To Hogwarts!
The strange woman pushed her chair away from the desk and surveyed her work on the computer screen. She hastily wiped away a tear as it ran down her ivory cheek and rapidly began typing again.
The days honestly crawled by until September 1st was upon us. And, of course, leave it to me to put off packing until the very last minute. Literally. The very last minute. James and I were to meet Sirius at King's Cross at 10:30 sharp; 10:29 found me – the eleven year old Lord of the Multitaskers – brushing my teeth, pulling on clothes, attempting to tame my hair, tossing random items into my trunk, all the while avoiding my brother, and shouting that I'd 'be there in a moment!' to my mum.
Needless to say, I was found out. James was sent on to King's Cross ahead of me to meet Sirius and twenty minutes later my entire family was on the way to the station.
My father was racing through King's Cross, pushing a trolley with a squeaky wheel that bore both mine and my brother's heavy trunks. I was a step behind him, with my mother hanging on one ear telling me all about the Houses ("It's alright if you're not put in Ravenclaw like the rest of the family, your brother is a Gryffindor, after all") and my brother hanging on the other telling me about what a painful experience the Sorting was ("… and then this e-bloody-normous troll comes out of no where …"). It was then, when we were nearly upon the entrance to Platform 9 ¾ when I saw a red-headed girl looking at me oddly. She was surrounded by Muggles. A man and a woman, who I assumed were her parents, and a horse faced girl, who I assumed was her sister.
After some prompting from her mother, the red-head came up to my brother and I. "I'm sorry, but I heard you talking about Hogwarts a-and I was wondering if you could …"
"Tell you how to get to the platform?" Terrence finished.
"Well … yes, actually." she breathed.
"It's simple!" I exclaimed. My mother and father had moved off to talk to the red-headed girl's family. Her parents looked thoroughly ecstatic. Her sister looked terrified.
"Listen to this one; 'It's simple!'" Terrence mocked, "This is Tacey's first year at Hogwarts, she doesn't know what she's talking about any more than you."
She looked at him skeptically. "Alright, but … how do we get onto the platform?"
"Yes, Oh Mighty Second Year, how do we get on the platform?" I retorted.
Terrence arched an eyebrow at us, "You walk through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10."
"You have got to be kidding me!" the red-headed girl scoffed.
"Look, I'll prove it to you." Terrence said, as he moved to casually lean against the barrier.
And then he was gone. Just like that.
"Well… I suppose there's nothin' for it." I sighed, motioning towards the barrier.
"You can go first." the red-headed girl said quickly.
Just then my father looked up from his conversation with the Muggles and said, "Best to run if it's your first time," with a smile and a wink.
I shrugged and ran towards the barrier Terrence had so effortlessly passed thorough moments ago, half-expecting a very painful and embarrassing crash. I squeezed my eyes shut.
Upon opening them I was greeted with the sight of a black and scarlet train and a massive amount of students dressed in Muggle clothes or wizarding robes. Some with shiny silver badges or owls, or trunks, some bidding their parents goodbye until Christmas, some laughing with friends and boarding the train.
My silent observation was suddenly interrupted when a body came crashing into me and the next thing I knew was the screeching of owls, tangling of limbs, and the merger of red and brown hair – each struggling for freedom as the body that flew into me moved; attempting to untangle itself from me.
Then I laughed. Laughed at the sheer absurdity of my situation. Another voice joined mine and we laughed at the fact that we were two people sprawled out on the train station floor, each a mess in our own right, and no one seemed to see anything out of the ordinary in that. And we simply didn't care.
"I'm sorry," the other body said, finally dislodging itself from me, revealing the Muggle-born girl from before, offering her hand, "I'm Lily Evans."
"Tacey Clearwater." I replied, shaking her hand, "Nice to meet you."
Lily was my first girl friend at Hogwarts, as it turned out, she became one of my best friends and crashing into each other (involuntarily, I think) became a staple of our relationship.
"So …" Lily began, standing up, "I'm guessing you're from a wizarding family?"
"Yeah," I replied absently, brushing dirt off my clothes. "You're not, right? You're a Muggle born?"
"Yeah." Lily replied dejectedly, "You must know everything about magic … and everyone here!"
"Not really. We're not allowed to do magic out of school 'til we're seventeen and I really don't know many people. James and I live in a basically Muggle village."
"I guess I don't feel so bad then," she paused a moment to right her trunk. "James your brother?"
