*
"I'll see you in the summer, Lils. Be careful, I've read some of those books of yours, and all this magic business sounds a bit dangerous. Pease be careful. I don't want you coming back home with an extra head or a tail or something like that. Now, have a good time, okay?"
"Dad, you sound as though you're sending me to the Moon or something! I'm just going to a boarding school, that's it!" said Lily, shocked.
"I know. It's just that, well, Petunia just gets along better with people than you do. I don't know why, I've always thought it should be the other way around. Well, anyway, take care of yourself and send, 'Harry', with some letters every now and then. See you in the summer, Princess." Mr. Evans kissed his daughter on the forehead and left.
"Okay, now what to do I do?" Lily asked herself. She was an eleven-year-old girl, stuck at King's Cross Station, with a trunk full of spell books, a wand, and robes. How would she even be able to ask other Muggles for help? Looking around, sadly, she decided it was worth the risk. Thinking that it would be best not to mention her school, she walked up to one of the men in uniforms and asked about the train that left at eleven. But when he said there was no such train, she decided to look back at her ticket to find out at least where she should go to board it.
"Okay, what does it say here? King's Cross Station, I'm here now. Building A, I've covered that too. Platform 9 ¾, what kind of a platform is that?" Lily walked over to Platform 9, and looking beyond that, she saw Platform 10. Looks like mine should be somewhere in the middle, but it isn't. Now what do I do?
Lily sat on the bench and thought. She couldn't possibly ask another of the men in uniforms, that wouldn't be any help at all. Then what could she do? She settled for watching the people come and go. She supposed that there had to be some people who were going to Hogwarts, and if so, she could follow them to the platform. Yet no one came, and no one went. Lily was just about to give up and send her owl back to her parents, when she saw something familiar.
Two black-haired boys, one with glasses and one without, were pushing trolleys with large trunks. And the one with the glasses had an owl. Where had she seen them before? And then it clicked. These boys were James Black and Sirius Potter, no wait; it was the other way around. They were James Potter and Sirius Black. Deciding that it would be better to ask to help rather than follow them, she pushed her cart in front of them.
"Um, excuse me, but I'm a Muggle, and I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to get onto the platform. I…" said Lily, but she was interrupted by Sirius.
"Aren't you the dinky redhead who we saw at Diagon Alley? Didn't you tell us where the Owl Emporium was?" he asked.
"Well, yes, I was. Could you help me out?" Lily asked again.
"Oh, sure, I guess," said James, smiling.
"Oh, shut up, lover boy!" whispered Sirius into James ear.
Ignoring him, James went on, "All you have to do is walk through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. Then you'll be at 9 ¾."
"Wait, hold on a sec. Did you say I have to, quote, and unquote, "walk through the barrier"?" asked Lily.
"Yeah, that's what he said. Don't worry, if you end up slamming into it and guts splash out, we'll clean it up," said Sirius evilly. He was starting to get annoyed about the fact that James was actually acting decent for a change.
"How can you walk through a barrier?" asked Lily, who was still so stunned that she wouldn't let things move forward; she was stuck on walking through a brick wall.
"It isn't really solid. You can walk through. It just seems solid so that the Muggles wont' notice. Okay, are you happy now?" said Sirius. Suddenly realizing that he had offended her by speaking directly about Muggles, he quickly said sorry and turned away.
"So, I just walk through? And I'll be on the platform?" Lily asked again.
"You might want to run through, if you're worried," said James. He was starting to act like a big brother for her, and for some reason, he quite enjoyed it.
"Well, here goes." And with that, Lily started running towards it. When she was just about two feet away from impact, she shut her eyes tight. Okay, here it comes. I'm going to crash against the wall and all my guts will splash out, as Sirius said. And then they'll have to send Harry to Mums for me, so that they'll know that that stupid idiot James is the cause of my painful death. Well, at least Petunia will be happy. And Sirius should too; he doesn't seem to like me much. And I guess James doesn't either, or else he would have told me the truth… And… why am I not crashing into the stupid wall? But, at that very moment, she couldn't run any more. She wasn't able to move at all. Then suddenly, a loud train whistle echoed through her eyes. Opening her eyes with a jerk, she saw red. Thinking that she must have died and been sent to Hell, she looked around. She wasn't in Hell, she was on Platform 9 ¾. She did it! Looking back to what she was facing, she saw that it was the school train. The words 'Hogwarts Express' were written across its side in gold lettering. She guessed that she actually owed James and Sirius a favor. Yes, I owe one to Sirius too. He was just trying to make me hurry up. Maybe I should go and thank them. Where are they?
