…I have no excuse for not writing in a while. I'm so sorry to all of you guys that follow this story. Don't be mad.

Chapter Five (part 1)

I gazed out the window behind my dad. It was a great morning. The sun was bright and it wasn't too hot. I looked at my dad. He was reading this morning's paper. The date on the far right corner read: September 1st.

Yeah. It was time to go back to Hogwarts. This summer was pretty uneventful after going to my aunt's house. My little cousin hadn't been any trouble. It had actually been a bit fun. I loved staying at my aunt's.

But nothing could ever compare to Hogwarts.

"More bacon, Lily?" my mother asked with a smile.

I smiled back. "No, thanks."

She turned back to her stove and I went back to my thoughts.

I hadn't seen my sister at all this summer. Nor was I going to see her. She left very early this morning before my parents had woken up. I bet it was to avoid talking to me.

I had heard from my friends, though. The Marauders were all at James' house. Except Peter. He had to go with his mother to his grandmother's funeral. I had felt bad for him until Remus explained that Peter never knew his grandmother in one of his letters.

Clair and Jenn had just arrived from Italy about two weeks ago. They had done their shopping for our new supplies for Hogwarts three days ago.

I had done mine yesterday. I was ready to go. I had my trunk in back of my dad's car and my owl, Marble, was currently on the living room couch, just watching me with her steady eyes.

My dad stood and grunted a bit. "Well, time to go or we'll be late." My mother automatically turned off the stove and took the pan off. She went to the loo to freshen up a bit one more time before we left. My dad went out and cranked up the car. I coaxed Marble into her cage and carried her out. I got into the back of the car and saw my mum lock the door behind her as she finally came out.

"Let's go." She said as she got in and buckled her seat belt.

I gave the house one final look before we drove off.

We got to the train station just in time. There were only five minutes left as I hugged my parents one more time and bit them farewell.

"Do take care of yourself, dear." My mother said as she gave me a tight hug.

"I will." I promised with a smile.

My dad hugged me even tighter than my mum had. "Let me know if any one causes you any trouble."

"Of course." I knew he was referring to boys.

I grinned at them both. "Love you!" I began to walk away.

"We love you too, Lily!" my mother called.

I ran through the barrier that brought me to the platform. Platform 9 ¾ never looked as exciting as it did now. It was so full of witches and wizards. The first years looking nervous, the seventh years looking happy to be in their final year , and the rest looked like they were glad and familiar with the place.

I was a bit sad. This was my final year. It was time to take class more seriously and learn as much as could before it was time to go. I would become an auror. It was a dangerous job, but doing it would give me so much satisfaction to know that I was helping many people and stopping the evil. Voldemort would not take over.

I rushed to an entrance to the train and heaved my trunk on. I was about to start dragging when a sixth year boy offered me some help. He looked pretty strong as he grabbed one end of the trunk and looked at me to lead the way. I started walking and I finally met the compartment that had my friend in it.

"Lily!" Clair yelled. She pulled me into a tight hug and I laughed at how excited she was.

"Hey, guys." I said as Jenn and Alice also hugged me.

"Lilykins!" I heard someone else yell. I turned around to the entrance to see Natalie. Over the summer her hair had gotten a bit lighter.

I laughed and hugged her as well.

I thanked the sixth year boy as he put my trunk on a rack and he left.

I sat down with my friends and we immediately began to catch up.

"Oh, Lily! You should've been there. There were soooo many hot guys. It was almost too much!" Clair sighed.

"I laughed. "Yeah?"

"Lucky you! I had to train the entire summer in the blistering heat. Soccer was intense. But I guess it was worth it." Alice chimed in.

"What about you, Natalie? What did you do?" Jenn asked her.

"Nothing too exciting. I didn't see many hot guys. I just went to the Mediterranean on a cruise for a while, then I stayed the rest of the summer at our summer house in France." She explained.

"Still more exciting than my summer." I said. "I stayed at my aunt's the entire summer babysitting my little cousin. It wasn't too bad, though. My cousin isn't whiney and my aunt lives along the seacoast." I shrugged.

"Not too bad." Alice agreed.

Suddenly, someone burst through the compartment door. "There are my girls!"

"Frank!" Alice launched herself right into his arms and his him hard.

He all chuckled at her enthusiasm and as soon as she broke away, so did Frank.

"I missed you too." He said grinning.

She smiled and hugged him one more time before letting go. "Sit with us."

He shrugged and sat down next to Alice. "Let's hope the guys don't start looking for me."

And right on cue the Marauders came along.