Disclaimer: All characters, ideas, and objects in this story that are mentioned in J.K. Rowling's books belong to her. The rest of them belong to me.
A/N: This is the first fanfiction I have ever written. I would appreciate it if you could review this story, it would be a lot of help. Thanks and enjoy!
I've edited a bit of this first chapter.
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 just to be safe, as I don't know what's going to be coming up later on in the story.
Chapter Summary: Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter all get their Hogwarts acceptance letters. As they realize that they're going to Hogwarts, they're all happy but have slightly different reactions to the news. A/N: Sorry, I'm not great at summaries.
-----------------
Chapter One
Acceptance Letters
"Lily! Wake up!" Lily groaned and woke up to the sound of her mother's joyful voice ringing throughout the house. "Come on! We have to go to Drygon Alley today to get your supplies for Hogwarts!"
Lily sat up, rubbing her tired eyes. "Diagon Alley, mum," she yawned as her mom entered her room, her face glowing. Leanne pulled Lily into a bone-crushing hug and exclaimed, "Oh, I still can't believe it! A witch in the family! This is amazing!"
"Yeah, amazing, we have a freak in the family!" a voice sneered from the door. Lily turned around to face her sister Petunia, who was glowing as well, but with anger and jealousy. "Now she'll be coming back and changing us all into frogs, and frightening away all my friends!" She looked smugly at her sister's crestfallen face as she turned and stomped down the stairs.
"Lily, don't listen to her," Leanne said frantically as she saw eyes brimming with tears. "Your father and I love both of you, but there's nothing we can do if she can't accept that you're a witch. I'm sure she'll adjust eventually." Looking slightly frazzled, she changed the subject. "Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes Lily, so get down as soon as you can."
Once her mother had left the room, Lily buried her face into her pillow, choking back sobs. She wouldn't let anyone see the full effect of how Petunia's behavior was affecting her, but inside it was tearing her apart. She and Petunia had been the closest of friends until last week, three days after her eleventh birthday, when the owl had arrived. It was a most peculiar event, as neither she nor Petunia had ever seen an owl before. What had intrigued them the most was the envelope that the owl had been grasping in its claws…
"Oh, Lily! Look!" Petunia yelled. "It's holding something!" Lily ran forward and retrieved the letter from the owl, who hooted in thanks and departed, after Lily ruffled its feathers. Her interest was most certainly sparked now, but she tore her thoughts away from the owl and to the envelope that she was clutching in her hands.
"Look! It's for me!" Lily cried delightedly. "Miss Lily Azalea Evans!" She examined the address written in bright emerald green ink and turned it over. The envelope was sealed by what seemed to be a sticker of some sort, in the form of a crest. "I wonder what the 'H' stands for," she mused. Lily briefly noting the animals on the crest, and after what seemed like an eternity, she tore the envelope open.
"Dear Miss Evans…we are pleased to announce that you have been accepted to HogwartsSchool of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" Lily read out loud, with a glow of radiance around her face that Petunia had never seen before. Petunia ran to the window, searching the skies. "I wonder when mine's coming!" she nearly shouted, a look of eagerness on her face.
Lily didn't hear; she was still in her own world. "I'm a witch…I really am!" she muttered in disbelief and ran down to the living room where her parents were. "Mum! Dad!" she shrieked. "Guess what!" Leanne and Josh glanced at each other, smiling, then turned to their daughter. "What, honey?" her father asked kindly. "I'm a witch! I'm a witch!" Lily squealed, shoving the Hogwarts letter into her mother's hands. She watched as her parents' eyes slowly got wider and wider, then when they looked up she had a triumphant look on her face. "I can't wait to go!" she yelled, jumping into her father's arms.
"Oh my god, Josh…we have a witch in the family!" Leanne said quietly, still in shock.
"Yeah, yeah, we have a witch, that's just so great," a voice snarled from the doorway. Petunia had waited for a while, but when she was convinced that she would not receive a letter from this magical school, had felt a sudden surge of jealousy towards her younger sister for the first time in her life.
"Why does she get to be a witch, but not me?" Petunia complained, scowling at her sister Lily. It somehow made her feel good to see her sister's face drop.
"Petunia, honey, we don't even know if this is real or not," Leanne soothed. Lily hadn't thought of this; the warmth that had filled her so rapidly was slowly edging away.
