Petunia might be extremely nosy, but she was still nice to have as a sister, Lily realized. They would sit on Lily's bed for hours, talking about meaningless things like Serena's face when James got rid of her (Petunia especially liked that), the question in Geometry Petunia knew she got right but the teacher simply hated her, and the fight she'd just had with Vernon.
But before long, two weeks into the summer vacation, to be exact, Lily started to leave the house at every possible opportunity. Petunia and her friends had started inviting boys over, and Lily didn't like it much when they started to stare at her. It simply made her writhe inside, almost as if she had just stepped onto a stage wearing nothing but a towel. And when Petunia started going around, introducing her to some of the boys and mentioning to them how well Lily had managed the household, it started to get really uncomfortable for Lily. Which is why she would usually be found spending the day at Amanda's, who lived four blocks away. She had to walk for a bit, but she didn't mind so much.
It was about three days before her birthday when she found herself on another jog down to Amanda's. Petunia was going to a party at the neighborhood pool, and Lily didn't want to stay in the house all alone, with nothing much to do. So, when she rounded the corner that turned onto Amanda's street, she was terribly startled as someone ran right into her, knocking her off of her feet, making her fall backwards onto the hot asphalt.
"You've never missed a summer without making me fall onto the street, have you? Will you quit!"
James stretched a hand out to help her up. "Sorry about that. Didn't see you."
Lily swung herself up off of the ground. "Oh, sure."
"I am. What are you doing here?"
She stared. "I might ask you that same thing! I live here, all right?"
"You do?"
"No; in Fourdrica."
"Huh? Where's that?" He looked genuinely puzzled.
"It's my imaginary country, doofus. It didn't exist till about five seconds ago."
"Oh." He helped her dust herself off. "Where you going?"
"Amanda's. What about you?"
He grimaced. "My cousin's. He's a Muggle, but Mom adores him. I don't know why, and I don't want to know why."
"That bad, huh?"
"He pinches my cheek. I hate that."
"And of course, you're always delighted when he does."
"Oh, definitely. You're going to Amanda's now?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "No; the Tooth Fairy palace."
"Oh." He pulled a wallet out of his back pocket, and, evidently finding it empty, turned to Lily. "Mind if I come with you? I'm currently broke."
Shaking her head, Lily turned the corner. "I would say all right, but the problem is, when I'm around you, we end up fighting. Every single time we talk."
He scratched his head. "You have a point. Want to try to make it a first time?"
"No."
"Come on! Why not?"
Lily kicked at a small pebble that was in her way, sending it into a trash can. "No."
"Hey, I'd like to have some fun once in a while, too! I hate being stuck at my cousin's."
"Get used to disappointment."
He shook his head. "You're a rude little brat, you know that?"
"And you're some things I won't mention because there are small children that live in this neighborhood."
"You little thirteen-year-old brat!"
"Fourteen in three days. I told you we'd start fighting!"
James looked rather sheepish. "I guess we are, aren't we?"
"You and your powers of deduction, Mr. Holmes."
"They're great, aren't they?"
"No."
He came close to coming back with a smart retort, but changed the subject instead. "Your birthday's in three days?"
"It was three hundred sixty-two days ago. What's wrong with you?"
"In other words, yes."
"Um," Lily agreed, trying to swat a wasp that was humming loudly around her head.
He shrugged and put an arm around her shoulders. "What do you say, want to try to turn over a new leaf?"
Lily eyed his arm suspiciously. "Get your hand off of my shoulder."
"Fine." He removed it, wrinkling his nose a bit. "You're really touchy, you know that?"
Lily frowned. Then, sighing loudly, she gave up.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just not in the best of moods right now."
"Really?" James looked concerned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm just feeling really edgy and mean."
"Huh." James frowned, too, but his didn't last long as he caught sight of a house and its inhabitant across the street. "Look; there's Amanda. Are you letting me come, too?"
Lily looked at him quizzically, but then grinned widely. "Sure. We're planning to go swimming. Want to come?"
