Before || A Marauders Era Story

Chapter Three: Lily

Lily clutched the timetable she had received from Professor McGonagall tightly in her hand as she turned to Marlene. "Who's the Transfiguration teacher? McGonagall?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Marlene replied. "I'm going up to the dorm to get my things real quick. See you later." 

"Bye." Lily said as Marlene strode off. She finished her toast and got up, making her way towards the door. She waved at Severus and motioned for him to join her. He got up and walked over. 

"How are your dorm mates?" Lily asked him. 

"Fine." Severus said curtly. "Yours?"

"They seem great. Too bad we didn't end up in the same House." Lily said as they walked out of the Great Hall. 

"It is. Most Gryffindors are arrogant idiots." Severus told Lily bluntly. Lily frowned. 

"Hey!" 

"I said most." Severus reminded her. "Remember when we met Potter and Black on the train?Like them. Ugh."

"I remember." Lily sighed. "Hey, Sev, what's your first class?"

"Charms." Severus looked at Lily hopefully. "What's yours?"

"Transfiguration." Lily pouted. "Which I have to go to now. See you at lunch?" 

"Lunch." Severus agreed, and Lily stuffed her timetable into her bag and skipped off. 

Halfway down a corridor, she realized she had no idea where she was going. She looked around, pushing her dark red hair out of her face, and trying to spot someone familiar. She saw someone with light brown hair and a Gryffindor tie walking down the corridor. Hadn't he been sorted just yesterday?

"Excuse me!" Lily pushed her way through a group of chattering Ravenclaws and towards the boy. "Do you know where the Transfiguration classroom is?"

"Yeah," the boy nodded. "I'll show you, I'm going there now anyway." 

"Thanks!" Lily grinned. "I'm Lily Evans. Who're you?"

"Remus Lupin."

"Nice to meet you." 

"Likewise." Remus replied. They walked in silence for a few seconds before Remus pointed down the corridor. "There's the classroom." 

"Thanks, Remus." Lily said gratefully. She almost added, You don't seem like an arrogant idiot, but stopped herself. Instead she pushed open the door and sat down at the empty desk behind Dorcas and Marlene's. Dorcas turned around to grin at her. 

Lily looked around the room to see that besides Gryffindors, there were quite a lot of Hufflepuffs, too. She looked up as a girl with short caramel hair and a Hufflepuff tie slid back the chair next to her, smiling. 

"Hi. Mind if I sit here?" she asked.

"No, of course not." Lily shook her head. The girl smiled wider and she sat down.

"I'm Mary Macdonald. You're Lily. Lily... Evans. Right?" Mary asked with a frown.

"Yeah." Lily was surprised. "How'd you know?" 

Mary shrugged. "I tried to remember everyone's name from the Sorting." 

"Oh." Lily nodded. "That's—"

"Ouch!" Mary jumped and covered her ears as the door crashed open. Lily flinched violently. 

"SORRY WE'RE LATE PROFESSOR—Oh. She's not here. We're early?" 

Lily turned in annoyance to see James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew standing in the doorway. She groaned and turned back around as Peter skittered into a seat.

"That was loud." Mary observed. Lily raised her eyebrows and nodded. She was about to reply when McGonagall entered the room. She stopped behind her desk and turned face them with a small friendly smile. 

"Welcome to Transfiguration." she said. "I would like you to know—you should behave yourselves in this class. You should also focus and try your best; we don't want any accidents to happen. And—yes, Ms. Abbot?" 

A pink-faced Hufflepuff girl put down her hand and asked, "Has an accident ever happened in this class?"

"Just last year a students hand was transfigured into a hat." Professor McGonagall said seriously. "Let that be a lesson to you."

"Cool!" James exclaimed. McGonagall gave him a severe look. 

"Here is an example of how Transfiguration works." She continued. She waved her wand, and, suddenly, where her desk had been, there stood a pig. 

This time, half the class chorused, "Awesome!"  

McGonagall waved her wand and the pig turned back into a desk.

"How did you do that?" called a student. 

"Transfiguration." Answered McGonagall. "You'll be learning more about it this year."

And she began telling them all about her class, and giving more demonstrations. Lily sat and listened eagerly. As they filed out of the classroom, Dorcas tugged on Lily's sleeve.

"Hey, we have Herbology next! Wanna walk down to the greenhouses with me and Marlene?" 

"Sure." Lily agreed, following Dorcas and Marlene out of the castle. Outside, they were greeted by a few light golden rays of sunshine. They walked across the expansive grounds until they reached a collection of greenhouses. In front of one of the greenhouses stood a squat woman with curly hair and mud-flecked robes. She was smiling and ushering kids into the greenhouse.

"In here, Greenhouse Number One! Welcome, I'm Professor Sprout. In here, come in..." 

Lily, Dorcas and Marlene ducked into the greenhouse at stood at a long table filled with plants. Lily noted they shared this class with the Ravenclaws. Once everyone had filed into the classroom, Professor Sprout closed the door and stepped to the head of the table. 

"Welcome, welcome!" she beamed. "Today we'll be talking a bit about plants, so gather round! Feel free, to take notes, too."

Lily pulled some parchment and a quill out of her bag as Professor Sprout introduced herself. Lily dipped her quill in her inkpot and Sprout began. 

"First, there's a plant called Devil's Snare. It's quite dangerous, actually, so we'll only talk about it. Well, Devil's Snare..." 

As Professor Sprout explained various plants, Lily wrote down as much as she could. She didn't want to forget anything; she'd heard there were exams at the end of the year. 

During the short break after Herbology, Lily puzzled her way through corridors and staircases before she found the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. She asked Marlene for specific reasons why they needed the class, and Marlene was more than happy to tell Lily loads of scary stories which left her feeling a bit unsettled. 

At lunch, she grabbed a sandwich from the Gryffindor table and went to find Severus. He wasn't at the Slytherin table, so she waited for him at the door, eating her sandwich.