School Days
Moony
Yay. I want to write this fic. And I hope I don't take forever to finish it. And I'll try to make it longer. Yes, I will write this along with We're Not A Couple, since more people are waiting on that one. So yeah. Well... I hope you like it.
Chapter 1: Four New Wizards and a Witch
James Potter sat at the kitchen table, eating a bowl of cereal and buttered toast. He yawned, and barely made out what his mother was saying.
"It's almost the start of the traditional Hogwarts school year! Oh I do hope James will get his owl soon!" she exclaimed, flustered.
Mr. Potter laughed and said, "Now, now, Anna, there is a chance our little boy is a squib. Don't get your hopes up!"
"He is not!" Mrs. Potter said indignantly, "Remember what he did with that toy wand at three! Or how well he can fly?"
"I was joking Anna."
"I don't like that joke at all!"
"Mum!" James whined, irritated. Of course he would go to Hogwarts. He was going to be on the Quidditch team!
At that precise moment, an owl flew in, and dropped an envelope in front of James. His mother jumped excitedly.
"Who is it from dear? What does it say?"
James grinned widely.
"Mammy! It's a Hogwarts letter!"
"Oh I knew you would go! I knew it!" she cried.
"We all did, you were the only one overexcited about it," Mr. Potter replied.
"When do we go to Diagon Alley?" James asked.
James had visited Diagon Alley only once, and he had loved it. All the shops with wonderful things! He couldn't wait to go again!
"Tomorrow, dear," his mother said kindly.
"Hooray!" James shouted.
He couldn't wait to go!
"SIRIUS BLACK! WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!" a shrill voice shouted.
Sirius groaned and pulled the covers over his head, muttering, "Shut up you old hag!"
Regulus sauntered to his bed.
"You better get up, Sirius."
Sirius pretended to be asleep.
"Sirius."
Sirius kicked him.
"Sirius, I have something you would really want."
Sirius didn't care. It was probably nothing.
"It's your Hogwarts letter. It came while you were sleeping."
Sirius bolted up. His Hogwarts letter? His ticket out of the 'noble house of Black'? He made a grab for the envelope.
"Give it to me!"
"No," Regulus said simply.
"Give it to me Regulus... or else I'll..."
Regulus wheeled around and ran.
With a roar, Sirius jumped out of bed and shouted, "You know I'm faster than you Regulus!"
He tore after him. He needed that letter.
With a tackle, he grabbed the letter.
"Aha!" he said triumphantly, and left Regulus lying on the floor.
"SIRIUS!!!! GET DOWN HERE NOW!!!!!"
He sighed, walking as slow as possible down the stairs. Regulus finally managed to scramble after him, trying to get the letter, but Sirius had won. He was much taller than Regulus.
Regulus gave up and hurried for a seat at the table.
"Good morning Regulus!" Mrs. Black said kindly.
"Good morning Mammy!" Regulus chirped.
Sirius walked in and muttered, "Good morning fat ugly hag."
He took his seat.
Mrs. Black slid a few slices of burnt toast while she gave Regulus a nice fried egg, bacon, beautiful toast and a glass of orange juice. Sirius ate his toast grumpily, then stole the bacon. Regulus made to say 'Hey!', but Sirius gave him a hard dig in the ribs.
Suddenly, Mrs. Black snapped, "What's that?"
Regulus looked up, "What Mammy?"
"Not you, honey dear, what Sirius has in his hand. WHAT IS IT?"
"It's his Hogwarts letter Mammy."
Mrs. Black's eyes gleamed.
"Hogwarts letter? Sirius dear! You're going to Hogwarts!"
Sirius nearly choked on his toast. She had called him dear. Even Regulus's eyes widened in surprise.
"You're not a squib! Well, we must go to Diagon Alley first thing tomorrow! And you may get a present there, Regulus," she said.
Regulus smiled, satisfied.
Sirius smiled too.
"I'm finally getting out of here!"
Remus Lupin stared out his window. He knew it was almost the beginning of a Hogwarts school year. His mum, a witch, had told him so. He knew he wasn't going to go. He couldn't. In his condition as a werewolf, no school would want him. He probably wouldn't even make friends. But oh how he wanted to go! He wanted to learn! He rolled over, tears sliding from his eyes. It wasn't fair!
"Remus? Remie dear?" the kind voice of his mother came singing through the door. Remus sniffed and wiped his eyes.
