Chapter Four: A Flower Never Shatters
Summary: Lily and James' story of growing up with their beginning friendship, to their rivalry with each other, then back to their story of love. This story starts from their first year, going through the whole Hogwarts process again.
Lily
Two months later
The afternoon before Lily was to go to Hogwarts, her mum knocked on her door.
"Come in!" Lily shouted, her head buried in her closet, rummaging through clothes. She couldn't bring too many Muggle clothes, since she probably couldn't wear them often, so Lily was picking her best outfits to bring. He mum slipped in, a velvet black box behind her back, unnoticed by Lily, who'd just poked her head out. Kathleen made her way to Lily's Queen-sized bed, Her mum slipped in, a velvet black box behind her back, unnoticed by Lily, who'd just poked her head out. Kathleen made her way to Lily's Queen-sized bed, pushed aside a skirt, tank top, and blouse to make room for two people, and gingerly sat down. She patted the empty spot next to her to indicate that Lily should sit there. Lily obeyed, her green eyes filled with curiosity.
"Lily," her mum began, "I feel like I must tell you something before you go off to Hogwarts. You see, you are not named Lily for no reason. Have you ever wondered why I named you and Petunia after flowers?" It really was a rhetorical question, so Lily didn't answer. "When a flower falls, it falls gracefully, and it won't shatter. Glass will shatter into a million pieces, but never a flower. When it is in the dirt, it may get stepped on, but still it won't shatter." She paused, seeing a look of thoughtfulness on her younger daughter's face. "Also, when a flower is still standing strong, and someone comes along to tear out its petals, the flower will still remain standing; come spring, it will blossom again into a beautiful flower. I am sure that you will live up to your name, but sadly, Petunia has showed that she can't live up to her." She smiled plaintively.
Lily looked down at her hands, unsure of what to say to this wonderful praise from her mother. Kathleen lifted Lily's chin up with two, long, cool fingers. Green met green.
"Never shatter, Lily. You can fall, but don't break down, no matter how hard it seems. And when your heart is ripped out, a person or time will come to make you blossom again. Never give up, and never shatter. . . . ." Kathleen half-hugged Lily, and brought out the black velvet, rectangular jewelry box and flipped it open. Lily gasped. Inside was the most beautiful necklace Lily had ever seen. It was elegant and simple, a stunning emerald green lily flower, attacked to a thin, shining silver chain. The necklace was a breathtaking sight.
"Lily," her mum said quietly, "This is a diamond necklace." At this, Lily gasped a second time. "Diamond is the hardest type of rock on this planet. It symbolizes you, a flower that will never break or shatter."
"Mum," Lily started softly, her sparkling eyes shining with unshed tears. "I have no idea what to say-I-thanking you a million times wouldn't be enough," she stopped, trying to think of something to say. "I-I just can't say anything!" She pulled her mother into a fierce hug, holding on tightly, wanting to never let go.
Kathleen gently pried Lily's arms off her. "This is also the key to Petunia's music box. It's also the key to an actual jewellry box we bought for you as a go-away present, along with this. It's in me and Rob's room right now."
"This," she couldn't speak. Clearing her throat, she found her voice again. "This was my Christmas present?"
"Well, yes and no. All we knew was that we would get you a key, but Rob and I decided on a diamond about a month ago, in July. We had to get it customised and everything, but I'm so happy that you love it." Kathleen smiled a beautiful smile. "Come on, I'll show you the jewellry box," extending her hand to Lily. Lily grabbed it, and was pulled into the hallway, towards her parents' bedroom. Kathleen opened the cupboard, which revealed an impressive royal red jewelry box. Lily gasped for the third time that day. Studded along the sides were gleaming sapphires, and the lock was surrounded by emeralds. The lock itself was crystal, and like the necklace; simple, yet elegant.
"It's in Christmas colours, because we knew that it was your favourite holiday. Open it," she added, her eyes twinkling. Lily gently eased the entire flower of her necklace in. It fit perfectly. She twisted it slowly to the left. A series of clicks went off; Lily knew that it was the complicated, tiny locks hidden inside. She held her breath, as the lid gracefully lifted open with a whoosh! sound.
Lily couldn't believe her eyes. She just couldn't, even though she had blinked several times, and still saw this in front of her.
Jewells. Heaps and heaps of precious gems. They were necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets, and even one anklet. The jewells were all different sizes, shapes, and colour. Lily turned to her mum.
