her parents. Her father gave her a squeeze so tight she couldn’t breathe for a moment. She relished in her father’s hug, especially knowing she wouldn’t see her father again until the end of term. ‘I love you, little flower,’ he whispered into her hair before letting her go. ‘Be safe.’

‘You too, Dad,’ Lily replied. She knew that Lord Voldemort’s continued rise meant that times were getting more dangerous for wizards and Muggles alike even if her parents were unaware of the danger. ‘I’ll write, okay?’

He held her at arm’s length, not yet ready to let go. ‘You better,’ he said with a smile. Mr. Evans stepped back and Lily’s mother turned to Lily with pride in her eyes. ‘Oh, my little girl. I’m so proud of you!’ She bundled Lily close for a quick hug and a brief peck on the cheek. ‘Work hard, but have fun. Dumbledore made you prefect, and I know you’ll do splendidly.’ Mrs. Evans gave her daughter another brief hug before joining her husband.

By the time Mrs. Evans let Lily go, Mary was done saying goodbye to her parents, and all three girls took their trunks aboard the train. They chatted as they made their way down the corridor, glancing into compartments, looking for their friends. They hadn’t bothered to find Linda or Nancy on the platform; the Parker girls were notorious for arriving early and being on board the train by half ten.

‘Marlene, what was it you needed to tell us on the platform?’ Mary asked as they passed into a second carriage, dragging their trunks behind them. Most of the compartments they passed were unoccupied or half occupied, but the girls were looking for their friends.

‘You two never wrote!’ Marlene complained. ‘I had a crazy summer. Mum and Dad took us to Majorca for a fortnight, and oh, it was so lovely. No one had any worries. There was no Voldemort, no school, I found a lovely bloke to spend my time with. It was so great for Mum to get away from the Ministry for a while; you know how busy she’s been.’ Mrs. McKinnon worked at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and Lord Voldemort’s continued prominence had the entire department in a tizzy with fears of another Grindelwald. She took a deep breath and said, ‘But that’s not what I wanted to talk about. You’ll never believe what, or rather who, I saw on holiday.’ She grinned at them, primarily Lily, but didn’t wait for their response. ‘James Potter! He’s sporting glasses now, and he’s more handsome than ever, Lily,’ she sing-songed, nudging her friend.

‘That I am,’ a voice cried from behind them. ‘James Potter at your service, ladies,’ he said, ruffling the back of his black hair, hazel eyes glinting out from behind his new glasses. It seemed as though he’d had a growth spurt over the holiday because he was now taller than Marlene. His height made his slim build even more prominent, and his years on the Gryffindor Quiddich team kept him in good shape. None of that changed his boyish face, though, and with his dimples and a playful smile, James Potter melted hearts of all ages. Though she didn’t like him, Lily could admit that James was, as Marlene said, more handsome than ever.

Behind James trooped his friends, the Marauders. To James’s right was his best friend: aristocratically-haughty and royally good-looking Sirius Black, his inky-black hair falling into steel grey eyes. Remus Lupin stood just behind Sirius. Unlike James and Sirius, Remus was not classically good looking. Last year he’d been the tallest of his friends; now he was a hair shorter than James and Sirius. He was wiry and pale, almost ethereal, with a thin face and eyes that seemed far older than Remus’s fifteen years. Rounding out the group was Peter Pettigrew. He was Lily’s height with sandy blond hair and a round face that accompanied his stout frame. In any other group of boys, he would be considered on the better side of average, but when surrounded by the others, he couldn’t compete physically. He was a nice enough boy though and so close with his friends that most girls overlooked the fact that he was so much less attractive than his mates.

Lily took one look at the group and rolled her eyes. ‘Ugh, Potter, go away,’ she said, turning back from James and his friends to her own. She took her trunk in hand and continued looking for her other friends.

‘Evans, let me help you with that,’ he cajoled, reaching down for Lily’s trunk, purposefully brushing her hand as he did. She didn’t budge or move her hand but gave him a withering glare. James let go and gave her the biggest grin he could manage but didn’t move until she knocked into him with her things. She took a few steps down the corridor when she heard him. ‘Evans!’ James shouted as she walked away. He paused, clearly waiting for Lily to turn before continuing. ‘I hate to see you go,’ he said, grinning cheekily, ‘but I love to watch you leave.’

Before he could even chuckle at his own comment, James was blown backward along the corridor. His friends scrambled to where he’d been hurtled, halfway down the carriage, as Lily tucked her wand back into her jeans. The ruckus of James crashing down the corridor caused heads to pop out of compartments up and down the corridor, and the two people Lily, Mary, and Marlene were looking for were staring back at where James had been standing moments before.

‘Hi Linda, Nancy. Good holiday?’ Lily pulled her things into their compartment, and Mary and Marlene followed behind her. The two remaining fifth-year Gryffindor girls were cousins Linda and Nancy Parker; one merely needed to look at them to see the family resemblance. Both girls possessed the same small nose and oval-shaped face; both had brown hair and brown eyes, but Nancy wore glasses while Linda wore none.

Lily, Mary, and Marlene situated their trunks above the seats. Mary hung Mr. Bitey’s cage from the luggage rack next to where Nancy’s elf owl, Rascal, was already hanging. Linda noticed the new animal in Lily’s arms. ‘Who’s the handsome man, Lily?’ she asked, gesturing to the cat.

‘Oh, I hope no one’s allergic,’ Lily said hurriedly. She carefully held up the cat so all the girls could see him, smiling lopsidedly. ‘He was a gift from my parents on being made prefect.’ Though not surprised, the girls offered Lily heartfelt congratulations. She was the top student in almost every class, and the other four had discussed last term that Lily was a shoe-in for the honour. ‘His name is Prince,’ Lily said.

‘As in, Prince Charming?’ Nancy asked. The other girls grinned at one another. All her roommates knew of Lily’s somewhat unhealthy -- particularly considering she was going on sixteen -- obsession with fairy tales.

‘Yes,’ Lily said with exasperation, ‘as in Prince Charming. I figure if my prince won’t come to me, I’ll find him, and this little man is enough of a charmer for anyone.’ She nuzzled the cat, who purred contentedly, before dropping him softly on the seat below the owls’ cages. Linda and Nancy had already situated themselves across from the animals, so Marlene took the last open seat on that side. Lily and Mary sat across from them; Lily opted for the seat next to her beloved feline.

‘Just don’t let James hear you say you found your prince,’ Linda stated. ‘He’ll never stop asking after him.’

