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I gave my mum and dad one last hug and Petunia a half-smile and a pleading look before I pushed my trolley through to platform 9 ¾. Six years ago I would have marveled at the site that now surrounded me. Well, if I hadn’t been pleading with Petunia to stop being mad at me because of something I couldn’t control. I walked on through the witches and wizards, around loose cats and toads, and dodging owls as I approached the scarlet train, the Hogwarts Express. I loaded my trunk onto the train and lugged it into an empty compartment. As soon as I packed away my trunk into the luggage rack, my friend Mary Macdonald entered.

“Lily!” Mary screeched and hugged me.

I laughed. “Mary! How was your summer?”

“Same as always.” She shrugged and let me go. “How was yours?”

“I hid from Petunia and her beefy boyfriend, Vernon.”

She laughed, “Well, I’ve missed you so much! Can you believe it? It’s our last year at Hogwarts!”

“I know, N.E.W.T.s” I shivered.

Mary just shook her head and laughed. “The school year hasn’t even officially started and you are worried about N.E.W.T.s. You never change, do you Lily?”

“But Mary,” I protested, “This could change our entire futures! If you do badly on N.E.W.T.s you get a not so great job! That’s just the way it is!”

“Well, let’s enjoy this last year at Hogwarts just a little, shall we?”

“Whatever you say, Mary.” I rolled my eyes.

Just then the train started to move. “I forgot!” I said. I started to pull on my robes while I explained it to Mary. “I’m Head Girl I need to tell the Prefects what to do!”

“I wonder who Head Boy is.” Mary said.

“I’ll soon find out.” I said walking out of the compartment.

I walked down to the prefect compartment and checked my watch. I had five minutes to get down there to start the meeting. I walked in and sat down. There was no sign of the Head Boy. I checked my watch again as a couple of six year prefects walked in. There was about two minutes until I had to start. Where was the Head Boy? I had just started to stand up to start the meeting when Potter walked in. I saw the light reflect off of something on his chest. It was a new badge pinned next to his Quidditch Captain badge. It read HB. I had about half a second to recover from my shock before Potter addressed me.

“Sorry I’m late, Evans.”

“Y-you’re just on time.” I stuttered still recovering from my latest discovery. “I assume that you would like me to start?” I asked.

“Go right ahead.” He said.

I almost immediately switched into my Head Girl mode as I told the prefects of their responsibilities. I didn’t really need to think about what I was saying; it seemed to be ingrained into my system. I had never broken a school rule, I was a prefect, Head Girl, an all “outstanding” student, and I had practiced my ‘speech’ several times over the summer.

Once I had finished my ‘speech’ I asked Potter in a stiff serious voice that didn’t betray my displeasure in having to ask Potter this, “Do you have anything you would like to add?”

“No, you explained it beautifully.”

I rolled my eyes and dismissed everyone. As I walked back to my compartment I was amazed to find that Potter had not followed me or asked if I would go out with him. I patrolled for about ten minutes then returned to Mary and my textbook.

“So, who’s Head Boy?” Mary asked.

“Potter.” I snorted. “Dumbledore’s finally off his rocker.”

“Oh! Won’t this be a fun year! You have patrols to do with him, alone, at night!” Mary teased. I rolled my eyes and groaned. “Well he has to be at least a little but more mature if he’s headboy.”

“Maybe.” I said, deep in thought, “He was somewhat decent at the meeting.”

“See! Maybe he has changed. You should give him a chance.”

I sat there frozen, “Give Potter a chance? Have you lost your mind? He-”

Mary interrupted me, “Yes, yes I know, he’s an arrogant toe-rag and you would rather go out with the giant squid than go out with him. I’ve heard it only a couple thousand times. I know that you hate him but what if he has changed?” I tried to say something but Mary held up her finger and gave me a don’t-talk-now-if-you-know-what’s-good-for-you look then continued, if he has changed, he does deserve a chance.”
I had to agree with Mary. If he has changed then I need to give him a chance.
Wait.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

What am I saying? Why can’t the world just end now! I’m a Head with POTTER! NO! Panic! Urg! All I didn’t feel and think when I first found out that Potter was Head Boy came out now. Before I was so determined to keep a cool head in front of all the prefects that I had somewhat overlooked these little things because I had to start the meeting, but now I couldn’t overlook these horrible details that now were destined to make my last year at Hogwarts a living nightmare.

