The Other Evans Girl - C2
Pleasantly surprised with the response from chapter 1, thanks guys. Just a small insight in to my Hermione Evans and her emotional state. She's spent years alone, in danger every second, her only ally acting as a spy and with the knowledge that if she failed, that was it. Now she's been thrust into this situation where she's essentially a child with the experiences and memories of a much older version of herself. So she really isn't all that easy to deal with.
}{—}{—}{
August 1971
Lily Evans was as carefree as most eleven year olds could be, she rarely had worries that she deemed serious enough to trouble her - until now.
Her best friend in the whole entire world was her twin, Hermione. That would never change but her friendship with Severus was very important to her and the two just didn't get along.
Well, actually, Severus didn't get along with Hermione, Hermione just wasn't interested in other people to care enough about them but as they were all going to Hogwarts together, she was determined to get the two to find some kind of common ground.
"Why do I have to ask her?" Severus frowned
"Because you were rude to her first!" Lily determinedly said, crossing her arms across her chest in what she hoped was a great impression of her mother when she was annoyed at them.
"No, I wasn't" Severus said, although it lacked the punch his earlier words had.
"The very first day we met, by the swings, you said that she wasn't a Witch" Lily rebutted
A flash of guilt crossed his face and he averted his gaze "how was I suppose to know?" he feebly argued "she never did anything" he said raising his head, "not like you" he proudly asserted
Lily sighed, uncrossing her arms "you need to be the one to hold out a hand of friendship, if we're all going to be at Hogwarts together, you need to get along with my sister"
The mention of Hogwarts bought a smile to Severus' face and crushed whatever was left of his resolve "alright" he conceded, any doubt disappearing when Lily smiled at him.
"Thank you, Sev" Lily grinned, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him in for a hug. Severus' smile was the largest she'd ever seen. "Let's go now" she urged, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him through the streets of Cokeworth, Severus happily obliged.
Lily barrelled through her front door, Severus right behind her.
A quick look in the lounge and the dining room came up empty, "she's probably in her room" Lily said and began to walk up the stairs, only stopping when Severus didn't follow.
"What's wrong?" She asked
He looked deeply uncomfortable "I'm not sure that I'm allowed upstairs" he said, his face marred with worry
"Don't be silly" Lily smiled "you've already met my mother and she knows that you're my friend, and my friends are allowed upstairs" she confidently explained.
Although he still looked uncomfortable, their was very little in the world that Severus would refuse his only friend, so with reluctant steps, he climbed up the stairs.
"Petunia and Mum and Dad are on this floor" Lily explained "Hermione and I are one floor up"
"Do you share a room" he curiously asked, his eyes scanning the landing, although the house was only slighter bigger than his own, it was much, much cleaner.
"No" Lily shook her head "we haven't since we were six, Hermione use to have nightmares" she said as if that utterly explained why they no longer shared a room.
The door right across the second set of stairs opened up just as they were about to climb up it.
"What are you doing here?" the voice was scathing and offended and on instinct alone, Severus found himself standing behind Lily, who stood tall and strong and angry on her friends behalf.
"I let him in, Petunia!" Lily snapped, unyielding in front of her older sister's anger.
Severus felt a strange surge of confidence and happiness, no one, not a single person had ever defended him and he'd be damned if he let her face the Muggle on her own.
He moved so that he was standing shoulder to shoulder with Lily and not hiding behind her,
The action only infuriated Petunia.
"Does Mother know?" she demanded
"Yes!" Lily lied
Petunia's eyes narrowed, going from Lily to Severus and back to Lily
"His kind isn't welcome here" she finally managed to say, spite and hurt clear in her tone.
Lily's brows furrowed more confused than angry, "his kind is my kind and Hermione's kind" she reminded her sister
Petunia looked deeply upset, anger glimmering in her eyes. "I'm telling Mother about this!" she snapped all but running down the stairs, yelling after their mother.
"Don't worry, you won't get into trouble" Lily assured him
"But will you?" Severus asked worried, he hated being in trouble, although his mother did her best she could never stop that Muggle from hurting him, would Lily's mother hurt her the same way?
"No" Lily smiled, her eyes catching something just over his shoulder, Severus tilted his head towards Petunia's open door way, his eyes going wide when he spotted the Owl in the room.
