Hello everybody! :3
This is my answer to the Next Generation Goes To Hogwarts Competition by TheHogwartsActress in the HPFC forum. Hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: The characters and the whole world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling *sobs*
I woke up at four o'clock in the morning. Everything was dark; outside as well as inside. The stars and the moon were hidden by dark grey clouds, giving me no comfort as I gazed out through the window. The smell of old socks found its way into my room from the kitchen, lingering from a prank James and Al pulled yesterday. The sheets and blankets in my bed were too warm, so I kicked them off of me. Then it was all cold, so I pulled them back.
I curled up just beneath my pillow, looking at my alarm clock every few minutes. Anxious, nervous, a bit scared and yet excited … not a chance that I could go back to sleep.
I still tried, though. My eyes were closed, and I counted hippogriffs. Then sheep. Then horses, and phoenixes, and even Slytherins jumping through a ring of fire. I focused on a sea of milk, apparently that was supposed to be relaxing. But, it was not working.
I got up, and tiptoed across my room to close the curtains, so that I could get rid of the gloomy view. Got back to bed, and tried to sleep again, just to withdraw the curtains again after another few minutes, scared of not seeing what was going on outside. Repeating the whole cycle, fidgeting. Never getting it right.
These feelings were new to me. The nervousness, I mean. Ever since I got my Hogwarts letter – even before, it was ever since James got his – I'd felt overly excited, and eagerly waited for my chance to go. I mean, it was Hogwarts; of course I was excited.
I'd watched James leave for the last three years, and Al for the last two. I'd been alone (except for Hugo, but he was honestly a bit of a replacement), I only got letters. Letters about the amazing world at Hogwarts. Letters about all of their new friends, and all kinds of trouble that they'd gotten their selves into. I couldn't do anything but long for the time when I could write and tell my parents about my own adventures.
So, why was I feeling like this? It felt weird. Like a stone in my stomach, and a weight on my shoulders. I was almost nauseous with emotions, pulling me at different directions. Going from a broad smile to being on the verge of tears within seconds.
I rolled over, and stared at the wall across the room. There were pictures there; one of Mum and Dad, one of our whole family (as in Mum, Dad and us children), and one of James, Al and some of their friends. I'd learnt all of their names; Rose (a relative of mine, so not hard to learn), Scorpius (mostly Rose's friend), Frank, Lysander, Lorcas, Jane and Sophie. Funnily enough, most of them were family friends. I guess that came with being Harry Potter's child.
That was it, I realized. Harry Potter's child. What if I couldn't live up to it, and made everyone disappointed? Or if no one saw that I was only Lily, would I forever be the daughter of the man who saved the whole wizarding world? Always famous against my will?
I didn't dare wake anyone up just because of these new worries. They were already tired of me, since I'd been practically screaming and bouncing around ever since I got my letter. They wouldn't be too happy if I woke them up in the middle of the night, just to voice my new insecurities. It'd make them feel like all the time I was excited was unnecessary, if it all just came down to be the complete opposite. At least that was what I thought.
Fidgeting a bit more, I closed my eyes tightly. I wrapped my arms around myself, and rolled over so that I was not facing the photographs anymore. My lower lip was quivering, but I refused to cry. I was stronger than that. How could I not be, I had two older, pranking (well, one of them) brothers, and teasing relatives! I was not weak!
I continued to think this, and soon calmed down enough to fall asleep again. A restless sleep, but sleep nevertheless.
"Lily, it's time to wake up", a voice whispered in my ear. I slowly tried to open my eyes and look at the speaking person. It was Mum.
"Good morning", I muttered groggily, and tried to smile at her. I then rubbed my eyes, after realizing that they were kind of glued shut. That'd never make a good smile.
"I'm surprised you slept for so long. I would've thought that you'd wake up at five, because of the excitement. I know your father did, when he was going for the first time", she said, not knowing how right she was. Though I did wake up at four o'clock, not five. For a moment, I considered telling her that.
"Well, I'm not my father." Changed my mind.
Mum told me that she knew that. She then kissed me softly on my forehead, and walked out of my room, giving me time to get changed.
In my family, we often wore muggle clothing. I asked why once, and they told me that it was Dad's idea. A good idea, actually, since I found them more comfortable, better-looking, and I wouldn't ever make the mistakes that some wizards did when they tried to blend in. I'd seen it many times, but there was one I remembered more clearly than the others; a wizard in a silvery prom dress, a bright blue poncho, green sneakers and a cowboy hat. I'd had to run away to the toilet to hide my laughter, whilst my parents had discretely pulled him aside to tell him why everybody was staring. It was quite memorable.
I got out of the bed, and put on the clothes that I'd chosen last night (a pair of half-length grey jeans, and a blue t-shirt). My trunk was already downstairs, so I just had to grab a brush and an elastic, then I could join my family for breakfast.
Downstairs, everything was surprisingly calm. James and Al sat next to each other while eating, without arguing, Dad was reading the newspaper, and Mum … was watching James and Al like a hawk. That would explain the whole "not arguing"-part.
I poured up some cereal and milk in a bowl, and asked Mum if she could braid my hair while I was eating.
Braids may not be the most common hairstyle, but it surely did fit me, everybody said so. My fiery red hair was soft and a bit curly, and when braided in one long braid, a few curls escaped and framed my face beautifully. It was kind of pretty, even I could see that, and I wanted to look good on my first day. I wanted to look like me, but a good me. A me that you wanted to be friends with.