‘Or maybe, that’s exactly what you should tell him. Maybe he’d leave you alone at that point,’ Marlene said. She giggled and continued, ‘You could tell him that your prince is dark and mysterious, from a foreign land where they don’t speak English.’ She had a wicked grin on her face. Marlene delighted in teasing Lily about any boy who sought her attention.

Lily arched a delicate eyebrow; it was a look she’d perfected staring down the Marauders and their ilk. ‘Doubtful,’ she replied. ‘Besides, James is just after me because I’m the only girl who’s ever turned him down.’ The girls laughed; this was one of the reasons Lily continued saying no, and she moved the conversation away from her love life and on to Marlene’s. ‘Tell us more about your holiday, Marlene,’ she said. Mary looked excitedly at Marlene and chimed in, ‘Oh yes, what happened in Majorca?’

Marlene told everyone about her time in Majorca: how
relaxing it was, how beautiful, and, of course, the boy she met. ‘Edward was a lovely bloke, but we decided to treat things like Roman Holiday. He was wonderful to me, but he’s back in France, and I’m back here,’ she said, unaffected.

‘That’s so romantic,’ Nancy cooed. ‘How I wish I’d done more than visit Bath.’

Lily was about to chime in when she glanced at her watch. ‘Oh! I have to head to the Prefect’s carriage for a meeting with the new Heads.’ She quickly changed into her school robes and pinned her prefect badge to them. As she made her way out of the compartment, she waved and said, ‘I should be back after the meeting.’ The four other girls made noises of understanding as Lily stepped out into the corridor.

Lily walked down the corridor knowing she was going to be early for the meeting, but she felt punctuality was better than tardiness. She glanced into the compartments as she passed, looking for the one face she so desperately missed. Just when she thought she wouldn’t see him until the Welcoming Feast, she spied Severus Snape through a compartment window. She stopped, caught his eye, and motioned for him to come out and talk with her. She stepped to the side, not really wanting the other Slytherins he was riding with to see her; they always sneered at her, and while she could handle it, she didn’t like putting Severus in the middle.

Severus came out, closing the compartment door behind him, and Lily immediately went to put her arms around her oldest, dearest friend. ‘Sev,’ she said, the smile evident in her voice, ‘I missed you this summer!’

Severus awkwardly embraced Lily back, burying his head in her hair. ‘Lily,’ he replied. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t see you much. How are you?’

She leaned against the corridor wall. ‘I’m good,’ she told him, smiling. ‘Tuney still isn’t really talking to me, but that’s nothing new,’ she said, waving a hand as if brushing away a fly. ‘Guess what?’ She pointed to the badge on her robes, ‘I was made prefect!’

‘That’s wonderful,’ he gushed, ‘and well-deserved.’ He glanced over his shoulder into the compartment and saw Evan Rosier, Mather Mulciber, Albin Avery, and Peyton Wilkes watching them; Lily noticed the snide faces they were making at her. Severus continued, ‘Mather was made prefect for Slytherin. Are you heading to the meeting now?’

‘Yes, and I guess I’ll see Mulciber there,’ Lily said stiffly. She looked at her friend again and softened her tone. ‘Well, I should get going, Sev. I’ll see you tonight?’

‘Of course,’ he replied. ‘Have a good rest of the train ride.’ She started walking down the corridor. Severus watched her until she crossed out of the carriage and in to the next one. He waited another few moments before rejoining his house-mates in the compartment, hoping to deflect some of the nasty comments his Syltherin friends would make about Lily.

As Lily crossed into the car where the Prefect’s carriage was, she bumped into Remus. He smiled shyly at her and said, ‘I should have guessed you’d be prefect. Congratulations.’

She returned his smile and told him, ‘I knew you’d be made prefect. You’re as smart as Potter and Black, but you’re more sensible than the two of them combined. I’m glad I’ll be working with you this year and not one of them.’ She opened the door to the prefect’s carriage, and they settled themselves in seats across from the new Ravenclaw prefects, Rowan Bell and Kaelan Walker. Lily had partnered with Rowan in Herbology in third year and knew she would be a dedicated prefect. Lily looked around the compartment and saw Davinia Moran waiting in a seat by the window for Mulciber. Lily wasn’t looking forward to working with Mulciber on anything, but Moran wasn’t half bad; at least she didn’t seem to outright scorn Lily and other Muggle-borns. It didn’t look like the new Hufflepuff prefects were present yet, though she did recognize the sixth-year Hufflepuff prefects. Of course, Remus and Lily waved to Gryffindor’s sixth-year prefects and the Head Boy, Frank Longbottom, and Head Girl, Alice Craig, who were both Gryffindors.

Remus leaned over and whispered to Lily, ‘I heard that Frank and Alice got engaged over the summer holiday.’ At Lily’s sharp intake of breath, he said, ‘What with Voldemort on the rise, people are getting married early,’ as if that settled the matter. Lily thought about that for a moment and conceded that she could understand where Frank and Alice were coming from if they were indeed engaged. Several more students trickled in over the next few minutes, and Lily and Remus chatted politely while they waited for the meeting to start. When it seemed like everyone was present, Frank and Alice introduced themselves, welcomed the new prefects, and explained their new roles.

After being assigned rounds for both the train ride and the first week of school, Frank and Alice gave the prefects the common room passwords so that everyone could get into the dorms at the end of the night. It was the responsibility of the house prefects to disseminate the new passwords to their fellow students, so as Lily and Remus made their way back to their respective compartments, they stuck their heads into compartments with Gryffindors to share the new password to Gryffindor Tower. When they reached the Marauders’s compartment, Lily waved goodbye to Remus and left before his friends -- James especially -- could say anything to her.


The first day of term came around all too quickly for most of Hogwarts. But up in Gryffindor Tower, there was one girl in the fifth-year dorm who was practically dancing with happiness. Lily awoke with the sunrise and slipped down to the common room before anyone else was awake. She pulled herself up onto the seat nearest the window and put her potions textbook in her lap. She’d looked at it over the summer, but she hadn’t had a chance to speak to Severus about some of what she’d read. She wanted to see if he had any ideas on improving the directions. Severus was a half-blood, so he’d come to Hogwarts with some experience at magic. His favorite subject -- and Lily’s -- had always been Potions; they were both skilled in class, but it was Severus who had started changing the directions to improve them. The more Sev tinkered with the text’s instructions, the more Lily learned about Potions basics, and the better she became at modifying instructions as well. Their potions always came out better than the ones the book’s directions led to, and Professor Slughorn never ceased to be amazed at what Lily and Severus created.

