A/N: Hello from Lycoming College! This is my first post as a college freshman! It's everything I thought it would be...but there's of course a problem. If you guys thought I didn't post much before, it'll be forever between posts now. I bought my books today...14 books for 5 classes. So, unfortunately, James, Lily, Remus, Becca, Sirius and Liz may have to wait a while. And Peter doesn't count, because everyone hates him anyway. But for right now he's only 11, so we can't hate him too much. Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys and reviews this chapter, and I'll have the next one up ASAP. Also, thanks SOOOOOO much to everyone who reviewed last chapter...it's a great feeling! Good luck with going back to school and stuff...hopefully it won't be too long before I'm posting to you again!

Sammy Solo

It was finally here: September 1, 1970. It was a day that would change people's lives forever, including the small red-haired girl that pushed her trolley through the crowd of people in King's Cross Station. Lily wove in and out of the passers-by, closely followed by her parents. Petunia had opted not to come; she said she had had enough "abnormality" to last her a lifetime from her trip to Diagon Alley.

Petunia could say whatever she wanted; Lily didn't care. Soon she would be on her way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"This is ridiculous!" Mr. Evans complained, studying the paper in his hand. "There's no such place as Platform 9 ¾." As much as Lily hated to admit it, her father was right. They stood near the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, and there was no indication that there was anything in between them. "How are we supposed to get to this bloody train, anyway?"

"Calm down, Michael," Violet said soothingly. "Look around, maybe we'll see someone we recognize from that alley." They stood, studying the crowd for a familiar face. Lily saw a rather small, mousy boy walking quickly by, an older man, probably the boy's father, towering behind.

"…stupid boy, running late…you're lucky we haven't missed the train!" the man was saying to the boy.

"S-sorry, sir," the boy stammered.

"Get in there!" Lily gasped as the man shoved his son into the wall between Platform 9 and Platform 10.

No, not into the wall…through it.

"Daddy!" Lily pulled on her father's sleeve.

"What is it dear?" Michael asked.

"Daddy, look." Michael followed his child's gaze just in time to see a large man and a smaller woman walk through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10.

"Bloody hell," Michael mumbled, a look of astonishment on his face. "We're supposed to walk…through the wall?" He sighed. "Okay then."

Michael led his wife and daughter over to the barrier. Cautiously, he reached his hand out towards the brick and pushed.

Except that there was nothing to push on. Michael's hand went right through the wall. He gasped and pulled his hand back quickly, staring at the appendage like he'd never seen it before.

"Well," Violet said, trying to remain chipper despite all of the strange things that were happening. "I guess this is the right place." She took her daughter's hand and stepped up to the wall. "Shall we?"

Michael grabbed the trolley and pushed it towards the barrier, Violet and Lily close behind. As he got closer, he slowly eased the trolley forward, waiting for it to hit the barrier and stop, like it was supposed to.

"First time through?" Mr. Evans jumped and spun around as the man's voice spoke right next to his ear. "I'm sorry," the man said. "Didn't mean to frighten you."

"I wasn't frightened," Mr. Evans corrected immediately. The man's eyebrow rose.

"Right. Well, first time onto the platform?" he asked again.

"Well…yes," Mr. Evans said. "I suppose you've done this before, then?"

"Not since I was in school," the man said with a reminiscent smile. "And that's a long time ago. I've got two starting today." The man extended his hand. "Richard Lupin. And this is my son, Remus, and my niece, Elizabeth." He pointed to a sandy-haired boy and a blonde girl standing not far away.

"Michael Evans," he introduced himself, shaking the offered hand. "My daughter Lily is starting today." He indicated Lily standing behind him. She waved shyly at the other two children, who immediately waved back.

"A proud day, isn't it?" Richard asked with a smile on his face. Michael nodded, still unsure about the whole idea. "Well, then, we better get going, or they'll miss the train. Remus, Liz, come on."

Richard turned around and took the young girl's hand, quickly joined by the boy and an older woman, probably Richard's wife. The boy looked a little pale, as if he had been fighting off a bad cold.

"The trick," Richard explained, both to Mr. Evans and to his charges. "Is to remember that the wall isn't really there. If you're frightened and you hesitate, it will be much more difficult. See you on the other side!" With that one final statement to Mr. Evans, he led the two children through the wall.

"Well, it can't be that difficult," Mr. Evans concluded. He took hold of the trolley once again, as Violet grabbed Lily's hand. Drawing a deep breath, the three of them stepped to the wall.

Despite all of the proof to the contrary, Michael had fully expected to stride straight into a solid brick wall. Instead, he and his family passed through the barrier with ease, emerging on the other side on a bustling and crowded train platform. Men, women, and children hustled about, all wearing different color robes.

