Hogwarts Express
September First finally came. I thought it would take forever since being shut in an isolated room is quite boring. Time goes by too slow. The servants were to show no indication of where I was and the telephone was still ringing off the hook. Father exploded during dinner one evening when there were three consecutive phone calls asking for an interview. My eyes widened to the size of saucer when Father's face matched the color of the cherries decorating the pie.
"I will not have it!" cried Father sounding more like a sulking child of five years of age. Grandma looked at Grandpa for support since when is seeing your grown-up son pouting a settling scene? "How is she suppose to go to Kings Cross Station without the media knowing?" He was going to rip his hair out. "What am I suppose to answer when they ask me about Lily. 'Where is Lady Lillian your grace?' I can't do this!" We all looked at Father kindly. I hadn't realized how big of a problem me being a witch would bring to my family until now.
"Father, why don't I owl the headmaster and tell him I will not be attending?" I suggested, though my heart broke as I uttered these words. Oh the sacrifices I make for my family.
"No Lily. I would never do that to you. Not to mention your mother would come back from the dead to haunt me," said Father with all the dignity he could muster then. Imagine the duke of York and Albany with his hair disheveled because he kept on running his hand over it, not to mention he looked like a little boy scout ready for his first camping trip, so solemn.
"Father, what exactly are Mother's wishes anyway? In this past month, I don't know how many times I have heard the word 'mother's wishes' from your mouth." I looked at Father expecting a good answer. Ever since I discovered how little of my own life I actually know, I have become more demanding of information.
"Well, your mother knew you would be a witch. She hired one of the people in your great-grandmother's lot to analyze her family history to see if you would be magical. It turns out that you had a high chance of being a witch. When you were born, we developed a plan to keep you hidden so when you actually do go to Hogwarts, there is nothing amiss." I couldn't let Father continue anymore. Everything he had said didn't make sense.
"Wait," I announced using various hand motions to cut Father off (he was already in lalaland). "You mean you deliberately kept me from the world just because I could be a witch?" Father nodded like he was a schoolboy being scolded for doing something wrong. "Well the plan certainly didn't work did it?" I asked more venomously than I had intended it to sound. Grandpa shot me a look to remind me of my manners.
"We thought you weren't a witch since you haven't shown any evidence of being magical. Your mother had said if you were a witch, some odd things would happen around you. But those weird things didn't happen. That would be why your 'unveiling' as the media call it, happened even though you were suppose to be secret. That special occasion has been in planning since you were ten." I didn't how to react when Father said all this. He was never home to witness any weirdness from me, but I suppose he kept tabs on me with Maria. Then I became furious. Everyone who lives on the estate knew about my tendency to be magical and I was never informed in any way possible. I suppose Grandpa noticed and he had always been the more passive one among us.
"Lily, why don't you go check on your stuff? Double check to see if you left anything," commanded with the voice he would use during parliament meetings. My only option was to do exactly as he said.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
With some help, Father was able to develop a plan to spare me from the media. That included sacrifices on his part as well as my grandparents. They would need to go back to "work" a week early and they would be taking the train in Kings Cross Station. That way, I can hide among three adults so I can be hidden. Of course being the sneaky press those nosy people were, I was caught within five minutes of leaving the front door. Someone took a picture of me, and my sighting spread faster than raging floodwaters. When we got to the train station, there were people ambushing our group to get at least a photograph. We had to act as though nothing had happened. I stepped out the car with more grace than I ever thought I had (God bless my dance teacher!) and whispered through my teeth to Grandpa, the only person near enough to hear,
"Why do they think I am so interesting?" I asked out of exasperation. "Why can't they attack the queen or the crown prince or something?"
"That cockamamie plan didn't work!" cursed Grandpa to no one in particular. I had never seen him so annoyed; he is usually lighthearted and cheerful. Then the answer became clear when he mumbled, ". and it cost me a week of vacation too!" whether this comment was meant to be funny, I didn't know, but I couldn't keep myself from laughing. My good disposition was taken away when a photographer took a picture of me smiling and I cursed every person present.
Getting through the mass media wasn't the hardest part. The most difficult task was getting me to platform 9 ¾. I had to run into the wall between platforms nine and ten (this information was kindly given to me by Mrs. Potter, who said she would meet me on the platform, which is platform 9 ¾ of course). We had to divert the attention of the media to somewhere else so the children carrying owls and rats won't be caught on tape. Headline: "Children Disappearing Through Platform" now add that to "One of Britain's Own Nobility Disappears Through Brick Wall" and we would get tabloid crazy. Every respectable newspaper in the city would be a tabloid for one edition. I shudder to think the consequences both for me as well as every other person in the world.
