Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me…

Chapter 3

Lily Evans

Harry's throat grew dry as he stared at his mother's profile. In a way he was looking forward to meet her even more, in the aftermath of meeting his father and godfather. She was undeniably beautiful with her thick red hair that nearly came down to her waist and her bright green eyes, just like Harry's. Her lips were pursed together and she was frowning slightly, staring at Snape's departing back.

She turned and smiled at Eliza from the doorway, not noticing Harry. "Don't tell me Severus Snape has joined the club as well!"

Eliza stared coldly at her, as Lily's smile faltered slightly. "What's …"

"Potter brought him here," she said, her voice devoid of all emotion, indicating Harry. Lily jumped a little as she turned, Harry caught some emotion on her face that he could not fathom, but it was gone instantly.

"You're not Potter," she said, sounding relieved. Harry opened his mouth to reply, but only a croak came out. He blushed slightly and cleared his throat. "My name's Harry Potter." "Nice to meet you," he added as an afterthought.

"No relation to James Potter, I hope?" she enquired sharply. She had the grace to blush slightly as he stared at her. "I'm sorry. It's just that … he's in my year, you see. And I … we don't get along so well."

"No…" he said, still looking at her, "No relation."

"You do look a bit like him, you know. The hair, it sticks up at the back just like his."

"Really?" came Eliza's cold drawl. Harry glared at her, wishing that the floor of the train would open up and swallow her, letting him have a peaceful conversation with Lily.

Eliza seemed a little surprised to find herself the recipient of two death glares, though Lily had flushed slightly. "It's hard not to notice," she replied evenly, "When he keeps ruffling up his hair all the time."

"Anyway," she continued, smiling at Harry. "It's not that big a resemblance, your eyes especially, are like… mine actually," she sounded a bit surprised. Harry got the distinct impression Lily was a bit of a chatterbox, as she continued, "It's not that you can be related to me though, I'm Muggle-born." She finished the statement, no longer smiling, looking expectantly at Harry, who understood completely. She wanted to know if he was a pureblood bigot like Malfoy.

"People say I have my mother's eyes," he told her smiling. "She was Muggle-born as well."

Lily smiled back, but then frowned slightly, probably registering Harry's use of the past tense.

"I'm sure this is fascinating," Eliza spoke again, looking directly at Lily. Harry fought the urge to throttle her. "But is there something you wanted, Evans?"

"Did you bring the… er, thing, Zabini?"

"Yes. It wasn't much trouble."

"And er…" At this point Lily glanced at Harry slightly, who took the hint and got up reluctantly. "Excuse me for a bit," he told them as he opened the door. Lily smiled at him gratefully, while Eliza ignored him.

He stepped outside onto the corridor, and slid the door shut behind him. He stood there for a while wondering where to go. From inside the compartment came the sound of Lily collapsing on the seat with a deep sigh.

"Tough summer, Lily?" came Eliza voice, not as cold and forbidding as usual. Harry was mildly surprised, but then again, Lily had been surprised when Eliza had greeted her so coolly. Perhaps Slytherin-Gryffindor friendships were frowned upon by the students of both houses? Was this why they were pretending to hardly know each other?

Lily gave a great sigh again. "Just the usual petty problem…"

Eliza laughed softly. "Just hex her, why don't you?"

"For heavens' sake, Eliza!" Lily exclaimed irritably. "I've had my share of trouble with the Ministry already. I live in a Muggle house, any trace of magic would end up in my getting another owl from that Mafalda Hopkirk. In any case," she continued, sighing deeply. "My parents would throw a fit. They weren't very amused when I turned Petunia's teacup into frogspawn…"

Eliza gave a very unladylike snort. "How was your summer?" Lily asked her.

There was a brief silence in the compartment. "Not good," Eliza said softly. "My father… is growing impatient. He has had many offers…"

There was the sound of Lily getting up from her seat. Harry suspected that she had seated herself next to Eliza. "You poor dear," she said kindly, as Eliza gave a great sniff, a real one this time.

At this point, Harry suddenly became aware that he was listening in on a very private conversation. He hurried away down the corridor. He realized that he was feeling rather hungry, perhaps he could buy something from the trolley lady.

