Okay, so I promise not to do this often. Thank you all so much for reading. It lifts my heart every time just one more person looks at even on chapter, and I'm always beaming and showing my friends and family, like the other day when I had 345 readers! 345! You guys are amazing, and I love you all.
Now, I'd like to ask you what you guys want me to write. Any time in James and Lily's lives - 1st to 7th year, after Hogwarts, before Hogwarts (if you want this, please mention which characters you want and what you want to happen-ish), or even AU!
Just tell me what you want, and I'll see what I can do.
Once more, thank you very much for reading, and I love you all.
Rosie aka LovelyDovely

1st year - the one with the meeting

Written 16th May 2015

Lily bit her lip as she waved to her parents, who were stood at the platform, tears in their eyes as they waved goodbye to their youngest daughter. Although Lily was nearly shaking with nerves - what if no one liked her, or thought she was stupid because she came from a...-what was the word?-muggle family? -, she smiled and waved joyously to her parents, hiding her nerves at the idea of leaving them for a whole term - one whole term! How would she cope? - to attend a school that she hadn't known existed a year ago.
To say she was freaking out was an understatement.
But Lily Evans was strong. She didn't cry when she broke her arm after being pushed - that was the only time her accidental magic hadn't kicked in - and so she wouldn't cry now.
Lily frowned as her parents disappeared from view, and the train chugged on, oblivious to her rather lonesome thoughts.
A knock came from the glass door, and Lily turned to face it, eyes wide.
'Who would want to sit with a stranger?' She thought curiously as she smiled at the dark haired girl who came into the compartment.
"Hi, you looked lonely, and well, I am too - I can't find my friends, you see - so I thought I'd sit with you." The girl said quickly, her owl in hand, and Lily frowned. She'd noticed a lot of owls around the platform, and a lot of the students had owls too. Lily wondered why, as they were nocturnal animals, so weren't very good pets to have. She herself had gotten a cat, a beautiful black cat with one blue eye and one green eye. She felt proud over her superior pet buying skills, and she grinned at the girl, who seemed almost shocked at the other first year's quick acceptance of her.
"Of course," Lily said quickly, and she helped the fellow first year put her luggage on the rail above them, and said after, "My name is Lily Evans." Her green eyes were bright, curious, and the other girl found herself liking this intriguing girl more and more.
"I'm Marlene McKinnon, pleasure to meet you, Lily!" Marlene said, and Lily grinned.
"Which house do you think you'll be sorted into?" Marlene asked, and Lily frowned.
"House...umm... Sorry?" Lily said skeptically, and Marlene giggled, her brown eyes bright and friendly.
"Sorry, I forgot that you're a muggleborn. There's a housing system at Hogwarts. Four houses representing four different characteristics or traits." Marlene explained quickly.
"I vaguely remember Professor Slughorn talking about that, but he didn't explain it very well." Lily frowned. That was another thing she didn't know. She simply hadn't had a chance to read through Hogwarts: A History before the train ride, as she'd been reading her textbooks for class, so she felt at a sincere disadvantage, because evidently, everyone else had.
"Well, the first - and best - house is Gryffindor. Set up by Godric Gryffindor himself, only for the brave and courageous at heart." Lily frowned. She didn't think that she was very courageous at all. "Then Slytherin. Set up by Salzaar Slytherin - and let me tell you that it's rumoured that Salzaar and Godric were best friends until they set up Hogwarts -, the house of Slytherin takes in the cunning. It's basically the house of evil families." Lily's eyes widened, soaking in every piece of information Marlene fed her. "Slytherin and Gryffindor house are long time rivals. My sister was a Gryffindor, and she got into loads of fights with Slytherins,"
"Seriously?" Lily exclaimed, mouth agape, and Marlene laughed. "Did they expel her?"
"No, of course not! Just took off loads of points from Gryffindor every time, and she spent most nights in detention." Marlene noticed Lily was going to ask about the points, and raised her hand, a knowing smirk on her face. "I'll explain that in a minute." Lily nodded.
"Okay, so, there's Hufflepuff house too. Made by Helga Hufflepuff, they value loyalty over everything, although Helga said she'll accept anyone who is willing to try." Lily frowned. Although the house didn't seem to be a favourite - Lily could tell by the tone in Marlene's voice -, Lily couldn't help but feel like that was most likely to be her house. She was loyal, right? She stayed by Petunia when Petunia's friends betrayed her.
"Finally, Ravenclaw, made by Helena Ravenclaw, this house is for those with a yearning to learn, and to further their knowledge, and it helps if you're witty too." Marlene glanced around, as though she was about to tell Lily a secret, and they leaned in simultaneously. "The door to their common room is held by a statue, which speaks riddles and you have to answer them right to enter." Marlene chuckled, and Lily smiled nervously along with her.
