Disclaimer: Not mine.
Summary: The Marauders, Snape and Lily are starting Hogwarts, not everything is as it seems. When the new professor starts meeting mysterious strangers in the dark, they are launched into events they hardly understand. Rating precautionary.
Author's Notes: As said, focusing on the Marauders, Lily and Snape throughout year one of Hogwarts. The focus of characters may change throughout the story (eg, a lot on Sirius at the beginning, and then more on Lily towards the end.) I will probably continue onto the next years.
My interpretation of Sirius is not that he's evil, just that he cannot have lived in the Black household without retaining prejudice – and that this will change after being in Gryffindor. At the same time, I think Lucius Malfoy's too old to be of the Marauder era – more the same time as Molly and Arthur. Therefore, Narcissa will flirt with other boys. IMO, it would be illogical for her not to. So, please don't accuse me of writing Sirius as evil, or call me stupid for having Narcissa flirting/dating others, unless you can back it up. :) In the same way, please don't tell me I'm wrong unless you can back it up.
I hope you enjoy this!
Friendly Hatred?
Chapter One – New Beginnings
Sirius Black followed his cousins Bella and Cissa onto the almost-empty platform. Only two other families were there. Two parents, obviously muggles from their slack jaws and wide eyes, were hugging their mudblood offspring. The mother was fussing over her, and let go of her to straighten her clothes and wipe a smudge of dirt off her cheek. The mudblood wiggled away, blushing. He bit off a laugh. The other family was the Averys. Mark, sixth-year prefect, paused to look at them – ostensibly, at the whole family, but Sirius knew it was at Cissa.
Father placed a hand on his shoulder. Sirius turned round and looked at him. "Sirius, I know you will not let us down. Make us, and Slytherin, proud."
"Of course, Father," he said.
His mother swooped down and kissed him on the cheek, careful to avoid embarrassing displays of emotion in public. "Sirius, as soon as you are Sorted in Slytherin, owl us and let us know. I know you will make us proud, but remember you are the Black heir. Dignity and success are expected of you."
He nodded. "Of course, Mother."
Father rubbed his hooked nose, pausing. "It will be strange only having Regulus in the house. We'll miss you. Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Mother, Father."
Regulus pushed forward, looking lost in his formal clothing. He placed something in Sirius' hand, murmuring, "I'll miss you, Sirius."
He nodded, slowly. Reggie might be a nuisance but he was still his younger brother and greatest friend, and he felt a pang of sadness. He was too exhilarated at starting Hogwarts for this to last for long, though. "Hey, I'll owl you all the time! And, besides, you'll be here soon." He looked down at his hand – a chocolate frog. He grinned. "Thanks for the frog, Reggie. I'll see you all at Christmas, anyway!"
He grinned. "Good bye!" Then, he turned around and saw Auntie had finished with Cissa and Bella.
"Don't worry, we'll look after Sirius," Bella said politely.
Cissa nodded, fiddling with her robes. "We ought to go now, though. We don't want to miss the train, or have to share a compartment with some Gryffindor mudbloods!" It was still twenty past ten.
Father frowned, looking at his watch, and she hastily added. "Besides, prefects are supposed to be on the train early."
Uncle smiled, and said, "Of course! You have to make sure you do well, Cissa." He smiled at her; Sirius had heard nothing of him this summer except 'And of course, Narcissa's a prefect, now,' and 'You ought to be getting a prefect badge like Cissa in five years time, Sirius. Make sure you do the Black family proud!'
He nodded to his Uncle and Auntie, before lifting up his owl and trunk. Auntie clicked her fingers, and two house elves appeared and levitated the girl's trunks and pets onto the train. He gave an annoyed sigh, before following, lugging his trunk after him and with Shadow's, his owl, cage spinning round and hitting his leg. She gave a hoot of protest, but he ignored her and tried to lift his trunk onto the train. 'Just because they're girls!' he thought, getting it caught. He sighed, gave one final tug and pulled it on.
As he walked into the compartment, he sat down and waited for Mark to arrive. Five minutes later, he arrived and sat next to Cissa. "Hello, Cissa," he said. "Bella, Si…Siris, isn't it?"
He nodded, as Cissa swivelled to face him and said, "Hi, Mark. How was your summer?"
Lily Evans gritted her teeth as she slid through the barrier of platform nine and three-quarters. She shuddered when she heard noise and realised she had gone through. 'Freaky,' she thought. Looking up, she gasped.
The platform was ablaze with magic. A small girl nearby waved a wand, producing golden sparks. Not far beyond her, a scolding mother used her wand to clean a boy's clothes. Owl hooted, cats purred, and a frog jumped past, croaking. An old man in tweed was pulled by a drooling alsation, past the smoking red steam train, to a dark-haired boy with an unusually large piece of meat, some red-flowered plants and a sinister-looking metal instrument. Her mum screamed as a strange, wrinkled creature popped into existence with a large bang. It was… amazing, fantastic, and slightly scary in its strangeness. She half-heartedly wondered if she was dreaming.
