"Evans, we are only having a spot of fun."

"Oh would you grow up, Potter," her voice tight with anger, "Not everything is fun and games anymore. After next year, we are going to be out in the real world, where Dumbledore can't protect us from danger and keep us safe. There are things behind the walls of Hogwarts that are dangerous and can't be treated lightly. People are dying out there."

"You think I don't know people are dying and that others are bound to get hurt?" James yelled back, his shoulders shaking slightly as he spoke, "I know that my dad has seen countless friends and colleagues fall to Voldemort. I've seen the strain on my mother's face every time my dad is sent on another mission. I saw my cousin go insane due to a curse she was placed under. My family can hardly function normally anymore because of this war and it's kind of nice to be able to come here and forget that, if even for just a few minutes. I need it, because in a month, when the term has ended, I will return to my broken family, to my mother who is still mourning her sister who was killed in a random attack. Where the reality of what is happening sinks in because I can't even leave the house to play Quidditch in the backyard without my mother panicking. Everything I know outside of Hogwarts is falling apart and the opportunity to kick back and not have to face the truth is a blessing. This is the only chance I get to forget how this war is tearing my family apart, this is the only place I can make a joke and pretend that I don't have to be an adult all the time."

With that, he walked away, his fists clenched and his shoulders still shaking, leaving her to glare into the space he had previously occupied. She wanted to apologize to him, and tell him that she was sorry that everything he knew was falling apart. But then she remembered who she was speaking to, the insufferable Potter. His pranks on the Hufflepuffs had been cruel, or at least uncalled for. He and his friends had given each of them a feature of some sort of wild animal. One girl was beginning to look like a centaur, with the hind end of a horse sprouting from her back. Another sported feathery wings from her shoulder blades. With a flick of her wand, the extra appendages started to slowly disappear and Lily stormed off towards the castle, still fuming at Potter's display of immaturity.

*On the Train*

Lily dropped onto the seat in the compartment next to her friend Angel, short for Angelina and across from Kathryn. Since breakfast, Kathryn had streaked her light blond hair with electric blue dye. Lily nearly laughed at her friend, who had recently taken to experimenting with the charms and potions from a book she had received from her older sister for her birthday.

"So, next year we will be seventh years, one more year of school at Hogwarts before we are sent out into the real world," Kathryn spoke, in a desperate attempt to break the silence.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Angel spoke sharply, clearly in a mood because she had been dumped by her longtime boyfriend that afternoon.

"Angel, leave her alone," Lily snapped, tired of her friend's constant mood swings.

"Anyway," Kathryn spoke tentatively as if Angelina was going to bite her head off, "Next year is our last chance to find someone special in school and we need to make it a priority."

Angel nodded in agreement, "Especially Lily over there," thrilled to be talking about someone else's love life.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily replied, almost defensively.

"Girl, as much as I love you, you lack in the 'romance' department. You've never gone out with anybody and as far as we know, you have only liked one person, that Hufflepuff," Angel remarked.

Lily made a face at the mention of a certain Daniel Smith.

"I remember that, isn't he the one that James bad talked until he found out that he already had a girlfriend?"

Lily was about to retort when she heard raised voices in the aisle of the train, so she got to her feet to go investigate. After all, she was a prefect, therefore, it was her duty to try and prevent troublemaking. When she opened the compartment door, she caught sigh of her childhood friend Severus Snape along with the infamous James Potter and Sirius Black. The two Gryffindors had their backs to her, and were therefore oblivious to her presense.

"Move, Snivellous," Black spat.

"Why should I move for a blood traitor like yourself and your mudblood loving mate? Filthy things mudbloods, poisoning the wizard world with their inferior magic and intelligence. Blood traitors are almost just as bad, flaunting about, getting infected by hanging around those without a pureblood lineage. By the way, Black," Severus taunted, "how's it feel being disowner? The oldest son of the famous Black family loses his prestige to his younger brother because of his inappropriate choice of friends: mudblood lovers, blood traitors and half-breeds."

Both Gryffindors visibly tensed as Snape spat out the last word.

"What's it like being hated by your own mother?"

Sirius's face contorted. She could tell since she could see part of his profile from where she stood. He drew his wand and pointed it at Snape's throat.

"You're one to talk," he made a motion as though he was going to hex Snape, but unexpectedly, James pushed Sirius's arm down.

"Leave it, Padfoot, he's not worth it."

"But, but," Sirius sputtered, "After he insulted us and most of the people we know, you are going to let scum like him…"

James must have given Sirius a stern look because Sirius trailed off and fell silent.

"I've never seen a Gryffindor back out of a fight. And here I thought you were a brave lot."

"Sniv-Snape," James corrected himself, "Drop it." With one quick motion, he grabbed Sirius and made to turn around. Lily slid back into her own compartment before the two boys noticed her.

She dropped back into her seat, slight out of breath as she hurried away to avoid being seen. The scene that had unfolded was still playing through her mind, refusing to be pushed away.

"What was going on, Lil?" Kathryn pressed.

"Nothing, just a couple of friends in an argument," she decided that this was partially true, as James and Sirius had argued briefly when James had stopped Sirius from hexing Snape.

Her friends returned to their game of Exploding Snap, leaving her to her thoughts. Severus's hurtful words were playing through her head like as though they were in a continuous loop. "Filthy mudbloods, poisoning the wizard…" so much for her best friend. He had changed since he made those new friends of his. He had become a different person. She wasn't surprised though, it is not like this was a new behavior and he had been acting strange for a long time.

What really confused her was Potter's behavior. He made no attempt to make Snape pay for what he said and had even prevented Black from striking. This was new and foreign and she wasn't quite sure how to take it. As soon as she thought she had figured out Potter, he had to go and do something that would throw her. He just had to be so irritating, almost as though he did it on purpose to confuse her.