The remaining days before the start of term went by very fast. The Potter house buzzed with preparation. And the evening before everyone went to bed early, knowing everything was packed and ready.
Since the family lived in Hogsmeade, the girls and Sirius were not required to take the Hogwart’s Express. Instead they would head down to the train station early in the evening to meet the train. For Millie who was a prefect and therefore should have been briefed on the train a letter containing the information given on the train arrived early in the morning. having the perk for Sirius and Lily that they learned their common room password in advance.
James had started to worry, however, he refused to talk about it. Eventually Lily got so annoyed with not knowing what bothered him that she demanded an answer. James tried to get out of the situation, without a doubt thinking that he kept her from worrying to, but Lily made it quite clear to him that when he worried “ she worried, either about the same thing or about him. James sighed, knowing very well that his wife was right and that he would have to tell her.
“James, please tell me what it is that is bothering you?” Lily pleaded.
“Ok Evans, but I’m telling you, you’ll think I’m being foolish,” James said with a sigh.
“I think you’re foolish half of the time, doesn’t stop me from loving you, or wanting to know what’s on your mind,” Lily replied lovingly. James smiled at her and ran his fingers through her hair. He had always loved her hair.
“I was thinking about what house the kids were in,” James then said. “At first I assumed it was Gryffindor, and then it suddenly hit me that we don’t have a clue and that it might be any of the houses. I mean all we know is that they are all in the same house,” he concluded. Lily looked at him with surprise. This was not what she had expected. She too had assumed that the children were Gryffindors, and the thought that it might be otherwise hadn’t even occurred to her. She knew of course that he was right, and she didn’t think it was a foolish thing to worry about. After all for all they knew the children might even be Slytherin.
She thought about what they did know about the family, things that might suggest one or the other. At first she tried to figure out what Harry might have been. He had been brave, that was for sure “ they already knew he had been forced to fight to stay alive when he went to school and that Voldemort had been the one out to get him. But then there was the way Lily had mentioned Voldemort’s name, as if it was no big deal at all…as if he wasn’t someone to be scared of at all, but that could of course be good as well as bad. The thoughts kept spinning in her mind and all she knew was that they would have to wait and see. And in her heart she convinced herself that the children surely must be Gryffindors, and if not at least Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.
The rest of this Sunday crept forward very slowly, but eventually evening came and Sirius and the girls set of to the station. They hugged their mother and Christopher before they left; Harry had left the house several hours earlier so he wasn’t around to bid his children good-bye.
The Hogwarts Express hadn’t arrived yet when the kids reached the station. The Thestral-drawn carriages were there and so was Hagrid. James and Lily smiled when they saw him. He was a lot older than they remembered him, but otherwise still his old self. His long shaggy hair and his giant beard had begun to grey quite a bit, but his eyes were the same glinting black as they had always been. He smiled when he saw Harry’s children and waved happily to them as they walked up to him.
“Hello!” he said smiling. “How nice the see yeh all. Lookin’ forward to start of term are yeh?” he then asked merrily.
“Yeah, but Sirius is a little annoyed with only being in second year,” Lily answered with a smile.
“Well I would be in third had I been born just three weeks earlier, I’m older than everyone else in my year, and not even allowed to go to Hogsmeade yet. I mean, I live here, what harm could it do?” Sirius said annoyed. Hagrid laughed and patted Sirius so hard on the back that he nearly toppled over.
“An’ what abou’ the two o’ you, girls? Lookin’ forward to the Yule ball, are yeh?” Hagrid then said turning to the girls who both smiled at the mentioning of the ball. Sirius however looked even more annoyed than before, knowing that second-years wasn’t allowed to go.
“You should see our robes, they’re gorgeous!” Millie said happily.
“Yes, Mum’s got great taste!” Lily added. Hagrid chuckled and nodded his head.
“I can’t say I’m surprised, yer mum looked very nice on her own ball, even though her robes were second hand,” Hagrid said. “I think she got disappointed though, she wanted yer father to notice her but he only had eyes for this other girl back then,” he then added. The girls suddenly looked very interested.
“You mean dad dated someone other than mum in school?” Lily asked in a very surprised voice.
