Watch Out For Pet Rocks

Chapter 3

(disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or claim it as my own. I am only inspired by the characters and write about them. After all, isn't that what fanfiction is? I write for others to enjoy! So please do! Warning: Use of alcohol and sexual preferences. )

"Well, I was eleven, of course," Lily giggled, taking a sip from Kassie's drink. She had drank champagne and some wine before at special occasions, but never this strong before. She could already feel it affecting her. "I was terribly nervous. I had only learned about the wizard world a month ago, and barely had time to read about it. So there I was, standing on the Hogwarts Express, and no clue what to do..."

Young Lily Evans maneuvered around the halls, trying to find a place to sit. Older students were moving in the opposite direction, pushing Lily backwards. She fought against the flow, and tripped on someone's foot, sending her flying into an open compartment.

"It's full in here," a girl said, who was sitting alone. She was pretty, but her sour disposition ruined her physical appearance.

"Sorry," Lily muttered, pushing herself off the doorframe and continuing on. Every door she stumbled upon revealed a full compartment, and her bags were becoming rather heavy. As she neared the end of the train, she heard a joyful cry that averted her attention.

"Is that a Holyhead Harpie bag? That's my favorite Quidditch team!"

"It's a limited edition, too," answered another young voice. "My father bought it for me for my birthday."

Lily had no idea what they were talking about. Quidditch? Holyheads? She peered around the doorframe, hoping that maybe they could offer her a place to sit. There were two boys, about her age, and they were eagerly talking about Quidditch. The taller boy had shoulder length black hair, ruffled up and messy.

But the smaller boy was who caught Lily's attention. His hair was also black and untidy, but shorter, and his hazel eyes were framed by glasses. She knew his eye color because he was staring directly at her.

"Um, can I sit in here?" Lily asked, finally finding her voice.

The taller boy nodded his head, moving his bags. "Sure. There's room." He stood up, and Lily realized just how tall he was: her head reached his chin. He placed his bags on the rack above them, and held out his hand to her. "Do you want me to put your things up, too?"

Lily nodded, slightly nervous. Was it wise to sit in a compartment with two boys? She sat down, and peeked at the smaller boy. His mouth was hanging open, and she wondered why.

The taller boy sat down next to her, and laughed. "Don't drool," he whispered, reaching over and closing the other boy's mouth. He looked back at Lily. "I'm Sirius Black. I'm a first year."

"I'm Lily Evans," Lily replied. She was sitting as close to the wall of the compartment, trying not to sit too close to the boy next to her. "I'm first year, too."

Sirius looked at the other boy. "Don't be rude! You haven't told us your name yet."

The boy, who appeared to be blushing, began to stutter. "I-I'm P-Pames Jotter. M-Meet to nice you."

Sirius couldn't help but chuckle. "Pames Jotter? Nice to meet you, Pam." Sirius smiled cheekily at him. "Pames Jotter...I'm glad I didn't say Birius Slack." He shook his head and continued laughing.

Lily was confused. Did all wizards have unusual names? "Nice to meet you both."

"No! That's not my name!" His cheeks flushed as red as Lily's hair. "It's James."

"Oh," Sirius smiled. "James Potter. That's more like it." He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "Potter. I know that name. Very old family, right? Popular for being Gryffindors."

James nodded. "I'm surprised you're sitting with me. Your family is a long line of Slytherins, aren't they?"

Sirius groaned. "Don't remind me..."

Lily's eyes were moving back and forth, listening to their conversation. Slytherins and Gryffindors? What were they talking about? Sirius seemed to notice Lily's confused expression.

"Let me guess: you're a muggle-born, aren't you?"

"What's a muggle?" Lily asked.

Sirius laughed. "Yep, you are!"

James rolled his eyes. "Muggles are non-magic people. Your parents aren't wizards, are they?"

Lily shook her head. "No. But my mother was very excited about me being a witch."

"Well, that's good," James replied. "I'm guessing you have no clue about the wizarding world, then?"

