Lily Evans was nearly finished with her homework. She had written two essays for professor Slughorn, one for professor Schnee and one for professor Dumbledore. The teachers were always giving her extra assignments, not knowing the others did too. Two seconds after she’d written the last word, her best friend Mary came in and interrupted her. 

It looked like she had been running, because her long, blonde hair was a mess and her brown eyes were wide open, like she had something very important to tell. Of course, knowing Mary, Lily was sure it was nothing. Mary had to breathe a couple of times before she could say anything. 

“Look, Lily!” she said excitedly. “Look what I’ve made!” She held a piece of parchment in her hand, and she gave it to Lily. It was a list: “10 things I wanna do in life…”. ‘Yep, it was nothing’ thought Lily. But she didn’t want to ruin it for her friend, who was now practically jumping up and down, waiting for a comment.
“Wow, how great!” said Lily, trying to sound as optimistic and excited as she could. She handed the list back to Mary and started to put away the books on the table.

The same night Lily was lying in her bed. It was raining outside, and she was listening to the soft sound of the rain against the window. She was so exhausted, yet for some odd reason she couldn’t sleep. After lying awake for half an hour she decided to get up and do something. She jumped out of bed and looked around her. Mary was sleeping in the bed beside her, Bella had fallen on the floor again and Holly was snoring loudly. 

Quietly, not to wake the others, she made her way to the door and tip-toed down-stairs to the common-room. It was empty, of course, as it was the middle of the night and it was a school-day tomorrow. Not knowing what else she could do in a dark room all by herself, she found a piece of parchment and started to scribble on it. The first thing that came to her mind was the list that Mary had brought. “10 things I wanna do in life…” She started writing. It couldn’t hurt, and there was nothing else to do, so why not?

The list was done in twenty minutes. She had to really think about some of the things there. Some of the things were things she wanted to do to overcome her fears, some of them were things she probably would never do, and some were things she could do tomorrow if she wanted to. She put the pen and parchment down. She was so tired she could hardly see her own hand before her. She wrote her name on the bottom, put a spell on the list and fell asleep on the couch. 

*****

James Potter was up early, as he always was. The others would always complain that he waked them, so he tried his hardest to be quiet and left the room. In the stairs he bumped into a seventh-year, Frank Marlon, who didn’t look quite awake yet. He was coming from the common-room, and warned James:
“There’s someone lying on the couch near the fire, just so you know!” James imagined how he’d found out, and the image was quite amusing. But he managed to stay quiet and thank him for the warning. 

Down in the common-room James went straight to the couch, of course, to see who was lying there. It was quite a shock for him, because lying there on the bright red couch, fully dressed and with untidy hair was Lily Evans. James stood there for a moment looking at her. ‘She is so beautiful’, he thought. Then he noticed a piece of parchment lying on the small table in front of her. He picked it up. “Ten things I wanna do in life… by Lily Evans”. ‘Wow’ thought James, who had never thought Lily was the kind of girl to write lists like this. Mary would, maybe, but not Lily. 

He looked further down, and saw: “10 – Ride on the back of a Hippogriff.” He had to read it twice to be sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. Ride a Hippogriff? That really wasn’t her thing. And another thing: That was the only thing written on the parchment. James concluded that she couldn’t think of anything else. But if riding a Hippogriff was what she wanted, then that’s what she was going to get! When Lily woke up an hour later, she remembered nothing about a list…

The Plan was brilliant. Nothing could screw it up, nothing! During lunch, James excused himself and went to Professor Schnee’s office. He knocked three times on the door and waited for the “Come in”. It came and James entered the office. Professor Schnee, the Care of Magical Creatures – teacher was sitting in his hair behind his desk eating his food. Most of it got caught in the large beard, James thought, but he didn’t say anything. 

“Yes, Mr Potter. What did you want?” asked the professor. 
“I was just wondering” said James. “When will we be learning about Hippogriffs, Professor?” He looked at the professor innocently, and he seemed to be buying it. 
“Well, Mr Potter. That’s not until the end of the year.” replied Professor Schnee, obviously surprised that the student who seemed least interested in his subject would take the time to ask him about Hippogriffs.

“Oh” said James, forcing himself to look sad. Professor Schnee couldn’t resist his look.
“Well, if you’d like I could move it to tomorrow!”
“Would you?” said James while his eyes lit up again. This was going perfectly. The professor smiled at him.
“Can I ride on one, Professor?” asked James carefully. Professor Schnee looked more sceptically at him. ‘Please say yes, please say yes’ James was praying inside his head. 
“Well, all right then” said Professor Schnee. James thanked him and left for the Great Hall.

*****

The next day there was no rain like the previous days. The sun was shining and the sky was cloudless. ‘Just the perfect weather for today’ thought James as he was walking down to breakfast with the rest of the Marauders; Sirius, Remus and Peter. Sirius was telling everyone his plans for the day, which were to attend classes and conquer the giant squid. Remus was silent as usual, and Peter kept one step behind. As they reached the Great Hall James saw Lily making her way to her usual spot by the table. ‘She doesn’t know what today will bring’ James thought as he sat down between Sirius and Remus a couple of seats from Lily. Soon the mail came, and the day had begun.

