My eyes darted open as I heard the soft beeping of my alarm clock. I groaned slightly before quickly getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom. I had dreamt about going back to France and seeing all my friends and family there again. It had been a good dream and I was sad when it was over. I shook my head to get the thoughts out of my head before looking into my mirror. My light green eyes stared back at me. My hair was a mess so I quickly got my brush and started to brush it. If there was anything I liked and hated more then the rest of my face was both my hair. My hair because the color was not one you see much in England, something that would make me different I thought happily, but also my hair because I hated brushing threw it because it was always so very painful.
I put the brush down and walked out as I was going to get dressed after I finished packing. I grabbed all the clothes and books that I had put on the trunk and threw them onto my unmade bed, and opened my trunk. Inside, it was empty besides a few papers from when I still went to muggle school, but other then that it was cleaner then the rest of the my room. I looked at it dismally, I had only been living here for a day and it was already disorganized. I threw the old muggle papers onto the floor, adding to the mess before grabbing my books and placing them into the cherry wood trunk. I placed them onto the right side neatly, symmetrically perfect as well. Once I made sure they were absolutely perfect I straightened my back. Everyone that I knew thought it was strange that I could totally trash a room in a day's time but have to have everything absolutely perfect when I decided to actually clean. I had to stifle a laugh (so as not to wake my dad) as I thought on what my two friends would be saying if they could see me now, with my bed in shambles, clothes all over it and the floor, old math papers all over the floor, and me worrying about straight text books. After I had gotten my self control back I started gathering up my once neatly folded clothes (now totally trashed), hoping that they weren't wrinkled.
Luck seemed to be on my side for once, as not one of my clothes had a single wrinkle on them. This was turning out to be a very good day; even if I was being forced to go to a new school and speak an unfamiliar language (I had spoken French with my dad). I started to re-fold my clothes and place them neatly into my trunk. After I was finally finished I looked at the clock to see that it was 6:30, an hour and a half since I had woken up.
Startled, I quickly grabbed my parchment paper and quills and threw them on top of my books, for once not caring if they landed neatly, grabbed the outfit I had left out and bolted into the bathroom. I quickly put on my clothes, brushed my teeth, and then re-brushed my hair. I didn't have to worry about not having time for makeup as I never once wore makeup and did not plan to start now.
I ran out of the bathroom grabbed my shoes from under my bed and shoved my feet into them. Looking at the clock I saw that it was exactly 6:40. I smiled happily. I had thought that would take until seven o'clock, which was when I was supposed to leave. I looked in my trunk and immediately fixed the parchment and quills, all the while knowing that they were just going to move all over the place once I brought it down stairs. Quickly shutting the lid, I ran down the stairs, to see my father sitting at the table with eggs, sausage, toast, and a tall glass of orange juice. I was slightly upset at my self that I hadn't helped him with the meals yet again.
"Looking good Lils," my father said winking at me as he took another bite of his scrambled eggs. I rolled my eyes as I sat down at the table and looked down at my plate. I smiled when I saw that they were not scrambled like how he preferred, but two perfect sunny side up eggs.
"So Lils are you trying to impress the guys or is this how you dress now?" He continued with his light jokes as I started to eat. I automatically looked down at my outfit. I was wearing a light blue shirt; the neck line was very low so I wore a white cami underneath. It was one of those kinds that was tight at chest area, but flowed the rest of the way down. The part that I liked best about it (besides it showing off my newly acquired curves) was that it had small white flowers towards the bottom. I also had put on my favorite pair of white pants.
"Well, I decided to wear something different for the day," I began before taking my last bite of breakfast and grabbing my orange juice, "This is something my friends bought me that I have never worn and I am telling you I am regretting the decision already." I finished, toying slightly with my red hair. My dad noticed the slight fidgeting and smiled, "Wearing your hair down too? You really are going all out today, aren't you kiddo?" he smiled again, standing up to put his dishes in the sink that was already filled with warm water.
I did the same, grabbing my plate and my glass and walking into the warm kitchen.
