Disclaimer: Everything but the plot belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling.
A/N: So... If you knew me well, you would know that I'm beyond obsessed with anything and everything that has to do with Harry Potter. And after reading each book 38 times, I couldn't help but really wonder about Hagrid's quote, "Not a witch or wizard who went bad wasn't in Slytherin." Being a Lily and James fanatic especially, I really began to think about Peter, who obviously followed the path into the Dark Arts. So was Peter in Slytherin? And if Peter was a Slytherin, and the rest of the Marauders were Gryffindors, why would they trust him? So we know from DH that this question isn't relevent (Peter was a Gryffindor - meh), but I'm still creating a fic pretending that he's not. :) I hope you're able to make sense of it and enjoy it all the same! Much love, *Kate*
The Muggle-born Slytherin
Chapter 1
A New Term
"Watch it, Mudblood," a greasy voice snarled as Lily Evans boarded the Hogwarts Express for the start of her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Lily moved out of the way for the sneering boy with sandy-blonde hair, and waited for him to pass. She grinded her teeth slightly, wishing she could use one of the curses from her new book, 1001 Ways to Curse Your Enemies, and make Avery sorry for everything he had ever done to her. Instead, she focused her raging anger on the trunk she was trying to heave into the storage compartment on the train. And with her face slightly flushed, she finally succeeded. She draped her book bag over her shoulder, grabbed her gorgeous snowy owl, Tris, and looked through the small glass window into the compartment in front of her. She sighed heavily. She noticed her four roommates playing exploding snap and some Ravenclaw seventh years arguing over a book. She knew better than to try to join her roommates, like any other normal fifth year would feel more than comfortable to do. They hated her, along with the rest of the school. Ever since her first year, Lily had dealt with being friendless and alone.
"Need any help, dearie?"
Lily turned suddenly. The chubby lady who usually pushed the food trolley was messing with the flailing arms of the coat rack beside her.
Lily shook her head, "No. Thank you though. I'm just looking for an empty seat."
The chubby lady shook her head. "None up here, I'm afraid. I'm sure if you make you're way back though, you'll be able to find one."
Lily nodded her head and began to search, not for an empty seat, but an empty compartment. She wanted to be as far away from any student as possible. Her only friend, if you could call him a friend, was Peter Pettigrew. He was a sensitive boy with the mind of perhaps, a mouse. And although he couldn't exactly carry on an intelligent conversation and could never help her with her homework, Lily still enjoyed his presence. He was the only person who seemed to actually care for her. Then again, she was the only person who was ever nice to him, as he was so untalented and in Slytherin house...
Lily was also friends with Snape, sort of, when they weren't around any other people. They had known each other since before Hogwarts, and he had been, really, her first true friend. But as the years had progressed at Hogwarts, and he grew closer with the boys in his dormitory, he grew further and further away from her. She could tell he struggled to accept her because of what she was.
Suddenly Lily felt herself falling, and before she could protect herself, she felt her chin smash against the hard floor. Tris rolled a few feet away in her cage and began screeching loudly. Lily tasted blood in her mouth. She tried to ignore the awful taste as she turned to see what she had tripped over.
"Get out of here, Slytherin," a young boy muttered who couldn't have been more than a third year, his leg sticking out into the walkway. Lily looked at him and his friends who were glaring back at her. Hufflepuffs.
"Your leg seems to be in a dangerous spot. You should probably move it before someone else comes along," she replied, bending down to pick up her very disgruntled bird.
The boy laughed at her. "Oh don't worry. I hit my target. Not unless another muggle-born Slytherin comes along."
Lily rolled her eyes, "Better watch it, kid, or I'll get old Voldie to come after your parents."
The boy's eyes widened in horror. "You wouldn't," he gasped.