"Daddy I need to go to the restroom," I said tugging on the sleeve of Father's suit. That would be the cue to leave. Our driver had driven us to a gate where there would be a restroom between the platform Father, Grandma, and Grandpa would be boarding and my platform 9 ¾. At least the journalists had enough decency to not follow me to the ladies' room or wait there until I get out. I couldn't take my trunk with me for obvious reasons, so Father used Burma, the owl Mrs. Potter bought for me to inform the headmaster of my situation. I walked to the restroom, enter one door, exited from another and headed my way to the platform. I had a few people giving second looks. I am not sure if that is from me walking myself in a large, crowded public area or because they thought I looked like me, as in Lady Lillian me.
By the platform, there were children all ages walking into the large wall. I waited until a large crowd of people walked by before I tried my luck at reacquainting with the stones. The funny sensation of walking through a solid made me grip my ticket tighter until I saw the actual platform and by then, my ticket was wrinkled beyond recognition.
"Hey, are you Lady Lillian?" asked a girl around my age. She had brown hair and had the prettiest blue eyes. I wasn't sure what to feel when she asked me that.
"Erm. uh. do I have to answer that?" I asked her nervously. She didn't have time to explain before two boys walked over.
"I saw your face on the paper!" shouted one of the boys attracting attention.
"You are Lady Lillian!" cried out his friend.
"No," I said slowing shaking my head, "I just look like her. I have been getting that a lot lately." The three looked almost convinced and two familiar dark haired boys came over shouting my name, my full name to be exact.
"Hey Lily!" I looked at the two.
"Hello Miss Lillian Evelyn Evans," said James with mocking deference and Sirius took an over exaggerated bow that gave the girl behind him a great view of his rear end.
"You must be mistaken. I am certainly not Lillian Evans. I am Lily Ivies," I answered smoothly, so much for trying to keep a low profile.
"Quite lying Lily," said Sirius. "You don't need to deny your name." I glowered at the two boys.
"So you are Lady Lily!" shouted the first girl in amazement. "I am Amanda Acra, but I would prefer Mandy. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, but I am not Lady Lillian," I replied once again denying my name, title, and everything else belong to me.
"Lady?! What do you mean?" asked Sirius flabbergasted. "She is definitely not a 'Lady'. More like a girl, an eleven-year old girl who also happens to be a witch." I nodded in agreement.
"I am just a normal girl, not a 'Lady'," I finished sounding more like I am trying to convince myself. After all, what can be a better way to lie when you believe your own lie?
"Don't kid yourself Sirius," said James. "She is Lady Lillian, daughter of the Duke of York and Albany." Sirius still looked like he didn't believe it and that was good for me, but Mandy looked like she's is having a battle inside her brain. James continued to explain to them, and the two boys who decided to join the discussion of my identity while I made slashing motions around my neck.
"I don't know why she is in denial, but she is Lady Lillian. Mother told me," continued James not bothering to notice any of my signals. It's my title he is talking about and I should think he would ask for permission before letting the whole world know!
"Is that right Lily?" asked Sirius. As if I would admit this. I sniffed and walked to the train not caring about not speaking to Mrs. Potter. Most of the compartments were still empty so I found one near the middle.
The inside of compartment was red, like the outer color of the train as well as every other area on the train. I sat in silence thinking about what life would be like at Hogwarts. Would I have friends? The chance certainly looked grim if I wanted to stay low. Even if I did befriend someone, would I be able to trust them enough with what my name carries? I had thought the wizarding world would know nothing of the world I live in but I guess I am not the only witch who lived in muggle England. Being drowned in these gloomy thoughts made me want my stuff, which contained books that would distract me long enough for the entire train ride. Maria had thought I was moving my entire library to Hogwarts when I was packing the books.
~*~Flashback~*~
"Aiiiiiii! Miss Lily, are you moving to your boarding school?" asked Maria with her bright smile.
"Of course. I am going to live there for the entire year," I answered good- naturedly. But my happiness vanished in a second. "Oh I am going to miss everybody so much." I said trying to hold back my tears. Maria brought me into a hug and said her comforting words.
