Chapter Text
Lily Evans hopped around her room on one foot, trying to force her other foot through a sock. It was a losing battle, but with a grunt (and a precarious balance), she shoved her foot through.
With a sigh, she collapsed onto her bed, some of the anxiety she had tried her best to keep at bay creeping in.
Lily Evans was Head Girl.
She had dreamed of this day for ages, ever since Martha Walsh, the Head Girl six years ago, had personally guided all the new muggle-borns through their first year. Martha was kind and patient, and that had sealed the deal for Lily.
So she had worked hard. Harder than anyone else. And it showed.
She received one of the best marks in all her classes, her professors singing her praises. The day Professor McGonagall told her that she had done a wonderful job on her essay was probably one of her highlights.
And while she understood the emphasis on academics, she always made it a point to be kind. Whenever she could, she would stop to help third-years master simple charms or brew a quick potion that Madam Pomfrey needed.
But with the Wizarding world coming closer and closer to war—over Lily's very own heritage—Head Girl seemed out of reach. It would be too controversial, too dividing. At a time when Hogwarts needed to be strengthened, a muggle-born Head Girl would be viewed as too weak.
Nevertheless, she shouldn't have underestimated Professor Dumbledore. When she got the letter over the past summer, she had shrieked so loudly that her mother thought she'd seen a roach.
Dear Ms Lily Evans,
We are proud to offer you the position of Head Girl...
She hadn't even read the rest of the letter, fishing through the envelope to find the shiny gold badge with the letters HG across the top.
She still couldn't believe it—and she'd had the whole summer to cope with the news.
An insistent tapping on the window caused her to lift her head. An owl was at her window. She walked towards her window and unlatched it. The owl flew in, hopping onto her desk. It extended its leg, and Lily untied the small scroll. Fishing around her drawer, Lily produced some owl treats before opening up the scroll.
Evans—
Hope you had a wonderful summer. I may have a minor surprise for you if I see you on the train.
JP
Ahh... those two initials.
Before, they had ignited a fire so intense in her that she could barely breathe. But now? Now, they had found some rocky ground to stand on. Not quite friends, but not quite adversaries, either.
Because James Potter had matured. Or something like that. She wasn't exactly sure how to conceptualize his change in attitude. It seemed as if Lily wanted to rip out his throat one day, and the next, she was perfectly fine with leaving his throat alone.
A shout came up the stairs. "Lily! We're getting late! Are you ready?"
"Coming, Mum!"
She crumpled the parchment and threw it into the nearest dustbin. A surprise? She didn't have time to think what his bizarre note had even meant.
Grabbing the handle on her trunk, she lugged it towards the stairs. "Dad! Some help, please?"
"I got it, love," her dad said, running up the stairs.
Lily walked back to her room, finding the spare books and quills she left on top of her desk. Tucking them under one arm, she ushered her cat, Calliope, out the door and down the stairs.
Just as her dad was finishing up loading the boot of their car, Lily's mother came around and opened her arms to her youngest daughter. Lily embraced her mother tightly, kissing her on the cheek.
"I'm so proud of you, Lils," she said, her eyes bright.
"Mum, don't cry," she said, brushing her thumb under her mother's eyes. "Before you know it, I'll be done and graduated."
"You've become a very strong young woman."
"I get it from you," Lily reminded her with a soft smile.
Her mother laughed, tugging Lily's hand to her mouth to press a small kiss on the back of her hand.
"Don't get too overwhelmed with the wedding preparations," Lily admonished.
"I'll save most of the difficult tasks for you when you come home for Christmas," her mum said with a wink.
Lily snorted, pulling her mother in for one last hug.
"Don't forget to say goodbye to your sister," her mum whispered in her ear.
Lily pulled back, her face hardening. "Mum, I—"
Her mother held up a finger. "No excuses."
Trudging back to the house, Lily found her older sister Petunia in the kitchen. Her nose was buried in a thick catalogue of wedding dresses. She didn't even look up when Lily sat down across from her.
"Petunia?"
"Hmm?"
"I just came to say goodbye."
"Yes, well, alright," her sister said, her focus still on the catalogue. "No need to make a big deal of it."
"Tuney, please. I just—"
Petunia's head snapped up. "Don't call me that."
"Oh," Lily said, taken aback. "I'll see you at Christmas then, I reckon."
"I'm very busy. I don't have time to keep track of your schedule."
"Right," Lily said, pushing back her chair. "Let me know if I can do anything to help with the wedding."
"I don't want your pity."
Lily's brows scrunched together. "I wasn't—what pity?"
"Let me be very clear," Petunia said, her eyes now boring into Lily's. "The only reason you are even invited to this wedding is that we're related. If you can find a way to stay at that freak school of yours during my wedding weekend, that would be the biggest gift you could ever give me."
Lily stared at her sister, open-mouthed, barely processing what she was saying. "You don't want me at your wedding?"
Petunia shrugged. "I don't want you and your unnatural abilities to ruin my perfect day."
Straightening her shoulders, Lily responded, "Well, then, I guess I'm lucky that I'm your sister."
Petunia just narrowed her eyes before returning to her catalogue. Turning on her heel, Lily marched out of the kitchen, stopping just in time to avoid barreling down her mother.
Her mother's eyes shot back and forth between Lily and the kitchen she'd just vacated. "Did—"
"Mum, I'll be home for Christmas. I love you." And with a quick peck on her cheek, Lily left her mother standing there in the hall.