Without thinking, Severus followed after Lily into the room.
"Isn't she pretty?" Lily grinned, petting the brown Owl, Severus' attention however was fixated on the letter with the broken Hogwarts seal.
"How did a Muggle write to Hogwarts?" he mused aloud, his eyes scanning over the letter, snorting at the contents, the gall of the Muggle, thinking that her sort would be allowed to attend Hogwarts.
"What is it?" Lily asked, coming to stand by his side so that she could better see the letter.
"They must have Wizards in the postal system" Severus remarked "How else could a Muggle get a letter to Hogwarts.
"I thought that she didn't want to go?" Lily said surprised, "that she hated the whole idea of Hogwarts" she frowned
"Clearly not" Severus snorted "She's a Muggle, of course she'd lie, they all want to be like us" he said
"It was nice of the HeadMaster to write back to to her" Lily said.
"What are you doing in here?"
Lily and Severus simultaneously turned, guilt on both their faces, to see the person that they'd been planning to see staring them down.
"Hermione" Lily said, "we were coming to see you" she explained
Hermione raised a brow, her eyes moving from Lily to the letter in Severus' hand. Lily hastily grabbed the letter and placed it back down on the desk, Hermione's gaze went back to Lily.
"This isn't my room" she deadpanned "and if Petunia found you rifling through her things, it'd be the beginning of world war three" she said her lips turned down at the corners.
"It's my fault" Lily said "I dragged poor Severus in here because I saw the Owl" she sheepishly smiled, "but you're right, we better get out of here before Petunia gets back" she nodded and began to walk out of the room, Severus smartly followed after her.
They both walked passed Hermione, who firmly shut the door to Petunia's bedroom.
"You both better go before she comes back" Hermione warned
"Why don't you come with us?" Lily smiled "Get some sunlight and fresh air" she suggested
Hermione scrutinised the both of them before turning them down "I'm in the middle of a page turner" she explained but Lily was nothing if not persistent.
"Severus has something he was planning to say to you" she explained "and it would be good for all of us to spend some time together before we go to Hogwarts"
Hermione was clearly going to turn her down so Lily jumped in with what she was sure would get her to agree.
"It's really important to me" she beseeched
Hermione froze, her reluctance clear on her face, a few seconds passed but then she sighed and shrugged "fine"
"Yes!" Lily cheered "now let's go before Petunia shows up" she grinned
Her day of bonding hadn't exactly gone to plan, Severus had yet to make amends and Hermione was just a difficult person to connect with.
She'd been hoping that Severus' vast knowledge of Hogwarts would help, Hermione loved getting information that she didn't have, but she just seemed rather dulled by the whole thing.
"Tell her about the talking portraits" Lily enthused. They were sat by the river bank, their socks and shoes off, with their bare feet submerged in the river.
"Oh yes, the portraits talk" said Severus, Lily's elbow nudged his arm and she sent him a frustrated look. "Some of them even work as security." He hastily added, "To get in to the Common rooms you have to give a password and for Gryffindor House, you have to give it to a portrait"
Lily triumphantly grinned when that finally managed to get Hermione's attention.
She turned away from the river, where she'd been lazily gazing into and looked at Severus "how do you know that?" she asked
"My mother went to Hogwarts" he quickly explained
"Was she in Gryffindor?" Hermione asked
"No!" Severus said offended, "Thanks Merlin's beard for that"
Hermione's face darkened "What's wrong with Gryffindor House?" she asked
Severus seemed surprised and quickly said "nothing!" but the damage was done, Hermione sighed and rose up from her seat.
"I think I've had enough sunlight for the day" she smiled, grabbing her shoes and socks
"Don't go" Lily pleaded but nothing could dissuade the younger girl
"I'll see you later" she said, promptly walking away
"She doesn't like me" Severus informed Lily
Lily gave him a strained smile "Hermione doesn't like anyone" she shrugged, but that did little to assuage Severus' feelings.
}{—}{—}{
Diagon Alley was every bit as impressive as Severus had promised. The cobblestoned street was filled to the brim with magical families, so much so that Lily couldn't walk without bumping in to anyone.
