At the Beginning Part III
Of Life
*
Life is a road
And I wanna keep going
Love is a river
And I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful Journey
*
Lily Jenkins breathed deeply, letting the crisp September air invade her nostrils. It was so wonderful to be back at Hogwarts, walking through the grounds with her friends, all of whom she'd missed very much over the holidays. It was the first Saturday of the new term, and they'd decided to spend it outside, as far away as possible from homework and teachers.
"You should have seen his face-red as a beet!" exclaimed Sarah Heidt excitedly, jumping a bit into the air.
"I love it when Snape gets mad," sighed Sirius happily. "That was an awfully good tickling spell, too."
"Nothing could mean more than a compliment from the very master himself."
"Aw, shucks, Sarah, you're making me blush."
Remus rolled his eyes.
"I have yet to find the words that would make Sirius Black blush at all. He is the most far from modest person I have ever met," declared James.
"Oh, I don't know about that, James. It doesn't seem to me that you're particularly shy yourself," smirked Lily, bringing herself back down to Earth.
"And why should I be?" he asked indignantly.
She sent a glare of mock annoyance his way, and he smiled.
"Quidditch trials are next Tuesday, you know," said Erin Williams after a few moments of silence.
"I marked that day down in my calendar-er-days ago," announced Sirius. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Me either," Sarah said, brushing an orange leaf that had drifted into her brown pigtail braids. "Lucy and I want to be Beaters."
"Don't reckon we'll have much of a chance," said James gloomily. "They don't usually like more than one second year at the most on a team, and there's only one spot open, too. It'll probably go to some sixth or seventh year, anyway."
"You're trying out then, James?" inquired Remus, ignoring his far from happy outlook on the situation.
"Yeah. Flying's sort of a hobby of mine."
"You're lucky," remarked Lily. "I'm horrible at it. I'd never been on a broomstick in my life before last year, and the lessons turned out to be somewhat of a joke as far as I was concerned. It used to be torture. Samantha Vaughn, that Slytherin girl who's constantly tagging behind Severus, would make fun of me until I wanted to give up on flying and use my broomstick to give her a good beating instead!"
"Would've served her right, too," grimaced Erin. "She turned my cat, Winkies, green! She's still not back to her original black, too. Doubt she ever will be."
"Maybe I could help you with her," suggested Sarah. "I managed to turn Crinkles orange again after Peter spilled that potion of his on her. Poor thing."
"Peter or the cat?" asked Sirius, with a grin.
"By the way, where is Peter?" asked Lily offhandedly, hugging her robes more tightly around her in defense to the sharp autumn wind.
"McGonagall gave him detention, remember?" said Sirius. "For forgetting to do his homework three days in a row."
"He really is hopeless," sighed James.
Lily opened her mouth to protest, but immediately shut it again with a smile. "Very."
* * *
"Choin, choin...choin!"
"No, no, no. Chocolate."
"With cherries and whipped cream, too."
"Choin, choin...choin!"
"You stupid ape, you're spilling the--"
"Parsley all over the place!"
"Choin, choin...choin!"
Lily groaned rather loudly, half hoping that she would wake one of her roommates who were all (with the exception of Erin, who had fallen asleep in the bathtub that night), either snoring quite loudly, or talking in their sleep. Sarah and Lucy kept finishing each other's sentences. She had heard twins could do that. While an interesting thought during the day, it only kept Lily awake at night.
Suddenly, there was a creak, and Lily's eyes shot in the direction of the door. No one had come into the room. A new idea struck her, and she turned towards the bathroom, in case Erin had finally woken up. But the bathroom light was still off, and the door still closed.
Confused, but too drowsy to really care at all, Lily dropped her head onto her goose feather pillow, and closed her eyes.
A hand clapped over her mouth. Lily opened her eyes wide, too startled to even try to scream. No one was standing above her. But the hand was still over her mouth.
