A/N: Hi everyone! This is my first Harry Potter fanfic, and my first time
posting anything on FanFiction.Net. I hope everyone enjoys it, and I hope
to get some good feedback, so review, review, review!
Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter related materials. The only things that are mine are the plot and anything you don't recognize.
Pairing: Lily and James (This is my favorite pairing. If anyone has read good L/J fics, tell me what they are in a review, please and thank you.)
Rating: PG
Ch. 3 Meeting James Potter and Diagon Alley
"Lily Flower, I don't see this Leaky Cauldron place." Said Edward Evans who was getting a bit peeved, and starting to think that this whole 'being a witch' business was merely a joke that was getting completely out of hand. They had driven around London twice already.
"There it is!" Lily announced.
"Lily that's a record shop. Do I need to get your eyes checked?"
"You probably can't see it because you're not magical," replied Lily exasperatedly. "Just let me out here and pick me up tonight at eight." Her father looked skeptical. "Don't worry Dad, I'll be fine." Said Lily getting out of the car before her dad could get a get a word in.
Lily walked into the pub and headed for the bar. "Excuse me?" she said uncertainly.
"Yes? My name's Tom." said the bartender noticing the lost look on Lily's face, "Can I help you?"
"I got a letter..." she didn't have to say any more.
"Ah, you must be Lily Evans. A young man is waiting for you over there." He pointed to a booth on the other side of the pub.
"Thanks." Replied Lily. As she walked to the boy's table she immediately decided that she was going to make friends with this boy. That he wouldn't put her down. She wouldn't let him treat her like everyone at her old school did, and if he did, he'd have hell to deal with later.
"Hello." She said pleasantly, a smile on her face.
"Would you be Lily Evans?" he asked charmingly.
"Yea." This boy, whoever he was, for they hadn't introduced themselves yet, had unruly black hair, sky blue eyes, and wore glasses. You could tell he liked sports, just by looking at him, for he had an athletic build. He was a little taller then Lily, but he looked about her age.
"I'm James. James Potter. I'm a first year at Hogwarts, too. Shall we go then?" and he led the way out into a bricked courtyard. "Anytime you come to Diagon Alley, you tap these bricks," he indicated them, "with your wand." James tapped the bricks and as if by magic (well duh! Lily thought) the bricks parted and as archway was formed. The two walked under it.
"Welcome," James said dramatically, "to Diagon Alley."
Lily gasped at the sight of it all, as she and James stood there silently, starting at the miles of magical stores and attractions that seemed to stretch before them on the cobblestone road, which twisted and turned out of their sight.
"Shall we?" James asked again, pulling Lily out of her reverie.
"Let's go!" said Lily anxiously, snapping back to the present. "Where to first?"
"Gringotts." James replied confidently, grabbing Lily's hand and pulling her towards a gigantic white marble building. "Oh and just so you're prepared, Gringotts Bank is run by goblins. They seem scar-", but James was interrupted.
"Hey Jamie-boy!" shouted a boy from across the crooked street. "Who's the chick?"
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT. ESPICALLY IN PUBLIC!" James screamed to the boy, who also had black hair.
"Look what you did, Sirius. Now he's blushing!" exclaimed another boy, with sandy blonde hair, in a mock sincere way. Both boys made their way over to Lily and James.
"James, who's the chick?" Sirius asked again.
"I'm not a chick. Chicks are small yellow furry things that run around a barn-yard all day, and I'd appreciate it if you refer to me as Lily."
Sirius gave her an odd look for a moment, and then, as if unfazed, said, "Hello to you, too. I'm Sirius Black." and laughed. He held out his hand, and Lily shook it, knowing full well that this boy wouldn't be giving her any more trouble.
"I'm Remus Lupin." Said the other boy, shyly introducing himself.
"Hi. Pleasure to meet you." Said Lily as she stuck out her hand, and Remus shook it. However, while she was greeting Remus, she heard Sirius say to James in a hushed whisper,
"James what about your parents?"
"Sirius you can't tell them." Said James in a seriously urgent voice, " They think I came here by myself, to do my school shopping. Dumbledore knows about my parents. But he thinks I'm different, and I know I am, and so do you."
