10 o'clock that morning Lily Evans left her Surrey home, packed into the back of her father's company car. Her sister sat with her, silent, a stony look on her face. Between them sat a cat in a carrier box. As she waved goodbye to her home mentally, she prepared herself for the experience that lay ahead.
Her mother kept up the conversation, it was light and friendly and just what Lily needed to keep her mind off her nervousness. Her father, in a way he often did to hide his feelings, kept himself busy This time by concentrating on the road on which he was driving.

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"And remember, you can write to us at any time. If you're feeling alone or want to come home..." she heard her mother say in the same sing-song tones of concern she had used earlier that day.
"Mum - mum, I know. It's OK. You've told me like 100 times already. I'll be fine."
Her mother smiled, hugging her once more, "Oh I know sweetie. It's just...I'm going to miss you so much. I want you to write so that I know what you're doing, what your life is like."
Lily laughed as she untangled herself from her mother. "I will mum. I'll write every week."
As her mum sniffed and nodded, Lily went to say good-bye to her father.
"I'll see you when you get back," he said, trying to be casual. He acted as though she were spending the night at her friends.
Adopting the same attitude, Lily tried to be casual. "I guess you will," she said as she hugged him, choking a little as he clutched her in his bear-like grip.
Next she moved onto her sister who startled her with her stony silence. She appeared to be looking anywhere but at Lily, as though the connection of eyes would cause her to spontaneously combust.
"I'm going to miss you Petunia," she lied easily. Had it not been for the way her sister had treated her since she'd found out Lily was going to Hogwarts, this probably wouldn't have been a lie. But as it was the two sisters despised each other. The awkwardness came when Lily tried to hug her sister, who went limp in her arms, pretending she did not know what her sister was doing.
Slowly she pulled away and grabbed hold of her trunk. Saying good-bye to her family she headed towards the platform, knowing how to get there because she had read it in one of her new school text books.

She came out to an overwhelming sight. In front of her lay a huge red steam train, the words "Hogwarts Express" stuck to it in gold. In the windows she could already see people sat down waiting to leave. Other people stood on the platform, either about to get on the train or saying goodbye to their loved ones. With a tiny pang she pushed away the tears, forbidding herself to go back. Instead she walked semi-confidently towards the train, passing a fair haired boy as she did so. He was about her age, but smaller, with a rat-like appearance. His mother was fussing over him, making sure he had everything and that he looked respectable.
The first couple of compartments on the first carriage of the train were full, though she did find an empty one towards the middle. With five minutes until the train was due to leave, Lily Evans sat alone in her compartment and cried.

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As the train readied itself to leave a young boy jumped on, waving and grinning wildly at his parents. A look of relief, saying "Thank Merlin he got on there" was on both their faces, though the man's expression also said "I'm going to kill that boy."

With his parents out of view, the young boy made his way towards the compartment in which he had previously stored his trunk and owl.

He stood in the doorway, running a hand through his already messy dark hair. He was surprised to find a girl in there; alone, crying and with her back to him, so that all he could see was her fiery red hair. He coughed gently so as not to startle her too much.

She turned to him, her emerald green eyes showing clearly through the puffiness. She made a big effort to stop crying, though her voice still shuddered when she asked "Yes?"

"You're kind of in my compartment," he said in a friendly but awkward way.

"Oh, Sorry. I didn't..." she stopped suddenly, her eyes fixed on a trunk and an owl in the corner of the carriage. "Oh, my gosh. Are they yours? I'm so terribly sorry, I didn't see them."

The boy laughed quietly. It was a beautiful sound, soft and gentle but still maintaining masculinity. "It's OK, we can share."

The girl nodded and said little else. As the train moved she looked out of the window, watching the scenery pass-by. After just 10 minutes of silence, in which the boy made a lot of noise searching for something in his trunk, the boy spoke.

"Say, are you alright?" His eyes narrowed as he looked at her.

The girl nodded once more. The boy looked her up and down, noting her faded jeans and baby pink t-shirt.

"You're muggle born right, right?" He waited for her to nod. "That explains why you're so upset. You're sad to see your family go but are nervous and excited too right? A new world to enter, it's bound to be daunting."

The girl eyed him curiously as he continued. "Well don't worry, most of us are pretty decent people, there's the odd ones who'll think they're better than you because they're 'pure blood' - have no muggle lineage - but on the whole we're pretty decent people. And you've obviously got enough magic in you otherwise you wouldn't be here would you?"

"No...Thank you." The girl cheered up dramatically. She became more interested in her surroundings and her companion. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "What's your name?"

The boy smiled but before he could answer a loud voice spoke up from the doorway.

"James Potter. So this is where you've been hiding yourself is it? Oh, and you've found yourself a new friend."

Both the boy and girl turned to see a tall, broad boy their own age. His dark hair, though short, showed signs of being a shaggy mass. His dark eyes twinkled with a sort of cheerfulness that only those who knew him would understand. Beside him was a girl. She was several inches smaller with shoulder length, mid-brown hair. Her hazel eyes were warm and welcoming.

"Sirius, man. Where were you?" The one named James asked. "I was waiting for you."

Sirius' face flushed, but didn't blush. "Oh, yeah, sorry mate. I just got a little caught up…You know how it is." He put his hand out to take the girls, but she had already moved away and was sat beside the red-head. He took the opportunity to sit next to his friend.

"Hey," the girl said. "My name's Alex, never call me Alexandra." She warned dangerously.

The red-head laughed nervously. Before she could say anything, Alex was talking again. "Now, if you haven't already guessed. He," she pointed at the boy she had walked in with. "Is Sirius Black." She then dropped her voice to a whisper and muttered, "He likes to pretend he's really tough, but he's a big softie really. Aren't you honey?" She asked loudly.

"Whatever you say," he answered, having not been listening.

"And he," she continued, gesturing at the boy with the messy hair. "Is James Potter. These two are best-friends. They love to play jokes on people."

The red-head nodded. "Alex, Sirius and James," she recited, pausing slightly at James' name. "I'm Lily. Lily Evans."

"Well it's nice to meet you Lily Evans," Sirius said gruffly.

"Yeah, wonderful," Alex agreed.

James just looked at her, smiled and nodded.