Disclaimer: Lily and other characters you recognize are owned by J.K. Rowling. The plots, along with characters you don't recognize, are owned by us.
Authors Note: I really want to say how sorry I am that it had to take this long to get the third chapter out! It shouldn't have taken me over three months to finally get this written. Sorry! But I hope you enjoy it anyways!
"Are we almost there yet?" Leighann asked, impatiently.
"We've still got ten minutes, Leighann, just relax! Can't you just enjoy the silence for a little bit longer?" Lily asked, leaning back and closing her heavy eyelids.
Leighann ignored this comment and sat back. She waited for five minutes.
"Are we almost there yet?"
Lily glared at her. This had been happening ever since the first hour had passed and only sleeping had occurred. "Leighann, it's been five minutes since you last asked."
"Oh, fine then." Silence. "Are we almost - "
"Yes, Leighann! Yes, we're almost there! Are you happy now?"
"Well, if that's the way you're going to act about it…"
The train pulled into Platform nine and three-quarters. Lily, who had taken off her sweatshirt from earlier in the ride, pulled her most comfortable sweatshirt over her shirt and snuggled into the warmth and safety of it.
The girls hopped off of the train. "Ooh, look! There's my aunt!" Leighann dropped her trunk in the middle of the platform and ran into her aunt's arms.
"Oh, it's so nice to see you again, darling," Lily heard her say.
"I haven't seen you in forever!"
"Yes, well, we'll have to wait until later to exchange conversation. Right now I'm running a tad late. I'm supposed to be dropping off an outfit to Mrs. Scange in a few moments. You don't mind if I use a bit of magic to speed things up, do you?"
"Oh, no, not at all!" Leighann exclaimed, grinning broadly.
"Good. Oh, and this must be your friend you told me about. Hello," the aunt said, walking to Lily with her hand outstretched. "I'm Alicia Anderson. And you're Lily, correct?" she asked.
Lily nodded; pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with one hand and took Mrs. Anderson's hand with her other.
"It's so nice to finally meet you, dear." Lily looked the lady up and down. She seemed very nice and very pretty. She wasn't too tall, yet she wasn't that short either. She was hardly rounded at all. If Lily hadn't known better, she would have mistaken her as a woman in her early thirty's. Lily could tell she would become a good friend.
"We best be going now." Mrs. Anderson shooed the girls to the car and managed to fit the trunks on top of the car without the use of any magic whatsoever.
"So," she asked as they cruised down the street, "what's going on in school?"
"Well, nothing much, really. I'm doing fine in all of my classes. All except for that dratted potions class…" Leighann said, thinking about her recent potion disaster.
"Well, that's good to hear!" her aunt said enthusiastically: almost a little too enthusiastic. Lily could tell that she was a bit excited that Leighann was visiting for a week.
"How about you, Lily?" Mrs. Anderson asked, glancing in the rearview mirror.
Lily shrugged and watched as the scenery passed by.
"She's got straight A's in every single class," Leighann piped up. Lily blushed, trying to hide her face in the large sweatshirt.
"Oh, how nice!"
The car screeched into the driveway of a large mansion-like house. Hopping out of the car, Mrs. Anderson opened the trunk of the car and pulled out a small skirt with sequin lining the bottom hem. She ran up to the door and knocked several times. The door opened and the girls, waiting in the car, rolled down the windows; listening in on the conversation.
"Good heavens, what took you so long?" the lady at the door asked, hands on her hips.
"Oh, well, you see - "
"Stop with the excuses. Just hand over the skirt and be done with it!" Alicia held out the skirt and the lady in the doorway pulled it from her hand, slamming the door shut behind her.
Nervous, Leighann's aunt knocked again.
"Good gracious, woman, what is it now?"
"Ma'am, you forgot to pay me."
"Oh. Yes." The woman turned around for a few moments and fished out a few gold coins from her purse. "Here, take it. And good day."
Alicia smiled graciously at the money and walked back to the car. Quickly and quietly, Lily and Leighann rolled up the windows and acted as if they knew nothing of what had happened at the door.
"Well," Mrs. Anderson sighed. "Let's go on home, shall we?" She started up the car and drove the rest of the way home in silence.