"We need to get to Gringotts Wizarding Bank first" Her father informed them
"It's that way" Hermione pointed
"How do you know?" Petunia scowled, she'd tried to stay at home but had been dragged against her will.
"Because it says so right there" Hermione rolled her eyes, pointing to the words Gingrotts bank engraved on a snow white multi storied marble building that towered over all the others on the street.
"Good eyes, love" Their father beamed.
Lily had thought that Gringotts looked impressive on the outside, but the inside took her breath away
"What are those?" Petunia said frightened, pointing at the small creatures behind the counters.
"I wouldn't point" said a voice and the three Evans sisters turned to see a boy, almost as tall as Petunia, who'd be turning fourteen soon.
He was very pretty for a boy, with a head of curly brown hair and sky clear blue eyes.
"Goblins get very easily offended"
"Is that what they are?" Lily asked "Goblins?"
"Yes" The boy smiled "and if you want to walk out of here completely intact, I wouldn't cross them"
The information frightened Petunia who shrinked back to hide behind their mother.
"Didn't mean to frighten you girls" he smirked, looking anything but sorry
"We weren't frightened" Hermione shook her head "It'll take a lot more than Goblins to scare me" she said
"Oh really" the older boy smirked, his whole face lighting up
"Really" Hermione smirked back, a strange glimmer in her eyes
"I'm Benjy Fenwick" the boy smiled, holding his hand out for Hermione to shake
"Hermione Evans" she replied, "this is my sister, Lily"
Benjy shook Lily's hand but his eyes remained on Hermione, "I have to run off" he said pointing his thumb behind him "but I guess I'll be seeing you both at Hogwarts"
"It's our first year" Lily explained
"It'll be my second" Benjy smiled "aim for Hufflepuff House" he told Hermione before running off.
"He was a bit rude" Lily frowned
"Was he?" Hermione asked, "I didn't notice"
"And you were bit nice?" Lily raised a brow
"I'm always nice" Hermione said surprised, her wide eyes causing Lily to chuckle at her.
}{—}{—}{
After Gringotts, The Evans family ticked off almost all the stores listed on the Welcoming letter, they'd gotten their uniforms from Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, their books from Flourish and Blotts, where they spent far too long a time trying to drag Hermione away, who'd refused to leave without three extra books that weren't listed.
Lily wondered why Hermione needed 'Numerology and Grammatica', 'Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms' and 'Alchemy, Ancient Art and Science'. She doubted that she'd understand a word of it anyway.
"Next Stop, Magical Menagerie" Their Dad grinned "unless you girls want an Owl?" he asked
"I want a cat" Lily smiled "Severus says that Hogwarts have their own Owls that we can use to send letters home"
"Magical Menagerie it is then" Henry nodded.
The animal shop wasn't as busy as some of the others but it was much, much louder.
"Ohhh, look at them" Lily grinned, her eyes instantly landing on the cat section. "How am I suppose to pick just one?" she asked
"Quickly" Petunia sniped
"Girls" Their mother sighed but Lily was far too excited for Petunia to ruin her mood, she walked on down to the cat section and carefully analysed each one, before settling on a tabby cat the same colour as Hermione's eyes, whisky brown.
"I want him" she told her Mum, "doesn't he reminded you of…where's Hermione?" she asked
"She went with your father down there" Viola said "you were too busy to notice" she smiled
"Toads?" Lily frowned looking at the section her mother had pointed at, "why would Hermione pick a toad over a cat?" she asked appalled at the idea. "Cats are amazing" she shook her head.
They managed to track down a shop assistant who took the cat named Toby out of his cage and into Lily's arms.
"He's perfect" she grinned, just as Hermione and Henry walked up to them, carrying a glass cage, with a dark green toad inside.
Petunia frowned at the sight and Lily had to work hard not to do the same
"You really bought a toad?" she asked, trying to sound enthusiastic
"They're survivors" Hermione grinned "meet Augustus" she proudly said, holding up the cage "Gus for short"
"This is Toby" Lily smiled, "and still Toby for short" causing a small grin to appear on Hermione's face.
"Can we go now?" Petunia asked
"Just one more store" Their mother promised.
Ollivander's was right at the heart of Diagon Alley, with it's shabby look, it was easy to miss amongst all the colour on the street.
