Great Expectations

The saying "busy as a bee" really made no sense.

Bees never had homework, jobs, N.E.W.T.s, or detention slips to sort through. They never had boy problems or had to deal with Head Boy incompetency. They damn well never had family or friend issues or money deficiencies or had to restrain themselves from buying a really amazing pair of earrings from a shop in Hogsmeade.

No, all they had to do is fly to load of flowers and vomit up honey. They might scare away the occasional picnicker, but how much time did that take up really? How much energy did that take up really?

No, bees were not busy. They had time to breathe. They got all of winter off to hibernate too, the little bastards.

"Hey, Lily!" called one student as a blur of a girl with deep red hair holding a jumble of papers ran past him in the hall.

"Hi, Noah," Lily yelled. "Late for class, sorry! Can't talk!"

"Ms. Evans, no running in the hallways!" shouted Professor McGonagall as Lily rounded a corner, but she was out of sight before the woman could properly reprimand her.

Lily jumped down the stairs two at a time before reaching the dungeons and the potions classroom. Thank God Slughorn liked her. She reached the doorway, threw it open, and took two steps in before gracefully slipping on a wet spot on the floor and falling flat on her arse and the papers in her arms scattering everywhere.

The class burst into laughter and started applauding. "Well, I suppose that means Ms. Evans is here," Slughorn laughed and the classed laughed harder.

Normally, Lily would just blush and move on, but she had to stew in her embarrassment as she fumbled around to find her wand and collect all 23 detention slips (18 of which belonged the bloody Marauders).

Lucy, a friend of Lily's, helped her collect all her papers while Lily continued searching for her wand. She found it beneath a certain Marauder's dirt and grass stained trainer. She followed the shoe to an ankle to a leg, torso, chest, neck and then the smug grin of James Potter.

"Lily, you trying to look up my robes? You know that all you have to ask and I'd be more than willing to play a game of I'll-show-you-mine-if-you-show-me-yours." Potter took his foot of of Lily's wand and she seized it immediately.

"Potter, you boast about your body enough that I'd only end up pathetically disappointed," Lily snapped back and took her seat in the front corner of the class.

"She wants me," Potter whispered and Lupin snickered.

"Evans?" whispered Hufflepuff boy who sat next to her. "That was bloody classic. Slughorn just called your name and wham! Bloody. Classic."

"Thanks, Max," she replied sarcastically, leaning her head onto her hand. Just then her elbow slipped and knocked over a group of vials from the table. The shattering echoed throughout the room and everyone looked to stare at her.

Potter, without missing a beat, supplied, "Lily, what'd your mum tell you about touching Snivellus's hair?"

* * *

Lily wasn't sure how it happened, but just being named Lily Evans was causing her physical pain.

"Ms. Evans, what should the consistency of a Theroaiac Potion be?"

"Ms. Evans, what is the proper number combination of a Hermes Triangle?"

"Ms. Evans, what plant is this?"

"Ms. Evans, can you demonstrate the proper hand motion to cure the Snotus Influxius Hex?"

"Ms. Evans, can you help Mr. Cymberline with his transfiguration?"

"Ms. Evans, what is the spell used to block the Syphilia Curse?"

Ms. Evans.

Ms. Evans.

Ms. Evans.

That's all anyone said all day long. Ms. Evans this. Ms. Evans that. She preferred Ms. Evans though. Ms. Evans meant a professor was addressing her. Ms. Evans usually meant she knew the answer to a question. Ms. Evans meant she wasn't falling behind in her studies. Ms. Evans usually followed a "correct" or "very good" or a pleased smile. Everyone knew she deserved to be Head Girl. She deserved to be in the top 10% of her class. She deserved to be Healer after school. Ms. Evans came with high expectations.

Lily - that wasn't a bad name either. People were always saying, "Hey, Lily!" or "I have a question, Lily" or "Can you pass me the potatoes, Lily?" Those voices were nice, cordial, admiring of "Lily." She wasn't Ms. Evans to them. She was a friend and mentor. Lily came with expectations too.

Lily still had a downside.

"Lily-pad, if I were a frog, could I sit on you?"

"Lily, Lily, Lily, why can't you just admit that you think I'm brilliant?"

"Lily-Lils, just one on the cheek. Nobody has to know."

"Lily, what's your favorite kind of Lily? If I was a Lily, I'd go out with a sexy beast named James 'Sexy Beast' Potter."

"Can lilies dance? I'm sure they could once I cast my magical spell."

It wasn't a mystery how she hadn't already died from his horribly bad pick-up lines and continuing pursuit of her.

Lily sometimes kept count of how many times Potter asked her out or mentioned dating her throughout class. It was a new record low this week - probably because he was too busy talking about how amazing he was.

Some weeks were worse than others, but Lily couldn't go a single week without hearing Potter's endless jokes in class or in the Great Hall or in the common room. She had to endure his constant laughing - amusing himself with his own brilliant quips and insults toward Slytherins. The boy was so bloody fantastic, apparently, that Lily wasn't sure how he could stand himself. Last year for Christmas, she gave him a mirror with "Narcissus" engraved in the glass. He about peed himself until his friends had to tell him it was a joke.

The week passed in a blur. Every day she had to endure at least three hours and 15 minutes of his boasting. She sometimes wondered, with seven classes and James Potter in five of them, how she managed to stay at the head of her class. One possibility was that most of her classes involved either a wand or a sharp object. Every time she took aim or had to stab something, imagined it was Potter's grinning face.

It really was effective. After all, she was in the top 10% of her class.

Friday came and Lily watched students bustle about, excited for the weekend, Hogsmeade on Saturday, and a small reprieve from schoolwork. Lily ate her eggs, drank her juice, and tried to remember, just for a moment, last year when she didn't have so many responsibilities and she to enjoyed her weekends just like everyone else.

Lily didn't have a morning class, so she Audra Bain, Jackie Stebbins, Noah Murray, and Joseph Edabard all met in the Great Hall to study for Defense that afternoon. They all ate an early lunch and dispersed. Lily and Audra headed outside to bask in the beautiful autumn day for a few minutes before heading to class with the others.

Lily's life was hectic, demanding, stressful, and downright depressing at times. She often had trouble sleeping or even finding the time to get a full night's rest. She never had enough time. She was running from one obligation to another, carrying on multiple tasks, having several conversations. Her days were always the same, but, at the same time, always very different.

It was just another day at Hogwarts. Colder than the day before with more red and brown trees scattered about the ground, but still it followed the same pattern. Morning to night, night to morning, spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Students walked about the grounds, playing with the crunchy leaves and enjoying the new rustic colors. Scarves and gloves were making their way back into the elements for the new time of year, and Lily reminded herself to find hers at the bottom of her trunk.

Today was a good day though. She had time today, time to stop and relish the crisp wind through her hair. It wasn't often she stopped to enjoy the season. So, like many other seventh years, memories raced through her mind of the past six autumns at Hogwarts and that how, even if she came back another year, it wouldn't be the same.

"Lily, we have to go to Defense," said her friend Audra, her caramel colored eyes giving her a knowing glance.

Lily shook off her daze and all her thoughts flooded back to her, the tasks she needed to accomplish, the information she absorbed the night before, and the James Potter Extraordinaire waiting for her at the back of the classroom.