A tune inside my head

by xxangel.dreamerxx

Lily Evans, lover of performing and all things music, was just accepted into Hogwarts, the most elite creative arts academy in the country. She seems to do well in her classes, but she finds she also has to try and succeed in life outside the classroom walls. Dealing with her sister's resentment, fighting for her friendship with Severus, and having to deal with one James Potter. AU

2. Chapter 2

So here's chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any Harry Potter characters mentioned.

~HP~

"Petunia!" Mum called up the stairs. "Lets go! We want to beat mid-morning traffic!"

Her, Daddy and I were by the front door, waiting to start the three hour drive to London to get my school supplies from Diagon Alley. Petunia had decided she needed to spend a whole hour and a half on her hair, outfit and make up. I never understood why girls did this. I was more of a get out of bed, throw on a clean blouse and jeans type of girl myself. Though, for this occasion, I had chosen a spaghetti strapped, navy colored paisley sundress and brown sandals. Mum had said that the color complimented my bright red hair well.

It had been a week since the letters had arrived. Following Daddy and Severus' instructions, I had signed the Honor Code that night and sent it off the next morning. For the first three days afterward, Petunia refused to even acknowledge my presence. Wouldn't look my way if we passed in the hall, pretended not to hear when I said something to her, and when I wanted in the bathroom the second morning, she locked the door and let me pound on it for a full twenty minutes without even saying anything. Finally Mum came and beat on the door, ordering her to unlock it and let me in the bathroom. When she did, Petunia just smiled at her and said "Mum, if you wanted in, all you have to do was say something." I wanted to throttle her for her childishness.

It was the fourth day, while we were eating dinner, when she finally talked to me. We had been eating in silence, all of us staring at our plates while chewing our food, when she suddenly piped up with a mumbled "Pass the salt, Lily." Shocked, I could do nothing but just that.

After that, I had hoped that she had finally forgiven me.

Of course not.

She still avoided looking me in the eyes whenever possible, and only spoke to me in mumbles or monosyllables. But at least she was finally talking. Even if she was being petty and acting like a spoiled child, she was still my sister and I hated it when she was mad at me.

"Petunia, you have two more minutes!" Called Daddy, who growing tired of waiting, "If you're not down here and in the car by the end of that time, we are leaving you home!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Petunia called from her room. Even if she was pissed that we were going merely for the purpose of getting me my school supplies, she was not missing the chance to go to Diagon Alley for anything. Frankly I was surprised that she wasn't the first one in the car this morning.

"Alright," She said, coming down the stairs, wearing a pair of striped shorts, an olive colored tank top and a dark grey cardigan with the brown boots I had gotten her for her last birthday. Her blonde hair and made up face not looking any different than any other day. "Lets go." she finished.

I rolled my eyes, before opening the door and making my way to the car. Mum, Petunia and Daddy followed, all of us going to our usual seats. Dad driving, Mum in the front seat, me in the back left, Petunia back right.

Daddy started the car, and Mum flipped through the radio station until she landed on a Paul McCartney song. She grinned at us in back from the rear view mirror, knowing that the both of us loved Paul McCartney. I grinned back, singing along with the lyrics to "Maybe I'm Amazed," while Petunia just dug one of her romance novels from her purse and shoved her nose into it. I sighed.

This was going to be a long ride.

For the next three hours, I talked, sang to the radio, and laughed with my parents while we drove our way to London. The whole time, Petunia ignored us, reading her novel or staring out the window. We stopped at a couple of rest stops, using the bathroom or getting snacks while Petunia stayed in the car, reading. When I had asked her if she wanted a soda, all she said was "Yes" without even looking up. She didn't bother to thank me when I had brought her back a coke. She just took the glass bottle and pried the cap off.

Then finally, finally, we arrived to the all but concealed cobbled stoned street in London. It was just past one o'clock so it was bound to be packed with people. To anyone who didn't know of Diagon Alley, all they would see was an entrance to number of streets with series' of shops, studios and flats tucked away behind a couple of pubs in an non-special part of the city. But when you entered, it was like a whole other, much more lively world hidden behind the outer buildings around the perimeter of the block.