James smiled, too. "Perfect. I was planning to escape to the neighborhood pool."
"That would be a bad idea. Petunia's practically taken it over. Amanda has her own."
"Oh, awesome!"
Lily sniffed good-naturedly. "But don't set your sights on a black marble basin. This is white tile and chlorinated water."
"It's water, isn't it? Come on!"
He pulled her forward to Amanda, who stared at James, a bit puzzled.
"Lily, I thought you said you didn't have guests?"
"I don't. I met this git on the street. He wants to come swimming."
"Oh." Amanda propelled both of them inside. "Sure. Eva's over here, and so is Vanessa, and Miranda. You're gonna have to put up with us girls; you know that, don't you?"
James smiled. "What could be better? Do I have any competition?"
Lily rolled her eyes as she withdrew into the bathroom. "Is that all you ever think about?"
"Pretty much, yeah," he yelled as she slammed the door.
When Lily emerged, in her newer black suit, James was already changed and leaning back on a lawn chair, talking animatedly with Miranda about the Quidditch World Cup.
"Is that all they ever talk about," Amanda whispered in her ear.
Lily sighed. "Yeah, just about. It's sad that I know that."
"It is. Come on. I'll race you." She threw off the towel she had been wearing, and, immediately, she and Lily dove into the water.
Lily was already leaning on the edge of the pool, tsking to herself as Amanda's head broke the surface.
"You know, that's why two-piece suits with frilly stuff on them are really pretty stupid to wear."
"Oh yeah, Miss Streamlined?"
"Yeah."
"Fine! We'll try again! Eva," to the blonde watching the race. "Mind saying 'go' for us?"
Eva slid into the water. "I'll even stand at the other end to see who comes in first." She suited the action to the word, she hit the water forcefully, as the "Ready, set, GO!" rang though the air.
This time it was a bit closer, but not much. Lily only won by about two feet.
"Amanda, I'd suggest switching that pink thing for something else."
Amanda snorted. "How about yours?"
"No. NO. Black is nice. I will not wear pink. I refuse to wear pink. Don't even think that you can make me wear pink of my own free will."
"Honestly." Amanda switched from her dead-man's float to a float on her back. "James Potter!"
The called immediately jumped up from the lawn chair. "Yeah?"
"Would you race this brat over here? She's insisting that she's the best one around here."
Lily's "I did not!" came a bit too late, for James was already in the water when it was half out of her mouth.
"All right, Evans, let's see! Come on!" He had been working on his swimming and Lily knew that. However, this was a challenge, and she wasn't about to turn it down.
"Ten laps. Eva, say go!"
They were both clinging to the wall of the pool within seconds, feet poised against it, ready to kick off. When Eva hit the water with a foam mat, they took off, streaking through the water. They were neck to neck for the first few seconds, but when Lily saw James trying to knock her out of his way, she did a quick dive downwards, near the bottom of the pool.
It was impossible for her to come back up for air now, and, out of the way of any annoying currents, she completed the first and second lap without a problem. The third one was going well, and she was pleased to note that her opponent was a few inches behind her, though he was on the surface and she on the bottom. Around the seventh one, she started running out of air, and her strokes became a bit wilder. On the ninth, she was rising to the top, exhausted, and, three feet away from the finish line with James ten inches behind her, she desperately reached for the edge. Suddenly, however, something struck her on the head, and everything went a sort of glazed white behind her eyelids.
James reached the wall triumphantly, leaping out. "All right! Who's the man? Evans, I beat you this time!" His grin was infectious, and Vanessa, Eva, Miranda, and Amanda started laughing, too. After a few seconds, when Lily didn't emerge, he slowly realized something was wrong.
"Hey–where's Lily? She didn't climb out, did she?"
Eva shook her head. "No–Lily? Lily!" She stood up and walked to the pool, then clapped her hands to her mouth and let out a piercing shriek. "Lily!"
