A/N: I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my first two reviewers 'maddgolfer01' and 'Marauder Stalker' thanks for reviewing. See the bottom for personal thank you's! I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to Katie for emailing me and writing good fan fics, keep it up! Also to the Rum Runners and Jen cos they'll be the only one's reading this of my in school friends. Ok… I think all the dedications are over… on with the story.
Chapter 2- Hogwarts
'James? Lily? We're leaving in about five minutes, get your things and be downstairs in two minutes' Mrs Potter called.
'Ok mum' James called back and let go of Lily, they looked at each other and James wiped away a tear.
'Lily? Don't ever think no one cares, because I do' he told her and then walked out of her room. Lily sat there for a few moments and then collected her trunk and Opal's cage and met James in the hallway. When they were downstairs with their luggage Mr Potter led them to the fireplace and took out a jar full of powder, he offered it to Lily.
'Ladies first' he said with a smile not unlike his son's.
'Err…' Lily said, not sure what to do.
'She hasn't travelled by Floo powder before, Carl' Mrs Potter said, smiling at Lily. She explained what to do, this did nothing to calm Lily's nerves.
'I'll go first, Mum' James said, 'Just do exactly what I do' he told Lily and took Opal and Razor's, his barn owl, cages. He walked into the grate.
'Cherry House' he said and was engulfed in green flames. Lily was now petrified.
'Now speak very clearly, dear. I'll come after you with your trunk' Mrs potter said kindly. Lily took a handful of powder and stepped into the grate.
'Cherry House' she said and closed her eyes. She felt herself spinning and then falling forwards; she felt two arms catch her and she looked up to see a boy with black hair and a handsome face smiling at her. Lily stood up and looked around; James was standing next to the fireplace with the two owl cages.
'Lily, this is Sirius Black, and old friend of mine. Apparently he arrived here five minutes ago. The Black's are another pure blood family with ideas like Malfoy and Snape, but Sirius is nothing like them,' James told her. Sirius looked at lily.
'What he means is I hate the whole lot of them, well except for one of two' he told her, he looked out the window with a look of loathing on his face, 'The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin for centuries, except for a few, and are very into the dark arts. I met James at a party ages ago, my parents wanted me to mix with people like Malfoy,' he let out a bark-like laugh, 'The only mixing with them I'll do is the mixing of a potion to get rid of their ba-'
'Sirius?' James asked, 'Shut up mate.'
Sirius grinned at James as Mrs Potter stepped out of the fireplace. Lily looked around the room she was in, it was painted a light brown with a cream carpet and multiple chairs and tables, bookcases lined most of the walls and a chess set stood in one corner.
'Sirius! When did you get here? You haven't run off again have you?' Mrs Potter asked sternly as she handed Lily her trunk. Sirius looked a little awkward.
'Well I didn't run off exactly. I just yelled at mum I was going. I dunno if she heard me though, she was yelling at me about not upholding the family tradition,' Sirius replied.
'Come on, I'll show you your rooms' James said quickly, he and Sirius carried Lily's trunk up the stairs and she followed with James' school things and the owl cages. Lily was realising just how big James' house was when they reached a corridor and stopped at a door at the end. James opened it and lily gasped. It was a large room that had a burgundy carpet and deep red walls, a double bed had a crimson throw over and curtains; there was a desk, two chests of drawers, a wardrobe, and a door that led to an en-suite bathroom. James grinned.
'Lily you're supposed to sleep in it not standing in the doorway gaping at it.'
Lily gave him a playful shove and he fell backwards onto the bed; she laughed as Sirius started attacking him with a pillow. When James and Sirius included her in the pillow fight she ran into the bathroom and locked the door, laughing as the boys cursed on the other side. After a few more minutes she heard them turn on each other again and came out. The boys grinned at each other and grabbed her before she could lock herself back in. They dragged the laughing and kicking Lily to the bed where they pinned her down and started hitting her with pillows.
'Can I just- point out- that if I- bring my knees up- you two are- going to be- in a lot- of pain' she said as she fight the pillows, however they did stop and let her up. She laughed at the look on their faces. She's so pretty when she laughs James thought, actually… she's pretty all the time.
