A/N: Thank you so much for your kind reviews, you guys! Feel free too leave any suggestions, questions, or constructive criticism as well. :)

Chapter Two: The Spark

When Lily Evans awoke, it was to the first tendrils of sunlight spilling in through her open window. She opened her eyes from what felt like a completely dreamless sleep, feeling amazingly well rested. She looked at the clock on her bedside table. 8:07. Wonderful.

Stretching happily, she burrowed into the the cozy nest of blankets surrounding her, and let out a contented sigh. The air was crisp and cool, but it was also holding the promise of what she knew would be another beautiful sun-filled day in Hampshire. Nuzzling father into her pillow, she allowed her senses to run wild before her mind fully woke up.

In the morning glow, her room was a blur of pink and yellow, of soft fabrics and floral patterns. Muggle christmas lights twinkled gently from behind a pretty, sheer cloth she had hung on her wall, where she had forgotten to unplug them before falling asleep. On the opposite wall, Twiggy was staring at her precociously from the massive poster Lily had tacked up when she was twelve. She smiled nostalgically.

A light breeze drifted in through the window right next to her bed, bringing in her very favorite scent in the world, of freshly mown grass. Come to think of it, that was probably why she had woken up so early, she noted, as the buzz of Mr. Next Door's lawn mower started up again. She was too pleased at being up early for her last day (her last day!) at home to be annoyed, and turned her head again to look at her room fondly.

The first ray of light to creep into her room was illuminating her Muggle record collection in what she chose to take as a hinting way, and she slid out of bed, savoring the feel of her soft flannel sheets. The ones her mum had picked out with such care while she was away at her first year at Hogwarts. Feeling nostalgia swelling to an almost ridiculous point in her heart, she eased her very favorite record from its cover, and set the needle in place.

The first chords of the Rolling Stone's 'Wild Horses' started as she flit around her room, gathering clothes for the day. She hummed along, feeling her heart swell with love for her sweet muggle world. Here and there in her room were obvious signs of Witchcraft... the giant owl cage for one, the desk filled with bottles of beetles and dried dragon scales for another. But overall, the world that Lily cherished so dearly during her summers, was dominantly Muggle. She felt a pang at leaving not only her beloved family, but the whole world of things that she had grown up loving, tomorrow.

However, when she thought of where she would be for the next nine months, her heart raced with excitement and a grin spread across her face. While Hogwarts could not be any more different from her home, it could also not be any more exciting, amazing, and altogether spectacular.

Snatching a clean T-shirt from her dresser, she padded to the bathroom to freshen up. After washing and dressing, she bounced downstairs, where she could her her parents' voices.

"Good Morning," she beamed as she entered the room. Her parents greeted her happily, although her mother seemed to share her slightly heavy heart as she kissed Lily's cheek and touched her face lightly. She took the cup of tea her father offered, and grabbed a couple pieces of fruit from an abundant basket on the countertop.

"Lil, will you explain to us again about the Magical Reversal Squad?" Her father asked her immediately, glancing with twinkling eyes at her mother. Her mother rolled her own eyes and swatted his shoulder, laughing.

"What?" Lily asked, amused, "Why?"

"Because your father," her mother shot a look of exasperation at him, "is thinking up conspiracy theories again." Lily giggled as her father cried out indignantly.

"It really does fit this time Flora! It does! Lily, listen," and with much zest, he told her a hilariously strange story of a work colleague who had woken up suddenly at his home, with no recollection of the two days passed, clutching a fistfull of of purple feathers, and wearing nothing but a costume cape.

"Actually dad, this one is at least plausible," Lily told her father to an exceptional show of triumph, after their laughter at the tale had died down.

"-What is the racket in here? Honestly," a scowling Petunia walked into the kitchen in her bathrobe, "It's the bloody morning, it'd be nice to wake up to a peaceful, normal house for once." Lily and her father exchanged a 'caught in the act' expression, and both looked away grinning.

"Oh, Pet," her father said jovially, grabbing Petunia to squeeze her shoulders, "being normal is not all it's chalked up to be, I promise."

Petunia rolled her eyes in response, and took her cup of tea to the table, where she picked up a fashion magazine and began flipping the pages idly.

"Why can't my hair look like that?" Petunia rubbed the thin strands of her own mousy hair between her fingers, with a wistful look at a bodacious blonde smiling up at them from the folds of the magazine.

"Well…" Lily said conspiratorially, dropping her voice a little so their parents wouldn't hear, "if you told Mum and Dad you went to the Salon, I could fix it to look just like any of these girls… A girl in my year showed me how to do a mimicking charm on-"

"-I will never be caught dead using any of your rubbish tricks. I don't want my scalp melted off, thanks."

