Platform 9 and 3/4
“BLACK YOU BOIL-BRAINED BUFFOON!”
“PLEASE DEAR GOD NO MARLY!”
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20 minutes earlier
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Lily Evans enjoyed peaceful days. Days when she could relax, read a book, listen to music, and destress for awhile.
Today was not going to be one of those days.
Platform 9 3/4 was filled with noise around Lily as people reunited with their friends and loaded onto the train. Lily began to try to push through the bustling crowd to the train door when a mass of dark curls barreled into her.
“Dorcas!” Lily screeched as she was lifted off the floor. “Put me down, you peasant.”
“Christ, my mistake, Your Highness,” Dorcas Meadowes grumbled as she lowered Lily to the ground. They stared at each other for about two seconds before laughing and hugging again.
“I missed you,” Lily said as they released each other.
“Missed you too, Evans,” Dorcas replied with an easy grin.
“What’s with the love fest over here huh? You two saw each other like a month ago,” a new voice broke in. Lily and Dorcas whirled around.
“Alice!” They shouted simultaneously, rushing at a girl with short dark hair.
“Jesus, ladies, I kinda need my eardrums.” Alice Prewett wrapped her arms around both of them despite her sarcasm.
“What, so you can hear when Frank calls you?” Lily teased. Dorcas snickered as Alice reddened, shuffling back a bit.
“Now you listen here Evans-“
“BLACK YOU BOIL BRAINED BUFFOON!”
“PLEASE DEAR GOD NO MARLY!”
“I think we found Marlene guys,” Alice said, a shit-eating grin on her face. “Cas, you owe me a Sickle.”
“Damn it. I thought she would wait till we got to Hogwarts to make a scene.” Dorcas began fishing through her pockets, pulling out a silver coin and handing it to Alice. “Also, Lily, as Prefect, shouldn’t you be making sure boarding the train goes as smoothly as possible?”
“Yeah yeah, I’m on it,” Lily groused as she began to shove through the crowd towards the commotion.
“SIRIUS BLACK. TWO YEARS AGO ON THIS DAY, YOU SWORE THAT IF NO ONE CLAIMED MY HAND YOU WOULD DO SO YOURSELF. HOWEVER, YOU ARE VILE AND SO I WILL CHALLENGE YOU FOR THE RIGHT TO CLAIM MY OWN HAND!” Marlene McKinnon shouted from her perch atop two trunks. “YOU HAVE NO REASON TO DISPUTE THIS, YOU CHOSE A DIFFERENT PERSON TO HOLD YOUR HEART A YEAR AGO!”
“WHAT IF I WANT TO FORM A HAREM?!?” Sirius Black screamed back from his own trunk. “I’LL HAVE YOU AND REMUS AND JAMES ALL AT ONCE!”
“NEVER, YOU REPULSIVE PIG. IF YOU WON’T GIVE UP, I SHALL BE FORCED TO CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL-“
“FOR MERLIN’S SAKE, SHUT UP!” Lily screamed. Marlene looked at her and grinned guiltily.
“Oh hey Lils, didn’t see you there. What’s up?” She asked, still smiling.
“Marlene you absolute idiot. There are people besides you in this platform and they would all prefer not to hear this ridiculous cacophony.”
“Cacophony? Did you get a new dictionary over the summer?” Marlene jumped down from the trunks and landed next to Lily.
“If I did I wouldn’t have gotten your attention, I would have just thrown it at your head,” Lily replied, smirking.
“A wound to my heart from my own friend!” Marlene clutched her shirt dramatically.
“For Merlin’s sake,” Lily sighed, fighting to keep a grin off her face.
“Good to see you Lils. Are the others here yet?” Marlene asked, becoming serious for one of the only times in her life.
“Nice to see you too, asshat. Alice and Cas are over there,” Lily responded, pointing to where Alice was reuniting with Frank Longbottom, her boyfriend, as Dorcas rolled her eyes.
“Excellent. See you on the train, or are you staying in your fancy Prefect’s compartment?” Marlene teased.
“I’ll be in ours. See you in a few,” Lily said as Marlene began to walk towards their friends. “And Marlene?” She called out. Marlene turned around. “Do make sure Frank and Alice don’t scar any first years with their public reunion.”
“Remember when they were too awkward to hold hands?” Marlene grinned, and off she went.
“How come yours are reasonable? I couldn’t shut Sirius up at all, and it was not for lack of trying.” Lily heard a familiar voice next to her.
“Remus!” She cried, launching herself at the tall and lanky Marauder.
“Hey Lily. It’s good to see you,” Remus said, eyes shining.
“You too,” Lily said. “How was, um, how was the last-“
“Full moon? It was fine Lily. I’m ok.” Remus brushes his hair away from his eyes.
“Alright. Just wanted to check. Same drill as last year?”
“You handle your group of punks, I handle mine, we handle Slytherins together and take turns with neutrals?” Remus recited, a hint of amusement in his eyes.
“If you weren’t in love with a flamboyantly gay man I’d marry you myself Lupin,” Lily sighed out.
“Shut up and go control your punks, Evans.” Remus began to walk away. “I think one of them is trying to sell a Dungbomb to a second year.”
“Goddamnit Marlene!”
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4 hours later
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“So, news on the Frank front?” Dorcas asked as she swiped a carton of Bertie Bott’s from Marlene’s pile and tossed them to Alice.
