Pride & Perseverance
--Home Bound?--
A beautiful young girl sat staring out her window. Mind you, the view was nothing spectacular but it still had a special place in her heart. The view that consisted of perfectly manicured lawns and almost identical houses came from none other than her very own house. Lily Evans, whose wavy red hair flowed down her back, started to get tears in her almond shaped, vibrant green eyes. With the exception of her rather ignorant older sister, Petunia, who considered Lily to be as appealing as a leper, she dearly loved her home. And she dearly loved her parents too. That was probably what made it so hard to go back to Hogwarts every year. But all she had to do was think about seeing her two best friends and getting back to her studies and she didn't feel quite as sad.
"Lily!" her mother called
That was Lily's cue to get a move on, it was time to leave for the train station.
"Coming Mom," she called back.
Once Lily's things had been loaded in their car she set off with her parents for the station. The ride was over quickly since they lived somewhat near the train station. However, in that short time Lily had managed to get herself worked up over the upcoming year. This was going to be her fifth year at Hogwarts, which meant that at the end of the year she would have to take her OWL's. If she did bad on these tests then she wouldn't be able to get into the highly selective NEWT classes she wanted to take and if that didn't happen she might never become an unspeakable which in her mind could very possibly mean the end of the world.
Lily concluded her thought when she felt the embrace of her mother. Had they already reached the entrance to Platform 9 3/4?
"Have a great year Lily!" her mother exclaimed.
Her dad was next in line for a hug.
"We're so proud of you becoming a prefect," her father said positively beaming. "I know you'll do tremendous this year."
"Don't forget to write," Lily's mother quickly chimed in.
"We love you!" Lily's parents both said in unison.
Lily quickly said good byes again and turned back to the barrier separating two very different worlds. This was always the hardest part about going back to school. She always felt as if she was abandoning her parents to go live a separate life. No matter how much she reasoned with herself she always knew that her family and the rest of her life could never really be one in the same. As much as her parents accepted and encouraged her to become part of the magical world, she always had reservations. Because by encouraging her they were really just pushing her into a world in which they could never really be a part. This thought made Lily sad, but she rallied her spirits by thinking of the feast that awaited her tonight. On that note she started speeding towards the brick wall that would allow her entrance into the platform. Her parent's shouts of farewell followed her and while she had a smile on her face, she also had a single tear running down her face.
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Just as Lily felt a cool rush of wind graze her face, Platform 9 3/4 came into view. But something alarming also came into view. It was a cart sitting directly in front of her. She barely had time to register the object before she rammed into it with her own cart.
"What the..." she heard a familiar masculine voice say.
When Lily looked up she wasn't surprised to see James Potter. To anybody but Lily, James was a very intriguing creature. James was the star chaser on the Gryffindor quidditch team. He was also very intelligent, but he put his intelligence to work in creating unique and amusing ways to pull pranks on people. Lily Evans, unfortunately, had been victim many a time to these infamous pranks. She would not be fooled by his always-disheveled hair and cute geeky athletic look. Unlike every other girl, Lily was not only not attracted to James; he positively repulsed her. His cocky and arrogant attitude annoyed her to no end. However, even though Lily tried to be nice to James she usually failed miserably. The short-tempered redhead was infamous for going off on people when they pissed her off, especially James.
"Oh, bloody hell, sorry Potter," Lily said quickly.
James stared awestruck at Lily for a few moments, but when he finally realized he was just standing there with his mouth hanging open he quickly tried to cover it up.
"Ahemm," he cleared his throat (for no particular reason)" that's alright Evans."
"Well, I guess I better get on the train before it leaves." Lily then dashed off giving James a semi-smile over her shoulder.
Once Lily was on the train she started to search for her friends. They weren't discovered until she got to the last few compartments at the very end of the train. When she opened the door she was greeted by shouts of joy. Her two best friends, Madison McGuire and Emma Thornwood, rushed up to hug her. Madison was a petite girl who had beautiful dark black hair. It was the kind of deep black that starts to look blue if you stare at it too long. Her light grey-blue eyes presented a nice contrast to her hair, which fell to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Emma on the other hand had sandy blonde hair that was cut to right above her jaw line in an almost retro look. She was about 5'6" but still had a very slender frame. Her dark chocolate brown eyes welled up with tears of joy as she engulfed Lily in a hug.
"Oh, I missed you SO much!" Madison squealed.
"How was your summer?" Emma said in a shaky voice when she had gotten enough control over herself to speak.