'Hello? Earth to James' Sirius was waving his hand in front of James' face.
'What?' James asked stupidly. Lily laughed and Sirius grinned as he sat down on the bed, James smiled and sank into a chair; he was just about to speak when Mrs Potter came in.
'Lily,' she said quietly, 'I'm afraid I have a bit of bad news.'
'Is it Aunt Lyn? Mum, Dad? Petunia?' Lily asked, she didn't really know why she said her sister's name but she had grown so used to worrying about her it was almost second nature.
'It's your Aunt Lyn,' Mrs Potter replied, 'She's been admitted to St. Mungo's. We've been told she's only been hit with a few small curses and should be out soon but they're worried some other damage may have been done. She'll be coming here when she gets out and you're welcome to stay too.'
'What happened?' Lily asked, she felt a lump rising in her throat; Sirius looked at James and they exchanged worried glances.
'She was part of a band of Aurors tracking a death Eater and they were ambushed. None were killed but all of them were hit with a few curses,' Mrs Potter explained, 'I shouldn't worry, she'll be fine in a few days.'
With that she left. Lily's mind had gone numb, Aunt Lyn had told her that being an Auror was dangerous but she hadn't thought it would happen to Aunt Lyn so soon.
'Lily?' James said quietly sitting next to her, 'Lily?'
The last few weeks of the summer holidays passed almost uneventfully; Aunt Lyn came out of St Mungo's after three days. James and Sirius taught her how to play wizard's chess, the Potter's house elf, Lena, seemed to live to stuff lily full of food; in fact the most eventful part of the holidays was when Sirius 'accidentally' tipped pumpkin juice over James' head and James chased Sirius around the house and gardens with a sack of flour trying to hit him with it, both of them came back with an empty sack and looking a little whiter than when they had left the table earlier. Finally the last day of the holidays arrived and they arrived at King's Cross with fifteen minutes to spare. When they walked through the barrier, though, Sirius' face fell.
'What's wro… ah' James said. Sirius sighed; he was in for it now.
'We'll put your trunk in the compartment' James called after him. Sirius dragged his feet over to his parents and smiled.
'Hello mother, nice summer?' he asked pleasantly. His mother seemed about ready to explode with rage.
'What did you think you were doing going to a house full of blood traitors? I tell you now boy if you don't get into Slytherin you won't have a house to call home!' she yelled a him.
'I'm not your son! I never have been and never will be,' he snapped back, he turned to walk away but his father grabbed his arm.
'Be warned boy, I still have the cane at home and you will be coming to us in the summer, whether you get into Slytherin or not. If I have to beat some sense into you I will,' he threatened in little more than a whisper. His father shoved him away and Sirius walked onto the train; his face showing anger and, though he wouldn't admit it, a little fear. When he walked into the compartment they thought it best to wait until he had calmed down. With only ten minutes left until the train started a boy with sandy coloured hair opened the door, he looked like one well aimed hex would finish him off.
'Do you mind if I sit here?' he asked, lily nodded before the other two said anything. He smiled at her and sat next to her after putting his trunk in the rack.
'Remus Lupin,' he said offering her his hand.
'Lily Evans,' she said, shaking his hand, 'This is James Potter and Sirius Black.'
'I'm no Black, both me and my parents have agreed on that,' Sirius snapped, 'Many times' he added in a quiet voice and rubbed the top of his arm.
'Fine. This is Sirius with no known surname' Lily said with a grin. Sirius gave her a dirty look.
'For God sake Sirius!' Lily said heatedly, 'Black is a name not the mould of a person. You can choose who you are.'
'Yer right' he muttered grumpily.
'"What's Montague? It is nor hand nor foot,
Nor arm nor face, nor any other part belonging to a man."' Lily paused for a split second then added, '"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other word would smell as sweet."'
Sirius, James, and Remus gave her blank looks.
'Err… Lily? Who the hell is Montague?' Sirius asked. Lily gave him a questioning look, then started laughing.
