FIRST YEAR- SEPTEMBER

Lily Evans made sure the train compartment was empty before entering and slumping herself down on one of the seats. She raised a shaking hand to her forehead as she tried to comprehend it. She was actually going. This Hogwarts place, she was actually going. Alone. She thought of Petunia, her sister.

It was so unfair that Petunia couldn't come too. Surely she could still train to be a witch? Oh well, it was too late now. Lily watched kings cross station slowly fade into the distance and disappear as the train turned. She wasn't going to pretend she wasn't nervous; she was petrified. What if she didn't fit in? She knew nothing of magic or wizardry.

She'd lived up in a muggle community. The compartment door opened and someone approached her, sitting down opposite her. It seemed to take Lily a while to raise her head and observe the newcomer. It was Severus. He glared at him before staring determinedly out of the window. 'This is it,' he murmured, unable to keep the excitement out of his tone, 'we're going to Hogwarts.'

'Petunia hates me,' retorted Lily, not daring to let a tear out, 'and it's all your fault.' There was no answer to this- Severus just looked at Lily. She wished he'd stop. It was then that she heard yet more people join them in the compartment. They had male voices- but they seemed quite young, well, no older than her at least.

To break the tension between them, Severus, started rambling on about Hogwarts and how excited he was, listing down particular subjects and teachers that he was looking forward to doing and meeting. Lily could hardly hear what he was saying because the guys sitting by them in the compartment were talking quite loudly and jovially.

'Which house do you want to be in?' Asked Severus eagerly. Lily merely shrugged in reply. Severus had told her about the four houses in one of their previous meetings. She'd been so interested then. But right now she hated Severus, from his greasy hair right down to his pale skinny ankles.

'Well,' breathed Severus, unperturbed by Lily's fury, 'I'm hoping for Slytherin. Sounds the best. My whole family's been in it.'

At this point, someone from right next to them snorted with laughter. For the first time since the train had set off, Lily looked away from the window to gaze at the boys who were with them in the compartment.

On the same seat as her (a little along though) sat a handsome boy with long rich brown hair and, next to him, sat a small, porky boy with straw coloured hair and pig-like eyes. Opposite them, on Snape's side sat another boy with dark hair. Cuts scattered his face and shadows hung over his eyes like he hadn't slept for day. Lily didn't know why but, even despite these features, he looked quite attractive. Then her eyes fell on the guy who was sitting next to the scared one.

It was evident that it had been him who had laughed as he was looking at Lily and Severus, an amused look on his face. He had very dark brown hair, almost black actually. It was a little bit untidy at the back but perfectly fine and neat at the front. He had high cheekbones and twinkling, mischievous dark eyes. Circular glasses were balanced on his nose, reflecting light from the sun outside.

'Did someone just say they want to be in Slytherin?' He chuckled incredulously, 'I think I'd leave if the sorting hat put me in Slytherin. What about you, Sirius?'

The boy with the long hair grunted, a dark look on his face as he said grumpily, 'the whole of my family has been in Slytherin. Which one do you want to be in then James?'

'Gryffindor, of course! For the brave of heart and… something or other.' The boy with the glasses cried enthusiastically.

A few seconds passed where James observed Severus. He seemed to be sizing him up, deciding whether he was worth talking to.

'Slytherin then?' He sighed, trying to keep the joy out of his tone.

'You have a problem with that?' Spat Severus irritably.

'No,' replied James quickly. At Severus' sceptical gaze, he continued, 'it's fine. Really. In fact,' he reached into his pocket and offered Severus something, 'here's a sweet.' Severus surveyed it suspiciously.

'Come on,' said James, 'it's just a sweet. To say sorry. You know, if I sounded prejudice or whatever.'

Severus took the sweet and bit into it. At once, he started to become even paler and sweaty.

'Are you okay?' Lily asked, alarmed. Severus' skin was now turning grey.

Panting, he gasped, 'I think I'm going to throw up.' With that, he leapt up out of his seat and sprinted out of the compartment. Lily stared after him, horror-struck.

'Ah Zonko's joke shop,' sighed James, a grin curving his mouth, 'where would I be without you.'

Lily couldn't help it, she smiled. However as Severus re-entered the compartment, she stopped abruptly. He was shaking and looked terrible.

'How dare you,' he snarled.

'Oi, watch it,' said Sirius warningly as Severus reached into his pocket for his wand, 'put that away unless you want to be throwing up out of more than your mouth.' Severus gulped and sat down next to the scarred boy who sighed, 'my name's Remus.'

'Don't touch me,' snarled Severus.

'Don't worry,' replied Remus coldly, 'I wasn't going to,' then he gestured to the small boy, 'this is Peter. And, I think you already know now that this is James and Sirius.'

'Severus,' he replied shortly.

