Chapter Five
Exams passed, finally, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was in the top ten percent of my year. "Really, Pet, you shouldn't be surprised. You're the best in Potions, and nearly the best in every other class," Marly said with a laugh.
"Yes, Mother is going to be disappointed that I let a Muggleborn beat me in nearly every class once again," Nic added, popping a chocolate frog in his mouth whole. Since there was only the four of us in the train compartment, he didn't seem terrible concerned with manners. However, the minute Danae and Evander popped in for a moment, he sat up straight, his bored Pureblood mask back on. The rest of us ignored him when he was like that.
"You really should come visit," Danae told us all. "Our orchards are simply the best place for picnics."
"Why in Merlin's name would we want to go to our teacher's house over the holidays?" Nic asked in derision.
In contrast, Evander simply laughed. "First of all, Brontes doesn't live at home, hasn't since a week after leaving Hogwarts. And secondly, he was only teaching for the year. He's an Auror, but a mission went wrong, really wrong, so they suggested he take a year off. Dumbledore offered him the Defense post, so he took it so he wouldn't be bored."
"So that's why he was teaching," Marly mused. "Auggie went through Auror training with him, I remember hearing about him, but I didn't understand why he would teach a bunch of kids instead."
"I wonder who'll be the Defense teacher next year," Lottie mused. "We've had a new one every year, so far."
"I've had a new one every year," Evander added. "I've heard there's some sort of jinx on the position. There's been a new teacher every year for the past twenty years or more."
"Who did it, the jinx? And why would they do that?" I asked, partly curious, partly horrified.
"No one knows," he explained. "But no Defense teacher has lasted more than a year, and quite a few of them have had horrible endings, that's why Mum didn't want him to take the position. However, Brontes is still alive and as big a git as ever."
Once again, as soon as the train pulled into the station, I saw Lily jumping up and down, trying to see over everyone else's heads. She caught sight of me, and, as soon as the train stopped, was rushing on board to hug me. Laughing, I introduced her to Danae and Evander. "This is my sister, Lily. She'll be going to Hogwarts next year."
She grinned up at Danae, but then grew uncharacteristically shy when it came to Evander. "Hello," she said primly, all the while blushing furiously. The rest of us girls grinned widely, but didn't say anything about it while we all said our goodbyes.
Lily carried Morgana's cage, while I dragged my trunk over to Daddy. "Where's Mummy?" I asked, looking over the platform for her.
"She's at home, Tunia, but she's terribly excited to see you," Daddy answered. "She thought you would like some freshly baked biscuits for when you get home."
I couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed, but I saw how anxious Daddy was, so I nodded. "Of course," I said, trying to sound cheerful. "There's nothing better than Mummy's biscuits straight from the oven." There was no disguising Daddy's relieved smile after that.
Lily chattered the whole ride home, mostly asking me questions about Hogwarts, but not quite giving me time to answer them. It was alright, though; I knew she was feeling a bit nervous and quite a lot excited for the next school year. There was so much to look forward to, and now that Lucius Malfoy was gone, I was quite happy for her to join me. And she asked me quite a bit about Evander.
"He's a Fourth Year, you say?" Daddy asked in alarm.
"Well, really, he's a Fifth Year, now that school's out," I grinned cheekily.
"Just remember, girls, no boys until you're thirty," he reminded grumpily. "Why did I have to be cursed with such beautiful daughters?"
"Don't worry, Daddy, you're still my favorite boy," Lily assured, and I nodded enthusiastically.
"We could never replace you," I added, leaning over his seat to kiss his cheek. That brightened him up considerably, to where he didn't mind us talking about Evander a bit more. And when we got home, Mummy's delicious biscuits almost distracted me from her shaking hands.
The summer passed pleasantly, with regular visits from all my friends. We girls even had a slumber party to celebrate Danae's birthday.
"Well, girls, since you are all thirteen now, or almost," Phoebe, Danae's older sister, said with a grin my way, "I think it's time we introduce you to makeup and beauty charms."
That night, she and her friends showed us all kinds of makeup, both Muggle and Wizarding. They showed us how to use a charm to straighten hair, or, for more stubborn types (mine), a fabulous potion called Sleekeazy's that turned my curls into perfect, pin-straight locks. They taught us tricks to keep nail varnish from chipping. And they introduced us to the perfect eyeliner: it was charmed to never go on wrong. It was so fun.
But Daddy didn't like it when I Flooed home the next morning. "What is that on your face?" he bellowed.
