Hi everyone :)
MissChievous here, with another newly rewritten chapter.
Enjoy!
Chapter 3- The Beginning
The train stopped and everyone began piling out. "Firs' yers this way!" shouted the familiar voice of Hagrid the keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Every year the first years would follow Hagrid and ride in little boats across the lake, no matter the weather. Rain, sun, snow, sleet, giant fireballs falling from the sky… nothing would prevent Hagrid from making the initiation trip. Lily remembered her great journey across the lake.
Lily and her new friends got to the Hogwarts platform, got off the train, and jumped when they heard a loud booming voice. "Firs' yers this way!" Lily looked up to see the tallest largest man she had ever seen. He was taller than her dad. He was taller than her garage! And he was wider than a car. His hair was long and scraggly. The kind of hair her sister would shriek at the sight of. And his beard was long and hid most of his face. Lily vaguely wondered what his real face looked like, but soon her new friend, James, had taken her hand and was leading her forward.
The students followed the large man to a row of slightly beaten up rowboats. Amazed at how the boat managed to hold such a gigantic man, Lily let herself be loaded onto a rickety boat with her new friends. The weather that day was windy. The sky threatened rain, but the clouds mercifully held together. The large man, tapped his boat with a worn out pink umbrella, and the boats tugged forward in unison, fighting the wind and waves.
Amazed at the magic, Lily almost missed her first glimpse of her new school. While she was inspecting the back of the boat for a motor, which she didn't find, Sirius elbowed her. Lily saw his lips moving, but she couldn't hear his voice. The wind was howling in her ears, and her hair was whipping her face. So, Sirius pointed somewhere in the distance, and Lily turned to see a magnificent castle. Its many roofs seemed to grow taller as she took in its beauty. The towers touched the sky, the walls twisted and turned, and the green hills danced in Lily's eyes. The lights coming from the windows beckoned her into them, begging her to explore the rooms they led to. Lily had never seen a building as alive as the one before her. It was like it was conversing with her.
Lily, Kat, and Ali headed for one of the horseless carriages in which the rest of the students rode to the castle. But just as Lily was reaching for the black horned handle, someone grabbed it and snarled, "What do you think you're doing, Mudblood?"
"Don't make me take points Malfoy," Lily sighed.
"Ooo, I'm shaking in my robes," Lucius Malfoy mocked. "Do it, and I'll kill you right here," he hissed in her ear. "You know I could."
"Try me, Malfoy. You think you're such a tough guy because your daddy is a Death Eater, well I'm not scared. Tell him that. Tell him that you failed to frighten a poor little muggle-born girl. I'm sure he'd be very happy with you." Lily continued just as softly as Malfoy had. Then she spotted him, Severus. Her throat clenched painfully, and she almost felt like crying.
"Why you—" Malfoy began, malice dripping from his words.
"Come on girls," Lily turned away. "This carriage is occupied by half witted, blood thirsty, Voldemort-worshipping, pricks," she threw over her shoulder, just loud enough for him to hear.
Suddenly, Lily screamed in pain as Malfoy grabbed a fistful of her raving red hair. "How dare you speak His name! You filthy, good-for-nothing, Mudblood! You say you're not afraid? Well then you are foolish! You will see, when all those you love are gone and you are the only one left! Then you will know afraid!"
Lily was startled. What would Malfoy do in front of all of these people? She could feel her eyes watering from the pain, but Lily remained strong, not letting something so small as a death threat push her around. "What? Be afraid of who? Oh, you mean, be afraid of your murdering, gutless, so-called 'leader', Voldemort?"
"Why you insolent big-mouthed brat!" Lily gasped as Malfoy pulled even harder on her hair so that she was in a half back-bend. "I'll just have to teach you to be afraid!" Malfoy raised his wand to her throat and whispered as quietly as he could, "Cru—"
"Expelliarmus!"
Lily felt Malfoy's wand fly away from her face and took the opportunity to wrench her head out of Malfoy's grasp. "Ahhh, Potter. Nice of you to join the Mudblood and me for a little chat."
