Chapter 1

The Black family proudly strode down Diagon Alley, nearly finished with all their school shopping. They were a large family of pure-bloods, and proud of it. Regulus walked next to his father, giving jealous looks to his cousins, who were shopping; Regulus was not yet old enough to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In front of Regulus and his father, Bellatrix was walking confidently, tossing her curly dark hair and glowering at anyone bold enough to look straight at her who she did not deem worthy of the privilege. She was entering her sixth year at Hogwarts as a Slytherin prefect, and was one of the most popular witches in the school- to the Slytherins, that is. Most Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs did not like her very much.

Next to Bellatrix, on either side of her, were her sisters Andromeda and Narcissa. Narcissa looked very different from Bellatrix; she had a long sheet of stick-straight light blonde hair and very pale skin. She was also a Slytherin, but only in her fourth year. She was moderately popular with her fellow pupils- not as popular with the Slytherins as Bellatrix, but still fairly well-liked. She walked in the same arrogant manner as her sister; her nose pointed upwards and a frown on her face as she strolled along, a bag of books clutched in one hand and a robe draped over her other arm.

Andromeda was nothing like her sisters. She had light brown hair and very dark eyes. On the left of Bellatrix, she walked slightly hunched over, looking as though she didn't know if she belonged there with them. She was entering her fifth year, a member of Slytherin house like her sisters, although wasn't as confident or arrogant as them and was quieter and much less outgoing than them.

But one member of the Black family was not with his family, but rather was trotting a good thirty feet behind them. Young Sirius Black was a very handsome boy, with dark eyes and even darker hair. He was going to be a first year at Hogwarts, and his family pressured him to make sure he got into Slytherin, and that he would only befriend pure-blooded witches and wizards, and blah, blah, blah- or, at least, that's what it sounded like to him. Instead of frowning at everything he laid eyes upon like Bellatrix and Narcissa, he hung back from the family and gaped in awe at a variety of things- new broomstick models, a self-stirring silver cauldron, a book of jinxes and curses, and a poster of the Chudley Cannons among the things he stared at through the windows.

"Sirius!" barked the boy's father. "Hurry up, we need to fit you into some robes!"

Muttering swears and curses as he tore his eyes away from a large tub of Chocolate Frogs, he jogged to catch up with his family, who had stopped outside of Madam Malkin's Robes for Every Occasion, a brand-new clothing store that had opened up that very year. His mother herded him inside. Regulus followed his brother and mother, leaving his father and cousins outside to wait.

"Welcome, welcome!" said a short young witch happily upon their entrance. "Here for Hogwarts, I presume? I have many sizes of robes, one of them is bound to fit you. So, school robes this way!"

And she began to weave her way through a labyrinth of hanging robes and clothes- dress robes of scarlet and emerald, pointed hats of midnight blue and black, soft shoes of brown and grey, and everything in between- Sirius, Regulus, and Mrs. Black following quickly so as not to lose sight of Madam Malkin. Finally, the clothier stopped in front of a rack of plain black robes, with shelves of black hats and shoes next to it. A small wooden sign above it read in thick, neatly carved letters, 'Hogwarts Clothes, Sizes 8-16' and underneath that, 'Robes- Eight sickles, five knuts. Hats- Six sickles, two knuts. Shoes- Four sickles'

"Here we are, Hogwarts robes for younger and smaller students!" Madam Malkin exclaimed. As she sifted through the robes, occasionally taking out a robe and holding it up against Sirius, she asked, "So, what year are you going to be, dearie?"

"First," said Sirius shortly, biting back a protest as a needle nicked his arm.

"Oh, it's always exciting when you're first going to Hogwarts! What house do you wish to be in? I was a Hufflepuff, myself."

"My whole family's in Slytherin."

"Ah, Slytherin! Now there's a good house to be in!"

Although Madam Malkin tried to sound happy, Sirius heard a tone in her voice stating that she did not much favor Slytherin.