Neither of the boys were anywhere in sight. The platform was crowded with hundreds of people, all, no doubt, waiting to board the train. Looking around and around, Lily soon got dizzy and sat down on one of the benches that lined the platform. Suddenly, she heard a familiar laugh ring through her ears. Looking in the direction from which it came, she saw James and Sirius standing with a man with black hair who looked like Sirius, and therefore could only be Mr. Black, Sirius' father. Walking over to them shyly, she cleared her throat. As James and Sirius spun around to face her, and Mr. Black looked up at her, she began to thank them.
"I just thought I should thank you for telling me how –" she began.
"So, made it alive did you?" asked Sirius nastily.
"Well, yes I did, actually, which is why I wanted to –" she tried again, but once more, she was interrupted.
"Shut it, you. So, Miss… Evans is it?" asked James. He realized for the first time that although Lily knew their names, they had never been really introduced to her.
"Yes, my real name is Liliane," she shuddered when she said it out loud, "but you can call me Lily, Mr. Potter," she added with one of her smiles that showed her perfectly straight white teeth.
"Oh yeah, she's a REAL comedian, alright," Sirius said half aside.
"Well, Liliane, this is Mr. Black, Sirius' dad,"
"Oh, well, hi, Mr. Black," said Lily.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, young lady. I'm hoping that you'll keep these two rascals from getting into trouble, maybe with your influence they'll be good and won't play any pranks," he answered.
Sirius looked up at his dad in disbelief. How can my dad be favoring her over me? Something was definitely wrong. As he looked back at his dad, there was a twinkle in his eye that had never been there before.
"Okay, whatever you say, Mr. Black," said Lily with a slightly perplexed tone of voice. Now, Sirius looked at her in disbelief.
"Well, I guess that I'd better board the train," said Lily. As she turned to go, however, James called her back.
"You can sit with us if you want. I mean, I doubt you really know anyone, so sit with us," said James. Now it was his turn to be stared at.
"What's that? Oh, no, it's alright," said Lily. She felt herself blushing at being asked to sit with a boy. Normally, girls didn't even ask her to sit with them, though that was probably because of her sister. They had always been in the same school up till now.
"Besides," she added, this time glaring, "I'm sure he doesn't want me to sit with you two." She stared pointedly at Sirius, who stared just as determinedly back.
Mr. Black noticed this, and decided that he would be better off leaving than staying and getting involved with their heated argument that was about to begin. "Well, boys, I'd better get going. Sirius, James, have a good school year. Miss Evans, it has been a pleasure meeting you." meeting you." He turned and Disapparated. This greatly surprised Lily, who didn't know about Disapparating.
"Well, we'd better board the train," said James, as he tried to ease the tension. Sirius was laughing at the expression Lily had when she had seen Mr. Black vanish into thin air. If looks could kill, Sirius would have gone through every single life he had been given. Lily agreed to join them, and they all boarded the train together.
"Besides, I do have to get onto the same train as him, anyway, so I might as well do it before I get too late," as Lily said.
They walked along the aisle, searching for an empty compartment. Lily noticed heads poking out, and whispers following her.
"Who's that girl with Potter?" "Is that Potter's new girlfriend?" "That girl is actually friends with Black and Potter?"
It seemed as though 'Black and Potter' were the stars of the school. She could only wonder why they were so popular. When they finally found an empty compartment, Lily carefully placed her suitcase on the luggage rack, whereas Sirius and James just tossed them up, not caring whether or not they landed upside down or at the very edge. Lily sat at the very corner, as far away from Sirius as was possible. He pretended not to notice, and started to deal out some cards. Lily looked away, uninterested, but was soon watching them play as attentively as though she herself was playing. She was well acquainted with the Muggle version of the game 'Snap', but the wizarding version, 'Exploding Snap', was much different and more exciting due to the fact that the cards might blow up at any second. Both James and Sirius noticed this, but while James just smiled at her, Sirius was about to make a rude remark. Lucky for Lily, a tall boy with mud-brown hair opened the door, and asked to sit with them.
