The Long and Winding Road

Lily reached the barrier at Kings Cross Train Station; she gave her mother and father a kiss and a hug. When Lily hugged Petunia, however, Petunia was as rigid as a board and refused to hug Lily back. Lily felt as though all the blood had been drained out of her body but pretended as though it was nothing - and, indeed, once she ran through the barrier and saw that big red steam train all her troubles with seemed to Petunia vanish.

The first person she saw was her friend Emmeline Vance. Emmeline was tall, very skinny, and blonde with blue-grey eyes. She was probably one of the cleverest girls in Gryffindor next to Lily. Lily ran towards her and gave her a huge hug in which Emmeline, unlike Petunia, returned eagerly.

"Lily! How was your summer? I never got to come over! You said that I could come over and experience the Muggle way of life for a week! What happened?" asked Emmeline. Emmeline was a pureblood but was fascinated by Muggles.

"Sorry, I decided against it because Petunia...well...hasn't been very tolerant of me the past few weeks," replied Lily. Emmeline gave a nod of understanding.

"Miss me, girls?" said the familiar voice of Marlene McKinnon. Her wavy brown hair was messy from the rain but frankly, Marlene probably didn't mind much. She would most likely be perceived as a tomboy if it not for the fact that she was obsessed with blokes and gossip. However, she cared little about getting dirty; one of her favourite things to do was play Quidditch...in the rain. She hugged Emmeline and Lily and asked, "Where's the squirt?"

"Right here. Though I still don't know why you call me squirt, Marlene. It makes no sense whatsoever," interjected the voice of Alice Neilson. She panted as she dragged her trunk across the platform. "Sorry guys, I had to help Frank Longbottom find his toad. I swear that thing must hate Frank or something. He seems to lose it about twenty times before we even reach Hogwarts!" Alice's plump cheeks dimpled as she exchanged hugs, but Lily noticed that that Alice was still out of breath.

"Alice, let me help you with your trunk. I am a prefect after all; it's my job to help you out," Lily offered.

"Are you serious, Lily? With it raining and everything? Merlin, you are a lifesaver. What about your trunk? It's almost time to get on the train, so..." Alice said.

"Alice, just let me put your trunk away. I'll leave mine here - who'd want to steal it, anyways? All you have to do is put Artemis in the pets' compartment. And the rest of you guys find a compartment with me," Lily instructed. And with that, she went on the train to put Alice's trunk in the nearby compartment that the rest of the girls officially claimed theirs. While Emmeline, Alice, and Marlene relaxed in the compartment, Lily rushed back out to the platform to retrieve her own trunk. When Lily attained her trunk and started to drag it along the platform, she spotted Bellatrix and Narcissa Black whispering under an umbrella.

"Hey, Mudblood! Best get on the train and taint it before it leaves. Even in the rain you're liable to muddy up the platform," scoffed Bellatrix while Narcissa cackled beside her. How she made Head Girl this year I have no idea, thought Lily. Lily shook their predictable insults off and moved on...yet the word still hurt her.

Suddenly Lily's trunk slipped out of her grasp and fell to the ground. Groaning, Lily stooped to pick it up and started to drag it down the platform. Yet again it got away from her. Cursing, Lily again bent down to pick it up - but her trunk suddenly started to race down towards the opposite end of the platform. Lily chased after her runaway trunk. It was a difficult task: the trunk smoothly glided through and around the students with ease.

"Excuse me...sorry about that. Ouch! Sorry...runaway trunk!" she apologized to the dozens of people she bumped into along the way. The trunk finally began to slow down and as Lily grabbed for it she slipped on the wet platform with a yelp.

She blacked out for a second and the first thing she heard was a colourful mix of swearwords. She looked around and saw her trunk open with her books and clothes on the cement floor. Some clothes that definitely were not her own and a few books that she did not recognize were also getting wet. She picked up the closest book to her with confusion. Dark Arts of England in the 1600s? I know I didn't buy this in Diagon Alley. Suddenly the book was snatched out of her hand. She looked up to see the face of Severus Snape glowering at her. His scowl seemed more direct than usual.

"Watch where you're going, Evans! Merlin, are you blind?" sneered Severus.