James charged at him, "Call her that again and you will no longer have the ability to speak, much less choose your own foul words," he threatened, slamming Malfoy up against the side of the carriage.
Malfoy couldn't do anything without his wand, so he shoved James off and muttered "Mudblood-lover," just loud enough for James to hear.
"Incorrect! Vox extr—"
"Expelliarmus!" Lily yelled. "Potter, just forget it. You are Head Boy and scum like him is just not worth your time. Just let it go."
"Lily!" James pleaded, outraged as he went to retrieve his wand. "He called you a…"
"I know what he called me. I don't need your help!" With that Lily turned on heel and walked away leaving James astounded and her friends' mouths still open from the moment Malfoy had grabbed her. So, Lily grabbed her friends and walked to a carriage far away from Malfoy, and her spineless ex-best friend, Severus.
Lily searched for Severus, and when she finally found him, they were already walking through, what James told her was, the Great Hall. Severus was with some boys that looked to Lily, evil. There was no other way to describe their sharp shrewd features. They just looked evil.
Watching the students before her, Lily cheered when Sirius was put into Gryffindor. He had told her that he wanted to be in any house but Slytherin. Then Lily herself, was sorted into Gryffindor. Her new friends cheered for her, but when she looked over at Severus and grinned at him, he didn't return the smile. The other three boys were put into Gryffindor with her, along with two other girls Lily had seen on the boat ride, but Severus was placed in Slytherin. Lily had hoped that he would join her in Gryffindor, but he seemed happy to be in Slytherin, so Lily was happy for him.
Later, after the most extravagant meal Lily had ever eaten, Severus approached her in the corridor.
"So," he had said, "you're in Gryffindor."
He didn't sound all that happy with it, but Lily smiled at him and his expression softened. "I can't wait to see which lessons we will have together."
Just then, a few of Severus' new friends came up to him. "Who's this?" A large blond boy, with slitted gray eyes asked.
"This is my friend, Lily," Severus began. "She's-"
"A mudblood," the blond boy sneered.
"Excuse me?" Lily asked. She didn't know what a "mudblood" was, but the boy had said it with such disgust, that she could tell it was something he didn't approve of.
"I said that you are a mudblood. I could smell you across the Great Hall, and it rather ruined my appetite," the blond boy said.
"Well, we could smell your slimy gelled hair from across the lake! Isn't that right, Sirius?" James and the three other boys came to Lily's side.
"Potter," the blond boy spat.
"Malfoy."
Then Malfoy looked up and spotted, "Black? Why didn't you sit with us for dinner?"
"Because I'm not like the rest of you Dark Art worshiping heathens," Sirius shot back.
At this point Lily was lost in the conversation. She couldn't make heads or tails of what was happening, all she knew was that the atmosphere was more intense than anything she had felt before, and her heart was beating rapidly without her permission. She also knew that she did not like the blond boy named Malfoy. His very presence made her uneasy, and she could tell that there was something dark about him.
"Severus, I'll see you later then."
"Are you friends with this?" Malfoy asked Severus, pointing at Lily.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Lily said angrily. She could feel her temperature and temper rising.
Malfoy laughed, "Your parents are both muggles. Correct?"
Lily did not respond. She just kept glaring up at the large blond boy as he came closer to her.
"Of course they are," he had said through gritted teeth. "I can smell it all over you. Rotten, putrid, and disgusting," he turned to look to his friends who were all laughing, and that's when she struck. Lily aimed a powerful kick to Malfoy's groin, and walked away.
It was just after that moment, that sides were chosen and fate was set in motion. She heard James and Sirius yell words she didn't recognize, felt wind rushing past both sides of her, which was impossible because they were inside, and turned around to see Malfoy with things that resembled squirming mushrooms growing from his face, and Severus with five arms that looked like rubber, his wand on the ground by his side.
"What did you do that for?" Lily shouted at James and Sirius.
