Sparks and Water
By: Phoebe Hughes
Chapter One; Friends
"Look!" called Lily, as she and her parents entered into platform 9 and 3/4.
"Yes, well, there isn't much time left hon., go put your things on the train then come out and say bye."
Turning around, Lily began dragging her trunk on to the train. The big steam engine was just starting to rumble. Lily, glancing down at her watch, hopped off the train and walked lightly over to her parents. Only ten minutes until the train would depart. Taking lily away for her first year of magical education. Never before had she even dared dream of going to boarding school. But, now here she was going to the finest magical institute in the country, and free of charge at that. However much Lily had wanted to go to a boarding school for Muggle's, there was no way it could have happened, because her parents wouldn't have been able to pay for it.
As she embraced her mom, Lily heard a snort behind her. Ugh. She had almost forgotten her sister. Petunia. Nose in the air and not caring for the world what she said or did to offered anyone, she was standing gawking at people as the passed by, in their flowing wizards robes. Petunia had been mortified when Lily had come home with such garments. All black as was the dress code for Hogwarts. With her many books robes and other odds and ends, Lily had become a plague for her sister. They had never been terribly close, but now that Lily was leaving, Petunia had been avoiding her more and more.
When Lily had gone to her the night before her departure Petunia had been flat out rude. Marking Lily as an abnormality and monstrosity in her perfect, normal life. Petunia had told her not to write. That she wasn't her sister anymore.
Needless to say this had affected Lily. Perhaps not as much as some 11-year-old girls might have, but still. As they say, it is the thought that counts. Nothing was going to get in the way of Lily Evans as she charged through the barrier of her old world and into a new one.
As her mom released her, she looked up and saw the pride glowing off her mother's pretty face. Lily looked up to her dad, and saw the same look, staring adoringly at her. There was so much that they would never be able to know about, and that bridge between their worlds now, and as much as she would want to, Lily knew that there was no way to close that gap.
Lily's father hugged her close, and as he mumbled random words of encouragement to her, she felt the scared feeling ebbing away, like a slow moving tide. Looking over at her sister, she saw her with a pug nose face, and a scowl that could only be matched by the evil witch of the west.
Petunia looked at Lily, scowl still in place, and said, "Its almost 11".
"Yes, yes it is dear, hurry now dear".
Turning away again, Petunia began staring at the blank wall again. With one last look at her, Lily hugged each of her parents in turn, and then with one beseeching look at Petunia, turned and went back into her compartment on the Hogwarts express.
She looked out the window, and saw her smiling parents one last time before the Express rounded the corner and headed out of the platform. Turning, Lily looked around the compartment. Red worn down seats, and wood frames around windows that had fresh smudge marks. This train must me old, Lily though, as she gazed around the little room.
In the middle of her thoughts there was a little rap on the glass paneled window, and a girl, about Lily's height of four foot eleven with deep brown eyes and rusty blond hair shyly entered the room, saying as she did so, "Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full".
"Not at all!" replied Lily excited that someone wanted to sit with her. Standing up, she helped the girl drag her large, excessively heavy trunk on to the rack, and store it there.
Breathing slightly heavier than normal, both girls sat down opposite each other, and smiled. The awkwardness was starting to set in. Mentally shaking herself Lily said to the girl, "My names Lily, I will be in first year."
"Emma, same. Do you know what house you will be in?"
"Houses?"
"Oh, you must be from a muggle family." Lily could tell that this wasn't met to be rude, but there was something about being treated like an outsider that didn't appeal to her.
Sensing the uncomfortable state her comment had left Lily in, Emma elaborated, "Well, there are four houses total. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Gryffindor's are supposed to be really brave, Ravenclaw's are the smart ones, Hufflepuff's are kind and honest, and Slytherin's are cunning. My father said that he would never forgive me if was put in there. He said that that all the mean kids who turn out to be Death Eaters are put"
Nodding her understanding, Lily recalled what she had read about in the wizarding newspaper, the Daily Prophet, about the magical war that was starting. It wasn't in all honesty something that had really bothered Lily. And after hearing someone talk about it so cavalierly, Lily wondered how big a threat it was going to have on her. Even now, as she was going to the safest place for anyone to be. Hogwarts.
"I think I want to be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. They sound like the best places. I did always do well, when I was in school." Lily said this in a musing voice, and as she looked back at Emma, she saw someone who she could trust. Call it an instinct; she just knew that they were going to be friends. And slowly but surely, as the two got to talk, they found that they had many things in common.
As it got farther into the afternoon, Lily and Emma got things from the food cart, and began a heated conversation about fashion. Lily wasn't all to thrilled about having to wear the robes, but when Emma pulled out her witch magazine, lily, saw more and more of the fashion that she was now a part of. There wasn't much that could be said or having to wear long black robes, but when Lily saw some of the carefree dress robes, and then even some witches in long, formal dresses that still had a magical air about them, she wasn't thinking to poorly of the wizarding worlds fashion taste.