"Oh, of course you can, mate!" Sirius said, warmly. This slightly surprised Lily, and made her feel a little unwanted, but she didn't let it show.
"Thanks…" he said, a look of relief spreading over his face. Lily noticed that he seemed to be a lot older than the rest of them. "By the way, my name is Remus Lupin," he said. His voice was different from what Lily's perception of a male voice was. It wasn't as brash as Sirius', nor was it as genial and fun loving as James'. It was more of a warm, welcoming voice, and Lily couldn't help but like him at first sight.
"Well, sit down, Remus old pal," said Sirius, patting the seat next to him. "My name's Sirius Black, and this here is Jam –" Sirius tried to introduce himself, but Remus cut in.
"Don't tell me. I know. (A/N: That's a line from a song, isn't it?) This is James Potter, isn't it? Nearly the whole train's been talking about him. And your name is?" he asked, turning to Lily, who felt slightly giddy under his gaze.
"My name is Lily Evans, not Liliane Potter. And I'm not Potter's girlfriend," she said. The words had come out rather harsh, even though Lily hadn't meant them to sound rude. She had merely wanted to introduce herself before Sirius got a chance to.
"Oh, okay, I never thought you were, anyway," Remus said, confusedly. Sirius just grinned. Even James couldn't help but smile.
"Well, I'm not. What am I supposed to say? If I didn't say that I wasn't, Sirius probably would have said it anyway," Lily said in self-defense. This time, Remus understood and he started to laugh, too. Lily felt slightly hurt. There she was, an eleven-year-old girl amidst three boys, and all three were laughing at her. Wait a minute, why am I the only girl here? This is getting weird… Lily had just realized that she was the only girl, and she started to feel slightly awkward.
James noticed the uneasy look on her face, and smiled at her. When she tried to smile back, for some reason, the muscles didn't do it properly and instead forced her face into a look of disgust. This surprised him, and he quickly turned back to Sirius and Remus.
"Aren't you a lot older than most first years? I mean, this is your first year here, right?" asked Sirius. Apparently, he too had noticed that Remus was at least a year older than the other three. Obviously, Sirius was a lot smarter than he looked.
"What? Well, yeah, I'm in first year. I'm not… older… well, I guess I am, I mean I'm nearly twelve, but not for any particular reason. I mean I wasn't held back or anything…" Remus said, trying to avoid a direct answer. He looked slightly worried, and was watching the two boys very carefully. They, however, took his answer for granted and went back to their game. (A/N: He's older because none of the other headmasters would accept him because he's a werewolf. Just thought I'd mention that in case you forgot.)
Lily just sat, winding her hair around her fingers, wondering, just wondering, if she might have accidentally been accepted in an all-boys-school.
No, that's nonsense. Why would I have been accepted in a school for guys? It's not like my name can deceive anyone. There has to be another girl on this train somewhere… I just have to find her. But that would be mean. These two, or really only James, invited me to be here, and leaving would be like abandoning them. Not that Sirius would mind, nor Remus, I guess, since he doesn't know me, but I feel kind of guilty thinking like this.
James was also thinking something similar. She's probably uncomfortable because she's the only girl here… Then why doesn't she go and find someone… probably because I asked her to come. But she seems nice, I guess we just need to get to know her a bit better, that's all.
This is going to be a lot tougher than I thought. These two, Sirius and James, they seem to be smart enough to track me down and find out who I really am… and what I really am… I hope they won't, I have never had friends in my life, and these two just may the friends I need… Maybe even that girl, what's her name? Lily, that's it. She seems likable enough, but is she trustable? Remus was also deep in thought.
And here's Sirius' brain wave… Oh, I'm the king of the monkeys all, the jungle VIP. I've reached the top and had to stop, and that's what's been bothering me. Now, give us the power… of man's red flower… so I can be like you! Ooh… I want to be like you-oo-oo. I want to walk like you, talk like you, too-oo-oo. Oh, can't you see-ee-ee, an ape like me-ee-ee, can learn to be hu-oo-man, too-oo-oo! His thoughts were a little shortsighted, except when it came to songs.