"They were trying to hex you!" James explained.
"Are you okay, Severus?" Lily rushed to his side, picking up his wand. "Why did you hex him? He would never hurt me," Lily raged at James.
"His wand was raised!" James looked taken aback. "Did you want me to just let him curse you? I was just trying to help you!"
"I don't need your help!" Lily growled at James. And she whipped her hair as she turned to take Severus to the Hospital Wing.
"Uh!" Lily exclaimed once they were in the carriage. "I can't stand him! Walking around like he's such a big shot! 'Look at me! Look at me!'" Lily mocked. "Uhh, it's completely revolting!"
"Don't worry about it. No one can stand Malfoy." Ali said.
"Except for Slytherins," Kat said. "You know of course, they all run in the same circle. All their daddies are friends, and you work your way up by killing. It's disgusting if you ask me."
"It's barbaric!" Ali said.
"What?" Lily asked confused. "No! I can't stand Potter!"
"James?" both Ali and Kat exclaimed.
"Yes, Potter."
"But… but…" Kat stuttered.
"He just saved your life!" Ali exclaimed. "I mean, I don't know very many people who would just step in there like he did. You should be thanking him, Lily!"
"Whatever. Malfoy didn't even have his wand. Potter only did it to look cool. To look like he can live up to his title. Wow, what a great guy," Lily continued sarcastically. "I could have handled it! Plus, with the spell he threw at Malfoy, he could have hit me!"
"Lily, I don't know how you don't see it." Kat began. "James Potter, one of the hottest guys in school and possibly on the face of the planet, is completely smitten with you, and you can't even acknowledge it! Hello? Is anybody home?" Kat continued, knocking playfully on Lily's head, "Wake up and smell the Pepper-Up potion."
"Can you honestly say that you hate him?" Ali added. "For your sake, I hope you get over it, considering you have to spend the entire year dealing him. Just give him a chance."
"But I—"
"No!" Kat exclaimed. "No buts! What, are you scared you'll end up liking him? Are you scared because he likes you? Whether you see it or not, James Potter is—"
"At your service!" James exclaimed as he entered the carriage. "Talking about me again? Wow Evans, this must be a record. I've never been so flattered!"
Lily shot an angry look at her friends, who at least had the decency to look apologetic. "What do you think you're doing Potter?" Lily said.
"We're all joining you. There's nowhere else to sit!" James exclaimed gleefully sitting almost on top of Lily. "Isn't this wonderful? I haven't seen you in, like, forever! Like, what's up?" James asked with a valley girl flick of his hair.
"Why are you so difficult?" Lily said disgustedly as she moved herself all the way against the wall of the carriage. But then she saw the injured look on James' face and felt a twinge of remorse.
"Hey there!" Sirius shouted, announcing his presence. "Did you miss me? I think you did!" Sirius said to a giggling Kat.
"Do you mind if we sit with you?" Remus asked politely before setting foot in the carriage. Remus was of course the only Marauder who was ever polite.
"No problem!" answered Ali, receiving a malicious glare from Lily who now sat squished between the wall and an extremely bouncy Head Boy. "So! What's everyone taking this year?"
"Ali, you can't honestly be asking this question," Kat pleaded. "You know we're almost in all the same classes! Did you go swimming over the summer and hit your head one too many times on the bottom of the pool?"
"Now, now girls, lets not have to break out the smart-ass patrol. Let's keep it calm and clean." Sirius motioned to keep the level down with his hands.
"Sorry Black, I was born a smart-ass, and a smart-ass I shall be until bullfrogs have wings." Kat shot back through a smirk.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? A little competition between Dweedle-Dee and Dweedle-Dum?" Peter asked. "We have Ms. Katarina Miller to my left and Mr. Sirius Black on my right. It is a battle of wits ladies and gentlemen, I wonder who will win?"
"Nice one Wormtail!" James congratulated his friend on his humor with a high-five, and Kat looked threateningly at Peter. He had used her full name. So the ride was pretty uneventful, except for Sirius and Kat's revenge on Peter. When he wasn't looking, Sirius hexed Peter's hair to stand straight up in the back, and Kat shot a charm to untie his shoes.