After purchasing the required attire, Mrs. Black paid for the equipment and led her sons outside. On the way out, she almost ran into a small, rat-like boy as he turned a corner, giving them both quite a start. The boy repeatedly apologized in a small voice, but with a contemptuous "Watch where you're going!" Mrs. Black stormed out the door.

"Sorry about my mum," Sirius said to the boy when Regulus and Mrs. Black were out of earshot. "It wasn't your fault. I'm Sirius, Sirius Black. What's your name?"

"P-Peter Pettigrew," the rat-faced boy stuttered, looking scared. Sirius smiled.

"Alright then, Peter. I'll see you at Hogwarts, I guess?"

"Y-yeah," said Peter. "At Hogwarts. Yeah. Th-that's right. Hogwarts."

And he walked away, muttering reassuringly to himself.

Strange kid, thought Sirius as he hurried to catch up with his family, who were impatiently beckoning him forward from the door. Seemed scared of his own shadow.

Lily Evans still could hardly believe she was a witch, even as she walked around the shops of Diagon Alley with her new friend, Severus Snape, who was originally the one who told her she was a witch, him being a wizard himself. And so she wasn't very surprised when an official-looking woman showed up at her house in the middle of July and told her she was accepted into Hogwarts, and then explained the wonders of the school(although Lily had heard it all from Severus already).

"And that over there is Ollivander's," Severus said, pointing to a shop. "My mother told me all about him, he's a nice old bloke, makes the best wands you can find. And this-" his finger now pointed to another store- "is Eeylops Emporium, they sell pets of all sorts, but mostly owls."

Lily followed him up, down, and around the street, eyes wide and mouth open at the wonderfulness of it all. She was especially interested in the Apothecary.

"Potions sounds like a great subject, I can't wait!" she said to Severus as they walked down an aisle lined with cauldrons. "Although I'm not sure about History of Magic, I've never been one for history."

"Me neither," replied Severus, casting an admiring look at a solid gold cauldron that could shrink down to the size of a knut for easy mobility. "Herbology sounds interesting enough, I guess. Same goes for Transfiguration."

"Ooh, what's Transfiguration, Sev?"

Severus had forgotten that Lily was Muggle-born for a minute. "It's turning objects into other things, but we'll be starting small and probably won't get to the good stuff until fifth or sixth year. But," he added hastily upon seeing Lily frown slightly, "I've heard rumors that the Transfiguration professor is an Animagus."

"An Animagus?"

"Someone who can change their appearance into an animal at will. Professor McGonagall- she's new, only got to Hogwarts a few years ago- supposedly can turn herself into a cat!"

Lily did not answer, but her face shone with awe and excitement. She did not speak again as she and Severus purchased their cauldrons and the starting ingredients they'd been told they'd need to bring, and they left the store.

"All done?" asked Severus' mother, Eileen, after the children left the store. "Great. Now you two just need wands and a pet, if you want. Lily, do you want a pet?"

"Oh, yes!" Lily said at once, and then turned slightly pink. "I mean, yes, I would like a pet, Mrs. Snape."

Eileen grinned and laughed. "Excited? You should be, Hogwarts is the best wizarding school there is!"

And so she allowed Lily to look at all the animals in Eeylops Emporium. Lily stared through cage bars at handsome Tawny owls, large Great Horned owls, small Elf owls, and beautiful Snowy owls. She gaped at cats of all sorts- Siamese, black, tortoiseshell, tabby, and many species she didn't recognize.

"Well, aren't you cute?" she whispered softly to a small tortoiseshell cat, and slipped her hand through the cage bars towards it. The cat eyed the hand warily, but slowly padded towards it and began licking. Lily giggled and stroked the cat's fur.

"Excuse me?" she called to the store owner. "How much to I have to pay for this one?"

The owner, an old woman, hobbled over, leaning heavily on a cane. "Hmm... four galleons, eight sickles, and twenty four knuts."

Lily's handed dropped with a dull thud onto the cage floor.

"Oh," she said. "Oh. I'm sorry, I can't afford that. I'll- I'll just be on my way."

