Lily zoomed through the wall, and as she came through to the other side, she stopped and looked around amazed at the sight around her. The scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express smoked its steam almost as if inviting her on board. Happily she rolled her trolley onto the train, and set about looking for an empty compartment. She had come pretty early ,so it wasn't to hard.
She sat down , opened her books, and started studying. Eventually some others arrived on the train, and she put down her books and looked at the people passing by. She saw two boys who were obviously first years, as their robes had no house colors yet. One had glasses and unruly hair that went every which way. The other had dark hair , grey eyes, and Lily could tell was rather handsome already, though they were still only eleven. She wondered if she'd ever get to know those two strangers.
Then Lily heard voices outside her window. She looked out ,and saw three red-headed boys outside on the platform
" Honestly, what was Dumbledore thinking?" Said one boy, who had a prefect's badge pinned to his robes. " Giving Malfoy a prefects badge! Malfoy ! Dumbledore's got to know he'll abuse his power."
The other two red-heads shook their heads and follows their brother onto the train. Lily sat back in her seat and absorbed the information she'd just heard. She felt a little guilty for listening in on their conversation, but that was soon replaced with another thought.
" Malfoy? What sort of name is that?"
The train soon started, and the trip began. Lily went back to her studies. Midway through the trip a woman with a trolley full of candy showed up. Lily had never seen any candy like what she had, so she got a little of everything.
As she was heading back to her compartment, she saw two of the red-headed brothers from earlier walking down the corridors.
" Honestly, Billius was that necessary?" Asked the boy wearing the prefects badge. " The first years are scared enough without you telling them they have to wrestle a troll to get sorted!"
" But Aurthur, I had to ! It's a tradition!" Said Billius.
" No, it's a Weasley family tradition, and I'm the last of us, so I hardly see the need to subject the first years ..."
Lily went back in her compartment , giggling. The Weasley's were obviously fun to be around.
Pretty soon, the train rolled into the stop at the village near Hogwarts, called Hogsmeade, according to Prof. Flitwick. Lily realized she hadn't changed into her robes yet, so she quickly changed into her uniform at the speed of light, and went out with the rest of the kids off the train.
" Firs' years, firs' years, over here, please!" It was Hagrid.
"Hello, Hagrid." Said Lily brightly.
" You know him?" Said an impressed sounding, yet rather nervous- looking, first year.
" Yes, I do, a little. " Replied Lily. " and he's very nice."
Hagrid led all the first years to the lake, where a bunch of boats were set up. Everyone got in four to a boat , except in Lily's, because she got into the last one, and by then there were only two other people left. One was a short, slightly pudgy boy with blond hair and watery blue eyes, the other was a boy with sallow skin, dark eyes, a hooked nose, and rather greasy black hair.
" Hello," said Lily, nervously. ", I'm Lily Evans."
" Severus Snape." the boy with greasy hair.
" I'm P- Peter Pettigrew." Said the other boy, nervously.
Lily grabbed one oar, and Peter the other. Peter turned out not to be much of a rower, so Lily, Peter, and Severus lagged behind everyone else. Then they heard Hagrid call from the front that they would soon be able to see Hogwarts. Eagerly, Peter leaned forward to see, and promptly fell out of the boat with a splash.
Lily saw his hand come up once ,and then go back down, and not come up again. Lily tried to think of what to do, Hagrid was way in front with everybody else. Lily was about to go in after him herself, when a boat came over to them. The boys in it had heard the splash and come over to see what was going on. The boy in front took one look at the two remaining kids in the boat, and jumped out of his boat in after Peter. He came up two seconds later, half dragging Peter up with him. He dumped Peter back in the boat with Lily and Severus, and swam back in his own boat.
The three other boys in the boat cheered for their rescuing boat mate, and the boy grinned and gave a little bow, and the three boys laughed. Lily took a closer look at the boy who had rescued Peter, and realized it was the boy with glasses and unruly hair she had seen earlier. The dark- haired boy she had seen with him earlier was now sitting next to him on the boat.
The rest of the ride was far less eventful. Lily and Peter went back to rowing after Lily asked Peter several times if he was okay.
