Turn Right Turn Left.

Chapter 2: Maybe parallel lines could cross?

Disclaimer: Am not JK Rowling. You get the idea. If I was I would have been earning big bucks by now... This story is also adapted from the Taiwanese movie of the same name.

Summary:

This story is about two ill-fated young people, James and Lily, who are destined to be together, but unfortunately their paths never cross. James always turns left, while Lily turns right. Through some strange coincidence, they never meet, even though James is Head Boy while Lily is Head Girl, and have totally no idea who the other party is. They chance upon an encounter in Hogsmeade, and find that they have in fact, met before.

But when they part, they realise they have no means of contacting each other, and set out to find their soul mate.

Date posted: 26 September 2003

Revised: 16/6/2004

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Up in the highlands of Scotland, as the sun crept towards the edge of the horizon, throwing the last glorious rays of gold onto the seemingly endless grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the grounds lay silent and empty in the musty and warm darkness of the end of summer, a scarlet steam train chugged wearily into the little station in the village of Hogsmeade. Bored by the long journey, students piled steadily onto the tiny platform, anxious to get up to the castle where they could be properly fed and looking forward to seeing their friends after the long period of absence.

The castle loomed over the tiny village of Hogsmeade, towers and turrents sticking up at odd, almost impossible angles by MUggle standards bore testament to the powers of magic, and from every window lights twinkled merrily, as though the castle was eagerly anticipating the return of its students.

The familiar wretched voice of the caretaker, Argus Filch, yelled, "first years! First years here you lousy wretched creatures. Anyone who dallies gets left behind you hear me!" His protruding eyes glaring at everyone from a gaunt and bloodless face, lips curled back in a sneer. "... if it were up to me, all you brats wouldn't have belonged in this school..." he muttered to himself.

Already, a steady stream of horseless carriages were rambling up the cobblestone path towards the gigantic castle that loomed over the tiny village, and sounds of chatter filled the air.

As the last of the students cleared from the train, a head stuck out from the last compartment, followed by the rest of Lily Evans. She stepped off the train, and looked up to see a pair of inquisitive bright blue eyes staring back at her.

"YAH!" She yelled, stumbling back into the train, and catching her head on the catch of the door. "Oww! ...owww!" She yelped comically, and silently cursed herself for being so stupid, as the owl that had been staring at her took flight into the sky, appearing as though it was hooting gleefully at her.

Stooping, she picked up the creamy white envelop that the owl had drooped, surprised to see her name written on the front in flowing letters. Whistling to Feathers to follow, she started up to school in the last carriage, leaving Feathers to soar behind her.

-----

The Great Hall, as usual, was magnificent, with warm golden rays shining in through the large windows, and the high ceiling showing the gentle purples and pinks of dusk. The place was large, and even with the surrounding proud grey stone walls of Hogwarts, it was not confining. The heavy double-doors of carved oak stood open at the time, yet with tiny cracks here and there to show the passage of time and the destructive nature of adolescents, it still was tall and magnificent, wide enough for ten to walk abreast through it without difficulty. It had stood since time immemorial, guarding against attacks from outside and protecting those within. And, though it may seem absurd, many students swore that as the double-doors welcomed them back into the castle, a sense of security settled over them.

As the Great Hall gradually filled up with the bustle of students and the noise level rose to almost deafening, Headmaster Professor Albus Dumbledore rose from his seat at the front table. Instantaneously, the noise in the Hall fell away to a small buzz, save for a sudden sharp yell of "Hey! Give me back my lucky boxers you ninny!" and a few shushing noises before the culprit finally became aware of the Headmaster.

"Oh hello Professor!" the cheery voice of Sirius Black called out!" Sorry, didn't see you there!"

Dumbledore eyes twinkled merrily as he smiled at the Gryffindor seventh-year, before he turned to his attention to the students.

"No harm done Mister Black. As I was going to say before the oh-so well timed intrusion, welcome back to another year at Hogwarts! I trust whatever our excellent teachers have thought you the past year is still sitting neatly in your brain, ready to be dusted off and used again? A few announcements to make before the start of term feast. New students, as well as some of our old students, -his eyes flitted towards the Marauders who were grinning at him- should do well to remember that the Forbidden Forest is still Forbidden and out-of-bounds to any students looking for adventures. I can assure you that the Hogwarts corridors are already filled with adventure. And, secondly, Mister Filch, our caretaker, has kindly reminded me to inform you that prank-pulling will especially no be tolerated by him this year. In fact, his exact words were, 'Professor, if that damned Potter and his damned friends pull another fast one on me again, they'll have it coming for them', " he said all this with amusing eyes.

