Such Sweethearts
By Lily Orange
Summary: How did James Potter and Lily Evans fall in love? And how did their friends fare romantically? Will Sirius "I have rampant hormones" Black ever settle down? Will Lizzie and a certain Marauder ever admit their feelings for one another? And will Rebecca "Sexy French Girl" Villade ever find true love?
Disclaimer: Sadly I'm not JK Rowling and don't own any of the characters, locations or general things you recognise from Harry Potter.
A/N: This was my first ever fan fiction I ever wrote for Harry Potter - I wrote it around Easter time this year and all my friends have already read it because I sent it to them, chapter by chapter, in emails; for my birthday this year they got me the best birthday present anybody could have ever given me as they all together got a copy of it made into a proper book so I have a copy of it at home which I love them for!! Therefore this chapter is dedicated to them!
Prologue
"THE BOY WITH THE UNTIDY HAIR!"
I surveyed myself in the mirror once more. Normally, the mirror in our hall, I bypass everyday without a look – it's Petunia's job to tell me what a state I look every morning at breakfast. She was my best friend until a month or so ago – but now, regardless of the fact that she is my sister, she has unkindly labelled me a 'freak'.
In my opinion, I didn't look a freak, whatever the definition of freak looks like. I was wearing my normal clothes – today, blue jeans, a cream t-shirt with an olive-coloured jumper and silvery shoes. The olive green jumper complimented my red hair perfectly. I smiled, and my reflection smiled back at me. My green eyes sparkled. No way, no matter what Petunia said, was I, Lily Evans, a freak.
"Lily, are you ready love?" I heard my mum call.
"Yes!" I shouted back excitedly. She and my dad came wandering into the hall, with smiles much like my own beaming warmly on their faces.
"We'd better go then – have you got your letter?" Dad asked. I nodded.
Just as we were about to exit via the front door, the sound of footsteps came bounding down the stairs behind us – I turned around. My sister, Petunia, was standing there, with her arms folded, and an unattractive scowl etched onto her bony face.
"Petunia, will you be all right on your own, dear?" Mum questioned her kindly.
"I'll be fine, away from that freak," Petunia spat back, looking directly at me – the emphasis she placed on her superfluous nickname for me hurtful.
"Petunia..." Dad said in a warning voice.
"Sorry, Lily," she said – her words full of scorn and malice. My mum had warned me that the way Petunia was acting towards me was because of jealousy. She also told me in confidence that Petunia had written to Professor Dumbledore, of Hogwarts, to request a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – Professor Dumbledore had replied, and written a very nice letter, but politely told her that she possessed no magical abilities therefore could not attend. I pitied her – but her spiteful comments were making me feel less sorry for her every day.
Petunia turned to Mum. "Can I go to Vernon's?" she inquired.
"I suppose so," Mum agreed, reluctantly. "Remember not to say a word about Lily." Petunia nodded.
Vernon was Petunia's boyfriend – he was ugly, fat, mean and rude. Yet Petunia seemed to think that the sun shone out of his every surface. Quite literally. He lived in the same village as us, a few roads away. Petunia, at thirteen, was deemed old enough to lock up the house and go to his.
I don't know what she saw in him – he attended Smelting's, a strange boys' school where they wore maroon knickerbockers and boater hats, and had canes to hit each other with. It sounded most peculiarly barbaric to me, but Petunia was smitten with him ever since he bought her an ice cream at the park. Not that she particularly likes ice cream, and she dumped it in a flower pot when he wasn't looking, but she thought the gesture was kind. In my opinion, Vernon did not need any more ice cream.
"Okay, thanks, bye," she said hurriedly, running back upstairs to get ready. We left.
In my letter from Hogwarts, it had explained that I was a witch, and would be going to this prestigious secret magic school. This was something I was in awe of – my mum and dad could not think of any relation we had that had been to Hogwarts. This was explained also in my letter, with directions to a place called Diagon Alley, where I could buy all my school things. Apparently, we had to go to a pub called the Leaky Cauldron, and at the bar, ask for Tom, show him my letter, and he would show us how to get there.
It did not take us long to get to the Leaky Cauldron – although we live in a village, it is only about half an hour from London by car, and the Leaky Cauldron was on the outskirts of the city centre, and easily accessible.
Walking into the pub, it was like nothing I had ever seen before. It was dark and dingy, but somehow welcoming at the same time when you entered. On the outside, however, you almost walked past it, it was so discrete!
It was the people crowded round the little wooden tables, and around the bar. There were people dressed in clothes like the ones me and my parents were wearing; there were people doing magic; there were people wearing the strangest ensembles of clothes I had ever come across – one woman was wearing electric blue platform boots with a stripy dress that looked suspiciously like an old-fashioned swimming costume, and a yeti-style fur coat over the top. There was one table in the far corner with a solitary witch sat by it, with her hood pulled right over her head and reading a newspaper entitled, 'The Daily Prophet'.
"Was it the bar we had to go to, Lily?" Dad asked nervously. I consulted my letter.
"Yes," I replied, and confidently strolled up to the bar – when I finally found a gap in the bar, I asked meekly for Tom. A small, hunch back man grinned toothily at me and professed himself to be Tom. I showed him my letter, and asked him if he could direct me and my parents to Diagon Alley.
Surprisingly, Tom was very nice.
I could hear my mum and dad whispering to each other about whether Severus had this sort of trouble (Severus was my friend who was also to be attending Hogwarts – something I had never known before, but his mother was a witch) whilst we were following Tom out to the back of the pub.
"So, are you muggle-born then?" Tom questioned me in a very raspy, deep voice.
"What's a muggle?" I asked timidly.
"I think you must be," he chuckled, before explaining, "a muggle is a non-magic person."