As we exited the car, Petunia turned to our parents. "Can I please walk around while you're getting her stuff?" She asked, still not looking at me. I was getting really tired of this.

Mum looked unsure. "Er, I don't know sweetie. It's a big place…"

"Mum, I'm sixteen." Petunia said, rolling her eyes.

Maybe you should act like it, then. I thought darkly, saying nothing.

"I know, but I don't like the idea of wandering around by yourself. What if something happens?"

"Please Mum?" Petunia begged, looking with longing at the brick archway entrance.

"Fine." Sighed Daddy. "You can go, but check in with us in two hours at Gringotts. One of us will meet you. You don't come, we will hunt for you, and then you will have to stay with us the rest of the trip. Got it?"

Gringotts was the large white building at the heart of Diagon Alley. In it's halls, art pieces from some of the best people to walk through London were hung, lots of them former Hogwarts students. And it was one of the largest auditoriums in Britain, where some of the biggest artists of any trade had performed from all over the world. It was kind of hard to miss.

Petunia nodded, bouncing a little with impatience. "Okay, I got it. Can we go?"

"Alright. Lets go." Daddy said, wrapping an arm around Mum's shoulders and started walking. Petunia and I eagerly followed.

I never got over the feeling of walking through the brick archway. Seeing people of all ages shopping around the stores, looking excited while going about their business. There was just something about this place that made you smile. The atmosphere was happy, and busy, and overall creative. Colorful. That was the word when I thought of Diagon Alley. There were different colors everywhere. From instruments, to art supplies, to clothes, to lights, to shop windows, to the people. Everything was colorful.

"Remember, two hours!" Dad called to Petunia as she walked away. She waved at him half heartedly, heading in the direction of her favorite dance supply shop, Allegro.

The three of us watched her go for a moment, before Mum turned to the both of us. "Okay!" She said, smiling. She looked at me. "What's first on your list?"

I dug it out of my bag, unfolding the worn paper. "Um, I already have a guitar, so a new tuner and some extra strings. But why don't we get my uniforms first? The shop's right down there." I said, pointing to Madame Malkin's Performance Attire. In the window, a sign with elegant writing said "Hogwarts uniforms sold here."

Mum and Dad looked that way. She turned back and nodded. "Let's do it."

When we entered the shop, we were met with racks and racks of dresses, dress pants, jackets, scarves, skirts, shirts, and a number of other things. By the window was a row of cushioned chairs. I could see towards the back was a small platform in front of a large mirror, which was occupied by a girl who looked around twenty-ish being fitted in a flashy, hot pink dress. Something about her looked strikingly familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. The woman who was bent over putting pins in the dress, looked up at us when the bell above the door dinged.

"I'll be with you in a moment!" She called to us, turning back to the girl, who smiled at us in slight embarrassment. I politely smiled back, before deciding to pass the time by looking through some of the clothes. Mum followed, fingering through a rack of dresses. Dad took this as cue to sit on one of the cushion chairs and wait.

About five minutes later, we heard the woman say, "Done! I should have the alterations finished this weekend."

"Thank you." I could hear the girl say, and then the sound of fabric moving. A moment later, the soft sound of a door closing. She was probably going to change out of the dress.

"Alright!" said the woman, who I was now assuming to be Madame Malkin. She came to the front of the store, smiling at the three of us. She looked to be around her mid thirties, with black hair pulled into a ponytail. She was wearing a grey dress with a black cardigan. "What can I do for you? Wait-" she continued before any of us could say anything. "Let me guess. Hogwarts?"

I grinned sheepishly, nodding. "Yeah. I need two uniforms."

"Say no more," she said, "Follow me."

With a glance at Mum, I followed Madam Malkin to the back of the shop. She motioned for me to stand on the platform.

"Just going to get your sizes, here." she said, pulling a tape measure out of her pocket. She started taking my measurements.

