Title: For Better or For Worse
Author: Tonallan
Disclaimer: Any recognizable character is not mine. Nearly all people and places are property
of J. K. Rowling author of the Harry Potter series. I claim rights to my original characters and
names.
Summary: Lily Evans attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She makes friends,
crushes, and comes into terms with herself as she studies magic and works out some problems.
Authors Note: Due to my ecstatic reviewers :) For Better or For Worse will continue! In this
chapter, Lily goes through her first year and is ready to board the train. She gets an admirer,
and you will be surprised because it's not Snape, James, Sirius, or Hayter (well, not really) ! She
also becomes better friends with Andrea, and tell me if you want her to be a major, minor, or
subtle character because I'm not sure if I like her. Love to all who review, and a cameo goes to
the person who tells me what kind of ball they should have in third year :)
Pronunciation guide: Hayter- hi-der (hint: rhymes with cider)
Von Kann- von konn
Lasaigh- lie zay
Note: I'm never one for phonetic spelling.
***
Away beneath the wide blue sky
***
Lily always looked back on her first week at Hogwarts as the prologue to her later years there.
She attended her classes and fell absolutely in love with Hogwarts in the process.
Transfiguration was taught by Professor Vaskas. The Professor was humorous, and enjoyed a
good joke almost as much as Sirius. Though she rarely took points away from the Gryffindor
house, she would not tolerate not trying, as Alex learned the hard way. As punishment for
refusing to try to turn a piece hay into a needle, Alex had to spend Tuesday night turning a
haystack into enough needles for all the grannies in the world.
Herbology was taught by Professor Aberdune. He was an elderly man who was in love with the
plants he had to care for. Hopeless at all other types of magic, he was skilled in the garden, and
Lily and Andrea soon learned never to ask him for advice on caring for the flower Aerioda.
The head of Slytherin house, Professor Quartez, taught Defense Against the Dark Arts. Quartez
was a middle aged woman, but very cranky. She continuously took points away from the
Gryffindor house, causing her students to hate her.
Potions, or as the students soon learned to call it, Poisons, was taught by an evil looking, evil
smelling, and rotten Potato (his nick name) Professor Potaeo. Potato was a young man in his
thirties, who had blonde hair and green eyes. He had a shrill voice and an extremely straight nose
that matched his hair. Contrary to the school rules, Potato wore green robes, and refused to
answer why. He was known to favor the Slytherin house, but there was no double Poisons, so no
one would ever know.
Her favorite class was charms. Taught by young Professor Lasaigh, it was easily the best. The
charms they were taught were not exceedingly difficult, but Lily found it rather complex, and
loved the great satisfaction after you had completed a charm.
Lily grew to be even closer friends with Andrea as the school year wore on. She found that they
had so much in common. Both muggle born, and younger sisters, whose older sisters were jealous
of Hogwarts. Andrea also had the same problem with her hair that Lily did- to keep it from
getting so frizzy. Except of course, that Andrea's was chocolate brown and more wavy.
Her friendship with the three boys distanced. Though she saw them all in every lesson, they rarely
spoke, but Hayter flashed her a grin every morning as she came down to breakfast. She soon
learned not to wave back though, as several people looked at her funny. Sirius, James, and Hayter
played even more pranks and so much more elaborate then the Sorting Scene, that is soon faded
into the back round, and their friendship with it.
Thus it was so as Lily, Andrea, and the other Gryffindor first years walked down the steps to their
very first flying lesson on the ninth of October. Most of the first years were very excited, as well
as nervous, especially the muggle- borns, who had never flown before. Hayter was very excited,
he had told her so on the way down.
"Be careful you don't go to high," he warned her. "And make sure you're very clear about which
way you want to go, brooms can be very pushy." Lily laughed at the thought brooms could be
pushy. "What's so funny?" he asked her. She was laughing so hard, she couldn't manage to
answer, only to point at him.
Hayter's face broke into the most joyous grin she had ever seen him wear. "You think I'm funny,
eh? We'll see how funny I am!" He then proceeded to run to her, only a few paces ahead, but she
soon took off running across the field. Hayter went after her, laughing, liking this new game.
Lily ran as fast as she could, though it was hard to with laughter spurting with every breath. They
reached the muddy Quidditch pitch, and ran inside, kicking up mud and grass with every footfall.
To the astonishment of her fellow peers, Lily climbed the bleachers, laughing all the way, with
Hayter chasing after her. "That's enough!" a shrill voice yelled at them, as Lily reached the top
row.
In surprise, Hayter tripped and stumbled, nearly falling the many feet to the ground below. Both
students turned to find the source of the voice, a young woman, sturdily built, with a deep tan and
blonde hair pulled into a tight, but messy, bun. Her hands were on her hips, and she glared at the
two children.
"Down here. Now." The woman's voice was cruel as Lily and Hayter joined the end of the line.
"Both of you will serve detention with me later tonight. Now," said the woman, turning to face
the rest of the class, "My name is Madame Swift, and yes that is my name, and no I'm not a
Professor." The class was silent.
Hopefully the rest of you aren't as foolish as these two," she jerked her head towards Lily and
Hayter, "Because I'm here to make sure that all of you can ride a broom."
"You don't have to be a Quidditch star to participate in my class, but I expect that by the end of
the year everyone should be able to decently ride a broom, as you won't take flying class next
year."
"We're not going to be flying today, as many of you have never even seen a broom before. Flying
that way can cause chaos, and most likely, disaster." Madame Swift then proceeded to tell them
about the history of Quidditch, and how it related to other broom sports. She also brought out her
own model of the Silver Arrow, at which the wizard-born students gasped at. She taught them
about different altitudes and their effect on the broom, and how build up of dirt and dust could
cause "drag" and possibly cause the broom to stop flying altogether.