James and Sirius went back to their game, with Remus watching carefully, thinking these thoughts. But, the door crashing open, wildly, interrupted them again.
"Help, someone help me!" A short, squat boy, with a bit too much 'puppy-fat', waddled through the door, apparently running from someone.
"Look at the idiot! He's running to find his mommy! What a jerk!" two voices trailed through the open door.
James and Sirius both got up, in hope of a fight. James may be nice to girls, but Sirius knew that usually it was only if he expected them to swoon over him, or instead because he thought them to be weak. With other guys, he was much different. Sirius, on the other hand, went through girls like toilet paper without having to be nice to them. And, like James, he loved to pick a fight, especially with someone he disliked.
Remus was with the boy who had waddled in, trying to make him calm down. But he didn't have much of a chance, for soon the boys who had been taunting him walked in.
"Aw… how cute. The git is helping out the fatso. Now isn't that interesting," said one of the boys. He had silvery blonde hair, which was just a bit too long for a boy, and hazel eyes that were constantly taking in every move in the room. His eyes fell on Lily, and he scowled. Lily once more felt uneasy, but all the same she stared back determinedly.
Remus stared at him, malice in his eyes. He knew this blonde boy. His name was Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, and he was the dirtiest, darkest kid there ever was. James and Sirius, however, were staring at the other boy. He was none other than the boy who they had met in Diagon Alley.
"Severus Snape, and Lucius Malfoy, at your service if you ever need disposal of – impurities," said the boy from Diagon Alley.
"What do you want?" James spat at the two of them.
"Nothing, my friend, but that piece of filth sitting across from you," Snape said, staring pointedly at Lily with a look closely resembling hate. At his words, however, Lily had understood what he meant. Wasn't this what the man in Flourish and Blotts was talking about? Weren't these the kind of people who had gone over to the Dark Side, and who hated Muggles?
"Come now, little Mudblood, don't you want to have some fun? You won't get any around these slim –" Malfoy began, but he was cut off, for Lily had walked up to him and slapped him across the face. All seven of them, Lily included, were surprised at what she had done. But Lily continued just the same. (A/N: Looks like the Malfoys have a reputation for being slapped across the face by Muggle-born witches, doesn't it?)
"Don't you dare insult me and my – my – my friends, got that? Now get out, before we all hurt you!" she shouted. The two of them walked slowly away, Snape with a look of fear on his face, and Malfoy with his hand still rubbing his cheek, where a red mark in the shape of Lily's hand was starting to appear.
"Lily, are you okay?" asked Remus unsurely.
"Yes, at least I think I am. It's just that those two just made me so mad! I didn't know what made me smack him, though. I guess I shouldn't have, it's just, neither of them had any right to say such things!" she said angrily. Sirius was pretty impressed.
"Look, Lily, I think that we, that is, I misjudged you. You aren't a wimp, you aren't a coward, you're a real, a real… you're a pretty good slapper. I can tell you that," he said, at a loss for words.
Lily smiled. She wasn't sure whether she was ready to trust him, but she could tell that coming from him, that was to be regarded as a compliment. But she still had a question to ask the three of them.
"What is a Mudblood, anyway?" she asked. All three of their faces looked sour the moment she had asked her question.
"It's as bad as a swear word, I can tell you that much. It's a, a cruel, an evil name for a Muggle-born witch or wizard. Mudblood, basically it means Muggle-born witches and wizards have, well, impure blood, dirty blood, stuff like that. We should have guessed that was what he was getting at when they said they were going to get rid of impurities," said Remus. Sirius and James just sat quietly. They suddenly realized the cause for the interruption. The boy who had been chased in was sitting in the corner of the compartment, whimpering.
"Hey, buddy, you don't have to be scared. They can't do anything, much. Don't worry; I'm sure Lily will take care of all of us, right Lily?" Sirius said. Towards the end of his consolation he had started grinning at her, and as a result, she threw the first thing she could get her hands on at him, which turned out to be Remus' backpack.
