Disclaimer: There are a few excerpts of dialogue taken exactly from the chapter "The Prince's Tale," in Harry Potter: Deathly Hallows, and J.K Rowling has full ownership of all those excerpts. They were only used for the purpose to keep the story canon and keep the story flowing perfectly, and are only quoted. I do not have ownership of any of them, J.K Rowling owns it all!
Chapter 1: On the Hogwarts Express
September 1st, 1971
Platform 9 ¾
It was a busy day at Platform 9 ¾. Students were buzzing around, pushing carts, checking on their owls, and meeting with friends as parents fussed over their children and made sure they were okay.
One of these families included a scrawny boy with messy, curly, black hair and a pair of round glasses sloppily perched on his nose. He was bursting with excitement as he gripped his bags and petted his owl, his hazel eyes staring in annoyance at his mum, who was trying her best to straighten out his messy hair.
"Mum!" The boy whined. "It's not going to get any more neat! Can I just get on the train now?"
The man standing next to them laughed. "He's right, Euphemia, take it from me, that hair is too crazy to ever be neat."
Euphemia Potter glared at her husband. "Enough, Fleamont." She turned back to her son. "James, how do you expect to make friends if you can't even look like you want to make friends?"
James scowled. "Of course I want to make friends, mum." He grinned cheekily, "And I'm sure a lot of people want to make friends with me too."
Euphemia smiled, and her eyes started to water. "Oh, my baby boy is growing up so fast! He's going to be popular and not even want to talk to me!" She wailed.
Fleamont gently wrapped his arms around Euphemia. "Of course he'll want to talk to us, won't you James?"
James nodded quickly, his hair flapping around as his head bobbed up and down. "Of course, mum! If I don't talk to you, who's going to send me treats?"
Euphemia laughed and flung her arms around James tightly.
James wriggled and tried to break free of his mother's grasp, as his cheeks flushed bright red in embarrassment. "Mum! Mum, let me go! You're embarrassing me!"
"Aww, James! Tell me everything that happens at school, all right? Owl us if you ever need anything! We love you so much!" She squeezed James again.
James shrieked. "MUM!"
Euphemia let him go, and smiled at him. "Will you be all right?"
James nodded, "Yes, mum. I'll see you at winter break mum!"
And James vanished onto the train. He walked down the aisle, looking in awe as older students bustled through the aisles.
At last, he found a compartment, empty except for a boy the same age as him, leaning against the window. Like James, he had messy hair, though it was a bit more neat and tidy, and more wavy than curly.
"May I sit here?"
The boy nodded. "I'm Sirius, Sirius Black. I'm a first year. Who're you?"
"James Potter. I'm also a first year! Are you excited?"
Sirius nodded eagerly. "Very."
And then the compartment door slid open again, revealing a sandy-haired boy with a few scratches along his face. Cowering shyly behind him was a small, blond boy.
The sandy-haired boy spoke. "Is this compartment free? The other ones almost all appear to be empty."
James and Sirius nodded, and the two boys entered.
"I'm Remus, Remus Lupin, by the way. First-year," the sandy-haired boy said. "And this is Peter." He pointed to the small blonde boy beside him. "I found him in the aisle, looking a little lost. What's your last name again?"
The boy blushed and in a small voice, muttered "Pettigrew."
"Ah," Remus said.
"Pleasure to meet you," James and Sirius chirped.
And the boys dove into deep conversation, although Remus and Peter were rather shy, while outside on the platform, Severus and Lily stood with their families.
Severus watched Lily from next to his mother, who looked sour.
Lily, on the other hand, was pleading with her sister, a thin, rather tall girl for her age, with straight light brown hair, her nose tipped into the air. Lily was gripping her sister's wrist, even though her sister was trying very willingly to break free.
"I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry! Listen! Maybe once I'm there - no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!"
Petunia glared at Lily coldly. "I don't - want - to - go!" She shrieked as she jerked her hand out of Lily's. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a - a - you think I want to be a - a freak?"
