Chapter One: The Journey
Lily Evans stared out the window of the Hogwarts Express with a vacant stare, her cheek pressed against her fist. Sighing softly, she watched a bunch of trees pass by.
"Aw, cheer up Lily," said Tracy, plunking down on the seat next to her. "You should be happy you're going to Hogwarts. I'm so much of a squib I was extremely happy when I got my acceptance letter! I was afraid I wasn't going to be accepted, you see."
"For you it might be great," said Lily slowly, not taking her eyes off the scenery. "You're already so familiar with this world. I'm leaving everything I know for something totally different and strange. It's a very funny feeling."
"I'm sure it must be," said Tracy dismissively. "Oh, the trolley is here. Are you getting anything?"
"No.I'm not hungry."
"Are you sure? These cauldron cakes are really good, you know. What about Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans? How about some Chocolate Frogs? I think they'll cheer you up."
Tracy bought a whole pile of strange foods and dumped them in Lily's lap. They spent the next half hour sampling different snacks and daring each other to eat suspicious looking every flavor beans.
"I think I'd better go look for Stacy now," said Tracy, standing up and brushing off her hands and making a face. "She asked me to hold something for her and never asked for it back, and it's burning a hole in my pocket, literally. You can eat the rest, I don't think I'll be back for a while."
With that, she swept out of the compartment, leaving a trail of cauldron cake crumbs.
A minute later a small girl tripped into the compartment, looking lost. She had a pleasant, round face and wide gray eyes. Her eyes flicked onto Lily and she made her way over to her.
"Do you happen to know where the restrooms are?" she asked desperately. "I've been asking around but no one seems to want to tell me."
"Sorry, I don't know any more about this than you do-AARGH!" Lily screamed as her hair got yanked by an invisible force so strong she tumbled into the aisle and landed in a heap in front of a group of sniggering boys. The little girl gave a squeal and ducked behind a stack of cauldron cakes.
"What was that for?" Lily asked angrily at the group of boys, which was led by a tall, arrogant boy with striking blond hair and an infuriating smirk.
"Ooh, redheaded temper," said the boy. "I'm Lucius Malfoy. And you are.?"
"Why is that any of your concern? You did not answer my question yet."
"It's just fun, to take advantage of first-years. Now answer my question."
"Lily Evans. And now I'd appreciate it greatly if you would get out."
"As you wish, milady," said Lucius, sweeping a magnificent bow while his comrades sniggered. They left accordingly.
After they left, the girl turned to Lily with wide eyes.
"You had to courage to speak up to Lucius Malfoy?"
Lily raised an eyebrow.
"He's one of the Malfoys! Don't you know anything about them?"
"I'm afraid not."
"I guess you must be muggle-born, then. The Malfoys are one of the most prominent wizarding families-it's best not to mess with them if possible," said the girl. "By the way, I'm Alice Mason."
"Lily Evans, pleased to meet you," said Lily, sticking out a hand. Alice shook it.
"Don't worry about being muggle-born, you'll catch onto things fast."
"I doubt that, when I am so far behind on everything."
"There are tons of muggle-borns that become prominent members of the magical community, so don't read in too much of it. Once we are at Hogwarts, everyone is equal. At least, they should be."
After chatting with Alice for a few minutes, Alice left and Lily was left alone again. She fell asleep after a while, and was woken up by a rough shake.
"Better wake up, we'll be at Hogsmeade Station in ten minutes, so change into your robes quickly," said the prefect who had woken Lily up before moving on to the next compartment.
Lily felt odd in her billowing robes and nearly tripped over them getting off the train and again getting into the boat that would take her across the lake and to Hogwarts.
Lily looked for Tracy, who had been her next-door neighbor for as long as she could remember, and had introduced her to the magical world after her letter from Hogwarts. She spotted Tracy talking to a pretty girl with blond hair, whose face was scrunched up into an expression of deep disgust. Their boat was already full, so Lily had to move on and look for another one.
All the boats were full so Lily ended up having a boat to herself. Feeling rather lonely, she sat back and sighed as the boats launched off across the lake.
She was just nodding off to sleep when there was a loud explosion and her boat rocked quite wildly. Water splashed everywhere and a particularly large wave tumbled into her boat. Lily quickly set to frantically bailing the water out.