"It's called makeup, Roger," Mummy answered calmly. "And it looks wonderful, darling."
"She's still a little girl, MY little girl," he argued.
"She's growing up quite nicely, though I'm afraid you'll have to wait until your birthday to wear anymore, Tunia, darling. We did agree to wait until then for you to start wearing it," she told me.
"Yes, Mummy," I agreed, since my birthday was only a few weeks away.
"I want to wear makeup," Lily pouted.
"That most definitely is a no!" Daddy said, panicked.
"You will have to wait until your thirteenth birthday, Lily Flower. Petunia has to wait, and so will you," Mummy said, as calm as ever.
I looked at Lily and winked. After all, we did share everything, and we would be at Hogwarts soon enough.
…
"Tuney, wake up! Wake up, our letters are here! I've got my Hogwarts letter! Oh, Tuney, do wake up!" Lily's triumphant cheering woke me one morning, about a week before my birthday.
"Did you think Professor Dumbledore was joking, Lils?" I sleepily teased her.
"No, but this just makes it real," she said, lying next to me with a sigh. "I was almost scared that I would wake up and find that it was all a dream, or that you were a witch but I wasn't. That would be so disappointing, wouldn't it?"
"Even if it did happen, we would still be best friends, no matter what," I promised.
My birthday was celebrated in London that year, getting all our school supplies and meeting up with Marly and Lottie. "And, as promised," Mummy said with a smile as we at lunch in the Leaky Cauldron, "we will be getting you some makeup. We can leave Daddy here to chat with Tom," she added in a faux whisper.
"Yes, please," he groaned. "Spare me makeup, woman. If my Tunia has to start wearing it, at least don't make me help pick it out."
"I'll stay here, too," Lottie's dad immediately chimed in. "There's simply no way I would walk voluntarily into Madame LaBelle's, let alone spend the hour or more that you lot are likely to spend there."
In the end, the three dads went to Quality Quidditch Supplies, where my friends' dads were going to explain the sport to mine. And we girls went to Madame Labelle's, where there was every imaginable beauty supply, both Wizarding and Muggle. And we happily spent the hour that Mr. Brimhall had predicted, and then some.
...
Soon enough, it was September first, and that morning was even more hectic than the previous two years had been. "Is Morgana in her cage?"
"Have you seen my shoes?"
"My wand! I can't believe I almost forgot my wand!"
"Girls, three minutes until we need to leave to pick up Severus!"
Somehow, we managed to leave for the Snapes' on time. Daddy grimly put the car in park, told us to wait, and walked to the door. "This is Severus's house?" I asked in horror. The brick house looked as if it were holding itself together through sheer will, and losing the battle. The nearby houses were all similarly decrepit, many with broken windows and weedy, tiny front gardens. The neighborhood was nothing like our own, with its small but neat, cheerful looking houses.
"Yes," Lily said sadly. "That's why he'd rather spend time with us at our home than here."
Seeing where the boy had grown up made me feel bad, and I determined to try a little harder to be his friend. After all, Lily liked him, so there had to be something good in him, right?
My determination dwindled as soon as he got in the car, already dressed in wizard robes. He didn't even help Daddy place his trunk in the boot, and ignored me completely. Instead, he talked constantly to Lily about what they would do on the train, alone, even though Lily and I had agreed to share a compartment."You don't mind, do you, Tuney?" she asked anxiously.
Before I could respond, Snape did it for me. "Of course she doesn't. She's got to have some friends, doesn't she?"
"It's alright, Lily. Just come find me whenever you want," I assured her with a smile, though, in truth, I felt like strangling the odd little boy. I contented myself with listing all the things of the castle I had missed over the summer.
Lottie had already claimed a compartment for us by the time we got there, so we all piled our trunks on the racks. "We'll be back in a bit, Tuney," Lily promised me. "But maybe we should find some others in our Year."
"Good idea. You never know who you might meet on your first ride to Hogwarts," Marly said, popping up suddenly and giving Lottie and me a wink. "You just might meet your future!"
After Lily and Snape left, Lottie spoke up. "That Snape boy is an odd one. He makes me feel rather uncomfortable."
I sighed. "I know, but you could never convince Lily of it. We picked him up on the way to the platform this morning, and seeing where he came from made me feel so bad for him, but then he showed up and suddenly I couldn't muster up an ounce of pity for him. It's like he makes an effort to be nasty."
"You know a person's bad if even Petunia can't find a good word about him," Nic joked, sliding into the seat next to me. "You weren't talking about me, now were you?"
I swatted at his arm. "Of course not, Nic. It's Snape."
