A/N: WOW this chapter was hard to get out. I hope you all like it :-/ I did what i planned. I set everything up for Hogwarts Express next chapter! YAY. PLEASE review. It really makes me hurry along my next chapter ;)

A flash of red flew between the trees on the edge of the thicket. Flowers bloomed and blazed with brighter colors behind it as it zigzagged around the dense underbrush. A rabbit bolted out of the way as the young girl with blazing red hair slid past it into a cool basin beside a sunlit river. She plopped down onto the ground cross-legged beside an awkward looking boy wearing very shabby looking clothing. He looked at her with veiled excitement in his eyes.

Almost as soon as she sat, the girl jumped to her feet again. "Oh my God Sev! You were right! My letter! It came and Professor Dumbledore came with it! The Headmaster of Hogwarts! It was unbelievable. It did take my parents a little while to accept it, but they're going to let me go!"

"That's amazing Lily. I knew you were going to get it. You didn't really believe me because of Petunia though, did you?"

"Well, she is my older sister. She's normally right. I'm supposed to trust her."

"How did she take the news?"

"She...Well, she wasn't too happy. I think she might be annoyed because she isn't a witch too."

"Oh. That's too bad for her," the young boy said, without much regret evident on his face or in his voice. "It'll be great with you going though. The train ride will be much better with a friend."

"Definitely!" Lily jumped to her feet suddenly. "Oh man! My parents want to go shopping for school supplies already, so they barely let me come tell you. I'd better get back. We have to hang out more before school starts so you can tell me everything. Now that I'm going to Hogwarts too I need to know as much as I can. I don't want to be too far behind everyone." Without any warning, a look of apprehension crossed her face.

"Lily?! Lils, what's wrong?" He asked worriedly, quickly getting to his feet.

"Oh Sev!" she cried as she threw herself into his arms. "I'm just scared. What if people don't like me because my parents don't have magic? I don't know anything! They'll think I'm stupid!"

Severus hugged her awkwardly, patting her back. "Don't worry so much. You won't be the only muggleborn there. There are a lot that go to Hogwarts. Most of them don't even have someone to help them learn things first. And no one will think you're stupid. You're one of the smartest girls I've ever met. You'll learn really fast."

Lily stepped back with a watery smile. "Thank you. You probably think I'm silly for this."

He looked at her with an odd look in his eyes. "Of course not. I'll never think you're silly. But you need to get going so that you can get all of your things and come hang out again soon."

"You're right. Let's plan on hanging out on Thursday."

"All right. I'll see you then Lils."

Lily turned and started running back through the trees the way she had come. "Bye Sev!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"Bye Lily." He said quietly. Severus stood there for almost ten minutes before slowly lowering himself back to sit on the bright green grass of the basin floor. It wasn't until well after dark that he made his way home, slowly and with obvious foreboding.

Lily had never been this excited in her life. Last night the most phenomenal, unbelievable, magical thing had happened. A man named Professor Albus Dumbledore had come knocking at her quaint little home. This man had been anything but normal, and he came bearing some even less normal news.

"Mrs. Evans, if you would, I have a very interesting opportunity for your daughter, Ms. Lily Evans.

Mrs. Evans glanced over her shoulder to where her eleven year old daughter was watching with both excitement and worry, hidden behind the nearby staircase, and looked at the man warily. It wouldn't be smart to be too trusting of strangers in this day and age. "Excuse me sir, but first I must ask, who are you?"

"Oh please pardon my manners. My name is Albus Dumbledore and I am Headmaster at an exclusive boarding school. I have documentation right here. I can show it to you and your family if only you will allow me to discuss it with you inside." He pulled a think envelope out of one of the many pockets of his- well she could only call it a robe.

Mrs. Evans still looked a bit confused but ushered him into the living room, calling for her husband.

What followed was a lot of confusion, disbelief, anger, attempted dismissals, and then Dumbledore's calm explanation was finished and he decided that the best way to get through to these people, as it was with most families, was to show them.