There was screaming everywhere, especially from the girls. Lily saw that several boats had capsized and the giant that had been leading them was working hard to upright the boats while yelling at the other students to try and make room for the ones in the water.
After her boat was sufficiently stable once more Lily braced herself and leaned over the side of her boat. Grasping the closest body, she heaved upwards and fell with a crash back into her boat.
Lily looked down at the person she just rescued to see a boy with black hair and round glasses askew on his head. He straightened them, blinked, and coughed.
"Hey, thanks, 'appreciate that," he said, coughing up more water. "I'm James Potter."
"No problem," said Lily, quite out of breath. This James was no lightweight, skinny as he was. "Lily Evans. What do you think happened?"
"Oh, it's nothing," said James quickly.
Lily arched an eyebrow. "You call this nothing?" she waved her hand at the scene behind them, where there were still many frantic people in the water. Many of the people in the upright boats were too scared of capsizing themselves to try and help.
James saved himself from answering by bursting into another bout of coughing.
"Shoot, I hope I don't catch a cold.Hey, Sirius!"
James was reaching out for someone struggling in the water close by. Lily leaned over to help him and together they pulled on board a very good looking boy with black hair and mischievous eyes, which were at the moment dimmed.
"Thanks mate," he said, clapping a hand on James' shoulder once he recovered. "That was some water induced grenade, wasn't it?"
"Water induced grenade?" Lily narrowed her eyes. "What's that?"
"Nothing," said James and Sirius together. They looked at each other and laughed.
"I highly doubt that," said Lily.
"Well, it's nothing you need to know about. It was all an accident anyway."
"A very cool accident, to be sure."
"Yeah, couldn't have had better timing, Snivellus was really getting on my nerves. Dunno why he has to keep bothering us. Maybe this dunking will wash all that grease out of his hair."
Once everyone was safely back in boats the boats resumed their journey to the school. At the landing the shivering, wet, miserable group of students huddled, waiting, as the giant Hagrid set the boats in order before heading up to the great doors and knocking.
There was a minute's silence, students watching, listening, shaking, with bated breath. Then the door swung open and a witch in green robes was silhouetted at the entrance, bright lights glaring from behind her.
"Welcome, to Hogwarts."
Lily Evans stared out the window of the Hogwarts Express with a vacant stare, her cheek pressed against her fist. Sighing softly, she watched a bunch of trees pass by.
"Aw, cheer up Lily," said Tracy, plunking down on the seat next to her. "You should be happy you're going to Hogwarts. I'm so much of a squib I was extremely happy when I got my acceptance letter! I was afraid I wasn't going to be accepted, you see."
"For you it might be great," said Lily slowly, not taking her eyes off the scenery. "You're already so familiar with this world. I'm leaving everything I know for something totally different and strange. It's a very funny feeling."
"I'm sure it must be," said Tracy dismissively. "Oh, the trolley is here. Are you getting anything?"
"No.I'm not hungry."
"Are you sure? These cauldron cakes are really good, you know. What about Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans? How about some Chocolate Frogs? I think they'll cheer you up."
Tracy bought a whole pile of strange foods and dumped them in Lily's lap. They spent the next half hour sampling different snacks and daring each other to eat suspicious looking every flavor beans.
"I think I'd better go look for Stacy now," said Tracy, standing up and brushing off her hands and making a face. "She asked me to hold something for her and never asked for it back, and it's burning a hole in my pocket, literally. You can eat the rest, I don't think I'll be back for a while."
With that, she swept out of the compartment, leaving a trail of cauldron cake crumbs.
A minute later a small girl tripped into the compartment, looking lost. She had a pleasant, round face and wide gray eyes. Her eyes flicked onto Lily and she made her way over to her.
"Do you happen to know where the restrooms are?" she asked desperately. "I've been asking around but no one seems to want to tell me."
"Sorry, I don't know any more about this than you do-AARGH!" Lily screamed as her hair got yanked by an invisible force so strong she tumbled into the aisle and landed in a heap in front of a group of sniggering boys. The little girl gave a squeal and ducked behind a stack of cauldron cakes.
"What was that for?" Lily asked angrily at the group of boys, which was led by a tall, arrogant boy with striking blond hair and an infuriating smirk.
"Ooh, redheaded temper," said the boy. "I'm Lucius Malfoy. And you are.?"
