Quiet was not something that she was really accustomed to, truthfully, it was something that came around only once a year. It was always at the same time, on the same day. An odd annual moment to remind her that things were constantly moving forward in a way she was not sure she was entirely prepared for.

11:07am on September 1st. It was the same each year, she'd drop off her eldest child to attend school once more, knowing that the time before she saw them again would seem like a lifetime, that when he returned to her, he would have changed slightly once more, gone were the days of cherub like rosy cheeks and cloaks that were just slightly too long with "he'll grow into them" excuses. 11:07am on September 1st, it was the moment without fail she returned home, forcing herself to become accustomed to this change. Before her other children would shatter it after a few moments, the shock subsiding after bidding their brother farewell once again – the first time it had lasted a full hour. Not this day, not this 11:07am on September 1st. She looked around the living room she had stepped into and felt the silence more then she heard it; it was the stillness in the atmosphere, the lack of curiosity that flew like baby birds leaving the nest for the first time, in short burst of fleeting panic and uncertainty but an underlying determination – as only the young could manage.

Taking a deep breath, she inhaled the calm, treasuring it for a moment, before feeling the deep pang of longing. She wanted the noise, the rush, the busyness of a house full of children.

Finally she drew herself together and with a great effort moved forward, perhaps this time it was not just the apparent loss of her children, but something worse, something darker. Finding herself in the large kitchen of the family home, she placed a metal kettle on the stove, turning it on until the small orange flames licked at the bottom of the metal. She moved without thought, setting about making herself a cup of tea. She barely noticed the owl that appeared at the kitchen window, but after repeated clicking of its beak against the window, threatening to crack the glass, she jolted to reality and promptly let the creature in through the window. Perching on the window sill it dropped the letter that had been help within its beak, before hooting once and turning, not waiting for her to read it.

Turning the yellowing envelope over in her hands her eyes scanned the address.

Cora Potter

Kitchen

12 Swan Lane

Chudleigh

Devon

Reading her name and address, Cora turned the envelope over once more and looked at the red wax seal, she knew it well. Hogwarts it read beneath the emblem of a lion, snake, eagle and badger. Slipping her finger beneath the flap, she broke the seal and opened it, pulling form it a yellowing piece of parchment.

They are on the train, under my protection.

There was no signature or name, but there needn't have been, for she knew that handwriting, it was a relief to see. All the tension she'd been carrying in her body suddenly dispersed as she got that line of confirmation and promise. The sudden whistle of the kettle boiling made her jump, which in turn made her laugh at herself, grateful for the sudden lack of silence as she placed the letter on the counter top, and finished making her cup of tea. She took a tentative first sip, relishing the taste of hot tea, helping to settle her frayed nerves.

Unable to help herself, her eyes flittered back to the letter on the counter, looking so very innocent, but knowing there was so much more behind that piece of parchment.

"Look after them Albus."


"Was that really necessary?" A female voice asked pointedly, the female in question looked around the compartment that she was stood in; they were on a train, specifically The Hogwarts Express, on their journey to their school, Hogwarts, for the year. Usually this was a chaotic journey, even at the best of times. Between a bunch of new students, first years, who didn't really know what to suspect and a large group of magical teenagers all confined to a small space after not having seen each other for a summer – well it didn't lend itself to being a calm relaxing time. "I know you're excited James, but really, running through the train screaming like a banshee. Someone asked me if there'd been a murder."

"But Kate, it wasn't-" James tried to respond, before cutting himself off and crossing his arms over his chest, glaring at the girl before him, Kate. She was taller than him, older too, they both had ebony black hair and skin that was the exact same shade, not pale but not tanned either, sun kissed. "You won't tell mum will you?" The boy named James gritted out, almost grudgingly. "Or dad?"

"No, James, I won't tell mum and dad," Kate sighed, wiping a hand over her forehead. James was eleven years old, it was his first time on the Hogwarts Express, he was excited, she knew that much, but he was young and didn't see any consequence to his actions beyond their mother and father telling him off, at worst getting sent to bed without dinner. It wouldn't be like that now. He knew that, but she knew that he just needed time to adjust. He'd not really done anything wrong, but there was a lot he didn't know. "And I won't tell your parents either Black, but you two need to calm it down a bit. And for Merlin's sake, Black stay away from your cousin, she's a sixth year who knows more curses then you, no need to upset her."