By seven am students were starting to trickle in to the common room, so Lily decided it was time to rouse her roommates and get herself ready. Prince looked up from his spot on her bed when she opened the door to her dorm, but when she held out empty hands, he put his head back down and went back to sleep. She needed to remember to swipe him some bangers at breakfast. Being the first one awake, Lily took her time washing up, but soon she heard her friends wake and start moving around. When she opened the door and returned to her room, Nancy and Mary jostled for who had the bathroom next. Marlene was just pushing back the hangings on her bed, and Linda was still sleeping soundly. Lily had forgotten, in the weeks she’d been away, how nice it was to be around these girls; she knew each of their habits as well as they knew hers. As she contemplated how wonderful it was to be back at school, Lily pulled out her robes, pinning her gleaming prefect’s badge to the front. Behind her, Linda finally roused herself from sleep. She always showered the night before in order to sleep longer; once she pulled herself out of bed, she would use her wand to straighten her hair. On the other side of the room, Marlene sat at on her bed, levitated a mirror, and starting getting her make-up together.

Mary came out of the bathroom dressed for the day, her hair curling down her back. Lily looked over and saw that Marlene was dressed and fully ready. As Nancy finished her morning ablutions, Linda finished pulling herself together. Lily used her own wand to dry her wet hair then pulled it up into a ponytail. All five girls made sure they had quills, ink, and parchment in their bags then they left all the bags neatly near the door; they would come back for their books once they had the day’s schedule.

As a group, they trouped down the stairs and made their way to the Great Hall. There was a ruckus inside, and Lily merely rolled her eyes; she knew what that sound meant.

‘I wonder what the boys have done now,’ Nancy said. ‘Who wants to take bets?’ she asked, turning to her friends. ‘I say they did something to the food.’

Linda leaned in and added, ‘Ooh, and something with Slytherins. They can’t let an opportunity pass them by.’ Just then the girls heard renewed squeals.

‘Oh, Merlin. If it is them, Remus really should stop it,’ Lily said. ‘He’s a prefect now.’ She grabbed Mary’s arm and led her dorm mate in to breakfast. They both came to a halt just over the threshold, Marlene, Linda, and Nancy barreling into them. It seemed as though both Nancy and Linda were right though they all underestimated the lengths the Gryffindor boys had gone to. The Slytherins were staring at the teacher’s table, incredulous, as their house table was completely gone, but the food remained. However, every time a student reached for something to eat, the food attacked the student in what looked like a strange form of self-preservation. Somehow, some Slytherins’ voices had been magnified, and each grumble and nasty word was echoed throughout the room. It didn’t surprise most of the students, but teachers were scandalized, particularly Professor Slughorn, the Slytherin Head of House. Lily knew that while he was fairly easy going with punishments, he would have to deduct points and give detentions for what everyone was hearing.

‘Enough!’ Professor Slughorn shouted, his voice magically magnified above those of his students. ‘That’s it! Mr. Mulciber, Mr. Avery, Mr. Wilkes, Ms. Milne, Ms. Kerr, five points each for such foul language! See me after breakfast for your detentions!’ At the professor’s pronouncement, the Syltherin table suddenly reappeared and the food started behaving appropriately -- or rather stopped behaving at all. Most students in the Hall were watching the Slytherins, but Lily noticed four distinct heads near the middle of the Gryffindor table staring very intently at their food. She stomped over to where the boys were; her friends stayed at the threshold, not wanting to get to close to the explosion’s epicenter.

The Marauders sat two to a side -- Peter and James across from Sirius and Remus -- so that they could witness the madness. Standing behind Peter, in a very controlled voice, Lily demanded, ‘What in the world did you do?’

Sirius looked up at her. ‘Why Evans, good morning! Would you like some breakfast? You better get it quickly,’ he snickered. ‘It’s going fast.’ Peter snorted and James barely contained a laugh. All the while Lily became more annoyed.

‘There was no need to do all that,’ she hissed. ‘You may feel justified in getting those five in trouble, but intimidating the first years, heck, intimidating the third and fourth years is just uncalled for. You’re nothing but a bunch of spineless bullies,’ she spat at them. ‘I hope it makes you feel important to know you made children cry.’ She gave Sirius a withering glare; Remus received a look that conveyed how deeply disappointed Lily was, and his eyes flicked away in shame. She turned on her heel and strode to the far end of the room.

Lily settled herself as far from James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter as she could, and her friends sat themselves down around her. Lily grabbed her plate and put very little on it. That display -- especially how callously the younger students had been treated (for she didn’t really blame the boys for giving the older Slytherins a hard time) -- made her stomach twist in frustration and left little room for hunger.

Professor McGonagall walked over with their schedules and the girls quickly compared their days. The first day of school wasn’t too bad for anyone. Lily had Ancient Runes, with Mary and Linda, followed by a free period after morning break. Before lunch all the Gryffindors had Transfiguration, and after lunch they all shared double Defense Against the Dark Arts (with another new professor). Lily and Marlene ended their day with Care of Magical Creatures right before dinner. With only two free hours a week, Lily was glad one of them was on the first day of term, but she was disappointed that she wouldn’t have Potions until Thursday’s double. She wanted to talk to Sev before then, see if the Slytherins were in Potions with the Gryffindors again, but when she glanced at the Slytherin table, he was nowhere to be found.

Lily turned back to her friends as they finished their meal. Grabbing a banger for Prince as the food started disappearing, the Gryffindor girls made their way back to their dorm to collect their books and start the day. James grinned at her as she passed, and she glared at him in response. He opened his mouth, and she wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but she cut him off with a hissed, ‘Leave me alone, Potter!’ before storming out of the Great Hall.

Over the first few days of school, students shook themselves out of their holiday stupor and fell back into their routine at Hogwarts. As September waned, and the professors no longer dragged on about the importance of O.W.L.s, the fifth-years found themselves looking forward to out-of-school distractions. Signs went up in common rooms about the first Hogsmeade trip, to be held the last Sunday of the month. By now Lily had come to relish Thursdays: she had some of her favourite classes; she was able to spend time with Severus; and she had little contact with the Gryffindor boys.