"So then! Let's get going." Said Remus, noticing Lily's eyes focused on James and Sirius, breaking her thoughts before she could ask any awkward questions. "Where are you guy's headed?"
"Gringotts." Replied Lily, putting the thoughts of James's urgency out of her head for now.
"Us too." Said Sirius. The four-some trooped inside the bank and as they did Lily thought, I'm worried about James. What were he and Sirius talking about? I have the feeling his parents wouldn't like me for some reason.
"Come on Lily, we have to exchange your muggle money for wizard money." Said James. And so Lily exchanged her money for the amount of 10,000 galleons.
"Now you need a vault, Lily-bean." Said Sirius. Lily got vault number 135 and dispensed most of her money there. She loved the ride down to her vault, and while all three boys looked rather green afterwards, she thought it would be worth it to come to Gringotts just to ride the mine carts.
"Okay," said Lily as they group walked out of the bank. "Now we can start the shopping. I want to get my books first, James. Where do we go for that?"
"Flourish and Blotts, they sell all our course books. Do you guys need to do your shopping, too?" He asked Sirius and Remus.
"Yea." Said Sirius. So they headed for Flourish and Blotts and got all of their books. Lily also picked out Hogwarts: a History and Simple Household Charms: A Guide to Liven Up Any Household for extra reading. James poked fun at her for liking to read, but she insisted she thought that the extra books would come in handy. Next they went to the Apothecary to buy their Potions ingredients, and Lily was disgusted by the smell. It reminded her of the fish that her dad had forgotten to put in the freezer once, and they had rotted because they had been left out.
At Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions they were all fitted. They also got their hats and cloaks. Sirius got deep red dress robes, Remus got navy blue, and James got silver.
"Which color should I get?" asked Lily.
"How about we each pick one out and you pick which one you like best?" Suggested Remus.
"Good idea," agreed James. "Lily, you stay here and us three will go pick out robes for you."
So Lily waited as the three boys went to the girls' section. Fifteen minutes later the boys came back, each carrying a robe. James's was green with silver sequins and it matched Lily's eyes perfectly. Remus's was a pale shimmery blue. And Sirius's was...
"Sirius what is that?"
"Uh, well, I figured you wouldn't pick mine anyway so I had a little fun picking it out..." The top was neon green, the middle was neon pink, and the bottom was neon purple. And Lily looked horrified. James and Remus, however, got a good laugh out of it.
"Right, so I'll uh...go put this back on the rack." Said Sirius, chuckling to himself as he turned and walked away. Lily then went into a dressing room with the two NORMAL dress robes to find that Remus's was too big. James's however, fit perfectly, and so Lily purchased it and thanked James.
Over the next hour, they purchased their dragon hide gloves, cauldrons, glass phials, telescopes, and brass scales. They decided to save their wands for last, and went to Eeylop's Owl Emporium, where they each purchased an owl. Remus's was a barn owl, which he named Poseidon. Sirius's was a tawny owl named Ares. James got an eagle owl and named him Apollo. And Lily got a snowy white owl and named it Athena.
"Wands, next?" I've been waiting for this." Said Sirius. The four new friends made their way to Ollivander's. Over the door read the words: Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. They heard a tinkling of a bell in the depths of the shop when they walked in.
"Ah," said a mystical voice. "Who do we have hear? Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and, oh my, Lily and James Potter." The two gave each other odd glances.
"Uh, actually, " Lily started, "we're not related. In fact we just met each other today." Lily said uncertainly.
"You are not related? Ah, well time will tell. For it is your heir that will save us all." Replied Mr. Ollivander, mysteriously.
"Uh, right." Said James. "Sure. Whatever you say. Can we just get our wands, now?"
"Yes, yes of course. Who's first?" Sirius got his wand in two tries. Oak, Dragon Heartstring, 9 inches. Remus took five tries, ending up with Maple, Unicorn Hair, 12 inches.
"Next," said the old shopkeeper.
"Me." said James.
Maple and Phoenix Feather, 7 inches. Try." But as soon as James gave it a whirl, the outside window shattered, leaving a pile of broken glass on the floor.