"It won't be!" Lily cried indignantly, "Really, Tunie, it's perfectly safe, I know exactly what to do! It works amazingly well-"

Petunia snorted.

"Clearly."

Lily felt her temper flare, not caring how silly the subject of their squabble was.

"Well I don't use it on myself, I like my hair the way it is! For Christ's sake, Tunie, why do you always have to be so-"

"-Girls," their mother cut in, pausing in the teasing of their father, "this is the last time you will spend together for months. Try and appreciate each other, please." Her last word was an actual plea, and Lily and Petunia glared at each other for just one more moment before Petunia shrugged and turned back to her magazine. Lily slumped back into her chair, breathing frustratedly into her cup before she could calm down. Breaking the tension, their mother offered to make their favorite pancake breakfast, but Petunia shook her head,

"No thanks. Vernon's taking me to Surrey later, I can't be bloating all over the vineyards." Lily rolled her eyes. She wished Petunia would stop seeing that prat. Before she could stop herself that very thought tumbled from her mouth... in so many words.

"Why do you want to go to Surrey anyway? It's all... Country Clubs and creepy neighborhoods that are all the same. Surely Vernon could take you to do something more interesting?" Well... it came out polite enough, she thought, trying hastily to give her sister an innocent smile. She received a glare in return,

"Shut up- Just because nobody can be more interesting than you," Petunia waggled her fingers with a wide eyed face that was clearly supposed to indicate insanity. "You have your world and I have mine."

Lily felt a strange pang at that, realizing perhaps, how sadly true that was. They had grown miles apart since the days when they were inseparable playmates. It didn't seem like it could possibly have been years since they had walked to the park together, or snuck away to the sweet shoppe on Butterfield Street to buy the toffees that they weren't allowed to have at home. But it had. Looking at her sister sadly, she had a sudden thought,

"Hey Tunie- do you want to go to Guthrie's Cafe with me? I wanted to have a walk downtown on my last morning," Petunia raised an eyebrow and Lily said quickly, "You don't have to eat! You could just... have a coffee..." She trailed away as Petunia's eyebrow rose even higher..

"Do I look like a bleeding hippie?" She scoffed, and looked back at her magazine, "Milly's coming over to help me get ready for Vernon. I can't."

"Okay." Lily refused to look put out. She shrugged and got up, kissing her mother on the cheek, "I won't be long. Back for lunch."

Only when she had grabbed her bag and walked out the door did she let herself feel just a little put out. And only for a minute. She and Petunia were different, that was all. She had always thought that they might outgrow the barrier between them and be close again as they got older, but perhaps that time had simply not come yet. After all, she was in school for another year. Perhaps once she had finished her schooling at Hogwarts, which Petunia seemed to resent more than anything else, her sister would feel more accepting of her.

Lily let a smile spread across her face as she thought of that. One more year. She felt a little thrill of excitement. One more year of school, and she would be set free in the world of magic to do whatever she chose. Besides the stress of N.E.W.T.s, she was looking forward to the next year immensely. This summer had wrought a subtle change in her. She felt... liberated from something she hadn't realized was holding her captive. She felt a new sense of ease in herself; free and open, where before she had always felt a little defensive and quick to be on guard.

This newfound ease displayed itself marvelously at that very moment, as a good looking muggle boy around her age smiled appreciatively at her as he passed. Where she once would have rolled her eyes or tossed her mane of hair in an aloof sort of way, she found herself looking right back at him, and returning the smile readily.

She felt flushed with pleasure as she continued down the street, more excited than she cared to admit to feel this newfound freedom at Hogwarts. More than that, she ached to laugh and chat with her friends. She craved the bread pudding that the house elves so expertly made, and she was absolutely itching to learn the advanced magic that 7th year lessons promised. She suddenly felt buoyant as she made her way down the quaint street to her favorite cafe. As much as she was leaving home, she was also going home.

The door of Guthrie's had a little old fashioned bell on the handle, that announced her entrance in a tinkling way that she had always loved. She took a seat by the window, and ordered an apple pastry and a cup of tea. She spent a lovely hour trying her best to soak up all the muggle activity she could like a sponge. She wanted to remember the feel of the people around her, who had thought and invented their way around every obstacle in life that could be solved with a simple wave of her wand. She wanted to remember the sound of machines working all around her, helping them all get by. She took in the furniture inside the shop, and the fountain and garden in the square visible from her window, all painstakingly set into place by bare hands. Her eyes fell onto a picnic bench next to the fountain, and her good mood quelled a little.