When they got to the school, they were addressed by a severe looking woman named Professor McGonagall, who explained about the four houses, and the house point system. Then they were herded into the great hall, and sorted. Lily learned that the boy with the dark hair who was in the other boat was named , Sirius Black. He was put into Gryffindor. When Lily had her turn with the hat , she jumped at the strange voice in her head. " Ah, yes, without a doubt- Gryffindor!"
All the kids at the Gryffindor table cheered as Lily got up from the stool and made her way over to the Gryffindor table, and became the first girl in her year to become sorted into Gryffindors. Soon, she saw the boy who rescued Peter ( Potter, James), Peter, and a boy named Remus Lupin, who was rather pale and sickly looking, all become Gryffindors. Severus Snape became a Slytherin. Then, two other boys, Adam Smart, and Cameron Long, become two more Gryffindors. Then the sorting ended, and everyone sat down to the start of term feast.
Pretty soon, the topic went around to family's of the new first years. Peter, James, and Remus were all pure-bloods, as was Adam, while Cameron was a half- blood.
" I'm a muggle- born." Said Lily.
" Oh," Said Adam, "What was it like going to a muggle school? Did you have many friends?"
" Well, the school was alright, but I didn't have many friends. I was always a bit of a bookworm, so I got really good marks, and it made the other kids rather jealous." Said Lily. She had surprised herself, she never usually talked about that out loud to anyone.
" My mum is hoping I'll make more friends here, especially among the girls in the house."
" Yeah, that's a good- oh, my gosh, Lily, I just realized something. You're the only girl in outr year who was sorted into our house! You're the only Gryffindor girl in our year!" Adam had said this rather loudly, so a lot of the table looked over at him. A few digested what he had said, and realized that he was right. Soon, the whole table was talking about it.
" She'll have the whole room to herself."
" Has this ever happened before?'
" No, it hasn't. The sorting hat must have made a mistake."
" The sorting hat does not make mistakes! There must be a reason for it."
Lily felt a little weird, having everyone talking about her, but at least it wasn't because they were complaining about her being a teachers pet for once.
" So why are you two all wet anyway?" Said Cameron, looking at James and Peter.
Grateful for the change of subject, Lily joined James and Peter in relating the story of what happened out on the lake.
" He was very brave." Lily complimented.
" Well, bravery always goes over well with Gryffindors ,doesn't it?" It was Billius Weasley, who had come over and sat between Remus and Peter to hear the story.
When he made the comment about Gryffindors and Bravery, several people sitting around them cheered. Billius was obviously highly popular. Billius introduced himself to the first years. He was one of three Weasley brothers, the oldest, and a seventh year. He pointed out his youngest brother, Arthur, who was the new prefect for that year." Go to him if you need anything, like directions."
" Because Billius will probably lead you to a trap door, instead of a classroom." A fifth year joked.
" Who, me? I would never do that to a poor, defenseless first year." He laughed, and turned to all the new students. " But, really, it's the start of the school year, so watch out for any people pulling any hazing tricks, because some kids will lead you down a trap door in this school."
All the kids nodded, grateful for the information, and the idea that they had a sort of ally in one of the older kids.
The feast ended, and the prefect Arthur, along with a female prefect who identified herself as molly Prewitt, lead them to the Gryffindor tower. The feast had ended earlier than usual, so the prefects allowed a little extra time for everyone to hang out in the common room and reacquaint themselves with Gryffindor tower. All seven of the first years sat down on two couches facing each other, feeling very awkward.
" So, " began Sirius. ", I'm from a really old wizard family. Everyone in it is obsessed with being pure blood. They're all Slytherins . But I don't want anything to do with that, so I became a Gryffindor instead. I am just telling you now , so I won;'t have to repeat the story six times when you guys see Slytherins giving me dirty looks in the hallways."
James gave Sirius a slap on the back. " don't worry , man. We've got your back if any of the 'slythies' start giving you any trouble."
Everybody laughed "
Slythies?" Asked Lily.
" Well, it's good nickname, don't you think?" Joked James.
Adam laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair, which wasn't a very good idea, as he was holding a small black and white kitten. The kitten hissed, and leaped out of Adam's lap.
' Aw." Cooed Lily. She picked up the kitten and petted it.
" It's adorable.' Said Lily.
