Disclaimer: Ok, I don't own anything but the plot (and even that isn't exactly the most original) and a few of the characters.
A/N: Ok, my first attempt at a Harry Potter fanfiction. Note: I did not particularly enjoy OotP. Therefore, I'm going to pretend I haven't read it. It will be pre OotP... sort of. Lily and James hate each other till near the end of their times at Hogwarts. Make sense? Good. Now explain it to me! No, really, please do review! Oh, flames will be used to roast marshmallows.
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Chapter One: The Real Reason For Silencing Charms
There was commotion at the Evans house. The whole family was in an uproar. Lily Evans was doing some last minute packing, Her father was trying to find the ticket to Platform 9 and ¾. Her mother was trying to coax Lily's new owl, Bast, into her cage. Her sister, Petunia, was sulking and muttering things like "freak" and "misfit" whenever Lily passed. Eventually, however, all of Lily's robes were in her trunk, Bast was safely locked up for the train ride, the ticket was found, and Petunia had gone to a friend's house.
"Mum, we're going to be late!" Lily ducked out of the way as her parents came barreling down the stairs. "Keys?" She tossed her dad the keys and climbed into the back of the car.
As they drove to the station, Lily thought about how weird this all was. She'd always thought that witches were evil and wore black pointy hats. She thought that until she got a letter from a Professor Dumbledore that told her that she was a witch and that she was supposed to go to a place called Diagon Alley (because she was muggle-born, the letter nicely mentioned where to go and how to get there) to get a bunch of supplies. Her parents had nearly fainted when she got the letter, then again when they got to Diagon Alley and saw everything in the windows and the goblins at Gringotts.
Lily helped her father get her things out of the back of the car, carefully covering Bast's cage so as not to attract attention. She'd asked a woman in Diagon Alley for the way to get onto the platform, and so she just pushed her trolley through the barrier, her parents holding onto her arms just in case you had to be magical to get through.
As they emerged next to the smoking Hogwart's Express, Lily stared at all the other students saying goodbye to their parents and getting on the train. There were a lot more then she'd expected. She turned around. "Bye Mum, Dad. I'll miss you guys. I'll send you an owl. All you have to do is give it a letter for me, ok?" She hugged both of her parents and then put her trunk on the train. She climbed up onto the scarlet train and headed down the hall looking for a compartment.
Most of them were already full, but she managed to find an empty one and sat down. A few minutes later, a girl poked her head around the door and smiled. "Hey, can I sit here? Everywhere else is full." Wide blue eyes stared at Lily, who grinned back.
"Sure. Make yourself comfortable. I'm Lily Evans."
"Thanks. I'm Anabella Figg. You can call me Bella." She stuck out a pale hand. Lily shook it, while looking her over. She was a good few inches shorter than Lily, with icy blue eyes that sparkled even in the dim light of the now moving train and long black hair that would fall to her waist if it weren't in a braid.
"Is that your natural hair color?" Bella was curious. She'd never seen such a rich shade of red before. The green eyes were like glowing emeralds as Lily laughed.
"Yeah, it is. I get that a lot."
"Hey, is there room for one more?" Another head was stuck around the door. Without waiting for an answer, the tall girl walked into the room and sat down. "Sorry, I'm Alex Wood. Alexandra, really, but I like Alex better." She pushed her curly, rather fluffy brown hair out of brown eyes and smiled. "And yes, my hair is always like this. Well, ok, normally. Occasionally it behaves, but it's most often like this."
The girls started chatting about themselves. Lily learned that Alex was also muggle-born, although Bella was not. Both she and Alex listened with rapt attention as Bella told stories of growing up in a wizarding household.
They talked for a good hour before a loud commotion in the hallway interrupted them. Two voices yelling hexes got closer and closer. The girls all looked at each other in annoyance. "What is with them?" Lily stood up and opened the door to the corridor and narrowly missed a jet of red light that shot from a wand farther down the hall. She stepped completely out of the compartment, glaring at the culprit. "Oh, for crying out loud. There are other people on this train, you know."
She found herself glaring at a group of four boys. One was tall, sort of stocky, with black hair and mischevious gray eyes. Another was blond, with blue eyes, and he looked like the most responsible of them. The third one was small, with brown hair and beady brown eyes. The one who'd almost hit Lily appeared to be the ringleader. He was tall and slender, with incredibly messy brown hair and brown eyes framed by glasses. His wand was out, pointed at another boy down the hallway.
"Hey, it's not my fault you opened the door then." Wand-boy lowered his wand and grinned cockily. "I'm James Potter, by the way. And who might you be, lovely lady?"
"Someone who would prefer to stay awake for the rest of the train ride. Who the heck were you trying to stun, anyway?" She turned and looked at the only other person in the corridor. He was average height, skinny, and his hair was really greasy.
"Oh, you mean Snivellus? Why shouldn't we have stunned him?" James' face registered actual surprised. James' face registered actual surprised.
"Because you could get in trouble, and he hasn't done anything to you."
The other black haired one spoke up. "Well, see, it's what his mother did. She gave birth to him."
James grinned. "Yeah, and may I say..."
"Silencio." Lily's wand was in her hand, pointing straight at James. "Maybe this way you won't wreak any more havoc on the other students? Then again, I wouldn't count on it." She turned on her heel and went back into the compartment.
"What was that all about?" Alex was curious as to why Lily had been gone for so long. "You get hit with anything?"
"Nope. Some boys were trying to hex a guy who can't have taken a bath in a month. Then one of them tried to hit on me so I silenced him."
Bella grinned, then looked confused. "Silenced him? What..."
Just then, the compartment door slid open and all four boys trooped in. James was glaring, his black haired friend was looking annoyed, and the other two were laughing.
Bella stood up. "And you are?" she asked regally.
"I'm Sirius Black," said the black haired boy, "Blondie over there is Remus Lupin, and that one is Peter Petigrew. And we want her," he gestured at Lily, "to undo whatever charm she put on James."
Lily giggled. "You mean you don't know how to undo a silencing charm?"
Alex and Bella laughed at the upset look on James' face. Sirius growled, "if we knew how, we wouldn't have come to you."
Lily muttered the counter curse and James started yelling immediately. "What did you do that for?"
"Let's see. You were trying to stun someone, you almost hit me, and you were hitting on me. To me, that's more than justified. Now, if you don't mind, get out!"
The three girls pushed the boys out of the compartment and locked the door. Just then, the conductor announced that they were arriving at Hogwarts, and everyone got off the train.
A/N: That's all for now. There will be more, obviously, but I really wanted to post this. The next chapter will be longer, I promise. Please review!