About A Boy
By: xKonstantinex
A/N: O.M.G. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR YOUR WONDERFUL REVIEWS!!! I don't even know what to say…I couldn't believe my eyes!!! I promise that I will write and FINISH this story to the best of my ability for you-I can't believe the response….THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! As for this chapter, it's kinda bland because it's the introduction chapter-characters to be introduced, plot set up taking place, blah blah-but I tried to spice it up and did not drag it out with perfectly detailed descriptions of each of my characters , so keep on reading hehehehe!
Chapter 2: Going Home
My seventh year at Hogwarts was…interesting to say the least. I remember talking to my friends on the Hogwarts Express about how great it would be, how different it would be from all the other years we had spent in that same castle with those same people. It was our last year, OUR year, and we would make it the best year of our lives. I remember talking about how we would be SO rebellious this year, pull off all these pranks brilliant enough to rival the Marauders' and get dates for ALL the Hogsmeade trips we would take. We'd participate in activities we never dreamed of doing before, and live this year without regrets. It was a year of dreams for us, our seventh year. We had so many fantasies, expectations and wishes…in the end I don't think we accomplished half of what we wanted to do, and the year definitely didn't turn out the way we expected it to. Sometimes, I look back and regret some of the things I did and remember the mistakes I made…but then I look around me and I'm reminded of everything that we did accomplish that year, everything we did right, and everything we did differently that ended up changing things for the better. It may not have been a perfect year-but the way it turned out was beyond our wildest dreams and unlike anything we ever could have planned or hoped for.
I love the smell of Platform 9 ¾. Weird? Why yes I am, thank you. You see, I'm one of those people who attribute certain smells to specific memories and emotions. The smell of Platform 9 ¾, which was a great mix of train steam, leather from our trunks, cauldron cakes, a hint of owl droppings, and a slight trace of pine; reminded me of home. I can attribute so many emotions to that smell; comfort, warmth, safety, and of course, happiness. Anyways, after taking in a big breath, I was about to head over to look for my friends when all of a sudden, they found me.
"LILY!!!"
"AGH!!"
It was then that they decided that the best greeting they could give me would be to trap in the midst of a group hug. My friends…they're insane. That's why I love them. And, insanity is also one of the many traits we share. These were the girls I'd grown up with for six years; my closest, bestest friends. My best bestest friend of the group though, was Nicole Lafferty. We were so close and so much alike that we even called each other "twin" sometimes. She usually had long raven black hair, but she had cut it short-VERY short over the summer. Well, very short in my opinion because I would never dream of cutting my dark red hair above my shoulder blades; the cut was actually very cute, and did this flippy sort of thing I knew my thick, stick straight hair would never be able to accomplish. She had also dyed it a dark brown, coppery tone that flattered her Asian features and almond eyes. Releasing her from our hug, I turned to my other friend, Kalena Smith.
Kalena. Well, I might as well tell you now; Kalena and James Potter had gone out the year before…and it hadn't ended on good terms. Not good terms at all; and to make things worse, not only was he avoiding her altogether now, she was always telling us about how he gave her these strange, condescending looks sometimes. We never really took her too seriously though, not because we didn't trust her or anything…it's just that, if there were labels in our group, Kalena would win the title of 'Drama Queen' hands down. She could sometimes be so moody, going from laughing and singing at the top of her lungs, to depressed about how her curly dark brown hair never stayed put, in just one second flat. No joke. So, we listened to her rambles about James Potter, and tried to mollify her when she became so enraged one day that she was ready to go throw a whole bag of dungbombs at him. Although I had always been rather indifferent towards James Potter, her emotions inevitably affected mine and my opinion of him wasn't too great. Still, I didn't really know what to think; James and I ran in completely different social circles and I'd never been in a situation yet that required me to deal with him. You may get the impression that we weren't as close to her because of her drama queen syndrome, but in fact, we were close as could be. When she wasn't in one of her moods, Kalena was a great friend; always there by your side, always making you laugh at her random comments and jokes. She was the comic relief and the source of drama; a walking paradox. Anyways, before I could take another look at her and guess how the summer had affected her feelings for James Potter (At the end of last term, she was almost over him. Almost.), I was enveloped in another hug by Theresa Parker.
Theresa was the mum in our little group. She was the constant voice of reason, always so wise and concerned. She could be just as crazy and loud as any of us, but she'd also be the first one to settle down if we ever got out of hand. We made fun of her all the time for being so motherly, but she just smiled back at us and accepted it. Out of all of us, she was the one that dealt with situations best. She was the one you could tell anything to, the one you could confide in because you knew that she would never pass judgment on you.
