Chapter 4: Learning the Ropes
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, or even read, this story so far. I'm estimating I'll put up twenty chapters, and my goal is one hundred reviews. But five a chapter would be nice. (
Disclaimer: I'm broke. I don't have a job, I spend my allowance in two days flat, and the most that I buy myself, without my mom paying, are my CDs with a Parental Guidance label. So, basically, I own nothing to do with this story. Yay for me.
~*~
End of Last Chapter-
Lily laid down on her new bed and sighed in contentment, sinking off into a peaceful sleep filled with dreams of Hogwarts, and, more importantly, of a certain James Potter.
~*~
Lily awoke at eleven o'clock to something poking at her ribs.
"Ahh!" She let out a small scream as she opened her eyes to a small, skinny, incredibly ugly something.
"Oh, Floppy is so very sorry to scare Miss Evans! 'Tis just that Master Sirius asked if Floppy would please come and wake her up!"
Lily blinked slowly, allowing the room to come into focus. The house-elf as she remembered from yesterday, was still ugly.
"Uh, hi." She said unsurely.
"Hello, Miss Evans. Is you wanting some breakfast? Toast, bacon, and an omelet is what Floppy did bring with her, but maybe you is wanting something else?"
"No, uh, Floppy, that sounds wonderful. Um, what."
"GOOD morning, Lily, how are you today?" Sirius said happily, coming through the door.
"Okay, you?"
"Splendid! Floppy, you did great waking her up, I'll let you get back to the kitchens now."
"Yes sir!" Floppy squeaked, skipping out of the room.
"So, what are you doing?" Lily asked her cousin curiously.
"Getting you up. I figured that you need to get ready for your meeting with Professor McGonagall, and then meet my friends. After your lesson, we can go to Diagon Alley. All your school books are here, and Mr. Ollivander is going to bring some wands with him today, but you need a uniform for Inspection Days and a pet."
Lily wondered what he meant by Inspection Days, but decided not to ask. Instead, she agreed to be downstairs in half an hour.
~*~
Lily made her way down the stairs from the girl's dormitories to the crowded Common Room. It looked like almost all the House was there!
"Lily! Good, you made it on time! Come here!" Sirius said, grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him and leading her over to a group of his friends.
"This is Remus Lupin." He gestured to an average sized guy with light brown hair and kind blue-green eyes.
"And Peter Pettigrew." He pointed to a small, plump boy, with light blonde hair and small, beady little black eyes.
"We are the Marauders. Some other people you should know are Adam Binks," he pointed to a dark haired boy, "He's the Keeper on the Quidditch team. Over there is his cousin, Alexia, she's in fourth year, and a Chaser. To her left, that's Steven Finnegan, another Chaser, sixth year, Alexia's boyfriend. Then there's Smack Dennison, my fellow Beater, real name's Maurice, don't ask about the name. That's the team, and basically everyone we hang out with. And of course there's me and Prongs." He added.
"Hi, everybody." Lily said with a grin to the people who had turned around at the mention of their names. "Anyone else I should know?"
"Yeah. Introduce her to the other girls." Remus said quietly from the chair he had claimed during the greetings.
"Oh, right. Ladies!" Sirius called, turning toward the opposite side of the room.
"Yes, Siri?" A brunette asked, walking toward them with three others following her.
"Don't call me that. Lily, this is Candy, Chrissie, Callie, and Caitlin." He said, nodding his head at each as he passed through their names. Candy, the one who had spoken before, was tall with chestnut colored hair and a small figure. Chrissie had dark hair and fair skin with hazel eyes, while Callie had bright red, not crimson or scarlet, but dyed red hair and brown eyes. Caitlin was probably the best looking one, in Lily's opinion, but reminded her of Petunia and Samantha with bleached platinum blonde hair and blue eyes that looked like they were enhanced with colored contacts.
After sizing the four up, Lily had started to ignore Sirius's conversation with them and tried to find a face that had been absent from the group all morning.
"Oh, James is out practicing. You know him, always the most diligent. He's nervous about the open position. We still haven't found a Seeker." Sirius said in a worried tone.