With poorly hidden grins on their faces, the two boys looked at each other, before looking back at Kate and nodding their heads in unison. She knew in that moment that they were going to be more trouble than any of the professors at Hogwarts were ready for. With a final sigh, Kate disappeared from the room, leaving the two boys behind her, to snicker between them.

"Sirius, I don't think I've ever seen anyone so angry before!" James laughed, his hazel eyes bright as he looked towards the boy Kate had called Black – he was Sirius Black, with hair as dark as his name and an air about him of cheeky arrogance. He wasn't much like any other boy James had met, well, not their age. He liked him instantly.

"Narcissa is always like that," Sirius assured James, looking equally amused as they sat down on the seats that lined the side of the compartment. "She's far too stuck up her own butt. Really, it's her own fault, if she weren't such a girl then maybe there'd be no reason to wind her up." It was sound reasoning as far as James was concerned, after all, if she was going to react in exactly that way Sirius had assured him she would, well, it was basically like asking for it, really. "Anyway, it's not like we did anything bad… I just didn't expect her to be so quick to try and curse us."

"Girls." James sighed, though at eleven years old, his experience with females was mostly limited to growing up with an older sister and a few daughters of family friends. Sirius nodded solemnly, he knew well enough from his eleven years on this world that girls were difficult, he had three cousins who proved that well enough. All but one of them was completely insane, as far as he was concerned.

"Do you think you know what house you will be in?" Sirius asked, he wasn't worried, he knew the influence his family held and that it usually meant being placed within Slytherin, one of the four houses within Hogwarts, but he also knew it wasn't going to be the one he was in.

"Of course," James replied with certainty. "I'm a Potter, I'll be a Gryffindor. Just like Kate, Tom and Will."

"Are those all your siblings?" Sirius asked, he knew of the Potter family, had met James before once or twice at Ministry of Magic things, but he had never really paid attention before, his parents wouldn't really let him. James nodded in response, and Sirius wondered for a moment what it would have been like, to grow up with siblings, that you were so sure to follow. "What years are they in?

"Tom is in his seventh, he's Head Boy this year; Kate's in sixth, I think that's how she knows of Narcissa. Will is in his fourth year." James replied with a slight shrug, he was close to his siblings and excited to finally get the chance to attend Hogwarts with them, he just didn't want Sirius to know that, he wanted Sirius to think he was cool. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Sirius' eyes travelled past him, following something behind him, so much so, he tripped forward to continue looking at the thing. Curious, James followed, until both their noses were practically pushed against the glass pane of the window separating their compartment from the corridor that went along the length of the train.

All he could see was a small figure, with the longest red hair he had ever seen, it was the colour of rubies, deep and rich, it was curly, long lengths of big barrel curls that hung down her back, but he never saw her face. She paused along the train, peering into a compartment, before sliding the door open and disappearing inside – she'd been too far away for him to make out her features.

"Did you see her?" Sirius demanded suddenly, peeling his face from the window to look at James, there was a brightness in his silver eyes as he looked at James. There was a smile spreading across his aristocratic face, it was not a simple happy smile but more of a grin. "Maybe being at Hogwarts with girls won't be so bad, not if they all look like her."


With her face buried into a book, taking in each word on the page, she had barely registered that the door to her compartment had opened, until it banged softly against the compartment wall. Tearing her eyes from the page, she saw another girl stood there, she was about the same age with honey blonde hair and a round face, with freckles across her nose.

"Hi, I'm Lainey!" The girl chirped, moving into the room, she bounced with each step she took, a wide toothy grin across her face. She plopped herself down on the seat opposite her, and looked expectantly.

"Oh, er, I… I'm Lily," She responded, finally, closing her book over, careful to keep her finger in place so she didn't lose the page she was on. She didn't really know what to say, she was thoroughly overwhelmed. She'd trawled along the train until she'd found a quiet compartment she could have to herself, it appeared that would no longer be the case. "Lily Evans."

"Evans?" Lainey asked her, leaning forward, her elbows rest on her knees as she rested her chin in her hands. She looked thoughtful, as golden brown eyes considered something for a moment; Lily could only assume it was the name she had provided her with. "You're a muggle born, aren't you? I don't know any other Evans' who have kids with your hair colour, nothing even near it, I mean, there's Pawel Evans, who is about our age, but his whole family have brown hair – they're all a bit boring actually."

