Of Liliaceae and Quidditch
Summary: Back in 1977, Lily Evans and James Potter became Head Boy and Head Girl, respectively. Lily hates James... but that's subject to change very soon, in James' opinion. However, with Amos between James and Lily, a love triangle emerges. Jily. R&R.
Chapter I
10:09 AM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
PLATFORM 9 ¾, KING'S CROSS STATION
Lily Evans was frustrated.
Lily Evans was frustrated by just how her trunk was.
Lily Evans was frustrated because of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, which was responsible for preventing Lily from loading her trunk into the Hogwarts Express.
What did that mean, really? How was the inability to use magic outside of Hogwarts stopping her from placing her trunk on the large red locomotive that would take her and the other students to Hogwarts?
Candidly, Lily was not strong enough to lift her trunk for longer than 15 seconds.
Wait, then how did she carry the trunk to Platform nine-and-three-quarters if she couldn't lift it?
Lily's sister, Petunia, drove Lily to the station. They lifted the trunk (and owl) onto the trolley. Petunia then ran off to meet her boyfriend, Vernon Dursley. Lily then pushed the trolley (into the barrier) to the platform.
And Lily Evans just couldn't lift the trunk alone, without magic. So she did all she could do… she sat and waited. She so did not sulk. Wink, wink.
10:16 AM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
PLATFORM 9 ¾, KING'S CROSS STATION
Lily really had no idea why people thought being early was good. Honestly, being early was bloody terrible. Being right on time was good.
Being very early, like Lily was that day, was horrible.
Usually, there are these trunk-loading blokes dressed in bright red uniforms (which is also the color of the Hogwarts Express) who– as the job name suggests– loaded the students' trunks onto the train.
However, the trunk-loading blokes arrived at the platform at approximately 10:50. Which meant Lily would have to wait 16 minutes for the workers to arrive.
Lily was not a patient person.
10:21 AM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
PLATFORM 9 ¾, KING'S CROSS STATION
"That is it," Lily said aloud, standing up and determinedly put her hand on the handle of her trunk. "I'm going to do it myself." With a deep breath, she lifted it off the ground.
She walked to the train, and with all the strength she had, lifted up the trunk and then…. She couldn't put it inside the train. How embarrassing. How utterly humiliating.
Lily returned to where she was before, dragging her trunk, and sat down again, with a very, very, angry look on her face. One might have described her expression as 'murderous.'
Of course, Lily was not planning murder inside her head, even though the expression on her face said otherwise. Lily was thinking about how stupid she was for not realizing that it took two trunk-loading blokes for one trunk.
She chastised herself mentally. How could she not remember that? She should have remembered that if it took two able-bodied and certified workers to lift her trunk, she would have been unable to do it all alone.
Psh, she thought.
10:30 AM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
PLATFORM 9 ¾, KING'S CROSS STATION
After 3 more failed attempts, Lily gave up.
The workers are coming in thirty minutes, anyway, she thought to herself. I can wait 30 minutes. Easy peasy.
She remained sitting, with a face that clearly expressed anger, frustration, and fury.
10:34 AM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
PLATFORM 9 ¾, KING'S CROSS STATION
Lily came to the conclusion that she was not a patient person.
How did she know that?
She had a near-irresistible urge to enchant the clock so that it went faster.
10:46 AM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
PLATFORM 9 ¾, KING'S CROSS STATION
At 10:39 AM, Lily was very frustrated. So very frustrated that in fact, she picked up her trunk with her new strength fueled by anger, and started towards the train.
She swung it upwards when she reached the train, hoping it would load on.
Well, the result was an absolute failure, really.
The weight of the bag was too much for Lily; the force of the bag moving in its initial direction pulled Lily with it.
She sprained her ankle and dropped the trunk. Lily (had really bad luck, so it was inevitable that) she stumbled and tripped after spraining the ankle. She fell, and as she did, her last thought was 'Goodbye, cruel world.'
No! Of course she didn't die, reader! She's one of the two main characters!
As Lily fell, a pair of arms caught her and righted her.
Lily's first thought was that her bad luck somehow did not get her killed.
Lily's second thought was to thank and apologize to her savior.
"Thank you," said Lily. "It's just that I have terrible luck today."
"You're welcome," said Potter. "Would've been a shame if you died."
Lily whipped around when her worst enemy said 'you're welcome,' because James Potter was not her savior.
Savior? Pfft, Lily thought. More like the most annoying person in my year.
She hmph-ed and walked away from that scene. For a moment, she was at a loss to which direction she should go, but fortunately, she spotted her group of friends only 20 meters away from her, and headed that way.
She pretended not to see James Potter's offended expression and his look of shock and hurt.
11:47 AM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
A COMPARTMENT, HOGWARTS EXPRESS
"Lily, are you alright?" asked Emmeline Vance, one of her friends. "You seem pretty narked today. Did something happen at the station?"
Lily contemplated for a moment what her answer should be. She was guilty that she just left Potter like that, but she also felt miffed that she needed his help. She also felt confused that he decided to help her for no reason at all.
So she gave the standard answer for any and every question that meant 'how are you?': "I'm fine. Just a little knackered."
But honestly, she was not fine. Not fine at all.
1:10 PM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
A COMPARTMENT, HOGWARTS EXPRESS
A shy and timid Second Year with braided hair (that rhymed!) walked into the compartment, carrying a scroll of parchment Lily had become used to receiving.