"Well done!" Richard called back, waving at the Evans'. Michael led his family to where the Lupins were waiting. "That wasn't so bad, hey?"

"No, not at all," Michael said, attempting nonchalance. "So, what now?"

"Follow me." Richard led the way down the platform, through groups of parents tearfully saying goodbye to their children. They came to a group of people who were loading the students' belongings onto the train. The Lupins and the Evans' dropped their luggage there, then went to the nearest entrance to the train itself. "Guess it's about time for you all to be getting on then." He turned to the two children behind him and started bidding his own farewells. Michael turned to Lily, who was looking a little nervous about the hustle and bustle all around her.

"Excited?" he asked his daughter. She nodded wordlessly, though she looked a little pale and she kept fidgeting. Stepping forward, Michael pulled her into a tight hug. "You'll be fine, darling. It's just like any other school, you'll just be learning different things. And if you want to come home, you just let us know, and we'll be there to pick you up, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," Lily said, smiling bravely up at him. It was Violet's turn next to embrace Lily.

"You'll do fine, Lily dear," Violet said, tears brimming in her eyes. "Just be careful, take care of yourself, dear." She kissed Lily on the forehead and smiled down at her. "We're so proud of you. I love you."

"Love you too, Mum," Lily said. "And you Dad." Then, with one last glance at her parents, Lily stepped aboard the scarlet train, leaving the world she knew far behind.

Sirius sighed as he turned the page of The Daily Prophet. There was a list of new magical spices out on the market, the Ministry was arguing over something about the thickness of cauldrons…all boring stuff. He had gotten on the train as soon as he could after arriving at Platform 9 ¾, desperate to get away from his family. He still had the bruise on his cheek from his "rebellion" at Diagon Alley.

He put the paper aside and stared out the window into the crowd. Mothers were crying, fathers were wearing their proudest expressions, and what had he gotten?

"We'll be expecting the letter telling us you've gotten into Slytherin," his mother had said harshly. "So don't mess it up." Next his father had leaned in close, a strong hand squeezing Sirius's shoulder a bit too hard.

"Remember, boy, Toujours Pur. It's about time you started to learn how to behave like a proper pureblood. If you associate with mudbloods or anything of the like, you'll be on your way to Durmstrang before you can say your own name. Understand me?"

Sirius had said yes, and sure, he understood. It didn't mean he had to listen. He had no intentions of being in the Slytherin house, and had every intention of disregarding his father's every word.

He turned away from the window as the door to his compartment slid open. Two familiar faces were standing in the doorway, both smiling broadly.

"Can we sit in here?" James asked, indicating the empty seats.

"Sure," Sirius replied, thinking about the look on his father's face if he knew he was sharing a compartment with James and Becca Potter. The image of that look made Sirius's smile a little wider.

James and Becca settled themselves on the bench across from Sirius. Both children were already in their Hogwarts robes, James's messy hair standing up in the back, while Bec's hair was tied back in a ponytail. "Are you sure you don't mind?" Bec asked. "You're dad looked pretty mad at Diagon Alley when he saw us together. And…wow, where'd you get that bruise."

"Fell of my broom," Sirius answered quickly. "And don't mind my dad, he has no idea what he's talking about." Trying to change the subject, he added quickly, "You must be really excited, if you're already in your robes."

"We are," James confirmed. "Aren't you?"

"I'm just glad to be out of my house," Sirius said. "I can't wait to start learning real magic, though."

"Oh yeah!" Bec agreed. "Watch this." She pulled her wand out of the pocket of her robes and pointed it at Sirius's Daily Prophet. "Wingardium Leviosa!" she said, and the paper started to float.

"Wicked!" Sirius exclaimed. "Where'd you learn that?"

"Dad showed us before we left," James explained.

"Can you show me?" Sirius asked.

"Sure!" James and Bec said together.

The three first years were so immersed in their first magic lessons they didn't even noticed when the train pulled away from the platform and they were finally on their way to Hogwarts.

Remus and Liz found their own compartment and settled in for the long train ride.

"Are you feeling okay?" Liz asked, concern in her young eyes.

"Yeah," Remus lied. Of course Liz knew he was lying.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm just tired," he tried, but she shook her head. "Okay, I'm tired, and still kinda sore, and kinda worried."

"Worried?" she inquired. "About what?"

"Well…what if someone finds out? Then they'll throw me out of school. Or what if I hurt someone? Or…"

"Remus," Liz cut him off. "Don't think that kind of thing. You'll be fine." She flashed him a reassuring smile.

