1 - Back on the Hogwarts Express
Lily
The crowded platform of 9 3/4 was sweltering in the last of the summer sun and the smoke from the gleaming scarlet train. Parents were ushering their children on to the steam engine with their luggage, telling them to be good, threatening them to write.
Lily Evans was one such child being smothered by her mother and father as they bundled her off to school. Her sister had refused to come to see her to the platform this year.
"Have a wonderful year, darling!" Her mum said to her for the seventh time.
"Come back with lots of magic," her father said to her, his face serious before grinning.
"Da-ad," Lily said merrily, "I've told you, they don't put more magic in to us, they just teach us how to use it."
"Stop teasing her David," Lily's mum said, as her dad tipped her an enormous wink, his green eyes gleaming.
The train hooted a warning. Children were being pushed on the train, terrified first years were clinging to their parents, their eyes glistening with tears.
Up the platform, Lily saw some of her classmates jumping aboard. She gave her parents one last hug, told them she loved them and ran to meet Mary, dragging her trunk behind her.
"Oh Lily, thank goodness." Mary exclaimed as the two of them hauled their luggage on board. "I haven't found anyone else, I was worried I was going to be alone on the train."
"I hope Marlene's not late." Lily sighed The went inside the nearest empty compartment.
"I haven't seen any other second years in our house!" Mary told her, looking anxiously out of the window on to the platform. Lily joined her. There were still plenty of people climbing aboard. She waved to her own mother and father, her mother's dark red hair stood out in any crowd. Lily's eyes scanned round, she saw a family of dark haired wizard's with stiffly ironed black robes and high cheekbones watching their young son board the train, while their younger son, the image of his brother watched on mesmerised. To their right, another family of wizards, with greying dark hair were seeing their young son off. Kissing him and pointing their finger warningly. The family to the left looked upon them with polite disdain. A second later, Potter and Black waltzed past Lily's compartment.
The train began to move, arms clawed out the window, shouts were drowned by the noise of the train, they picked up speed, losing the platform, rounding the corner and begun their journey.
Lily sat back in her seat grinning but Mary was still biting her nails. "I'm sure Marlene's made it, Mary." Lily said bracingly.
Mary didn't look comforted. "What if something's happened?"
"Like what?" Lily asked blankly.
"Something bad," she continued biting her nails. "All those disappearances that were in the paper, and the murder in Oxford of the muggle family, my mum and dad are really worried."
Lily didn't know any of this had happened. The only newspaper her mum and dad read was the times, and no magic would be reported in that.
"Marlene's family work at the Ministry, don't they?" Lily asked, more discomforted by the news than she wanted to let on.
"Umm." Mary nodded, stilling gnawing on her nails. "Her mum and dad both work in the department of magical law enforcement, so I was just nervous that -"
But Lily never heard what Mary was so nervous about because at that moment, Marlene trundled in. Her wild curly blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail and she was wearing a pair of flared jeans under her bright, daisy patterned robes.
"I've been looking for you two everywhere!" Marlene sighed happily. Mary had attacked her with a hug before Marlene could even put her trunk on the luggage rack. "I was so worried!"
Marlene looked over Mary to Lily, who shrugged, bemused.
"Did you have good summers?" Marlene asked them both briskly after Mary had let her go.
"It was alright, good actually," Mary said absently. "Better than Lily's."
Marlene grimaced at her. "Is your sister still not speaking to you?"
Lily had been writing to her friends weekly, so they were all quite up to date on each other's lives. Petunia was ignoring her sister whenever their parents weren't around and Lily couldn't stand it. She thought Petunia would have missed her while she was away and their petty disagreements would be settled but if anything Lily's first year at Hogwarts had made her colder and more distant.
"No but it's alright." Lily sounded much brighter than she felt. "Mum says she'll come around."
"I wish my brother wouldn't speak to me." Marlene sighed. "He's captain of the quidditch team this year so he's going to be even more unbearable."
Mary blushed. The girls knew too well that she had a big crush on Marlene's brother Philius, a fifth year who did not know her name.
"A lot of the quidditch team left last year, didn't they?" Mary said, careful not to sound too interested.
"Quite a few," Marlene agreed. "Not interested in trying out are you?"
"Merlin no!" Mary said immediately.
"Shame," Marlene said sadly. "I want to try, not that I expect Phil will pick me."