"Don't worry my sweet. I will always be with you no matter what," she said with her voice cracking. It must be hard on everyone also. I had never left the house for even half a day and now I am suddenly leaving for Scotland, which happens to be thousands of kilometers away! "On a happier note, you will be back for Christmas and Easter. There is absolutely no way we are letting you stay."
~*~End of Flashback~*~
I smiled back at those comforting words and noticed I had tears rolling down my cheek. A knock was heard from outside. I walked begrudgingly since I didn't feel like having any company. Before I opened the door, I dried my tears.
"Hello Lily!" said a voice sounding like Mrs. Potter's. I looked up and indeed, it was Mrs. Potter!
"Hi!" I exclaimed happily. She won't bother me about my family. "I am sorry I didn't go look for you." She nodded knowingly.
"I noticed." My eyebrow automatically rose in suspicion. "Professor Dumbledore received your owl about your dilemma so here I am, giving you your trunks." My jaw dropped in surprise. I hadn't noticed the big thing next to her until now. "I believe your owl is quite indignant," said Mrs. Potter showing Burma in a cage fluttering like mad when she saw me.
"Lily, I want to tell you something before I leave," Mrs. Potter lowered herself to my level before continuing. "I know you probably don't like all the attention you are getting, but that shouldn't prevent you from being who you really are."
"James told me you were denying your name." I rolled my eyes mentally. He really has a big mouth.
"I understand Mrs. Potter, I mean Evelyn." Mrs. Potter pinched my left cheek and smiled before bidding me goodbye and went off muttering something about telling James to not get in trouble. Some one had tapped on my shoulder rather hard. I turned around annoyed.
"What?" I asked the boy perhaps a little older than me with the whitest blond hair and a pointy nose.
"I believe you are in my compartment," answered the boy snootily.
"I am sorry," I answered sarcastically. "I didn't know reserving seats were possible." Normally I would be ashamed for being so short tempered but there is something about this boy I didn't like. Perhaps the aristocratic way he holds himself.
"Do you know who I am?" asked the boy menacingly.
"No," I answered mimicking his motion of being right in my face.
"You must be a mudblood then," said the boy curtly. He rose his chin and said, "Lesson number one: I am Lucius Malfoy. Lesson number two: you should not offend a Malfoy. We are quite an influential family."
"Hey Lucius!" shouted a boy of his age who looked at lot more barbaric. He was huge, like a large piece of rock. He didn't look very smart either. "We found a better compartment." The blond haired boy sniffed and walked away from me. I actually rolled my eyes and walked back into my compartment only to find Mandy right by the sliding door.
"May I join you?" she asked timidly. I nodded; there wasn't much I could do. I couldn't say, "No, you can't because I want to be alone." That would just be too rude. Mandy came in and saw my trunk and owl. "I didn't notice you carrying these before." She looked at me in wonder.
"No, no," I exclaimed immediately, "I did not conjure these. A friend of mine brought them to me because I couldn't make my getaway from the media carrying an owl and a large trunk, so she brought it to me." Mandy nodded thoughtfully.
"I want you to tell me the truth. Are you Lady Lillian?" she was so solemn when she asked. I looked down at the ground and nodded. To my surprise, she didn't say anything about it. "You might want to put your trunks were they belong," said Mandy again as she pointed at the pile of stuff in the middle of the room belonging to me.
Mandy helped me move my trunk to the back of the train. I suppose she felt more at ease with me after our walk. It was very entertaining, every student that was in our way jumped to the side since we were paying too much attention to moving our trunk. A furious second year yelled at us when we almost ran over his rat.
"Why don't you two ditzes levitate the stupid thing?" he cried out. Me being the naïve girl I was, got equally mad when he cried out.
"Who are you calling a ditz? If anyone had to be a ditz it would be you." Mandy tapped me on my shoulder whispering for me to stop.
"Whom may I ask are you speaking to?" came the overbearing voice of the blond boy I encountered earlier.
"I was certainly not speaking to you," I snapped back.
"Watch out mudblood, you should not insult those above you." I was pretty furious when he said that but Mandy dragged me away and I only go to scream one insult at him.
"I can insult whoever I want you lousy excuse for a person!" The look on the boy's face was priceless. His jaw dropped to the center of the earth and his pale face was now a crimson shade of red. We went back to pushing my trunk giggling like mad since he looked like he was petrified.
"Wow, Lady Lily, I never thought a noble would be so." she trailed off searching for the correct word to describe my latest outburst.
