Disclaimer: I own it, of course... Mother, a lawyer, is glaring at me Ok, never mind, I don't own it...
A/N: Wow. One day, 11 reviews on my first ever fanfiction on ! Woohoo! Thank you all so much. I didn't realize that so many people were going to read it. Like I promised, this chapter will be longer. I'm still looking for a beta, by the way. All flames will be used in the bonfire I'm going to use to roast my marshmallows over (so far, not even a spark. Oh well). Ok, on to reviewer notes and then the next chapter!
Sappjody: Thanks. Do you mean I should do another story or another chapter? Hope you enjoy this installment.
Emma: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it.
Jessica Halliwell Potter: Thanks. I was trying to be very realistic. I am planning on posting more chapters. I'm kinda bogged down with schoolwork, but this has just taken top priority. Thank you for reviewing!
Gatoriris: Thanks, I liked the disclaimer too. And I'm sort of making Lily like Hermione, so she would have been reading her books and tried a few things, whereas the guys would not have been. I'm very glad you liked it.
Exaltation: Thanks. I hope you keep reading.
Lacerhuffy: I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, I'm that way too, but if you try to put too much description into a small space (especially descriptions of people) it sounds like the sex scene in a romance novel.
oODemon-AngelOo: Thanks. Here's the next chapter. Hope you like this one too!
Obsessed-reader: I will. Err... I did. See? I updated!
Just Call Me Lee: Thank you. No, you weren't first, but I appreciate that you even bothered to review at all! Thank you for the suggestion, I agree. It's obnoxious when people rush through relationships and character development. I'll do my best!
Rose Briar: As I mentioned above, she's supposed to be sorta like Hermione. And they know Snape cause they're from pureblood families, I think that they probably would have run into him at some point. Also, Snape comes across pretty strong from the beginning, don't you think? I mean, to me, they would have picked someone to torture. And they're 11. At my school, at least, there were 11 year old boys like that.
Lady Phedre: Is the username from Kushiel's Dart (or any of that trilogy)? Sorry, off topic. Ok, yes, I know, Bast is a cat goddess. However, I couldn't think of another name and this way it's kind of a joke. I guess I knew Arabella Figg was a squib, thanks for reminding me. If you look, when I updated this chapter, I reposted the other one. See? I fixed it. And you're right. Jade is our state mineral, I like that better ad I think I'll start using that instead of emerald. I forgot what color Sirius's eyes were, I'll change that. And there are only so many ways to say brown hair, so I think we'll just assume Remus' hair darkened with age. My mom's did that, darkened from bleach blond to dark brown, so I know it can happen. I'm also a teenager. I'm not sure what they would have said. I'll ask my parents, and I'll try to make it better and more accurate. Thanks for reviewing, thanks for helping me with mistakes, and I hope this one meets your standards!
A/N: Thanks again everyone, you made my day. I'll try to make this chapter up to everyone's standards. And to anyone I missed here, I'll get you next chapter. Please let me know if you're up for beta-ing my story! Special thanks to Lady Phedre for fixing many of my mistakes. Check the newly updated first chapter for all of the minor revisions. If you don't want to be bothered, here they are: Sirius' eyes are now gray, like they should be, Lily's eyes are now jade, and Arabella became her twin Anabella.
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Chapter Two: Why Say What You Can Scream In Front Of The Whole School?
All three girls had already changed into their robes. As they stepped off of the train onto the platform, Lily gaped at the hustle and bustle of all the students stepping down off the train. There were so many people!
"First years, this way please." A tall, thin man with a handlebar mustache and dark hair and eyes was calling across the crowd. Lily, Bella, and Alex pushed their way towards him. About 10 feet away, however, someone slammed into Alex, knocking her to the ground.
"What the heck was that?" Her apparently hazel eyes slid to green as she glared up at none other than Sirius Black.
"Watch where you're going!" Alex could not believe it.
"ME? You just hit me with the force of a mack truck."
By this time, Lily and Bella were helping Alex up, and the rest of the boys had appeared. Lily stifled a giggle as James muttered, "what's a mack truck?"
