Chapter Two
Lily could barely control the dizzying feeling of excitement that bubbled up inside her as the red bricks of the station loomed above them. Finally, after a long summer, she was returning to school and she had never been happier. A stark contrast to the first time she had arrived with her ticket, she knew exactly where she was going and wheeled her trolley, laden with her trunk and other oddly shaped packages, including Daia's cage, towards the barrier which separate platform nine and three-quarters from the rest of the boring Muggle world. Running through it without a second thought she burst onto the platform, her ears instantly assaulted by the mewing of cats, hoots of owls and the cries of old friends and family. It took barely a moment for Cassie to launch herself at her best friend, her brown hair bouncing around her shoulders as she asked Lily a thousand questions at once, all in one breath. When she noticed the Prefect badge pinned to Lily's clothes she grinned proudly and said, "I always knew you'd get it," clearly delighted for her friend.
"You could have done too," Lily reminded her. Cassie was enthusiastic and a little scatterbrained but she was a good worker and often top of her class or second to Lily.
"No, I lack certain necessary qualities..."
"Like what?"
"Like being an interfering busybody!" Cassie laughed as Alice and Mary appeared as well.
Their initial exclamations over Lily dragged her trunk to the carriage, cursing herself (as she did every year) for packing far too much. Once it was safely stowed in the rack she descended and leapt nimbly back onto the platform where she was met by her parents, Petunia having refused to accompany them, as she had every year, though it had only been in the past couple of years that she had actually been allowed to stay behind.
"Have a wonderful time darling," her mother said warmly as she hugged Lily.
"Don't get into too much trouble Lilybud," her father teased with a smile.
"You know me," she said with a grin, "I'm not sure why I haven't been expelled yet."
"That's my daughter," John said.
"We love you. Now don't miss the train!"
"Love you too!" Lily called as she jumped onto the train and headed towards the Prefect carriage at the end.
Once she found it she sat down on one of the seats and watched the station vanishing behind them as the train pulled out of it, chuffing cheerfully as it chugged through the countryside, leaving the squat brick houses behind it and pulling out into open fields. The sky was grey and the clouds loomed over them, threatening rain but Lily's mood could not be dampened. She was back on her way to Hogwarts and nothing could ruin that for her.
It didn't take long for the carriage to fill with Prefects new and old alike. Lily recognised a couple of them and she knew the other Gryffindor Prefects but the others were unknown to her. The door opened slowly and Lily could barely stop her eyebrows from rising in surprise. "What was Dumbledore thinking?" she murmured to herself as Remus Lupin smiled apologetically and sat down beside her. She was roused from her thoughts by Remus smiling shyly at her.
"Congratulations," he said. "We all knew you'd get it."
"Thank you," Lily smiled, "congratulations to you too."
He chuckled under his breath and muttered, "I really don't know why Dumbledore chose me but thank you."
"Well you're a fantastic student. It's just a shame about..." here Lily trailed off, not wanting to insult Potter and Black in front of one of their friends. She wasn't a target of theirs yet, apart from for endless ridiculous pleas to go out with Potter, all of which she rejected, and she had no desire to make herself one. To be honest Lily found it incredible that Potter could ever think that she would even entertain the thought of going out with him, not least when she had said no numerous times.
"My friends," Remus finished for her with another quiet laugh. "Yes we all know what you think of them," he grinned wryly, "although, I hope that you can put that aside now that we're Prefects together."
"As long as you don't bring them along when we're together I think we should be able to get along fine," she replied.
"They really aren't that bad. You'd be surprised at how many good qualities they have once you know them."
Lily pinned Remus with a stern look which made him quail slightly. "We'll get along as long as you don't try to convince me that Potter and Black are anything other than the conceited, power crazed, immature bullies that I know they are," she said coldly.
After a minute or two of shuffling about as everyone eyed up the other people, the Slytherins being particularly menacing about it, glaring at the Gryffindors on the other side of the carriage, a slim girl with black hair which snaked down her back in a long plait stood up. "Hello everyone," she smiled, "I'm Diana, the Head Girl and that's Jack," she said, gesturing to a boy with light blond hair and glasses who smiled a waved a hand half heartedly in greeting. "We're just going to run through the rules and your duties so I'm sorry if you were here before but it can't be helped," she trailed off with a small laugh and produced a list from the pocket of her cloak.
