A.N Alright people it has been a while..... sorry my life got in the road...... got more hours at work...... started school....... heaps of work to learn and stuff but i did work on my story each time i had a study period....... buts thats once a week..... any way here it is.... another chapter.... hope you like.

On the Loose

What Lily didn't expect to happen the next day, was to wake up early. Yet that's what she did. When she opened to curtains that surrounded her bed she was greeted with a still dark tinted sky, with only the small hint the sun was going to be rising over the horizon soon.

Groaning slightly Lily pulled herself off the bed. She knew that she wouldn't be able to go back to bed now. She looked around to room at all her still sleeping roommates and turned green with envy. She would like to believe that if she was up so should all of them, but that didn't appear to be going to happen. None of them even stirred as Lily shot daggers at them with her eyes.

Deciding not even lying back down on her bed would bring sleep; Lily thought perhaps a tour of the common room could satisfy her loathing right now. After all Remus did mention a secret passage that led straight to the Library was hidden right in the common room. And finding that was an opportunity Lily couldn't give up.

Not caring she was still in her pyjamas; Lily crept towards the door leading out onto the stair well, on the other side of the room. She made it outside her dorm with little hassle, as she climbed down the stone steps, taking mental note that stone was cold underneath bare feet. Next time she should wear socks.

When she finally reached the rug covered floor of the common room, Lily skimmed the surrounding spacious room. Her eyes landing on a mop of black hair that was in the direction of the depleting fire within the fireplace. Obviously she wasn't alone.

Clearing her throat slightly, Lily watched as the mop of black hair began to turn and the person was about to look her in the face.

Harry continuously stared at the flames of the fireplace as they appeared to get smaller and smaller each second. He had been in the red and gold common room for quite some time now and well he always seemed to be able to get lost in the heart of the flames.

He couldn't sleep very well last night. So many things were running through his head and not to mention the weird dream he witnessed. It all seemed to be getting too much for him.

Atop of that he had also recently discovered that his best friend was attending the same school as him. Lily was actually here.... just in one of the next rooms. He was beginning to believe that if he looked away it would all be gone.

A small cackle of fire brought him from his trance and he began to stare at the tongues of fire once more. He didn't hear the person come out of their dormitory, or climb down the stone steps. He thought he was all alone until he heard that slight clearing of the throat, as if someone was trying to give him note of their presence. Sighing inwardly, Harry began to think it was one of those many people who gawked at him during dinner the previous night. Someone who knew him as this famous boy who lived.

Turning his head he was greeted by aqua-grey eyes he knew all too well. There still in her black shorts and extremely baggy green t-shirt stood Lily.

"What are you doing up this early?" Harry asked her

"I could ask you the same thing" came the reply.

Harry almost laughed out loud. Lily wasn't really functional this early in the morning. Sure around 8-ish she was a normal human being. But anytime before that well whoever was controlling autopilot wasn't a very good driver.

"Couldn't sleep" yawned Harry as he turned to face the fire again. Only seconds later Lily climbed onto the ruby two seater couch and drew her knees up to her chin.

"Same" Lily answered, her eyes staring straight into the burning ashes that gave the only evidence a fire once burned. "I just doesn't seem real you know?"

Harry nodded his head up and down in agreement, his black bangs scraping across his eyes.

"It seems it's all going to be gone any second" he said quietly

"Not everything" Lily countered. She turned and looked Harry right in the eyes "Your here so it's got to be real"

"It could all just be a dream" Joked Harry as he began to make ghost sounds. Lily giggled in response before they were plunged in silence again.

"So did you see that really huge man that brought us to the castle?" Lily questioned.

Harry rolled his eyes slightly and looked at her that said 'You've got to be kidding me'

"No I didn't see Hagrid take us up to the school. Here I just thought we followed the big, bright light" he commented sarcastically.

If anything Lily blushed from embarrassment. That was a pretty stupid question to ask. "Whoa, wait, Hagrid? You know that guy?"

Harry nodded his conferment as Lily looked at him curiously. "Yeah he was the one that took me to Diagon Alley on my birthday and got me all my school stuff. He was the one that told me I was a wizard and so were my parents."

