School Days

I've got nothing to say today, so...Disclaimer: JKR owns all of the characters

LilyLily was excited for class to start. She wasn't necessarily excited for the learning, but for the familiarity of being back in what she considered her second home, Hogwarts.

She got up extra early to make sure she was ready for the day. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun and her Head Girl badge was pinned neatly on her robes. She grabbed her bag full of her class supplies and marched down to the Great Hall.

The hall was practically empty except for a few people from each house. Lily took a seat where she usually sat near the end of the Gryffindor table and began to fill her plate with sausages, eggs, and bacon. More people began to arrive in the hall as she continued to eat her breakfast and wait for the post.

After a few minutes, a bunch of owls swarmed into the dining area, carrying different things from families and friends. A large barn owl dropped off yesterday's Dailey Prophet and a single letter from her mother.

The letter wished Lily good luck and told her to write back soon with an update on how everything was going. Lily tucked the folded letter into the pocket of her robes as Mary, Marlene, and Alice arrived.

"Morning, girls," she said.

"Good morning Lils. Why were you up so early this morning?" Marlene asked.

"Just excited I guess," Lily answered as she began to open the Daily Prophet. She opened the paper to see the large heading on the front page:

Death Eater attack leaves two muggleborns and six muggles dead.

Lily stopped and stared at the paper before scouring for the names of the dead muggles. Luckily, no one she recognized was named, but Lily still couldn't shake her feeling of unease. Her family wasn't safe in this world. She wasn't safe either.

"Morning Evans..." said a voice beside her. James Potter stood there messing up his already messy hair. She hated his habit.

Do I, though?

YES, I do.

James and the rest of the Marauders who stood behind him were looking at her with concerned expressions. Lily realized she must have looked shaken up after seeing the paper. She began to close up the Prophet, but James was lightning quick and snatched it from her hands.

Lily watched as his eyes scanned the paper. She noticed a slight change in his expression for a fraction of a second. Fear? Nervousness? Concern? She didn't have time to read it.

Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor house, was passing out students' schedules. She interrupted James' concern by handing him a schedule and telling him to find a seat. James sat down next to Mary who sat to Lily's right.

Professor McGonagall handed Lily her schedule and continued to different students. Lily studied her schedule. Her first class was History of Magic. Ugh! Even she, who sometimes enjoyed class, could fall asleep through Professor Binns' slow and melancholy teaching.

Next, she had charms. Although Lily liked charms, it wasn't her best subject. She still got an outstanding in it, though. Third, she had muggle studies. Lily thought the class was fascinating and relatively easy since she had grown up in the muggle world.

Lily sped through her schedule until she found her favorite class of all, Potions. Lily was part of Professor Slughorn's "Slug Club". Potions was practically her bread and butter. She loved it more than any other class in the world. The only other person who even compared to her in potions was Snape. She didn't like to think about that, though.

"I've got History of Magic first," Lily said. "Anyone else?"

"I do," Remus, James, Sirius, Peter, and Alice all said in unison.

"We have Divination first," Mary and Marlene said. Lily had dropped Divination as soon as possible because she didn't really believe in it.

"Well," Lily said. "I'd better be getting to class. I want to make sure I get a good seat."

"I'll come, too," Remus said. Lily smiled. Her and Remus had similar views when it came to classes.

"Save me a seat!" Alice said.

"Alright," Lily replied to her. "And I guess we'll just meet you there then?" Lily asked the rest of the Marauders.

"Sure, sure," James said.

"Alright, Remus, lets go then."

Lily and Remus walked off to find History of Magic while discussing the rest of their classes. She couldn't see James behind her who was silently wishing that he could be in Remus' shoes.

When Lily and Remus reached the classroom before anyone else, they found seats near the front of the class where they could get a good view of the board. Remus sat next to Lily on her right, so Lily made sure the other seat next to her was saved for Alice.

Students started to pile in after first bell. Eventually Alice waltzed into the room with a smile. Alice was one of those people who could light up a room instantly. Her black hair was cropped short and her lips were painted a bright shade of red. She was petite in size with a narrow face. Many guys in school had an interest in her, but she was currently dating Frank Longbottom, another Gryffindor who had graduated a year earlier.

Now that Alice had taken her seat, only a few chairs were open. More time passed and only three seats remained. The rest of the Marauders were absent from class.

"And to think they could've managed to get here on time," Remus muttered.

Professor Binns started the lesson without a glance at the students. Binns never cared about what the students did. He would continue with a lesson if someone set off dungbombs in his class.

About fifteen minutes into the lesson, the boys showed up. Lily felt slightly irritated that they could just waltz into the room without caring that they were so late. James looked at Lily, but she pretended to be focused on her notes. When he went to sit by her, he suddenly looked irritated that Remus had already taken the seat next to her.

"Next time you want to sit where you want," Remus whispered, "get to class on time."

James mocked him behind his glasses.

After a full, agonising history class, Lily headed off to charms. She realized that the Marauders were following her.