Her friend was floating near the bottom of the pool, dark red hair spread out over her face and entangling the water in its web. James and everyone else rushed to the edge. Then he let out a small laugh.
"Lil, you can come up now! We know you're shamming!" He turned to the girls. "She really had me fooled for a while. Where did she learn how to play dead like that?"
A bit reassured, Miranda and Vanessa regained their armchairs, and James, after a few seconds, went to join them, but another shriek from Eva stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Lily!"
Everyone sped back to the pool as fast as they could. As soon as they stared down into the pool, it was obvious to everyone why Eva had screamed.
The form was still floating limply near the bottom, but a red tint was staining the water for several inches around her head and neck. The girls stood there, frozen to the tiles, and James knew enough not to expect any help from them. Ignoring the towel he had wrapped around his waist, he dived in, towards the bottom.
It was pretty deep; about ten or twelve feet, and before he had reached Lily, his ears started to pound. He ignored the stain that was dyeing his surroundings, and, with a bit of a shudder, he grasped the limp girl around the waist. A shudder, for he had caught sight of an injury on her head. It was on the back of her skull, and at least a square inch of complete red was visible. More than that he couldn't see; the water was too chlorinated. Nevertheless, he pulled her upwards, kicking the bottom of the pool for greater speed.
His head broke the surface within seconds. Panting and frightened, he pulled Lily up. "Some one get me a towel! Now!"
Vanessa obeyed quickly. A white bit of cloth was wrapped around Lily's head, and James tried unsuccessfully to push her onto dry land.
"She's too heavy. Someone at least grab her hand and pull!"
Eva and Miranda immediately took hold of Lily. Vanessa was clearing a lawn chair; Amanda had run for her mother. Together, it took them barely ten seconds to get their friend out of the water. Gasping for breath, they lifted her onto the chair just as Mrs. Milton rushed out, accompanied by a yapping poodle.
"Oh, my God! How ever did this happen? Amanda, were you fighting or something? Oh, heavens, now I'll be responsible!" It took them several minutes to quiet her down and get her to call an ambulance. She was too flustered to think of anything else, so Amanda had to call Lily's family.
The few minutes while they waited for the ambulance were horrible. The towel kept reddening, and they had had to replace it twice with a fresh one. Eva and Miranda had to cover her with a large quilt; her lips were turning blue. No one had really asked themselves what had happened–well, actually, James had wondered. Privately, while the girls were running to and fro for towels and bandages and seeing where on earth the ambulance was, James slipped outside. Gazing at the water quizzically, he found what he was looking for. Sitting on the bottom of the pool was a reddish-brown thing that most people would call a brick. James called it a brick.
Lily tried to sit up again but failed. "Where is Dad?" She winced.
Amanda put a hand on her arm. "Making coffee in the kitchen. He and James haven't gone to sleep since you got hurt."
"Really?" Eyes wide, she turned to James. "You bothered?"
A bit sheepish, but more concerned, he sort of half-nodded. "Of course. You don't expect me not to, do you?"
"Well–kind of. I haven't exactly been the nicest person to you, have I?"
"That's beside the point."
"I'm too tired to argue." Her head dropped limply back and she fell into a half-doze, half-blackout just as her father entered the room.
She kept waking up for a few seconds over the next few days, and she always saw the same people there, with the addition of her sister. The only thing she ate was a thin sort of potato soup; about a bowl every other day. It was all she could manage; every time she stayed awake for too long, her head would start to swim and she would get faintly nauseous. But, three weeks after her accident, she was able to eat a full meal and sit up without feeling nauseous. It was a rather overdone reaction; no one else that anyone knew of had ever reacted this badly to only a slight head wound, so everyone was on pins and needles during those three weeks. When she started to recover, though, she did so rapidly, and within four weeks of her accident, she was walking, running even, and going about everything that she had done before. Still, every time she bent over suddenly or strained herself too much lifting boxes or anything of the sort, the same well of nausea would overcome her, and she'd have to sit down for a while.