She started the morning with Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Verteidigen was the opposite of last year’s professor, Professor Cauda, in every way. Whereas Cauda expected rote knowledge to be absorbed and repeated, Verteidigen expected the students to use their wands and their minds, to apply, and sometimes alter, the theory to fit the circumstances. From Defence, Lily went to a double-block of Potions -- by far her favourite class -- with the Slytherins. The Gryffindors, save herself, didn’t like the Slytherins, but the only class she shared with her oldest and dearest friend was Potions, and she took the opportunity during each Potions class to sit with him. After Potions (and lunch) came Ancient Runes. It was one of the few optional classes on her schedule and thus one of the few periods where she didn’t have to endure the Gryffindor boys. There were three other Gryffindors in Runes and Lily would usually sit with one of them depending on her mood. Lily sometimes sat with Remus in class, sometimes with one of her own dorm mates, and sometimes with Winifred Reed from Ravenclaw. Winifred was a small, shy girl who didn’t have many friends among her own outgoing housemates, and Lily was happy to be with anyone who needed a friend.

Lily had free time after Ancient Runes and usually used that time to work on homework before heading out to Herbology. Today, she found herself a table at the back of the library and pulled out her Rune dictionary and her copy of Spellman’s Syllabary. She opened to the page that Professor Lingua had mentioned in class and started reading for an essay about which runes carried the most significance in ancient magical texts. She was so engrossed in her reading and translating and didn’t hear anyone approach her table until someone bumped into her arm as she was writing. She looked up with a stern frown and saw she was surrounded by Slytherins. She recognized Severus’s friend Mather Mulciber standing over her with Peyton Wilkes and Albin Avery, along with some of the girls in their year, Alina Prothero and Xavia Dawson, standing behind him.

Putting on the politest face she could manage, Lily asked, ‘Can I help you?’

The Slytherins glanced between Mulciber and Lily. ‘I think you can,’ he said snidely. ‘You can leave.’ His friends smirked, but Lily played dumb.

‘I didn’t know you could reserve tables in the library, but if you need this one, I’m happy to study somewhere else,’ she said as sweetly as she could. She even smiled at him. Lily watched the blood rush to his face while his friends glared at her; Xavia and Alina even started hissing at her as though she were something foul.

‘I meant leave the school, Mudblood,’ he sneered. ‘Your kind shouldn’t be allowed to exist, let alone go to school with true wizards and witches.’

Lily took a deep breath and tried not to let the insult affect her. She knew “Mudblood� was one of the most vile things he could call her, worse than any rude Muggle slang she might hear outside of school. But it didn’t work. She felt herself blush which caused the Slytherins to laugh maliciously. Before she could respond, she heard a voice say, ‘Let her be, Mather.’

Mulciber whipped his head around to see Severus standing between the two nearest bookcases. His dark robes mingled with shadows at the back of the library. Lily wasn’t sure how long he’d been standing there before intervening. ‘This isn’t your fight, Severus,’ Mucliber said curtly.

‘It shouldn’t be a fight at all,’ Severus said quietly. His voice lacked Mulciber’s fire, and he lacked Mulciber’s charisma. He wouldn’t be able to sway his housemates like Mulciber could. ‘She’s just doing her homework; she isn’t bothering anyone.’

‘That that old duffer let Mudbloods in bothers me, Snape, so whatever this one’s doing,’ he hissed, stabbing his finger in Lily’s direction, ‘bothers me.’

‘Mather,’ Severus said, ‘just let her do her homework.’ Lily knew he wouldn’t beg, not to them, not in front of her, not at all, but she knew how much it upset him that his housemates, his friends, were harassing Lily.

Mulciber took one look at Severus’s face and huffed, disgusted. ‘This isn’t over, Mudblood,’ he said, knocking into Lily again as he left the library.

Severus dropped into a chair across from Lily, and his eyes raked over her face. ‘I’m sorry, Lily. They shouldn’t have said that,’ he told her, genuinely upset.

‘I appreciate you sticking up for me, Sev, but why do you hang out with them at all?’ Lily queried. ‘There are people, in your own house, who are much nicer than Mulciber, Avery, Wilkes, and Rosier.’

‘I live with them, Lily. You’re close with the girls in your dorm, right?’ He watched her nod, still frowning at him. ‘I can’t isolate myself when I have to share my room with them.’ His voice dropped even lower. ‘Besides, they’re not really all that bad. You know how I grew up.’ He caught her eye and she could see the old anger burning there. ‘I’m not going to be that alone, or weak, ever again,’ Severus said. ‘And my dorm mates can help me with that.’

‘How, Sev, by following Voldemort and putting Muggles in their place?’ Lily accused, glaring at him. ‘You’re not weak, and you don’t need them,’ she said. She ran a hand over her face and sighed wearily, placing her hand gently over his on the table. ‘Sev, I’m worried about you.’

Severus looked from their hands into her eyes, and Lily couldn’t bear the sadness she saw there. She knew it tore at him to constantly be torn between her and his Slytherin friends, but she would rather he pick her, once and for all, and try making friends outside of his house.

‘I’m fine, Lily,’ Severus said brusquely. He pulled his hand out from under hers. ‘There’s no reason to worry,’ he told her, but he wouldn’t look her in the eyes.

A few minutes passed while Lily and Severus sat in -- for the first time ever -- a tense and awkward silence. When the bell sounded, Lily with a lot of reluctance and a little relief slipped out onto the grounds for Herbology.

Professor Sprout was a fair teacher who was very dedicated to her subject. Lily liked the class as, generally, plants in the Wizarding world tended to behave like plants with a few exceptions. That stability would be a comfort after her awkward encounter with Severus. However, Herbology was also the class that afforded the Gryffindor boys the most opportunities to wreak havoc. Lily hoped that the Gryffindor boys would keep a low profile today; she didn’t want to deal with them on top of her run-in with the Slytherins.

Unfortunately, the Gryffindor boys started a ruckus when James and Sirius began tossing dragon dung at one another. Soon the entire class was in the middle of a disgusting fight before Sprout put a stop to things and awarded both boys detention for their antics. Lily felt lucky to escape unscathed. She and Mary hung back as Gryffindors and Ravenclaws covered in dung exited greenhouse five. Anyone hit with dung would be cleaning up before dinner, and Marlene, Linda, and Nancy were unfortunate enough to have been caught in the fight. Lily and Mary wanted to give them all a wide berth. When the dung-covered students were all finally gone, Lily and Mary carefully picked their way out of the room.

Coming into the Entrance Hall, Lily spotted the fifth-year Slytherins heading toward the Great Hall. Mulciber stopped short when he saw her, motioning to his friends to follow him to where Lily and Mary stood. Lily noticed Alina and Xavia slip into the Great Hall with the other Slytherin girls, but Mulciber had Wilkes, Avery, and now Evan Rosier at his back. With dismay, Lily saw Severus also slink into the Hall, avoiding the row he knew Mulciber was going to instigate.

‘Well, if it isn’t the Mudblood and a blood traitor,’ Mulciber sneered.

