"It's obvious!" cried the boy with shaggy, dirty black hair and frayed clothes. "You're a witch!" Here he pointed at the girl in front of him, who was about 10 years old. "No normal person can do that!" the girl looked slightly hurt at this, and the boy softened. "But, what I mean is, it's a good thing to be different. You're different, but in a good way. You can do magic, that's amazing!" now the girl was grinning, undisguised delight lighting up her eyes. "Really?" she asked, disbelieving.

The boy nodded and held out his hand to her. "I'm Severus Snape. And you are…?" he asked, his hand hovering in front of her. The girl looked anguished, and glanced at first the boy, then his offered hand, then back at her sister, lurking behind a bush a little way away. Finally, she made up her mind. The girl shook the Severus' hand. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Petunia Evans."

"I can't believe you!" Petunia shrieked, enraged. "I finally find one thing that my parents admire me for and then you have it too! Why did you have to be a Witch too, Lily?" she asked, ending with a deep, exaggerated sigh. Lily looked sad and placed the Hogwarts letter she had just received on the table in front of her.

"I'm sorry Tuney!" she cried, "If you want, I won't go. I'll say I'm not a witch, I'll-," Petunia abruptly held up a hand.

"I can't let you do that. I've been at Hogwarts for a year already, and it's so great! I can't let you miss out on that." Lily smiled at her sister. When they argued, Lily forgot how kind and thoughtful Petunia really was.

"Ok Tuney. I will go. It sounds amazing, tell me again about the Sorting Ceremony! Please!" Petunia sighed and grinned at her sister. She remembered how excited she had been when she first got her letter.

"Ok. Oh, it's so beautiful! The tables are all laid out, and the ceiling is enchanted, and-,"

Lily gasped and interrupted her sister. "It's enchanted!? In what way? What does it do? What does it look like?" Petunia looked at Lily and smiled. She was going to learn so much, and Petunia was going to be there every step of the way, guiding her like a good sister would…

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!" She screamed at Lily. "WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO PERFECT!?" she asked, her wand raised threateningly at her Lily, who was glancing round nervously at the rest of the hall.

Lily had just been sorted, into a house called Gryffindor, and Petunia had stood up from her table, which was Hufflepuff, and started yelling at her! Lily couldn't understand why. True, Petunia had always told Lily that Hufflepuff was the best house and they were great at everything, but surely it wasn't that bad that lily didn't get into it? Or was there something wrong with Gryffindor?

Lily had tears in her eyes as she spun round to face her sister. "What, Tuney? In what way am I perfect?" she asked quietly, and for a moment was unsure whether Petunia had even heard her or not. Petunia narrowed her eyes at her sister.

"First, we find out I'm a witch," she begins, her voice still much louder than it should have been. The whole room was silent, everybody listening to the argument with interest. "And my parents are so proud. But then you come along and be a witch too! And now, I'm in Hufflepuff, and then you come along and get sorted into GRYFFINDOR! Why do you have to beat me at EVERYTHING!?" Lily gasped, and so did the rest of the hall.

"In what way is Gryffindor better than Hufflepuff?" Lily asked her eyes stinging. Petunia scoffed.

"It's better in every way! You're just so… Argh! Just leave me alone, ok?" Lily obediently turned back to the Gryffindor table and made her way over, squeezing in next to two other boys who had just been sorted. One had messy black hair and hazel eyes, the other had quite long brown black hair and grey eyes. The two shuffled over to let Lily get in and the boy the other side – this one with light brown hair – patted her on the back sympathetically. Lily looked round at him and attempted a smile. He held out his hand.

"Hi, I'm-," before she could tell him her name, the boy with hazel eyes interrupted.

"You're Lily. Lily Evans. We heard…" the boy smirked at his friend, who grinned. Lily rolled her eyes and tried not to appear hurt by this remark. She turned back to the other boy.

"Yes, well I'm Lily. Nice to meet you." She said quietly. She shook his hand.

"I'm Remus Lupin." He said warmly, smiling at her. "Ignore my two friends there. They've had a bit too much pumpkin juice…" he joked. "This is James Potter," James nodded at Lily. "And that is Sirius Black." Remus added, gesturing to Sirius, who winked cheekily at Lily. Lily blushed.

"Hi," Lily said uncertainly, and James grabbed her hand and shook it before she had a chance to offer it.

"Well hello Lily dear, I must say it's a pleasure to meet you." he said, and released her hand. A moment later, Sirius grabbed her hand back and shook it as well.

"Yes indeed, my friend here is absolutely right. It's absolutely spiffing." He said in a mock posh accent.

"Anyway," Remus said again. "They are my friends. And our other friend, Peter, is about to be sorted…" here he trailed off and turned to look up at the front, where students were still being sorted.

"GRYFFINDOR!" cried the hat, and Peter ran happily over to James, Remus and Sirius.

"I'm in Gryffindor with you guys!" he said happily, sitting down on the other side of Remus.

James nodded. "I heard." He replied, smirking at Sirius again.

A few minutes later, Dumbledore rose from his seat and gave his welcome speech, ending with the words, "Tuck in!" Lily gasped as the great, long empty tables suddenly filled up with food; a huge banquet of every food imaginable.

Lily tuned out of the boys' conversation, too interested in eating everything in front of her. Eventually, she decided she'd had enough and leant back in her chair, James turned to her.

"So I guess you and your sister aren't that close, huh?" he asked, taking a swig of the drink in front of him. Lily peered into the goblet, trying to identify this mysterious liquid. James followed her gaze.

"It's pumpkin juice," he stated, by way of an explanation. Lily nodded, not sure whether to try a sip from her goblet or not. She suddenly remembered she had been asked a question.

"Right. Well, I thought we were close, but… Well, she just has a bad temper. That's all. We're great friends really," she said, not really believing it. James nodded, clearly not buying it either.

"Right. Well, if you ever want someone to jinx her," he began, trailing off. Lily raised an eyebrow at him. He winked. "If you ever want someone to cast an unpleasant spell on her, I'm your guy," he clarified. Lily smiled at him.

"Thanks," she said, cheerful again. She had made her first friend.

A/N: Well, a new story. Hope you enjoyed!