And then, she heard a giggle. Not a girlish giggle, like the way Elise sounded when she laughed, but a lower, more mischievous giggle. A giggle she knew.
"James?"
The giggling grew louder, and all of a sudden, James Potter popped into view, both of his hands now at his own mouth, trying to stifle the laughter coming out of it for fear of waking one of the other Gryffindor girls.
"James-who--"
"Come on, I'm taking you somewhere."
"James Potter, it's midnight! Are you insane?"
"Probably. You're going anyway. Get up."
Against her own better judgment, Lily pushed herself out of bed and stumbled over to the giant wooden wardrobe to get herself a cloak.
"No need." James was smiling a knowing, annoying, and somehow endearing smile. Quickly, and certainly before Lily knew what had happened, he lifted his hands and his head disappeared.
This time, Lily almost did scream. James was just standing a few feet away from her, cool as a cucumber, without a head. She shuddered.
"What happened? Are you okay?"
Suddenly, James' head came back into view.
"Perfectly. It's an invisibility cloak, you see," he added when it was apparent that Lily wasn't going to say anything, with a little exasperated sigh as though it should have been obvious.
"An invisibility cloak? Oh, great Gryffindor, James, aren't those extremely rare? I mean like, really extremely?"
"Yep." James looked quite pleased with himself. "Coming?"
"Is it safe?"
"Honestly, Lily!" whispered James rather loudly, turning his eyes towards the white ceiling. "Of course it's safe! It's just a cloak. Go on, come under!"
Cautiously, Lily approached James, who immediately threw the cloak on top of her, before coming under himself. He squirmed a little bit. He was used to being under there with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, but it was somehow different from sharing the tiny space with a girl.
* * *
Knock, knock, knock.
"Who's there?"
Lily giggled quietly under James' cloak. It sounded just like a Muggle joke.
"It's James."
The door swung open to reveal the biggest man Lily had ever seen in her life. His hairy head almost reached the ceiling of the smallish hut.
James shook off the invisibility cloak.
"Hagrid, this is my friend, Lily Jenkins. Lily, this is Rubeus Hagrid."
Lily felt her hand being engulfed by one much bigger than her own. Hagrid's dark eyes twinkled down at her, and her heart melted towards the giant, but seemingly harmless and sweet man.
"Call me Hagrid. Everyone does. I'm the keeper of the grounds here at Hogwarts."
"Very pleased to meet you."
"Come in, then." Hagrid motioned to them with a wave of his (giant) hand.
Lily followed James through the wooden door, and into the hut. There, seated around a circular table also of wood, were Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. Sirius jumped up and walked quickly over to James, and the two of them quickly began whispering to each other, occasionally mouthing things to Remus and Peter, who mutely sipped from mugs of green tea.
"Can I get yeh something?" Hagrid's booming voice echoed a little bit.
"Just some tea, please."
"So it's your first time here, huh?" asked Remus, as Lily settled herself into an empty chair that had been pulled up to the table.
"Yeah...do you come here often?"
Remus' smile grew a little bit wider.
"All the time. Hagrid's really great, and it's nice to get away from the school sometimes. It gets hard to breathe."
Lily smiled back at Remus. It was so nice to hear him talk for once. He was usually so quiet, and the only people he truly opened up to were the other Gryffindor boys. But the more she knew of him, the more she liked him.
"Hey Peter!" Sirius' voice rang from across the room. "Any specific jokes you'd like to order for your revenge on Snape for taunting you for the whole three hours you were forced to clean trophies last week?"
Peter squirmed a little in his seat. "No, not really. You guys can pick."
"Oh, Peter," whined James. "If we're always telling you what to do, you'll never get to be a truly great player of jokes. Remember, practice makes perfect."
"Oh, all right, then. How about-how about bubble breathing orange juice?"
"We've done that already. But I suppose it'll do."
James motioned for Sirius to scribble something on a pad of paper that looked remarkably like a grocery list, although Lily was sure it was something considerably more sinister.
