AN:-In terms of writing, I'm well into Chapter Nine, and the Basilisk has already attacked. It's kind of weird going back and posting these and trying to remember what I actually put in them.

Chapter Four: Right Back to It

When they finally left the hall they had gathered the usual assortment of Slytherin first years. Old family names who came strutting across to the table as though they had never expected to go anywhere else and two students who no one recognised. Lily thought they looked far too excited, and decided that they obviously hadn't heard the reputation of the house they had just joined.

The feast had been as excellent as always, but Lily had barely touched any of it, starting to feel sick as she looked up the table and saw Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson, sitting opposite each other and talking animatedly about something. Looking the other way she could see the first years starting to introduce themselves, and unlike the Gryffindors or Ravenclaws, who wanted to know whether they knew anything about magic, or if they liked the castle, the Slytherins wanted to know the pedigree of the students' birth.

Lily remembered something similar from her first year, but at least Pansy had waited until they were in the dorm before she started the interrogation. That year Tracy Davis had been the odd one out, a half blood who quickly established herself as little more than Pansy's lapdog. Millicent Bulstrode had become Pansy's muscle, leaving Lily and Daphne Greengrass as the only two who were left. Daphne was the daughter of a prestigious magical family, almost as old and wealthy as the Malfoys, and Lily was the daughter of the disgraced side of the family. The Moons were famous among the old Slytherins for going off to live with muggles because they hadn't had enough money to carry on living in the family mansion.

Of course, Lily couldn't actually remember that, it was her father who had been forced to leave his old home, taking his new wife with him to live in a poky little one bed-room flat in central London. Grandfather and Grandmother Moon had lived out the rest of their days in their own little flat in Yorkshire, and all Lily had ever known of how they had used to live had been seeing the old black and white photos of her grandparents standing outside the mansion in their finest formal robes.

Since then they had had her, and moved into their new house in the Norfolk countryside, and Lily had never wanted for anything. Her mother had become a successful author right out of school and her father was quick to rise up through the firm he worked for. But still, whenever they had met the Malfoys or the Notts during their holidays they had made it clear that they thought of the Moons as being on the same level of the Weasleys.

When she thought about it, it was amazing that she had made it through the previous year at all. She didn't even want to think about what would have happened if she hadn't had Sally and Lisa to help her through it. As the Slytherins all trooped down to the dungeons she looked wistfully up the stairs to where the Ravenclaws were already trying to drag their new recruits into one of their famous house-wide debates. What she wouldn't give to be part of that conversation, instead of walking silently off to one side of the rest of her house.

Up ahead she heard one of the new prefects say, "facta non verba," and the wall slid aside to reveal the Slytherin Common Room. It was as dimly lit as always, the murky green of the lake casting rippling shadows over the sofas and bookshelves. Most of the books were supposed to be in the library, or with the older students, but Slytherins had a nasty habit of leaving books lying around when they didn't need them anymore. Lily had managed to learn some quite advanced magic, just by reading whatever was left in the common room after the OWL students had gone.

She made her way straight for the new second year dorm, hoping to get into bed and asleep before Pansy had even come in. It was exactly as she remembered, the brazier in the middle of the room still unlit and the fittings still as dark green and oppressive as she remembered. Her trunk was already sitting at the foot of her bed and she jumped into it gratefully, yanking the covers over her head so she could change into her nightgown.

By the time the other girls came into the dorm she already had her head buried under the covers, lying as still as she could and hoping they would leave her alone. She listened as Pansy instructed Millicent and Tracey on what they were going to do the next day in classes, but then the lights disappeared and they were back in the total blackness of the dorm. There was a little more shuffling around as the others prepared for bed, and then they were asleep.

Lily didn't sleep very well at all that first night, and she was so glad that it wasn't because of Pansy and Millicent. Her brain had finally caught up with the rest of her, and it was reminding her that tomorrow she was going to be starting at Hogwarts again. Huddled under her blankets she squeezed her pillow close to her chest and grinned to herself.

The lights exploded on the next morning like they always did, rousing the girls and starting the usual round of curses from Pansy. She hated waking up early, and expressed herself with words that Lily was sure her mother didn't know she knew. Lily on the other hand sprang out of bed, hooking her towels over her arms and rushed to the bathroom, neatly sidestepping Pansy's flailing arms. In the shower she let the hot water pour over her face and wake her up, then dried herself quickly and went back into the dorm, where Daphne was just waking up as well.

Smiling to her friend, Lily ducked behind the curtains of her bed along with her uniform and started to get dressed. After some of the tricks that had been pulled on her the year before she had gotten used to getting dressed quickly, and in less than a minute she was on her way into the Common Room.

It was empty save for a few fifth years already starting in on their OWL work. Lily also saw a fourth year that she recognised. The year before she had seen the girl telling Pansy Parkinson off for bullying her. After Draco Malfoy had lost them the lead the year before, Slytherin had pulled together spectacularly to overtake Ravenclaw for the House Cup victory, and everyone knew that Lily, despite her affiliations, earned points.