Her and Severus had spent countless hours sitting at that very bench, pouring obsessively over schoolbooks that they had charmed to look like muggle textbooks if anyone were to look over their shoulder. They had read and discussed almost every book cover to cover before the start of each year, and not because they had to, simply because they couldn't wait to learn more of the awe inspiring magic that was not present enough in their summer lives. That was something they had in common, that zest for learning that stemmed from not being able to learn at home. Actually, she thought wistfully, that might be the only thing we had in common after all.

She hadn't seen much of Severus this summer. Partially because she hadn't really wanted to, but mostly because he seemed so busy with his Slytherin friends- which made her want to see him even less. It made her stomach churn to think of Severus, once her best and only true friend, holed up somewhere with Avery and Mulciber, studying the dark arts with the same fervor they had once shared pouring over 'Magical Drafts and Potions'. He had showed up at her house only twice, in a skulking sort of way, and she had asked him to leave without allowing time for very much conversation.

She had tried talking to him, tried to make him see the darkness of the road he was going down, and could only conclude that he knew full well where it led and was charging ahead anyways. Of course he did. He was the smartest person she knew. Only now she must start realizing that he wasn't the boy she thought she knew at all.

The door to Guthrie's tinkled again, and she looked absentmindedly over. She choked on her tea. As if summoned by her thoughts, Severus Snape stood in the doorway. He was wearing that desperately pained expression that made her stomach churn, and she looked away immediately, trying to think of what to do.

"Lily."

She stared resolutely out the window, dearly hoping that she wasn't about to loose her temper and cause a scene. The chair opposite her scraped on the ground as he pulled it out and took a seat.

"Lil," his voice was full of his special brand of pleading, and she felt like she could actually be sick. She was dizzy with the shock of his appearance. "Lil, I need you to know that I had nothing to do with what happened yesterday."

Her eyes widened with disbelief, and she covered her mouth to muffle a humorless laugh.

"Sev." She shook her head with disgust, looking into his black eyes, "the fact that you have to seek me out, just to tell me that you weren't a part of the triple homicide yesterday, says it all. I don't want to see you."

He looked impatient, waving away her words with a long-fingered hand,

"There is a war brewing- ugly things will happen on both sides. I just want you to know I would never- targeting muggles… and muggleborns. It's not- it's not what it's about for me-"

"Not what it's ABOUT?!" Lily tried her best to keep the shout rising up her throat to a hiss, "That is all that it's about Severus- Putting Muggles and Muggleborns in their rightful place. You know that full well, and you have made your choice, so don't you dare," she tapped her foot on the ground, trying to drive away the tears that were springing to her eyes, "try and ask me to understand what else it could possibly mean to you."

Their eyes locked, and their was fury and hurt on both sides. He opened his mouth to keep arguing, but she was done.

"- Get. Out."

She heard the ferocity in her own voice, and Severus' shoulders slumped a little. He knew her well enough. Fishing through his pockets, he took out a five pound note and left it on the table, like he always used to when they came to Guthrie's. It would break her heart every time, knowing that of all people, Severus couldn't afford to be displaying such chivalry. She would always protest, and half the time he would give in- but only, she knew, because of how desperately he really needed the simple change. She felt the familiar sad pang, and looked furiously out the window, unable to say anything at all. The door tinkled again, and she watched out of the corner of her eye as he wandered down the street and disappeared as a car drove by.

Feeling a little shaken, she downed the rest of her tea, and pulled out a five pound note of her own. Let Severus' be a tip for the sweet muggle waitress.

She walked resolutely onto the street and strolled down it until her mind was clear. She forced herself to walk to her and Severus' bench and sit down, claiming it as her own special spot now. Feeling stronger, she set off down the lane of shops, to browse the windows and perhaps buy something nice to take to Hogwarts.

By the time lunchtime rolled around, she was back to feeling excited and jubilant about returning to school the next day, and returned to her parent's house with a little parcel and a loaf of fresh bread for lunch. She passed the day happily with her parents (Petunia had already been picked up by Vernon), and before she knew it, darkness had fallen and her mum and dad were helping her pack up the last of her things for school. This was something they always did, Lily thought fondly, because they loved the chance to inspect Lily's strange books and potions ingredients and hear the stories that went with them. All too soon they had all said goodnight, and she was climbing into her bed for the last time that summer.

The next morning her ancient alarm clock woke her with a jarring ring at what felt like the crack of dawn. She dragged herself out of bed and freshened up as best she could, using the beauty spell that Rachel Bones had shown her, just to spite Petunia. However she also unwrapped the parcel that she had bought the day before, carefully taking out the two sets of earrings within. They were long and made of beautiful bold stones that shimmered and glittered in the light, one pair green and the other blue. Lily put on the green ones, and then carefully wrapped the blue pair in a piece of tissue paper, leaving them just outside her sleeping sister's door, with a little note of truce and love attached.

