Disclaimer: I own next to nothing. Credit goes to Ms. Rowling.

Chapter 1: Welcome Home

Light came through the window in thick beams, sun shining brightly outside on this day, September the first. Any other morning, she would have closed the blinds to shut the sun away, but today was a special day, the kind of day that needed to be started bright and early. Today was the day that Lily Evans would return to Hogwarts for her seventh and final year.

Stretching her arms over her head with a grin on her face, she glanced at the clock whose bright red numbers flashed nine thirty. She swung her legs over the side of her bed, yawning and running a hand through her tousled mane of fiery hair. She quickly hopped to her feet and crossed the length of her room in a few long strides. When she pulled the oak door open, she found herself face to face with a very pale, horse-faced girl.

"Good morning, Petunia." Lily smiled. Even at the sight of her wretched older sister, her mood couldn't be ruined.

"Mum told me to come wake you. She says you need to eat breakfast before you go." She sighed before turning on her heel to walk back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Practically leaping down the stairs three at a time, Lily was on her heels. In their tiny blue and white kitchen, an older woman was standing in front of the stove. She turned around when Lily entered. She was rather short, almost identical to Lily but with dark blue eyes and laugh lines and creases around her eyes.

"Pancakes are on the table, dear." Virginia Evans smiled as her daughter kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks mum." Lily replied, sitting at the table next to her father and across from her sister. Even as she ate, she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. Her father seemed to notice this, and chuckled.

"It seems our Lily is happy to be leaving us, today, Gin." He grinned. He was an older looking man, his brown hair beginning to turn grey, but when he smiled, Lily saw the youth in him. His eyes, exactly like his daughters, were bright emerald green.

"She always is, Tom. She's like this every year." Her mother said, now moving to the kitchen sink to wash the dishes.

"But this year's different." Lily interrupted. "This year is my last year."

"Ah, of course! Which means it should be your best one." He father grinned and Lily nodded in response as she finished up her breakfast.

"You best get upstairs and get dressed, Lily. What would your headmaster think if the Head Girl showed late on their first day back?" her mother said, taking the empty plate from her daughter's hands and placing it into the sink. With that, Lily hurried back up the stairs and into her room.

She quickly dressed and fastened her wild hair in a ponytail before gathering the last of her school things together in a pile by the door. She thrust her wand into her back pocket, eyed her pale, freckled reflection in her mirror again and set off down the stairs on her way to the family car. Throwing her things into the trunk and climbing into the backseat next to her sister, Lily was on her way to platform 3 ¾ for the last time.

They had only been driving for a few moments when she felt Petunia's glaring eyes on her.

"What?" Lily asked, turning to look her in the face.

"I don't need to get out of the car, do I?" she asked, her arms folded over her chest.

Lily sighed. "Honestly, Petunia, do you ever need to get out of the car?" she said "Why would this year be any different? I've already managed to convince everyone that I was an only child, I wouldn't want to ruin that."

Petunia opened her mouth to utter a vicious reply, but upon seeing the look her father was giving her in the rear-view mirror, she wisely decided against it.

Satisfied, Lily went back to staring out her window.

It wasn't long before the Evans family reached the station. Mr. and Mrs. climbed out of the car, leaving Petunia to sulk in the back seat. Her father went to fetch Lily's trunk, but she stopped him.

"Dad, I can carry that." Lily objected, watching her father struggle to lift her trunk.

"Now, now…this is your last year and my last chance to see you off properly. Just let me carry it to the platform." He replied, closing the car's trunk with one hand and dragging Lily's things along with the other.

Together, Lily and her parents disappeared stealthily through the barrier to platform 9 ¾ and made their way through the throng of students and anxious parents. Soon they were standing in front of the train and Virginia bent to hug her daughter.

"Oh, Lily, we'll miss you terribly." She said into her ear.

"I'll miss you, too, mum." Lily replied, moving to give her father a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I'd say 'make us proud', Lil', but you already have." He told her and Lily beamed.

"I'll see you at Christmastime." She told her parents before turning and boarding the train behind another group of students.

It was always hard to find an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express, but Lily knew that her three friends were sitting in one somewhere, saving her a seat. She pictured their faces in her mind and smiled, pushing lightly through the crowds in the corridor. Finally, she found them, laughing together in a compartment at the front of the train. She opened the door with one hand, dragging her trunk in the other and immediately found herself being crushed with hugs.

"Lily Billy!" Victoria shouted, nearly jumping into her arms. "What's taken you so long? You're usually here early!"

Victoria was tall, taller than Lily and the rest of their friends, with dark blond hair and brown eyes, tanned skin and a sparkling stud in her nose.