Students all round were laughing in amusement at Dumbledore's choice of words.

"And, first year students, your dear Deputy Headmistress reminds you not to go anywhere near these four students, as according to her, they are armed and highly dangerous. So, Misters Potter, Black, Lupin and Wormtail, please stand up and show yourselves to our first years." he chortled as he directed his gaze over to the Gryffindor table.

As one, the Marauders stood up and bowed, huge grins plastered on their faces.

"Thank you Professors! I always knew you adored us!" Sirius said and flashed a charming smile in the direction of the teachers bench. McGonagall's lips thinned but one could not help thinking that she was trying to hold back a smile.

All around, there were collective sighs and squeals from the female population, as girls squealed adoringly at the Marauders.

"Jamesie-poo!! Loo-"

"-ok over here Siri darl-"

"-ing Remmy, I've miss-"

"ed you so much Petey dear!"

And the first tears, who had just been warned to not go near the Marauders, all looked up at them with admiration shining in their eyes, the guys thinking 'if I could only be like them' while there girls were inwardly sighing with adoration.

"Thank you people, we love you too," James announced.

"So, we would like to show our affection for you by our usual start-of-year prank!" Remus cut in.

"Oh, bloody hell. Why can't we have peace and quiet for just one year, It's been like that ever since these four reached second year and found that nothing much was happening around school. Well, at least they didn't pull one in their first year," McGonagall moaned as she put her head in her hands.

"There, there, Minerva. You know it's not that bad... Why, I was almost certain that you enjoyed it immensely yourself! And, they did pull a start- of-year prank in first year. Remember the dancing roast boars charging down the Slytherins?" He said cheerfully.

"And without further ado," Peter yelled out.

"We present to you," they said together, every face plastered with an identical grin. "Marauders Marauding Madness Version 7.0, 'Slytherins take a hike'!!" They bellowed and simultaneously yelled - "BOOTIUS ARSIEUS!!" (roughly translated from the unknown language that was, it means Boot their arses!)

And what a great sight that was, when all two hundred and twenty seven Slytherin pupils from second year up was kicked out of their seats by a hot pink rubber boot that had magically appeared below every Slytherin's bottom. They went flying through the air and were deposited at the entrance of the Great Hall.

"TAKE A HIKE!" They yelled and slapped each other high-fives before sitting back down in their seats.

The whole hall burst into appreciative cat-calls and wolf-whistles, as the Slytherins, nursing their bruised egos, returned to their seats and shot the Marauders some extremely filthy looks.

"Now! That's quite enough thank you very much," McGonagall said, lips tight and nostrils flaring. "I trust that you will be able to do equally well in class this year, considering your competence at magical spells? Now, there's two detentions a week for each of you!" She hollered even though the ends of her mouth were turned slightly up.

"Truly entertaining," Dumbledore said as he stood up again, comically wiping tears from his eyes, and using a very large violently purple handkerchief, a blew his nose into it, promptly causing the handkerchief to exclaim in a very rude tone, "Hey! Take your snot elsewhere! Do you think it's a great job, having people blow mucus into you all the time, huh? HUH? DO YOU?? Why-" The noise was cut off as Dumbledore calmly folded and made the handkerchief disappear back up his folds of robes. "Oh, deary me. It does seem that my handkerchief is in a foul temper today. And, lastly, we have our new Head Students. James Potter as Head Boy, while Lily Evans as Head Girl. Due to unfortunate circumstances, Miss Evans can't join us at the opening feast today. As you all already know Mister Potter, I see no more reason to hold everyone back from a scrumptious dinner. As the saying goes, food waits for no one! DIG IN."

He waved his hands and the plates were suddenly piled down with all kinds of food, the wide wooden tables creaking under all the weight. The double-doors creaked shut, letting the students eat in peace.

And, as Dumbledore sat, he could be heard saying privately, though in a very, very loud voice, "now, now, Argus, there's no reason to attack the roast boars, I'm rather sure that there's enough to go around..."

Laughter ensued and died down and once more, friendly chatter soon rose again as friends sought each other out to ask about the summer and start on their dinners.

"Who's Lily Evans?" Sirius asked James as he helped himself to a large portion of the spaghetti in front of him.

"Have no idea Padfoot, haven't heard of her," James answered.

Peter glanced over and grinned. "Truly a day to remember. I thought you had the girls in this school memorised to the last small detail. And you don't even know who the Head Girl is..."