I looked up from fixing my owl's cage. "My brother is Terrence. James Potter lives next door to me. And he's my best friend – aside from Sirius Black, that is – they both should be on the train already … c'mon I'll introduce you."
Together Lily and I loaded our things and boarded the train. After a solid ten minutes of searching, I began to get frustrated.
"Suppose you tell me what they look like and I'll help look." Lily panted, struggling to keep up with me prowling the extensive length of the train.
"Alright, James is fairly tall with hazel eyes and really messy – maybe even scruffy – black hair. Sirius is just a bit shorter with blue eyes and longer-than-usual dark hair." I explained, furtively looking into every compartment.
Lily gave me a funny look. "Why are you slinking about like that?"
"Because," I began in a dramatic stage whisper, "the three of us are notorious for pranking and one must be extra cautious when the other two go conveniently missing."
What Lily must have thought of me at that point, I honestly don't even want to know. I could tell by the way she was looking at me that she thought I was a nutter at the least, if not quite worthy of being locked up in St. Mungo's yet. However; my suspicions were soon confirmed when I suddenly felt Lily crashing into me from behind, sending me face forward to the ground.
"Are you alright?" she inquired, "I'm so sorry … I just tripped out of no where."
"It's alright." I replied, giving my surroundings a suspicious once over.
Abruptly, Lily jumped and gasped, covering her arse with her hands, looking around wildly. I looked at her questioningly as she blushed and let her hands fall away from her bum.
"Someone just pinched my bum, I swear it!" she exclaimed.
Out of nowhere I heard an all-too-familiar snigger and saw Lily's skirt begin to rise. Apparently, she noticed this as well. Her face began to turn the color of her hair with outrage and shock, I motioned for her to stay quiet a moment longer. I reached out into the empty space between us and my hand closed around something silky. I ripped it away and revealed Sirius standing behind a crouching James, who held Lily's skirt. Sirius's grin slowly faded as he turned to see me holding the Invisibility Cloak, tapping my foot impatiently. He winced as he turned back to James and tapped him on the back. James looked up to find a very angry red-head staring down at him. A look of utter terror crossed his features. We all know what they say about angry red-heads.
"Um – er - … L-lovely fabric, this is. Yes. I was just – er – examining … it?" James stuttered as he released the hem of Lily's skirt.
I furiously shoved them into the nearest compartment. "You bloody wankers!" I screamed.
"You know them?" Lily asked, astonished.
"Oh, not only do I bloody know them! I unfortunately call them my best friends! This amazing git is James Potter and this twit is Sirius Black." I said angrily, backhanding each of them in the chest as I introduced them.
"Who's she?" Sirius winced with his hand to his chest. I hadn't exactly held back while hitting them, James was still trying to catch his breath.
"I'm Lily Evans." she replied, caught between anger and amusement.
"And I'm thoroughly amused." A voice said from behind me.
I spun around to see a sandy-haired boy sitting by the window. He looked tired and haggard and his robes were patched in three places, but he had a friendly face, which was wearing a jovial expression.
James managed a smile. "I'm-"
"I know." the boy interrupted with a slight smile, "James Potter. Amazing git. Heard the speech. Sit down, you might as well stay at this point."
I stared at him for a second; then laughed as I sat across from him. "I'm Tacey Clearwater."
"Remus Lupin." he replied. "Nice to meet you all."
"You too," Lily smiled as she sat down next to him. "You're a first year, as well then?"
Remus nodded. "What House d'you think you'll be in?"
The train began to move as the five of us pleasantly exchanged idle banter. Lily, still mad about the previous skirt incident, quietly ignored James and Sirius, giving them the curtest of answers. For the most part the train ride was uneventful. Until, I happened to bring up Quidditch (for wherever James or myself were found, there was talk of it) and Lily inquired as to what exactly it is.
Just as James opened his mouth to answer the compartment door flew open, revealing a short, stumpy blonde boy with watery blue eyes.
"Hide me!" he cried in a hoarse whisper.
Panic was vividly etched on his face; complete and utter shock was vividly etched on everyone else's. Sirius was the first to react; he jumped up and slammed the door shut behind the boy.
"Who are you?" Sirius demanded.
"And why do we have to hide you?" James asked.
"My n-name is Peter Pettigrew and you have to hide me because two boys are chasing me, trying to hex me for no good reason. All because I-I asked if I could sit with them." he stuttered.
Lily got up and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You can sit with us."
"Who'd want to hex you?" I asked quietly, somewhat perplexed.