"Come in Mum."
"What's the matter? You have been crying!"
Remus sighed.
"Mum, I'll never be able to go to Hogwarts! Or learn magic! Never! I want to go so badly! But I... I can't! I'll never go!" he sobbed.
"There, there, Remus. I'll teach you everything."
Remus sniffed.
"It's not the same. I want friends Mamma. I want to be able to watch Quidditch games, and see the common room and everything. I want to go to Hogwarts!"
Mrs. Lupin stroked the head of his son.
"It's ok, you'll go to another magic school someday."
"It's not the same, I wanna go to Hogwarts," he sniffed.
And owl flew into the room and landed on Remus's lap. His eyes widened in surprise. Who would write to him? He gingerly took the letter and gasped at the letters written in green. It was to him! It had the Hogwarts seal!
"Mamma!" he cried, flapping the letter in front of her, "Mamma!"
"Open it dear!" Mrs. Lupin cried, excitedly.
He slid his nail under the seal and opened it, reading the letter.
"I'm going to Hogwarts Mamma! I'm going to Hogwarts!"
The tears dried instantly.
"I'm really going to Hogwarts!"
But then his heart lurched. Why would they accept him? Didn't they know. It was a mistake. It was most certainly a mistake. He sat down sullenly.
"Mamma, it's a mistake. It's got to be a mistake."
"Now who says that? Don't get your hopes down! It says Remus Lupin on it, doesn't it? And doesn't it have our address? We don't have another Remus Lupin in this house. It must be you."
"But what about when I transform every month?"
"I'm sure the Headmaster will figure that out. He's a very wise man, very kind too, Dumbledore."
Remus sighed happily.
"I'm going to Hogwarts Mamma! I can't believe it!"
"You should believe it. We will go get your supplies tomorrow. Let me tell your father the good news!"
Remus sat on his bed, looking at the parchment in his hands. He was going to be a wizard!
Peter Pettigrew sat despairingly at the kitchen table. He was a squib, he knew it. He was too clumsy and had never shown signs of having magic. He was definitely a squib. He had told his parents this, and they had scolded him and replied that, "Of course you're not a squib!"
But Peter heard the uncertainty in their voice. He looked desperately at his pancakes, desperately hoping for a letter, while his parents sat in the living room, reading magazines.
Suddenly an owl flew in.
Could it be?
No, it was probably a letter for Mum and Dad. But he looked at the letter, it said Peter Pettigrew. He couldn't believe what he was seeing! He took the letter from the owl and opened it, hope building up.
Dear Peter Pettigrew,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
That one line, and he did not read the rest. He burst into the living room.
"MUM! DAD! I GOT INTO HOGWARTS! I'M NOT A SQUIB!" he yelled happily.
His parents hugged him, and his mother said, "Now what did I tell you? Of course you're not a squib!"
"Can we go to Diagon Alley tomorrow?"
"Of course we can honey!"
In his mind, he was singing, I'm going to Hogwarts! I'm not a squib!
Lily Evans was reading a book – as always. She was reading a book called The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Her favorite librarian at the library, Mrs. Marks, had recommended it to her, and Lily was fascinated. The magic was wonderful.
"Wouldn't it be nice, Petunia, if there was magic in the real world?" she asked.
Petunia looked at her sharply.
"No it wouldn't. The real world is a place without that hogwash called magic. If there were magic, it would be just stupid and freakish."
Lily sighed. She didn't know why she bothered to tell Petunia, "You're so plain and boring!" she groaned, and started reading again.
Somehow, she knew there was magic somewhere. She would just have to find it. Like Lucy did! Could it be possible her wardrobe led to a different kind of Narnia? She put the book aside and went to her wardrobe and walked to the very back of it. She hit solid wall. She groped her way and tried to feel a door, but there was none. To her great disappointment, it was a regular wardrobe. She sighed. She guessed Petunia was right. It wasn't possible magic could happen in the real world.
Lily retreated back to the family room and read on. Her mother came in with a plate of sandwiches.
"Lunch! Eat up!" she said sweetly, her blonde hair swishing.
"Thanks Mum!" Lily said, grabbing an egg salad sandwich eagerly. But Petunia said,
"Ugh... egg salad Mom? Do you know how much fat is in egg salad? Why didn't you make turkey sandwich or something? I'm trying to lose weight!"