After class, the Gryffindors trooped up towards the castle in varied states of disbelief. "I can't
believe that," Andrea told Lily as the trumped up the stairs. "That was amazing!" Lily nodded in
agreement, but her mind was on something else: what would this detention bring?
After dinner, Lily and Hayter walked down to the Quidditch pitch, and into the locker area, where
they were told to meet Madame Swift. On the way down, Hayter refused to speak to her, or even
to look at her, though she tried to catch his eye several times.
Madame Swift was waiting for them when they got inside. Her rotten attitude seemed to have
disappeared, and she was very cheery as she told them that they had to polish all thirty-six of the
student brooms. She handed them a pot of polish, and went into her office.
Hayter and Lily set to work immediately. It wasn't a very difficult task, and Lily had to admit that
it was very satisfying to see a perfect broomstick. Hayter worked at his task aggressively refusing
to speak to her, and knocking over a pot of polish in the process.
It spilt all over the floor, and Lily hurried to help him clean it. "This is all your fault!" he told her
angrily. Lily stared at him in disbelief. He had chased her! She was speechless. She threw down
her rag, and went back to polishing the brooms. Hayter however, was way ahead of her, and
finished exactly half of the brooms and left without a good-bye.
"You could have at least put your rag away," she muttered spitefully.
"Don't fret," said a comforting voice. Lily looked up to see Madame Swift standing in the
doorway to her office. "It's alright, boys will be boys." Lily sighed. "But why did Hayter have to
decide to be like other boys?!"
Madame Swift gave her a sympathetic smile. "Aww, don't worry about it. There'll be other boys,
you're only eleven." Lily sniffed, "Eleven and 1/2." Madame Swift laughed. "Well, Miss Lily
Evans who is eleven and 1/2," her eyes sparkled, "You did a very good job cleaning these
brooms. How would you like to test one of them out?"
Lily looked up in disbelief. "I thought you said that we wouldn't be riding brooms today!"
Madame Swift smiled, "Just don't tell anyone, come on, grab that Nimbus over there, and we'll
go teach you how to fly." Lily grabbed the beautiful broom, and examined it carefully. Written in
gold letters near the top were the words Nimbus 1000. If Lily survived her first year of school,
she'd have to get a broom.
Madame Swift talked her through steering, and told her how to take off, and to be very careful.
She showed Lily how to mount her broom, and to kick on three. "One...Two...Three!" On
"Three!" Lily kicked off the ground, hard. She whooshed into the air.
Her fear was left on the ground. Flying was wonderful, it was spectacular. Halting her broom,
Lily turned to face the other end, and then leaned forward and she sped towards the goal posts.
She flew threw one of them, and let out a whoop of joy. She slowed down, turned, and raced
back towards the other end. Madame Swift had kicked off and leveled herself with Lily.
They slowed down closer towards the middle, and Madame Swift was grinning just as hard as
Lily was. "It's time you go down now, sweet. But tell you what, if you come back here next
Tuesday evening, I'll teach you some more." Lily beamed at Madame Swift. "That would be
marvelous!" she squealed, before landing her broom, not very gracefully, but safely.
She put her broom in the locker room, then left through the side door. She wrapped her cloak
around her as she walked, but not because she was cold. When she climbed up the steps of the
castle, she looked back, and gave a sigh of content. This year is going to fabulous, with or
without Hayter.
***
With Halloween only a week away, it seemed to Lily that the entire school got into the spirit.
Teachers began to decorate their classrooms and offices with pumpkins and leaves, and black cats
soon littered the school- one couldn't get out of bed without tripping over one. But it was in this
was that Lily got her very own kitten, whom she named Laurasia.
Her classes progressed well. She found that she was decently good at all of her subjects, but her
favorite remained charms. She even managed to charm Laurasia's hair to be striped with orange.
The day before Halloween, a Thursday, was the day of the Quidditch match between Gryffindor
and Hufflepuff. According to tradition, Lily dressed herself in scarlet and gold, and helped the
other girls in her dorm to make a banner with the Gryffindor lion on it.
As good as her word, Madame Swift had been teaching her to fly better. Though she was no
where as good as anyone on the Quidditch teams, she was becoming pretty decent. Madame Swift
had also become a good friend of Lilys''. She was like a second mother, or rather, a Hogwarts
mother.
Another good friend Lily had acquired was a third year named Arthur Weasley. He was the new
Chaser on the Gryffindor house team, and as another friend of Madame Swift, he had also been
assisting her in her flying lessons. As Minnie had said, since they were in different years, she didn't
get to see Arthur, Minnie, or any of her friends very often.
As these friendships progressed, those with Hayter did not. He had stopped waving to her at
breakfast, and refused to speak or look at her in any of their classes. When they were paired
together in Poisons, he braved his fears and asked Potato to be reassigned.
Lily watched Hayter, James, and Sirius, each take the arm of a Ravenclaw girl (clad in scarlet)
down to the Quidditch pitch. Lily sat with Andrea, Alex, and Laura in the stands, and they held
their banner up and waited for the Quidditch players to enter the stadium.
"Oh, honestly, Lily!" Alex said, throwing her curly blonde locks to the side. "Would you stop
staring at Hayter!" Lily blushed and looked at her feet as the other girls giggled. "Eek!" Andrea
squealed, "Hold up on the banner, it's falling!"