"Un-noble you mean?" I added grinning at the thought of maybe I might have a friend. She nodded slowly at my wording.
"Come on. I want to go back to the compartment. What did you put in here? It weighs a ton!"
"Oh just books," I answered shrugging my shoulder as we finally got to our destination.
"Now the question is how many books."
"Oh, our course books, my light reading books, the English Classics, and there are a few more in there," I answered her with a wide grin. She rolled her eyes and flexed her arm on a second thought.
"Hmm, I might gain some muscle this way." I looked at her flimsy arm and couldn't hold my laughter.
"Right, as if that will ever happen. Your arm is all bone!" I exclaimed demonstrating how skinny she was since I could easily wrap my fingers around her wrist.
"Well that is because you have long fingers." Our conversation continued to be pointless. The topic changed from our muscle to our muggle life to James and Sirius. I was having fun venting my anger at those two for blowing my cover.
"He does not have the right to tell everyone what my title is," I complained. "You have no idea hard it was to finally be able to get out of the center of spotlight." Mandy was thoughtful for a second.
"How hard was it to hide from the media? It isn't as if they could get into your mansion or whatever you live in." I didn't let her finish.
"Of course they can't or at least they shouldn't be able to. I mean, one photographer got in and he was sitting on a tree right by my bedroom window!" I shouted obviously undignified.
"Yikes, I understand why you want to be discrete." We were silent until a curse came our way.
"Get down!" I called to Mandy. Both of us ducked the curse and it hit the about one-foot away from where we were standing. I turned around to see who the perpetrator was. I caught a glimpse of the familiar glow from the silvery blond hair. Some one with brown hair ducked as another spell came towards us.
"Malfoy, come on, I didn't do anything!" shouted the girl with brown hair. She jumped away from another hex from the boy who now has green skin, red teeth, and a nose that is the size of Sweden. "Merlin's beard, someone stop this maniac!" I took one look at Mandy and both of us got our wands and put on our angelic smirks.
"Oi, Mr. Malfoy!" called Mandy with a teasing tone. "May I call you that?" When she was taunting him, I decided to use my levitation charm, the one I mastered weeks ago and used it to raise the robe he was wearing. Giggles were heard all over the place. Too bad he decided to look down earlier than I had expected so he quickly found out I was the one who lifted his robe to reveal the most hideous pants, as well as very white chicken legs.
"Mudblood! I thought I have told you already to not insult your superior!" yelled Malfoy going red in the face, but mixing with the green, he looked like a plum. Everyone witnessing this giggled uncontrollably.
"Well, Fruity-licious," said the brown haired girl finally breaking her silence. "You might want to hide your lovely face in your compartment. I don't think Narcissa would like seeing you like this." Malfoy stomped back to his compartment. I turned to look at Mandy. She was still holding her stomach.
"Come Mandy, we can't stand in here and laugh all day." She followed with a smile still on her face. We walked calmly to our compartment and burst out laughing right as the door closed. "I - I had to use everything - I learned from my - manners mistress to not laugh at him," I choked out between my laughs.
We settled down after a few more minutes of reminiscing and I looked at Mandy hoping she could help me with something that was bothering me.
"Mandy, what does "Mudblood' mean?" She shrugged, digging in her carry on bag for something.
"Ahah! I found it!" in her hand, was a Hershey's chocolate bar. It was enormous; I didn't think people made chocolates that big. The ones I get are part of little tiny truffles.
"My, that chocolate is big." I exclaimed examining the snack in her hand.
"No, that is normal size. You can find them anywhere." I still looked dubious. "Don't tell me you haven't been to candy stores," said Mandy quite disturbed. I shook my head. Nope, never been in one. I have always seen it on my few trips outside of the house.
"I never went out of my house before." Mandy was distracted by a knock on the door.
"I'll get it!" she opened the door, and there were two identical girls standing there. Both of them had brown hair and looked like the girl that was dueling with Malfoy. "Er, hi!" exclaimed Mandy unsure of what to do. I still remembered when my manners mistress told me about being polite and open to people.
"Would you like to come in?" I asked with a smile.
"That would great," answered the twins stepping in with Mandy closing the doors. "I am Arabella Figg, and this is my twin sister Ariel." I looked at both of them in wonder.
"Who was the one that was dueling with the albino boy?" asked Mandy feeling the same thing I was feeling when I first saw those two. A very sharp knock came from the outside.
"Quick, don't let them in!!" the twins ran to the door and pushed it so there was no possible way of opening it.
