Clair de Lune

Lily shrugs yet again. "Mum says boys can cry too, but people don't think they should. I think it's all right. Makes them sensitive, but yeah, you're right, I think girls are allowed to cry more."

She falls silent, listening. "Did you hear something from downstairs just now?"

Lily shrugs a little again. "He's probably upset because he's ill. I know when I got really sick with tonsillitis, I cried a lot too," she offers in Remus' defense. "And besides, we're all rather loopy, aren't we? I'm loopy because I like studying so much, you're loopy because you're friends with me, and Remus is loopy because he cries when he's sick," she tells Alice with a giggle.

Lily just shrugs. "Well, I do fancy Severus, even if we are too young. I've known him since I was eight. I definitely don't fancy Remus. He's... well, he's sort of a girl. He reads a lot and seems sensitive and things like that. He doesn't seem as much of a git as Black or Potter," she says, shuddering at the mention of James' name.

"Both Black and Potter look all right, but they're just such arrogant toerags. I don't think I'll ever like either of them," she announces, a bit too loudly. She is shushed by another girl, and Lily quickly covers her mouth, smiling conspiratorially at Alice.

Lily blurts, "Severus isn't stupid!" then quickly claps both hands over her mouth. She uncovers it, looking defiant. "Yes, I fancy Severus. He's really sweet and talks with me about magic all the time."

Lily stares at Alice a bit, then goes back to writing.

"I don't," she states calmly. "I'm merely concerned for his well-being. I fancy someone else entirely," she admits, blushing a little.

She finishes her letter and folds it up, putting it with her school things so she can owl it in the morning.

Lily was still awake on the girls' side of the dorms, finishing her homework in bed. She knew they didn't have much, but she did like studying and learning everything she could.

It'd been an eventful first few weeks of school. James and Sirius had managed to prank all of the Slytherins in one go, and the professors were already wise to their antics. Lily spent as much time as she could balancing between studying and lounging around with Alice, who teased her about her Ravenclaw tendencies.

She'd also been partnered with Remus for Potions, and the poor boy was hopeless. He couldn't even boil water without burning it. So Lily, who showed immense talent for it, was set to help him.

She pauses in her writing, looking pensive. He'd been looking really pale and tired lately. She'd get him some chocolate to make him feel better because he was sick, so she sets her homework aside and starts on a letter to her parents, asking for some chocolate for Remus.

"Lily Evans!" McGonagall calls.

Lily gets up from her place on the floor, moving carefully up to the stool. She sits on it, and McGonagall puts the Sorting Hat on her head.

Hmmm... Very bright, very bright indeed. You'd make an excellent Ravenclaw, my dear... and yet... such courage.

"I don't mind either way, really," Lily whispers to the Hat.

"GRYFFINDOR!!" the Hat shouts, and Lily hops off the stool to go and sit with her new dorm mates.

She sits a few seats over from Sirius, nods to him, and then waits for Alice, Severus, and Remus to get Sorted.

Lily nods when Remus leaves, leaving her and Severus alone together.

"Sorry about this, Sev. Hope this doesn't ruin your day," she says, sympathetically. She plugs her nose as she talks, making her voice sound extremely nasal.

"S'all right. I'm still pretty excited about the Sorting and the feast."

"Ugh, it's too much," Lily gasps, escaping the compartment and getting some fresh air. Poor Severus.

"Yup!" Lily admits proudly. "They were positively thrilled to learn I was a witch. They haven't really seen much magic because I'm not allowed to do it at home, but when I was younger it spilled out a lot."

"Oh, neat! My mum's a teacher too, but she teaches elementary school. Da's a lawyer."

Lily finds Remus really easy to talk to as well. Easier than James, anyway.

Severus looks a bit put out, but nods. "S'all right. Just bad luck on my part, I s'pose. You don't happen to know any spells to get rid of the smell, do you?" he asks, waving his hand in front of his nose.

"Oh, which college? Both my parents are muggles," Lily asks, still interested.

They get to the smelliest compartment and Lily opens the doors, bracing herself for the smell.

