Disclaimer: C chappie #1.
A/N: Andy is Andromeda, if you didn't get it. Ciel is Skye in French, which is Sunny's little sister, who you might grow to hate or love in later chapters.
Chapter 9- At First Sight:
"James, be good," Catherine Potter pleaded, kneeling before him and wiping some soot from his face with a damp handkerchief.
"Mum, gerroff me!" he groaned pulling away from her insistent reach, rubbing the base of his neck in embarrassment.
A deep chuckle escaped Thomas Potter's lips as he watched his wife accost his son and his son bat her hand away in annoyance.
Even at eleven, everyone knew that James Potter was going to be a handsome young man. His hazel eyes always seemed to gleam with mischief. His plump cheeks accentuated his boyishly cut face, giving his smile those adorable dimples. His untidy, black hair fell across his forehead and curled around his ears. He looked like a puppy whose pelt hadn't been brushed in a very long time.
"Dad, make her stop!" James groaned, ducking as she accosted him again, the handkerchief held out like a weapon.
"Still making your Dad fight you battles, Potty?" a voice called from behind.
Whirling around, James's little face lit up.
Hurtling at him was his best friend, Sirius Black.
"Black," he greeted jovially, "Where's your Mum and Da?"
"I upset Mum," Sirius's grin broadened.
"What'd you do?"
"Electric frog spawn in the toilet. Every time that Mum went to the loo, she got zapped, right in the bum!"
"Wicked!" James laughed, picturing Mrs. Black getting shocked in the bum.
"But where are your parents?" Thomas asked, eyeing Sirius.
"They sent me with Andy."
"On the first day?" Catherine cried in disapproval. "Don't they want to know what house you belong to?"
"If I don't get into Slytherin, I suspect they'll disown me." Sirius shrugged, his smile widening.
"Where is Andy?" Thomas asked, looking above the heads of the myriads of young wizards and witches.
"Searching for Tonks, her 'boyfriend'," Sirius sang with a repulsed look on his face.
"Tonks . . . I'm unfamiliar with that name," Thomas pondered.
"He's a Muggle-born," Sirius provided. "My Mum nearly blew her wig when she heard. They're not speaking."
"Potter," a voice called, "do you need some help there?"
"No Weasley," Thomas called to the young man with the hair of fire. "I can take care of the trunk, I'm not that old."
"No, not at all Grandpa Potter, not at all . . . wow, look at those gray hairs!"
"Shut up!" Thomas laughed good-naturedly, running a hand through the cluttered mess deemed his hair.
"Hi James, excited about going to Hogwarts?"
"Yeah," James grinned, "Dad has already told me some of the secret passages and we've already raided Zonko's for some new pranks-"
"Thomas," Catherine scolded, "you told me you were going to look at brooms- well that should have tipped me off since first years can't have brooms." She groaned rolling her eyes.
"Hon-" Thomas began.
"James, if I get a letter from that school saying you've blown up the Herbology greenhouses, you're bum is mine!"
"What if Sirius does it?"
"Well then his bum is mine."
"But you're not my Mum," Sirius protested, "You can't do that!"
"You've eaten enough of my food for me to be considered your Mum, so I get to do what I please!"
"That's not fair!" Sirius groaned, his blue eyes darkening. "Now how am I supposed to blow up the girls' john?"
"We'll find a way," James grinned conspiratorially.
"So Arthur, you've grown," Catherine smiled, returning her attention to Weasley.
Arthur Weasley was now a tall fifth year. His fiery red hair curled beneath his ears and his bright blue eyes twinkled with mirth. He had freckles everywhere; his limbs were littered by the little red dots. He was tall and thin, his body never seemed put on any weight. His hands and feet were large; it seemed the rest of him still had to catch up with puberty.
"Yea, six inches in one summer," Arthur grinned pushing back his vivid red hair.
"I bet Abigail loved replacing your robes again."
"The more robes for Ronny. He's got a couple years of use in them, yet." he shrugged.
