A/N: WAI!!!!!!! I'm back, with another chappie of LILY: A CINDERELLA STORY!!!!!! Sur avec l'histoire!
Lily glanced around the platform in awe. There were so many people! Marielle had gone off to chat with some of her friends, leaving the first year to shove her trunk onto the train. Returning her attention to the task at hand, Lily tried to pull one end of the trunk up by its handle. Being as she had packed her trunk until it was overflowing, (she had had to sit on it to get it to close) it was much to heavy for her to manage. 'I could have let Marie put a weightless charm on it, but NOOO, I can manage it, I said! I'm fine! Pfft…I'm such a moron…' Lily thought bitterly to herself. (A/N: LILY IS NOT A MORON! Okay? Good. Just wanted to clear that up.)
"Need help?" a voice behind her asked. Lily turned to see the two boys from Diagon Alley standing behind her.
"Help would be nice," Lily replied, attempting once again to lift the trunk by the end. "I really should have gotten Marie to put a weightless spell on this…" she muttered. The boys glanced at each other and grinned.
"Stand aside, thou fair damsel! This is a job for a hero!" the one with the ponytail said in a mock-heroic voice. Lily rolled her eyes and stepped out of the way.
"Why are you trying it, then?" she retorted jokingly. The boy made a face.
"I'm hurt! How couldst thou jest at something like that?" he replied. Lily giggled good-naturedly, as the other boy laughed out loud.
"Come on, Sirius, quit fooling around. There'll be time for that on the train," the other boy said, lifting up one end of the trunk. Sirius grinned and raised the other end, and together, the two boys heaved the trunk onto the luggage compartment.
"My knights in shining armor!" Lily gushed, eyes shining with mock-hero worship. Sirius grinned.
"All in a day's work, fair damsel! Now, my I ask of thee thy name?" he asked.
"Lily Evans. A pleasure, I'm sure," Lily said, holding out a hand for him to shake. Instead of shaking it, however, Sirius bent low and kissed it, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Sirius Black. It is a privilege and an honor to meet you, milady," he said, grinning as he watched Lily blush.
"Enough of that, Si," the other boy reprimanded, before turning to Lily. "Don't mind him, he's always like that. I'm Potter. James Potter," he said in a mock James Bond voice. Lily giggled.
"Well, it's been very nice meeting both of you, but I have to go say goodbye to Marie before the train leaves," she said. "By the way, thanks for your help!"
~*~
Lily was reading quietly from Curses and Countercurses in her compartment. She had the section all to herself, for reasons she did not know. As Lily had just finished reading up on how to turn someone's hair a different color, the compartment door slid open and somebody entered, closing it behind them.
"Oh, gomen nasai— I mean, I'm so sorry! I didn't know anyone was in here!" Lily looked up from her book at the girl who had come in. She had black hair highlighted with dark purple that reached to her middle back, and her eyes were an eerie shade of lavender.
"It's all right. I don't mind. It would be nice to have company, actually. I'm Lily Evans." The girl smiled gratefully.
"I am Hanako Akari. It is a pleasure to meet you, or 'Hajimemashite,' as we say in Japan," she said. Her eyes held a depressed glint.
"Do you live in Japan?" Lily asked, curious. Hanako shook her head.
"Not anymore. We moved here for my Otosama's— my father's work. He is a part of the International Affairs Department in your Ministry of Magic," she said.
"I see. You miss your home, don't you?" Lily sympathized. "Well, if that's the case, I'm sure that you'll fit in fine at Hogwarts. I'm sure plenty of the students miss their homes as well." Hanako nodded, a small smile on her lips.
"Yes, that is true. Besides, I already have a wonderful friend named Lily Evans," she said. Lily grinned.
"Right," she said.
"What are you reading?" Hanako asked. Lily showed her the cover of the book.
"It's called Curses and Countercurses. To help me with pranks and such. I mean, if I'm going to get as many detentions as my mother, I need to be able to get in trouble, right?" Hanako muffled a giggle. All of a sudden, they heard a commotion outside of their compartment. The door opened, and four people entered, laughing hysterically. Lily recognized two of them.
"James, Sirius, what are you doing here?" Lily asked, hands on hips.
"S-s-s-sorry, Lily!" Sirius gasped. "We needed a place to hide!"
"Oh really?" the redhead replied, one eyebrow arched questioningly. "From who?"
"Severus Snape!" James replied, once he had gotten control of his laughter. "You should have seen his face!" The memory caused the others to collapse into peels of laughter once again.
"Lemme guess: you either a) insulted him; b) played a prank on him; or c) both," Lily said. One of the other boys nodded, still muffling laughter.
"I choose b. We should have insulted him though, too, shouldn't we?" he said. "I'm Remus Lupin. Pleased to make your acquaintance."
"Lily Evans. And this is my friend—"
"— Hanako Akari," the Japanese girl interrupted.
"I'm Peter Pettigrew," the last boy said.
"POTTER! BLACK! LUPIN! PETTIGREW!" a voice yelled from outside. The boys groaned.
