Chapter 1
The Hogwarts Express

The girl looked at the scarlet train in wonder. Her red hair was pulled back into a braid. Even in the braid, it hung down to her waist. Her green eyes darted here and there, taking everything in.

She felt a tug on her braid. She whirled around to glare at the offender. Standing behind her were two boys. One was tall with messy black hair, brown eyes and glasses. He was grinning from ear to ear. The other was middling in height, and had brown hair and blue eyes.

"James," the girl said sternly to the tall boy. "Don't pull my hair. Albus," she said more kindly, turning to the shorter boy. "I know that it wasn't you, and even if it was, I forgive you."

"How'd you know it was my, Lily?" James asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you're grinning like a physcopath!"

"I was just trying to get your attention. We'd better get you a seat. The train'll be leaving soon."

"I'm surprised you're still talking to me. What if one of your friends should see you?" Lily asked sarcastically.

"James doesn't have any friends," Albus said, smiling. Insulting someone or not, Albus always talked in the same calm manner. Lily dubbled up with laughter, while James pretended to pout.

"Come, children," a woman with red hair and brown eyes walked over to them. "Lily, we'd better get you a seat."

"Coming, mum." Lily said, picking up her owl cage while her dad got her trunk.

James scampered off to find his friends. When he told everyone this, Lily began to giggle again.

Albus kissed Mum on the cheek, then hugged Dad. He then wandered off to find his friends.

James was going into his fourth year, Albus his third. Lily was just starting her first year.

Mum led her along the train to the luggage car. They loaded up her trunk and Athena, her golden colored owl.

"Will you be able to find a seat on your own?" Dad asked, his black hair as messy as ever, and his green eyes filled with concern.

"I be fine. Really," Lily told them. "I'll write you everything!" She hugged them both. Then clambered aboard the Hogwarts Express.

The train was filled with students. Lily wondered if she'd ever find a seat, and half regretted telling Mum and Dad not to help her.

After wandering around for what seemed like forever, she came to a compartment that only held two people. Two boys to be exact. Not that Lily had anything against boys, after all she had grown up with two brothers, had more uncles than she could count on one hand, and knew she could hold her own against them. Besides, they looked to be first years like herself.

Without asking, she walked in and sat down. The boys were sitting beside one another, and she sat facing them. They stared at her. "Mind if I sit here?" she asked, smiling.

"Um, no, of course," one of the boys said. He had blonde hair and brown eyes. "I'm Tim Martin," he said, holding out his hand.

"Lily Potter," Lily said shaking it.

"John Cray," the other boy said, also shaking Lily's hand. He had brown hair and brown eyes. "We're half-blood, both of us. Our Mums are muggles, but our dads were best friends at Hogwarts. We've grown up together. What about you?"

"Well," Lily began, but was cut off by someone else entering the compartment.

"I'm sorry, may I sit in here?" she said in an American accent.

"Sure," Lily said, patting the seat next to her. The girl sat was quite pretty, with brown hair and blue eyes.

"I'm May Smith," she said, and introductions were made all around again.

"Lily, you were just about to tell us about your family," Tim reminded her.

Lily took a deep breath. "My dad's mum was muggle-born, but my dad's dad was pure-blood. My mum's parents are pure-blood. My Mum is the youngest of seven, and the only girl. One of my uncles died in the war against Voldemort. Both of my dad's parents are dead, they were muredered by Voldemort. My dad is Harry Potter." The other three were staring at her with wide eyes. Lily plowed ahead anyway. "I have two brothers. One's in fourth year. His name is James, and he looks like my Grandfather James, for whom he was named. He looks just like my dad, but with my mums eyes. I'm the oppisite. I look just like my grandmother Lily, for whom I am named. I have my mums red hair, but my dad's eyes. Albus is in third year. He was named for Albus Dumbledore. He has brown hair and blue eyes, and nobody knows where he got them from, because all of my mum's family has red hair, and no one on either side has blue eyes. I have five cousins on my mum's side. My dad is an only child. Four of my cousin's are older than me, and one is in our year. His name in Hugo Weasley." Lily breathed in deeply after reeling her family history off of her tongue.

"Wow," May said. The boys just stared at her.

"You're American, right?" Lily said, turning to May. "You must have an interesting story too."

"I am from the U.S. We moved here this summer for my dad's job," May said. "I was going to go to an American magic school, but now I'm going to Hogwarts."

"What's your dad's job?" John asked.

"He works for the Ministry of Magic. He was working for the U.S.A. Ministry, but got transferred here."

"What department does he work in?" Tim asked.

"Actually, he's here to start a department. In the United States, we have a department, you do not here. Several workers from this department are here to start up the department. The department is top secret, you cannot tell anyone." Lily and the two boys leaned in closer, as her voice dropped to a whisper. "It's the Department of Investigation. They know secret spells you only learn if you go into training as one of these investigators. They can use these spells to find out things on a crime scene. For example, if someone was killed by the killing curse, or anything else really, one of the spells can detect the wand the person was killed by. They can then track down the person who owns the wand. It's kind of like muggle fingerprinting. The only thing is, someone could steal another person's wand. So when they find the person who owns the wand, they have another spell that can show who used the wand. Then they can pick out possible suspects. It's really quite useful, in fact, many of these Ingvestigators work in the U.S. FBI."

"They use magic along side muggles?" John asked in surprise.

"Yes. The muggles who work there are sworn to secrecy, and American Wizards are much more friendly towards muggles than you are."

"Even the pure-bloods?" Lily asked.

"There are no pure-bloods," May laughed. "When the first wizards came to America, there weren't very many of them, so they had to marry muggles. They really had no coice. Besides, most people came to America because they wanted to get away from something. Many of the wizards who came to America were muggle-borns and blood traitors, escaping opression from the pure-bloods."

And so, with a confusing family history, and a top secret job, Lily was set with her best friends for life.

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