Lily just shook her head in disbelief and made her way out of the compartment. Was he joking? Did he actually think she was in league with Voldemort? She felt the tears she had cried so many times creeping back into her eyes, but she forced herself to blink them away. That Hufflepuff was right, though. She was strange, even for Hogwarts' standards. She was muggle-born and in Slytherin... the first student in history. She remembered distinctly the fateful events of September the first, five years ago. She, like all the other first years, was eager to arrive at Hogwarts, be sorted, and begin her studies in the magical arts. Lily, however, was far more clueless than most coming from a muggle family. She remembered walking up to the sorting hat and jamming it on her head, listening intently to the little voice whispering in her ear.
"Hmm..." the hat whispered. "Difficult, very difficult. Brave, yes, and bright. But so eager to prove yourself. Muggle-born though, yet so eager... Oh well. Hope this suits... SLYTHERIN!"
Being naive and carefree, Lily couldn't have been happier with her placement. She had been sorted into a house after all. But very quickly Lily learned that being made a Slytherin was probably the worst thing that could ever happen to her. As soon as the school learned that Lily came from a muggle family, she was exiled to a world of loneliness. A muggle-born in Slytherin, the house named after Salazar Slytherin himself, who only valued pure-blood students? It was a disgrace! All of the Slytherins of course turned on her, led largely by fellow first years who were desperate for acceptance and attention. And the rest of the school automatically assumed she had to be filled with loads of dark magic to come from a muggle family and be placed in Slytherin. After Lily's first day, people began to skirt around her in the halls, trip her as she went to class, pester her as she tried to peacefully do her homework. Peter was the only one who had ever been there for her. Speaking of Peter, where was he? She was coming to the last compartment and so far she hadn't seen him.
Lily opened the door to the compartment, praying it was unoccupied. She sighed contently, stepped inside, and absorbed the peace.
"No one here to taunt us, Tris," she muttered, setting her owl on the seat next to her. Sadly, Lily pulled out her journal and began writing down all of her thoughts, promising herself that this year was going to be better than the last. Lily suddenly smacked her head, making Tris jump in her cage and hoot loudly.
"Of course!" she yelped, rummaging through her bag. And with shaking hands, she pulled out the silver prefect badge Dumbledore had sent her with her acceptance letter this year. A smug smile spread across her face. This year was definitely going to be better than the last. Any more snide remarks from anyone and she'd be able to deduct house points! Quickly, she changed into her black Hogwarts robes and pinned the gleaming prefect badge opposite the Slytherin crest. She was very glad indeed that all of her studying had paid off and she was now a prefect. She did have the top mark in every subject except Transfiguration, but then again, all she did was study. Having no friends made it easy to stay focused on her schoolwork. Suddenly, the door to the compartment burst open, and in fell four teenage boys, laughing hysterically. Lily raised her eyebrows at them, but they didn't seem to notice.
"Did you see his face?" one boy cried.
"Ah! His hair!" another yelled.
The boys continued laughing until Lily suddenly realized...
"Peter!"
The boys all stopped laughing and looked at her with a start, only just noticing she was there. The short, fat boy, with small watery eyes and a mousy nose smiled up at her, holding his stomach from laughing so hard.
"Hiya Lily," Peter Pettigrew said. "Sorry for the impolite entrance."
Lily shrugged her shoulders, unperturbed by their entrance, but still in nothing short of a state of shock. Peter appeared to be enjoying himself with other boys. Lily realized her mouth was hanging open and closed it quickly.
"These are my new friends," he continued happily.
Lily looked down at the other three boys, who she vaguely recognized as James, Sirius and Remus, three mischievous gryffindors who were always in trouble. The three boys were looking up at her tentatively, slight frowns playing on all of their lips. They obviously knew who she was, too. Lily shifted uncomfortably.
"Guys. This here is Lily Evans," Peter continued, not noticing the awkward silence in the room, insisting on introducing his new friends to his old friend. "Lily," Peter pointed at the handsome boy with a slightly tired face and sandy hair. "This is Remus Lupin."
"How do you do?" he smiled questionably.
Lily smiled politely back. "And this here," Peter continued, "is Sirius Black." He pointed out a tan boy with long black hair and a mischievous smile.
