A/N: I said I would update after work. Well it became a little complicated because the other girl that works with me quit so now I am taking over her hours (along with another girl) until she is replaced. Yeah, that's the real reason "after work" was a bit long.
The last chapter, Petunia the Pig was actually the first part of a very long chapter I wrote. Well I finished the chapter and realized that it had to be split into three separate chapters. So this is part two! And like Telly pointed out in her review, there are OotP spoilers in here. I have since added Bellatrix Black to the first chapter. I wanted to make it clear that there are spoilers since I ran out of room in the summary for the warning.
Disclaimer: They still don't belong to me. Don't sue me.
Lily could honestly say she learned three ways to get rid of Petunia from that summer. One: threatening to write a love letter to that dolt Vernon Dursley, Two: Carrying her wand at all times, and Three: leaving notes around the house saying "hair-loss potion- combine 3 hairs of wolf, add wormwood, slice and boil bat eyes." Or "Tarantallegra – the dancing curse." She didn't have to tell Petunia the part about not being able to do magic outside of school. That wasn't lying; it was conveniently not mentioning the truth.
Petunia always seemed to have houseguests staying over. All of the guests also seemed to have heard this story about Colson's Institute for the Mentally Instable. Sometimes she would play along by running around the house and acting mental just for fun. It was some entertainment considering she didn't have much contact with the wizarding world.
Lily even tried to hang out with her old school friends. It seemed that either they all heard that she was shipped away to boarding school due to mental instability, or just plain weren't interested in seeing her. Lily wandered out to a field near the house where she could just think to herself. Lily would never be normal, no matter how she tried. It was something that would take some time getting used to. She felt perfectly normal at school, but upon arriving home instantly became an outcast. She lied on her back and stared up as the wispy clouds floated gracefully by. Soon Lily had fallen soundlessly asleep, only to be awoken when a large envelope fell on her face.
Lily immediately woke up and rubbed the sore spot on her forehead. Her immediate reaction was where did the owl go? That was my only contact with the wizarding world! Then she focused her attention on the large paper envelope that had awoken her. She quickly tore it open and unfurled a list of supplies and books she would need for the new school year. A huge grin spread widely across her freckled face as she dashed back to the house.
After much begging and pleading, Mr. and Mrs. Evans brought their daughter to Diagon Alley to pick up her school supplies. Despite the endless searching, Lily didn't find any of the other Gryffindor second years picking up supplies that day. She also visited the Magical Menagerie to pick out her owl. She returned home later that night happily carrying an armful of books and a cage containing a barn owl with large amber eyes. She named the owl Casey, after an old friend.
On the morning of September 1st, Lily kissed her family goodbye (even Petunia) as she got ready to board the Hogwarts express once again. Casey twittered in her cage with all of the excitement. Lily Evans was back at last! She wandered around the platform looking for anyone that she recognized. There were the older seventh years, huddled together by the compartment of the train with suitcases packed with more books than Lily had ever seen. A couple of Ravenclaw fifth years were fretting about the O.W.L.S. already. A young first year ran into Lily, apologized nervously, and dragged her luggage into the Hogwarts express.
Where was everyone? She expected James and Sirius to show up late, but where was everyone else? The whistle blew and Lily quickly picked up her things, hoping that she would find them on the train.
The compartments were extraordinarily full. Lily walked down the aisle of the train, waiting for the others to pop out of one of the compartments and invite her in. But that didn't happen, because the Gryffindor second years were no where to be found. Lily passed a compartment of giggling Hufflepuffs. She would have joined them if it hadn't been for their claustrophobically full compartment. She passed another compartment where Gwen White and Chiara Tiers talked each others ears off. After reaching the back of the train, Lily found an available compartment. It's one other occupant was staring lazily out the window.