Her first class was Herbology with the Ravenclaws. She had always liked Herbology, although it was her worst subject next to Care of Magical Creatures. Second class Transfiguration. The amount of homework was huge; she’d have to stay up all night to get through it all. Unless she wanted to use her entire weekend, which she’d probably end up doing. After Transfiguration she went to the Great Hall to get lunch. Here she met up with Mary, who had chosen Divination and didn’t have the same schedule as her. Mary filled her in on all the newest gossip. She listened, but forgot again as soon as they left the Great Hall. This was a normal day of Lily’s life. After lunch Mary’s schedule said Potions and Lily’s said Care of Magical Creatures, so they split up and went in different directions.

James came to class early, just to see that the Hippogriffs were actually there. He was relieved when he saw a great beast with a bird’s-head and a horse’s-body. It was just as he had pictured it would be. Big, grey and… ugly. He had also read two books about Hippogriffs, and had learned that he had to bow before getting close to one. This was all very boring. The good part was; Lily was involved. The professor was early too, and James went to talk to him.
“Professor, this is great” he said, lying a bit but not entirely. 
“I’m glad you think so” replied Professor Schnee. He was eating again, and most of the food was in his beard as usual. ‘No wonder he’s sp thin’ thought James while laughing inside. ‘He doesn’t eat because none of the food makes it into the mouth’. He had to struggle to keep a straight face. 

The bell rang and other students began to arrive. Lily was one of the first to arrive, of course, seeing as she was never late for anything. ‘She’s perfect’ thought James. He had admitted to himself as early as in second grade that he had a giant crush on her, and it just wouldn’t go away. The problem was that she didn’t like him back.

As soon as all the students had arrived, Lily raised her hand.
“Why are we learning about Hippogriffs now, Professor? We’re not supposed to learn about them until the end of the year!” Professor Schnee glances briefly at James before replying.
“Change of plans, Hippogriffs had to be learned about today.” Lily didn’t seem satisfied with the answer, and was just about to say more when Professor Schnee continued. 
“Hippogriffs, as you see, are half and half. Half bird, half horse. Can anyone tell me where Hippogriffs come from?” Lily raised her hand again. 
“Yes, miss Evans.”
“It comes from Europe, but there are now Hippogriffs all over the world.”
“Very good, miss Evans. Five points for Gryffindor.” The Professor was a well-known five-point-giver, in other words a professor who gives only five points at a time but gives it a lot. 

Fifteen minutes later the theory-part was over.
“So, now that you know much more about Hippogriffs than you did for only minutes ago, who would like to fly on one?” Professor Schnee said, looking at James. James quickly raised his hand, and the professor told him to come forward. 
“Now, do you know what to do?” asked Professor Schnee.
“Yes, professor” he replied. “Bow, wait for him to bow back, slowly approach and not ripping out any feathers.”
“Very good, Mr Potter. Five points for Gryffindor.” said Professor Schnee, before telling him to do as he had just said. 

James bowed deeply and waited for the Hippogriff, Myrna, to bow back. After fifteen long seconds he did, and James approached slowly. The closer he got the more he wanted to fly on it. He climbed up and the Hippogriff left the ground. It was a great feeling riding a Hippogriff, almost like riding a broom. The wind in his hair, the fresh air, the long way down, it all made it worth his while. The ride was way too long, and before he knew it he was down on the ground again. 

The end of the lesson was approaching, and Lily hadn’t volunteered yet. It was time to do something. When Professor Schnee wasn’t looking he made his way towards her. She was looking at Julie who was flying the Hippogriff, and didn’t notice him before he whispered to her:
“Too scary for you?” She jumped, but after collecting herself again she turned to him and said:
“No, of course I’ll do it. I was just giving the others a chance to go first!” He knew it would work. When Julie got down Lily volunteered, and she was called up. She bowed, the animal bowed back. She approached slowly, and James recognized the look on her face; regret. Probably for volunteering. But she got on the back of it, and it left the ground again.

‘This is amazing!’ thought Lily as she was flying the Hippogriff. It was nothing she would do daily, but once was great. The wind, the feeling of being so far from the ground, the Hippogriff and the sun mixed together and became something much better than each one alone. 

But, unfortunately, that feeling turned into fright and feeling sick before long. She was glad it was over when it was. ‘At least I showed James Potter I could do it!’ she thought, and that was reason enough for her. The feeling of sickness didn’t go away, and Lily went straight to the Hospital Wing. There Madam Pomfrey gave her a potion so that she would fall asleep, and she was excused from the rest of the day’s classes.

That night James took out the list. She had flown on a Hippogriff now, so the list was completed, he thought. But when he saw the list, he saw a new sentence on the parchment. “10 – Ride on the back of a Hippogriff” was now crossed out, and instead it said…