Suddenly there was a loud crack, and Petunia screamed. Leanne and Josh stared at the man in front of them. He had a decently long beard and graying hair, which was already strange enough of a sight to the Evans family. But he was wearing billowing black robes as well, over what appeared to be a bad attempt at a normal suit.
"Hello, hello, I'm Albus Dumbledore," the man said, holding out his hand.
Leanne and Josh were still in shock, so Lily shook his hand timorously.
"Er...not to be rude, sir, but who are you exactly?"
"Oh, sorry, I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself properly. I'm Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Leanne finally found her voice. "So the school's real then?"
"Yes, I assure you, quite real. And wizards and witches are real too, but I would quite appreciate it if you didn't go spreading that around. I can modify peoples' memory, but I wouldn't want to waste too much time on doing things like that. We don't like spreading word that us magical people still exist, you see," Albus Dumbledore explained.
"Wait, how do we know that you're a...a wizard?" Josh asked faintly. He seemed to be having trouble processing what Dumbledore had just said.
To all their surprise, Albus Dumbledore laughed. "Very well, very well. At least one of you seems to have their defenses up. If you really don't believe me, explain why I appeared in the middle of your living room with a crack. But anyhow, I'll show you some magic."
Lily's eyes brightened, as did Petunia's. Albus Dumbledore took out a wooden stick. Lily wondered if it was a wand; she had always imagined wands to be much more...fancy. He waved it, muttering some words, and a bird appeared out of nowhere.
"Do you believe now?" Dumbledore asked.
Josh and Leanne nodded meekly. Albus Dumbledore smiled.
"Well then, term starts September 1st. Do try not to miss the train, here's your ticket. Oh, and Miss Evans, you'll find information you need on the back of your Hogwarts letter. It's special for Muggles, or should I say, previously non-magical people."
Lily thanked him happily, and the strange-looking man named Albus Dumbledore disappeared with another crack. Leanne and Josh had finally gotten out of their shock, and gave her huge hugs.
Petunia stared at Lily, thoughts running through her head at blazing speed.
"What's so special about being a witch?" she sneered. "Personally, I think you're a freak."
With that, she ran out of the room, barely noticing her sister's eyes brimming with tears.
"Why, Petunia, why?" Lily muttered into her tear-soaked pillow. "Why do you have to hate me for being something, especially when I have no control over it?" She slowly got out of her bed and got dressed, still talking to herself. "I don't even know if I want to be a witch…what if everyone at the school hates me?" With these thoughts haunting her head, she crept downstairs and ate breakfast silently, with her head down, while Petunia continued to jeer at her.
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey, kiddo, come away from your window for a while will you?" Chris Potter pleaded helplessly to his son, James, who had been determinedly sitting by his window for the past three hours. James stuck his chin out. "No."
Chris sighed. "James, I know that you're excited for your Hogwarts letter and that you're expecting it to come today, but please, you're just a small child. You have to eat." One look at the child and Chris knew that it was useless. James had inherited many of his mother's qualities, but as Chris ruffled his son's hair he smiled, secretly delighted that James looked so much like him.
"I'm not small," James pouted, jerking Chris out of his thoughts. "Mike got his acceptance letter to Beauxbatons yesterday, and I'm not leaving this spot until I receive mine to Hogwarts," he whined. Chris shook his head, knowing that this act was also part of his son's attempt to hide any disappointment about the fact that he would be separated from his closest childhood friend this year.
"Mike Delacour will be going to a different school than you, James, and it's time for you to accept that. I'm sure that you'll make a lot of other friends at Hogwarts," Chris soothed. James rolled his eyes. "Obviously, dad. I'm the most popular guy wherever I go," he stated matter-of-factly. Chris wasn't sure whether to laugh or not; the expression on his son's face was unusually serious.
James had gone back to staring out his window, gazing into the expanse of space hopefully. Chris quietly left the room, giving up on trying to get James to eat, praying that the Hogwarts acceptance letter would arrive quickly.
A disgruntled-looking Chris entered the kitchen where a beautiful woman named Brianna stood. When she saw him, she chuckled. "No luck with James?" she inquired. Chris shook his head. "No. But then again, what else did we expect? I just hope once he gets over Mike, he'll turn back into that egotistical little prankster than he is."