Lily rolled her eyes at Candy's attempt to flirt with her cousin. Her eyes still searched around the room, this time observing the people in the Common Room that had slowly started to empty as people had headed to their days activities.
"So, where's your other roommate?" Sirius asked the four.
"Oh. Well, I don't know." Callie said in an irritated tone. "We don't really like her anyway."
"Thanks. I don't really like you either."
Lily turned around and couldn't believe what she was seeing. "MAX?"
"Hey, Lily, what's up?" The golden haired girl asked casually.
"What're you? Don't tell me you're a?"
"Yeah, I'm a witch. I knew you were too, because you could see the store. It's bewitched to look vacant to muggles." She explained.
"Hey, Maxine, how are you?" Sirius asked in a deep voice. Max rolled her eyes.
"Don't call me that, Sirius. I'm borrowing your cousin for an hour or two, goodbye."
"Okay!" Sirius called behind them. "Meet us here at 2:45!"
~*~
Later, after talking like there was no tomorrow about Max hating her roommates, Lily's infatuation with James, and Max harboring a small crush on Sirius, yes, I said a small crush on Sirius, the two walked into the Common Room.
"Hey, you two, let's get going." Remus said. James and Sirius stood up, and Peter was nowhere to be seen.
Lily was starting to get butterflies in her stomach, unsure of what was to come.
"This is it." Sirius said, as James knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
They opened the door and saw Professor McGonagall talking to an old man with silver hair. There were stacks and stacks of long, thin boxes piled in front of the bookcase-lined walls. There was a desk with two chairs in front of it with a nameplate of Professor McGonagall on it. It occurred to Lily that this was her office.
"Good afternoon, misses Evans and Compton, Misters Black, Potter, and Lupin. Compton, Lupin, Black Potter, take a seat. Miss Evans, this is Mr. Ollivander. He will be distributing your wand, and then we will perform the spell and test. Mr. Ollivander." She nodded to him.
"Miss Evans, please step up on this platform and stand up straight." He said, busying himself with the boxes. He straightened up for a moment and released a measuring tape that started to measure Lily.
"Enough." The tape zoomed over to him. "Miss Evans, please step off the platform. Here, wave this around a bit." He handed her a wand. She did as she was told, and the window started to open and close with such a force that the panes of glass wiggled.
"Hm. No." He reached for another. "Let us see. Possibly. Nine and a half inches, made of mahogany, contains a hair of a siren. Do not use those much. Maybe." He handed it to her. She felt warmth spread through her entire body, starting at the tips of her fingers. She waved it, and a shower of crystals fell through the air.
"Really? Interesting. Goodness me!" Mr. Ollivander said, with his gray eyes shining.
"Well, she has her wand. I'll see you later, Mr. Ollivander." Professor McGonagall said.
He exited the room and McGonagall turned to Lily. "We need to get started. Please lay down so that I can perform the charm."
Lily did as she was told. She heard McGonagall say something that sounded like a different language and saw a flash of violet light.
"Miss Evans, please sit up and perform the Levitation spell on this book."
Out of nowhere, Lily thought the words wingardium leviosa, and felt the words on the tip of her tongue. She automatically moved her wand. The chair floated into the air, and Lily sat it back down. They went through over twenty spells like this until McGonagall was satisfied with the results and dismissed the teens.
"I expect to see you in class on Monday, Evans!" She called to their retreating backs.
"Do you think that the spell taught her curses too?" Max asked curiously.
"Well, let's see." James said. "Hey, Lily, cast the stunning spell on Sirius, please."
Lily turned around and said, "Stupefy!" causing her cousin to freeze in mid- step.
Everyone laughed and Remus took the spell off him. Lily walked behind the rest; thinking about how much better her life was then it had been two days ago.
Then a hand grabbed her from behind.