'You've never heard of William Shakespeare have you?' she asked.
'Err… no' James answered, Lily laughed again.
'He was a muggle playwright' Remus said. Lily smiled and nodded.
'It was a quote from one of his plays' she told them.
'What the hell has that got to do with my name?' Sirius asked. Lily shook her head. The compartment door opened again, two girls stood in the doorway.
'Do you mind, everywhere else is full?' one of them asked; they were twins, almost identical except for their eyes.
'Come in ladies' Sirius said, cheerful again. James caught Lily's eyes and they turned away from each other trying not to laugh. The two girls sat down and looked at the others.
'I'm Emma' the one tin said, she had black hair and brown eyes, 'Emma Clemment.'
'I'm Diana,' the other twin said, her eyes were blue.
'I'm Sirius Black,' Lily rolled her eyes; 'This is James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Lily Evans.'
As the train started the compartment door opened again and a girl with brown hair and blue eyes stood with a trunk.
'Can I…' she didn't finish because she was thrown forwards into the compartment with her trunk, Sirius and James were on their feet as two boys walked in.
'Well at least she got out of our way,' Snape said lazily to Malfoy. They both laughed, Emma and Diana were helping the girl up, Sirius and James made to take a step forwards but Lily was there first.
'Petrificus Totalus' she snarled and Malfoy fell to the floor, stiff as a board, his eyes gave Lily a dirty look, Sirius and James stood with their mouths open.
'Get out' she snarled at Snape, 'Get out!'
'Or what?' he sneered, performing the counter-curse on Malfoy. He turned back to lily to see the hand a second before it made contact with his face. WHACK. Snape staggered back into Malfoy, they fell back into the corridor as Lily stepped out with her wand pointed at them. Giving her evil glares they moved on to their compartment. Lily stomped back into the compartment and slammed the door shut. She looked at Sirius and James who were looking at her open-mouthed.
'What?' she asked as she sat down. They burst out laughing and clutched their sides, Lily gaped at them.
'What?' she asked again, she looked around and found the rest of the compartment in hysterics.
'Malfoy's face when you jinxed him!' Sirius choked out.
'Where'd you learn to do that?' James asked sitting next to her.
'I read the school books,' she replied sheepishly. James shook his head and put his arm around her shoulders.
'Ladies and Gentlemen I present the most dangerous woman in the world' James said; everyone laughed, including Lily.
'Are you ok?' Remus asked the girl, she was sitting next to him.
'yeah, thanks. I'm Rose Longuard' she replied. Lily smiled at her, she realised James' arm was still around her shoulders, part of her wanted to move so he had to move his arm and part of her wanted him to leave it here. She left it and the train journey passed uneventfully. Finally they changed into their robes and stepped off onto the platform.
'Firs' years over here!' called a voice that belonged to a gigantic man. They followed him to a small fleet of boats; Lily, James, Sirius and Remus took one boat, and Diana, Rose, and Emma were followed by another girl whose hood was up, covering her face, only a bit of red hair could be seen. As the boats carried them across the lake Lily became a little apprehensive, how were they sorted into their houses? Aunt Lyn had never told her. Finally they got their first sight of Hogwarts, James heard Lily gasp next to him and grinned. Everyone was looking up at the castle, well everyone except Sirius who was looking at the girl sitting with Diana, Emma and Rose; her hood had been pushed back slightly and he was taking in her features that were lit by the light from the castle; Remus noticed and nudged him, he grinned at Sirius who blushed slightly and turned back to look at the castle. The turrets reaching up to the dark sky seemed to glow with the light from the windows, giving it a magical appearance (though considering this is Hogwarts that's not surprising is it?); the boats bumped into the shore and they stepped out. They followed the giant to a pair of huge oak doors, he knocked on them. A woman whose black hair was up in a tight bun stood in the doorway.
'Firs' years Professor McGonagall' he said.
'Thank you, Hagrid' the woman replied, she turned to the first years, 'This way.'
They followed her into a small chamber.