Brianna laughed. "Yeah, and then you'll be wishing that he would be back like he is now," she declared. Chris laughed along, knowing that this was more likely true than not. Then a small hurricane by the name of James Chris Potter barged into the kitchen.
"I got my letter! I got my letter!" James exclaimed excitedly. "I wanted to show you before I opened it! Let's open it together!" That being said, James jumped onto Chris, leaving him no choice but to bring Harry to the couch and go over the contents of the letter with him. James was still jumpy as ever. "Look daddy! Look! It says Mr. James Chris Potter!" He pointed to the address, written in brilliant emerald green ink, on the front of the envelope. Calming down a little, he commented, "That ink looks cool," putting on his most dignified air. Chris rolled his eyes, but placed James on his lap and took the envelope from him. Turning it over, he saw the Hogwarts crest.
"What's that?" James demanded. "Tell me." Chris began explaining to James about the houses, their symbols, and their colors; even though he knew that he must have done this about twenty times before. His explanation, which he had intended to be brief, ended up being much longer before James was satisfied. "Dad, you were in Gryffindor, right?"
Chris closed his eyes before replying. He hated house discrimination, yet somehow he had a feeling in his gut that his son was going to end up being one of the biggest discriminators that Hogwarts would ever see, apart from the Slytherins. "Yes, son, I was in Gryffindor. Your mother was in Ravenclaw."
"Then I want to be in one of those houses—Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff is alright too, right?" James asked, but in a manner that suggested he was stating a fact. Chris sighed. "James, Slytherins are not all bad people," he tried to explain. "Some of them are bad, and they have decided to be horrible to others that are not in their house. But I do not want you to sink down to their level, James. Ignore them, and be nice to those who are not bad. Please, James, listen to me just this once." James nodded absentmindedly, and Chris knew that his words had not really sunken in. "Oh well, not for lack of trying," he muttered to himself before leaving Harry alone to pore over the supplies list that was enclosed in his Hogwarts acceptance letter.
That night, before tucking Harry in for a good night's sleep, Chris sat down to talk to James. "James, I know you heard what I said earlier about Slytherins. Promise me that you'll keep in mind what I just said and please, please don't discriminate against the other houses unless you have a legitimate reason." James looked at his father, knowing that his father only wanted him to be happy and safe, but realizing that his father was nothing like him. However, he didn't want to disappoint his father, so in a sincere voice he replied, "Of course, dad. I won't discriminate against the other houses one bit, you can trust that." Chris smiled and left the room, calling back over his shoulder, "Oh yeah, James, we'll be going to Diagon Alley tomorrow to pick up your supplies for school." When Chris was gone, James felt slightly guilty but quickly shook the feeling away. He only planned on bending his promise slightly, anyways.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Remus had just spent a horrible night in the bolted shack in his backyard. His mother, Joanna, was a witch, and had charmed it to try to keep him and the neighbors as safe as possible. Still, while the charm managed to stop the most potentially lethal things that could happen to him, he was still able to claw at himself and the night before he had nearly torn himself up physically. There were gashes all over his chest, and dried blood on his body. He quickly got up and showered, tired and exhausted.
He arrived downstairs for a late breakfast and found his father in the kitchen. "Hey, Remus. Had a rough time in the shack last night?" Jason asked sympathetically, seeing the gashes on his son's face. "You bet," Remus muttered in reply, not wishing to relive the horrible nights he had to spend in that godforsaken shack in his backyard.
Jason had a hard time controlling himself to not just rush over to Remus and pull him into a tight embrace. He could not imagine what the child had gone through in the past six years, transforming once a month, and chided himself for not being able to really sympathize with the young man his son was growing up to be. "Here, drink some of this," Jason said kindly, pushing a mug of tea towards Remus. "It's your favorite kind, and I'm sure that your mom laced some restorative draught into it. So it should help."
Remus nodded gratefully at his father and expressed his thanks; then sat down and began to sip his tea. He appreciated his father's concern for him, especially since his father had not known about his mother being a witch until after he had gotten the bite that dreadful night when he was five. His father had adjusted rather quickly and for that he would always be in debt. When other kids had shunned him at school, he had always had his parents to turn to, and they always found some way to make him feel better. They had been forced to move a decent amount of times and Remus had switched schools more times than he could count, but he was happy that at least his parents would stick up for him.