Lily shook her head. "My mother and father said I was the first witch in the family."

Sirius grinned, his eyes lighting up, as if he had just found an early Christmas present. "Well, I should warn you about Hogwarts, then."

Lily looked at him questioningly, glancing at James. He was listening intently to the taller boy. "What's the matter with it? It's just a school. Isn't it?"

Sirius shook his head slowly. "No way, girlie. Let me ask you something: do you believe in ghosts?"

Lily snickered. "Of course not."

"Well you're in for a real treat, then." Sirius pulled his legs up into the seat, sitting cross-legged. As he talked, Lily noticed he was a very animated person, because his hands tried to imitate his conversation. "There are all sorts of ghosts at Hogwarts, and they haunt you all the time. You won't be able to walk down a hall without accidentally passing through one of them.

"And there's a forbidden forest, full of viscous man-eating monsters. One step into those woods, and you can kiss that foot goodbye. And there are all sorts of traps that you might get caught in. And the sorting ceremony..." His voice drifted off, and he had a sudden look of fear.

"What?" James asked. He was practically out of his seat, listening intently. "My mum and dad wouldn't tell me anything about school. They said it's better to experience it then to know ahead of time."

Sirius clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "I'm so glad you met me first. I'll be able to warn you ahead of time."

"Warn us of what?" Lily asked.

"To be sorted into our houses, they tie us all up and put us into a giant bonfire. Depending on how badly you're burnt will determine which house you will be put in."

His facial expression seemed serious, which frightened Lily. "They're going to burn us?"

"That's a lie."

The three turned to the girl who had responded. She was standing in the doorway, shaking her head. "This isn't the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Honestly, don't you know anything?" She sat down across from Lily.

Sirius glared at her. "I do know. My family has been at Hogwarts for centuries."

"So have mine," James stuttered, but slightly nervous. "Do they really do that, though? My parents wouldn't tell me how we were sorted."

The new girl rolled her eyes, tying her black hair back with a blue ribbon. "Well, if you would read a book for once, you might know what's going on." She looked at Lily and smiled. "I'm Hallayna Brick. If you have any questions to ask, feel free to inquire me about them. I might be a first year, but my parents have informed me." She winked at Sirius, who was trying to bore a hole through her head, it seemed.

"I'm Lily Evans. And I'm afraid I know nothing about magic."

"So you're a muggle-born." Hallayna leaned forward, seeming very interested. "Have you ever driven a car? I've always wondered how they could move without magic."

"Umm...you can't drive until you're at least sixteen," Lily replied. If wizards didn't use cars, how did they get around?

Sirius rolled his eyes, looking over at James. "Do you have anything we could do? This girl talk is boring."

James smirked, but his eyes flickered back to Lily for a second, and she noticed him blushing. "I have some Exploding Snaps...we could play. Just have to watch out. My deck has been awfully sensitive lately."

Lily was thinking about asking what he was talking about, but thought better of it.

She asked Hallayna many questions, relieved to finally have some answers. The boys were playing what appeared to be a card game, but occasionally, one would make a popping noise and the boys would flinch bag, avoiding being snapped.

As the train lurched forward, another girl appeared at their door, looking for a place to sit. But she was much different then the compartment's occupants. She was very small, and her tiny shoulders were barely supporting her heavy bag. "Do you mind if I sit in here? There's no more room. Oh! All the seats are taken. That's all right! I can sit on the floor!"

She stepped in and sat down at James' and Sirius' feet, supporting herself on the wall under the window. The boy's were looking at her oddly: she had interrupted their game. Hallayna was also curious by the newcomer.

"Hi, I'm Hallayna. Who might you be?"

The girl smiled. "I'm Crystal Marx! I'm new here. Are you? Cause I am! I'm new new new! I like bunnies. Wait! Why do they call it Hogwarts? Is it because there are pigs there with toady warts? I don't know much about Hogwarts because I'm muggle-born."

Lily couldn't help but stare. The girl named Crystal had successfully riddled all that off in a few seconds. She wondered if Crystal was suffering from a sugar overdose.