"Oh." Lily responded, uncertain if there was an appropriate response to her comments. She knew the term muggle born of course, Professor McGonagall had told her that what she was, when she had turned up on her door step only a couple of months ago. "Erm, yes, I am muggle born."

"That's cool, my nan, she was muggle born, so she was, her and my granddad used to have a right laugh together trying to get just about anything done. She was really curious, as was my granddad. The two of them together was something of a nightmare; dad reckons it kept them both young… I dunno, I don't think they were like other grandparents-" Lainey paused for a second, if only to catch her breath, and Lily blinked at her, she'd not spoken to anyone one on the train yet, and this girl could really talk. "So you the first in your family? Not ancestors you know of showed any signs? I wonder how your parents took it? Were they freaked? I bet there were, Mum says the muggles get it hardest because it's all new to them, but I dunno, I just think it's really cool."

With wide eyes Lily just nodded, seeing flashes of her own ruby curls as they darted forward as she did, she wanted to reply, but getting a word in edge ways was almost impossible. She opened her mouth and closed it, several time over, when Lainey suddenly cringed, for a moment Lily thought she might be in pain.

"I'm sorry; my mum says I always talk too much…" Lainey told her, suddenly apologetic. "Tell me about yourself Lily Evans."


"Who's that girl?" Sirius asked as they spied on the two girls sat in the compartment only a few along from the one they had abandoned for said spying purposes. They were watching the two talk; well, it was the blonde girl who seemed to speak the most, as she did her hands waved around, often in extravagant movements, occasionally causing the redhead to lean back away from their path.

"That's Adalaine; her dad is Darren O'Hare, the old captain of the Kenmare Kestrels. He was awesome according to my dad, one of the best keepers in the world; he was active for over thirteen years…" There was a wonder in James' voice that he was unable to cover, he loved quidditch. He'd received his first broom before he could even walk, had more falls then he would dare admit, but he had always loved the feeling of flying, he'd gone with his dad to watch matches while his siblings were at Hogwarts, he'd even met Darren O'Hare who signed a quaffle for him. "Wonder if she's any good at quidditch?"

"Who cares if she's good at quidditch!" Sirius exclaimed, looking highly affronted by James' distraction. "Have you seen her friend!"

Finally James turned to the girl that Sirius went on about, she was small, really small for their age, clearly a first year, James had never seen her before so he doubted she was a pureblood, not that it mattered much, but they tended to know each other. She was pale, almost white, with a mass of ruby curls hanging down her back, over her shoulders and in front of her – in fact, James had never seen anything with so much hair in his life before. She was completely swamped in her school uniform; clearly they hadn't been able to supply one that would fit better. He looked at her face, it was as pale as the rest of her, though she had a smattering of light beige freckles across her nose and cheeks, but that was the only thing that gave her any colour. She had a small pointed nose, and very pink lips. The only really outstanding thing about her, other then her hair were her eyes – he'd never seen anything like them, they were really big, and bright, the exact shade of emerald green that covered the Slytherin house.

"I know her hair is bright… but she's a bit normal looking isn't she?" James muttered, scuffing the toe of his shoe against the floor. She was just like any other girl, really. Just with odd colour hair and eyes.

"James, are you and me actually looking at the same thing?" Sirius demanded, clearly aghast at the suggestion James made.

"What are we looking at," A female voice suddenly piped, sounding curious and causing both the boys to jump and glare accusingly at the girl. She was their age also, looking curiously through the window at the two girls. She was all olive skin and long hair, not unlike the redhead, though this new girls was pulled back into a large knot at the back of her head, tied with a piece of white ribbon. "oooh, look at her hair, wish mine was that colour."

"Taliah," James sighed, recognition in his voice as he relaxed. The girl looked at him and smiled, which he returned. "You're gonna blow our cover, you know that right?"

"Why are you spying on two girls?" Taliah asked quietly as she snuck down beside the boy, hidden from the view of the two girls, if they were to look their way, but they seemed engrossed in conversation. She eyed the two boys speculatively as they shared a look.

"You're a girl," The boy who wasn't James stated; he was not unlike James, dark hair and light golden skin, but where James had warm hazel eyes, this new boys were a striking silver. "You wouldn't understand."

Indignant, Taliah didn't reply to his comment, instead she stood up with a bit of a flourish and pulled open the compartment door that held the two girls, causing them both to turn in their direction, and with the door open, revealing James and Sirius huddled on the floor.