Just before she could begin to read it out the door opened again and Lily nearly growled in anger as none other than James Potter strode in, looking about him as if he owned the world. Lily glared at him, her eyes flashing, while something other than anger bloomed in his as he saw her, a lazy smile crossing his face and what was obviously supposed to be a flirtatious wink fluttering her way.
"Oh, James Potter," Diana said startled, "you're slightly late but if you'd just um sit down then we can begin."
"Sorry," he said laconically as he crammed his long legs into the tiny space beside Lily, half of his body on top of her lap, "I was a bit busy, had to change, had to avoid Angela Smythson, you know how it is," he said with a laugh, a number of the other boys laughing along while many of the girls there giggled.
"Yes well... you're lucky that we're only just about to begin," Diana said.
Lily tried to listen intently to the information which pertained to her but James kept trying to wrap his arm around her shoulders and refused to stop wriggling. "If you're uncomfortable you might find it easier to move up a bit; there's a lot of space beside Moony and I'm sure he wouldn't be opposed to shifting up a bit," Potter whispered into her ear.
"Perhaps you should have thought about that when you decided to sit in a space too small for you," Lily hissed.
"Look I'm not complaining," he said, holding his hands up defensively, "I'm enjoying being in the lap of the most beautiful girl in the school. I was only thinking about your comfort because I think that this meeting will go on for a while."
"Are you going to stop wriggling?" Lily asked coldly.
"Probably not," Potter replied with a smirk.
"Remus would you move up a bit," she asked Lupin who nodded slightly and shifted along the seat, allowing Lily to clamber out from underneath Potter. "You'd better be glad that the Heads of School are here," she muttered at him, shrugging his arm off once again. "Stop it Potter!" she cried, struggling against the urge to jab her elbow into his side.
"But I want to sit next to you Evans," he whined. "How was your holiday?"
"It was fantastic," she said shortly.
"Oh?" Potter said, his eyes widening in surprise at Lily talking to him civilly.
"Yes, it was thousands of times better than coming back to school."
"Why?" he asked curiously, seeking to make the most of it before she returned to being angry with him.
"Because you weren't there!" she snapped.
"You're fantastic when you're angry," Potter muttered into her ear.
"If you don't stop right now, I swear to Merlin I will elbow you between the legs so hard you won't be able to walk for a month."
"Please, I'd like something between the legs," he muttered.
Lily bit her tongue as she tried to restrain herself, resolving to ignore him and focus on what Diana was saying. The rest of the meeting Potter whispered in her ear and Lily fought the urge to slap him, her thoughts spinning in a never ending spiral as she tried to ignore him. Suddenly she became aware of Potter's arms leaving her shoulders and his voice disappearing from her ear and she muttered a silent prayer of thanks before she was startled by everyone leaving and she realised that the meeting was finished.
"Aren't you coming Evans?" he asked, towering over her. "Or do you want to stay here forever?"
"You know, I think I'll just stay here."
"Okay then," he said, sitting back down beside her, making her growl in frustration and leap out of her seat, darting towards the door and down the train.
Lily peered in through the windows of each carriage as she walked down the corridor; with a relieved smile she saw Cassie, Mary and Alice laughing in one, surrounded by a pile of empty wrappers. "You'll never guess who the other Gryffindor Prefect is," Lily said as she opened the carriage door, startling Alice from the joke she was telling.
"Who?" they all asked curiously.
"Remus Lupin!"
"The quiet one who hangs out with Potter and Black?" Mary asked.
"Yeah," answered Lily as she collapsed onto the seat beside Cassie. "He's quite sweet actually which is surprising when you look at his friends. Coincidentally you'll never guess who else was there."
"Who? There's only two Prefects from each year isn't there?"
"Yes but that doesn't include Quidditch Captains," she said frustrated. "And out of everyone in the whole team Potter was made Captain!" she cried angrily, relating everything that he had done to her during the meeting to her friends.
Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while (well... a week) I was supposed to be writing Into the West but... I kind of did this instead. Anyway, I hope the gap wasn't too long! I might be able to get a bit of this up soon but we'll have to see. As usual votes, comments and love are really appreciated! :D