Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters, places etc. But I do own Eleanor! Mwhaha! And my cousin owns Poppy and Tansy... well, they are her children...

A.N. Whoo! Second Harry Potter fic! (One and Only has NOT been abandoned, though!) Another Lily/James one- great to write because there is almost nothing in the books worth adhering to about their relationship- and they're just so fascinating! Eleanor's back... the character I created for One and Only... and I've got two new people too. Read on! And… I apologise… I couldn't think of a good title… I would have called it First Impressions, but I already have one called that… damn…

This story is dedicated to my twin baby (second) cousins, Poppy and Tansy Beardmore. I've also named two characters after them. Fabulous, darling!

Initial Obsession

Lily heard the whistle blow shrilly behind her and wrenched away from her mother's embrace. "Wha… Mum, the train's leaving!"

Her mother jerked her head up and breathed in sharply. Her loving tone changed instantly to a brisk, business-like bark and she replied, "Well, go quickly, get on, I'll pass your trunk up to the door." She smiled down at her green-eyed, red-haired daughter. "Lily, have a good year. I'll se you at Christmas." She bent down and whispered into her ear, "I know you'll do me proud, darling." She gave her a last peck on the cheek and pushed her off to the door.

Lily stepped up and twisted round. "Ok, mum, hand up my trunk!"

Her mother clasped her hand round the handle and pulled. "Lily!" she immediately gasped, "What have you got in this!"

Lily reached down to her struggling mother as the second whistle blew. "Oh, no, quickly, mum!"

"I'm trying!" Lily's mother gave another wrench and was struggling to pull the case onto the door rim when she heard a voice shouting near her ear over the rumpus of screeching cats and goodbyes.

"Sorry ma'am… I'll put that up for you, here…"

She glanced up and saw a tall, slim boy reaching out for the trunk beside her. He smiled, almost apologetically. "Sorry, I saw…"

She nodded, out of breath. "Yes, please, son." She watched him haul the heavy case into the compartment and step up after it. He smiled at her again.

She couldn't help but grin back. "Thank you." She looked beside him at her daughter. "Have a good time, dear. Send me an owl when you get there."

Lily smiled. "Yes mum." The final whistle blew definitely. The door slid shut and the train started slowly trundling up the line. "Bye, mum! Love you!"

Her mother waved, tears brimming in her eyes. "Bye, darling." Lily watched her fade into the distance, waving out the small window until she was no more than a tiny speck.

She withdrew her hand and glanced shyly at the tall boy now standing next to her. "Thanks for that."

He grinned. "No problem." He held out his hand. "James Potter."

She took his hand hesitantly. "Lily Evans." She let go quickly. She wasn't really used to boys.

He seemed to realise he was making her uncomfortable and turned around. "Want to go find a compartment?" He glanced back round at her.

She nodded quickly. She had been up most of last night, wondering what it would be like to learn magic, what to put in her case, and so on, and she wanted to sit down and rest as soon as possible. "Yeah, sure."

He strode off down the narrow corridor. Lily hurried to keep up with his long legs. He came upon an evidently hopeful-looking compartment and reached out to slide open the door. Then he hesitated and looked at her. "Would you be ok in a compartment with girls you don't know?"

She flicked her eyes down and nodded. He pulled the panel across and stuck his head into the little room.

"Hellooo ladies."

Lily heard giggling coming from the compartment and her heart immediately hardened slightly towards James. She hated people who were so cool with so little effort…

"Ah, girls… got a friend of mine here, she doesn't know anyone well yet. Would you mind if she joined you?"

"No, of course not."

"That's fine, James."

He grinned round at Lily. "Come on in." He stood back and gestured her into the compartment. She walked awkwardly past him, pulling her heavy case behind her. He laid his hand on hers and she felt a shock though her arm and into the pits of her stomach. She looked up and he was staring straight into her eyes. "Don't worry, I'll put that up for you."

She nodded dumbly and stumbled into the compartment. The part of her heart that had hardened only a moment ago had suddenly become soft as butter and quivery as jelly. She heard him behind her, saying jokingly to the girls, "This is Lily Evans. You'd better treat her good, or you'll have me to answer to!"

She registered the three girls in the compartment giggling again and saying, "Hi, Lily," with one voice. She sat down in the corner seat and smiled shyly at them.

"Hi."

One girl, short with sleek black hair and dazzling blue eyes, extended a hand to her, grinning warmly. "I'm Eleanor Black. These are Poppy and Tansy Beardmore. Welcome to our little… thing." She waved her hand around dramatically and Poppy laughed.

"You're mental." She looked across at Lily happily. "Hmmm… there are four of us now…" She cocked her head dreamily and chanted in a sing-song voice, "One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy." Her eyes cleared. "A boy… I could live with that."

Lily couldn't help but laugh along with the others. She felt James brush past her and glanced up to see her trunk in the overhead compartment. She watched him going out the door. As he reached around to close the door, he looked back at them. "Well, bye, girls." He focused his sights on Lily. "See you around, Lily." He gave her a last lingering smile and disappeared down the corridor.