Nic's lip curled in disgust. "Oh. Well, in this case, I completely agree. He's a miserable little worm."
The miserable little worm showed up in our compartment about half an hour later, being towed by a very irate Lily. "The bullying, arrogant little toerags!" Lily muttered, slamming the door closed.
The rest of the group looked from Lily to me, like I'd be able to magically tell what was wrong. I had no idea, however. "Who, Lils? Who made you so angry?"
"Two boys back there," she said, waving towards the back of the train. "They were so mean to Sev!"
Restraining myself from rolling my eyes, I tried to comfort her. "Well, Hogwarts is a big school. Hopefully you won't have to see them much."
"So, which House are you two angling for? Make sure it's Hufflepuff," Lottie teased, trying to help distract the two younger students.
"Who'd want to be in Hufflepuff?"
The question seemed to float in the air for much longer than it should. For once Severus actually looked remorseful, though I had a feeling it was for Lily's sake than anything else. "Considering you're in a compartment with three Hufflepuffs, you might want to revise that statement," Nic said, colder than I'd ever heard him.
"Sorry," Snape muttered, looking more toward Lily than those he'd insulted.
"It's nothing," I said cheerfully, pulling out a deck of cards. "Exploding Snap, anyone?"
I'd never experienced such a tense ride to school before. None of my friends liked Severus, nor did I, and he made it abundantly clear that he cared for none of us. But, for Lily's and my sake, everyone made nice for the day.
When we finally reached Hogsmeade, I gave Lily one final squeeze before sending her and Severus towards Hagrid and the boats. Then, my friends and I made our way to the carriages. "Petunia!" I heard behind me.
Turning just in time, I saw Danae throw her arms around me. "I missed you all!" she cried, moving to hug Lottie next. "I couldn't find you on the train!"
"Ugh, I wish you had," Lottie replied sourly.
"Why? What was wrong with your ride?" Evander asked, causing Lottie to freeze for a moment, blushing a bit.
"Oh, well, you remember Lily, Pet's little sister? She joined us on the way here," Lottie explained.
"Well, that's not very nice to say about your friend's sister," Danae gasped.
"Oh, no, Lily's a doll, as always. She just brought a friend," Lottie rushed to continue. "Snape is a little beast."
"Oh, that makes more sense," Evander said, laughing as he held the door to a carriage open for her. Which only made her blush more. He didn't seem to notice.
I could hardly sit still as Professor McGonagall brought the First Years into the Great Hall. Lily was quite easy to spot with her bright hair. She was nervously bouncing on the balls of her feet, I was quite sure she wasn't even aware of it, and looking around the room. Once her eyes landed on me, I gave a huge grin, and she stopped bouncing, giving me an answering grin. "What House do you reckon she'll be in?" Marly asked, whispering as McGonagall called the first name.
"Oh, Gryffindor, no doubt," I answered quickly. "She's far too brave for anything else." Though I did want her in my House.
Ravenclaw got the first student, but their applause was cut short when McGonagall called out, "Black, Sirius."
"Is he from that Black family?" I asked Marly, who would know.
She nodded. "Cousin to Andromeda and Narcissa. There's no question which House he's going to."
But she was shocked when he wasn't sorted into Slytherin. The boy passed us as he made his way to the Gryffindor table, and he looked nearly as shocked as everyone else. But by the time he'd found a seat, he was looking quite pleased with himself.
I dismissed the Black boy as soon as Lily caught my eye again. She had turned rather pale, meaning her freckles stood out a bit more than normal, and she was wringing her hands quite violently. But I gave her a wink, and she relaxed, her color coming back to normal."Lily's lucky to have you," Lottie whispered, noticing our exchange. "I'd love to have a sister like that."
"Oi! You happen to have two sisters, right here," Marly cried, somehow managing an indignant tone in a whisper. "And we would both do anything for you."
"Absolutely," I agreed. Lottie grinned.
Quite soon, Lily's name was called. She bravely held her head up, nearly skipping toward the stool. The Hat was on her head for all of ten seconds before announcing, "Gryffindor!" Lily took the Hat off, looking to me first thing. I grinned brightly, even for the slight sinking feeling in my stomach, and she grinned back. She went to her new table, hugging me briefly on her way. I saw the Black boy offer her a seat next to him, but she sniffed haughtily and took a seat several down from him.
"He must be one of the 'bullying, arrogant toerags' she met earlier," Lottie laughed.
