Chapter One- The enorgement charm
It was Lily's fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, yet still as she ran through the wall between platforms 9 and 10, her breath was taken away by the beautiful scarlet steam train that billowed smoke in front of her. After hugging both of her parents goodbye and getting a cold glare off her sister, Petunia, Lily boarded the Hogwarts express. She was early, of course. Lily Evans was never late. A few compartments held nervous first years, but she didn't have to walk too far down the corridor before she found one that was empty. Sliding in, she heaved her trunk up into the holding rack, unclasped it and pulled out her copy of The standard book of spells Grade 5.
Slowly the Hogwarts express started to fill with students and the sound of excited chatter spread through train. This didn't bother Lily, she was to engrossed in her book to notice. That was until the shrieking started. As the train pulled out of the station, there was deafening laughter in the corridors. It sounded like everyone aboard was laughing. Curiously, Lily set her book aside and stood up, sliding the compartment door open. She stared down the crowded corridor and groaned. Everyone was pointing and giggling at a tall, greasy haired boy half walking, half jogging towards her. One hand was carrying his trunk whilst the other shielded his face as best he could.
"Severus, what the...?!" Lily gasped as she pulled a red-faced Snape into the compartment and slammed the door shut. It wasn't like Lily to get angry, but she knew immediately the gist of what had happened and her knuckles clenched furiously. Potter!
It took a whole five minutes for her to pull Severus' hand away from his face. The sight wasn't pretty. "Oh Severus, what have they done to you?" Severus' already pointy nose stuck out to twice its usual length, making him look like a goblin. Lily's eyes were wide with pity. "It's nothing." Severus said quickly, picking up Lily's book and hiding his face in it. His voice was bitter. Lily knew it most certainly wasn't nothing. "They can't keep bullying you like this! It's not fair!" She leapt to her feet and stormed into the corridor. "Lily don't, just leave it." Severus pleaded after her, but it was too late, she was already marching down the corridor. They're not getting away with this.
By the time Lily found his compartment, the train was speeding out of London. "Potter!" Lily growled furiously, causing all four of them to jump in their seats. Berty Bott's every flavour beans went flying in every direction and Peter Pettigrew, a small, chubby boy started choking on his liquorice wand. Lily allowed herself a small grin whilst the others collected themselves together. 'Ha, serves them right!' she thought.
Remus Lupin, a thin, pale boy with a kind face, was the first to answer. "Oh hello Lily, nice summer?" Out of the four of them, Lily had the most patience for Remus. He tended to cause the least trouble and sometimes managed to stop James from doing anything stupid. "Not bad thank you." She replied distractedly. Her eyes were fixed on the taller boy with messy black hair that stood up at every angle. He had rounded glasses and an annoyingly smug grin plastered across his face. "What brings you here Evans?" James smirked, running a hand through his hair and managing to mess it up even more. Lily hated it when he did that. Hadn't the toerag ever heard of a brush? It was clear that James knew exactly why she was there.
"Now you listen here Potter!" She said, pointing a finger at him and stepping forward. James stood up so that her finger was now inches from his chest. He was well built from playing so much quidditch, and easily stood a foot taller than Lily, but she was not one to be intimidated. Her eyes narrowed as his grin widened. "You leave Severus alone. I mean it!" She jabbed her finger against James' chest. Sirius Black, James' best friend and partner in crime chuckled. "Aww come on, we were only having a little fun with Snivellus. If you ask me it's a BIG improvement!" Sirius, James and Peter all laughed, but Lily had had enough. "Fun? You've turned him into a real life Pinocchio!" Their faces turn blank with confusion, except for Remus' who looked ashamed. She rolled her eyes. Of course they wouldn't know who Pinocchio, that was only a story a muggleborn would know. Remus was a half blood though, he knew exactly what she meant.
"You're all just horrible little bullies. Especially you Potter. I think it's time you grow up and start thinking about others besides yourself." As soon as the words were out, Lily felt a twinge of guilt. Well it was true that James needed to grow up, but she knew it wasn't true that James' only thought of himself. In fact that was one of the reasons, as much as she disliked James, why she could never hate him. She admired greatly the way James would stick up for his friends. He was always there in times of trouble and would sacrifice himself for any of them.
James' grin vanished and he took a step back, shock in his eyes. "Lily I..." But Lily didn't want to hear it. She turned on the spot and left the four boys staring in surprise after her.