Hogwarts: Marauders Era Oneshots

The Lilies

January 20th, 1974 read Lily Evans from the calendar stapled on her wall like she did every morning. 10 days to her birthday. She smiled, went to get her robes on and fasted her Gryffindor tie around her neck. She was brushing her long red hair in the mirror when suddenly a white object caught her eye. She whipped around, and looked down to the foot of her bed. There lay 10 white lilies. Startled but happily surprised, she walked the two steps separating her from the flowers and bent down to pick them up. They were beautiful. She looked on the floor and under her bed to find the note accompanying the flowers, but found nothing. She shrugged, summoned a vase with a flick of her wrist and poured water inside, before gently laying the flowers in the vase. She smiled, satisfied, and strutted out for first-period Potions.

" Good morning, Professor Slughorn! " she greeted happily.

" Ah, Lily, I'm happy to see you. How might you be on this fine morning? "

" I'm quite happy today, sir. Can you believe I received 10 lilies, sitting on the edge of my bed, this morning? "

" 10 lilies, you say? Well, I'd be quite happy if I had 10 Lily's in this class! "

He winked and she laughed. She'd always gotten along well with Professor Slughorn, regardless of his House. Besides, he was Head of one of her best friends' House, Slytherin Severus Snape. She held no grudge whatsoever to Slytherins in general. When it came to Ludivin Sanker, then it was another story, but her dislike of the girl had nothing to do with her House.

Lily was simply someone very open and likable.

Lily was the first in class, as she usually was in Potions. She didn't share the general aversion to the subject, and she was always happy to have a little chat with Slughorn when she arrived first. Of course, he couldn't call her Lily in front of other classmates, she had to be Miss Evans, but Lily had grown quite fond of the Potions master, regarding him as a mentor, and had asked him to call her Lily.

A few minutes before the lesson was to officially start, Gryffindor and Slytherin students started piling in the dungeon. Lily discreetly waved at her friend Severus as he went to sit with a few fellow Slytherins - Lily disliked Severus' friends, they were too well-versed in Dark Magic for her liking - and watched her fellow Gryffindors dropping into seats around her. James Potter smiled at her, and she smiled back, but she was a little startled, for he had made no comment whatsoever to her receiving flowers. Usually, when she found a little surprise, the ever-irritating James Potter was the one responsible, and he'd make an obvious remark on his implication as soon as he saw her. But not this time. He didn't even watch her from the corner of his eye, nor did his friends Sirius, Remus and Peter, who were bound to know if he'd done something - not that Peter would actually remember if it had occurred the night before.

This intrigued Lily, for she had assumed that if the giver hadn't signed his present, it ought to be Potter. Maybe they had indeed written a card, but it had been carried away by the wind in the meantime? Or they were forgetful and had written it and forgotten to deliver it? That was very possible, it would be exactly her father's type for instance. But she knew it wasn't her father, or his mother for that matter and certainly not Tuney, they all knew she preferred violets. It couldn't be Sev either, he was aware of her preference as well, and he was the least likely person in the world to forget that kind of little detail.

She was interrupted in her train of thought by Professor Slughorn.

" Today we will be working on the different uses of asphodel in potion-making. Could anyone tell me what asphodel is? "

Two hands shot in the air: Lily's and Severus'.

" Yes, Miss Evans, dear? "

She smiled in the absurdity of the situation and said confidently: