Julia Higgins (Marauders Era)

1. Crossing paths

The library was a sanctuary for Lily. It was the one place the marauders didn't infest, so to speak, except Remus, but at least he was a decent human being. The best thing about the library, however, was the lack of judgment which is hard to come across if you're a muggle-born.

Why would you be in there unless you wanted to study? And studying too much, unfortunately, was an actual thing everywhere but in the library. But in the library, she could read whatever she desired, for how long she desired without anyone *cough* James 'Toe-rag' Potter *cough* complaining about her spending twenty-nine hours a day -the nerve!- reading books.

So when she saw a girl struggle with the same potions homework she had finished earlier that day, she opened her mouth without a spare thought.

The library was for people like her. Her kin, in a way. She'd want help if she was struggling with homework that was due in a day.

"Question three and four are the same, just worded differently." It was then as the girl turned around that she realized her mistake. Wrapped from head to toe in green and silver was a blonde roughly the same age as hers, with the classic Barbie doll appearance, large blue eyes and all. (Sans the heavy makeup.)

'No.' Horror dawned on her. 'Not my library', she cried on the inside. On the outside, she was frozen stiff.

The girl in question was Julia Higgins, a fourth-year Slytherin.

She'd met the girl on her first day at Hogwarts, in the infamous scarlet steam train. She'd been alright, a little quiet but perfectly polite. Sadly, she was sorted into Slytherin, been there for three years now. Lily wasn't sure if she'd begin blabbering about not needing help from a 'lowly muggle-born' but she braced herself nonetheless. You know what they say about the company you keep.

Of course, Severus was an exception. The tiny voice that whispered he's changing was ignored diligently.

Much to her surprise, Julia merely gave a contemplative frown, muttering a distracted "Thanks, I guess."

A second passed before Julia turned to the stunned redhead again, a sheepish smile adorning her face. "Actually, I'm more confused about question six."

Lily pulled up the chair beside Julia before she could even comprehend what was happening.

That day two teenage girls left the library having learned very important life lessons. Lily would never again judge someone so easily and Julia would forever remember to specifically point it out if she had no intention of being friends before any kind of social interaction.

She'd forgotten how to 'human' a long time ago. So why in Merlin's name Lily would insist they're friends was a mystery to Julia.

'Is that how you make friends?'

Julia might be more polite than her housemates but she was still a Slytherin. She knew what spelled suicide for her almost non-existent social life at Hogwarts, and in this case, it was befriending Lily Evans.

Lily was popular, more than the girl probably realized. Being her friend would mean attracting the attention of not only other Slytherins but also other houses as a whole, or worse...those four.

Something she wanted to avoid at all cost.

Already an outcast in a house full of blood supremacists, she was desperate not to make her situation worse. Frustrated and mildly terrified, Julia snapped at the redhead two weeks after their fateful encounter in the library, after which Lily had begun to seek her out whenever the girl was there.