James shrugged. "Hey, I'll find out with time. The Heads have their own rooms, which are incidentally next to each other."

As the four best friends continued to talk about the many irrelevant things that made life fun, they glanced around at them, looking at their schoolmates, from the happily boisterous Gryffindors, already energetic and starting to cause trouble, to the quieter intelligence of the Ravenclaws, the unbelievable cheerfulness of the Hufflepuffs, always offering words to anyone, and then to the bored indifference of the Slytherins. Outside the windows, the sky had darkened and the towering silhouettes of other stone structures rose up around them. Over the years, they had come, and placed their mark on the school, a legacy of their own. The walls, the tables, nearly everything here had been marked by them in one way or another, and even though magic had taken care of all but the worst traces (the Slytherin table still flashed purple once in a while) it was the memories that counted, that they would remember many years down the road. This was where they had learnt life's many and never-ending lessons, gone through its ups and downs and forged the strong flames of friendship and, through it all, had grown up together.

Yes, they truly were home now.

-----

Lily had made her way up to the Hospital Wing, painfully ignoring the sounds of happy chattering and the tempting smells of food that wafted from the Great Hall. Dumbledore had requested for assistance in the Hospital Wing, which was why Lily was currently far from where she was supposed to be. Sure, it was a request, but when Dumbledore requested for something to be done, done it was.

"Oh, good child, you're here at last. I'm sorry for dragging you out of the feast, but we need someone to restock the potions and evidently, Dumbledore thought you were best for the job," Madam Pomfrey, the matron of the Wing came bustling over. She always seemed to bustle, and though she was a woman of no remarkable appearance, her skill with healing and warm motherly smile made everyone feel better when they were down.

Lily and Pomfrey set to work transporting potions from the dungeon and into the various cabinets, with Madam Pomfrey remarking once in a while "careful now dear. That's Concentrated Essence of Mandrake… We wouldn't want a wart breakout now, would we?" Or something like "ahhh... Goat's milk and needle-point leaves work miracles for hiccups."

By the end of the two hours, Lily had gained an extensive knowledge about most of the potions and concoctions the Hogwarts medi-witch used as well as several other frequently used spells, all of which she stored carefully away into her memory.

Truth to be told, Lily was surprised that she had actually rather enjoyed helping out in the Hospital Wing, and she rather enjoyed the cheerful chatter of the medi-witch.

"And that's the last of it," Pomfrey said as they stored away the Forksroot tea. "Thanks for your help Lily... Professor Dumbledore asked me to send you directly to your room now. There'll not be a briefing tonight. The Head Girl's Room is two corridors down turn right. The Head Boy's is two corridors down turn left, so if you need anything, go find him. You can't miss it. Your portrait is bordered with pink and blue and has a picture of a dozen fairies sitting around a mushroom ring. The passwords 'Twinkle Toes'. Be sure not to go into the wrong room, dear, boys nowadays, you never know what condition you'll find them in when you enter unexpectedly," she shared an amused glance with Lily, and Lily stifled her laughter.

"Oh, and since you missed the feast, here's a little something so you won't get funny cravings and sneak off into the night. Heaven help me if another one of those Marauders lands in here because they fall into some trap Peeves laid out for unsuspecting students sneaking off to the kitchens." Pomfrey gave her a small foil package and sent her on her way.

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey, I'd best be off now..." Lily said and smiled at the nurse before walking out of the Hospital Wing.

'What a sweet girl,' Pomfrey thought to herself as she looked at the red-head's retreating figure. 'Strange I've never seen her around before...'

-----

James yawned loudly as he finished the last serving of the chocolate fudge and caramel on the table, and the plates returned to their original sparkling state.

"Hey Prongs! What did you do that for?" Yelped an angry Sirius. "You could have left some for me, some friend you are... I wasn't done there."

"You're never done Padfoot," Remus said with a laugh.

They listened with half an ear as Dumbledore closed the feast and asked for Prefects to lead the way to the dormitories, three of them more intent on flicking their poor friend with small pieces of after-dinner chocolates while Sirius tried in vain to fend off the attacks.