"So are you excited?" she asked, wrapping the tape around my waist. "About going to Hogwarts, I mean. It's quite and achievement."

I nodded. "Very." I said. "Part of me still can't believe that I got in."

Madame Malkin nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean."

"Did you go to Hogwarts?" I asked curiously.

She grinned, nodding. "Yep. I was a proud Hufflepuff. I studied fashion design. In fact, everything in here except the uniforms is my work."

I grinned. "Wow, that's amazing. I saw some of your dresses. Their absolutely gorgeous."

She grinned too, blushing the tiniest of bit. "Thank you very much. Even though I was really only there for fashion design, it really helped me to be around all those performers. I had always wanted to design this particular type of fashion, you know, for performances and such. Going to school with them, it really helped me broaden my knowledge and experience with such designs. I guess that is the advantage of going to a school like Hogwarts. Even if you're only going for a particular trade, your involvement in others will do nothing accept further you in ways you never even imagined. What are you going to be studying?"

"Music," I said as she measured my arms. "I'll be in Gryffindor."

"Well, you must pretty good yourself if you've made it into Hogwarts." she said, finishing up with her measuring.

"I like to think so." I smiled. "But I'm sure it's a matter of opinion."

Madame Malkin nodded. "That's the problem with our world of the Creative Arts. Everything is a matter of opinion. Now," she said, pocketing the tape measure. "I'll just go get you some pieces to try on."

I nodded. She walked through a door in the back.

As I waited, the girl that was in the pink dress came out of the changing room, now in normal clothes, carrying the dress over her arm. She smiled at me, and I was stricken again by how familiar she looked. Unable to think of why, I just smiled back at her. "I'm just going to leave this here," she said, carefully draping it over a stool next to the mirror. "Could you please tell her for me that I will be back on Monday to pick it up?"

I smiled again, nodding at her. "Yeah."

She smiled appreciatively. "Thanks." she said, before walking back to the front of the store and out the door.

"Here we go," Said Madam Malkin, returning with several articles of clothing in her arms. She noticed the dress on the stool. "Did Nadia leave?"

I nodded, "Yeah, she said she'll be back on Monday to pick it up."

"Right, well, here is the girl's uniform for a Hogwarts Gryffindor." she handed me a white blouse, pleated grey skirt, a grey sweater vest trimmed around the collar with crimson and gold, grey knee socks, and a crimson and gold tie. "You said Gryffindor, right?" I nodded. "Crimson and gold is Gryffindor colors. You can go ahead and try these on back there." she nodded to the changing room.

After I changed, I walked back out, now clad in the uniform, and stepped back onto the platform. I looked at myself in the mirror, noticing that the uniform actually looked decent on me, which was the opposite of what I was imagining.

"Does everything fit okay?" Madame Malkin asked, smoothing out ruffles in the sleeves. She met my eyes in the mirror.

I nodded. "Yep, it all fits perfectly."

She smiled. "Good. Why don't you go ahead and show your parents. They're probably getting bored over there."

I laughed, nodding and stepping off the platform to go to the front of the store where Mum and Daddy were waiting for me. When they saw me, their eyes lit up.

"Oh, honey, you look so cute!" Mum said, standing. She moved her finer in a circle. "Give us a twirl."

I spun around in a small circle, feeling my skirt swirl around my thighs. When I turned back they were both grinning.

"You look great sweetheart." Daddy said, kissing my forehead. "Like you were born to wear it." I smiled.

"Thanks, you guys."

After I changed back into my sundress, Madam Malkin took back my uniform, along with a second set, two v-necked grey sweaters (for the winter months, she explained) and two packs of knee socks, before zipping them up in a garment bag. She rung us up. As we were leaving, she called out to us.

"Good luck, miss…?"

"Lily Evans." I said, smiling at her. "Thanks."

She waved at us as we exited the store.

"So what's next?" Asked Daddy, after we cleared one of the larger crowds. He turned to me.