"I can't accept this," she told her mum quietly. "I know that we have a lot of money, but this? All these jewells worth a fortune just for me?" She shook her head. "No mum, take it back. I just-I just can't."
But her mum had been smiling the whole time, and it was her turn to shake her head this time. "No, sweetheart, only the necklace you're holding right now if our present. And the jewellry box," she added as an afterthought. "They rest are from our relatives, our familiy friends, and your friends' families. We told them that if they were going to get you a going-away present for "boarding school," to get you jewells as a surprise. I told them it didn't matter what kind they were, as long as they were fit for a jewellry box. But I guess that everyone loves you so much, they decided to get you these amazing and expensive gems." Lily stared, shocked, as her mum was naming each stone, "and another diamond necklace, a ruby bracelet, and emerald ring with a matching bracelet. . .oh, the diamond earrings to match the necklace, a crystal necklace and earrings. . .and opal ring, this sapphire anklet, a sapphire necklace, pretty gold earrings, and a bracelet to match, two pearl necklaces, four different kinds of emerald necklaces, two emerald bracelets, and one pair of dangling emerald earrings." Kathleen looked up, eagerly anticipating Lily's expression, eyes dancing.
Throughout the entire time her mum was reading, Lily's eyes had widened, with her jaw dropping lower to the ground with each expensive gem's name. She felt numb; people game all of this to her! She couldn't believe it, she just couldn't. She didn't deserve it all, especially for lying to everyone about where she was going. "I-I don't know what to say. . .again." She gave out a little giggle. "I'm being so surprised today. . . I have to go write Thank You cards." She got up and left, but not before kissing her mum on the cheek. "You are the great mum in the entire universe. You have no idea how many and how much people love you. I love you to death. Thank you so much," she whispered fiercely.
James
September 1, 9:00 am
James was on his new Nimbus 1000, soaring through the air. The wind swept through his already messy hair. He was flying over his family's Quidditch field, enjoying every minute of it. The thrill, the adventure. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of red hair. James swerved his broom around, and saw from far away, Lily Evans' pretty face looking up at him. Happy to see her, James prepared to dive towards her. . . until some invisible force thumped him on his side. He pivoted in mid-air to face his unseen enemy, but suddenly, his broom jerked. It was as if something controlled his broomstick. His broomstick jumped again, shoving him off. James' lightening quick reflexes saved him; his arm shot out, and seized his broomstick, though it was unexpectedly soft, and a bit larger than the handle.
A yelp awoke him from his eventful dream. A millisecond later, his back struck his carpeted ground, with another person whose arm he was still grasping, landing on top of him. The person sat up on their stomach, silky black hair spilling down half of her back. She snatched her arm away from his tight hold, massaging it as he tried to sit up. In response, she moved to sit on his chest.
"Aria. . ." James groaned. Aria was the daughter of the Potters' best family friend, and very good friend of James and Melanie. The Darbyshires were a pureblood family, and Aria's father, Da-Jun, was the owner of Gringotts. Her mother, Darlene Darbyshire, was best friends with Alanna and Da-Jun with John. They had a son too, Jon, who was four years younger than Aria and James. James thought of Aria as his little sister, as Aria and Jon both thought of him as their older brother. Aria herself was really quite beautiful. Her family was Chinese-English, and they all spoke Mandarin fluently. She had a flawless face, porcelain skin, and delicate features. Her dark brown eyes usually had a sparkle in them, which matched to sparkly, dangling earrings she loved to wear. Her smooth black hair always seemed perfect, and she had a slim, dancer's body. When he thought of her, he often was reminded of the graceful elves from Lord of the Rings, his favorite Muggle movie. When she moved, she didn't just move; she floated or flowed smoothly. Yes, Aria was definitely one of the most beautiful girls James had ever met; in fact, she was second only to Lily, who was the most beautiful girl he'd ever met.
Aria's striking looks were not her only admirable qualities. She was also stubborn and fierce, passionate in what she believed in. Even though James did know, Lily had the exact same qualities. Even there, the Chinese-English girl's abilities didn't end. She was simply amazing. She excelled at almost anything she did, which covered many things. Aria horse-rode, played the piano and violin, danced many different types of dances, trained in Japan with a personal ninja teacher, was within the top 50 archers in England under the age of 21, and most of all, was kind to people she thought deserved it, and very intelligent. He also knew that she was usually shy except to close friends and family.
