Lily barely made it to the Hogwarts Express on time. The last whistle was already wailing as she flung her trunk on board, waved goodbye to her parents, and hauled herself onto the train.
She pushed her way down the corridor as the train began to gather speed, peering in the compartment doors for familiar faces. After passing a group of excited second-years clustered in one compartment, as well as a knot of Slytherins in her own year”she ducked out of sight as she passed them”a group of three boys lounging together caught her eye, and she grinned.
Sliding open the door and slipping inside, Lily said cheerfully, “Hey Fido!”
From his seat by the window, Sirius Black scowled at her. “Fido?” he asked disgustedly.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Lily said, putting a hand on her hip and cocking her head. “Would you prefer Spot?”
To her left, she saw Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew grin at each other, and she winked at them. Sirius’s scowl deepened.
“Actually,” he said languidly, crossing his arms above his head, “I prefer Sexy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lily told him, and he smiled.
“You find out about this whole Animagus thing and now we’ll never hear the end of it,” he grumbled, getting to his feet to give her a rough, one-armed hug. “How’re you doing, Lily?”
“Same old,” she said, now turning to Remus and Peter.
“How come only Sirius gets a nickname?” Peter asked as she greeted him, and she looked at him in surprise. Of all of James’s friends, Peter was the one she had the least contact with.
“I’ll think of something, Wormy,” she told him, half-joking, knowing that a shortened version of his preexisting nickname probably wasn’t what he had in mind, but he looked slightly mollified.
“Hey, Lily,” Remus said, smiling softly at her.
“Hey,” she said. “Thanks so much for sending me those photographs this summer, by the way. I meant to write you back, but I try to keep things as non-magical as possible around my sister.”
“And having owls swooping around with your mail probably doesn’t count as normal,” he finished understandingly.
“Exactly,” she nodded.
Remus gestured to the Head Girl badge on her chest. “I thought you might get that,” he said.
“Oh…yeah,” she responded awkwardly, having temporarily forgotten about it. “Did you get Head Boy?” she asked hopefully, but he shook his head.
Disappointed, Lily said, “Oh. Do you know who did?”
Remus hesitated for a second, but was spared having to answer by Sirius, who started to choke loudly as he realized what they were talking about.
“Evans is Head Girl?” he asked, starting to laugh. “I’m really going to have to watch out for myself this year, aren’t I?”
“And don’t you forget it,” Lily told him, hitting him lightly on top of the head. “We should probably go to the front though, Remus, we’re already really late.”
“Yeah, I know,” Remus said. “I meant to go there first, but, you know…seventh year…I pretty much know how to be a prefect now. That meeting’s mostly for the new fifth years, isn’t it?”
“I know,” Lily said, rolling her eyes. “I have to go…the whole Head Girl thing…wouldn’t look good if I missed it. And no way am I going alone!”
“Fair point,” he said, and with a wave to Peter and Sirius, he followed her out the door.
“So,” Lily asked him as they pushed back up the train. “Have you seen James yet?”
The look Remus threw her made her sure that her attempt to sound casual hadn’t fooled him. No one but Sirius had any idea of what had happened between Lily and James back in June, but Remus had always been perceptive, and Lily knew that there was a lot he’d probably guessed.
“Yeah,” he said finally, looking vaguely amused. “He’s drifting around here somewhere.
Lily was torn between asking for more information and holding her tongue, but before she could decide, they had reached the gathering of prefects. Lily craned her neck, hoping for a glimpse of her fellow Head Boy, but the compartment was so packed that eventually she gave up, figuring that she’d find out soon enough. Suddenly uncomfortable surrounded by all the new prefects, she surreptitiously detached the Head Girl badge, and slid it into her pocket.
The meeting was short”although possibly it just seemed that way because she and Remus had missed the first half”and afterwards she hung back, letting the eager fifth years stream out into the train ahead of her. Remus touched her elbow gently. “I’m going to go duke it out with them,” he told her. I’ll see you back in the compartment?”
She nodded, privately thinking that the safer route was to stay put until the corridor had cleared. She spent some time chatting with Alice Rourke, the Hufflepuff seventh-year prefect, whom Lily liked despite the fact that they only knew each other vaguely. After a few minutes, she noticed that the corridor seemed to have cleared and got to her feet, wondering if the food trolley had been by yet. She said good-bye to Alice and stepped outside of the compartment, half-thinking about Cauldron Cakes, and suddenly found herself face-to-face with James Potter.
For a moment, she just stared at him. His hair was a little longer, she noticed almost idly, and had he always been this tall? Behind his glasses, his hazel eyes were twinkling impishly, and he grinned, the left side of his mouth coming up slightly higher than the right. He looked utterly unsurprised to see her.
“Hey, Evans,” he said, just as she realized that she had forgotten to breathe, and inhaled sharply.
“Hi,” she said back.