Her mum pulled her into a tight hug. "Lily, sweetheart, this is all so strange to me. I don't know what to believe. But if you aren't at home there, or if you change your mind, you let us know immediately! There's no shame in that!"
"Mum, I'll be fine, I'm sure. But I will let you know if not." Lily wasn't sure she was; her stomach churned in a mixture of dread and anticipation. But she hugged her mum back, briefly – the train left in five minutes – and hugged her dad.
"Darling, we love you."
"Yes," Mum said. "We do. We'll write to you, but don't you forget to write back!"
"I won't," she said, pulling loose of Dad's hold.
She turned and faced Pet. There was an awkward pause; her older sister had been painfully cold towards her since they found out. Then, they pulled together and held each other in a tight grip. "I'll miss you, Pet," she said, burying her head in Pet's hair and gulping back tears.
"I'll miss you, too, Lily," she said.
She heard the muffled sound of the train's whistle through Pet's hair, and stepped back. "I'll… see you all at Christmas," she said.
"Goodbye, darling!"
"Bye!"
"Bye," she replied, and turned round to walk onto the train.
She walked through the carriages, looking for an empty one. Not seeing any, she slipped into a carriage with only one boy in and said, "Do you mind if I sit here? It's just, no-where's free."
He jumped, and said. "Oh! Erm, yeah, of course." He blushed, which looked strange on his pale face with the big bags under his eyes. His hair was sandy, with a long fringe that obscured his face a little. She hoped he was a first year; he looked small enough to be.
"Hi, I'm Lily," she said, sitting opposite him and pulling her new, shiny trunk in after her. His was worn and tattered.
"I'm Remus," he said. "Are you a first year? – I am."
"Yeah, me too. I'm so nervous! I mean, what if I muck it all up and aren't any good at magic?"
He laughed. "I know what you mean. I'm so scared, yet I'm so excited as well."
"I know. It's really weird, as well – 'cause I'm a muggleborn, I'd never heard of magic until the liaison witch came round."
He smiled. "That must be strange. It must be so weird hearing about magic."
She smiled, and went to reply when the door slammed open. A tall boy stood in the doorway, with messy black hair falling into his eyes and muggle jeans with grass stains on. "Sorry," he panted. "Mind if I sit here?"
She nodded. "Of course," Remus said.
"Thanks. I had to run to get the train, and then there wasn't any seats left. I'm James, by the way. James Potter."
They introduced themselves to him, again. "Cool," he said. "Have you guys heard anything about Hogwarts? I've heard loads! I can't wait."
Lily shook her head. "What's it like?"
"It's s'posed to be awesome! Apparently, there are all these ghosts, and a Forbidden Forest that you're not s'posed to go in, but I don't care about that. And, apparently, there are these dragons you have to fight to get in and everything, but – "
"I doubt it," Lily said with a sniff. "Madam Perkins – the liaison witch – told me they don't expect you to know any magic before you go in."
"You don't know any magic? None at all?" He sniggered. "I know tonnes!"
"Right," Lily said, clenching her fists with anger. "And I'm sure you can do them all, as well as fly for Britain and tell tales the size of Mt. Everest!"
He smirked. "I bet I could turn your hair green! – It'd be an improvement on that red, actually!"
She opened her mouth to retort, when Remus broke in. "Why don't we just play Exploding Snap?"
"Sure – if Lily knows how to do that."
She felt her cheeks heating up.
"Let me explain it," Remus hurriedly said.
Lily turned round and pointedly ignored James, trying not to show how hurt she was. 'What if I'm the only one that doesn't know any magic? What if I fall far behind everyone else?'
She looked up to see Remus smiling at her. "Don't worry, I don't know any magic, either," he said quietly.
She smiled back, suddenly much happier.
"It's just like normal snap, except…
The train finally groaned into movement, and Sirius smiled. He felt about to fall asleep; watching Mark and Cissa flirt for forty minutes was not his idea of fun. The sat on the seat opposite, her cuddled up to him with his arm resting lightly on her shoulders and playing with her long silver-blonde hair.
Bella sighed. She sat next to him, spinning her wand round and looking bored. Her lidded eyes had been closed a minute ago, although she had been clearly awake. "So, everyone will have heard of this… Voldemort, right?"
Damien Nott, a fifth year sitting next to her, looking up from the quiet conversation with his brother David, who was leaning on the doorframe due to lack of seats. "Of course, Bella," he said, a hint of a smile on his lips. "What about him?"
She shrugged. "I wondered what everyone thought. Better than watching you conspiring with you brother." She met his gaze, black eyes meeting grey. "Come on," she teased. "He's a first year, I'm sure he's not about to come up with some simply nefarious plot you need to hear about."