They trudged up the stairs slowly, with James yelling "First years, first years.. This way. NO! NOT THAT WAY! THIS WAY! YOU BRAT, YOU- NO IT'S THIS WAY! FOLLOW BEHIND ME BEFORE I HEX YOU INTO THE NEXT CENTURY. YOU- YES, THE DUDE WITH THE MOSSY SWEATER, DON'T GO THERE, YOU WOULDN'T WANT THE CLOSET MONSTER TO EAT YOU! AND STOP TOUCHING POOR SIR LANCELOT! YES, I'M SURE HE'S ALREADY QUITE TRAUMATISED TO SEE YOU NINCOMPOOPS. FOLLOW BEHIND ME, AND NOT TOO CLOSELY!" Sirius and Remus sniggered heartily.

"Easy to see your sense of responsibility Prongs," Remus quipped brightly.

"Yes, it's just so obvious now why Dumbledore picked you as Head Boy eh?" Sirius added with eyes full of mirth as he watched James trying to control the first years. But, they, in their eagerness at their new surroundings, were looking around in awe and very obviously ignoring James Potter.

James groaned. "Were we even that bad in first year?"

Remus grinned. "Well, you see, they aren't half as bad as what we used to be like. Ahhh... I can still remember the look of horror on Sir Lancelot's face when we made Lady Nina from the astronomy Tower flash in front of him."

"They can't hold a candle to us Prongs!" Peter exclaimed airily.

"Though they aren't half bad... Maybe this batch shows promise..." Sirius murmured as they watched an exasperated James haul a First Year back from Peeves's corridor.

"Now, DON'T GO IN THERE! THAT'S PEEVES'S CORRIDOR. It's generally accepted that anyone goes in there won't come out the same person. BOTH literally and metaphorically," James said in a loud voice. "WHAT DID I JUST SAY!" He yelled as he spied a particularly mischievous boy venturing into the said corridor. "YOU COME BACK HERE!" But before James could haul him back, an evil cackle was heard, and a bright blob came shooting out from the darkness, followed swiftly by feathers, hundreds and thousands, blue paint, swirly stickers and spiders.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" The terrified first year screamed.

"HAH!" James yelled a gleeful shout of laughter. "WHAT DID I JUST SAY!" He crowed triumphantly. "See if that doesn't teach you to follow me. And a tip of the trade: Always walk around with ammunition! Amateurs!" Just as he finished, Sirius lobbed a half dozen dungbombs into the corridor and Remus fired off a large burst of black and grey from his wand. There was a brief silence as the first years tensed to see what would happen, before a loud explosion rocked the portraits hanging on the wall and loud curses could be heard. "Filthy, stinking marauders... Eww... Smell... I'm grey! OH WHAT A HORRID COLOUR... I'm grey!"

As they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, James turned to the first years. "Well, this is the Gryffindor Tower. It will be your home for the next seven years, if there are any suggestions for improvement, put them forward to me or the Head Girl. Also, curfew's at ten. Anyone caught out of bounds will be sent for a painful meeting with Filch. ("Like that's ever stopped you!" Yelled Sirius.) Yes, yes, funny Padfoot, very funny. Don't do anything I won't do kids." ("Doesn't say anything much!" The above-mentioned person said, earning a tackle from James and leaving Remus (the other Gryffindor prefect) to give the password: Slytherin-sub.)" And with that the portrait swung outwards to reveal a vividly red and gold room that gave the feel of welcome and warmth.

"Well... See you," James said awkwardly. He had thought about it before, but it seemed incomprehensible, till now, it was the first night in seven years at Hogwarts that the four were not sleeping in the same dorms.

"Aww, is thy eyes deceiving me, or is ickle Jamesie about to cry?" Sirius exclaimed. "Hey, no worries Prongs, it's not like we've ever set much store for rules! Ah well, we can still prank together huh? And don't forget our little experiment. We can try that tonight."

"Yea, bye guys," James said somewhat sadly and bid his friends goodnight, going up a few more flights of stairs, while the other three Marauders clambered inside the Common Room.

'Dumbledore said it was the portrait with a black and silver border and a snitch in the picture.'

As he reached the portrait hole, he looked up just in time to see the door across the intersection click shut.

'Just missed her then. Heck, I'm dirty and tired and I really want to sleep. And I still have to contact the others. She can wait until next time.'

"Snitch Witch," he mumbled and the portrait door opened.

-----

Even though the apartment in London where Lily stayed in was far from small, she was impressed with the room in spite of herself.

The floor was paneled with white marble was almost as large as the entire girls dorm she had used for five years Gryffindor. Towards the left, she spied a stairs of stained oak leading upwards, no doubt to an even bigger living space upstairs. The whole place was rather bare, and the instant she walked in, Feathers flew down to perch on her shoulders.

Nailed to the behind of the door, a note read 'Dear Miss Evans, please feel free to furnish your quarters any way you like it. Professor Dumbledore.'