Lily's throat caught and tears began to leak out of her eyes. "I'm not a freak. That's a horrible thing to say."
Petunia's cold glare didn't falter. "That's where you're going, a school for freaks. You and that Snape boy...wierdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety."
"You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you."
If possible, Petunia's eyes turned more angry. "Beg? I didn't beg!"
"I saw his reply. It was very kind."
"You shouldn't have read - that was my private - how could you?"
Lily eyes flicked towards Snape, but quickly looked back.
But it was too late, Petunia had seen. "That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!"
"No - not sneaking - Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all! He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service who take care of - "
"Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!" Petunia exclaimed angrily. "Freak!" She spat. And with that, she went to her parents, and turned away from Lily.
Heartbroken, Lily said one last goodbye to her parents and grudgingly walked onto the train.
Lily suddenly felt a slight sense of panic as she was surrounded by taller students, without a single clue where to go.
She felt a tap on her shoulder.
Relieved, she saw Severus smiling at her. And then she suddenly felt a cold, gloating feeling as she remembered why Petunia was so mad at her.
"Come on! Let's find a compartment," Severus said.
Lily wanted to say no, wanted to yell at Severus for ruining Petunia's trust in her, but she didn't know anywhere else to go, so she begrudgingly followed Severus into a compartment.
Four boys, two of them especially loud, were already in the compartment, but they were small so Lily and Snape settled in with them anyways.
Lily avoided looking at Severus, who was starting to notice how quiet she was. "All right, Lily?" He asked awkwardly as the train began to move.
Lily ignored his question.
Severus squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. He wasn't sure how to talk to her. "Well, I'm gonna go change into my robes. I'll come back later."
Lily continued to stare hard at the window.
Severus quickly grabbed his robes and slid out the compartment.
When he was finished, he felt a new sense of excitement. Being out of his muggle clothes made him feel so good. He was so glad to be away from the constant disputes in his house, and was determined to make Hogwarts his new home.
He slid back into the compartment, and then remembered Lily was still not talking.
He sat across from her, and she quickly glanced at him before looking out the window again.
It was from that brief moment she had turned her head to him that he noticed she had been crying.
"I don't want to talk to you," she said in a constricted voice.
"Why not?" Severus asked, feeling his heart sink.
"Tuney h-hates me. Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."
Severus tried not to roll his eyes. He did not understand why Lily was so obsessed with making Tuney happy. If she were his sister, he would just ignore the annoying prat completely. "So what?"
Lily immediately glowered at him. "So she's my sister!"
"She's only a -" But Severus quickly stopped his protest. He figured he had somehow made Lily upset enough, and decided to move on to a brighter subject. "But we're going!" he said excitedly. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts."
Lily looked back at him. She suddenly felt guilty, and at his words, she returned the excitement. She figured she should brighten up as well. She wiped her eyes and smiled.
Snape grinned. He'd done it! He'd made her feel better. "You'd better be in Slytherin!:
She smiled curiously. "Slytherin?"
It was then that James and the rest of the boys were fully aware that Lily and Severus were also in the compartment.
He grinned. "Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" He asked Sirius.
Sirius did not return James' wide smile. "My whole family have been in Slytherin," he stated flatly.
"Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right!" James exclaimed.
Sirius started to smile now. "Maybe I'll break the tradition," he said, with even a little hope in his voice. "Where are you heading if you've got the choice?"
James immediately sat himself up to full composure, raising his hand so that he held an invisible sword. "Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad!"
Severus gagged, and James immediately turned around to see who disapproved of him.
"Got a problem with that?" James asked incredulously.
The slightest sneer enveloped on Severus' pale face. "No," he said lazily. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy -"
"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" Sirius interrupted.
James started laughing, Sirius smiled with pride, and Remus and Peter continued to stay silent, although they showed glints of amusement on their faces.
Flustered, Lily sat up. "Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."