For once, Lily wished she’d been involved in the mess the Gryffindor boys had created in Herbology so that she’d be in her room now instead of here. She also took a moment to hope that some professor would finish dinner quickly and come find them. She knew that wouldn’t happen, so in the most tired, bored voice she could manage, Lily said, ‘Leave us alone, Mulciber.’ She made to step around him, but his friends fanned out, effectively blocking Lily and Mary from truly entering the castle. The door at their backs was open, but there was not room to proceed further into the building.

‘I don’t think we will,’ Mulciber said, gesturing to his friends. ‘I think it’s time you learned that you don’t belong here.’ He pulled his wand out and the others did the same. Lily brought hers out and pointed it at him. She wasn’t sure she could defend herself against them all, but she knew she’d try. She was therefore surprised when only Mulciber stared down his wand at her; his friends trained their wands on Mary. ‘I think we’ll keep this just between friends,’ he said. ‘Now you’re going to walk right out that door and find your own way home. You don’t belong here.’ Mulciber flicked his wand in Mary’s direction. ‘Her we’ll let stay. Pure blood isn’t bad blood, even if this one acts traitorous.’

Lily looked around and took stock of their situation. There was no way she could get around the boys as they had her and Mary boxed in, but she thought a few well-placed non-verbal spells might do the trick. She started with a quick Confundus Charm to Avery and Wilkes who were standing furthest from Mulciber. When she noticed their wands waver, she cast a quiet Expelliarmus at Rosier, but as Rosier’s wand slipped from his hand, Mulciber shouted something Lily didn’t recognize. She threw up a shield charm as quickly as she could, but it wasn’t quite big enough. Whatever Mulciber threw at her hit the shield with yellow sparks, skirted around the far side, and grazed Mary.

Mary let out a wail of pain and fell to the floor. Lily spared her a glance from the corner of her eye and cast a spell Severus had created; she hoped he hadn’t yet shown it to his dorm mates. With a flick of her wrist, Mulciber was hanging upside down by his ankle, but poised to strike again. A shouted Expelliarmus stripped the Slytherins of their wands, and as Wilkes and Avery came out of their confusion, Lily shouted Incarcerous to bind them all as she ran to Mary. By now the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors who’d had to clean themselves up before dinner were starting to drift into the Entrance Hall. Lily heard shouting all around her, but her focus was on Mary. Mary’s eyes were closed and she’d gone very pale, but Lily couldn’t find any marks on her. She felt someone jostle her shoulder and saw the Headmaster beside her with Professor McGonagall on his heels.

‘Very quick thinking, Miss Evans, but I think we need to get Miss MacDonald to the Hospital Wing. Don’t you agree?’ he asked, gently moving her up and away from Mary’s prone body. Professor Dumbledore conjured a stretcher and levitated Mary onto it, then turned to the crowd. ‘Ah, Mr. Lupin, perfect! Would you please accompany Miss MacDonald to the Hospital Wing? Tell Madame Pomfrey I’ll be there shortly.’ He turned from them as Remus directed Mary’s stretcher out of the hall. ‘I think that dinner is still being served,’ Dumbledore said to those now crowding the scene. ‘Go along and eat before it’s gone.’ Though spoken as a kind suggestion, everyone knew that Dumbledore wanted the Hall cleared.

As the crowd thinned, Dumbledore turned to McGonagall and said, ‘Professor, would you mind escorting these gentlemen,’ he waved at the Slytherins Lily bound, ‘to my office and waiting with them for me? Also, please ask Professor Slughorn to join us. As their Head of House, he should be present when I speak to them.’

Lily was aware that someone’s arm was around her shoulder, and she turned to see Marlene with tears in her eyes. As quiet as she could, Marlene asked, ‘What happened to you two?’

They were startled when Professor Dumbledore interjected, ‘That’s something I, too, would like to know.’ He led Lily to an unused bench on the far left side of the Entrance Hall and bid her to sit. Marlene moved to sit down too but glanced quickly at Dumbledore first. He gave a slight nod, and she joined Lily on the bench. Lily wasn’t sure where to begin; she was too worried about Mary. Dumbledore peered at her with his blue eyes and told her, ‘Start wherever you feel it’s necessary, Miss Evans, but I ask that you start soon.’

Lily looked up at him, and he patiently gazed back at her. ‘Well, sir, it started this afternoon. I was in the library and some Slytherins-’

‘You mean Mr. Mulciber and the other boys we found here with you?’ Dumbledore interrupted.

‘Um, not all of them. Evan Rosier wasn’t in the library, but the others were, and Alina Prothero and Xavia Dawson were there too. I was studying when Mather came over and was just generally rude.’

‘I hate to ask this of you, Miss Evans,’ Dumbledore said gently, ‘but I need to know what you mean by that.’

‘He started calling me Mudblood.’ Lily heard Marlene gasp and felt her friend’s hold on her tighten, but there was another muffled cry somewhere near the hallway that led to the kitchens and dungeons that Lily couldn’t place as there was no one there. ‘And he said I didn’t belong here.’ She looked over Dumbledore’s shoulder at something only she could see, remembering the afternoon. ‘Severus got them to go away, but as he left, Mather said he wasn’t finished.’

Lily returned her gaze to Dumbledore’s and could see his troubled thoughts reflected in his eyes. ‘And just now, Miss Evans? What happened?’

Lily took a moment to organize her thoughts. ‘There was a little bit of, er, a, ah, scene in Herbology, sir, that Mary and I managed to avoid. We let everyone leave class before us so they could get cleaned up in time for dinner, so when we came in, no one else was here. We came into the castle as the Slytherins came up from the dungeons, and they all went in to dinner except for the four you found here. Mather started in on how I shouldn’t be here, and he and the others cornered me and Mary in the doorway without a way past him. That’s when he drew his wand. He pointed his at me, so I trained mine on him, but the others focused on Mary. I knew I couldn’t defend against all four, so-‘ Here Lily looked down as her cheeks burned with shame. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t know what else to do, so I Confunded Peyton and Albin and made Evan drop his wand, but Mather saw and sent some hex at me that I didn’t recognize.’ Lily’s breath caught and she choked back tears before ploughing on with her story. ‘I thought I put up my shield in time, but apparently I wasn’t quick enough because whatever Mather did hit Mary. She screamed.’ Lily couldn’t hold the tears at bay any longer, and they rolled silently down her face as she continued. ‘Then I hung Mather, disarmed them all, and bound them, and that’s when everyone came in.’