Sirius was looking at James. "Was that English?" Lily heard him whisper. "I've got a better idea for these cards. Care to join me, Pam?"

James seemed to think on this for a moment. "Why not. As long as you're not going to do it to me."

The two boys carefully stepped over Crystal and went out the door. Sirius peeked his head back in. "Save our seats. We'll be back in a minute."

Lily peered out the door, but they were already gone. She wondered what they were doing.

"His name is Pam? That's so cool. My mother uses Pam when she's cooking. She spreads it all over the pans and puts chicken in it and it tastes really good. But I'd rather eat chocolate. But I don't put chocolate in a pan. I eat it from a candy wrapper. Especially Easter bunny shaped chocolates. I love bunnies! Do you think they went to get bunnies?"

Hallayna was obviously awestruck as well by Crystal's rapid conversation. "Uh...I don't think they went to get bunnies."

"Would you like to sit on the bench, Crystal? Since the boys are gone for now." Lily patted the seat next to her.

"I like the floor! Bob's sitting here with me. Bob's nice. He can fly and he's invisible." Crystal smiled at the empty floor space in front of her.

"Who's Bob?" Hallayna couldn't help but ask.

"Bob is my pet rock! I found him when I was searching for Easter eggs this year. I got all kinds of money, and chocolate. My mom bought me a giant bar of chocolate for the trip here, but I left it in my trunk. I really want to eat it. If I don't get it, I'll just have to eat Bob. But I don't want to eat Bob. He's my pet rock! He's invisible and can fly. I found him during an Easter egg hunt."

"Yes, we know," Hallayna interrupted. It appeared she was starting to get irritated by Crystal's hyper rambling. But Lily didn't mind it. It was better than listening to, say, her sister.

"Fine!" Crystal yelled at the ground suddenly. She sat down next to Hallayna and stuck her tongue out at what must be Bob. "I'll just go find another pet rock! There's plenty at Hogwarts, and they have frog warts on them!"

"Hogwarts is the name of a flower," Hallayna said matter-of-factly, but rolled her eyes when she realized her comment didn't matter to Crystal. "I wonder if there's a special fifth house for her..." she whispered to Lily.

Suddenly, Sirius flung himself into the compartment, using the door to sling himself in. But he slipped and fell flat on his face. The girls had just enough time to react and pull their legs up.

"What did you do?" Hallayna asked, voicing what Lily was thinking.

As Sirius started to lift himself off the floor, James quickly ran in to the compartment behind Sirius. He slammed the door and attempted to throw a locking charm at it, but tripped on Sirius instead and landed on him.

"Get off me, Pam!" Sirius mumbled, his face pressed against the rough carpet.

James grinned into Sirius' back. "But I'm so comfy here! I don't want to get up." He snuggled himself into the other boys back, wrapping his arms around Sirius' waist.

Sirius yelled out, jumping up as much as possible. "What in Merlin's name are you doing?!"

Meanwhile, Crystal was gaping in shock. "That could've been me! I'm glad Bob yelled at me...Bob! Oh my God! You killed Bob!" She started poking the boys on their heads, repeating it over and over. "You killed Bob!"

"I didn't kill anybody!" Sirius murmured. "You're heavy, Pam! Get off already!"

"Get off? Are you sure I want to do that here? On top of you? I didn't know you liked me that much Bir. And we only just met!" James blushed sweetly and squeaked.

Sirius's face turned red. "I'm not Bellatrix's dad, now get up!" he pushed at him, and slid out from under him.

James laughed and pushed himself off of Sirius. He picked up his wand and uttered a locking charm.

The girls were all staring in shock. They didn't sound or act like eleven year old boys. "What did you two do?" Lily finally asked.

Sirius pulled himself up, sitting next to Lily. "You don't want to know."

"Let's just say I'm scarred for life," James groaned. "I'm never going to be able to rid my brain of that image."

"There's potions you can take to rid memories," Hallayna said, smiling.