He opened his mouth, but Mark cut him off. "He's so extreme! I agree, mudbloods are a taint on our lives… but to exterminate them all?"
"So, you think it would be a mistake to follow him, Avery?" Damien asked.
He blushed, and Sirius was glad he didn't have to answer that question. Notts were dangerous; they would never be anyone's lackey. "Of course not," Mark said. "I think we need to think this over, Damien. After all, we are Slytherins. We have cunning, we aren't foolish Gryffindors running into things without thinking!" It was a safe answer, re-directing Damien's focus.
It was unsuccessful, though. He merely raised his eyebrow. "Of course. So, what have you been thinking about him, Avery?"
Mark looked startled. He bit his lip. "He's radical. It could be a big risk."
Damien shrugged. "But then, big risks mean big gains."
"He certainly has the right idea," Bella said, examining her wand.
"Oh, I know!" Cissa said. "Mother even considered sending Sirius to Durmstrang. Imagine, the Black heir not in Hogwarts!"
"Imagine that," Damien said with a mocking smile on his lips.
Bella twisted round, but he held his hands outward in the sign of peace. She frowned. "Well, I'm off to find someone from my year – they must have turned up by now. This carriage is way too crowded." She shunted out, sliding between the Notts to get out the door.
Damien rolled his eyes, but then looked at Cissa stroking Mark's cheek and leaning over to kiss him. "I'm going as well. I can't see the conversation being very… stimulating in here."
David sat down when his brother left, and Sirius looked at him. He'd never had a chance to talk to him much before. "D'you want to go look for some other first years?" he asked, standing up. He didn't want to be here with Cissa and Mark either.
David nodded, and followed Sirius out of the carriage. They walked down the corridor, peering into windows, before he noticed someone he knew – Goyle. They walked into the carriage.
"Hi Sirius, David," Goyle said.
"Goyle," David acknowledged him.
"I'm Sirius Black and this is David Nott," Sirius said to the other member of the compartment; a small boy with sallow skin, a hooked nose and disgustingly greasy hair. He didn't offer his hand, not liking the look of either of the boys – but at least he knew Goyle would be a Slytherin.
"I'm Severus Snape," the boy said with an eager smile. Sirius wondered if he just wanted to talk to someone other than Goyle, or if he really was that desperate for friends.
"Snape… I don't recognise the name," David said.
Snape blushed. "My mother was Eileen Prince."
Sirius smirked. 'Half-blood,' he thought. "Goyle, do you want tocome with us?"
"Actually, I'd rather stay here," David said, with a almost challenging smile.
Sirius frowned, then shrugged. 'Why not? No good getting in an argument this soon.' But he sat down next to Goyle rather than Snape.
Lily soon found out, to Potter's annoyance and her glee – not that they had anything to with each other, of course – that she was very good at Exploding Snap. After she had won several times in a row, Potter announced, with a sour face, that he was bored and started to talk to Remus about something called 'quidditch'. She made up her mind to ask someone about it when Potter wasn't there.
Th train began to slow as they argued over the Chudley Cannon's chances of success – "No way!" Potter had exclaimed. "Maybe before, but their new players are terrible!" – and after pulling her new, crisp black robes over her jeans and jumper, the three of them left the train.
"Firs' years over 'ere! Firs' years follow me!" A gigantic man, his head and torso easily visible over the milling students, yelled.
She gulped; the sight of this giant, bushy-haired man in the dark was not nice. Looking at the boys, she felt better on seeing Potter was also pale and his jaw hung open. She began to walk over to him, the boys following. Upon everyone else's arrival, he introduced himself as 'Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts' and waved his big hand at some boats behind him that they were to use to get to Hogwarts.
Remus, Potter and Lily were joined by a baby-faced girl named Jenni who soon confessed to a fear of boats. Potter had a wicked grin on his face after hearing this news, but seemed to decide against doing anything when seeing the looks on Remus and Lily's faces. At first, they talked about their background and what they expected to find, but they soon fell silent.
As they came in sight of Hogwarts, everyone gasped. "Wow," Lily said.
The others nodded. The view was amazing; the many-turreted castle silhouetted by the silver moon. She watched it, wondering what it would be like living there, as the boats glided closer towards the end, until the grating of the shoreline on the bottom jerked her out of her thoughts. She quickly scrambled out of the boats and followed the others up to the door.
Hagrid knocked on the double door three times, at which it creaked open to reveal a tall witch with black hair pulled into a tight bun.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagal," Hagrid said.
"Very well," she said in a strong Scottish accent. "Follow me." She walked off into the castle and Lily, her stomach doing somersaults, quickly followed.
Author's Notes: Would you believe I lost half of that and tonnes of editing because my laptop ran out of battery! How annoying is that?
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Please review – what did you think of the characterisation?
Forgotten-To-Cry