"I think I must take my leave Mr. and Mrs. Evans. I can see that you do not believe the things that I am telling you. I'll just grab a cup of tea on my way out." And as he said the words, a cup of steaming hot tea popped into existence, floating in the air in front of him. The Evans's eyes all flew wide as the tea floated over and tilted itself as Professor Dumbledore drank. As he walked out of the living room a bit of tea poured over the edge of his cup. They heard his calm voice tell the droplet to stop, and to their amazement, it did. Not only did it stop, but it rose back up and fell right back into the cup. The family stared in complete awe as he stepped out into the entryway.

"Wait!" cried Mr. Evans.

Professor Dumbledore turned around with a twinkle in his eye. "Pardon?"

"Are you- Are you telling me that my own daughter will be able to- to pop things into her hands just as you did? To change things? This is why there have always been these odd things happening? The things breaking when she's mad? The balloons inflating themselves on her birthday? Our daughter has magic?"

"I understand that it is hard for you to believe. It is hard for every non-magical family to accept. I think it would probably be best for me to leave you to discuss it, but I must assert how imperative it is for Lily to get some education so that she learns how to control the raw magic she contains. It needs to be managed before the non-magical community discovers the magical community. Secrecy is crucial for our survival. I'll leave this envelope with her admission letter into Hogwarts, as well as instructions on how to get to Diagon Alley, one of the best magical shopping centers where you can easily find school supplies. I am looking forward to Lily's attendance at Hogwarts this year."

With some remaining confusion, the Evans family bade Dumbledore farewell, and with a slight turn, he disappeared into thin air. By this time Lily had been shaking in excitement. She really was a witch. Severus hadn't been lying this whole time. She really could do magic.

It took nearly two hours of discussion before Lily's parents agreed to allow her to go. That was followed by less than ten minutes of begging on her part to go shopping for supplies the next day. She was her parents' "little girl" after all.

James

If there was one thing that could be said about James it was that he would do anything for his friends –Well…almost anything. He probably wouldn't give up his brand new beautiful Nimbus 1001, but really, who would? –That was beside the point however. His friends were in danger.

After his sudden epiphany James had hurried off to make a few necessary changes to their earlier plans. His main purpose now was not to avoid getting anyone in trouble, it was to cause enough of a distraction to free his friends, and if there was one thing he knew he could do, it was causing a massive, jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring distraction.

In a matter of minutes he was back at the white room to pick up a few things, and then he quickly arrived at the stairs leading up to the balcony. He reached into his pocket as he climbed the stairs and pulled his hand, as well as a circular object and a large vial out as he peeked out onto the balcony.

There, nearly at the railing, were Bellatrix and her three little friends, carefully spaced around Sirius and AJ. He could hear their menacing, taunting voices, but couldn't make out what they were saying. That was enough for him. They were all placed exactly as he had expected them to be. Perhaps a little too close to the fireworks, but anything better would have been too much to ask for.

Carefully, he pulled his head back and he poured the contents of his vial out onto the top step, making it into the shape of a rather wide M. Satisfied with his work, he stowed the vial back in his pocket and pulled out a new muggle toy Sirius had managed to smuggle past his parents as he pulled a large bulky cloak over his head. It had been a gift from his father this past year for his birthday. Had anyone been looking, they would have believed that the young boy disappeared into thin air, but in reality he hadn't moved an inch.

It was only when he was invisible to all others that James attempted to use Sirius's new toy. If he worked it just right, it lit itself on fire. Sirius had called it a "litter" or something. James had it figured out very quickly, despite the fact that a majority of his attention was focused on the rapidly increasing level of bullying occurring out on the balcony. He became furious when he saw Bellatrix shoot a spell across to Sirius causing him to double over in pain, but his hands remained steady as he lit the spilled potion. It quickly blazed into life and reached a few inches in height. Miraculously it stayed burning.

Fumbling, James pulled the circular object up and held it in front of his face. "Bella." He said, altering his voice to make it as deep and threatening as possible.

"Who said that?" he heard her say.

He watched as Sirius glanced questioningly down at his pocket before speaking again. "Bella. This behavior is unacceptable. You are wasting your time on Purebloods. How disappointing. "

"Where is that coming from?" the boy named Rodolphus asked.

