A/N: Ok guys. This is my first fanfic so I'm looking for a good measure of constructive criticism and support. Please, please review. I'm writing this story for myself, but I'm posting it for you all. I'm also going to warn you as I did in the summary, this is not a Lily hates James, James loves Lily and then after some maybe character development Lily all of sudden loves him fic. This is almost completely AU and will not only focus on James and Lily, but the whole gang. (Yes. Even Peter, though he might not be as important of a character because really -- who likes him?) It might be slow for the first chapter or two, but after that I promise it will get interesting. As I know and probably quite a few of you too, middle school and high school is almost never boring. Anyways, now that I've rambled on long enough, on with the show.

Disclaimer: ...Are you kidding?

The Beginning

The clock at platform 9 ¾ had witnessed many things since its installation; many comings and goings, first trips and last trips, and many of those moments that, although small, do indeed change history. On this particular day the clock felt as if it would be witness to one of those moments.

It was Sept. 1, 1971 at exactly 10:47 (the clock would know after all) when a small boy with messy black hair came barreling through the platform entrance. Unfortunately (or as the boy would later come to think, fortunately) his cart and trunk came right into the side of a cart being pushed by a small girl with bright red hair. The contact caused her trunk to tip off the cart, and the contents of another bag, which she had sitting on top of her trunk, to spill everywhere.

The girl let out a small yelp and jumped backwards. The boy, just as surprised, immediately started apologizing, "Oh gods, I'm so sorry." She didn't make any immediate moves and the boy, although first at a bit of a loss at what to do, quickly moved towards the bag on the ground. "I'm so sorry, let me help you," he said. As he knelt down, she seemed to regain her senses and quickly bent down to help him. She picked up her bag and they made quick work of the items on the ground. The boy picked up a book and made to hand it to her.

"I'm James Potter by the way," he said.

"Lily," she replied shortly. "Lily Evans."

They were both still kneeling on the ground in the middle of a crowded platform, Lily still holding her book. "So," said James, looking for conversation, "is this your first year at Hogwarts?" He stood up slowly as he brushed off his hands.

"Yes actually," said Lily. She seemed glad to have something to say as she rose from the ground, "is it yours as well?"

"Yeah." Another lull. James glanced down. He wasn't sure why he was still here, but something made him want to keep talking to her. "Are you muggleborn?" he asked curiously.

She paled slightly. "Yes, I am. How could you tell?" Her hand raised to her hair and tucked a strand behind her ear. James looked at her more closely now. He could tell she was nervous even though her green eyes never looked down. He smiled, wanting to cheer her up and make her feel comfortable.

"Actually, it was just your book. It is called 'Everything You Need to Know About the Wizarding World and More' after all."

She relaxed and smiled sheepishly. She looked at the cover again and began to giggle. "Well I guess that would give me away wouldn't it? I've just never had a friend who was a witch or wizard before. There's bound to be all sorts of things I don't have a clue about."

James smiled and stuck out his hand. "Well Lily Evans, I'd be happy to be your friend, and you can ask me anything you like."

Lily smiled even bigger and shook his hand. "Alright," she said. "Why not?"

At just that moment, 10:54 by the clock, a rather tall woman came striding forward. "James! Where in the world have you been? I nearly sent your father onto the train to see if you were so excited you'd leave without saying goodbye!" She swept him up in a hug that would have lifted James off the ground had he been any shorter than his present height at her shoulder. He laughed and she released him.

"Mum I've been right here the whole time. I accidentally ran into Lily's cart." James gestured towards Lily and she waved as if on cue.

"Hello dear, I'm Christine Potter, James' mum."

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Potter. I'm sorry, but I need to go say goodbye to my parents before the train leaves." She turned to James; "maybe I'll see you on the train later."

"Yeah, sure."

Christine Potter smiled knowingly as she watched her son watch Lily walk away. "She seems nice," she said.

"Yeah." James broke out of his daze. "Come on, let's go find Dad. I saw Sirius earlier but he's already on the train."

A/N: Please please review. Like I said before, I may be writing it for me, but I'm posting it for you. And besides that let's accept it, we're all human here (aren't we?) and we're all just looking for respect and acceptance. I thank you.