In the car, she fastened her seatbelt with a sigh. Lily and Petunia's relationship had never truly mended after she'd received her Hogwarts letter. At this point, Lily had hoped that Petunia would come to respect her for who she'd become. Still, her sister pretended that Lily was a distant acquaintance. Eventually, Lily had given up trying to extend an olive branch. Rebuilding their relationship was a two-way street, and Lily was tired of putting in all the effort with no reciprocity.
Her dad looked at her, a knowing look in his eyes. "Petunia?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Lily mumbled, looking down at her lap.
"She's your sister, Lil. I'm leaving it up to the both of you to fix whatever this is."
She only turned her head to look out the window, watching the countryside fade into the distance.
As soon as they reached King's Cross, Lily helped her father unload her trunk, securing Calliope under her arm. She kissed her father goodbye and gave him a tight hug before sending him on his way.
Once on Platform 9 ¾, she found the familiar shoulder-length blonde hair waiting by one of the tall pillars. Setting her trunk and cat onto the ground, she jumped up behind the girl, squealing with joy while embracing her friend in a tight hug.
"Lily!"
"I missed you, Mary," Lily whispered in her friend's ear.
Mary McDonald turned to her, bright blue eyes shining. One corner of her mouth turned up in a mischievous grin that Lily knew all too well. It was the same grin that almost got her into a month-long detention when Filch found the two of them sitting on the Astronomy Tower late one night.
"Missed you too, Lil. Though, I hear that you've picked up a new piece of jewellery."
Lily laughed, linking her arm through Mary's. "Oh, what, this thing?" she joked, pointing to the badge pinned to her sweater. "You can have it if you want."
"If I find someone willing to sneak out into an abandoned classroom with me, I might take you up on that offer."
"What's this I'm hearing about abandoned classrooms?"
She whirled around to find Alice Prewett standing behind them. Her wispy brown hair was fluttering in the wind while she gently placed her trunks on the ground. Extending her arm, Alice took it, and the three of them huddled around into one embrace—foreheads touching and arms reaching across their backs.
"Alice, I was merely taking advantage of the fact that the Head Girl is one of our closest friends," Mary was saying.
"Lily's hardly going to abuse her power to allow you to snog someone in a broom closet." Alice met Lily's eye. "Proud of you, Lil. Knew it was going to be you."
"Don't know where I would be without the two of you. I wouldn't have stayed sane through half of it."
"Am I interrupting?" asked a warm voice.
The three of them broke apart, and Alice threw her arms around the new arrival. The boy in question was Frank Longbottom, Alice's longtime boyfriend. Frank buried his round face in Alice's hair before greeting Lily and Mary as well.
"Well," Alice began, a flush creeping up her cheeks. "If Mary plans on using Lily to sneak away in the dead of night, Frank and I'll be counting on the same courtesy."
Lily laughed, catching Frank's eye with a wink. "What happened to not 'abusing my power'?"
Alice shrugged, clasping Frank's hand. "Some things are worth breaking the rules."
"Hopefully, not too many rules, though," said Frank, with a small grin. "I'm still holding out for the Auror Academy, and you can never be too safe."
Mary waved her arm in the air. "I don't understand how the two of you can stand that Auror lifestyle. I'll be perfectly fine if the Daily Prophet recruits me to scuttle some coffee around."
"Mary, you'd be bored out of your mind," said Alice.
Suddenly, an arm encircled Mary's shoulder, and she jolted to find Sirius Black grinning down at her.
"I'd be perfectly amenable to help relieve some of that boredom, McDonald."
"Shove off, Black," Mary said, ducking under his arm.
"What? I was just going to suggest we memorize the Twelve Tenets to Roschoff's Law of Levitation. What were you thinking?"
"Sirius," Lily said, "always a pleasure."
"Ah, Evans. Our new upstanding Head Girl." Even though his voice is dripping with sarcasm, Lily's known him long enough to know he was happy for her.
"Better stay on your best behaviour around me," she teased him. "You never know when you'll find yourself needing a fellow Head on your side."
Sirius barked out a laugh. "Thanks for the offer, Evans, but I think I have that managed with your counterpart. Speaking of which, he's waiting for you in the Heads Compartment for a quick debrief."
Lily checked her wristwatch, surprised to find that it was already 11:47. She told Mary and Alice that she would find them later in their compartment before picking up her trunk. She lugged it to the front of the train, pausing outside the Heads Compartment.
This was it.
She took a deep breath, calming her nerves. In her elation of opening the letter announcing her as Head Girl, she had forgotten to read the rest of it—especially the part that mentioned who the Head Boy would be. However, she wasn't too put off by it because she had a pretty solid guess on who it would be—Sirius's earlier words only confirmed it.
Because, of course, it would be Remus Lupin. Her fellow prefect for the past two years and one of the top students in the year. While having the Heads be from the same house was risky, it wasn't all too unusual. Plus, it had been some time since Gryffindor had a Head Student (since the Ravenclaws had a monopoly on the position for the past two years). It would make sense if it was level-headed and calm Remus, who Lily loved working with.
Oh, I hope it's Remus.
As she pushed open the door, her jaw fell. Standing in front of her was a boy with messy black hair and hazel eyes framed by a thick pair of glasses. It was James Potter.