"Ugh. Sorry, Severus, the smell is awful. This is Remus Lupin. He says he's the one responsible and he's come to apologize."

Severus looks miserable, but cheers considerably at the sight of Lily. "Oh. Well. All right."

Lily smiles back and shakes Remus' hand. "Nice to meet you, Remus. Is your name from Roman mythology?"

The redhead just ignores Remus' insistence. She knows James was responsible.

Lily gapes at Remus a little. "You're willing to take the fall for that berk?" she asks, then sighs. "I suppose I'd do the same for Severus and Alice. This way."

She leads him back towards where they'd been sitting, the smell getting worse as they go.

"I'm Lily Evans, by the way."

Lily shoots one last glare at James before following Remus down the aisle.

After they're a suitable distance away, Lily stops. "What is it?" she asks, trying not to sound annoyed. It doesn't really work, James has irked her.

Lily blinks and stares at James. What a snot! She'd been being perfectly reasonable, she thought, asking him to apologize.

"Neither. He didn't ask me to come in his stead, I just think you should quit being a berk and apologize to him already. You're being awfully rude, James."

"Excuse me," Lily says, nicking James' chocolate frog card and moving closer to him so he paid attention.

"I said I think you ought to apologize to Severus for pranking him," she repeats, patiently.

Boys could be so thick.

Lily frowns and shoves her things into her robes pockets (she had gotten dressed ahead of time so she wouldn't have to change later), then follows the black head of hair.

"That's the same boy who dropped his glasses earlier," she says aloud, then unceremoniously opens the compartment door where James, Peter, Remus, and Sirius are sitting.

She turns to James with a raised eyebrow and a glare, just like her mum does when she's mad at her da. "You pranked a chocolate frog that my friend Severus opened, and now he's going to be miserable all day. I think you ought to apologize," she states clearly, lightening up on the glare a bit. He is an eleven-year-old boy, after all.

In the meantime, the sweets cart has moved on to Lily's, Severus', Alice's, Crabbe's, and Goyle's compartment.

Lily had moved from talking about Wingardium Leviosa to Houses.

"What House d'you think you'll be sorted into, Alice?" she queries.

"Anything from the cart, lovelies?"

Lily turns to stare a bit at the cart. She knows she really shouldn't, but... she can't resist. She buys two of everything with the money she has, and then a few extra for Severus.

"Dig in, Severus, Alice!"

Little does she know that she's bought James' rigged chocolate frog.

Severus takes the rigged chocolate frog and opens it.

Dungbomb smoke pours out of it and into the car, making Lily cough. She quickly scoops up her things, grabs Alice's hand, and pulls her out of the compartment before it gets too smelly and the smell sticks to all of them.

"Ugh! What a rotten prank to pull! Come on, let's go find out who's behind this."

Severus, in the meanwhile, is miserable. Crabbe and Goyle escape the compartment after Lily and Alice, and they force him to stay in it and get smelly. This was definitely not how he imagined his first day at Hogwarts starting.

Lily giggles a little sheepishly.

"We bought my books as soon as my letter came. I practiced for a month, but I just practiced the words and the wand movements separately. Mum wouldn't let me use the words with movements, I got in trouble for doing it a couple of times," she admits.

"You have to swish and flick it right. Just copy me." She shows Alice the movement she used more slowly. "And you have to say it correctly. WinGARdium LeviOsa."

Lily smiles too. "Oh, wow! It is cute." She admires Alice's wand for a moment before pulling out her own.

"Mine's willow and unicorn hair too. Ten and a quarter inches. Mr. Ollivander said it was good for charms. What was that one he got me to do... Wingardium Leviosa!" she says, swishing and flicking her wand. The rest of Alice's Sugar Quills float into the air, bumping around the compartment merrily.

Lily waves to her parents and sister as well, who look super excited and Tuney looks... well, sort of jealous.

"D'you have any siblings?" the redhead asks the blonde, looking curious.

Severus colours slightly when Alice winks at him, but it's all patchy (still sort of cute). He manages to smile at her a little. Even though Lily is much prettier.