"Absolutely not!" shrieked Mr. Ollivander. But on the next try, James got his wand. Mahogany, Pliable, 11 inches.
"Ah, and last but not least, Ms. Lily Pot...er, Evans. Try this: Ebony. Unicorn Hair, Springy, 8 inches." Felling stupid, Lily gave the wand a wave, and sent Sirius flying into a wall.
"Oh my gosh, Sirius! Are you ok?"
"Definitely not that one, Lily-bean." Sirius said weakly, standing up. Thirty minutes, 27 wands, and minor injuries to the boys and the shop later, Lily finally found a wand that didn't cause any form of destruction when she waved it.
"Willow, Swishy, ten and a quarter. Try." Said Mr. Ollivander in a tiresome voice. This time, when Lily whirled the wand, she felt a warm sensation fly through her body to her fingertips, and out of the wand flew red and gold sparks.
"Finally!" Lily said.
"That will be 7 sickles, 2 knuts, Ms., uh, Evans." Lily paid and the group exited the store.
"I'm hungry." Sirius whined.
"Oh stop your belly-aching, and we'll stop for ice cream," Remus replied.
"Yes, Remus, my belly does ache. It's because I'm hungry." Replied Sirius, trying to be serious.
"Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor," Lily read off a sign. "Sounds good to me."
"Ok. James and I will go order. You two go get a table. Remus? What'll you have?"
"Um...Banana Split."
"What about you Lily?" asked James.
"Hot Fudge Sundae, extra hot fudge." Remus and Lily got a table outside, with an umbrella. They sat down to wait, and Lily asked something that had been burning a hole in her head since they met.
"Remus? What did Sirius mean before? When he asked James what his parents would think about me?" Lily saw a pained look in Remus's eye.
"I'm sorry Lily, I can't tell you. It's James's place to tell you, not mine. He'll tell you sooner or later Lily, I know he will. I'll just say that James trusts very few people for a certain reason. Once he knows he has your trust for sure, he'll tell you." And so Lily vowed that she would earn James's trust, no matter what it took. Just then, James and Sirius came back with the ice cream.
"Here you go, Lily-bean."
"Lily-bean, huh? Is that my new nickname?"
"Yup. It fits. Your name is Lily, and I dunno.it just sounds good I guess." Replied Sirius. Lily laughed.
"I like it," Lily replied.
"Me, too," said James. When they were done eating, Sirius yelled out,
"Let's go to Quality Quidditch Supplies!" James and Sirius starting running at a sprint to a store at the other end of Diagon Alley.
"Hey guys! GUYS!" Lily yelled, her and Remus trying to keep up, Lily now clutching a stitch in her side from running after just finishing off her ice cream. "Guys what's Quidditch?" The two boys stopped short, almost mauling a witch who seemed mildly distracted by a bird that kept repeatedly flying into a shop window for no apparent reason. Slowly they turned around, looked at Lily with shocked looks on their faces, and ran back to her and Remus.
"Such an innocent question," Remus muttered. "Now you've got them started," he said, almost disdainfully.
"You-you don't know what Quidditch is?" Sirius stuttered disbelievingly staring into Lily's green eyes.
"Uh, no?" replied Lily. And then the boys were off,
"Best sport in the world..."
"Played on broomsticks..."
"...fourteen players..."
"...the quaffle..."
"...and the snitch..."
All of this was said animatedly, until Remus broke it up.
"Guys! GUYS! I think you're scaring her."
Lily however was laughing.
"I'll explain everything." Said James, and he did. By the time the four reached the store, Lily knew what Quidditch was, how to play, and that all three boys rooted for England.
"Wow! That sounds great! I can't wait to learn to fly!" And while in Quality Quidditch Supplies, Lily bought another book, Quidditch Through the Ages.
By 8:00, Lily was wishing she didn't have to leave, although she knew she had to. She knew her dad would be waiting outside the record shop on the other side of The Leaky Cauldron, and he would get worried if she was even just a little bit late.
" 'Bye Lily-bean!" Sirius called, as Lily hopped into her father's car.
She was going to like this being a witch thing.