She met her parents in the sleepy kitchen, and after a cup of tea, they all hauled her trunk, extra bag of books, and the cage containing her owl, Humphrey, out to the car. Lily looked back at the house in the still dawn light as they drove away. She said a little goodbye to it in her head, and tried to memorize how it looked in that last peaceful moment.

As Britain sped along outside the car windows, Lily found that her sadness ebbed slowly, to be replaced by excitement. They arrived at Kings Cross an hour before the Hogwarts Express was due to leave, and Lily's father suggested they have a last cup of tea together.

Fifteen minutes later, they were seated in a little cafe that looked out over the platform, and Lily was reassuring her mother that she had absolutely everything she needed, while her dad looked out the window trying to spot other teenagers with owls.

"Is that one?" He asked abruptly, pointing to a girl walking casually in the direction of Platform 9, holding a small cage containing a black cat. Lily chuckled,

"Yes, Dad, she's a witch. Her name is Joyce and she's a year below me, but in Hufflepuff." Her father nodded with interest, smiling as Joyce disappeared between platforms 9 and 10 as a luggage cart drove by. Returning to her conversation, she clasped her mother's hands in her own, "I'm an adult by Wizard standards, Mum. I'll be fine."

"What about them?" Her father was craning his neck and pointing at two dark haired boys, who were accompanied by an elderly couple, and a caged owl. Slightly annoyed, Lily glanced over. Her annoyance grew.

"Mmm. Yeah. That's James Potter." Her mum turned interestedly to look.

"The one that likes you? Which one is he then- the one with the dark jacket?... Oh, Lily, he's very good looking, isn't he?" Lily's annoyance peaked at her mother's excitement.

"No, that's Sirius Black," she grumbled. "James has the glasses."

Her mother surveyed James with an approving smile,

"Mum, I've told you, he's a prat. He's an arrogant, egotistical bully, and I'm not interested." Her mother nodded respectfully, but the smile stayed in place. Lily realized her mug of tea had gone lukewarm.

"It's probably time," her father intoned, following her train of thought. They paid and gathered Lily's things in a slightly sad silence, and struggled out of the Cafe and over to the platform. After a misty eyed goodbye to her mother, and a hug from her father that felt like a rugby tackle, Lily straightened her back and walked towards the platform. She glanced over her shoulder for one more bright look at her parents, and for one last wave. With a deep breath, she leaned her trolley against the platform between 9 and 10, and her sweet muggle world disappeared.

She heard a loud 'whooosh', and was enveloped in the steamy mist of Platform 9 and ¾ for a moment, before her senses were assaulted by chaos. Pets of all kinds were everywhere, young students were dashing to and fro, and a merry din of greetings and laughter was ringing in the air. Lily stopped for a brief moment, looking for anybody she knew in the crowd, and then decided she was better off making her way towards the train.

She dithered for a few minutes, as several students she didn't know terribly well, but was friendly with, greeted her excitedly. She found she was quite overwhelmed as usual at the sudden onslaught of magical peoples, pets, and activity after three months of naught. Flustered, she found herself making a rather odd joke about Grindylows, and decided it was time to politely excuse herself from the group. Shaking her head as she walked on, she tried to regain the enigmatic composure she had imagined she would have when she kicked off her 7th year at Hogwarts, and continued to scan the crowd.

Her eyes landed on Severus, standing twenty feet away with Avery. She felt a simultaneous wave of cold sickness, and a hot flush of anger to see them together, heads bent and talking fervently- just as she had imagined them doing all summer. As if Severus could sense her, he suddenly looked up and right into her eyes. His face fell into a desperate expression, and without thinking Lily quickly whirled her cart around to avoid having to speak to him again. There was a massive SMASH, the ear-splitting shrieks of two owls, and a cry of, 'OY!'

"Oh- I'm so sorry, Brandon!" Lily gasped at a cursing Brandon Davies, who had been knocked to the ground by the force of the ricocheting carts. He saw that it was her, and his face became ever so slightly less angry, and ever so slightly amused.

"Hi, Lily," he got up, brushing his trousers off, and managed to quirk an eyebrow good natured-ly at her. "How're you doing?"

"Rather like a stampeding bicorn. How was your summer?" She asked distractedly, rushing to pick up his owl cage, which had been knocked from his cart, and brusquely patting a bit of dirt from his sleeve. He shrugged, and told her something or other about Quidditch as they disentangled their carts. She managed to escape only a minute later, with no particularly hard feelings or damaged things.