"Do you want it?"Asked Adam. " It's from my sister's cat's new litter, my mom decided that it should be my Hogwarts animal, because, you know, it would be cheaper than buying an owl. But, really, it's unmanly." The boys nodded in sympathy.
" But I already have an owl, won't I get into trouble." Lily asked.
" Just keep her up in your dorm, you'll be fine." Said Adam.
Lily looked at the cute little kitten in her hand, and found she couldn't say no. She took in its black and white appearance, and decided to name her Oreo.
"So, do you all have pets?" She asked the boys.
James, Sirius , and Cameron all had owls. Peter had a toad, and Remus did not have an animal.
" My parents thought it best that I not get an animal." Said Remus. " Our house is not exactly ...pet-friendly."
He said it in a rather strange tone of voice that made Lily curious. Just as she was about to ask him what he meant by it, Arthur the prefect came over to their couches and told them that it was half past ten, and if they wanted to be well enough for there first day of classes, they had better get to bed. So, the seven new gryffindor's trooped up to there respective dorms. The boys were all goofing and joking as they headed up to the first year boy's dorm. AS Lily walked up to her dorm, and walked into the very grand, yet empty dorm room, she couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of the boys , who all had each other. But Lily was still very happy, because she knew that as she turned off the lights to go to sleep, the next morning she would be turning them on to her new school, and her new life.
Let's fast forward for a while, over the first few weeks of Lily's new life at Hogwarts, which were all very eventful .James Potter and Lily soon became very well known around school, but for two different reasons: James for quidditch skills, and Lily for being the only girl in her year's house.
It was very unusual for a girl to be the only one in her dorm for her year. The only time anyone could ever remember that happening was a thousand years ago, when the school was just beginning. It was so unusual, and so much talked about amongst the students, that Professor Mcgonogall felt inclined to pull her aside after class one day and explain it all to her.
" Miss Evans, it is the last thing I or any of the faculty wish for you to feel alienated. It was just an array of different circumstances that you ended up the only Gryffindor girl in your year. For instance, there is a rather large number of girls that were placed in Ravenclaw this year. There were actually three girls who would have been in your year- well, I am not supposed to discuss- but I doubt you'll tell anybody- well, two of the girls who would have been here were the daughters of diplomats in the Wizard's UN, and there parents went to work in France, so they were naturally transferred to Beauxabon's Academy of magic. The other girl's parents wrote to the school saying that they were going to home school there daughter in magic- I believe that they were top- ranking ministry 'expirimentalists'- spell inventors- known for high intelligence and comprehension of magic. So those three girls may have been your missing Gryffindor classmates."
Professor Mcgonogall gave Lily what she had learned was a rare smile.
" I am just telling you this so you will not feel singled out and alone. I am sure that you will make many of friends here, even if you aren't sharing a dorm with any of them. I am also sure that you will do Gryffindor proud, and that there is a special reason that you are the only girl in your house year."
It was the end of what sounded like what was supposed to be an inspiring speech. So Lily just gave her new transfiguration professor a smile, and excused herself to go to potions.
How James Potter became known for his quidditch skills was a much more exciting event, and it involved lily.
It was the middle of the first flying lesson of the year, and everyone in the class, made up of both gryffindors and Slytherins, was flying around the quidditch pitch on the school brooms. It all started when a few of the Slytherins who new Sirius's backround started taunting him about his choice of house. "Traitor." "Turncoat." " Blood- traitor." ,and the like. James. Who had become fast friends with Sirius, quickly rushed to his sefense. The slytherins there suggested that they settle the whole fight in a game of quidditch. The two angry, hot-headed boys agreed, and one of the kids flew to the stands and pulled a box out from under the seats, which they recognized as the quidditch ball box. James and Sirius groaned, as they both realized that the game had been pre-planned, and they had been tricked into accepting a challenge the other kids had planned to use to humiliate them. Nevertheless, the boys still played the game as they had said they would.
Madame Hooch, meanwhile, had seen none of this. She was to busy keeping her eagle eyes on Lily, at the end of the pitch near the hoops. Lily was only half in control of her broom,and wasn't picking it up as nearly as well as the others. She hovered unsteadily in front of the middle hoop, her hands clutching the broom handle so tightly, her knuckles were turning white.