September First finally came. I thought it would take forever since being shut in an isolated room is quite boring. Time goes by too slow. The servants were to show no indication of where I was and the telephone was still ringing off the hook. Father exploded during dinner one evening when there were three consecutive phone calls asking for an interview. My eyes widened to the size of saucer when Father's face matched the color of the cherries decorating the pie.
"I will not have it!" cried Father sounding more like a sulking child of five years of age. Grandma looked at Grandpa for support since when is seeing your grown-up son pouting a settling scene? "How is she suppose to go to Kings Cross Station without the media knowing?" He was going to rip his hair out. "What am I suppose to answer when they ask me about Lily. 'Where is Lady Lillian your grace?' I can't do this!" We all looked at Father kindly. I hadn't realized how big of a problem me being a witch would bring to my family until now.
"Father, why don't I owl the headmaster and tell him I will not be attending?" I suggested, though my heart broke as I uttered these words. Oh the sacrifices I make for my family.
"No Lily. I would never do that to you. Not to mention your mother would come back from the dead to haunt me," said Father with all the dignity he could muster then. Imagine the duke of York and Albany with his hair disheveled because he kept on running his hand over it, not to mention he looked like a little boy scout ready for his first camping trip, so solemn.
"Father, what exactly are Mother's wishes anyway? In this past month, I don't know how many times I have heard the word 'mother's wishes' from your mouth." I looked at Father expecting a good answer. Ever since I discovered how little of my own life I actually know, I have become more demanding of information.
"Well, your mother knew you would be a witch. She hired one of the people in your great-grandmother's lot to analyze her family history to see if you would be magical. It turns out that you had a high chance of being a witch. When you were born, we developed a plan to keep you hidden so when you actually do go to Hogwarts, there is nothing amiss." I couldn't let Father continue anymore. Everything he had said didn't make sense.
"Wait," I announced using various hand motions to cut Father off (he was already in lalaland). "You mean you deliberately kept me from the world just because I could be a witch?" Father nodded like he was a schoolboy being scolded for doing something wrong. "Well the plan certainly didn't work did it?" I asked more venomously than I had intended it to sound. Grandpa shot me a look to remind me of my manners.
"We thought you weren't a witch since you haven't shown any evidence of being magical. Your mother had said if you were a witch, some odd things would happen around you. But those weird things didn't happen. That would be why your 'unveiling' as the media call it, happened even though you were suppose to be secret. That special occasion has been in planning since you were ten." I didn't how to react when Father said all this. He was never home to witness any weirdness from me, but I suppose he kept tabs on me with Maria. Then I became furious. Everyone who lives on the estate knew about my tendency to be magical and I was never informed in any way possible. I suppose Grandpa noticed and he had always been the more passive one among us.
"Lily, why don't you go check on your stuff? Double check to see if you left anything," commanded with the voice he would use during parliament meetings. My only option was to do exactly as he said.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
With some help, Father was able to develop a plan to spare me from the media. That included sacrifices on his part as well as my grandparents. They would need to go back to "work" a week early and they would be taking the train in Kings Cross Station. That way, I can hide among three adults so I can be hidden. Of course being the sneaky press those nosy people were, I was caught within five minutes of leaving the front door. Someone took a picture of me, and my sighting spread faster than raging floodwaters. When we got to the train station, there were people ambushing our group to get at least a photograph. We had to act as though nothing had happened. I stepped out the car with more grace than I ever thought I had (God bless my dance teacher!) and whispered through my teeth to Grandpa, the only person near enough to hear,
"Why do they think I am so interesting?" I asked out of exasperation. "Why can't they attack the queen or the crown prince or something?"
"That cockamamie plan didn't work!" cursed Grandpa to no one in particular. I had never seen him so annoyed; he is usually lighthearted and cheerful. Then the answer became clear when he mumbled, ". and it cost me a week of vacation too!" whether this comment was meant to be funny, I didn't know, but I couldn't keep myself from laughing. My good disposition was taken away when a photographer took a picture of me smiling and I cursed every person present.
Getting through the mass media wasn't the hardest part. The most difficult task was getting me to platform 9 ¾. I had to run into the wall between platforms nine and ten (this information was kindly given to me by Mrs. Potter, who said she would meet me on the platform, which is platform 9 ¾ of course). We had to divert the attention of the media to somewhere else so the children carrying owls and rats won't be caught on tape. Headline: "Children Disappearing Through Platform" now add that to "One of Britain's Own Nobility Disappears Through Brick Wall" and we would get tabloid crazy. Every respectable newspaper in the city would be a tabloid for one edition. I shudder to think the consequences both for me as well as every other person in the world.