A/N: Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. I'm hoping for 5 reviews per chapter, so if you could please find the time to make me happy, lol. Thanks in advance for everyone who'll review.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter related materials. The only things that are mine are the plot and anything you don't recognize.
Pairing: Lily and James (This is my favorite pairing. If anyone has read good L/J fics, tell me what they are in a review, please and thank you.)
Rating: PG
Ch. 3 Meeting James Potter and Diagon Alley
"Lily Flower, I don't see this Leaky Cauldron place." Said Edward Evans who was getting a bit peeved, and starting to think that this whole 'being a witch' business was merely a joke that was getting completely out of hand. They had driven around London twice already.
"There it is!" Lily announced.
"Lily that's a record shop. Do I need to get your eyes checked?"
"You probably can't see it because you're not magical," replied Lily exasperatedly. "Just let me out here and pick me up tonight at eight." Her father looked skeptical. "Don't worry Dad, I'll be fine." Said Lily getting out of the car before her dad could get a get a word in.
Lily walked into the pub and headed for the bar. "Excuse me?" she said uncertainly.
"Yes? My name's Tom." said the bartender noticing the lost look on Lily's face, "Can I help you?"
"I got a letter..." she didn't have to say any more.
"Ah, you must be Lily Evans. A young man is waiting for you over there." He pointed to a booth on the other side of the pub.
"Thanks." Replied Lily. As she walked to the boy's table she immediately decided that she was going to make friends with this boy. That he wouldn't put her down. She wouldn't let him treat her like everyone at her old school did, and if he did, he'd have hell to deal with later.
"Hello." She said pleasantly, a smile on her face.
"Would you be Lily Evans?" he asked charmingly.
"Yea." This boy, whoever he was, for they hadn't introduced themselves yet, had unruly black hair, sky blue eyes, and wore glasses. You could tell he liked sports, just by looking at him, for he had an athletic build. He was a little taller then Lily, but he looked about her age.
"I'm James. James Potter. I'm a first year at Hogwarts, too. Shall we go then?" and he led the way out into a bricked courtyard. "Anytime you come to Diagon Alley, you tap these bricks," he indicated them, "with your wand." James tapped the bricks and as if by magic (well duh! Lily thought) the bricks parted and as archway was formed. The two walked under it.
"Welcome," James said dramatically, "to Diagon Alley."
Lily gasped at the sight of it all, as she and James stood there silently, starting at the miles of magical stores and attractions that seemed to stretch before them on the cobblestone road, which twisted and turned out of their sight.
"Shall we?" James asked again, pulling Lily out of her reverie.
"Let's go!" said Lily anxiously, snapping back to the present. "Where to first?"
"Gringotts." James replied confidently, grabbing Lily's hand and pulling her towards a gigantic white marble building. "Oh and just so you're prepared, Gringotts Bank is run by goblins. They seem scar-", but James was interrupted.
"Hey Jamie-boy!" shouted a boy from across the crooked street. "Who's the chick?"
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT. ESPICALLY IN PUBLIC!" James screamed to the boy, who also had black hair.
"Look what you did, Sirius. Now he's blushing!" exclaimed another boy, with sandy blonde hair, in a mock sincere way. Both boys made their way over to Lily and James.
"James, who's the chick?" Sirius asked again.
"I'm not a chick. Chicks are small yellow furry things that run around a barn-yard all day, and I'd appreciate it if you refer to me as Lily."
Sirius gave her an odd look for a moment, and then, as if unfazed, said, "Hello to you, too. I'm Sirius Black." and laughed. He held out his hand, and Lily shook it, knowing full well that this boy wouldn't be giving her any more trouble.
"I'm Remus Lupin." Said the other boy, shyly introducing himself.
"Hi. Pleasure to meet you." Said Lily as she stuck out her hand, and Remus shook it. However, while she was greeting Remus, she heard Sirius say to James in a hushed whisper,
"James what about your parents?"
"Sirius you can't tell them." Said James in a seriously urgent voice, " They think I came here by myself, to do my school shopping. Dumbledore knows about my parents. But he thinks I'm different, and I know I am, and so do you."