"Wow" whispered Lily as she soaked in everything her best friend was telling her. "Your parents were a witch and wizard also? That's pretty awesome. To think that maybe they once sat in this very room too."

Harry looked around slightly. He had never thought of that till now. He was going to be taking the very classes his parents took. He could have possibly been sorted in the exact same house as them. They could have even both sat in this very chair, when they attended Hogwarts. Slightly overwhelmed for the moment Harry turned back to face his friend.

"What about your parents? Did they both attend here?" he asked

Lily shrugged. "Well when Dumbledore came to my house......"

"WAIT! Dumbledore came to YOUR house?" interrupted Harry

Lily looked at him weirdly for a moment before nodding.

"What's weird about that?" she asked intrigued about the sudden outburst

"Well I didn't think he was one to go out and tell people they were magical. The teachers yeah but not him" Harry spoke.

Lily just shrugged "Can I continue now?" she joked

Harry let out a slight snort of laughter before gesturing his hand to continue.

"Well as I was saying before being rudely interrupted" she joked once more; receiving a glare from her friend "Dumbledore told me I was being accepted at Hogwarts. That's when I was told I was adopted and that it was my real mother that had enrolled me when I was little. Well Dumbledore said my mum; Delilah went here. But he said no one knows who my dad was or is except for my godfather who seemed to have died a while back" By the time she was finished her words were nothing but a whisper.

"Wow" was all Harry could sum up. Lily only nodded slowly before she turned back toward the now dimming ambers.

Another silence followed them as both first years sat there and thought over the fact that perhaps both their mother and father shared this exact same room. It was in a way nerving but also both of them couldn't put that feeling down of them being closer to both their mother and father.

"So do you know anything about the classes we take?" asked Harry "Hagrid told me the subjects but not what they were about"

"Mmmmmhhhhmmmm" Nodded Lily "Remus told me some stuff about each lesson"

"Remus?"

"Yeah my escort to Diagon Alley" Answered Lily, and with that simple question, she found herself going into a description of everything she was told about by Moony.

Both Lily and Harry continued to talk about whatever subject came up for quite some time. It wasn't until the first early breakfast risers exited the common room did they realise the time had come for them to get ready. As the two parted ways once they reached the top of the stairs they both Promised to sit with the other at breakfast. Each went into their corresponding dorm rooms to get ready.

There each of them found their day uniforms laid out on their already made bed. Each consisted of plain white shirt, a grey pull over vest and their tie sewn in their houses colours; red and gold. While the boys then had black dress pants, belt, grey socks, and closed dress shoes, the girls found a black pleated skirt, knee high grey socks and black Mary Jane shoes. This was to be their uniform for the next seven years. And to top of the entire outfit both genders were to wear a black cloak like robe that had their house emblem printed over their hearts and was lined with their dominate house colour. So for both Lily and Harry that meant their robe was lined with a ruby red material.

In all it looked like it was going to get really hot real easily with wearing these uniforms. But unfortunately they had no choice.

Freshening up and changing quite fast. Both Harry and Lily meet each other in the common and escorted each other to the great hall for breakfast. Completely ignoring the calls of Ron, Mandy (Amanda) and Sophie.

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When both friends sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast, they were shocked. In front of them sat mountains of food. Toast, Bacon, Eggs, Juice, The occasional Coffee and/or tea mug and heaps more. They really just couldn't decide what to take first.

Digging into what they could reach Lily and Harry broke into a conversation just as Ron Weasley took the seat the other side of Harry, Hermione Granger the girl from Lily's dorm to the one opposite him and both Amanda and Sophie sat opposite Lily. All of them sitting there created a fair sized group which only grew larger as the other Gryffindor first years took a seat nearby.

Small talk was made throughout the whole meal. Mostly at this moment, Lily didn't get a word in with Harry, as that red haired boy he met on the train, didn't seem to be coming up for a breath.

Lily didn't mind she just continued to eat the piece of bacon she appeared to have butchered and sat in silence. It was going quite well as a matter of fact. Lily just sat there listening to all three conversations around her, until an eerie screech filled the large hall.

