Disclaimer: Seeing as I am but a lowly fanfiction author, I can claim nothing except those characters that are mine, and some of the plot. Everything else belongs to the lovely Jo Rowling.
Author's Note: Welcome, everyone, to my very first fanfiction! I'm Lindsay, or limurph, or whichever you feel more compelled to call me by :
Now, seeing as this is my first fiction, I would be very much appreciative if you were to take a moment of your time after reading this to pop into the review page and write a little something. A little constructive criticism can go a long way!
As a side note, I will be attempting to name all of the chapters after a song title, or possibly even a band name, that I like. This chapter is called Come Original, which is by the band 311.
Now, on with it!
Chapter One: Come Original
September 1, 1971
10:37 AM
Kings Cross Station
London, England
It was crowded. Or, more crowded than Lily thought it would be, at least. Not that she really knew what was going on at this point. It was like being a fish out of water.
Or something like that.
Not wanting to get on the train right away, Lily found a relatively quiet corner, (after putting her trunk on the train, of course) and sat on the floor with her back rested up against the tall brick column that supported the madness that was platform 9 ¾.
Through inquisitive emerald eyes, the young Lily Evans carefully surveyed her not so humble surroundings. There was complete and utter chaos as the impending 11 o'clock departure loomed of those who had slept in, or forgotten something dear to them. Or, in some cases, if you were a terrified muggleborn first year whose parents hadn't been able to cross through the platform barrier.
Yeah, that could be it too.
Feeling increasingly nervous as each moment passed, Lily pulled out her parents' gift to her as congratulations for being accepted into Hogwarts. It was a book, written quite recently. The title was The Princess Bride and it was written by a man named William Goldman. Despite trusting her parents in the literary sense, Lily was still apprehensive about this particular book. She wasn't actually sure why, but it seemed to be strange holding an ordinary book after weeks of poring over spellbooks and potion making guides. Was that weird?
Maybe.
Shrugging it off, Lily slipped the novel back into her travel bag and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on top. Closing her eyes, she began to think. To remember.
"Mum, you can't let her do this! Do you realize what will happen if anyone finds out about this, this abnormality!"
Petunia's hateful words rang through Lily's head over and over. Lily and her sister had always been friends. Best friends, even. Then, Lily got her letter. Everything had changed. Her parents, of course, were thrilled. Petunia: not so much.
Lily ran. Ran to her room and slammed the door. In her frustration, tears began to fill her eyes, trickling down her face as a constant reminder of her sister's spiteful words. She stormed over to her dresser, sobbing. One by one, Lily began to slam down the framed pictures of she and her sister, shatter the glass covers. She heard the door next-door slam. Petunia.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Lily opened her eyes. Standing in front of her was a girl who looked about Lily's age. Lily blinked, and realized that she had been on the verge of crying. She wiped her eyes and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Lily said. The girl looked relieved.
"Great," She said, grabbing Lily's wrist and pulling her up, "'Cause we've got to go, now!"
Panicked, Lily shot her eyes towards the clock on her left. 10:58.
Crap.
Lily and the girl began to sprint towards the train, ducking under waving arms and dodging through weeping parents. Lily tired quickly, panting rather heavily by the time they had weaved their way through the crowd.
"Just in time," the girl stated emphatically after they had hopped onto the train, grinning as she surveyed the congested corridor that divided the small compartments. She then looked down at Lily, and her expression quickly converted to bewilderedness.
"Are you alright?" She asked for the second time in the past two minutes, bending over to accommodate Lily, who was bent down with her hands on her knees, panting. Emerald eyes flashed.
"Lets just say that I'm not the athletic type, okay?" Lily growled. The girl shrugged and stood upright, once again surveying the corridor.
"Suit yourself," was the indifferent reply. Lily stood up, regaining what composure she had left.
"So," Lily began, smoothing out her blouse and skirt, "What did you say your name was?"
"I didn't," The girl began, pulling her long, brown hair into a ponytail, "But it's Arianna, Arianna Knight."
"Right," Lily said, extending her hand to shake, "I'm Lily Evans."
Arianna grabbed Lily's hand, pulling her down the corridor, "Great. Tell me if you see a compartment that's not full, okay?