"No, Evans, you control where the broom goes, not the other way around!" Called Madame Hooch desperately. She certainly wasn't going to get a team player out of this one. It was a shame, she had her from Professor Mcgonogall that she was leading her year in all her other classes.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the pitch, the game was on between the Gryffindors and Slytherins. Sirius passed the quaffle to James, and he dove out of the way of one the Slytherins, and threw the ball hard toward the middle hoop at the other end of the pitch- and straight at Lily.
Lily screamed as both she and the ball went flying threw the hoop. Lily hit her arm hard on the side of it as she went through. She had fallen off her broom and was falling to the ground.
She landed with a smack on the ground, and the whole class quickly flew down to her to see if she was all right. All except for Sirius. He took his wand out and pointed it at the ball, and said a spell to make it explode, so there would be no evidence of what had hit Lily. He was insuring that there would be nothing that would get him or James, who had thrown the ball, expelled.
Lily was taken up to the hospital wing, where she stayed for the next two days. Nobody, miraculously, got into trouble, thanks to Sirius's foresight to get rid of the incriminating Quaffle, and the fact that nobody who'd participated in the game would say what happened, even the Slytherins , because they didn't want to get into trouble. But Lily did get taken out of Flying lessons, to prevent further injuries. Back then, flying was little only a little more than an extra- curricular class, because flying carpets were still legal, and so there were other ways for witches and wizards to get around by flying. The ministry of magic was actually, at the time, considering removing it from the curriculum all together to save money, and because of th rather large number of flying accidents that had recently occurred at the time. No one at the school wanted that, so they decided that it would be better to remove Lily from the class as a precautionary measure, since the fate of th class was already hanging on a string. Such was the happening of Lily Evans getting kicked out her flying class , after only one lesson.
When Professor Dumbledore asked her if it would be okay if she was taken out of the class she said the she would be disappointed not to learn how to fly " But I don't mind making a sacrifice if it's for the good of the school."
Needless to say, her sweetness and maturity made quite an impression on the good professor.
So Lily was taken out of the class and placed in the library to help Madame Pince with her work in there.
The story of what happened at the flying class spread throughout the school like wild fire, and even though the teachers didn't know all the details of what happened ,the students sure did. Lily was made in to the damsel in distress, a great heroine, a martyr in the epic struggle between the mighty Gryffindors and the slimy, scummy Slytherins. When Lily came back to the tower on the night of the second day she had been in the hospital wing, she was greeted by a round of applause by all the students in the common room. Lily smiled happily as she was led over to a seat, given some chocolate, and besieged with many requests to explain her side of what happened. When ahe got to the part about the ball hitting her through the hoop, and her hitting her arm on the side, Molly the prefect jumped up and started yelling at James and Sirius, in a rather motherly way.
" Really, what were you thinking? Not only was that reckless, but someone got hurt for it, too. Now she's been withdrawn from the class! You were lucky not to be expelled! What's more, Lily is the only girl in her year, the six boys here should be able to look after the one girl better than that!" And on and on it went. Lily saw a few kids giving each other satisfied smirks, as if they had been waiting for this to come, and they probably had .Lily guessed this was probably for her benefit, to make up for the fact that they had put her in danger and had escaped getting any consequences for it. Eventually Bilius Weasley got up to stop her.
" all right Molly, calm down. What I'd like to know is which one of you first years threw a ball so strong it knocked a girl straight form the hoop from that far away."
" That would be me," Said James. He turned toward Lily ", Sorry Lily, I didn't mean to get you hurt."
" It's alright." Said Lily. She was really feeling good. She had never had so many people paying attention to her before.
" Well, are you interested in quidditch?" Asked Bilius, returning the conversation back to James. " First years aren't really allowed on the teams, but I'd like you to start going to practices, and seeing what its like, and at the end, perhaps maybe even play with the team a little.
" He nearly got a girl killed, and now all of a sudden he get's rewarded for it!" Screeched Molly, but she was drowned out by everybody buzzing about the potential new player for the Gryffindor quidditch team.
" Yes, definitely." Accepted James enthusiastically.
Such was the happening of James Potter becoming the first chaser in Gryffindor house on the team, but not really on the team.