"I don't know," Lily said doubtfully. "If you're good he will, no one wants Slytherin to win again."
Marlene winced at the memory of the snake's victory the previous school year. "That was a painful final."
The quidditch talk faded away into idle gossip. The talk of murders and disappearances spoken of no more.
James
James and Sirius trudged far along the train to find an empty compartment. James was buoyant with energy, excited to be going back to school where he could learn new spells and fly around the grounds. His new broomstick was slung over his back, he was determined to get a spot on the quidditch team this year.
Sirius, on the other hand, looked miserable. His summer had been very fraught. Sirius knew his family weren't thrilled that he'd been sorted into Gryffindor but he hadn't expected how much that would change things for him until he spent two months in their company, or so he told James. And to make matters worse, his favourite cousin had left home to marry a muggle. The family were in uproar, they'd disowned her and forbidden her name to be spoken in the house. Sirius's summer had been so miserable, in the end he kicked up such a fuss, that his parents gladly sent him packing to the Potters' house for a week.
James's parents had been wary when he told them about his best friend. His parents were well acquainted with the Blacks and while they were not openly hostile, the two families did not see eye to eye. However, they opened their homes to Sirius with open minds and James was grateful to them. Grateful that Sirius had someone to go when things at home became too much.
"Sirius, I've found Peter." James said happily, sliding the compartment door open and decanting his luggage on to the rack.
Sirius sloped in moodily behind him. James and Peter spent the better part of the train journey playing exploding snap while Sirius stared moodily out the window. James knew better than to tell him to cheer up, he knew he'd feel better as soon as London was far, far behind them.
The corridors were very busy. The food trolley came and went. Prefects patrolled the corridors, including Sirius's other cousin Narcissa, the new female prefect of Slytherin house. She tried to make eye contact with him but he abjectly refused. The new Gryffindor prefects Frank Longbottom and Alice Woods popped their heads in the compartment to make sure James and Sirius weren't causing too much havoc.
"Where's the rest of you?" Frank asked mildly.
"Remus is sick." James asked instantly, glancing up from his game. "His parents will send him along in a few days."
Alice frowned, leaning against the compartment window. "Remus is sick a lot isn't he? Is he under the care of any one at St Mungos?" She asked shrewdly.
"I don't know," James was purposely vague, glancing back to Peter as if the matter was of little consequence to him. "I'm really not sure. He's very sensitive about being ill, doesn't like attention being drawn to it."
"Bless him," Alice said genuinely. "Well hopefully he'll be along soon." She turned to leave the compartment, gently tugging on Frank's arm.
"Behave," Frank told them sternly, pointing his finger. "No duelling in the corridor."
James saw them off with a wave but Sirius, who was still brooding out the window hadn't cracked a smile.
Peter made the mistake of asking him what was wrong and James just managed to intercept before Sirius bit his head off.
"There's a lot going on Pete." James said easily.
"Bad stuff's happening." Sirius muttered darkly, slumping further down in his seat.
James instantly changed the subject and Peter remained mystified but asked no more about it.
They went back to their card game, James winning 10-2 by the time it started to get dark outside.
"We should start getting our robes on." Sirius said dully. "We'll be there soon."
"Excellent!" James enthused popping open his trunk. "I'm starving, and I bet you're hungry too Pete?"
"How did you know that?" Peter asked, his eyes round in wonder.
"Lucky guess." James caught Sirius's eye and thought for a moment he saw him smile.
The boys bundled on their robes and watched out of the window eagerly as the station came into view. They departed from the train, waving to Hagrid rounding up the terrified first years so they could sail across the black lake.
They followed the masses of students in their black robes and hats along the platform.
"Cool!" Peter cooed at the horseless carriages waiting to take them up to school.
They formed a queue behind some sixth year Ravenclaws and waited their turn. James was merrily looking forward to his dinner when a carriage zoomed past him containing three girls and a boy. His stomach performed it's usual backflips at the sight of Lily Evans and he grimaced at slimy Snivellus Snape sat with her. He would never understand how they were friends.
Lily
When the arrived in the magnificent entrance hall, Severus and Lily parted company. He stalked ahead to find his fellow Slytherins. Marlene and Mary hadn't said a word about Severus being in their carriage, they didn't need to, the set line of their mouths made their feelings perfectly plain. Lily paid them no heed, they didn't know Severus the way she did, it didn't matter that they were in Gryffindor and he was in Slytherin.
