Prologue

Balance Beam: A Slightly Less Clichéd Lily/James Love Story brought to you by JaDe-ViPeR08

SUMMARY: Lily Evans' seventh year at Hogwarts. It even comes standard with two OCs who date a Marauder and a confusing inner monologue. But I promise this WILL NOT follow the LJ formula that has been so humorously parodied.

a/n: I am revamping and editing this story once again, I feel I owe it to my readers to always keep improving what was previously my best.

When did summer get so boring? Lily asked herself while silently staring at the off-white bumps of her ceiling. She hadn't done one single interesting thing all summer and now it was almost too late for the girl to have any fun. Of course her boredom was probably self-inflicted, surely there was much entertainment to be had downstairs where her sister, Petunia, was lounging with her boyfriend and parents. Virgil, Vern, or was it Byron? VERNON! Yes, Vernon! Vernon Dursley was exactly the kind of person Tuney would have hated. Obviously pompous, and self important he was probably conceited and definitely a pig. Unfortunately the new bitter Petunia bore very little resemblance to Lily's childhood confidante. Lily rolled her eyes at where her train of thought had taken her, it did no good to dwell on the past. Intent on doing something rather than pouting on her bed for the rest of the day the redhead pulled on a snug t-shirt and some comfortable jeans. There was no point in dressing up when only her family and it were going to see her.

In her preparations for the day, Lily had moved toward the window and began admiring the brilliant day. Outside she could hear the giggles coming from her neighbor's backyard. Michelle and Karla, Lily's old muggle best friends were lounging in a pair of hammocks chatting animatedly. There was a small stool with an assortment of sodas and iced pitchers, probably of lemon-aid and iced tea. Lily remembered how before the days of magic she and her old muggle friends would ingest gallons of Karla's mum's iced tea every summer. She supposed it was a testament to how much seven years could really change a person that not only was Lily not in her old perch - the tree that supported one end of each hammock - but that she referred to them as "muggle" in her own mind. They used to be her best friends no suffix necessary. Until Sev had told her all about magic and everything changed. Before Lily went off to Hogwarts, before she met Alice her "real" best friend. But a lot had changed. Michelle had avoided her almost since the day she met Sev. Lily had to admit, even if just to herself, that Michelle was a bit of a snob. Karla, while still friendly, was distant; their friendship was strained by secrets and years apart. Lily knew Michelle went to a high class all girls' boarding school while Karla went to the local public school, but the two were allowed to send letters to each other at least. Even Sev and Lily were no longer friends. After an incident fifth year when the boy showed his true colors Lily stopped speaking to him, leaving her with no neighborhood friends.

Lily decided that as part of her resolution to do something this day, she would send an owl to each of her friends. They had all gone abroad for the season except Trish, a hyper-active sixth year Hufflepuff who clung to Lily with both arms and legs, along with quite a bit of affection. Trish was dating one of Lily's casual friends. The least popular of the too-popular-for-their-own-good-Marauders, Peter was nice enough as boys went and he was clearly enthralled with her friend. Which suited Lily just fine; if he wasn't then she'd have to do something drastic that would involve revenge from his three closest friends. She could handle it, but would rather not have things reach that point.

After sending the letter with Fitz, short for Fitzwilliam Darcy, Lily went downstairs to see if the match of Petunia and Vernon would bring about more boredom or hilarity. If there was anyone else on the staircase with her, Lily would have put money on boredom. On her way down, Lily stopped in the kitchen to see if her school list had arrived yet. It was there on the kitchen table - two envelopes, one significantly heavier than the other, both bearing the Hogwarts seal. In the topmost envelope Lily found the usual school list and a short note from McGonagall her Head of House expressing the usual wish to see all the students returning after the summer break. After examining the contents of the heavier envelope Lily found a Head Girl badge and a letter from Dumbledore explaining the precariousness of her situation. He expressed sorrow for making Lily a target during such turbulent times and asked her to exercise caution when deciding who to inform of her promotion as well as reminding her not to take unnecessary risks.

"Please remember to inform Professor McGonagall or myself on all password changes during the year. That is to include prefect only areas and Common Rooms" the letter continued before the usual farewell. Lily frowned noticing neither note mention who the new prefects were nor who the Head Boy was; although she was sure Dumbledore did not want to make these people a target while they were away from the protection of Hogwarts and vulnerable to attack. There had been a lot of disappearances.

A loud guffaw reminded Lily why she had come downstairs in the first place. After a quick peek in the living room and a glimpse at the whale of a man her sister fancied herself in love with, Lily entered the chamber quietly. Resembling a large pig that someone had attempted to squish into an armchair, Vernon was "entertaining" her parents but Mr. and Mrs. Evans looked more irritated than amused. Having decided to intervene, Lily introduced herself.

"Hello, Vernon is it? I'm Pet's younger sister," she started purposefully using a nickname she knew Petunia hated. "Lily. I was away at school when the rest of the family first met you." She extended her hand politely and her shook it although a little roughly. Something flickered in Vernon's eyes at the mention of the word "school"; Lily supposed Pet had been telling tales about her. Not that it stopped him from standing tall, clearing his throat, and introducing himself to her chest.

"I thought you were never going to come downstairs, Lee," Petunia replied, using a name Lily hated as a tiny act of revenge while Vernon remained oblivious to the tension. He was far too busy ogling his girlfriend's sister. "My sister spends a lot of time in her room these days." She said icily with only the slightest bit of a sneer.

At almost that exact moment Diarmid, Sophia's owl swooped through the perpetually open window and landed gracefully on Lily's shoulder. Sophia was another one of Lily's friends. A sixth-year Gryffindor from America, Sophia had recently started dating another of Lily's male friends, though she trusted Remus Lupin with her friend's heart far more than any of his companions. The girl untied the letter attached to the barn owl's leg and absentmindedly stroked the bird's soft down feathers. She excused herself to the other armchair, the one she had claimed as hers and hers alone at the ripe old age of four, to read her letter. At some point conversation resumed and Lily was sure she heard the term "blasted owl" muttered by her sister. Vernon was describing, in elaborate and mind numbing detail, the amount of work and dedication it took to attend one of the nation's top schools. He was even trying to be dopy and look into Petunia's eyes while reminiscing the first day of University, where they had met. Lily was glad of the chance to hide her face behind the letter; she feared she might soon be ill.

The letter was mostly rambling, gushing, ranting, and raving. Sophia didn't used to be like that, the girl was quiet and reserved until she had started dating one Remus Lupin. It warmed the heart to see him make her act like a normal teenage girl, although considering the amount of giggle, rambling, gushing, raving, and ranting was about said boyfriend, Lily was almost sorry she hadn't tried to keep it from happening. Almost.

Once Diarmid was through the window, Lily returned her attention to their guest. "I'm sorry about that. Now what did you say you did?" Lily asked. She was curious as to what all Petunia's new taste in men entailed.

"He's a year away from starting at Grunnings" Petunia announced proudly. "The firm paid for university so he would work for them as soon as he graduated."

Lily tried valiantly to appear interested and just barely succeeded. It seemed Petunia really liked this guy, and for the second time that day Lily missed Tuney, the girl she had tried so long and hard to please.

So, did you like it? Hate it? Indifferent? Spot any obvious mistakes? Catch any references? Review and let me know, pretty please.

Sami