"Your mum and dad sent me to wake you up," Aria grinned.
"And something hitting my side, hard," demanded James, "was you!" She just shrugged.
"Well, I knew that you would sleep through anything, so I jumped on you. Then, I just bounced on your bed, waiting for you to wake up." Aria looked cheerful.
"You turned my really good dream into a nightmare," James complained. "I thought my new broom had lost control!" He hauled himself up to his bed, and chucked a pillow at Aria. She deftly caught it, and returned fire.
"So, what'd you get?" Aria asked curiously. Then, something dawned on her face. "You got the Nimbus 1000, didn't you! That's so cool! That's not gonna be out in stores until January!"
"Your dad did the same thing when he got someone to build an entire Muggle World section in your house!" James shot back. "Normal wizards weren't supposed to even know about it until half a year later!"
"Fine then, we're even, but you still got a Muggle World two months after I got mine! And,in your Muggle World, you got an ice rink, and an indoor mountain!"
"You have an indoor mountain too, and you have a fake beach to surf on," James retorted. He pulled out a robe, just as Aria was leaving.
"Well, breakfast's in ten minutes," she said right before she disappeared out the door.
Fifteen minutes later, a yawning James Potter trudged down the stairs specially for the kitchen. John, Alanna, Da-Jun, Darlene, Melanie, Aria, and Jon were already seated at the smallest of their four dining tables. The smallest was in the kitchen, which was the one they used usually, or when less than five very close friends came. The second table was in the dining room adjoined to the kitchen, which was bigger, and what hey used when either more than five very close friends came, or when just normal friends came. The third table was in a larger and fancier room. The table fit approximately 30 people, for when the Potters had many guests over. This dining from had many costly decorations, with a small dance floor. The final dining table was in the Potters' ballroom. This antique table could seat well over 350 people, used only for very, very special occasions, and the Potters' annual Christmas Ball. The room was pentagon shaped, and was so large, one could hardly see someone else on the opposite side of the room. Silk tapestries hung from the cream coloured walls. There was an enormous dance floor sprawled across the middle of the marble floor. Adjacent to the long dining table was and empty space, where, during a ball, it would be filled with rows of various kinds of delicious food. On the opposite side of the room, there was an entire section filled with comfortable furniture. This was a more secluded spot, littered with couches, sofas, armchairs, love chairs. . . etc. Far away from it, in front of the dance floor, was a large stage, with all the magic-of-the-art technology any music group could dream of. There were two grand, red-carpeted staircases. One was the grand staircase, in which the guests arrived, and their name and title announced. The other smaller, but equally elegant staircase had dashing blue curtains at the top, which would reveal the guests of honor, usually a couple. It was every wizard or witch's dream to be invited to either the Potter's extravagant Christmas Ball, or the Darybyshire's equally famous New Year's Ball. Many of the wizarding world's richest, most powerful, and most well-known families were included at these amazing parties.
James was known for never being punctual. When he arrived at the table, everyone greeted him. He let his nose lead him to the mouth-watering chocolate chip pancakes the house-elves had made. James helped himself to six before he settled down at the table to pour mounds of maple syrup on his rather large stack of pancakes. Nobody at the table even blinked once at this. They had all eaten with James more than enough times to know that James ate more than three grown men do, and never gained a pound from doing it. They knew James would probably go get more soon, and sure enough, six minutes later, James got up to pile another six on his plate before most of them had finished even three pancakes yet.
"So James, Aria," Melanie started a conversation casually, "ready for the test that sorts you into Houses?" James and Aria looked at each other, trying not to show their fear.
"Oh yes. I remember that," Darlene said, sipping her coffee. "The. . . . . .Sorting." Aria's mum shuddered.
"Remember, we became friends on the train, Darlene? We didn't know what to expect. We were so scared. . ." she left of morbidly. Their husbands too, seemed to shiver at the very thought.
James and Aria were even more terrified now. James then did something he'd never done before. He pleaded with Melanie. "Melanieeeee! You have to tell me! If it's really dangerous, I might die!"
"Melanie! I'm like your little sister! What if I don't get into Gryffindor! I want to be able to prepare!" Aria had joined in; two were more powerful than one. But Melanie was not swayed.