It wasn't much longer until they pulled into a different driveway of someone else's house that Lily presumed to be Alicia's house. The girls climbed out of the car and dragged their trunks inside.
"Sage, darling! I'm home!"
A small, thin girl of about their same age walked into the same hallway they stood in. Her long, thin, black hair hung loosely around her shoulders while her bright blue eyes gleamed in the light.
"Hey, Sage," Leighann said, nodding as she tried to pull her belongings up the stairs.
"Hello," Sage said back. "Why were you late, Mum?"
"Oh, I'm sorry dear. I had to deliver a skirt to Mrs. Scange - "
"That mean, old, nasty woman? Mum, I don't understand how you can stand her?" Sage said, hands on her hips.
"Honey, it's a living. Oh, Lily, this is Sage, my daughter. Sage, this is Lily. She's a friend of Leighann's from school.
"Nice to meet you," Sage replied, giving a polite smile.
"Likewise," Lily responded, shaking her hand.
"Sage, could you show the girls up to your room? I'll get dinner ready soon.
"Sure thing." Lily and Leighann followed Sage to her room and began unpacking their things.
"So," Sage said, sitting down on her bed as she watched the girls unpack. "How was the ride here?"
Lily let out a small chuckle and glanced at Leighann to find her smiling as well. "It was pretty boring," Leighann finally replied.
"And I think Leighann's glad to be here now, too."
The girls smiled again and continued to unpack.
"Ok… So, how's school?"
"Good."
"Fine."
Sage nodded. "Ok… So, do either of you like Quidditch?"
Lily shrugged. "Sorta. I think I'm pretty good at it, you know, but I've never tried to be on a team or anything. I'm just fine watching."
"Uh-oh…" Leighann groaned. "Wrong answer…"
"You don't like to play Quidditch?!? How can you not like to play Quidditch?!? It's the best sport in the world!!! You can't just watch other people play! At least I wouldn't be able to. I mean, with a sport that exciting, you have to play! Right, Leighann?" Sage asked, glancing at Leighann.
"Yeah, absolutely."
"What?" Lily asked, confused. "I thought you didn't really like to play Quidditch much either!"
"Lily," Leighann said, lowering her voice. "This is a different situation. Just play along,"
Lily raised an eyebrow and turned back to Sage who was now pulling out books involving Quidditch. "I mean, even if you don't like to play Quidditch, you can always commentate, or you could ref or - "
"Sage," Lily interrupted, "I don't exactly play on a Quidditch team or anything, but I do play."
Sage let out a breath that she had apparently been holding all along. "Ok, good." The two other girls turned their back to Sage, unpacking their belongings, and trying not to laugh.
"So, what position do you like to play?" Lily asked, interested. She and Leighann had never really been friends with anyone who was on any Quidditch team at all or was obsessed with the sport.
"Oh, I'm a Beater. So was my mom. I think it runs in the family or something," Sage responded.
"I like to play Chaser if I play at all," Lily said. "Leighann, how 'bout you?"
"I try to stay off of a broom as much as I can," she said, preparing for Sage's outburst by running out of the room and downstairs into the kitchen.
Lily grinned as she watched the two girls run around the house like maniacs.
"Girls, stop your horsing around, it's time to eat," Mrs. Anderson cut in.
The three ladies pulled out their chairs and sat down with a plop while Mrs. Anderson daintily lowered herself in the chair. She began passing a bowl of salad along with some chicken and a basket with bread.
"So what was all of this running around about?" she asked.
Sage jumped right in. "Leighann said that she didn't like to fly! Can you believe that, Mum?"
Mrs. Anderson smiled. "I didn't think so."
"What?!?" Sage asked, shocked. "You knew?!?"
"I talk to her parents, Sage, what did you think?"
Sage huffed and sat back in her chair, eating the food on her plate.
"Mrs. Anderson, Sage said that you used to play Quidditch," Lily stated.
"Yes, I did!" she said, proudly. "I was a beater. And I was on the reserve team for Scotland. That was where I met my husband. He was a Chaser, and what a fine Chaser he was!" Alicia exclaimed. "But I soon had little Sage, here, and had to quit to stay home with her." Alicia smiled at the three girls sitting at the table.
"When do I get to meet Mr. Anderson?" Lily asked, curious.