The girls had no more time for chatter though, as the announcer (a Hufflepuff boy whose name
was unknown to Lily) called their attention to the field, where the Quidditch teams were
appearing. "Hufflepuff! Leroy, Samuels, Hunt, Diggory, Mumps, Acne, aaaannndd......Von
Kann!" At the sound of the Hufflepuff Seekers name and appearance, everyone in the crowd went
wild, especially the girls in nearly every year, and Harry Von Kann was a third year. Lily had to
admit that he was gorgeous.
"Gryffindor! Weasley, Patil, Bell, Johnsan, Boot, Davis, aaaannndd.....Perles!" This name also
gave extreme cheering from the crowd, because Mike was an extremely talented Seeker. The
captains (Leroy and Bell) shook hands in the center and then a whistle blew.
"And they're off! Weasley immediately takes the Quaffle, and is hurtling towards the goal posts!
Oh! Weasley passes off to Patil just as a Bludger hits him! Patil continues-he shoots-he scores!
Ten-zero, Gryffindor!" The scarlet-clad crowd cheered wildly, and Lily noticed that Hayter had
draped his arm around his blonde babe.
"And Hufflepuff takes control of the quaffle. That's Hunt shooting down the field- look at her go!
She shoots-she s- misses! Still ten-zero, and Bell now has the quaffle. He scores! Twenty-zero,
Gryffindor."
The Hufflepuff Seeker, Harry Von Kann, had suddenly flown upward, his arm outstretched. Mike
took off after him. "What's this?! Has Von Kann spotted the Snitch?!" Indeed he had, for he
pulled level, clutching a golden ball in his right hand.
"Hufflepuff wins!" the Hufflepuff boy cried. Harry Von Kann had taken a victory lap around the
field, blowing kisses to all the girls, and shouting his victory as the results were shouted. "And
now, a word from our great Seeker!" the Hufflepuff commentor said happily, handing the mike
over.
Harry Von Kann look extremely confident as he said, "I'd like to dedicate this victory to all the
ladies out there," the crowd shrieked, "But to one in particular. Baby, I don't know your name,
but she's a first year Gryffindor with gorgeous red hair. I love you, girl!"
Lily's face turned as red as she thought she would ever go. Her friends as well other girls in the
crowd cat-called at her, and she laughed nervously, and timidly blew a kiss at Harry, who was
standing directly across the field. He mimed catching it, and planting it on his cheek. She smiled.
As the stands emptied, she hurried up to the Gryffindor common room and up to her dorm before
anyone could come and tease her about Harry having a crush on her.
***
The next day was Halloween. Lily came down to breakfast amid cat-calls from good natured
Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, and the Hufflepuff Seeker, Harry, waved to her from his position of
glory at the Hufflepuff table. She smiled and sat down next to Andrea and Sirius. "Don't mind
Hayter," Sirius whispered in her ear. Lily looked down the table to see Hayter glaring in the
vicinity of the Hufflepuff table.
She nodded in satisfaction and began to butter a roll with an air of dignity. Sirius laughed, "Don't
bother, Ms. Evans. It's so painfully obvious that you like him. He talks about you." Lily dropped
her knife into the butter dish with a clatter. Several people turned to stare at her. Hiding his own
grin, Sirius continued, "Anyway, don't you worry about Hayter. He'll come to his senses soon
enough." Sirius brushed the crumbs from his shirt, and left the Great Hall.
***
Harry didn't waste any time in confronting her. She had no sooner stood up from her seat that he
rushed over to her. "I'm sorry to embarrass you, Lily," he said. "But would you do me the great
honor of walking to the lake with me?" Andrea looked at Lily using the look that clearly said "Go
and hurry to tell me what happens!"
Using the owls that had burst into the room as a diversion, Lily ran out of the Great Hall and up
the stairs, down the hallways, and into the door that led to owlry. She leaned against the door and
sighed in relief. That had been extremely embarrassing. But to see the look on Hayters face...Was
it worth it? How would Harry feel, being used as a tool of revenge? And how could she deal with
that kind of guilt?
***
The Halloween feast was spectacular. As the sorting feast, the house tables were filled with more
food than ever imaginable. But unlike the Sorting feast, there were gigantic pumpkins all around
the room, courtesy of the gamekeeper Ogg, and dancing skeletons floated above their heads.
A surprise though, was when Dumbledore stood and announced that rather then going straight to
bed as normal, there would be a scavenger hunt. Ravenclaw and Slytherin would be paired
together, and, much to Andrea's amusement and Lily's exasperation, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor
would be paired together.
"Now," said Dumbledore, "Not to make this competition any more competitive, the winning team
will be treated to a round of butterbeers." There was a cheer from everyone, and he continued,
"The rules of the games are this: You will be given a clue. You must first figure out the clue,
agree on where you will look first. At the bottom of your clue will be an incantation to say when
you find the place. And then you'll see what happens." Dumbledore smiled mischievously.
" Everyone on your team will be grouped to you with a hand holding charm. You must stay with
your group. Disqualification will result if you do not."
Professor Vaskas stood up. "Would the Gryffinpuffs please stand over here, and the Slytherclaws
over here," she pointed at opposite ends of the room. Lily and Andrea went to go stand with the
rest of their group, where Lily was greeted by Harry Von Kann.
"Hi Lily," he said, blushing. Lily blushed too. "All right, if you will all please hold hands," said
Professor Vaskas, "No, not in a circle, you need at least two hands. I want the Prefects on the
ends to be able to use their wands..." Lily ended up holding hands with Andrea and Harry.
"All right!" Dumbledore said, charming two glowing objects to him. One was yellow and red, and
the other was green and blue. "Let the games begin!" The clues flew from Dumbledore into the
waiting hands of the Prefects. The Gryffindor Prefects name was Kennilworthy Whisp, and the
Hufflepuff Prefects name was Amos Diggory.
