January 9th

For most Hogwarts students, it was just a regular Sunday evening. A Sunday evening spent frantically finishing homework assignments which were left to the very last minute. A Sunday evening spent bemoaning the approaching school week. However, for Lily Evans, it was not just another Sunday evening. It was Sunday, January 9^th and that made all the difference in the world. The day snuck up on her and caught her off guard until it completely consumed her thoughts. It was this which sent Lily to take refuge on the top of Gryffindor Tower, on the roof that most students didn't know even existed. The normally calm Prefect lay sprawled out on the stone tiles, shakily smoking a cigarette in an attempt to calm her nerves and keep a firm lid on the thoughts and feelings which she had no wish to revisit. It hurt too much and she had convinced herself that she was over it.

She would have been, if it weren't for this day. January 9^th. January 9^th ruined everything and made her question her resolve. She had absolutely every intention of staying up there, very much alone, for the rest of the night until she managed to get a handle on her conflicted thoughts. Unfortunately, this just wasn't Lily's day for matters to go according to plan.

"Those things will kill you know," came an amused voice from the side. The exasperated Lily lifted her head up woefully from the flagstones to see a smirking Sirius Black clambering over the side onto the top, holding a bottle of contraband Ogden's Firewhiskey firmly in his left hand.

"That seems only a tad bit hypocritical, Black, considering I see you chainsmoking behind Hagrid's hut any chance you get," Lily replied with a huff as she angrily sat up and stubbed out her cigarette.

"Ah, you see Evans, the difference between you and me is that people care quite a bit more about what happens to you. While I may be brilliant and all around fantastic, I am still quite the menace to society. Whereas you are the type that will change the world by helping puppies and actually doing your homework and all that rubbish," Sirius replied as he flopped down on the flagstones next to her, despite being completely unwanted.

Lily had to fight back the quirk of her lips, as the last thing Sirius Black needed was anyone to fuel his ego by letting him that she found him amusing.

"Don't you have other places to be? Where's Potter?"

"Detention with McGonagall."

"Pettigrew?"

"Detention with Slughorn."

"Remus?"

"Tutoring First Years in Defence."

"Why in the name of Merlin is he even friends with you in the first place?" Lily wondered, not for the first time.

Sirius snorted. "Don't be fooled by the Prefect exterior, Remus is just as much of a deviant as the rest of us."

"Is there no other place in the castle where you can go to get drunk and be annoying?"

"Nope," Sirius stated cheerfully, as he took another swig from the bottle of Firewhiskey. "Now, tell me Evans, what's got you into such a strop? You're being rather unpleasant. Even more so than usual, which is quite a feat."

Lily scowled as she contemplated the recalcitrant Marauder, as she realized that Sirius Black may very well be the inadvertent balm to her frazzled temper. Everyone knew of the bitter hatred which existed between Severus Snape and Sirius Black. Everyone knew of the cruel and sharp words which fell easily from Sirius's lips when directed towards Snape, words which appeared incongruous coming from such a seemingly light hearted person.

"It's Severus Snape's birthday."

"Ah. And you're cursing the day he was born? Good on you for that." Sirius smirked.

"No, I mean. We were friends until he called me...well, you know what he called me. And we always used to celebrate his birthday together. I just...feel out of sorts because of it. It's the first time in years that I haven't spent this day with him."

"Look, Evans, Snape is a bastard." As Lily looked as if she were about to cut him off, Sirius doggedly continued, "Maybe he used to be your friend but he's also a Slytherin and your friendship could have never survived that."

"It's as simple as that, then. He's a Slytherin, so he must be doomed from the start. Don't you think that that's a little narrow-minded?" Lily couldn't help it. A part of her still wanted to desperately cling to the ideals of her friendship which she had held so dear when she first entered Hogwarts.

"Evans, I know Slytherins much better than you do. My whole bloody fucking family was in Slytherin, so don't lecture me on what I do or do not understand about them. Whether or not you were a bastard going into the house, it's inevitable for someone to get sucked into the mentality. It's not exactly a nurturing environment and the wanker who used to be your friend had to adapt to survive. That's just the way it is."

Lily looked at Sirius curiously, as if she had never quite looked at him before. Everyone had heard the rumors about Sirius running away from home and living with the Potters, but she had never given it a second thought. She had always just assumed it was part of the mystique that the two liked to create around themselves but now she wasn't so sure. Instead of analyzing these thoughts though, Lily did the only thing she could do at that point.

She stole Sirius's Firewhiskey and drank a rather alarming amount of it in one go, enough to warrant a startled and impressed look from Sirius. And as if it somehow had given her liquid courage, all of the angry words that she had wanted to say desperately came bursting out at once as she felt oddly comforted that the audience was someone who wasn't even a friend.

"We had all these fucking plans! We were going to go to Hogwarts together, be sorted in the same house and be best friends our entire years here. I know, I realize how naïve that sounds but I honestly believed in it. I daydreamed about those utopic years and it pains me that they're never going to happen, even though I hate him. I hate him so bloody much for doing this to me. To us. You know he was the one who explained my magic to me? He told me once that it didn't matter that I wasn't a Pureblood. What a bloody joke."

"We all have plans and certain expectations when we board the Hogwarts express, Evans. I'm sure that none of those expectations come true for anyone. I expected to be sorted into Slytherin like the rest of my lot and be forced to lead a generally boring existence until I was properly done up in a nice arranged marriage to a dull and horribly inbred Pureblood girl. Instead I'm a runaway Gryffindor who has been blasted from the family portrait. Not exactly what I pictured to be in the fucking cards for me back then. And I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. Maybe we're meant to have all those expectations so that we come to realize that they're all bollocks in the end anyways."

Lily gave him a side glance. "You're frighteningly insightful when drunk, Black."

"Oh, I'm always insightful, you just never realized it before. You're somehow immune to my genius. It's a great tragedy," Sirius replied with a shit-eating grin.

Lily couldn't help it this time and she snorted with laughter, accidentally spilling some of the Firewhiskey that she had been about to drink. As she watched the amber liquid run along the flagstones, she became introspective again.

"How do you do it?" she asked softly.

"Do what? You'll have to be a bit more specific, Evans. I can do a great many things."

"Move on. How do you move on?"

Sirius favored her again with that same shit-eating grin which put fear into the hearts of both teachers and Slytherins alike.

"I drink." Sirius then emphasized this by stealing back the bottle and draining its contents.

Lily let out an exasperated sigh and moved to get up, but was stopped mid-movement by Sirius once again. His voice was uncharacteristically quiet in his reflection.

"Also, by remembering who I am and what I believe in. And by reminding myself continually that I'm better than that. I may be a vain wanker, but I still know that I'm better than all of that rubbish about the Dark Arts and Pureblood. You're better than that, Evans. If you had mended fences with sodding Snape, you might have gotten pulled down along in it as well and that'd be a shame."

"Thank you. You know, Black, I never thought that I'd say this, but you're actually capable of being a human being," Lily admitted with a grin.

"Thanks, Evans, that means so much to me." Sirius grinned back as he settled across from her.

"You know, Evans, James is a bit of an alright bloke too," Sirius hinted slyly.

Unfortunately, that statement saw him dodging the bottle of Firewhiskey, which Lily then promptly chucked at his head.

"Damnit, Black, we were having a nice, friendly moment. You just had to ruin it, didn't you?"

"I wouldn't be me if I didn't."

"No, I guess you wouldn't be."

And just like that, January 9^th ceased to have a paralyzing hold over Lily. She may have lost a friend, but maybe that was for the best. She might have just gained a new one, and maybe that was for the best as well.