The other girls' faces looked downcast. "Er, being a Chaser on the tram apparently affected him in the real world. He chased some other younger lady and left me to care for Sage when she was only two years old." Alicia gave Lily a teary eyed smile and dished out some salad on her plate. "So, Lily, you like to play Quidditch?"
"I'm sort-of good at it, but I'm not really obsessed with the sport or anything. I'm not even on one of the school teams."
"But if you got over your shyness with everyone else, you might be on the team," Leighann said, taking a bite of chicken.
"And if you got over your fear of heights, you might be on the team too," Lily replied, just as quickly and the two girls smiled at each other.
"Um, guys, do you think you'd be up to a game of Quidditch tonight? We, of course, wouldn't use a snitch. We could just do Beaters and Chasers." Sage asked.
Lily shrugged. "I don't care. But I'm not sure about Leighann…"
Leighann had begun to back up in her chair, as far away from Sage as she could. "Do I have to?" she asked, sounding amazingly like a two year old.
"Yes," Sage grinned.
Lily shook her head and leaned over to Leighann. "Do you have any idea how well she'd get along with the guys on the Quidditch team?" she asked.
"What?" Sage asked her attention caught. "What about them?"
"They're, well, there's no simpler way to put this – they're obsessed with Quidditch as well."
Sage let out a relaxing sigh. "Good. I was hoping there'd be other people like me there."
"What?" Leighann asked. "Why?"
Sage looked over at her mother. "You didn't tell them?" Her mother shrugged and went back to her salad.
"We're just moving, dear. It's not that big of news!" her mother replied.
"Mum, we're moving! That's not big news?!? I'm changing schools, for heavens sake!" Sage exclaimed.
Lily leaned over to Leighann again as the other two continued a heated argument. "I take it she's coming to Hogwarts with us, isn't she?"
Leighann shrugged. "I guess so. That'd be pretty neat! I bet the first day she gets there she'll have a date with the Quidditch captain, though," she remarked, holding out her hand. "Twelve sickles."
Lily took her hand. "You're on."
The girls leaned back and continued to eat. It wasn't too much longer until Sage and her mother were finished debating.
"I take it you guys are moving," Leighann said, smiling.
"Business reasons," Sage said offhandedly. "So what else goes on at Hogwarts? What do I need to know?" Sage asked, interested.
"Well, there's all the people there that you, of course, need to look out for and the people that you never want to partner with in class. Then there's the teachers – don't worry, you learn who expects what after a few days but we'll help you with that. And we've got a costume ball - "
"A ball?" Sage asked, interested. "There's a ball? Yes!" Sage grinned and sat back in her chair.
Leighann smiled at Lily who was confused. "She's a dancing fiend. She took almost every class there was for her to take at age seven. Not to mention she's the best in her class! And it's an added bonus that she gets to dance with a bunch of Quidditch-obsessed guys."
Sage grinned and finished her food, setting down her fork. "Quidditch anyone?"
"You know," Mrs. Anderson said, "I think I'll join tonight. I've got nothing else to do." She smiled and stood to fetch the brooms. Lily and Sage followed out the back door as well.
Leighann sat back and sighed, happily. She was about to close her eyes and prop her feet up on another chair until she heard the open and close of the door. Lily walked inside.
"Oh, no, you don't. You didn't think you'd get out of it that easily, did you?"
Leighann groaned and followed Lily outside.
***Later that night***
Despite Leighann's attempts at faking several bone fractures, severe illnesses, and painful migraines, all in all, the game was pretty enjoyable. It wasn't at all how guys would normally play, going strictly by the rules. The girls would let the other get away with a foul every now and then and count points that would never be counted in a real game even though Sage was usually reluctant about it.
It was almost nine o'clock that night when Mrs. Anderson finally called it quits for the girls.
"Mum!" Sage complained. "Just one more quick game! First to one hundred wins!"
"No means no, Sage. Now march upstairs. I'll be up to check on you girls in twenty minutes."
Sage groaned and walked up to her room, placing her broom behind the door. "Do either of you want to take a shower tonight?"
Lily and Leighann nodded their heads vigorously. "Absolutely," Leighann added.
"Ok, there's a bathroom down at the end of the hall and another right next to my room," Sage said, pointing for them.