"Yeah, as a contribution to them, I know it would make them happy knowing that I was wearing it," I explained to him, sliding my dishes into the sink fluently, not getting a drop of soapy water onto my outfit, unlike my father, who was now using a white dish towel to get the suds off of his shirt. I had inherited my shyness from him and the fact that luck seemed to never find me, but I had escaped his klutziness, instead inheriting my mother's fluent movements, which of course, were barely able to be shown as I was always in a hurry.
"I'll go get your trunk; you go sit in the car and wait." He instructed me, already heading towards the stairs. I nodded although he couldn't see it, and walked out the door to his white car. I only waited a few minutes before I heard the front door and my father walked out, carrying my trunk and sticking it in the back seat before finally settling down onto the driver's side. He quickly turned the car on, and smiled when he saw seven o'clock blaring at him in red numbers from under the CD player.
"Right on time, how ironic," he said shaking his head, the grin still in place as he backed out of the driveway. He somehow managed not to hit the garbage bin on the corner of the drive way. He carefully pulled into the highway and started the three and a half hour's drive to King's Cross Station. I turned the radio on to our favorite station, country. I and my father sang along to the songs we knew and laughed. All too soon, we had pulled up to the train station and it was time to say goodbye. Although I didn't want to even come to England and stay with my father I suddenly felt depressed that I didn't come sooner, to spend more time with my father. We walked into the station, suddenly quiet as our shyness kicked in. It always happened when we were with strangers our people we weren't friends with. I suddenly felt another wave of sadness as I realized that I would have no friends here and probably would never manage to make any.
My father quickly found a trolley and set my trunk onto it. "Do you have your instructions to get onto the platform?" he asked as he rolled the trolley to me. "Yeah," I patted the pocket of my white jeans before hugging him tightly, "I'll miss you dad," I said hugging him tighter as he wrapped his arms around me into a warm embrace. We both let go and he wished me luck at my new school and then left. I watched his retreating back before taking at the instructions. What it said was simple but ludicrously crazy.
To get on the train is not difficult in the slightest. All you have to do is to find platforms nine and ten and run through the wall in between them. You will then arrive at Platform nine and three quarters! Have a save trip aboard the train.
I reread it to make sure I had read correctly. I silently contemplated if it were simply a joke that my father had come up with. After checking around to see if my father was any where to be spotted, I quickly abandoned the idea. I sighed, rolling my trolley over to Platforms Nine and Ten. I stared at the wall in between them. I must be crazy I thought before I shut my eyes and ran directly at the wall. After a few seconds I reopened them to see why I hadn't crashed into the wall, only to see that the wall had vanished. It was replaced by a large arch with a sign saying Hogwarts Express along its side. Around me were fellow students saying good bye to loved ones. I quickly averted my eyes away from them, instead fixating my eyes on the beautiful, scarlet train in front of me. I stared at it in amazement before realizing that people were beginning to notice and stare at me especially in the boy's department. Blushing scarlet red, I quickly rolled my trolley over to the nearest entrance to the train. This is way I don't wear the clothes they give me! I thought quickly grabbing my trunk and with difficulty, managed to get it onto the train.
"Need a hand?" asked a soft, feminine voice; I turned and saw a girl about my age, with curly black hair and gentle, doe like brown eyes. I smiled at her and nodded, "Please?" It came at questionly, of course. She smiled gently at my shyness and quickly grabbed the other side of my cherry wood trunk.
"On three?" I nodded at her and she quietly counted before pulling it up and onto the storage racks on top.
"Are you from a different country?" she asked gently, reminding me of a loving mother. I nodded. "France, how could you tell?" I asked looking slightly shocked that she could tell so easily. I certainly didn't look different. "You have a slight accent," she stated smiling at me again, catching my slightly afraid look she added, "it's not really big, it's soft really, rather pretty if you ask me," she reassured me. Before I could get over my shocked state that someone had complimented me, we heard someone shout, "Jazz? We are you?" We turned systematically to where the voice was coming from. Standing there was a girl with blonde hair pulled into two long ponytails, and big innocent looking blue eyes staring confusedly at us. "I was helping her; she's new, from France." The girl explained.
"Oh! Well then I am Amy and that's Jasmine or Jazz, as we call her!" her smile simply dazzled me and added to her innocence, "What is your name?" she asked her enchanting blue eyes staring at me curiously.