"Here yeh go. Toffee?"
Lily smiled politely and took a toffee, twisting the wrapper around in her hands.
"Is everyone ready for our Herbology test on Monday?" asked James casually, ambling over to the table a few minutes later.
"Decided to join the land of the living, then, James?" asked Remus with a slight smirk. Peter only groaned.
"I'll never be ready in time. I'm horrible at Herbology. Just horrible. Nothing makes any sense. And if I don't get a good grade on this test, there's no way I'll pass this year, and I don't want to redo second year! Third year's when all the good stuff happens!"
"Really, Peter, you'll pass. You're not really that bad at all, you just tell yourself you are."
"You know what, Remus? I wish that was true."
"Give yourself some credit, Peter," said Lily kindly. "You're an amazing boy inside. You can pass some little Herbology test. I'll quiz you, if you like."
Peter looked up at her with huge, grateful eyes, looking as if he was experimenting to see how far his smile could stretch.
A few moments of silence ensued. And then-
"You'll never believe it!" James suddenly looked wide-awake and excited, as if he'd just remembered something astounding.
"Try us," shrugged Sirius, looking curious, no matter how hard he was trying to hide it.
"I was talking to Christopher-oh, never mind all that. The point is...I'm the new Gryffindor Seeker!" James finished dramatically, eyes darting from friend to friend, devouring their surprised reactions.
"That's wonderful!" cried Lily, coughing as she choked on her tea.
"You lucky scamp," muttered Sirius, pretending to look upset, but fooling no one.
"That's really great fer yeh, James," said Hagrid warmly, clapping him on the back, and causing him to fall forwards a little bit.
"You'll be a star, James," assured Remus.
"Your flying's amazing," commented Peter, eyes wide with admiration. "Not that it's much coming from me, after seeing me fly. But you really are extraordinary."
"I have my first practice on Monday. I'm so nervous. But at the same time, I can't wait."
"You'll shine," grinned Sirius, and Lily nodded her head in agreement.
* * *
The common room was set alight by the blazes issuing forth from the fireplace. Outside, the sky was a dull, cold grey, and the black rain clouds set foreboding shadows over the grounds.
Lily sat curled up in a large scarlet armchair, her Transfiguration book lying open on her lap. Elise Verrin was sitting next to her, glancing idly about the circular room and twiddling her thumbs, seemingly determined to ignore the pile of books and parchment that stood at the foot of her chair.
All of a sudden, Elise's eyes lit up, and she tapped Lily vigorously on the knee.
"Ow! What is it?"
"Look, Lily! James and Sirius are back from the kitchens!"
Sure enough, the two black-haired boys were hurrying towards the two girls, arms full of sweets. James was walking in such a way that suggested that he was dragging the invisibility cloak behind him.
"What did you bring?" Elise demanded immediately, scouring the handfuls of pasties and pies. "Cauldron cakes-ooh, Pumpkin Pasties-ooh, boysenberry pies-ooh!"
Sirius stood behind Elise, mimicking her every move, and causing Lily force herself to keep in her giggles. Elise was usually the calm and passive one, but she had the biggest sweet tooth out of anyone Lily knew.
"You know I still don't approve of you sneaking off to the kitchens like that, even if you do have that cloak of yours, James," said Lily reprovingly, grabbing a cauldron cake and paying no attention whatsoever to the ways in which she was sounding like a hypocrite.
"Well, my lady, you'll just have to live with that." He and Sirius looked at each other and nodded once.
"There was something weird going on down there today, though," said Sirius thoughtfully, holding a pumpkin pasty in one hand and assuming a philosophical thinking position with the other.
"Really weird. The house elves weren't half as attentive as usual," elaborated James.
"I think they had some sort of guest-another house elf. But a really important one, I reckon."
"No, I don't think so. I think he was telling them a story, or something like that. They were all clustered around him, hanging on his every word, but they weren't serving him or anything like that."