It was about four thirty as they were looking at fancy eyewear, when a rap and the compartment door had their heads snapping up in unison. A tall boy with messy black hair and hazel be spectacled eyes walked in, followed by another boy with slightly longer deep brown hair with gray eyes. Both were good looking, for eleven year olds. Lily had to give them that.
" And to what do we owe this great honor?" Said Emma, who clearly had been thinking along the same lines as Lily. "Oh, just seeing what the wind blew in", was the want to be soave remark.
This had come from the boy with black hair and glasses. He smiled at Lily and asked, "And your name?"
"Lily Evans, and this is Emma Stuart. We are both first years, as I presume you are too."
"Well, you presume right." Said the gray-eyed boy. "I'm Sirius Black, and this is James Potter. Who you seem to have stunned."
And sure enough James Potter was staring open mouthed at Lily. There wasn't much to be said for this, and having snapped back to life at the sound of his name, James turned to Emma, and said, "We will just be on our way then…" Sirius had raised his eyebrows at this; he just smiled and retreated with James.
"What odd boys", was all Emma could say.
"Hmm, anyways, what were you saying about the blue robes, before we were so rudely interrupted", continued Lily, turning back to the mag that they had been discussing.
As the train slowed to a halt at the station, Lily and Emma both looked at each other nervously as they clamored off, and into the chaos that had students of all ages going every which way. Just then, as Lily turned to Emma with wide eyes, she heard a voice boom over the bubble of talk, "First years! This way. First years over here!" Spinning on the spot, Lily saw a man so big he had to be part giant, and with a crazy mane of tangled coarse black hair.
Walking over to where the rest of the first years were congregating Lily saw here emotions playing out on many others faces. Fear, excitement, anxiety. The pack started making their way down to the shore of a humongous inky looking lake, rightly named as Lily found out later, the Black Lake. Staring across its expanse, she spotted some 20 odd boats with lanterns in them, presumably to take them across the lake, and up to Hogwarts.
Lily and Emma clambered into one, and a scared looking, rather pale boy with sandy brown hair, and another boy that had light blond curls joined them. Each smiled at each other in turn, but none could miss the fear of what was to come.
Everything was forgotten, as the little boats started moving. Hagrid (as they now new the giant man to be called) told them to duck, and hold on at times as they traveled across the lake. After a little bit of time had passed, he called to them and told them to look ahead. Their first glimpse of Hogwarts was here!
It was nothing like Lily had every imagined, and she had done a lot of that after getting her letter. With the towers and great stonewalls, well, it was just out of a fairy tale! There wasn't much more to say about it. Trying to think of ways to describe this to her parents in letters was going to be difficult, she could barely comprehend what she was thinking in her own mind.
All too soon the lights of Hogwarts were close and the looming walls were near enough to touch. They were all getting out of the boats, and then moving towards the big oak doors, where once inside a stern lady who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher, greeted them.
"Shortly you will enter the Great Hall, and partake in the sorting ceremony. The sorting hat will be placed on each of your heads, determining which house you will call home for your seven years at Hogwarts. Your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn your points, any rule breaking, and you will loose points. Wait here, and I will come when we are ready for you."
And with that she swept from the room, leaving all of the first years in a rather stunned silence. Emma and Lily looked at each other with unblinking eyes. Their fear was peaking now, and Lily started taking deep breaths. James Potter, the boy from the train, and Sirius Black, his grey eyed companion, had both started talking in light, audible whispers.
"My dad had said that Gryffindor's are the best. That's where I want to be."
"Slytherin is where my parents want me. Upholding the family traditions etcetera. Naturally I want to go against their wishes."
Lily turned to Emma, and said, "Ravenclaw looks to be where I want to go!"
"Same here. Anywhere away from those two sounds like the best".
Naturally this was all said in a very quiet whisper, because everyone was so nervous that they didn't want anyone to think they were too cocky.
Suddenly McGonagall returned to the first years and lead them into the Great Hall. Gulping Lily followed in after Emma, and as she walked, stared openmouthed at the ceiling. It was like being outside under the stars! The ceiling, well, there really wasn't any ceiling anymore, now was there? But there had to be. This awestruck trance that Lily was in helped her get all the way to the front of the room, where a three-legged stool sat with a tattered pointed hat.
As soon as all the students we assembled, the hall fell silent and the brim of the hat opened and started to sing. Lily listened attentively like everyone else, and when the hat finished McGonagall brought forth a list and started calling names.
"Adams, Miranda!" A small girl with short fine blond hair stumbled towards the hat. As soon as the hat touched her head it shouted, "Hufflepuff!"
"Antonito, John." Thirty seconds later the hat shouted again, "Ravenclaw!"
Everything carried along in this vain for some time, until "Evans, Lily!" She gulped. Emma gave her a little shove forward, and Lily stumbling over her own feet, started towards the stool.
After what seemed like ages, she reached McGonagall, who put the hat on her head. Immediately everything went dark, and Lily heard a voice that she presumed to be the hat.
"Hmm, smart yes, brave too no doubt. But where to put you?"
Anything but Slytherin.
"Yes well, better be GRYFONDOR!" the hat shouted out to the whole hall.
