Chapter 12: Homey School.
For the next few weeks, there was an outright war between Lily and Petunia. And it was even harder for the girl's parents as the memory charm from their prank had erased everything that happened since the James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and Gladys arrived. So when Petunia complained about the fuzzy purple ball chasing her, they had scolded her for making up lies and trying to get Lily into trouble. This just made her even angrier and she had refused to talk to anyone within her family, especially Lily.
But the weeks were quickly gone and it was time for school. September the first came on a Monday, so Petunia was spared of having to go to Kings Cross Station to drop off her older sister. Petunia barely acknowledged her older sister that morning and refused to hug her goodbye. Lily didn't mind, she didn't think of herself as a huggable person. So, when Petunia left for school, the car was packed and ready to go.
The journey was rather uneventful. They passed the same fields and towns until they reached the train station.
'Finally!' Lily thought as she stepped out of the car and stretched her cramped muscles. She hoisted her rucksack onto her back and carried Ravis' cage. Her father took out the trunk and managed to get her a trolley. Lily searched around the train station for any sign of Gladys, Sirius, James, Remus or Peter. She couldn't see any robes but then she told herself that they'd probably be dressed as muggles.
After saying her goodbyes to her parents – the usual 'take care', 'work hard' and whatnot – she ran into the familiar barrier.
The red steam engine shone in all its glory and whistled out loud, welcoming all the students on board. Lily walked down the many carriages and finally found one carriage which had relatively empty compartments. She collapsed onto the chair of the compartment and managed to find the old comic she had packed into her bag. She rested her legs on the chair opposite her and went into the world of superheroes saving the largest cities in the world with their superhuman strength. It wasn't long until her compartment door slid open and she saw Gladys smiling down at her.
"Hi Lily!" she greeted.
"Hey Gladys!" Lily replied and smiled. She then saw Gladys' disapproving gaze on at her feet. She sheepishly put them down and grinned.
"So how's you, and your sister for that matter?" Gladys asked a sly grin coming to her face.
"Well, I'm great. Petty's mad at me. I don't blame her though, I'd be mad at me if I was her." Lily replied with nonchalance.
Gladys just laughed. But she had to agree, it must have been quite a nasty shock for Lily's sister, not that she didn't deserve it.
The train started to move and the girls basically talked about what had happened to them between Lily's birthday and the start of school. As Gladys was talking about the new broomstick she' like to have, a small explosion was heard, followed by a lot of laughing and some screaming. Lily and Gladys popped their head out of their compartment to see James, Sirius, Remus and Peter laughing their head's off and an angry looking brunette. Her usually sleek straight hair was in a frizz and her freckles had some how been enlarged to the size of warts. Her clothes which had been baby blue before were now neon green. Lily stood for a second just staring at her, and then burst out laughing. It seriously reminded her of Petty. Gladys looked as if she was trying to hold her laughter in, but some slight giggles did escape her.
The four boys spotted Lily and Gladys and headed towards their compartment. They collapsed into their chairs and tried to return to a normal breathing rate.
"I'd told you we'd find them this way!" Sirius grinned and dug his elbow into Peter's side. He just smiled back.
"You mean you purposefully attacked that innocent girl to find us?" Gladys suddenly looked slightly disapproving.
"Are you crazy?! Innocent…her? She practically jumped Remus! And she called it 'flirting' when we tried to save him!" James exasperated.
"That's just a slight exaggeration, she only clung on to my arm and refused to let go." Remus said truthfully. "It was starting to get rather annoying when I needed to go to the toilet." Lily just laughed again as she imagined her amber-eyed friend desperately trying to get this hormone-ridden girl off of him.
The six friends spent the rest of the journey talking about the holidays and about school…and how to ruin the Slytherins. James seemed to be particularly excited about Quidditch and that he was going to try out for the House Team. Everyone thought he'd make it because during their flying lessons in first year, James had been an extraordinary flier. But the talk of Quidditch started to bore Lily so she tuned them out and gazed outside the window. The country was getting wilder, the weather drearier and the day darker. She dozed off as the country speeded past her.
The train jerked to a stop and Lily woke with a sudden as she felt someone fall on to her. Peter looked up at her sheepishly.
"Get off me Pete!" she growled and pushed him off, making him stumble back to his seat.
"Oh! Someone's a little cranky after her little nap!" Sirius grinned.
"Unless you want a beating I suggest that you get out of here! " Lily warned him. He was right; she was just a tad moody.
The group of friends followed the crowds of students to the horseless carriages that lead to school. They were glad to get back into their school. It felt homey and they were thankful for the warmth that showered them once they managed to get inside. It had been quite blustery that day and the wind stung their eyes.
Lily saw again the Sorting ritual taking place. She couldn't believe that just last year she had come to this school. It already seemed a lifetime. The usual announcements took place with the cheerful eyes of their headmaster Professor Dumbledore and soon afterwards, everyone was tucked into their food, eating heartily.
***
The canopies above her eclipsed all the light. Was it day? Or maybe night? She couldn't tell. She looked around her. Trees. Everywhere trees. They seemed to be leaking with a black sap. The sap smelled horrible and the very air she breathed seemed to be poisoning her slowly. The wind caressed her and blew hair from her face. But this wind wasn't comforting. As it blew past, she could hear whispers. Threatening whispers. All around her. The whispers seemed to grow. The trees had eyes. Dark endless chasms they were. Then there was a rustle…
Lily's eyes snapped open and she saw the canopy of her bed. She rubbed her eyes and felt that her skin was covered in a thin sheen of cold sweat. 'Bollocks! What was that about?!'
***
A/N: Hi everybody! Sorry for that long delay, but Writer's Block settled on me again! I really had no idea about how to get their journey back to school interesting! And I know that their journey wasn't as interesting as the first! And sorry about the title of this chapter because I honestly think it's a bit shite! But anywhoo…
I now know a little bit about what's going to happen in Lily's Second year, so I guess that's good! All I'm saying is that Lily's going to find out that the wizarding world has it's bad points as well! Please review!!!