Disclaimer: These characters (except Lexi) all belong to J. K. Rowling, who is a magnificent writer. I'm only borrowing them for the time being.

AN: Hey everyone. Thanks so much for your reviews, I appreciate it so much. To answer aquestion about this fic: Yes, Lily and James are going to die. I'm sorry, but it's the original storyline, and I don't feel like screwing that up.

Chapter 1 – The Train Ride

I glanced nervously back and forth, searching the platform uselessly for someone I might just recognize. I tugged at the neck of my green turtleneck, and started towards the end of the platforms. The wooden floorboards gleamed underfoot as I made my way to- I looked again at my ticket- Platform 9 ¾. I pulled out my letter for the hundredth time and read again the words I'd already memorized:

Dear Miss Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…Terms begins on September 1…

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

I could hardly believe that I, a regular Muggle, could be a witch! It seemed totally unreal, yet I had the bloody letter here in my hand. If I could only find the platform, I'd be in good shape.

I tried hard not to think about the fact that I was here alone. My parents had thought it best to leave me to it by myself because of the reaction my sister Petunia had had the day I got my letter.

"Why does Lily get to go and not me?" I remembered her whining. "I'm just as good as Lily. I want to be a witch too!" she'd screamed at my mother, who was trying to placate her with soothing words. After some time, Petunia changed her tune. "Fine! I don't want to be a witch. Witches are freaks, which must mean that you're a freak too, Lily!" She'd shrieked the last at me and stormed out of the room. She didn't speak to me for the rest of the summer. I shook my head at the memory.

I arrived at Platform 9, and Platform 10, but saw no Platform 9 ¾. Suddenly, I heard a voice say, "If you're looking for 9 ¾, you have to walk through the wall."

I spun around and found a short girl gazing at me with almond-shaped gray eyes. Her long black hair was pulled back at the top of her head into a plaited braid. Like me, she wore the Muggle clothes of jeans, and a silver turtleneck sweater that did wonderful things to her eyes. She was very pretty. She was wheeling a trolley as well, and I noticed the pretty tawny owl with huge amber eyes, which also stared at me.

"Hello?" the girl said, her brow wrinkling.

"Sorry," I said, wondering faintly how long I'd been staring at her. "What was that?"

"I said that to get onto the platform, you have to walk through the barrier dividing platforms 9 and 10. My name is Alexis Green, Lexi for short."

"Hi, I'm Lily. Are you going into first year as well?"

"Yes, I am," she answered. "Shall we go on?" Lexi's smile was infectious.

"But of course, madam," I said, and grabbed her hand.

The two of us ran full-tilt towards the wall, pushing our trolleys ahead of us. Just as I was sure we'd crash into the wall, I felt a cool breeze brush my skin, and I opened the eyes I'd squeezed closed and looked around. Many people buzzed around a huge scarlet steam engine that curled away and out of sight around the bend. Around us, numerous conversations and last-minute advice were being doled out from doting parents and proud older siblings and excited and envious younger ones.

Lexi turned to me with widened eyes and said, "Let's grab a compartment while we can."

The two of us scampered onto the vibrating train, and started our search for a compartment that wasn't too full. We found one in the very back with only a small boy with a pointed nose and watery-looking eyes.

"Can we sit here?" Lexi asked him.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Sure," he said. "But my three friends are going to be coming in pretty soon. Might get a bit cramped."

I shrugged my shoulders, and Lexi and I sat down next to each other. "What's your name?" I asked the boy, trying to be polite. He had a cold sort of air to him, somewhat aloof.

Before he could answer, the door to the compartment flew open, and a tall boy with black hair and dark eyes strolled in. He noticed Lexi and me sitting on the seat. "Peter," he said, seeming irritated. "Why are there two young girls sitting in our seats?"

Peter shrugged, and said eagerly, "I don't know, Sirius. They just walked in and sat down."

"We did not!" I replied angrily. "You said you didn't mind if we sat here, but that it would be close quarters. Don't lie. We'll leave." I got up and grabbed my bag, Lexi doing the same.

"What's going on?" A new arrival made his entrance. This one had sandy brown hair, brown eyes, and intelligent features. He had a quiet air, and he was frowning at the tall boy.

"I don't know," he replied, smiling appealingly. "It seems that Peter has himself a couple of girlfriends." He grinned at me, and I glared back, becoming angry. I grasped my bag and tried to leave through the doorway, but it was blocked by yet another boy, this one taller than both.