Arianna's chocolatey brown eyes eagerly scanned her left and right, searching for a place to sit. Lily's brows furrowed in confusion. Normally, she would be extremely affronted and wouldn't have trusted this complete (well not complete) stranger. Were things changing?
Perhaps.
"Aha!" Arianna dragged Lily to a compartment on their left and slid open the door. There was only one occupant, a girl who looked their age. She had been staring out the compartment window, her small bag held close, but upon the arrival of Lily and Arianna, she had turned towards them.
"Hello," Arianna said, smiling, "Everywhere else is full. Do you mind?" The girl shook her head.
"Of course not. Please, sit down."
Pulling her wrist free of her new friend's grip, Lily followed Arianna into the compartment, sitting next to the girl and across from Arianna. The girl had directed her gaze at the floor.
"I'm Lily Evans," Lily said, sweetly as she could.
"Arianna Knight," Arianna said smiling, although she was looking at the passing landscape outside of the window.
"I'm Celia, Celia Dalton," the girl said quietly.
Silence. At least a minute. Maybe more.
"So!" Arianna practically yelled, clasping her hands together, "Who's excited for Hogwarts?" Lily cocked an eyebrow while Celia gave Arianna a quizzical look.
Right. Off to a rousing start.
Seeing the danger signs of having a silent, and long, trip to school, Lily attempted to break the thick ice.
"Well, to be completely honest with the both of you," She began, fumbling with her fingers, "I haven't the slightest clue of what to expect. I've never even heard of Hogwarts before."
"You mean I'm not the only one?" Arianna's brown eyes lit up with anticipation.
"I suppose not," Lily said, wondering the possibility.
"What about you, Celia?" Arianna inquired, "Do you know anything about Hogwarts?"
"A little," She began, still not meeting either girls' eyes, "My dad's a wizard while my mum is a muggle. So that makes me what they call a half blood. Anyway, my dad went to Hogwarts as well. It's a school of magic, obviously, and it's been around for ages. There were four founders, and they each have a house named after them. Once you get there, you get sorted into one and that's where you stay for all seven years. I can't remember the names of them off the top of my head, though.
She trailed off at the end, refocusing her gaze onto her shoes.
"Wicked," Arianna breathed, pulling her legs onto her seat, sitting cross-legged, "Do you know what kind of magic they'll be teaching us? Because I was watching the television program once, and they did this dance to speak to people across the world without using a telephone! It was sort of like this."
Suddenly, Arianna was on her feet on top of her seat and throwing her hands in the air and dancing around like a lunatic. Despite attempts to suppress their amusement, Lily and Celia both erupted into fits of laughter.
"Merlin help us," came a masculine voice from the doorway, "Does she always act like this?"
All three of the girls stopped to look at a very attractive boy in the doorway. Arianna wasn't impressed.
"Excuse me," Arianna began, her long hair strewn in wild positions across her face. She looked quite like a madwoman, actually, "I don't believe that I remember invited you to come in here. You can go." Lily, who was beginning to wonder if this girl had any shame, smiled at the sight of Arianna going slightly pink under her freckles.
"Well," the boy said, narrowing his clear grey eyes, "I can certainly see where an innocent young man is unwanted." He then turned to go.
"Oh, no you don't!" came yet another voice from the corridor. The first boy was then pushed back into the compartment backwards, "This is the last compartment with any room, so here we shall stay!"
Despite the first boy resisting, the second gave a forceful shove, and the first boy fell backwards, grabbing the closest thing to him: Arianna's ankle. He pulled a yelling Arianna down from her standing position and she then proceeded to land on top of him. The second boy slapped a hand to his forehead and then ran his hand needlessly through his jet-black messy hair. Lily sighed.
Here we go.
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Arianna yelled mercilessly, still on top of the boy, "FIRST YOU BARGE IN HERE, NO INVITATION, THEN YOU GO AND-"
"HEY THIS WASN'T MY FAULT! IF HAMES HADN'T PUSHED ME THEN WE WOULDN'T BE IN THIS BLOODY POSITION! AND IF YOU HAD JUST LET ME IN THE COMPARTMENT IN THE FIRST PLACE, YOU-"
"Sirius!" another boy was in the doorway. Lily was getting confused, "Watch your language! There are ladies present!"