"Pr-Profes-sor Sl-Slughorn asked me to g-give this to you," said the girl, handing the parchment over to Lily. The girl rapidly retreated out the door she kept open.
A COPY OF HORACE SLUGHORN'S INVITATIONAL LETTER
Lily,
Why don't you drop in for lunch in compartment S at around… say…. 1:30 PM? That is, if you would like lunch.
I would ask you to thank the charming young lady that handed this to you, but I am afraid that she has most likely already left your compartment, the shy one she is!
You are familiar with my little parties– which are spectacular, I say– I suppose. This is your last year at Hogwarts, can you believe it? I still remember when you were a 4th Year when I first saw your natural talent at potions and Charms, and invited you to your very first Slug Club party.
Oh, we are getting sidetracked! I am a quite sentimental man, that I know.
There are a few new ones in the Slug Club this year, and I would love for you– as a senior member of the Club– to be here to welcome them in! I would hate for them to be left out, all this new talent!
Again, please do come to compartment S for lunch at 1:20 PM.
Prof. Professor H. E. F. Slughorn
P.S.: Stay for supper too!
1:20 PM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
COMPARTMENT S, HOGWARTS EXPRESS
Compartment S was enchanted by an Undetectable Extension Charm, so that it allowed room for a very large table (and a very large Professor Slughorn) and velvet cushion seats.
Professor Slughorn, just like he did every year, offered the members snacks and drinks as they entered. "Pumpkin Juice, Mr. Loughty? Ms. Flanagan? Ah, here is Ms. Evans! Would you like some pie?"
Lily politely refused and sat down.
"Now, I am fairly sure you all know each other?" asked Slughorn. A couple of people shook their heads. "Well, then allow me to make introductions. Here–" he pointed at Lily– "is Lily Evans, a potioneer most skilled, a Charms extraordinaire!"
Some people looked at her.
"There is Jonathan Brunner, his father was a great reporter for the Prophet–"
Some people looked at him.
"–That is Severus Snape, the most skilled potioneer I have ever seen! I daresay he is greater than Ms. Evans–" he looked apologetically at Lily for dramatic effect–" who is also very skilled. I must give you two private lessons sometime! That young lady over there is Christina Reagin–"
Some looked at her.
"That's Amos Diggory, a whiz at Arithmancy and Herbology, who also happens to be quite popular with witches! My offer to have you take some photos for Witch Weekly is still standing!" Slughorn chuckled.
And so on. Slughorn was a great fan of introductions, and it was quite amusing to look at him when he was excited. He looked at the Slug Club members like they were rare Chocolate Frog cards, as if he was a collector.
"And over there is a new one! James Potter, son of Fleamont Potter (inventor of the Sleekeazy's Hair Potion) and the best Chaser the school has seen in centuries!"
All looked at him.
Lily had to use all her willpower not to curse James Potter's grin off his face right there and then. Luck for him, Lily had a great amount of willpower at the ready.
Lily was actually feeling a little bad for Potter, who had only been invited because his father became super rich this summer. No, not feeling bad. Feeling envious and angry, because he got here without any effort. And maybe a little bad, because of the Platform Incident.
"Now, let us enjoy our midday meal!" said Professor Slughorn. "I believe I have kept you waiting long enough by introducing our new students!" He clapped his hand like Professor Dumbledore did every year before a large feast, and just like that, food appeared on the large table.
Needless to say, the food was magnificent.
5:52 PM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
COMPARTMENT S, HOGWARTS EXPRESS
One of the main reasons people remained in the Slug Club until graduation without leaving in the middle is the Professor himself.
He was a provider of great food (and teached Rosmerta, the landlady, so the members could count on free Firewhiskey or Butterbeer quite often) and he was just too cheerful to ignore.
Nobody who had at least a tiny miniscule bit of morality couldn't refuse the Professor's invitations indifferently. They all came for the parties or the dances. Heck, last year, Bellatrix Black herself had come to a few of the dances!
Yes. That is the truth. And nobody had been more shocked then the others at the party, ever.
We are getting off track… once again.
After the members at lunch, they were subjected to '100 Questions from Professor Slughorn' and then '100 stories of your parents,' and 'A Million Offers For Food.'
At 5:30 they had supper, as Professor Slughorn requested, and then pretended to be a tiny bit interested in Matchmaker Slughorn, something that began a few years ago.
The students remembered that day, the Marauders slipped excessive amounts of firewhisky to the teacher's drinks and spiked the food with it. Then came drunk professors, which resulted in them placing bets on who would become couples. Rumor has that hundreds of galleons had been gambled.
It was forbidden to speak of that incident.
Especially because everyone had seen what kind of fangirl McGonagall could be.
8:45 PM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
GREAT HALL
It was widely known that food was splendid at Hogwarts.
Literally everybody knew.
The students' parents would often perform a long soliloquy about how great the food was, how amazing it tasted, and just how full of flavor it was.
And the students would say, "Poor you."
The parents would reply, "You're going to become one of us."
That was another reason why becoming a professor was so desirable.
9:30 PM. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1977.
GREAT HALL
After the feast, they had all returned to their respective Houses' common rooms or dormitories.
Lily was in bed, getting closer and closer to falling asleep. Her habit of sleeping early she thought of as a blessing, since 7th years tended to have the wildest parties spontaneously.
Lily didn't like parties. Honestly.