"What's going on here?" he asked in a soft voice, looking at Sirius. "Are these new girlfriends? Already Sirius?" he asked, grinning at the first boy. His hazel eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Certainly not!" I stated. "That boy in the corner" I pointed at him "allowed us to sit here, telling my friend and I that we were welcome to sit. Then, when he walked in," here I pointed to the first boy "that boy told him that we'd walked in unannounced and unwelcome. Your tall friend then made an atrocious comment about us being girlfriends to- Oh! One of you! I'm confusing myself! Now, I would appreciate it if you would move so that Lexi and I may leave, and you and your friends may then continue with your atrocious manners!" I grabbed Lexi's hand, saw her grinning at me, and smiled back.

As we turned to leave, the boy stepped in front of us. He finger-combed his messy black hair back off of his forehead, and stared absently at me. It was then that I noticed that his hazel eyes were flecked with bits of green and gold, and I thought 'I'm a goner. Those eyes were eyes I could drown in.'

I felt Lexi prodding my back. "Excuse me," I said in my frostiest voice. "Could you please move so that we can leave?"

"No," he stated calmly. "I think you should stay here." I waited, staring at him in disbelief, for him to continue, but he just watched me.

"Why?" I asked. "Can't you just move please?"

He stepped away from the door, but closed it first. "Let's introduce ourselves first," he said with a charming grin. "My name's James Potter. These are my mates Sirius Black," he pointed to the first boy "Remus Lupin," he pointed to the quiet one "and Peter Pettigrew." He pointed at the small boy. "We're all first years at Hogwarts this year. You too?"

I raised a brow at his charisma, and grudgingly admitted "Yes, us too. I'm Lily Evans and this is Lexi Green." We all were standing around awkwardly, and by mutual consent we all sat down in the seats, Lexi, Remus, and I on one side, Sirius, Peter, and James on the other. We all sat uncomfortably at first, but then Peter said, "James, what House do you think we'll get Sorted into?"

James looked up from studying his hands. "Gryffindor," he said. Just like that. Not "I hope" or "I think", but an irrevocable "Gryffindor". That said something about his confidence level. I felt a bit irritated. I decided to play dumb. "How do you know?" I asked. "I'm Muggle-born and I don't know anything about the school really." I saw Peter shudder slightly when I mentioned my parents were Muggles. 'Good,' I thought. 'Another reason I can dislike him more than I already do, considering that I only met him ten minutes ago.'

Remus looked up from the book he'd pulled out of his bag, and explained how the Sorting commenced. "McGonagall calls your name, you sit on the stool, and she places the Sorting Hat on your head. It'll call out the name of one of the four Houses – Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw – and then you are a member of that House. Don't worry, McGonagall'll explain everything when we get there." With that he went back to his book, which, I noticed, was Hogwarts, A History, the first book I read when I found out that I was a witch.

"Don't worry," James said with a twinkle in his hazel eyes. "You're pretty enough to get into Gryffindor." He smiled adorably, something he undoubtedly been practicing since infancy.

It was then and there that I decided not to like James Potter. Not necessarily because he'd just unknowingly insulted my intelligence, but because he'd complimented me as well, and I didn't want to be just another pretty face. I wanted to stand out, and something told me that I could fall in love with James Potter, and in doing so, I could lose my identity.

I turned to Lexi, only to find her in conversation with Remus about moon cycles or some such nonsense. Across the compartment, Sirius was playing with his hair, and Peter was napping. I sighed, knowing I could either be bored for the rest of the ride, or I could talk to James. 'Great, there goes a perfectly good plan to stay away. It's gone, bye-bye, down the tubes.'

"Where do you live?" I questioned him.

"In Godric's Hollow with my parents and my little sister. You?"

"In Liverpool with my parents and my older sister, Petunia."

"Ah," he said smiling.

"What?" I asked, mystified and compelled by his smile.

"You're both named after flowers. Though I think lilies are much prettier than petunias. Calla lilies especially. Petunias come in too many different varieties. One special one is enough for me." He grinned.

I ignored his 'special' comment and focused on the first part. "You know flowers?" I asked incredulously. I couldn't imagine this boy studying about flowers.

He smiled mischievously. "All right, I admit it. I'm a Seer, and I saw our meeting in a vision. I read a book about flowers last night so I could impress you with my vast knowledge." I raised a brow, but couldn't help but smile admiringly at his quick wit.