He felt a vague sort of pride that his mother was a good person, not prejudiced against Slytherins. Although why she would be friends with someone like Eliza Zabini, whose very appearance virtually screamed 'pureblood' was beyond his comprehension. But perhaps that was all an act, perhaps Eliza wanted to fit in with the rest of the Slytherins… Harry really didn't see Lily putting up with any pureblood hogwash from anyone…

He soon slowed down, glancing at people as he passed them. Now and then, he felt a vague sort of recognition when he looked at someone, but he didn't stop to talk to any of them. Naturally everyone ignored him as well, although he saw recognition flash in the eyes of a few people, which soon faded away when they realized he wasn't James Potter.

He stopped at the bathroom, but saw Pettigrew lounging about outside. He glared at him with deep loathing in his eyes. Pettigrew paled visibly when he met Harry's gaze, and backed away until his back was against the wall.

"What's going on here?" came a loud voice behind Harry, who whirled around and saw Sirius emerging from the bathroom. His teeth were bared slightly, and he looked quite a bit like Padfoot, Harry thought. His right hand was in the pocket of his robes, and Harry was sure that he was fingering his wand beneath them.

"Sirius," Pettigrew gasped in relief, and quickly scuttled over to his side. Harry took a deep breath, remembering Dumbledore's words, this wasn't the person who betrayed his parents. But although his mind believed it, his heart wouldn't…

He closed his eyes and forced himself to think rationally… There wasn't any use telling them about Wormtail's perfidy in any case, he told himself. After all, how would he feel if some perfect stranger came to him and told him that Ron or Hermione weren't trustworthy?

He opened his eyes to find Sirius looking at him curiously. "Now that I think about it, I haven't seen you before…" Harry looked at Pettigrew again, who flinched visibly and clutched Sirius's arm. Sirius smiled at him protectively.

Harry couldn't take it anymore. "Excuse me," he mumbled pushing his way into the bathroom cubicle. He closed the door, bolted it and slowly sank down to the floor, his hands touching the cool metal floor.

The last time both of them were together, Sirius was trying to kill Pettigrew. And I had to stop him. This is wrong… all wrong…

For a moment, he felt a great swelling anger against Dumbledore for forcing him to go through this. Watching events unfold as he was powerless to stop them did not appeal to him.

A sudden thought entered his mind. Did he have to let things go on as they were? Why couldn't he change the way things would turn out? What would happen if he killed Pettigrew now? Was he capable of that in the first place? Somehow, Harry did not think so…

'And what of the other Death-Eaters?' his rational voice spoke in his mind. 'Would you kill all of them too, innocent school children as they are now?' And if he did change the way things were, Voldemort would not fall in the Halloween of 1981, he would have thirteen more years to consolidate his power. Who was he to deny the wizarding world thirteen years of peace? Thirteen precious years… Hundreds more would die if that did not happen…

Perhaps this was what Dumbledore meant when he talked about 'choosing between what was right and what was easy.' He had told Harry that it would be difficult… a journey he would have to make alone, without confiding in anybody.

Harry straightened up, instinctively putting his hand to the bridge of his nose to push up his glasses, before remembering that he no longer wore them. For now… for now, he would just go along with things as they were. Let's see what the past holds for us, he thought to himself with a laugh…

He walked back down the corridor, back to the last compartment. He met the trolley lady, and bought as much food as he could carry. When he reached the door, he called out, "Could you open the door please? My arms are full."

The door was opened immediately by Lily. "I thought we had driven you away," she told him. Eyeing his load, she added, "you must be really hungry…"

"Starving," he told her, smiling, his spirits rising. He tipped the food onto an empty seat, and opened a packet of Cauldron Cakes. "Help yourself," he told them, munching away.

Lily immediately opened a Chocolate Frog, (he later learnt that she was an avid collector of Chocolate Frog cards) but Eliza wouldn't touch Harry's food. Her moment of weakness had passed, Harry noted, she seemed her usual haughty self.

When Lily passed around some sandwiches that her mother had prepared for her, Harry thought to ask her, "Lily, what do your parents do?"

"My dad's a neurosurgeon at a big hospital in London. That means…"

"I know what a neurosurgeon is," Harry cut in.

"And my mom works as a receptionist in the same hospital." She hesitated a bit, "How do you know this… you know… Muggle stuff? Eliza tells me your parents were a witch and a wizard?"

