The weekend before school started was only cool at night; during the day it was perfectly pleasant. On Saturday we spent practically the whole morning in bed, having stayed up late after the welcome feast, catching up.
I now knew all about the fling Day had with some guy in Hawaii who didn’t speak English (not a problem for her), Bell having a relatively normal summer with her family (I think the reason she’s so quiet is all those brothers) and Ry’s summer fighting with her kid sister and dealing with her parents divorce. The separation has been going on for years, and I think that’s part of the reason Ry puts up such a brave front, even when she’s not at home.
They joined me in abusing my older sister Petunia (gag me) and making up new names for her. Not all of them were as nice as ‘freak’ which she continually calls me whenever I’m at home.
She doesn’t embrace her creative side all that often.
We spent all of Sunday hanging out in the grounds, and we even visited Hagrid, the games keeper. Ry knew him quite well from when she did detention with him last year. She said they were the most fun detentions she’s ever had in her life, which is probably one of the reasons she was told to stop purposefully getting in trouble by McGonagall.
He fed us cakes that were hard as rocks and relatively tasty tea. I saw no sign of the Marauders, probably because they were being kept under lockdown by McGonagall. They had two days worth of detention for ‘disturbing a well-planned occasion’ and ‘upsetting several well-behaved students’. Pfft, as if. They had the same occasion every year, it couldn’t be that well thought out, and the Slytherins were probably milking it. Not that I’m complaining. It was very peaceful, if a little boring.
That Monday was a long-awaited day for me; school time! I was so excited I got up two full hours earlier than usual and was ready long before anyone. I know people think it’s weird that I like school, but they’re used to it by now. People who hear me singing ‘Hallelujah’ (the happy one, not the depressing one) as they walk past the 6th year girls dormitories on the first day of school just smile, nod, and hope I don’t notice them and kill them in a fit of euphoria.
I was also down at the Great Hall before any of my friends, so the only company I had were several teachers and a couple of early-risers.
‘Hey Evans.’ Who else could it be?
I sat down several spaces away from Potter, but he simply yawned sleepily and moved up to be with me.
‘Why are you up so early?’ Wow, he really was still half asleep. He was bleary-eyed, his skin pale and his hair even messier than usual. I just looked at him with my eyebrows raised, and then he chuckled.
‘Right, of course, first day of school, how could I forget?’
I only shrugged and started on my cereal. I felt his gaze still on me and shifted uncomfortably.
‘What are you doing here so early, Potter?’ I rephrased his original question back at him. He grinned.
‘Couldn’t sleep.’
‘Looks like you have no problem with that now.’
‘Just because I’m sleepy doesn’t mean I’ll actually be able to sleep.’ He replied.
‘How long have you been up?’
‘A couple of hours.’
I bet my eyebrows were in danger of disappearing into my hairline. ‘You’re like the master of sleeping Potter, how is it possible that you got up at five in the morning and didn’t go back to beddy-byes?’
He smirked at me. ‘Beddy- byes?’
‘It’s habit, okay?!’
He raised his arms in surrender. ‘Alright, alright. I think it was worth getting up just to hear you say ‘beddy-byes’ though.’
I scowled at him and buried myself in my cereal once again. He laughed softly. At that opportune moment Professor McGonagall came strolling down from the High table with the schedules. We were two of the only people at the Gryffindor table, excluding a seventh year and three first years.
‘Potter, Evans. Here are your schedules for the year.’ She said. Her tone was much less angry in the morning. It was a nice change. She walked along the other tables handing out more schedules, and I could see someone banging their head on the table while their friend patted them on the shoulder sympathetically. I giggled.
‘What’s funny?’ Potter asked, frowning at me.
‘What? Your schedule not to your liking?’ I grabbed at it and laughed a little more as I saw what classes he had that morning. And then I scanned my own, and joined the boy at the Hufflepuff table in banging my head on the table.