A loud whistle weaved through the throng of boisterous students, indicating them of the upcoming departure.
"Well, I guess that means you've got ten minutes." Thomas sighed, looking down at his only son.
Suddenly tears came into Catherine's eyes,
"I don't want you to go! Come back. We'll have a party. You'll go next year!" she cried, leaning down and capturing both boys in her arms.
"Mum, no!" James groaned, not wanting his parents to know he was at the brink of actually going back with them.
"Cathy . . ." Thomas began, "he'll be back for Christmas and by then you'll be begging him to leave again."
"Sure," she whispered pulling away and wiping her eyes.
"Arthur, take these two into the train before she gets a hold of them again and won't let go."
"James, remember to send Mercury over as soon as you both know what houses you belong."
"Yes Mum."
"And wash behind your ears!"
"Yes Mum."
"And Sirius, please don't blow up the Herbology greenhouses, that's my favorite spot."
"Sure Mrs. Potter!"
"And James-"
"Mum, just write a letter, I'm sure you'll like that a lot better!"
"Our baby's so old!" she sighed, leaning her head to Thomas's shoulder.
"C'mon guys," Arthur chuckled taking them to the large, scarlet steam engine. Taking them to the last car, he told them. "You guys can take this car. I'll tell Andy that you guys are here and she'll come see you later."
"Sure," they replied in unison.
"So, how's Reggie?" James asked when Arthur had left.
"Fine. Today Mum and Dad took him to Diagon Alley to get his first broom. He already wants to be a Wasp. He's annoying."
"Just like you," James laughed, playfully punching Sirius in the arm.
He looked outside the window, trying to catch a glimpse of his parents before the train began to gently glide along the tracks towards its destination.
There were still hundreds of kids milling around bidding farewell to their parents and kissing them goodbye. Far back he could see the Benoire's kissing Sunny goodbye with little Ciel, Sunny's younger sister, crying behind her father's leg.
Delia, along with her three older brothers, Benjamin, Kerry and Philippe, were all wishing Adam Flynn goodbye as they rushed to the train.
But there was one girl that caught his eye.
She stood in front of her parents. Her Dad was tall. His dress mediocre and his short, well kept brown hair was cut close to his head. Beside him stood a woman, tall and slender. Her long, red floral print dress was light and airy. Her long, curly brown hair was held away from her face with an exquisite silver clasp. He couldn't see their faces, but he could see hers.
She was small. She barely looked about eight. Her face was tiny and red, she was crying. Her lips were contorted in a horrible frown, forming words uncovering her missing back tooth. Her flaming red hair was pulled back into two plaits that ended in curls underneath her ears. She was wearing a little green gingham dress with little white and yellow flowers on the hem.
Standing beside her was a girl whom he could barely make out to be her sister. Although they barely looked related, they both shared huge, piercing green eyes, the light splash of freckles and that frown. Her hair was brown like her father's; she looked older and stood taller than the little girl crying beside her. She looked sad, scared, as if she would give anything to go home at that moment. She also looked annoyed. She was tapping her Mary Jane toes to the wooden slabs, fingering the hem to her own denim dress with little red flowers embroidered up the side.
"What's wrong with her?" Sirius asked over his shoulder, looking at the little girl.
"It seems she doesn't want to go." James answered in a whisper.
They both watched as the little girl wrapped her arms around her father's neck, tears still streaming down her cheeks as she clenched her eyes shut, never wanting to leave his grasp. They all watched the distress on both her parents' faces as her father stood up, and looked at the train longingly. Then Kerry, one of Delia's older brothers, gingerly took the girl from the man's arms and carried her onto the train, her screams piercing as she reached out for her father, begging him to take her home; with Delia, Ben, Phil and Sunny following behind.
"She's a baby," he grinned to Sirius, noticing Kerry carry her into the next compartment.
"Yeah, only a baby cries here."
For a few moments, they heard loud wails coming from the next compartment, and then finally, they heard none.