Of course, in the end it hadn't mattered, but Lily didn't like thinking about the end of the last year. Deserved or not on the part of Harry Potter and his friends, it had been so hard to sit there in the Great Hall and watch Dumbledore take everything away from them. Her parents had been appropriately outraged when she had told them the tale, which kind of made up for it though.

She wondered where Harry and his friend had been the night before. Hermione had been really upset, even if she was keeping it under wraps. Lily started to browse the bookshelves, wondering whether any of the older years had left books she could read. She liked to go to breakfast early, but when she checked her watch she realised it was still far too early for the food to be ready. Humming to herself, she wandered to the other side of the Common Room, looking at the pictures of previous years. It was strange, seeing pictures of her own parents standing and waving from out of the black and white images.

She went back further, before her parents had been around. It seemed almost like the Slytherins in those pictures were happy, actually smiling and laughing with each other instead of staring out intently. It went back a few years, until suddenly the pictures became much darker. Glaring out from the Common Room were boys that looked like thugs and one face in the middle that caught her eye. He was in every picture for a full seven years, going from bland faced to incredibly handsome. His eyes were hypnotic, holding her own even through the years. The other students were looking to him with almost slavish devotion.

She actually reached out and touched one of the pictures of the boy in his second year. He would have been her age, and yet he already looked like he was in charge of all the other students. Even the sixth and seventh years were looking down at him from their places standing behind the rest. A huge man was sitting at the front, and while it could have looked like he was at the front, it looked more like he was the right hand man of the boy.

"See something you like?"

She flinched and turned around to see a third year boy looking over her shoulder. He was vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn't quite place the face. "Higgs," he said, holding out his hand, "Terence, nice to meet you."

"You're the Slytherin Seeker," she realised, shaking his hand, "you're good."

"Not good enough apparently, but thanks anyway."

"Do you know who this boy is?" She asked, pointing out the student.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because look at him," she leaned in close, adjusting her glasses to get a closer look, "even the teacher looks like he's deferring to him."

"I can tell you who the teacher is, but I don't know if that does you any good."

"It's a start, who is he?"

"Horace Slughorn, head of Slytherin house. He retired about ten years ago when Snape took over. According to my dad he was a great potions teacher, but, well..." he nodded at the picture himself. "Always a bit of a hanger-on."

"A hanger-on?"

"My dad was part of his 'Slug Club.'" Terence made sarcastic air quotes, "it was this group of wizards who Slughorn thought would go far in government or celebrity life. And then when they got there, they would feel like they owed Slughorn something."

Lily was staring at him, wondering about the way he spoke. He seemed to notice, smiling at her, "I'm not like the people in your year?"

"No."

"I'm a half-blood, and we live in central London. I get a lot more muggle in my life than most Slytherins."

"That would probably be why I have never heard about you before."

He nodded, "probably. The first thing I learned here was that if you weren't an old family name, they didn't want to know."

"So was your father in Slytherin?"

"Ravenclaw actually," Terence shrugged, "I really don't know how I ended up here, but it's much nicer than you think."

"How do you know I don't like it?"

"I saw you last year. You were in the Common Room every day before the rest of your dorm were up, went to breakfast before them." His eyes had pity in them, "I know what bullying looks like. I had enough of it myself when I was in first year."

She stared at the picture rather than meet his eyes, "well I made it. I've got friends, that's all I need."

"Do you want more friends?"

She frowned at him, "what?"

"Look, some of us have been talking. You're smart, you earn points, and you're good at magic. Do you want to join us in our study groups?"

"Oh," Lily's eyes widened, "I, uhm, I don't know, can I think about it?"

"Of course," he smiled at her, "it was nice talking to you Lily."

"It was nice talking to you too."

He smiled and walked back to his friends, leaving her to stare at the picture, before deciding that it really was time for breakfast now.

She had a long breakfast, knowing that Pansy was going to be late that day. She enjoyed herself, looking across to where Sally was practically buried under a pile of French toast and scrambled eggs. Lisa was drinking a glass of orange juice and staring in disbelief at a girl who Lily didn't recognise. The girl had long waves of brilliant white hair, and was chattering away animatedly to Lisa, who was looking increasingly confused by whatever she was hearing.

Up at the staff table McGonagall and Flitwick were involved in a heated debate about something, and both of them were casting looks to Gilderoy Lockhart, who was somehow managing to eat a bowl of cornflakes while still showing every single one of his teeth. It must take practice to not let the milk spill out of his teeth, she decided.

Suddenly the Gryffindor table went mad, a voice that could be heard throughout the entire hall. Every eye turned to where a red headed boy was staring in horror at a red envelope in his hands. Harry Potter was on one side, Hermione Granger on the other. After the initial explosion of noise Lily could start to make out words.