Marlene rubbed her hand slowly up and down Lily’s back to calm her. ‘Thank you for that, Miss Evans. I’ll be sure to question Mr. Mulciber about what, specifically, he used so that we can better care for Miss MacDonald.’ Dumbledore turned to Marlene and said, ‘Miss McKinnon, would you mind walking with Miss Evans to the Hospital Wing? I think you’d both like to see Miss MacDonald, and Miss Evans, I think you could use a Calming Draught. I’ll send Madame Pomfrey a message, and she’ll have one ready for you.’ He then turned and left the girls where they were, striding off toward his office.

Lily leaned her head on Marlene’s shoulder, but the latter made to stand. ‘C’mon,’ she said. ‘Let’s see Mary and get you to calm down.’ She reached down and pulled on one of Lily’s hands. ‘What happened was awful, but you were wonderful!’ Marlene praised.

Lily let out a watery chuckle. ‘Thanks.’ She sobered and heatedly said, ‘I should have done more.’

‘You did the best you could in a very bad situation, which is better than what I would have done.’

Together they walked the silent castle corridors until they reached the door to the Hospital Wing. They arrived as Remus and his friends were leaving though Lily noticed both James and Sirius seemed red-faced and out of breath. She didn’t think to question it; she didn’t want to deal with them. She pushed her way past the boys to get to Mary. Behind her, she heard Marlene mutter, ‘Thanks, guys,’ before tuning out everything but the pale brunette on a cot under the right-hand windows. She thought of how pleasantly the day had started and shook her head at the thought of the Hogsmeade trip the girls had planned for Saturday. None of that mattered as she picked up the cold, limp hand of her best friend.

The days following Mulciber’s attack on Lily were some of the longest of her life. Rumours quickly spread about what had happened that night but very few had any kernel of truth to them. Students knew that most of the fifth-year Slytherin boys were in trouble and that Mary MacDonald was in hospital. How those things were connected most only guessed at, and those Ravenclaws and Gryffindors who saw what happened were keeping quiet about things. Lily was surprised however, that night in the common room, when several students congratulated her for handing the Slytherins so well. Even the Marauders had something nice to say, though Potter yelled at her for nearly getting herself killed, which Lily thought was a far cry from what actually happened.

Lily and Marlene went to the Hospital Wing every day, sometimes several times a day, to sit with Mary. True to his word Professor Dumbledore came in the night of the attack, after questioning the Syltherins, and spoke to Madame Pomfrey about what Mulciber used on Mary. She was looking less pale every day, but it was nearly a week before she woke up. Lily had never really hated someone before. Sure she found Potter and Black obnoxious, and Tuney made her mad sometimes, but until Mulciber cursed Mary, Lily never actually hated someone. Now she could say she hated Mulciber. And to make matters worse, she didn’t feel he was sufficiently punished for it. Sure, he had lost his Hogsmeade privileges, and he was serving detention with Professor Slughorn or Professor McGonagall almost every night, but he was still a prefect (though on probation). The galling part of it all was that he, and his cronies, blamed Lily for it. None of them seemed capable of accepting that Mulciber’s own actions caused his current predicament.

Since the end of September, Lily became more enmeshed in her classes, her friends, and her prefect duties. The busier she was the less time she had to dwell on how the rise of Lord Voldemort outside the walls of Hogwarts was impacting her life inside the castle. She was doing well in her classes, but now Potions was a difficult class to deal with. Mulciber’s actions impacted her and Severus’s relationship; he started putting distance between them whenever other Slytherins were around. And it was not as though she could try to bridge that gap during class either, as the Gryffindors had taken a united stand against the Slytherins for what had happened. Besides, as Marlene constantly reminded her, Severus was close with Mulciber and could Lily really trust him?

In the wake of Mulciber’s attack, Mary was more skittish and yet also more determined than she had ever been. She’d told Lily, a few days after leaving the Hospital Wing, that while she was scared of what Mulciber and the other Slytherins could do, she planned on working hardest in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Their friendship also strengthened. While they had always been close, they now rarely spent without each others’ company. Marlene, too, spent more time with the girls than she previously had. Nancy and Linda, who were sometimes off on their own as they had a connection outside of Hogwarts, spent more time with their dorm mates than they had before. It seemed the girls had an unspoken agreement that Mary would not be unaccompanied, and Mary was glad for the company.

Lily tried to maintain her friendship with Severus, but her devotion to Mary and his friendship with his dorm mates made it hard. She saw him in the corridors and smiled as she passed, and when she could, she would meet him in the library, but for the first time in nearly a decade, she felt a rift growing between them. This wasn’t helped by the fact that she was becoming closer to Remus from their time spent as prefects. Severus saw her friendship with any of the Marauders akin to a betrayal of him.

Immersing herself in her prefect duties was probably the easiest thing to keep busy with. Lily knew that if she kept her grades up and was a dedicated prefect, she could be Head Girl her seventh year. She typically enjoyed being a prefect; it had plenty of benefits but just as many drawbacks, and normally, Lily ranked patrols as one of the worst drawbacks. Spending over an hour roaming the halls sounded like fun, especially as Lily enjoyed exploring the castle, but unfortunately, patrols were all about making sure students weren’t out of bounds, and Lily detested having to Alohomora closed doors because they were closed for a reason. Finding the amorous couples using the cupboards to snog -- or worse -- was not what she would consider a highlight. There were just some things she didn’t want to know about the Hogwarts students. Lily usually had patrols with Remus, and as fifth years they never had the last shift, but Lily didn’t enjoy that patrolling cut in to her study time. And she didn’t like having to patrol with the older prefects, or ones from other houses.

However, evening patrols like this were the kind she liked best. The castle was quiet at half nine, and the weather hadn’t turned yet, so it wasn’t cold in the corridors. The stars twinkled on the other side of Hogwarts’s many windows, and Lily and Remus strolled along the fifth floor corridor, talking as had become their custom.

Lily didn’t spend much time with Remus outside of class mainly because spending time with Remus also meant spending time with the other Marauders. She liked Remus. She was rather indifferent to Peter; he seemed nice, but Lily didn’t really know much about him because he was always fawning over the last two Gryffindor boys: Sirius Black and James Potter. Lily was loath to voluntarily spend her time with Potter or Black. Black had a tendency -- constantly -- to open his mouth and put his arrogant foot in it, but Potter was worse. Potter’s arrogance was written on his face as he spoke to her. Every time he came up to her, he acted as though she should be honoured to receive his attention because every girl at Hogwarts wanted to be in her position.