After finishing his mug of tea, Remus looked and felt considerably better and was ready for the rest of the day, even though he knew that his days after the full moon were always uneventful. "What time is it, dad?" he asked. Jason glanced at his watch and replied, "Nearly one." Remus expressed his surprise with a small scream and demanded, "Was it that bad?"
"I'm not sure, Remus, because your mother was the one who took you out of the shack this morning and put you into bed. But, from the grave look on her face when she left the house this morning, I would say yes." Jason sighed. Remus went through a lot more pain that most adults he knew.
Remus stared at the table miserably. "A bunch of kids from school know, and it doesn't matter that school's out," he said quietly. "If it gets as bad as the last school, we might have to move again. Our house won't stand many more rock attacks, now, will it?" Remus said wryly, and then sighed. "I'm sorry, dad. I wish that I hadn't been so careless when I was younger. Then this would have never happened and then I wouldn't cause you and mum so much trouble."
"Oh no," Jason thought. "He's blaming himself again." Jason walked over to Remus and bent down until his eyes were level with his son's. "Remus. Look at me." Jason commanded. Remus half-heartedly looked up into his father's eyes. "It's true that you were careless when you were younger, but don't ever think of yourself badly. Your mother and I don't blame you for anything that had happened, and we will keep trying until we find a place for you where you will be accepted, or where no one will know what you are so they cannot tease you."
As if reading his mind, an owl swept through the window and landed in front of Remus. Remus looked curiously at the owl for a moment, then relieved it of its burden. "Mr. Remus Hallac Lupin," Remus read out loud. His father was staring, stunned, at the splendid emerald green ink. "If that's what I think it is…" he started. Then he grabbed the envelope and flipped it over. He saw the crest and his voice became faint. "Remus…I think I know what this is. Your mother has explained to me about this crest before. Remus…oh my god Remus…you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Remus looked thoroughly confused for a moment, then exclaimed, "Oh! That's the school that mum talks about a lot! Didn't she go there?" Jason chuckled. "No, Remus, she did not attend Hogwarts. She was accepted into Beauxbatons instead, but her school visited Hogwarts once and she found the visit amazing, and since has had a love for the school. I think you shall be under one of, quoting your mother, the best headmasters that the entire wizarding world has ever seen." Remus was intrigued and opened the letter carefully. He pulled out a letter and skimmed through it. By the time he was done, he had a glow of hope around him that his father had not seen in a very long time. The realization that he had been accepted to one of the most wonderful wizarding schools in existence had finally sunken in.
"Father! Father! Oh, this is amazing! The headmaster—according to this letter, Professor Albus Dumbledore—" Remus began. ("So that's what his name is," thought Jason.) "Albus Dumbledore has arranged so that I can attend the school even with my condition! This is great! This might be it, dad!" Remus had a huge smile on his face, and it hit Jason that this was the first time that his son had smiled a genuinely happy smile for a very, very long time.
"Well, son, if you're so excited to go, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to," Jason said to the jumpy and excited boy who was standing in front of him. "However, we should consult your mother first before we make any final decisions." Remus agreed, but that didn't stop him from spending the rest of the day at home in high spirits. When his mother finally arrived home, Remus jumped into her arms.
"Guess what mum! Guess what! I got accepted to Hogwarts!" he shouted, overjoyed. Joanna looked slightly shocked for a second then quickly recovered. "You can explain that to me in a second, but first tell me, how are you feeling?" she said in a stern but concerned voice. Jason laughed. "Joanna, you don't understand how happy he's been all day. I could swear someone gave him an overdose of those…what do you call them? Happy charms?"
"Cheering charms," Joanna corrected, then looked over at Remus. "So, you got accepted to Hogwarts?" she inquired. When Remus nodded, she smiled. "I was hoping that you would get accepted to either Hogwarts or Beauxbatons, but didn't express my hopes in case. But I am very glad that you have been accepted into Hogwarts, because I have talked to Albus Dumbledore a few times, and he is quite a gentleman. I think you will find yourself happy at Hogwarts and I am sure that Professor Dumbledore will take good care of you. Of course, you can go!" she gently assured Remus, who had been looking at her with a look of hope in his eyes.
