Lily took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The air was so crisp, so clean. It was the smell of September at Hogwarts, when the wind was still warm enough that you could stand outside but cool enough to hint at the coming season. She tried so hard to take it all in, to implant every detail of the wind whisking her hair around her face into her memory- but she knew that come next year, by the time she had left that place for good, she would not remember. Hogwarts would soon become a memory so far away that the simple things that had become parts of daily life would need to be dug out of her brain like shells from sand. It was hard to imagine at that moment, with her shiny new Head Girl badge pinned to her robes, but it was true; this was the very last first day of Lily's life at Hogwarts.
When she opened her eyes, what seemed like hours later, she looked up toward the majestic castle, its lighted windows twinkling like the eyes of a familiar friend. She had spent so long trying to savor her entrance that she had lost sight of Ophelia and Alice, not to mention most of the other students. She hurriedly ran into the almost deserted entryway when she bumped into something.
“Oh!” Lily exclaimed, turning around. “Oh, Peter! I’m sorry to bump into you like that,” she said, realizing just who it was that she had ran into.
Peter looked nervous for some reason, more nervous than usual. “Oh, uh, don’t worry about it, Lily,” he replied, barely making eye contact. He quickly began to scamper off- however, Lily noticed, not in the direction of the feast.
“Wait, Peter!” she called after him.
He turned.
“Aren’t you going to the feast?”
“Oh, the feast!” Peter’s eyes darted towards the Great Hall. “Yeah, um, yeah I was just... forgot where I was going for a moment, you know, start of term jitters!”
“Oh, yes,” Lily said politely, although she wasn’t exactly sure why a seventh year would be having start of term jitters.
They walked in awkward silence into the Great Hall, where the First Years were about to be Sorted. Lily couldn’t help but grin at the looks of sheer terror on their faces; it didn’t feel like long ago at all that she was standing among them, wishing that she could just run out of the room without anyone noticing.
“Lil, where’ve you been?” Ophelia asked as Lily took a seat between her two best friends. “Snogging Filch again, you naughty girl?”
“Bite your tongue,” Lily laughed. “The words ‘Filch’ and ‘snogging’ together in a sentence is no joking matter.”
“I’ll second that, Evans.”
Lily didn’t even have to turn around. Just as “Byrnes, Thatcher” was sorted into Hufflepuff, James Potter plopped himself in the seat across from Lily.
“So, Head Girl, what d`you reckon? Best year ever? With the team of Potter and Evans, how could it not be?” he said with a grin.
“I still don’t believe you, you’ve stolen that from Remus.” Lily pointed to the badge on his chest; it was identical to hers, but with a large B on it as opposed to her G.
“I’m afraid he’s being truthful, Lily,” Remus interjected from across the table. Ophelia leaned in on the conversation and Remus looked away.
“That’s right. What must have happened was that Dumbledore forgot that Remus attended this school,” James said. “But, that just means more fun for you, Evans!”
“Oh, yes,” Lily replied, but she wasn’t sure that James got the sarcasm. She didn’t understand how James was picked Head Boy, not when she had worked so hard for years to achieve the same honor that he had earned by flying around on a broomstick and hexing people.
“So, how were your summers?” James asked Lily and her friends.
“Fine,” Lily, Alice, and Ophelia said in unison. Ophelia, usually the most likely to have a chat with James Potter, apparently had other things on her mind.
James smirked. “Not conversationalists today, I see. Well, mine was wonderful, thanks for asking. Now that Sirius is staying with the Potters, mum and dad are treated to twice the fun.”
Sirius choked a laugh from across the table.
“Actually, it’s a funny story...”
But just what was so funny about the story, Lily never knew, because as “Yang, Fiona” was sorted into Ravenclaw, the Sorting ended and Dumbledore got up to make his speech. It was short and slightly confusing, as always. Lily wondered how she would feel when next year at the same time, she wouldn’t have a speech by her Headmaster to look forward to.
As the feast began, Lily looked around. She was feeling so many emotions that the other students seemed to be unfazed by. They were smiling, and laughing, and eating like they were home again. But, she wondered, did they realize that many of them would never see this place again? It scared Lily how quickly things were about to change.
“Are you okay, Lily?” Alice asked as the feast was finishing up. “You look a bit out of it.”
“Yeah,” Lily replied pensively, looking up at the perfect night sky that was smiling down at her from the ceiling. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Dumbledore sneak a wink in her direction.
***
James could not believe his luck; he had just spent the past two hours with Lily Evans. Sure, as the Head Girl to his Head Boy, she was forced into it, but James didn't care. They had been briefed by McGonagall about their duties and responsibilities, then patrolled the corridors for the first time. It had been fairly successful; James had gotten yelled at by Lily for chastising a bunch of first years for no reason but, other than that, they had actually seemed to get along.
They had efficiently worked together, without any of their usual tension- and James liked it that way.
"Well, I suppose that went well," Lily said pleasantly as they began heading back to the common room.
"As well as it could have went," James replied.
Lily, for reasons unbeknownst to James, suddenly stopped in the middle of the hall.
“What’s the matter?” James asked.
He looked at Lily. Her arms were crossed tightly, and she had an odd expression on her face, like she was deciding something deep within her mind. After a few moments of this silence, she suddenly extended a small, graceful hand to him.
“My name is Lily Evans. Nice to meet you,” she said simply.
James looked at her and laughed. “You're about seven years late there, Evans."
Lily smiled smugly and stood up straight, trying to make herself even height with James; which was perfectly impossible, considering the fact that he had grown even more over the summer.
"The point I'm trying to make here, Potter, is that I think it’s time for a new beginning. For us. A clean slate. We’re going to be working together very closely for the next year, and even though I felt like tonight was pretty successful, I don’t want things to go wrong because of any old animosity. Who knows, we might even be able to become friends. So, what do you say? A fresh start?"
James stared at her with his eyebrows raised, but she didn’t stop smiling, and put her hand out again.
“Lily Evans,” she repeated firmly.
James’ puzzled expression melted into a grin as he took her hand within his. “Nice to meet you, Miss Evans,” he said coolly. “James Potter’s the name.”
For the perhaps the first time ever, James Potter witnessed the face of Lily Evans break into a smile as she looked at him.
“All right, Potter,” she said determinedly. “Have a good night, then.”
All Right, Evans? by anglophile
Chapter Notes: As promised, I didn't take twenty-five years to update again!! Yay!!