Two minutes later the train began its route towards Hogwarts. And two minutes later, a boy came to their compartment.
He was tall and gangly. His short, honey brown hair was cut close to his head and his brown eyes regarded them anxiously.
"Hi, I'm Remus Lupin. Uh, this girl, Andromeda, told me to come here. Can I sit please?"
"Sure," Sirius grinned, "so, are you Muggle-born or are your parent's wizards?"
"Uh, both are wizards- I mean both are a wizard and witch."
"So Lupin, we've never heard of that name."
"My parents travel around a lot. I haven't lived in one place long enough for you to know my name."
"So, why do you guys move around a lot?" James asked, as Remus sat down on the opposite seat.
His cheeks reddened dramatically as he answered, "Their job makes them move around a lot. So, what do your parents do?"
"Uh, my Mum works for the Daily Prophet and my Dad is an Auror."
"Oh, and your father . . .?"
"Sorry, I'm Sirius Black and he's James Potter. My parents don't do much actually. We're from old money, so basically, we've got so much that my parents decided there's no use in working, so they sit on their fat asses all day long and bitch me about whatever they deem inappropriate."
"Oh, so do you have any siblings?"
"I've got a younger brother, but Potty here is the only child."
"No, I've got a bratty brother named Sirius-" Potter laughed.
"So, you guys have known each other for awhile?"
"Yeah, but don't worry. There are only a few of us that have friends like this. Seriously, like half of our family go to this school, and half of them we want to disown. But seriously, according to his Dad, you'll meet more new people here and make better friendships here than anywhere else."
"Did your parents go here?"
"No, my Mum's sister did. But my Mum's parents moved away before she could attend, so she went to Beauxbatons. My Dad is from the United States. They met . . ."
"Um, excuse me, I was wondering, may I please take a seat here."
"Hey Ed." Sirius and Potter smiled to the young man.
"Hey guys," then he turned to Remus. "Hi, I'm Edgar Bones. And who are you?"
"I'm Remus Lupin."
"Lupin means wolf." Edgar smiled good-naturedly, as Remus's cheeks began to flame in embarrassment.
"He's smart," Sirius provided while rolling his eyes.
"So, you guys wanna' play a game of Exploding Snap?"
"Sure," Remus grinned, his pale, gaunt face livening.
"Lily," Aaron sighed, distress creasing the lines on his forehead as he kneeled before the wailing little girl with the red face.
"I don't wanna' go!" she cried, not even bothering to chase the tears with her fists and wipe them away before anyone could see.
"Maybe we shouldn't make her go?" he asked looking up at Susan who too had furrowed brows. "I don't like the idea of keeping her there alone with strangers."
Susan's brown eyes flickered with sadness as she watched her little girl pulling on the hem of her gingham dress with tears streaming down her beautiful green eyes.
"This is an amazing opportunity," she whispered in Lily's ears, trying to calm her down, "and you of all people should really take advantage of it. I know it's scary, I know you don't know what to expect, but you've got a lot of people that love you and you'll make a ton of friends there. And soon, you won't even be thinking of home." she softly chuckled.
"I wanna' stay home with you," she wailed, opening her eyes to look at her mother.
"Lily Billy, you can't. You need to get on that train and go to school. We'll see you in a couple of weeks and soon you'll be in love with that school."
"Daddy, don't leave me!" she cried lifting her arms and wrapping them tightly around his neck.
Kerry Flynn watched the distressed Muggles from his place beside his two brothers and little sister and felt sorry for the little girl. She had no one to take this journey with; he could even imagine his little sister, Dee, making as much of a spectacle of herself if she didn't have the boys.
"Hey, Dad, I'm going to help someone, so I'll write you when Dee gets her room, 'k?"
"See ya' son," he replied absently, he was watching the situation also.
He let a smile soften the features of his face as he approached the Muggle couple. He flashed a smile to the mother, the daughter and the father before gently plucking the little girl from her father's arms leaving her wailing to be back in the familiar arms.