"It was boring as usual," Lily replied.
As she looked around the cabin she realized that it was empty except for the three of them.
"How did you guys manage to get us a compartment all alone,"
Before either Madison or Emma could respond the door slid open.
"They didn't," said another all too familiar masculine voice.
When Lily turned around she came face to face with the one person she possibly disliked even more than James Potter. Sirius Black. He smiled that smile that melts girl's hearts and stops them dead in their tracks. It had no effect on Lily though. She took him in in a glance. Already she could tell he hadn't changed much. Same tidy black hair, devastatingly handsome good looks, and definitely the same cocky and arrogant attitude as James. Sirius merely walked right past the three girls and took a seat by the window. Lily's temper flared. How dare he come waltzing into THEIR cabin acting as if he owned the whole world. As if that wasn't enough, James came in after Sirius, following suit. He didn't say anything. Instead he tousled his hair and grinned at the girls. Next to come in was Peter Pettigrew. He was a major groupie of Sirius' and James'. Not only did he worship the ground they walked on, but he would also do anything they ordered him to do. The last to come in the cabin was Remus Lupin. He saluted them and then sat down. Out of the four, Lily found Remus to be the most tolerable. They had studied together many times and actually got along pretty well. However, Lily was always disappointed in Lupin for his lack of willingness to stand up to his friends even when he knew they were wrong.
The Marauders, as the four boys were called, started to huddle around a piece of parchment that Sirius had suddenly pulled out of his pocket. By this time Lily was seething.
"And just who do you boys think you are?" Lily asked through clenched teeth.
"Well," said Sirius, "I'm Sirius, this is James, over here is..."
"Don't be a prat, you idiot. What I mean is why the hell did you just walk in our cabin and take it over?"
"We didn't take it over, we merely decided to join you lovely ladies in occupying it. By all means feel free to go about things as normal. Don't worry we aren't planning to strike up any conversation today. There are more important things to think about now than how to wiggle our way into the hearts of the three most beautiful girls in school," Sirius said.
The girls were all amused at how he could fit an insult into a compliment and still sound so charming. Finally, each of them took a seat. Lily could only think with dread about the trip that lay ahead of them. I swear, vowed Lily, if any of those little prats try any pranks on me I will hurt them so bad they won't know what happened.
--Home Bound?--
A beautiful young girl sat staring out her window. Mind you, the view was nothing spectacular but it still had a special place in her heart. The view that consisted of perfectly manicured lawns and almost identical houses came from none other than her very own house. Lily Evans, whose wavy red hair flowed down her back, started to get tears in her almond shaped, vibrant green eyes. With the exception of her rather ignorant older sister, Petunia, who considered Lily to be as appealing as a leper, she dearly loved her home. And she dearly loved her parents too. That was probably what made it so hard to go back to Hogwarts every year. But all she had to do was think about seeing her two best friends and getting back to her studies and she didn't feel quite as sad.
"Lily!" her mother called
That was Lily's cue to get a move on, it was time to leave for the train station.
"Coming Mom," she called back.
Once Lily's things had been loaded in their car she set off with her parents for the station. The ride was over quickly since they lived somewhat near the train station. However, in that short time Lily had managed to get herself worked up over the upcoming year. This was going to be her fifth year at Hogwarts, which meant that at the end of the year she would have to take her OWL's. If she did bad on these tests then she wouldn't be able to get into the highly selective NEWT classes she wanted to take and if that didn't happen she might never become an unspeakable which in her mind could very possibly mean the end of the world.
Lily concluded her thought when she felt the embrace of her mother. Had they already reached the entrance to Platform 9 3/4?
"Have a great year Lily!" her mother exclaimed.
Her dad was next in line for a hug.
"We're so proud of you becoming a prefect," her father said positively beaming. "I know you'll do tremendous this year."
"Don't forget to write," Lily's mother quickly chimed in.
"We love you!" Lily's parents both said in unison.
Lily quickly said good byes again and turned back to the barrier separating two very different worlds. This was always the hardest part about going back to school. She always felt as if she was abandoning her parents to go live a separate life. No matter how much she reasoned with herself she always knew that her family and the rest of her life could never really be one in the same. As much as her parents accepted and encouraged her to become part of the magical world, she always had reservations. Because by encouraging her they were really just pushing her into a world in which they could never really be a part. This thought made Lily sad, but she rallied her spirits by thinking of the feast that awaited her tonight. On that note she started speeding towards the brick wall that would allow her entrance into the platform. Her parent's shouts of farewell followed her and while she had a smile on her face, she also had a single tear running down her face.
