LilyIV

"Lily, wake up," a familiar voice said.

It was the second time that day that had been woken up this way. She looked worse now than she had that morning. Sirius was standing over her holding one of her school robes.

"How did you get into my trunk?" she asked him.

She could hear James and Peter sniggering in the background. He held up a silver clip that was sparkling in the lantern light of the compartment. She immediately recognized it as the clip that was holding her bun in place.

"Well then," she sighed.

She put it in her pocket and let her wavy ponytail drop to below her shoulder blades.

"You look really terrible, Lily," said James with some concern in his voice.

Peter was still laughing softly. Immediately, Sirius silenced him with a look.

"Are you alright?" he asked, with concern in his eyes.

She smiled weakly, her skin looked very pale, and her eyes still looked as tired as they had that morning. Lily was not alright.

"Fine," she said pulling her robes over her sweater.

"Have you even eaten at all today? Or yesterday?" James asked her, studying her face.

"Course I have, you were at dinner with me yesterday," she said laughing.

"You ate four bites of salad. It doesn't count. And you haven't had anything all day, have you. You didn't have time to eat this morning, you didn't this afternoon when the food cart came. Lily, no wonder you look so sick." James said looking a little upset.

He tried to hand her a Pumpkin Pasty, but she shook her head.

"We're going to have dinner soon, I can wait until we get there. Honestly, I'm so nervous I'd probably turn it all out on the way." They cringed.

Ten minutes later they were standing on an extremely stormy platform. Lily now looked sicker than she had all day, shaking and pale in the buckets of rain that were falling from the sky. A huge man with mounds of bristly, tangled black hair and a large black beard stood at the end of the platform. He wore a long moleskin coat that flapped like a torn sail in a breeze.

"Firs' years, this way!" He called loudly over the howling wind.

"Come on," James nudged her lightly.

Lily stumbled a bit then caught her balance and started walking again. They followed a long, rather narrow path. She was walking next to Sirius, her hand grasping his shoulder to steady herself if she tripped over anything. James and Remus walked closely behind them, talking quietly, while James kept an eye on Lily to be sure she hadn't gotten much worse during the walk. Peter walked behind all of them with a rather dejected look fixed over him.

"An' thas' Hogwarts," the large man said as they rounded a corner.

A small feet of boats appeared to be resting on the shore of a very large lake as they got closer to the castle.

"No more'n four ter a boat!"

Sirius helped Lily in, followed by James and then Remus. Lily frowned as Peter stood behind the boat looking very unhappy. She tried to stand up, but was quickly drawn back down by all three of the other boys. Peter's expression grew even more gloomy as he found that the last boat with a vacancy was Severus Snape's.

The ride went more quickly to some than others. Lily felt very ill the whole time, with the small waves making sick splashes over the trim of the tiny vessel. Sirius, James and Remus, however, spoke cheerfully through it, as though they were still on the train playing exploding snap.

At last they were inside and starting to dry. Lily was still shaking, looking almost blue now. They stood in a straight line, just waiting. A teacher had come out of a small side room carrying a stool and a very old looking witch's hat that was quite patched and torn.

A sudden rip sliced the air. The hat began to sing, but in her nervousness, Lily hadn't noticed what it was saying. She did know about the four houses though. Sirius and James had explained about Gryffindor being for the bravest, then Hufflepuff being for the most caring (which Lily didn't think sounded so bad, if she didn't become a Gryffindor), Ravenclaw being the wisest, and the Slytherins being slimy, ungrateful gits.

The first name was called, but Lily's ears throbbed and she could hardly hear. After about five minutes, Sirius was stepping forward.

The hat had touched his head for only a second when it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

A Slytherin, Ravenclaw and two Hufflepuffs later, the strict looking professor who'd been calling people (Lily gathered that she was probably Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress), said "Evans, Lily!"

She felt James nudge her forward. She also thought she heard Peter sort of stumble as she took her first step. With a timid look back, she could see Remus grabbing the back of Peter's shirt looking a bit angry. She then continued walking. It seemed like ages until she got to the stool, and she was feeling quite dizzy. Lily would later remember this walk to the stool as one of the longest thirty seconds of her life.