Diggory read the clue aloud. "In all my "arms", I hold your clue, It's glowing bright, it taste
goods too! It's kind of dark, and really wet. Where am I? Come on, place a bet!"
The rest of the team was thoroughly confused. "Okay, think aloud," Harry told them. "Well," said
Minnie, "It obviously not human, and its in a place that's dark- not that tells us much, everywhere
outside is..."
"It's the giant squid!" Someone said. The Prefects looked at each other and nodded. "Alright,
everyone: outside!" Whisp led the way outside and headed towards the lake. "I didn't know
Hogwarts had a giant squid," Lily whispered to no one in particular. Harry whispered back,
"Yeah, it's been here for years. It's actually very friendly."
When they got to the lake, they saw that the Giant Squid was waiting for them. It was indeed a
giant, and had at least several dozen tentacles. "Where's the clue?" Andy yelled. "Oh!" Said Lily
excitedly. "We need to say the incantation!" Since it was Diggory who held the clue, he read the
incantation. No one could hear what he said, but it must have worked because the Giant Squid
swam to shore, and released the red and yellow clue from somewhere on his person.
"This is pretty cool, isn't it?" Harry whispered to her later. Lily nodded, she enjoyed it. They
weren't doing very well, their fourth clue had them stumped, and the Slytherclaws had already
won. As a team though, they wanted to honestly finish the game. Come on, you put Hufflepuffs
and Gryffindors together and they don't finish? Get real.
***
The next morning Lily woke up to the shrieking of her dorm mates. She blearily opened one eye,
to see that they were all crowded around the window. Sitting up all of the way now, she asked
them what was outside. Grandly, they moved aside to reveal Harry sitting on his broom. He
grinned at her, "Come for a ride with me?" he asked. Lily giggled. "Let me get dressed first!"
She hurriedly changed into jeans and a green fitted top that matched her eyes. (A/N: Cheesy!
Sorry!) She also brushed her hair and teeth quickly, before stepping from the bathroom back into
her room. Harry was now standing in her room, easily chatting with her dorm mates.
He smiled when he saw her. "Come on, we'll go into Hogsmeade." Lily climbed onto his Silver
Arrow behind him, and he kicked off. "So you have a crush on me?" She said, as they flew over
the Hogwarts grounds. He turned to face her, and Lily noticed he had beautiful blue eyes. "That
depends on whether or not we have a good time today."
Lily had never heard of Hogsmeade before. She had never spoken with Harry before, well not
really. So why on earth did she feel so attracted to him? Was it because he was good-looking?
Because all of the other girls in her school wanted to go with Harry? She certainly didn't know.
When they landed in a field behind a rather large and ugly house, Lily found out what Hogsmeade
was. How could she not, there was a huge sign telling her. "Hogsmeade Village- Only all-magical
community in all of Britain!" Lily pointed it out to Harry, and he laughed. "Stuck up snobs!"
Harry led her into a brunch restaurant- Lily didn't have time to read the name- where they sat in a
booth and he ordered a sticky bun, "To share," he added, smiling at Lily.
True to his word, Harry showed her a great time. They walked up and down the street several
times, and bought a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks. Harry bought her half a pound of fudge
in Honeydukes, though she protested mildly. Her protests stopped the instant she tasted the
fudge.
They were walking back to the large and ugly house that night, hand in hand, when they suddenly
heard a loud scream piece the silence. Lily clutched Harrys hand in fear, and they both stopped in
their tracks. The screams soon ceased, but were replaced first by howling and then by the horrible
sound of an animal screaming.
Both scared out of their minds, they grabbed his broom from behind the house quickly, and took
off immediately. Lilys' fear subsided as she was again taken over by the sensation of flying.
Rather than taking her to her dorm, Harry landed smoothly on the front steps of Hogwarts. He
helped her off of her broomstick, and they stood awkwardly for a moment. "So did you have a
good time?" Lily asked lamely. She mentally smacked herself.
Harry nodded, licking his lips. "Lily . . . I know that we haven't known each other long and all but
. . . would you be terribly mad if I kissed you?" Lily shook her head, and received her first real
kiss, standing on the front steps of her school, from the pride of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.
***
Immediately after Halloween, the Christmas Season began. The pumpkins were replaced by trees,
the cats by tinsel, and the other odds and ends by mistletoe, holly, and evergreen branches.
Not that Lily minded. Mistletoe around the school was certainly a plus. After all, she had gotten
to kiss several boys. The first time though, was rather awkward.
Lily hurried down the huge marble stairs into the entry way and ran headfirst into James Potter.
"Oh, sorry James!" Lily had ended up on the floor, but James wasn't so lucky, he had landed on
the stairs. "Are you okay?" she asked him, standing up and brushing herself off.
"Yeah, I guess so. Help me up?" James held out his hand and Lily pulled him upwards and
waited while he brushed himself off. "I gotta go, then," she said, turning to go. "Wait! Lily,"
Lily turned around and James pointed upwards. Lily glanced up to see a spring of mistletoe
strung into a bough of evergreen.
"Oh, come on, James. No ones around, no one will know!" James smiled mockingly. "I never
pass up the chance for a free kiss." Mockingly, he closed his eyes and puckered his lips. Lily
groaned, and kissed him swiftly on the lips, then hurried into the Great Hall where Harry was
waiting. Mostly so James wouldn't see her burning face, rather than her excitement to see Harry.
Yes, she was still seeing Harry. She had grown quite fond of him, and he of her. He was such a
nice guy! He made her laugh, and didn't mind when she had to kiss other boys under the
mistletoe. Of course, they both preferred when they had to kiss each other, often making show of
it; Harry bending her over and kissing her energetically with students and teachers looking on.