"Aria, I am absolutely sure that you will get into Gryffindor," Melanie assured her. "And you too, James. You both will no doubt be chosen for Gryffindor." Then, to make the process of choosing even more mysterious, she told them in a hushed tone, "The thing you have to do, it's so powerful that it knows what's going on in your head!" The two first-years' eyes widened.
"How can we possibly defeat something that powerful?" Aria said fearfully. She looked at the other 11-year old boy. For the rest of the morning, they remained quiet, thinking hard of ways to beat this horrible thing in their near future; they thought through heaving their trunks to the Floo Room, flooing to Diagon Alley, and until right before they were about to walk through the barrier.
James and Aria had just stopped thinking. Should they use their martial arts skills to defeat the thing? Aria was an almost fully trained ninja, while James was a Merlin belt, which was the highest belt, in Shiko, the wizarding martial arts which taught a mixture of Muggle hand-to-hand combat, and how to best avoid spells and curses from other wizards. But what if they weren't chosen for a House because all they had shown was their ability for Muggle hand-to-hand combat? Would they immediately be expelled? Were they supposed to show what magic they knew? Thoughts like these had raced through their heads.
James woke out of his trance with his mum calling out his name; Aria did the same with her mum calling hers. James noticed his owl, her unblinking eyes looking as though she were thinking deeply about something. "Hi Lily," he greeted her softly. Then he remembered the human Lily. "Mum!" he shouted as a thought struck him. "Lily doesn't know how to get on the train!"
Alanna smiled reassuringly. "No, love. I told Kathleen all about it. I'm sure they'll have no trouble finding the barrier." James relaxed. "All, right, Da-Jun, you go first. Then John, Melanie, Darlene and Jon, Aria, James, and me." They all quickly strode into the wall, and suddenly they appeared on the other side. It was 10:43 already, 17 minutes until the train left. Melanie was already laughing with a group of friends. She was very popular, being the kind, intelligent, funny, and pretty girl that she was. James saw quite a few boys in her year look in her direction admiringly.
The train tooted, and Darlene said hurriedly, "Okay, so I've given you 50 galleons to spend for the year; it's in your trunk, in the secret pouch. And you mum has given you the same amount. Don't," she gave him a warning look, "spend it all on pranks." She and Alanna both hugged and kissed their children, then the fathers bade them farewell in the same fashion, and they were sent off to the train.
"So, sit in the same compartment, or meet new people and sit in separate spots?" James asked. Aria chose the latter. James agreed, "Okay. Oh, and," he hesitated, "look for a girl named Lily, alright? She has red hair that you can't miss. I met her in Diagon Alley, and I think you would love her."
Aria nodded and asked James, "Who're you gonna sit with, do you know?"
James grinned mischievously. "I'm off to find a bloke named Sirius Black." When she heard the surname, she raised her eyebrows, but James hastily added, "He's not anything like his parents at all. We're gonna cause loads of trouble at Hogwarts." His eyes twinkled. "Well, I'm off. See you later."
James headed towards a long corridor, poking his head in each compartment. Many had girls who saw him and gasped, then winked at him. He would hurry pass that door, disgusted. Some were also friendly enough looking boys, but he wanted to see Sirius! The next few compartments were full of sneering, vicious-looking Slytherins. He kept searching until h e reached the compartment door at the end of this section. It had only one sleeping boy in it. Exasperated, James closed the door when he heard a familiar voice.
"Oy! Is that James?" James turned towards the speaker of the loud voice, and saw the face of a cheerful Sirius Black.
"I've been looking all over this place for you, mate," James called, annoyed.
"Sorry," Sirius grinned cheekily. "Got involved in another fight with my bloody parents. I don't even remember what it was about. Something about how I'd better get into some House or other." After a moment's thinking, he decided, "Slytherin. Yea, everyone in my family's been in the House," he said the word with venom. "So, where're we gonna sit?"
Shaking his head, James pointed to the last door he'd opened. "There's only one boy in there. . .unless of course, we could go kick some Slytherins out of theirs."
"Yeah, but then we'd have to sit on their slimy seats that they sat in. Especially my cousin Bellatrix. She's a third year and she's the most annoying of all my evil, Dark Arts obsessed cousins." He rolled his eyes. "I swear, she's gonna be the death of me one day."
James opened the door, bowing to Sirius mockingly, "Ladies first."
