Authors note: Anything you recognise belongs to the Queen, JK Rowling. I'm just trying to satisfy my (and hopefully a few others') curiousity of what happened to make Lily love James :) Apologies for formatting - I'm not very good with it yet :(
On a side note, I've been listening to "Harry Potter 1-7 Film Scores" on Spotify - the public playlist - while writing. Makes it so much easier to get in the zone... Happy reading!

PLATFORM 9 AND 3/4

Lily woke up very early on the morning of Wednesday, 1st September 1971. She triple checked everything that she needed or wanted was in her new school trunk and dressed quickly and silently. She had decided that she would wear normal clothes to Kings Cross instead of her robes, so she put on high-waisted jeans, a white t-shirt with a rainbow on the front - tucked in and her favourite black converse shoes. Lily tied her hair up in a messy bun with her favourite white scrunchie, although they weren't very common or popular, she didn't care - she liked the feel of it in her hair.

It was almost 8.30am before they left for the 2hr drive. Mr & Mrs Evans had convinced Petunia to come on the basis that they would take her shopping after they said goodbye to Lily; that promise still didn't make Petunia talk to her the whole trip.

When they finally arrived at King's Cross Station, they helped Lily get her trunk out of the car and onto a trolley. As they head towards the platforms, she remembered what she had read in her letter many times and what she had spoke to Sev about how to get onto platform nine and three-quarters. She had explained it all to her parents, however they still seemed unsure as they looked at the very solid wall between platforms 9 and 10.

"Are you sure Lily?" Asked her mother.

Lily nodded nervously. "This is where they said it was..."

Mr Evans looked around, hoping that someone would come and show them how to get onto this platform. He was just about to open his mouth when he spotted an elderly couple walking towards them with a boy about Lily's age - his trolley had an owl in a cage perched on top! His prayers were answered.

"Good morning!" The woman said brightly, then turning to look at Lily. "Are you off to Hogwarts too?"

"Yes ma'am, it's my first year. We were just wondering, is this the right wall for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters?" Lily smiled, shyly.

"It sure is. Our James is in his first year too." She gestured to the young black haired, bespeckled boy behind her. He greatly resembled his father, as he looked over at Lily, he smiled widely and ruffled his hair. "My name is Euphemia Potter and this is my husband, Fleamont."

"Nice to meet you Mr and Mrs Potter. My name is Lily Evans and this is my father Harold, my mother Kaye and older sister, Petunia." Lily said politely. Her father shook hands with the Euphemia and Fleamont, her mother following suit. Petunia stood where she was, scowling with her arms folded.

"Well, we best be getting on the platform. Best to do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous." Fleamont told the family. "It was lovely to meet you all."

The Evans family watched as the Potters walked casually through the wall; Lily and her family all stood with their mouths open.

"I'll go with you Lily, dear." Mr Evans told her youngest daughter. "Kaye, will you be alright to come with Tuney?"

"I hope so." His wife muttered nervously.

Harold put his arm around his youngest daughter and helped her steer the trolley straight towards the wall. Lily was scared, they were going to crash - they were absolutely going to crash! She closed her eyes as the wall came closer and waited for the crash... It didn't come. Her father had started to slow down and Lily opened her eyes.

There was a scarlet steam engine waiting next to a platform with people swarming around it. There was a sign nearby that said "HOGWARTS EXPRESS - Eleven o'clock". Lily and her father moved over a little and not long after, Lily's mother and sister had come through looking as terrified as Lily imagined she had. They looked around and saw that parents were starting to help load their children's trunks onto the train; Mr Evans loaded Lily's trunk into an empty compartment and came back to admire the scene with his wife - not noticing the squabble between his two daughters standing a little away from them.

"I'm sorry, Tuney, Listen..." She grabbed Petunia's hand, even though she tried to tug it away. "Maybe once I'm there I can go and see Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind! Then you can come too!"

"I don't want to go!" Petunia said fiercly, pulling her hand out of Lily's grip. "You think that I want to go to some stupid, ugly castle and learn to be a freak?!"

Lily's eyes filled with tears. "I'm not a freak... That's a horrible thing to say."

"That's where you're going." Petunia said to her sister, enjoying the reaction she got from her sister. "A special school for freaks and weirdos - that's what you are! It's a good thing that you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety."

Lily looked quickly towards her parents, both were taking in the scene with enjoyment. She looked back at her sister and said quietly and fiercely, "You didn't think the school was for freaks when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you."

Petunia turned bright red. "Beg? I didn't beg!"

"His reply was very kind."

"You shouldn't have read... that was private... how could you..."

Lily looked at the ground. "You've been sneaking into my room!"

"Not sneaking..." Lily said quickly. "Severus saw the envelope and couldn't believe that a muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all! There's meant to be wizards working undercover at the post office to take care of that..."

"Well! Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!" Said Petunia, fiercely. "Freak!" She spat and she wandered over to Mr and Mrs Evans with her nose in the air.