"YES!" Remus jumped up, his voice ringing throughout the house. Joanna and Jason laughed, happy inside, as they had never seen Remus this happy since the werewolf bite. As Remus ran up to his bedroom, Joanna called out, "Remus, don't oversleep tomorrow. We're going to take a trip to Diagon Alley to get your supplies!"
---------------------------------------------------------------
"Sirius! Get your lazy ass down here, child," a sharp voice snapped from the bottom of the stairs. "We have guests," the voice added, snarling. "So put on something nice." Sirius rolled his eyes and did everything that he could to not explode in his mother's face. "Yeah, yeah mum, I'm coming. No need to change, I always look nice anyway," Sirius retorted. He hadn't been able to help adding the last comment. It was a mistake, as no more than ten seconds later, his mother came barging into his room, casting a privacy charm.
"Don't you ever talk like that again, boy!" she shrieked. "You're not the perfect little boy you think you are!" Sirius smirked. "More perfect than you'll ever be," he said absentmindedly. Sirius's mother raised her voice even higher. "You disgrace of a Black!" she cried, wringing her hands. "Why couldn't you be more like Regulus? Oh, that sweet, loving child! What happened to you?" She pointed a finger at Sirius threateningly, as though to blame him for all her troubles. "Oh, you're not going to get into Durmstrang, are you," she sneered softly. "Too soft-hearted for that. Oh well, too late to change that. But I assure you, boy," –she raised her voice– "That when you go to Hogwarts and get sorted, you had better get into Slytherin, or you might just live the rest of your life regretting it," she finished dangerously.
"Melina! Come down! We're all waiting for you!" A voice rang from downstairs. Melina turned to Sirius a last time. "Remember, Sirius…if you're not in Slytherin, don't expect anything from us," she spat. "Wasn't going to," Sirius mumbled, watching his mother's retreating figure. Once she was gone, he sat back down on his bed, fighting back tears which he had longed to cry for ages.
"Don't cry, Sirius, don't cry," he scolded himself. Sure, at school, he was an egocentric person; loud and always walking around with a lot of confidence. However, at home, it was a different matter. He was the scapegoat of the family and was always being blamed for everything. It was true that he was different than most of the Blacks, and didn't share their evil view on most things. However, he dreaded what would happen to him if he didn't get into Slytherin.
He crept downstairs to the living room quietly after he felt he was ready to face his family again. To his surprise, the room was filled with relatives, so his arrival went unnoticed, something which Sirius was grateful for. He scanned the occupants of the room and his face lit up when he saw his cousin Andromeda. He ran over and greeted her. "Hey Andromeda, what are you doing here?" Sirius asked. He had assumed that the 'guests' that his family had over were for another one of their talks about how being pure-blooded was the most important thing; Andromeda and her family, being 'blood traitors' because they didn't accept the ideas about purification, were never included in these talks.
"Oh Sirius, when will you ever learn?" laughed Andromeda, who was to be entering her fourth year at Hogwarts. "It's your brother's birthday, and apparently, your parents wanted a 'large, gorgeous birthday party', so they invited pretty much everyone." Sirius groaned. "Oh, no," he moaned. "Regulus's birthday. Perfect Regulus."
Andromeda giggled. "I know you don't like him, Sirius, and personally, neither do I, but I think you should put up a good show for your parents before they reject you from the family forever, because you won't be in Slytherin. I bet you're a Gryffindor." Sirius glared at her. "Thanks for the reminder," he mumbled angrily. Then he looked up. "You're in Gryffindor, right?" Andromeda nodded, which improved Sirius's mood incredibly. "Well, at least I'll have someone to look forward to seeing," he noted happily as an owl flew his way.
"Oooh! Take it Sirius! It's your Hogwarts letter!" Andromeda squealed excitedly, referring to the envelope that the owl was holding. Sirius took the envelope, thanked the owl, and retreated to a corner of the room with Andromeda. "Mr. Sirius Romulus Black," Sirius read out loud, admiring the way the emerald green ink shone on the envelope. He turned it over and observed the Hogwarts crest for a moment, but Andromeda excitedly nagged him to quickly open the envelope. "Open it, Sirius!" Sirius rolled his eyes, knowing that his favorite cousin was probably even more enthusiastic about this letter than he was. "Okay, okay, I'll open it," Sirius said. "Just wait after I—" Sirius began to tease, but was cut off by Andromeda. "I'll open it for you!" she said indignantly. Sirius backed down. "Sorry, beautiful lady," he smirked. Andromeda shook her head laughing. "Your 'charm' doesn't work on me, Sirius, but nice try," she remarked. "You'll get all the ladies at Hogwarts, though."