~*~
A/N: Here ya go! All right, another filler, but the next one will be good, I SWEAR! Can someone tell me how to get bold and italics and shit, it's annoying not knowing. Oh, and can I have some reviews please? Thank you. (
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, or even read, this story so far. I'm estimating I'll put up twenty chapters, and my goal is one hundred reviews. But five a chapter would be nice. (
Disclaimer: I'm broke. I don't have a job, I spend my allowance in two days flat, and the most that I buy myself, without my mom paying, are my CDs with a Parental Guidance label. So, basically, I own nothing to do with this story. Yay for me.
~*~
End of Last Chapter-
Lily laid down on her new bed and sighed in contentment, sinking off into a peaceful sleep filled with dreams of Hogwarts, and, more importantly, of a certain James Potter.
~*~
Lily awoke at eleven o'clock to something poking at her ribs.
"Ahh!" She let out a small scream as she opened her eyes to a small, skinny, incredibly ugly something.
"Oh, Floppy is so very sorry to scare Miss Evans! 'Tis just that Master Sirius asked if Floppy would please come and wake her up!"
Lily blinked slowly, allowing the room to come into focus. The house-elf as she remembered from yesterday, was still ugly.
"Uh, hi." She said unsurely.
"Hello, Miss Evans. Is you wanting some breakfast? Toast, bacon, and an omelet is what Floppy did bring with her, but maybe you is wanting something else?"
"No, uh, Floppy, that sounds wonderful. Um, what."
"GOOD morning, Lily, how are you today?" Sirius said happily, coming through the door.
"Okay, you?"
"Splendid! Floppy, you did great waking her up, I'll let you get back to the kitchens now."
"Yes sir!" Floppy squeaked, skipping out of the room.
"So, what are you doing?" Lily asked her cousin curiously.
"Getting you up. I figured that you need to get ready for your meeting with Professor McGonagall, and then meet my friends. After your lesson, we can go to Diagon Alley. All your school books are here, and Mr. Ollivander is going to bring some wands with him today, but you need a uniform for Inspection Days and a pet."
Lily wondered what he meant by Inspection Days, but decided not to ask. Instead, she agreed to be downstairs in half an hour.
~*~
Lily made her way down the stairs from the girl's dormitories to the crowded Common Room. It looked like almost all the House was there!
"Lily! Good, you made it on time! Come here!" Sirius said, grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him and leading her over to a group of his friends.
"This is Remus Lupin." He gestured to an average sized guy with light brown hair and kind blue-green eyes.
"And Peter Pettigrew." He pointed to a small, plump boy, with light blonde hair and small, beady little black eyes.
"We are the Marauders. Some other people you should know are Adam Binks," he pointed to a dark haired boy, "He's the Keeper on the Quidditch team. Over there is his cousin, Alexia, she's in fourth year, and a Chaser. To her left, that's Steven Finnegan, another Chaser, sixth year, Alexia's boyfriend. Then there's Smack Dennison, my fellow Beater, real name's Maurice, don't ask about the name. That's the team, and basically everyone we hang out with. And of course there's me and Prongs." He added.
"Hi, everybody." Lily said with a grin to the people who had turned around at the mention of their names. "Anyone else I should know?"
"Yeah. Introduce her to the other girls." Remus said quietly from the chair he had claimed during the greetings.
"Oh, right. Ladies!" Sirius called, turning toward the opposite side of the room.
"Yes, Siri?" A brunette asked, walking toward them with three others following her.
"Don't call me that. Lily, this is Candy, Chrissie, Callie, and Caitlin." He said, nodding his head at each as he passed through their names. Candy, the one who had spoken before, was tall with chestnut colored hair and a small figure. Chrissie had dark hair and fair skin with hazel eyes, while Callie had bright red, not crimson or scarlet, but dyed red hair and brown eyes. Caitlin was probably the best looking one, in Lily's opinion, but reminded her of Petunia and Samantha with bleached platinum blonde hair and blue eyes that looked like they were enhanced with colored contacts.
After sizing the four up, Lily had started to ignore Sirius's conversation with them and tried to find a face that had been absent from the group all morning.
"Oh, James is out practicing. You know him, always the most diligent. He's nervous about the open position. We still haven't found a Seeker." Sirius said in a worried tone.