"Aw, not Slime ball Snape!" Sirius said. (A/N: Try saying that ten times fast!) The door opened once again to reveal a boy with… purple and blue skin and green, pink and orange hair. Hanako hid an amused smile behind her hand, and Lily muffled laughter. Once she had gotten a hold of herself, Lily spoke, addressing the newcomers.
"James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, it was very cruel of you to (giggle) play a prank o— (giggle) on— oh never mind! Turn him back, before you get into trouble!" she ordered, before collapsing into giggles.
~*~
After a while (in which the boys, Lily and Hanako had Cauldron Cake fight and made fun of Snape), the train slowed to a stop.
"Are we there already?" Lily asked, peering out the window to the front of the train. Sirius looked out behind her.
"Yup! Hogwarts, here we come!" Slowly, the students filed out, chatting. The older students seemed excited, while the first years babbled nervously. Some of the first years, however, were completely silent, staring unseeingly in front of them, as if they had been paralyzed except for their feet, which moved their bodies towards the giant of a man, who was standing with a large lantern.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over 'ere!" the man called. "Everyone 'ere? Right then! Follow me!" The first years, including Lily, Hanako, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Snape, trailed the giant to a lake, where several boats floated on the water. "Four to a boat, now! Don't want ter be late ter the Sorting!" Ignoring the giant's words, the boys, Lily and Hanako clambered into one boat. After some dispute, Hanako and Lily sat in the front, Sirius and James in the middle, and Peter and Remus sat glumly in the back. With a quick shudder, the boats set off across the lake.
Suddenly, a wave splashed Lily and Hanako from behind.
"SIRIUS!"
"JAMES!" The girls exclaimed at the same time, glaring daggers at the hysterical boys.
"Honestly, you guys, you don't need to be so mean!" Remus scolded, though he was laughing as well.
"When we get to Hogwarts, you two are SO dead!" Lily exclaimed. Sirius and James glanced at each other and gulped.
"All righ', everyone out!" the giant exclaimed. The six "friends" stared in awe at the castle that extended above them.
"Wow…" Hanako said, summarizing all of the first years' reactions in one word.
~*~
The first years were lead into the Great Hall by none other then the deputy headmistress, a young witch by the name of Professor Minerva McGonagall. Lily fidgeted under the stares of the older students as all heads turned towards them. Professor McGonagall lead the group to the dais at the front of the Great Hall, where there lay a stool and a tattered old hat. 'Maybe we have to pull a rabbit out of it, or make it disappear, or— or—' Lily had no more time for these thoughts, as the hat suddenly began to sing. Lily blinked rapidly.
"Gryffindor, Hufflepuff,
Ravenclaw, and Slytherin,
I can find
Which one you're in.
Be you brave,
And loyal and true,
Then Gryffindor's
The one for you.
If you're just,
And always kind,
In Hufflepuff
Are friends you'll find.
The most studious
In the school,
A Ravenclaw
Won't break a rule.
In Slytherin,
Where dwell the sly,
A cunning mind,
Will score you high.
So put me on!
I dare you to!
I'll find the place
That's best for you!"
Lily breathed a sigh of relief. They only had to try it on! Lily tuned out the professor as she began to call names, until she heard a name she recognized.
"Akari, Hanako," Professor McGonagall called. Hanako, trembling with anticipation, headed up to the stool and put the hat on her head. After about a minute, the hat cried out.
"GRYFFINDOR!" A tumultous applause broke out from the table on the far left. Hanako grinned shyly and went to find a place at the table.
"Black Sirius!" went to Gryffindor as well, and soon, it was Lily's turn to approach the hat. 'What if it loses its magic?' Lily thought, panicked. 'What if—' She shook the thought from her mind and sat down on the stool, pulling the hat down over her eyes.
"Well! This is new! You have your pick of all of the houses! Though I recommend Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. I doubt you would fit in well in Slytherin…"
'Excuse me for interrupting, but could I please go with Hanako and Sirius?' Lily thought, anxiety causing her to sweat a little bit.
"Eh? Yes, yes, of course! Well then, your house will be GRYFFINDOR!" Relieved, Lily took off the hat and went to sit with Hanako and Sirius. Along with three other girls, Arabella Figg, Cassandra Lesley, Aurelia Harper, and one other boy, Mundungus Fletcher, all of the students who were in Lily's compartment got into Gryffindor. (A/N: Surprise, surprise…)
At last, the Sorting was over, and the wizened wizard known as Albus Dumbledore arose from his position and the Head Table.
"Welcome, first years, and welcome back to everyone else. I know that you're all hungry—"
"You got that right!" one of the fifth year Gryffindors— a prefect— interrupted. This was greeted by giggles and shouts of laughter, and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with amusement.
"As I was saying, before Mr. Caldwell added his two cents, I'm going to make this short. Two words to be precise: Bon appetito!"
"Amen to that!" James and Sirius chorused, before digging in to the food that suddenly appeared on the plates.
'This is going to be a fun year,' Lily thought with amusement as she began to eat.
A/N:I'm SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSO sorry that I didn't get this out in time. Right now, my dad is bugging me to get off of the computer, so I don't have time to say the thank you to you wonderful reviewers! Next chappie, ok?