As they pulled up to the school, James opened the door and motioned for Lily to go through, "After you Sweetums," James cooed while batting his eyelashes at Lily.
"Stuff it, Potter." Lily said as she got out of the carriage, and at the same time Peter fell out of the other side due to his hexed shoelaces.
"Come on Prongsie, why did you have to start that right away? The poor girl can't have a moment's rest without you making some ridiculous comment," Sirius scolded. "Besides, don't use 'Sweetums.' You have to use things like, 'Beautiful,' or 'Lovely,' instead of making her sound like food. Girls hate that! But I can't for the life of me figure out why! I would want to be called a food! It would be an honor! I'd want to be… ummm…"
"Okay Padfoot, you keep thinking about that, and the rest of us will step away from you so you can dig deep into that terrifying pit you call a brain, so we don't get hurt when it explodes from being over-worked," James taunted.
"Alright, alright." Sirius welcomed the challenge. "So if my brain is a terrifying pit, then yours must be… a…" Sirius scrunched his forehead in deep thought.
"See? See what I mean? Lily beautiful, we better get away from that guy, he's a ticking time bomb I tell you!" James shielded Lily from Sirius.
"Honestly Potter! If you keep this up I swear on my life I will—"
"You'll do what Ms. Evans?" Lily, winced, then slowly turned and looked up to see Professor Dumbledore staring inquisitively at her with a slight smile. Dumbledore was a tall lanky man, with a silver beard that touched mid-stomach. He had radiant crystal blue eyes that held authority in them, yet still retained a childlike joy. Dumbledore often reminded Lily of a little boy stuck in an older man's body, for Dumbledore was amused by the small joys in life. She also thought that, since he was their Headmaster, this was a really good thing. "Or you'll do what exactly, Ms. Evans?" Dumbledore repeated, this time with a raised eyebrow and a slightly larger smile on his face.
"Oh. Um, nothing Professor." Lily felt her face heat up.
"Alright then. Ms. Evans, Mr. Potter, I shall need to see you immediately after the feast in my office. Do not go to your common room, but come straight to my office. The password is…" Dumbledore leaned in close so only the two of them could hear, "Pepper-Imps. Mr. Potter, I trust you know where the entrance is. Now go on to dinner and hand these out to the prefects." Dumbledore handed both Lily and James a small stack of mini-parchments.
Lily stood there afraid to move. "Off to dinner we shall go! The feast of course will be well worth the wait. I'm really looking forward to the steak and kidney pie. Let's move then!" Dumbledore exclaimed as he turned on his heel for the Great Hall calling, "Hup! Two, Three, Four, Hup! Two, Three, Four," all the way down the corridor.
Together in Dumbledore's wake, Lily, James, and their sniggering friends, all made their way to the Great Hall. Lily wondered to herself what it was she did in a past life to have deserved someone like James to ruin her life. It was the first day of school, and she was already in trouble. She dreaded what the rest of the year would look like, if she didn't put a stop to it.
James must have noticed Lily's anger and towards him because he didn't say a word to her. Nor did he make a single joke with Sirius. Sirius, Kat, and Peter, on the other hand kept laughing at the pair of them. And Remus and Ali, at least had the dignity to hold their laughter in. But Lily and James walked in silence to the Great Hall until the buzzing of excited students reached their ears and continued to grow louder with each step.
Without a word, Lily and James began passing out the pieces of parchment Dumbledore had just handed them. To each prefect, they handed a parchment containing the password to that prefect's house. Lily worked quickly and efficiently, while James often held the parchment above the prefects head, or made them answer a riddle before he gave them their password.
As soon as they were finished, Dumbledore's voice arose above the excited noise of the students back in school. "Welcome! Welcome!" he began. "Welcome to yet another year at Hogwarts. Please stay seated as the sorting takes place. Then I promise we will eat, as I know all of you are as anxious as I."