My friends…these were the people that I lived for. When my parents died, back in my fifth year because of a car accident, they were the ones who kept me going. I don't know if I will ever find a group of friends as good as them. We all complemented each other in some way; where one was weak, another was strong. We balanced each other perfectly, and worked together perfectly as well. These were the friends I wanted to keep my whole life; the times we had together, the moments we shared…they were all so special. Yet this would be our last year together. After this, I knew I would be headed for Auror training; Nicole was going back and forth between Auror training or starting Healer training; Kalena was thinking about taking a year off to travel; and Theresa was hoping to find a job selling broomsticks unless she could get a job playing Quidditch professionally. We would all be going our separate ways, and though I didn't doubt we would stay in touch and meet up from time to time, in my heart, I knew that we would drift apart, at least a little bit anyways. This only made us want to make this year even more special. In fact, I think we were all so set on keeping this year perfect and free of drama, that it caused us to become somewhat blind to the actions and errors we made that year…and to the pain that we caused each other as well.
After searching for ten minutes, we finally found an empty compartment and collapsed onto the red velvet seats, warm and content. I closed my eyes and breathed in the sweet smell of warm cauldron cakes and smiled lazily. It had been so long since I had smelled the cakes' sweet aroma, so long since I had been together like this with my friends. We chattered about the year to come, the N.E.W.T.s later on that year, applying to Auror/Healer training, things like that. Just regular talk amongst close friends.
Then, I remembered that as the new Head Girl, I was required to be in the front compartment for a meeting with the new Head Boy (who's identity I still didn't know) and the Prefects too.
Oh crap.
So, ten minutes late already, I burst out of my compartment and ran for the front of the train, checking my watch obsessively by the minute, every minute. See? Still a spaz…a forgetful spaz, but a spaz nonetheless.
Two minutes later, clutching my side and breathing erratically, I tumbled ever so gracefully into the compartment.
"I'm SO sorry I'm late!"
But I was only answered by my own echo.
It seemed the Head Boy had taken matters into his own hands and had sent everyone off. Moaning and dreading the possible punishments that could befall me, I turned to exit the compartment in hopes of running into one of the prefects. I recalled seeing a few of them when I first arrived on the platform, and struggled to remember the faces of people I recalled seeing a silver badge on. After a few seconds of deep pondering, I could only vaguely recall two though, and they were both fifth year prefects. It was easy to distinguish the fifth year prefects from the sixth year prefects because they were the ones who walked a little taller than everyone else, with their chests slightly pushed forward so that the gleaming silver badges sparkled for all to see. Then there were the sixth year prefects, still walking tall but with an air of ease; their badges on the other hand were scratched from being placed face down on dressers so many times last year, and perhaps from being thrown into an already overflowing school trunk the morning of September 1. It's quite funny to see; after awhile, people just stop caring because everything becomes so routine to them that it doesn't seem exciting and new anymore, it just becomes normal. In any case, I was just about to take my exit, when a piece of parchment taped to the window caught my eye. Walking over to it, I picked up the note, addressed to me.
To the new, tardy Head Girl-Shame on you for being late, don't you value your position? Hehe, just kidding. No harm done. To be honest, I arrived fashionably late myself, but obviously before you. Sent the ickle Prefects off to patrol, and reviewed the material on the list that we got by post from Dumbledore and McGonagall. You and I are supposed to be patrolling this boxcar, but one run when you get this note, another after the food is distributed, and then another about 10 minutes before we pull into the stop should do it; besides this new batch of prefects are all arse kissers, they assured me they'd cover it for us. Enjoy the train ride and see you at the feast, whoever you are.
You owe me one,
James Potter
P.S. Can't wait to get to know you better… =)
New Head Boy. James Potter. James Potter. New Head Boy.
Oh DEAR….
A/N: As I said, intros and stating the obvious-but now that it's done with, let the fun begin!! There are crucial points to the plot in this chapter though (I love character development ) so it wasn't all a waste, I assure you Expect longer chapters in the future…and as for what I said before about a possible R rating, I'm starting to doubt that…we'll see I guess? Hehe, sorry, the plot is constantly being tweaked and played with so I can't say anything for sure. Please REVIEW again!!! I LOVE feed back! Even a little something, just so I know you're still liking it, LoL More cookies and much love if you review!
Chapter 3 should be out by mid next week, probably before Wednesday? See you back then!!!