Chapter 1
September 1, 1969
Sitting alone is no fun, Lily thought to herself as she searched around for a bag of jellybeans she had bought earlier. She looked on the seat she was sitting on and the one across from her and sighed, giving up, when something in her pocket pinched her. She dug into it, and pulled out the pack of jellybeans, slightly smushed and very warm but hopefully they wouldn't taste funny.
'You'd think I would have noticed them there,' Lily said, talking to no one, except maybe the jellybeans who, very rudely, didn't answer her back. Lily sighed and dug around in the little bag, looking for a green one. She had always liked the green ones.
'Hello,' said a voice from the door. Lily looked up and was startled to see a girl around her age standing there. She had hazel eyes that smiled at Lily and her sunny blonde hair shone brightly in the light.
Lily jumped a good amount of inches into the air, causing quite a few jellybeans to leap out of their very comfy position in the bag. Lily giggled, suddenly a picture of jellybeans that had arms and legs wearing sunglasses shaking their fists and yelling at her coming into her head.
'Oh, hello there,' Lily said. 'Would you like to sit down?' The girl smiled.
'Sure, thanks,' she said, taking the seat across from Lily.
'I'm Lily Evans,' Lily said as she got down on the floor of the compartment to collect the fallen (and possibly very angry) jellybeans.
'Arabella Figg,' the girl said as she got down to help Lily. 'But call me Ari.'
'So what brings you to this end of the train so late in the ride?' Lily asked her new friend.
'I was bored. Sitting alone on a train tends to drive people mad so I thought that it would be a wise idea to come find some company,' Ari said with a crooked grin.
'Jellybean?' Lily offered. Ari shook her head. Lily shrugged and bit into a green one. 'Ew, yuck. The jellybeans do taste funny.'
'Uh, no I think that that's a grass flavored one,' Ari explained. Lily swallowed and made a face.
'Eurgh, no more jellybeans I think,' she said as put the bag away.
'Good idea.'
'So...' Lily said after a silent pause. She clucked her tongue a few times.
'What house do you think you'll be sorted into?' Ari asked.
'House?' Lily asked, feeling sick all the sudden. 'There's a house?'
'Oh, are you muggle born?' Ari asked.
'Muggle? What's a muggle? What?' Lily said, confused, as she scratched her head and her complexion grew paler from fear, and then redder with embarrassment.
'A muggle is a non-magical person,' Ari explained.
'Oh. What was the term again? Muggle born? Well, yes I guess I am then. But anyway. Back to this house.'
'Oh well actually there's four. Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. You get sorted into a house that fits you best.'
'How do they sort you?' Lily asked nervously.
'I'm not really sure. My sister, Beatrice, said something about a test. Although I don't really think that's true," Ari added hastily as the color turned from red to white on Lily's face. She gulped.
'Is your whole family magical?'
"Everyone except for a few relatives on my dad's side."
'What house were they in?'
'Um,' Ari screwed her face up in concentration. 'Let's see... Dad was in Ravenclaw, Mum was in Hufflepuff, Beatrice is in Slytherin, and my oldest brother, Gary, was in Gryffindor.'
'Oh. Wow,' Lily said. 'So what house do you think you'll be sorted into?'
'Honestly, I don't know. It could be any of them.' The two girls sat in silence until someone knocked on their compartment door. Ari stood up and slid the door back to reveal a boy their age with short brown hair and brown eyes.
'Can I sit with you for a little while?' he asked. 'I need to take a break from these people that I call my friends.'
'Uh, sure,' Lily said, moving over so there would be somewhere for him to sit. He sat down next to her.
'Remus Lupin,' he stuck his hand out to her.
'Lily Evans,' she said, taking it.
'Ari Figg,' Ari said as she shook his hand.
'So, are you excited for classes to be starting?' Remus asked.
'More like terrified,' Lily said with a scared smile.
'Remus, Remus, oh REMUS! Remus my pretty, I'm going to find you!' said a voice from outside their compartment.