It was things like that that made her fall head over heels for Harry. He could make her laugh so
easily. Also, he spoiled her with little gifts nearly every day, things like jewelry, chocolates,
flowers, and poems. He was purely wonderful.
***
On the 13th of November, Lily was walking back up to the castle with Harry from the lake, when
they saw an extremely large figure dragging an enormous Christmas Tree to the castle. "Who's
that?" Lily asked Harry. "Dunno," Harry replied, "Lets go find out." They started walking in that
general direction, and when they were in earshot, Harry called out, "Would you like a hand?"
The huge man could only nod a yes. Lily and Harry heaved with the man, and the three carried the
large tree into the Great Hall. The extremely large man wiped his sweaty brow with the back of
his hand. "Thanks, you two. The names' Rubeus Hagrid, new Assistant Gamekeeper and Keep of
the Keys and Grounds. Who are you two?"
Harry introduced them. Lily timidly held out her hand, and Hagrid shook her entire arm
exuberantly.
***
Lily sent an own to her parents that night, telling them to meet her at Kings Cross on December
20th at 6 o' clock PM. Andrea went with her to send an owl to her best muggle friend, Lauren. In
the owlry, they met James and Sirius. Goodness knows what they were doing, probably planning
another prank.
***
Lily didn't have a problem with the pranks James and Sirius played. In fact, Lily thought that they
were extremely funny, and enjoyed laughing along with the rest of the school. That was, of
course, before she was the recipient.
The day before the Christmas Holidays, Lily and Andrea were reviewing Transfiguration, hoping
to impress their families with simple spells. Lily already had asked Potato for a spring of efflewort
so that she could make a zit-zapping potion for Petunia.
James was the bait. He approached Lily and told her that Harry was waiting for her in the Great
Hall. Both surprised and pleased, she nearly ran to the Great Hall, but Harry was no where in
sight.
Lily was confused. She started heading back to the common room but heard someone calling her.
"Lily! There you are!" It was Harry. In his hand he held a beautifully wrapped package.
They greeted each other with a kiss. "I wanted to give you this," Harry said, handing her the
package. "You'll leave before I'm even awake, so I wanted to say good-bye to you."
Inside the package was a music box. It wasn't very large, only a few inches in diameter . It was
carved out of stone, and fairies and elves covered the surface. Lily opened it, and inside was an
even smaller fairy in a glass dome. She moved around and smiled brightly at Lily and Harry.
Also inside was a very small bag. It was made of white silk, and whatever was inside let off a soft
glow. Lily looked at Harry questionably. "It's fairy dust," he said. "It only takes a pinch and
whatever it is, it will be protected as best a fairy can do." Lily smiled.
"I love it, thank-you so much." She kissed him again, then walked away in the direction of the
Gryffindor common room.
When Lily got back, it was late. Only James, Sirius, & Hayter remained, and they were once again
poring over their map. Lily picked up her Transfiguration book and went to bed.
***
Lily's trip home was nothing less than pleasant. She slept most of the train ride, and when she
arrived at Kings Cross, her mother, father, and Petunia were waiting for her. Lily ran to give her
mother a hug.
"I missed you so much," she mused into her mothers chest. She knew she was close to tears. She
hadn't realized how homesick she was. True, Hogwarts was fantastic, and she loved her friends,
and Harry, and her Professors and classes to death, but there was something warm and welcoming
in her mothers embrace that made it all seem less important.
Christmas was, in a word, homey. In more than a word, it was crowded with relatives- and that's
just the start. Nearly all of Lily's relatives turned up. Her three cousins, Steven, Sarah, & Jake, all
turned up, and their parents, Uncles Craig, Doug, and David, and Aunts Mary, Dede, and Susan.
Her grand-parents on her mothers side showed up, Grandma, and her two cats, and her
Grandfather and his wife Jan.
As the youngest of her cousins, Jake, was still four years older then her, she spent more time with
Petunia. Petunia was an attentive listener, and wanted to know absolutely everything about
Hogwarts. When Lily mentioned Minnie, Petunia suddenly became very quiet, and asked to be left
alone.
Slightly put out, but not permanently wounded, Lily used her free time for reading. She had
brought with her a few books that belonged to Hogwarts, and looked up a few spells to practice,
and once she had mastered them, she showed her family.
When Lily finished all of her books, she took to walking around her neighborhood. She got
together with two of her muggle friends, but their relationship had distanced, and felt awkward,
and empty. Lily found herself laughing at stupid and childish jokes that weren't funny at all.
Christmas morning finally came. Lily jumped out of bed at the first sign of light, and quickly
pulled on her bathrobe, which was lying on the floor. She woke up Petunia, Jake, Steven, and
Sarah, and the four pre to teenagers woke up the adults. Everyone, minus Lily's father who was
turning on the Christmas music, and getting the video camera ready, stood at the top of stairs,
shivering with excitement.
"Okay!" Mr. Evans called up. The family stampeded down the stairs, marveling at the beautiful
Christmas tree, and then pulling the stockings down from the fireplace. Lily sat between Petunia
and Jake and unwrapped the mini presents in her stocking. Though the stocking appeared at a
glance to be filled, Lily found few things in it that caught her attention.
I must be growing up, she thought to herself as she unwrapped a sweater later, I haven't felt the
heart-pounding excitement all morning!
The presents under the tree followed the mode of the stockings. More practical gifts, nothing
absolutely wonderful, a few things she genuinely appreciated. The Christmas splendor paused only
for a moment, when four owls tapped on the window, unlocking it, and made a beeline for Lily.
