Back to School
In the car, Petunia and Lily talked about Muggle cosmetics, a subject Snape knew nothing about. He gently closed his eyes and rested quietly.
The car passed through the station wall and arrived at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Snape carried his luggage away on his own, while Lily and Petunia boarded the express to look for an empty compartment. They had arrived early, so most of the compartments were empty. Lily picked one at random and sat down.
As soon as Petunia sat down, she took out a third-year textbook. "Petunia, did you start studying your third-year textbooks in your second year?"
Lily stared blankly as her sister began immersing herself in knowledge like a Ravenclaw. "You should start studying your second-year material ahead of time too. I know you're very talented at Potions, but you can't neglect your other classes."
Petunia thought about Lily's usual spellwork and schoolwork. All right, Lily was a lot like a Ravenclaw too. When the train started moving and Lily thought no one else would enter the compartment, the fixed NPCs spawned. James Potter and Sirius pushed open the compartment door. "Oh, hi, Lily, and Miss Evans. Can we sit here? There aren't any empty seats left outside."
As he spoke, James squeezed inside, and Sirius followed him in and sat down. The moment James sat down, he launched into a lengthy account of how much he loved Lily's Christmas present. "Merlin! You actually gave me the Golden Snitch you caught in your first Quidditch Match! It's the best present I've ever received. I spent the whole holiday in my room watching it fly!"
Sirius thought Evans had meant nothing of the sort. Before boarding, James had told him that Evans giving him the Golden Snitch could mean, "My eyes and my heart are fixed only on you. No one else can replace you; you're my treasure alone." Sirius thought the chance of that was practically zero. He was more inclined to believe it meant, "May you seize every rare opportunity in life and attain every goal you pursue."
James's endless chatter made Lily feel as though her ears were about to burst. "Potter, can you give me a moment's peace?"
She leaned weakly toward Petunia. Next time, she would never let Potter into her compartment. "Oh, all right. We'll go look for Remus and Peter, then." James was a ball of energy. He had already shown his face in front of Lily, so now it was time to find the other two Marauders and go make trouble for Slytherin.
The express traveled all the way to Hogsmeade, and Lily saw no other students enter the compartment for the rest of the journey. She and Petunia quietly passed the remaining time. Lily closed her eyes and opened Pindaodao in her mind, picking out small gifts to take back to the dormitory for her roommates; Petunia buried herself in her textbooks, concentrating on studying ahead.
The train slowly pulled into the station. Petunia gently nudged Lily awake from her nap against the window. "Lily, wake up. It's time to get off."
Lily blearily opened her eyes, her mind still occupied with sorting through the new cosmetics categories at Tales of Blossoms. "What is it?" she mumbled.
Petunia put all her open books back into her bag. "We're here. It's time to get off."
Lily casually slung on her backpack, linked her arm through Petunia's, and stepped off the train. Steam filled the platform, and through the hazy white mist, she spotted Snape standing among a group of grim-faced, shifty-eyed Slytherins. Not far away, the four Marauders wore ugly expressions. At a glance, it was clear they had just tried to prank Snape and come off worse.
At the feast, Lily returned to chatting with Mary and the other three girls. They gathered around the table, sharing stories and amusing incidents from their Christmas holidays, while Petunia also returned to sit with her own roommates. Dumbledore went up to give his usual brief speech, and as soon as he finished, the clamor rose again.
"Lily, Lily!" James squeezed through the crowd toward her again, followed by the other three Marauders. Lupin wore an apologetic little smile and had clearly been dragged along.
"What is it this time?" Lily was talking to the girls about the new cosmetics from Tales of Blossoms, and Potter kept calling in her ear.
James simply squeezed into a seat beside her and lowered his voice to ask, "Want to come on a nighttime trip to the Forbidden Forest with us tonight?"
Lily was just about to refuse when he deliberately leaned closer, startling her into instinctively leaning back until she was pressed against Dorcas behind her.
"Keep your voice down. Shouting that loudly, aren't you afraid a Prefect will hear and give you a demerit?" Lily looked around. Luckily, no one was paying attention to them.
But James pressed his advantage and edged even closer to her. "A few nights ago, I saw you go out wandering alone late at night. Why not come into the Forbidden Forest with us Marauders tonight?"
"Can I say no?" Lily really didn't want to venture into the Forbidden Forest with four boys late at night. If they were caught, the punishment would be severe.
"Don't say no. Hagrid told me there are gentle unicorns in the Forbidden Forest. You haven't met Hagrid yet, have you? He's the keeper of the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts." James reached over and speared a sausage from Lily's plate as he rattled on, paying no attention to the gossipy looks directed their way.
Lily caught sight of the curious gazes from the students around them and moved her plate farther away from James. "Don't touch my sausage. There's plenty of food on the table; get your own. I didn't say I definitely wouldn't go. Of course, I just want to see the unicorns."
James heard only her partial agreement and was instantly overjoyed, automatically ignoring the condition she added afterward. "It's a deal. We'll wait for you in the common room tonight." With that, he turned and gathered with Sirius, Lupin, and Peter to discuss their plans.
Mary immediately leaned toward Lily, her eyes gleaming with curiosity. "What did Potter just say to you? Come on, tell us the truth. You two aren't..."
"Don't jump to conclusions. Who would like that egomaniac?" Lily pushed away Mary and Marlene, who had crowded close to pry for gossip.
"Then who do you like? It can't be that Snape from Slytherin, can it?" The mere thought of Snape's gloomy appearance made Mary shudder. She simply couldn't imagine the cheerful, gentle Lily being close to him.
"Of course not. Severus is just a good friend I've known since childhood."
Seeing that her roommates were determined to get to the bottom of it, Lily hurriedly changed the subject. "Can't we talk about it when we get back to the dormitory? I brought a present for each of you."
"All right, we'll let you off for now. We'll interrogate you about the one our Lily likes when we get back." Alice gave Lily a mischievous poke in the waist.