"Oh yes," I smiled back, "I am. Is that good, or bad?" I suddenly thought aloud, worried.
"Most folks don't bother, it's only the bad ones that do. My advice is to read your school books to find out about wizardry – don't panic yourself, they're very interesting," Tom advised me.
We went through a door, to the area where the bins were. My parents looked suddenly very panic-stricken, like Tom was part of a huge fake Hogwarts conspiracy where they kidnapped children and parents and stuffed them in the bins of the Leaky Cauldron.
Tom produced a wand out of his pocket, and tapped some of the bricks on the wall in an obviously significant sequence. The bricks immediately sprang apart, to form an archway into a street, busy with people and lined with interesting shops. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it!
My parents thanked Tom, as did I.
"What's your name?" Tom asked, just before he left.
"Lily," I replied.
"Well, Lily, I hope you have a brilliant time," he smiled, and then walked off. When we had entered this magical street – which I presumed correctly to be Diagon Alley – the bricks behind us went back to being a solid wall. It was amazing.
"What's on the list, love?" Mum said.
I handed it to her, too much in awe of everything before me to speak.
They lead me past the different shops, on the way to the bank, so that we could exchange our money for wizard currency. The names of them entranced me – Ollivanders ... Flourish and Blotts ... Madam Malkin's ... it was all so fascinating.
We stopped when we came to a large white building, fashioned out of marble, looking beautifully antique and old – with the letters 'GRINGOTTS – WIZARDS' BANK' engraved into it. My parents hurried me in, but as we walked out of the entrance foyer, I saw some kind of poem inscribed into the wall. This was actually amazing.
"Er, Lily, what are those things behind the desks?" Dad whispered in my ear cautiously.
Mum consulted the letter. "Goblins, dear," she replied as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"Oh, right," he said, nonplussed.
Mum marched up to the desk labelled 'MUGGLE TO WIZARD MONEY CURRENCY EXCHANGE' and placed the money she wished to have exchanged on the desk in front of this tiny but wise-looking goblin whose eyes were giving me the creeps.
"You wish to exchange this, madam?" the goblin asked.
"Yes please," she answered assertively. I had to admire her nerve.
"That'll be forty-five galleons" – he put a pile of large gold coins onto the table – "ten sickles" – he added a handful of slightly smaller silver coins to the growing pile – "and five knuts" – a small amount of bronze coins were placed on top – "madam; I shall put this in a bag for you. What is this girl's name?" he asked sharply but politely.
"Lily Evans," I told him timidly.
"Would you like to open an account for her here?" the goblin asked, handing over a velvet purse which he had stuffed the money into.
"No thank you, I will consider that later," my mum replied – she thanked the goblin and left. As we left, I paused by the inscription on the wall in the foyer, it said:
Enter stranger, but take heed,
Of what awaits the sin of greed,
For those who take, but do not earn,
Must pay dearly in their turn,
So if you seek beneath our floors,
A treasure that was never yours,
Thief, you have been warned, beware
Of finding more than treasure there.
"Lily, come on!" Dad called, "We have to get your school things yet!"
I hurried after him.
Diagon Alley was packed – Severus had informed me the day before that he was going the next week, as the day we were going to Diagon Alley, he would be at his grandmother's. It would have been nice to see a familiar face there, even if most of the people milling around looked nice, pleasant people.
"I think we should get a wand first, it's pretty essential," Mum remarked as we retraced our steps back in the direction of Ollivander's.
When we got there, I noticed that one other family was in the shop – a mum, dad and a boy with black hair. Other than that, it was empty. We went in. As the family already in the shop heard the door close, the parents briefly nodded to mine, but the boy, who was obviously eleven like me, spun round fully to take in our appearance. He was quite a good-looking boy, even if his hair was rather scruffy. It was jet black, and even though I had only had him in my eyesight for about thirty seconds, he had run his hand through it twice, thus I assumed it an involuntary habit. His eyes were quite sparkly, and were hidden behind glasses. He was wearing clothes I would consider normal – not like the strange ensembles in the Leaky Cauldron. He smiled at me, and I smiled back.
There did not seem to be someone attending to him and his parents, but they did not seem bothered by this, and began to strike up a conversation with my parents, leaving the boy at the desk with me.
"Hi, Potter, James Potter," he introduced himself, holding out his hand.
"I'm Lily Evans," I said timorously, shaking his hand.
"Which house do you reckon you'll be in, Lily?" he asked politely. To anyone of magical breeding, this obviously would have meant something and probably would have sparked a three-hour conversation, but due to my lack of magical breeding, I did not have the foggiest to what he was going on about.
"House?" I replied in a questioning tone.
He nodded slowly at me, smirking slightly – which angered me a little.
"I don't know what a house is," I informed him prissily.
"Don't you know anything about Hogwarts, Evans?" he said, presuming that we were on such good terms that he could use my surname to address me.
"I'm muggle-born," I said, frowning at his audacious smile.
"Oh, well that explains it," he said. "We have four houses at Hogwarts – we get sorted into them and there's Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. They each have a common room and dorms where we sleep."
"I know what a dorm is, Potter," I said, slightly sharply – more sharply than I wanted to be. Inside I cursed myself for my impoliteness, but James Potter seemed to think it rather amusing.
He seemed to have a particular interest in me, and kept looking at me all the way through when he was buying his wand (made of mahogany, eleven inches). When he left the shop, he went, "See you on the first of September, Evans, I'll save you a seat!"
Even my mum noticed his strange fascination with me – she commented on it as we exited Diagon Alley, laden with bags and parcels full of school things – including my wand (made of willow, ten and a quarter inches). I supposed that, despite his insolence and audaciousness, he was rather nice and at least I'd know someone beside Severus.
I hoped you liked it! Please review!
:) x Lily Orange x (:
