Author's Note: Needless to say, I own nothing Harry Potter or anything else you might recognize. I own no songs I write about. I have read enough books and stories to forget where I picked up a certain idea or phrase, so I can't give credit to the author. Thank you.

Chapter 3

"The Fall in the Abyss"

The couple of weeks after Lily's letter came, she and the twins were closer than ever. They had absolutely no secrets. Lily learned loads of things from the magical world. Trish's and Arlene's mom was a muggle, like Lily's parents, but their dad was all magical, coming from a long line of wizards. Lily learned that the large fireplace in the Remmey's living room had a use besides keeping them warm in the winter; it was used as transportation, as well. Wizards and witches used wands to perform magic, but you weren't allowed to use magic legally until you turned seventeen. Their post was sent with owls, the same kind her school letter had come with. They were very smart and understood when you talked to them. Charlie had one, but it was rarely in the house. Lily got to meet him, however, the day after she learned of this. Lily could have written books with all she learned in the last two weeks.

In the second week of August, Mr. and Mrs. Remmey, along with their three children and the Evans's family (except Petunia) went for a drive to London. They took two cars, and drove the 57 km. until Mr. Remmey signaled them to stop. They parked and got out of the car, stopping at a corner that no one seemed to notice; the sign on the second story wall read "The Leaky Cauldron". At least it sounded weird enough to be a wizard place. They walked in. It was the darkest place. Lily thought they didn't turn on the lights, but then she noticed that the place didn't seem to have any electric fixtures. No lamps, no lights, no TV, no radio, nothing. The whole place was lit with candles.

She took some time to examine the people in the bar as well. All wearing long, floor-length jackets of all colors, and some of them wore odd hats. Well, this was her new crowd. She had better get used to it. Mr. Remmey greeted the man at the bar and led the crowd to the back door, behind the tables. They walked out to a back alley, where there were some crates and a few trash bins and encircling walls. Where was this going? Mr. Remmey took out his wand and tapped the wall at different bricks. Lily jumped back when the brick wall started melting away from the middle to create a large walkway. There were loads of people on the other side, acting as if all this was normal. Lily could see moving signs, people with their bags floating behind them, children with odd-looking body parts eating colored candies and laughing. The only thing she could think was "Wow".

They walked through the multitudes, and right up to a large white building. Lily saw monsters in uniforms standing at the entrance and cringed, backing into Arlene.

"It's ok, you know? They're goblins. They won't bother you unless you plan to rob the bank," she said, pushing Lily forward. Ok, so it was a bank. They walked in, coming to an enormous room, like a fancy hotel lobby, with high ceilings and a tall counter, which held probably a hundred of the same-looking goblins. Mr. Remmey walked up to one that didn't seem to be busy.

"We would like to go into the Remmey account, and we would like to open a new account, under the name Lily Evans, and convert pounds to wizard money." He seemed to know what to say to the goblin because he sent the Remmeys down a flight of stairs while the Evans's remained standing with the goblin looking down at them.

"Full name of witch or wizard in charge?" asked the goblin.

"Can it be a minor? Because neither my wife nor I are of magical blood." Said Mr. Evans.

"Yes it may, but I will be needing the name of one or both guardians of the minor."

Lily and the Remmeys walked out of there with more money in their pockets, at least more money in Lily's pockets. They had given her twenty galleons, enough to do her school shopping and have a little extra money. They went to buy robes, cauldrons, potion materials, books (both twins had to pull Lily out of this shop), had a food break, and finally, the wand shop. She was getting a wand! She was so excited that she was shaking.

The bell rang when they entered. There were three people looking for wands, so the adults sat down. Charlie had run off to a place unknown, probably with his girlfriend. All three girls tried out wands for about an hour and a half. Trish ended up with an 11½ inch, beech wood wand, Arlene ended up with a 10 inch, hornbeam wand, and Lily ended up with a 10¼ inch, willow wand. They paid seven galleons each and left the shop. Once outside, they could see how much time had passed, it was dark and most of the people had left. They reached the Leaky Cauldron, met up with Charlie and drove both cars home.

A week later, just seven days before her first day of school, she searched through the attic, finally finding what she needed. Charlie had suggested she take a trunk to school, considering all the things she had to take. Mr. Remmey proceeded to enlarge her trunk to the size of a closet, making compartments for each of her things. She then packed her books, which she had already perused; her uniforms and robes, her regular clothes and sweaters, her moneybag and all the extra things she needed. She was so exited.

On August 31st, the Evans's had the Remmeys for dinner, to thank them for everything. They talked of Hogwarts; Mr. Remmey commented about how wonderful it was for him when he was there.

"Not that I don't enjoy my life now, but my Hogwarts years were the best years of my life. I couldn't imagine my life otherwise. I just keep wishing Roni had gone there, too. She missed out on all the amazing things, but now she can enjoy all I know. I like sharing." He smiled a goofy smile, making both Lily's parents laugh.

Lily had a nervous but good feeling in her stomach, like right before a rollercoaster goes down a steep fall. She had almost no appetite, but she ate anyway. That night, after she bid farewell to her friends, she lied in her bed, looking up at the ceiling, feeling more nervous than she had ever been. She wondered if she would even fall asleep tonight, after all, tomorrow was the beginning of the rest of her life.

She woke up to her mother shaking her awake. It was nearly 8 a.m. Lily groaned and sat up; knowing that if she rolled over she would never wake up in time to catch her train. She double-checked her room for important things she might have left behind. After breakfast, of which she could eat very little, she brushed her teeth and put her toothbrush in her trunk. Her mother packing extra things for her as she ushered everyone, including Petunia, out the front door. It was quarter to eleven when both families arrived at King's Cross, Lily's stomach churning worse than ever. Mr. Remmey indicated that to get to their platform, they had to cross through the barrier between the platforms 9 and 10. Lily thought Mr. Remmey was daft, how could anyone walk through solid wall? Her answer was answered first, by a thought that sounded like If it's magic it can happen and secondly, by the disappearance of Charlie behind a multitude of people that had just run in front of them. Mr. Remmey said it was a precaution against muggles, non-magical people, seeing them walk through the wall. Next went Arlene and Trish together. Mr. Remmey was to walk through with Lily, but he patiently waited for her to say goodbye.

"Bye Mum, Dad, Pet," Petunia was looking away, this hurt Lily, but both her parents hugged her, each wishing her good luck, that she fit in, that she write if there was any trouble, that she had a great school year, the works. They kissed her in turn, her mother's eyes shining with unshed tears. She waved goodbye as Mr. Remmey, with her cart, and she walked through the barrier onto the platform. She had closed her eyes and was clinging to the cart Mr. Remmey was pushing.

When the cart slowed down, she opened her eyes. A red steam engine, like those in the movies, stood before her. It bore the legend "The Hogwarts Express". Kids, some in uniform, some in regular clothes, some in cloaks and hats, bustled around, talking, laughing; just being kids. There was nothing to be afraid of. They were regular kids, like her. She would find her crowd in no time. She forgot she was standing completely still, in front of the barrier, when…BOOM—CLANK! A girl and her cart had just toppled over, and so had Lily, since the girl had bumped into her.

"I'm SO sorry!" exclaimed Lily, helping the girl pick up her things. She just glared at Lily, sending her knives with her black eyes. Lily stopped in mid bow and asked,

"Do you need any help?" even when she had already picked up a cage and a book. The girl bent down to pick up the book Lily was about to pick up and said "No." She pushed her cart over by some other people, while Lily walked towards her own group.

"Remember. Anything you need, you just owl me. If you forgot anything, owl me. If you just want to talk, owl me. If you don't want to talk, owl me anyway, just to know how you're doing." Mr. Remmey was giving his girls a speech worthy of a president. Both girls rolled their eyes and hugged him. He helped them haul their trunks to the door of the train and pushed them in. Next came Lily's trunk. He turned to her and said,

"Lily, I know I'm not your father, but I feel equally responsible for you as any father would." Lily felt a wave of appreciation for him, "If you need anything, you can owl me as well. The school has plenty of owls. You can also ask Charlie for help at anything. This is his fourth year there, so he has more experience than many. I just want to make sure you feel at home. This is an enormous change for you." Lily smiled at his fatherly manner. Just then, the train's whistle sounded. Mr. Remmey pulled Lily's trunk into the train. Lily found the compartment Trish and Arlene were in and put her trunk under the seat. The train whistled again and jerked to a start. She could see Mr. Remmey through the window, waving at them. She suddenly felt scared, she ran out of the compartment, both girls asking her where she was going, pulled open the door, and jumped out of the train, ignoring the screams of her friends. She looked back in time to see the train speed up and disappear in the distance. She had just jumped off the train of her hopes, dreams and everything she wished for. Now what?

Ok, my chapters are rather short, but at least I keep it up! Please keep reviewing and I'll keep updating, or maybe I'll update for reviews,I don't know. Just thank you to those who have read so far. Tell me what you think of it, just try not to criticise, I did this in like an hour. I have no spare time! School is killing me: research papers, book reports in Spanish, planing a whole yearbook in 41 days...it's not easy being me, so pretend you like being you when you review.

Cheers,

Elspeth