As the Hogwarts Express pulls into the platform, I join the others, pressed against the windows. We start waving as soon as we see our respective parents, and excited shouts fill the air.
I pull my friends into a group hug, even though we'll all see each other soon. Then the doors open and we step out.
I set my luggage down quickly, and submit happily to my parents' embraces.
"Where's Tuney?" I ask, disappointed.
"Waiting in the car," Dad says. I pout slightly, but I'm not surprised. She hates Platform 9 ¾, where wizardry is plain to see everywhere. "So you said you'd found somewhere to stay?"
I nod and look around, finding the Potters not far away and pointing them out. "There. They've invited all my friends to stay."
"Really? That's very generous of them."
Mrs Potter notices us looking and James leads them over.
"Mr and Mrs Evans? I do believe we have the pleasure of your daughter's company this summer," Mrs Potter says. I can't help liking her – she looks kind and jolly.
"Yes – so glad you could offer."
The adults continue to exchange pleasantries, but I am distracted by Sirius. He is clenching his fists so hard that his knuckles are white, and his expression is murderous. James follows my gaze, then looks to see what Sirius has spotted. "Oh…"
A woman leads the way, sneering unpleasantly, a man and a boy following whom I recognise as Regulus Black from the Slytherin Quidditch team, Sirius' younger brother.
"Hello, Mother," Sirius says stiffly.
"You are no son of mine!" she cackles.
"Why are you here then – to gloat?"
She sniffs and I realise that Sirius has it spot on. Our parents have gone silent and are watching the exchange, the Potters worried and my family confused.
"Still hanging about with blood traitors, boy? But I forgot – you are one yourself!" She cackles again.
"I'd rather be a blood traitor than a prejudiced old hag like yourself," Sirius retorts.
Her gaze falls on me and I try not to cringe away. "And what's this? A filthy Mudblood… and her filthy Muggle scum-"
"Take that back!" James roars, his wand suddenly in his hand. She just laughs again, and he opens his mouth to hex her.
I grab his wrist and try to force it down. "Potter, don't, it's not worth it."
He doesn't move for several seconds, breathing heavily, but eventually lowers his wand.
"Come, Walburga," Sirius' father says, who has been studiously ignoring us. The Blacks stalk off, Regulus following with a sheepish grimace at his brother.
"Sorry about that," Sirius says awkwardly.
"That's alright dear. Well, it was lovely meeting you, but we must be off," Mrs Potter tells my parents.
"See you next week, Evans," James says.
"Bye."
I lead my bewildered parents away, through the barrier and out to the car park.
"Tuney!" I cry enthusiastically as soon as I crawl inside our car. I pull her into a hug. She squirms, but I don't care. I miss my sister when I'm at school, despite our differences.
I feel rather nostalgic as we pull into our driveway in Spinners End. Next term, I'll be returning to a different house, which currently I can't imagine calling home. This is the place where I grew up, played with Tuney, found out that I am a witch... This brings to mind painful thoughts of Severus, and I shake myself awake.
Although it looks the same on the outside, all the downstairs rooms are incredibly bare, with boxes and dust sheets lying everywhere. I am glad to find that my bedroom is still as I left it.
"We didn't want to intrude. It means you'll have to spend the week packing though," says my father, setting my trunk on the floor.
"I don't mind," I answer honestly. I am too grateful that I got to see it one last time.
Mum's done the cooking today, and has made my favourite – lasagne. My parents spend the evening quizzing me on the term, something they never tire of, but Tuney is noticeably silent. I try to draw her in by asking her questions about her muggle life, but she refuses to give more than the shortest possible answers.
That week, I spend most days packing the things in my room, deciding what to take to the Potters, what to throw away and what to put in the crates going to our new house in Little Whinging. I also manage to drag Petunia out swimming, which takes a lot of persuasion, but I am nothing if not determined, and when we're there we both enjoy it.
The dreaded day arrives all too soon. Mum and Dad insist on driving me, even though I gained my apparition licence last term. They say it's because it's not very far from the new house, but I think it's because they just want to see what the Potter's place is like – they are childishly curious when it comes to the wizarding world.
"Potter… Isn't that the boy you were always complaining about?" Dad asks suddenly.
I groan and nod. "Yeah. But he's the only person who could take me, and my friends are staying too, so I agreed."
"Okay, sweetie. But you can always call us if you can't cope - we'll figure something out."
We come to the turning and pull up into a large drive. I am immediately struck by the size of the place. When Potter said there was plenty of room, he certainly wasn't kidding. I knew his family was rich, but this? I don't move from the car for a few long seconds.
At last I force myself to get out. We go round to the boot and grab my luggage - my school trunk and the cage of my owl, Athena. It is empty right now as I sent her to Marlene with a letter early the week and told her to meet us here. Dad helps carry the trunk up the wide stairs to the door. We exchange a look.
"Go on then, knock," he tells me. I take a deep breath and raise my hand.
Suddenly, the door swings open and I am left looking like an idiot with my fist in the air before I come to my senses and whip it down, blushing.
"Evans! I saw you arrive," says Potter, grinning at me annoyingly. "Come on in."