‘Ah, Lily! What is it?!’ I heard him say frantically. I shoved my schedule at him and could practically hear the smirk form on his face. This impression was proved correct when I looked up and saw him looking with glee at both our schedules.
Yes, it was true; I had basically all of the same classes as Potter. How is that possible? The only classes he wasn’t taking that I was were Ancient Runes and Arithmancy.
‘Why are you taking Divination?’ I groaned at him.
He shrugged. ‘It’s easy, so I and Pads decided to get a few extra marks.’
I groaned again and my head went back to table. I felt him pat my shoulder gently.
‘Now now Lilykins, look on the bright side, now your classes will have an element of fun!’
‘That was the point of taking the classes. They’re fun on their own!’ I said, my voice slightly muffled even to my ears.
We continued like this for about fifteen more minutes, and by that time, Sirius had joined us.
‘James! Mate! Where in Merlins pants were you? I’m so used to having to dump a bucket of water on your head first day of school and this time there was no head!’ He was rambling on as he sat across from us. ‘Oh by the way, your pillow's soaking now. Sorry about that.’
‘James’ I groaned. ‘Make him stop.’
‘Sorry Pads, but we’re in mourning here. No loud voices allowed.’ He said in a hushed voice.
‘Alright Prongsie, but I’ve a question for you. Did she just say James?’
‘Holy crap!’
‘Shut up Potter!’ I cried. And before anyone asks, yes, my head was still on the table. I lifted it with difficulty and glared at both of them. Sirius smirked at me. They all have that smirk. It’s infuriating.
‘Lils? Sorry to point this out but you’ve got a big red imprint on your forehead.’ James said. He closed his eyes and braced himself, as though waiting for a tidal wave.
But I only sighed and closed my eyes also. ‘Great. This day is going to be just wonderful.’
‘Well, for you Lily, isn’t it supposed to be?’ Oh yay! Someone sane!
I opened my eyes and looked joyfully at Bell, the next one of us to rise. It’s always the same way. Next should be Day, and then Ry.
‘You’re here!’
‘Yes, I’m here.’ She said uncertainly, sitting down next to Sirius and buttering a piece of toast. ‘Is she all right?’ She murmured to him.
‘We’re in mourning.’ He answered in a hushed voice.
‘Why?’
‘Actually, I still don’t know. Prongs, why?’
Potter gave him our schedules and Sirius burst out laughing.
‘Ah god, Sirius! Shut up!’ Potter said, wincing. ‘It’s early!’
Sirius gave the schedules to Bell and she looked wide eyed at me. ‘Now Lily, it’s alright dear. Just breath, and everything will be fine.’
I did as she told me to. ‘Not working. No matter how you look at it, this sucks.’ I said, and then looked at Potter. ‘No offence.’
‘None taken.’ He yawned.
‘Alright, I’ve come to terms with it. Potter, will you be nice and normal like Sirius promised he would for this year?’ I asked hopefully.
Potter raised his eyebrows at me. ‘What’s the magic word?’
‘Please.’
‘Well, no, that wasn’t, but I’ll take it.’ He smirked at Sirius.
‘Am I missing something here?’ I said, my brows furrowing as I looked from Potter to Sirius and back again.
‘Hey Lily, why have you got a big red mark on your head?’ Well, that’s one way to announce your presence. Welcome to the party Day.
‘No reason.’ I said, and finished my cornflakes. ‘Well, I’m off.’
‘Where are you going?’ Potter called after me, sounding genuinely perplexed.
‘Class!’ I answered, as though this would be obvious to anyone.
‘Class doesn’t start for another twenty minutes!’
I just shrugged and walked out of the hall. Why were they everywhere, all the time? As soon as I walked through the doors I bashed into Remus, who apologised profusely and helped me up. I growled at him, and so he jumped back and stood respectfully as I walked by.
The Transfiguration classroom was empty when I got there, and I took a seat at the very front and began setting out all my pencils on the desk. I think I have OCD tendencies.