"Shh," he whispered, rubbing her back and carrying her onto the Scarlet Steam engine, his two brothers, his little sister and her friend, Sunny, following him.
"There ya' go," he smiled setting a still crying Lily Evans onto a compartment seat.
"Don't cry," Sunny frowned, as the sobs lessened and the tears subsided.
"I want my Mum and my Da," she sniffled as Kerry smoothed down her flyaway curls.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her forehead, "but they can't come. But don't cry, you're amongst friends now."
"No I'm not," she began crying again. "My friends are all going to Sacred Heart, where there are no wands, no magic, no imaginary passages."
"Don't you want to go to Hogwarts? You could learn to become invisible, you could learn to fly, and you could learn to clean your room in the blink of an eye."
"No," she sniffled looking away. "I'd much rather be sitting in a stifling classroom with Mary Jane, Josey, and Davey."
"Well, I'm Kerry Flynn, and this is my little sister, Delia. Dee and her friend Sunny are both first years too. They're scared too. They had to leave their parents too and they didn't want to either. Sunny, here, has a little sister named Skye that she wanted to stay with. Dee wanted to stay with Dad and our new puppy Quaffle. But they came, and I know that they want to be your friends. At least your temporary friends."
"Really?" she asked through the tears in her eyes.
"Yeah," both girls nodded, Sunny's long curls bobbing around her brown shoulders.
That was the moment that Sunny, Dee and Lily all became friends.
"So, you're obviously a Muggle?" both Sunny and Dee giggled after Kerry left.
"A what?"
"Your family is non-magical?"
"Yeah," she nodded, tears slowly escaping her eyes.
"You really love your parents don't you?"
"Yeah, tomorrow my Da and I were supposed to spend the weekend down in Marseille visiting some of his old college mates. We were supposed to have some alone time before I started school, but we couldn't . . . we can't."
"Who was the other girl?" Sunny asked.
"That's my sister, Tuny."
"Tuny?"
"Short for Petunia. She's older . . . a Muggle."
"She looked upset."
"After I got the Hogwarts letter, we had a row and now she isn't talking to me."
"That's sad."
"Oh, it's Tuny, she'll get over it." Lily scoffed, wiping away her tears. "So, what's this place like?"
"Firs' years," a loud, gruff voice called amongst the students clambering out of the large engine and parting to either the myriads of horseless carriages, or the large, mini-giant calling for first years.
"Firs' years," he called again as the wooden planks of Hogsmeade Station groaned in protest of his large weight.
Lily clung on to Sunny's arm as the trio made their way towards the gargantuan man. He stood about two people tall and three people wide with a clean shaven face that smiled kindly and dark sparkling eyes. He looked like a man that worked. He was large, but his stockiness didn't seem to be fat, but instead muscle. He wasn't scary like a weight lifter, but rather like a large lumberjack.
"Firs' years," he called again, mentally counting the younger students.
"Hey Hagrid," a little boy with jet black hair and impish hazel eyes called to him with a raised arm, his round cheeks rosy with exertion.
"'Ello James, how's yer Mum an' Dad?"
"Fine," the boy laughed, "but Jacks sure has been missing you."
"Don' worry, I'll be over to visit that ragamuffin jus' as soon as I can."
"Everyone here?" he asked, looking down at the anxious faces.
There were little nods of affirmation before he turned around and led them to the large, inky pond. Standing quietly, and quite innocently were about twenty-five little rowboats, waiting for a few passengers. Without saying anything, Hagrid climbed in and the first years followed, Lily, Sunny and Delia sitting down followed by a flaxen- curled girl by the name of Monica.
When everyone was seated, with the simple tap of Hagrid's pink umbrella, the twenty-five little rowboats jerked to life and began lazily paddling across the onyx lake towards the unseen castle.
"Yeh'll be gettin' yer' firs' glimpse of Hogwarts in a second," he called and suddenly, there it was.
