A/N: I hope you enjoy the first official chapter!
Also, kudos to Wolfstarfan3000 for reviewing and my friend Nightingale1996 for agreeing to beta (Nice comment by the way).
Disclaimer: Harry Potter obviously doesn't belong to me, or I'd be publishing this.
This wasn't how it was supposed to be. Petunia should have been here with Lily. They would have hugged and then promised to write to one another. Having Petunia there might have calmed her the deadly cocktail of nerves boiling in her stomach a bit. But Petunia had too much pride. She would not write. No matter how much her mother wheedled her, she would not write. Petunia, her beautiful, stubborn older sister, who never apologized, but did understand. In all of their childish arguments, Petunia had always been unyielding and so, so stubborn (at least when it mattered.) Lily did learn from the best.
It had been cool that morning. Lily had woken up early to pack, even though she'd already done so the night before. She checked and double checked to make sure she had everything. This ritual served to calm her nerves slightly, though she could still feel them, bitter and cold in the pit of her stomach. What if she wasn't magic and Professor Dumbledore had made a mistake?
After her third time checking the contents of her chest, she heard a cough from the door.
"That's the third time. You must be really nervous about going to that school." It was Petunia of course. She spat the words like each was a missile. They all hit home.
"What do you mean school? You're just jealous that I get to go and you don't!" Lily could feel the beginning of an argument, but she didn't care. She needed to get her feelings out.
"Why would I be jealous?" She said it with a little laugh. "You're the one going to the freak school."
"It's not a freak school!" There was red rising in Lily's cheekbones now.
She laughed again. "Don't worry! You'll make friends. Like that creep. Snaps was it?"
Lily could feel the magic at her fingertips, but she held back as best she could.
"His name is Severus and he's a better friend than you ever were," Lily said tightly. She knew it was a low blow, but she did not waver when Petunia winced.
"You know what? I don't care. You can go to your stupid school with your stupid friends. You might as well never come back." She turned and walked swiftly out of the room, burning before Lily saw the slightest glimmer of a tear.
And she snapped. The door slammed shut of its own accord. Lily crumpled to the floor.
After a few minutes, Lily's mother walk in.
"Lily? Sweetheart? We're leaving in a bit. Your sister's feeling a bit ill and she says she can't come, but we'll see you off. She promised to write."
Lily knew a snub when she heard one. No letters would come from Petunia. That she knew for sure.
She could recall the exact way her heart had clenched as the bitter wind stung at her exposed cheeks, reddening them slightly. It made Lily shiver and jolt out of her daze. The day was still strangely cold and Lily had forgotten her scarf. She covered her cheeks with her half-frozen fingers.
Her mother turned to her. "Lily darling?" she said, shaking her slightly. "Do you remember what platform we were supposed to go to?" Lily sighed and turned to her.
"9 and three quarters think," she said without realizing how strange the number was.
"That makes absolutely no sense," her father said quizzically.
Lily paused, thinking. Then she noticed a boy who looked slightly familiar standing near them.
"Sev!" Lily shouted. She waved her arms madly at him. Severus looked up.
"Hey Lily!" He said, walking over.
"You came just in time! I was wondering where the platform was." She gave him a genuine smile. Her parents glanced at each other
"Come, I'll show you." He smiled at her, his sallow face lighting up a bit. His eyes crinkled, but Lily could see the rings beneath his eyes. He didn't look as if he'd slept a wink.
"Ok." She turned to her parents and gave them a lingering hug. Despite her excitement at going to Hogwarts, she knew that she would feel homesick when she got there.
"Goodbye my little flower," her father whispered as he pressed a quick kiss at her forehead.
Lily gave him a smile. "I love you both."
Severus stood apart from them. This sort of goodbye was unfamiliar to him. He'd come to the station himself with only a brisk goodbye from his mother. He could feel a distinct longing settle into the pit of his stomach.
When Lily finished her goodbyes, they walked away. Lily gazed at the station around her, barely noticing when Severus grabbed her hand and began to pull her faster. She missed the way color rose into his cheeks while they ran.
"Hurry Lily, we'll miss the train!" he shouted over his shoulder.
She walked faster. Severus was still half dragging her.
"We're here."
They were facing a wall. A brick wall. A completely ordinary brick wall.
"Here?" she asked, incredulous.
"Yep." He smiled at her. "Watch."
He walked up to the wall and put his hand on the surface. It passed right through.
"Come on," he murmured impatiently.
Lily gave him a look. Then, she ran straight at the wall. There was a strange moment when she could feel the weight of a black nothingness all around her. And she was through.