"Pleasure to meet you," he said, shaking her hand but not making eye contact with her.
"And finally," Peter smiled, pointing at an extremely handsome boy with messy black hair and gleaming blue eyes, framed by a pair of round wire glasses. "This is James Potter," he said.
James looked up at her, and looked directly into her eyes. He was different than the other boys. His eyes were warm and honest, sparkling slightly, almost making Lily feel like he could see her for what she really was... a lonely student only wanting a true friend. After a few seconds, James face broke into a smile. "Good day," he said.
Lily couldn't help but blush slightly and smile sheepishly back.
"You don't mind if we stay here, do you?" Peter asked. "I expect Avery will be wanting some revenge." The boys muffled a few laughs and waited for Lily's answer.
"Anyone who hates Avery can stay in the same compartment with me," she smiled.
The four boys took a seat. Lily moved Tris to the storage shelf above her head and Peter and James took seats on either side of her. Sirius and Remus took seats across from her.
"So you hate Avery, too?" Sirius asked after everyone was settled.
Lily laughed. "Hate him? That's a bit of an understatement. I'd like to rip out his brains and broil them in a frying pan."
The three boys looked at her horrified and Peter began to laugh. "Careful, Lils. These guys don't know the rumors aren't true."
"Aren-n't t-true?" Remus stuttered.
Lily laughed lightly. "So what have you heard? That I'm Voldemort's most loyal servant or that I'm starting a Dark League of my own and already have a secret 'Lily's Lair' somewhere in the castle?"
James, Sirius and Remus all looked at each other. "Well both," they muttered in unison.
Lily shook her head. "This school will believe anything. I'm no more involved in the Dark Arts than any of you or Dumbledore."
"Oh," said Sirius stupidly. All three boys turned slight shades of red, and surprisingly, Peter noticed the awkwardness in the compartment. Quickly, he changed the topic after noticing the badge on Lily's robes.
"Oh Lily!" he exclaimed. "I see you've been made a prefect. Congratulations! Remus here has, too."
Lily smiled and nodded her head as a sort of thanks, and then gave her congrats to Remus. She then looked at James, who was fiddling with a snitch in his pocket. James Potter? Why did that name sound so familiar?
"Ah," she said aloud. "James Potter. I knew I heard you're name somewhere else. You're the genius with the highest mark in transfiguration."
James looked up and blushed furiously, and muttered something unrecognizable under his breath. Sirius of course seized the opportunity to make the most of the moment, slapping James on the back and practically screaming, "Why yes! That's my Jamsie-poo!"
Lily laughed, along with the other boys. And after a few moments, she crinkled her brow. The other boys seemed to notice and waited for her to speak. "Peter," she began, "How did you become friends with these boys?"
Peter looked at Lily and smiled. "Well you see, it's a bit of a long story. My mum knew James's mum at Hogwarts and last winter they were assigned to work in the same department, Obliviators of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad in the Ministry of Magic. They were pretty good friends at Hogwarts, so it didn't take long for them to start becoming pretty close again. In springtime, my mum decided she wanted to go to Paris for the summer with my dad for their 20th wedding anniversary, and she started telling Mrs. Potter all about it. With them gone, I was going to have to stay with my 2nd cousins in Germany who don't know an ounce of English and are muggles. Naturally, when my mum told Mrs. Potter this, Mrs. Potter offered me a residency with James for the summer. Of course, I seized the opportunity... you know how I am learning a foreign language. I can hardly even remember the names to spells. Anyways, over the summer Remus and Sirius stopped by loads of times, so I got to know them really well. And after a few weeks, they invited me to become-"
"Friends with us," Remus cut in, looking rather pale.
Lily nodded, glancing at Remus curiously. Then she turned to the Sirius and James. "So you don't care that he's a Slytherin?"
