A/N: This does not follow the epilogue exactly. First of all, I changed Luna's sons' names to Lugwig (Iggy) and Lionel (Leo), I changed Albus Severus Potter to Alexander Albus Severus Potter (Alex), Alex and Lily are twins, two years younger than James, and...I may ignore some character deaths in book 7. Don't like it, don't read it. Other than that, I'm trying to stay true to J.K.R.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

LilyPOV

"Aren't you excited?" Alex asked me for the millionth time. We had just gotten on the train, and were trying to find a compartment.

"Of course, Al, but I'm also annoyed," I told him. He grinned at me, always happy.

"This one only has one girl in it," he said, pointing to the least empty compartment. Inside there was indeed a girl, her long brown hair covering her face.

"Fantastic." I opened the door and tapped on the frame to alert her that we were there; she appeared to be lost in thought.

The girl's head snapped around, looking at us with a slightly startled expression.

"Can we sit here?" I asked. She nodded absentmindedly, looking at us like she was sizing us up to eat. And I thought Luna (Dad told me to call her Mrs. Salamander, but mum and her said to call her Luna) was weird. But if there was one thing I had learned from Luna, it was that weird can be good.

Alex went in a little tentatively, sitting beside me, across from the girl. The girl placed her magazine down (It wasn't The Quibbler like I expected, it was some Muggle history magazine) and kind of smiled.

"I'm Max," she introduced herself. "Are you first years too?"

I saw slight surprise on Alex's face. The girl, Max, didn't look like a first year, she looked about fourteen. Granted, we also looked a little older than our ages, especially Alex because he was getting so tall, but I could have mistaken her for at least a third year. Maybe it was the way she carried herself. She sat up very straight and confidently, and her face was serious. And a little awkward, like she wasn't used to speaking to people.

"I'm Lily," I introduced myself brightly. I didn't know why, but I liked her. "And this is Alex."

"Hey," Alex greeted, smiling his warm, friendly smile as usual. Max's hand twitched, like she was fighting the urge to ignore us and just read. I had spent enough time around Hermione (again, I resented the formality of placing 'Aunt' before the name) to recognize that look. So I decided to help her out. I actually had social skills. As long as the person I was talking to didn't make me angry.

"So, what house are you hoping for?" I asked her. Please don't say Slytherin, please don't say Slytherin…

She just shrugged. "I don't think I really know enough. And people in the houses are biased, so I won't know until I've observed the different houses for myself. They all seem to have their positives and negatives. But it would be nice to be with my sister in Gryffindor," she added as an afterthought.

I bit my lip to hide my smile. She reminded me a lot of Hermione, but with Luna's quirkiness and deep thinking. She was like Lumione. I glanced at Alex and could tell he was thinking the same thing. We were always thinking the same thing.

"Are you two twins?" she asked, studying Alex's face intensely. He didn't seem to mind her fascinated stare.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Most people didn't even think we were in the same family.

"Your bone structure," she said simply.

Before I could say anything, the door opened again. "Lily, Alex, hey, great to see you guys, can I sit down?" panted Iggy Lovegood-Salamander.

"Yeah, sure," I said, grinning. "I hope you don't mind," I added, looking to Max.

"Oh, no, please, sit," she said moving over for him.

Iggy had been Alex and I's best mate since…forever. Him and Alex were closer than my dad and Ron (or as mum called him, "That Idiot"), and we were inseparable. I knew him and Max would get along, even though I didn't really know her.

"Hi," he greeted Max. "Iggy Lovegood."

"Max Posner," she introduced herself. "Just Max."

"Well, I'm just Iggy," Igs countered. Alex smirked.

"No you're not, Ludw-" he teased.

"Oh, shut it," Iggy cut him off. Alex erupted into laughter. Max rolled her eyes, causing me to laugh. Soon we were all laughing.

Iggy grabbed Max's magazine away from her lap. "The Hanging Gardens of Mesopotamia," he read off of the cover. Max blushed and grabbed it back.

"I like history," she shrugged. "My mum's an archaeologist, I grew up around ancient artifacts."

Iggy smiled at her. "That's cool. My mum's something of a naturalist," he told her. She blushed, deeper this time, and looked away from him. Alex made a gagging sound at the back of his throat, causing them both to go red in the face and look away from each other. Ah, young love.

"It's so beautiful," Max breathed, looking at the rolling green hills we were passing.

"It really is," Alex agreed.

"Would you kids like anything from the trolley?"

The voice of the sweets lady jerked us from our little nature-appreciation session. Alex automatically jumped up and pulled out his money. He had just eaten an hour ago, but naturally he already wanted food.

It turns out that for such a slender girl, Max had a sweet tooth to rival my brother's. She must've bought half the cart. Alex looked at her with an approving expression as she dug into her pile of candy.

"You two are going to ruin your appetites," I said, taking from Alex's pile. They both rolled their eyes in synchronization. I snickered.

"We should change into our robes soon," Iggy sighed. "We're nearly there." He flashed a smile at Alex and I. "Only ten more minutes until you two are sorted into Gryffindor."

I grinned at an uncomfortable looking Alex. We were all expected to be in Gryffindor, well James already was, but Alex was terrified that he would be the family black sheep.

A few minutes later we were all in our robes and back in the compartment, laughing and talking. The train screeched to a slow stop, and we collected our bags.

"First years! All first years!"

Hagrid's voice boomed throughout the train, calling us to him. "C'mon guys," Alex said. "We're officially at Hogwarts."

I'll write more if I get more than ten reviews. Until then, au revoir!