"AHH Mails here" she slightly heard Ron say as everyone appeared to look up. There, coming from open rafters, soared numerous numbers of owls. All different colours, all different breeds. Just a sea of birds circled the heads of the now full room.

Spotting their owner or the one that would receive their mail, the owls swooped down depositing the packages of shapes and sizes into the students lap, or they landed gracefully on the table waiting for their burden to be released.

In actual fact it took Lily a while to realise that she had an owl sitting in front of her. She jumped slightly when she did making the bird ruffle its feathers in annoyance. Apologizing quietly to the bird, she untied the string and let it take off to wherever it was going to go.

She bluntly heard someone mention a boy named Neville got an object called a rememberall, whatever that was. But Lily didn't care too much as to what Neville had received. She was too much drawn into the piece of parchment that now beared her name in neat calligraphy.

Breaking the seal that resembled a wolf like creature, Lily was greeted by the sight of a nicely written letter.

Lily,

I was overjoyed when I received your letter. I was sure I was not going to hear from you after you got all caught up in the excitement of Hogwarts. But none the less I am happy.

I too am glad you went to Hogwarts. It is a wonderful place to learn magic and as you have probably noticed the Common Rooms are indeed comfy. Oh and Congratulations on being sorted into Gryffindor. That was once my old house when I attended and I must say it has its memories (Have you looked behind the tapestry of the Fwooper and the Lion?)

As for classes you're bound to breeze threw them. Just don't rely on others to get your notes. They always tend to miss something important.

I must admit I was a bit startled and worried when you mentioned what the sorting hat said to you. Clearly it knows who your father is, but why he didn't tell you I am unsure. Perhaps just let it play through, you'd be surprised what happens inside the walls of Hogwarts. As for the warning the hat gave you. You might be best to be on your toes for a while. For the true origin of what he meant I wouldn't have a clue I'm afraid. Just keep an eye out. It might not be as drastic as you think.

Once again I am happy to hear from you.

I hope your first day goes well, and so does the rest of the week.

Just remember to do your homework, don't leave it till the last minute it's not good for you or your marks.

Signed

'Moony'

Remus John Lupin

Finishing the letter, Lily quickly folded and placed it inside her robes with her wand, and sat there pondering what she had just read. She didn't realise how late it was getting until Professor McGonagall placed her timetable down in front of her.


Today she was to take the following classes:

Defence against the Dark Arts

Charms

Lunch

History of Magic

Transfiguration

Dinner

All in all it was going to be a long day. And already she was feeling nervous about attending her classes and meeting her teachers. Noticing that all around the hall people were beginning to head off to their scheduled classes, Lily motioned to Harry that it would probably be best to start heading off to their class as well.

Unfortunately, Ronald Weasley took that as an invitation to tag along with them, leaving no time for Lily to talk to Harry about the coming up class or anything else that took place over breakfast. Instead she found herself in between Mandy and Sophie as they lead her ahead of the two boys and around the corner. Lily didn't see much of Harry after that.

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Defence against the Dark Arts, would by far have to be Harry's favourite class at Hogwarts... but then again it was only the first class, on the first day of the year.

After translating through Professor Quirrel's stutter, Harry found that this year they would be learning light jinxes and hexes, and the occasional dark creature (they would learn more about creatures in later years). It was just all fascinating. Harry was still yet to believe he was actually here.

When the bell rang after a while, Harry was slightly disappointed to walk out of the room. He felt maybe he should walk back into the room and listen in on the next first year speech.

Spotting Lily just ahead of him, he left the doorway fast, completely forgetting he was supposed to be upset.

They walked in complete silence from the third floor to the second for Charms, listening to the faint chatter of the paintings that were being drowned out by the bangs of doors, the patter of every student's feet and the ever so loud shouts over the hundreds of voices.

It wasn't until they were greeted by the silence of the Professor's charms classroom did Lily say a word. They appeared to be one of the first couple of students to arrive, so they had a huge selection of seats to choose from.