Sirius swept in, at first not noticing what James had called him. He surveyed the room, then stopped. "Hey! Shut up!" he complained. This loud noise woke the sleeping boy. He had sandy-blond coloured hair, light brown eyes, a tall, slim figure, much like that of James and Sirius, and a handsome face. His face, however good-looking, was pale, his eyes tired and wary. He looked simply exhausted.
"Sorry," James apologized. "Sirius, you woke him up!" He turned to the boy again. "Is it okay to sit here?"
The boy didn't look unfriendly, yet not particularly friendly either. "Yes." He sounded distant, as though he didn't want to get himself involved with others.
"So, what's your name?" Sirius asked.
Something flickered across the boy's face; what was it? Shadow, fear? It was as if he were afraid of them knowing his name. In a moment, it was gone and he hesitantly answered, "Lupin. Remus Lupin."
Aria wandered down a corridor, sticking her head in a few compartments, trying to catch a glimpse of red hair After searching 12 compartments, Aria came to another door. She knocked, then pulled the handle warily. There was someone with red hair inside! She opened the door wider, but became shy in the process of doing so. "Hi," she said timidly. "Is your name by any chance, Lily Evans?"
Lily
Lily found herself standing at the barrier of Platform 9 ¾ with the rest of her family. Alanna had given very clear, precise instructions, but one still didn't make sense.
"I'm just supposed to-to walk through the wall?" Lily asked in disbelief.
"Well, sweetie, those were Alana's instructions. She said that Muggles just don't notice people walking through because it's charmed to make Muggles not want to look at it, or just forget it."
"Well, I guess since all of this is real. . . ." Lily prepared to walk into the wall. "You guys'll follow me, right?"
"I'm obviously being forced to, aren't I?" muttered Petunia.
"Of course, sweetie," he dad replied.
Lily took a deep breath to calm her hammering heart. She started about two meters from the wall, closed her eyes, and then opened them again, deciding not to miss seeing this. She pushed her trolley forward, faster and faster, and into the wall! She immediately ended up on the other side, not feeling as though she had just walked through a thick, brick wall. It was as if she'd walked into another world. People in robes everywhere had owls in hand, or were doing small magic with their wands. Thinking of owls, she looked back to James, who gave her a reassuring look. Feeling more confident, she looked around some more. The air itself here seemed to be different. There were no sounds of normal birds, just the croaking of frogs, purring meows from cats, and an occasional hoot from some owls.
Her family arrived from the wall, looking amazed, or, in Petunia's case, looking as though she was going to blow up. "Sorry Lily," Rob apologized. "Your sister put on quite a scene. We had to wait for everything to calm down before we could try it." He glowered at Petunia, who sniffed in disdain. Lily could imagine Petunia screaming and kicking to not go through some "freakish wall."
"Here," her mum pressed a large, heavy pouch into Lily's hands. "There's 25 galleons in that."
"Mum!" cried Lily. "I don't need this!"
"Well, whether you need it or not, take it anyway, just in case."
Lily reluctantly agreed and put the money in her trunk carefully. She checked her watch; it read 10:40. "Well, I'd better get on the train." Her dad hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead. Next, her mum kissed her check and hugged her warmly with tears in her eyes. Lastly, Lily approached Petunia, unsure of what to say or do. They stood there for a moment, unmoving, until Lily put her arms out to hug Petunia, but Petunia stepped out of her reach, making Lily look and feel like a fool.
"Did you actually think for a moment that I would allow someone like you, hug someone like me?" she asked in an icy tone.
"Petunia. . . .I. . . ." Lily didn't know what to say.
"Good-bye, little sister. I hope that the school hates you, and you'll come back to the normal world. Until then, so long, freak." Petunia swiftly turned and crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to say more.
Lily blinked back tears, and turned to the train. Her parents' faces were plaintive; they understood that Petunia couldn't change. "We love you Lily!" her mum called out.
Lily smiled and answered back. "I love you too, Mum, Dad. . .and Petunia." With that, she stepped onto the train. Dragging her trunk behind her, she looked until she found an empty compartment. It wasn't hard, considering the fact that she was about 15 minutes early. She sat down, placing James on the ground, staring out the window, wondering what this new part of her life would be like.
Just about five minutes later, there was a knock on the door, and an Asian girl poked her head in, looking rather shy.
"Hi, is your name, by any chance, Lily Evans?"
Lily was surprised and awed. "You can tell who someone is just by looking at them? Will I learn how to do that?"
The girl smiled slightly. "No, one of my friends, James, told me to look for you," she said shyly.