"Hey, what was that for?" yelled James. Lily didn't seem to have very good aim, at least not when it came to chucking backpacks around. Lily just grinned, until he threw it back at her. This time, it hit the right target, and Lily again threw it at Sirius. Her aim wasn't getting any better, though.
"Hey, guys stop it!" yelled the boy, for this time it was he who was hit.
"Oops, sorry about that, I didn't mean to hit you. I was aiming for Sirius," Lily explained.
"Aiming, you were actually aiming? My sister can throw better than you!" said Sirius, laughing
Lily just ignored him. "So, what's your name, anyway?" she asked the boy.
"Peter Paden Pettigrew, but everyone just calls me Peter," he said dully.
"Peter, is it? That's a nice name," said Lily. "Where are you from?"
"I'm from London, just like the rest of you. Isn't that obvious?" he said, staring at her curiously.
"Oh, yeah, you're right. Do you like… your house…? Oh, never mind what I said," Lily gave up. Sirius grinned. She was running out of nice things to say.
"Hey, Peter, want to play a game of Exploding Snap? We were just going to start a new game. Remus, you join in too. Lily?" James went around the room.
"No, I think I'd rather not play," Lily said. What was it with these boys and cards? At least they aren't gambling… she thought. She went back to looking out of the window.
Then, the door slammed open, once more.
"Man, next time you guys come in, can't you open the door quietly?" asked Sirius angrily.
"I'm not a man, mister. I'm a woman, in case you didn't notice," said the girl who had walked through the door. Lily's first thought was how similar Sirius and this girl were. They both had the same insulting attitude, and both were quick at giving responses. But Lily quickly dismissed those thoughts; looking at the friction between them she knew nothing would every happen between them but hatred, and she didn't want to be the one to make sparks fly.
"Who are you, anyway? And why did you come here in the first place?" asked Sirius.
"If you don't know, I'm not going to tell you, Mr. Black. And isn't this train going to Hogwarts? Or did I get on the train meant for mentally disabled people like you?"
"If it is one, then you're in the right place."
"And so are you, Mr. Cheapskate,"
"Who the bloody hell are you?" yelled Sirius.
"Oh, hi there!" said the girl, spotting Lily. "I was wondering if I could join you guys. You see, everywhere else is full except for the compartment where these stupid gits are sitting discussing Dark Arts and such, and except for all of the empty ones, and I don't want to sit alone. By the way, since you three don't know me, I know very well that James and Sirius do, my name is Sam –" she reeled on, but when she came to her name, Sirius interrupted. He was getting quite a reputation for this kind of thing.
"What, are you named after a guy or something?" he asked.
"My real name's Samantha Rogers, but all of you can call me Sam or Sammy. I hate the name Samantha. The last time someone called me that I think I knocked them out… but they recovered within a few hours."
"Samantha Rogers?" both Sirius and James said at the same time.
"Sam, it can't be you! You're so… different-looking and all," said Sirius, shocked.
"Well, you haven't even seen me since –"
"We haven't seen each other since we were around five. Where have you been?" James said.
"In case you didn't realize it, I've lived across the street from Sirius ever since the two of us were born. And I've lived across from you ever since you moved onto our street," said Sammy, annoyed that her childhood friends hadn't recognized her.
"Yeah, whatever, but you didn't come and see us. We were there the whole time, too, you know," said Sirius. Lily made a mental note to never try and make the two of them talk to one another, in case they might start trying to murder one another.
"You were to busy with your friends, you didn't even care about me anymore!" she yelled at him. "Come on, you. What's your name?" she said, realizing that they hadn't been properly introduced.
"Her name's Liliane Pot –" Sirius began, but stopped when he got a whack on the head from James.
"I didn't ask you, you stinking idiot!" Sammy shouted. Lily noticed that there was a slight smile playing on her lips. "Liliane, huh… nice name you have there. It's better than Samantha anyway. But don't you have a nickname or something?" she asked puzzled. She noticed that Lily had a grim look on her face.
"Her name's Lily; she hates being called Liliane like you hate being called Samantha," James explained.
