Disclaimer: Ummm…yeah…not mine…Harry Potter…I'm not that brilliant…but J.K. Rowling is…

A/N: I'm trying really hard to avoid the numerous clichés of LilyJames stories. And I'm trying to avoid Mary Sues, so it'd be great if you guys could help me to avoid that stuff. Just leave it in a review…I'd really appreciate that. I know people are reading this, because the first chapter got more than 50 hits. I'd love more reviews…I hope you like it.

A New Family…A Weird One Too

The next day, after a fairly awkward subway ride with Professor Dumbledore, they reached a small pub called the Leaky Cauldron. Funny, she had never noticed it before. On city excursions with her parents, before the accident, she had come to London and walked down this same street, but had never noticed it before.

"Hello Tom! I trust you are doing fine?" Dumbledore greeted the hunched man standing behind the counter.

"'Ello Dumbledore. I see you have another poor victim. He-who-must-not-be-named is getting a bit out of hand don't you think? I assume you're taking care of it?" Tom questioned.

"Yes, yes. The Minister and I have a meeting later today. For now, I must take this young muggle orphan to her new home," Dumbledore hissed this last sentence.

"Oh, begging your pardon, young miss," Tom tipped his battered cap, "Have a nice day."

"Now Lily, I need you hold tightly to my robes, we are trying a new, experimental form of transportation today," Dumbledore took a pinch of powder from the jar on the counter and threw it into the fire, "Though, I assure you it is completely safe." Lily looked dubious but followed the instructions of her wise companion. She didn't know what else to do. Half of her wanted to forget this ridiculous society and go back to Petunia and the foster home. Another part of her was fascinated by everything that was going on and wanted to see what this peculiar man would do next.

Before she knew it, she felt like she was flying. It felt like a roller coaster, but with a lot more loops than she had ever experienced. Pictures flew past, like someone had hit fast forward on a videocassette player. Abruptly she came to a stop, and stumbled out of a fireplace. As her eyes adjusted to the scene in front of her she realized she was standing in a kitchen, similar to her own. A small family sat at the table.

"Well, that was a successful trip. I was worried that partner flooing might not be the best thing to subject Miss Evans to right now. She is not quite stable yet," Dumbledore brushed his robes off and helped Lily regain her balance. The woman sitting at the table smiled.

"And we'll do our best to help her with anything that she might need here. Won't we?" her husband smiled in agreement, but the girl sitting between them crossed her arms on her chest and looked at the floor.

"You'll have to excuse our daughter, she's having trouble getting used to having a sister. But she'll come around. Won't you, Beth?" the man glanced at his daughter before turning back to Lily and standing up, "I'm Devon Hale and this is my wife, Bridget, and my daughter Beth."

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Lily answered nervously. She already had enemies in this new house. Imagine what they're going to think when she sets something on fire! She better not unpack her things yet.

"I'll just show you to your new room so you can get settled in and washed up before we eat," Bridget announced, "Dumbledore, would you like to stay? I believe we cooked your favorite dish." She picked up Lily's bags and headed upstairs. Lily trailed after her, still apprehensive about being in her new home.

"You're sharing my room," piped up a voice behind Lily. Beth stood behind her with her hands on her hips, "I already separated everything. You have half of the room and I have half of the room with all of my things. I don't want you coming to my side, please." Beth shot a glance at her mother's back as Bridget headed down the upstairs hallway. Lily quickly followed Bridget down the hallway, a little daunted by Beth's insistent proclamation.

Lily could not help but notice the strange decorations covering the walls of Beth Hale's walls. She had a poster of a band called "The Tawny Owls" all wearing long brightly colored cloaks and carrying very bizarre instruments. As Lily gazed at the peculiar poster, she swore that one of the band mates on the poster winked at her. When Lily had walked into the room, Bridget had set her bags down on a colorful quilt and was tidying up her daughter's side of the room. She leaned a broom up against the wall, although the room didn't look like it had been swept recently and the broom was awfully neat compared to the broom her mother used to use to sweep her old house.

"Now Beth said you could use this armoire to put your clothes in and we set up this bookshelf and bed for you. Why don't you unpack your bags, wash up, and then join us for some food. Beth will tell you where the bathroom is," Mrs. Hale exited the room and returned with a rather disgruntled Beth. A large orange cat followed them in.

"This is Morgana. She's Beth's cat. It was her birthday present because she's going off to school. Same school as you actually," she turned to Beth, "Now stay in here and help Lily unpack her things," ordered Bridget. She bustled out of the room and could be heard going down the stairs shortly after. Without saying a word, Beth opened her armoire, removed what looked like a bathrobe and announced that she was going to go change.

"I hate these muggle clothes. They're so unnaturally tight," Lily heard her mutter. What could muggles be? Lily opened her own bags and began removing piles of clothing to put in her armoire. She propped up a picture of her family taken on their last holiday. Her parents looked so happy. Not like they would be dead in a few months.

She didn't really mean to look, but Lily couldn't help but glance into Beth's open wardrobe. Robes filled almost the whole space. A few sweaters and skirts were hung at the end of the rod, but other than that, a rainbow of "bathrobes" hung limply on the rod. The book on the nightstand was also rather bizarre. It was about Quidditch, whatever that was. Maybe a religion or something. Just as Lily went to examine the desk in the corner of the room, Beth flounced back in.

"What are you doing? I told you that I'd rather keep my things private. I don't want you over there. Come on. Let's go downstairs and eat. I'm hungry," Beth turned on her heel and left as abruptly as she had returned.

A/N: Don't forget to review. Even a few words are appreciated. If you review mine, I'm more likely to read and review your stores at least once. In fact if you review mine, it's a 100 guarantee that you'll receive a review from me.