She picked up the torn hat gently and took a seat on the wooden stool. She placed it on her head and it covered her eyes and ears.

"My now, you seem like a nice girl. Very considerate and caring."

Thank you… thought Lily. She felt quite nervous, and she felt rather dazed.

"Well then, you would do very well in Hufflepuff. But then, you've got quite a proud streak there, haven't you? Not afraid of an adventure. Maybe you'd be better suited for something a bit braver. Better make it, GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily smiled weakly and walked over to the table dressed in red and gold. She took a seat next to Sirius, and suddenly felt very sick.

The rest of the sorting seemed to take forever. Lily felt as though she might faint for much of it. She studied the hall curiously as student after student was sorted into their house. The starry ceiling had intrigued her for several moments, the huge dark blue-gray clouds hiding the stars that would have begun forming by now.

"Lupin, Remus!" shouted Professor McGonagall.

Remus seemed to be walking towards the stool only slightly faster than she had. He nervously sat down and placed it on his head. Only a few seconds later did the hat call for him to join the Gryffindors.

He sat next to Lily with a smile of satisfaction. Both Sirius and Lily were also smiling at him, and looking towards James and Peter hopefully. Lily noticed them looking much more worriedly at Peter than James.

Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, Slytherin twice. Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw twice, Slytherin. GRYFFINDOR!

They looked up to see a smiling girl with long blondish hair and happy brown eyes walking towards the table. Her name was Imogen Olliver. She seated herself across from Sirius and smiled excitedly at them.

Peter's name was called and he walked nervously to the stool. He placed the hat on his head and waited, shaking slightly. Remus and Sirius glanced at each other looking a bit nervous as well. It was taking quite a long time to sort him, it had been almost three full minutes before the hat called, seeming less enthusiastic, GRYFFINDOR.

Peter hurriedly took the hat from his head and placed it on the stool, then rushed to the Gryffindor table blushing furiously.

"Potter, James!" called Professor McGonagall.

James walked nonchalantly towards the stool, placed the hat on his head, and took a seat.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted a second later.

James sat across from Lily grinning. He looked like he belonged at this table, full of confidence and talking cheerfully to his friends. James was the last Gryffindor sorted that night. They all laughed silently as Snape was made a Slytherin immediately. By the time the sorting had ended (Xander, Kiki became a Hufflepuff), Lily was sure that she was going to faint.

Professor McGonagall took the hat and the stool away and an old man dressed in violet robes with a yellow-star spangled, violet, pointed hat perched on top of his long silvery hair. He looked at them through half-moon spectacles, while stroking his long silvery beard. His blue eyes were cheerfully looking over all of them with a sort of quiet delight.

"I am glad to see so many fine young students join us this year! Welcome, and Welcome back to all of those returned. I hope that you will all remember how important it is to treat each other with respect and kindness in this new school year. Now, without further ado, enjoy your feast!"

This had to be the headmaster, Lily though, Professor Dumbledore. She had just looked up to notice Sirius scooping a large serving of mashed potatoes onto her plate to accompany some roast chicken and green beans.

Lily smiled, "Thanks, mum."

"Not at all, dear," he replied grinning. James, Remus and Peter were laughing at the scene. Imogen Olliver was watching them with amusement as well. Lily and Imogen were talking happily through dinner about their lives before Hogwarts and when they got their letters. By the time they had finished with their Apple Pie, they were becoming close friends.

That night they were led up to Gryffindor Tower by the prefect. One of them said "dragon fire" and a portrait of a fat lady in a pink silk dress swung forward.

"Everyone remember that the password is Dragon Fire! You just tell the portrait and it'll open into the common room! Now classes begin tomorrow schedules will be handed out at breakfast at seven o'clock! Good night everyone!"

The girls and boys walked up their separate staircases. Lily called goodnight to James, Sirius, and Peter. Remus was no where in sight. She sighed and followed Imogen up the stairs, yawning sleepily.

She was again very excited about the day to come, but was now easily drifting off to sleep. And the next day was definitely interesting…