'In a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates,' Professor McGonagall told them, 'But before you do you will be sorted into your houses. Now while you are here your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points, any rule breaking and you will lose points. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Now follow me.'
The group of first years followed her into a brilliantly lit hall where students were sat around four long tables, at the end sat what appeared to be the teachers. Sirius had his first true sighting of Albus Dumbledore, for some odd reason his nerves disappeared as he looked at the wise face. They grouped in front of a three legged stool where an old hat sat. As they looked at it a seam opened and it began to sing. Sirius, though, heard little of the song except a little about the traits of the four houses, he was watching Dumbledore; for some reason he couldn't take his eyes off the old man who sat before him, he saw Dumbledore look straight and him and smile, Sirius gave a weak smile in return and looked at McGonagall who was unrolling a piece of parchment as the applause behind them died down.
'When I call your name, you will step forward and place the Sorting Hat on your head,' she said, 'Aberworth Zara.'
A tall girl with a beak like nose stepped forward, the hat was placed on her head and in two seconds it shouted,
'Slytherin'
Sirius watched her go and saw his cousin Bellatrix (in the year above him) watching him intently with narrowed eyes.
'Black, Sirius'
Sirius walked forward and sat on the stool, only one thought was in his mind as it was put on his head. I'll die before I go to Slytherin.
'Really?' said the hat in his ear.
I don't care where I go, you can put me back on the train if you really want to just not Slytherin, Sirius thought, he felt certain he was going to pay dearly for those words when he went home but focused on what the hat was saying.
'Well you've certainly got courage,' the hat commented, 'With the fiery temper of the Black's, in fact with most traits of the Black family, and yet… and yet you aren't a Black at heart. Now that's interesting, you seem to have suffered at your home. Well Slytherin will do nothing for you, you belong in GRYFFINDOR.'
Sirius grinned like a Cheshire cat as he headed off to the Gryffindor table giving his cousin a grin from across the hall as he sat down.
'Clement, Diana'
Diana stepped forward and nervously sat on the stool. Sirius watched her and crossed his fingers under the table, holding his breath.
'Gryffindor'
Diana almost ran to sit opposite Sirius at the table, he grinned and winked at her and watched as Emma walked up.
'Gryffindor' the hat shouted again and Emma joined her twin. The three of them watched as a three students went to Ravenclaw.
'Evans, Lily'
Remus watched her walk up; he sighed, he had made friends already but he would have one secret from them his entire life: his condition, his disease… his curse. He was snapped out of his thoughts when the hat called out 'Gryffindor'. Lily walked down to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Emma. A small boy with black hair was made the first Hufflepuff, four more went to Slytherin, another six to Gryffindor and another two to Ravenclaw. Then the list went to the L's.
'Longwood, Rose'
Rose sat on the chair nervously and listened to the hat mutter to itself.
You know, some say that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness… does that count if you're a hat? She thought.
'Let's not get into a conversation like that, we'll be here forever' the hat chuckled, 'Well you better get going … GRYFFINDOR.'
Rose sat next to Lily, and then Remus heard it.
'Lupin, Remus'
Remus took a deep breath and sat down as the hat was placed on his head.
'What's this? A werewolf?' the hat said in his ear, 'My, my, this is something new. Well you have a good mind, very good mind. I should put you in Ravenclaw… but you wouldn't excel there would you? No, perhaps not. I see loyalty too and… little fear. Hardly any, but that's not really surprising after all you've been through… you only fear the moon and being deserted by you're friends. You'll need brave friends perhaps… Well you would do well in Ravenclaw, but no, Ravenclaw wouldn't help you to become the best you could. No, better be… GRYFFINDOR'.
Remus almost laughed with relief and sat on Sirius' left side and watched the rest of the sorting. Malfoy went to Slytherin and sat next to Sirius' other cousin Narcissa, who had been sorted with them. A few more were sorted into Hufflepuff before a small boy with watery eyes and a pointed nose was sorted into Gryffindor, then James came and sat next to Sirius.