"You shouldn't have gotten in my way. Besides, that hair of yours must keep you from seeing almost anything." Sirius was looking haughty, like he couldn't believe that someone would dare say it was his fault. Obviously, he underestimated the temper of the girl he hadn't really met, especially when it came to her hair.
Instantly, Alex's wand was out. "Black, isn't it? Right, then. Where were you raised, a barn? Maybe you could use some peace and quiet to think things over, hmmm? Lily? Would you do the honors?"
Grinning, Lily raised her wand. "Silencio."
"Not again," James muttered.
"FIRST YEARS! OVER HERE!" The man was yelling again, and this time everyone made it to the boats. Sirius seemed to be yelling at the top of his voice, but nobody could hear him.
Alex, Bella, and Lily climbed into a boat together. As they left the dock, Lily looked nervously around at the dark, dark water. She didn't even want to know what was in there. Something moved in the distance. Was that a tentacle? Lily shuddered and turned her eyes to the front again. She would not think about it, she would not think about it... Ok, she was thinking about it. She nearly screamed when the boat bumped the dock, but immediately chastised herself. She was being stupid. It was just a lake.
The mustache man, who'd introduced himself as Atlas, the groundskeeper, took them to a pair of double doors just inside the huge castle and left them there, telling them to wait. Bella was looking around the castle in awe. "I wish my sister could see this..."
"Your sister?"
"Yeah. Twin, actually. Arabella. Looks just like me." Bella's voice was almost wistful. "We do everything together."
"But I thought you were part of a magical family? Why isn't she here?"
"She's a squib." Seeing the blank looks on her friend's faces, she explained. "One person in a magical family who has no magical ability. Often happens to twins. Like there's only enough magic for one of them. Anyway, she was disappointed not to come, but she'll get over it. She's got her cats."
Alex looked like she was about to ask how cats could make up for being the only one in the family without magic when a businesslike woman appeared in front of them. "My name is Professor McGonagall. I teach transfigurations, and I am the deputy headmistress of Hogwarts. Welcome, first years. In a few minutes, we'll go into the Great Hall and you will follow me to the table at the far end, at which time the sorting hat will choose your house for you. All clear? Good. Follow me please."
With that she turned on her heel and pushed open the double doors. All of the new students did as she had instructed and followed her to the front. The hat sang a song about the founders and then McGonagall began to read names from a long parchment list.
"Black, Sirius."
Sirius stepped forward and sat down on the stool. The hat muttered something nobody could hear, and then yelled "GRYFFINDOR!" Everyone at one of the tables cheered as Sirius walked grinning to the loud table. It was chaos. Over the din, McGonagall called the next name.
"Evans, Lily." Lily walked slowly up and sat on the stool. McGonagall set the hat on her head and stepped back. Lily twitched slightly as the hat started to speak into her ear.
"Where should I put you. Hmmmmm... I wonder where to put you. You're smart. Very smart, yes... Ravenclaw? No, no. You're also very brave, very driven. I know, GRYFFINDOR!" The table erupted again. She walked over to where Sirius had gone. She sat down and waited for her friends to be sorted. Remus and Peter became Gryffindors as well, as did Bella.
"Potter, James."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Lily's groans were drowned out by Peter, Remus, and Sirius. James sat down amid the cheers of the Gryffindor table and smiled cheekily at Lily. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the sorting hat just in time to see Snape, Severus become a Slytherin.
Finally, there was only one person yet to be sorted.
"Wood, Alexandra."
"GRYFFINDOR!" The table started cheering again as Alex joined them, sitting down between Bella and Lily.
"Well, that was painless." Alex grinned. "Now I'm hungry. When do we eat?"
"Students! I would like to welcome you all to Hogwarts. I hope you all had a pleasant journey. The Forbidden Forest is just that, forbidden. Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, would like to remind you all that there is no magic in the hallways between classes. Thank you to all, now tuck in!"
"That's more like it," Alex muttered as she began loading food onto her plate. The feast went well for about 10 minutes, but with all four of the boys at the same table, peace could only last for so long.