"Hello Miss Evans." A pale face with a mop of sandy blonde hair looked up at her. It was Will Hazlet, another boy in their year. He never spent much time with his own house and seemed to prefer the company of the Slytherins. Even stranger, he made a point to never call a Gryffindor by his or her first name. "Why aren't you with your little friends?" This last statement was heavily tainted with sarcasm.
"I can't find them Will." He was not exactly the person she wanted to sit with, but there were no other acceptable options. "You could try to be friends with them. They have tried to include you."
"If I wanted a pointless lecture, I could have asked one of the Ravenclaws in the other compartment." He said curtly.
Lily paused for a moment. "May I sit here please?"
"Go ahead. There is another person in this compartment if you don't mind."
"Doesn't bother me in the slightest." Lily said politely. Will stared at her again before continuing to look out the window. Lily fumbled with a quill from her luggage. Footsteps were heard down the hall as another form stepped into the compartment.
Lily looked up to see a tall, gangly boy holding and armful of sweets, greasy hair covering his beady black eyes. "Picked up a few things for the trip Will – what are you doing here?" His gaze shifted over to Lily who made a fake little smile.
"Doesn't have anywhere to sit, Severus. She won't bother us." Will said dryly.
"Where was the cart?" Lily implored, hoping it would give her something to do, and an excuse to continue looking for her friends.
"They're sold out Evans, but the cart is at the other end of the train if you want to go and admire it." Snape responded. Lily stopped in the doorway and sat back down.
"So Severus, trying out for Quidditch?" Will asked lethargically.
"I'm thinking that I might want to be a Keeper myself." Snape responded. "You?"
"A Chaser I guess." Will responded. "How about you?" He looked over to Lily.
"Me? I was um-"
"Why bother asking. She doesn't even know how to fly." Snape responded coolly.
"How would you know?" Lily responded angrily.
"Mudbloods don't fly. They fall out of the sky like dead ducks." Snape said edgily.
"What did you call-"
"You heard me Evans. You aren't and will never be a real witch." Snape interrupted. Lily's face turned scarlet. "Real witches and wizards can fly."
"Even if I'm not a pureblood, I will always be better at magic than you!"
"Of course, Miss Evans," Will emphasized the mock of her name. "You're second rate and you know it."
"And then you're a Gryffindor no less. Chivalrous little Evans." Snape drawled. Will looked at Snape for a moment. "Sorry Will, I'm not counting you with the rest of the group."
"Fine by me Severus." He turned back to Lily. "Your stupid little friends go out at all hours of the night. They are just aiming to get Gryffindor in trouble. There's Ravenclaw for the smart, Hufflepuff for the loyal, Slytherin for the cunning, and then Gryffindor for the 'magical accidents' who shouldn't be here in the first place."
"If you don't even associate with your own house, why does the number of points we have matter." She couldn't believe she was explaining this to Will. On normal occasions, she herself complained to the boys about the number of lost points. "You're a Gryffindor yourself Will!"
"An accident of house placement I assure you. My parents can have me transferred to a different house." Will sneered. Slytherin was definitely the place for him. Lily gripped her wand firmly. Will sensed what she was doing and whipped his wand out only inches away from her face. "Get out of here Mudblood." He said in a low whisper. "No one wants you here."
Lily could feel hot tears in her eyes, tears that she wouldn't dare cry in front of them. "The Mudbloods are always the first to go anyways." Snape responded.
"What does that mean?" Lily glared daggers at him.
"If there was an attack, you wouldn't know how to defend yourself. You think the wizarding world is a naïve little place where rabbits come out of hats and witches turn people into toads. You're wrong Evans. You don't belong here." He pulled out his wand and pointed at her as well.
Lily picked up here things and rushed out of the compartment, not daring to look back at their sneering faces. She stormed along the hall narrowly ducking the lady with the refilled sweets cart. She quickly wiped her watering eyes on the sleeve of her blouse. Lily wasn't sure where she was going to go. Casey flapped her wings and hooted nosily. Lily turned around to look at her and ran headfirst into another student.