The shop was tiny, empty except for a single, spindly chair in the corner. Thousands of narrow boxes containing wands were piled right up to the ceiling of the tiny shop, and the whole place had a thin layer of dust about it.
A man with a shock of white hair and skinny fingers appeared from behind a row of boxes
"Who do we have here?" he asked, his dark eyes searching amongst the Evans family.
Viola spoke up "Our daughters are starting Hogwarts this year and are in need of a wand" she said
"Well you're in the right place" he joked "step up then girls"
Whilst Lily had been excited all day, running head first into everything, her nerves kept her rooted to the spot, what if it was all a big mistake and she wasn't a Witch? What if she didn't get her own wand?
Hermione stepped up, not a lick of nerves about her.
Ollivander whipped out his own wand and slashed at the air, a purple measuring tape appeared out of nowhere and hovered besides Hermione.
"Wand arm up" Ollivander instructed
Hermione lifted her right arm and the measuring tape got to work, the easy displace of magic thrilled the Evans parents whose wide smiles reached from ear to ear.
"I'll be just a moment" Ollivander promised, disappearing behind the large rows of boxes.
"Rather eccentric isn't he" Henry grinned
"It's wonderful" Viola smiled, encouragingly placing a hand on Lily's shoulder, unaware of the dark scowl gracing the face of her eldest daughter.
Ollivander returned with five boxes.
"Let's give this one a try" He said, holding out a dark brown wand, "Applewood with a dragon heartstring"
Hermione didn't look excited or nervous, just indifferent as she took the wand and gave it a flick.
The empty chair in the room shattered to pieces, startling the Evans family.
"It's alright, we have plenty more" Ollivander said, taking the wand back and handing her another "Ashwood with a unicorn hair" he explained
Hermine gave it a flick and a stream of water burst out of the tip, soaking the counter. Ollivander hurriedly took it back and a flick of his own wand got rid of the water.
He wordlessly handed Hermione another "Vine wood, ten and three quarters with a dragon heartstring" although it was almost unnoticeable Hermione's mood had changed with this wand, the dull boredom seemed to be replaced with anticipation.
She gently wrapped her fingers around it and gave it a wave, the wand instantly jerked out of her hand, sailing across the room and landing on the ground with a smack.
Confusion swept across Hermione's face, a look that Ollivander mistook for sadness, "I've never not managed to pair a wand and a Witch, don't you worry dear, your wand is here somewhere" he reassured her but Hermione was far too focused on the wand that had just rejected her to pay attention to him.
It took two more tries before a strange glint appeared in Ollivander's eyes "I wonder?" he spoke aloud scrutinising Hermione from head to toe before disappearing into the back of his store.
"We'll find it" Lily reassured Hermione, who seemed oddly dejected.
Viola and Henry shared a look, Hermione wasn't the sort to get so easily upset.
Ollivander returned with a single wand, the box covered in so much dust that it was difficult to make out its original colour. He pried it open and gently held up the wand, an eager expression on his face, "11 inches long, made from Holly wood with a Phoenix feather at it's core" he said reverently.
Tension seemed to sweep over Hermione, her shoulders went stiff and her spine rigid.
Lily couldn't understand why, perhaps she was worried that this one would also reject her?
With great reluctance, Hermione took the wand from Ollivander and almost instantly great big sparks erupted out of the tip, filling the small shop with loud colourful bangs.
A great big smile appeared on Ollivander's face "I told you" he proudly declared to Hermione, who didn't look at all enthusiastic.
"Thank you" she said stiffly, carefully returning the wand to Ollivander to wrap up.
With Hermione getting her own wand, Lily's excitement returned tenfold.
"Come on up" Ollivander told her, once he'd finished with Hermione's wand.
It didn't take half as long to find Lily's wand, after measuring her arm, it took exactly three tries before Lily gently gripped the Willow wand, it was ten and a quarter inches long, with Unicorn hair at it's core.
A warmth surged up her arm and filled her entire body, as a bouquet of flowers popped out of the tip of the wand.
"How marvellous" Viola grinned as Lily beamed from ear to ear.