'Hey Sirius, your girlfriends in Gryffindor too,' Remus whispered to him with an evil grin on his face, Sirius elbowed him in the side and Remus snorted into his hand. Snape went to Slytherin (and I have an apology to make to everyone. My friend pointed out to me yesterday that I said Snape was a pureblood in my first chapter. I know he is a half-blood but I say in my defence that everyone thinks he is a pure blood, therefore James wouldn't know any different. I'll stop digging a hole now and get on with the story…). Finally the Sorting finished and the hat and stool were taken away by Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore stood up, his arms spread out in welcome.
'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you.'
Everyone laughed and started helping themselves to food. Sirius eyes lit up as he saw the food laid out before him.
'Uh oh…' James and Lily said in unison before Sirius started shovelling food onto his plate. From experience James and Lily grabbed their favourite food in large quantities before leaving the rest to Sirius' bottomless stomach. Sirius was already reaching for second helpings before the others were halfway through their first.
'Sirius, can I point out the food isn't going to disappear five seconds after you look at it,' Remus said as Sirius placed his tenth roast potato in his mouth, he gave a huge swallow and grinned at Remus.
'I know, I'm just hungry. I haven't eaten since the train journey,' he replied. Lily and James laughed and the food disappeared.
'Hey! I was gonna have that potato' Sirius whined, but the plates were soon filled with puddings, 'Ok you're forgiven.'
'Sirius?' Lily asked innocently.
'Yeah?' he said, looking up from his apple pie.
'Has anyone ever told you, you have the stomach and constitution of a pig?' (sorry pips…)
Everyone laughed, Sirius grinned at her.
'Yep. You have, numerous times' he replied. Lily laughed and the food disappeared again. They talked for a while waiting for Dumbledore to stand up again. They turned to talk about their families.
'I'm half and half' Rose said, 'My Mum's a muggle and my Dad's a wizard. Luckily Mum didn't really mind, she was really pleased when I got my letter.'
'That doesn't usually happen does it?' the girl from the boat asked, 'I mean, usually Muggles get scared and run off when they find out their partner's a wizard or witch. Your parents are really lucky.'
'Thanks,' Rose said with a smile. Sirius took a proper look at her now; she had reddish-brown hair with five brilliant red streaks placed a strategic intervals, though it was her eyes that interested him most, she had bright yellow ones, almost like a cat's.
'I'm Lily, Lily Evans' Lily said, smiling at the girl.
'I'm Larkasia Starsword' the girl replied, 'But just called me Kasia, or Kas. Larkasia's such a mouthful.' (I'd lie to point out a bit of pronunciation here because a few of my friends pronounce it Lark-Asia. I'm saying now that is wrong. It's pronounced Lark-as-e-a. Sorry just had to put this in.)
'I'm Sirius Black,' Remus pretended to want some pumpkin juice so he wouldn't burst out laughing, 'This is James Potter and Remus Lupin.'
'I'm Rose Longuard, this Diana Clemment, and her twin Emma,' Rose said kindly.
'So you're a pure blood James?' Rose asked, James nodded.
'Yer… that's how I managed to meet Sirius before school started; we both went to a party and got caught up in the same prank…'
Sirius grinned, 'I don't think my parents ever forgave me for that, mind you it was just another thing for them to hate me for so I didn't really care.' He suddenly went moody.
'Do you and your family not get on?' Kasia asked him, he looked up and nodded.
'My family believe the only honourable way to get through life is through the Dark Arts. They drummed it into me but I saw through it when I was old enough. I told them I didn't want anything to do with the Dark Arts and that's when it all went downhill. They keep on saying I should be more like my younger brother, Regulus, and follow the Dark Arts, follow Voldemort. I just keep ignoring them and they just keep hi… shouting at me,' he finished and glared at his cousins at the Slytherin table, he smiled sourly 'I'll be in for it when they hear I'm not in Slytherin. They said I wouldn't have a house to call home and wouldn't be their son,' he snorted, 'Like I'm their son anyway. The day I'm their son is the day Voldemort comes in to the Great Hall singing love songs with a big bouquet of roses for Dumbledore, begs his forgiveness and asks McGonagall to marry him.'
