"Hey, look!"
"There she goes!"
"Isn't she just wonderful?"
Those murmurs echoed through the hall like bells ringing in the chapel when couples got married in the name of love.
Lily Evans walked past and smiled humbly at the boys staring at her with their mouth opens. The boys all came from different houses, including Amos Diggory, Gerrard Barrowcliffe, Samuel Farley and Kye Bradford, the four most eligible bachelors from the four different houses respectively.
She smiled modestly at all of the boys while inwardly, she laughed out loud at the popularity she was facing. She had done it. She had made her name known in Hogwarts; she was Head Girl of the seventh grade; the year was only starting and yet there were already boys admiring her and girls getting jealous of her; she was a pet for most of the teachers. She had fulfilled her dreams.
She walked back to her dormitory room, said the password and her other three friends greeted her half-heartedly. They seemed to be engrossed in some other juicy gossip.
Cheryl McNiece was lying on the couch, relaxed and was listening intently on something Jamie Kincaid was saying.
"As I said-" Jamie's voice trailed off as she watched Lily change totally. It was almost like watching a transformation happen. Lily took out her tie with a flourish and let her tightly bound fiery red hair loose. Then she tied it into two stupid looking ponytails at two sides of her head.
"Jamie, carry on…" said Melissa Corwell, even though she herself was amazed at the way Lily, the smart and pretty Head Girl that seems to everyone, can change into something not so pretty. Although Lily's three bosom friends had seen this "transformation" many times, they were still amazed at the fact that the Lily Evans standing right in front of them can be two different persons just in a few minutes, or even seconds.
"What are you all looking at me for?" Lily demanded as she stripped out of her decent white blouse and gray checkered skirt and fit her body snugly into a pair of outrageously colored shorts and equally colorful spaghetti straps.
"Nothing…" the three of them muttered.
Lily did not seem satisfied with that answer but she made do with it. After all ,she was too busy to bother about these minor details.
She walked over to the table Melissa and Jamie were sitting at, snatched her thick black horn rimmed glasses and put them on. Then, hastily, she took out all her homework out of her cauldron and settled down in front of the hearth to complete them. Even though they did not have to be handed in the next day.
Cheryl shook her head as she saw Lily prop her elbows on the thick rug and lie on her flat tummy.
"Don't you ever stop doing homework?" Cheryl half-shouted, knowing that when Lily was doing her homework, nothing or rather, no one, could stop her. She really couldn't hear anything clearly.
"Sure."
All three of them raised their eyebrows in unison to show their disbelief.
Lily looked up for a moment and smiled half-heartedly. "I also do research in the library at times, you know."
Exasperated sighs followed.
It took all of Melissa not to roll her eyes heavenward. Dealing with Lily really was the most exasperating thing in the whole wide world.
Jamie figured that if she had that much work to do or complete, even if it wasn't due the next day, she would definitely swoon. So, instead of imagining the impossible, she went back to the topic the three of them were discussing about before they experienced the three hundred and thirty six degree change in front of them.
"I tell you, it's true!" Jamie emphasized every word.
"But… why would any one be transferred at this time of the year?"
"The year has barely started, you know." Cheryl pointed out the fact to Melissa.
"But… it's seventh grade and I heard the transfer students are from the seventh grade, too." Melissa insisted.
Cheryl shrugged.
"Transfer students?" Lily's ears couldn't help but perk up at the sound of the two special and 'extraordinary' words.
Melissa snorted. "Since when did you care about transfer students?"
Lily rolled her eyes, as if the answer was most obvious.
"Since I'm Head Girl."
Jamie dragged her "oh" in such a way that nobody really believed that she truly understood.
Lily continued. "What about transfer students, then?"
Cheryl shrugged once more and explained to Lily the rumor all three of them heard in the Great Hall today. She couldn't help but add that Lily was probably from Mars since it seemed like everyone knew what was going on except her.
Lily ignored the last remark and instead rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
"Hmmm…" she said, in deep thought.
Melissa and Jamie looked at each other, knowing that something was definitely brewing up in that head of Lily's. They looked over to Cheryl for reassurance but to their slight dismay, Cheryl was already asleep in the velvety red couch.
Lily spotted that too, and murmured to herself about Cheryl not managing a strict diet and sleeping all the time.