"Lily, or Lillian, but I prefer Lily." I stated. I didn't think that last names would be in order.
"Well, welcome to Hogwarts Lily!" Amy stated happily before grabbing mine and Jasmine's hands and leading us off to a compartment. Inside were two girls, both with light brown hair and startling hazel eyes.
"These two are Anastasia and Annalise!" Amy blurted, pushing me and Jasmine lightly into the room. I was slightly shocked at her behavior, but the rest of the girls looked simply amused. "Anna, Lise, this is Lily, she is from France." Amy continued taking the seat opposite of Anna and lightly patting the seat next to her, which I quickly took, still slightly dazed at the fact that I had made friends so early.
"Hello Lily, welcome to England," the twins said smiling at me, obviously amused by my dazed status. Jasmine took the seat to my left and smiled warmly at me.
"Let's play Truth or Dare to get to know each other better!" Amy suggested. The rest of the girls nodded, so I reluctantly agreed. Amy directed us all to sit in a circle on the ground by the seats. We all did so, sitting exactly how we had been sitting in the seats.
"Who should go first?" asked one of the twins, Lise, I was almost positive.
"How about Amy does as she was the one to suggest the game?" Jasmine suggested. Me and the other girls all nodded in agreement, neither of us wanting to go first instead.
"Lily truth or dare?" she asked me. I silently weighed the options. "Dare," I decided. She thought for a moment before a grin appeared on her face. "Well, right next to ours is a compartment of the most popular boys in the entire school and I dare you to go in there and flirt with the black haired one." She finished, her blue eyes shining mischievously. Again, I silently weighed my options. "Does he have a girlfriend?" I asked silently hoping for a no. "Yeah, but he doesn't really like her, he is just going out with her for fun." She answered. I inwardly groaned she had to pick the one that sounded like he was the biggest player in the entire school.
Amy seemed to read my mind because she quickly said that his best friend was the biggest player, not him. I stood up, "What is his name?" I surprised my self by agreeing, normally I would have sat silently on the seat, watching the game but not participating. I seemed to surprise the other girls too, because they all blinked at me before Amy's face broke into another grin. They all stood up as well. "The one you are going to flirt with is named James and we are coming with you to make sure you do it okay? I nodded and we all walked out of the compartment and towards the one next to ours.
"We won't come in but we will stand here, okay?" Amy said, stopping right in front of the door and gesturing towards the door. I breathed deeply before opening the door and smiling softly. Inside were the four most gorgeous people I had ever seen. One had soft, light brown hair that fell lightly into his grey eyes. The one next to him had shoulder length brown hair and bluish-grey eyes. Next to him was a blonde boy with baby blue eyes. The last boy, and the one that I was going to have to flirt with, was probably the cutest. He had unruly black hair and hazel eyes that stood out even under his glasses. They were all staring at me silently, probably surprised that I had barged into their compartment without even the slightest knock.
"Hello," I said shyly, putting my hand softly in front of me, playing the innocent shy card that I naturally had to the fullest. The boy with black hair, James I silently reminded my self, was watching my every move with his breathtakingly beautiful hazel eyes. "I am new and I was wondering if I could sit in here for a little bit?" I ended with a questioningly tone in my voice, which I kept quiet and gentle, my soft accent helping me greatly. "Some guys were eyeing me weirdly and I am a little scared," I blushed lightly, knowing that that wasn't a lie, some guys were staring and I was scared because of it. James immediately nodded and gestured to right beside him. I, of course, flushed even more and quickly took the seat. "I am Lily," stated quietly, my eyes looked downwards from James's, not having to play the shy card anymore.
"Hello," he said. His voice was deep and alluring. "I am James, that is Sirius," he gestured to the boy with long brown hair, "Remus," he gestured to the boy with sandy brown hair, "and Peter," he pointed to the last boy. All of them greeted me politely when his name had been introduced. I smiled back at them shyly. "What brings a lovely lady like you to Hogwarts, I mean surely you live in France or somewhere away don't you?" he questioned lightly, his eyes never leaving my face. I nodded, "I came to live with my father, to give my mother and her new husband privacy," I informed them quietly. He smiled at me, a breath taking smile that sent my heart beating like I had run two miles, and filled my stomach with butterflies. I couldn't help but smile back, a shy but full smile that lit my face.