"Oooooo…" James and Sirius mocked, as James stuck out a leg in an attempt to trip Severus. "See ya, Snivellus!"
The compartment door banged shut as the boys continued laughing.
Outside, Lily and Severus dragged their belongings along with them as they searched for a new compartment.
Both looked disgruntled, but Severus had an extreme aura of disturbance radiating from him. "I can't believe those stupid gits. Who do they think they are? You know what, I'll bet they'll wound up in Gryffindor, idiots like them! Good thing I won't have to deal with them in Slytherin."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Just ignore them, Sev. They're all just annoying prats who think they're better than everyone." She stopped in front of a compartment. "Let's go in this one."
She slid open the door to reveal a group of girls. Severus didn't look too keen, but followed her anyways.
The girls stopped chatting and smiled at Lily, but glowered a bit at Severus.
Lily smiled shyly. "Hello! I'm Lily Evans! This is my friend, Severus. Is it alright if we sit here?"
The girls all nodded.
Severus glumly sat down with Lily, having hoped that the girls would've rejected them.
"I'm Marlene McKninnon, first-year," said one of the girls, who had long, straight blond hair and crystal blue eyes. "Are you two first years as well?"
Lily smiled, "Yes. I suppose you all are too?"
The rest of the girls nodded.
"I'm Dorcas Meadowes," said a dark-skinned girl.
"Alice Prewett," a dirty blonde girl said.
"Gwenog Jones," a curly haired brunette chirped.
"Emmeline Vance," a brunette smiled.
"Mary MacDonald," the last one said, who had long, light brown hair.
"Nice to meet all of you," Lily smiled warmly.
"We should probably get our robes on," Alice Prewitt said after a while of long conversation. "I assume we are close to the castle now."
The other girls nodded, and they took turns leaving the compartment to change into their robes.
By the time they were all finished, the castle was looming into view. All of them crowded over the window, staring in awe at the building, towering over the vast lawn as the stars above twinkled. Even Severus stopped his act of disdain and followed them up to the window.
"Wow," Mary MacDonald breathed. "It looks even more beautiful than it sounds."
The other girls all nodded in agreement.
As the train rolled to a stop, the girls all eagerly got up. They all made to reach for their bags, but a voice spoke over the train: "We have arrived at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please leave the luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
They all obeyed, silently wondering how the bags were supposed to get up to the castle.
When they stepped off the train, a booming voice echoed in the night. "Firs' years, over here! Firs' Years, firs' years!"
Lily looked towards the sound, and saw a huge man waving his arms wildly. Students were nervously walking towards him, all with looks of terror on their faces.
Lily looked at Severus, and he nodded.
As they walked towards the giant, Severus looked at Lily with a bit of an annoyed expression, "Are you going to hang out with those chirpy girls the whole year?"
Lily looked at him with surprise. "Well, why not? Do you have a problem with it?"
"No, I just don't see why you'd want to be around with them. Too preppy if you ask me. But you sure seemed to like them."
Lily glowered at him disbelievingly. "Are you expecting me to not have any girl friends? You can't be my only friend, Sev. We both need to make friends if we want to fit in, and you know that!"
Severus glowered, but dropped the subject.
Once all the first year were gathered, the gian man spoke: "Welcome to Hogwarts, firs' years! I'm Hagrid, game keeper! Follow me!"
Still frightened, the students all followed and reached a beautiful, large lake, which was greeted by many gasps of awe.
Boats were lined along the shore of the lake, and students began filing into them. "No more 'an four ter a boat!" Hagrid yelled.
Lily slid into a boat with Severus, and two other boys, who were chatting animatedly on their own.
Severus was struggling to contain his excitement. "We're so close, Lily! Aren't you so excited!"
Lily nodded eagerly as the boats sped forward.
After reaching the other side of the lake, the first years all climbed out of the boats and followed Hagrid to the front door of the castle. After Hagrid knocked three times, the doors swung open, revealing a bright, lit castle.
All of the first years couldn't help but feel that this was the beginning of an era.