With the tail end of his sentence, the first years made their first voyage into the Great Hall led by the enormous Hagrid. Each tiny student that walked through the doors looked more frightened than the one before. Lily couldn't help but smile when she saw little girls nervously looking at their shoes, and then bumping into the next student. And she watched as the boys, who were trying to look confident, pointed out the ceiling and banners, and then also bumped into the next student in front of them. She remembered her eleven year old self. Her mother had insisted on buying her robes a few inches too long because, "I'm sure you will grow so much this year." Lily's parents were both about six feet tall, and they had expected Lily to grow tall just like them. So, Lily trudged her way into the Great Hall, tripping over her oversized robes, every other step.
"Come, come! Don't be shy!" Dumbledore smiled. "We don't bite! Well, hard anyway," he joked. But as soon as he saw the horrified looks that had just flitted across the first years' faces, Dumbledore hurriedly covered, "It was a joke! Only joking, I promise." He said with a chuckle.
After about ten minutes of sorting the first years, Dumbledore stood up and announced, "I have two words for you…Tuck in!" With that, countless platters of Hogwarts' fine cooking appeared on the house tables. Lily could see every dish she had ever eaten in her entire life on the Gryffindor table; chicken dishes, steaks, soups, pastas, sandwiches including grilled cheese, hot pot, an assortment of steamed and creamed and roasted vegetables, meat pies, fruit pies, pudding pies, and to Lily's delight, ice cream.
The Marauders ate so much that the plates which were unfortunately within their arms' length, had to keep refilling themselves every few minutes. Just between Sirius and James, a small third world country could have been sustained with all the food they ate.
During the meal, Lily and her two best friends caught up on the rest of their summer vacations, agonized over their upcoming N.E.W.T. level classes, and reminisced about the first time they had all talked and became friends. All of them had been very nervous just like the new first years they had just seen sorted. But it was only the three of them in a dorm together, so they had to talk sooner or later. They had bonded over their excitement and bewilderment of their opposite worlds. Lily questioned Kat and Ali excessively about the magical world, and Kat and Ali wanted to know everything about the life of a Muggle. Lily's new friends had even taken time to teach her a few easy spells. Lily was very thankful because they made Lily feel so much more comfortable about starting lessons. In preparation she had read most of her books before the term started, and asked Severus to show her a few things, but she knew there was still so much more for her to learn.
Finally, after about five minutes of the Marauders being the only ones still eating, Dumbledore called for silence again. "I would like to make a few announcements before we adjourn for the night. First years, and a few of our older students," Dumbledore's good-natured eyes flashed in the direction of the Marauders, "please note that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds. Even I am unsure of what creatures may lie within its harbor." Dumbledore allowed for a little chatter to break out about the terrifying possibilities lying in the forest, but he soon motioned for quiet again.
"Prefects, you now have your passwords. Please guide the younger students safely to your house dormitories. Remember, you have patrolling duties as well." Dumbledore reminded.
"My last announcement, and perhaps the most important, may not make sense to those of us with our ears opened and our minds closed. So please take a moment, to pry open the doors to your minds, and the doors to your hearts." Lily was surprised at the Headmaster's strange directions, and though she followed his direction, she looked around in confusion. It seemed like she was the only one doing as she was told, and that every single student was simply too confused to follow instruction. Minus the Slytherins, who did not seem confused in the slightest, but whom were just flat out ignoring their Headmaster.
After a few moments pause, Dumbledore looked up and resumed speaking. "There are unfortunate dark happenings occurring in our magical community. They affect every one of us. But I ask that while we are here at school, we band together and unite against this darkness." Dumbledore now stood so the power of his words stopped even the Slytherins from talking. "We are a school together. We study together. We learn together. We eat together. We live together. And we should open our hearts together. Yes, we are four houses, but we are one school. I am Hogwarts, you are Hogwarts. We are all Hogwarts."
