A/N: I don't own anything of Harry Potter, only this one shot. Oh my gosh, it's so strange to write "Harry Potter." As you can see I'm totally obsessed with Kingdom Hearts, so this is my first attempt at writing a Harry Potter one-shot. I couldn't help but put an hyperactive Yuffie-like person in it. Please don't kill me, or anything. I figured that Hagrid should be in this one two, since he's been at Hogwarts eversince that incident of the Chamber of Secrets (which was 50 years before Harry Potter II. And Harry's parent's aren't 50 years. But wow, that makes Hagrid very...old! XD ) Enjoy reading! :) This one-shot is by the way dedicated to XxX-SparklingEyes-XxX 'cause she's awesome, oh and because it's for her birthday on July 19th! She's been asking me for ages to write a LilyxJames story, so there ya go! I had started with this one a year ago, but then I got a new obsession: Kingdom Hearts. :3 Anyways, Happy Birthday in advance, Momo! (that's her nickname)
~ "You're...trouble, right?" ~
On the banks of a deep lake and under a brilliant, dark sky, somewhere in the north of Ireland - the location was unknown for Muggles - stood a large group of eleven years old children, all with pale faces. They felt cold, waiting before they were finally able to go toward the large castle that stood on a mountain with the rowboats. Thanks to the many bright yellow lights it looked so warm and dry. The numerous towers and turrets and windows sparkled strikingly against the sky. This was a daily ritual for all first years who attended the famous Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It happened eversince the castle was built, which was probably more than a thousand years ago.
"Not more than four per boat!" Rubeus Hagrid shouted and he pointed to a fleet of small boats on the shore, bobbing peacefully in the water.
The new students all crowded around the little boats, as if they wanted to get the best boat for themselves. Some children rolled their eyes at that, disapprovingly. All boats were the same, right? So why all the rush?
"All aboard? OKAY - START SAILING!"
The boats were moving naturally, by themselves. All first-years looked at the breathtaking sight in awe and forgot that they were actually feeling cold as they saw the dark looming trees reflected in the pitch black water. One boy, named Peter Pettigrew, was so stupid to bend a little too far over the rim of the boat, falling in the water a loud splash. Some laughed at his stupidity.
Before his three comrades were able to help him to get in his boat again, something else, that probably lived in the lake, had put him back again. The boy was hoisted out of the water with the help of a tentacle before he became aware of the situation. Had a giant squid really done that?
"C - c - cool!" he uttered, his breath coming in white puffs from his mouth.
"Wow, I wanna do that too!" said several voices now.
Some were already bending over the edge of their boat before a loud gruff voice made them change their mind.
"Whoever falls in the water next, won't get in the castle and we'll send that person immediately home with the Hogwartsexpress!"
After that outbreak the children sat back on their seats again, albeit a little too upright, terrified that they could actually turned away by the huge man of almost two meters. He was seriously so big that he needed a whole boat for himself only. Some children started to wonder therefore how many other people were this huge in the castle, like this man. They began to worry about their short length. What if they were trampled by all these great people?
In one of the boats was also a girl who had long, red hair and emerald green eyes. She had been a little prepared for what would come, but was still totally perplexed by everything she heard and saw.
Her parents were Muggles, so she was Muggle born, and for them it was a shock to discover that she was a witch. They were very happy, though. It wasn't something you heard about your beloved daughter every day as parents and it immediately had explained all the weird and unexplainable events that Lily had often experienced.
Unfortunately, her sister had been a little less enthousiastic. They had broken up with a quarrel. Petunia, Lily's sister, had called her a monster and said she was disgusted that someone like her was her family. It really had hurt Lily to hear that. It wasn't much better now after she had heard that some people here might tease her as well, just because she wasn't a pure blood.
Fortunately, she quickly had made friends here. They were the two girls with whom she sat in the boat; Alice, a small, slender girl with short black hair and large, chocolate brown eyes. She was very hyperactive, especially when she had gotten too much sugar.
The other girl was called Kathy. She had long, blond hair and cerulean eyes. She was sometimes a bit too fiery, but she could also be very bright. Lily was the quietest of them, but the difference wasn't that big. She was the one who took the other two out of trouble...unless she participated with them, of course.
She also knew Severus Snape, a slender boy with greasy, black hair. He was a tad weird, but Lily thought he was very nice. She hoped they could be together most of the time. He lived with his parents close to her house and they always talked some with each other, but only if Petunia wasn't around, for she found him a real horror. For Lily that was quite unimaginable.
It started raining and it was getting harder and harder. Great, just what they needed to all drown in the lake, Lily thought sarcastically. Fortunately, it didn't take long before they had arrived in front of the great gates of the castle.
Their necks started to hurt, because they kept them up, watching the huge castle. Lily felt that her coat had started to stik a bit on her body, since it had become so wet from the rain.
Inside the hall they were all standing in a bunch. Up close they heard some buzzing noise. It seemed to come from behind the large golden doors to their right. Apparently, the other students were there already.
Lily looked around. The stone walls were lit by flaming torches. The ceiling was so high that she couldn't even see it and there was a magnificent grand marble staircase that probably led to the upper floors.
Some began to whisper nervously until a stern looking woman with her black hair in a bun walked down the stairs. Her back was straight and she wore glasses with square frames. In her hand she held a stool with three legs and a worn old wizard hat. She was dressed in an emerald green cloak that waved behind her as she walked down the stairs. She walked to the group of young students, reaching them and standing still before the big golden doors that were closed. She turned to the children. Lily immediately realized that one could better keep her as a friend.