Calmly, though the rest of the room was staring, Lily relieved the packages and letters from the
owls, and they flew away again. She giggled at all of the people who were staring at her. "What?"
she asking, picking up these gifts and letters and heading for her room. She'd rather unwrap them
in private.
The first gift was from Andrea. It was, of all things, a ceramic lily. There was a note as well.
Lily-
I bought this in Diagon Alley. Hope you like it. The pun was intended, by the way.
Andrea
Lily smiled at the joke, and picked up the next present. It was from Minnie. It was wrapped in
blue paper that had 'Merry Christmas' written all over it, and the words kept moving and
changing color. Inside was a book, Hogwarts: A History. Lily flipped through it randomly. The
table of contents showed titles like "Rowana Ravenclaw", "Salazer Slytherin", "Helga
Hufflepuff", "Godric Gryffindor", "Secret Passages", "Legends about the Castle", and of course
"Today". Lily turned to a random page and found a picture of Godric Gryffindor.
He was tall man, and muscular, with curly dark brown hair and piercing green eyes. His face was
stern, and he cast an aura of importance. He was wearing typical mid-evil clothes, and a red cape
with gold clasps. As it was a moving picture, the cape flowed out behind him, and he winked at
Lily cheekily.
The third gift was from Madame Swift. It was also a book called "How to Make the Quidditch
Team". Lily grinned at it, and said a silent thank-you to Madame Swift, as she had considered
buying the book herself.
The final gift was a joint one from Alex and Laura. It was a bottle of Sleekeazy Hair Potion, they
must have caught on to Lily's frustration. Nevertheless, she was grateful for the gift. She would
use it that evening, in fact, for the Christmas ceremony.
***
Lily returned to Hogwarts on the third of January. She met Andrea on the train, she had
apparently received a bottle of Sleekeazy as well. Lily thanked her for the lily as well.
Classes began the next day. It was almost a relief, to finally be getting back to working after the
break. Lily's head was mixed up, she could hardly remember anything. All of her training seemed
to have leaked out of her head. Fortunately though, her teachers were expecting that, and went
easy on them- for about ten minutes.
The second Quidditch Match, Ravenclaw against Slytherin, Lily didn't go to, but soon wished she
had. The Slytherin Chaser sounded fantastic, but for the life of her, Lily could never remember his
name. "M" something she believed.
The Marauders, as James, Hayter, and Sirius had taken to calling themselves, had found a new
member. The poor victim, a scared looking boy named Remus Lupin, seemed almost to petrified
to be part of their group. They played pranks on students nearly every day, while Remus was far
to conservative.
***
Lily walked to first Transfiguration class since break with her heart set on impressing Professor
Vaskas with the Transfiguration she had learned. She opened her book to page 22, and stared at
the page.
Rather than the mirror-olize spell, she was face to face with a picture of a clown with her face.
"Hey Lily!" James called from his group, "What are you looking at, huh? Can I see?"
The entire corner he was sitting with broke into laughter and Lilys eyes stung with tears. What
had she ever done to them? Then gradually the rest of the room started laughing. They noticed
her book, and pointed and laughed, and in a flash Lily understood how all of the recipients of the
Marauders pranks had felt.
Blindly, Lily made her way out of the Transfiguration classroom. The laughter was still ringing in
her ears as she walked, faster and faster, with no specific goal in mind. But where would she go?
She couldn't just wander the halls. She considered going to the bathrooms for a good cry, but
vetoed the idea immediately. The doors were charmed and wouldn't open unless the student had a
pass. The common room was out too- some one would be sure to find her there. Madame Swift
had a class right now, and she couldn't go back to her own.
With a heavy heart, Lily made her way to the Gryffindor Common Room anyway, she would just
have to run from there to the bathroom between classes. She gave the Fat Lady the Password
("Shouldn't you be in class?") and collapsed onto a squashy chair. She stared at the fire and burst
into tears immediately. She was utterly humiliated.
A few minutes later, Lily was startled by a squeak coming from somewhere around her. She lifted
her head from her hands to see a rather ugly creature with large eyes and ears staring at her
stupidly. "What is Mistress doing in common room when should be in classes?" the thing asked in
a high voice.
Lily stared. "What-erm-who are you?" The creature bowed. "I is Gonny the House-elf, miss,"
then, in a much less formal voice, "Why is mistress crying?" Lily sighed. "Someone played a prank
on me." The House-elf looked at her sympathetically. "I is sorry, miss. Would you like to come to
the kitchen, miss?" Lily looked up at Gonny.
"I don't even know where it is," she said. "Much less how to get there without getting caught."
Gonny laughed. "Why, we get there like we get everywhere! Loo-powder!" Lily was confused.
"Floo powder? Is that wise? I thought that you couldn't even apparate, much less Floo Powder to
get into Hogwarts..." she trailed off as the House-elf was staring at her.
"No, miss. Loo Powder. Not Floo. Loo powder only goes around the building!" "Oh," Lily said.
"So would miss like to come?" Gonny asked. Lily thoght about it for a split second. "Yes," she
said, getting up. "How do we get there?"
Gonny took a pinch of something out of the toga she wore, and threw it into the fireplace. "The
Kitchen!" She said to it. "Come, mistress," Gonny said, taking Lily's hand. Her palm felt waxy,
like a leaf. The fireplace dissolved to form an immaculate white kitchen, with about a hundred
more house-elves scurrying around it.
"We has company!" Gonny yelled, and pulled Lily over to a table where she was soon surrounded
by house-elves. She was offered a good many sweets and other kinds of foods, but accepted very
little. She sat at the table in silence for a few minutes until-of all things- baby house-elves came up
to her.