Lily suddenly realised that the girl was still outside the room, and jumped up hurriedly. "Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot you were- I mean, come in!" She helped the girl lug her trunk in. Now that the girl was in the room, Lily studied her, and though she was quite sure that a friend of James wouldn't be nasty, Lily looked for a trace of what she was really like. The girl was beautiful, Lily noted. Her black hair looked to be as soft as silk, and she had a slim figure; she was just as tall as Lily. In fact, her physical appearance was very much like Lily's, just with dark brown eyes, tanner skin, and raven hair. "So, um, what's your name?" Lily asked.
"Aria Darbyshire," she answered softly. "And James told me your name, but not your surname."
"Lily Evans. Are you like James? I mean, a pureblood?" Aria nodded. "Oh, well I'm Muggle-born. No one in my family has had magic before."
"Really? That's interesting." They waited a few seconds in an uncomfortable silence until Aria finally broke it. "Do you know how we get sorted into the Houses?"
"The Houses? What are the Houses?"
"You don't know? O, well, there are four Houses in Hogwarts. When you first enter Hogwarts, you get picked for one of the four Houses. James and I haven't figured how yet." She sighed. "There's Gryffindor, who's brave and true, (me and James want to get into that one) then there's Ravenclaw, who's really smart, Hufflepuff, who's loyal, and Slytherin. You don't want to get into Slytherin. They're a bad lot, and strongly oppose have Muggles in Hogwarts."
Lily had listened in rapt silence. When Aria mentioned Slytherins not liking Muggles in magic schools, she wondered if it h ad anything to do with the people who'd called her and her mum, 'Mudbloods.' So she decided to ask.
"Would they wear a lot of green, and call Muggles, 'Mudbloods'?
Aria's expression darkened. "Did somebody call you that?" Her voice had a dangerous tone to it.
"Well, yeah. But James and Melanie explained what it was to me. Were they Slytherins though?"
"Yes. The Slytherin colours are green and silver, and their mascot is a snake." Her eyes were still stormy. "Not only Slytherins do that though. A few Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw may call you that. Very rare and unlikely, but still possible," Aria explained. "But Dumbledore's an excellent headmaster. Many have changed their opinions about Muggles after Dumbledore became headmaster. That is, changed their opinion into believing Muggles should be allowed in Hogwarts," she added.
"So that's who he is!" Lily exclaimed. Aria looked confused. "Dumbledore. I've heard his name mentioned a few times before, and people always talked about him as if he was someone everyone," she paused, searching for the right word, "respected. As if he was extremely important," she finished.
Aria nodded. "Yes, you're right. Dumbledore is a great wizard. Most people believe that he's the greatest wizard of our time."
Lily let the information sink into her head. Bang! The door swung open. Two girls around their age, looking flustered, face them.
"Hi, can we sit here?" The first one asked. Lily and Aria glanced at each other, then nodded.
"Thank you so much," the second one sighed with relief. "I'm Isabel Baker. This is Amie. . ." she turned towards the first girl.
"Searle," she finished. "Isabel and I just met. What are your names?"
"I'm Lily Evans, and that's Aria Darbyshire." She pointed to her new friend. "We also just met."
The two new girls were rather pretty. In fact, they were very pretty. Isabel had golden hair with piercing blue eyes. She wore a white jumper zipped up three quarters, revealing a red tank top underneath, and tight jeans over her long legs. Her hair framed her face perfectly and fell down her back, curling towards her back at the end.
Amie looked like a tomboy. She kept her shiny, straight, brown hair in a high ponytail. Her dark blue/gray eyes were under elegantly arched eyebrows and next to her high cheekbones. Her frame was thin and smaller than everyone else, looking to be very agile and nimble. She wore a light red cardigan with baggy jeans.
The two new girls sat down after putting their trunks away. An awkward silence filled the room.
"So." Amie finally said.
"Why don't we introduce ourselves and saw our hobbies," Lily suggested.
"I'll go first," Isabel volunteered. "Okay. I'm Isabel Baker, and I'm 11 years old. My birthday's in February. February 9, actually. I'm a . . . erm, Muggle, I think?" The other three nodded. "I live in London. Um . . . what else. . .I play football, and dance. My mum's a fashion designer, and my dad's a pilot. Oh yeah, and I play the flute."