"Wait, dear, wait there!" called the owner after her, hurrying to catch up. "I'll give you a better price, how's that? To tell the truth, business hasn't been going so well lately. I'll lower the price to one galleon, four sickles, and two knuts!"

And so Lily Evans walked out of Eeylops Emporium, clutching in her arms the tortoiseshell.

"How'd you afford that?" wondered Severus aloud. "The school fund can't be giving you that much money, can they?"

"I got a great bargain!" Lily said excitedly. "I still have some money left to spare! And since we're done school shopping, why not go to that ice cream shop we passed?"

Ten minutes later, Lily, Severus, and Eileen were sitting on stools at Florean Fortescue's, licking two-scoop Pumpkin Pasty flavored ice cream cones as Aurora- that was what Lily had named her cat- sat at their feet, licking her paw and staring longingly at the ice cream.

"School starts in two weeks," Severus said casually.

"Yeah," said Lily dreamily. "I can't wait."

Before they knew it, though, they were ushered out of Diagon Alley by Eileen, where Lily met her parents and sister, who had been at a museum while she was shopping. When they saw the cat in her arms, all three of them stopped short.

"What's that?" asked Petunia, wrinkling her nose in disgust, although Lily saw in Petunia's eyes that her sister already adored the cat.

"This is Aurora," Lily said cheerfully. "Isn't she cute?"

"Lily, dear," said her mother in an attempt at a happy voice. "Do you have anywhere to keep Aurora?"

"There's that old cage that we held Buttercup in," reasoned Lily. Buttercup had been a beautiful golden-colored cat that they had owned, but died when Lily and Petunia were only a few years old. "And the water and food dish that Buttercup used. And I can make space in my room for the cage-"

"Our room," interjected Petunia. "That cat is not staying in the same room as I am."

"Oh, come on, Tuney, please?"

"Absolutely not."

"I'll let you play with her whenever you want."

Lily could've sworn Tuney hesitated for a second, before-

"No."

"You can play with her, and pet her, and spend time with her when I'm back for the holidays. Whenever you want."

"Fine."

Lily suppressed a grin.

"How much did that cost?" asked Mr. Evans.

"A galleon, four sickles and two knuts." At the blank faces her family wore, she said, "Not much."

And so it was arranged. They arrived back at their house just in time for dinner. Mrs. Evans prepared a large turkey, to 'celebrate Lily going to Hogwarts.'

"Mum," said Lily exasperatedly after receiving the steaming glare Petunia sent her way. "I don't leave for two weeks."

That night, Petunia got even angrier with Lily- if that was possible. Aurora meowed softly in her sleep, and Petunia woke the whole neighborhood at one in the morning screaming about how 'that stupid cat never shuts up, honestly, if she were my cat I'd chuck her out the window for being so-' and then got her mouth washed out with soap for saying what she said after that. Nevertheless, so as not to keep Petunia awake, Lily took her blankets, pillow, and Aurora(who was now screeching at being so suddenly awoken) down to the basement to sleep. It took a while to calm down Aurora, but even longer to calm down Petunia.

Needless to say, the last two weeks before school were going to be the longest yet.

A/N: Hello, everybody! BaconLogic here, back with a Harry Potter story. Over the summer, I've been rereading the Harry Potter books and now I'm obsessed. Again. For the millionth time.

Anyway, I've always wished J.K. Rowling would make another series- no, not about Harry's son at Hogwarts, but rather his parents and their friends. Evidently, J.K. Rowling probably won't ever be writing that, so I've decided to write what I think Lily's, James', Snape's, Lupin's, Sirius', and all the rest's years at Hogwarts were like. And, viola, this is the result.

Think of this as a kind of prologue. I know it's short, and hopefully other chapters will be much longer. I will write in the POV's of the other Marauders and Snape as well as Sirius and Lily, but they're the starter two. I hope you enjoyed, and maybe you could review? They're helpful and inspire me, but if you can't, that's alright.

Signing off,

~BaconLogic