"I don't know but it's freaking me and Sherry out," replied his brother Rabastan as the blond cowered against him.

Bellatrix was starting to look a little antsy. "Who the fuck are you? What do you want?" she said, much louder this time.

James was smirking underneath his cloak. This was just too easy. Slowly, he moved across the balcony toward the railing. He watched in satisfaction as his silence succeeded in making the four that much more nervous. Finally he lifted the object back up to his face and spoke again. "Purebloods bullying other Purebloods. It's disgusting. And here I thought you supported the old order."

"We are! These little blood traitors need to be taught a lesson. They're the ones that aren't supportive. I would die for the old ways!" cried Bellatrix passionately.

"Then leave! Leave before I decide you too need punishment." And with that, James lit the fireworks.

Bursts of color flew off in all directions, showering the crowd below in droplets of color potion as well as odd clouds of various colored smoke clouds that altered the color of whatever they touched. James, AJ, and Sirius were overjoyed at the result. There was chaos everywhere. Especially down the stairs, due to the fact that the explosion had terrified the other four to the point that they bolted out the door. Right into the flaming lines of color changing potion. They were all unable to stop in time and had run right through the flames, causing them to each begin burning a different color and, in shock, tumble down the stairs. The last the three young children saw of them was their line of rainbow smoke trailing behind them.

Sirius walked over to the newly revealed James and clapped him on the back. "Amazing execution mate, thanks. Who would have thought you could use our two-way mirrors to talk to other people. And lighting that potion. Bloody brilliant."

AJ ran over and tackled James to the floor in a hug. "Thank you! If I ever have to listen to another Pureblood supremacy lecture from Bella again it'll be too soon."

James was grinning madly. "No problem guys, but we'd best be moving. It's pretty obvious where those fireworks came from, and we don't want to be caught here."

"Does it really matter?" AJ asked. "Won't Bella just snitch on us?"

Sirius and James both laughed as they began walking down the stairs, being careful to avoid the flames. "And risk admitting that we bested her? No. We're safe."

Remus and Robyn

It had taken a very short amount of time for Remus to recover from his monthly-as Robyn had so teasingly dubbed it-this time. It was only three days later when they went to Diagon Alley for their school supplies, and both were incredibly excited. After arriving in Diagon Alley, they were hurried along to Ollivander's to buy their first, and hopefully only, wands.

They eased the shop door open and all four walked into the wand shop. It was fairly dark, and to the newcomers, the shelves of wand boxes seemed in disarray. They were only in the shop for moments before an old man with very eerie moon-like eyes approached them.

"Margaret Douglas, Olive, 9 ¾ inches, core of a Jobberknoll feather. John Lupin, Elm, 11 ½ inches, core of an augury feather. Both rather exceptional wands. I was hoping to see your children this year. Robyn and Remus is it not?"

Robyn and Remus both stared at the man with barely imperceptible shock before nodding slowly.

"How nice to see you again Mr. Ollivander," said Margaret.

"Yes, yes I'm sure. Let us begin shall we?" Mr. Ollivander said abruptly, already moving off. "I propose ladies first." He quickly glanced at Robyn before hurrying off down one of his many aisles. Moments later he reemerged carrying three boxes. "I assure you, it is one of these wands. First, a wand of Elder wood, it's a bit long for you at 10 ¼ inches, core of powdered hippogryph talon." He barely let the wand touch her hand before he snatched it back.

"No! No! Definitely not! I know!" and with that he ran off with all of his boxes down an entirely new aisle. Robyn looked up at her mother with wide eyes. Suddenly Mr. Ollivander was back carrying a single new box. Slowly he opened it and handed her the wand.

"A selkie whisker is the core of this one, it is just a hair over 10 inches and made of dogwood. Go on now! Give it a swish!"

And so Robyn did. A beautifully embroidered pillow appeared floating beside Mr. Ollivander's head. He grabbed it, overjoyed. "How lovely! Oh but see this pull here, I don't know that this one is exactly right for you. We'll set this one aside." He glanced over at Remus as he took the wand from her hand and put it into its box. "Hm, I wonder," he muttered as he walked down a third aisle. He was gone much longer this time before he emerged.