One morning, seven weeks into summer vacation, Lily was setting the table for a late breakfast for her and her sister; her father had already eaten; he had left for the office two hours ago. Lily was carrying the stack of toast and pancakes to the table when the doorbell rang.
Carefully, Lily set the loaded plate down on the table. Petunia ran for the door; opened it, and shouted for her sister.
"Lily, it's for you. That Potter kid."
Lily went to the door, writhing a bit, knowing that James had heard Petunia call him 'that Potter kid'. He didn't think that she called him that behind his back, did he? But why would she care what he thought? Her musings were interrupted by Petunia, who dragged her into the doorway and then abruptly vanished. As soon as she had shut the kitchen door, James burst out laughing.
"She doesn't really like me, does she?"
"Obviously not. I'm sorry about that."
"It's okay." He stepped inside. "I came to see how you were doing."
"Oh." Lily ushered him inside the kitchen, to Petunia's annoyance. "Fine, I think. Have something to eat?"
"Sure!" He took the plate of bacon, toast, and pancakes that was offered, and Lily wondered idly why she even bothered to ask. She walked over to the cabinet, searching for maple syrup. Meanwhile, James was trying to start a conversation with Petunia.
"So…how are you?"
Petunia started, then assumed the look of a hunted rabbit, peeled eyes and all. "Er–"
"Having a good summer?"
"Erm."
"Er–where do you go to school?"
Petunia found her tongue. "Somewhere civilized."
"Oh." James was finding this rather difficult. "I–er–I hope you like it there."
This remark fell on deaf ears. Petunia was thinking to herself how much she would love to use a large amount of something sticky on James' hair, something that would make it lie flat. She had corn syrup in mind.
"Have you been to Diagon Alley at all?"
"Yes. I wish I hadn't."
Unfazed, James continued. "So, next time you go, drop by Fortescue's ice cream place. I can give you and Lil discounts and stuff; I'm working there now."
Lily came back with the glass syrup bottle. "Really? Part-or full-time?"
"Part-time. Dad wants me to get a job even though he knows I'll not have to later on."
"Oh, right." He had told her once before that his family was terribly rich. "I'll drop by, then. When do you work there?"
"One to five, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday."
"Okay. Orange juice or chocolate milk or milk or chocolate chip bread or cinnamon sugar for the toast?"
Petunia wiped her lips with a napkin. "Milk."
"James?"
The questioned leaned back in his chair. "Everything. But never mind the milk."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Winnie."
"Huh?" James stopped tilting the chair to look at her.
"Winnie-the-Pooh. When Rabbit asked him if he wanted cream or honey with his bread, he said 'Both', but to 'never mind about the bread'."
"Oh." James looked a bit sheepish. "Do you mind?"
"Of course not. That's my job. The unpaid waitress. I simply rejoice in serving you."
He snorted, but nevertheless jumped up and took some of the things out of her hands.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
It was a week before school started, and so no one except Petunia and the neighborhood cat was surprised when a large owl flew in, with another one at its heels. One, a tawny barn owl, landed in front of Lily, the other, a tiger-striped eagle owl, knocked James' glass into his plate as it glided onto the tablecloth. Each of them had letters clamped in their beaks, but James' had a small purple pouch tied to its leg with a note attached.
"Hogwarts owls!"
"Oh, good! Look–this is from Mum–" He untied the bag, took the letter, and let his owl fly back. Lily did the same. "I guess my letter got dropped off before yours–anyway, when I go to work today, I'm supposed to get my things. I do wish she'd choose a color other than purple for her moneybags!" Sighing, he moodily mopped the orange juice up with his napkin. "Still. Lil, coming to Diagon Alley today?"
Lily shrugged. "Might as well. What time is it?"
Petunia checked the kitchen clock. "Ten thirty."
Lily nodded. "Gives us plenty of time. Are we taking the subway?"
"No need." James produced a small envelope of something from his pocket. Lily eyed it suspiciously.
