"Remus, Peter! Over here!"

I watched as James and Sirius waved at Peter and Remus from across the station. They spotted us and made their way through the crowd to us. Remus was a lot taller than when we'd met – he was now a towering six foot two inches. The same could be said for the rest of my friends. James was an inch shorter than Remus, and Sirius was two inches shorter than that. The other two loved to tease him about not being quite six feet. Peter was five feet eight inches. He'd stopped growing in fourth year.

"Ready for our sixth year?" James asked.

"Absolutely," Sirius said. "Getting away from my parents and their pure-blooded conquest is gonna be great."

"We get to begin studying for our N.E.W.T.s, now," Remus said.

"And just like that, he's made me lose my will to go back," Sirius complained.

"Shut up, Black. If you keep on complaining we won't have time to snag a compartment," I said.

Sirius gasped in mock outrage, but I'd already waved goodbye to my parents and was boarding the train. The boys scrambled on after me and we found our usual compartment empty. I sat down next to the window with Remus sitting next to me and Peter next to him. James and Sirius lounged in the seats across from us.

"Okay, so I have an announcement," James said. "I'm Quidditch Captain!"

"What?" I exclaimed as the others cheered. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to keep it a surprise," James said, shrugging. "Can't wait to see who's on the team this year. Almost everyone from the previous team has left."

"Wonder who's Slytherin's captain," I mused. "I hope it's not Mulciber. He's a creep."

"Agreed," Remus muttered darkly.

"You know what'd be great?" Sirius said. "If we glued Mulciber's compartment door closed so that he can't leave the train."

"He'll still be able to open it," Remus said boredly. "He has a wand, you know."

"It'll still be fun," Sirius said, standing up. "Who's coming with?"

James and Peter volunteered while Remus and I stayed silent.

"We'll save the compartment for you," I said.

Sirius and James shrugged before leaving, Peter right on their heels.

"How was your summer?" Remus asked.

"It was alright," I said. "I hung out with James and Sirius almost every day. We played a lot of Quidditch. What about you?"

"It was fine," he replied. "My mum took me to a museum. It was pretty cool."

I was about to say something else when the compartment door opened, and Lily entered.

"Lily!" I said, jumping up and giving her a hug.

She embraced me tightly, before pulling back and smiling at me.

"James is coming back soon," I said. "Just warning you."

"Worse things have happened," she sighed, shrugging. "So, how was your summer?"

Lily sat down across from me, and we began talking about our summers, Remus chiming in every now and then. The door opened again, filling the compartment with James and Sirius's laughter. James stopped short as he realised Lily was in the compartment.

"Sirius, am I seeing things, or is Lily Evans sitting in our compartment?" James said.

"I am here, but not for you," Lily replied. "I'm here because my friends, Y/n and Remus, are here."

"Oh, Evans," Sirius said dramatically. "I thought we were friends."

Lily pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow.

"When we're on first name basis, Black, that's when we're friends," she said.

"Fair," he replied, sitting down near the door.

Peter sat down next to Remus, leaving the only available seat next to Lily. James sat down next to Lily cautiously, which was strange in my opinion. Wouldn't he have been excited to sit next to his crush? Or had he grown out of it over the summer? I racked my brains, trying to remember if he'd mentioned anything over the summer. I remembered him mentioning Lily, but nowhere near as much as he used to.

"How was your summer, James?" Lily asked.

My jaw dropped, and so did everyone else's. James and Lily paid us no attention as they began talking to each other. Sirius looked at me with great confusion, a look that I knew was also plastered on my face.

"So, O.W.L.s came in," Sirius said. "What did you all get?"

"I got seven," Peter said. "I failed divination, care of magical creatures, and astronomy."

"You don't really need those subjects, anyway," I said kindly.

"I got nine," Sirius said proudly. "Failed ancient runes."

"Same," James said.

"I got nine too," I said. "I failed divination."

"I got nine as well," Lily said. "Astrology is not something I'm good at."

Everyone was silent as we waited for Remus to answer.

"I got ten," he admitted shyly.

There was a cheer from my group as everyone congratulated him on achieving all his O.W.L.s.

"Ten O.W.L.s," Sirius said, shaking his head. "Well done, mate."

"Of course he got all ten O.W.L.s," I said. "He's Remus Michelangelo Lupin!"

"My middle name is Jo–"

"Josephine. Right, my bad," I said.