"These two are spying on you," Taliah declared loudly, a smirk across her face as she did so. "Thought you might like to know."

"James…" The blonde girl James had earlier identified as Adalaine said as she looked at the boy as he pulled himself up from his squatting position, running a hand through his hair sheepishly as his cheeks reddened. Her brown eyes flickered to the boy who he was with, and she rolled them as recognition hit her, unlike James there was none of the sheepishness as he leant against the doorframe of their compartment, a smirk gracing his features. "Sirius Black and James Potter, any particular reason who were spying on us? It's very rude of you."

"We- er…" James stammered as his face turning an even brighter shade of red as she looked at the floor, his feet, out the window past the two girls, anywhere but at them.

"What's your name red?" Sirius asked smoothly, still leant in the doorway and clearly not feeling the need to answer Adalaine, or perhaps he was answering her. His eyes were intently looking at the redhead, whose face turned the same colour of her hair under the intensity of his stare.

"Erm…" She stammered over her words, not unlike James, her face now practically radiating heat as she too looked at her feet rather than meet the intense silver eyes that looked directly at her. She was wringing her hands, clearly not at all comfortable with the way things had gone, though it was clear the boy named Sirius had not yet picked up on those signals. After a moment a taking a deep breath, she seemed to steel herself for her reply. "Erm… Er… I'm Lily… L-Lily Evans…"

"Lily," Sirius repeated, moving to sit beside the redhead. "And your friend?"

"Lainey," The blonde replied instantly, sticking her chin out slightly, a defiant move, she was none too impressed. In fact, she was a little more annoyed then anything, Lily had instantly struck her as the quiet type, easily intimidated by the overbearing new world she had just entered, the last thing she needed was a Black of all people to freak her out. Lainey knew well enough what the Black family were like, a bunch of muggle haters – there was nothing worse than them in the world, as far as Lainey was concerned. Her Nan was an amazing woman; it was unfair what they did to them. "You better not upset her Black, I know what your family is like-"

"That's not fair!" James suddenly protested, the redness in his face fading as he looked between Sirius and Lainey. "He's not like them."

"Yeah, little miss judgey," Sirius responded, crossing his arms over his chest in some semblance of a strop.

"Well, this is interesting," Taliah suddenly stated, slipping into the room. She turned to look at the still worried looking Lily, sympathy in her eyes as she did. "Hi Lily, I'm Taliah Lima, I think we'll all be in the same year at Hogwarts. I haven't met anyone else that looks like you before… Are you a muggle born or a half blood?"

With a quick smile at Lainey, Taliah sat beside her; the two girls knew each other from around, like many others Taliah knew of Laineys father, as it was her family owned the publishing house Lima Press that had almost won the bid to release a short career biography of his time as one of the best quidditch captain's the wizarding world had ever seen. They'd been paired together by their parents, while the adults talked business; they'd gotten along well enough then, and remembered each other.

"Muggle born," Lily replied, seemingly stronger than before, her tone slightly more defiant. Her face was still as red as a tomato, but she looked at Taliah directly as she spoke, before looking at Sirius through the corners of her eyes, she crossed over her arms, not unlike him, and leaned back in her seat. Her book lie forgotten beside her now, and it made Lainey smile, or her part Lainey knew she was a Gryffindor, like her family. When she first met Lily she had assumed she'd be a Ravenclaw immediately, with all the book reading, but as she sat there now a defiant look in her eyes, Lainey was not so sure she'd made the right judgement on her. "And you?"

"Pure blood," Sirius replied, suddenly perked up now that Lily was talking to him directly. "I'm going to be the first Black family member in Gryffindor, just you watch me."

"I don't understand… Gryffindor?" Lily asked, there was tentativeness in her voice, but curiosity in her eyes, clearly eager for this new piece of information.

"It's one of the four houses," James opened his mouth and explained, the redness gone from his face now. "Gryffindor is the best, it's for the bravest people, then there's Ravenclaw, everyone in that house is really smart. Hufflepuff is where all the soft people are, like really soft people. And then there's Slytherin-"

"Where all my family are housed. If you're a Gryffindor you don't like Slytherins-"

"Why not?"

"Because," Sirius answered, a dark look shadowing over his young face, had any of them been older and wiser they may have witnessed it with some concern, but at just eleven years old, none of them had any idea what it really could mean. "They're bad people."