“So,” he said, after a short pause. “Remus told me you were still in there.” He gestured towards the carriage she had just left.
“Oh, yeah,” she replied. “Prefect stuff, you know.”
James nodded, and for a few long moments, they both looked uncomfortably around the train. Well, this is awkward, thought Lily unhappily. It wasn’t a problem they usually had, either, and Lily wondered if the long months of summer had robbed them of their ability to banter easily with each other.
“Anyway,” James said, after a few more painful moments, and then hesitated. Lily, quite suddenly, was reminded of the promise she had made him last spring”that in the fall, she would have an answer about the two of them, would have decided if she could see them as a couple.
For one heart-stopping moment, she thought he was about to ask her what her decision was. I don’t know yet, she thought, mildly panicked. I still don’t know…it would change everything…
Suddenly desperate to keep him from continuing, Lily raised her hand towards him. “Wait,” she started to say, but just then, a group of eagerly chatting third-years jostled past, pushing her to the side. Her shoulder collided with James’s chest, and he put a hand out to steady her as she turned towards him to apologize. For one dazzling moment she just looked at him”really looked at him, for the first time since June”and then his hand moved from her elbow to the small of her back, and he was kissing her.
His lips were light and warm on hers as she leaned into him, clutching a fistful of his sleeve, all of her perfectly reasonable, planned-out doubts disappearing as he touched her. But a few seconds later, he broke away.
“Sorry,” he said, a little hoarsely. “I didn’t mean to do that.”
Lily rolled her eyes at him good-naturedly, and as he grinned at her, something thawed between them; just like that, they had things to say to each other again.
“So how was your summer, anyway?” James asked her as they began to move down the train together.
“Slow,” she told him. “Remus’s owl bringing those pictures where about the most exciting thing that happened all summer.”
“Oh, yeah, I got those too,” James said. “Sorry I didn’t write to you at all. I thought about it, but I wasn’t sure…”
“Oh, no,” Lily interrupted him hurriedly. “It’s good. I just try to keep anything magical out of the way at home. It’s an old habit, it used to upset Petunia.”
James groaned sympathetically; he was no stranger to Petunia horror stories. “Was she around much this summer?”
“No, actually,” Lily said. “Not until today. She stopped by this morning to tell me”get this”she’s getting married.”
“Really?” James asked, and Lily nodded glumly. “Are you going to the wedding?” he snickered.
“Not much choice,” she said, before adding hopefully, “Maybe she’ll forget to invite me!”
James grinned. Lily turned towards him, opening her mouth to speak, and then stopped. She had suddenly noticed a glint on his chest, and squinted”a second badge was pinned beside his Quidditch Captain badge.
“James,” she said calmly, “what’s that?”
He looked down, and then reflexively covered both badges with his hand. “Nothing,” he said guiltily.
Lily looked at him, half excited and half incredulous. “That’s the Head Boy badge, isn’t it?”
“I”maybe,” James said, looking vaguely ashamed.
Lily was delighted. “You’d better not get on any boats,” she told him. “They’ll sink, you have so much metal pinned to yourself.”
“Ha ha,” he said dryly. “So…that’s it? Sirius made fun of me for weeks.”
Lily shrugged. “Well, it’s a little odd, considering you weren’t a prefect, but it’s not unheard of. Plus, I have no right to make fun of you for being Head Boy.”
“Why, because you’re a prefect?” James asked.
Lily looked at him confusedly, and then said carefully, “Do you…you do know who the Head Girl is, right?”
“Nope,” James said. “Not yet.”
Lily’s fingers went to her pocket, where she had slipped her own Head Girl badge, and didn’t say anything. James didn’t notice, as they had reached their compartment; he slid open the door, and chivalrously stood aside to let her pass.
“Where’ve you guys been?” Sirius asked, his mouth full. “You missed the food trolley.”
“You look like you’ve got enough to share,” James said, eying the large pile of chocolate frogs beside Sirius, who tossed him one.
“But that’s all you’re getting,” Sirius said as James ripped open the package. “I’m a poor bloke, you know. My parents have cut me off…I barely have two Knuts to rub together…no home to my name…”
“I let you live at my house!” James pointed out.
“Which makes me indebted to your parents, yes, but not to you,” Sirius retorted.
Lily, who had been watching this exchange not without amusement, turned around suddenly as the compartment door behind her slid open.
“Lily!” a familiar voice squealed, “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” And Lily was jostled to the side as a small, black-haired girl slammed into her.
“Hi, Mary,” Lily said, grinning and hugging her back. “How was your summer?”
But Mary didn’t seem to hear her”she was busy greeting James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter with the same exuberance. James and Remus seemed entertained by this, although Peter looked mildly frightened, and Sirius downright annoyed.
“So,” Mary asked when she reached Sirius, “did I win the bet?” Remus and Peter, who had both forgotten about last years’ betting pool, suddenly sniggered. Sirius, who had not forgotten, merely rolled his eyes.