"Sorry, but I couldn't help it," she said evenly, brushing a strand of wet, floppy auburn hair out of her face with a squint. "My trunk was jinxed and I tried to catch it...but I suppose my trunk bumped into yours along the way." Lily looked around and saw Bellatrix put away her wand rather indiscreetly and laugh hysterically with Narcissa as they boarded the train.

"Probably did it yourself and didn't know it," Severus scoffed.

"Bellatrix did this, Snape, not me; so I'd prefer if you didn't bite my head off, thank you very much!" Lily snapped. Severus simply sighed and they both quickly grabbed the nearest items and stuffed them into their trunks. Once their trunks were repacked, they turned in opposite directions on the platform and boarded the train.

Once Lily got on the train and quickly said hello to her friends, she made her way to the prefects' compartment on the other side of the train. When she got there, she was greeted by her friend and fellow prefect, Remus Lupin.

"Hullo Remus, nice summer?" Lily asked with a warm hug, apologising for getting him wet.

"It was okay, Lily. Spent a lot of time at James' house," Remus told her. "Did you know that Sirius moved in with him this summer?"

"Why did he move in with Potter?" Lily said, making a small face at the thought of living with Potter.

"Well, his parents were pretty horrible towards him. I'm sure you've heard that they are bunch pureblooded nutters," Remus said quietly.

"Yeah...I've heard," said Lily as she glanced at Bellatrix, sitting next to the Head Boy, Fabian Prewett, and Narcissa, who was seated next to Severus. Lily then proceeded to tell Remus about her little experience on the platform. Remus gave a sympathetic nod. Out of all of the Marauders, Remus was by far her favourite. He at least tried to stop Potter and Black from getting into trouble...sometimes. She knew that Remus could not help but play some pranks every once and a while, and although she disapproved of them all, she was softer on him than the rest. It was difficult not to be biased.

"So...have you talked to Emmeline yet?" asked Remus with voice much more casual than usual.

Lily smiled. "Yes, I've talked to her. She said that her summer was pretty good." Lily had always had a feeling that Remus had a thing for Emmeline.

"Oh, that's good. Tell her I said hello," Remus said, his voice a little high pitched.

"No problem," said Lily with a smirk.

"Okay, let's get this over with so I don't miss the food trolley!" snapped Fabian Prewett, and the prefects' meeting came to order.

XXX

Severus was patrolling the corridors and was starving. He hadn't had breakfast, as usual, and had missed the food trolley. Now he had to search the corridors on an empty stomach. If only my house actually had food in it during the summer. Although Severus had always been skinny, he had lost about ten pounds over the summer. His family's refrigerator was either full of beer or only had milk and carrots. Not what one would call a healthy diet. He took his mind off his stomach for now and continued to walk along the narrow corridor, sticking his nose in the loud compartments to make sure nothing suspicious was going on. When it had to come to that, the members of the compartment would immediately stop talking but would giggle after he closed the compartment door.

Around the time that his shift was over, he came across the open compartment containing Lily and her friends. He made a swift glance into the room and for some reason was just standing in the doorway. Why are you standing here like an idiot? he asked himself. Lily, Marlene, Emmeline, and Alice stopped talking immediately and each one of them glared at him. He realized girls were like this often: plotting and giving cold shoulder, slanderous remarks, and eye rolls and glares. They were all just amazingly catty.

He noticed that Evans' glare was the most vicious of all. Her green eyes seemed to glow but he just assumed that it was the sun reflecting off her eyes. The sun isn't out, you idiot. Lily stood up, walked over to him, sharply grabbed his hand, and placed a chocolate frog box in it.

"You might be one of the biggest gits I've ever had the misfortune to know, but I still think you are far too skinny." With that, she turned around and shut the door in his face.

XXX

Lily loved the rain. She loved how it felt on her face and hair; she loved the smell of her surroundings after a nice long rain. The smell was inexpressible but it made her feel alive.

The past few days at home had been hard. Arguing with Petunia non-stop was like losing a best friend. Back when Lily was twelve and Petunia was sixteen they used to talk for hours on those hot summer nights, usually discussing the boys in their teen magazines and playing with their mother's makeup and jewellery. Now they just argued and tried to avoid each other as much as possible.