"So then! Let's get going." Said Remus, noticing Lily's eyes focused on James and Sirius, breaking her thoughts before she could ask any awkward questions. "Where are you guy's headed?"
"Gringotts." Replied Lily, putting the thoughts of James's urgency out of her head for now.
"Us too." Said Sirius. The four-some trooped inside the bank and as they did Lily thought, I'm worried about James. What were he and Sirius talking about? I have the feeling his parents wouldn't like me for some reason.
"Come on Lily, we have to exchange your muggle money for wizard money." Said James. And so Lily exchanged her money for the amount of 10,000 galleons.
"Now you need a vault, Lily-bean." Said Sirius. Lily got vault number 135 and dispensed most of her money there. She loved the ride down to her vault, and while all three boys looked rather green afterwards, she thought it would be worth it to come to Gringotts just to ride the mine carts.
"Okay," said Lily as they group walked out of the bank. "Now we can start the shopping. I want to get my books first, James. Where do we go for that?"
"Flourish and Blotts, they sell all our course books. Do you guys need to do your shopping, too?" He asked Sirius and Remus.
"Yea." Said Sirius. So they headed for Flourish and Blotts and got all of their books. Lily also picked out Hogwarts: a History and Simple Household Charms: A Guide to Liven Up Any Household for extra reading. James poked fun at her for liking to read, but she insisted she thought that the extra books would come in handy. Next they went to the Apothecary to buy their Potions ingredients, and Lily was disgusted by the smell. It reminded her of the fish that her dad had forgotten to put in the freezer once, and they had rotted because they had been left out.
At Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions they were all fitted. They also got their hats and cloaks. Sirius got deep red dress robes, Remus got navy blue, and James got silver.
"Which color should I get?" asked Lily.
"How about we each pick one out and you pick which one you like best?" Suggested Remus.
"Good idea," agreed James. "Lily, you stay here and us three will go pick out robes for you."
So Lily waited as the three boys went to the girls' section. Fifteen minutes later the boys came back, each carrying a robe. James's was green with silver sequins and it matched Lily's eyes perfectly. Remus's was a pale shimmery blue. And Sirius's was...
"Sirius what is that?"
"Uh, well, I figured you wouldn't pick mine anyway so I had a little fun picking it out..." The top was neon green, the middle was neon pink, and the bottom was neon purple. And Lily looked horrified. James and Remus, however, got a good laugh out of it.
"Right, so I'll uh...go put this back on the rack." Said Sirius, chuckling to himself as he turned and walked away. Lily then went into a dressing room with the two NORMAL dress robes to find that Remus's was too big. James's however, fit perfectly, and so Lily purchased it and thanked James.
Over the next hour, they purchased their dragon hide gloves, cauldrons, glass phials, telescopes, and brass scales. They decided to save their wands for last, and went to Eeylop's Owl Emporium, where they each purchased an owl. Remus's was a barn owl, which he named Poseidon. Sirius's was a tawny owl named Ares. James got an eagle owl and named him Apollo. And Lily got a snowy white owl and named it Athena.
"Wands, next?" I've been waiting for this." Said Sirius. The four new friends made their way to Ollivander's. Over the door read the words: Ollivander's: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. They heard a tinkling of a bell in the depths of the shop when they walked in.
"Ah," said a mystical voice. "Who do we have hear? Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and, oh my, Lily and James Potter." The two gave each other odd glances.
"Uh, actually, " Lily started, "we're not related. In fact we just met each other today." Lily said uncertainly.
"You are not related? Ah, well time will tell. For it is your heir that will save us all." Replied Mr. Ollivander, mysteriously.
"Uh, right." Said James. "Sure. Whatever you say. Can we just get our wands, now?"
"Yes, yes of course. Who's first?" Sirius got his wand in two tries. Oak, Dragon Heartstring, 9 inches. Remus took five tries, ending up with Maple, Unicorn Hair, 12 inches.
"Next," said the old shopkeeper.
"Me." said James.
Maple and Phoenix Feather, 7 inches. Try." But as soon as James gave it a whirl, the outside window shattered, leaving a pile of broken glass on the floor.
"Absolutely not!" shrieked Mr. Ollivander. But on the next try, James got his wand. Mahogany, Pliable, 11 inches.
