Discalimer: Nah uh! Yah huh! Nah uh! Yah huh! Nah uh! Yah huh! Yah huh! Nah uh! Got you! It's mine! So there! A gleeful J.K.Rowlings throws a smug look at poor widdle steph, who decides to sulk in a corner cos Harry Potter isn't hers. :p

The 'monkey' bit came from Caitie, who at my request for a random word in her bioc lecture that for some strange reason I was in, just said monkeys…somehow I worked with it, and came up with the first bit. No idea where the coconuts song comes from. And no caitie, the kansas line isnt yours, it's from the wizard of oz(which i forgot to put in the disclaimer, so here it is). I was actually intending to put the whole of Lily's first day in this chapter, but the ideas came, and it seemed appropriate to stop there. So it's a tad bit short than the other ones. Smeh!

Chapter 4:-Monkeys and flying

Lily's first day in Hogwarts, was, to say the least, eventful.

She'd been woken up at least half an hour earlier than she had planned to by squeals and loud chattering as the three 'monsters' worried over what to wear as if anyone would see anything inside the robes! and caked themselves with gunk they called make-up. Honestly, kids nowadays…Lily conveniently dismissed the fact that she was the same age as she attempted to shut out the noise with a pillow. Suffice to say, she was not a very jolly monkey. Resigning herself to the fact that she was awake, she rubbed her gritty eyes and stumbled blindly into the bathroom, ignoring the girls' indignant protests when she pushed them out.

Sufficiently revived after her shower and singing "I've got a lo-ve-ly bunch of coconuts!" Lily opened the door to an empty room. She wasn't quite sure if she was relieved or worried (being hurt would have just been silly) since although she had not been enthusiastic about being in their company, it would have been nice to go to the Great Hall with someone. " And I bet I'llget lost too…" she muttered to herself as she grabbed the book bag she had organised the night before and made her way out of the dorm.

7 staircases, 4 dead ends, 19 corridors and 3 helpful paintings later, Lily finally faced the big bronze doors leading to the Great Hall. Catching her breath she pushed open one of the heavy doors and inwardly shrunk back as seven hundred odd pairs of eyes swivelled from their waffles and muffins to focus on the latecomer.

Crap…

Smiling weakly, Lily made her way to a table she hoped against hopes was the Gryffindor table. Spotting Natalie near the end she sighed in relief okay, so I'm not cursed, despite all the other things that happen. That could potentially have been really embarrassing. She quickly walked over only to slow down mid-stride when she realised there were no empty seats even vaguely near that vicinity. Continuing as if she had not paused, indeed, as if it had been her intention all along, she headed for the nearest vacant space she saw, conscious of the gazes still latched onto her. Turning to the girl beside it she asked timidly if the seat was taken. After receiving a strange look and then an indifferent "no" she sat down and looked around for something to eat, pretending to be unaware of the whispers and muffled laughter that spread across the hall. They're not talking or laughing at you, or at least they would have done it regardless of who it was. She told herself firmly, trying to ease the cold tight knot that lingered just behind her ribs. She was quite glad that over the years she had sort of managed to control the telltale blush that would sweep over her face and neck whenever she was embarrassed or angry. The vibrant red had been startlingly obvious in contrast with her pale skin, covered in freckles as it was. It only worked occasionally though, one of the disadvantages of being a redhead. The other main one being freckles, naturally. She prayed everyday that one day all those freckles would disappear and leave behind the milky alabaster white skin that her mother had.

"In time they'll fade, love." She could remember all those times she had complained about her freckles, or her hair, or anything about herself really. Her mother had the patience of a saint, gently pulling Lily into her lap to comfort the sensitive girl nearly in tears with frustration at herself. Lily could still hear her warm voice in her mind, "If you're anything like me they'll be gone by the time you're sixteen, and your hair would have tamed a bit by then too. You'll probably fill out a bit more too, grow some curves, although I don't recall being quite that skinny, dear. But then I was never that tall. That, you definitely got from your father. I think you'll turn out quite nicely my girl, tall, slender, beautiful… Why the boys will be falling all over themselves trying to catch your lovely green eyes. Your grandmother's eyes…"

Nanna…Lily quickly blinked back the tears that threatened to spill at the thought of her grandmother, yearning to have her beside her now, to tell her everything would be alright and Lily was strong enough to make it through Hogwarts, make it through life. Her father's mother, so different from him and yet alike in so many ways. She was Lily's rock, her shelter and strength. In fact whenever she was scared or sad and angry, it had been to Nanna that she had run to, not her mother. Somehow, Mum just didn't understand. Filled with pain and anger and a whole cacophony of cold biting emotions after any of her father's 'episodes', it wasn't to her mother that Lily would turn to, but the warm, safe haven that surrounded her with a peace that she found only in Nanna's loving embrace. It was there she felt loved, wanted, needed. But Nanna was in London. Not Hogwarts. It had been hard leaving her, most of all, more than her room or school or even her parents.

"You need this, bubbi, and I will not always be here," Nanna had told Lily, using her special name for Lily, tenderly holding her as her tears fell and mingled with Lily's. "You are old enough now, strong enough to spread your wings and fly. A bit earlier than I would have hoped, but life never fits into the plans we have for it. I will be with you, in here" placing a hand on Lily's head, "and in here" placing the other on Lily's chest above her heart "so let go, let yourself Be, and soar." Her brilliant green eyes looked heavenward, undimmed by age, possessing the age-old wisdom that only those who lived as long as she had could achieve. Many times they shone with amusement, occasionally sharpened in anger or disappointment, and only rarely darkened as she remembered the experiences that had brought an understanding, but too late… of the difference between knowledge and wisdom. In fact the only thing those eyes lacked, if you wanted to put it that way, was sight. But ironically enough, it was the least important, for Rose Lillian Evans saw not with her eyes, but with her mind and her heart. And that view was far more accurate and clearer than any other, unbiased and untarnished as it was from the judgmental and often sullied perception of society. Named after this estimable woman, Lily could only hope she would be half the woman her grandmother was.

I can't give up now. I can do this. I will do this. For her. For me.

A look of steely determination in her eyes, Lily drew herself up and finished her breakfast, before walking off to class, self-assured once again. She did not notice the sky-blue eyes of the head-master twinkle as he smiled and said to himself "Yes, dear Lily. Walk proud, keep that chin up and someday you'll soar, higher and further than you could ever imagine." Around him, the professors glanced at each other, shrugged, smiled and returned to their meals. By now they were used to the little quirks and eccentricities that made Dumbledore the wise, if silly, mentor that they knew, respected and loved.