Chapter 1

Lily's Arrival

"Well, here we are," Harry said staring at his youngest daughter. She just gazed blankly beyond him at the large train in awe.

"Earth to Lily," He said jokingly, waving his hand in front of her face. She snapped around to face him, but he had looked away.

Lily had been counting down the days since she would be going to Hogwarts since two years ago, but now, she felt her stomach tie itself in a knot. She smelled pennies and felt like she was going to vomit.

Lily glanced at her mother who was fixing her older brother Albus' hair. Her other brother James had managed to escape Ginny's furious hair mussing by starting up conversation with some other Gryffindor's.

"All aboard the Hogwarts express! All aboard!" The conductor shouted. Lily caught his eye and he smiled at her ; beckoning for her to get on the train.

She gripped her sticker-covered trunk in her sweaty hands and turned to face her parents who were both watching James and Albus as they got onto the large train. They looked down at Lily with large smiles, that seemed a pinch away from being phony.

"Write everyday, Lily. Alright? And keep watch of Twilly. She's a good owl, but shes not invincible. I put that charm on her cage for a reason," Ginny smiled at her.

"Last Call, Hogwarts Express! All Aboard!" The conductor shouted again. Lily hugged her mom and kissed her dad on the cheek and stepped up onto the train, the knot in her stomach growing.

The interior of the Hogwarts Express was everything James and Albus had told Lily. It was carpeted floor with gold trim in each compartment with large space for bags and other traveling items. There was a woman with a cart of variety of snacks and drinks, and lots of people rushing around, laughing and greeting old friends.

Dread filled Lily as she pondered where to sit. Where were the other first years? Where were Albus and James? She finally opened up a random compartment that had two other's: An African girl with hair braided to the side of her head, her nose deep in a book and a blonde boy with pale blue eyes, practicing spells. When the door opened, they glanced up at her, but went back to their activities.

"Sorry," Lily muttered, "There were no other compartment's," The boy didn't seem to notice her and if he did, he didn't want to, but the girl stared up at her with a look of pity before quickly turning back to her book.

Lily bit her lip and glanced out the window. They were passing fields and small towns at a fast speed, making her head spin. She let out a breath of air and shut her eyes, before falling into a deep sleep.

Lily was jolted awake by a hand on her shoulder. She jerked up, in a daze, confused as to where she was. She looked around and saw the conductor who had ushered her onto the train standing over her, almost startled to see her. "Miss, are you alright? You fell asleep hours ago! You're lucky I found you before I went back to London."

Lily looked around to see the train eerily empty. She cursed underneath her breathe and stood up. "I'm fine, thank you. Did all the carriages leave already?" She asked, hopeful that maybe her fathers friend... Oh what was his name? Hooper? Henry? She couldn't remember, but all that mattered was getting to Hogwarts and being sorted into Gryffindor.

"I believe so, miss. You best be going if you even want to make the sorting. Do you want some help with your luggage?" Lily could tell he was being sympathetic, but it just made her feel even worse about having him go to all this trouble.

"I'm fine, thank you though. I shall see you at Christmas", She smiled and hurried onto the platform.

The conductor was right; the carriages had left already. She could see tiny boats floating across the lake. She groaned and started up steep hill.

. . . . . . .

By the time Lily had reached the top of the hill, the sorting had already started. She raced into the castle and into the Great Hall.

She had hoped no one would notice her come into the Great Hall. She pushed into the door and it opened up, groaning and creaking.

Her wishes went unanswered, as everybody in the Great Hall had turned to see what the commotion was. Lily wished she could sink into the ground and never appear again.

"Ah, Ms. Potter. So nice to see you. Glad you could make it," An older aging witch stood on top of a small platform, next to a hat which was resting on a small stool. "I assume you missed the carriages... and the boats... and the first part of the sorting," The crowd snickered at the professors joke.

Lily felt her face turning red and she quickly rushed through the aisle up to where the non-sorted first years were standing.

"Ms. Potter, it's your turn," The professor stated. Lily let out a breath of air and climbed up the two steps. Even though it was only a short walk, Lily felt as though she was at the beginning of a very long and hard journey.

The hat was placed on her head as she sat down. She thought of one thing and one thing only. Gryffindor.