The girls waited until James was fully out of view before bombarding Lily with (friendly!) accusations.

"Well, look who's got an admirer!"

"If only we all had James Potter chasing us, eh, girls?" They nodded knowingly to each other.

Lily stared at them, shocked. "Chasing… me?" Her eyes widened yet more. "Tell me you're joking."

Tansy raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you see the way he was looking at you, girl?" She tutted at Lily's innocently confused frown. "Well, you'll see enough of it in school, I suppose, when he's trailing you like a dog." She stopped, and grinned apologetically. "No offence meant, like."

Lily shook her head, still in a daze. "None taken. But…" She stared incredulously at their eager faces. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Eleanor snorted slightly. "Yeah, sure."

Lily was still hopelessly confused. "But…" She gave in, and sighed helplessly. "Ok. Right, whatever. How do you all know so much about him, anyway?"

The girls looked shocked. "How do you not? He and his friends have been at everything over the summer, everyone knows about him, first-hand or through people. Don't you know anyone here?" They grinned and looked at her expectantly.

Lily looked down and groaned inwardly. I thought I'd have to tell someone. "I'm not…" she sighed. "My family isn't magical."

The girls 'oooh'ed knowingly. "You're Muggle-born?" asked Poppy.

Lily nodded. "I'm… what?" She hadn't registered with the last phrase.

"Your parents are Muggles."

Lily frowned. "Uh… yeah, yeah, must be."

Eleanor tutted in a girly way. "You've got a lot to learn, honey." She turned to her friends. "Ok, ladies. Are you up to a little education before school?" They nodded smartly. She grinned approvingly and looked back to Lily, clasping her hands professionally. "Let us fill you in, darling…"

James stumbled into the compartment at the end of the train and flung himself down on the seat. Sirius glanced up from The Daily Prophet and asked accusingly, "Where have you been?"

James shook his head, gazing into space. Sirius shrugged and looked back at the article but Remus grabbed his arm, a smile playing on his lips. Sirius's head jerked up, looking alarmed. "What's with you?"

Remus put on a mockingly confused expression. "Sirius, mate, haven't you noticed that dear Prongsie has shut his mouth for once?"

A look of understanding crossed Sirius's face and he nodded slowly.

"And don't you think that's a bit odd?"

Another nod.

"Well, don't you think we should… interrogate him as to what has glued his lips together?"

Sirius grinned manically and bit his lip. He clapped his hands in front of James's face. James started and glared accusingly at him. "What!"

Sirius grinned. "Dear Moony has just brought up a very good point. Firstly, what kept you so long… secondly, what kind of spell did they use that actually managed to shut you up?"

James laughed sarcastically and his eyes glazed over again. "I was spending time with the new object of my desires…"

Sirius snorted. "You were snuggling with someone else's broomstick? Prongs, I didn't know you were like that!"

Peter Pettigrew started giggling hysterically from the corner. James rolled his eyes. "There's more to life than broomsticks, Padders."

Remus gasped. "It's worse than I thought," he whispered to Sirius. They looked back at James.

"So what was it?"

"Who was she, you mean."

Sirius looked alarmed. "You got like this over a girl? Dude, you have serious issues."

James smiled dreamily. "Well, who wouldn't, if it was Lily…" he sighed again.

Remus and Sirius exchanged looks with each other. Remus opened his mouth slowly. "Ah… where exactly is this… Lily…"

"Compartment F..." James was making no effort to ignore them now. Remus nodded at Sirius sharply.

"And what does she look like?"

"Red hair… green eyes… she's beautiful, man…"

Sirius pointed his finger down his throat and stifled a laugh. "Well, ah… hey, Moony old mate, how about we go for a walk around the train?"

Remus nodded quickly and the two scooted out the door and dashed down the corridor towards compartment F. James sighed (again).

The girls were chatting away happily when Eleanor noticed two faces peering through the glass. She glanced up without moving her head and saw that they were two of James's friends- Sirius and Remus, if her memory served- and that both were staring straight at Lily. She pulled herself out of the conversation to hear what they were saying.

"Is that her?" That was Sirius.

"Must be." And there was Remus.

"Hmm… I can see where Prongs is coming from…"

"Say what?"

"She's a fox…"

"Snap out of it."

Both voices broke off at a loud snort of laughter from Eleanor.

"Elle? You ok?"

"Oh crap… someone heard us…"

"Scarper, fast."

Eleanor heard the two slide past the door and thud back down the corridor.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

She caught back up with the conversation and smiled slightly at how glad she was Lily hadn't heard those two… it would be a nice surprise to discover that the guy who was undoubtedly the hottest in the year thought she was a 'fox'.

And, in any case, James certainly had her seal of approval…

A.N. Haha… that was fun… ok, I really need to get to bed earlier… thanks for reading, please review… g'night all… MistyRiver :op