Chapter One

The fifteen year old stood on her porch and smiled; wavy auburn hair shinning in the sun with glittering emerald eyes, Lily Evans was ready to go back to Hogwarts for her fifth year. This year was going to be different; she had just been made a Gryffindor Prefect, one of the more prestigious positions available at her school for students. She was ready to go back and see her friends, her professors, learn more and—

"HEY FREAK!" a voice screeched from inside the house.

And get away from her sister. Petunia Evans was two years older than her sister and different in just about every imaginable way. While Lily had a full, curved figure Petunia was slight and extremely thin. Lily had long auburn hair and stunning emerald eyes that slightly changed shades depending on her mood while Petunia had short limp blonde hair and gray-blue eyes that barely show a flicker of light or emotion in them.

"Mum and dad are looking for you, you little freak," came her sister's voice right behind her.

"Thanks Tuney," Lily said, using her sister's childhood nicknames just to bother her. "I'll go inside then."

With that said, Lily strode inside right past her sister, ignoring the ugly sneer painted on her face. She found her parents in the kitchen and, even though they were smiling, knew it was covering up how they felt about her going to back to school. As a reward for making Prefect this year, they had given her extra money to spend on herself during her Hogsmeade trips throughout the school year.

"It's only until Christmas," Lily said as she hugged her mother.

"I know flower, I just hate that you're not around anymore. I feel as if I don't get to watch you grow into the amazing woman you're becoming," her mother replied.

Two hugs and a few tears later, the Evans family was on their way to King's Cross Station to see Lily off to school. Petunia, forced by their father to go, was sitting in the back seat of the car and refusing to say a word to her sister.

The sisters used to get along as children. They were the best of friends and inseparable; wherever one went, the other followed. As Lily reached the age where she was able to join Petunia at public school, their differences started to become noticeable. Lily's odd habits that happened at home became more frequent as she would get upset or frustrated with the other children at school. She could make things happen without realizing it.

Once in a while, the kids that would pick on her would suddenly find themselves with bright pink or blue hair. Once, a bully wound up hanging from a flag pole, as if tied and propelled up to the top. Lily, who was too small to be able to lift another person, couldn't explain how that happened when teachers came running to the scene.

Petunia was always humiliated by the things her sister did, but she stuck up for her sister no matter what. That was until He showed up. He was the little weird boy from Spinner's End that came to school with Lily. He didn't like to talk to any of the other kids except for her. This made Petunia become over protective of her sister. She would follow them around to make sure that they didn't do anything weird.

Petunia knew Severus was going to get her sister into trouble one day and she was right. When Lily and Severus were nine, Severus told her about witchcraft explaining why she was able to make strange things happen. Petunia overheard this and exclaimed that he was a freak and that if Lily believed him, she was a freak too. From that day on, the sister's relationship was rocky and never really got back to normal. When Lily turned eleven, it just got worse. She received her letter to Hogwarts and was going to moving away for school.

Petunia wanted to go with her little sister, still having a deep wanting to keep their relationship strong. She wrote a letter to the Headmaster of the school begging to be let in and accepted. She felt that she could learn and do the same things that Lily could do. When Professor Dumbledore politely replied to her letter turning her down for admission, Petunia was done. She wanted nothing more to do with Lily and their relationship. She couldn't help but think of her once precious little sister as a freak now.

Once in King's Cross Station, Lily had to say goodbye to her family. Her mother and father in tears, and her sister forced. Lily constantly wished her relationship with Petunia would get better but, as this being her fifth year in Hogwarts, she knew better. With a sigh and a final wave to her family, Lily turned to the brick wall in between Platform Nine and Platform Ten and disappeared through it.

On the other side of the brick wall, Lily once again found herself on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. This particular platform was only accessible to those who were magical. There were special enchantments made so that if a Muggle, or non-magical person, happened to notice something strange, they would forget what they saw and think it a trick of their eyes. Lily looked down at her watch and realized that she had only ten minutes until the train left the station. With that, she gathered her trunk and her beautiful tawny owl, Melody, and boarded the train.

James Potter was a boy of fifteen, lanky with jet black, unruly hair and soft hazel eyes hidden behind glasses. He was getting ready to leave his home to go back to school. He would be starting his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; the same school where everyone else in his family had attended. James was a Pureblood wizard; there wasn't a person in his family that was not magical in some form. Because of this, James was highly talented and did not have to try to understand the material in his classes; it came naturally to him.

James had gone to Platform Nine and Three Quarters by himself this year as his parents where on another mission. They were Aurors and went after dark witches and wizards. James was used to his parents leaving every once in a while but there was normally at least one of them around at all times. With the situation in the Wizarding world getting worse, they were both needed more frequently. James, having been alone most of the summer and for the first time in his life, could not wait to go back to school in order to see his friends and cheer up.

"Hey Prongs," James heard from behind him.

When James turned around, he found his best friend standing behind him. Sirius Black was standing in the hallway watching James brood. He had been staying with the Potter family for the summer holidays; the Potters took him in like a second son and made him feel welcome, something his own family did not. Sirius pushed his long hair out of his eyes and walked into James' room.

"Are you almost ready to go mate?"

"Yeah, I just have to grab my trunk."

They headed downstairs and let the house elves know they were leaving. The boys were going to be grabbing the Knight Bus in order to get to the platform. The purple double decker bus was known for its speedy travel and the boys were running late; it was ten thirty in the morning and the train left at eleven a.m. sharp. Walking outside with their trunks James pulled out his wand arm and, with a bang, the Knight Bus appeared in front of him and Sirius.

Once they were on board and had paid their fare, the bus took off. Because the bus was known for its speedy travels, the driving could become hectic. Sirius almost fell onto a middle-aged witch who sent him a nasty glare when the boys walked past her. The ride was over before it began though and, with fifteen minutes to spare, James and Sirius walked through Plat form 9 ¾ and boarded the scarlet steam engine before them.