'Please let me be in Gryffindor. Please' She thought as the sorting hat readjusted itself on her head. The sorting hat mumbled to itself, things like "Not cunning enough to be in Slytherin" or "Bravery is definitely a factor". Finally, the sorting hat shouted out one word that made Lily's heart soar.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Lily heard cheers from her brothers and the rest of the Gryffindor table as they ushered her over to join them.

"Adonia Persephone!" The witch shouted and up walked the most stunning girl Lily had ever seen.

She had golden blond hair and deep blue eyes. She had ruby red lips and pearly white teeth.

She could see her two brothers staring. She rolled her eyes at them and stared at the sorting hat, shuffling around on the girls head

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted and all the boys at the table whooped and yelled. All the girls rolled their eyes as the girl flounced over and sat down next to Lily.

"Hi," She said, smiling at Lily, "I'm Adonia, It's nice to meet you," She put out her hand to shake and Lily shook it half-heartedly.

After 7 more students were sorted, the aisle between the the Gryffindor table and the Hufflepuff table was empty.

Everyone stared up at the old witch who had embarrassed Lily with wide smiles. She was standing at a golden podium, staring back at all the young wizards and witches.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts, students," She stated plainly, getting cheers from everyone at all tables.

"I'm Minerva McGonagall, your headmistress. I have a few announcements for the first years. Once again, the forest is forbidden, as it always has been... and most likely always will be-" The students sniggered which caused everyone to start to talk.

McGonagall hit a wooden gavel on the stand, causing everybody to jump. She gave a sly grin and continued.

"Secondly, Hogsmeade has been made an all school event, meaning that first years may go as long as they are accompanied by a third year or higher."

This caused great cheering from everyone. She remembered Albus's angry owls home, complaining greatly of how he didn't get to go drink butterbeer or get Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder at Fred and George's shop. Ginny had been angry that he had been wasting expensive ink and parchment on complaints. He had received a howler the next day.

"That's all from me. May the feast... begin!" And with a snap of her fingers, all of the tables were full of mouth-watering feasts.

There was chicken, potatoes, mound upon mound of steak, warm buttery rolls and thick steaming glasses of butterbeer and pumpkin juice. Everyone was ravenous from the train ride and soon, everyone had started onto their second plate.

Lily noticed that Danielle hadn't said anything to anyone. She had kept her head down and was picking at her chicken.

Part of Lily wanted to ignore this girl and let her be, but the other part wanted to get to know her. Lily chose the latter and turned to face her.

"I don't think I really got to meet you, Adonia. Hi. I'm Lily. Lily Potter," She said, wondering if her last name would have any affect on Adonia's current facial expression, but she didn't even blink.

'Muggle born,' she thought as she fiddled with her charm bracelet. It was inscribed with the words, "Esse Fortis Lily Luna Potter". It had been with her since she was three days old. She hadn't taken it off in nearly six years.

"Hi, Lily. Nice to meet someone who didn't look at me strangely since I don't have a british accent. I moved here from Washington state in America this June. My dad was originally from Wales and my mum was a witch, but she was...," She trailed off and stared at the ground.

Lily hadn't felt the pain of losing a loved one, unlike her parents. She knew Adonia had experience death; she could see it in her never ending blue eyes.

"Hey Lily, whose your friend?" Albus asked glancing Adonia up and down. Adonia waved half-heartedly and forced a smile. "Her name is Adonia, Albus. Go away," Lily snapped. She wasn't in the mood for Albus' girl crazed mind right now, she just wanted to get up to bed and sleep.

After eating some peppermint ice cream without tasting it, Lily followed her prefect, a tall brunette girl named Ingrid Jansig and a freckly boy with pale blonde hair name Johnson Weatherby, along with 35 other first year Gryffindors out of the Great Hall and into the stairs.

Lily had been told the password for the Fat Lady (Goose Leg) and pretty soon, everyone had crawled through the hole and Lily was in the Gryffindor common room.

It was more spacious than she had imagined. It was covered in red and gold banners, lion statues and posters proclaiming, "Proud to be a Gryffindor,". There was an enchanted fireplace, charmed so that it wouldn't spit sparks at the Gryffindors who were sitting near. The walls were -obviously- red and gold with names of several famous wizards written on the walls.

