A/N: Sorry for not updating sooner, but as some of you know, I'm working on another story. Add college to the picture and you can see why it's hard for me to update...Thanks for reading and thank you for the reviews you guys! They really do mean a lot and an extra big thank you to HoosierCullen, ClaireBear1982, and Andrigno for helping me decide Lily's job. I hope you guys like what I decided for her. Anyway, enjoy!

Disclaimer: Anything that sounds familiar to you belongs to J.K Rowling, not me.

Chapter 5: Hogwarts Express

Harry's last month at home passed rather rapidly and before he knew it, he was sitting down for supper on the day before his departure. Up until now he had been rather happy about the whole affair, but as he watched his mum hum gently as she served his meal, he couldn't help but feel a bit worried. He hadn't thought about what would happen to his mum once he was gone. Ever since Harry could remember, they had never been away from each other. How was she going to manage alone?

His mum noticed something was wrong right away and she smiled down at him, placing a hand on his shoulder, her face full of motherly concern.

"Harry, love, what's wrong?"

"It's just—mum? What are you going to do when I'm gone?"

To his surprise, his mum laughed gently. "Is that was had you so worried, love? You needn't fret. I'll be fine."

"But, what are you going to do, mum?" he pressed on, not satisfied with her answer.

"Well, it's a surprise, love," she said with a small wink before placing a kiss on his forehead. "Now eat, love, before it gets cold."

"Have you got your wand?"

"Yes, mum."

"Books?"

"Mhm."

"Robes?"

"Yes."

"Hedwig?"

"Yep."

"Train tick—"

"Lily, relax. Harry's got everything packed. Right, dear?"

"Yes, mum. I swear."

"Fine. I guess we can go."

They walked outside towards the Ministry cars that were waiting for them, courtesy of the Minister himself. Sirius and Mr Weasley loaded Harry's trunk into one of the cars and they all climbed in for the long drive to London, more specifically, Kings Cross Station. They arrived with about thirty minutes to spare, much to Harry's relief. He was just wondering where exactly Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was when they came to a stop in front of a very solid-looking barrier.

"Alright, how about Ron and Harry go first? Just walk straight at that barrier right there. You can run if you're feeling a bit nervous, dear."

"Er—what?"

Lily chuckled gently. "It's alright, love. You'll be fine."

Harry looked over to Ron, who gave him a small shrug. Gathering all his strength, he took a deep breath before heading for the barrier. The closer he got to it, the more nervous he felt. He was going to crash into it, he just knew it—Merlin, it was getting awfully close—just a few more steps…Harry closed his eyes, waiting for the crash, but it never came.

Instead, he kept walking and heard the gleeful chatter of people all around him. He opened his eyes, staring around him in awe. Smoke was coming from a scarlet steam engine, with a sign over it that read: Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock.

"Wotcher, Harry," a familiar voice said behind him.

"Tonks!"

Only she looked nothing like the Tonks Harry knew. She looked rather tall, taller than she really was, had long, curly, black hair and appeared to be about thirty. Harry wasn't surprised in the least. After all, Tonks was a Metamorphmagus, meaning she could change her appearance at will.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were training today."

"Well, I wasn't about to miss your big day. Mind you, I don't have a lot of time before Mad-Eye discovers I'm gone," she said with a grin.

They were soon joined by his mum, Sirius, Remus, and the rest of the Weasleys. Ginny came last of all, followed by her mum, crying.

"What's wrong, Gin?"

"I want to go to Hogwarts, too," she sniffed.

"I've already told you, you're not old enough yet."

"Don't worry, Ginny," Harry said, throwing an arm around the youngest Weasley. "You'll be able to go next year."

"Yeah, Ginny-ckins. Besides, we'll make sure to owl every day," George piped in.

"We'll even send you a toilet seat."

This seemed to cheer Ginny up and she giggled a bit. Mrs Weasley, on the other hand, glared at Fred.

"Don't you dare, Fred!"

"Relax, mum. I was joking."

They chatted for a while, before Tonks had to leave. The children clambered onto the train and dumped their belonging into an empty compartment before climbing back out to say their goodbyes. Harry walked over to his mum and hugged her tightly, fighting back his tears.

"I'm going to miss you, mum."

"Me too, love. Promise me you'll be a good boy and stay out of trouble," she said, planting a kiss on his forehead.

"Don't listen to your mum, Harry. I expect at least a weekly letter explaining all the awesome pranks you've pulled," Sirius said, grinning as he gave his godson a hug.

"Sirius!" said Lily, smacking him in the arm. "What kind of advice is that?"

"The best kind. He's a Marauder, Lily! Just look at him!"

"Idiot," Lily whispered, shaking her head.

Harry grinned and turned to hug Remus, before saying his goodbyes to the Weasleys.

"Bye," they called in unison, waving as they walked towards the train.

"Harry, wait," Sirius called, walking towards him. "There's something I've been meaning to give you."

He waited until the last Weasley child had boarded the train before extracting a battered-looking cloak that seemed to be made of watery fabric from his robes. Harry stared at it, a confused look on his face.

"What is that?"

"It's an Invisibility Cloak. This old thing saved us from a lot of trouble back in our days. It belonged to your Dad and I know he'd want you to have it, Harry," he said, handing it over to him. "Now, take care Harry. Go make us proud," he said, giving him one last hug.

"Sirius?"

"Yes?"

"I—well I'm a bit worried, see."

"About what?"

"Well, what if I'm in Slytherin?"

"Ah, I understand perfectly well. When I was your age, I had that same fear. You see, my whole family had been in Slytherin and I was terrified of the thought of having to spend the next seven years with people exactly like them. But I'll tell you a secret," he said, motioning for Harry to lean closer. "The Sorting Hat takes your choice into consideration."