The air was smoky, but Lily could see people's silhouettes. The people. There were so many people. It was beautiful.
Lily could see people everywhere performing everyday magic with their wands. Older Hogwarts students levitated their chests onto the train. It was a candy apple red. There was no way to describe it other than beautiful.
She turned and saw Severus behind her. She laughed at the wonder of it all. There was a wall. And she'd run through it. She ran through a wall. Let Petunia try that.
She could feel giddy happiness bubble up inside her. This was her world. Filled with people like her. She belonged here.
"Lily, we should probably get on the train at some point." Severus' words jostled Lily out of her thoughts.
"Yes. We should." She followed him into the crowd.
There were so many people. The crush of bodies made Lily feel slightly claustrophobic. She paused for a bit, breathing hard. When she looked up, she could see that the mirage of colors had changed. Sev was gone.
Lily could feel panic setting in. He'd be on the train, wouldn't he? He wouldn't mind if they met back up at Hogwarts, she rationalized. It would be alright.
She pushed herself out of the crowd and towards the train sighing as she boarded it.
The train was nearly empty. After a few moments of trying to find Severus, she gave up. He would be at Hogwarts, that she knew. Lily took a deep breath and sat in the first compartment she found, not noticing the small girl already inside.
There was a book on her lap, but she was staring out the window, watching the people mill about. Her hair was curly and unruly, held back by a thin ribbon. Her skin was a light brown caramel. Lily could tell she was rich. She had that look about her. Her robes looked just a bit cleaner than everyone else's and seemed to be made of expensive cloth.
Lily was about to turn around and leave when the girl turned.
"Oh hello." Her voice was melodic and lilting. Her accent was polished. She even looked polished. Her nose was small and upturned. Her cheekbones were high making her face look like some mysterious princess. Her eyes looked red and puffy, however. She looked like she'd been crying.
"Hello." Lily's voice sounded rough in comparison. "I'm Lily," she said, sticking out her hand.
"Evanora Selwyn. But you can call me Nora if you want. I think Evanora sounds a bit pretentious." She reached out and shook Lily's hand.
"Nora it is." Lily gave Nora a smile. "Pleasure to meet you."
After a few moments, Nora smiled wanly and began to stare out the window again. Lily sighed and pulled out a book just as the train began to move.
Lily was three-hundred and fifty pages into her book when the compartment door was thrown open.
"Please change into your school robes. We're almost to the station." It was a girl, most likely a prefect. She gave them a reassuring smile and left quickly.
Lily got up and stretched, yawning a bit. Long rides often left her a bit sleepy. "You coming?" She directed this question to Nora, who was still, staring out the window. Lily was surprised she hadn't died of boredom or something.
"To the washroom? Yes, I would be willing to accompany you." Nora turned to face her. Lily was yet again astonished at how she managed to turn a simple answer into a perfectly worded sentence.
Lily slid the compartment door open and they began to walk down the narrow hall.
After a few minutes of walking, Nora tapped her on the shoulder lightly. "Do you happen know where the washroom is actually located?"
Lily gave her a sheepish smile. "No. Should we ask someone?"
"Yes. I believe we should." Nora turned and knocked on a random compartment door.
"What do you want now Rosier, you idiot?" came a voice from inside the compartment.
"Unfortunately, I am not Rosier, neither am I an idiot. May we come inside?"
There was a sigh and the door opened. Framed in the doorway was a girl. Her lips were pushed into a pinched frown making her nose crinkle just a bit. She was pretty in a conventional way. Straight nosed, full lipped, clear skinned, etc. The girl sighed again. "Are you coming inside or not?"
"We are here on a diplomatic mission." Turning to the girl, she asked. "Do you happen to know where the washroom is?"
"It's all the way down there," she said pointing the opposite direction that they'd come.
"Would you mind too terribly much if we use your compartment to change then?" Nora gave the girl a smile. "It would take too long to go back to our compartment."
"Fine."
They finished changing just as the train pulled into the station.
"That was close." Lily breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm Lily by the way. Lily Evans," she said to the girl. "And this is Nora Selwyn."
Her eyes widened very slightly. "Selwyn?"
Nora gave her a sarcastic bow. "The one and only heir."
The girl looked a bit confused, and then afraid, but she masked it with a smile after a moment. "Emma Vanity. Nice to meet you Selwyn. Evans." She nodded at them and brushed out of the compartment regally, her chin up, eyes looking both parts beautiful and dangerous.
"Heir?" Lily asked.