Crystal was still moping over the loss of her imaginary pet. She was whimpering, and suddenly cried out, "YOU KILLED BOB!"

Sirius shot over to her, covering her mouth with his hand. "Shut it, will you. If my cousin hears you, she'll come in here!"

"Your cousin?" Lily asked. "I'm guessing you did something to her to upset her?"

Sirius shrieked and jumped back, wiping his hand on his robes. Obviously, Crystal had licked his hand. "That's disgusting!"

"You scream like a girl," James chuckled.

"So do you," Sirius retorted. "My virgin eyes!" He was covering his face, and from the expression on James', Sirius was making fun of him.

There was a sudden banging on the door, and they all gasped. Sirius's face turned as white as Crystal's shirt. "Don't say anything," he harshly whispered.

"You killed Bob, Sirius!" Crystal screamed.

"SIRIUS! I know you're in there!"

The voice belonged to a girl. A rather angry girl. She was pounding on the door, and James moved in front of it, feebly attempting to hold it shut.

"No, I'm not!" Sirius yelled back.

Hallayna slapped her forehead at Sirius's stupidity.

James freaked out. "You idiot! Why did you say that?!" He wedged himself up against the door hoping that would make it harder to open the door.

Lily pressed herself against her corner, avoiding getting trampled by Sirius. It appeared he was desperate for a hiding place.

"Open this door now, Sirius!" the girl continued to scream.

"I need to hide!" Sirius whimpered, looking at the window. "Maybe I could crawl out of it and get on the roof."

"Unlikely," Hallayna said.

Sirius was pulling at the trunks, and pulled down Lily's. He opened it, much to Lily's protests. "Damn! I won't fit in there."

"You could hide under the seats!" Crystal whispered. She leaned over and looked between her legs. "Oh. You can't. Maybe you need a costume!"

"And where am I going to get a costume?" Sirius asked, throwing Lily's clothes back into her trunk. He stopped suddenly, looking at the long blue dress in his hands. "You're a genius!" he whispered. He looked at Lily. "Please?"

Lily nodded her head, baffled by the entire situation. She was wondering what Sirius had done to his cousin.

"Wait a minute!" Zora laughed, interrupting Lily. "Are you telling me Sirius dressed up in your clothes? I missed seeing him looking like a girl?"

"Are you going to let me finish or not?" Lily asked, taking another sip of Kassie's drink. It was nearly gone. Her head was starting to feel light, and she couldn't help but laugh. "I must admit: he would make a rather unique girl."

Danyel was lying down, her head resting in Greta's lap. "Did you get any pictures?"

"No," Lily replied, licking the taste that lingered on her lips. "Let me finish the story. It gets better. I haven't even got to the part where Sirius owes James."

"Oh yeah! That's the reason we're here." Greta paused for second. "That is why, right?"

James's locking charm was holding out, but they weren't sure for how much longer. His small body was pushing against it, desperately trying to keep Sirius's angry cousin in the hall. "Would you hurry up?" he hissed through gritted teeth.

Hallayna and Crystal had really done a job on Sirius within a minute. He had managed to pull Lily's dress over his own clothes. The long sleeves were just a tad too short on him, and the hem fell to his shins. But when he sat down, it wasn't so bad. Crystal eagerly pulled out her makeup and had attacked Sirius's face.

As Hallayna and Crystal observed their work, Crystal tapped her chin. "You need a new name now...Charlotte!"

Just then, the door was thrown open, revealing an enraged girl. Lily instantly recognized her as the girl in the empty compartment.

James was screaming as if he had just had his eyes gouged out.

Lily looked down at him: he had fallen backwards when the door gave way, landing between the older girl's legs. His hands were covering his face, crying out in horror. "Put some bloody underwear on, woman!"

The girl looked down at him, her face growing even redder, if possible. "You little pervert!" She took out her wand and muttered a spell that sent James against the window. He slumped to the ground, cowering on the floor.

Her eyes glared at the girls, moving from Lily to Hallayna to Crystal and stopping on Sirius. Luckily, Sirius wore his hair out long, so he was able to hide his face by letting his hair fall around it.