"What is that?"
"Floo powder. You do have a fireplace, right?"
"Yeah…but we don't use it."
"Damn. Have any matches?"
Lily frowned. "Up in my room; I use them to light the incense sticks."
"Good. You get a newspaper?"
"Every morning."
"There. That should be all we need." He saw Lily get up from the table, clearing things away. "Need help?"
"I wouldn't mind."
"Okay, then. Hang on–let me get those–" He reached for several dishes that were slipping from the stack.
Thirty minutes later, the kitchen was clean, Lily had changed from her lounging shorts and shirt into jeans and a green shirt, and she was striking a match to set to the crumpled newspaper balls in the fire. There were a good many of them, so the fire shouldn’t die out too quickly. With a sharp flare, the flames caught the paper, which crumpled quickly.
James threw a pinch of green powder into the fire. "Quick!" He grabbed her hand, shouted "Diagon Alley," and both of them were instantly spinning in the network of fireplaces.
They emerged in the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron, as usual. Several people she knew were already there, and they awkwardly let each other's hand go. Sirius leaned back, grinning.
"So, James, made another conquest?"
"Shut up," James scowled.
Lily interposed. "Sirius, what're you doing here?"
"Hanging around. Mum's dropped me here till she gets done shopping, So I decided to wait till James gets here. I need some ice cream."
"You can't pay for it?"
"Why should I, when I have a generous friend?" He stood up, stretching a bit. "But I decided to wait to get my Hogwarts things till someone I know–besides Peter–shows up. And I didn't much care to go with Snape and them."
"Sure, then." James shrugged. "Come with us. Lil's got to go to Gringotts first, so we've got to go there, but afterwards we're pretty much unscheduled till one."
"What's then?"
"Fortescue's."
"Oh, right." Sirius headed for the alley door. "Come on, then!"
In the back, a dark-haired fifteen-year-old glowered, remembering the question he'd asked a certain red-head about six months ago and the answer she'd given him. And now she comes parading into the Leaky Cauldron, holding hands with Potter? She told me she didn't turn me down because of him–well, that just shows how much her promises are good for! I hate her for that!–don't want anything else to do with her–oh, God, this is insane! Why can't I stop thinking about her?
He turned to Lucius; tried to interest himself in his conversation, but his thoughts kept turning back to someone else. Every so often, he would try to tell himself that he hated her, but it wouldn’t work. He kept mentally hitting himself for it right after he thought it. Finally, after a few hundred attempts to act relatively normal, he stood up, ignoring the confused questions Lucius was asking him, and followed Sirius, James, and Lily out into Diagon Alley.
Peter had declined the invitation to join them, so they went to Gringotts without him. It wasn’t as if they were really missing out on anything important; he never said much anyway. Sirius declined the cart ride, saying he’d just eaten, but James was the first one on it; the goblin had had to jump back to let him on.
Wildly whipping her hair about her face, the cart finally stopped in front of her safe. She hastily pulled out a few Galleons and Sickles, stuffing them into her bag. When they emerged, they had to shield their eyes from the sun, which had decided to come out in the meantime.
Sirius pulled them along into Flourish and Blotts, where they each got all of the supplies they needed. Lily and James’ included a highly advanced Anatomy book; Lily was excited when she pulled it off of the shelf, and even more so when she flipped through it. This was to be her book for the next three years; fifth, sixth, and seventh, and her eyes widened appreciatively when she saw, in the back, a full diagram of the systems of both the elf-nymph and the pentacorn, which hardly differed from the unicorn. The Transfiguration book was the usual; hardly demanding, as was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts one. They were supposed to be getting a new one, which was good, depending on the quality of the teacher.
They stepped out of Flourish and Blotts, and the first place they went to was a joke shop. Lily had to be dragged in there against her will, for she didn’t put it past either of the boys to drop a firecracker down the back of her shirt. However, although she didn’t stand with her back to the wall all the time, she still managed to get out of the shop without having sparks fly up and down her shirt.