"That's true," Harry said, glancing at Eliza, who was steadfastly observing the scenery outside. He had to stick to the story he had told her. "I lived among the Muggles when I was a kid. My parents decided to stay away from the wizarding society when they went into hiding from Voldemort."

Eliza hissed in displeasure on hearing the name, but to her credit, Lily did not even flinch. Then again, he reminded himself, she was Muggle-born and perhaps did not even know the horrors that Voldemort was capable of perpetrating.

"Oh good, you can say the name," she told him, "I was never really satisfied with the reasons they gave for calling him You-Know-Who and all that. The first time I came here, some people were talking about him… in hushed voices, of course, and I thought they were hiding something from me, you know? Trying to leave me out of the conversation… It made me quite angry with Alice, I remember…"

"Alice?" Could it be Neville's mother they were talking about?

"Alice Prewett. She's in my year, in Gryffindor too. Soon to be Alice Longbottom if Frank has his way. Anyway, why are you starting Hogwarts so late?"

"I was home schooled," Harry told her. "I came… after my parents died."

There was silence in the compartment for a few seconds. Even Eliza looked away from the window at Harry, an unreadable expression on her face.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry," Lily said softly, looking highly distressed.

"Don't worry about it," Harry spoke firmly, "I've got over it."

"It happened last year?" Eliza asked gently.

"Yes, they wanted me to come to Hogwarts if… anything happened to them. I haven't yet written to Dumbledore," he added, hoping to change the subject, he was feeling a little guilty for lying. But then again, if people thought his parents died recently, then perhaps they wouldn't enquire much about them. "Do you think he'll let me join?"

Lily seemed glad that the subject was changed as well. "I'm sure he will. He never turns away a student from Hogwarts."

Perhaps that was the problem, Harry thought to himself. Tom Riddle, the Malfoys… wouldn't it be better if they were denied education in the first place? Certainly it was a moral issue of sorts, but didn't the benefits outweigh the risks?

He emerged from his short reverie to find Lily and Eliza looking worriedly at each other. They probably thought he was thinking about his parents, he thought, and sought to change the subject again.

"So, er… what do your parents do, Eliza?"

Eliza looked incredulous for a moment, Harry wondered if he'd said something stupid. "My father is the Deputy-Head of the Wizengamot and the head of the Fourteen Families." She seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction, so Harry asked, "What's that?"

Lily burst into laughter as Eliza flushed, "That's the same thing I asked her when we first met!" she told him finally, "She thought I was insulting her family!" She laughed even harder when Harry looked horrified and apologized hurriedly to Eliza, who seemed to be deciding whether to snap at Harry or at Lily. Neither won out as in the end, she smiled reluctantly at both of them.

'She can smile?' was Harry's first thought. Somehow the aristocracy and the haughtiness which seemed to be etched permanently on her face fell away, as though by magic, leaving behind a much pleasanter Eliza Zabini. Her eyes, normally grey and cold, were shining with amusement, as she turned to Harry.

"The Fourteen Families is an…"

"May I come in, Eliza?" came a voice from outside, rapping the door smartly.

Lily jumped up as though stung by a nettle and hurriedly gathered her small bag where she had brought her sandwiches. "Well, I'll see you later in Potions, Zabini" she called out loudly, before adding a soft, "Bye, Harry."

She pulled the door open and stormed out, causing a startled boy to jump back. She smiled at the scowling boy sweetly, before disappearing down the corridor.

The boy stepped in, for a moment Harry thought it was Sirius, but he saw that this boy's hair was longer, and his eyes were brown instead of blue. His facial features were almost the same, except for his chin, which appeared rather weak, rather than jutting out determinedly like Sirius's.

Harry remembered that Sirius had mentioned a brother once… one who had become a Death Eater and had been killed when he tried to quit… Regulus Black.

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A/N: Yes, it's been a while since I updated. College has started again, so I'm afraid updates will be rather sporadic.

This fic may have a few references to HBP, though it's probably not necessary to put in a spoiler warning…

Fourteen Families… I remember reading in some fic, I forgot which one, if anyone does know, I'll give the author the credit in the next chapter…

So long, and do review!

shadylion