“O’ course he did!” Hagrid laughed. “Yer mum too fer that matter,” he then added.
“Mum, dated someone else?” Lily exclaimed. She shared a look with Millie who looked just as intrigued as she did. “Mum always said that she fancied dad all through school, how could she date someone else if that is true?” Lily then asked.
“Well, I guess she got tired o’ waitin’ around for him ter notice her, eh,” Hagrid smiled. “I never thought she got over him at all meself, but she did date a couple o’ other guys while yer father dated this other girl, then he finally noticed her in his sixth year, an they started datin,” he added with a smile. The girls looked absolutely stunned, this was plainly information that neither of them had heard before.
“So who did she date?” Millie finally asked, unable to control her curiosity.
“Well, I don’ remember the first one’s name,” Hagrid said thoughtfully. “But she was on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team I remember. It was the year yer mum was seeker, when yer dad wasn’ allowed ter play “ because of that Umbridge woman an’ that fight he got into with that…” he suddenly went quiet and looked at Millie who averted her eyes and stared at the ground.
“With my father you mean,” she then added quietly. Hagrid looked at her with great sympathy, and then with his giant hand he grabbed her beneath her chin and pulled her head up till her eyes met his.
“Yer father is Harry Potter an’ don’ let anyone tell yeh differently,” he then said firmly, obviously making Millie feel a whole lot better because she couldn’t help but to give him a grateful smile.
“Anyway, he dated yer mum fer a while, almost the entire year before yeh mum dumped him. He started datin’ yer dad’s old girlfriend after he stopped datin’ yer mum, never seemed to bother yer father much, mind yeh,” he added with a smile when he saw the look in the girls faces.
“As fer the rest, I don’ know if I should tell yeh,” he then said hesitantly. The girls however begged him to tell them who else their mother had dated. Hagrid seemed really reluctant but ultimately couldn’t resist the girls’ charms.
“Well, she dated Professor Thomas fer a few months in her fifth year, before she started to date yer father,” he finally said. “Mind yeh, it wasn’t for long. She broke up with him after only a short while, no’ that he was ter happy abou’ it though.” The girls stared at Hagrid and even Sirius had grown interested in the conversation by now.
“She dated Professor Thomas?” they asked in unison. “For real?”
“I knew I shouldn’ have told yeh,” Hagrid said regretfully. “Now, don’ go getting’ any ideas. As I said, it was only fer a short while an’ he got over it fast enough. Yeh have to know that yer mum was quite pretty in her day, still is mind yeh, an’ many boys would’ve loved ter date her. Ah here’s the train comin’ in now,” he then added with relief when the scarlet steam engine became visible.
The station was soon filled with students who pushed and bumped each other to get to the carriages. Hagrid left the kids and started his annual yelling.
“Firs’ years! Firs’ years over here!” He had soon rounded up the first-years and headed over to the boats in the lake. Sirius spotted a few guys and headed over to them. The girls started to make their way over to the carriages themselves when they heard some girls shouting their names from behind them. Turning around Millie accidentally stumbled into the Manning girl they had met in Madame Malkin’s.
“Watch it, Malfoy!” she snapped angrily before pushing her way past them. James and Lily were stunned. Malfoy? Had she really said Malfoy? What on earth would a Malfoy do living with their son? Lucius Malfoy had been one of Voldemort’s biggest supporters, one of his death eaters “ and here was someone who couldn’t be anything but his granddaughter living with their son. What on earth could have happened with the world to make it so?
James once again felt the anxiety he had before about the possibility that the kids were Slytherin. As far as he knew no Malfoy had ever been otherwise. Lily tried to calm him down, but in truth even she was worried.
The carriage ride over to the castle took forever in James’ and Lily’s minds. They both kept turning the few facts over and over in their minds, and both held on very much to the indications that Millie was not particularly happy about her name and family ties. By now James couldn’t even understand how he could have missed it. Millie looked very much like the Malfoys, the white-blond hair, the tall and slim figure, the pale skin. She did however look nicer, kinder than any Malfoy James had ever come across, and it was to the proof of her kind nature that James and Lily now pinned their hopes.