"What are you saying? I'm never here early!" Lily replied, beaming as she sat down.

"That's true." Victoria reminisced. "Anna's the one that's here early every year."

Anna beamed from her seat next to Lily. "It's not my fault I live like…five minutes away from Kings Cross." She laughed. She was very pale, whiter than Lily was, with light blue eyes and her dark brown hair was wild and curly. She was tiny and very pixie-like.

Last of the group was Louise, who sat next to Victoria with her legs folded up on the seat. She was average height and curvy, with long black hair pulled into a braid and dark brown eyes. She smiled at Lily, her braces glittering. "Have you had a nice summer, Lils?" she asked.

Lily shrugged. "It was okay. Nothing out of the ordinary." It was then that she glanced at her watch. "Blast!" she cursed. "I want to know how your summers were as well, but I've got a meeting to get to for now. Promise you'll tell me everything when I get back?"
"Meeting?" Anna asked. "What meeting?"

"Oh, right…I've been made Head Girl." She said, jumping out to retrieve the pin from her trunk.

"That was obvious." Victoria said, exchanging looks with Louise, which Lily didn't miss.

"What?" she asked, fastening her pin to her shirt.

"Have you heard who the Head Boy is?" Anna asked.

"No, I haven't. But I'll find out soon, I guess, won't I?" Lily said turning to leave.

"I think you should be warned." Victoria said in a singsong voice.

"Why?" Lily asked, stopping at the door. "He can't possibly be that bad. Dumbledore's not crazy; he'd never pick some one--"

"It's James Potter." Louise interrupted quickly.

"Has Dumbledore completely lost his mind!?!" Lily nearly shouted.

"I did say that you should be warned." Victoria reminded her.

Lily found she was breathing heavily, leaning against the door. "That's impossible. No way would…he be made Head Boy."

"It's true, Lily Billy." Anna said sadly.

"Go find out for yourself." Victoria added.

Lily glanced at her watch again. She was half thinking of completely skipping the meeting, avoiding what could only be a disaster. But she quickly threw that idea out of her mind and left the compartment, practically stomping down the corridor until she found the right compartment.

Inside she saw a number of new prefects and several old ones that she recognized including Remus Lupin who sat laughing with – gulp – James Potter. Realizing she was the last to arrive, she entered the compartment smiling sheepishly in apology.

"Nice way to start of as Head Girl, mudblood, showing up late to the first meeting." Corey Coil, a sixth year Slytherin, hissed from the corner of the compartment.

"Shut up, Coil." James snapped at him.

Lily ignored them both and sat down on Remus' other side, preparing herself for the worst.

The meeting went relatively well and was over in almost no time at all. Both James and Lily read the rules to the prefects off the papers they had had sent to them that summer, and then they were off. Actually, Lily was surprised at James' behaviour. Not a single rude comment, not a single crude joke, he simply did what he was supposed to do. It was different and she found that she rather liked the new, more mature James Potter. If that was really was he was.

The Head Boy and Girl were the last to leave, Lily shuffling her papers into order and James standing by the door watching her. When she looked up, he was still standing there. She gave him a curious look, but he only smiled in return.

"How was your summer, Evans?" He asked as they both finally left the compartment.

Taken by surprise, Lily peered up at him. "Fine, thank you."

"Good to hear." He said, blissfully ignoring the suspicious look she was giving him.

She was waiting for what she knew was going to come. James Potter couldn't go a minute without rumpling his hair, or making fun of some one or finding a new way to make himself look like some kind of king. Nor could he go without asking Lily out every chance he had. This time, she was going to stop him before he got the chance.

"Look, Potter, I'm going to tell you this once and I hope you remember it. I do not want to go out –"

But she was interrupted by a pretty blond girl calling his name from down the corridor. Distracted, she looked towards the source of the noise. The girl was smiling and walking this way, and when she was finally standing with them, she slipped her arm around his waist and he slipped his arm around her. She was tall and slim with shoulder length blond hair and hazel eyes. Again, Lily found that she was surprised.

"Uh…Lily, this is Claire Austen. Claire, baby, this is Lily." He said.

"Nice to meet you." Lily said, smiling at her.

"Nice to meet you too." Claire replied, beaming.

"Well, I've…got to go, now. I'll…I'll see you around." Lily said, quickly turning on her heel. But she stopped when James called out to her.

"Wait! Lily! Weren't you just saying something before?" he asked, staring at her curiously.

She thought back to what she had planned on saying, and now, it somehow seemed unnecessary. She quickly shook her head. "No, it was nothing. Nothing."

Author's Note: There we are. The first chapter of many to come. I hope it was okay. As always, please read and reviewww.

Thanks for reading.