A/N: Ok, here's the next chapter. The third one isn't quite finished yet. I've kind of hit a block (a small one). It should be up within the week. Don't forget to review!

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns what she created.

Lily watched Bellatrix walking away and blinked a couple of times. That was interesting. She started walking up the lawn with the rest of the school, towards a huge castle. She forget about Bellatrix for a little and gaped.

She caught a couple of strange looks from people going past and quickly shut her mouth and continued walking. The castle was magnificent! She couldn't wait to see what the rest looked like.

She stepped into a large hall, decided that this was where she was supposed to wait, and found a corner to settle in. Students wandered by, all heading for a large pair of doors across the floor. Lily caught a glimpse of long tables filled with chattering students and exhaled as a wave of homesickness overtook her.

She missed her friends. Bellatrix seemed nice enough, but nothing like the people she was used to hanging out with. She sighed and rubbed her forehead wearily. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She opened them after about ten minutes when she heard footsteps in the now empty hall.

"I take it you're Miss Evans?" a stern woman with a severe expression approached Lily.

"Yes. Are you Professor McGonagall?"

"Yes. Did you have a fun train ride? Make any friends?"

"I met a few people, like Bellatrix Black."

"Did you now," Professor McGonagall frowned slightly, "Ah, well, it can't be helped, you'd have met her soon enough. Anyways, it's time for you to be sorted. Follow me please."

She turned around and walked through the large doors into a dining hall with four long tables packed full of students, and a shorter one that appeared to contain the teachers. She walked straight to a stool in the middle of the hall, upon which was sitting a battered hat with a wide rip in the brim. She motioned to Lily, who walked forward hesitantly. Everyone was watching her!

"Put on the hat!" McGonagall hissed at her.

Lily reached out and carefully set the hat on her head, then jumped out of her skin when she heard it talking to her in her head.

"Hmmm, where should you go? I don't often get to sort an older student, they're much harder. Seem to sort of mesh into everything, if you know what I mean. Hmmm... possibly Ravenclaw, you've got a large brain mass in there, hee hee. Oh, what's this? Maybe Gryffindor!"

"Oh no, not Gryffindor!" Lily thought.

"Not Gryffindor! Why ever not? Well, we'll see. There's definitely Slytherin possibility in there, but ... I can't justify that, not with what's hidden here.. nope, it will have to be... GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily opened her eyes in dismay and slowly took off the hat. McGonagall was looking very pleased, and a little relieved. Lily walked slowly over to the table that was clapping loudly and whistling. She was horrified to see James and Sirius waving at her and motioning to a seat across from them. She looked around frantically and was relieved to see a girl with fiery red hair beckoning.

She hurried up and smiled shyly, "Hi, I'm Lily Evans."

The girl smiled warmly, "Hi Lily, nice to meet you. I'm Molly Prewett, 5th year Gryffindor."

"Oh, me too!"

"Then you'll probably be rooming with me and Alice!" she motioned to a small girl with wispy hair and a round face.

"Hi," the girl said with a small smile.

The girl on her other side leaned around her and stuck out her hand, "I'm Bertha Jorkins, 7th year. I hear you're from the US,"

Molly leaned over and whispered in Lily's ear, "The biggest gossip in the school; never tell her anything."

Bertha kept on talking, "I've never been there, though almost everyone tells me that it's nice. There was Timothy though, he said it was a garbage heap, although that was probably just because his girlfriend had dumped him. But still, there was also..."

"Sometimes you just have to tune her out," Alice shrugged slightly, "She'll go off on a tangent for as long as you'll let her."

"Mmm, I've known people like her," Lily smiled, then looked over to where James and Sirius were sitting. They were laughing with two boys: a thin one with light brown hair, and a small plump boy with a strange resemblance to a rat, who Lily could not help but assume was the Peter Pettigrew that Bellatrix had been talking about earlier.

She glanced over to the Slytherin table at Bellatrix, who was sitting next to a girl with long blond hair. She was talking heatedly to the group of guys around her, pausing every now and then to take a sip from her goblet.

Lily let her gaze wander over the other tables, finally resting on James and Sirius again. She couldn't help but admit that they were hot. Then she noticed a tall boy with glasses and red hair who was watching someone down by Lily.

Molly noticed where she was looking and leaned over, "That's Arthur Weasley. He's had a crush on Alice since third year. She's completely oblivious though."

Lily glanced at Alice, then turned as the headmaster stood up and cleared his throat.

"I hope everyone has had a good feast! Unfortunately, it is now time to go to bed in preparation for your first day of classes tomorrow! First years please follow prefects to your dormitory, everyone else, please do not stay up too late!"

He sat down and people started getting up and leaving all over the hall. Lily stood uncertainly, but Molly touched her arm, "Just follow me, I'm a prefect."

Alice smiled slightly and began to yell with a surprisingly strong voice, "Gryffindor first years! Over here Gryffindor first years! Follow me!"

Lily shook her head and walked after them with the quiet first years who were bunching together in small groups. Lily smiled at the one closest to her, who looked terrified and tried to hide behind her friend. Lily shook her head and sighed.

"Am I really that scary looking?" she muttered to Molly, who just laughed.

The group stopped before a large portrait of a fat lady and a pink dress.

"Everyone can hear me? All right. This is the Pink Lady. Now listen up, make sure you hear the password. Hopnitch!" Molly stepped inside as the portrait opened.

Lily breathed in slowly as she looked around. There were squishy chairs scattered around the room and a roaring fire built in the fireplace. She listened while Molly told everyone where their rooms where, and wondered a little about the total size of the castle.

"Hey," Molly came up alongside her, "Ready to see your room?"

"Yeah, but I was wondering, just how big is Hogwarts?"

"Well, no one's really sure. I don't think even Dumbledore knows exactly what there is hidden away down some random corridor."

"Wait, so there could be something hidden away that no one knows about?"

"Theoretically, but nothing dangerous. The castle has been screened for Dark magic multiple times. Anyways, our dorm is up these stairs to the left," Molly led the way into a snug room with four canopy beds. Two of the four corners were decorated with smiling posters and waving pictures.

"Were there only two people in the room?" Lily looked around, confused.

"Nah, there's one other girl, but she's never around. I'm not even sure what her name is. Do you know Molly?" Alice said as she walked into the room.

Molly shrugged, "I feel a little bad. I don't think she has any friends, but she doesn't ever talk to anyone. That's gonna be your bed over in that corner, Lily, next to Alice. Now I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired. I'll see you in morning," she jumped onto her bed and pulled the curtains shut.

Alice headed off to the bathroom, and Lily walked over to her bed and sat down. She glanced around the room and looked at the unoccupied bed. It looked as if no one was staying there. She shivered, looked away, and then looked back again. She had a uneasy feeling that someone was watching her.

"Don't be stupid!" she thought, "There's no one watching you. You just have an overactive imagination!"

She sighed, glanced once more at the empty bed, and pulled her curtains shut. She laid there for a while and listened to Molly and Alice get ready for bed and fall asleep. She looked out and saw that the other bed was still empty.

"What time is it?" she thought as she stifled a yawn, "I really should go to sleep."

She collapsed back into her blankets, and then stiffened as she heard the door slowly creak open. Peaking out through the crack between the curtains, she saw a very tall, slender girl with long dark hair enter. Lily shrunk back as the girl looked in her direction, and then watched as she disappeared behind the curtains. Lily watched the bed for a while, but the girl did not emerge, and Lily finally fell asleep.

A/N: Ooohhh, what's up with the mystery girl? She's important..

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