"I'll bet my Cauldron Cakes my cousin has something to do with this," Sirius growled, waving the cakes around, "Was there an ugly dark-haired girl with them?"
Lily looked confused, but wisely didn't say anything. Remus looked sympathetic; everyone who was raised in the Wizarding World knew of the Black's and their … beliefs. James and I grimaced, we both knew how Sirius felt about his family.
This all, of course, went over Peter's head, because he didn't know yet that Sirius was one of the Black clan, soon to become the infamous black sheep (no pun intended) who found himself in Gryffindor. Regardless, Peter was never the swiftest bloke you'd find.
"Well …," Peter blushed, "I wouldn't exactly say she's ugly."
I gave a slight sigh of relief: no one could call emaciated little Bellatrix pretty. "Maybe it wa-"
Again, the opening of the compartment door stopped conversation. I held my breath as I felt Sirius tense and looked up. It wasn't Bellatrix – thank Merlin for small favors. It was, however; the only two people, who could claim no relation to Sirius, that we mercilessly tormented throughout our seven years at Hogwarts. Severus "Snivelly" Snape and Lucius "Lurgy Lucy" Malfoy.
"That's them." Peter whispered.
James, Sirius, Remus, and I all sat up a little straighter. My hand slowly reached for my wand. I knew full well there was no guarantee that I could perform any of the multitude of pranking spells I had committed to memory.
"And who are you?" I asked brusquely.
Sirius sneered at them as he stood. "I know who they are. Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape … one, a prestigious Pureblood. The other wishes he was. I'll give you three guesses who."
James slid over and elbowed me in the ribs, "I don't know about you, Tace, but I'd wager my broomstick that dear Severus is quite the wanna-be Pureblood."
"I would have to concur, Jamsie." I replied mockingly, "Sweet Severus does seem to possess the air of one who has kissed many an arse."
Snape pushed passed Sirius and glared at me. "Shut up, you bint. Don't call me by my first name … you Muggle-lovers don't deserve it."
"Would you prefer Snivellus then?" Lily asked with mock-concern.
"Filthy Mudblood!" Lucius exploded, all in the compartment save Lily and Snivelly gasped, "Muzzle your disgusting friends, will you, Black?"
"Look who's talking Malfoy; you don't get much dirtier than a former supporter of Grindelwald." Remus spat, incised by derogatory remark towards Lily – as we all were.
Lucius glared at him. "Who are you to even speak to me?"
"Oh, stuff it, Malfoy. You've got money, it doesn't make you a bloody god!" I snapped, matching his glare as best I could.
"Don't talk to him that way, Half-blood!" Snape screamed.
James and I looked at each other, then back at Snivelly. We spoke at the same time: "What? Did she insult your boyfriend, Snivellus?" "Are you daft? You're a Half-blood, too!"
The sudden barrage of insults from myself and James caused Snape and Malfoy to draw their wands furiously. They stood poised, with wands at the ready, but said nothing. Peter let out an audible whimper, while Lily and Remus schooled their faces to betray none of their building apprehension.
James, Sirius, and I simply threw back out heads and laughed.
Everyone else in the compartment sent us a skewed glance, but we paid them no notice. Sirius cackled madly as he sent a Hives Hex at Malfoy, followed by a quick Jelly Legs Jinx from me to Snivellus, and completed by a Tarantallegra on the already itching Lucy from James.
Snape stumbled as far as his jellied legs would allow, while a wildly dancing Malfoy attempted to push past him whilst reaching to scratch every possible place an itch could occur. Some none too pleasant, I can assure you.
All six of us howled with laughter as we watched them beat a sloppy and undignified retreat. James, Sirius, and I shared silent moment of triumph at successfully casting the spells we had worked so hard to memorize since Christmas.
Lily's laughter died first. Looking fairly apologetic she said, "I-I feel kinda bad … did they really deserve all that?"
"He called you a Mudblood, Lily. He deserves much worse than that." James said gravely, turning the mood in the compartment serious.
"I don't know what that means," Lily said uncertainly to Remus, Peter, and I; still remembering to ignore James and Sirius.
"Mudblood is a really awful name for someone who's Muggle-born." I explained quietly.
Remus nodded. "It's not exactly a term you should expect to hear among civilized wizards and witches."
"No …" Peter agreed, "But, those two are hardly civilized to begin with."
We all nodded in quiet agreement; then grinned softly at each other as the train ground to a halt. Sirius flew across the compartment, pressing his face against the window and fogging it with his breath.
"Hogwarts," he breathed, "We're here."