But it looked like she wasn't fooled. She raised her wand again, looking at Sirius. She hissed what appeared to be a spell, and sneered. "That will improve your looks. But don't show your face to me at school. You're disgusting." She turned on her heels, but whipped back around when she heard James's whimpering. She kicked her foot, hitting him between his legs. He cried out, and she snickered. "That'll teach you to be a pervert."

As her footsteps faded down the corridor, Sirius leaped up out of his seat. His voice was high and frantic. "What did she do to my face?!"

James cried out again as Sirius jumped on his foot. This just wasn't James's day. He was clutching himself, like a little boy who had to use the bathroom. Lily could only imagine the pain of being kicked in such a delicate place. She leaned over him, trying to make sure he was all right.

Crystal must have had the same idea. She was leaning over, poking him in his side. "Are you alive, cooking spray?"

Her touch startled him, and he jolted, bumping his head against Lily's. She felt his lips touch hers, and Lily jumped back into her seat, her cheeks burning.

Crystal smiled. "The cooking spray has pollinated his flower! Now there will be lots of bunnies!"

Lily was grateful that Hallayna was occupied with Sirius. He had seen his reflection in the window and was hyperventilating. "I can't start the school year like this! Narcissa would notice it was me in the dress if she saw my boil-covered face!"

Hallayna had pulled out her wand and a book, speedily flipping threw it. "I remember reading a counter-spell for this. Just let me find it...Ah! Here it is." She waved her wand, and nervously stuttered out the spell.

Everyone had looked up to watch the boils disappear off of Sirius's face. But they weren't expecting his nose to be gone as well.

"I'm so sorry!" Hallayna gasped, dropping her book.

Sirius looked at her curiously and patted at his face. When he touched the place where his nose belonged, he fainted.

James pulled himself up into the seat next to Lily, avoiding looking at her. It appeared he was embarrassed by their accidental "kiss." He pulled out his wand and in a few seconds, Sirius's nose had reappeared. He kicked Sirius's shin, bringing him around. "You squeal like a girl," James giggled, but painfully. He was obviously still hurting. "You make an ugly woman, Bir." He moved his legs to get comfortable. "You owe me, Sirius Black. It's because of you that your cousin kicked me."

Sirius scowled. "You didn't have to go along with me."

"I should have you kiss it better, since it's your fault."

"I'll owe you."

Hallayna sat back down next to Crystal, relieved to see James had corrected her mistake. "What did you two do to that girl?"

"That's no girl," Sirius growled.

James shuddered. "Yes, she is." He looked like he was going to lurch.

"We went and paid my cousin, Narcissa, a visit," Sirius continued. "We put some Exploding Snaps under the door, and when we opened it..."

The two boys looked at each other and shivered. It was as if they had seen something horrific.

"What did you see?" Crystal asked. "Bunnies?"

James snickered. "Let's just say they were acting like bunnies and trying to multiply."

Zora was on the floor, rolling around. She was clutching her sides, which were aching from her laughter. "That's great..."

"Black and Potter walked in on his cousin?" Greta asked. She was also trying to stifle her laughter. Danyel was asleep on her lap: drinking made her sleepy. Kassie was clinging to one of the poles, preventing herself from falling to the floor.

Lily nodded her head, although it felt very heavy. "That's what they said. It must be true: she was raging mad when we saw her."

Danyel woke up, yawning. "What time is it?"

Greta glanced over at her watch. "It's two in the morning. We'd better get going." She attempted to stand up, but Danyel was still weighing her down. "We can't go to bed if you're laying on me."

"But I'm comfortable here." Danyel snuggled up again on Greta.

Zora pulled herself onto the bed, still giggling. "Poor Danyel. You never heard the end of the story."

The girls gathered their things and hugged Lily goodnight, leaving her alone in her large, quiet room. Lily curled up under her satin sheets and fluffy comforter, her head nestled in her soft pillows; she had no idea that morning held a life changing experience.