"However inhospitable they may be," the boy called James muttered, and Lily glared at him.
"Excuse me?" she said, "We've never even met and you're already judging us? What right do you have-"
"Look! I'm just saying that if your friend here had just-"
"James!" the third boy began, "Will you just let it go? Just this once? And Sirius, get up, will you?"
"I would if she would bloody get off of me!" Sirius growled. Arianna, who had been watching Lily and James, turned red with frustration, but got off of Sirius and sat down. Sirius then got up, brushed himself off and sat down next to her. Under her glare, however, he decided that it would be best to shift himself to the other side of the bench-like seat. James sat next to Lily at the end (much to Lily's dismay) and the other boy occupied the seat in between Arianna and Sirius. Celia, whom Lily had almost forgotten was there, cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Well, I'm James Potter," James practically shouted, causing Lily to roll her eyes dramatically.
"Right, and I'm Remus Lupin," the other boy said cheerfully, turning to Sirius. When Sirius was silent, he gave him a swift jab in the side.
"Sirius Black," he said, wincing. Remus smiled triumphantly and turned to Arianna, who was still a bit pink. Remus raised his eyebrows expectantly.
"I swear, if you even think about poking me or something," Arianna began, but abdicated quickly, "I'm Arianna Knight." Lily smirked.
"I'm Lily Evans,"
"Isn't that a flower?" Lily stared at James in disbelief.
"No, it's a type of cheese," James considered this for a moment.
"Hey, wait a second,"
"Just shut up James, okay?" Sirius said irritably. James smirked and ran his hand through his hair again.
"Sorry, I don't think that I caught your name," Remus spoke to Celia, who responded in a soft voice.
"I'm sorry, I'm Celia, Celia Dalton." Her benevolent blue eyes crinkled as she smiled at Remus.
"Hey! Hey guys! I found it! I did!" the voice of a boy was flying down the outside corridor as Sirius groaned his disapproval.
"James," He began, almost whining, "I thought that you said that you got rid of him!"
"I thought I did," James began, looking thoughtful, "I told him that I lost my Invisible Book of Invisibility."
"I got it!" the voice drew closer. Sirius gave a bark of laughter and impetuously shut the compartment door.
"Sorry, Pete, but we're full up in here," shouted Sirius with an impish smile,and Lily winced as she heard a body slam into the door on the other side.
"Come now, Sirius, lets not be rude." James said, grinning as he slid open the door, "I'm sure there's some room on the floor."
"Hey!" Peter scrambled into the compartment, completely unperturbed from running headfirst into an iron door, "I found it James, I really did!" James raised his eyebrows.
"Did you now? Well where is it?" Peter's face fell.
"But, I thought, I thought that it was invisible."
"Right but you said that you had it,"
"Oh but I do!"
"Then where is it?" James's face fell into mock shock, "You don't have it, do you?"
"I do! I do!"
"Show it to me, then!"
"I can't!" Peter said, exasperatedly.
"Why not?"
"Because it's-"
"Oh will you drop it, James?" Sirius cut in, glancing distastefully at Peter, who was sitting on the floor in between he and James. He could take a joke, but he couldn't stand it when Peter was just so ignorant. "Peter. You've been tricked. If you're going to hang around us then get used to it."
"But I really do have it-"
"Let it go, Peter!"said Remus. Lily blinked.
"Are we almost there?" Arianna said airily, as though completely unaware of her surroundings.
"Are we almost there?" Sirius mimicked in a high voice. His face was filled with wicked good humour, almost making him look evil. Lily checked her watch. 11:37.
She had a sinking feeling that this was going to be a very long ride.
Well that's it for the first chapter! Thanks for finishing! Yeah! Anyway..
If anyone is annoyed by Sirius's, uh, rude, behavior then don't be worried. He was just annoyed at Arianna. And he has quite the little temper for an eleven year old. He cheers up, don't you worry, all of you Sirius fans out there.
I'd like to take the time to thank my friend Brooke who helped me out with some of the details that needed tweaking. Yay 311! haha
Please, please, please take the time to review my work, I'd really appreciate it. Expect an update sometime after the weekend. It would be sooner, but unfortunately I'm leaving town for a lacrosse tournament.
Anyway, thanks for reading! Review:
♥Lindsay