-----------------------------------------
Just as Lily felt a cool rush of wind graze her face, Platform 9 3/4 came into view. But something alarming also came into view. It was a cart sitting directly in front of her. She barely had time to register the object before she rammed into it with her own cart.
"What the..." she heard a familiar masculine voice say.
When Lily looked up she wasn't surprised to see James Potter. To anybody but Lily, James was a very intriguing creature. James was the star chaser on the Gryffindor quidditch team. He was also very intelligent, but he put his intelligence to work in creating unique and amusing ways to pull pranks on people. Lily Evans, unfortunately, had been victim many a time to these infamous pranks. She would not be fooled by his always-disheveled hair and cute geeky athletic look. Unlike every other girl, Lily was not only not attracted to James; he positively repulsed her. His cocky and arrogant attitude annoyed her to no end. However, even though Lily tried to be nice to James she usually failed miserably. The short-tempered redhead was infamous for going off on people when they pissed her off, especially James.
"Oh, bloody hell, sorry Potter," Lily said quickly.
James stared awestruck at Lily for a few moments, but when he finally realized he was just standing there with his mouth hanging open he quickly tried to cover it up.
"Ahemm," he cleared his throat (for no particular reason)" that's alright Evans."
"Well, I guess I better get on the train before it leaves." Lily then dashed off giving James a semi-smile over her shoulder.
Once Lily was on the train she started to search for her friends. They weren't discovered until she got to the last few compartments at the very end of the train. When she opened the door she was greeted by shouts of joy. Her two best friends, Madison McGuire and Emma Thornwood, rushed up to hug her. Madison was a petite girl who had beautiful dark black hair. It was the kind of deep black that starts to look blue if you stare at it too long. Her light grey-blue eyes presented a nice contrast to her hair, which fell to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Emma on the other hand had sandy blonde hair that was cut to right above her jaw line in an almost retro look. She was about 5'6" but still had a very slender frame. Her dark chocolate brown eyes welled up with tears of joy as she engulfed Lily in a hug.
"Oh, I missed you SO much!" Madison squealed.
"How was your summer?" Emma said in a shaky voice when she had gotten enough control over herself to speak.
"It was boring as usual," Lily replied.
As she looked around the cabin she realized that it was empty except for the three of them.
"How did you guys manage to get us a compartment all alone,"
Before either Madison or Emma could respond the door slid open.
"They didn't," said another all too familiar masculine voice.
When Lily turned around she came face to face with the one person she possibly disliked even more than James Potter. Sirius Black. He smiled that smile that melts girl's hearts and stops them dead in their tracks. It had no effect on Lily though. She took him in in a glance. Already she could tell he hadn't changed much. Same tidy black hair, devastatingly handsome good looks, and definitely the same cocky and arrogant attitude as James. Sirius merely walked right past the three girls and took a seat by the window. Lily's temper flared. How dare he come waltzing into THEIR cabin acting as if he owned the whole world. As if that wasn't enough, James came in after Sirius, following suit. He didn't say anything. Instead he tousled his hair and grinned at the girls. Next to come in was Peter Pettigrew. He was a major groupie of Sirius' and James'. Not only did he worship the ground they walked on, but he would also do anything they ordered him to do. The last to come in the cabin was Remus Lupin. He saluted them and then sat down. Out of the four, Lily found Remus to be the most tolerable. They had studied together many times and actually got along pretty well. However, Lily was always disappointed in Lupin for his lack of willingness to stand up to his friends even when he knew they were wrong.
The Marauders, as the four boys were called, started to huddle around a piece of parchment that Sirius had suddenly pulled out of his pocket. By this time Lily was seething.
"And just who do you boys think you are?" Lily asked through clenched teeth.
"Well," said Sirius, "I'm Sirius, this is James, over here is..."
"Don't be a prat, you idiot. What I mean is why the hell did you just walk in our cabin and take it over?"
"We didn't take it over, we merely decided to join you lovely ladies in occupying it. By all means feel free to go about things as normal. Don't worry we aren't planning to strike up any conversation today. There are more important things to think about now than how to wiggle our way into the hearts of the three most beautiful girls in school," Sirius said.
The girls were all amused at how he could fit an insult into a compliment and still sound so charming. Finally, each of them took a seat. Lily could only think with dread about the trip that lay ahead of them. I swear, vowed Lily, if any of those little prats try any pranks on me I will hurt them so bad they won't know what happened.