"Me next," Amie said as the train tooted one last time and started to move. "My name's Amie Searle. I live in Rowena Creek, it's a wizarding street," she added when she saw Lily and Isabel's confused looks. "My dad's a wizard and my mum's a Muggle. I'm an only child-"
"Oh yea, I have an older brother named Francis too," Isabel remembered. "Sorry, go on."
"Okay. I play football, rugby, basketball, ice hockey, volleyball, and Quidditch. I used to swim and do gymnastics too. Hmm. . . .my birthday is on June 1. My mum coaches a swim team, and my dad works for the Ministry of Magic. He's kind of like the ambassador for the Ministry o f Magic to other magical organisations." She stopped and looked around. "Okay, who's next?"
"Me. I'm Lily Evans, and my birthday's on May 15. My dad owns a law firm, and my mum stays home. I have an older sister named Petunia. I figure-skate, I play the piano, and I'm a black belt in karate. I live in Surrey. Okay, not it's Aria's turn." Aria hadn't said anything this whole time and now she spoke very softly.
"I'm Aria Darbyshire. My mum stays home too, and my father owns Gringotts. It's the wizarding bank," she explained to Lily and Isabel.
Amie's mouth had dropped open. "Your dad owns Gringotts! Awesome!"
Aria smiled slightly. "I'm Chinese-English. I have a little brother named Jon. I have trained to be a ninja, I dance, I horse-ride, I can do archery, and I play the piano and violin. I live on Godric's Hollow."
She'd just finished when there was a knock on the door.
"Come in!" Amie called. A plump lady pushing a trolley filled with foreign sweets pushed open the door.
"Would you dears like anything to eat?" she asked with a cheerful smile.
The four girls jumped up. "How 'bout we buy everything and split the money?" Isabel suggested. The other three agreed. Isabel turned back towards the trolley lady. "How much is it for two of everything on the cart?"
"One galleon, dear," the trolley lady answered. She didn't look surprised that the girls wanted to try everything. Isabel handed her a single galleon, while the trolley lady handed her two bags full of sweets. She waved and left. Isabel dumped everything on an empty seat. The other three handed her a fourth of the price, which she pocketed.
"Wow!" Lily exclaimed. "Look at all of these!" She picked out one that looked safe, and like jelly beans. She read the name. "Bertie Bott's Every flavor Beans." Aria was about to warn her, but too late; Lily had already confidently popped it in her mouth. At first, her face froze, then slowly, it turned beet red. "Eeeewwwwww!" she shrieked. Aria had gotten a Kleenex ready in case and thrust it at her. Lily grabbed it and spat the bean into it. "Thanks," she panted. "That was horrible. I'm never eating a Bertie whatever bean ever again. It was so gross!"
"They're not all like that. They really mean every flavor. There are really good ones, but disgusting ones too." She smiled mischievously. "Are you brave enough to try another one?" He eyes twinkled.
Lily gulped, but declared dramatically, "I shall try one more!" She carefully chose a red one, hoping it wouldn't be as bad as the first. Nervously, she put it in her mouth, awaiting the mysteriously taste.
The delicious flavor bloomed in her mouth. She didn't know what it was, but it tasted wonderful. The candy washed away any remaining taste of the first one.
"Wow," she breathed. "That was so good." Aria smiled again. For the rest of the train ride, the four girls experimented with different foods, laughed at each other's stories, and had loads of fun.
James
Meanwhile, Sirius, James, and Remus were introducing themselves too.
"I'm James Potter. Quidditch rules!" He turned to Sirius while snacking on a Pumpkin Pasty. "Your turn." Sirius and James had both gotten one of each thing off the trolley lady's cart.
"My name is Sirius Black," he stated gravely. "All girls worship me. My brother's a prick. I hate my parents. QUIDDITCH RULES!" he yelled the last sentence so loudly that a few 'What's going on's could be heard in the corridor. In response, Sirius poked his head out and bellowed, "QUIDDITCH RULES!" Unexpectedly, a few cheers went up six doors down. Surprised, James and Sirius padded down to the door the cheers had come from while Remus stayed behind. Opening the door, they saw four grinning faces of boys.
"Um. . .hi," started James, unsure of what to do or say.
Sirius got right to the point. "You guys like Quidditch?"
"Yeah!" one of the guys shouted. "I'm Scottie Silver." Scottie had dark brown hair with dark green eyes on his handsome face. "This is Dom Queenscove," he gestured to another tall, strong-looking, handsome boy with dirty blond hair and clear blue eyes. "This is Shawn Gordon and Matt Garland." He pointed to two plainer-looking boys.