This was just the beginning of marvellous things that she would see in the Wizarding world, she could just feel it and she'd get to witness it all with her sister by her side.
}{—}{—}{
"You write to me every week" Viola demanded, holding Hermione in far too tight a grip "and if anyone gives you any problems you go straight to a Professor and they'll sort it"
"Viola, let the girl go" Henry smiled, causing Viola to tighten her grip.
Lily was only half heartedly listening to her family saying goodbye, she'd already been forced to go through her mother's tight hugs and her father ruffling her hair, she'd moved on to say goodbye to her eldest sister but what was suppose to be a joyous moment had quickly transformed into something rather heated.
"You didn't think that it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the Headmaster and begged him to take you."
Petunia turned scarlet.
"Beg? I didn't beg!"
"I saw his reply. It was very kind."
"You shouldn't have read — " whispered Petunia. "That was my private – how could you –?"
Lily gave herself away by half glancing towards where Severus stood, nearby. Petunia gasped.
"That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!"
"No-"
"Stay away from me you — You — You — You Freak!" Petunia snapped, heatedly turning away to stand by their parents who were far too immersed in their goodbye to Hermione to notice the scene that had just occurred.
Petunia's words were like a strong smack in the chest, heat rushed up her face and her eyes stung, but she'd never cry in front of Petunia, in front of anyone and so Lily did the first thing that came to mind and stormed off into the Hogwarts Express, rushing to the empty compartment that they'd managed to find earlier and placed her trunk in.
The compartment was no longer empty but Lily paid no mind to the two boys conversing next to each other. She took the seat by the window, rubbing at her eyes to keep the tears at bay.
She wasn't a freak, Petunia was just jealous and mean and if Mother had heard her, she'd have forced her to apologise for it.
But she had snuck into her room and that thought caused an awful rush of guilt to flood through her.
Lily put her head against the window pane, thankful for the coolness it emitted and thankful even more when the train finally got going, moving past the grey streets of London to the rolling green of the country side.
The passage of time didn't ease Lily's guilt or sadness and it certainly didn't help when the compartment door opened and Severus sat down opposite her.
"I don't want to talk to you," she said in a constricted voice.
"Why not?" he asked confused
"Tuney h – hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."
"So what?"
She threw him a look of deep dislike.
"So she's my sister!"
"She's only a —" He caught himself quickly; Lily, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him.
"But we're going!" he said, unable to suppress the exhilaration in his voice. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"
Lily only sighed at his enthusiasm, dejectedly leaning back in her seat.
No longer lost in her own thoughts, the conversation the boys in her compartment were having was unavoidable to listen to.
"As long as it's not Hufflepuff" said the boy sat next to her, he had rather long curly hair, that reached his shoulders.
"I'm going to be in Gryffindor" said the other boy
Severus made a small, disparaging noise, catching the attention of the two boys.
"Got a problem with that?" demanded the second boy,
"No," said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy—"
"Where are you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" interjected the first boy, causing the other to roar with laughter.
Severus face grew hot with anger and Lily felt a stab of empathy for her dear friend. She rose up and held out her hand.
"Let's go" She demanded
Severus' anger transformed to delight and he eagerly grabbed her offered hand.
"Their must be less childish compartments, Severus" she said, throwing the two boys a withering glare as she began to walk out.
"Severus!" crowed the second boy, trembling with laughter.
"Bye, Bye Snivellus" laughed the first as he held his foot out so that Severus would trip.
Lily angrily threw open the compartment door and slammed it shut, their laughter still audible through the closed door.
"What awful boys" she scowled.
Severus' furious face reflected the anger within her.
"Come on" she said "Let's find Hermione"
The mention of her other sister did little to elevate Severus' mood but he followed after her with no hesitation.
They walked down the Hogwarts Express, peering in to compartments as they went, it was towards the end of the train that she finally spotted Hermione's wild brown curls in a compartment window.
With a smile, Lily pushed open the door "their you — oh, hello" Lily stopped short, surprised at the other occupant in the compartment.
"Nice to see you again, Lisa" the boy smirked, his whole face alight with humour.
"It's Lily" she automatically corrected, her eyes moving to her younger sister, "can we share your compartment?"
"Of course" Hermione smiled "where's all your stuff?" she curiously asked as Lily and Severus sat down besides her.