"Want to sit together?" Lily asked as she motioned to two seats.

Harry bit his lip slightly. He really wanted to sit with her, but what of Ron? Wouldn't he want Harry to sit with him again?

"Yeah sure" Harry's voice spoke out. He hadn't really made a decision, but it looked like his voice thought otherwise.

Seeing Lily break out in a smile made Harry suddenly glad to have chosen to with her, shrugging his apologies to Ron, who had just walked in. He slid next to Lily and began to get out his things for the subject.

Nothing much happened during this class, apart from the dwarf sized Professor Flitwick, toppling out of sight when he read the name Harry Potter out from the attendance sheet, the class was quite dull.

Today they were being coached in wrist movements with their wands. It turned out that with the wrong wand movement a simple spell could go horribly wrong.

Harry would have to say he was quite glad when the bell rang for lunch. Letting out a sigh, he flexed his fingers in hopes to ease the pain that had built up in his wrist. Swinging his bag over his shoulder, Harry slowly dragged his feet out of the classroom and wandered from the doorway. He wasn't in the mood to be trampled on his first day.

Shortly after finding an unoccupied space of flooring, he was greeted by a scruffy looking Ron and Lily who appeared to be still putting her things away in her bag.

"LUNCH" exclaimed Ron with a happy sigh. "I'm Starving, do you want to go?"

"Lily?" Harry waited until she looked up before continuing. "Are you coming to lunch with me?"

Lily looked at the floor slightly "No you go ahead; I've got to check something in my room"

"Oh... Are you sure?"

Lily nodded and waved goodbye to Harry, then turned and made her way towards the seventh floor. Harry watched her go all the way out of sight. What could she possibly be checking on the first day of school?

"Come on mate" came Ron's impatient tone. Apparently he loved his food. Smiling a small smile, Harry began walking alongside the red head towards the Great Hall.

"Why did you sit with that girl in class?" asked Ronald "You made me have to sit next to that Granger girl and she....... ". Harry didn't hear anymore after that.

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Lily peeked through the door of the Gryffindor first year girl's dormitory to see if she had any company. She was greeted by a very quiet bedroom, which made Lily sigh with relief. She didn't know how she would explain to someone why there was a puppy at Hogwarts.

"Echo" she called "Come here"

When the puppy didn't come into sight, she whistled lowly so no one but the crup would hear. Still there was no sign of echo.

Getting on all fours, Lily peered under every bed in the room, yet still there was no puppy to find. A small yap made Lily turn around sharply. There by the door that led to the common room, sat the black and white dog.

When Lily made a move towards the pup, Echo changed his neutral stance into a more playful nature; he obviously thought this was all a game. Yet it wasn't the wagging tail that caught Lily's attention, it was what was beyond that. An open door. If echo got out, she would be in so much trouble.

Rising slowly to her feet, Lily moved towards the pup in an even slower manner. Echo could not get out. With her breath hitched in her throat, Lily got closer and closer to the energetic ball of fluff. She reached her hand out to grab onto the green collar she had purchased for him, but it proved to be a mistake. As if knowing her intentions, Echo dodged her hand and ran out of the room.

Groaning loudly, Lily followed the magical dog into the ruby coloured common room, which happily on her observation was quite empty. It was a slight relief to Lily's momentary fear. At least with an empty room, no one would be leaving, and therefore the pup had no means of escape. Unless of course someone wanted to enter the room.

The slight squeak of an un-oiled hinge being used, greeted the ears of both with and crup. Someone had opened the portrait hole, giving a clear escape for the puppy.

It seemed someone, somewhere, wanted to see Lily get in trouble, because right now strutting into the room was none other than the strict, rule following Prefect, Percy Weasley. He stopped short and stared at Lily, then at Echo and then at Lily once more.

His face then distorted into a glare as he stalked forward forgetting the portrait was left wide open.

"HEY!" he bellowed. Scared of the sudden loud noise, Echo bolted straight through the portrait hole and down the corridor.

