James woke up with excitement. It was a surprise that he slept at all. Today was September first, he would finally go to Hogwarts. He jumped out of bed and put on his jeans and a shirt. The weather forecast was positive, so he put his jacket in his backpack. His put the last things in his trunk and carried it down the stairs. His parents were already dressed eating their breakfast. "Good morning, honey. How did you sleep?" Euphemia gave her son a kiss on his head. "Good mom! How are we going to London?" Fleamont put his newspaper down and answered: "We will take the car, son. It will be the most convenient way with your trunk." James nodded. "Darling, how do you want your eggs?" Euphemia wanted to pamper her little James before he left for Hogwarts. "The usual, mum." She ruffled his hair and smiled. He was growing up so fast. She saw that he would be very handsome, just like his father.
It was approximately an hour drive to London. They left at 09.30 am, so they would have enough time. There was hardly any traffic on the road, so at exactly 10.30 they arrived at Kings Cross Station. Fleamont parked the car and got James' trunk out of the car. Euphemia came back with a cart. James pushed the cart and recognized other wizard families as well. Some of them looked lost, especially around the platforms 9 and 10. The Potters stopped sometimes when they were sure that someone was looking for Platform 9¾. They saw a family with two little girls and one of them was pushing the cart with a similar trunk that James had. It was a red-headed girl, who looked anxious but excited. Fleamont said to the parents: "You can just look at us how we do it, but make sure that no one will notice you." Relieved that someone would help them they did not ask any questions. Even though you could see that they had no idea what Fleamont meant. "Okay, James honey. We will go through together and your dad will follow us." Euphemia grabbed James by his arm and casually walked towards the wall. James felt scared for one second, but he remembered what his parents told him about not crashing into it. And indeed, he slid with ease through and his heart skipped a beat. There it was, steaming and ready to go. The big, red Hogwarts Express.
James could hardly contain his excitement and bumped into a boy about his age. "Oi, watch out where you are going mate!" The boy crawled back up. "James!" Euphemia said a little bit pissed. "Sorry mate, I was goggling the train." The boy laughed. "It is okay, I am excited as well. I was running. Hi, I am Sirius." And he stretched his hand out towards James. "I am James! And this is my mother." Euphemia smiled. "And where are your parents, Sirius?" She asked friendly. He shrugged his shoulders. "Somewhere over there talking with some people." He did not look Euphemia in the eye. He looked a bit ashamed. At that moment Fleamont glided through the wall with the father and the sister of the red-headed girl. "Ah, here you are honey. We had to wait, so many muggles were passing. James, why are you still here? You should go and find yourself a carriage. You only have 10 minutes left." James startled. "Do you want to sit with me? I already put my trunk in a carriage, I will show you." Sirius said. "That would be cool!" James followed him. In the corner of his eyes he saw the read-headed girl sliding through the wall with her mother. She looked with big eyes to the train. James kept staring at her before Sirius yelled his name. "Oi, James! Come one, man!" He followed Sirius and put his trunk in the compartment. He walked back outside to say goodbye to his parents. "Bye mum, bye dad. I will write you when I get there." He hugged his father goodbye, kissed his mother on her cheek and jumped in the train. The whistle blew, the doors closed and the train started moving. Finally he was on his way to Hogwarts and he might have already made a friend.
Lily had mixed feelings leaving for Hogwarts. She was really excited to explore the witch inside of her, but Petunia made it pretty clear that she was upset with Lily. During the summer she talked with Severus about it. He said that it was probably because she was jealous, but Lily was not sure about this. She and Petunia always got along great and it felt not right leaving for such a long time without making up. Lily had so many questions about the wizarding world and she knew that Severus knew more. So the past couple of weeks they had spent almost every day together and she was bombarding him with questions. He patiently answered every one of them if he could. At one point at Lily's house Severus found an envelope with the Hogwarts stamp addressed to Petunia. He was shocked that she would contact Hogwarts and that she even got a reply. He wanted to read the letter, but Lily stopped him at first. But after he explained to her that this was extremely unusual she was curious. They both read the letter. It was a rejection, but in a very polite way. "She asked professor Dumbledore to let her go to Hogwarts? Wow!" Severus was impressed. Lily grabbed the letter, stuffed it back into the envelope and hid it. "Let's go and play." She said.
Petunia hardly looked at Lily the whole summer. All the other friends Lily had were also ignoring her. Sometimes she had the feeling one of them wanted to say something, but they always turned around. She felt lonely, but she still had Severus. And the first of September was rapidly coming closer. On the morning that she was finally going to Hogwarts she felt a twitch in her stomach. But the memory of her fight last night with Petunia gave her a shallow feeling. She did not want to join any more to say goodbye to Lily in London. Her parents made her go in the end, but it felt wrong that Petunia was not going at her own free will. It was almost like she did not want to have anything to do anymore with Lily. Lily shrugged this fought out of her head. Today she had to focus on getting herself on the train. Severus explained it to her, but it all sounded so vague to her. A small wall, where she needed to walk through. Leave it to the wizards to do something like that, she thought.