"We had to abandon it all" Lily huffed
"Why?" the boy asked, what was his name again? Billy? Or perhaps Benny? It certainly started with a B.
"I'd rather not talk about it" Lily sighed.
Thankfully Hermione chose to respect her wishes and changed topics. "Benjy was just telling me about the Black Lake" she smiled "he actually fell into it last year"
"I didn't fall, I was pushed!" Benjy interrupted a large grin on his face "never trust a Slytherin" he told Lily and Severus, who tensed up at those words. "Roy Burke shoved me in to it as we crossed on the boats, I had to be Sorted dripping wet" he laughed
"Didn't anyone take pity and just magically dry you?" Hermione asked
"Yes, after I was Sorted" Benjy grinned
"That must have been horrid" Hermione smiled
"It was" he agreed "but now I have a very funny Sorting story to tell" he shrugged
Lily watched the back and forth bemused, Hermione wasn't the talkative type but she'd warmed very quickly to this Benjy, almost instantly in fact. It made her wonder, what made Benjy so different to everyone else that Hermione had ever met?
The train ride passed by without any further trouble, Benjy was kind enough to retrieve their trunks so that Lily could get changed into her uniform and before she knew it, they'd arrived at Hogsmeade train station.
"Just don't get pushed in" Benjy joked as he made his way up towards the carriages.
Hermione shook her head at him as they followed the crowd of first years down towards the lake.
Severus' mood finally seemed to brighten when they turned a corner and got their first look at Hogwarts.
"Wow" Lily breathed out, enamoured with the tall towers and battlements and pillars, all those bright lights shining at once gave it a comforting glow.
She turned towards Hermione and was surprised at what she saw.
Hermione looked ecstatic, happier then she had ever seen her but the look was gone so fast that she wondered if it had truly been there.
"Firs' Years, This way!" called out a voice and Lily was dumbstruck at the sight of who it belonged to, he was huge, by far the tallest man she'd ever seen. "On the boats now, come on, Firs' years, follow me!"
Lily followed the other first years down towards the boats.
"Four to a boat!" the man called out "no more than four!"
"That one" Lily said loud enough for Hermione and Severus to hear her, she quickened her pace so that no one else could grab the empty boat.
She triumphantly grabbed it and clambered on, turning to help Hermione, who climbed up with ease and Severus who refused her help and climbed up on his own.
Boats were quickly filling up, their seemed to be just the right amount and by the end the large man had to tell two girls to split up and grab a boat.
With great reluctance a blond haired girl climbed up their boat, her friend joining another and with a command from the large man the boats started moving on their own.
"Woah" Lily gasped, "Look at that!" she beamed, mesmerised by the boat moving along on it's own, she was glad to see that Severus looked just as impressed as she was.
The boats made their way across the lake and beneath the castle. When they came to a stop, they all climbed out and followed the giant of a man up numerous stairs until they all stood in an Entrance Hall in front of large oak doors.
"Professor McGonagall will be out here shortly" said the man, disappearing behind the doors and leaving them on their own.
Lily really hadn't given her Sorting much thought but now it was the only thing that she could think about.
She didn't know what House she wanted, Hermione would probably go to Ravenclaw, she was the cleverest person she knew but Lily didn't want to be separated from her sister, perhaps they could go there together? How clever did one have to be for Ravenclaw House?
Professor McGonagall stepped through the oak doors and began explaining the process of the Sorting.
"A hat?" a voice called out incredulous "that's it?"
Everyone turned to face the source of the voice and Lily scowled when she recognised the boy from the train, the one with the messy black hair and glasses, of course he would make a scene.
She was pleased to see that a stern look from McGonagall shut him right up.
"Follow me" she said tightly and the gathered first years followed after her.
Lily found herself breathless as she took in the Great Hall, it was packed with students sitting at four separate tables, each proudly displaying the banner of their House. It was brightly lit up with candles and above their heads instead of a ceiling was the shimmering night sky.
"It's beautiful" she whispered to Hermione, who seemed just as mesmerised as she was at the sight.
The Hall grew quiet as an old Hat began to sing, she listened to the words describing the attributes of each House and she was only more convinced that Hermione was heading to Ravenclaw or perhaps Slytherin, two Houses Lily thought she was unlikely to get.
