I know this is really chapter 1, but to correspond with the numbers FanFiction assigns and everything, it just makes things a helluva lot easier to just call this chaper 2.
I hereby dedicate the character Veronica Graves to you, Veronica (aka InLuvWitRupert). How'd you like them apples!
Now then onto the story! Whooooo!
Ch. 2 "The Beginning of the End"
I stepped out of the car and took a big whiff of London. I waved my mom goodbye, then I set off for King's Cross Station – Home of the Scared First Years and Oblivious Muggles. Catchy title if you ask me. HSFYOM. And it can even fit on a bumper sticker.
It was my seventh and last year at Hogwarts, and the fact that I would never be going back - as a student, anyway - was a little disrupting. But, I will survive. With my big, checkered blue trunk, I wove in and out through all the people who had no idea where I was going. I always felt somewhat special knowing that fact. They could never, in a million years guess where I was headed to – only I knew. That's how my brain works, and I figure you should know that, since you're so stuck on reading this.
I reached the barrier and ran through it, keeping my eyes wide open the whole time. Most people close theirs, afraid that they'll be blinded by the rushing wind or something. No, it's much better to keep them open. It's fun watching the "solid" brick wall suddenly slip from your sight and instantly be replaced by the Hogwarts Express. I always look for what fills up the gap between the two, but I can never catch it. Yeah it's disappointing, but suspenseful.
I heard a couple people cal my name, and I gave them small smiles and nods, as if I was as glad to see them as they were to see me. I am so perfectly concealed that even I sometimes fool myself.
"LLLLLLLLLILLIAN EVENS!"
I turned around and laughed. It was Sirius Black, one of the dead-famous Marauders and without a doubt one of the best looking boys in school. He and I have a special connection, and I've lost count of the number of glares I've gotten because of that.
He jogged up to me and gave me a slap on the back – or rather, a punch. I winced and pressed my hand against the spot lightly, and I scrunched my face up into a glare. He threw his head back and laughed. Nothing ever effects that boy – not even Professor McGonogall's deadly Look, dedicated especially for him and was enough to make even a fifth year raise the white flag in a heartbeat.
"Sup, Lily," he greeted. All thirty-two of his pearly-white-make-a-dentist-faint teeth shone. I squinted.
"Hi."
"You excited for the new year?"
What kind of a question was that? Yes, Sirius, I am so excited. I love essays, I love piles of homework, I love working my butt off just to prove that I can. "Of course."
He was rocking on the balls of his feet, swinging his fists lightly at his sides. "I'm looking for James. You seen him?"
"Not recently." I was now glancing around, looking for Veronica, giving Sirius my un-full attention.
"Okay," he sighed. "Well, I'm gonna go look for him. Come to our compartment later, okay?"
"Look out for me, I love sneak attacks," I joked. Sirius cracked a smile, the one only I could unleash, and half-skipped away. I saw him wink at a group of groupies. The Queen Groupie winked back at him, then turned back to her friends, chest puffed out as if she had just done the most amazing thing. I could almost see her thanking the academy.
I shook my head and headed for the train, scanning the windows to see which ones were empty. I guess I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, because I ran into someone, head-on. I looked up, and what do you know, it's him.
James Potter.
James Potter . . . how to describe him . . . I guess I'll have to start with his face. His face is truly one of a kind. It's an in-your-face kind of face – one that will grab your eyeballs and hold them so tightly that sometimes it hurts. Some faces kind of blend into the background, and you have squint to see them properly. That is not James Potter.
"Hi, Lily." That's what he said to me. He'll say that to me all the time, hoping that maybe one day I'll say hi back. He sometimes reminds me of a little puppy; the kind that will follow you around the house and yelp until you feed it scraps of your dinner under the table. I'll sometimes find myself having urges to just reach out and pat James on the head, or give him a bone – whichever one will make his tail stop wagging.
"James."
We were never really that close. Maybe a, "Are you still using that book?" here, or a, "Here, let me get that," there. Then one day in fourth year, he became the president of my fan club. And vice-president, and secretary, and treasurer. He was obsessed with getting to know me, and no matter how hard I push him away, he pushes back even harder. I felt stuck in one of those revolving doors at the mall.
James smiled at me. I've noticed that his smile can't be equal on both sides; it has to be lopsided. Maybe it's a disease, like he's allergic to equal smiles.
Him: So how was your summer?
Me:
Him: Mine was okay. My older sister finally got herself a flat and my little sister took over her old room.
Me:
Him: I heard that you went to Italy. Did you see the Pope?
Me:
Him: Did you go to Rome? I hope you saw the Sistine Chapel. I went there two years ago. It's really something, huh? I never knew what Muggles were capable of, no offense.
Was this guy something else or what?
I cleared my throat. "Yeah." I saw Veronica climb onto the train, and I pushed past James, not giving him a "See ya later," or even just a "Later." That was the way out relationship was.
"Veronica!" I called. She turned around and smiled.
She will kill me once she reads this, but I don't care. The first thing that you notice about Veronica Graves is how unbelievingly gorgeous she is. I was a little skeptical at first about being her friend because I felt really intimidated. But she wouldn't let that happen; Veronica Graves it the kindest person you'll ever meet, and it pays having someone like her as your best friend.
She dimpled and gave me a quick one-armed hug, as I was still dragging my trunk around with me. She helped me haul it onto the train, telling me all about her summer as we went. Her mother had a baby, and Veronica was the happiest girl in the world. Even now I can't get her to shut up about that damn baby.
