Funny the inspiration that comes after midnight. Hope you like it!

Chapter 2

August 1975

Lily Evans kept checking her Head Girl badge, not so much out of pride as fear that it would fall off. Her mother only had one safety pin that morning, and had tutted her daughter for not telling her sooner.

"I could have sewn it on, Lils, if you had just told me before this morning."

Petunia sat on the stairs watching. She had graduated from school earlier in the summer, but her marks had been poor enough to keep her away from higher education. The young woman spent her days as a check-out girl at a shop on the corner, disgusted with her uniform almost as much as she was disgusted with her perfect sister. "Yes, Lily darling, you really are so forgetful."

"I'm sorry, Petty, but don't you have shelving you need to do?"

"Girls please, this is a happy moment, and this family doesn't get many when we're all together." The girls shot each other a nasty look, but kept their mouths locked tight. "When you two were little girls, I had hoped that you would grow up to be friends. But if you can't manage that, then at least manage tolerance."

"Yes mother," came a surprisingly succinct pair of answers.

There was a honk from outside. "Oh the cab is here. It seems we always have to rush these goodbyes." Lily hugged both of her parents warmly, and Petunia hauled the trunk to the car.

Petunia stared at her sister. "Will you be home at the holidays?"

"I don't know." Lily put her hand on the door.

"You're going to have to choose eventually, you know."

She turned. "What now?"

Petunia crossed her arms. It was evident that it was hard for her to be saying these things. "When you graduate this summer. You're going to have to choose between this world and yours."

"I think a balance can be found."

"It's not fair, to them, to see you keep leaving."

"Look at my sister, caring about someone other then herself."

"Don't get snippy with me. Just don't. You go off and live in this fantasy world where you can play with magic. That's lovely for you. But your reality is not mine. I live here. I work for a living, at a real job. Do you know that mom rarely leaves the house? She worries about dad. He's coughing again, but won't stop smoking."

"I'm sorry."

"They would never ask you to stay, and it's not like I really want you around. But I just wanted you to know the facts."

Lily watched her sister walk away before calling out. "This is who I am, Petty. I can't help that."

She turned. "Then you've already made your choice."

Lily saw the door to her childhood home close before the cab drive off.

There were so many fabulous reasons that Lily Potter hated the Marauders. Well, not hated so much any more as disliked. They had shown some improvement over the past year after all, even though it was minimal. Sirius was still a sneaky womanizer. Lupin was either crafting something up or looking like a bus hit him, which meant he wasn't pleasant. And that other one, Wormtail, was just flat out creepy.

And Potter, well she didn't even want to go there.

Today, waiting on the platform, the first three were proving just how their moral compasses pointed. Sirius was busy chatting up a group of naïve fourth years, the girls oblivious to just how sleazy the situation appeared to on lookers. And Remus was teaching Wormtail how to pickpocket, though the tail's snickering was almost giving them away. Now all the scene needed was a scruffy haired boy in glasses giving jinxes…

"Evans?"

Lily jumped around and came face to badge with a chest. She looked up, amazed.

"Potter? You've grown." She indicated his height.

"You too," he commented. Lily raised an eyebrow. "I mean your hair, it seems longer." There was an uncomfortable silence.

She looked over Potter again. She'd known him for years now, and it seemed like every summer he had a growth spurt and his hair became more disheveled. But new this year was the badge. "You're Head Boy?"

"You seem surprised."

Lily crossed her arms. "Can you blame me? I'd list all the reasons why you shouldn't be Head Boy, but I think that would stroke your," she coughed, "ego too much."

"Oh yes, and this smug act of yours speaks nothing of the size of your ego." He glared down at her. "Nice placement of your badge by the way. It really emphasizes your intelligence."

At that moment Sirius Black came up and slung an arm around his friend. "Ms. Evans, I hope you don't mind if I steal Potter here for a moment. I have a dilemma that only his fine eye can answer."

James gritted his teeth, "Not now."

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot. Your eyes have already found their subject."

Lily waved her hand dismissively. "No really, he's all yours. Bye." She walked away.

James swore at himself. "Lily wait."

"Lily wait." Sirius copied, though his voice was in a noticeably female register.

James elbowed his friend hard in the chest and trotted to catch up to the young woman. "Look, this isn't how I wanted to start out."

"My does that ever sound like a line you've used a lot."

"Evans…" Lily turned around and looked at James and saw something unusual, he was being genuine. "Look, just meet with me after the Head's meeting, alright."

She considered him before answering. "Sure. But we keep the door to the compartment open."

James ended up leaving the meeting first and finding an empty cabin while Lily chatted with friends. He fell asleep waiting for her, and by the time Lily found him he was snoring. She considered Potter for a minute. For five years, the boy had been the bane of her existence, exemplifying everything that she felt a wizard should not be: overconfident and cruel. But when sixth year rolled around, and Lily and James were suddenly being placed in groups together on projects, she began to see a more calming change in the boy. She wouldn't classify their relationship now as friends, since Potter had the talent of backsliding into bad behavior if the wind changed direction. But they could manage to be civil to one to one another on occasion, and for once Lily could see the slight glimmer of hope that James Potter had the capacity to change.

