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Chapter One: Everything Will Be Okay; It's Hogwarts

See bottom for Author's Note!

September 1, Five Years Ago

There had been a time when things were different. Before they hated each other. Before the existence of one girl condemned an entire house for their sins. Before old rivalries made their way to new timelines. These times had been simpler. Before the full effect of hatred had settled in. Back when they were just two eleven year old girls entering a school for witches for the first time.

"But, Dad, what if I don't make any friends?" the redhead had pouted from where she stood on the platform of the train.

"Your brothers go to the school. You'll always have friends," her dad said, smiling down at her.

She wouldn't have it though. "That doesn't count. They're my brothers - I don't want to hang out with them."

"Well, then you'll find another friend. Everything will be okay. It's Hogwarts. There are friends at every corner."

Maybe she believed that; maybe she didn't. It had been too soon for her to tell. But, as she waved goodbye to her father and climbed onto the Hogwarts Express for the first time, she did have to admit that something felt right about standing here. This place was a legacy for her family. Her eldest brother (a fifth year) was a prefect. Her other brother (a third year) was brilliant. Who would she be at Hogwarts? Was there even a shoe for her to fit?

The redheaded girl pushed through the bustles of people, keeping an eye out for either of her older brothers. She couldn't find them, though. They had rushed off for their friends the moment they went through the barrier. She was alone. Maybe she better start getting used to that.

She continued to push through the crowds of people, now just looking for an empty compartment. Finally, towards the back, she had managed to snag one. She doubted it would stay empty for long. With this many students, there were bound to be repeats when it came to who sat where. Still, at least for a moment, she would get a chance to collect her thoughts.

After sitting down in the empty compartment, the redhead turned to her faithful companion. Her oldest brother had gotten it for her over the summer - saying that it was the perfect birthday gift since she was starting Hogwarts that september. The owl was small and red - to match her own haircolor. The moment she'd picked the owl up, she knew the name - Hope. It was symbolic enough. A hope that she would be able to to make it at Hogwarts - both in her family's name and outside of it.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" a voice pulled her out of her thoughts, nearly dropping the small red owl as she jumped from the sudden sound. When her own green eyes looked up to meet the speakers. Standing in front of her was a dark-haired girl. She must have been the same age as her. At first, the young girl thought about telling her no. Asserting her dominance. But, she had been so worried about making friends, who was she to turn someone away? For all she knew, this girl could be her best friend.

"Sure."

The darker-haired girl made her way into the room, before sitting down on the bench opposite of the redhead. Silence ticked by for a moment, before she gestured to Hope. "That's a pretty owl."

"Thanks, my brother got her for me. Do you have a pet?"

The brunette nodded firmly. "I do. Her name is Persephone. She's a black owl. She's sitting with my older brother right now though."

"Do you guys share her?"

"No, but I think she likes him more."

"Oh."

Silence again. Maybe they weren't destined to be best friends. Maybe it had been stupid to get her hopes up in the first place just because the other girl was the first person her age she'd seen. That wasn't how friendships worked. The redhead's green eyes shifted away for a moment, landing on her owl once more. Maybe she wasn't to have friends right away. She might have to wait until she got sorted herself to find friends of her own. That would be okay. She could do one train ride by herself. She was sure of it.

Or was she?

She didn't want to be alone. She wanted friends. Friendship was a game of push and pull. She couldn't just expect the other students to love her if she didn't give them something to love. If she wanted friends, she was going to have to go out there and make them herself. So, raising he chin, the redhead turned to look at the brunette once more. "Well, I'm sure you're much better than your brother."

The girl looked startled, but a small smile ghosted on her face. "Oh yeah? And what makes you say that?"

"Because you chose to sit with me. That's good taste."

The other girl laughed, and soon the compartment was bubbling with laughter between the two of them. That felt better. Normal, even. They were on a road to friendship.

Of course, what neither girl knew was that their friendship wouldn't last through Christmas. But, for now, they were oblivious to the future ahead of them. They didn't know what the ramifications were of them being friends. They didn't know keeping up a friendship between the two girls would be harder once they made it into The Great Hall.

For now, there was only the Hogwarts Express, and compartment 112.

"I'm Lily Potter."

"Dracelle Malfoy. It's really nice to meet you."

September 1, Present

"For the first time ever, I'm the only Potter at Hogwarts. Do you know what this means, Hugo? Do you know?" Lily said as they pushed through the train towards their favorite compartment.

Hugo did not, in fact, know. He wasn't sure what was so important to Lily about her being the only Potter. Though, maybe that was because he would never be the only Weasley. There was always a cousin lurking around in the corners somewhere. "Uh...you'll...you get to…" he stumbled, before shaking his head. "No, Lily. I don't know what that means. What does it mean?"