“You’ll have to ask them,” he said in a carrying whisper, gesturing towards James and Lily, who both immediately tried to look as though they hadn’t been listening.
Someone cleared her throat loudly, and they all looked up to see a third girl standing in the doorway”Leda Wood, another Gryffindor seventh year.
“Hey, Leda,” Lily said. Leda’s returning nod was rather cool, but Lily was unbothered”the other girl had always been reserved, and the two of them had never been particularly close. “Where’s Amelia?” Lily asked, referring to Leda’s best friend and their final year-mate.
Leda shrugged. “Around here somewhere,” she said, scanning the compartment.
Lily noticed Peter, in his seat by the window, sit up straighter. He and Leda had dated last year, Lily suddenly remembered, and she wondered if Leda was here to see Peter now. She was surprised, however, when Leda made a beeline for James, and grabbed his elbow. He appeared startled as well, and peered down at her curiously. “What’s up?”
“I had a couple questions about this year’s Quidditch team,” said Leda, who played Keeper, and pulled him into a corner.
Lily saw Sirius and Remus exchange a look as Peter slumped back into his seat. Only Mary, still babbling about something, seemed blissfully unaware of the sudden tension in the air. Sirius looked as though he could quite happily toss her out the window. Lily brushed past him, surreptitiously patting his elbow as she went, and slid into the seat next to Peter, who was looking miserable.
“Did you two have a fight or something?” she asked him in an undertone, nodding towards Leda.
Not looking at her, Peter shrugged. “We wrote a lot this summer,” he said quietly. “At least, we did until the end of July, and then she just sort of stopped replying…I didn’t really know what to do. Sirius said it was a girl thing””
“You went to Sirius for girl advice?” Lily interrupted, trying to keep the amusement out of her voice.
“Better him than James,” Peter said, looking at her sideways.
Not sure how she was supposed to react to that, Lily said hastily, “Right Well, do you want to try and talk to her?”
Peter looked a little squeamish. “Well…” he said, but at that moment, they were interrupted by Sirius, who grabbed Peter by the back of his robes and said jubilantly, “Come on, Wormtail! We’re going on an adventure!”
Lily looked over at Mary, who was still talking, and back up at Sirius, who winked. Lily grinned”Sirius had never had much patience for Mary.
Shaking her head, Lily’s smile broadened as she watched them slip outside. Moments later, however, they were back, Peter’s nose wrinkled in disgust. Lily soon realized why”clamping her hand over her own nose, she groaned as the familiar, but no less rancid, smell of Dungbombs followed them in.
“Did you just set those off?” James, reappearing with Leda close behind, demanded of Sirius.
Sirius looked indignant. “Of course not,” he said, glowering.
“They did go off right after you left,” Remus pointed out, and Sirius glared at him. When Mary tittered, he glared at her too, for good measure.
“What do you people think I am,” Sirius asked, “some kind of amateur? First of all, I haven’t set off Dungbombs just to set off Dungbombs since about the third year”there’s always a larger purpose. A distraction, if you will. I do have finesse, you know.”
“Of course,” James said, straight-faced.
“And second,” Sirius continued imperially, ignoring him, “Dungbombs are only funny when you can get away from the smell. Setting them off on a moving train? That’ll just make everyone miserable.”
Huffily, Sirius threw himself into a seat next to Peter, who was grinning. James clapped Sirius on the shoulder, saying, “Okay Padfoot, we believe you.”
“Of course you do,” Sirius grumbled. “I’m right.”
Remus, who had been watching this exchange with vague interest, suddenly bent, pulled out a book from his trunk, and began reading.
“What are you doing?” Sirius asked, sounding deeply disgusted.
“You have seen a book before, haven’t you?” said Remus mildly.
“We haven’t even started classes yet,” Mary said, tilting her head.
“Exactly,” Sirius said, pointing at her.
“It’s for fun, you idiots,” Remus said without venom, idly turning a page.
“Weird,” muttered Sirius, shaking his head.
Grinning at this, James moved away from Leda and flung himself into the seat next to Lily, his elbow bumping into hers. “I’d say the year’s off to a good start, wouldn’t you?” he asked.
“Whatever you say, Head Boy,” Lily said, smirking, and he groaned.
Out of the corner of her eye, Lily saw Leda whisper something to Mary, and the two girls got to their feet.
“We’re going to go find Amelia, see you guys at the feast!” Mary chirped, and they left.
“Finally,” Sirius muttered as the door closed behind them.
Lily rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, she said. “They’re not bad.”
“They’re boring,” Sirius complained. “Mary just yap-yap-yaps about nothing all the time.”
“Oh, sure,” Remus teased from behind his book. “Because you never say anything unless it’s incredibly important.”
Sirius looked at James. “Are you going to let them keep this up?” he asked his best friend plaintively, but James just laughed.