Chapter 2: First Names and a Plan
Lily walked to the middle of the train and turned left into a compartment. There sat a girl with wavy dark brown hair that fell to the middle of her back. She was eating Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. There also sat a girl with slightly bushy dirty-blond hair that just reached her shoulders. She was deeply absorbed in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander. Both girls looked up as Lily came in.
“So, how’d it go, Lily?” asked the brown-haired girl. “Did Potter actually show up?”
“Oh, come on, Alexis! I thought you knew Potter by now,” exclaimed Lily. Alexis started laughing.
“Are you saying he didn’t show?” asked the dirty-blond haired girl.
“Oh, he showed, Joanne, he showed,” said Lily darkly. Then she smiled. “He showed right after I’d already given the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins their directions!” At this, all three girls were beside themselves with laughter. Finally, Lily sat down next to Joanne and across from Alexis.
“What happened after Potter came in?” asked Alexis as she inched forward in her seat.
“Well, it took him at least five minutes to read the letter Dumbledore left us. I was finished talking to the prefects by then. After all of the prefects left, we each picked two nights not to patrol and we set up a time each week to meet,” explained Lily in a bored voice. “Oh, and we’re calling each other by our first names now,” she added as a quick after-thought.
“Oooooo, first names,” Joanne giggled. Alexis raised her eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh, get a grip! I just thought it would be weird if we were working together a lot and were calling each other ‘Potter!’ and ‘Evans!’ all the time,” said Lily hurriedly. Alexis and Joanne giggled.
“You’re not developing feelings for Mr. Potter, are you now?” asked Alexis slyly.
“What are you talking about! James Potter is the most insignificant bloody git on the face of this planet!” shouted Lily.
“Language, Lily, language,” said Joanne. Lily blushed but for different reasons than Alexis and Joanne thought. The truth was, she didn’t know how she felt about James Potter. No, she hated him! He was a blasted little toerag that enjoyed cursing random people in the hallways. But back in the Gryffindor prefect’s carriage he had seemed so…no. She loathed him and that would never change. Why was she questioning herself? Lily Evans never questioned herself. When had she ever been wrong?
“Was Remus there?” asked Joanne pulling Lily out of her thoughts and back into reality.
“Yeah, he came in with James,” said Lily. She and Alexis stole a meaningful glance at each other and smiled inwardly.
“Is he taller than last year?” asked Joanne, her eyes bright.
“Yes, but he looked very pale. I wonder if he’s sick,” pondered Lily. Everyone, in Gryffindor Tower at least, knew that Remus Lupin was a very sickly boy and disappeared at night occasionally, but was never caught. No one knew why he disappeared or why the teachers never noticed his vanishing acts. Joanne, however, had recently taken a particular interest in him that her friends had easily noticed. The three girls spent so much time together that they could almost always tell when one was hiding something.
“Jo,” began Alexis. “Is there something you want to tell us about you and Remus?” Joanne blushed but recovered quickly.
“Alexis, is there something about Black you want to tell us?” Alexis suddenly became extremely interested in the nails on her right hand.
“You better get your robes on,” said Lily quickly. “We’ll probably be there soon.” As Alexis and Joanne pulled on their black Hogwarts robes, Lily looked out the compartment window waiting to get her first glimpse of the school. Sure enough, in no less than two minutes, she caught sight of the spectacular castle. As always, it was perched next to the shallows of the midnight blue lake, waiting to be filled with eager students once more.
As the train skidded to a halt, they filed out of the compartment and into the bustling, crowd in the hallway.
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“And without further ado, tuck in.”
The golden plates in the Great Hall were suddenly bursting with foods of all varieties. As Sirius dug headfirst into the plate of chicken legs, James peered down Gryffindor table to the very front where sat a certain redhead. Lily was talking animatedly with her friends Alexis and Joanne, probably about the importance of being Head Girl.
“Games, sna oudda id,” said Sirius through a mouthful of peas.
“Damn, I just can’t keep my eyes off of her,” replied James. “It’s almost become sort of a habit.” He glanced back at the girl he longed for so much. Was he destined to be without her?
“Well that’s not surprising, as you’ve been watching her since first year,” chuckled Remus. James decided to change the subject off of his hopeless love life.
“You guys ready for operation R.A.G.?” James asked in a whisper.
“Neba bin mo weady!” exclaimed Sirius halfway through his potatoes.
“Do you have it James? Do you have the-”
“Quiet Wormtail! It’s a secret remember? You can’t tell anyone!” exclaimed Remus.
“Oh, yeah, right, sorry,” blubbered Peter, obviously embarrassed. At the end of last year, the Marauders had successfully completed their biggest masterpiece yet, aside from becoming Animagi. They developed a map that showed them all of Hogwarts’ grounds, corridors, towers, and secret passageways as well as who was there at the time. They had only just finished it before summer vacation and were beyond eager to give it a try.
“Of course I have it. It’s right here,” sighed James and he let them sneak a peak at a piece of the parchment before slipping it back into his pocket.
“Right then, we’re ready,” said Remus. “I found the spells and we’ll practice them tonight before we go. Then we’ll pull something that Hogwarts will never forget.”
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it. Can anyone guess what R.A.G. stands for? Thanks to my awesome beta Madam Bones for dealing with many e-mails and mysterious question marks. Please, please review! It's what keeps me going!