Liz could say all she wanted about being a werewolf and everything being okay, but Remus couldn't believe it. He felt it every month: how much it hurt, the way the healers at St. Mungo's looked at him when his parents took him there to get cleaned up. Most people pitied him, and those who didn't wanted to be as far away from his as they could.

"Only a few more weeks, Remus," whispered the voice of the wolf inside his head. "Then you're mine again. Then we'll see what those people at school really think of you…"

A knock rang through the compartment, saving Remus from any more of the wolf's taunting…for now. Remus and Liz looked up as the red-haired girl from the platform poked her head into the compartment.

"Do you think I could sit with you?" she asked shyly, blushing slightly. "I don't know anyone else."

"Sure," Remus said, standing up and offering his hand to the newcomer. "I'm Remus Lupin."

"Lily Evans," the girl said, shaking his hand. She also shook Liz's hand, then sat down next to the blonde-haired girl.

"So, what's it like to be a muggle?" Liz asked, turning to face Lily.

"I'm sorry," Lily said, brow furrowing. "A what?"

"A muggle," Liz repeated.

"Someone who doesn't do magic," Remus explained, seeing that the puzzled look on Lily's face was still in place.

"Oh," Lily said. "Well, I guess it's okay, since I didn't know there was any other way to be until a few weeks ago. So what's this school like?"
Lily, Liz, and Remus felt the train lurch beneath them as their conversation continued. They quickly became friends, sharing stories from both the muggle and magical world as the train pulled away from the station. They stopped only when a knock echoed through the compartment. They turned to look at a small, mousy boy who had appeared in the doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said shyly, wringing his hands and staring at the floor. "But everywhere else is full. Do-do you think I could sit here?" He indicated the empty seat beside Remus.

"Sure," Remus, Liz, and Lily said together, laughing at the coincidence. The new boy seemed to relax a little and plopped down in the vacant seat.

"What's your name?" Lily asked.

"Peter," the boy answered, his blue eyes connecting with Lily's emerald ones. "Peter Pettigrew."

As Remus and Liz introduced themselves, Lily realized why this boy looked so familiar. This was the boy whom she had seen fall into the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. "Fall" being a relative term of course; the boy's father had practically thrown him through. But as he smiled and shook hands with Remus and Liz, he didn't seem any worse for the wear.

The rest of the train ride went pretty smoothly, until Lily ran into a problem she hadn't anticipated. When the conversation died down for a minute, she broke the silence.

"Um…is there a bathroom on the train?"

"Yeah," Peter answered. "I passed it when I was looking for a compartment. It's to the left."

"Thank you." Lily stood and pushed the compartment door aside. Stepping into the hallway, she turned left and started down the corridor. She passed compartments of students old and new talking excitedly about going to school. She reached the bathroom without incident. On the way out, however, was another story.

"Ow," she said as someone walked square into her. She tipped over backwards, landing on her butt on the carpeted floor. She expected the person to apologize, maybe to even try to help her up, but instead he said something she didn't understand at all.

"Watch where you're going, Mudblood," the boy's voice spat from above her. She looked up at a boy who looked like he was about her age. He had deep black hair and glaring, dark eyes. A sneer was painted on his face.

"I'm sorry," Lily pushed herself to her feet, her confusion written on her face. "What did you say?"

"I told you to watch where you were going, Mudblood," the boy snapped. "You'll foul up my new robes."

Mudblood? Lily thought. What kind of a nonsense word is that?

"Now get out of my way!" the boy demanded.

"Hey, Lestrange, why don't you say please?" A girl's voice rang out from behind the boy. He turned to face the newcomer, and Lily saw another young woman standing behind the boy, arms crossed over her chest, brown eyes piercing into the boy. Her chocolate hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, and the look on her face said she was all business.

"This has nothing to do you with you, Potter. Stay out of it," the boy-Lestrange, the girl had called him-said. "What do you care about a mudblood anyway?"

"I care that you're fouling up the space near my compartment with your breath," the girl retorted. "Now get out of here."

"And who's going to make me?" Lestrange challenged. "You?"

"Yeah, me," the girl said. Suddenly, two boys poked their heads out the door behind her. One was taller than the other people in the corridor, with black hair and black eyes that flashed with mischief. The other…

It's the boy! Lily realized. The boy I saw in the alley! She suddenly felt better seeing him there, though she wasn't sure why. His messy black hair fell across his forehead, slightly obscuring his glasses and hazel eyes.

"Bec, you okay?" the boy from the alley asked.

"Aw, does little Becky Potter need her big brother to come save her?" Lestrange asked mockingly, a smirk crossing his lips. Becca opened her mouth to fight back, but the other boy cut her off.

"Don't worry about it, Bec," the boy said. "He isn't even worth your breath."