"Daddy I need to go to the restroom," I said tugging on the sleeve of Father's suit. That would be the cue to leave. Our driver had driven us to a gate where there would be a restroom between the platform Father, Grandma, and Grandpa would be boarding and my platform 9 ¾. At least the journalists had enough decency to not follow me to the ladies' room or wait there until I get out. I couldn't take my trunk with me for obvious reasons, so Father used Burma, the owl Mrs. Potter bought for me to inform the headmaster of my situation. I walked to the restroom, enter one door, exited from another and headed my way to the platform. I had a few people giving second looks. I am not sure if that is from me walking myself in a large, crowded public area or because they thought I looked like me, as in Lady Lillian me.
By the platform, there were children all ages walking into the large wall. I waited until a large crowd of people walked by before I tried my luck at reacquainting with the stones. The funny sensation of walking through a solid made me grip my ticket tighter until I saw the actual platform and by then, my ticket was wrinkled beyond recognition.
"Hey, are you Lady Lillian?" asked a girl around my age. She had brown hair and had the prettiest blue eyes. I wasn't sure what to feel when she asked me that.
"Erm. uh. do I have to answer that?" I asked her nervously. She didn't have time to explain before two boys walked over.
"I saw your face on the paper!" shouted one of the boys attracting attention.
"You are Lady Lillian!" cried out his friend.
"No," I said slowing shaking my head, "I just look like her. I have been getting that a lot lately." The three looked almost convinced and two familiar dark haired boys came over shouting my name, my full name to be exact.
"Hey Lily!" I looked at the two.
"Hello Miss Lillian Evelyn Evans," said James with mocking deference and Sirius took an over exaggerated bow that gave the girl behind him a great view of his rear end.
"You must be mistaken. I am certainly not Lillian Evans. I am Lily Ivies," I answered smoothly, so much for trying to keep a low profile.
"Quite lying Lily," said Sirius. "You don't need to deny your name." I glowered at the two boys.
"So you are Lady Lily!" shouted the first girl in amazement. "I am Amanda Acra, but I would prefer Mandy. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too, but I am not Lady Lillian," I replied once again denying my name, title, and everything else belong to me.
"Lady?! What do you mean?" asked Sirius flabbergasted. "She is definitely not a 'Lady'. More like a girl, an eleven-year old girl who also happens to be a witch." I nodded in agreement.
"I am just a normal girl, not a 'Lady'," I finished sounding more like I am trying to convince myself. After all, what can be a better way to lie when you believe your own lie?
"Don't kid yourself Sirius," said James. "She is Lady Lillian, daughter of the Duke of York and Albany." Sirius still looked like he didn't believe it and that was good for me, but Mandy looked like she's is having a battle inside her brain. James continued to explain to them, and the two boys who decided to join the discussion of my identity while I made slashing motions around my neck.
"I don't know why she is in denial, but she is Lady Lillian. Mother told me," continued James not bothering to notice any of my signals. It's my title he is talking about and I should think he would ask for permission before letting the whole world know!
"Is that right Lily?" asked Sirius. As if I would admit this. I sniffed and walked to the train not caring about not speaking to Mrs. Potter. Most of the compartments were still empty so I found one near the middle.
The inside of compartment was red, like the outer color of the train as well as every other area on the train. I sat in silence thinking about what life would be like at Hogwarts. Would I have friends? The chance certainly looked grim if I wanted to stay low. Even if I did befriend someone, would I be able to trust them enough with what my name carries? I had thought the wizarding world would know nothing of the world I live in but I guess I am not the only witch who lived in muggle England. Being drowned in these gloomy thoughts made me want my stuff, which contained books that would distract me long enough for the entire train ride. Maria had thought I was moving my entire library to Hogwarts when I was packing the books.
~*~Flashback~*~
"Aiiiiiii! Miss Lily, are you moving to your boarding school?" asked Maria with her bright smile.
"Of course. I am going to live there for the entire year," I answered good- naturedly. But my happiness vanished in a second. "Oh I am going to miss everybody so much." I said trying to hold back my tears. Maria brought me into a hug and said her comforting words.