"Hey Evans!" James called. "Charms your next class?"

"Yes," she replied. "Plan on getting there on time?"

"Maybe," James teased, and she rolled her eyes. "I love it when I annoy you, Evans. It makes me feel accomplished."

Lily tried to ignore him as she marched into charms. Mary and Marlene were there, so she sat next to them.

Remus sat with his friends this time in the back of the classroom. They shared this class with the Slytherins. Lily could feel the eyes of a certain boy with a long nose and greasy hair on the back of her head. In a panic to focus on something other than Snape, she started to chat with her friends until Professor Flitwick called the class to order.

Flitwick stood on a stack of books so he could see everyone in the class. He explained that due to the start of the Death Eater attacks a few years back, teachers were focused on the students' wellbeing, so they had missed a few lessons in return.

One of the lessons they had been forced to skip was the lesson on patronuses. He announced that they would try to produce them on Friday in order to catch up as quickly as possible. Lily felt super excited, but she heard Potter snicker in the back of the class. What could possibly be so funny?

She turned around and he was grinning his stupid lopsided grin. Flitwick finished the class talking about upcoming lessons. After the bell, Lily sped to her next class.

The day went by relatively quick, but Lily couldn't wait until Potions. She constantly stared at the clocks in all of her classes. Lunch had been great to catch up with all of her  friends that she had missed over the summer, but she still couldn't take the waiting anymore.

Finally, the time had come to go see her favorite teacher. Lily practically skipped to the potions classroom. Upon entering the room, she was greeted with the sound of boiling cauldrons and the scent of something burning. Lily set down her books at the far table as Professor Slughorn entered the classroom.

"Ah, Lily my girl! How good to see you," he said.

"And you as well, Professor. Good summer?" she asked.

"Yes, yes quite good. Happy to be back of course."

Students had begun to file into the classroom. When she saw Potter enter with Black, she groaned in her head. Why in the name of Merlin would they be taking advanced potions? Lupin was with them, too, but this wasn't much of a surprise.

It seemed the only classes Lily didn't have with James were muggle studies and  ancient runes. Between Head Girl duty and classes, she would be forced to spend more time with him than ever.

A few seconds after Potter, Lupin, and Black, Snape entered the classroom. Lily couldn't even think. Why did he have to share this class with her??? At least Mary and Marlene had shown up to save her. Lily practically ran to them.

Slughorn called the class to stand around the room so he could announce lab partners. He announced the partners would be Boy-Girl since they had an even amount. Lily cussed under her breath. Remus looked at her as if to ask if she would be his partner and she nodded. She relaxed slightly. At least she would be with Remus.

Suddenly, though, her relaxation turned to fretting when Slughorn announced that he would randomly draw the name of a girl and she would choose her partner. Oh no, Remus will surely be picked.

Sure enough, the first girl drawn, a Hufflepuff, picked Remus as her lab partner. Slughorn continued to wave his wand at a sheet of paper and would call out the highlighted name.

After a few minutes of drawing, only three girls and boys were left. Lily, Marlene, and Anna, a Ravenclaw girl, still hadn't had their names chosen yet. The remaining boys were Black, Potter, and Snape.

Although everyone seemed to like Black and Potter, everyone knew that all they did in class was joke around. No one wanted to fail because of a partner who didn't care. Severus on the other hand was exceptionally skilled when it came to potions, but no one really liked him.

Slughorn flicked his wand and called the next name.

"Evans, Lily."

Lily took a deep breath and thought about her choices. She decided she may have to choose Black since they had become unlikely friends, but she heard Marlene mutter behind her, "Not Sirius, please not Sirius."

Lily thought only of her friend and reconsidered her options. Potter wouldn't take the class seriously. She would have to do everything, but she took one look at Snape and the answer became clear.

"Potter."

Whispers sounded from the kids in the room who all knew quite well about James and Lily's awkward past. Sirius was snickering. Snape looked as if he had been slapped and were going to be sick at the same time.

James' reaction was the most subtle, yet the most distracting. He was grinning. No, not grinning. He was beaming. The look on his face said it all- Lily Evans had chosen me.

Lily felt her cheeks go hot as she took a seat next to Potter who was still smiling. Marlene was called next and she quickly squealed "Sirius" and ran to him. The Ravenclaw girl, Anna, looked as if she was going to be sick and she took as seat next to Snape, who was glaring at Potter.

For the rest of the lesson, James was silent, which wasn't like him. Yes, he did fidget like usual. Yes, he did yawn once or twice, but he seemed to act new. He seemed to be paying attention to the lesson and taking in Slughorn's words. He even volunteered to answer questions.

When the lesson was over, Lily turned to him. "Since when did you start actually paying attention and participating in class?" she asked questioningly.

He looked at her and grinned his lopsided grin. "Since I learned how much it really means to you. I won't hold you back Lily. I'll make that a promise."

The bell rang and he gave one final nod as he ran to find his friends, leaving Lily in confusion and shock.