"Ah, Sirius Black," Lestrange said, a false smile on his face. "You're hanging around the wrong crowd here, aren't you? You'll want to be farther back, with the rest of the Slytherins."

"Sirius is just fine where he is," the hazel-eyed boy said, stepping fully out of the compartment. "Now, are you going to go back to where you belong, or are we going to have to make you?"

This Lestrange boy may have been tough, but he obviously wasn't stupid. He knew he couldn't win a four-on-one fight, if Lily stuck with the people who had stood up for her. Lestrange scowled and turned to face the taller black-haired boy.

"We'll see about this when we get to school, Black. Then we'll see where you really belong." With another sneer, Lestrange turned and strode down the hallway in the opposite direction. Lily let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and turned to face the three other people.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm really not sure what he was talking about, but I'm sure it wasn't good."

"You'll never get anything good from Rodolphus Lestrange," the taller boy confirmed. Without another word he turned around and disappeared back into the compartment. The other boy smiled at Lily and followed, looking a little longer than was necessary at the redhead standing in the hallway. The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes.

"Boys," she commented. "The fight's over and they don't want anything to do with you anymore." She smiled and extended a hand. "Becca Potter."

"Lily Evans," Lily said, shaking Becca's hand. "Thank you."

"For what?" Bec asked.

"For helping me with that boy," Lily said.

"Oh, that was nothing," Bec shrugged, waving the incident off. "He'll be a Slytherin for sure, and they're all great gits." Lily nodded, not quite sure what a "Slytherin" was but satisfied that she hadn't gotten the girl in any trouble.

"So you're muggle-born then?" Becca asked.

"Um…yeah, I guess I am," Lily answered. She waited for this new girl to start asking questions like Liz had, but instead Becca shrugged.

"Wicked," she said simply. "You'll have to tell me about it sometime. I'm a pureblood; I know nothing about that kind of thing."

"Pureblood?" Lily asked. "That sounds like what that boy was calling me."

Becca laughed lightly and shook her head. "Lestrange called you a…" she cringed. "Oh, it's just so horrible!" Now the girl seemed genuinely angry, even though she had kept her cool during the confrontation. "And it's complete codswallop too. Okay, take pureblood, cut off 'pure', and add 'mud.'"

"A…a mudblood?" Lily said, following Bec's directions. She must have been correct, because Becca cringed again and shook her head.

"Yeah, that's it. Most Slytherins and some purebloods think that they're better than everyone else 'cause they come from all magic families. So they think up these names to call you and try to make you feel bad…but it doesn't mean anything, so don't listen to them."

"Okay," Lily said, feeling a little better now that she understood exactly what had happened. "What year are you going to be in?"

"First," Becca said with a smile. "I can't wait! How about you?"

"First, too," Lily replied.

"That makes sense," Becca said, blushing slightly. "Otherwise I would have been asking you the questions. Do you want to come in and sit with us?" She gestured towards the compartment.

"No, thanks, I have a compartment. But thank you for everything."

"Anytime." Becca brushed off her contributions with a wave of her hand. "I'll see you at school."

"Bye." With a final wave, Becca disappeared once again into the compartment and Lily continued down the hallway. Lily felt the train lurch under her slightly as it began to slow down. They had arrived. It had certainly been an…educational train ride, and she was sure it would be an even more educational first night at Hogwarts.

Sirius stepped back into the compartment, quickly followed by James. He knew what was coming well enough. He settled back into his seat and James sat down across from him. Any second now…

"What did he mean, see where you belong and all that?" James asked.

"He's just being a git, that's all," Sirius answered defensively.

"But he's expecting you to be in Slytherin?"

Sirius shrugged. "My whole family's been in Slytherin, so most people expect me to be there too."

"Oh." James was silent for a moment before he spoke again. "Do-do you want to be in Slytherin?"

"No!" Sirius answered immediately. "I don't want to have anything to do with them!"

James grinned broadly. After a few seconds of silence, Becca slid aside the door and stepped back in. As she sat back in her seat, the train slurred a little and started to slow.

"We're here!" James exclaimed, jumping up and running to the window. "C'mon, I wanna get into the castle first!"

James rushed out of the compartment, quickly followed by Becca. Sirius followed at a more leisurely pace, lost in thought.

"If you associate with mudbloods or anything of the like, you'll be on your way to Durmstrang before you can say your own name," Menelaus had said. Well, Sirius had just saved a muggle-born from being tortured by that pureblood, Slytherin git. He smirked, the mischievous glint in his eye glowing even brighter.

"Sirius Black," he mumbled under his breath. And as he stepped onto Hogsmeade platform and followed the rush of first year students, there was no one there to take him to Durmstrang.