Lily rolled her eyes.
"Oh my goodness Petunia. It won't kill you," Lily groaned.
"Um, if I don't lose weight, people won't notice me!"
"Oh gosh, as if boys notice you already. No one would notice you!"
"You dare! I have a boyfriend you know!"
"Yeah, some ugly beefy guy named Vernon. I glimpsed him once. Ugly thing if you ask me. No neck, fat. He looks like a pig in a wig. If that's the best you can get to notice you, I say, you're not gonna get some famous movie star to notice you."
"Lily – you!"
"I what?" Lily asked coolly.
Petunia fumed. Her weakness was when people didn't cower under her, and Lily was pro at that. Petunia simply took a sandwich, closed her eyes, as if the world was going to end, and chewed.
"Oh dear Petunia! The world's gonna end! You just took a bite out of an egg salad sandwich!" she said sarcastically.
"That's enough out of you young lady," her mother said, then turned to Petunia, "And you, she is right. Egg salad won't kill you. Now I want you to eat at least three sandwiches, you hear?"
Petunia looked in horror at her mother.
"Three?! Do you know how many pounds I'll gain eating those three sandwiches Mother?!"
"Oh I don't know, 200 I guess?" Lily retorted.
"LILY!" Petunia yelled.
Lily loved to be in control of her sister, by age 11, she had been living with her her whole life, and she knew exactly what bothered her. She was starting to get pretty good at sarcasm too.
Suddenly, an owl flew in and landed on her lap. Petunia screamed.
"Mother! AN OWL! I bet Lily planned this just to scare me!"
"Now Petunia, I'm sure Lily couldn't plan for an owl to just fly in. Owls are very rare here. Did you however, plan this Lily?"
"No, I couldn't train an owl to fly in here precisely at the right moment!"
"There, you see, it's impossible. Now shoo the owl away Lily."
"Wait Mamma, there's a letter on his leg."
She untied the letter. It was addressed to her. She opened it, wondering who would write to her and send it by owl.
She read the first line.
"Oh my goodness!"
"What? What is it?" Mrs. Evans asked.
"Mother, it says I've been accepted into a magic school, something called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Petunia gave a shrill laugh.
"You're lying. Reading that silly book has really affected your brain. There's no such thing as magic!"
"See for yourself if you don't believe me."
Lily shoved the letter into Petunia's open hands. She read it with narrow eyes.
"Oh this is absurd. You're smart Lily, but you're not smart enough for me. You obviously planned this."
"I'm not! It's a real letter that I got from this school!"
"Give it here, Petunia," Mrs. Evans said.
Petunia scowled and handed the letter to Mrs. Evans.
"Oh my word," Mrs. Evans whispered as she read the letter.
"It's like in those storybooks, Mamma. When you get invited to a special, magical school!"
"Lily... have you ever known you were a witch?" Mrs. Evans asked.
"No! Of course not! If I knew, well, Petunia would've been a frog by now."
"I must say, I don't believe this is true..."
"Oh come on Mother," Lily moaned.
"And I have no idea where we can get these supplies. A wand? Dragonskin gloves? They don't sell them in the market square."
Lily protested,
"But at the bottom, it says if you don't know anything about the wizardry and witch stuff, then a representative can come, you just have to ask for one by letter and tie it to the owl."
"The owl? I've heard of carrier pigeons, but owls?"
"Well I guess that's way they do it in the wizarding world."
"I still can't say, I'd rather you not go to some market square selling strange items and with a complete stranger."
"It's all right Mamma."
"All this witchcraft and wizardry stuff is so freakish. I always knew you were a freak, Lily, "Petunia exclaimed.
"Eat your egg salad sandwiches," Lily snapped, "You're the freak."
"I can't believe this. We're going to have magic in our family."
"I know, isn't it wonderful Mamma?"
"It certainly is. Why I never thought it existed. I only have a problem."
"Oh now what?"
"It's a boarding school..."
"I'll visit over the holidays, and I'll write, I promise."
"Oh no!" Petunia said, "No sending any owls here!"
"I'm sorry Petunia, I don't think there's any other way Lily can send letters, and I'd like letters from Lily," Mrs. Evans said.
"I HATE THIS!" Petunia screamed and ran up the stairs.
Lily neither cared nor paid attention. All she thought of was, I'm magic! I'm a witch! I'm going to a magic school!