"I'm James Potter, and this is Sirius Black." James introduced to them. They both sat down. "So, think you'll make it onto the Quidditch team next year?"
"I would hope so! Whenever my family and I play, I play Beater. Father says I'm quite good, but I don't really think so," Dom replied.
"I'm Chaser whenever I play," Scottie said.
"Hey, me too!" James exclaimed.
"And I'm a beater!" cheered Sirius. "Wouldn't it be awesome if we could all be on the same team?"
"Yeah," they chorused.
"My older brother was a Chaser last year," Shawn said.
"So," continued Matt, "you guys have any idea how we're getting sorted?"
Scottie shuddered. "My sister hinted at a huge monster, with huge yellow eyes. . . ." he shivered again. "You guys know any useful spells yet?"
"Well, all my parents try to teach me is that stupid Dark Arts stuff." Sirius made a face. He saw the surprised faces of the four new boys. "Yup, no big news. My family's just about one of the evilest ones out there. Every single day, they blabber about how some Dark Lord, Voldy something will soon rise to power." He imitated his mother's manly voice.
"Erm. . okay. . .anywho, my family's pureblood too, and all I know are simple spells," sighed Dom. "Nothing useful to fight at all unless you call setting the table and cleaning stuff battling."
"Same here," Scottie said, sadly shaking his head.
"Well, Shawn and I come from half-blood families so. . . ." Matt left the sentence hanging in the air.
"Well," James hesitated. "My parents did teach me a defense-spell once. . .but. . . I can't remember it. . . ." he frowned. "I think it's for when someone smaller than you is attacking you. It makes the thing freeze for seven seconds, enough for you to get away." Their hopeful faces made him think harder to try and remember the spell. "I doubt the thing will be smaller than- wait! Okay, it's septsar!" He pronounced it as set-sar.
"You wanna try it?" Sirius grinned mischievously. Eyes roamed around the room, but located no one much smaller than the other. A knock sounded on the door. It opened to reveal a rather short boy. He had mousy brown hair, and short beady eyes with a pointed nose, making him look like a rodent. He had a pudgy body, making him look out of place among the tall, lean, and handsome other boys.
"Um, can I sit he-" he managed to squeak in a high, girly voice before-
"Septsar!" Sirius' voice sounded around the room, his wand pointed at the new, chubby boy. The victim froze. Everyone was too shocked to do anything.
"1,2,3,4,5,6,7," Sirius counted slowly. Right on 7, the rodent-like boy fell to his knees with a surprised cry.
James recovered first, rushing to the fallen boy's side. "Are you alright?" he gasped, concerned.
"Yes," the boy whimpered. "I-I think so."
James turned to Sirius, with a serious expression his face. "You're only supposed to use it on attackers!" he scolded. "But, that was bloody amazing, mate." His face split into a smile. "I've never met anyone who could get a spell as quick as me."
"You-you mean, both of you can get a spell on the first time?" Dom asked, amazed. They both nodded.
"Hey, can I try it?" Scottie's eyes fell on the newcomer. "Hey, what's your name?"
"Peter Pettigrew," he managed weakly. His eyes bulged as he realised what Scottie had just implied. "You want to-to. . ."
"Please?" Scottie begged. "This time you'll be ready. It won't hurt at all!" Peter reluctantly agreed, and Scottie took out his wand. "Septsar!" he shouted. Peter froze for two seconds, then blinked. "Septsar," Scottie repeated more forcefully. This time, he froze Peter for four seconds, but with Peter's eyes still moving. He tried again and again, until the fifth time, when he finally got it right. All the boys tried it, Dom getting it on his fifth too, Shawn on his eleventh, Matt on his tenth, and James on his first.
An hour later, James and Sirius announced that they should leave. They invited Peter to come with them, and he happily agreed.
When they returned, they saw Remus sitting, gloom wrapping around him like a cloak. "Remus, this is Peter. Peter, Remus," James introduced. He couldn't help but notice as Remus smiled faintly, a very subtle look of envy in his eyes. Why would he be jealous? James wondered.
"You'll be wanting to change out of those Muggle clothes, and into robes," James told Peter helpfully. Peter changed, and an hour and an hour and a half later, they arrived at Hogwarts.