A/N – This is my second fan-fic, so please be nice and R&R
Disclaimer:
Methinks as thou art scrolling,
It will be obvious to thee,
That 'Harry Potter' etc. belongs to J.K Rowling,
And most definitely not to me.
A/N : Many Thanks to my reviewers
(My first anonymous reviewer ... ! Thank you!)
missmee (Thank you so much!)
Cilverblood (Thanks!)
LCH8292 (You reviewed twice! I love you!)
madame-knight (To tell you the truth, I've never actually had pumpkin ice-cream, so i'll take your word for it! Thanks for your review!)
ElspethBates (Thank you so much for your fantastic review!)
ChickFlick004 (I'll try, I promise! Thank you for your review and the tip about anonymous reviews!)
ebonpinion (Thank you! I'm glad it kept your attention)
Adi Gallia1 (Thank you so much for your fabulous review!)
Celi (I know, he's adorable! I love him! Thanks for your review!)
Piper-Loves-Leo (Thanks for your review! Much appreciated!)
Amunett (Thanks for your very bitchy email. And just for the record, 'condescendingness' isn't a word. Can you say hypocrite?)
Chapter 3 – Confusion, Chhaya and bullying toerags
Lily and her parents wheeled her truck on a trolley through the crowded Kings Cross station.
"Which platform is it Lil?" Asked her father.
"It says … 9 ¾?" She replied, very confused. Lily showed him the ticket that the Guide Wizard had given her in Diagon Alley.
"Er … Alright." Said her mother, also studying the ticket.
All three Evans' stood there, unable to think of what to do or say.
Lily was almost tempted to get out her new wand, ("Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work." That creepy old man at the shop had said), and start tapping on the bricks near platform 10, thinking that platform 9 ¾ must be somewhere near there, but then she remembered the Headmaster's letter and his warning about muggle security.
Then she saw another girl, who looked about her age, wheeling along a trolley with a truck on it. And an owl, in a cage.
"Excuse me!" Said Lily, walking over to the girl, while her parents looked on. "Would you by any chance know how to get to … platform 9 ¾?"
"Are you muggleborn?" Asked the girl. Lily nodded.
"Come with me." Said the girl, smiling.
Lily turned around and signaled to her parents to follow them.
"Hello dear." Said Mrs. Evans to the girl. "Thank you for helping us."
"That's ok."Replied the girl politely. "Now." She said, addressing Lily. "All you have to do is go through the barrier, between platforms nine and ten." Lily nodded again.
"I'll go first Lily, just to check that it's safe." Said Mr. Evans bravely. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Yes Dad."
Mr. Evans marched briskly towards the barrier and disappeared right through it.
Lily laughed at her mother's mixed expression of astonishment and horror, andjumped through the barrier after her father.
Lily came out on the other side and saw her father staring in awe at the hundreds of parents, grandparents, siblings, students and pets bustling along the platform. Already waiting to be boarded was an enormous scarlet steam train. The scarlet snake, Lily thought, remembering her dream. Lily turned around to see that her mother and the girl had already joined them on the platform.
"Thanks for your help." Said Lily to the girl. "I'm Lily Evans by the way."
"Chhaya Madhubala. Nice to meet you."
"Chhaya!" Called a distant voice.
Lily turned around to see the hazel-eyed boy from the ice-cream parlour.
"Hey Jamie, how's it going?" Chhaya asked him.
"Pretty good if I may say so myself." He replied grinning. "I can't believe we're finally here!"
Then he noticed the girl beside Chhaya.
"Hi Lily." He said quietly, blushing softly.
"Hey James." She replied, giving him a shy wave.
James stood there awkwardly, wondering what to say next. What is it about this girl that makes me so damn nervous? He thought to himself. Then he spotted Sirius in the distance.
"Sorry ladies, I've got to go. See you later."
"Bye." Replied both girls.
"Come on, let's go find a compartment before they all fill up." Said Chhaya. They said goodbye to Lily's parents and boarded the train. Lily and Chhaya walked through carriage after carriage full of noisy students until they came to a compartment where a greasy haired boy was sitting by himself, with his large hooked nose buried in a book. Lily raised her eyebrows and looked at Chhaya, who wrinkled her nose in disgust, so they continued their search for somewhere to sit, happening to find an empty compartment a bit further along the hallway.
"So." Said Chhaya, sitting down opposite Lily. "How do you know James Potter?"
"I met him in Diagon Alley while I was buying school stuff." Lily paused "How do you know him?"
"He's an old family friend." Chhaya replied. "I've known him forever."
The two girls talked and joked for a while, mostly about James, teachers, the school houses and muggles.
"I'm just going to go to the toilet Lily." Said Chhaya, slipping through the door and out into the corridor. Lily nodded and pulled out and opened her copy of Hogwarts: A History, while nibbling distractedly on a cauldron cake she had bought off the trolley witch. She had not read more than one sentence when she heard shouting down the hall. Curious, Lily listened carefully.
"Leave me alone!" One boy shouted, his voice drawling slightly.
"Oh poor snivelly, dribbling Snivellus." Said another male voice. "You're going to be sorry you ever said that about me now, aren't you, you greasy haired freak."
Lily seethed with anger. What she was hearing was unmistakably bullying. Other people had always bullied Lily because she was different to them. This person is me! Thought Lily. No one had ever stood up for Lily when she was being harassed or teased because bullies and bystanders alike all thought the same thing, that she was a freak.
Now that she was going to Hogwarts, Lily had thought that she and everyone around her would be free of this social prejudice, as everyone at Hogwarts was united by a common 'thing' that made them all 'freaks' to other people.
But now she wasn't so sure. She hadn't even arrived yet, and look what was happening already!
Lily stood up and marched down the hallway to the compartment where the shouting was coming from. She wrenched open the door to see the greasy haired boy from before squirming on the ground with what looked like the beginning of a black eye. Standing over him, laughing with their wands drawn at the greasy haired boy was a tall dark haired boy and …
"James?"
"Oh, hi Lily." James said awkwardly.
"What are you doing?"
"Er…"
"Just teaching Snivellus some manners, aren't we James." Said the dark haired boy.
Lily felt overcome with anger. She turned to James.
"Don't ever talk to me again, James Potter." She spat. "You're nothing more than a bullying toerag."
Lily stormed out of the compartment, leaving a stunned James, who felt like he had just been slapped very hard in the face.
A/N – I'm sorry, I know this is a crappy little chapter. Please don't hate me! It gets better, I promise!
P.S: If anyone can think of any cute names to call James' little sister, please put them into your review.