At once, Sirius snorted with unsuppressed laughter, 'well Snivellus, I can't wait until I learn some more useful hexes. You'd better watch your back.'

'You know,' replied Snape hotly, 'for someone who detests Slytherin you sure fit the criteria. You'd probably do well in Slytherin.' At once Sirius bristled angrily.

Lily was glad when the train stopped at the station as the atmosphere had become very tense in the compartment. Severus stalked out of the carriage as soon as the train had come to a complete halt. Lily watched him go. It was clear that he didn't care for her as he'd just left her here alone. She waited for the others to leave the compartment before picking up her own luggage and exiting herself.

'Wait,' came a voice from behind her, making her jump and turn around, 'you left this.' James was holding out one of her bags hat she'd forgotten. Lily wet red; she hadn't noticed that he'd still been in the carriage.

'Thanks,' she replied shortly, taking the bag out of his hands and walked off.

'First years over here,' called a gruff voice from outside. Lily craned her neck but she needn't worry as the speaker was none other than a man a few feet away from her. He was twice the height of a normal man and at least five times as wide.

Lily stared at him. She then realised tat her mouth was open and shut it quickly. Her and the other first years followed the man in the opposite direction to all of the other students. She wondered where they were going.

Lily looked around, trying to find Severus. But he was nowhere to be seen. Then she spotted him near the front of the crowd of first-years. She made a beeline for him. 'Severus,' she said as she approached him.

He took one look at her and then grunted. Lily took this as an acknowledgement of her presence. She sighed. Hopefully, Severus would be different when inside. It turned out that the giant man had led them to a massive lake. Lily stared at it. It was beautiful as it reflected the moonlight.

She looked at Severus but he, however, was staring at what was on the other side of the lake, his eyes wide with excitement. Lily followed his gaze and gasped. There is was. Hogwarts castle, with its many turrets and towers. It was so majestic. She could see many lights shining through the windows. Lily could imagine the envy of Petunia's face if she could see this right now.

'Wow,' she breathed. Then she looked down again. Many small boats had appeared in front of them in the lake. She stared. Were they going to sail to the school? This was so unusual. Lily got into a boat with Severus and who other people that looked dark and gloomy. The journey to the castle didn't take too long. By no time, they had entered the castle itself.

Just in time too as it had started to rain. The entrance hall was very magnificent. Lily spotted a woman with a tight dark bun walking towards them. Her hair was so tied back and her face was so sour that it looked like her bun was holding up her face.

'I am professor McGonagall,' she said, 'in a second you will enter the main hall,' she gestured to the big doors before them, 'and you will be sorted into your houses. The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Lily gulped. Which one was she going to be sorted into? If she was perfectly honest, she didn't really like the sound of Slytherin but she didn't want to be alone. She wanted to be in the same house as Severus. The massive doors opened and the first years filed into the main hall.

It was breath-taking. A beautiful dazzling room with four long tables for each house to sit at. The rest of the school were already there. Obviously they had used a faster alternative transport to get to the castle other than by boat. A worn out old hat sat on a stool in front of the staff table. All eyes on the hall seemed to be on it. What were they waiting for?

Then, a rip opened in the hat and it spoke, reciting a song. She'd never heard it before but then she realised that it was describing each house. They were exactly as how Severus had described. As Professor McGonagall started to read out names and people started trying on the hat (thus being sorted into their houses) Lily felt her heart turn upside-down. She didn't want to know which house she was going to be sorted into. What if she hated her house? What if she didn't fit in with any of them?

'Evans, Lily,' called out Professor McGonagall and Lily took a deep shuddering breath before walking up to the hat and trying it on. Immediately, a voice sounded inside her head, 'ahhh… okay. I can see courage. Yes. Courage. Also, a will to take risks burns inside you. Could this be a mere wish to prove yourself? Bravery floods through your veins. This is difficult… I think… yes… it has to be: GRYFFINDOR.'

Lily wrenched the hat off her head and walked towards the Gryffindor table. She sat down between a girl with long brown hair and Sirius, who had already been sorted into Gryffindor and was looking over the moon. To Lily's disappointment, Severus was indeed sorted into Slytherin. However the other guys who had been in the compartment with them on the train were all accepted into Gryffindor. James, Peter and Remus joined Sirius, sitting opposite him and Lily. Lily had started to dislike these boys. They seemed too carefree and too cheeky for her liking. Instead she turned to the girl sitting next to her.

'Hi,' she said nervously, 'I'm Lily.'

'Hi!' The girl replied eagerly. She was very loud, 'I'm Beth! So happy I'm here. My whole family has been in Gryffindor. Didn't think I would be. In fact I was almost sure I'd be in Ravenclaw but here I am. It would have been nice to be in Ravenclaw I guess but I know lots of people in Gryffindor and my own sister is in Gryffindor too. She's in her fifth year. Can't see her. Sometimes she doesn't attend the feast. Don't know why. It's amazing isn't it? What about you then?'