"I guess this is our new home now Feathers," she addressed the snowy owl.

-----

At the seventh year Gryffindor dorm room, five seventh year girls, Tracy Stevens, and her other roomies, were gathered around her bed.

They were all tall, thin and pretty, and, of course, extremely popular. Unfortunately, they were a little ditzy as well.

"Hey," Tracy suddenly quipped as they were reading 'Teenage Witch', a Hogwarts newsletter they had started themselves, on who's hot and who's not. "Wasn't there another girl who shared this room with us? You know, the one who got up extremely early each morning, and we barely saw her around? Lil- Lillah or Kelly or something?"

Her other friends looked at her blankly. "Umm, I don't quite remember, but what matters is, that we have the whole room to ourselves now. Why bother about someone whose name we don't remember?"

"Oh forget that, Trace," Raine admonished lightly. "We're getting to the good part now. Is Sirius Black or James Potter more hot?"

And the five of them turned back to their own conversation, the dim memory of a red-haired girl that had once stayed in their dorm already fading fast.

-----

He had already started redecorating his room. The living area was now enchanted so that it was now a grassy area, and hoops had been placed on one side of the area.

'There just wasn't enough space for a full-sized pitch,' James thought ruefully to himself.

Since that had taken up much of the space in the first level, he had not added anything else, except a few portraits of famous Quidditch Players and well-known brooms.

He then enchanted his steps to disappear, and replaced it with a large board a few metres wide and long that was un-obstructively placed in a depression in the floor. And using a advanced hovering charm, turned it into platform that could move between the two floors.

Upstairs, his bed turned into a plush water bed that seemed to have no definite shape and squished all over the place. He emptied his trunk and arranged everything in his extended walk-in closet.

"Dress robes for formal dances, dress robes for informal dances, dress robes for graduation dance. Thomas Parkingson robes for everyday wear, Hogwarts school robes for lessons, muggle clothes for casual wear, muggle clothes for formal wear," he muttered to himself as he sorted through the pile.

"MUM!!! Damn, she repacked my trunk, again! It's always this, this, this, that, that, that. All I'm brought up to do is to attend parties where all the snobby rich people go to. High-society life, such a bloody bother! Thank goodness I packed the other important stuff into the other trunk."

He pulled out a minute trunk and muttered a few words, and the trunk started enlarging.

"Now, there's the real stuff," he said triumphantly and heaved open the lid.

In it were assorted items of all kinds. (Haha, just take it that anytime he looks for something, its in the box. I can't describe everything here.) And he waved his wand so that the items arranged themselves on several large shelves he had created. 'Prank stuff for Slytherins', 'Prank stuff for teachers', "Prank stuff for other occasions', 'Items essential for a Marauder' and 'Assorted', were among the few categories there. He then waved again and his books arranged themselves on the last shelf. James had quite a large number of books, and so did Sirius, which was why they did not go to the library often, and had led many to assume that the Marauders did not read.

After that, he charmed a bar table into place beside the bed, with its own refrigerator and drink shelf that magically refilled with whatever he felt like having. He then placed a huge table in the remaining space and charmed four chairs, which were made of the same squishy substance as the bed, to the table.

'They'll do perfectly well for the chairs.'

Having inspected the bathroom and found it to his expectations, he left that alone and proceeded to dig out a globe about ten centimeters in diameter and placed in onto the table.

-----

Lily looked around as smiled in satisfaction. A small part of the living area now resembled the Hogwarts school library with its vast collection of books, yet it had a cosy feeling of an old-fashioned tea-shop. The other part of the living area held an open field with a large weeping willow right beside a large window. The rest of the open field was given over to soccer, a Muggle sport. Lily had never told anyone this, but she had a small fetish about soccer, having grown up in England. She was quite skilled in the game, but no one would believe her if she told them. They all thought she looked to demure to be involved in such a sport.

Out of convenience, she charmed her stairs so that it would start moving when someone stepped on it, and demolished the other half of the staircase so that there was a big hole there. She put a cushion charm on the area underneath it so that she could be cushioned when she jumped, but it would not obstruct the area below.

Upstairs, she had replicated her entire bedroom, complete with the gigantic window. Her clothes were charmed into a walk-in closet, and an area was set up for studying. The last bit she did to her bedroom was rather tricky. She set a large bowl about fifty centimeters in diameter, and charmed it so that any food she wanted would appear. It required a complex weaving of summoning charms and transfiguration skills, and had to be redone two times before Lily got it right. (it gave her blue apples the first time)

The bathroom was satisfying. A large hollow was sunk in the middle of the room, with various taps all around it, and jet pipes in the pool.

