Lilly Luna Potter smiled slightly as they pulled up to Kings Cross station. Finally, after a terribly long summer, she was going back to Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry. Lilly could remember first arriving at the station three years ago when she was only a tiny first year. She had been so excited to be finally going to Hogwarts. As the youngest in the Potter-Weasly-Lupin clan (or the Golden Marauders as her brother James and her cousins Fred and Molly liked to call it), she was always babied at home by her mother and her various aunts. Going to Hogwarts was the first real taste of freedom she had ever had. Lilly knew her family didn't mean to baby her but ever since the system had been put in place everything was unsafe. The system was meant to keep the peace and order but in reality it just made people more hostile and more divided.
Fifteen years after the second wizarding war, the dark side began to rise again. Everyone feared another war so the Ministry of Magic passed a law that stated that every wizard and witch who had finished their education, had to declare his or her allegiance to either the side of the light, or the side of the dark. The law ripped families' apart and pitted brother against brother. The wizarding community of Britain was divided, quite literally. The eastern side of Wizarding Britain was where all members of the side of the light lived and the west was the same for the dark. Places like London and Hogwarts remained neutral, though London still tended to split into light areas and dark areas. Her father had been voted in as leader of the side of the light and he, and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, ran the side of the light as a democracy. The side of the dark, however, returned to the way it had been previously ran by Lord Voldermort and Draco Malfoy had stepped in and taken charge. All those she had spoken to at Hogwarts whose parents had decided to go dark, said that Draco Malfoy was a fair leader and, though he could be terrifying, was able to do what was right for everyone in the community.
At the end of last school year her brother had had to align and no one was surprised when James Sirius Potter decided to join the light side. Her father had been raising James to take over after he retired and would have been shocked if her brother had decided to join Draco Malfoy.
Lilly opened the door of the Potter's family car and walked around to the back of the car to get her trunk out the boot. Her brother Al came and stood next to her looking uninterested and bored. Lilly rolled her eyes playfully.
"Cheer up Al!" She said trying to sound as happy as possible knowing it would annoy her brother. "Aren't you excited to be going back to Hogwarts?" Her brother gave her a withering look that Lilly just laughed at.
Al was the complete opposite of James. Yes, they had the same hair. Yes, they had the same build but that was where the similarities ended. Al had their father's eyes but while Harry's were kind and soft, Al's were calculatingly cold. Al was a perfect Slytherin. He was ruthless, cunning, and vindictive and he wasn't afraid to make other's lives miserable. Especially Gryffindors.
Al all but refused to be in the same room as James let alone talk to him.
It had been this way since they had been little. James was always with their cousins Fred and Molly or with other children his age. Al didn't like people, even at a young age, and the only person he played with was Lilly who would follow him around like a lost puppy. Lilly had eventually grown out of this when Al went to Hogwarts, leaving her alone with only her parents for company. Al had become more distant to James and his parents once he had returned from Hogwarts but the bond he and Lilly had remained the same.
"Can't you see I'm trilled?" Al replied sarcastically walking to where their mother and father were standing. Lilly followed him and the four headed into the station together. Both of Lilly's parents were wearing muggle clothing but the four of them were still stared at by people passing by. The Potters had something about them that just made people stop and stare. With her father, James and Al it was their messy hair and toned body that drew stranger's attention to them, while with her mother it was the fact that Ginny Potter was gorgeous. Lilly was starting to look more like her mother as she got older and couldn't wait until she finally got curves.
Lilly knew that she'd grown up a lot over the summer. Her breasts had grown and she had started to get a more athletic build. Over the summer Lilly had discovered that she really enjoyed running. So every morning she would get up early and go for a run. Each time she ran further and further until she could run slightly over and hour without stopping.
Once the four of them went through the portal to the platform, Al immediately separated from them without saying a word to go find Scorpious Malfoy. Al and Scorpious had met on the train to Hogwarts when they were first years and had become best friends almost instantly. People were drawn to Scorpious as he was handsome and had extreme charisma but Scorpious only considered a few people as his friends, and her brother was one of them.
As Al walked away, Lilly could see hurt in her mothers eyes. Lilly knew that her mother blamed herself for the fact that Al was a Slytherin. Why? Lilly didn't know but she vividly remembered her mother crying when she had received Al's letter saying that he had been sorted into Slytherin.
Twenty years ago it wouldn't have been as much of a big deal but now being sorted into Slytherin, or even Gryffindor, practically determined the rest of your life. There was a saying that every student at Hogwarts knew to be true, "Gryffindors go to the light. Slytherin's go to the dark. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs are fifty-fifty." But though Lilly was a Ravenclaw she didn't have much of a choice either.