Remus just sighed and shook his head.

"How many O's did you guys get?" James asked.

"Two, in defence and Transfiguration," Sirius said.

"Same, mate!" James said excitedly.

"I got two as well," I said. "Charms and Transfiguration."

"Two," Lily said. "Potions and Charms."

"I got six," Remus said.

"I didn't get any," Peter mumbled sadly.

"Who needs O's, anyway?" James said. "At least you passed."

Peter seemed to look a bit happier about it.

"I distinctly remember someone telling us that she only had one smart friend in first year," Sirius said, rubbing his chin in mock contemplation.

"I wonder who that could have been," I said innocently.

The rest of the train trip was mainly just talking and eating the food from the lunch trolley. Once we got off the train, we made our way to the horseless-carriages that took us to Hogwarts. We entered the grand castle before taking our seats at the Gryffindor table. I sat down in-between Lily and Sirius, and the other three boys sat across from us.

Soon enough, Professor McGonagall led the first years into the room. They were all small and most of them looked scared. I gave a few encouraging smiles.

McGonagall read the first name and a young girl with curly blonde hair sat down on the chair.

"Hufflepuff," Sirius whispered.

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat yelled.

"Damn," Sirius muttered. "Your turn, Prongs."

A boy with dark hair and green eyes sat upon the stool.

"Gryffindor," James said quietly.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat called out.

"Your turn, Y/n," Sirius said.

I watched as a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes sat on the stool.

"Gryffindor," I said.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled.

"Every year, we call out the houses. And every year you win!" Sirius exclaimed.

This went on for the rest of the sorting. My friends and I guessed the houses of the first years. Lily and I got all of them right, Sirius and James getting a few right, and Remus getting the only one he guessed correct.

The feast began, and we ate our way through the dishes, talking to our other fellow students. Once the feast finished, Dumbledore gained everyone's attention.

"Ahem — just a few words now that we are all fed and watered," Professor Dumbledore said. "I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils, and a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore looked directly at James and Sirius, who smirked at each other.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."

James and Sirius glanced at each other once again with smirks on their faces.

"I would also like to introduce our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Laufeyson."

I watched as a man with shoulder-length, dark hair stood up and assessed the applauding crowd. He wore emerald green robes with golden thread along the edges.

"And one final announcement," Dumbledore said. "This year, we will be having a Yule Ball. Everyone is welcome to attend."

There were a few excited whispers and murmurs throughout the crowd.

"That is all. Now off to bed. Chop chop!"

I got up with my friends and we headed to the Gryffindor Tower. Remus and Lily stayed behind because they were prefects. We made our way to the common room and waited for the other two. They entered the common room with the first years and directed them to their dorms.

Lily and I said goodbye to the boys before we made our way to our dorm. The other girls weren't there yet, but that was okay because I needed to talk to Lily.

"Since when do you call James by his first name?" I asked, crossing my arms.

Lily glanced at me and bit her lip before going and searching through her trunk.

"Since he sent me a letter over the holidays," she said.

She pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to me. I opened it and read:

Dear Lily,

I understand if you tear this letter up before reading it. It's what I would do, but I would appreciate it if you hear me out.

I'm sorry. I've been acting horribly towards you these past five years. I should have given you space instead of asking you out constantly, and I should have accepted it when you said no.

'I'm sorry Severus was your friend' was hastily scribbled out, and replaced with:

I'm sorry we bullied your friend Severus.

I am really sorry, and I hope that perhaps you can forgive me one day and we could maybe even be friends.

From, James

I gaped at the letter. When did James send this? I asked Lily.

"Over the summer," she said quietly. "I sent a letter back telling him how grateful he should be that I accepted his apology, and we've been talking ever since."

"Blimey," I said, not being able to think of anything else to say. "I – uh... do you fancy him?"

Lily's eyes widened in shock.

"Do – do I fancy him? Of – of course not! He's – he's... uh..."

"Mmhmm," I said, nodding. "Sure."

"I'll admit I fancy James if you admit you fancy Remus," she said.

I gasped and pointed at her.

"I – how did – how do you–"

"I'm observant," she said.

"So you fancy James," I said.

"And you fancy Remus," she said.

We were both silent for a moment before we smiled widely at each other.

"Finally! I knew you'd come around–"

"You two are so perfect for each other–"

We continued talking late into the night, excited by the prospect of boys, of all things.