Andromeda tore open the envelope and shoved the letter into Sirius's hands. "Come on, just read it!" she urged. Sirius finally agreed and read the letter. When he was done, he only said one thing. "Ah. Dumbledore," he said darkly, looking at his parents. Andromeda looked confused. "Dumbledore's a great man," she stated. Sirius nodded. "I'm sure he is, but my parents keep talking about him like he's pond scum or something. Never a day has passed since a few months ago when I haven't heard something like, 'Dumbledore was the worst person to ever be put in headmaster's position', or 'Dumbledore as headmaster, what is this world coming to?' or anything similar to that." Andromeda nodded in understanding, but reassured her younger cousin that Dumbledore was quite a brilliant and amazing man.
"Well, look what we have here," a voice sneered. Sirius and Andromeda looked up to see a young blonde-haired boy, around Sirius's age, looking at them with a look of contempt on his face. "Malfoy," Sirius acknowledged coldly. "What do you want, Lucius?" asked Andromeda. Lucius smirked and ignored Andromeda. "So, Black," Lucius spat. "You've been accepted into Hogwarts?" Sirius nodded stonily. Lucius snickered. "Well, you better not be getting into Slytherin, because that's where Narcissa and I will be," he stated, motioning to a pretty young girl across the room, who had an expression of disgust plastered on her face. "Well, if you're going to be in that house, I sure hope I'm not in it," Sirius stated wryly. "What about my dear cousin Bellatrix?" Lucius scowled at this last question. "Durmstrang," he said, and shut his mouth, walking away.
Andromeda turned to Sirius half-laughing. "Well, Sirius, looks like you hit a nerve." Sirius laughed as well. "We all know that he has a soft spot for dear Bella," he remarked. Suddenly a high-pitched scream from the kitchen caused Andromeda to jump. Sirius rolled his eyes. "There goes my mother again, beheading house-elves. We already have quite a large collection," he remarked, motioning to the wall in an adjacent room. "Watch," he said, pointing to the wall. Before their eyes, another plaque was added to the wall, with the head of another house-elf on it. Sirius sighed in frustration. "Still not Kreacher," he said, shaking his head sadly.
At this moment two red-headed young children ran up to Andromeda and Sirius. "Hi, Molly," Sirius said, greeting the young, feisty child in front of him. She was around five years old, and as jumpy as any youngster could get. Then he turned to the young boy. "Arthur, how are you doing?" Sirius grinned at the little six-year-old kid who had been fascinated with Muggle items since last year. The young redhead had an air of cockiness around him at the moment, and Sirius assumed that he had just explained to his younger friend about some Muggle contraption or another. "I was just telling Molly about these pluggie things," he said proudly, stretching out his hand to show a jumble of wire ending with electrical plugs. "Fascinating," said Sirius, not quite sure what he was looking at. Andromeda examined the plug with interest then gave it back to the over-enthusiastic child. She smiled, watching the two young children run back off into the ever-increasing crowd of people.
"Hey, Sirius. Why don't you come to Diagon Alley with my family and me tomorrow?" Andromeda suggested. "I have to go to get my stuff for fourth year, and you have to get your stuff for first year. Sirius brightened considerably and agreed. "Sure I'll come," he said. "But how am I supposed to find you guys?" Andromeda laughed. "Just sleep over tonight, I'm sure my parents will let you," she replied. Sirius thought about it for a moment, and agreed, thinking that this would be a great way to avoid his parents' wrath because he hadn't gotten Regulus a present.
---------------------------------------------------------------
A young boy, who oddly resembled a small, scrawny rat, opened his eyes groggily. "Oh man, I woke up early again," he muttered, noting that it was still very dark in his room. Five minutes later, a chuckling mother came into his room and opened the blinds. "Get up, sleepyhead," she said, nudging the boy softly. Young Peter groaned. The eleven-year-old boy had never quite adjusted to the fact that blinds had been installed into his bedroom a couple of months ago, and since had never gotten up early on his own. "Now, Peter, when you get downstairs I want you to cook breakfast," his mother said kindly to him. Although Peter was half-blooded, his father being a wizard and his mother a Muggle, his household ran like a normal Muggle's. His mother had no trouble accepting the fact that her husband was a wizard, but under no circumstances would that affect the way that she ran their household, she argued. Finally, Peter and his father, Brian, gave in, sensing that it was probably safer and more peaceful for them to agree with her than to disagree.
