In other words, to use Harry Potter stuff, ask the nice little Scottish woman. To use Brentney Stafford, ask Only a Handful of Time/Bri Dally.
Title: Lily Potter and the Awaiting Darkness
Author(s): GothicFlame and OnlyaHandfulofTime
Email: A little action, a little romance, a little comedy, ba-da Bing!
Rating PG-13.
Summary: Lily Evans, Brentney Stafford and Amber Eros are off on their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, pranking stupid boys, trying to keep their grades up and fighting with the Slytherins. What is to come with the impending darkness that looms on the horizon?
Chapter 1: New Faces
It was five minutes to eleven and the scarlet Hogwarts train was preparing to depart from Platform 9 ¾. Young witches and wizards were saying their good-byes to their families as the last warning whistle sounded. An eleven-year-old girl was hanging out of a window from the train, waving a goodbye to her parents. As the train began to move forward it whipped her red hair around her head covering her bright green almond shaped eyes. She pulled her head into the compartment she was standing in and sidled into a seat.
Tears suddenly began accumulating in her eyes as it dawned upon her that she had never once left her parents for this long. Sure there had been summer camp, but it had never been for months at a time.
Lily Evans, along with many other young children in the train, was headed to her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a large castle in Scotland, where its staff was dedicated to teaching their students the rules of the magical world and train to begin life after school.
As she sat back in her seat she blinked back her tears. No, I won't let this get to me. This isn't that long, and I'm sure I'll find friends at Hogwarts. I don't have to see my sister again for a year...that is certainly a plus. The compartment door slid open distracting Lily from her thoughts. A modestly pretty brunette girl walked in, her green-blue eyes sparkling delicately under long lashes.
"Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full." She sat down across from the girl and smiled. "My names Amber, by the way. Amber Eros. What's yours?"
"Lily Evans," said Lily, unconsciously twisting her necklace around her finger. "Nice to meet you."
Amber swung her leg over the long seat and leaned her back against the wall to the corridor outside and squinted at Lily. "Have you been crying?" Lily shook her head, but wiped at her face anyway, to check of tears.
"Allergies," she lied. She pulled a book out of her bag and started to read. Amber rested her head against the wall, closing her eyes, glancing every now and then at Lily.
The compartment door slid open again and another girl stumbled in, pushing up a pair of gold glasses, her strawberry blond hair surrounding her face in multiple curls, her gray eyes were glittering. "Someone's just about to let off a bunch of dungbombs." She said, a tone of mischievous excitement in her voice. She was already wearing her robes, which swooshed as she went to the back of the compartment. Lily had already looked up from her book and was staring at the girl, who was wearing flame tipped boots over a pair of fishnet stockings. The girl's face went dull as she stared out the window.
Amber was the first to speak, "Hi!" She said, quite loud in the sudden silence. The girl's gray eyes drifted over to them. "Are you a first year too?" She said. The girl nodded her eyes sparkling. Amber blinked. "What... what's your name?" She said, suddenly uncomfortable by the girl's silence.
"Brentney Stafford." She said, an aristocratic tone to her voice, which had just been riddling with excitement seconds earlier. "I prefer Brent." She said.
"Hi Brent. I'm Lily." Lily put her hand out and her book down. Brent just glared at it. Lily faltered slightly, then lowered her hand.
"Did I say I was friends with you?" She snapped. Lily blinked and gulped; hoping no one else was like this mood swingy girl. Suddenly a bright smile spread across Brent's face. "HA! You should've seen the look on your face. That was great." She said loudly, grabbing Lily's slowly descending hand and shaking it fervently. She yanked out a switchblade and began cutting holes in her fishnets. She chuckled to herself as if she'd just taken the crown jewels and flushed them down the toilet while the Royal Army watched.
"Very funny..." muttered Lily, a blush rising to her cheeks steadily. Amber spoke up.
"God, you worried me for a few seconds. I thought for sure you would be in Slytherin." Said Amber. Brent's eyes went round and she put her knife delicately on the seat.
"I want to be in Slytherin." She said, adding a dreamy tone to her voice. Amber's mouth turned into an O and she gulped.
"I...I mean..." Brent's face spread in a wide sinister smile again and she chuckled again. The jewels were obviously floating out to sea. Amber sighed, "You were joking again." She commented.
"What can I say, I love to make people feel stupid. After all, it's a fact that all people are in the first place, why not make it a little more obvious?" she said, a hand pressed firmly over her mouth so as not to burst out in laughter. She stood an air of aristocracy around her as she held out her hand to Amber. "And for the formal introduction. My name is Brentney Stafford, heir to the Zonko's throne and honorable prankster. I know every single secret tunnel in Hogwarts, due to my father and his stories at the dinner table. I'm a pureblood." She shook both Amber and Lily's hands and grinned.
Lily looked at the floor. "Um... you don't mind me asking, but... what are Slytherin and Zonko?" Brent stared at her.