Al was going to go dark. Lilly knew it. Her parents knew it. James knew it. All her cousins knew it. Draco Malfoy knew it. Even Headmistress McGonagall knew it. And because of this if Lilly didn't go light it would look bad on her father. How could the leader of the side of the light have two out of three of his children go dark? One was bad enough but two? No she wouldn't do that to her father. She would go light and fight the darkness just as the rest of her family, save Al and Rose, would.
Lilly looked around the platform for any one of her many cousins. Since her mother had so many brothers she had in total 9 cousins, 4 of which who were still at Hogwarts. She scanned the crowd before spotting Rose standing with her mother talking to a few of her mother's old school friends. Lilly hurried over and wrapped Rose in a bear hug.
"Hello Rose." Lilly said, smiling at her cousin. She and Rose had always been close even with their two-year age difference. Rose was also a Slytherin along with Al and was part of Al and Scorpious's group. She had browny-blond curly hair like her mother and hazel eyes. Rose was very pretty and Lilly had always wanted to look like her growing up. These days Lilly was a lot more confident about her hair but she still wished her hair were a normal colour like brown or black instead of bright red.
"Hi Lilly! Looking forward to returning to Hogwarts?" Rose always looked so sweet and innocent but Lilly knew there was a dark side to her cousin; otherwise she would have been placed in Ravenclaw like her.
"Yes. To be honest I'm really looking forward to getting away from home. Everything's been far too tense and dad has been holding meeting every day with various people. I think I'm going to try out for the Quiditch team this year since James isn't around to stop me anymore." James had always been fiercely protective of her and playing quiditch wasn't exactly a great way to stay safe.
Rose snorted, "James needs to learn to mind his own business. And you should! Maybe Ravenclaw will have a chance of winning this year if you play."
"Oh! Hello Lilly dear!" Lavender Weasley said in surprise having not previously realised that her niece had been standing there. Her friends had all left to go and find their children and say goodbye before they left for the year. "How was your summer? Are your parents around here somewhere?" Her aunt pulled her into a tight hug.
"Hello Aunt Lav! They're just over there, talking to Neville and Luna Longbottom." Lilly said in response as she was released from the hug.
"Oh, I must go and say hello. Come see me before you get on the train, Rose." With that Lavender Weasley headed towards her parents, darting between families saying goodbye.
Lilly and Rose gave each other a knowing smile. Lavender Weasley was an optimistic woman and liked to believe that all was right with the world. And as long as his wife was happy, Lilly's uncle left her to it.
"Hello girls." A voice said from behind them. Turning around the two girls saw Hermione Granger smiling softly at them. Lilly rushed into her arms, giving her a tight hug. Lilly had always had a good relationship with Hermione and tended to call her Aunt Hermione rather than just Hermione.
"Aunt Hermione! What are you doing here? You never come to King's Cross!" Lilly said curiously. It was true; Hermione never came to King's Cross-, or even London for that matter, unless she absolutely had to.
"I have a meeting at the Ministry in twenty minutes so I figured I'd come and see you off before heading over there." Hermione said with a smile. Lilly smiled back but she could see unease in Hermione's eyes.
"Well it's great to see you." Lilly said. Hermione smiled at her before turning her head and looking to the right where more families were standing. Suddenly Hermione froze. Lilly turned and followed Hermione's gaze to see that Draco Malfoy was heading towards them.
"Excuse me girls but I have to get going." Hermione said, drawing them both into a hug. "Remember to write to me!" And with that Hermione Granger moved swiftly into the crowd of people.
Lilly gave Rose an odd look, which her cousin returned, but before they could speak Draco Malfoy was upon them. He looked very like his son, with pale blonde hair and grey stormy eyes.
"Rose, how was your summer?" Mr Malfoy said with a smirk. He knew Rose well as she spent a lot of time at Malfoy Manor but Lilly knew that Mr Malfoy terrified Rose.
"Good, though I'd rather have been at Hogwarts, Sir." Rose said without missing a beat. Being the Slytherin she was, Rose didn't let her true emotions show.
"Good, good." Mr Malfoy said, "Have you seen Albus by any chance? I need to speak with him urgently." He gave Lilly a sly look that she ignored. Being the true Malfoy he was, he took any opportunity to gloat about the fact that Albus was going to go dark rather than light.
"No, Sir I haven't." Rose said. "He's probably with Scorpious though, Sir."
"Thank you for your help Miss Weasley." Mr Malfoy said, still wearing that annoying smirk. "I hope you have a good year at Hogwarts and I look forward to seeing you next summer." With that Mr Malfoy walked off in the direction in which Al headed as they entered the platform.