Another hard thing this summer were her parents. Her mother and father had many little arguments about Lily and Petunia. Her father would usually comment about their choices of clothing and her mother, although usually defending Lily and Petunia, acted as though she was always a big help to them. Sadly, Matilda Evans was usually just an embarrassment. Lily recalled a Sunday afternoon in late June, which saw a little row between her mother and father. She was ready to go shopping with her mother when her father stopped her and said her blouse was too tight. Her mother's excuse was that Lily's "bust" was growing. Lily's father told her, "You're my daughter and I want what's best for you," leading her mother to explain that Lily was just discovering her sexuality... Neither of them thought that maybe she just wanted to wear the shirt, no strings attached.

Lily listened to Alice and Marlene discuss the Quidditch World Cup in Germany and leaned her head against the cool window of the Hogwarts Express. Along with Petunia being distant and her father treating her like an eight-year-old, there were the newfound problems in the wizarding world. Headlines about missing persons and families murdered seemed to be constantly in the news now. Over the summer, Lily had subscribed to the Daily Prophet to keep up to date with the recent events of her world, but almost regretted it after receiving only the fourth issue. Every week Lord Voldemort seemed to gain more support and cause more deaths. Each week different, each week more devastating than the last. Giants, werewolves, Death Eaters--as Voldemort's most loyal supporters styled themselves--and Voldemort himself caused death and destruction everywhere. Most citizens of the wizarding community had started to call him "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "You-Know-Who", but Lily preferred to call him Voldemort. She was not afraid of his name; she was afraid of what he could do. She was the only one of her friends who actually had the guts to call him Voldemort. Given the fact that Lily was technically one of his main targets, this surprised her friends. Lily was, after all, Muggle-born - and many Muggle-born witches and wizards had already been murdered in Voldemort's name.

Lily sighed. A few students had had the misfortune to lose family because of him. Most of them had parents or aunts and uncles who were of importance in the Ministry of Magic or influential in general. Thankfully, no students had perished yet, though there had been some narrow escapes.

One summer ago, Alice had had the misfortune to see the Dark Mark, the sign of the Death Eaters, over her uncle's house. Her uncle was an Unspeakable in the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries, and although Alice barely knew him, she was still devastated.

The future frightened her. She was known as a worrywort amongst her friends; a quality certainly frowned upon by Gryffindor purists. With her O.W.L. results and taking classes that determined her fate, she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed! What if I fail all my N.E.W.T. courses? What if Slughorn kicks me out of N.E.W.T. Potions? What if I never get a good job? What if the Ministry of Magic refuses to let me work? Her head started to spin but was pulled out of her trance when she heard Marlene's voice.

"Lils! 'Ello?" Marlene waved her hand in front of Lily's face.

"What? Oh, sorry. What is it?" Lily said.

"Isn't it your shift to patrol the corridors?" Marlene asked as she flipped through her copy of Witch Weekly and read an article on the most stylish wand holders of the season.

"I guess I lost track of time. See you girls in a bit," Lily said, getting up and walking along the noisy corridors.

XXX

Severus Snape sat in a compartment by himself reading his new book on popular dark spells in fourteenth century France.

Michelle De La Nuit, one of France's most influential witches of the dark arts, created the Brûlez le Coeur hex. This hex, created by De La Nuit in 1349, gives the victim the feeling of their heart and the rest of their chest on fire. When done correctly, the victim may feel the sensation for hours after the curse is lifted. Most victims die if under the hex for more than thirty seconds. Unfortunately, Michelle De La Nuit was killed shortly afterwards by a long-time enemy, using that very hex. She was eighteen years old when she died, and attending Beauxbatons.

Suddenly the door compartment flew open and Regulus Black ran in and quickly closed the door behind him. He was panting and staring at the door as though making sure it didn't hop away. Regulus turned around sharply to see Severus staring at him, his eyebrow crooked in curiosity, but otherwise looking quite indifferent.

"Oh, erm--hello, Severus," said Regulus, straightening out his robes and tie.

"Regulus," acknowledged Severus. Regulus Black was in his fifth year at Hogwarts and one of the Slytherins that Severus could actually tolerate talking to. Sure, he was not very intellectual, but Severus would rather talk to him than Nott any day of the week. Though Regulus was often annoying: talking about girls, bugging Severus to teach him some dark spells, or just being too perky. The fact that he was Sirius Black's brother was a bit unnerving, but Severus still considered him one of his only true friends.