"Don't worry my sweet. I will always be with you no matter what," she said with her voice cracking. It must be hard on everyone also. I had never left the house for even half a day and now I am suddenly leaving for Scotland, which happens to be thousands of kilometers away! "On a happier note, you will be back for Christmas and Easter. There is absolutely no way we are letting you stay."
~*~End of Flashback~*~
I smiled back at those comforting words and noticed I had tears rolling down my cheek. A knock was heard from outside. I walked begrudgingly since I didn't feel like having any company. Before I opened the door, I dried my tears.
"Hello Lily!" said a voice sounding like Mrs. Potter's. I looked up and indeed, it was Mrs. Potter!
"Hi!" I exclaimed happily. She won't bother me about my family. "I am sorry I didn't go look for you." She nodded knowingly.
"I noticed." My eyebrow automatically rose in suspicion. "Professor Dumbledore received your owl about your dilemma so here I am, giving you your trunks." My jaw dropped in surprise. I hadn't noticed the big thing next to her until now. "I believe your owl is quite indignant," said Mrs. Potter showing Burma in a cage fluttering like mad when she saw me.
"Lily, I want to tell you something before I leave," Mrs. Potter lowered herself to my level before continuing. "I know you probably don't like all the attention you are getting, but that shouldn't prevent you from being who you really are."
"James told me you were denying your name." I rolled my eyes mentally. He really has a big mouth.
"I understand Mrs. Potter, I mean Evelyn." Mrs. Potter pinched my left cheek and smiled before bidding me goodbye and went off muttering something about telling James to not get in trouble. Some one had tapped on my shoulder rather hard. I turned around annoyed.
"What?" I asked the boy perhaps a little older than me with the whitest blond hair and a pointy nose.
"I believe you are in my compartment," answered the boy snootily.
"I am sorry," I answered sarcastically. "I didn't know reserving seats were possible." Normally I would be ashamed for being so short tempered but there is something about this boy I didn't like. Perhaps the aristocratic way he holds himself.
"Do you know who I am?" asked the boy menacingly.
"No," I answered mimicking his motion of being right in my face.
"You must be a mudblood then," said the boy curtly. He rose his chin and said, "Lesson number one: I am Lucius Malfoy. Lesson number two: you should not offend a Malfoy. We are quite an influential family."
"Hey Lucius!" shouted a boy of his age who looked at lot more barbaric. He was huge, like a large piece of rock. He didn't look very smart either. "We found a better compartment." The blond haired boy sniffed and walked away from me. I actually rolled my eyes and walked back into my compartment only to find Mandy right by the sliding door.
"May I join you?" she asked timidly. I nodded; there wasn't much I could do. I couldn't say, "No, you can't because I want to be alone." That would just be too rude. Mandy came in and saw my trunk and owl. "I didn't notice you carrying these before." She looked at me in wonder.
"No, no," I exclaimed immediately, "I did not conjure these. A friend of mine brought them to me because I couldn't make my getaway from the media carrying an owl and a large trunk, so she brought it to me." Mandy nodded thoughtfully.
"I want you to tell me the truth. Are you Lady Lillian?" she was so solemn when she asked. I looked down at the ground and nodded. To my surprise, she didn't say anything about it. "You might want to put your trunks were they belong," said Mandy again as she pointed at the pile of stuff in the middle of the room belonging to me.
Mandy helped me move my trunk to the back of the train. I suppose she felt more at ease with me after our walk. It was very entertaining, every student that was in our way jumped to the side since we were paying too much attention to moving our trunk. A furious second year yelled at us when we almost ran over his rat.
"Why don't you two ditzes levitate the stupid thing?" he cried out. Me being the naïve girl I was, got equally mad when he cried out.
"Who are you calling a ditz? If anyone had to be a ditz it would be you." Mandy tapped me on my shoulder whispering for me to stop.
"Whom may I ask are you speaking to?" came the overbearing voice of the blond boy I encountered earlier.
"I was certainly not speaking to you," I snapped back.
"Watch out mudblood, you should not insult those above you." I was pretty furious when he said that but Mandy dragged me away and I only go to scream one insult at him.
"I can insult whoever I want you lousy excuse for a person!" The look on the boy's face was priceless. His jaw dropped to the center of the earth and his pale face was now a crimson shade of red. We went back to pushing my trunk giggling like mad since he looked like he was petrified.
"Wow, Lady Lily, I never thought a noble would be so." she trailed off searching for the correct word to describe my latest outburst.
"Un-noble you mean?" I added grinning at the thought of maybe I might have a friend. She nodded slowly at my wording.
