A Tournament Of Ages

Chapter 1: A New Year

The hum of excitement was palpable in the air as hundreds of people milled about Hogsmead Station. "Excuse me! I need to get through please." A girl shouted over the din. She tapped her foot impatiently as she pushed a trolley through the throngs of people. "Lily dear, there's no need to rush!" A tall woman with flaming red hair and bright green eyes trailed after her daughter and grasped the back of her sweater firmly. Lily stopped walking, an annoyed look crossing her face. She stood on tip toe to look over the crowd.

"But mum, I see Remus and Sirius! I don't want to miss out on getting a good compartment on the train either!" The taller woman sighed and smiled, pulling her daughter around to face her.

"Lily dear, you will have all year to socialize with your friends love. But you only have now to say goodbye to your parents. Now, come here." Lily rolled her eyes but smiled and embraced her mother in a tight hug.

"I love you mum. I'm sorry, I'm just excited is all."

"We know pumpkin." A man chortled as he walked up beside her. Her wrapped his arms around her and swung her around in a great big hug.

"Thanks Dad." Lily said with a smile. "It's your fourth year at Hogwarts. We are just as excited as you are! Now, kiss your mother goodbye and run along and find your friends, alright?" Lily smiled and nodded. She embraced her father and mother, kissing them both. Her father smiled and waved down a luggage handler.

"Have a good year at school my dear."

"I will mum, I love you."

"We love you to!" Lily beamed and took off into the mass of people.

She spotted Remus in the crowd and ran towards him. "Remus!" He beamed as she approached.

"Lily! Its so good to see you! How was your summer?"

"It was a blast but I'm so glad to be coming back to school." He chuckled and shook his head.

"You enjoy your studies way too much Lils. Come on, Sirius and James saved us a compartment."

"Great! Also, have you seen Mary yet?"

"Uh no, I haven't. She's probably on the train though, come on." The whistle shrilled loudly and Lily and Remus hurried up the steps and down the train corridor.

"Moony! Over here!" Came a familiar shout from a nearby compartment. Lily slid open the door and slipped past James, taking a seat across from Sirius.

"Hey James, Sirius. How was your summer."

"Uneventful." Sirius grumbled and placed a hand on his chin, staring gloomily out of the window. James chuckled and shut the compartment door and sat down beside Sirius.

"Well, unlike his summer, mine was pretty good. He's just mad because his hag of a mother didn't let him bring his broom."

"What?! Why would she do that?" Lily blanched. Sirius sighed.

"She told me I had to give it to Regulus since its his first year." He grumbled.

"Well, can't you just buy another one on the Hogsmead trip during the year?" Remus asked. Sirius shrugged.

"Yeah. I can easily get a better one than I had. I hear they just came out with a new model that's top of the class at only twenty-thousand galleons." Remus rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's a knut's worth in your families fortune." Sirius flashed a small smile at him.

"So, whats the problem then?" Lily interjected. James smirked.

"Hes just mad because he had to give it to Regulus and Regulus is really good at flying. Some might say, even better than ol' Sirius here." Sirius glared and punched James in the arm, hard. "Ouch! Hey, I'm only stating what everyone's saying mate."

"Oh shove off, the lot of ya!" Sirius grumbled angrily and stood up in huff. He slammed open the compartment door and went into the hallway.

"Oh Sirius, come of it! We were only joking!" James hollered after him. He scoffed and rolled his eyes, letting the compartment door fall shut. "Eh, he'll be back. Anyways, what did you do all Summer Lils? I barely saw hide nor hair of you." Lily shrugged.

"Oh, I spent most of my time at the library in town, avoiding my sister. God, she is such a pest! Constantly calling me a freak any chance she can. It's like, because I became a witch, I ruined her life! Or at least that's how she treats me anyways." James chuckled.

"You could always turn her into a bat, then at least you wouldn't be able to understand her constant screeching." Lily rolled her eyes but smirked.

"James, you know we can't perform magic outside of school." She chastised him.

"Yeah, but it would still be funny." He said and nudged her foot with his own. She cracked a small smile at him and turned to stare out the window at the passing trees. James and Remus lapsed into a conversation about Quidditch and the train rolled along, moving ever closer to Hogwarts.

Hours of conversation had gone by and the Hogwarts express finely slowed to a halt at the platform. Lily left the girls lavatory, having just finished changing into her robes when she spotted the familiar shoulder length black hair of Severus.

"Severus!" She called out. He turned towards her and beamed.

"Lily, hey! Its good to see you!"

"Yeah, you to. Its kind of crazy that its already time for school again. Nine weeks of summer vacation always seems to fly by so fast."

"Yeah, tell me about it. But I thought you'd be excited that summer was over though?"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I am! Its wonderful to be back at Hogwarts again, especially as a fourth year. Did you hear that Professor Slughorn is hosting some sort of new club this year? I hope I get accepted." Severus smirked.

"Of course you'll get accepted, your the brightest witch I know."

"Oh, please. But, It is all because of you, you know." She said with a soft smile. She embraced him in a quick hug and then ran off towards the carriages.

Severus faltered slightly and swallowed hard. He watched her run off, staring longingly after her.

"You going to stand there all day staring at her or are you going to move?" A cold voice sneered from behind him. Severus jumped and turned around to see Lucius Malfoy standing behind him impatiently.

"Oh, Lucius, sorry, I... I was just..."

"You were just gawking. Now, how about we walk and you join me in a carriage."

"Uh, sure." Severus said nodding vigorously as he stumbled off of the train towards the carriages. He climbed in and sat down across from Lucius. Mulciber Greevey and Evan Rosier climbed in after him and sat down. An uneasy silence filled the carriage as it started to move.

"She's not the smartest one at Hogwarts you know. You only tell her that because you fancy her." Lucius drawled, breaking the stiff silence. Severus swallowed, shifting uncomfortably. "You are very smart as well Severus. I've seen your potions work and not to mention your performance in Defense Against the Dark Arts. We could really use skill like yours. And we were expecting you in August at Malfoy Manor, Severus. He was expecting you. So, would you care to explain why the Dark Lord's newest servant was a no show that night? Because it came across very poorly and my father took the brunt of it!" Lucius voice had risen to a bark. Severus cowered away from him in the seat.

"I... I'm sorry... m... my mother was ill... an... and..."

"And what? You stayed home to care for her? Such a dutiful and faithful boy you are Severus. The Dark Lord appreciates someone who cares about his family. Accept when that faithfulness gets in the way of more important duties. And Severus, yours did. He is not pleased with you, or with any of us for that matter. If you want to become a true pupil you need to start getting your priorities straight. So, how about you start with her." Severus sat up a little straighter and glared at Lucius.

"You don't know anything about her! You leave her out of this! I... I won't fail him again. B-but you don't touch Lily!" Lucius smiled.

"Oh, you can be sure of that. But Severus, he asked me to do him a personal favor to make sure that you stay in line. So, be assured that you will not fail him. Because I will do whatever it takes to keep you on the true path. No, you won't fail, because I won't let you fail. You're too good of an asset to let die because of some foolish mistake. And especially not because of some filthy. Little. Mudblood. Girl!" Severus went white as a sheet and slumped back against the seat cushions. The carriage lurched to a halt and Lucius and the others jumped out, leaving the door ajar. Severus felt a cold ball of worry form in the pit of his stomach as he watched them walk down the path towards Hogwarts. Would he be putting Lily in danger by just being her friend?