“Whatever do you mean dearest Cas?” Alice asked as she popped a few jelly beans into her mouth.
“Oh come on. I told you guys about my trip to Italy, Lily told us about Petunia’s vile new boyfriend, and Marlene”- she paused and looked at Marlene next to her- “never does anything interesting anyway.”
“I went skydiving,” Marlene protested.
“You fly on a broom at breakneck speeds for fun, skydiving is hardly a deviation from the standard,” Lily said through a mouthful of Chocolate Frog.
“You’re all horrible to me.” Marlene pouted.
“Yes, dear. We’re horrible because we don’t constantly support your suicidal hobbies. How awful of us,” Dorcas responded, leaning back to rest her head on Marlene’s legs.
“Quidditch is not suicidal! Suicidal would be taking extra classes like Evans has been known to do, so who should you really be arguing with?” Marlene shot back.
“Those classes are going to help me get a better job than you could ever dream of,” Lily responded, and Dorcas snickered.
“Jesus Christ, if I tell you about Frank will you stop this loud squabbling?” Alice cried out above Marlene’s indignant spluttering.
“Sure.”
“Of course.”
“Go on.”
“I hate the lot of you,” Alice said. “Alright, Frank and I are doing fine. We wrote each other frequently over the summer, and I saved all of his letters. We’re going to Hogsmeade together at the first opportunity and we’re planning to have weekly dates, happy?”
“How nauseatingly sweet,” Marlene commented. Dorcas hit her in the side.
“Well, I for one think it’s great. One of us should be in a healthy relationship at least once,” Lily said, smirking at Dorcas and Marlene as they turned to her with looks of betrayal.
“You’re right, Lils.” Alice laughed. “You’ve only been on a few dates, and these two are absolute disasters.”
“Not true!” Dorcas rebutted. “Benjy Fenwick in fourth year. That lasted nearly six months.”
“Two of which were spent ignoring each other due to awkwardness,” Marlene shot back in an odd tone. Lily noticed a slight tinge of red coloring her cheeks, and her eyes looked almost accusatory.
“Yes, well, we were only fourteen, Marly. What do you expect?” Dorcas answered.
“Alice and Frank started when they were fourteen,” Lily added in. Dorcas shot her a faux glare.
“Not everyone can be Hogwarts’s dream couple, Lily,” she answered.
“Speaking of, I think we’re getting close. Are you guys ready to witness whatever the Marauders have planned?” Alice asked as she peered out the window.
“If they pull a prank the first night of school I’ll kill them all,” Lily grumbled.
“Lighten up. Their pranks are almost never harmful,” Dorcas said, still lounging atop Marlene, who looked oddly stiff to Lily.
“Just one peaceful day, that’s all I ask.”
Lily Evans did not in fact get her peaceful day. She actually found herself contemplating all the different ways she could murder James Potter as the entire school looked on at a troupe of armor suits dancing to ABBA.
After the feast, Lily made her way up to Gryffindor tower, leading the first year girls to their dormitory. She then waved Remus over to a table in the corner.
“Really? ABBA armor?” She asked exasperatedly as he sat down.
“Nice alliteration,” Remus replied, looking darker in the lowlight of the maroon room. “Sirius would appreciate it.”
“Tell your boyfriend that I’m only letting him off without a detention because I’m too tired to track him down right now.”
“I will. Will the rest of us be so lucky?” Remus responded.
“Haven’t decided yet,” Lily teased. Remus grinned and nodded, and began to walk away.
“Remus,” Lily called. He turned around. “Keep an eye on Potter, would you? He may have apologized for last year’s incident, but I lost a friendship because of it. I don’t want him mucking anything else up.”
“I will, Lily. And for the record, I think what you said to him helped. He’s still a bit arrogant, but he’s trying to be better.” Remus said softly.
Lily hummed without much commitment.
“Good night Remus.”
“Good night Lily. See you in class tomorrow?” He asked.
“I think we might have almost identical schedules,” Lily smiled.
“Alright. See you then,” Remus said, and then he climbed the stairs to his dorm.
Lily stayed in the common room for a few minutes, looking at the fire and thinking.
Potter really had apologized for the Snape Incident. And even if Remus was trying to talk him up, he wouldn’t lie to her. Maybe James could learn to be a good person?
Lily eventually snapped herself out of imagining how much nicer things might be if that were true, and headed to the dorm she shared with Alice, Dorcas, Marlene, and another girl named Mary Macdonald, who was sweet but not much of a strong personality. They got on alright, because even though the others were loud, Mary could sleep through anything.
Sure enough, when Lily got up to the dorm, Mary was already unpacked, organized, and asleep while the others seemed to be having a pillow fight. It appeared to be Alice and Dorcas against Marlene, who was hiding behind a bed.
“Lily! Save me!” She cried as Alice hurled a pillow at her.
“Prepare for trouble and make it double,” Lily grinned, levitating two pillows with her wand. The pillows then set about beating Alice and Dorcas up the head, which led to shrieking, cursing, and general upheaval. Lily and Marlene were declared the victors after a hard fought battle.
As they all got into their beds, Lily turned off the room’s lights and crawled under her own covers.
“Here’s to another year at Hogwarts,” she said aloud.
“The good and bad,” Marlene replied.
“The joyous and the painful,” Dorcas said.
“The fun times and the studying,” Alice answered back.
“Here’s to sixth year. Good luck ladies,” Lily said.
And so the least peaceful year of Lily’s life began.