"Come on. I want to go back to the compartment. What did you put in here? It weighs a ton!"
"Oh just books," I answered shrugging my shoulder as we finally got to our destination.
"Now the question is how many books."
"Oh, our course books, my light reading books, the English Classics, and there are a few more in there," I answered her with a wide grin. She rolled her eyes and flexed her arm on a second thought.
"Hmm, I might gain some muscle this way." I looked at her flimsy arm and couldn't hold my laughter.
"Right, as if that will ever happen. Your arm is all bone!" I exclaimed demonstrating how skinny she was since I could easily wrap my fingers around her wrist.
"Well that is because you have long fingers." Our conversation continued to be pointless. The topic changed from our muscle to our muggle life to James and Sirius. I was having fun venting my anger at those two for blowing my cover.
"He does not have the right to tell everyone what my title is," I complained. "You have no idea hard it was to finally be able to get out of the center of spotlight." Mandy was thoughtful for a second.
"How hard was it to hide from the media? It isn't as if they could get into your mansion or whatever you live in." I didn't let her finish.
"Of course they can't or at least they shouldn't be able to. I mean, one photographer got in and he was sitting on a tree right by my bedroom window!" I shouted obviously undignified.
"Yikes, I understand why you want to be discrete." We were silent until a curse came our way.
"Get down!" I called to Mandy. Both of us ducked the curse and it hit the about one-foot away from where we were standing. I turned around to see who the perpetrator was. I caught a glimpse of the familiar glow from the silvery blond hair. Some one with brown hair ducked as another spell came towards us.
"Malfoy, come on, I didn't do anything!" shouted the girl with brown hair. She jumped away from another hex from the boy who now has green skin, red teeth, and a nose that is the size of Sweden. "Merlin's beard, someone stop this maniac!" I took one look at Mandy and both of us got our wands and put on our angelic smirks.
"Oi, Mr. Malfoy!" called Mandy with a teasing tone. "May I call you that?" When she was taunting him, I decided to use my levitation charm, the one I mastered weeks ago and used it to raise the robe he was wearing. Giggles were heard all over the place. Too bad he decided to look down earlier than I had expected so he quickly found out I was the one who lifted his robe to reveal the most hideous pants, as well as very white chicken legs.
"Mudblood! I thought I have told you already to not insult your superior!" yelled Malfoy going red in the face, but mixing with the green, he looked like a plum. Everyone witnessing this giggled uncontrollably.
"Well, Fruity-licious," said the brown haired girl finally breaking her silence. "You might want to hide your lovely face in your compartment. I don't think Narcissa would like seeing you like this." Malfoy stomped back to his compartment. I turned to look at Mandy. She was still holding her stomach.
"Come Mandy, we can't stand in here and laugh all day." She followed with a smile still on her face. We walked calmly to our compartment and burst out laughing right as the door closed. "I - I had to use everything - I learned from my - manners mistress to not laugh at him," I choked out between my laughs.
We settled down after a few more minutes of reminiscing and I looked at Mandy hoping she could help me with something that was bothering me.
"Mandy, what does "Mudblood' mean?" She shrugged, digging in her carry on bag for something.
"Ahah! I found it!" in her hand, was a Hershey's chocolate bar. It was enormous; I didn't think people made chocolates that big. The ones I get are part of little tiny truffles.
"My, that chocolate is big." I exclaimed examining the snack in her hand.
"No, that is normal size. You can find them anywhere." I still looked dubious. "Don't tell me you haven't been to candy stores," said Mandy quite disturbed. I shook my head. Nope, never been in one. I have always seen it on my few trips outside of the house.
"I never went out of my house before." Mandy was distracted by a knock on the door.
"I'll get it!" she opened the door, and there were two identical girls standing there. Both of them had brown hair and looked like the girl that was dueling with Malfoy. "Er, hi!" exclaimed Mandy unsure of what to do. I still remembered when my manners mistress told me about being polite and open to people.
"Would you like to come in?" I asked with a smile.
"That would great," answered the twins stepping in with Mandy closing the doors. "I am Arabella Figg, and this is my twin sister Ariel." I looked at both of them in wonder.
"Who was the one that was dueling with the albino boy?" asked Mandy feeling the same thing I was feeling when I first saw those two. A very sharp knock came from the outside.
"Quick, don't let them in!!" the twins ran to the door and pushed it so there was no possible way of opening it.