And when he was like this, curled up with his glasses hopelessly messed, she could almost see why some girls thought he was so attractive. Almost, but not quite.

"Potter." He didn't move. "Potter." Nothing. Lily shook his arm gently, her voice low. "Hey Potter."

"Mom?"

"No, not exactly." Lily laughed a little, though not in a cruel way.

James straightened himself up and pushed up his glasses. "Evans? Did I just call you…?"

"I've already forgotten about it." She sat down on the bench across from him. "You must be pretty tired to crash like that. I wasn't gone for too long."

He yawned. "Yeah, well Sirius and Lupin spent the summer, and they both are night people, which I am not."

"Me neither. How did your parents react to have three teenage boys in the house? I'd hope you didn't burn down the place."

James laughed. "No, no… close once. There were fireworks… and a house elf… he lost a finger." Her mouth twitched in a small smile. "Oh, is that a smile I see."

"No."

"Yes it was. I can't imagine you ever condoning the actions of me or my friends."

"Slight amusement does not equal condonement Potter."

"But it does show some sort of acceptance."

"Look who's gone off and become a scholar over night."

"I read, just as much as you do."

"The back of boxes of food is not literature."

James leaned forward, "Don't be so indignant. My marks are almost as good as yours." He grinned. "In fact, I think I may have edged you out of a few grades last year. Wonder how that happened?"

She learned forward as well. "The problem with miracles, Mr. Potter, is that they are not consistent. And neither are you."

"You don't know me that well."

They were locked like that, staring at one another, when they heard the giggles. Looking up Lily could see two girls staring in at them through the window, pointing. She got up immediately and said tersely, "Go cluck somewhere else," before shutting the door and closing the blinds. Who were they to ruin a perfectly good argument? "Look, why did you invite me here anyway?"

James got up and stood next to Lily. "I've been thinking."

"I hope that wasn't too painful. Did your mother make it all better?"

"Don't talk about my mother." His fists clenched tight, and Lily was about to apologize when the train rocked and rattled a little. Instinctively James grabbed for Lily, catching her around the waist with one arm, and the bar back behind her head near the ceiling with the other. The pair ended up in a dip, and both noticed that it wasn't terribly awkward to feel the other's breath on their skin. When the rattling stopped, James let go of Lily, and both diverted their eyes and smoothed their clothing. James plopped himself down and sighed, "Look Evans, all I ask for is one civil conversation, and then we can go back to, fighting, or hating each other, or whatever."

"Alright Potter," Lily said, depositing herself back across, "talk."

"We're both Heads now."

"Obviously." James gave her a look. "Sorry. Go on."

"We're both Heads now. And that means that we're going to be spending a lot more time together. Hell, we're supposed to lead our house. And I guess I just don't see how that can be done if we are constantly trying to…"

"Hurt one another?"

"Yes. That." James looked at his hands. "Like I said, I've been thinking a lot this summer. This past year in fact. And can you even remember when we started fighting?"

Lily shook her head. "No."

"Neither can I."

"I guess I just don't like what you and your band of idiots do to other people. It's cruel."

"Yeah, I'm starting to see that."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he looked back up. "Doesn't mean that I won't stop doing stupid stuff. My friends can be very persuasive. When Sirius gives me the puppy dog look…"

"If it's Black, then I think you mean the rabid stray look."

James laughed, "Probably."

They were silent for a moment. "Look Evans, the truth is that we need to coexist. We don't have to be friends, but we could be partners. I need someone to reign me in. You need someone to let you have fun, and get away with it."

"Wait, are you giving me permission to call you on your bullshit."

Potter nodded. "Think of it as a last request."

"Agreed. Besides, I could really use a strong final year to find a job after graduation."

"As could I."

"Shake on it?"

James laughed, "Evans, you need to get out more."

"And you need a leash."

"Ooh, a leash. I didn't think you swung that way."

Lily stuck out her tongue at him. "Ick." She yawned. "Your sleepiness is contagious. I think I'm just going to crash out here. What are you going to do? Go find your buds."

He stretched out on the seat a bit. "Nah, the proper debauchery doesn't really start until we arrive. I think I'll just read a book or something."

"Remember, if there are any big words, just sound them out." Lily shifted around a bit.

"Har." He reached into his trunk and grabbed an extra sweater. "Here, you can use this as a pillow."

She eyed the clothing with suspicion. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing."

"You promise."

"Promise." Satisfied Lily rolled up the sweater. "Are you always going to be this suspicious of me?"

She lay down full on the bench. "Past behavior is the best indicator of furture action."

"True. So, basically, we're screwed."

"Oh no no," Lily protested with sarcastic sleepiness, "I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." James stared at her blankly. "Oh come on." He blinked. "Casablanca? It's a classic! Do you know anything muggle culture?"

"I know that if I wear a baseball cap I look like a tool."

Lily closed her eyes. "Well then, James Potter, it would appear that we have a lot of work to do."

With in a minute she was asleep. He feigned reading as best he could, but no paragraphs were making sense with all the looks he kept stealing in her direction. There were goose bumps on his arms. She had called him by his first name. It sounded beautiful.

And it was then that James knew for sure that he was in way over his head.

Next time, back to 1977: James and Lily meet up again, and lies begin to unravel.