The Time Has Come

Chapter One: Things Left Unsaid

Lily Evans gazed out of the car window towards London. Any normal person of her age would be looking longingly at all of the shops, but Lily was not a normal 17 year old. Lily was, in fact, a witch. It was her final year at the prestigious Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was going to Kings Cross Station to catch the Hogwarts Express, the train that would take her to the largest and most renowned school of magic in all of Great Britain.

As she stared out the window, Lily fiddled with a small, silver badge pinned to her jacket. The badge identified her as Head Girl, the singularly most sought after student leadership position at the school. When she received the badge along with her book list, Lily had been overjoyed. But now she was beginning to get very nervous. "What if I'm rubbish? What if no one listens to me? What if I forget a rule?" she thought.

In her past six years at school, Lily had put her classes and school rules before anything else. This year, getting good marks would be extremely important, as they would determine her career choices. If she so much as received one bad mark then her ambition to become an Auror would be shattered. Ever since she had heard of the elite force of dark wizard catchers, Lily wanted to be one. As soon as this school year was over, if she kept up her grades, she would immediately begin the tests and vigorous training required to become an Auror. It would take an additional three years, but Lily did not care.

Gradually, the car slowed and pulled into a parking spot. During all of her musing, she had quite forgotten that she was in a car. She had also forgotten that her parents were there too. Being used to Lily's long periods of silence, her parents had simply let her be. Mr. and Mrs. Evans enjoyed quiet moments too, and it was one of the reasons they loved their elder daughter so much. Deep once again in her own thoughts, Lily did not realize that she and her parents had entered the station until they were nearly at platform ten. Lily was empty handed, her father was wheeling her trunk, and her mother was carrying a large covered cage that contained Lily's only pet, a beautiful tawny owl named Clementine. As they reached the barrier between platforms nine and ten, her parents said their goodbyes. They could not join Lily on the secret platform. Lily gave them each a quick peck on the cheek, grabbed the cage and trunk handle, and miraculously walked straight through the brick wall.

Lily had just arrived on platform 9 3/4 when out of the steam came the unmistakable voice of a certain Sirius Black. Often thought to be one of the most handsome and charming boys in the year, Sirius and his mate, James Potter, had been at odds with Lily for years. At the beginning of last term, an unlikely friendship developed between them all as they realized they shared the same ambition to become Aurors. Lily was one of the very few people who could see straight through the pair's calculated charm. She knew them better perhaps than they ever would themselves.

James and Sirius had two other close friends, and the four together were known to the school at large as The Marauders. The other two Marauders were Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Remus was usually pretty quiet, and he was the only one of the four who had ever been considered for prefect. Peter was, in Lily's opinion, always trying far too hard. Whenever James or Sirius would say something funny, he would roll over in mirth, shrieking with laughter. Peter was a tag-along and that was what he would always be. He had neither the brains nor the ease with life that had made his other three friends instantly popular. Lily thought that Peter liked powerful people far too much for his own good, and this was why she never particularly liked him.

"Hello, Lily love!" said Sirius enthusiastically as he gave her a quick hug. "How was your summer?"

"It was alright," said Lily dismissively. "I really liked being able to do magic outside of school though, and it was brilliant being able to Apparate away the moment mum so much as mentioned tidying up my room." As she spoke, Sirius broke into a grin. Looking up at the clock over Lily's shoulder, however, stopped him mid-grin.

"Listen Lily, we can keep chatting on the train. It's almost eleven," he said.

Certainly enough, the train started expelling larger and more frequent bursts of steam and sounded as if it was about to move. They ran towards the nearest open door, swung Lily's belongings inside and leaped in just as the enormous wheels began to turn.

"Whew," said Sirius breathing heavily, "That was a close one. Come on, James and Peter are in a compartment over here."

"Wait a minute Sirius. I have to go to the prefect's compartment for an hour or so. I'll meet up with you lot later." With that, Lily set off for the far end of the train where she would brief all of the new prefects.