"I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO THINK WHAT YOUR FATHER AND I WENT THROUGH WHEN WE SAW IT WAS GONE —" It was a woman's voice, magnified a hundred times until it shook dust from the enchanted ceiling. It sounded like it had been a loud voice before, but amplified it was enough to make Lily's ears hurt. She couldn't imagine what the Gryffindors were going through. "—LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU AND HARRY COULD BOTH HAVE DIED —" The red hair had sunk almost underneath the table, and Harry Potter was looking sheepish. "—ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED — YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT BACK HOME."

Silence, in which every student and staff member stared at Ronald Weasley, who had all but disappeared under the table, save for a shock of red hair. Someone over in Hufflepuff giggled, and the whole hall returned to normal, Hermione closing her book to very obviously give a 'you got what you deserved' speech. Lily watched the three for a few seconds before going back to her porridge. By that time Snape was walking down the table handing out their timetables. It looked about the same as the last year, and their first lesson was Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws.

Could they have picked a harder subject for our first lesson back? Lily wondered as she spotted Pansy entering the hall. She made her escape and headed back to the dorm to collect her books, glad that she didn't have a Defence Against the Dark Arts class until the next day. Something told her she wasn't going to enjoy her lessons with Gilderoy Lockhart. Thankfully, their Astronomy class had also been moved, so they had them on Fridays now, which at least meant she would be able to sleep over the weekends.

They still had potions with the Gryffindors, which she was sure would be just as fun as it had been the year before. Snape never missed an opportunity to put the Gryffindors down, and apart from anything else it was really boring to see. Charms was now with the Ravenclaws though, and it would be good to see whether having the Charms teacher as your head of house made a difference.

As she was making her way back up towards the Transfiguration classroom she bumped into Lisa, who was just coming out of the hall. "Ready for Transfiguration?" She asked.

"Not even slightly, you?"

"Unlike you, I opened my Transfiguration books over the summer."

"How about your Charms?"

"Shut up."

"What's Sally got first?"

"Herbology with the Gryffindors."

"That sounds like fun."

"Yes but you actually like Herbology, some of us are normal and like sensible things like Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"As taught by Gilderoy Lockhart?"

Lisa pulled a face, "Good point."

"When's your first Potions?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Good for you, I have History of Magic. I'm going to be asleep by lunchtime."

Lisa's eyebrow went up, "Good for me? Potions? Snape?"

"Better than Binns."

"I'll let you know tomorrow," the two girls were making their way up the stairs, and when they reached the third floor Lisa nodded down the corridor, "I'm off to the dorm, see you in class."

Lily nodded, "what was the homework again?"

Lisa gave her a long silent stare, "off to a flying start?"

"You tell me what the Transfiguration work is and I'll tell you what the Charms work was."

There was another long pause, and then Lisa nodded, "I'll see you five minutes before the class."

AN:- Tracey Davis, the girl with no canon portrayal who everyone still thinks they know. Kinda like my two. I find it really weird reading other people's Lisa Turpin or Sally-Anne Perks fanfics and wondering why they aren't acting like my Lisa and Sally. In some of these fics the two girls don't even know each other Lily doesn't exist! Fevered frog-spawn chewing madness.

I'm not entirely sure at this point how the Moon's came to lose their money. Given the time frame it would be somewhere during or at the end of the first war against Voldemort (1970-1980-ish) so maybe some of the other purebloods took all their money to help in the war effort. I'll firm it up later because I do want to be a significant plot point, I'm just not sure quite how at the moment.

Facta non verba: Deeds, not words. In HP5 the videogame it's the password for a Slytherin portrait down in the dungeons that leads you to the Library. I thought it seemed appropriate enough for a common room password. Of course later it changes to Pure-Blood, during Christmas. I imagine that the dorms in Slytherin are one long corridor, girls' on one side, boys' on the other, that intersect in the middle to lead into the common room. Seven dorms along each side means that Lily's year are now one door closer to the middle.

OMG inter-book continuity! That's right I remembered that I had a third year girl tell Pansy off last year, and now she's a fourth year! This information is totally irrelevant!

Terence Higgs is fast becoming my favourite new character. Obviously the boy in the pictures is Tom Riddle, and the Ravenclaw first year Lisa's talking to is Luna. The funny thing, like I said before, about writing these after all the books have come out, is that I can have characters and objects that have logically always been around, but weren't introduced until later in the actual series. Luna is a year younger than Harry, so she must have been at Hogwarts since his second year, we just don't hear about her until Book 5.

The timetable for Hogwarts is impossible to create. Seven years of students having classes often with two houses, and yet only one teacher per subject? No. There is no timetable that can be made for this. So I won't try. Work out what Harry's having, give Lily something else unless the class overlaps. In Third Year at least this will become easier since they'll be picking their own classes.