"Watch where you are going– Evans! I found you!" Lily turned and looked into the face of James Potter. She was thoroughly relieved to have found someone she knew.
"Where have you been Potter?!" she exclaimed happily. James questioned her over enthusiasm. "I looked in all of the compartments and couldn't find you!"
"We were all looking for you. Sirius and Holly boarded the wrong car of the train, but returned eventually to say that they hadn't found you yet either. C'mon, we're going back to the compartment." James shuffled ahead into one of the front compartments, Lily following in tow.
She piled her things into the compartment and was toppled over by the other Gryffindors. James jumped onto the bench next to Peter and Sirius, who was polishing his broomstick. Holly and Nichole sat on the other bench. Nichole was attempting to put Holly's long hair into a bun. Remus flopped comfortably onto the floor of the compartment doodling with quill and parchment. Lily took the only other available seat on the floor as well.
She looked over at Sirius, who was meticulously polishing the broom handle until he could see his reflection in it. "Getting ready for Quidditch tryouts?"
"You bet. James, Nichole, and I are going to try out."
"Good luck guys!" Lily answered cheerfully.
"Hey, you got an owl Lily!" Remus said cheerfully. "I wasn't sure how to get mail to you before." He stuck his fingers into the cage to stroke her feathers. The owl believed that since the hand wasn't an enemy, it must be food.
"Her name is Casey." Lily reached into the cage and patted the small barn owl.
"It's time to get our robes on." Holly reported after consulting her watch. "We'll be arriving soon." They all got up and left the compartment to change into their robes. Ten minutes later, the train pulled to a stop at the Hogsmeade station. The seven students boarded out of the train and followed the majority of the group, which was heading over to large horseless carriages. As they were all cramming inside, Lily heard the familiar call of "Firs' yers over here!" The nervous first years followed Hagrid to the boats. The carriages set off towards the castle.
After leaving the carriages, they walked through the front doors, down the corridor, and into the Great Hall of the school. Lily walked with her classmates and took a seat at the Gryffindor table. She looked up at the floating candles and the enchanted ceiling. Nearly Headless Nick walked up and down the table asking everyone about their summer and occasionally readjusting his head.
The staff table at the front of the room had two vacant chairs. Lily realized that they belonged to Hagrid and Professor McGonagall, who were both with the first years. Soon after, Dumbledore tapped his glass and the front doors opened revealing the class of new first years. Some looked extremely worried; others were awestruck by the enchanted ceiling. McGonagall pulled out the hat, and the sorting began.
"It feels strange being on the other side of the sorting thing." Lily whispered to Sirius across the table. He nodded in agreement. The first student, Cynthia Birch, was sorted into Gryffindor causing everyone at the table to stand and cheer.
"Narcissa Black." McGonagall called. A tall pale girl with blonde hair walked slowly up to the hat. "Slytherin!" the hat called.
"Another cousin in Slytherin." Sirius muttered.
"Feeling left out?" Peter questioned.
"No."
The sorting didn't seem to take nearly as long when you weren't part of it. Minutes later, the sorting was over and Dumbledore stood to make his announcement. "Welcome to a new year here at Hogwarts. Mr. Filch wants me to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to unsupervised students, and that the curfews will be strictly enforced. There is to be no one out of bed after curfew." Dumbledore looked at them with an unusual sort of sternness. Then the stern face melted into a smile. "Have a great year!" The food appeared on the table again. Lily smiled at her plate. Appearing food was definitely something she missed over the summer.
That night, everyone fell sound asleep. Not even the boys were awake scheming. Tomorrow, classes would begin.
At breakfast the next morning, McGonagall handed the schedules out. Their first class was going to be Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Hufflepuffs. A surprising number of students huddled together looking at something outside the hall. Three big words stood out on a flyer, their letters dancing about on the page.
"Even sooner than I thought!" James exclaimed. "I thought I could get in some more practice before tryouts."
"Since when does James Potter, Quidditch extraordinaire need to practice?" Lily teased.