Knowing her luck, she'd end up with that Benjy boy in Hufflepuff being forever called Lisa.
The Hall burst into applause as the Hat finished up and the very first student was called.
"Avery, Jonathan"
A boy with short cropped black hair and hunched shoulders made his way up to the stool. The Hat covered his entire face when it was placed on it but it only lasted for a few seconds, when the Hat called out "Slytherin!"
The boy happily made his way over to the table at the far end.
"Black, Sirius" was next and unlike the previous boy, this one was confident. When he sat down Lily recognised him as the first boy from the train.
It took the Hat slightly longer this time before it called out "Gryffindor!" The House on the other side of the Hall burst into applause as the boy, who seemed pleasantly surprised made his way over.
"Of course he would go there" Severus whispered under his breath "all the trouble makers end up in Gryffindor"
On the Sorting went
Clarissa Carver went to Hufflepuff
Levi Dumont went to Ravenclaw
And then it was "Evans, Hermione!" being called up.
Lily gave Hermione's hand a gentle squeeze for support before she began to make her way over.
She didn't look nervous or scared, in fact she seemed rather comfortable.
Hermione shot her a smile before the Hat was placed over her obscuring her eyes and the top of her nose.
Lily wasn't sure what to hope for, Ravenclaw or Slytherin? Which one could she also get into?
"Gryffindor!" The Hat called out putting a stop to Lily's wild thoughts.
"What?" she breathed out, pleasantly surprised, Severus triumphant look reminded her of his words, it was the House of troublemakers, but Hermione wasn't a troublemaker.
"Evans, Lily"
Severus gave her a thumbs up as she made her way over, when she sat down her eyes drifted towards the Gryffindor table where Hermione sat besides that boy from the train.
A surge of protection welled up in her, Hermione was a little strange and people bothered her because of it but Lily had always been there for her and that wouldn't change now.
'Gryffindor, Gryffindor' she mentally pleaded 'Please Gryffindor'
"Alright, alright, I heard you the first time" barked a voice inside her head, before the Hat called out "Gryffindor!"
It was with pure delight that Lily made her way over to Gryffindor table who were giving her a jubilant round of applause.
She took the empty seat by Hermione, who gave her a teasing smirk.
Filled with delight, Lily placed her arm around Hermione's shoulder and drew her in close, Hermione reciprocated the hug, wrapping her arms around Lily's waist.
All the nerves and excitement from the day seemed to have worn her out because by the end of the Sorting, Lily was tiredly rubbing at her eyes.
When it was all said and done Gryffindor House had six girls and four boys.
She'd felt a pang of disappointment when Severus joined Slytherin House but took comfort in having Hermione with her.
"Just because you're in different Houses doesn't mean that you can't still be friends" Hermione assured her as she put a bit of pasta on her plate
"I though you didn't like Severus" Lily said taken aback.
Hermione's eyes widened in surprise "why do you always assume that I don't like people?" she asked with genuine curiosity
Lily awkwardly stared at her, your attitude, seemed a rather rude thing to say, so she opted for a shrug and a smile.
Hermione shook her head at her "I like Severus" she said casually "he's decent" she shrugged focusing on her plate once more.
A grin spread across Lily's face her eyes alight as she gently bumped shoulders with her sister.
She grabbed her own plate and began piling it up with food, surrounded by the chatter of her new classmates, with her sister by her side and the glow of the Hogwarts candle light, Lily felt that this was truly the start of something wonderful.
She happily joined in with the conversation, introducing herself to the other girls, completely unaware of the dark black eyes across the hall that kept darting back to her every few minutes.
}{—}{—}{
Next Update: Thursday
So instead of her own wand, Hermione ends up with Harry's wand, the twin to Voldemort's. What does that mean for the Prophecy?
The chapter's flow rather fast at the beginning but things will settle down in Chapter 4, which is when we get Hermione's point of view and we'll stick with her for the majority of the story.
This is adventure and romance, so plenty of war stuff but also plenty of Sirius and the Marauders.
See you next week. It's my birthday on the 31st, along with Harry and JK, so an early Happy Birthday all round.