One of them crawled up onto Lily's lap. "I is Dobby, miss," said the elf. "Would miss be so kind
as to tell us about your classes?" Lily was in gratitude to the baby elves. She poured her soul out
to them, mentioning all of the details of Hogwarts that not even she had realized until now.
Some things, like how the stair cases moved and doors that weren't really doors, were quite
obvious. But others, like the fact that Potato's mustache quivered whenever he was angry, was
something she had to actually say out loud in order to piece together.
Because of this, Lily started to keep a diary. After avoiding her fellow Gryffindors for a few days,
she asked Harry to pick her up a journal on the next Hogsmeade trip. He offered for her to come
with him, but Lily refused, knowing it would draw too much attention to herself as only third
years and above were allowed to attend the trips.
When Harry returned with a bag, Lily eagerly took it from him, and ran into her dormitory, where
she pulled the diary out.
It was plain, but elegant. It was about four inches across, and six inches tall. It was covered in
periwinkle-purple silk, and had a silver lock and key. The key was made to look fancy and old-fashioned, and was hung on a long silver chain.
Using the key to unlock it, Lily slowly opened the cover. It cracked slightly. The pages were pure
white, with light blue lines that covered every page. Once opened, the diary seemed to have far
more pages than the average muggle diary. Lily guessed it had an expanding charm on it.
With a shaking hand, she wrote her first entry. It went a little something like this:
Dear Diary,
My name is Lily Evans. I am eleven years old and have red hair and green eyes. My friends say
that I am very pretty, I am told my eyes are amazing, but I am very modest. I am a Gryffindor
first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I have a wonderful boyfriend named
Harry, who bought you for me. By request, but it was still very nice of him to do so.
My favorite class is Charms. I really like it because the professor is very nice. Most of my
professors are. The teacher of Flying, Madame Swift, is especially so. She almost like a second
mother.
It continued in this vein for a while, and then the perspective changed:
Though I love all of my friends well, more than sometimes I feel distanced from them. I feel as
though it isn't really a reality, that what I'm seeing is like a movie, and I can just rewind if I
don't like what happens. I find my mind wandering on more than one occasion.
I think that I am just homesick, but what if that's not it? Is there something really wrong with
me? I'm not very popular, true, but that shouldn't be enough to make me go mad.
A few hours later, after her dorm mates had gone to bed, Lily closed the diary with a snap! and
locked it with the pretty silver key. She draped the chain around her neck, and examined it for a
moment. Then she switched off the last light, and fell asleep.
***
The next morning, Lily was up bright and early. She quickly showered, dressed, brushed her hair,
and grabbed her wand and bag. At the foot of the stairs, she heard voices. As any other normal
pre-teen, she eavesdropped.
"I'm telling you, we shouldn't have done it!" That was Hayter, Lily had no trouble identifying his
voice.
"Oh, shut up, already! Just because you have a crush on the stupid girl, doesn't mean she's not
subject to pranks!" Sirius there.
"Hayter, you won't even talk to Lily! She's under the impression that you hate her. You can't
refuse to speak to her, and then refuse to play pranks on her! You're contraversing yourself!"
"It's contradicting, James," said a quiet voice. Lily didn't know the voice immediately, but
guessed that it was Remus Lupin.
"And can we please concentrate on the matter at hand? The full moon is tonight, I need you guys
to..." This, however, was all that Lily heard, because the boys chose this time to head downstairs.
Not wanting them to even guess she had been eavesdropping, she waited a few minutes before
heading for the Great Hall herself.
***
As Harry Von Kann's girlfriend, she could not be totally ridiculed from society. Rather, in fact,
that the "popular" group took pity on her, and gave a cold shoulder to the Marauders. Though
Lily was grateful, she felt slightly guilty, now knowing for sure that Hayter had a crush on her.
However, she didn't even think about the rest of the conversation until midway through her
Astronomy exam at the end of the year.
32.) What animal is effected by the tides of the moon?
She wasn't certain on that one. If only she could have asked Remus, he always seemed to know
everything about the moon. From the answer to this question, to the current phase of the moon,
Remus knew it all.
The next morning, the Gryffindor first years, minus Remus, were discussing the exam, when Lily
brought up the subject of question number thirty-two. Andrea had been stumped too, and voiced
what Lily had been thinking. "We should have asked Remus on that one!" The Marauders seemed
to freeze.
"Where is Remus, anyway?" Lily asked. "Andrea's right, Remus knows everything. Why, just last
week he told me that yesterday was a full moon!" Most of the table laughed, but not the
Marauders. James stood and up and grabbed Lily's arm. "Hey-James-wait- what?" James had
started pulling her out of the Great Hall. A second year-Peter Pettigrew- laughed. "Jamsie is
stealing Harry's girlfriend!" Lily and the rest laughed, but James was serious.
He didn't let go of her arm until they were well away from the Great Hall, and she shook him off.
"James, what's going on?!" He fixed her with his piercing brown eyes. "You mean you didn't
figure it out?"
Lily shook her head no, with not a clue to what he was talking about. James let out a sigh of
relief. "Phew, what with what you were saying, and Remus and all, I thought you'd figured it
out..." He trailed off, seeming to realize she was listening.
"What are you talking about, James?" James looked afraid. "Oh, nothing. Just rambling on, sorry.
Do you want to go make out?" Lily rolled her eyes. "One, I have a boyfriend. Two, you're just
stalling. Three, I better find out what's going on here."
James sighed. "Well, I'm not about to tell you straight out. It Remus's business. Just-well, your
trustworthy, Lily. You do some research, and then you talk to me. But just, please," here he
paused, looking at her with genuine remorse, "Keep your mouth shut. It's very personal."