Nora gave a long suffering sigh. "I am the heir of the Great and Powerful Selwyn family. We're one of the sacred twenty-eight pureblood families, which makes me very influential. I come from a long line of Ravenclaws and some even believe that the Selwyn family is related to Rowena herself. I myself do not. Vanity was probably trying to make a favorable impression on me. She did not manage to do that, if you were wondering. "
Lily nodded. "I don't like her at all."
"No one really likes pretentious purebloods. Not even pretentious purebloods." Nora laughed that tinkling laugh again.
Lily smiled, then, realizing that most everyone had exited the train, her eyes widened. "We should go now."
"Alright that's fine-"
She began to run down the corridor, tugging Nora behind her. Her hair flew out behind her, feet almost off the ground.
They were almost at the luggage car when she ran smack dab into someone who's swaggering form she hadn't seen. One minute she was on her feet, the next she was sprawled out on the ground, Nora behind her.
"I'm so sorry," she said. She looked up, and there stood a boy, a boy with midnight hair and the warmest eyes she'd ever seen, shrouded with round glasses. He was beautiful, a grin balanced perfectly on his tanned cheeks, just crooked enough to make someone's heart pound.
He smirked and held out his hand. She took it and pulled herself to her feet.
"Looks like you just fell for me," he said, with a ridiculously exaggerated wink. The result was almost comical.
Any respect she might have had for him was gone immediately.
Nora knew the moment she saw Lily Evans shove James Potter in the chest that the year would be an interesting one. It wasn't a hard push, just enough to make him stumble. And when Nora noticed him dreamily watching them as they left, she couldn't stop the smirk from creeping onto her lips. Oh this would be an interesting year indeed.
The platform was still quite crowded, though Lily and Nora had come out late. Lily seemed to spot someone, a boy it looked like. He had long greasy hair and sallow skin, but he was smiling and somehow that made his face more pleasing.
"Do you mind if I go for a moment?" Lily looked at Nora questioningly. Nora inclined her head, an elegant dismissal.
Nora was used to being alone like this. Somehow the crowds and people made her feel more comfortable. Most of her life was spent at banquets being stared at. It was a welcome change to be ignored. She'd tried to be ignored since she was young and her brother would help her sneak into the library. They would spend many evenings like that. Her parents would always find them however, and each time Nora would wish more and more that she could disappear like her brother could.
Despite the fact that they were twins, Nora was considered the heir, since Evander was… not suitable. She tried to ignore the way her heart clenched when she thought about him.
Someone cleared their throat near her. She looked up. It was the girl, Emma.
"Ah, yes, hello." She cleared her throat and smiled. Nora couldn't help but notice the way the sun glinted in her green eyes, somehow making them look harsh and soft at the same time. The result was enough to make Nora stare just a bit, but she quickly rearranged her features so whatever she was feeling, wouldn't show.
"Hello, Vanity was it?" Nora ripped her gaze from her eyes and gave her a once over. She was definitely a halfblood. Her last name wasn't prominent enough to be a pureblood name, but she held her wand with too much ease to be a muggleborn.
The girl straightened up, somehow making her seem more cold, if that was even possible. "Yes. Emma Vanity. I just wanted to apologize for my abhorrent behavior in the train car." If possible, she managed to look cold and terrified at the same time.
Nora mentally hit herself. Of course this girl had to be a suck up, though the fear was new. "Well at least you're eloquent." She brushed past Emma.
Emma's arm darted out, catching her wrist. Nora shivered at the contact. "What do you mean?"
"Oh Merlin do I have to spell it out for you? I. Do. Not. Want. To. Be. Your. Friend." Nora hated the way her words sounded. It was too like her parents.
Emma's eyes flashed. "Who said anything about being friends? I just wanted to apologize to you and Evans for being rude!" There was a pink flush creeping up her neck.
"Well good job apologising." Nora wasn't exactly sure why she was being horrible, but some of her only remaining self-preservation told her that it would be best to keep this girl at arms length.
She could see the wheels turning in the girl's head. She smirked at Nora, the edges of her lips lifting a bit. "You want to be enemies? Fine. Just know that you will come to regret this day."
She turned and marched over to where Lily stood, but not before calling over her shoulder, "And for the record, I really didn't want to be your friend. It's apparent by your lack of them that no one else does either!"
It took all the self restraint Nora had to not go up to the girl, Emma, and hex her. Or worse. She shook her head and sighed. This was not a good start to the year.
A/N: This chapter is pretty short, but I promise they'll get longer. Remus and Sirius will also be present in the next chapter. Sorry if Snape and Petunia are a bit OOC, by the way. Reviews are appreciated and encouraged!