Lily finally cracked. "Excuse me, boys, but I think I can introduce myself to a friend on my own, thank you very much," she snapped. "Come on, Sammy, let's go!" she called angrily to her new friend. Thinking that it would be best to follow unless Lily would show them all a side of her they hadn't seen yet, Sammy quickly followed her through the door.
Well, at least I know there are other girls here. Lily thought to herself, even if she knows the guys pretty well, even James.
"Well, personally, I think the name Lily is much better than Liliane," Sammy told her, trying to cheer her up.
They saw that the next compartment was empty and sat down. Lily made sure that the door was shut and then she confronted Sammy.
"Do you know them, somehow?" she asked suspiciously.
"Do I know who? Are you talking about Potter and Black? Well, yeah, I know Sirius because he lives across the street from me. I think we sued to be friends when we were, like, three but ever since James moved next door to him he's become this… oh, I don't know, like a sneaky little rat," she said.
"Well, he still acts like that. Only, Sirius isn't little, mind you," said Lily without thinking. This made Sammy laugh.
"But really, I don't know what James has done to him. I'm just happy he doesn't support the Dark Side. If he did, I wouldn't even step into the same building as him," she said.
"You mean the Dark Lord, and his gang? Everyone seems to call him You-Know-Who, and stuff like that. Why, though?" she asked.
Sammy just stared. "Well, it's be – because of a – all he – he's done," she said stuttering. But her stuttering wasn't due to her fear of Voldemort; it was due the fact that the train had finally started. There had been some sort of delay. "It's alright, though, I guess," she carried on, "I mean, you can say his name. It's not like it's a swearword or something, even though a lot of people consider it as one."
"Why, is there something wrong with his name itself? I mean, it can't be that bad, can it?" she asked. "Wouldn't it get really confusing, what with all the You-Know-Who's, how would you know who someone was speaking about?"
"Well, many people are so scared that they can't call him by his name, so instead the y call him either the Dark Lord, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or just You-Know-Who. No one else would really be called by such names, so it stays pretty simple," she said matter-of-factly. But Lily still hadn't had her question answered.
"Why's everyone so scared? What's Voldemort done to get such a bad reputation? All I know is that he's abused a lot of Muggles," said Lily.
So, finally, Sammy started explaining all about Voldemort and all the Muggles he had killed. She explained about dementors, the soul-sucking fiends that were the wardens in Azkaban – the Wizarding prison, about Voldemort's Dark Mark, Death Eaters – Voldemort's followers, and any other relative fact she could think of. By the time she had finished, Lily was wide-eyed with shock, and her mouth was half-open. She felt ready to scream at the slightest movement, and felt that Voldemort might suddenly Apparate in their very compartment.
Unfortunately for her, two girls decided to open their door at that very moment, causing Lily to scream at the top of her voice.
In the next compartment, the boys heard her, and ran to her rescue… not that it was really needed.
"Don't – ever – do – that – again!" Lily said, gasping for breath.
"Oh, dear, sorry we scared you like that. We were just looking for some company, that's all. Hey, Sammy, how're you doing? I didn't know you were going to Hogwarts this year! What happened to Beauxbatons?" said a tall girl with shoulder-length black hair, and eyes so dark they looked black. Lily liked the look of her. Her dark eyes had a sparkle in them, and her voice was playful.
"Hi, Pooja, guess what? My dad got a transfer. He's staying here for a while, so I get to go to Hogwarts! Who's that you've got with you?" Sammy said excitedly. Apparently, Sammy knew this Indian girl, Pooja, as well. Lily was starting to think that Sammy had known everyone who was going to Hogwarts except for her.
"This is Suzanne. She's from the 'land of the free', as she calls it. I tried to tell her that both India and England are free countries too, but will she listen?" said Pooja good-naturedly.
"Oh, come on, that's not what I said! I just said that I came from the US, and she goes blowing my words out of proportion!" said Suzanne. It took Sammy and Lily a while to understand, for Suzanne's accent was nothing like they had ever heard before, and it didn't help them that her speed of talking was like that of a jet plane.
"So who's your new friend, Sammers?" Pooja asked, indicating that they hadn't been introduced to Lily yet.
"Don't call me Sammers, okay? You can call me Sam or Sammy, but not Sammers. What kind of a name is that, anyway?" Sammy asked.