Ok. So I know I was overreacting, but POTTER, the boy that never ceased to ask me out, the one that thought he could charm me by being a talented seeker or cursing random students who he passed by in that hall. I hate him! H-a-t-e. HATE. Pure dislike. I don’t know how I can get that through his head but it has to happen, and soon. I dislike everything about him from his messy jet black hair to his wire trimmed glasses. Especially when he feels that he has to ruffle his already messy hair that sticks up no matter what he does. Oy! It bugs me SO FREAKING MUCH! He tries to make it look like he just got off his broom. Ok. So I admit that he is a good seeker, but he thinks that just because he’s good means that every girl will fall for him. It’s sickening. Then of course there’s the ‘Potter charm’. You should hear people talk about it. ‘He has that whole Potter charm about him, it’s dreamy.’ Or ‘No one can resist the Potter charm, I don’t know who Evans is trying to kid but it’s not working, you just can’t resist the Potter charm. I mean do you see the way he ruffles his hair . . . ‘ Do I really need to go on? Personally I don’t see a ‘Potter charm’ I just see that annoying, arrogant, self-centered, hexing, stupid, toe-rag! What’s so special about him? Really? Nothing! Nothing! NOTHING! I can’t believe how many stupid girls come to Hogwarts, falling all over him, practically worshiping the ground he walks on. It drives me INSANE! Really, what would happen if-?

“Lily, you’re scaring me. You have an angry determined look on your face. What are you thinking about?” It was Mary. She really did sound scared.

“What? Oh, nothing.”

“It has to be something, you don’t look determined when thinking about nothing.”

“Ok. I was thinking about the upcoming year.”

“Where you thinking about what you would say to James when you are patrolling?”

“No, I was thinking about how arrogant and self-centered he is.”

“But he has these beautiful hazel eyes and windswept black hair . . .” Mary sighed. It sounded like that being handsome erased all bad things about you. In Mary’s book, it probably did. I picked up my transfiguration textbook and started reading.

The rest of the train ride was spent sitting and reading. We arrived at Hogsmeade station and climbed aboard one of the carriages. I saw Potter and his mates climbing aboard another carriage. When he looked my way, clearly searching for someone, he quickly looked away. I climbed aboard the carriage confused.

The entire feast I was totally aware that Potter was as far away from me as humanly possible, or Marauder possible, I think they would notice if he was as far away from me as humanly possible and that just confused me more.

It was probably the calmest feast that I had ever been to at Hogwarts. Potter didn’t say a word to me and didn’t even look my way. There were no pranks, explosions or unconscious kids the entire time. I think the Marauders set a record. They always had to do something to show everyone that they are as immature as ever.

Dumbledore stood up to give his beginning-of-the-year-speech. He said the usual, stay out of the Forbidden Forest, stay away from the Whompping Willow, banned items, blah, blah, blah. We got up to leave. I chatted with Mary all the way up to the Gryffindor common room. It didn’t take long to fall asleep after my head hit my pillow.

During breakfast Professor McGonagall handed out our schedules. I read what I had first today. My stomach flipped. Double Potions with the Slytherins. I hadn’t had to deal with having Potions with Severus since fifth year. I didn’t want to face him. I never really had forgiven him. I mean he was my friend; he introduced me to the magical world. I trusted him, and I was backstabbed.

I looked at Mary’s schedule, she had Herbology. She wasn’t taking Potions this year so I would have to brave it alone.

“See you, Mary.” Mary nodded, still looking at her schedule as I got up from the table and started to head down to the dungeons.

I sat alone in Potions but was disappointed to find that Potter, Black, and Remus were in this class too. Of course Severus was with us. I mean we were the star potion-makers, Slughorn wouldn’t hear of us dropping Potions. To him it was preposterous. Unthinkable.

I met up with Mary in our free period and we left to go to DADA together. We had the rest of our classes together and, to my great displeasure, Potter, Black, Remus, and occasionally Peter. What really surprised me was that the day was normal, it didn’t feel normal, but it was. I wonder why.

The first month of school was quiet. No, not quiet, it was boring, normal, undisturbed. It took me a while but then it clicked. There were no pranks. The Marauders were, silent? Planning something? I didn’t know. But I realized that they did liven up Hogwarts a bit. They did brighten everyone’s day. They distracted your mind from your worries. I usually yelled at them for their pranks but it did make Hogwarts interesting. What frightened me most was not that there were no pranks, it was that Potter had stopped bothering me. I don’t know why but he had. It almost made me think that I was forgetting the parts of the day that he did bother me, but I wasn’t. He was leaving me alone, and that scared me.

And I didn’t know why.