"Sorry, I had to hide in here. I was trying to plant a dungbomb in my brother's compartment, but Evans spotted me before I could launch it, and--" Regulus explained.

"And you're supposed to be the 'good' child," muttered Severus, his eyes back on his book.

"Well I had to get back at him for tripping me on the platform," pouted Regulus.

"Oh please...anyways, rumor has it he moved out of your home this summer."

Regulus' blue eyes glinted and his mouth turned upwards into a devilish smile. "You bet he moved out. My parents torturing him all summer long finally got to him after all these years."

Severus smiled smugly; he loved to know that one of the Marauders was treated poorly,especially if it was Sirius Black. "Where is the dungbomb now?" muttered Severus.

"In my pocket," said Regulus.

Severus looked up at him sharply. Regulus' eyes suddenly grew wide.

"Uh oh," said Regulus quietly. He then hastily groped around in his pocket and when it was in his fumbling hand, fell hard on the floor and after a loud "boom" the compartment began to let off a horrendous smell.

Severus and Regulus began to cough and a livid Lily Evans slammed open the compartment door. After telling off several students who were beginning to huddle around the door, she walked into the compartment and shut the door and curtains behind her.

Severus glared at Regulus, who was now staring at Lily with a look of innocence on his face. Sometimes he reminds me of Sirius too much, thought Severus.

"Scourgify!" Lily incanted, and at once the room smelt subtly of lemon. Her arms were crossed and her lips were in a thin line, reminding Severus dreadfully of Professor McGonagall.

"Hullo, Evans!" said Regulus. His lips formed a charming smile. "You're looking absolutely radiant--"

"Cut out the innocent act, Black. I know you were about to throw that dungbomb in your brother's compartment. Thought I wouldn't catch you, I suppose?" Lily said, a satisfied smile on her freckled face.

"Well, maybe, but--" Regulus stammered.

"No buts! Be sure that I'll be talking to Professor Slughorn and you'll be serving a detention tonight as well." She then turned on Severus. "And you. You're a prefect! You should have confiscated that dungbomb the second you smelled it!"

Severus stood swiftly and unconsciously reached for his wand. "What are you going to do, Evans? Give me a detention?"

Lily glanced at his hand but stood her ground. "All I'm saying is that when you know a student is doing something wrong--" she gave a nasty glance at Regulus. "You confront them about it, and--"

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell me how to do my job, Evans," snapped Severus, taking a step closer to her.

Lily instinctively stepped back. He was about six feet tall and although she herself was five foot seven inches, next to him she could not help but feel around four feet tall. "I won't have to tell you how to do your job if you actually do it, Snape!" said Lily coldly.

"Evans, I'll go to Slughorn and request a detention when we get to school. Happy now? Now you can go freshen up in your compartment with your friends. You look a bit sweaty," said Regulus, putting that charming smile on his face again. Heaving a large sigh, Lily gave up and walked back to her compartment.

Regulus slid the door shut and sat down in his seat as though nothing happened. "Glad that's over. That's one relentless Mudblood, huh?" Severus nodded and sat back down to read his book. "But she sure is nice to look at, huh?"

Severus looked at Regulus. "Her? Attractive? You've got to be kidding."

Regulus shrugged. "Suit yourself. Nevertheless, there is really no use denying it. The summer hols have been nice to her." Regulus had a silly, suggestive smile on his face. This kid thinks I don't understand the sexual innuendo in his statement, Severus thought with an audible snort.

"What? It has been. I mean she's still a disgusting Mudblood, but she's quite attractive," Regulus said.

"Sure, Regulus. Stick to your dungbomb planting," Severus said.

With that, Severus went back his book about French dark spells of the fourteenth century, yet he couldn't quite get his mind around what Regulus had said. She really hasn't changed in the slightest. She has the same dark red hair, same freckles, and same green eyes. A bit taller but other than that, nothing new. Severus promptly became a bit concerned with the fact that he had actually noticed that Lily had gotten taller, but assured himself, Anyone could have noticed that, right? Right.