Lily stared at her, 'uh… I don't come from a magical society so I wasn't sure.'

'Ahh, muggle-born,' sighed Beth, nodding, 'sorry, didn't catch your name?'

'Lily. Lily Evans.'

'Lily. Well nice to meet ya Lily.' Beth shook hands with Lily enthusiastically. Lily smiled, a little surprised but grateful that she was on first name terms with someone at least.

After the feast Lily walked with Beth up to the Gryffindor common room. Lily didn't really feel like staying up late that night so she went to her dormitory early. It was empty. Most people were still in the common room. She sat down on her four-poster bed and bounced up and down on it a little. She was still trying to get her head around the fact that this wasn't a dream.

It actually was happening. She actually was a witch. They received their timetables next day and it turned out that Lily's first lesson was potions. Beth, who it seemed, had been given a tour of the school by her sister, showed Lily the way down to the dungeons where they were to have potions. Lily and Beth took a seat at the front of the classroom.

Most of the class were already in there. James, Sirius, Peter and Remus were all sat at the very back of the classroom, talking animatedly. Lily didn't look at them. She had the most uncomfortable feeling that Sirius and Remus kept looking over at her.

'Hello class!' said the teacher happily as he entered the room, 'I am Professor Slughorn.' As it was their first lesson he suggested they do something fun and just have a little quiz on how much they knew already. Thankfully, Lily had stayed up most of the previous night, reading through her potions book. She didn't know why she'd chosen that book in particular.

It had just seemed very interesting. As soon as she was handed the quiz paper, she started to jot down her answers feverishly. She was becoming more and more confident by the minute. This was something that she could actually do! Halfway into the lesson, something hit Beth on the head, making her gasp. Lily looked round in alarm to see that Beth was unfolding a piece of scrunched up paper that had been thrown at her. It read out:

We talked last night. You seem pretty and cool so… wanna meet up with me sometime? In the grounds? At the weekend maybe?- Sirius

Beth turned round to stare at Sirius who was grinning at her. She smiled and then mouthed 'Saturday.'

'You hardly know him!' Hissed Lily.

Beth shrugged, 'he seems nice. Oh lighten up, Lily. It's just the chance to get to know him better.'

Lily sighed and returned to her work.

'Times up,' cried Slughorn and started to collect the quiz papers.

After checking them all carefully he said to the class, 'not bad. Not bad at all. It seems that the majority of you know the basics of potion making. For those of you who are not so sure, it's okay, we're going to start from scratch anyway. Can I just mention though that there is someone in this class who actually got everything right. Outstanding result… Lily Evans?'

'That's me,' Lily gasped breathlessly.

Slughorn clapped his hands together enthusiastically, 'wow, where did you learn so much?'

'I just read it in my potions book,' replied Lily simply.

'Your parents didn't help you?' Asked Slughorn.

'No, my parents are muggles.'

'Muggle born?' Gasped Slughorn, flabbergasted, 'you're joking. Well, amazing result!'

Lily smiled proudly.

'Wait,' Slughorn murmured, looking through the papers again, 'it seems that another student actually got equal marks… James Potter?'

Lily stared at the back corner of the classroom where James raised a hand smugly, his cheekbones lifting in a smile, 'that's me.'

'Outstanding results, both of you!' Cried Slughorn happily, 'I expect great things from you two.'

James grinned. Lily merely grimaced. Great. The one thing she was good at… and he was top at it too. But a couple of weeks later, Lily had learned that it was normal for James to be good at things. Him and that Sirius Black were evidently top at every subject. Everything the teachers set out for them, they could do. Lily wasn't really struggling with anything.

She was certain though, that Potions with professor Slughorn (who had taken a liking to her as a student) was her favourite subject. Her first month at Hogwarts proved to be very enjoyable. Lily was glad she was in Gryffindor.

On the 30th of September, she sat by the fire in the Gryffindor common room at night with Beth, doing homework and listening to Sirius laugh with James, Remus, Peter and a few other admirers.

'So,' Lily asked Beth, 'you like him then?'

Beth smiled happily, 'yeah. He's cool.'

'Cool? Is that it? What about caring? Generous? The kind of guy that you'd want to spend the rest of your life with?'

'Whoa, slow down there,' snorted Beth,' don't get carried away. It's nothing official… not yet anyway.'

Lily smiled, 'well, I'm happy for you.'

'What about that Slytherin?' Queried Beth, 'Sectorus or whatever his name is?'

'Severus?'

'Yeah, he can't keep him eyes off you. And you two talk loads. The only two people from Gryffindor and Slytherin that actually get along.'

'We're just friends,' Lily assured Beth.