By the time they had finished their shopping, it was time for James to get to work. Sirius and Lily accompanied him inside, affectedly oohing over his white apron with “Florean Fortescue’s” on it in red Old English letters.
He left them sitting behind the counter for a while, then came back with large cones for each of them. Sirius dug right into his cone, but Lily reached into her money-bag, pulling out a few Sickles. “Here.”
James waved that away. “You’ve got too many good manners. I’m not making you pay; you’re my friend, for Pete’s sake!”
Lily tried offering it again, but he fastened her hand around it. “Stop being all noble. It’s yours; you don’t have to pay for it. The whole gift idea.”
Lily shrugged. “I don’t mind. Thanks.”
During the course of the day, Lily became so bored (James wouldn’t give up the Floo powder and she was too lazy to go anywhere) that she offered to help out behind the counter. The offer was gratefully accepted by Mr. Fortescue and his son, Florean. Jr., and within seconds, Lily was outfitted with Mrs. Fortescue’s blindingly white apron, serving people iced drinks and frozen cakes. The boys had declined this job.
She could see why, too, after a bit. People who didn’t feel inclined to go to the counter and complain about melting ice could very well do that from their seats. And they did, too. Frequently. Lily had to restrain herself from giving a bald lady with a drool-filled mouth a sock in the jaw when that old lady mumbled about how scandalous it was, having barley-dressed minors waitressing. This was a lie. Lily was wearing long jeans and a shirt that covered her elbows, and she had only undone the top two buttons. It was untucked, true, but if a shirt comes down past your belt loops, Lily figured, it was quite all right.
She was listening patiently to a gripe having to do with uncomfortable seats and how inappropriate tight pants were on waitresses (they were a size too big for her) when the door opened, letting out the cold air coming from the freezers. Lily sighed with relief—it was Severus and Lucius. She dropped a quick curtsy to the old git sitting half in and half out of the chair, took up her tray, and swept over to the new arrivals, smiling exhaustedly as she wiped a wet strand of hair out of her face.
“Hallo. Can I get you anything?”
Severus frowned. “Lily—you look really tired—and mad. What’s up?”
“And why are you working here,” Lucius added.
Lily shrugged. “Not working—more volunteering out of boredom. Can I get you anything,” she repeated.
Lucius shrugged. “Double iced frappucino.”
Lily nodded. “Coming right up. Severus?”
He caught her eye but looked away nervously. “Oh—anything’ll be fine. Chocolate maybe?”
“Sure.” Lily pulled out her writing pad. “Double, triple, over?”
He sank into a seat. “Double’s fine.”
“All right.” Balancing the tray she was carrying, she made her way over to the counter, where Florean, Jr. was slicing a frozen cake. “Here.” She ripped off the piece of paper, handed it to him.
He glanced at it quickly. “We’ll need some more chocolate. It’s disappearing fast.”
“Mmm.” Lily was handing a couple a sprinkle shaker. “It’s hot in here.”
“Stick your head in the ice cream, then it gets better.”
Lily laughed. “I would, if my hair would stop shedding. Is that the frappucino?” He had just placed a dark brown something on the counter that had pieces of ice in it.
“Yeah. And here’s the chocolate. Say, Lily—“ he added almost irreverently as she balanced both orders on the tray.
“Hm?”
“Say, would you like to have some ice cream together sometime?”
Lily froze. She didn’t really know how to respond to that. “Um—hang on. I’ll be back.” She wound herself through the tables till she reached her friends. “Here you go.”
Severus was searching Lily’s face. “What’s up? You don’t look so happy.”
Lily frowned. “Florean just asked me to have some ice cream with him sometime, and I don’t really know what to say.”
“Oh.” Lucius nodded. “Do you want to, or not?”
Wrinkling her nose, Lily pulled out the bill. “I know some girl—well, most, actually—think he’s nice-looking, but he’s a frightful git. He thinks too much of himself.”
“I take it that’s a no?”