"There's no such thing as an important house elf," declared Elise. "Not that I'm personally prejudiced against them, but they all try to think of themselves as lowly and humble. If any of them didn't, I expect they'd be thought of as the very lowest a house elf could get. We have a few, you see. But we do try to make an effort to treat them fairly."
"Uh-huh. We'll just pay more attention next time we go off for some food."
"Which is going to be for the post-Quidditch party, after Gryffindor whips Slytherin at the first game of the season next Saturday," said Sirius confidently. "Butterbeer, anyone?"
"Let's make a toast, then," said Lily, as her mug was filled with the warm, soothing liquid, "to James, and the Gryffindor Quidditch team!"
Four mugs were raised into the air, and four voices chanted, "To Gryffindor!"
* * *
The weather had taken a drastic turn that week, so when Saturday rolled around, it dawned bright and cheerful, as did the whole of Gryffindor house, and of Hogwarts, for that matter.
Lily woke bright and early, eager to get down to the pitch. However, she found herself to be the last of the girls in her dormitory to wake. By the time she'd made her way to the bathroom, Sarah and Lucy were completely dressed, and Elise was brushing out her silky hair. Erin, she soon found out, had gone down to breakfast ten minutes ago.
Ten minutes later found Lily herself down to breakfast, listening in on the twins' predictions for the game. They were animated and enthusiastic, but it was clear that they put no stock in what they were saying. After all, no one save his teammates had ever seen James Potter play.
James himself was surrounded by smiling Gryffindor faces, wishing him luck and clapping him on the back. Remus and Sirius sat on either side of him, both of them coaxing him to eat a little bit of breakfast. Privately, Lily understood why her friend didn't want to eat. He looked as though he'd immediately chuck up anything he actually managed to get down. His face was turning a nasty shade of green.
After what seemed like ages, the school was finally pouring out onto the Quidditch Pitch, the excitement apparent on every single one of their faces. Red and green flags were being waved in the air (the majority of them red, as most Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were anxious to see Slytherin lose, as it was rumored they had an amazing team this year).
As the teams themselves came onto the pitch, there started an explosion of cheering so loud that Lily was almost sure her ears were going to explode. She spotted James, easily the smallest figure down on the ground, and she waved, although she knew he couldn't see her.
Madam Hooch, a young blond woman new to the school that year, called the team captains together as Lily took her seat between Sarah Heidt and Erin Williams, with Sirius, Remus, and Peter sitting right in front. The Gryffindor captain was a sixth year named Christopher Moon, sweet and devoted to every aspect of Quidditch. The Slytherin captain was the complete opposite. A slight, disagreeable looking seventh year called Narcissa Avery; she looked as if she'd rather be in the bathroom dealing with a troublesome bowel.
Moon and Avery shook hands quickly, then dropped one another as though they'd just received painful burns.
"Players mount your brooms!"
The whistle blew, and fifteen people shot straight up into the air. The first Quidditch game of the year had begun.
"And they're off!" cried Corey Carmichael, a fifth year Ravenclaw who always did the Quidditch commentary. "Immediate possession of the Quaffle is taken by Nefernicus Smith of Slytherin, who weaves through Gryffindor's Moon and Johnson. But what's that? He's been hit by a Bludger, compliments of Henry Pritchard, and the Quaffle is taken by Moon. That's a nice duck there, oh, and what a weave! He's racing towards the goal, towards Avery of Slytherin, he shoots-GRYFFINDOR SCORE! 10-0, LIONS!"
Lily clapped her hands excitedly, eyes shining. Up at the Slytherin goal posts, Narcissa Avery was hovering on her broomstick, a hand over her mouth in what looked like a deep yawn. Play resumed.
"It's Brendan Wicks with the Quaffle now, moving well. He's racing towards the Gryffindor goal posts at top speed, he can throw really hard-it looks like he's going to be blocked by Johnson! But no, Johnson's been hit by a Bludger hit by Nicholas Briggs of Slytherin, and Slytherin Score. 10-10."