James shook his head immediately. "Not at all. Well, I mean, we were tentative to trust him at first, but once we got to know him we realized he's not half bad." Peter puffed up his chest proudly. "And plus, you can't hold a grudge against someone who's never done anything to you, even if they are a Slytherin."
Lily looked down at her shoes. "I wish the rest of the school had that same philosophy," she mumbled.
The three boys all shifted uncomfortably in their seats. "Sorry," James said.
Lily shook her head. "Nah, it's not a big deal. You couldn't have known..." Her voice trailed off sadly.
James touched Lily's hand and a slight chill ran through her spine. No boy had touched her hand affectionately since her last year in primary school when she pretended to get married to her crush, Gavin Thompson. She almost started laughing when she thought of the foolish kiss they shared in his poorly-built tree house. She was quickly brought back to reality by the sound of James's voice.
"It is a big deal," he said, looking at his friends, then back at Lily. "Everyone should have friends, and you've never done anything to any of us. You're welcome to be friends with us."
Lily stared at James in shock, then looked at Remus and Sirius who were nodding and smiling back at her. "Well, sure," she stuttered, a smile spreading across her face.
James's eyes widened quite suddenly. "Hey guys," he said quickly. "Excuse us for one minute, Lily."
James stood up with the other boys and dragged them out of the compartment. He huddled them all together.
"Lily has the highest marks in charms, potions, astronomy, herbology, arithmancy-" he started, but Sirius cut him off.
"How do you know?" he asked, shocked.
"She's the one who always gets the top mark above me. But that's beside the point," he said, waving his hand as though he had much more important matters to discuss. Suddenly his expression turned quite serious. "Do you think we should ask her to help us with the Animagus potion?"
Peter nodded his head immediately. "Definitely," he said, firmly. But Sirius and Remus did not look so convinced.
"I know we agreed to be friends with her, but we've only just met her," Sirius said. "Can we really trust her with this?"
"I've known her for years," Peter said. "She's been my only friend and I have to say, she has never been anything but nice and completely honest."
Remus shifted from foot to foot. "No offense, Peter," he said quietly, "But we haven't exactly known you that long either."
Peter nodded his head. "True."
James looked at the three boys in from of him, then through the compartment window at the girl with flaming red hair, now writing in her journal. "We need someone else there in case anything goes wrong," he said sternly. "And Lily's the brightest girl in the school."
"But we don't know that she doesn't use Dark Magic to boost her scores," said Sirius.
"Honestly." Peter rolled his eyes. "No part of Lily has ever been near the dark arts. She just has a thirst to prove herself, that's all. And coming from her family, I think she definitely has a right to want to become something different."
The boys all looked at him. "What's wrong with Lily's family?" James asked.
Peter sighed. "Not enough time to explain now."
James looked at him and nodded, then turned to Sirius and Remus. "We need Lily there when we try to transform."
"But Remus will be there," Sirius replied, still not convinced.
James looked sternly at Sirius. Then turned his eyes to Remus. "So Remsie-boy. You mind telling me what you got on your last charms and potions exams?"
Remus blushed slightly. "Well, potions I think I got a 76% and charms maybe an 80%."
James nodded his head. "And do any of you know what Lily got on those exams?"
They all shook their heads and Sirius mumbled, "No, but I can't believe you do."
James simply glared at him. "Lily got a 146% in potions and a 287% in charms, a school record. Now who would you rather have watching out for us when we transform?"
Sirius looked at Remus, finally convinced. They both nodded. "All right, she's in."
James beamed.
The four boys made their way back into the compartment, making Lily look up from her journal and shove it back into her bag. James, Remus, Peter and Sirius all took their seats. Remus twitched nervously.
"So Lily," James started. "We were wondering if you would be willing to help us with something. You have to promise not to tell anyone and you can't ask too many questions either."
Lily nodded her head, looking at James curiously. "Okay," she said, "I promise."
James looked at the three boys and they nodded for him to continue. He took a deep breath then said, "Lily. Peter, Sirius and I are trying to become animagis and we were wondering if you could help."