“It is.”
Severus jumped in. “Say you’re already busy that day.”
“Doing what?”
“Well—“ Severus stopped, floundered for words, but Lucius caught on.
“Say you’re spending that day with Severus. He wouldn’t mind!”
Lily chose to ignore the last sentence. “All right—I’ll try that. Thanks, guys! And—that’ll be six Sickles, twenty-four Knuts…”
She didn’t use that excuse with Florean, however; she just told him “No, but thank you.” very firmly. There was one good thing about that episode however—when she related it to her friends, it effectively prevented her from ever having to waitress again. James especially didn’t want her working there again—he seemed to have something particular against Florean. Lily didn’t mind; it would keep her fist away from the jaws of old ladies.
The next day, an owl came from Hogwarts; sort of bulky, and a bit hard. It gave off a metallic clang, anyhow, when it was dropped on the table. Lily slit it open.
What fell out was something she really hadn’t expected but that put a large grin on her fact. A large, shiny star, with ‘Prefect’ engraved on it. She picked up the letter that went with it.
Dear Miss Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected as a Gryffindor fifth year prefect. This is a great honor, chosen by observation of your study habits, grades, and overall behavior. This is an added responsibility that will prepare you for positions of authority, therefore, we will be requiring you to monitor the years below you and to keep order as best you can. You will be permitted to remove points from Houses for substantial reasons, and when you arrive at Hogwarts, we shall give you the password for Professor Dumbledore’s office.
Sincerely,
Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster,
and
Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House
Lily’s father was so proud of her, he almost crushed her to pieces when he hugged her.
“We’re so proud of our girl! A prefect! Oh, you don’t know how much this means to us!”
Lily grinned hard herself, suppressing her grin in her father’s shirt. “Daddy, really?”
“Of course! Oh, you just can’t tell how proud I am…”
All too soon, it was the morning of September first, and they were scheduled to leave in thirty minutes. Lily was a bit frustrated; she couldn’t find her Charms book. She’d checked everywhere; her trunk, under her bed, under the sofa in the living room and between the cushions, inside the kitchen cabinets...It annoyed her to think that she’d have to order a new one, and when ten-thirty rolled around, Lily was snapping at everyone in the house, including the neighborhood cat that wandered over for breakfast.
Petunia wasn’t all too happy with her mood. “Well, for gosh sakes, Lily, it’s only a stupid book!”
“Yeah, and I don’t want to order another one. Now come on!”
“Come on what?”
“We’ve got to now now. Dad!”
He rushed down from the attic. “Coming, dear. I’ll get the car started.” He dragged her trunk outside, with lots of groaning about the weight of it. Preoccupied and trying to remember where she’d left it last, Lily walked out the front door, running into a form outside it.
”Ouch!”
“Ow!”
Lily stepped back, holding her forehead. “You have a really hard shoulder, you know that?”
“And you a really hard head. What’s wrong?”
“Can’t find my Charms book and we’re late already. What’re you here for?”
James smiled sheepishly. “Well, first off, to return this—“ he pulled her book out from behind his back—“and secondly, to ask for a ride. My folks can’t take me.”
“And I suppose you thought we’d be glad to take you?” Lily snatched the volume from him, though she couldn’t suppress a smile.
“Well, that’s about the gist of it.” He was a bit unnerved now.
Lily took his arm. ‘You were right. “Come on—we’d better go. Dad’s already hassled enough, and if we miss the train, it’ll be worse.”
As it turned out, they didn’t miss the train, though they came awfully close to doing so. The clock over the barrier between platforms nine and ten showed three minutes to eleven when they pushed their trolley through the barrier, and there were thirty seconds left by the time that they got their trunks stowed in a compartment and sank into seats, panting.
“I do wish my mother hadn’t bought such a heavy trunk!”
“You’re telling me! I had to carry one end of it. How much does it weigh—empty?”
“I think somewhere around a hundred pounds…well, that’s what it feels like, anyhow. Remus!”