There was Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazaar Slytherin, and Helena Hufflepuff. There was Neville Longbottom (a professor at the school; he had been having a conversation with Nearly Headless Nick), Luna Longbottom (Lily was named after her), Fred and George Weasley (Her two uncles who she adored with passion), Ron Weasley (Her godfather and uncle) and Hermione Granger (Lily talked to her about ANYTHING). Then there was Remus Lupin (Teddy's dad) and Nymphadora Tonks (Teddy's mom). Than there were her parents, Harry Potter and Ginevra Weasley. Then she saw a name that had clearly been attempted to be hidden. It seemed familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She could see a T and an M and the word Riddle. She bit her lip and stared.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and nearly jumped a mile. She whipped around and pulled out her wand to see James eating Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. She glared at him and he backed away a few steps. "

What did I do?" He asked, his voice getting squeaky and high. She slipped her wand into her robe and let out a breath of air. "What do you want James?" She asked, exasperated. She was exhausted and couldn't wait until she could crawl into her sheets and get a peaceful sleep.

"They put up the room list. You're with that Adonia girl and some others. I think you sat on the train with one of them," He shrugged and shuffled away. Lily raced up to the list. There it was! She was with a girl named Claudia Sheifler, Adonia Persephone, Naomi Wellington and Kristin Jacoby. They were in Godric's Room, on the third floor.

She raced up the stairs, shoving with all her might through the sea of people. She shouted out choruses of "Excuse me," or "Sorry!"

She had already been exhausted before she climbed the stairs, but now she was even more so.

There were about 10 other people in the narrow hallway, making it seem more crowded than it actually was.

"Godric's room... Godric's room... Godric's room..." Lily muttered under her breathe. She was seeing Dumbledore's room and Bathilda's room, but no Godric's room.

There was one door, covered in posters, so much that Lily couldn't see the name of the room. She felt a gnawing at her stomach as dread filled her. She pushed aside the One Direction Poster and saw the name "Godric's room".

Lily groaned quite audibly, as several people turned to see what had happened. Embarrassment filled Lily and she opened up the door.

She climbed up the few spiraling stairs and then she saw the room that had been turned into hell.

There were posters for boy bands and pop singers all over one side of the room. The other side had not been creatively developed yet, and she was thankful she wasn't next to the girls who had covered their room in Justin Bieber.

Adonia had grabbed the bed two away from her, and her wall had pictures of family and pets. She had a down comforter with a PillowPet © , some sort of Muggle pillow. She had a toad named Honolulu, who was resting comfortably in a small cage on Adonia's bedside table. She had several science fiction novels resting also on her table, but also a variety of enchanted books such as 3 Rita Skeeter novels including one about Hogwarts former headmaster Snape.

Lily had been told by her parents how much of a brave man Snape had been. He had risked his life to help the Order of the Phoenix, the organization in which both her parents were involved. They often came home late at night from meetings arguing about what was best for the kids and whether or not they should stay in the Order. But they always went back to the next meeting.

Lily's owl Twilly was sitting in front of the foot of her bed, on top of her trunk, covered in names of Weasley's who had owned it before.

Her stuffed pig, Bernie was sitting on her bed next to her pillow just the way he always was at home. Her purple baby blanket -enchanted so it had sheep jumping over fences- was lying next to Bernie. Her Gryfindor blanket had been stitched by her mother just before she went to Hogwarts, but it changed depending on what house the owner was sorted into. She felt as though she was home with her family and Kreacher.

Kreacher was the family house elf who had been left to Harry after his god father, Sirius was killed. He was quite loveable once you got to know him, although apparently, he was VERY rude to muggles and muggleborns when Harry was at Hogwarts.

The other girls were laughing and joking around about Justin Bieber. Lily rolled her eyes and climbed into bed. She shut her eyes and tried to sleep, but visions of a red-headed woman being cursed danced through her dreams.

Lily woke in a sweat, quickly whipping her head around to see if anyone else was awake. No one was, even the girls who had talked about muggle music until 2 AM were snoring in their beds. Lily found this quite comical, but was too tired to laugh. Lily blindly groped around her bedside table for the glass of water she had gotten earlier. She grabbed the goblet and swallowed a gulp of water before turning in for a restless slumber.