"You're a muggle-born aren't you?" She said, her eyes wide to the point of seeing the whites completely around her pupils. Lily nodded slowly and Brent smirked. "Well in that case, Slytherin is a house. Not a house that you live in with your respective parents and siblings, if cursed by them, but houses of students that you kind of spend time with. You take classes with them, eat with them, and sleep with them..." Brent cocked an eyebrow and smirked. "Not...sleep with them...well not until after you learn how to actually have sex, but that's only in fifth year. They have a Sex-Ed course that you're required to take. Of course, by then we're probably going to be going at it like rabbits." Amber was chuckling slightly and Lily's eyes were wide. "Sorry, going off on a tangent. Any way, there are four houses, Gryfinndor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Most don't want to be in Slytherin."
"I want to be in Gryfinndor," Amber stated proudly.
Lily's brow furrowed, "why wouldn't you want to be in Slytherin?"
"Because the people in it are evil." Said Brent simply. "Well... most are. There are some pretty sexy ass..." she glanced at the girls and blushed. "Um...yeah...so, many of the Deatheaters out there are Slytherins. He-Who-Must- Not-Be-Named was in that house, needless to say, you'll want to stay away from many of them. Ever since his rise to power a few months ago, they've all been flocking to join him. Why people flock is unknown to me... I hate flocking, conforming... it's not fun."
"Oh, ok." Said Lily, not having any idea what a Deatheater was, but not wanting to ask so she didn't sound stupid. She picked up her book again, but put it down again, once a smell hit her nostrils. "Do any of you smell that?" She said.
Brent took a big whiff and smiled. "Ah, dungbombs, Daddy's creation, Grandpa handed the store over to him on account they sold so well," she said, a proud glint appearing in her eyes. Brent's eyes started watering as they began waving their hands before their noses, trying to make the smell leave the room.
Suddenly the compartment door slid open again and four boys tumbled into the room, grinning widely, their hands slightly dirty. They quickly shut the door behind them and panted, the tallest one taking out his wand. "Scourgify." He muttered, pointing it at their hands.
"Glad we're out of there. I thought we were dead for sure."
"Well, Sirius, if you hadn't let off the stupid dung bombs, we wouldn't have been chased all throughout the train. Besides they already saw our faces, we're dead any way."
"Yeah, but didn't you see those fourth years faces? PRICELESS!"
"Um, excuse me?" The boys turned away from the door and stared at the girls. Lily spoke again. "Did you let those...things off?" The boys smirked and sat down, two on either side of Lily, one next to Brent and another next to Amber, who was forced to remove her feet from the bench. The one sitting next to Lily stuck out his recently cleaned hand.
"My name's James. James Potter, and you are?"
"Lily Evans," she said, shaking his hand and rolling her eyes. James had messy black hair and hazel eyes that had a mischievous glint to them. His nose was slightly pointy and he was slightly short for his age, which was obviously eleven due to their immaturity. He withdrew his hand and nodded at the boy next to Brent.
"Sirius Black." Said Sirius nodding and glancing at Brent through the corner of his dark blue eyes, covered slightly by the few pieces of black hair that hung smoothly before his face.
"Best prankster in the world." Said James proudly. Brent shook her head.
"I could prank you any day." She said cocking an eyebrow at Sirius.
"Whatever darling." He said smirking at her. Brent's cheeks colored, but she frowned at him, giving him the finger.
"Remus Lupin." Said the boy sitting next to Amber. His long brown hair that hung to his shoulders normally was pulled into a ponytail at the base of his neck, there were the beginning spacklings of gray in his hair, his eyes purplish blue and his nature slightly shy.
"P-Pe-Pete-"the boy on the right of Lily stuttered, trying to shrink into the corner, but was unable to, due to his chubby disposition.
"That's Peter Pettigrew." Said James under a chuckle. "He's afraid of girls." Peter just shrank more as James said this. The three boys who could actually utter a sensible word, Brent and Amber started talking, leaving Lily to pick up her book again.
"So you guys are first years?" Said Amber.
"Yeah, we are, how did you know?"
"Because you're immature," muttered Lily from behind her book. James smirked.
"You know you like it," he said cockily. Lily didn't read one more word as she looked up at him, an eyebrow up, but her cheeks blushing furiously. James smiled and snatched her book from her hands. The four boys scrambled from the compartment, leaving the three girls in confusion. Lily boiled in her seat as Brent shrugged.
"There goes one of the sexiest bastards I've ever seen." She said. Lily glared at her.
"I pray you're not speaking of that monstrosity, James Potter." She said. Brent chuckled.
"No, no, Sirius, dear. I must comment on his nice arse. I got quite the wonderful look as he was rushing from the compartment. Jamesy is all yours dear." Said Brent getting up and grabbing her purse. "Must be going. Mingle time." She said, holding her nose high and giggling as she exited the compartment. Lily looked at the floor anger flooded her veins. Yep, she thought, this is going to be a long year.