This last was to a form in the doorway. Remus Lupin had just pushed open the compartment door.
“Hi, all. We were wondering where you were. Thought you might have missed the train.”
Just then, a large toot rang in their ears as the train pulled out of the station. Lily rolled her eyes. “We came awfully close to it, didn’t we?”
“Yeah. Thanks to Lily here.”
“Hey! If I hadn’t been so late, you wouldn’t have gotten a ride!”
“True.” James looked at the seats next to him. “Moony, have a seat, why don’t you?”
Lily frowned. “Moony?”
Remus waved that aside. “It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a stupid nickname, that’s all.”
“Hmph.” James frowned. “Remus, she knows about your unnatural habits. Anyway, she likes fanged, furry creatures. Don’t you, Lil?”
In answer, Lily hit James in the stomach, hard, and had fun laughing at him when he keeled onto the floor of the compartment, wheezing.
“Remus, do you mind if they call you that?”
Remus shrugged. “Why should I? I am a werewolf; why should I bother facing it?”
“Good answer.” Lily slid onto the floor of the compartment. “Exploding Snap, anyone?”
Meanwhile, Sirius, Peter, Eva, and Amanda had joined them and they were in the middle of their third game when the compartment door slid open and Severus stood at the door. The four boys stood up, clenching their fists.
“What do you want, Snape?” Sirius spat out the word ‘Snape’ as if it were poisonous.
Severus shrugged. “I just want to talk to Lily, that’s all.”
James grasped Lily’s wrist firmly. “Don’t you dare. He’s probably gonna jinx you as soon as you’re out of the compartment.
This was too much. Lily pinched his hand, hard.
“Ow! What was that for!”
“Don’t try to restrain me. I’ll do as I please. Severus, don’t mind these donkeys. I’ll be right out.” She ignored dumbfounded stares from the boys, rolled her eyes in response to suppressed laughter on the girls’ side, and stepped out of the compartment, shutting the door.
“What? You looked as if it was something serious.”
He winced. “Sort of. Remember what you told me, at that Christmas party?”
Lily squared her shoulders. “I thought you asked me to forget about it.”
“Well, yeah. But, still—you said that you didn’t throw me over because of Potter.”
“I didn’t.”
“Well, but you came into the Leaky Cauldron—er—holding hands with him, and then you’re volunteering at the place where he works—“
Lily had cut him off sharply by placing a hand over his mouth. “I was not holding Potter’s hand. He grabbed mine so as not to waste Floo powder. He only had a bit.”
“Oh.” Severus looked a bit relieved.
“And the only reason I was volunteering there was because I was bored out of my mind.”
“Oh.” Severus looked quite a bit happier now. “I was just wondering…”
Lily smiled. “It’s all right. Do you still need me or will I have to return to the controlling maniacs?”
“You mean Potter and Black and them?”
“Yeah.”
“That was all I wanted to ask. Thanks.”
“No problem. See you at Hogwarts!”
“Yeah, see you,” he echoed as she quietly pulled the compartment door open to face accusing faces from the boys.
“Lily, how could you do that? That’s betrayal!”
“He’s our greatest enemy! You know that!”
“And you could have been killed out there! You know he knows more curses than anyone else does! He knew more when he came here than many seventh years!”
“And you heard us tell you not to go!”
“Lil. why’d you do that? He could have done anything!”
Lily knew how to shut the boys up, and she did so as soon as she could get a word in edgewise.
“I didn’t know you cared.”
As soon as they had quieted down a bit, she launched into them.
“In case you were wondering, Severus is your enemy, not mine. He’s a very good friend, he’s sweet, he’s someone I can trust—more than I can say for any of you boys. I like him, all right, and you’re not going to mess up our friendship by your stupid bickering. I’m not your property! You’ve got no right to tell me what to and what not to do. You don’t bloody own me!”
With that, she turned on her heel, slid open the compartment door, and banged it loudly as she stormed down the corridor.
