A/N Lily and James aren't mine, but their backgrounds I've made up as I don't think there's any written record (so don't get mad at me for making James Scottish. It just works with his character). But you should get reading before I give too much away…

Chapter 1:

Lily

Well, this was certainly different. As she stepped onto Platform 9 and ¾, Muggle-born Lily Evans allowed the sights and sounds of magical London to envelop her. The rather short, very curvy red-haired girl felt rather out of place.

Her parents were very kind and extremely well-adjusted, but they were (to put it bluntly), excruciatingly boring. Mr. and Mrs. Evans had raised their two daughters, Lily and Petunia, in a modest three-bedroom house in the heart of Muggle Bradford. The average, boring, B+ lifestyle that Lily had known since childbirth almost suffocated her. She loved to take her bicycle out of the city and onto the moors, where she could just lie flat and look at the sky. Instead of the claustrophobic clusters of bent and ancient houses, instead of the smell of exhaust, of smoke, of PEOPLE, there was simply the smell of fresh clean heather and the sound of the wind as it whistled across the open sea of grass. Sometimes she convinced herself that if she didn't hold the grass tightly enough, she would simply float away.

Lily remembered the day she had gotten her letter. She had had a terrible day at school. The headmistress herself had called Lily to her office and reprimanded her for "improper conduct". The fact of the matter was, St. Lucinda's Institution For the Betterment and Instruction of Young Ladies just did not slake Lily's thirst for knowledge. She had been reading a book borrowed from the local library and had tuned out her Maths Mistress, to the glee of her sister Petunia. Petunia took every opportunity to pull the rug out from under her older sister, of whom she was heartachingly envious. Seeing those striking green eyes eating up pages of text that Petunia's watery blue ones could never comprehend while being forced to understand sines and cosines was just too much to take. Angelic Petunia was rewarded for vigilance and a seething Lily was sent to see Headmistress Princhin.

High off of her triumph at school, Petunia rushed home and lost no time in regaling her parents with Lily's "disrespect for Miss Princhin and the establishment", so that when Lily trudged tiredly in the door her parents were ready and waiting with their lectures. It wasn't that Lily's parents didn't love her. They just expected more from her. They wanted her to succeed in life, but they couldn't do it for her! Lily took one look at the faces of her apologetic, disappointed, wishy-washy parents and smug little sister, turned on her heel and was out the door.

Not, however, before a large parchment envelope caught her eye. Lily Evans, Number Two Beecham Square, City Of Bradford, England was written elegantly upon it in bottle-green ink. She took it from the kitchen table on her way out the door, rode her bicycle to her favorite spot outside of town and read the letter that would change her life forever.

And so, here she was in a world she could never have imagined, much less have believed in. She was a little lost, perhaps. A little unsure, definetly. But as she boarded the great scarlet train she thought that what lay in store for her had to be miles better than what lay behind.

James

James was astounded. He took in his surroundings avidly, trying to taste the crimson paint of the Hogwarts Express, to hear all of the various conversations that whistled past his ears like so many raindrops. He'd been on Platform 9 and ¾ before, of course, but, for the first time, he would leave it for Hogwarts. He wanted to experience this moment in as many ways as possible. James had heard stories from his parents about the school and had seen wide and varied cousins off on the same train that was now steaming in front of him, but never before had the adventure been his.

He turned around to look at his parents, who were off talking to the Longbottoms. They had raised him well, if a bit indulgently, in a suburb of Wizarding Edinburgh (A/N pronounced Edin-burra for all you heathenish types out there). He'd been homeschooled until now, to the delight and dismay of his parents. They'd loved teaching their pride and joy, but James had a penchant for pranking. His unusually bright mind took everything they taught him and his unique (and, it has to be said, a little queer) sense of humor twisted it. And so, it was with only a little regret that they let their little boy who wanted to learn all the wrong things go to far-off Hogwarts to be taught by the best minds of the Wizarding world.

The train whistle screamed, and they hurried to say their goodbyes.

"Be good, James! We'll see you at Christmas!" "Remember to write!"

And, with that, he was off!

A/N Sorry James is so small. This will be a mostly Lily story, but I wanted to get their backgrounds set up so that when I need James's point of view, you can see where he comes from.