"Gin, look here", Dad said suddenly. Mum was done with my hair, so she walked over and looked at the newspaper over his shoulder. She froze, her eyes darted quickly to me, and then she sighed.
"I should've known", she muttered, "that they'd never leave this out. They'd never leave us out." With that, all thoughts of asking what the matter was vanished from my mind. I didn't want to know.
"What is it?" Of course, James didn't see it the way I did. He quickly grabbed the newspaper, and then rolled his eyes.
"This is nothing, they announced when I went to Hogwarts too. I'd actually expected them to do this earlier, since Lil is …" he trailed off when Mum glared at him, and I felt grateful towards her, even though I didn't know how she knew that I didn't want to hear… Well, she was just good like that sometimes.
When we'd eaten, I caught a glimpse of the article anyway. The headline read;
"Potter's daughter now attends to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
We got to Kings' Cross by car, and the whole car ride was very loud – it seemed that James had gotten back to his usual self. Not noticing my lack of words, he and Al chatted happily about last year's final Quidditch match. They'd won, of course. Just like their parents, they were very talented quidditch players – I momentarily forgot that I loved Quidditch as well.
When we got there, I finally began to feel the excitement again. It was pretty impossible to not be at least a little bit excited, even if it mingled with other emotions.
"I'll go first", James said when we got to the wall that separated us from the platform, and ran straight through it. Al was next, and then Dad. Mum had whispered something to him earlier, but I didn't catch it.
"Well, your turn Lily", she said, and I started to push my trunk towards the wall.
On the other side, a surprise waited; James, Al and dad were out of sight. But before I'd gotten nervous, Mum came from behind me. She put a hand on my shoulder, and I turned to look at her.
"Lily, you've been so quiet. Aren't you excited anymore?" she asked softly, and I sighed. I looked down at my feet.
"I still am, but … You're a war hero, and dad too. I mean, he killed that old Moldy. How can I live up to that? What if no one wants to be my friend, once they realize that I'm not as amazing as they imagined me to be?" I suddenly felt very small.
"Lil, look at me", she whispered, and I looked up in her eyes. Golden brown, just like mine.
"You are so much more than they think. You're not me, and not your father, and that's something to be proud of." She stopped, seemingly wondering how to formulate what she was going to say.
"Not one of us are as smart as you are. We're not as mischievous, and not as amazing at chess (something you've gotten from your uncle, I suppose). And even if we were, those are only qualities. They don't make you who you are.
There are other children in your situation, too, and they're just as nervous as you are. I'm not saying that you have to be friends with them, but they'll understand what you're going through.
You might have a problem, at first, with finding people who see through the fame. But it'll go away. Your father was in that situation, too." Here I tried to interrupt, but she kept going.
"I know that you're not him, and the others aren't their parents, but a fact is that peoples' reactions hardly changes over time. Most see only the fame at first – not all people, of course – but eventually those worth being friends with will see through it, and find you. And when that happens, you'll be so happy that you can't even imagine it. You will have friends for life, and you'll be fine."
A small smile tugged at my lips. She was right, of course. I mean, James and Al were fine, and they were just as famous as me. James probably had an even harder time than me, because he was first of us.
"Thanks, Mum", I said, and hugged her tightly. I then searched for the rest of our family, and found them after a few seconds.
"Mum, there's Al. And … Yes, they've found the Weasley's and the Malfoy's too!"
I smiled wider, took her hand, and we went to them together.
"Hi, everybody!" I said, and hugged Rose first. While greeting the rest of my cousins (and their friends), I completely missed the looks that my parents shared, and the relieved look on Dad's face the moment after. I just felt better.
"So, are you ready to go?" Hugo asked rather shyly, which made me suspect that he'd had the same kind of worries as me. I already started to realize what Mum had meant.
"Yeah, I think so", I said, and we all got our stuff on the train. I found an empty compartment, sat down there with Hugo, and waved to my parents trough the window, while the train started to leave. Soon, I wasn't able to see them anymore.
"So…" Hugo started, but was interrupted by someone opening the door.
"Sorry, can we sit here?" A blonde girl asked. She gestured towards herself and a cute, dark boy with black hair and – surprisingly – blue eyes. I looked at Hugo, and then nodded.
"Great, thanks. I'm Felicity Spring, and this is Jake Wood." She smiled, and sat down in the empty seat next to Hugo. After closing the door, Jake sat down next to me.
"No problem. I'm Lily Potter, and this is Hugo Weasley." Pleased, I saw that she didn't react to our names. Maybe she was a muggleborn.
"Nice to meet you."
"Lily Potter?"
They spoke at the same time. Apparently, I'd forgotten to look at Jake. He seemed surprised.
"Yes", I said slowly, kind of expecting him to say something about how amazing Dad was. And he did talk about Dad, just in a different way than I'd thought that he would…
"Really? He and my dad were on the Quidditch team together at Hogwarts. His name is Oliver Wood", he said, and I smiled. I had actually heard that name.
"Oh, he was the Quidditch captain, right?" And so started our conversation, which carried on the whole way to Hogwarts. Somehow, it was then I knew that everything would be alright.
When Lily Potter was sorted into Ravenclaw, the ones who applauded the loudest were her brothers and her new friends. Her brothers may be dense (at least James), but they had managed to pick up her gloomy mood that day, and were happy for her. And as for the Felicity and Jake; they were happy that their new friend was in the same house as them.
Tadaa! :D If you noticed... Yes, I just had to call Voldemort for "that old Moldy" xD
I've had problems with writing this, and I'm not really content with how it turned out.. :/ But I'd still like to get reviews, ofc. :P