"It's a better name than Sam, I can tell you that much. Doesn't anyone ever think you're a boy? I mean you are such a tomboy. You know, I've never seen you wear a dress or even a skirt!" said Pooja. Lily felt like saying 'Look who's talking!', since Pooja herself was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, but restrained herself due to the fact that she didn't feel it would be making a good impression, especially since she hadn't been introduced to them yet.
"Yeah, whatever you say, Pooja. Anyway, this is –" she began, but this time, their door was flung open.
"Lily, are you okay? What happened? Who screamed?" James said as he walked through their door, followed by Remus, Sirius, and a scared Peter. It had taken them a while to find the girls' compartment. They hadn't expected them to be next-door to them.
For some reason, this infuriated Lily, who snapped at them. Pooja and Suzanne were shocked at her sudden outburst, whereas Sammy and the boys were indifferent. James, on the other hand, was taken aback. If he had known he would have been yelled at, he probably wouldn't have bothered worrying about her.
"What is with you boys? Can't you just leave me be? You're always turning up either to insult me or to ask if I'm okay! Just leave me alone, from now on!" she shouted at them. This time, everyone was in shock. Even Lily hadn't expected such harsh words to come out of her mouth. For a minute, it was completely silent. Then, James spoke, in a voice so full of spite that they wounded her deeply, as though his words were arrows piercing her heart.
"Fine, then, if that's what you want. We just came here because our unnecessary sympathy got the better of us. For a moment, just a moment, I thought that you could have been one of us, as good as a guy. Apparently, I was wrong. You're no better than your sissy girl friends. Come on, guys. Let's go. We should have known our concern wouldn't have been appreciated. Let's go before we get criticized any further." He walked out, followed by Sirius, Remus, and a whimpering Peter. Sirius and Remus kept shooting furtive glances at James as they walked out, but his face was set.
Lily just sat in her seat, frozen. She hadn't expected him to burst out like that. True, it was partially her fault; they had only come because they were worried about her, but it was annoying to have four big brothers running after her when she didn't even know them well. To her friends, she looked close to tears, and only snapped back to reality when her friends called her name.
"What, yeah, I'm fine. Why shouldn't I be? It's not like Potter means anything to me. I've only known him for, like, the last forty-five minutes, anyway. So, Sammy, weren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" said Lily, trying her best to sound happy and cheerful. Her eyes, however, gave her real feelings away.
Sammy raised an eyebrow at her, but when Lily didn't respond, she proceeded to introduce the three girls to one another. All four were instant friends, and amid the chattering and happiness, James' harsh words and thoughts of Voldemort vanished completely from their minds.
*
"Anything to eat, dears?" asked a wizened witch who had just walked into their compartment, pushing along a cart, no doubt carrying food, rather like a flight attendant would.
"Can I have a salad?" asked Lily. The witch just stared. Feeling as though she had said something wrong, she asked again. "Or can I have a cheese pizza?"
Again, the witch only stared. When she finally spoke, her words were confused and slightly strong, as though she had thought that Lily was trying to joke with her. "I don't got no food like that. Why don't you look at what I do got and then choose?" she said.
Puzzled, Lily walked up to the cart, and her eyes widened with surprise. She had expected to see mashed potatoes, pancakes, and sandwiches at the very least, these being what she had at her school cafeteria. Instead, the cart was filled with all sorts of things that she had never heard of before. Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and all sorts of other candies were present.
"Wow, I've never seen food and candy like this before. Those aren't real frogs, are they? Well, just to be safe, I'll have some cakes and jelly beans. I mean, some Cauldron Cakes, and some of the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans," she said. She wasn't sure if she was confusing the old lady, who didn't seem to comprehend very well.
"Ay, you could then, couldn't you? Here take all this, and it'll cost you ten sickles. All you others, don't y'all want nothing?" said the lady.
Lily felt slightly intimidated by the witch, for the tone of voice she used was gruff and harsh. The other three girls got their snacks and sat back down, eager to be rid of the strange witch.
"Is it just me, or was that witch just a tad bit… weird?" asked Suzanne as soon as she had left. Everyone murmured their agreement.
