Alex groggily opened one eye and groaned loudly at what she saw. “WHY are you up this early, Lily? WHY?”
Lily was dressed and singing happily while brushing her long red hair. “Because it’s the first day of classes, of course!” She said, as if this was something to be excited about.
Alex groaned once more and pressed her pillow over her ears.
“What time is it?” Alice asked sleepily from her bed in the corner.
“Seven.” Lily replied. “Both of you should probably get out of bed now. Breakfast starts in half an hour, you know.”
Alice sighed, and sat up in bed. She rubbed her eyes, and trudged over to Alex. Yawning, she said, “Time to get up, sleepy head.”
Alex groaned and turned over. “Leave me alone.” She said, her voice muffled by the pillow.
“Why do you insist on doing this every year on the first day of school?” Alice asked in exasperation.
“Because I’m tired.”
Lily smiled. “Alice, why don’t you get ready. I’ll take care of Alex.”
Alice nodded and headed towards the bathroom and began fixing her hair
She heard a loud shriek from the adjoining room and snickered to herself. Moments later, a thoroughly soaked Alex barged into the bathroom, eyes flaming. Seeing Alice silently laughing, Alex hissed out, “Save it.”
Alice walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. She saw Lily, who was grinning wickedly. She caught her eyes, and both girls burst out laughing.
~
Eventually, all three girls made it down to breakfast. Alex was still sulking in her seat, while Alice was telling Frank the events of the morning. Frank let out a loud laugh at the end of the tale.
“I still don’t see what was so funny about it.” Alex said grumpily.
This caused Lily to laugh as well. She looked up in time to see Snape stalking away from James, who was staring after him with his jaw clenched and hands balled into fists.
“I’ll be right back,” she told her friends, and made her way over to his side. “James? What’s the matter?” She asked, laying a hand on his tense arm.
He looked down at her, and said, “It’s nothing. Nothing at all.” James pulled away and said as he walked away, “See you in class, Lily.”
She looked after him in confusion. Alice came up to her. “Lily? What happened?”
Lily shrugged. “I don’t know. James is just being weird.”
Alice laughed. “Since when has he been anything but that?”
Lily joined her friend in laughter, and promptly forgot about the whole encounter.
~
Looking at the time, Professor Milles wrapped up the last lesson of the day by saying, “Once again, class, I will assign an essay to be turned in to me in one week on the material we will be covering this year. You may talk until the bell.” The Professor sat down, and the dark room filled with young voices.
“The full moon’s in one week,” Sirius whispered to James.
James nodded. “Good. I have an idea of what we should do for our next adventure.”
“What is it?” Sirius asked.
“I’ll tell you then.”
“Why don’t you tell me now?”
“Because I’m not finished.”
“With what?” Sirius asked.
“You’ll see.” James answered.
Just then the bell rang, and James hopped out of his seat, leaving a sulking and impatient Sirius behind him.
~
Lily picked up her books, talking to Alice. “You sure you don’t want to come to the library with me tonight to work on the DADA essay?” She asked.
Alice nodded. “I’m sure. I haven’t seen Frank all summer, so he’s planned a romantic dinner for us in the Astronomy Tower.”
Alex smiled. “Sorry, I can’t go either. I’ve got an evening planned with Sirius, and the essay is due in a week anyways.”
Lily sighed. “All right, I’ll go by myself.”
~
Lily sat back in her chair and surveyed the rest of the Gryffindors as they ate their dinner. Alice was giggling at something Frank had whispered into her ear. Peter was bent over his book, already behind in his classes, and Remus was trying to help him. Alex had a pink twinge in her cheeks from laughing at something Sirius had said, who was grinning at her wickedly. James was chewing on his quill as he skimmed a piece of parchment that was lying in front of him, apparently satisfied.
She sighed and thought to herself, ‘This is how it should be.’ After her parents’ death, she had been depressed, but now she was determined to live life to the fullest, as she would have wanted her parents to had their roles been reversed. Life was to short and unpredictable to be sad for long.
Lily looked at her watch. It was a little after eight, and students were starting to leave.
“I’m going to the library, okay?”
Alex nodded absent- mindedly, and Lily left the Great Hall.
~
Two hours later, Lily found herself staring blankly at a page in her textbook, eyes drooping, only to realize that she had read the same page twice already. She looked at her watch and did a double take. It was already 9:15, fifteen minutes past curfew. She stood up and stretched. The library was completely empty, and the doors were locked. She guessed that Madam Pince didn’t notice her, figuring that students wouldn’t be in the library for long on the first day of classes.
She trudged to the door to the library, and unlocked it with a soft “Alohomora.” She stepped out and locked the door behind her. Lily wasn’t too afraid of being caught, because Filch never started making rounds until ten.
Lily rubbed her temples and sleepily made her way along the dark but familiar path to the Gryffindor Tower. Barely keeping her eyes open, she rounded a corner and smacked into someone.
She was able to make out two figures in front of her before she was brutally shoved to the ground.