But Remus was different. He was just as clever as his friends, just as good-looking, but far more level-headed. Dumbledore saw fit to make him prefect after all. And prefect meant patrols with Lily. She found, in talking to him on these nights, that they had quite a bit in common. They were both more studious than their friends; both knew their way around the library and actually read for pleasure when time allowed it. As a half-blood, he knew a little about the Muggle world, so Lily could share with him her love for The Beatles. She could talk sport too; she knew a little about Quiddich -- and definitely supported Gryffindor when they played -- but she mostly followed football. It was something that allowed her to connect first with her father and then with Remus.

Two corridors ago, they discussed how the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor was doing; Professor Verteidigen was the fifth professor they had in their five years at Hogwarts. Both of them laughed when they recalled how, as first years, older students told them the job was cursed. Lily reckoned now that there might have been some truth to that statement. Their laughter trailed off, and they slipped into a comfortable silence, wandering the castle together for another few corridors until Remus slowed down.

He walked over to one of the windows that overlooked the front of the castle. Remus tentatively called her name, so she walked over to join him. She wasn’t looking at him with and responded with a vague, ‘Hmm?’ Outside the window, Lily could see the Whomping Willow’s branches moving.

‘You know how we’re supposed to patrol again Monday?’ He glanced at her out of the side of his eye and watched her nod.

‘Yes, of course, the first shift, before Astronomy.’

‘Well, um-’ She picked up on his nervous tone and noticed that he was staring at the floor. Normally, when they spoke, Remus would look at her. More often than not he even met her eyes. But now he was avoiding looking at her at all; something on the floor seemed to be endlessly fascinating. When Remus first posed the question about rounds, Lily quickly envisioned her calendar; now she thought about her Astronomy chart and overlaid the phases of the moon on the calendar. She realized that Monday would be a full moon.

Lily had suspected for months, even before Severus shared his own suspicions, that there was something else going on than what Remus and his friends said. She believed Remus’s mum wasn’t the one who was so frequently ill. The Marauders -- for all they called it his “furry little problem� -- didn’t really fool her. For one, they always seemed concerned for Remus’s safety when his “furry little problem� acted up; that sort of worry was overrated if you were merely talking about a friend’s misbehaving pet. So she tracked his health and realized, like the Marauders had years earlier and as Severus would months later, that all of his absences fell around the full moon. She didn’t confront him about being a werewolf because she wasn’t sure how he’d take the revelation.

This would be the first time, however, that Remus’s condition would interfere with his prefect duties. The more she thought about her calendar and her Astrology chart, Lily knew Remus wouldn’t be so lucky as to only have to deal with the overlap once. And to help him avoid what was already going to be an uncomfortable conversation for him (compounded by the fact that if she let him make his excuses, he would have to have the same conversation with her again), Lily decided to be honest with Remus about what she thought was the truth.

She turned to face him. ‘You’re not going to be able to make it, I know,’ she said with feigned nonchalance.

Remus spluttered. If it was possible, he paled even further than was his normal colouring. ‘What?! I mean, well, yeah, I have-’

Lily cut him off. ‘You have other things to worry about that night, Remus, I know.’

‘You...you know?’ he said sounding both astonished and scared. ‘What do you know, Lily?’ Lily watched him; Remus looked as though someone had put a bubble-head charm on him but hadn’t had the grace to put any air in it first. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder and felt that maybe she should have used a little more tact when talking about his condition.

‘I don’t actually know anything,’ she conceded. She paused and saw the fear in Remus’s eyes. ‘I think that your “furry little problem� isn’t some deranged bunny or overactive rat or untameable gerbil. I don’t believe you even have a pet. And I think that it’s you, not your mum, who needs medical care once a month.’

He took a moment to try and collect himself, and she found that he was staring at her. His voice was barely a whisper when he said, ‘What are you trying to say?’

‘Remus, you’ve been absent once almost every month for over five years. And it’s always around a full moon. Things clicked about halfway through forth year. I didn’t say anything because you didn’t seem to want anyone to know.’ Remus gaped at Lily, his eyes wide, like she had transformed into something truly terrifying.

‘Lily,’ he said in a strangled voice, ‘I can explain.’

Lily smiled as wide as she could and stepped forward to embrace him, but he nervously took several steps back. ‘Oh, Remus, there’s nothing to explain. I can’t imagine how difficult things must be for you, but you’re still Remus.’ He was still too pale, so she asked, ‘Have I treated you any differently this year than I had before?’ Remus opened his mouth to respond, but Lily quickly continued. ‘And being nicer, or more talkative, on rounds doesn’t count!’ she teased.

For the first time in this particular conversation, Remus shared a true smile with her, and she felt they were both a little less nervous. ‘I guess, if I’m not allowed to consider your pleasant company on these evening strolls, then no, you don’t behave any differently to me now than you did since we met,’ he said.

‘So, now that the truth is out-’ she stopped suddenly and looked pointedly at Remus. ‘The truth is out, right? There’s a reason you’re absent each full moon?’ He nodded, albeit reluctantly. ‘Okay, so, now that the truth is out, things won’t change at all.’

‘You say that now,’ Remus started, ‘but how can be sure? I mean, what I have-’

‘Your lycanthropy, you mean,’ Lily said. Remus was noticeably shaken by Lily’s forthright identification of his condition.

‘Yes,’ he said, ‘that. It puts a strain on things.’

‘But Remus, my knowing hasn’t changed how I treat you. You’re still the same polite, hard-working boy in my Ancient Runes class. You’re still you, and you’ve seen that I’m still me. The only difference now is that I know, for sure, that my suspicions were right, and you know that I know the truth behind your “furry little problem.� So I can promise if things haven’t changed yet, they won’t change at all.’ Lily saw tears welling up in Remus’s eyes, so she smiled at him, turned, and started walking back down the corridor.

‘Thanks,’ he said thickly when he caught up. She knew it was for both the conversation and the privacy.

‘Also,’ he hesitated, awkwardly, ‘I know I can trust you. I mean, you didn’t say anything when you first suspected things, but please don’t tell anyone that you know about me. Dumbledore didn’t want the information to spread.’

Lily spared a brief moment to think about Severus and the Marauders and responded, ‘Of course.’
Remus glanced at Lily and smiled shyly at her. She beamed back at him. ‘So, I’ll find someone else to patrol with you Monday,’ he told her.

She waved the comment off and looked at him with a glint in her eye. ‘I’ll take care of it,’ she said. ‘Give me a day, and we’ll be off the hook.’