"It does?"

"It did for me. But don't worry, Harry. I'm sure you'll be in Gryffindor. You're just like your father," he said, smiling down at him.

Harry grinned as he climbed onto the already moving train and ran to a window. He waved to his family, watching them grow smaller and smaller.

"Ah, Severus, just the person I was looking for. Sit," Albus Dumbledore said, motioning to the seat in front of him.

"What is it that you wished to speak to me about, Headmaster?" spoke the thin man with sallow skin and hooked-nose.

"Well, Severus, as you have been complaining for the past ten years about those, er, dunderheads, is that what you call them? Well, I've decided to hire a new Potions teacher."

"Are you firing me, Albus?" Snape asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"No, not at all. Quite the contrary. You see, you would still be teaching, but the more Advanced classes. This new Professor would take on the duty of teaching the Basics."

"And who might this incompetent fool be?"

"That would be me, Severus," a tired voice answered.

At the sound of her voice, Severus spun around quickly, not believing his eyes. But yet, there she was, looking as beautiful as ever. She looked exactly as he remembered her. Lily avoided his gaze and looked instead at Professor Dumbledore.

"Ah, Lily! We've been waiting for you. Sit, sit. Now Severus, I take it you already know Lily Potter, so I'll not waste time in introductions. She will be our new Potions mistress."

"So I see. Lily Potter," he said, the surname leaving a bile taste in his mouth. "I am curious to know, how does one make the time to fulfil an appropriate Potions apprenticeship when there is a child to care for?"

"I have my ways, Severus," she replied, not bothering to look at him. "Albus, I don't wish to be rude, but I would really like to wash up before the students get here. So, if there isn't anything you need to discuss with me, I'll be on my way."

"No of course not, Lily. I assume you already know where your office is?"

"Yes, Headmaster."

She left then and Severus stared after her longingly. But he knew he was stupid. Lily had not yet forgiven him for his foolish mistake. She had not even looked at him once.

"I'm hungry."

"Ron, you're always hungry."

"Says you. Where's the trolley? Fred said there'd be a food trolley."

"Dunno."

They sat in silence, the only sound being Ron's grumbling stomach. The compartment door flew open and Ron stood up happily. Much to his disappointment, a buck-toothed, bushy-haired girl stood in front of them and next to her stood a round-faced boy who looked as he'd been crying.

"Hey, Harry," the boy said.

"Hey, Neville," Harry said, recognising him as being Neville Longbottom, son of his mum's best friend. "What's wrong?"

"He's lost his toad," the girl replied for him in a rather bossy voice. "Have any of you seen it? Are you Harry Potter?"

"No, Neville, sorry. And yes, I am."

"Oh, I've read all about you!"

"Er—you have?"

"Well of course! I bought some extra books for background reading and you happen to be in all of them. I'm a muggleborn you see, and I wanted to know everything there is to know about the wizarding world, so I'd be prepared. I'm Hermione, by the way. Hermione Granger. And you must be—?" she asked, turning to Ron.

"Ron Weasley," he muttered.

"Delighted. Well anyway, we must be on our way. Come on, Neville."

The boys waved goodbye to Neville as Hermione led him away.

"I hope she's not in our House. Can you imagine spending the next seven years with her?"

"I thought she was…nice?"

Ron snorted, looking grumpy. At that moment, they heard the trolley lady making her way towards their compartment.

"Anything from the trolley, dearies?"

"Finally!" Ron exclaimed happily.

Harry bought everything from Cauldron Cakes to Chocolate Frogs to Pumpkin Pasties. With his stomach full, Ron seemed more like himself. They had a box of Bertie Bott's between them, talking about nothing in particular.

Harry nibbled on the end of a green coloured one. "Blah! Brussels sprout. How's Charlie been? Haven't seen him since last summer."

"Good I suppose. He's still working with dragons down in Romania. Mum's been trying to convince him to come back, but you know him, he won't listen."

He reached into the box and extracted a red coloured bean, which turned out to be strawberry. The compartment door flew open once more and three boys walked in. Harry instantly recognised the platinum blonde boy as the one he had met in Diagon Alley.

"So it is true. Harry Potter. I believe we met. My name is Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. These are Crabbe and Goyle," he said, signalling lazily to the two other boys. Both of them were rather thick and mean-looking.

Ron snorted and Malfoy turned to look at him, a malicious glint in his grey eyes.

"Think my name is funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. Red hair, freckles and battered clothes. You must be a Weasley." He turned his attention back to Harry. "As you know, some wizarding families are better than others. You don't have to associate with such riffraff, Potter. I can help you there," he said, offering his hand, but Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can figure that out myself, Malfoy," he said coldly. "Now leave."

"You'd better be careful, Potter. Unless you want to go the same way as your blood traitor father," he said, exiting the compartment.

Harry swore loudly. "I hate that git."

"I've heard all about his family," Ron said darkly. "Dad says that they were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared, claiming they'd been bewitched. But Dad doesn't believe it. Says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."

"Yeah, mum told me all about them and their pureblood fanaticism. I think their mental."

"That would explain a lot actually."

"Reckon we should change into our robes? We're probably almost there."

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

"Told you."

The boys stripped off their jackets and put their robes on hastily. Harry felt his stomach give a nervous lurch as the train gradually slowed down before coming to a complete stop. This was it. The moment he had been waiting for since he could remember. He gave a deep breath before stepping outside, ready to face his destiny.

A/N: Before anyone asks, I will not have Lily fall in love with Snape. Sorry but it's just not happening in this story. She loved James and only him. And wouldn't her marrying Snape cause Harry to hate her? I know I would. Anyway, thanks for reading! I'll try to update sooner.