"Why is that any of your concern? You did not answer my question yet."
"It's just fun, to take advantage of first-years. Now answer my question."
"Lily Evans. And now I'd appreciate it greatly if you would get out."
"As you wish, milady," said Lucius, sweeping a magnificent bow while his comrades sniggered. They left accordingly.
After they left, the girl turned to Lily with wide eyes.
"You had to courage to speak up to Lucius Malfoy?"
Lily raised an eyebrow.
"He's one of the Malfoys! Don't you know anything about them?"
"I'm afraid not."
"I guess you must be muggle-born, then. The Malfoys are one of the most prominent wizarding families-it's best not to mess with them if possible," said the girl. "By the way, I'm Alice Mason."
"Lily Evans, pleased to meet you," said Lily, sticking out a hand. Alice shook it.
"Don't worry about being muggle-born, you'll catch onto things fast."
"I doubt that, when I am so far behind on everything."
"There are tons of muggle-borns that become prominent members of the magical community, so don't read in too much of it. Once we are at Hogwarts, everyone is equal. At least, they should be."
After chatting with Alice for a few minutes, Alice left and Lily was left alone again. She fell asleep after a while, and was woken up by a rough shake.
"Better wake up, we'll be at Hogsmeade Station in ten minutes, so change into your robes quickly," said the prefect who had woken Lily up before moving on to the next compartment.
Lily felt odd in her billowing robes and nearly tripped over them getting off the train and again getting into the boat that would take her across the lake and to Hogwarts.
Lily looked for Tracy, who had been her next-door neighbor for as long as she could remember, and had introduced her to the magical world after her letter from Hogwarts. She spotted Tracy talking to a pretty girl with blond hair, whose face was scrunched up into an expression of deep disgust. Their boat was already full, so Lily had to move on and look for another one.
All the boats were full so Lily ended up having a boat to herself. Feeling rather lonely, she sat back and sighed as the boats launched off across the lake.
She was just nodding off to sleep when there was a loud explosion and her boat rocked quite wildly. Water splashed everywhere and a particularly large wave tumbled into her boat. Lily quickly set to frantically bailing the water out.
There was screaming everywhere, especially from the girls. Lily saw that several boats had capsized and the giant that had been leading them was working hard to upright the boats while yelling at the other students to try and make room for the ones in the water.
After her boat was sufficiently stable once more Lily braced herself and leaned over the side of her boat. Grasping the closest body, she heaved upwards and fell with a crash back into her boat.
Lily looked down at the person she just rescued to see a boy with black hair and round glasses askew on his head. He straightened them, blinked, and coughed.
"Hey, thanks, 'appreciate that," he said, coughing up more water. "I'm James Potter."
"No problem," said Lily, quite out of breath. This James was no lightweight, skinny as he was. "Lily Evans. What do you think happened?"
"Oh, it's nothing," said James quickly.
Lily arched an eyebrow. "You call this nothing?" she waved her hand at the scene behind them, where there were still many frantic people in the water. Many of the people in the upright boats were too scared of capsizing themselves to try and help.
James saved himself from answering by bursting into another bout of coughing.
"Shoot, I hope I don't catch a cold.Hey, Sirius!"
James was reaching out for someone struggling in the water close by. Lily leaned over to help him and together they pulled on board a very good looking boy with black hair and mischievous eyes, which were at the moment dimmed.
"Thanks mate," he said, clapping a hand on James' shoulder once he recovered. "That was some water induced grenade, wasn't it?"
"Water induced grenade?" Lily narrowed her eyes. "What's that?"
"Nothing," said James and Sirius together. They looked at each other and laughed.
"I highly doubt that," said Lily.
"Well, it's nothing you need to know about. It was all an accident anyway."
"A very cool accident, to be sure."
"Yeah, couldn't have had better timing, Snivellus was really getting on my nerves. Dunno why he has to keep bothering us. Maybe this dunking will wash all that grease out of his hair."
Once everyone was safely back in boats the boats resumed their journey to the school. At the landing the shivering, wet, miserable group of students huddled, waiting, as the giant Hagrid set the boats in order before heading up to the great doors and knocking.
There was a minute's silence, students watching, listening, shaking, with bated breath. Then the door swung open and a witch in green robes was silhouetted at the entrance, bright lights glaring from behind her.
"Welcome, to Hogwarts."