Lily had a plan. She knew that she was one of Professor Slughorn’s favourite students, and she planned on using that to her full advantage to get Remus and her out of Monday night’s patrols. So she took her time, dawdling, at the end of Potions the next day. Her dorm mates looked at her askance; she was usually so fastidious that she was packed before her potion was submitted. Today she was slow to put her ingredients away and clean her cauldron. When the bell sounded, she still wasn’t ready to go.
Lily watched her friends collect their things and stand, waiting, at the door. ‘I’ll be right there,’ she told them. ‘I just wanted to ask Professor Slughorn something.’ Lily watched the Gryffindors and Slytherins file out of the room toward the Great Hall. Her friends reluctantly left her behind, but Mary said, ‘We’ll save you a seat,’ and Lily saw Severus give her a questioning glance. She smiled at them, made a shooing motion with her hand, and walked to the front of the room.

‘Lovely Lily,’ Professor Slughorn said happily when he turned to find her still in the room. He opened a canister of crystallized pineapples; Lily knew they were his favourite and were probably from some prior student with famous connections. He held the tin out as an offer to her one as he asked, ‘What can I do for you?’

Lily plucked a sweet from the tin and set her bag on the desk behind her. She turned to him. ‘Well, Professor,’ she started, ‘I’ve been thinking a lot about my new role as prefect.’

‘Ah, yes, a great deal of responsibility you have there, but the honour is well-deserved,’ he responded.

‘Thank you,’ she said. She was going for flattery and acquiescence, so she continued with, ‘Last year you talked about how important it was for those of us who want to be leaders to start early.’ She knew it would impress him if she repeated -- practically verbatim -- something he’d said at last year’s end-of-term Slug Club party. The better his mood the better chance she had to get what she wanted. ‘I feel that Potions is one of my best classes.’

‘Oh, it is, dear, it is! Never a better student in my class,’ he gushed. ‘But now I’m getting off topic. You were saying, dear?’ He motioned for her to continue.

‘I thought that I could start a study club for some of the younger students. I don’t know that I would have a lot of time myself, but maybe I could get other prefects involved? Or members of the Slug Club!’ She gave him the most earnest smile she could. She knew she just needed to plant the idea in his head.

‘Lily, my dear, that’s a wonderful suggestion! I do have some first and second years struggling with the basics.’ He gave her a warm smile and considered how beneficial it would be for the younger students to learn from someone like Lily.

‘Can I meet with you after dinner to discuss it?’ she asked. Professor Slughorn blanched; Lily was well aware he’d planned to head to Hogsmeade that evening. She’d heard James bragging about Madame Rosmerta down at The Three Broomsticks and how he was going to try and buy some of her newest mulled mead on the first Hogsmeade trip.

‘Er, as lovely as that sounds Lily, I simply cannot do so tonight,’ he replied.

‘Oh dear,’ Lily pouted and feigned disappointment. ‘And I’m terribly busy tomorrow evening.’ Slughorn quickly suggested Monday as an option. She stalled for a moment before telling him, ‘Well, I have prefect rounds with Remus Lupin, then Astronomy, but if you could find prefects willing to switch with me and Remus, I’m sure I could come by Monday night.’

Lily watched Slughorn consider this option. If she could make him even vaguely interested in prefects holding study sessions, she had to capitalize on that as soon as possible before the idea slipped his mind. If he wanted to pursue the idea, he’d make someone from his house swap duties with Lily and that was exactly what she was counting on. A thoughtful look crossed Slughorn’s face, then he said, ‘I’ll have some of my prefects take the rounds, shall I? And then that frees you up for a small chat with me Monday after dinner.’ Then he smiled at her again and said, ‘Now you’d best head to lunch. I’ll speak to Mr. Mulciber, er, maybe not Mr. Mulciber. How about Ms. Moran and Ms. Monette, she’s a sixth year. Yes, I’ll speak to those ladies and work it all out.’ Lily walked out smiling smugly, though she hid the smile from the professor. Now she merely needed to let Remus know about the change in plans.

In the Great Hall, Lily saw Remus sitting with James, Sirius, and Peter. The Gryffindor girls were sitting slightly further down the table than the boys. Everyone had already dug in to lunch, but Lily wanted to talk to Remus before she took her seat, so she walked over to where he was with his friends. Peter and Remus had already put helpings of roast and potatoes on their plates and were eating quietly. James was sitting next to Peter, but he’d foregone food in order to chat with a pretty Gryffindor fourth-year, Effie Richmond. Across from him, Sirius eyed Lily’s approach. She stopped behind James and Peter -- James’s conversation with Effie ended quite abruptly -- and said, ‘Remus, can I talk to you?’

Remus looked up from his plate and saw the knowing look in Lily’s eyes. ‘Um, sure. You want to go into the Entrance Hall?’ Remus made to stand when Sirius put a hand on his arm.

‘Hold on,’ Sirius said, pulling Remus back onto the bench. ‘Anything you need to say to Remus you can say in front of us, Evans. Isn’t that right?’ he asked, looking around at his friends.

‘Sirius, no, really, I’ll just-’ Remus started.

‘No, mate, I don’t trust her,’ Sirius said, staring at Lily. Peter continued eating, wanting no part in a battle between Lily and Sirius, but Lily could see James attempting to kick Sirius under the table. Remus gave her an apologetic look.

She rolled her eyes at Sirius, put her hands on her hips, and said, shrugging, ‘Fine. It’s just boring prefect business anyway.’

Remus turned to Sirius and attempted to remove his friend’s hand from his arm to no avail. ‘C’mon, mate, it’s nothing. I’m sure Lily just wants to talk about our responsibilities for, er-’

‘It’s about patrols,’ she said. She shook her head ruefully and frowned. ‘Unfortunately, I can’t make it on Monday. Professor Slughorn wants to meet with me.’

‘Isn’t this a bit short notice,’ Sirius accused. ‘Why can’t you meet with ‘ole Sluggy on some other night?’ he asked.

Lily huffed in annoyance. ‘Because Monday is what fits our schedules best,’ she told him. Turning back to Remus, she said, ‘Slughorn will get two of his prefects to switch with us. Once I have the new date, I’ll let you know.’ She smiled at him. ‘I really am sorry to inconvenience you with that, Remus, but it’s okay, right?’

He looked at her, relieved, and said, ‘It’s fine. Just let me know when we need to patrol.’

As Lily walked away, she heard Sirius snidely mutter, ‘Who does she think she is changing your plans like that?’ to which Remus murmured, ‘Let it go. Remember what Monday is anyway.’ She settled herself next to Marlene, pulled a plate forward, and started on lunch glad, this time, to be able to help a friend out before things went bad.