This time it was the Slytherin side of the field that alighted with excitement. There was much catcalling and waving of flags, and by the time anyone could hear Corey Carmicheal again, the score was 20-20.
"It's neck and neck. Both teams are showing extraordinary skill. It looks like this game's going to be in the hands of the Seekers. Speaking of Seekers, both teams have acquired new ones this year. Slytherin recently signed on fifth year Jordan Crenshaw. Gryffindor's got James Potter, a second year. Everyone's curious as to-roaring Ravenclaw! Was that the Snitch? Judging by the way Potter and Crenshaw are streaming towards the ground at the speed of light, I'd say it was! They're tight-is that Crenshaw? It looks like it's going to be-what just happened? I'm not exactly sure, but I know enough to say GRYFFINDOR'S WON IT! JAMES POTTER HAS THE SNITCH, AND THE FINAL SCORE IS 170-20, GRYFFINDOR!"
Lily wasn't quite sure of the best way to handle her ecstasy. She decided on jumping on Sirius' back. Surprised, but whooping with joy himself, he spun her around, the two of them laughing and screaming at the top of their lungs. Below them, James was being carried across the pitch by his teammates, followed by a roaring crowd of excited Quidditch fans.
"Our little James is growing up so fast," sniffed Sirius, leaning back to look at Lily. "I can hardly believe it."
Remus snickered.
"Neither can I," answered Lily.
* * *
"Now can you tell me why I'm in here with you, instead of out there with them?" asked Lily as irritably as she could, considering her elation at James' winning his first Quidditch game for Gryffindor. Out in the common room, the festivities had been going on for hours, and the shouts and singing of several of their friends could be heard through the vents in the walls. But Lily was inside the boys' dormitory with Sirius, Remus, Peter, and James himself. And she still didn't understand why.
"When Remus and I were going off to the kitchens to restock on food, because Gryffindors eat like true pigs, the house elves were acting weird again. So I paid more attention, like I told you I would."
"All the elves were really interested in listening to everything this one elf, Nobby, I think his name was, had to say," continued Remus. "From what I gathered, Nobby was a personal house elf, and not supposed to be there at all."
"We tried to blend in," picked up Sirius, but he was cut short by a snort from James.
"I'm sorry-it's just that it's so funny picturing you two as house elves, with those long ears and big eyes-oh, go on, Sirius."
"Right. So we listened to some of Nobby's stories too. Apparently, there's some really odd, and really bad stuff going on in the wizarding world right now. Disappearances, and deaths. And nobody really knows what to make of them. But somehow, the Ministry's sure they're all the work of one person, or at least a group of people."
"And every time there's a murder," Remus shuddered a bit as he went on with the story, "floating over the house or crime scene is a horrible picture of a skull, with a snake coming out of its mouth."
Everyone was too shocked to speak for a minute or so. It was James who finally broke the sheet of silence.
"Is there anything anybody can do?"
"It doesn't look like it," muttered Sirius, and it was a mark of how concerned he was that he seemed completely serious-something he hardly ever was, despite his name.
"For now, everyone just has to pray," sighed Remus.
"And bide their time," added Sirius.
For some reason, these last words were the most chilling of all.
* * *
A/N: Okay, okay, I know. Alex, this only goes up to what, November? This isn't their whole third year! I'm sorry, all right? It had to end where it did. Besides, there's nothing else really important at all that happens in their second year. And besides, aren't you all impatient to get to third year? That's when all the really good stuff starts happening. Okay, I'll shut up now. Luv ya!
Disclaimers are stupid-this is fanfiction.net, people! But I really don't care, I'm giving you one anyway. None of the Harry Potter stuff, but the song at the beginning is from the movie Anastasia. I think that's it.
I'm sorry I haven't added to this series in a while. I've been-busy? Oh, I know it's no excuse. So shoot me. Oy vey. School's a curse.