He squeezes past me and takes my end of the trunk off me. I hug Athena's cage and stand awkwardly in the hallway. Sirius comes down the stairs and leans on the banister, and James' mother bustles over to greet us as well.
"Lily! So lovely to have you. Is that your trunk? Sukie!"
I hear Mum shriek at the sudden CRACK as a house-elf apparatus into the hall. She is dressed smartly in a black pillowcase with scarlet and gold trim, and with a gold curtain cord as a belt. Gryffindor colours, I realise.
"Yes, Mistress?" Sukie asks.
"Please take Miss Evans' trunk up - she has the blue bedroom overlooking the gardens."
"Yes, Mistress." The elf grasps the handle and, with a click of her fingers, there is another crack and she is gone.
"Wh- What was that?" Mum asks, looking rather pale.
"Just a house-elf. Nothing to worry about," Mrs Potter reassures her. She still looks a bit faint at such blatant abnormality, so I quickly try to change the subject.
"So kind of you to let me stay, Mrs Potter."
"Call me Mia, dear," she tells me, then turns to my parents. "How would you like to stay for dinner?"
"Oh no, I'm sure you already have too many without us too. We couldn't possibly."
"It's really no trouble at all. Fleamont and I would love to get to know you better."
I see from the way my parents look at each other that they want to accept.
"Well, we must be getting to the new house now, but I suppose we could come by later... It really isn't far…"
"That's settled then," Mia says, smiling.
They kiss me goodbye and then leave, and I am left feeling as nervous as I was when I was standing outside, and lonely even though I am surrounded by people. The Potters don't let me mope for long though.
"Why don't you boys show Lily to her room," James' mother says.
They flank me on both sides and start climbing the grand staircase. I try to think of something to break the awkward silence.
"Um… nice place." Great. I sound like a prat, stating the obvious.
James laughs, which calms me. "Yeah. The Potters are an old Pureblood family – it has its advantages, like this house we inherited. And Dad recently invented a new product, Sleekeazy's Hair Potion. He wanted to see if it were possible to make mine lie flat."
"And did it work?
"Yes, actually. But I hated having my hair like that, so I refuse to let him near me with it again. Oh, and you'd better not try it – not so good on redheads. Here we are."
We stop outside a door with a blue plaque already hanging on it. My name is there in white writing, alongside a picture of lily.
Potter reaches across me and opens the door for me, then steps back as I enter and look around.
The paint is blue and the furnishings white. I remember Mrs Potter mentioning the view and cross to the window, setting down Athena's cage on the bedside cabinet next to a delicate blue-and-white china water jug, and lean my elbows on the sill. I am not disappointed.
The plot is huge – there is a patio and modest lawn near the house, then paths lead out into the garden proper; there are fruit trees, exotic flowers and a section dedicated to roses, with fountains and water features dotted throughout. In the distance I can just see Quidditch hoops poking up, in a miniature pitch. The whole thing is surrounded by mountainous hedges to obscure it from prying eyes.
Potter clears his throat. "I'll leave you in a minute to settle in, but there's something first I want to show you."
"Okay," I shrug, and follow him out and up another flight of stairs. We pass Sirius' room, and the next one along is James', which is where we stop. He enters, but I hang back, not entirely trusting him not to be pranking me or worse.
"I've got her here, with Oddball…"
"Athena!" I exclaim, and rush forward. Potter transfers her from his arm to mine and we both pet her for a bit.
"Here, she brought a letter," he says, putting it in my owl-free hand.
"From Marlene," I smile. "Thanks for looking after her for me. Athena, I mean."
"My pleasure."
I suddenly realise that I just disregarded my suspicions and quickly glance around. There is a lot of white and gold paint and a stock of Zonko's boxes, but a glance in the mirror shows me that I haven't turned bright pink or something, and there is nothing dangerous in the open. Except Potter. I back out slowly and return to the safety of my room. With Athena safely settled in her cage, I lie on my bed and slit open the letter.
Dear Lily, Marlene writes,
I expect that by the time you read this you'll be at Potter Mansion. Good luck and try not to kill each other! I can't wait to join you all there.
Australia is lovely. It's winter here, so not too hot – we've still done loads of muggle activities like surfing, though. And later we're going to visit Uluru. Dad says there are loads of magic stories related to it. I'll regale you with all of them when I return.
Give my love to everyone. Remember it's only for a couple of weeks.
Love, Marlene xx
I smile and fold the paper up again. Then with a sigh I get up and start unpacking. I am nearly done when I hear the doorknocker rapping against the door. Deciding that my socks can stay in my trunk for now, I go downstairs to see who it is.
"Emmy!" I hug her as soon as she finishes greeting the Potters. It's a relief not to be alone with the worst of the Marauders anymore. Remus and Mary arrives soon afterwards, and we go through the motions of getting them settled in. Now that we are all here, I feel a lot more relaxed.
Maybe staying at the Potters will be fun after all... although I'm still not convinced.
A/N: Chapter 2 is up! Within the week! Now if you've enjoyed it enough to make it to the end you can reward me with a nice review to tell me what you think ;) Please? And if you haven't, then you're probably not reading this, but review anyway and tell me why - Nightshade