"I definitely don't want to hear it Evans." James retorted.
Lily picked up an orange and threw it at him. James caught it deftly. "See, you can practice with that!" James thanked her and tossed the orange back and forth with Nichole. Sirius tried to use a spoon to hit it but without much success.
The seven students made their way up to the Defense Classroom after breakfast. Nichole, James, and Sirius continued to toss the orange while Remus pretended to be the commentator.
"Sanders flies down the field with the Quaffle, narrowly ducking a bludger sent by Black." Nichole made a small but blatant cough. "Excuse me; she does a fabulous spin on her broom narrowly avoiding the bludger by mere centimeters. Sanders passes the Quaffle to Potter. He fakes left, weaves through Delacroix and Pettigrew. He shoots, he – oh sorry Lily!" Yes, Lily Evans seemed to have momentarily transfigured into a Quidditch hoop in James' mind.
"HE SCORES!" James Potter yelled running down the hallway. "THE CROWD GOES WILD!" James continued to skip down the hall obliviously as the rest of the school stopped to stare. Lily grabbed the orange from the floor and hurled it at James' backside. James promptly fell forward onto his face.
"Nice arm Evans." He muttered into the floor.
"Softball."
"Never heard of it."
"Muggle sport."
"We have arrived!" Nichole exclaimed. They stepped into a classroom supported by ancient looking columns. Professor Arleigh was writing calmly onto the blackboard at the head of the classroom.
"Please open to Chapter One of your textbooks." She said sweetly as she straightened her turquoise robes. "Today we will be learning about Dementors. Can anyone tell me what a dementor is?"
Remus quickly shot his hand up instantly. "Miss Chiara Tiers." Remus looked slightly disappointed.
"They are bad creatures who wear shadowy black hoods that hide their faces so they bump into everything. They are dementeds!" She added with a flourish. Remus smacked his forehead.
"I believe that is incorrect. You got the black hood part right though." Professor Arleigh said cheerfully. "Mr. Lupin?"
"They are black, hooded creatures that suck every happy memory will be out of you. If it can, the dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself...soul-less and evil. You will be left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life." " Remus regurgitated the words of the textbook.
"Excellent, ten points to Gryffindor."
"Tell me somewhere you can find a dementor." Several hands shot up into the air. "Miss Aubrey."
"In Azkaban, the wizard prison." Carolyn stated matter-of-factly. Professor Arleigh awarded Hufflepuff ten points as well.
"Today we are going to learn the counter-curse to a dementor attack. I don't expect any of you to master this yet as it is an advanced piece of magic, but it will show up on your O.W.L.S." Lily did not want to be reminded of O.W.L.S. this far in advance. "The counter attack is Expecto Patronum. In order to make this work, you have to think of the happiest memory you possibly can."
The students paired up to practice. Most of the students didn't accomplish anything. Remus managed to get a small wisp of silver to glide out of his wand. This wasn't a terribly difficult feat considering the classroom was not readily equipped with any dementors to ward off. When a small bell chimed from somewhere on the desk, the class knew their lesson had ended.
Transfiguration that day consisted of more transforming ticks into wrist watches. In potions, they made an anti-gravity potion, which caused the tester to float to the ceiling of the classroom. James, Sirius, and Nichole had refused to eat lunch due to nerves, and left to their last class on an empty stomach. Herbology was the last class of the day where they repotted more biting plants. At two-thirty, class ended and they rushed up to the common room.
Nichole plowed through her suitcase frantically looking for a red shirt. She ended up borrowing one of Lily's shirts in the long run. She quickly picked up her broom and rushed down the stairs. The three ran outside to the Quidditch pitch to get a little last minute practicing fitted in before tryouts.
At three-thirty, Lily, Remus, Peter, and Holly went down to see how the tryouts were progressing. They sat carefully concealed in the commentator's box as not to be seen.
"James is a pretty good Chaser you have to admit." Remus whispered.