Larkasia smiled slightly at him, 'I guess having a family that hates you is worse than having no family at all.'
Everyone looked at her questioningly. She looked at the table.
'My family were killed when I was five years old, we lived out in the forest and I was out playing with the w…dogs when they came and killed my parents and ransacked our house. I ran off into the forest and have roamed it every since, it's my home now. I was looked after by an old witch for a while before she died; she taught me about herbal medicines, that she thought were always more effective than the ones they use now. She said only the herbal medicines can heal cursed wounds, they haven't found any cures for them yet. I owed her my life so I kept a little contact with humans to honour her memory, and my parents. That's how I got my letter for Hogwarts.'
She was saved questioning when Dumbledore stood up and the talking died out.
'just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you that no magic is to be used between classes in the corridors.
'Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their houses should contact Mrs. Filler. And finally all that is left is to wish you a good night.'
The first years followed the Gryffindor prefects, a girl named Karen Pilter and a boy named Darren Shinel, to the Gryffindor tower. When they reached a portrait of a lady in a pink silk dress they stopped.
'Why've we stopped?' Rose whispered to Emma, she shrugged.
'Password?' the lady asked, Rose gaped open mouthed. Diana nudged her and she regained her composure.
'Dragon tail' Karen said clearly and the portrait swung open to reveal the Gryffindor common room.
'Welcome to the Gryffindor common room, you can do your homework…' Karen started.
'If you can be bothered' Darren said, some of the students sniggered. Karen rolled her eyes.
'Or just hang around in here. The boys dormitories are up the stairs to the left, girls to the right. You'll find all your belongings have already been brought up.' 'Oh and boys? Don't try and get up the girls staircase it turns into a slide if you do. Godric Gryffindor seemed to think boys were less trustworthy than girls when he built the staircase' Darren told them, 'And believe me it hurts when you land on this floor.'
'You've tried to get up there?' Karen asked.
'Of course, which boys haven't?' he shot her a grin.
'I can think of a few' Karen answered and she rolled her eyes, 'Come on girls follow me.'
They boys went up the stairs to their dormitories and saw a door with a sign on it saying: 'First years' there was a similar one across the hall. James, Sirius, and Remus were followed into their dormitory by the small boy with watery eyes and a pointed nose, his name was Peter Pettigrew. A boy with vivid red hair named Arthur Weasley, and a tall, black boy named Kingsley Shacklebot. Remus left for about an hour after they had unpacked to speak to Dumbledore.
'My Mum's ill so we've got to arrange when I can go and see her,' he told them, feeling guilty about lying, he went to Dumbledore who explained how they were to smuggle him out of the grounds every full moon. When he returned the six boys stayed up most of the night talking and laughing, it was about 3am before they went to sleep. The last thing that Remus saw before falling asleep was the quarter moon, glowing softly in the sky. Lily, Emma, Diana, Rose, and Larkasia were joined by two other girls; one had curly red hair and was called Molly Senthorn; Alice Demma had a kind round face and they talked for so long it was around 1am before they all fell asleep, eagerly anticipating the lessons for the day.
A/N: It's done! Finally… that took a long time to write. Next chapter isn't as long and I've finished my coursework now so I should be able to update faster. I'll try and get the first chapter of my other story done so I can put that up. Again I'd like to thank my first two reviewers' 'maddgolfer01' and 'Marauder Stalker'.
Maddgolfer01: thanks for reviewing, hope you enjoy this chapter too. Please put a story up because I want to see how you write your fan fics.
Marauder Stalker: All will be revealed in time Katie, all will be revealed. I know I asked you this before, but really do you ever do your work in classes? Your question will be answered in Chapter 4 (which will be up soon I promise). Keep up your writing!
And back to everyone after my personal thanks to my reviewers. PLEASE REVIEW! I'll update faster if you review more! Chapter 3- Notes, will be up soon as will Chapter 4. Please excuse the fact that Larkasia's surname is the same as my penname, I couldn't think of any other one to give her because I'm lazy, lol. Anyway I'll love you and leave you all. Ciao for now.
xStarswordx