"Thanks," the girls muttered as they each walked into a shower.
Five minutes later, the girls exited and Sage walked into one of the spare showers. As Lily and Leighann dried off their hair, they finished unpacking their belongings. They hung a few shirts and folded a pair of pants or two. And Lily found herself at the bottom of her trunk pulling a small dragon statue and set it on top of her small stack of books. She watched the ruby eyes for a few moments, almost expecting the creature to move at any moment.
"You brought that thing?" Leighann asked.
"Oh." Lily was startled out of her thoughts. "Yeah. I mean, don't you find it a bit odd that you get some dragon statue from someone you don't even know? And not to mention, this is probably worth over one hundred galleons and that man just gave something like this to me!"
Leighann chuckled. "I bet it's some cheap plastic thing that really only worth two Knuts. Stop wasting all of your energy on it. Maybe he was just glad to get rid of something so old that he couldn't even sell."
Lily had to admit, it did look a little beat up like it had been through the wash a few times with small chips on the corners. "You could be right," Lily said, defeated, as she set the statue back inside her trunk as Sage entered the room. She took out the towel from her hair and began drying it quickly.
"Lights out," a voice said from the hallway.
"Goodnight, Mum," Sage called, climbing underneath her bed covers.
"Goodnight, girls. Now sleep tight. You've got a big day ahead of you tomorrow."
"Big day?" they asked.
"Well you're going to want to start to pick out your outfits, aren't you?" Mrs. Anderson asked.
"Me too?" Sage asked, confused.
"Of course, darling. You're going to go to Hogwarts, aren't you? There's a costume ball in three weeks. I'm sure you'll be at Hogwarts in about two weeks which means you need an outfit as well!"
Sage grinned. She never wore any dresses of any kind in any public places unless it called for it. Sure, she hated wearing small summer dresses and such, but when she and her mother were invited to grand parties, Sage loved to dress up in the best outfits her mother had stored in the basement. Especially when the time called for dressing in types of prom dresses.
"Night!" Sage yelled, excitedly, ducking under her covers.
"Sleep well. You don't have to wake up very early so just sleep in as much as you want."
The three girls shut their eyes and heard Mrs. Anderson leave the room as the door shut behind her.
It wasn't too much longer until Sage opened her eyes and propped herself up on her pillow. "Leighann? Lily? You guys still awake?"
"I am now," she heard Leighann mumble into her pillow.
Lily smiled and rolled over to face Sage's bed. "Yeah, we're awake. What's wrong?"
"Well, nothing. I was just wondering what Hogwarts was like."
"That's why you woke me up from the best dream ever? Because you wanted to know what Hogwarts was like?" Leighann asked, sitting straight up.
Lily giggled and threw a pillow at her. "Leighann, you haven't been laying down for more than two minutes. It's almost impossible to have a dream that soon!"
"Anything's possible," she muttered, laying her head down on the pillow she got hit with. Lily rolled her eyes and turned to Sage once again.
"Well, it's rather interesting, actually. When I first got there, I thought it would just be normal classes with small classrooms, small corridors, you know. But I got a pretty big shock. Maybe it's just because I didn't think of wizarding schools as that large."
"Tell me about all of the Professors," Sage said, intrigued.
Lily grinned and laid down, flat on her back. "Well, you've got Professor McGonnagol who's been there since the Stone Age. You gotta be careful about her. She knows just about every trick in the book…"
And Lily was off explaining every Professor and their personalities with a few side comments from Leighann on how nasty one was, or what happened in their class once. It wasn't until later that the girls realized how late they were talking.
" – and Professor Kettleburn started two years ago. He teaches Care of Magical Creatures. He's getting used to the students so he's learning the tricks. But every now and then you could sneak something - "
"Girls!" a voice yelled from next door. "Get to bed, young ladies! I let you talk for awhile – but this is ridiculous! Go to sleep!"
Sage looked at the muggle clock hanging on her wall. It was midnight and she was now beginning to feel a bit drowsy. "I guess you'll have to tell me more tomorrow," Sage whispered, letting out a large yawn.
"I guess so," Lily whispered back. Leighann had long ago dropped out of the conversation, nearly in a coma since she was so tired.
"Goodnight."
"Night."
Review pretty please!!!