The idea of houses made her nervous, and she realised that, in order to find out which house she'd be placed in, they'd have to figure out which trait was most prominent.
"How do they sort us?" Lily asked urgently, and Marlene laughed.
"It's not some big test, if that's what you're wondering." Marlene laughed, and Lily visibly relaxed, causing Marlene to laugh even more. "They put an enchanted hat on our head, which tells us where we'll go." Once more, Marlene leant in, and Lily followed, enraptured by learning about this whole new world. It was nothing like this at her middle school. They didn't even have houses there!
"I heard, that if you swear at the hat, it automatically puts you in Slytherin." Marlene pulled a face, and Lily laughed along with her.
"So, which house?" Marlene asked seriously, and Lily frowned.
"I think I only just fit Hufflepuff. Although, I am eager to learn, so maybe Ravenclaw?" Marlene nodded, and responded enthusiastically.
"If I'm not Gryffindor, I will tear that hat to shreds and scream from the highest point in the castle that I am a a Gryffindor." Marlene and Lily laughed loudly, Lily's green eyes lighting up as they did.
A second knock from the door came, and Lily looked up mid-laugh. To her great joy, she saw Severus.
"Sev! It's great to see you!" Lily exclaimed, pulling her best friend into the compartment with her. "Marlene, this is Severus Snape. Sev, this is Marlene McKinnon."
Marlene smiled at Severus, who smiled back tentatively. "We know each other briefly," Marlene said quietly, and Lily paused, her euphoria wearing off and she sensed the tension that was increasing in the room.
"My mother dragged me to a wizarding event so that she could meet a friend of hers." Severus explained. "There, I met Marlene." He explained, his voice also quiet.
Lily frowned, and said to them both, "I can tell that you don't like each other, but Marlene, I've known Sev since I was like 4. Sev, Marlene seems really nice." She addressed both her friends, saying firmly, "if you fight, don't drag me into it. And please try to get along for me?" She asked, and Marlene cautiously nodded, Sev nodded carefully also.
This caused Lily to beam at her two friends, and they grinned back, both happy to see Lily smile. They looked across to one another, and a moment of understanding passed between the two. Marlene understood that Lily was important to Sev, and that he wanted to see her happy. Sev saw, that, as Marlene was Lily's new girl friend, she wanted to make Lily happy.
They would try to get along, for Lily's sake.
The train ride passed faster than Lily thought it would, what with them being trapped on the train for nearly 8 hours, but with her two friends, she decided that the saying 'time flies when you're having fun' must be true.
When she stepped off the train, she was encountered by the same man who'd helped her from the beginning of her journey into witchcraft and wizardry.
"Professor Slughorn!" Lily exclaimed as she went up to the professor.
"Ah, Lily Evans, was it?" Lily nodded enthusiastically, and he grinned at her. "Well, Miss. Evans, you and your friends should get to a boat. You wouldn't want to have to swim across the lake." He teased, and Lily grinned, nodding happily. He smiled at the girl as she dragged her two slightly reluctant friends to the large wooden boats, which held five people on board.
Lily, Marlene and Sev found a boat that needed just three more people to get in, and so they jumped in. Lily smiled and introduced herself to the two boys.
"Pleasure to meet you Lily, my name's Sirius Black, soon to be traitor to the family name!" He exclaimed, and his friend next to him chuckled wildly.
"So hilarious Sirius," he joked, and Lily smiled at the obviously developing dynamic between the two boys. "I, my dear Lily-flower, am James Charles Potter, your boyfriend to be!" He said, and he slid across the boat to sit next to Lily.
"Umm," Lily hummed, uncomfortable with the lack of distance, "how about no?" She said, and she glanced at Marlene, who was laughing at Lily's odd predicament. "I mean, I don't know who you are. Not really."
"But you will if you get to know me, Evans!" He exclaimed, and he leant forward, his eyebrows dancing.
"But I don't want to, Potter," Lily smiled at James' shocked expression and turned to Sev as the boats started moving, causing several people to shriek in shock. Lily gazed at the boat in awe, touching the wood, realising that she was sat on an enchanted boat, which moved without anyone doing anything! Well, Lily supposed there was a spell for it, so someone had done something, but she didn't know it, and it made the magic behind her first day feel all the more real.
James stared at the cute red headed girl in front of him, her green eyes dancing in the lantern light, her hair shimmering like fire, her skin ablaze with the warm flush of excitement.
His heart fluttered as he saw the smile coating her face when Hogwarts came into view, and he smiled as well. His stomach clenched when she laughed at something Marlene had said, butterflies swimming around there.
He decided then and there that he liked Lily. His young, eleven-year-old mind would never understand the concept of love, nor would it believe that this was the girl he would marry, and have a son with, but it could deal with liking a girl, and the hope that she'd like him back.
Although, this was only one of the many times that James would ask her out. But he didn't know that.