Whipping the hat off her head, Lily bounded down to the table that was cheering the loudest for her. When she sat down, there were many pats on the back, and shaking of hands. Nothing was going to get in her way!
Of course, Emma was still standing up in front, and Lily was hoping beyond hope that she was sorted in with her. But there were still a lot of students still up there with her, and time seemed to be going ever so slowly at the moment.
After many other students had been sorted it came to Emma. Like it had been with a few other students, the split second that the hat hit her head, it shouted "GRYFONDOR!" Emma came over and sat next to Lily, getting the same response as she had done. Now, looking around the table, Lily saw James Potter and Sirius Black, another girl who was named Jess, and two other boys who she didn't know.
At this point there were just five students left, with only two girls. The first, named Amanda was sorted into Slytherin, and the other—Lindsay—was sitting next to Emma in the course of minutes. The final first year to be sorted was named Christopher, and he became a Ravenclaw. Now that the sorting was over, Lily began to notice her hunger. Willing her stomach to stay silent, she turned to look up at the head table where the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore was now standing.
He began to speak, and first off welcomed everyone to another year at Hogwarts. The list of rules, and most importantly, never to go into the Forbidden Forest. What that meant, Lily could only guess, but it was something, after all, that she would find out eventually she supposed.
"And now, tuck in!" concluded Dumbledore.
Before Lily's eyes, mountains of food appeared on the previously empty golden platters. Staring wide-eyed, she looked along the table towards the older students. They all had started taking food, and talking to friends they hadn't seen all summer. Looking over to where the first years were now sitting, they saw that too had started taking food.
Emma looked over to her and nudged her saying, "Come on Lily, eat! You know your hungry."
She was right after all, so Lily grabbed the nearest chicken leg, potatoes and green beans. There was so much conversation going on around her that there was absolutely no time to be board. And after taking a few bites, she turned to Emma who was now talking to the girl named Lindsay.
The girl had thick brown hair and deep blue eyes, everything about her screamed super model. Shaking herself, Lily leaned over and introduced herself.
"Hi! I'm Lily Evans." She said with a kind smile over at Lindsay.
"Lindsay Knolls." The brunette said with a smile. "Are you excited to start lessons?"
"Yes! I can't wait. I was looking over my textbooks at home, and there was so much that we have to learn! But I am a, as Emma said, Muggleborn, and so there were some things that I totally didn't understand."
"Me too. My dad's a wizard, but my mum's a muggle, so I never really understood some of the things my dad did, and of course mum couldn't explain them to me, because she didn't know either."
"Well," said Emma, "It looks like I am going to have a lot of explaining to do!"
Just then there was a burst of loud laughter from farther down the long table. "Oh. Its them." Said Lily. "Ugh" muttered Emma. "They are so obnoxious."
"Umm, who are they and why do you know that?"
"We met them on the train. Totally just waltzed into our compartment. And they are good looking too. But total assess, so that negates their looks." Lily said in a loud whisper. "But I don't know who they think they are! I mean, like really? Who walks around like they own the place like they did."
Emma and Lindsay looked at each other. Well, they knew that there was already three people in their class that didn't like each other, and they barely knew their names. "Lily! You don't even know them, how can you say things like that?" Said Lindsay.
"Emma, you were there too. It was like that huh?"
"Well, yeah, at first, but that James dude just started staring at you. And then I told them to leave us alone, and they went quietly."
"Hmm. Well Lily, I think that you should just give them one chance, just to make your final opinion on them ya?"
"OK. One chance. Your right. We are in the same house after all. I can't just start out hating people right off the bat." Lily consented.
"That's my girl!" Said Emma.
The girls had already started becoming fast friends, and as people started leaving for bed, they looked around when someone with a shiny Prefect badge came their way.
"This way to the dorms!" She said.
Everyone was trooping along behind her, and when the finally got to the seventh floor, the Prefect stopped in front of a portrait of a robust lady dressed in a nice pink evening gown. Giving the pass word, "floating flowers", they all entered in.
"This is the Gryffindor common room. Here you can do homework or chat with friends. Girls, your dormitory is upstairs to your right, boys the staircase to the right is yours. Your room will be marked so you won't have any trouble finding that. All of your things have already brought up; you will find them in order. Oh, and gentlemen, don't try to go up the girls staircase. It doesn't work all that well. Every year there is someone who tries it, you would think that they would figure it out but no." With that she turned and left them to go up to their rooms.
James and Sirius along with the two boys who Lily had found out were called Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew started up to the staircase to the right, and soon they had disappeared from view.
"Well, I suppose we should go up," said Lily after a moment.
"Have you ever seen such a big fireplace?" asked Lindsay.
Emma was the first to reply as Lily just shook her head. "I remember by father telling me about how it was when he was at school. They are going to be so proud! But I am so tired, that writing to them will have to wait until morning."
As Emma had been talking Lily had started thinking about the following day, and what it would bring.
All of them were tired when they went into the dorm, and after changing quickly they all fell asleep quickly. Not knowing what the next day would bring.