Lily cast a glance over at Hugo, raising an eyebrow at him. "It means that I'll be able to finally rule that school. First, there was perfect prefect James, with his high grades, impeccable charm, and ability to get out of anything. Then, there was Albus, with his brooding, but good Quidditch skills. There was always someone else to focus on, Hugo. But not anymore. Now, I'm here. I'm the only one. This year is all about me."

"How do I cancel an entire year?" a familiar voice spat out from behind her. Lily didn't even have to turn around to know who it belonged to. Dracelle Malfoy. Her arch-nemesis. Her number one enemy. Things had been that way since their first year, and sometimes it was hard remembering that there had ever been a time the two liked each other - at least a little bit. Now, anytime Lily so much as heard the other girl's name, she wanted to snap something in half.

The redhead turned around, pursing her lips softly. "You could just stay home. I'm sure no one would mind one less imcompetent witch." She said, raising an eyebrow as she looked at her, smirking the tiniest bit. Anything to get under Dracelle's skin.

"You're right. I think they get their fill from you." Dracelle said, moving and pushing past Lily. Their shoulders slammed into one another, but both girls pretended to not feel the sting. They couldn't look weak in the face of the other. That would mean admitting defeat in the other's eyes. The rivalry sunk too far down now for them to let any vulnerabilities show. It was just easier that way.

"At least I know my blood-status," Lily said. An old insult. But it proved good results every time she used it.

Today was no exception.

Dracelle turned around sharply, taking two quick steps towards the redhead. They were standing close to one another, Dracelle staring down into the redhead's eyes. "Take that back, Potter."

"Make me, Malfoy."

Silence, like all those years ago. Only this time, there was no wish to become friends. There was no resolution. There was only a fight between two girls that had let one too many bad comments worm their way under one another's skin. There were too many bad memories to worry about making up. There was no Dracelle and Lily. Only versus.

"Okay," Hugo said, sort of moving next to them, his bushy brown hair peeking up over Dracelle's shoulder. "Maybe we should take a step back, think of some kittens or something, and try to calm down. We really don't need point deductions for either house on the first day."

Lily's eyes glared slightly at Hugo, but she knew he was right. The Gryffindors would hate her if she got into a fight and put them directly into the negatives before classes had even officially begun. She sighed, taking a step back, her eyes meeting that of Dracelle's. "Fine. She's not worth the calories I burn talking to her anyways."

Lily and Hugo walked off down the hall, leaving Dracelle where she stood. The brunette let out a sigh, pressing her lips heavily together before looking over her shoulder as she did so. Lily and Hugo made their way into a compartment. And Dracelle, who could already feel tears welling up in her eyes, shook her head, before storming off to find an empty one of her own.

Things were quiet between Lily and Hugo until they settled into a compartment. Their other friends would be joining them soon, but as per usual, it was just the two of them for right now. Which was good because, as always, Hugo sought to be a voice of reason to Lily. Her own personal Jiminy Cricket, if you will. Of course, Lily often thought about squashing him like a bug when he got into his therapeutic monologues, which she was certain was quite different from the likes of Pinocchio. "You really had to mention that she was adopted again?"

"You saw how she reacted. Poor baby Malfoy can't take the fact that she's not even really a Malfoy. Besides, she started it." Lily said, chewing softly on the bottom of her lip. She did that whenever she was angry. It calmed her down to feel the slight sinch of pain from her teeth on the inside of her lip. Perhaps a bit self-sabotaging, but it was better than the alternative - which was punching someone, or destroying school property.

You could say Lily had anger issues.

Hugo opened his mouth to say more, but before he could, the door to their compartment opened, and three people walked inside. First, a blonde by the name of Livana Scamander. Secondly, a light-skinned boy by the name of Kingsley Thomas. And lastly, an olive-skinned girl named Saya Chang. These were some of Lily's best friends in the entire world. The group had formed sometimes in her second year of attending Hogwarts, and without them, she was pretty sure she would have died from boredom. But this group of five kept her sane. They grounded her when she was going a little crazy, and her anger was already dwindling with Livana sat next to her.

"Why are you yelling at Lily?" Livana asked, giving Hugo a mean look, and pursing her lips softly.

"I'm not yelling! I'm just…" Hugo tried to defend himself, but Kingsley cut him off.

"Hugoing?"

"That's not a thing."

"Of course it is," Saya said, nodding over at him. "It's when you try to psychoanalyze us."

"That's not a thing!"

Lily laughed a bit. "Guys," she said, looking around at them. "Stop beating up Hugo. He can't help that I'm a bit of a wild card. He's just being a good cousin."