Lily rolled her eyes at Candy's attempt to flirt with her cousin. Her eyes still searched around the room, this time observing the people in the Common Room that had slowly started to empty as people had headed to their days activities.
"So, where's your other roommate?" Sirius asked the four.
"Oh. Well, I don't know." Callie said in an irritated tone. "We don't really like her anyway."
"Thanks. I don't really like you either."
Lily turned around and couldn't believe what she was seeing. "MAX?"
"Hey, Lily, what's up?" The golden haired girl asked casually.
"What're you? Don't tell me you're a?"
"Yeah, I'm a witch. I knew you were too, because you could see the store. It's bewitched to look vacant to muggles." She explained.
"Hey, Maxine, how are you?" Sirius asked in a deep voice. Max rolled her eyes.
"Don't call me that, Sirius. I'm borrowing your cousin for an hour or two, goodbye."
"Okay!" Sirius called behind them. "Meet us here at 2:45!"
~*~
Later, after talking like there was no tomorrow about Max hating her roommates, Lily's infatuation with James, and Max harboring a small crush on Sirius, yes, I said a small crush on Sirius, the two walked into the Common Room.
"Hey, you two, let's get going." Remus said. James and Sirius stood up, and Peter was nowhere to be seen.
Lily was starting to get butterflies in her stomach, unsure of what was to come.
"This is it." Sirius said, as James knocked on the door.
"Come in!"
They opened the door and saw Professor McGonagall talking to an old man with silver hair. There were stacks and stacks of long, thin boxes piled in front of the bookcase-lined walls. There was a desk with two chairs in front of it with a nameplate of Professor McGonagall on it. It occurred to Lily that this was her office.
"Good afternoon, misses Evans and Compton, Misters Black, Potter, and Lupin. Compton, Lupin, Black Potter, take a seat. Miss Evans, this is Mr. Ollivander. He will be distributing your wand, and then we will perform the spell and test. Mr. Ollivander." She nodded to him.
"Miss Evans, please step up on this platform and stand up straight." He said, busying himself with the boxes. He straightened up for a moment and released a measuring tape that started to measure Lily.
"Enough." The tape zoomed over to him. "Miss Evans, please step off the platform. Here, wave this around a bit." He handed her a wand. She did as she was told, and the window started to open and close with such a force that the panes of glass wiggled.
"Hm. No." He reached for another. "Let us see. Possibly. Nine and a half inches, made of mahogany, contains a hair of a siren. Do not use those much. Maybe." He handed it to her. She felt warmth spread through her entire body, starting at the tips of her fingers. She waved it, and a shower of crystals fell through the air.
"Really? Interesting. Goodness me!" Mr. Ollivander said, with his gray eyes shining.
"Well, she has her wand. I'll see you later, Mr. Ollivander." Professor McGonagall said.
He exited the room and McGonagall turned to Lily. "We need to get started. Please lay down so that I can perform the charm."
Lily did as she was told. She heard McGonagall say something that sounded like a different language and saw a flash of violet light.
"Miss Evans, please sit up and perform the Levitation spell on this book."
Out of nowhere, Lily thought the words wingardium leviosa, and felt the words on the tip of her tongue. She automatically moved her wand. The chair floated into the air, and Lily sat it back down. They went through over twenty spells like this until McGonagall was satisfied with the results and dismissed the teens.
"I expect to see you in class on Monday, Evans!" She called to their retreating backs.
"Do you think that the spell taught her curses too?" Max asked curiously.
"Well, let's see." James said. "Hey, Lily, cast the stunning spell on Sirius, please."
Lily turned around and said, "Stupefy!" causing her cousin to freeze in mid- step.
Everyone laughed and Remus took the spell off him. Lily walked behind the rest; thinking about how much better her life was then it had been two days ago.
Then a hand grabbed her from behind.
~*~
A/N: Here ya go! All right, another filler, but the next one will be good, I SWEAR! Can someone tell me how to get bold and italics and shit, it's annoying not knowing. Oh, and can I have some reviews please? Thank you. (