And then a black haired boy walked into the room. It could have been any number of boys, including Ja-POTTER and Black, but I knew instinctively who it was and tensed in my seat. The boy only threw a look over at me and took a seat at the very back of the classroom.
Of course, Severus Snape. He’s kind of a target for the Marauders pranks, and also my ex-best friend.
Surprised? So was I when he called me a Mudblood back in fifth year.
We’d been friends since we were kids, and he had actually been the one to tell me about Hogwarts. He’d told me all about Slytherin, the house he wanted to be in, and for a couple of years of my life, I actually wanted to. It’s a disturbing thought now, as I’m all Gryffindor, but he really was my very best friend, and I trusted him with all my heart.
He’d always hated Ja-POTTER and his friends, and I could see why. The Marauders were never anything but mean to him, from the very first train ride. Its part of the reason I started disliking them too.
Severus is a pale, gangly sort of person, with black hair and dark eyes, but it didn’t matter to me that he wasn’t the most attractive person in the world. It was his changing personality that I begun not to like. He was hanging around with people from Slytherin that I absolutely hate, and I’ve learned to accept that though Potter is an arrogant bully, Snape's friends were much worse. This went beyond playground teasing. And so I cut him loose. The Mudblood scene had been a long time coming, and it was just the final straw.
Now what I get is creepy looks. Sometimes I feel kind of bad, but most of the time I know what I did was right.
While I was wrapped up in my ponderings the classroom had gradually filled. I looked around with surprise.
‘Lily! What was the point of coming here when quite clearly, McGonagall was handing out schedules?’ Day asked, sliding into the seat next to me.
‘I like to be prepared!’ I answered crossly.
‘No one could be more prepared than you, Lily darling.’
I turned around to find the Marauders all sitting in the row behind us. How spectacular.
‘Why are you guys always everywhere?’ I directed my question to Potter, who was sitting directly behind me.
‘Because you adore us so much that you hallucinate and see us all the time.’ Black answered me.
‘What world are you living in?’
‘The one where everything is rainbows and smiles.’
‘And lollipops and candy canes?’ What is wrong with my friends today?
‘Yeah! How did you know?’ Sirius answered Day.
‘I love that world!’
‘Me too!’ They beamed at each other, while I stared at them in genuine bewilderment.
‘You scare me sometimes.’
‘And me.’
‘You’re not allowed to add to my statements, Potter!’
Professor McGonagall strolled into the room and we were all forced to be quiet, but I threw a glare over my shoulder for Potter’s benefit. I hope he cries.
The morning passed quickly, straight through transfiguring a mole, predicting Day would be skipping with a pyromaniac next week and translating several lines of runes for Professor Martedi. She just loves me.
At lunch Day (who also took Ancient Runes) and I met Ry and Bell in the Great hall. We took our seats and began to eat.
‘I’m starving.’ Ry said as she shovelled food into her mouth faster than Dumbledore can Apparate.
‘Well, that won’t be a problem when you explode.’ I said, looking at her with vague fascination.
She rolled her eyes. ‘I’ve got to get to the library.’
‘Why?’ I asked her incredulously. She shrugged.
‘I have to get a book.’
‘What book?’
‘I don’t know! Just a book!’ And within five minutes she was gone.
‘That was weird.’ Day stated, looking at us for confirmation. ‘Right?’
‘Very weird.’ Bell confirmed. ‘Why the library?’
‘Why the quick digestion?’ I asked.
‘Well, that’s not that weird. For Ry, I mean.’ Day said.
‘Looks who’s talking.’ Bell said. Day poked her tongue out at her. Bell just shook her head. ‘We’ll ask her later.’
And so the lunch ended on an odd note. Extremely strange. Though, things just keep getting weirder and weirder. Next thing you know I’ll be begging Potter to ask me out and Bell will be dancing on the Gryffindor table.
A/N: So, does anyone have any suggestions after reading the third chapter? I know it's more centred around Lily and her thoughts at the moment, and we won't get heavy Lily/James tension until later in the story. I hope you're okay with that :)
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