'Who was that?' Ari asked.
'What? Oh that was this friend of mine I'm trying to escape.'
'I can see why,' Lily said as she watched from her compartment the young boy's head bob around looking for his friend.
'Shhh,' Remus said, even though no one was talking. 'If he can't hear us, he won't be able to find us.'
Unfortunately, Remus was wrong.
'Remus, dahling, where HAVE you been? I've been looking just EVERYWHERE for you!' the boy who had been calling him said as he slid open the door to the compartment.
'Hello Sirius,' Remus said to his friend.
'Hello! Sirius Black, pleased to make your acquaintance.' Sirius said, introducing himself. 'I see you've already met my charming companion, Remus. Quite lovely, isn't he? Oh dear me, why do I keep talking like my mum?'
'Because you're crazy,' Remus supplied helpfully. Sirius shrugged.
'Nothing wrong with that.' Remus rolled his eyes at his friend's sanity (or lack thereof).
'Anyway. What's your name?' Sirius asked, sitting down next to Ari.
'Ari Figg,' she said.
'And you?' he asked looking at Lily.
'Lily Evans.'
'James Potter,' said another boy coming into the compartment. James sat down next to Sirius.
'Lo Ari,' James said to the girl.
'Hi James,' Ari said in a bored voice.
'Do you know each other already?' Sirius asked James.
'She's my cousin.'
'You never mentioned you had such a beautiful cousin,' Sirius said, causing Ari to blush. James made a face.
'Dude. She's my cousin,' James said to his friend, shaking his head. 'You're hair is quite bright,' he said to Lily.
'Oh, um, thanks?' Lily said with a confused look on her face.
'I think it's lovely,' Sirius said with a wink. Lily grinned.
'It really is a bit, shocking, don't you think?' James asked to no one, cocking his head in thought.
'Erm...'
'A little strange, really.' Lily's temper flared. She winced her eyes at him.
'At least my hair doesn't look as if a herd of goats ran through it,' she said calmly.
'BURN!' Sirius yelled as James's mouth opened and closed several times. He finally kept it
shut but then opened it again seconds later.
'At least my hair doesn't look like the color of a bunch of mashed up carrots, Evans.'
'At least my hair doesn't look like the color of a bunch of poo, Potter,' Lily replied to his comment.
'Wait a minute. Are you two really having an argument over your hair?' Remus asked.
'It's what the hair represents!' James said loudly.
'And what does it represent?'
'It, well, um-'
'Absolutely nothing would be the answer you're looking for. Now, shake hands and apologize.' James looked at his friend, wondering if he too had gone insane.
'Have you gone insane?' Lily asked, voicing James's thoughts. Remus shook his head.
'Shake hands and apologize.' Lily and James shook hands.
'Now apologize.'
'Sorry,' Lily muttered.
'Sorry,' James said under his breath.
'There now, all better,' Remus said, sitting back against his seat with a satisfied smile on his face.
'So Ari, do you play Quidditch?' Sirius asked. Ari shook her head.
'Quidditch?' Lily asked, which she instantly regretted when everyone shot her a look. 'What's Quidditch?'
'WHAT did you just say?' James asked loudly.
'Oooh! A muggy!' Sirius said excitedly.
'Quidditch is a sport that wizards play,' Remus explained. He then proceeded to tell Lily
all the rules and how the game was played.
'You lot are crazy. Jumping on a broomstick and flying up into the air while throwing a ball around?' Lily shook her head.
'You lot? Pardon me Miss Evans but you are now a part of 'you lot,'' Sirius said.
'Nope. Not if I refuse to play Quidditch.'
'You can't just refuse to do that, can she?' Sirius asked James.
'I don't think she can. We play it in flying class,' James said.
'Flying class? I take it that this isn't a real normal school then,' Lily said with a sigh. The rest of the compartment laughed openly at this.
'Lily, this is a school of magic, did you really expect it to be normal?' Remus asked. Lily shrugged.
'I really don't know what to expect.'