By the end of the Sorting, we'd found out who the other one was. James Potter joined Black, and Lily sniffed at him, too. "His family is really quite wealthy," Marly told us, as she did with all the names she recognized.
"Aw, it's too bad Lily doesn't like him," I giggled, noticing her scowl toward him, as well. "She could have married him and been set for life."
"Oh well. She's still got that crush on Evander, doesn't she? And the Fawleys are quite well off, too," Marly said, ignoring Lottie's sudden glower.
To no one's surprise, but Lily's slight dismay, Severus was Sorted immediately into Slytherin. She clapped for him, and he looked toward her. The look on his face bothered me a bit. It was more than just sadness. It was almost hunger.
…
Lily and I didn't really get a chance to spend time together until the weekend. Saturday morning, we met in the Great Hall, picked up some finger foods, and I showed her the Quidditch Pitch. We sat on the grass, and she told me all about her first classes and dorm mates. "Alice seems quite nice, and Dorcas is so funny! I haven't really gotten to know the other girls yet, but I will. And Professor Slughorn says he hasn't seen such proficient First Years as me and Sev since you! Potions is my favorite class, I think. Well, maybe with Charms. It's quite fun to make something do things it doesn't normally do!"
We were still chatting when Max McKinnon and some of his Quidditch team came over. "I feel like we're always kicking you off the pitch," he teased.
"Well, I just love watching you play," I joked back.
"Don't I know it," he said, winking at me.
As Lily and I left the pitch, she tugged at my arm. "Were you flirting with him?" she asked excitedly.
"With Max? No! He's just Marly's older brother, and he kept coming over when Lottie and I would help her practice last year."
"Oh." I could tell Lily was disappointed, though I had no idea why. But she was chattering about being the first to make their feather fly in Charms before I could ask her about it.
Later that day, I found my way back to the pitch with Lottie and Lily. Marly was slated to try out for Seeker, and of course we had to cheer her on. Just as she and the others trying out for the position took off into the air, Max slid next to us. "Hello, again, ladies," he said cheerfully. "Has my sister managed to mar the family name?"
"Of course not!" Lottie cried. "Marly's brilliant on a broom!"
"Of course she is. She's a McKinnon. And I taught her myself," he replied, jokingly arrogant.
I snorted in laughter. "Auggie taught her, you twit. You tried telling her that since she was a girl, she couldn't play Quidditch."
Max shrugged sheepishly. "She remembers it one way, I remember another. That's what brothers are for."
"To tease mercilessly? I'm glad I don't have any," Lottie retorted.
"It must be so odd to be an only child," Lily mused.
"Meh, I get the best of everything," Lottie answered. "I don't mind too much. And besides, I have my Hogwarts family anyhow."
Marly caught her faux Snitch five times before anyone else caught theirs once. Naturally, she made the team. "I made it!" she screamed, riding her broom to where we were waiting on the stands. Not bothering to get off like a normal person, she simply jumped off, tackling the whole lot of us.
"That was a deliberate attempt to maim the Gryffindor Keeper," a familiar voice said above us.
"Yes, foul goes to the Gryffindors," another voice said.
I recognized the Prewett twins. They were both grinning, looking at all of us tangled together. "No, mates, my little sister has just decided to become a broom jumper. She's always been a bit nutty," Max said, laughing as he pulled himself out of the mess.
"I've just made the Hufflepuff team," she corrected, tugging on his leg to make him fall down again.
"Congrats," said one twin, Gideon, I thought. He had a star shaped freckle below his left eye, while his twin had one on the right.
"But we're still going to slaughter you," Fabian, maybe, added, grinning.
"We'll see," Marly said with a haughty sniff. "Haight has put together a good lineup this year."
"Yes, we will see," Fabian replied. "But Max, mate, we have another team meeting. Farley's finalized his game plans and wants to go over them."
"Ladies, it was nice seeing you," Gideon added, looking to all of us and winking.
"He definitely winked at you!" Lottie squealed, hopefully after the boys were out of hearing. "That one fancies you, Pet!"
"He does not!" I hissed back. "And you don't even know which one it was."
"I don't particularly care. Both are rather dishy," she teased.
"For the last time, Lottie, neither of the Prewett twins likes me," I sighed.
"But he did wink at you, Tuney, maybe he does like you," Lily put in.
"Fantastic. You've even got Lily on your bandwagon," I grumbled. My friends all chuckled. "I need new friends."
AN: Here's the next chappie! Apparently, snow makes me want to write, seeing as I pounded this all out today. Anyway, thanks to all who've followed/favorited, and a big shout out to femalefarrier for her review!