Still struck by the sudden seriousness of his speech, Lily was frozen and could not react. It wasn't until someone started clapping, that she snapped out of her trance and joined in.
"And now," the Headmaster continued, beaming at them all, "let us all stand and join in the traditional school song!" Dumbledore flicked his wand and a thin golden ribbon flew out and twisted itself to reveal the lyrics to the school song. "Everyone, join in with your favorite tune, and sing at the top of your lungs!"
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For they've bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot."
(A/N: Song from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)
Not one person in the whole hall finished at the same time. Dumbledore gleefully conducted until the Marauders finished their singing to the "Death Day" tune, dragging the tempo slower and slower, shouting the words as loud and as long as they could, and sustaining the last "rot" in a competition of lung power.
As soon as Sirius, the Marauder who held the last note the longest, stopped singing and everyone stopped laughing, including the Headmaster himself, Dumbledore concluded, "Now let's all have one last big sleep before we must begin our studies. Check the board in your common rooms daily for important announcements. Have fun tomorrow, and sleep tight!"
"DON'T LET THE BED BUGS BITE!" yelled the Marauders causing everyone, but the Slytherins, to laugh one last time before following their house prefects to their rooms.
"Lily, should we go now?" James asked.
"Huh?" Lily was momentarily confused, her mind still on the cryptic speech Dumbledore had given. "Oh, yeah." Lily bade her friends goodnight, telling them not to wait up for her since she didn't know how long she'd be.
"Ready to go m'lady?" James asked, offering his arm.
Lily went for his arm as if to take it, but elbowed him in the ribs and whispered, "In your dreams." she said with a smile. But the joke didn't have the effect Lily intended. Instead of wincing in pain, he looked at her from behind his glasses, his eyes filled with something she could not pinpoint. So she started walking and changed the subject. "What did you think of Dumbledore's speech?"
"It was very mysterious. I wonder what he was trying to tell us."
"Or what he was trying to warn us about. Sticking together as a whole school?"
"You mean, be friends with the Slytherins?" James scoffed. "Right."
"Do you know where Professor Dumbledore's office is?"
"Of course! Don't you?" James asked.
"No, I've never been there," Lily said.
"You've never been to Dumbledore's office?"
"When did you go there?" Lily asked.
"I've been there loads of times. Once when Sirius and I put 'Super Slippy Slimy Solution' on all the broom handles of the Slytherins," he laughed at the memory. "And once when we got caught dueling in the astronomy tower. I really thought we would get expelled for that one."
Lily should have known it was for causing trouble. "Well, no wonder I haven't been there. I don't mindlessly cause trouble to exert my dominance over others," she said.
"Oh yeah," James ruffled his hair. "Sorry, Lils, I forgot you weren't a troublemaker. Here we are! Pepper Imps." James said to a stone gargoyle.
Lily almost yelped in surprise as the very solid looking gargoyle answered, "If you say so. Although I much prefer Peppermint Humbugs or Butterscotch Bubbles." Then the black stone gargoyle jumped sideways along the wall to reveal a hidden staircase. "Will you tell him that when you're up there? He never listens to me."
"Sure thing, Herbert," James replied, saluting the gargoyle as he passed.
James motioned for Lily to go ahead of him up the spiraling staircase. At the top, there was a beautiful oak door with a gold plaque in the center with "Headmaster: Professor Albus B. W. Dumbledore" engraved in loopy script. Lily reached for the doorknob, but the door opened slightly before she even touched the handle, as if it knew she was coming.
James chuckled at her, and Lily guessed that the door opening must be a normal thing for Professor Dumbledore's office.
"Don't be shy," Dumbledore called to them from inside the office. "Come in."
A big "Thank You" to Heather of the Feathers and exdiva55giantsfan for your reviews :)
If anyone else out there is reading this story, and you have any thoughts about it, whatsoever, know that I really do care about my readers, fellow authors, and your opinions.
So if you could help me to help you, I'd appreciate any words you have to offer.
Thank you so much for reading!
~MissChievous