A/N:
Hello! I'm Gale, and I'll be your author for this fanfiction. I've never written for Harry Potter before, so please be gentle. This is a bit of a "before the trio" story, in which we follow Lily, Severus, the Marauders, and a few characters I've created myself that connect to some well-known favorites. I realize this plot has been taken over by many, but I do hope you will give me a chance.
Everything belongs to Jo Rowling.
Years of Our Lives
Chapter One – The Beginning
"Lily, dear, do you have everything?"
Eleven year old Lily Evans turned around to face her mother, an excited smile dancing across her face.
"Yes, mum. Sev and I double checked everything before we left." Lily responded to her mother, gaze flickering over to her friend Severus Snape, who stood next to Lily.
Severus glanced up to look at Lily's family, giving them a reassuring and shy smile. Lily's mother returned the smile, walking over to give Lily a hug and to pat Severus on the cheek affectionately. Mr Evans gave Lily a quick hug and shook Severus' hand and beckoned Petunia to where they were standing.
"Say good-bye to your sister, Petunia." Mr Evans gently commanded, his kind smile canceled out by the stern firmness in his eyes.
"Why would I say good-bye to the freak?" Petunia spat, arms crossed resolutely across her chest.
"Petunia!" Mrs Evans gasped, tears beginning to glisten in her eyes.
"It's okay, mother." Lily comforted firmly, keeping her eyes on Petunia. "Good-bye, Petunia. See you at Christmas."
With that Lily followed the example of the students she had seen previously and ran through the wall separating Platform 9 and Platform 10. Much to her surprise, she found herself in a crowded platform, a train whistle covering up the parting words between mother's and students. In awe, Lily stayed immobile until Severus came up behind her and gently prodded her to board the train.
Silently, Lily followed Severus as he expertly weaved the pair through the traffic of the station.
"How do you get through traffic so easily?" Lily asked, recalling how easily they had maneuvered their way through Diagon Alley.
Severus shrugged, grinning slightly. "They say practice makes perfect."
The train whistle blew excitedly as the Hogwarts Express began to move its way out of the station. Severus grasped Lily's hand quickly and jumped on the stairs entering the car, pulling her up as final reminders were shouted by nervous parents.
"Let's find a compartment, hm?" Lily asked happily, squeezing Severus' hand as she lead him down the narrow hallway.
Unknown to Lily, Severus blushed at the contact with Lily and followed willingly. Lily found an empty compartment and led Severus into it, promptly flopping down on the deserted bench.
"Comfortable, Lily?" Severus joked, taking a seat opposite to Lily, who was sprawled out messily. Lily grinned, rolling her eyes fondly.
"But of course, Sev. So, time for serious questions." Lily paused dramatically. "Which house do you reckon you'll be sorted in?"
Severus answered immediately. "Slytherin. My entire family has been in that house, you know."
Lily nodded. "Yeah, I suppose. But you aren't like the rest of your family, Sev. Maybe you'll change things up, eh?"
Severus smiled a little, but shook his head. "It's not like that though, Lily. I'm okay with being in Slytherin. A lot of great people have been in Slytherin." He acknowledged the skeptical glance Lily gave him. "Can't think of any right now, but I'll be sure to get back to you on that."
Lily laughed. "I'll hold you up on that, Sev."
Severus smiled, but his smile quickly faded as two boys burst into the compartment, arrogant grins on their faces.
"Oops, sorry. You aren't those fifth year girls." A boisterous boy with shaggy black hair exclaimed loudly, resulting in the other boy with him to shake his head.
"No, we are not. Now if you would please leave that would be greatly appreciated." Severus replied coolly.
"Severus!" Lily gently chided, then turned her gaze to the two boys standing in the door frame. "I'm Lily Evans and this is Severus Snape. Pleased to meet you even if it was by mistake."
"Ah, a cordial one. Maybe you should date her, blondie. I'm Sirius, Sirius Black." The shaggy-haired boy kneeled down in front of Lily dramatically, taking her hand and kissing it slowly. "It is a great honor to meet you, Miss Evans."
Lily smiled, a slight blush collecting on her cheeks as she rolled her eyes and shooed him away halfheartedly. "Don't you have fifth years to track down, Mr Black?"
Sirius jumped to his feet, the look of rejection long lost as he ran out the compartment, a quick "See you later!" shouted as Sirius disappeared.
"I apologize for him, he's quite a character." The young blonde said sheepishly. "I'm Remus Lupin, by the way. Wish I could stay longer, but I promised his brother he would stay pure at least until the first week is over. Nice to meet you Lily and Severus, see you guys around."
Lily nodded and smiled, waving good-bye as Remus removed himself from the door frame. Severus merely nodded in his direction, suddenly fascinated with his plain black dress shoes.
"Severus!" Lily scolded, eyebrows knitted together.
Severus looked up at Lily innocently. "What?"
Lily almost fell for the innocent look on his face, but quickly snapped out of it. "You can't expect to have a remotely decent time at Hogwarts if you aren't nice to people! I can understand Sirius, but Remus was a nice fellow!"
Severus shrugged, eyes trained back on the floor. Lily sighed and stood up, sending Severus' heart in a hurry with concern that she was going to leave him. Instead Lily took a seat next to him, placing her hand over his. "Sev, please promise me that you'll make friends."
Severus turned his head and looked at Lily, who was giving him a look of deep concern. "Why do I need other friends when I have you?"
Lily gave him a half-smile. "Please, Severus, please promise me."
Severus sighed, looked back down at the floor for a moment, and then looked back at her. "Fine. Only because I know arguing with you is pointless."
Lily grinned, kissing him on the cheek before returning to her seat, sprawling back out on the seat again.
The train ride was filled with idle chat between the two, until a prefect stuck his head in their compartment to put on their robes since they were almost there.
"We've finally made it, Sev." Lily whispered as the train pulled into the station.
"Yeah, we have." Severus muttered, almost missing as Lily ran out the compartment immediately after the train had stopped. Severus chased after her, finally catching up to her as she began talking to the giant amicably.
"Severus!" Lily called, waving her hand for him to join her. "This is Hagrid, he's going to take us to the castle!"
"Hello Hagrid," Severus said quietly and Hagrid shook his hand eagerly, causing Severus to be lifted off the ground.
"Sorry 'bout that, yer a little lighter than I thought." Hagrid apologized, causing Lily to laugh that enchantingly sweet laugh of hers.
"First years! First years over here!" Hagrid's booming voice called across the station, resulting in multiple tiny bodies to gather near him.
After all the older students had been boarded, Hagrid turned towards the group of children and smiled. "Welcome to Hogwarts, first years. Let's get you lot loaded up on the boats!"
Lily shyly took Severus' hand as the walked towards the boats that were lined up on the shore.
You mean welcome home. Severus corrected mentally, smiling at Lily and turning his head to look back at Hogwarts.
A/N:
IMPORTANT NOTE.
This is NOT a Lily/Severus fic! They are just extremely good friends. I mean, think about it. Severus was Lily's first glimpse into the wizarding world. Of course she is close with him!
Next chapter will be the sorting ceremony, a special meeting for one Lily Evans, and a look into classes for our favorite generation of first years.
Regards,
-Gale A.