Lily looked at the boys, then started to laugh uncontrollably. The boys all looked at her confused. What on earth was so amusing?
"Um, Lily? Are you alright?" Sirius asked.
Lily forced herself to keep a straight face, though it was difficult. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. So animagis, eh?"
The boys looked at her with their eyebrows raised. "Yes," said Remus loudly. "What's so funny about that?"
Lily smiled. "Oh it just brings back memories. I tried to become an animagi third year. It went horribly wrong though. Remember when I told you I was visiting my cousins in Switzerland for three weeks, Peter? Yeah... sorry. That was a small lie. I was in the hospital wing half-way transfigured as a doe."
The boys all looked at her, shocked.
She began laughing again. "Oh you should have seen Dumbledore's face. He was not pleased, let me tell you."
Lily forced herself to take a few deep breaths, then turned to the boys. "So why on earth do you want to become animagis? And better yet, why aren't you, Remus, becoming an animagi, too?"
"You promised not to ask questions," James said.
"Right," Lily said. Then she smiled, a light clicking on in her brain. "This doesn't have anything to do with Remus being a werewolf, does it?"
All four boys' jaws dropped. Sirius, Remus, and James all looked at Peter suspiciously.
"Oh no," Lily said quickly, "Peter didn't tell me. He's always been good with secrets... except when I told him I thought Lucius Malfoy was cute..."
The boys looked at her disgusted.
"I was 12!" she said defensively. "Anyway... I first had suspicions of you second year," she said to Remus.
"Second year?" he asked suspiciously. "I didn't even know you."
"We had potions together," Lily replied.
"Oh," he said, apologetically. "Sorry."
"Don't worry. But that was the year I noticed you were gone every full moon, always returning battered and scared. Third year my suspicions were basically confirmed when old Trewlaney kept seeing that moon in your tea leaves and crystal ball."
"I knew I shouldn't have taken that class," Remus muttered, but James turned to the other boys, a smug smile on his face.
"I told you she was smart. She began suspecting Remus of being a werewolf the same time we did, and we hung out with him everyday."
Sirius sighed, happily. "Well, glad you're smart Lily. This makes everything a whole lot easier with no secrets to keep."
James nodded, then turned to Lily. "So will you help us? We want to be able to accompany Remus when he transforms. He can't hurt us if we're animals. You're welcome to become an animagi with us, too, if you want."
Lily shook her head. "I'd be happy to help you and point out everything I did wrong, but I think I'll pass on attempting to be an animagi again. I'll leave it to you three to transform into halves of animals for three weeks," she smiled playfully.
The boys all looked at her and laughed, though Peter looked rather green. At that moment, the train began to slow down as the Hogwarts Express began to pull into Hogsmeade Station. Lily put together her bookbag and grabbed Tris. The other boys got their things situated, which mainly seemed to be bags of dungbombs and firecrackers. As the train stopped, Sirius, Peter, and Remus bounded out of the room, quickly followed by James. Lily lagged behind a little, still in awe of having new friends. Slowly, she walked off the train, but couldn't see the four boys anywhere. She felt her heart dropping.
"Alone again," she muttered under her breath. Tris hooted softly.
"Lily!" someone yelled from somewhere in front of her. She looked up and saw James hanging out of a carriage, waving her over to him. As she walked up to him he said, "Come on in. We'll squeeze five." He jumped out of the carriage and helped her store Tris in the back. He opened the door for her, then she climbed in, not able to hide the smile on her face. This year was undoubtedly going to be better than the last.
A/N: That's it! Hope you enjoyed! PLEASE give me feedback on this fic. I really want to know what other people think of this different twist on Lily and James. Yes yes, it is a Lily and James fic, though you can't much tell yet. It'll get there if I get enough reviews. (I'd like 20 before I continue :]) ppppwwweeeaassseeee. lol. Well... I better go back and edit this baby a million times so I can limit the errors to about 50 instead of 5 trillion... JOY! lol later days. Love from, Kate