"I would say that was true if I knew any of the rules of Quidditch." Lily answered.
"Would you care to explain please?" Holly implored. Remus and Peter went off into a long speech explaining the positions, the four balls, and the object of the game.
"Fine then Remus. James is a good Chaser." Lily said watching him dodge the blue clad Chasers. Sirius whacked a Bludger which nearly hit James in the face. James passed the Quaffle to Nichole and Nichole passed the Quaffle to Will.
"Since when does Will Hazlet play Quidditch for Gryffindor?" Peter questioned.
"That's what I was thinking." Lily noticed that Will kept dropping the Quaffle. "Doesn't have much hand-eye coordination does he?"
"I personally think he should try out for the Slytherin team. He hangs around with them enough." Holly remarked.
"True."
"Um, Remus, I have been meaning to ask you something." Lily paused to search for a decent way to ask her question, but then gave up. "What's a Mudblood?" She said flatly. Remus and Peter looked horrified.
"Who called you a Mudblood, Lily?" Remus shouted. "We'll kill them Peter. We'll kill them!"
"It doesn't matter. What is it?" Lily asked quickly after seeing their terrified expressions
"It's a rather filthy word for Muggleborn witches and wizards. It has something to do with the belief that they have mixed or "dirty" blood. Load of rubbish if you ask me." Remus spat.
"I'm going to guess a Slytherin called you this. Some wizards think they are better because their blood is pure magic. It truly doesn't make them any better. Take Gwen White for instance, her spells always backfire on her no matter how hard she tries."
"The girl has been vaccinated with a phonograph needle. She never stops talking and giggling." Lily said wryly.
"Let us know if anyone bothers you again Lily. We'll show them."
By six o'clock that evening, the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor teams had been decided. Andrew Sanders was talking to each of the Gryffindors individually. James hollered loudly upon making the team and started to run back to the common room to announce the good news. Remus whistled to get his attention. James was startled to see that they had sat through the whole tryout. He, Nichole, and Sirius ran up to the commentator's box.
"We introduce to you the new Chasers of the Gryffindor team, James Potter and Nichole Sanders! Oh, and the new beater Sirius Black!" Sirius applauded loudly for himself. They congratulated everyone on making the team. Will Hazlet was cut to Lily's relief.
"This call for celebration!" James shouted. They ran back into the castle and down to the kitchens for food. In the common room, they had a party. The Gryffindor house had a feast that night and went off to bed rather full. James and Sirius were having a butterbeer drinking contest. Peter couldn't decided who he was rooting for and egged both sides on. Remus tried to explain that the alcohol content of butterbeer was not high enough to make anyone drunk. They walked rather tipsily up to their dormitories that night. Lily was one of the last ones to retreat to her room after the excitement of the night.
This is my true home, with the friends who accept me.
A/N: Thank you to Trapped in Icy Flame, Telly, kARA, GoddessMoonLady, Alya1989262,Musicgrl, TxSweetHeart7488, The Elfin Child, Polkat, jennifleur, Kat44, Suki11, Sequ3stered, juggling stars, JemG, and smmergurl for your reviews. I am planning on changing my penname. I thought of a great penname and searched the directory for it. When no one had the name I sent an e-mail to support@fanfiction.net. Turns out people who don't write aren't listed in the directories and therefore the name is taken. I didn't know that. Back to the drawing board! Oh and thank you to Alya1989262 for the ideas, I actually had changed around one of the ones you gave me to use as my penname. But that was the one that was taken. darn.
I know Harry's class didn't learn about dementors and such until third year, but they were behind so this class is learning about them in second year. I didn't make a mistake. My more exciting portion (which I know I said would be this chapter but isn't because of the split) is coming up soon. (not making promises because the chapter keeps getting longer). Please review and tell me what you think.
Oh and in case you didn't figure it out, "M" was Mudblood, "Q" was Quidditch, had to make the title interesting somehow.
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