Next to him, Sirius stared at James as if he'd sprouted another head. "You imbecile," he said calmly. He turned to me. "His mom's got a thing for flowers. She's always planting them to take her mind off of all the problems having James as a son causes her."

'That was good, too,' I thought. 'They have equal senses of humor. How droll.' I sighed and laid my head against the back of the headrest, ready for a nap. Being with these two for more than twenty minutes was enough to drive anyone batty.

I must've fallen asleep, because the next thing I remember, a woman with a trolley cart was knocking on our compartment door. Remus opened it. "Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked. I pulled out my spare change from my Diagon Alley splurge for books, but before I could hand it to her for a Cauldron Cake, James gave her four Galleons for the rest of the Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. He handed me three of each.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," James said through a mouthful of Chocolate Frog. "How was your nap?"

"Not long enough. Thanks for the snack, but I'll save it for later." I started to put the candy into my bag when he grabbed my wrist.

He swallowed his food. "No. You're skinny. Eat it now." I looked at him in irritation, but grudgingly opened and picked out three different color beans. I popped them into my mouth as James said, "No! Wait! You don't know what flavor… Nevermind, I guess you get it now." He grinned at my sourface.

I spat the confection out into my palm. "Ugh," I moaned. "What was that?" James took the candies from my hand and sniffed at each one. "Marmalade, tripe, and earwax," he informed me cheerfully. "When they say every flavor, they mean every flavor."

I placed the rest in my bag. "I'll eat them later," I said grumpily. I opened a bottle of water to wash the taste out of my mouth as James watched me in amusement. "What are you still staring at me for? I'm not choking on bad taste anymore."

Sirius then contributed for the first time to the conversation. "He thinks you're pretty," he said in a girlish voice. "He loooooves you."

"Bugger off," James muttered.

"Grow up," I said at the same time. I noticed James was blushing and ignored it.

Just then, the door opened and a tall young man with bright red hair, maybe fourteen or fifteen, told us to get our robes on, we would be arriving at the school in a few moments.

Lexi and I got up and went to change in the girls' loo.

"Wow," Lexi said. "Remus is so smart. He's very knowledgeable, not to mention very cute."

"Yes, I noticed that you two were getting very comfortable in your own little corner." I couldn't help teasing her, and was rewarded with a telling blush. 'Hmm, interesting.' I took pity on her. "He seems very nice, if a little quiet."

"Oh, he is! He's so nice and-" Lexi stopped at my grin. "Okay, okay," she laughed. "I'll stop. So, what about you and that Potter boy?" she asked mischievously. "He's a total dreamboat." She rolled her eyes in a mock swoon. I swatted at her with the towel, and she ran laughing out the door.

As I arrived back at the compartment, I felt the train slowing to a stop. James stepped out with my bag. He handed it to me, and the others trudged out behind us. I fell into step with Lexi as we left the train.

"Firs' years o'er here." The voice that called us was deep and guttural. I looked towards the voice and felt my face pale. It was a giant of a man, at least ten feet tall, with a small bushy beard and long hair. He wore a moleskin overcoat that seemed to give off a stench, and boots in a size that would have fit my feet eight times.

We all followed the large man, who introduced himself as Hagrid, to the bank of a great lake lined with boats. Lexi, Remus, Sirius, James, Peter, and I claimed one. As we jumped in and seated ourselves, the boat started to move. Startled, I grabbed for the edge of the boat and squeezed it until we rounded a bend in the lake, and Hogwarts came into view.

I forgot all about my nervousness in the face of such an awesome sight. The castle was huge, set atop a hill. The windows blazed with lights, and the turrets and towers stood high against the navy blue night sky. I could make out the numerous steps that seemed to lead to the front entrance of the castle.

As the boat docked at the bank near the castle, I hear Lexi's indrawn breath, and my nervousness came back full-scale. This was where I'd be spending the next seven years of my life. I'd learn to live and love in these very walls. I swallowed, and caught Lexi hand in mine. Together, we walked up the steps to the castle that would become our lives for the next several years.

Perhaps if I'd known what awaited me in my very distant future, I would've run screaming in the opposite direction. Perhaps I would've ignored my acceptance letter, and went on to be a normal Muggle, ignorant of the evil and wickedness living all around me. But I didn't know what would happen. I didn't know how my life would come to be. My only awareness was in the imminent choosing of which House I would end up in for the next seven years.