"This wand is an interesting one. It is made of poplar, but the tree was so entwined with a rowan tree, slivers of the rowan came with it, especially around its base. It is 9 7/8 inches long. Give it a flick my dear." Robyn quickly flicked the wand. Flowers of light bloomed in midair. There were reds, greens, purples. Nearly every color was incorporated. The flowers grew until they exploded and the light flew around the room, touching nothing until the beams zoomed toward Robyn, swirling around her head a moment before vanishing.

"Perfect!" He snatched the wand from her hand and placed it back into its box, swiftly wrapping it. Robyn felt a sense of loss.

"Sir, I hope you don't mind me asking, but what is the core? You failed to mention it." She said softly.

"Ah. My dear what a good question. Wand cores can come from any magical creature. Any at all. And because my wands pick their owners, I omitted the contents of yours until this one chose you. It is a very odd core. Your core is a powered tooth. It was the upper molar of one of the strongest werewolves in the history of Ireland." Robyn and Remus looked at each other in surprise at the irony of the situation. "And Robyn, it might do you well to read up on werewolves. The cores can affect the temperament of the wand. Yours will likely be stronger on the full moon, or perhaps just more erratic. Werewolf hair wands are known to be good for transfiguration, but so few are matched with wizards, and fewer with witches, that little is known about them."

Robyn nodded her understanding and she took the wand box from him, holding it closely to her chest. Her mother paid and they stepped back as Remus went through a very similar process. His took a lot longer, and he went through many more wands than she did. One wand in particular lit the pillow she had made on fire, incinerating it in seconds. He had looked at her apologetically, but she wasn't hurt in the least. She had thought it was a bit ugly anyways.

Finally Remus's wand "chose him" as Mr. Ollivander said. It was an 11 inch Hazel wand with a core of centaur tail (one located in the forest right outside of Hogwarts according to the old wand maker).

"That wand is for a very intelligent person. I can tell that you'll go far boy." Mr. Ollivander called as they walked out the door.

After a few minutes of giggling along with their parents about the eccentric old man, their parents told them that they could go on their own to look through a few stores. They were each given their school lists and a small pouch filled with money and were told to meet the two parents at the café across from the Flourish and Blott's bookstore at 3 o'clock. That left the two about 3 hours in which to shop and talk, and they happily took advantage of it.

Both being quite responsible, they got through the majority of their lists by 2. They had picked up quills, cauldrons, even their robes, and were still well under their allowances. Eagerly they decided to go to the bookstore early and look around. On their way in, they saw a very excited red headed girl dragging her awe-stricken parents into the bookstore. Remus and Robyn quickly followed and listened as she went on about how she just needed more books then they had bought last time in order to understand everything before the school year. The parents allowed her to go off on her own and, though their curiosity was piqued, they went about their own business.

They had each gotten 3 of their school books and were laughing and talking when suddenly a quiet voice interrupted them.

"Excuse me, but I notice you've grabbed most of the books I had to get. You aren't going into first year at Hogwarts by any chance?" They turned around to see that same red headed girl looking at them shyly.

"Yes. We are actually," said Remus kindly. "My name's Remus. This is Robyn. What's your name?"

"Lily Evans. I'm new to this entire thing. Magic and everything. You two seem very nice. Maybe we can be friends and you could help explain some things to me?"

By the time it was 3 o'clock the three children were talking as though they had been friends for years, and when Remus and Robyn left to meet up with their parents they introduced them to Lily's parents. Margaret and John quickly began talking to these two overwhelmed people and began explaining many of the more general aspects of their world in an attempt to sooth their shattered nerves. After making plans to meet up on the way to sending their children on their way to Hogwarts, and a quick trip to the Magical Menagerie to pick up their pets, (A tawny, shy little owl for Remus that he promptly named Romulus and a beautiful, intelligent, silky black and gray kneazle for Robyn. They had only briefly needed to explain to Lily the difference between a kneazle and a cat before she remembered reading all about them already.) they all set off for their homes and beds.