CHAPTER 2

Lily woke when a sudden chill washed over her. She opened her eyes and saw that she was still a wolf, but Padfoot was nowhere to be seen. Only moments later, he was suddenly at her side, a half eaten bone of meat in his mouth. He laid it down between them and they began to gnaw at the bone, the small layer of meat filling Lily's stomach fairly quickly.

"How long do you think it will take for us to get to your school?" Lily asked, stretching her legs and running in a few circles. She felt a huge rush of energy surge through her tiny frame and felt an uncontrollable need to let it out.

"A long time. It's very far away." Padfoot shrugged, continuing to bite at the bone. "But it shouldn't take too long, we can run a lot longer and faster than humans can."

"When can we start?" Lily yelped, running in even wilder circles.

Padfoot growled slightly and stood. "I guess we can leave now." He managed to grab Lily's attention before beginning to run off into the distance.

The next days passed rather quickly, with Lily and Padfoot simply running. The weather got colder and the sun went down sooner and sooner in the day; Padfoot would tell Lily that they were getting closer, but they would get closer if they moved a step every day, it would just take longer. But the days passed quickly enough and they reached a large lake in a valley, where a castle stood proud and tall.

"Is that the school?" Lily asked, jumping up and down, spinning in a wide circle. "Can we see your friend?"

Padfoot shook his head, though it looked strange as a dog. "He used to be my friend. But he betrayed my friends, he helped kill them and a lot of other people."

"He could still be your friend." Lily proclaimed, stopping still in front of Padfoot. "I'm sure that when people do bad things they start to feel bad about it. Maybe your friend feels bad."

"I hope he does." Padfoot agreed. "But it won't change what I think about him."

Lily shrugged and skipped forward toward the castle, a skip in her step. "I would love to have a friend." She sighed. "Maybe your friend wants to be yours again."

"I doubt it." Padfoot sighed, following Lily across the grass and up to the castle. "I can't stay near the castle for long, but I'll show you how to get to someone I trust before I go and see my friend."

"Okay." Lily smiled, rushing up the hill and across the bridge, Padfoot close behind her.

She sped through the castle and followed Padfoot around the halls, avoiding some of the students who were walking the halls. They eventually reached a door that gladly swung open when he whispered to it, though Lily didn't know what he said.

A woman sat at a desk, with a long green cloak around her shoulders. She looked harsh, but Padfoot had said that he trusted her and Lily decided that she would too. Maybe she would even make a friend.

"Become a human little pup, talk to my friend." Padfoot nudged her, before disappearing into the shadows.

Lily didn't know what to do, having spent weeks following her new companion, but now he was gone and she didn't know what to do. But she listened to what he said and entered the room, jumping onto the woman's desk.

"Goodness." She exclaimed. "I suppose someone has lost their familiar." She sighed, reaching toward the dog.

Lily quickly jumped down from the desk and turned into a human, shocking the woman even more. "He told me to trust you." She spoke, a naive smile on her face. "I don't know why he brought me with him but he said that I would learn things."

"You look just like…" She muttered, quickly cutting off her sentence. "I must take you to the headmaster at once." She spoke, flicking a stick at a small origami animal, turning it into another cloak. "Please put this on dear, you look rather cold."

Lily grinned and wrapped the fabric around her, having felt chilly in her human form. "Are you my friend?" Lily grinned, skipping along behind the woman. "I've always wanted a friend."

The woman stopped in her tracks, turning back to Lily with a soft look in her eyes. "I suppose you could use a friend." She spoke quietly, continuing to walk down the corridors.

"I'm little pup." Lily grinned. "He said I could be called Lily too, but he called me little pup."

"Who was your friend?" The woman asked.

"I don't know." Lily shrugged, a smile still spread across her face. "He said that his friend had killed lots of people and framed him for it. He said it wasn't safe to know his name."

The woman nodded, a worried look spreading across her face. She didn't say anything else until they reached a statue, and even then she said the strangest thing. "Pepper imps." She had proclaimed to the statue, which started moving and becoming a staircase. It was long and winding and a big wooden door sat at the top.

Behind the door was a man with a long white beard. He had lots of objects that were spinning and glowing or simply sitting on a bookshelf. His eyes twinkled and he smiled, though he stayed sat behind a big desk.

"And who are you my dear?" He asked, his voice quiet and soft.

"Little pup." Lily exclaimed, before frowning slightly. "That's my wolf name. My human name is Lily, that's the name he gave me." Lily skipped forward so that she could hear the man better, though her hearing was far better than it was before she learnt how to turn into a wolf.

"A lovely name." He smiled standing from his chair. "How can I help you?"

"I don't know." Lily smiled up at the man as he moved to crouch down in front of her. "You could be my friend. The scary woman is my friend too." She smiled slightly to herself. "She's my only friend."

The man smiled warmly to her. "I'd love to be your friend he smiled. My name is Albus Dumbledore. I'm the headmaster here at Hogwarts."

"What's Hogwarts?" Lily asked, tilting her head to the side.

The headmaster chuckled at the rather dog like action. "That's the name of this school. We teach young people how to do magic."

"I can do things." Lily exclaimed, turning into a wolf. She allowed Dumbledore to stroke her head a little before becoming human again. "I can make things fly too, but that's much harder."

"You're a remarkable witch." Dumbledore smiled, standing up. "Come and sit down. Professor McGonagall should stay with us."

The woman walked forward and took a seat, indicating for Lily to do the same.

"I think that you should join us here at the school." Dumbledore spoke, sitting down in his chair. "You seem to have very strong magic, and you need to learn how to control it."

"Do you know my parents?" Lily suddenly asked. "My father had a big moustache and my mother had a very long neck. I have a brother too, he was a baby."

Professor McGonagall went pale and a frown settled on Dumbledore's face.

"It seems that we don't know everything about the Dursley family." McGonagall frowned, looking pointedly at Dumbledore.

"Indeed we do not." Dumbledore smiled. "What can you tell us about your family? Why aren't you with them?"

Lily frowned. Pulling a piece of paper from the spotted blue backpack that she still carried. "They wanted me to go to an orphanage, they gave me directions. I would make things happen. Things that I didn't know I could do." Lily gave the paper to Professor McGonagall, a frown on her face. "They didn't want me anymore, and I don't want to go to them. The had another boy with them and they were horrid to him. He ran away on a big purple bus."

Dumbledore frowned. "I think we have a lot to talk about Miss Dursley."

"That's not my name." Lily frowned stubbornly. "My name is little pup and my name is Lily."

"Wouldn't you want to be with your family again?" Dumbledore asked.

"No." Lily frowned, remembering what Padfoot had said. "People can do a bad thing and feel bad about it, but that doesn't mean that you have to forgive them."

"You are a lot older than you seem." Dumbledore nodded.

"I'll take her in as my ward." McGonagall announced. "I told you that family was horrid and I will not let another child be abused by them."

Lily smiled at her new friend, a wealth of optimism washing into her. "Can you teach me how to read things?" She asked the woman.

"Of course." McGonagall smiled.

"I suppose that the professors could teach you independently until you are caught up." Dumbledore nodded to himself. "Would you mind if Lily stayed in your quarters?" He asked McGonagall. "I think it would be better than placing her with the other students for now."

She nodded, turning her gaze back to Lily. "I'll teach her everything I know." McGonagall smiled.

Dumbledore nodded. "I think we need to give you a name." He smiled, turning his focus to Lily. "I don't think we should let the other students know that you are an animagus. Little pup might give that away, being that you can become a dog."

"Wolf." Lily announced. "I'm a wolf."

"Welcome to Hogwarts Miss Wolfe." Dumbledore smiled.