Hugo smiled carefully after her, and Lily smiled back. She would always look out for Hugo. Even though the two of them were the same age, she kind of considered herself his older sister - a protector of sorts. Maybe it was because Hugo was a bit smaller than most their age, or because he was the epitome of innocence. Either way, Lily had pretty much devoted herself to taking care of him over the years. Even when it got annoying because he tried to take care of her as well. Like a third brother. As if she needed anymore.

"I saw Dracelle Malfoy crying alone in compartment 112 as we passed here," Saya said, chuckling softly, and giving Lily a look. "What did you do?"

"I-"

"Put the snake in her place, probably." Livana interrupted, talking right over Lily.

"As she should." Saya agreed.

Lily nodded weakly as they talked more about it. She hated Dracelle, and normally the conversation of harping on Dracelle was one of Lily's favorites. But Dracelle Malfoy crying alone in compartment 112 didn't sit right with Lily. And, for a moment, she started to wonder if that was normal? Was she maturing because she cared for just a millisecond about Dracelle's feelings?

"Do you guys remember the time Dracelle jinxed all of Lily's quills to turn into snakes? She deserves every retaliation we give her." Saya said, and Lily wondered if she missed Hugo yelling at them for a moment. When she had been spaced out into the zone of maturity.

"Or, how about the time Dracelle got everyone to call her Lily Potterhead and lost Gryffindor one hundred points because McGonagall found Lily's stash of weed in the dormitories. She almost got expelled." Kingsley pointed out, shaking his head some. "The girl is trouble."

And suddenly, the zone of maturity was out of Lily's reach. Dracelle Malfoy may be crying alone in compartment 112, but she deserved that. Six years of torment weren't overwritten because of one offhanded comment. Maybe Lily was a bitch for bullying Dracelle. But the war was not one-sided. Dracelle was just as much of a bitch back. For every bit of teasing and provoking that Lily did, Dracelle responded harder, getting Lily almost expelled. The Slytherin girl was not innocent.

Livana wrapped an arm around Lily's shoulder, and looked pointedly at everyone. "She can never compare to our girl Lily, no matter how hard she tries. It's no wonder she has no friends."

"She has no friends, because she's got no personality outside of her rivalry with me. I live in that mind rent-free." Lily said, smirking slightly.

"You have got to stop studying muggle slang, Lily," Kingsley groaned, knocking feet with her slightly and giving her a soft look. "It feels weird coming from your mouth."

"Please, you just wish you were that creative," Lily said with a laugh, sticking out her tongue, before turning to look at the rest of the group. She needed to change the subject off of Dracelle, otherwise her anger from their earlier encounter would find its way back into her veins, and she would have a scabbed lip before they even arrived at Hogwarts. "What class are we most excited for this year? I personally am looking forward to the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Maybe we'll learn something useful for once. You'd think that since a group of kids beat You-Know-Who back in the last wizarding war, they'd let us learn better things."

"One can hope." Hugo muttered, biting down on his lip. "I don't know what class I'm excited for this year, but I do know that I'm not excited for the amounts of homework we're supposed to be getting. My mom told me this year is a trainwreck of assignments."

Lily groaned. Great, that wouldn't be fun. How was she supposed to make this year all about her if it was simultaneously all about homework? That simply wouldn't do. She'd have to find a Ravenclaw who might help her out a bit… But that was a thought for another day.

However, before Lily could respond out loud about these feelings, a loud clang sounded throughout the train. The brakes screeched to a halt, and when Lily looked out the window, she noticed they were crossing over the lake. Why had they stopped? They hadn't reached Hogwarts yet. "Move," Lily said, pushing past Saya and Livana, to reach the door to her compartment. A lot of other kids had the same idea as her, but when Lily started making her way down the aisle, they moved out of her way. At least some things - like Lily being queen bee - never changed.

As she made her way to the big window out front, Lily finally was able to see why the train stopped. But, in a way, she wished that she hadn't. There, up ahead, she could see Hogwarts at the top of its normal peak.

And, right above it, shining in a green that might as well have been the color of a Slytherin robe, was the Death Eater symbol.

Author's Note:

I hope you guys' enjoyed the first chapter of Tell Yourself a Different Story! I really enjoyed writing it! I'm very excited to move onto the next chapter and kind of see where this story goes and what else comes out of it!

This story is dedicated to my partner in crime: Kimberlina Jones, because without her I would have never found the inspiration to this story! She's my Drily Superfan!

Who's your favorite character introduced so far? I hold a special spot for Dracelle, because she's my baby, but when writing this I found that I really loved Hugo! He's so cute!

Until next time!

Please review! It means the world to me!

Chapter One: Everything Will Be Okay; It's Hogwarts

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