She resolved that she would talk to them later, there was no reason for her friends' disapproval. But Lily's resolve faded almost instantly as she entered the great hall. Her stomach filled with bubbles of happiness, she was really back here.
Lily followed Marlene along the stone floor and they found seats along at the Gryffindor table next to some fourth year boys.
Marlene's brother and his friends sat on their right hand side. Mary blushed furiously, while trying to keep her eyes firmly on her plate, however they betrayed her a few seconds in when she snuck a look at Philius McKinnon.
"Hope it's a good crop this year." He said to his nearest friend.
"My brother is coming up," a fifth year boy replied. "If he's in Gryffindor, he's a good quidditch player, Phil."
Philius nodded solemnly. "I'll need some of those."
"Like me?" Marlene interrupted and her brother snorted. "What?" She said affronted. "You let me play with you in the school holidays!"
Philius shook his head, smiling. "Marls, you're not very good. And you're even worse at taking constructive criticism."
Marlene's mouth made an O of distinct horror. "I am not!"
Lily caught Mary's eye and smiled at her empty plate . Benches were filling up all around them, Karen and Guinievere, the other second year girls were a few seats up the table. Lily gave them a cheery wave until she noticed they were sitting next to Potter, Black and Pettigrew. She quickly withdrew her hand a placed it on her knee. Potter was staring avidly, but it appeared that he was staring at Marlene's brother, rather than Lily.
Mary had followed Lily's line of sight and frowned. "Where's Remus?" She whispered to Lily.
Lily hadn't immediately noticed his absence and her eyes scanned back over to the boys. This time Potter tried to catch her eye, she ignored him.
"I don't know." Lily replied honestly, copying Mary's frown.
"Do you think something bad's happened?" Mary was worrying again.
"No." Lily said firmly. "Remus was ill last year, maybe he's not very well."
"Yeah maybe," Mary fiddled with her brown hair, unconvinced. "I'll ask James in the common room."
Lily's frown deepened. Mary would not speak to Severus but she had no problem speaking to James Potter, a boy so arrogant that he made Lily's skin crawl.
Her mind wandered to Remus, the only Gryffindor boy in her year and house that she liked. What was wrong with him that he missed so much school? Although she did not approve of Mary speaking to Potter, she was curious as to what she'd find.
Marlene and her brother were still arguing. All around the hall was the buzz of excited conversation, everyone catching up after the holidays. Even the teachers at the top table were chatting to one another happily. The noise died the instant the double doors opened and McGonagall strode down the hall, followed by the forty or so new students joining the school that year.
At the end of the hall she placed a tattered old hat on a footstool. Tension in the hall rose to an excited peak, Lily and Mary grinned at each other. It was time for the sorting to begin. The hat began to twitch and move, it coughed a few times and finally, burst into song.
When Hogwarts founders four,
Did open this school's door
To their own had each,
What they most valued to teach.
To boldness and courage
Gryffindor did encourage
To great self ambition
Did Slytherin give permission.
To studiousness and wit
Did Ravenclaw do her bit
And to honesty and to love
Did Hufflepuff value all else above.
Yet what they did not know
Is where the tensions grow.
For dividing the peers,
All ended in tears,
Where the firmest of friends,
Met the bitterest of ends.
While your houses are where it starts
I fear that when we part,
We'll learn to forget
The united front we met,
Before we were sorted
And our loyalties distorted.
Together we remain strong
But I'll put you where you belong.
Let me give you a label
So I can seat you at your table
But beware in your labour
To remember your neighbour
For once we are split
That doesn't have to be it.
Hogwarts as a school
Will give you the tool
To see friend from foe
So to the sorting we go.
The students clapped along, slowly at first as they frowned at their neighbours. "That was odd." Lily heard Phil McKinnon, mutter to his friend. "Normally the hat just goes on about the qualities of the houses."
Lily thought hard as she watched the first student take their seat on the stool, the hat drooping over their eyes. She replayed as much as she could remember of the hat's song in her mind, it sounded to her as though this year, he did not want to sort them all in to houses. She thought about her friends and Severus, over on the Slytherin table, the hat was right, being put in different houses did distort loyalties.