Peter's father had been born in the U.S., and had met his current wife when he had taken a business trip over to London over a decade ago. They loved their child dearly, although his high-pitched voice did get irritating over a long period of time. Brian often hoped that his son would get into Hogwarts, as he had heard wonderful things about the school, even in America. Selena did want her son to get the best education possible, but it had taken a lot of persuading to convince her that going to a wizarding school would be good for little Peter. However, they had made a pact to not inform Peter about this, in case he didn't get accepted to the school.
Peter got dressed, finished his morning routine, and went downstairs to cook breakfast. He was nearly done cooking pancakes when an owl flew in through a window and nearly knocked him over, stove in hand. Clumsily, Peter snatched the letter from the owl while trying to not fall over. The owl looked reproachfully at the boy, and Peter could swear that it was laughing at him when it flew away. Peter put the letter aside and finished making the pancakes. By the time he was done, he had forgotten about the letter.
He called his parents into the kitchen to announce that their breakfast was ready, and then served the food to them both. The three of them ate a relatively quiet but peaceful breakfast, as usual, when suddenly Selena interrupted. "Peter, what was that commotion in the kitchen earlier? I thought I heard an owl." Peter sat deep in thought for a moment, then clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Oh!" Peter all but squeaked, running into the kitchen to retrieve the letter. He showed it to his parents. "There was an owl, and it gave me this." Brian looked carefully at the envelope, observing the seal before turning the envelope over. "Mr. Peter Benjamin Pettigrew."
Peter stared at his name written in brilliant emerald green ink. "What is it?" he asked nervously. Brian turned to Peter with a huge smile on his face. "I think I know, Peter. You see this crest?" he asked, gesturing to the Hogwarts crest that was sealing the envelope. Peter shook his head, looking confused. Brian took a deep breath and continued. "Well, son, this is the Hogwarts crest. I've seen it before. I think this is your acceptance letter to Hogwarts, if I'm not mistaken."
Brian looked at Peter, his face glowing with pride. He pulled Peter into a tight hug, and was nearly in tears. "I'm so proud of you, son." Selena, although she was a Muggle who didn't completely understand what Hogwarts was, declared that a celebration should take place, and within ten minutes the three of them were eating cake, and a sign had been hung up in the kitchen that said in large letters, "CONGRATULATIONS PETER!"
"Wow," Peter said quietly later that day. He had always hoped that he could get into Hogwarts, but he had never thought that he had the potential to attend the school. At all the schools he ever attended, he had always been the one who was picked on. All the kids made fun of him because of his rat-like appearance and the way he squeaked like one as well. "Well, this could be different," he said to himself.
Brian found Peter in his bedroom, ready to go to sleep, and once again looked at Peter with pride in his eyes. He didn't want to show it, but his hopes that his son would get into such a good wizarding school hadn't been high. He knew what Peter went through at school and he also knew that Peter wasn't in the extremely intelligent mold. Not only that, but Peter had always acted more like his mother, who was a Muggle. Brian hadn't been sure if Peter even had any magic in him. He hoped that Hogwarts would help Peter feel like he belonged.
"Peter, we want you to adjust to being a wizard," Selena said, entering the room. "We're going to order your books, robes, and supplies from the Daily Inquirer," Selena said, before she was interrupted by her husband. "Daily Prophet," he corrected. "We know how you are around other people and we don't want you suddenly surrounded by many wizards. It may seem rather intimidating at first. You can go over your books at home, alright?" Brian said kindly. Peter nodded his head, still slightly in shock that he was a wizard after all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, that's the end of the first chapter. Thank you so much for reading this. I had a good time writing this, and it has inspired me to possibly write other stories as well, not necessarily under the category of Harry Potter Fanfiction. Please review! I would appreciate it a lot.
Coming soon: Lily, James, Remus, and Sirius all journey to Diagon Alley to get their supplies, books, robes, pets, and, especially in James and Sirius's case, other things as well. Let's see what happens!