Simultaneously, three girls spit out their food onto their plates. "Yuck." Bella was wiping her tongue on a napkin, trying to rid herself of the taste.
Alex was ticked. "What is this, some kind of joke?"
Lily frowned. "I wonder... Yeah, it was the stinking marauders."
"Who?"
"Those boys. That's apparently what they call themselves." Lily sighed. "Girls, I think this is going to be a long year."
"Depriving me of my food?" Alex was livid. She wasn't overweight, but she loved to eat. "This means war. Who's with me?" As one, Bella and Lily raised their hands. An evil smile stole over Bella's face.
Lily glanced over at where Sirius, still under the influence of the silencing spell, was laughing his head off at them. "Silencio," she muttered, hitting James as well. A look of outrage blossomed over his face, and he started to yell. Of course, it was silent, but she got the gist of what he was saying. Sirius noticed she'd struck again and started silent screaming too.
"Lily, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Alex smiled mischievously.
"Yup." Lily giggled and muttered the counter curse.
"AND YOU STUPID, IDIODIC LITTLE GIRL! TAKE THIS OFF ME YOU FU..."
"...TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU! YOU WON'T LOOK NORMAL FOR A..."
The boys realized at the same time that they were audible again, and that the whole school was staring at them. "Heh, sorry." James blushed while Sirius shot dirty looks at the girls, who were now falling over themselves laughing.
"I need a great idea for this..." Bella started to think out loud, but at that moment the feast ended and they were instructed to follow their prefect up the stairs to the dormitory.
"Gryffindors this way." A tall seventh year named Arthur Weasly raised his hand and beckoned them to a portrait of a round woman in a pink evening gown.
"Password?"
"Wingardium Leviosa."
The woman in the picture nodded her head and swung open to reveal a door. Arthur led them through, and pointed the girls to the one side and the boys to the other. Bella, Lily, and Alex all trooped up the stairs and found the door with their names on it in silver script.
"We're roommates! Nice!" Alex jumped onto the bed that had her trunk by it and spread out spread-eagle. "Oh, hey, Bella. What was your plan for getting back at the boys?"
"Not quite sure. We'll think of something."
In the boys' room"We shouldn't have played that prank on the girls..." Remus sighed in exasperation as he saw that his two best friends weren't listening to him. "That Lily Evans girl, she's smart. She's muggle born and she knew spells you didn't. I don't think we want to start a war of any sort..."
"What could a girl do to us?" Sirius looked offended.
"Make us get detention the first day of class by making us all unable to speak. And knowing them, they'd find some way of twisting it so that only they could undo it. These girls aren't going to put up with teasing. Look what Wood did when you knocked her down. She would have hexed you if she hadn't found it funny that you couldn't talk."
"She's not going to get away with that. Neither is Evans, she's the one who actually humiliated us. They're both going down..." James was furious. He'd been made a fool of, twice, by a GIRL. Evans needed to be shown who was the better prankster.
Remus sighed. He had a bad feeling about how this was going to turn out. His best bet was just to make friends with the girls so they'd go easy on him when they were thinking of retaliations. He had no doubt there would be retaliations, for he knew the boys were planning something already for the silencing charm fiasco. And from what he knew of the girls, they weren't going to take this lying down... This was going to be a long year.
Back in the girls' roomThere was a fourth roommate with the three friends. Her name was Allison Starland, and she was boy crazy. She spent twenty minutes gushing about how hot a couple of boys were, and the other three girls had to choke back laughter when they discovered she was talking about James, Sirius, and Remus.
"Oh, those three? Well, go ahead, date them. Just, don't tell them you're our roommate if you want them to like you." Lily smiled at the girl as he paused for breath.
"Why not?" Allison tilted her head to one side.
"Because we're the ones responsible for their shouting fits at dinner." Alex grinned wickedly.
"WHAT? How COULD you?" She then proceeded to shock her roommates by going on for another twenty minutes about how they had ruined her chances for getting a hot boyfriend.
"Like we did it on purpose," Bella muttered. "It's going to be a looooooong year."
A/N: There. Read and review, please! I NEED A BETA!