" . . . She ate her first bite of real food last week, can you believe it? Jennifer is the most adorable thing to ever face this earth, I'm telling you. Did I tell you how blue her eyes are? It's like she took a handful of the sky and just . . . You have to see her, she's so great . . ."
Veronica is usually a quiet person, and is so patient you'd think she wasn't human. But once she gets on a topic she's interested in, she can go on and on and on. She can get so motivated in something she believes in that sometimes it's scary. She could have been a lawyer or something, but she doesn't have the temper. I think her anger genes got lost in the gene pool. It will take a very brave swimmer to touch the bottom and bring up that lost gene, and it's a good thing I'm a certified scuba diver.
She led me into her compartment and placed my trunk in the far corner, still talking about her beautiful new baby sister. We felt the train start to move after a few minutes, and Veronica was still talking. This girl stayed on that topic for at least an hour. Like I said, motivation.
I leaned back in my seat and pressed my fore and middle finger to my temple, trying to let my mind drift. Veronica has dubbed this as Lily's Thinking Position, with the subtitle Leave Me Alone. She paused and laughed at my position. She has such the sweetest laugh. Her light brown eyes twinkle and her cheeks flush. Sun streamed in through the window and it illuminated her light brown hair, showing off her golden highlights. And all natural. I was such a jealous little prick.
"Am I boring you?" she asked.
"Not at all." I never was too good with lies.
She raised an eyebrow at me and laughed again. If her laugh wasn't so pretty, the frequency of it would have been extremely annoying.
As I've said before, I never was good at lies, but I was fantastic at changing the subject. "I promised Sirius I'd go to his compartment," I stated. "Let's go."
"I think I'm going to stay here and read," she smoothly rejected. She's been afraid to make human contact with the guys for awhile now. I had no idea what she was afraid of, but my curiosity kicked in and it was out of my hands.
"Then I'm not going." I sat down and crossed my legs, letting her know that I meant business.
"Yes, you are," she gently pressed.
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"No."
This was her cue to blow up and yell, but since she's physically incapable of anything that extreme, and sighed daintily. "Please go."
"Why won't you come."
"I just want to read my book." Arguing makes Veronica wilt, and her voice was starting to fade. That girl can make you feel so incredibly guilty, it's not even funny.
"You can read it later," I stubbornly argued.
"I want to read it now."
"Are you afraid of them?"
"I'm not afraid of anyone."
"Then come."
"I want to read."
"Veronica!"
"Lily."
I stopped talking. If it was anyone else I would have pressed on, but I wasn't talking to anyone else. Veronica can silence a room with that voice. That's her I Mean Business voice. No one messes with that voice.
"Okay." I accepted my fate. I gave Veronica a small friendship hug before I left. She had won the battle, and I had a bullet hole in my head.
I stepped out of out compartment and closed the door, and then it hit me. I had no idea which compartment was Sirius's. I was at the front of the train, and there were at least . . . one hundred of those things. I sighed in defeat and unwillingly began my search. Yes, that's right, I checked every single compartment. Insane, I know, but I was too stubborn to quit.
I reached the very last one, and I knocked. The loud laughing ceased and the door slid open. Bingo.
"Li-ly," Sirius greeted smoothly, breaking my name into even syllables. "Sup."
"Veronica's not coming," I said shortly. "Don't ask why." I still have no idea why I say that, since once I do they still ask.
"Why?"
"She has her reasons." I didn't like it when people pryed into her life; to this day I am still overly protective of her. She's too nice to see the evil in anyone, and that can lead to some problems - mainly concerning the Slytherins. So here I am, Veronica's protective older sister, armed with fangs and sarcastic comebacks.
Since Sirius is a guy, he really didn't care what was wrong with her, and he just shrugged it off. "Whatever." He stood aside to let me through, and I took a seat close to the door, with Sirius in the middle of me and James; Peter and Remus across from us.
The guys launched back into their talk about whatever, and I tried to pay attention. Honestly I did. But my thouhts dragged me elsewhere, and in a matter of minutes I was in the middle of one of C.S. Lewis's adventures, with Aslan the lion guarding me from a gang of gryffins. I don't know how long I was out, but what brought me from my stupor was the feeling of being watched. I turned my attention to the causer, and there, with his head turned completely towards me, eyes bulged and intent, was James. By that time I was fed up with his actions towards me, so I fed him an unwanting glare and shifted my attention to Sirius and his conversation. It was about Zonko's planning on going out of business, or something like that. James thankfully got the hint, and also proceeded into the discussion.
I stayed in that compartment for the remainder of the train ride, and after letting myself be comforted by my surroundings, joined into the discussions. The train finally grew to a stop, and I immediately joined Veronica, who was once again bright-spirited and smiling. We walked into Hogwarts for our final time as students, and here begins my story.
A/N: I've never done anything like this before, and I don't really know how I'm doing. If you have any comments, questions, ideas, ect., I'd be really glad to hear 'em. I thank all my reviewers for this story, you all rock, and I can't wait to see what you all think of this chapter. As for those of you who are curious about "Miracles Happen" - don't worry; I'm still working on that one, I'm not tired of it yet, I still have ideas, expect a new chapter . . . whenever I post it. If you have ideas for THAT one, give 'em to me. I will be more frequent with my posting (I HOPE) on FanFiction, as all my projects and reports for school are done with. Uh, that's all I can really think of saying right now...adios amigos.
P.S. IF YOU CAN THINK OF A TITLE FOR THIS PLEASE GIVE IT TO ME I AM DESPERATE!