AN: Hey people! This is my FIRST ever fanfiction, so help me out, alright? I want plenty of reviews, even if it isn't all praise! And the plot will be revealed slowly, so stick with it yeah? Thanks!!

Chapter One

(Lily Potter)

I was ecstatic; the excitement had my head spinning. I remembered how I had laughed at my brothers, Jamie and Al, respectively, when it had been their first years at Hogwarts and they had run head-first at the barrier from nerves, while I had leant causally against it, clutching Mum's hand tightly in mine, and gently slid through. However, this time, the art of being inconspicuous flew out of my mind, and thrill took over as I charged, with my trolley, loaded with my new trunk and pretty snowy owl, Ginger, stuffed in a cage. Ironic, I know, naming my beautiful, pure white owl Ginger, but I'd named it after my favourite Muggle cartoon character!

I think the run helped release some of my anxiety, because as soon as I'd crossed over and opened my eyes, I felt a brand new, equally strong sense of adventure replace the worries- the Hogwarts Express! Oh, I'd been seeing it since I was three years old, when I'd come to drop Teddy in his First Year; and every year since, I'd taken to memorizing the features of this gigantic train…it had loomed over me, huge! But today, it seemed totally new to my eyes- sleek and shiny, its smooth body red and black, the bold, shining letters in front spelling "THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS", with smoke billowing in copious amounts from the chimney, clouding the people present: only the disembodied voices floated away from the witches and wizards, as they said goodbye to their children.

As I walked through the crowd, pushing my trolley in front of me, I reminded myself that it was not only witches and wizards who had come to bid farewell to their children. Mum had told me how Hogwarts had started a new programme to make a minimum of thirty percent of the students admitted each year borne of non-magical parentage. Previously, there had been no such rule as to how many "Muggle-borns" had to be allowed in, but ever since the last Great War, when Dad had defeated Voldemort, the number of wizards in Britain had dwindled so much that this had become a "necessary precaution to ensure the continuance of the wizarding race in Britain"- at least, that's what Uncle Percy had said when I'd made the mistake of asking. James, Al, Rose, Freddy- they all had plenty of Muggle-born friends; just as I pondered over how many friends I'd have, and how I would get along with them, a hand clutched at my shoulder.

'Lily! What took you so long?' asked a worried voice. I looked up to see Jamie and Al staring down at me in concern.

'What?' I furrowed my brow in confusion.

'What took you so long to cross over?' asked Jamie this time.

'I didn't take long…what d'you mean?' I was utterly lost.

'Okay, then where were you all this time? The train is just about to leave! Dad's been going nuts trying to find you!' Al spluttered.

'What? It's eleven alrea-'

'Lily Luna Potter! Where do you think you have been?' Mum's exclamation interrupted mine. I turned to find my red-haired, furious mother standing behind me, with Dad panting at her shoulder. I remembered what Ron (he had refused to be called Uncle, so he was just Ron) had said about Mum becoming more and more like Grandma Molly over the years, and I had to bite down on my lip to refrain from laughing. This irritated Mum further, but Dad came to my rescue.

'Lily, honey, you better get on the train! Hugo's looking for you, he saved you a seat.'

Hugo! Oh my God, I hadn't seen him yet! I bid my parents farewell in a hurry, kissing Dad once on each cheek and giving him a huge hug. I then turned to my disgruntled mother, who had to smile when I hugged and kissed her goodbye.

'Take good care of your sister,' Dad said to Al and James, patting my head and messing up my perfectly tied hair in the process. I frowned at him, and attempted to fix it.

Mum laughed at me and helped me to retie it. 'Do you really think they'll need to take care of her? Lily's my daughter; she'll be the one looking after her brothers, won't you, Lils?' she asked me.

I flashed the very grin I'd inherited from her right back at Mum, and then turned to Dad. 'Dad, puh-lease…you think these two fools can ever keep track of me? Once I'm at school…I'm going my own way. Sure, I'll check in on them once in a while, but…' I smiled cheekily at my brothers this time. A loud hoot echoed from the train; it was about to leave! We hurried though the door left open by my cousins, the Weasleys, and Mum shut the door behind us. Victoire, Dominique, Alex, Fred, Rose and Hugo were hanging out the windows, waving goodbye to their parents. James, Albus and I joined them and found that Bill, George, and Ron and Aunties Fleur, Angelina and Mione had joined our parents to wave goodbye to us. Uncle Percy was undoubtedly somewhere near the Prefect carriage, waving goodbye to Tracy, his daughter, who had just started the fifth year and had been named a Prefect.

'Typical,' Ron had muttered under his breath, when Tracy and Uncle Percy had appeared in the kitchen of the Burrow yesterday halfway through lunch, portentous from pride, to announce this. Apparently Uncle Percy had been quite the perfect Prefect when he was younger; somehow, this did not surprise me at all. For one thing, Percy was the only one who demanded that we call him "Uncle".

As I waved to my parents, I heard Mum yelling to write to her whenever we got time, but her precise words were whipped away by the wind as the train began to pick up speed; it turned a corner. My parents disappeared from view.

I turned to see all my older cousins taking their seats in the compartment: Victoire and Dominique, who were Auntie Fleur in miniature, with their slender bodies and sheets of shiny, silver-blond hair; Alex, with his ruddy hair and freckles; Freddy, a miniature Uncle George; or, as Grandma Molly said whenever she got all teary-eyed, "He's just like his Uncle Freddie!" Honestly speaking, I saw no difference between the two, but I could tell why it was a cause for sadness as well as joy for Grandma. I could never know when she was crying from happiness, or when she was sobbing from sorrow. Then there were James and Al, with their messy black heads perched on top of their tall figures; and finally, there was Rose, with her straight brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

Hugo and I smiled at each other. After all our years of watching the others leave, and spending our lonely days at home dreaming of what Hogwarts must be like, we were off! We were with those who had abandoned us before now, and we were on our way to Hogwarts!