Securing my uniforms in my left arm, I dug my supply list out of my purse with my right. "Er, well, we can go and get my books. Flourish and Blotts is just around the corner." Flourish and Blotts was a book store that sold anything from How-to books on playing instruments, to photography books, painting and drawing techniques, to plays and sheet music, to biographies on performers, to dance style and techniques, to history books on certain trades, to novels written by Hogwarts graduates who studied Creative Writing. It was pretty much the only place I would find all of my assigned books at once.

"Alright, let's go." he said, throwing an arm around my shoulders. Mum took my hand, and the three of us walked down the cobble stone path, laughing at Dad when he started to make sarcastic comments about the people around us. "That color can't be natural!" He gasped, sounding falsely offended, referring to a woman was passing us with bright magenta hair. And "Who is that guy trying to be? James Dean? Take those off!" He scoffed, nodding at a guy wearing dark reflective glasses and a leather jacket. With his hair, he looked more like Fonzie from that American t.v. show Happy Days than James Dean.

"Alright, Caleb. That's enough." Mum giggled as we opened the shop's door. Daddy snorted, but listened. I laughed.

It didn't take too long to find all of my books. But once I did, we had to wait in line for nearly half an hour because the line was so long. It seemed that everyone was getting their supplies today.

"Look at the time." said Dad, looking at his wrist watch. We were back on the street, me now laden with two bags of books and the garment bag that held my uniforms. Dad looked at the two of us. "It's time to check in with Petunia."

"I'll go," Mum said, adjusting the strap of her purse. "I'm starting to get hungry anyway. Shall I go get Petunia then meet you guys at The Leaky Cauldron?"

"I still need to go to a couple more stores, but yeah that sounds good." I said, looking at my supply list again. I noticed that besides the dancing shoes, everything else I needed could be found at Quality Music Supplies a few stores down.

"I'll take your uniforms." Mum said, taking the surprisingly heavy garment bag from my arms. I smiled at her in relief. "Thanks," I said.

After Mum set off towards Gringotts, I turned to Dad. "So, do you think we should go get my dancing shoes first, or get all of my music supplies out of the way?"

"Music supplies, definitely." He said. But as I started walking that way, he suddenly said "But first, I've got find a lavatory."

I turned around. "Dad!" I complained.

"I know, I'm sorry." He sighed. He reached for his wallet. "Here, while I go, you can get whatever you need." He handed me a wad of money. "I'll meet you at the store. When I get back, we can get your shoes then meet Mum and Petunia for lunch."

I sighed. "Okay. I'm going to Quality Music Supplies. It's just down the street over there." I said, pointing my thumb in the direction I was about to go.

"Got it." Daddy said, giving me a thumbs up, before setting off in the opposite direction briskly. I snorted to myself, before turning around and walking towards the store.

When I came to it, I noticed a crowd of people gathered at the window. They were around my age, maybe a two or three years older, with their faces practically pressed against the glass. They were whispering excitedly amongst each other.

"….Newest model."

"Rumor has it Zeppelin is using one just like it."

"I wish I was rich…"

Making my way closer, I saw one of the most beautiful electric guitars I had ever seen in my life displayed in the window. It's slim body was resting gracefully on a platform covered in black velvet material. The headstock and body was a glossy midnight blue, the neck and strings a solid black, the machine heads, frets and bridge a shiny chrome. Crawling up the neck, behind the strings, was a pearl engraving that spelled Nimbus Gothic lettering.

I let out a breath of amazement. Though I preferred acoustic myself, I couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to play a guitar as magnificent as that one just once. If only just once.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?" asked a voice from my left.

At first, I wasn't even sure if they were talking to me or not. But I looked over anyway, and found a boy around my age, fourteen, standing there grinning at me. He was tall, and rather handsome, with unruly jet black hair and square spectacles, behind which were hazel eyes that seemed to look right through me.

I blinked, taken a bit off guard. "I-I'm sorry?" I asked stupidly. I blushed the tiniest of bits. This guy was pretty handsome, not that I was staring or anything.

