Be Here Now

A/N: Enjoy! Please review!

Lily Marie Evans' dirty, oily red hair swishes around her head. She rips the parchment envelope open.
Dear Miss Evans,
I am pleased to offer you the position of Head Girl. As Head Girl, you will have more responsibility than the prefects, but your job will be essentially the same. Hoping your summer holidays is going well.
Professor Dumbledore
P.S. Please do not hesitate to contact me for help during the summer, Lily. Remember, love conquers all. Do not be afraid to let love in. I do believe it is time to tell your closest friends, is it not?

Lily beams as the metal Head Girl badge tumbles out. Today is the last day of August. Thank God she was of age now, and could use magic to patch up her robes, make them longer, apply makeup, and fix her hair without leaving the dark alley she called home.

x.o.x.o.x.

The next morning, a completely different Lily Evans appears in King's Cross Station. Her matted red hair had been shampooed and conditioned, and now shone in a waterfall of auburn down her back. Her dirt-splattered face was now unblemished, her eyelashes flared to show her emerald green eyes and they were lined with a hint of silver. Her lips had been glossed to pearly pink perfection, and elegant silver swirls hung in her ears. This was the popular Lily Evans that Hogwarts knew, the exterior that hid her interior vulnerability and troublesome past.

"Lily!"

Lily turns to find a very attractive girl of the same age with glossy raven-black curls running toward her. Hilary Potter. "Hilary!"

Hilary inspects Lily's appearance. "Looking good, Lils."

Lily smiles, but inside she feels guilty. "Thank you, Hils."

"Hilary! Lily!"

This time both girls turn to find Marlene McKinnon, a pretty girl of the same age with blonde hair running toward them.

"Marlene," Hilary and Lily greet in unison.

Marlene laughs. "I missed that."

"Where's Alice?" Lily questions of the last girl in their group.

"Me?"

Alice Prewett, a dark-haired girl, had appeared after stowing her trunk into a compartment. "Alice," Lily and Hilary greet in unison, giggling.

Marlene, shaking her head, embraces Alice. "Did you get Head Girl, Lils?"

"Marl, if Lily Evans hadn't gotten Head Girl, Dumbledore would be off his rocker," Alice rolls her eyes.

Hilary has an odd look on her face. "I think that Dumbledore has gone off his rocker while choosing the Head Boy."

Lily grimaces. "Is he bloody terrible, Hils? Oh, God, is it Amos Diggory?"

Hilary pulls a repulsive face. "No."

"Who is it?" Marlene wants to know.

"It's-"

"Hello ladies."

Lily grumbles softly. The voice of the bane of her existence, James Potter.

"Good morning, ladies."

And the voice of Hilary's bane of existence, Sirius Black.

"Potter, Black," Lily says curtly.

"James, Black," Hilary inclines her head. James Potter was her twin brother.

"James, Sirius," Alice greets politely.

"James, Sirius," echoes Marlene. The girls all knew that she had a small crush on Sirius.

"How were your summers?" Sirius inquires politely.

Lily feigns shock. "Was Sirius Black just polite?"

Sirius scowls. "I'm capable of it, Evans."

Lily allows a small smile. "Clearly. And to answer your question, my summer was excellent," she lies smoothly. In all honesty, her summer had been (to put it lightly) crap.

"Same," agrees Alice. "I met Frank's mum and dad, but that's really it."

"The vulture?" Sirius asks, arching an eyebrow.

Alice giggles. "Don't refer to her as that, Sirius!"

"My summer was acceptable," adds Marlene.

"Mine would have been better if Black wasn't around," Hilary announces.

"Aw, Hils don't be a spoilsport. You know perfectly well Sirius had nowhere else to go," James informs her.

"Remus'," Hilary shoots back.

"Busy all summer," James replies easily.

"Peter's," Hilary retorts.

"His mum's very ill and he had his hands full," retaliates James. "Hilary, Sirius is my best mate. I can't let him off into the world alone."

"And I'm your twin sister," Hilary points out.

"Sirius is as good as my brother," James answers softly.

Lily cuts in, "Hils, who is the Head Boy this year?"

James turns to face Lily with his trademark smirk firmly in place.

Lily glares at him, but a glint of silver catches her eye. Head Boy? "What the bloody hell? Did you steal the badge from Remus, Potter?"

"Aw, I'm hurt, Lily-petal."

"Don't call me that!"

"I didn't steal anything from anyone, Lily-petal."

Lily almost screams in frustration. "Amos Diggory would be better than this!"

Sirius snorts. "Diggory? That big-headed prat?"

Lily purses her pearly pink lips. "Like you two," she returns sharply and tersely. With a simple gesture, the four girls are off to find a compartment.

x.o.x.o.x

The girls are in luck. They find an empty compartment straightaway. They walk inside and claim spots.

"That Black gets on my nerves so much," growls Hilary, staring ferociously out into the foggy station.

"Your twin's sole goal in life is to kill me with his annoying nature," Lily replies.

"C'mon, guys, they're not that bad," Marlene tries reasoning.

"Marl, we all know you fancy Black. That doesn't mean we feel the same," Hilary snaps.

"I do not fancy Sirius," Marlene replies, flushing a hot red.

"The blush tells otherwise, Marlene. Stop denying it," Alice jumps in.

Marlene shrugs. "Those two are the hottest guys in the school. Who doesn't fancy one of them?"

"No one fancies Peter," points out Lily. "And I certainly don't fancy Potter or Black, and definitely not Remus. He's a good guy, a great friend, but I could never see him in the romantic way."

Hilary nods in agreement. "Remus is a great guy. I couldn't fancy him that way, either. And I certainly do not fancy James, that's just disgusting. And why in hell would I like Black?"

"I'm with Frank," Alice states simply.

Marlene rolls her eyes. "You all are mad and blind, I tell you."

"We're just not boy-crazy like you," teases Lily. Professor Dumbledore told me to tell them. Now?

"Lily? Is something wrong?" Hilary ventures a few minutes later.

Lily shakes her head, clearing her thoughts. "I need to tell you all something. Something very serious."