Not having a clue what he meant, but not getting the chance to ask him either, Lily stared after
him with a mixture of shock and confusion.
***
The day Lily boarded the train, she still had no clue what James had been implying. But she
intended to find out. She had checked out several books on the moon from the Hogwarts library,
and had special permission from Dumbledore to take them home for the summer.
She was also going to owl James when she got home, and intended on visiting Diagon Alley once
she had a clue of what might be going on.
She sat with Harry, Andrea, and a few Ravenclaw and Hufflepuffs that were mostly Harry's
friends on the train ride home. They played Exploding Snap mostly, and Lily quite enjoyed it.
She kissed Harry good-bye, promised to owl a few people, and then walked out of the iron
gateway into the muggle world. She met her parents there, and just before leaving, she heard her
name being called. She turned around to see Hayter standing bashfully before her.
"Lily, I'm very sorry," he said sounding extremely fake. "I've been very selfish and foolhard...
foolhardy- Oh, screw that. Lily, I'm really sorry. I've been an ass, and I've been jealous, but can
you possibly forgive me?"
She almost laughed at the stupidity of it. However, she managed to nod, and Hayter swooped
down on her, planting a kiss on her cheek, and then running off. "I'll owl you!" he called.
Lily turned around and laughed.
***
Authors Note: Okay, I know. Rons parents didn't go to Hogwarts with Lily. Well, I wanted it to
be different, and I like them! Bear with me here please. And Snape is in Hufflepuff. We're going
to say that they chose the Head's of Houses the same say they chose what house the students will
be in, but no song. :) So you could be head of the house that you were or weren't in. And as you
can tell, Snape is not very happy about being in Hufflepuff. And talk about a fic with unfinished
scenes... Since a few people complained about grammar, I am looking for a beta-reader. E-mail
me at Tonallan@aol.com if you are interested. Okay, thank-yous:
Davita- Part of my inspiration for writing this is how unfair and cruel our popularity system is.
Lita of Jupiter- My sister watches Sailor Moon too! Glad you liked it :)
Kelsey- You didn't have to review. Glad you did though, sis. :)
Just Me- Is this soon enough?
Lioness Animagus- Oh I hope I spelled that right. I like the non- L/J too because the end is
known, there isn't so much tension. Also I get some freedom with my plot, but I have to actually
keep to the facts! Well, basiaclly anyway.
Courtney- I'm so glad that people like it!
Jayna- Yes! Snape is in Hufflepuff. Read the above A/N if you haven't already.
Charmsangel- You get five brownie points!
Naavi0- You got your wish. I'm not sure I like how this part turned out- what do you think?
Demon Child- Love the name! Is this chapter still "cute"?
Ali- I'm so glad you liked it!
Lily-Potter- YOU HAVE A ONE AT THE END OF YOUR EXCLAMATION POINTS! :) !!!!!1
Roarke- I totally understood your sentence. I used it too :)
Gyp- Remus was in the sorting, you must have missed him. Peter was the boy who bumped into
Lily in Diagon Alley.
Starry Night- Go sign in! And when you do, add me to author alert/favorites list, etc. Brownie
points....
Sage- It got just a tad longer. :)
marykmac- Yes I'm American. I find it hard to write using British terms, but you understand me
so its all good.
Lily girl- Yes! Sign in! Then add me to favorites list :)
Crimson Brimstone- Love the name :) Took me a month, and I wanted to leave time if could. I
tend to lose intrest.
Anne- ::grins happily:: You got my point! Oh, three brownie points!
kmk- Excellent! So glad you think so!
Devil Gurl- Fantastic? Really? You think so? Hope I didn't disappoint you.
Zero- I went and fixed the mistake you told me about. Thank you, I didn't catch that.
Akmkay- Your right that Rons parents aren't supposed to be in the story- but I wanted to have
them in here. ::groans at the thought of introducing the Longbottoms, Lucious, and Narcissa::
Katie- I kept going!
Cassandra Lynn- I didn't know it was funny, but they say laughter can cleanse the soul.
Laughter makes a fanfiction so much the better, glad someone laughed. And no, dear Snapey
will never be the admirer. There's a plot thats used way too much,
Unspoken- Read the above A/N if you didn't already. And I agree, Snape really is a git.
Ariana- I got a "wow"! I'm so glad of the positive feedback!
C.- I continued, and I'll give you a virtual ice cream sundae with a cherry in e-mail if you give it
to me.
sapphireyes- I gave you the cameo! Don't know if she acts like you or not, and I'll keep her from
going bad :)
Harry's Crush- Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I remember your review every time I think
about giving up on this fic.
Hannah Pearson- Not that this is the actual life before HP, but I hope it is at least a good
substitute.
Arianna- I've got two of you! Thanks for the compliment.
Lily- I hope you managed to wait, I need all the support I can get.
Minerva- I hope that I didn't disappoint you. This part didn't turn out as good as I hoped, but I
hope you like it anyway.
Evil Fiona- Desperate, huh? Well I'm very very very glad you are.:)
Dumbledore- I'm ever so glad that you waited to read this.
Brownie points stand at this:
Charmsangel: 5
Anne: 3
First person to reach one hundred gets a cameo. Now there's two cameos! Go to the first A/N if
you don't know what I'm talking about.
If you don't see your name up there, its because you didn't write a review! Write one, you'll get
your name up there no matter what. If I start to get a lot of reviews (please?) Then I'll only write
notes to the memorable ones. So make sure you write a memorable review. All questions gets
answered too...
On a final note, the next part will also not be posted for about a month. I had to work my ass off
to get this part up on time, so the next part might take longer. I get encouraged by reviews
though, especially towards the beginning.
Love always,
Tonallan