After that, both Melissa and Jamie felt rather uncomfortable looking at Lily and not doing anything but talking. Hence, they finally decided to take out their Charms and Transfiguration homework and complete them.
The next hour passed peacefully. The only sounds in the room were the soft snores of Cheryl and the occasional scratching and tugging of scalp and hair by Lily when she couldn't understand something she was seeing or reading.
Lily bit the end of her pencil as she struggled to understand the newest concept of Potions. Without knowing or realizing it, she had fallen asleep with the pencil still in her mouth. It had almost become a habit for her to sleep like that, in an elbows propped on the thick maroon rug, pencil in mouth and head in hands position. However, Lily had of course been very careful about this little annoying habit of hers.
Suddenly, there was a rather loud knock on the wooden door. Lily's eyes immediately snapped open, and they were back to a piercing yet at the same time soothing green, rather than the misty green she always has when she is about to fall asleep.
She cleared her throat softly and said in a loud, clear voice, "Who is it outside?"
"A message from the Headmaster himself, summoning Lily Evans to his office immediately!" replied a booming voice.
Melissa raised her head and also rubbed her eyes of sleep and amazement as she saw Lily go through the daily routinely transformation in a matter of seconds once more and pull her hair into a tight ponytail before opening the door and smiling at the handsome messenger, who looked rather surprised.
Lily rushed to the Headmaster's office, and checked through her attire from shirt to skirt once more before saying the password to make the stone gargoyle in front of the office budge and give way to an open door.
"Ah!" the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, smiled as he saw Lily Evans walk into his office. The corners of his mouth twitched to form a bigger grin as he looked Lily over once more, carefully.
"So, Miss Evans, how is it being Head Girl?" Dumbledore asked kindly.
"Oh! Simply superb!" Lily smiled broadly.
"Very good. Now, I'm sure you have heard of the rumors in school?"
Lily frowned as she recalled what was it that Cheryl was rambling about that early afternoon.
"Is it… about the transfer students?" she asked uncertainly.
"Ah! I believe so." Lily smiled once more; Dumbledore seemed to have a way of saying "yes" or "no" in a different way.
"Well-" Dumbledore continued. "-actually, these rumors are true. Four transfer students from Durmstrang will be coming over to Hogwarts in a matter of days. However, they will be arriving at different times. One of them will be here before the other three. And I hope you can show him around."
Lily nodded, while pondering why the Head Boy couldn't see to the minor task. After all, she had tests to prepare for. Dumbledore seemed to know what she was thinking about for he explained that the Head Boy, Gary Sondergaard, was quite seriously injured during a fall due to the moving staircases and would be resting in the Hospital Wing for a few months to come.
Lily's face flushed as she wondered if Dumbledore had the power to read people's minds. Dumbledore smiled at her flush and told her that the student would be coming to Hogwarts two days from today and told her to get prepared as he would probably be sorted into Gryffindor.
Lily stopped herself from wondering how Dumbledore could know about the student's house without even meeting or knowing him.
She quickly dismissed herself and walked briskly out of the office, eager to get on with the preparations and catch up on the homework she didn't complete, only to meet her Charms teacher, Professor Drude, on her way out.
She acknowledged the professor politely and walked out of the room, leaving the Professor to stare at her retreating shadow, unable to believe what she saw, and Dumbledore chuckling softly at the amusing sight that greeted the Professor, for it had amazed him as well.
Lily was barefooted.
James Harold Potter sat in the lush red and gold train seats of the single carriage and smiled at the sight that greeted him. The sun was setting and it gave out a most beautiful fiery red. Even though it seemed to disappear slowly behind the high mountains and green peaks, it never seemed to lose its attractiveness and vibrancy.
He wished he could get out of the carriage and the luxury of it and roll in the green soft grass, without any worries.
Right now, he was worried that he couldn't get used to the new environment that was going to welcome him with open arms, or so his parents had assured him. He only regretted that his other three friends weren't with him, joking amiably with him. They still had some problems to settle over at his old school, Durmstrang, and their families.
Even though all of them were rich, they sometimes had problems with adjusting to the new surroundings and financial or family problems.
James settled down into his comfy seat and started to doze off. One more day… and that was his last coherent thought before he fell into a deep sleep.