"Welcome to Howarts. Soon the banquet will begin, celebrating the start of the new school year, but first you'll become a member of the various Houses. This division ceremony is important, because during your stay here your House serves like your family. You classes will be with the rest of the House, you'll sleep on the ward dorm and spend your free time in your own common room. The four Houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each department has its own noble history and is known for the many famous witches and wizards that were in it. During your stay at Hogwarts, any triumphs will give your House points and in breach of rules points will be deducted. At the end of the school year a trophy will be awarded to the House with the most points. I hope everyone will show his or her House honors. Now stand in line and follow me, so we can begin the ceremony," she said.
The students did what she had asked them, a little worried, though. The large doors opened. Even in her imagination Lily had never seen such a wondrous and magnificent space. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles, which hovered over four long tables, on which the other students were. The tables had been covered with shiny golden plates and cups and at the end of the room stood a long table at which the teachers were. Here and there were ghosts among students, shining dully like silver.
Mainly because she didn't want to see al that gazing, Lily looked up and saw a velvety black ceiling, which was studded with stars. The ceiling seemed to be open, but she knew it wasn't. It couldn't be.
She quickly looked down again when the strict-looking witch put down the stool. She put the dirty and ragged hat on the stool. Lily saw that the whole room stared at the hat and she started looking at it too. A few moments there was completely silence, but then the hat moved a bit. A crack opened at the edge, like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:
Once upon a time
maybe one thousand years ago
This castle was created
By four-
Lily tried to listen to the song, but close to her three boys were quietly talking with each other so much, that she couldn't understand anything of it. She tried to ignore it, but it didn't work. She turned to face them, getting rather peeved.
"Hey, whatever your name is, stop it this instance!" she hissed at them.
The three boys looked at her, somewhat startled. She recognized one as Peter Pettigrew, who recently had fallen into the lake. He had Hagrid's big coat wrapped all around him, so he looked small and rather thick. The second boy had longer black hair and beautiful, gray eyes. He was quite handsome.
The third boy, a boy who had messy, black hair and dark brown eyes, thought about her words for a second, before he asked in a rather serious tone to her, "You're...trouble, right?"
Lily rose an eyebrow. She wondered why he was thinking that.
"Excuse me?"
"Sheez, don't you read books, or something?"
Lily rose her other eyebrow as well. He didn't really look like he had read any books before. She had a suspicion that he actually wanted her to ask him to explain her what he exactly meant.
"Do I have to spell it out for you? You're a red-head!"
Gosh, he sure was Master of the Obvious. He didn't look that smart, either.
"So?"
"Man, you're slow! Red always means trouble. Take a traffic for example. If you don't stop for them, you get into big and serious trouble, because you can bump into another car, or perhaps even worse: policemen come after you . Fire also means trouble, and fire's red. Code Red means big trouble...Would you like to hear some more? Oh, and to answer your previous question, the name's James. James Potter. "
Alice and Kate giggled, but Lily didn't flinch. She didn't get the clue.
"Haha," she said, dryly.
"Guess not everyone likes your sense of humor," Sirius said, chuckling.
James looked at him, almost fiercely.
"You call that humor?" Lily asked incredulously, but James ignored her completely.
Peter snickered, though it could also be that he had to sneeze. With a guy like him you could never know for sure.
"On the other hand, red can also be good. Red is the color of love, or hotness. And being hot is-"
"Do not just think about finishing that sentence!" Lily said, raising her voice furiously.
She didn't want know what he was saying. Her voice was overwhelmed by the sudden roar that erupted after the song of the Sorting Hat was over.
"Thanks a lot, now I've missed the entire song!"
"You're welcome. And come on, you have at least six times the chance to listen to his song. Even more if you decide to stay here and become a professor."
It took Lily a lot of stamina not to slap him in the face, even though he was half right. The first time was the most special time, though, and now she had missed it thanks to that brat.
"Loser," she muttered.
"Excuse me?"
Lily looked at him, witheringly.
"You heard me."
She honestly couldn't wait until it was their turn to be divided into the different Houses. She didn't give the boy any further attention and watched instead how student after student sat down at the small stool and put on the old hat, which divided them into one of the four sections. She wondered how it was possible that the hat could know it that quickly. Had it ever made a mistake in all those years? Probably not.
Her gaze slid to the table that stood at odds with the other. In the middle sat an elderly man on a large, golden chair that looked more like a throne. He had a silver-gray beard and wore a purple robe. He had glasses in the shape of a crescent moon on his crooked nose and looked carefully at the ceremony.
"Evans, Lily!" The strict woman cried.
Lily jumped at the sound. Suddenly, her legs felt like rubber.
"Good luck!" Alice and Kate whispered almost simultaneously.
She stumbled clumsily toward the stool and sat on it. She was quite aware of the sudden silence around her. When her eyes with those of the rather cheeky boy, he winked at her. Lily looked quickly away, disapprovingly, and put the hat on to hide her blush.
"Not difficult at all. GRYFFINDOR!"
The table of Gryffindors greeted her by cheering loudly and applause for her. Lily grinned from ear to ear and walked quickly to the table to sit down. Moments later, her two best friends, had also become a member of the GrYffindor House.
Unfortunately, that also applied to James Potter and his - probably even nastier - friends. Fortunately, she didn't have to sit beside him. For the rest of the evening she ignored him completely and turned her attention only to the fascinating and funny stories of Kate and Alice. She could feel how he was looking at her sometimes, though.
A/N: Thanks for reading this! =) Hope you've enjoyed it. ^_^ I had fun writing this, because I love this pairing out of all the ones in Harry Potter...so far. ^-^ So, should I write more stories/one-shots about these two? If I do, it'll mostly be about their sixth and seventh year (maybe also their fifth). I only wrote this one-shot about their first year, because according to me, this is how it all started and when they met for the first time. Please review! It makes me happy. :)