"He hates me." Lilly stated, bluntly.
"I don't think he hates you. I think he hates your family which, looking at it from his perspective, is quite understandable." Rose said, pinning a piece of hair to the back of her head.
"I guess you're right." Lilly admitted quietly. "Anyway, I have to go find mum and dad before I get on the train."
"Will you come and sit in our compartment? I could do with some female company." Rose asked. Lilly hesitated. It wasn't that she didn't want to sit with Rose but rather that she didn't want to sit with Scorpious. He made her uncomfortable.
"I don't know, I mean, Albus won't want his little sister sitting with his friends. I think it would be better if I didn't." Lilly hoped that would be enough for Rose to just drop the subject but unfortunately her cousin didn't.
"I don't care what Al wants. I really want you to come sit with me. Please, it'll be fun!" Rose said. Lilly knew she was fighting a loosing battle. When Rose wanted something she often got it, no matter what it was.
"Ok, fine. Just let me go say goodbye to my parents." If Rose had been in any other house but Slytherin she would have squealed and hugged her.
Lilly headed back over towards her parents and told them that she was going to board the train. She hugged each of her parents and picked up her trunk and started towards the train when her mother stopped her.
"Wait, Lilly! Have you seen Albus? I wanted to say goodbye before he left." Lilly could feel her heart break a little at the desperation in her mother's voice. Lilly shook her head.
"Sorry, Mum. I think he already boarded the train." Lilly kissed her mother's cheek once more before turning back towards the train and walking over to where Rose was standing.
The two girls boarded the train and put their trunks away before heading along the corridor looking for the compartment that contained Lilly's brother, Scorpious Malfoy, Jonathan Nott and Marcus Flint. Jr.
The four boys and Rose had been close friends since the very first day of Hogwarts where they were all put into Slytherin together. There was only two other girls in Slytherin who were Rose's age and she hated the both. Rose much more preferred to spend her time with the boys.
As they neared the back of the train, Rose suddenly stopped and opened a compartment on the left hand side of the train. The four boys sat talking amongst themselves as the girls walked in. As soon as Lilly entered the compartment all conversation stopped. Lilly couldn't help herself from blushing. Due to all the running she had done over the summer, Lilly had become a lot more attractive.
Lilly sat down next to her brother who simply smiled at her and conversation continued. Rose was seated opposite her in deep conversation with Marcus. Al and Jonathon were talking which only left her and Scorpious Malfoy sitting in silence. Suddenly Malfoy, who was sitting on the other side of her brother, spoke up.
"Al, switch seats with me if you're not going to speak with me. I'd much rather be able to talk to your sister than be stuck looking out the window." He said and Lilly felt her heart skip a beat. She really didn't want to sit next to Scorpious Malfoy and silently begged her brother to refuse. But her brother just rolled his eyes and stood up to switch places with his friend. Scorpious slid along the booth until he was sitting far too close for Lilly's liking.
The boys and Rose continued talking while Lilly just watched. She could feel Scorpious eyes burning holes into the side of he head every now again but forced herself not to turn and face him. After about an hour Lilly decided she was sick of it.
"Are you going to talk to me at all or just continue staring?" She asked, looking him in the eye. Scorpious's eyes were filled with amusement as he smirked at her. He looked a lot like his father at this particular moment.
"I'd rather stick to staring, if that's alright." He replied, raising an eyebrow, "But if you would like to talk to me that's absolutely fine." Lilly rolled her eyes.
"Right, okay you creep. How was your summer?" Lilly asked, pretending to be interested. Scorpious snorted.
"Come on Lilly, you can do better than that. I'm sure you can think of something more…personal to ask me than the general 'How was your summer?'" This time it was Lilly's turn to raise one eyebrow at him (a skill she had mastered over the summer).
"Such as?" She asked. Scorpious leaned towards her. Lilly gulped. He was extremely good looking. Even better looking up close than from afar.
"You look gorgeous right now, did you know that?" Scorpious said, staring into her eyes intently. Lilly had to stop herself from blushing. Instead she rolled her eyes and turned away.
"Flattery will get you no where." Lilly said coolly. Looking around the compartment, Lilly was relieved to see that none of the other Slytherins had noticed what had passed between her and Scorpious. Or at least they all pretended not to notice, She stood up. "Well, I best be going. Jen and Sarah are probably waiting for me." She gave Rose a hug and glanced at Scorpious one more before she exited the compartment.
Lilly let out a long, heavy sigh. She had a feeling that Hogwarts this year was going to be a hell of a lot different.
Hey! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter and if you want me to continue please let me know!