Groaning at her luck, Lily ran past Percy ignoring his looks and climbed through the entrance of the common room. She began a run down the exact corridor in which Echo blurred down seconds ago. "Get Back Here!" Lily didn't look back.

She ran after the pup until she was out of breath, and even after that she still kept on running. The stitch that had formed in her side throbbed with each pounding step. Maybe she should have read up on crups, for this speed and distance for a puppy seemed unnatural.

Lily was unsure for how long they had been running, but they must have gone a fair distance, as she could swear they just passes the charms classroom and that was on the second floor. Echo had run through 5 floors and didn't seem to be slowing down.

Stumbling slightly as she turned around a sharp bend, Lily instantly recognised where they were. Two large doors facing each other meant the crup had brought her to the Entrance Hall, and Echo still seemed to want to run.

With the slight movement of one of the doors, the pup was off again, bowling down the student; that was obviously leaving lunch early, and bounded straight into the Great Hall.

Groaning once more, Lily knew straight away that she had to follow the pup in. This would only end badly. Pushing her already painful legs into a run, Lily stepped over the threshold and into the room.

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Harry could swear he had never seen so much food. Nearly everything he could think of that you could have for lunch was here. He didn't realise till now how hungry he was.

Turning to his left to have a look of the large hall, Harry came to a sight that turned him off food almost instantly. There stuffing his face, sat Ron. Food was flying everywhere as he stuffed it in his mouth. It was such a sickening sight. He was just wished that Lily would hurry up. He didn't know if he could stomach the sight for much longer.

Scanning the hall, the black haired boy noted that each house had its own coloured robe and their own behaviour.

Almost every Ravenclaw; with blue trimmed robes on their backs, sat with their noses in a book.

Hufflepuff – yellow trimmed robed students, sat gossiping away, many forgetting about their food.

Slytherins with green lined robes folded over their shoulders, sat huddled together talking in whispers. Well not all of them.

The moment Harry laid eyes on him he knew that the other boy had been looking as well. Draco Malfoy sat there staring right at Harry with cold grey eyes. The glare he was sending towards the green eyed boy suggested he was still angry at Harry's decline to being friends.

Starting their own miniature staring contest, both Harry and Draco didn't seem to be budging until a loud noise broke the boy's train of concentration, making both boys turn towards the commotion.

There, coming down the centre of the hall, ran a black and white puppy closely followed by a disgruntled Lily.

Almost immediately, Harry knew the pup Lily was following was Echo. But dogs weren't allowed at Hogwarts....... Harry cringed........ Lily was going to be in trouble.

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In the split second of recognising what was going on, several things occurred in the four walls of the great Hall.

The Slytherins along with Malfoy began snickering and sneering, knowing straight away that the girl running down the centre was in deep trouble.

The Hufflepuffs began whispering in hushed voices, obviously warming up the famous Hogwarts rumour mill.

Ravenclaw simply kept on reading their books seemingly oblivious to the happenings going on......well all of them except the boy Lily talked to last night.......whatever his name was.

The line down the Gryffindor table seemed to gawp at the girl running after the dog.

Teachers rose from their seats.......many of their stern looks upon their faces showed that they weren't exactly happy.

"Well dogs are against the rules" piped up the Hermione Granger girl.

Furthermore a disgruntled Percy burst into the room.

"Professor Dumbledore" he huffed. "This girl has breached the rule regarding the type of pets they can own whilst boarding at Hogwarts"

Upon the address to Dumbledore, Lily came to a halt and let the puppy run into the arms of a teacher. She turned slightly and looked right at Dumbledore.

He glared over his half moon glasses and stretched his lips into a straight.

"Miss Samuels, report to my office". He spoke softly but his tone made many cringe. He rarely got mad.......rarely "NOW"

The whole hall went immediately quiet and watched Lily walk the walk of shame with her head hung low. She was in trouble......everyone knew it.

A.N There you go another chapter..... don't forget to review...... a big HUGE thanks to 'Sirius' Sweetheart' for she helped me by going over the chapter...... well till next time..... this time it shouldn't be so long...... but future notice i have block exams coming up in two weeks so just a heads up that will delay my updating..... thanks again.