'A pool, cum jacuzzi? Cool.'

-----

"Helloo??" James said to the shining globe that was currently black in colour.

"Ummm, Sirius seriously salivates at salamanders," James said, feeling a little dumb. 'That damned Sirius had to choose a contact name like that huh?'

The black fog cleared and the globe became white.

"-Moony! Shh, wait. I think Prongs is trying to call us," came Sirius' voice.

James was looking at Sirius feet through the glass.

"Padfoot, quiet, we need to find it," Peter shouted.

"Well, I'm not the one making the noise," Sirius' annoyed voice said.

James view of the room suddenly spun rapidly. He got dizzy just trying to look at it.

"Ouch! I kicked something," Moony said.

"Just find that bloody ball."

"Is it- Oh wait, there it is," came Peter's relieved tones. "I found it."

And James got a glimpse of the ball being lifted up before it was steadied, and all three Marauders were staring at him through the glass, their faces strangely distorted through the contours of the globe.

"Well, hello Prongs!" Sirius grinned at him. "You look kinda funny. You know, your mouths wider than your face and your eye's gone a squinty. And, there's a space of at least five centimeters between your nose and your lips."

"Speak for yourself Padfoot, you three look weird. We have got to sort out this problem, but at least the image thing is working. Otherwise, everyone will be looking Grendael from Weird Wizards," James said. "Look at my room, it's cool. You could crash here sometimes."

He panned the globe around the room, and even through the weird distortions, Sirius was visibly impressed by it.

"So," Peter said, turning the globe so that it was focused on him. "Did you get to see the new Head Girl? She hot or anything?"

"Nahh," James responded. "I came back immediately to do up my room and talk to you guys. Besides, she's probably not even good-looking. Maybe some goody-two-shoes. Padfoot here has got the names of all the quality gals written down and I don't see Lily Evans on the list."

The view centered on Remus. "Prong-

and then turned to Sirius "-s, do you."

"HEY!" They yelled in unison. "I wasn't done there!"

Peter turned the globe to himself, and rolled his eyes. "Hey, James, we're distributing it tomorrow eh? What's it called?"

"It's the C-globe, short for 'see-all globe', and it's gonna be a big hit tomorrow," James smirked.

Peter laughed. "We'll hope so. Well, see you, eight-thirty at the end of the corridor we parted yesterday. Those two are still bickering, can you believe them?" He laughed again. "Night Prongs."

And the last he saw of the dorm was that Sirius had taken Remus in a headlock while Remus had a hand to Sirius' throat. Then, the globe went black.

-----

Lily dressed slowly the next morning.

'It's such a relief, I can just eat in my room. No more trips to the Great Hall,' she thought to herself.

She got a plate of fried mini-potatoes and went down to her own library to read for a bit. There was a small tapping on the window. Lily looked up to see a medium sized barn owls, and frowned.

'That's odd, I don't get letters. Apart from Feathers who delivers letters from mum and dad, I never get letters.'

The owl clicked impatiently on the window, and Lily hurried over to open it. It soared in and on to the table, waiting for Lily to come to it.

Lily retrieved the owl's packing, a rather large box and a letter stuck to the top. She opened the letter first.

Whoever it may concern.

In an attempt to link up the whole of Hogwarts, we have devised this incredibly intelligent and absolutely fantastic device, the C-globe. It connects you to whoever you want to, as long as they have a C-globe with them. Comes complete with a users manual, and teaches you who to use the C- globe's many functions, like voice recording, blah blah.

Price of only ten galleons, this has got to be the most fantastic invention yet. Please send the money back with the owl if you want it, and if you don't send the whole package back.

The Marauders.

Her curiosity piqued, she opened the box and took out a shining globe of the darkest black.

She shrugged. 'Why not? It's pretty to look at and maybe I can keep it for later.' She dug out ten galleons and put it into a pouch the owl was carrying.

"To activate, please touch the globe, and specify a username," A voice said from the globe. "And, to contact other people, please state their username to the globe. If you want a conversation with other people, just specify the usernames of all the people you wish to talk to."

Lily touched the globe. "Starlight."

"Username programmed."

Lily looked up and yelped. "Oh no, I'm gonna be late, again."

She quickly gathered her books, stumbled out of the portrait and turned right. As she turned the corridor, she ran head-on into someone.

End of Chapter Two.
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