"Ah, and last but not least, Ms. Lily Pot...er, Evans. Try this: Ebony. Unicorn Hair, Springy, 8 inches." Felling stupid, Lily gave the wand a wave, and sent Sirius flying into a wall.
"Oh my gosh, Sirius! Are you ok?"
"Definitely not that one, Lily-bean." Sirius said weakly, standing up. Thirty minutes, 27 wands, and minor injuries to the boys and the shop later, Lily finally found a wand that didn't cause any form of destruction when she waved it.
"Willow, Swishy, ten and a quarter. Try." Said Mr. Ollivander in a tiresome voice. This time, when Lily whirled the wand, she felt a warm sensation fly through her body to her fingertips, and out of the wand flew red and gold sparks.
"Finally!" Lily said.
"That will be 7 sickles, 2 knuts, Ms., uh, Evans." Lily paid and the group exited the store.
"I'm hungry." Sirius whined.
"Oh stop your belly-aching, and we'll stop for ice cream," Remus replied.
"Yes, Remus, my belly does ache. It's because I'm hungry." Replied Sirius, trying to be serious.
"Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor," Lily read off a sign. "Sounds good to me."
"Ok. James and I will go order. You two go get a table. Remus? What'll you have?"
"Um...Banana Split."
"What about you Lily?" asked James.
"Hot Fudge Sundae, extra hot fudge." Remus and Lily got a table outside, with an umbrella. They sat down to wait, and Lily asked something that had been burning a hole in her head since they met.
"Remus? What did Sirius mean before? When he asked James what his parents would think about me?" Lily saw a pained look in Remus's eye.
"I'm sorry Lily, I can't tell you. It's James's place to tell you, not mine. He'll tell you sooner or later Lily, I know he will. I'll just say that James trusts very few people for a certain reason. Once he knows he has your trust for sure, he'll tell you." And so Lily vowed that she would earn James's trust, no matter what it took. Just then, James and Sirius came back with the ice cream.
"Here you go, Lily-bean."
"Lily-bean, huh? Is that my new nickname?"
"Yup. It fits. Your name is Lily, and I dunno.it just sounds good I guess." Replied Sirius. Lily laughed.
"I like it," Lily replied.
"Me, too," said James. When they were done eating, Sirius yelled out,
"Let's go to Quality Quidditch Supplies!" James and Sirius starting running at a sprint to a store at the other end of Diagon Alley.
"Hey guys! GUYS!" Lily yelled, her and Remus trying to keep up, Lily now clutching a stitch in her side from running after just finishing off her ice cream. "Guys what's Quidditch?" The two boys stopped short, almost mauling a witch who seemed mildly distracted by a bird that kept repeatedly flying into a shop window for no apparent reason. Slowly they turned around, looked at Lily with shocked looks on their faces, and ran back to her and Remus.
"Such an innocent question," Remus muttered. "Now you've got them started," he said, almost disdainfully.
"You-you don't know what Quidditch is?" Sirius stuttered disbelievingly staring into Lily's green eyes.
"Uh, no?" replied Lily. And then the boys were off,
"Best sport in the world..."
"Played on broomsticks..."
"...fourteen players..."
"...the quaffle..."
"...and the snitch..."
All of this was said animatedly, until Remus broke it up.
"Guys! GUYS! I think you're scaring her."
Lily however was laughing.
"I'll explain everything." Said James, and he did. By the time the four reached the store, Lily knew what Quidditch was, how to play, and that all three boys rooted for England.
"Wow! That sounds great! I can't wait to learn to fly!" And while in Quality Quidditch Supplies, Lily bought another book, Quidditch Through the Ages.
By 8:00, Lily was wishing she didn't have to leave, although she knew she had to. She knew her dad would be waiting outside the record shop on the other side of The Leaky Cauldron, and he would get worried if she was even just a little bit late.
" 'Bye Lily-bean!" Sirius called, as Lily hopped into her father's car.
She was going to like this being a witch thing.
A/N: Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. I'm hoping for 5 reviews per chapter, so if you could please find the time to make me happy, lol. Thanks in advance for everyone who'll review.