Where You Belong
'Lily, if you don't get down here in the next two minutes you're going to make everyone miss the train!'
Lily sighed and gazed at herself in the mirror one last time. She wore her normal muggle clothes with her dark red hair hanging down her shoulders in straight lines. Today was the day that Lily would finally get to join her brothers at Hogwarts. She was 11 years old, yet staring at her reflection felt more like a child than ever. She thought she was plain and wished every day that she could look more like her mother however, Lily realized that standing in front of her mirror wasn't going to make her suddenly beautiful. Sighing once more, grabbed her new wand and left her room closing the door behind her.
When Lily walked down the stairs and into the kitchen she saw all of her family gathered by the front door. Her dad was smiling at her although he looked a sad knowing his little girl was finally going off to Hogwarts. Her mother on the other hand looked slightly irritated at Lily for keeping them all waiting.
'There you are, and here I was thinking we'd be waiting on your brothers. Honestly, what took you so long?' Ginny queried.
'Sorry Mum, I was just checking to make sure I had everything.'
Her mother softened at this knowing her daughter was really just nervous about going off to school for the first time.
'Well if you've forgotten anything your father and I can post it to you, okay?'
'Thanks Mum'
'Can we go now, all my mates are going to be waiting for me?' James moaned.
At this Harry glanced at his watch and opened the door so they could all walk towards the apparition point. Harry had placed a spell on all the trunks so they had all shrunk and could easily be carried. Lily bent down and picked up her the cage with her new barn owl Seren inside and went to follow her brothers outside. Her eldest brother James looked exactly like her father did when he was a teenager. Her other brother was a healthy mix of both her parents with Albus receiving her dad's striking green eyes. Lily on the other hand had red hair darker than the normal Weasley colour and that was pretty much where the similarities ended with her and her parents. She had her mothers lips if you looked closely and her fathers eye shape, but other than that you couldn't tell she was related to them.
She grabbed onto her mother's arm as her brothers took hold of their fathers and then felt a tugging sensation as her mother side-along apparated her to an alley way near King Cross Station. Lily using her free hand reached up and smoothed her hair down before chasing after her mother at a fast pace to reach the platform before 11.
After all the goodbyes had been said Lily and her cousins Hugo and Roxanne made their way onto the platform and took seats in the first empty compartment they could find. They were sure that some of their other cousins would come and find them at some point in the train ride but for now, they were all content with a quieter environment. Lily, Roxanne and Hugo had been inseparable since they were all very young. Hugo and Lily's parents were all best friends before they were born but with Roxanne's brother Fred being James's partner in crime Roxanne was drafted into their friendship group before they were out of diapers.
'If you could choose any house to be in which would it be?' Roxanne asked Hugo and Lily.
'Gryffindor.' Hugo stated without a second thought.' It's where everyone in our family has been, it just feels right. I want to continue the legacy, you know? What about you Lil?'
Lily hesitated, she had no idea what house she wanted to be in and this made her nervous.
'Honestly, I don't know. I always thought I'd know by now but I really don't. I guess I'll just be happy wherever the hat puts me'.
They all sat in silence for a while after this mulling Lily's words over. They all heard their aunts and uncles talking about how the hat took your preference into consideration when it picked your house for you but what if you had no preference.
'No matter what happens though, even if we end up in different houses we'll still be best friends' Roxanne told the others and they all nodded.
For all the other cousins on the train it was a relaxing journey. Their fate's had been decided in their first years so they now had nothing to worry about. For the three first years they spent the rest of the train ride in near silence only speaking when they shared out their sweets, as they waited nervously for the sorting ceremony.
Lily thought to herself as she sat in the compartment about where she would end up. She didn't see herself as anything special. To all the others around her Lily was in a sense the perfect child. She was talented at whatever she did, she could fly, she was smart, she was beautiful for her age yet Lily saw none of this. She was her own worst enemy and everyone else knew this but her.
Lily woke to her brother Albus gently shaking her awake. 'Lil, we're here you need to get up now,'
Groggily wiping the sleep from her eyes Lily gathered her things and was soon standing side by side in her Hogwarts robes beside Roxanne and Hugo. Hagrid was grinning down at the three of them and in a booming voice yelled out 'Firs-Years, Firs-years! Follow me!'
Hagrid was a frequent visitor to the Potters home, the Cottage so all three cousins knew him well. They instantly felt a little less nervous as they clambered into a boat that would take them to Hogwarts. Lily had heard all of her family's stories about Hogwarts and thought she was fully prepared for it. But as they sat in the boats she felt her mouth open slightly in awe and the incredible castle in front of her.
'Wow' Hugo said
'Yeah, I never thought it'd be this big' Lily murmured
'Neither.' Roxanne agreed.
They were led from the boats up to the castle when they arrived. As they stood in the entrance hall Lily tried to distract herself from the sickening feeling that was taking over her body form nerves. She counted to five and then let out a deep breathe that she had been holding in. Glancing around her Lily saw nervous faces everywhere. Lily didn't want her brothers to think that she was weak or scared so she took another deep breathe and held her head up higher before they were called into the Great Hall.
Lily stood in the middle of the pack of first years at the front of the wall. Her eyes had roamed the Hall searching for the grinning faces of her brothers as she walked past them. The First years collected at the front of the hall and began to listen as her Uncle Neville, Professor Longbottom began to speak.'Here at Hogwarts, there are four Houses. Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin, whilst you stay at Hogwarts your house will be your family. You will eat together, complete classes together and share dorm rooms. Each house takes great pride in its successes so rule breaking will be frowned upon not only by staff but by your fellow pupils.
The sort ceremony began soon after Neville finished his speech and before Lily knew it her name was called.
'Potter, Lily'
The hall went silent as people waited to see if the final potter would live up to her family's house status. Lily walked with short but purposeful footsteps up to the stool at the front of the hall in the middle and sat down. She took a deep breath and then waited.
'Well look what we have here, a female Potter. 'The hat started. 'You're not the same as your brothers though are you. You're not the same as your father either. You are different.' The hat paused for a moment and Lily took another breath before the hat continued. 'You want to stand out. You don't want to be in the shadow for the rest of your life do you? Hmmm, I know where to put you.' Lily took one more breath and wiped her hands on her skirt.
'SLYTHERIN'
Lily froze on the chair and looked up at her brother's horrified faces. She got shakily to her feet and started to walk to the far end of the hall. Not a single person clapped for her. She brushed past Hugo and Roxanne who just stared at her. Lily had no idea what to think. So she held her head up high and walked to the end of the table and sat down. The silence in the room was deafening but eventually the sorting ceremony continued. Lily didn't pay any more attention to the ceremony except for noting that Hugo and Roxanne both went into Gryffindor. She sat in silence until the food began to appear on the table.
Lily thought to herself, there was nothing more that she could do now. She was in Slytherin and she had to except that fact regardless of what anyone else thought. So she put on a bright smile and began to make conversation with those around her. As she glanced up halfway through the meal she noticed her cousins all ate in silence frequently looking over then rapidly looking away when they caught her eye. They looked confused and ashamed but Lily ignored them deciding that if she wanted to make it through Hogwarts she had to find a place in her house and fast.
This is my first attempt at fan fiction, let me know what you think please!