Continuing on her path away from Severus, Lily tried to shake off the series of bothersome events that had just taken place. She brushed her hair away from her face, and tried her best to look dignified, and not quite so much like a confused fish flopping about on dry land. A crowd of third years parted, and she realized she was headed directly towards James Potter and Sirius Black, who were whispering to each other and pointing surreptitiously at the smokestack of the Hogwarts Express. Planning something ridiculous. Lily rolled her eyes but found that she could not help a smile. She continued towards them with something shockingly like relief- When James saw her he would no doubt greet her with something ludicrous, like the highly dramatic marriage proposal he had belted out at her when she had entered the Great Hall one day at the end of last term, for just one example. Obnoxious as their encounters were, she felt it would at least make her feel a little more normal to be able to tell him to stuff it.

As she approached them, James did indeed look up. But it was no more than a mere glance, with the slightest nod of hello, and he turned back to Sirius to whisper something about the train's steam that made Sirius let out a bark of a laugh. She stopped short, staring at James. But he didn't notice or look back at her. Sirius did, however, and although his eyes froze on her for a second, he simply smiled a very stiff half-smile, and returned his attention to James.

Lily was flabbergasted. Not a single day had gone by in seven years that James had not leapt at the opportunity to embarrass her with attention, or simply say an eager hello. Nevermind the first days back to school, on which he usually made the most monumental efforts to cause a scene on her behalf. Even Sirius was usually up for a good flirt, he was Sirius Black for Christ's sake. What in God's name was going on with this disaster of a morning?

Feeling indignant and ashamed of herself for thinking so brattily, she turned around and quickly made her way to the nearest door of the Express, eager to just be safe on board. Haven came only a minute after she had lugged her things aboard (with the help of three fifth year boys who had scrambled to her aid) in the form of her best friend Marlene McKinnon.

"Lily! There you are!" Marlene flew at Lily, and squeezed her in a delighted hug, "my god, you look beautiful!" She exclaimed in her usual warm way, touching Lily's earrings appreciatively and smiling at her. She took Lily's hand as well as her bag of books, and pulled her towards a compartment. "Emmeline and I came together, and we got here ages early. We've saved a nice compartment for the girls."

And sure enough, when the door slid open, it revealed the most welcome sight of Lily's four Gryffindor roommates. She exclaimed with relief and delight, and the compartment was filled with the giddiness of reunited girlfriends for a good ten minutes. Not long after that, the train started to shift and belch and come to life, and soon they were sitting back, chatting comfortably, as the English countryside raced past their windows.

Lily felt extremely content, and had quite forgotten the rocky ten minute start she had gotten off to on Platform 9 and ¾, when the door slid suddenly open. The five girls in the compartment turned as one to see who had intruded on their merriment.

It was Sirius Black, who stepped into the compartment with entitlement without even looking to see who was occupying it. When he looked around and realized that he was in a room full of girls, a slight smile quirked on his lips.

"Ladies," he nodded in that unconcerned way of his that always held a hint of amusement. "Don't mind me."

As he strode across the compartment to the window, Lily could feel a rustle go around the tiny room as Sara Bell nudged Mary Macdonald, and they waggled their eyebrows at each other. Emmeline smirked and said in a voice that matched the tone of his,

"Sirius."

Lily wanted to roll her eyes. That rustle of whispers and looks rippled through groups of girls literally everywhere Sirius went. It was extreme to the point of being comical. He was quite as bad as James, and she felt that he definitely did not need the extra ego boost following him around absolutely everywhere.

Don Juan was at present, inspecting the sealed window of the train with his back to them, muttering in a low voice. Lily got up to see what he was doing. He faltered ever so slightly as she approached, but kept muttering, tapping his wand deftly on the window.

"Er... Sirius?" She poked her head over his shoulder in an attempt to figure out what sort of spell he was using. He seemed to smile in spite of himself.

"Lily?"

"Can I ask what you're doing?" He spared her the quickest of looks and obliging smiles.

"Sure you can."

And he went right back to his inspection of the window seal. Lily let the silence continue for a few beats past the point where it became clear that he wasn't going to speak any more.

"Right. What are you doing, Sirius? Is this the sort of drill where we need to evacuate? Alert the Medi-Wizards? Have our counter-curse texts at the ready?"

At last he looked at her properly, his hair falling into his eyes, which were twinkling at the sport of teasing her.

"Well I can't tell you," he smirked, "it wouldn't be suitable for the ears of the Head Girl."

She felt her face turn ever so slightly pink- she had just known he and James would ridicule her for the badge that she wasn't quite sure she felt suited for... She was about to reply hotly, when with impressive skill, Sirius was at last able to break the spell on the windows that kept them magically sealed, and the glass slid open. He grinned, and shouted over his shoulder,

"Got it, Prongs! In the second compartment," he caught sight of Lily's face, still full of temper, and his grin grew even wider. He bowed his head to the girls, "Ladies."

And before they could speak or move in reply, he had reached up out of the window, and hoisted himself out of the train. Out of the train that was moving at 80 kilometers an hour. The girls in the compartment, Lily included, shrieked and exclaimed (actually, she cursed rather loudly), and amid the chaos, James strode into the cramped quarters.

"Excellent," he said approvingly, rolling up his sleeves and asking Emmeline, who was straining to see the top of the train out of the window, "is he up?"

"Wh- is he- what the bloody hell are you two doing?!" Lily spluttered at the back of James' head. He turned to look at her, and his face was completely empty of the usual boyish eagerness that always lit him up when he looked at her. He made a calming gesture with one hand, and said calmly,

"Relax, he's fine. Just give him a minute."

And he leaned against the wall next to the window, smiling reassuringly at the rest of the girls.

Lily was left to wrestle with the cascading confusion of emotions roaring inside of her. Whatever other feelings were lurking beneath the surface, fury was masking them rapidly. She felt wildly irrational. She was furious with Sirius Black, whom she hardly knew past his reputation, the occasional teasing conversation, and the quite frequent display of reckless stunts, such as jumping out of a ruddy train window or luring Severus into a near death trap. And she was livid with James... for no reason at all. Other than the way he was standing broadly against the wall three feet away giving no sign that he had ever so much as spoken to her before.

Just as James promised, after no more than a minute or two, Sirius swung agiley back in through the window, looking windswept where anybody else would have looked absolutely bedraggled, noted Lily's fury. He was breathing heavily, and his eyes were shining with a wild exhilaration that did not look altogether healthy. He nodded at James, who thumped him on the back, and the pair made to stride out of the compartment, exuding pride.

"Wait a moment," Lily started to exclaim. She grabbed Sirius' arm to stop them, and felt all of the muscles in it stiffen as he froze. He shot her a glare of such intensity that her heart jumped, but she stood her ground. She felt like she should at least do something to honor the Head Girl position that Dumbledore had given her, but before she could open her mouth Sirius managed to quell the ferocity radiating off of him and said softly,

"We're not quite as thick as you think we are, you know. I used an adherent charm on myself. You'll like this one." He nodded respectfully at the girls, and he and James left.

Lily and her girlfriends looked at each other in disbelief for a long moment. Then Marlene snorted and started chuckling, and they all burst out laughing. Lily flopped back down in her seat, and spread her hair out behind her, putting her feet up on the seat next to Sara.

"Well. Welcome back to Hogwarts, Ladies," she said in an apt impression of Sirius. Her irrational mood taking yet another swing, she found she couldn't help a sudden smile at the thought of the pair of them, "You know? I never thought I would say this genuinely, but I think I will actually miss those two after we leave school."

The girls made sounds and smiles of agreement and Emmeline said something slightly vulgar about exactly which part of Sirius she would miss. Marlene however was frowning, gazing at Lily,

"That was a bit weird though, wasn't it?" She said thoughtfully.

"Well not really. If you think back over the years, leaping out the window of a speeding train hardly even makes the top of the list," Lily closed her eyes and stretched back comfortably.

"Not Sirius, James. He hardly noticed you were in here," Lily kept her eyes closed, knowing Marlene would be able to see that it was bothering her if their eyes met. She would be damned if she let the loss of attentions she had hoped for years would stop, actually bother her- she was acting like an egotistical cow. She made a thoughtful noise of her own, as if she was only noticing James' indifference towards her in retrospect.

"Hmmm... Perhaps I'm free at last- after a mere six years of torture." She raised her arms like wings.

"Yeah. Maybe he's found a girlfriend."

Lily's eyes snapped open in spite of herself. She sat up,

"Do you think?"

Marlene shrugged, "I dunno... I know Celia Diggory was going to make it her summer's mission to 'accidentally' run into him in Wimbourne. Maybe he's just finally given up on you." She looked at Lily carefully. Lily shrugged.

"Well whatever Sirius says, I think you've got to be just a little thick to not pick up a hint for six years." She rifled through a collection of sweets on the seat next to her, extracting a Chocolate Frog.

"Actually, I think that's pretty admirable," Marlene said slowly. Lily stared at her, "I do," she insisted with wide eyes, "As ridiculous as he is sometimes, you have to admire persistence like that."

"I suppose," Lily shrugged. She was surprised at how genuinely conflicted she felt about the matter. She frowned a little. Was she this much of a brat? She had been irritated and embarrassed by James Potter for years, was she really going to feel pouty just because she wouldn't be receiving his overwhelming attentions anymore? No. She would definitely not let herself be put out by something so trivial as the loss of her regular ego-stroking. Potter's time would be much better spent on someone else, and good on him for finding someone who would take him seriously. Annoying as he was, Lily knew that at his core, he was by no means a bad guy- he would do well to put his persistence, as Marlene so delicately put it, somewhere where it would not be wasted. She nodded to herself to sum up her train of thoughts, and managed to smile at Marlene, "Good for him then."

The subject of boys and dating lingered in the compartment as the rest of the girls began to share tidbits of gossip or news of new crushes. Try as she might, Lily found her mind wandering for a good part of the next few hours, as the cozy sound of her best friends' happy voices filled the room. The summer's warmth had been punctuated several times by undeniable darkness, and she couldn't help thinking over the stories she had heard… death, kidnap, riots. She had been able to ignore it to a certain extent, as she literally spent her summer holidays in another world, but as they sped towards her world of magic… she felt a chill stealing over her.

It wasn't until pink evening light began to creep in through the windows, that she unwrapped her Chocolate Frog and turned the card over. Salazar Slytherin. Her chest felt hollow as she stared down at the wild eyed man in her hand. She could tell just by looking at the ancient portrait that he was a powerful wizard and his face and wide eyes showed an austerity on the brink of... insanity.

An overwhelming wave of sadness swept over her out of nowhere as she realized that this little man in her right hand was one of the first crusaders against people like her. His mistrust and dislike of muggle-borns had lead to the rift between the four founders of Hogwarts, and had left behind a house that would attract and churn out so many more like him for centuries to come. But why? Her heart filled with hurt and anger as it always did when she thought about the world of Wizards that she respected and loved so much, and how much some of them so passionately hated muggles, like her own sweet family.

Her mind wandered rebelliously to the headline of the Prophet on Saturday morning, to those three courageous men who had been killed for standing up for muggle rights. She thought of how proud their children must have been of the good their fathers were doing... and how it must have felt to see the dark mark looming over their house. An icy feeling filled her chest at that thought, and she fiercely mustered her strength against her fright and the lump in her throat. She would not fall into the trap of fear that Voldemort was trying to spook them all into.

She started a little as she realized Marlene was speaking to her.

"Sorry?" She asked, a little bashfully. She had completely lost herself in her thoughts.

"It's time to put our robes on," Marlene repeated, looking a little concerned. Lily nodded, and made a spastic little gesture indicating her own air headedness, which made Marlene look less concerned.

The girls briefly locked the door of the compartment, lest Sirius Black 'stumble in' again, and changed into their school robes. The sky outside was full of magnificent pinks and reds, luminous against the emerald green hillsides of what Lily assumed was Scotland. She knew that they had nearly arrived, and she felt a ridiculous frenzied anxiety leap into her stomach. Her last journey to Hogwarts on the Express! And she had spent it fretting over James Potter and the state of the Wizarding World outside the safety of school. She felt a longing to turn back time and start the journey again, to force herself to be carefree and giddy as she usually was, but the train was already slowing.

The uncharacteristic heaviness in Lily's heart followed her out of the train, unruffled by the struggle with her many belongings, and onto the platform where she stood with Marlene. They waited for the rest of the girls to join them, standing in silence in the slowly growing sea of students gathering to wait for the carriages. A massive shape caught Lily's eye, and her heart lightened a little,

"Hello, Hagrid!" She beamed and waved at the largest and kindest man she knew, Rubeus Hagrid, gamekeeper of Hogwarts. Fairly young, and extremely energetic, his wild dark hair and beard tangled around shining eyes as he waved at many of the students who were greeting him. He was crunching his way towards them up a rocky path, and when he was within ten feet he called out,

"I've a message from Dumbledore for you two," he said, looking from Lily to someone standing behind her, "He wants to meet with the Head Boy and Girl righ' after dinner. Says to go on up to his office soon as the students are dismissed for bed."

Lily looked over her shoulder and saw James, Sirius, Remus and Peter standing a few feet behind her. She grinned at Remus. As they had not been asked to join the Prefects for orientation on the train, and since her mind had been so wrapped up in chaos since she arrived on Platform 9 and ¾- she had not even thought to confirm who the Head Boy was! Not that she had really needed to; she had known that it would be Remus... although there was a tiny part of her that had feared rather than expected, that Rye Santini- a nasty Slytherin Prefect- might get the badge.

She turned back to Hagrid and saw his lips twitching. Dropping his slightly formal manner, he leaned in and growled,

"Congratulations, Lily," he beamed at her, "James," he beamed behind her. "Two Gryffindor Heads. Hogwarts needed that this year, I reckon." And he straightened and walked away into the quickly falling dusk, holding his massive lantern high and calling out,

"Firs' years! First years over 'ere!" Lily smiled, letting that familiar phrase ring and settle into her memory for good. But then Hagrid's previous words sunk in, and her head snapped around to look at James.