"You know, we'd better change into our school uniforms now. We're probably going to reach Hogwarts pretty soon," said Pooja. She seemed to Lily to be the most serious of the lot, always making factual statements and suggestions rather than joking around a lot.
"Yeah, guys, she's right, you know. We'd better change," Sammy agreed.
So the four decided to change. Luckily, they hadn't gotten very far, for soon, the door opened once more, to expel the least-wanted person at that point of time.
"James Potter, what do you think you're doing?" yelled Sammy. All four girls turned to the door and stared in shock at the face that had appeared.
"Sorry if I disturbed you," he said maliciously. Almost immediately, however, his expression dropped, and his eyes looked straight down, as though he had suddenly become very interested in his red shoelaces. "I was wondering if… if… if you'd meet me after the feast in the Great Hall, Lily. I need to… to talk to you… about something," he said slowly. Lily looked at him, raising an eyebrow so high that her bangs nearly covered it, but she agreed.
When he left, the girls made sure that the door was locked and the curtains closed before they began to change. Suzanne was inclined to tease Lily that the 'famous' James Potter had asked for a private meeting with her but seeing that no one else thought that it was funny, she desisted.
*
"So, what happened in there?" asked Remus. James was back in his compartment, and the other boys were bombarding him with questions.
"I told you, she said she'd meet me after the feast. I just wish I knew what people actually do after the feast. I mean, we can't have classes at nine at night, can we?" James responded.
"Why do you want to meet her, anyway?" asked Peter curiously. After talking with him a lot, they had found him to be a rather nosy and gossipy person, as sneaky as a rat. (A/N: No pun intended, of course!) This, however, didn't daunt the boys at all; on the contrary, Sirius had said that his sneakiness would help him with his plan. None of the others knew what his plan was, but James recognized the mischievous glint in his eye, and knew, that whatever his best friend was planning, it was bound to be good.
"I just want to ask her something, that's all. Okay, and I guess I want to say sorry for walking out on her like that," he said guiltily.
"She deserved it," said Sirius shortly.
"Yeah, James, Sirius is right. It's not your fault that's she's being a git," said Remus.
"Lily's just got a major attitude problem, and it's up to us to fix it," said Peter.
James looked around, surprised. "You're saying that you all actually hate her? Remus, I thought you said she was funny. Peter, she practically saved you from those Death-Eater wannabes… and Sirius… Sirius didn't you yourself saying that you had misjudged her? After all that, you three are saying that you hate her? Asked James disbelievingly.
They voiced the fact that they didn't hate her but that they would like to get her back.
"Oh, good, that's good news," James replied, relieved.
"Why don't you want us to hate her? I probably could if she made me mad enough to want to. Do you like her?" Sirius said the last line with a huge grin on his face.
"Are you crazy? Sure, she's probably the coolest girl I know, besides you, Sirius, just kidding! But really, she could be a really good friend of ours, I mean, she seems pretty smart and all, but I don't like her much yet. I think that it would be fun to prank her," said James.
"Great, we can use the magic we learn to do some really cool things," said Remus excitedly.
"Well, what else did you think I would plan? Did you want us to dress up and plan a makeover session for them?" said Sirius smirking.
"This was your plan?" asked James unsurely. Sirius nodded an answer. "It's perfect! Remus can do all of the important magic word, Peter can help us by getting some 'important information' from the girls, Sirius can plan it because he's the on who came up with the idea…"
"And what are you going to do? Sit around and watch?" asked Peter.
"I'll be in charge. I don't mind getting into trouble much, and I don't think Sirius does either, so we can do all the actual work. What's our first prank going to be?" James said, as excitedly as Remus. His smile faded slightly when he saw the evil grins that had appeared on the faces of Remus and Sirius. Peter was lightly puzzled.
"You'll find out in good time, James, in good time," said Sirius. And with a jerk, the train stopped, and the boys and girls left with their luggage, slightly nervous, slightly anxious, to begin their first year at Hogwarts.
*
Well, I hope you all like this chapter. I think it's longer than the other ones… So, please read and review!
Thanks especially to Sacred Dream, Snoopy511, and Sarcasm Queen! You guys are my inspiration for this story! Please keep telling me how I should do, and please keep updating your stories too!