When Yaxley, Dexter was sorted into Slytherin house, McGonagall cleared the hat away and Dumbledore rose to his feet.
"Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts, now let dinner be served!"
The students cheered heartily as the golden plates filled with mouth watering food. All warnings the sorting hat had presented them with vanished as soon as the started biting into their dinner and drinking their pumpkin juice.
Lily was ravenous, she filled her plate with a little bit of a variety of cuisines, each one tasting better than the last. When she thought she couldn't eat anymore, dinner vanished and was replaced by dessert. Lily helped her self to a chocolate fondant and a slice of treacle tart which she bathed in thick, yellow custard.
"Could I have the tart please?" Said a voice from behind her. Lily turned round, it was James Potter. Wordlessly, she handed over the plate to him. She felt him hover for a moment behind her before walking back to her seat. Mary shot her a pained expression but didn't say anything.
When no one could possibly eat another bite, the tables cleared. All eyes darted to the top table to hear Dumbledore speak once more.
"To a new year! I know you are all tired and content so let me not keep you too long from your warm beds. To our new students, remember that the forbidden forest is out of bounds and magic in the corridors is not permitted. To our returning students, I would like to reinforce that message." His eyes twinkled. "Mr Filch has asked me to remind you that the following items purchased from Zonkos joke shop are forbidden," Dumbledore held up a long piece of parchment loftily. "If you would like to review this for yourself, please visit Mr Filch's office. I have a new member of staff to announce, Professor Floyd, who will be taking over from Professor Greenacre as our Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." There was a polite round of applause, but the students were looking at each other nonplussed. They had not know Professor Greenacre was leaving, she was too young for retirement. They sized up the new wizard, who stood up and bowed humbly. He had curly dark hair and a fine moustache. He reminded Lily of Captain Hook from the children's story Peter Pan.
"Now, the hour is late and our bellies are full. I bid you goodnight."
The benches scraped against the floor as they were dismissed. Mary, Marlene and Lily dawdled behind so Gwen and Karen could catch up. The two giggling girls caught their classmates, and Karen immediately went in to the rumour she'd heard from her cousin Bertha.
"Apparently Greenacre had a nervous breakdown," Karen whispered in their ears, her strong lancashire accent. "She couldn't take anymore of the students misbehaving, and Potter and Black's stinging quill at the end of last year was the final straw."
"Arthur says it had nothing to do with that," Gwen disagreed. She put a loose strand of golden hair behind her ears. "He told me that Greenacre left because she was threatened."
"Threatened?" Marlene rolled her eyes. "You can't believe everything Arthur Pendragon says Gwen." They were the last few left in the hall.
"Who would have threatened Greenacre?" Mary asked in worried tones.
They all shrugged and looked at Gwen. "Well, Arthur says," she shot a look at Marlene, "It was a wizard called Tom Riddle."
"Never heard of him." Marlene said dismissively.
Gwen shrugged at the rest of them, and the followed her out into the entrance hall.
The scene that met them there was not a pleasant one. James Potter and Severus Snape were stood a metre apart with their wands out, sparks flying and meeting in the middle. Finally, Potter hit his target and Snape's wand flew into the air, where it was caught by a waiting Sirius Black.
"Sorry, Snivellus." Black said nastily, pocketing his wand and striding to Potter's side.
Snape's pallid face turned red. He spluttered curses at them but wandless, he could do nothing.
The sight of Serverus so defenceless and Potter and Black smirking hit Lily like lightening. She reached into her pocket for her own wand but Marlene stopped her, grabbing her arm and pulling.
"Let go!" Lily told her but Marlene held on, indicating a tall, lofty figure walking down the steps three at a time.
"Potter!" The voice was angry and resigned. "What did I tell you about duelling in the corridors?"
Frank Longbottom snatched Snape's wand out of Sirius's hand and gave it back to it's owner. Snape glowered furiously at them, he did not thank Frank. He turned on his heel and left without Lily managing to make eye contact with him.
Frank turned to James and Sirius angrily.
"Well," he demanded. "What was that about?"
James caught the girls staring and smiled defiantly. "You said no duelling in the corridors, this is the entrance hall."
Sirius laughed appreciatively. Lily threw them both a disgusted look and strode past them up the stairs. She heard Frank's echoing voice giving them detention behind her.