Lily took this as a sign that she would be best to just get on the train and leave her sister behind; it was clear they would never be close like the used to be. She wandered over to her parents and gave them a hug as the scarlet train's whistle sounded to warn passengers to board. Lily hugged her mother and father, promising to write to them later in the week; she smiled and said goodbye to Petunia, who ignored her and looked away from her. Lily got on board the train and headed to the compartment where her father had loaded her school trunk; she waved to her parents and saw Petunia trying to drag them away. She smiled and nodded to her mother to say it was fine and with a final wave, they were gone - back through the gateway. Lily finally allowed her tears that she had held back to fall; Petunia hated her, she would never have her sister back again.

The train had started to move when Remus had joined her compartment; he noticed her tear-stricken face and decided that he should leave her be. It was long after that two other boys joined, the black haired Potter boy and another dark haired boy with long hair. The three boys decided to leave Lily alone, seeing that she hadn't said a word and clearly was upset about something. A fourth plump boy appeared at the door, looking a little pathetic, asking if there was space for him to sit as there wasn't anything else; the boys nodded and continued talking about their families. After a while of listening silently - although Lily knew she shouldn't eavesdrop (except it was a little hard not to, being in the same compartment) - she found out the Potter boy's name was James, his long haired friend was Sirius Black and the plump little boy that came through was Peter Pettigrew. They were being quite rowdy when the compartment slid open again and Severus came through to sit opposite her; Lily did not look at him.

"I don't want to talk to you." She said in a strained voice.

"But... why not?" He stammered.

"Because Tuney hates me. Because we saw the letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?" He shrugged, he didn't understand. Her sister was only a muggle, what did it matter?

She scowled at him. "So, she is my sister!"

Severus struggled to find words for a moment, he really did not understand her sadness over a muggle...

"But... we're going! We're off to Hogwarts!"

Lily nodded and in spite of everything, she half smiled.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said Severus.

"Slytherin?" came a voice. It was the Potter boy - James. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you Sirius?"

The long-haired boy, Sirius frowned. "My whole family have been in Slytherin."

"Merlin's pants!" exclaimed James. "And I thought you were all right!"

Sirius laughed, it was more of a bark. "Maybe I'll be the one to break tradition, give my dear old mother a heart-attack. Where are you headed, if you get the choice?"

James stood up and lifted an invisible sword. "Gryffindor, of course. Where dwell the brave at heart - like my dad."

Lily, having read 'Hogwarts: A History', secretly hoped that she would be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw and not Slytherin.

Sev scoffed and James turned to him. "Got a problem with that?"

"No," Sev sneered. "But if you would rather be brawny than brainy-"

"Where are you hoping to go then, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius interrupted.

James and Sirius roared with laughter. Lily stood up, looking from James to Sirius in dislike. She unlocked her trunk and retrieved her school robes, she decided she would change in the bathroom.

"Come on Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Ooooooooooo..." James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice and James tried to trip Sev as he passed.

The last thing Lily heard as she slammed the door was Sirius calling "See ya, Snivellus!"

As they looked for another compartment, the Trolley Lady stopped them in the corridor to ask if they wanted any sweets. Lily, who had never tried any of it, bought a packet of Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans to enjoy for the rest of the trip.

As the train started to slow down, Lily rushed to a bathroom and got changed into her school uniform. She folded her "muggle" clothes and as she saw the boys exit the compartment where her trunk was locked, she ran in to put her clothes inside it. Sev had told her not to take her belongings as they get taken up to the school separately and then to the dormitory where she would sleep.

She half jogged to catch up to Sev and then saw Hagrid at the front of the students, calling for the first years to follow him. They followed Hagrid down a steep, narrow path.

"Yeh get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called to the first years. "Jus' round this bend..."

There was a loud sound of awe from the students. The pathway had opened up to the edge of a great, black lake. Even though Lily had seen pictures in her book, she was still amazed by the beauty that was the huge castle perched on top of a high mountain across the lake; the windows seemed to be glittering in the starry sky. She noticed the little boats in front of the students and supposed that this was how they would get across the lake.

As if to answer her question, Hagrid called to the group, "No more than four to a boat!" He pointed to the little boats by the shore and climbed into one by himself. Lily and Sev got into one boat and shared it with a kind looking girl with short hair and pixie-like features and a severe looking boy that Sev began to talk to as the boats began to move, Lily caught his surname: Mulciber. Lily began to talk quietly to the other girl in the boat, her name was Alice Robinson; she seemed as shy as Lily felt a little more comfortable in the boat.

When they finally reached the harbor below the castle and everyone had clambered out of their boats, Lily and Alice stood together. They stood a little away from Sev and Mulciber (he gave off a very unpleasant vibe to the two girls); Hagrid checked and made sure that everyone was out of the boats, calling to the crowd, "Everyone here?"

He turned around, raising a large fist and knocked three times on the large oak door in front of him.

Well! Two chapters in one day with a potential for a third! I did use the books for a bit of help - so all credit goes to JK Rowling for that, definitely not me!

Am thinking, for later chapters.. of maybe doing POV chapters from Lily and James' perspective. Let me know what you think :)