Climbing over the horizon an unbelievable, almost romantic castle began to appear, gently mounting higher and higher into the sky, illuminating the entire night with its warmth and beauty.
"Ah," all four girls breathed as the grand castle rose higher as they floated closer, their eyes glimpsing every nook and cranny, trying to take it all in at once.
"It's beautiful," Sunny breathed, her eyes following the many rooftops as if she were skipping to each one, playing a little game in her head.
"I've seen it before," Dee breathed, "but never from this close, it's almost unreal."
"My Mum said it would be beautiful, but never breathtaking," Monica whispered.
Lily remained silent as she gazed at the magnificent building looming before her eyes.
The boats jerked to a stop just before the bank, allowing the students to get out and trudge their way to where Hagrid stood just outside the Main Entrance with an old woman.
"This all of them?" she asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
"Yep, counted them ma'self." He answered proudly.
Tipping his hat and winking to the students, his smile wrinkled the corners of his eyes as he announced, "First years, this is Professor O'Flannary."
"I'll take them from here," she said, turning and walking through the open doors.
The first years followed the round, stern faced lady as she led them into a stone walled chamber.
"Welcome to Hogwarts," she managed an awkward smile. "The start-of- term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw. These houses are important because they will be something like a family to you during your years here. Each house has some quality that distinguishes them from the rest. Good luck."
In single file, they all made a queue and entered the Grand Hall. All their eyes ran over every feature of the room, stopping completely to stare at the enchanted ceiling that was a clear, star filled representation of the actual sky.
Professor O'Flannary, carrying a tall stool and a decrepit hat marched to the front of the hall and carefully placed the hat on top of the stool. When she moved away, the hat jumped to life and sang an animated song, detailing each houses strengths and weaknesses. After the hat had settled back to an almost comatose state, O'Flannary began calling names in alphabetical order and correspondingly, the hat would call out a house name, after the respective student would try it on.
Finally. . .
"Evans, Lillian."
When they'd heard the name, the entire school's eyes searched the crowd, looking for the next student. When she took a step forward, almost like a magnet, everyone's eyes were on her, staring at her intently.
Lifting her head, almost defying herself to be afraid, she made her way towards the hat, ignoring everyone around her.
Sunny had already been chosen for Gryffindor, and Delia had announced on the train that all of her brothers were in Gryffindor, and that they were even on the Quidditch team. Everyone in Sunny's family had been in Gryffindor . . . would she?
Then suddenly, before she could correct herself, a leg shot out before her and she stumbled over it, crashing to the floor.
The entire room grew silent as she lay on the floor, unsure of what to do. Looking up, all she was were hazel eyes staring back at her, twinkling with laughter, and her cheeks flamed red.
Getting help from a nearby Kerry Flynn, she stood up, brushed herself off, flashed a deathly cold glare towards the boy with the hazel eyes and marched to the hat and shoved it on her head, hoping that she could disappear inside of it.
"Wow," was the first thing the voice said inside her head. "If you weren't Muggle- born I'd put you in Slytherin at this instant! Hmm, very interesting. You're very smart, kind and you've definitely got a lot of courage and a temper. And you seemed to have formed a friendship with a new Gryffindor and would rather not sever the tie. Although I believe you might to better in Ravenclaw where there are more of your kind and less impetuous people, I think you'll surpass far better in GRYFFINDOR!"
Taking off the hat, Lily placed it back on the stool and dashed from the Great Hall, tears streaming down her face.
Hours later Kerry Flynn had found her huddled in one of the broom closets crying. He took her to Professor Dumbledore and found out from Kerry that the boy with the hazel eyes had been reprimanded.
TBC . . .
P.A/N: I'm so sorry this has taken so long. I've been a basket case. I got accepted into MSU though, so I'm not all that sad. Uh, I've still got college apps to fill out, but I'll try to send out the next ASAP. I've got a retreat next weekend, so I'll try to get one out before Friday, but if not, wish me luck. And Linda, see, I updated.