They went by car to London and at 09.15 they were already at Kings Cross Station. Her parents were going to grab a cart and Lily was alone with Petunia. "Where is your weird friend?" Petunia taunted Lily. "Maybe all of this is a joke. That would be a shame though. Since that would mean that you would not leave to that school of yours." She turned around and left Lily astonished. This was the most Petunia had said to her in the last few weeks, but this was also the meanest she ever had been to Lily. Her parents returned and Lily did not want to spoil their last moments together, so she acted brave and happy. Although it felt like somebody had just kicked her in her stomach.
"Platform 9¾… Platform 9¾…" Lily her parents were searching for it and the wall she needed to go through. Lily wished at this very moment that she had Severus with her. He would know what to do. But he was already in London since yesterday and was probably already on the train. After searching for 15 minutes another family emerged on the same platform. The boy had black hair and glasses and a similar trunk. His parents walked up to Mr. and Mrs. Evans and talked about getting onto the Platform. "You can just look at us how we do it, but make sure that no one will notice you." Said the man. She looked at the boy and his mother who were walking casually to the wall. And just like that they disappeared. Lily had not blinked with her eyes, scared to miss the moment, but she could have. "We will go next and take your other daughter with you." They had to wait for a solid five minutes before the coast was clear. And then Lily saw her father, Petunia and the man slide through the wall. She swallowed. Now it was her turn. Her mother smiled at her. "I will be right next to you honey, there is no need to be scared." They walked steadily towards the wall and Lily demanded herself to keep walking. They would crash, for sure. Only a few steps away and then she would feel the bricks against her cart. But this did not happen. She walked right through the wall and her jaw dropped.
The platform was full with wizards, witches and animals. Cats, owls, toads and everything. People were saying goodbye crying or laughing. The train was red, big and the steam was already coming out. She saw that the boy who helped them was walking away but looking at her. His name was called by another boy and he followed him. James, she had to remember that. Severus promised to keep a spot for her in a compartment, so she turned around to say goodbye to her family. And suddenly a pit in her stomach appeared. Her parents were busy with talking James' parents and thanking them. Petunia was googling at everything with big eyes. Maybe she would be nicer now. "I see your weirdo found you already." Petunia sniggered. Lily turned around. She saw Severus with his mother. "Tuney, please. I will be gone for a while, let us not fight." Petunia looked at her. "He hurt me you know and I was scared. And you are capable of hurting me as well. And now you leave me behind and go to that school and learn all that stuff. I just wished… Petunia's voice slowly ebbed away. Lily looked at her sister. She knew what she wanted to say. Lily wanted her to join as well. "He never meant to hurt you and I would never do that to you, or anyone! I am sorry! Listen …" She caught her sister's hand and held tight to it, even though Petunia tried to pull away. "Maybe once I am there … no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I am there, I will be able to go Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!" "I don't – want – to – go!" said Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of her sister's grasp. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a – a…"Her pale eyes roved over the platform, over the cats mewling in their owners' arms, over the owls, fluttering and hooting at each other in cages, over the students, some already in their long black robes, loading trunks onto the scarlet steam engine or else greeting one another with glad cries after a summer apart. " – you think I want to be a – a freak?" Lily's eyes filled with tears as Petunia succeeded in tugging her hand away. "I'm not a freak," said Lily. "That's a horrible thing to say." "That's where you're going," said Petunia with relish. "A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy…weirdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety." Lily glanced toward her parents, who were looking around the platform with an air of wholehearted enjoyment, drinking in the scene. Then she looked back at her sister, and her voice was low and fierce.
"You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you." Petunia turned scarlet. "Beg? I didn't beg!" "I saw his reply. It was very kind." "You shouldn't have read …" whispered Petunia, "that was my private – how could you …?" Lily gave herself away by half-glancing toward where Snape stood nearby. Petunia gasped. "That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!" "No – not sneaking…" Now Lily was on the defense. "Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all! He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service who take care of …" "Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!" said Petunia, now as pale as she had been flushed. "Freak!" she spat at her sister, and she flounced off to where her parents stood.
Authors note: My first few reviews just came in! Amazing guys, thank you! If you see some grammar of spelling mistakes, please let me know. English is not my native language and sometimes your best isn't enough ;p. Keep reviewing them and favorite and follow if you like my story of course!
I love writing from both their perspectives, but it quite hard sometimes. I know James appeared to be arrogant and a bit lacking with schoolwork, but he is also a very honest and good person with a kind heart. And Lily is this very sweet girl, who is smart and a bit of a feminist in my opinion. But she can also be very cold and mean if you cross her. I try to keep everything in mind and how I see these characters. I think with time the story will only get better once I get to know them and what I decide to do.
I check Harry Potter Wikipedia so often because I want to stay as close to the original story as I can. But of course this is how I see things and how I think people where. For example I think Lily was not in love with Snape, she had kind of sister feelings for him. But there is of course an opportunity that Remus or Peter might have had a crush on Lily for example one point during their time at Hogwarts. I will see where the story goes and if it works or not, so sometimes it might be different from what you would expect or write.
But thank you so much for these first reviews! Keep them coming! SB-Potterhead Budgie lover, AlishaVane45 and the guests reviewers!