"Hold on-" She spluttered, "- What?!" Her eyes traveled down James' sleek black robes where she noticed two things. First, he seemed to have become something of a young man over the summer, and the robes that were usually billowy on all of the boys at school, now clung across a chest and shoulders that were surprisingly broad. However, that thought was momentary and was immediately eclipsed by the unmistakable gleam of the Head Boy badge pinned under his right shoulder.

She stared for a few moments with her mouth agape. But then realization dawned on her and, feeling foolish, she smiled at them,

"Oh very clever. Congratulations, Remus. Only," she frowned at the stolen badge on James' chest, "how did you let Hagrid know to be in on the joke? You only just stepped off the train."

Next to her Marlene groaned a little, taking her arm. Peter let out a burst of something like a giggle, and Remus smiled uncomfortably. Lily looked around in confusion, unsure of what she was missing.

"No Lily, it's really not me. It's James," said Remus in his usual gentle voice. His warm brown eyes were honest as always, and she knew he never lied outright for James and Sirius. Confusion and shock walloped her for a second time, and her neck flushed as she realized how rude she had just been. Her eyes flew to James' hazel ones.

"Oh, I-" she began, trying to push away her confusion and disbelief to congratulate him genuinely. But he cut her off, his face blank and stony.

"No need to flatter me anymore, Evans." He brushed past her. Sirius sauntered behind him like a faithful dog, asking him something in a low voice, and Remus and Peter shrugged and followed.

"Lily," Marlene chided in a soft voice after the boys were out of earshot, "that was so rude."

"I know," Lily grimaced and covered her eyes with a hand, "I know, I just- I mean, he wasn't even a Prefect! I just didn't expect... It seemed like the sort of joke they would pull, didn't it?"

She looked at her best friend with guilt, hoping to be told that her rudeness was at least a little excusable.

"I think," Marlene said, looking at her intently, "that you always want to assume the worst of James Potter."

Lily felt weary as they lugged their things towards the carriages. She had so looked forward to coming back this year, fresh and newly free with that wild aliveness she had felt all summer. But instead she has spent the entire day blundering about and fretting like she was a first year again. Where was her courage, the spark she always had inside her to burn away her worries?

A sudden outbreak of screams ruptured the dusk air. Lily, along with everyone else whirled around to look in the direction of the sound, and gasped. The train was belching, and high above it, in thick black and green smoke, the dark mark was writhing grotesquely.

Her mind and body whirled, as her thoughts tried to rationally figure out how it could possibly be here, within the protection of Hogwarts. Her wand hand flew to the ready. But before she could begin to think of an explanation, the scarlet steam engine chugged and puffed, and an enormous smokey eagle soared out of the smokestack. The brakes made a piercing cry, just like that of a bird, and the massive winged creature dove at the dark mark, tearing at it with smoky beak and talons.

Lily's body flooded with relief, and she watched in amazement as the train made a lumbering thudding noise, and a massive yellow and black smoke badger burst from the smokestack as well. It bounded through the air, and tackled the dark mark, making the shadowy skull sway and wobble. Eagle and Badger together tore at the mark, shredding away wisps of smoke that vanished in showers of white sparks. The train gave an almighty rumble, and then the lion came.

Lily gasped again, as did many others, but this time the onlooker's voices were filled with awe instead of fear. She was absolutely transfixed. Powerful emotion was rising up inside of her. The lion was massive. It burst from the scarlet chimney and charged through the air towards the mark. The train heaved another roaring rumble, and the mighty gold cat snatched the snake up in its enormous jaws, shaking and severing it, until the skull and snake were completely disfigured- defeated. The smoke eagle, badger and lion stilled as the remnants of the mark began to burn brighter and brighter in the sky. The train heaved one last earsplitting sound, and the entire scene burst into an explosion of colorful sparks that lit up the whole platform like the sun.

They burned in the sky like a firework, lingering for a long time. The red and gold sparks were the last to disappear. The night was completely quiet. Lily realized that she had tears in her eyes. As one spilled down her cheek, the astonished students around her broke into applause.

She turned her head, searching the crowd until she found them. They weren't applauding, but they were also making no move to draw attention to themselves or claim the stunning work as their own. Sirius was looking around at the faces of the onlookers and caught her eye for a moment. He nodded almost imperceptibly at her, and then looked away. James' eyes flickered over hers too, but he gave her no acknowledgement beyond a look.

Very slowly, the crowd of students began to talk again, and make their way dazedly towards the carriages. Lily breathed deeply, feeling everything around her with great intensity. The sparks in the sky were still in her mind's eye. She smiled.

She could feel her own spark coming back.