He nodded towards the display in the window. "The Nimbus. Isn't it awesome?"

I turned back to the guitar, shimmering under the display lights. "Oh, yeah." I said, nodding. "Amazing."

"Do you play?" He asked when I turned back to look at him. He had one of his hands shoved in his jeans pocket, and he was wearing a dark t-shirt. I nodded, grinning to myself.

"You could say that." I said. I rose an eyebrow at him. "I take it you do too?"

He nodded eagerly, looking like he was trying to keep himself from looking too proud. "Oh, yes. I do."

"Well, I guess we have something in common then." I shrugged. This made him smile bigger.

"I like that." He said. He removed his hand from his pocket and held it out to me. "I'm James. James Potter."

I shifted the bag I had in my right hand to my left and grasped it, noticing the calluses on his fingertips. He must have practiced often, "Lily Evans."

"Well, Evans," he said, taking his hand back, "Are you here at Quality Music Supplies for a reason? Or are you here to gawk like the rest of us?

I looked back at the shop. "Actually, I'm here to get items from my supply list."

He took a moment to stare at me. "Supply list? You mean, you're going to Hogwarts?"

I rose an eyebrow at him, a frown making it's way to my face. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Now he looked shocked. "What? No! Of course not! I think it's great. I was just surprised. You're the first person I've met today that's going to Hogwarts I didn't already know."

Now I rose my other eyebrow. "You know people who are going to Hogwarts?"

Now he snorted. "Yeah, I do. Me and my best mates, we just got accepted."

Mates? As in plural? As in, his whole group of friends managed to get into this amazing school, while my sister couldn't? How did they make that happen?

"How did you manage that? All of you getting in?" I asked, genuinely interested in how they did it. Maybe if Petunia had done it, she would have gotten in and not be acting the way she was.

"My friends and I are a band." He shrugged. Grinning again, he said. "We call ourselves The Marauders."

I paused. Made sense, I guess. "Congratulations. " I said, smiling.

"Hey, you too. I guess this means we'll be housemates." He paused, "That is, if you're shopping for your core study instead of an introductory class."

"Yep," I nodded . "Music all the way."

"Awesome. Gryffindors are the best anyway. I mean, dancing's alright, so Ravenclaw's okay. And I have no drawing ability whatsoever, so more power to the Hufflepuffs. But, from what I've heard, the Slytherin's are all stuck up gits. Part of it being that half of them feel superior because they're Legacies."

I scoffed, raising my eyebrows. "One of my closest friends happens to be a future Slytherin. And if by legacies you mean that they've had family graduate from Hogwarts, then, yes, he's one of those too. "

Potter didn't even have the manners to look a little embarrassed about calling Severus a stuck up git. He just looked a little surprised, but then shrugged. "That's too bad. I hope you will still be friends by the end of the school year."

Now I gaped at him, my face heating up with anger. Who the hell did this person think he was? "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I snapped.

He shrugged again. "It's just, for years Gryffindors and Slytherins have had this sort of feud going on. I don't think many friendships have survived it."

"Excuse me," I said, appalled, "but you know nothing of our friendship or what it can survive. Maybe you should mind your own business. And how do you even know so much if you've just been accepted?"

Now he looked a little nervous. "Because, I'm kind of a legacy too. Actually, my entire band is."

I stared at him, completely appalled. "So, accuse my friend of being a stuck up git because he's a Slytherin legacy, while you and you're band are all Gryffindor legacies?"

"Hey, you've got it all wrong-" he started, but I took a few steps backwards, putting up my hands.

"No, I think that pretty much sums it up." Putting two fingers to my forehead, I have him a mock salute. "I'll see you around school, Potter."

"Evans, wait-" The rest was cut off as I turned and walked into the store, letting the door slam shut behind me with an audible whoosh.

~HP~

Please review. Did anyone catch that little part inspired by a That 70's Show episode. Let me know if you did. Luvs you ~angel.