"Lily! Those boys are gone!" Jasmine entered quietly. I hadn't noticed but me and James had been moving ever slightly closer to each other. I blushed again and quickly left, but not before smiling lightly at them and thanking them.
"Bye, maybe I will see you around sometime?" I questioned again, turning back quietly to see the boys all nod and smile in my direction. I smiled softly back and then turned and followed Jasmine out the door.
"That was incredible!" Amy practically shouted at me when me and Jasmine had walked close enough for me to hear her. Jasmine, Anna, and Lise all nodded, agreeing with Amy. We walked back into our compartment before continuing the discussion.
"You were absolutely beautiful," Anna supplied, smiling at me.
"Yeah, and your shyness definitely helped." Lise supported.
"You had him at hello," Jasmine said a merry twinkle in her eye. "I could tell he absolutely adores you," she added, causing me to blush even brighter at all of them.
"I really don't want to continue the game now." Lise said. Me and the others agreed and instead of playing the rest of our very short game of truth or dare, we spent the rest of the train ride talking about our families, past relationships, and who we liked. The others drilled me on whether or not I liked James, although they didn't have to because I knew I did and they did to. The train ride flew past in quite a hurry and as we changed into our robes to get ready for arrival the door flew open and three girls appeared.
One thing was for sure, they were all absolutely stunning. The one to the right had mahogany colored hair and the one to the left was a platinum blonde and finally the one in the middle. She was definitely the most beautiful girl I probably had ever seen. She had soft looking, wavy blonde hair and liquid topaz eyes, and to make matters worse for me, she was glaring angrily at me.
"You are new, so I will forgive you this one time, but only this once," she began her eyes not glaring but staring me up and down in a studious way, "but stay away from my boyfriend, James Potter, or I will kick your ass." She threatened me before sweeping out of the room elegantly, followed by her two friends.
"Who was that?" I asked weakly, surprised that my knees hadn't given away, how bad they were shaking. My knees didn't go unnoticed by the girls.
"Sit down for a second, Lily," Jasmine advised, leading gently to the seat.
"Those girls are the sweetest, kind hearted, beautiful, popular girls in the entire school." Lise's voice dripped with poisonous sarcasm, "according to the guys and teachers in the school any way," Anna finished up for her sister.
"To all the girls, they are the shallowest, selfish, bitches the school has ever seen and they aren't even in Slytherin!" Amy was glaring at door way, where the girls had just left.
"They are all in Gryffindor, like us." Jasmine added, "The year we all came into the school was the year Gryffindor got the most girls for the last five years." she informed me.
"Lucky us!" Lise said sarcastically.
"Not! We are the most unlucky people in the entire school!" Amy sighed, "But with any luck you will be placed in Gryffindor, too, and then you wouldn't have to worry!" She added, trying to reassure me but not succeeding.
"What do you mean worry?" I asked weakly, wild ideas running through my head on what they could do to me.
"Well if you went to a different house, they could corner you more easily or something like that, but if you get into Gryffindor, you would have the same classes, and in the corridors her boyfriend will be with her and he likes you, apparently." Amy blabbed happily again. Honest to god she doesn't stay mad long! I thought. All the things she had told me did not reassure me one bit, they only seemed to make matters worse.
"What are their names?" I asked, happy that my voice sounded a little stronger, as I stood up off the seat.
"Well, the one that talked to you was Buttercup, the one on her right was Summer, and the one on the left was Claire." Jasmine informed me as we started to walk out of the compartment.
Outside was almost completely empty; most of the students had left while we were talking about Buttercup, Summer, and Claire.
"Come one! There aren't going to be any empty carriages if we don't hurry!" Amy called over her shoulder, already at the exit and waiting for us. After we got there, we all walked out onto the platform together.
I gulped, nervous already, for the start of my new school.
Hey! This was a fun chapter to write so I hoped you enjoy it! I really enjoyed picking names for all the girls and describing what all the characters looked like! The hardest one was Claire! I was going to name her Star but it just didn't feel right. Well, I'll try to have the next chapter up soon! Also Annalise's name is pronounced Anna-lease, just in case you weren't sure!