The Great Hall looked just as splendid as they both remembered it. The ceiling shone from the lights of thousands and thousands of stars and tables were set with the same golden plates and goblets that had been used when they themselves attended Hogwarts. Both James and Lily searched the room to see Sirius or anyone else they could recognise, but the only one they could see was the Manning girl and her friends, not surprisingly sitting by the Slytherin table.
“Potter! Malfoy!” the voice came from behind the girls just as they walked into the Hall. They stopped and turned around to see who was calling and soon saw Eddy’s friend Jordan come towards them with a great smile, Eddy was not far behind. The girls moved back from the door to let the other students pass them as they waited. Anxiously James noted that they were moving in the direction of the Slytherin table where they stood while waiting for the boys to push their way through.
“Waiting for me?” The girls started. They hadn’t even seen the boy that was now standing in front of them.
“No!” the girls said very quickly in unison, making it very clear that he would probably the last person in the world they would wait for.
“Well that’s too bad,” the boy said with a sneer letting his eyes sweep over them, resting specifically at some strategic points. “But, if that is not the point, you might want to get out of my way so that I can sit down,” he then added. The girls were indeed very quick to move away from the table and shuddered with disgust as they meet up with Eddy and Jordan.
“I think I need to take a shower,” Millie said with deep disgust in her voice. Lily shook her head.
“Unfortunately I don’t think that would help,” she replied shooting a glance of to the Slytherin table behind them. “A cleansing spell like the one mum uses on the floors perhaps,” she then suggested getting approval from Millie.
“What’s the problem?” Eddy asked.
“Nott!” both girls answered at the same time, once again shuddering. Eddy and Jordan exchanged a quick look.
“Well that’s what you get when you’re standing to close to the Slytherins,” Jordan then said with a grin.
“I’ll remember never to do that again!” Lily answered, not even bothering to be annoyed with the way Jordan tried to put his arm around her shoulders as he said it.
To James’ and Lily’s relief all four of them now rapidly made their way over to the Gryffindor table where they sat down. Sirius soon came over with a few friends of his and sat down by them. They all chatted happily as the teachers started to come in and sit down at the High Table. Suddenly Lily gave out a little shriek and grabbed James in the arm.
He looked at her in bewilderment when she pointed to the High Table. In surprise James took a look and soon he too hollered.
“What on earth is that slimy, stupid, git doing at the High Table!” he shouted. Lily looked at him with surprise.
“What? Who on earth are you talking about?” she then asked.
“Snivellus, of course! Who were you pointing at?” James retorted just as surprised as she was. Lily looked in the direction James pointed, almost as surprised to see Snape sitting there as James had been. She didn’t like the way James and his friend had treated him in school or the never dying habit James had of calling him Snivellus, but she was not to happy about seeing him sitting at the High Table either. They had after all had quite a lot of indications that he had been one of Voldemort’s Death Eaters. She did however collect herself enough to answer her husband’s question.
“If you look three chairs to the right you might see who I am talking about,” she answered in the slightly lecturing tone of voice she always got when she heard James call Snape Snivellus. James looked and this time to he found it necessary to holler for a completely different reason. Sitting amongst the teachers, talking merrily to Hagrid, was Harry!
“He’s a teacher!” James exclaimed surprisingly.
“Well, it does seem so, doesn’t it?” Lily answered proudly.
They were interrupted when the first-years entered the Hall for the sorting-ceremony, led on by Professor McGonagall as always. James and Lily smiled as they looked at their old transfiguration professor. She still had her hair in a tight bun, it was however no longer black, but mostly grey.
They listened as the sorting hat began to sing and clapped with the students when it stopped, even though they knew that no one heard them. It still seemed rude not to applaud. They then watched as Professor McGonagall started calling out the name of the student to be sorted. Suddenly Lily saw a face she recognised amongst the young students. She touched James’ arm and asked with a whisper if the girl with the long brown hair and freckles hadn’t been at the birthday-party at the burrow.
James looked at her for a while before he remembered and nodded smilingly. She had been the daughter of Charlie “ the one who worked with dragons, he remembered. Lily was surprised that he still could remember an insignificant thing like who worked with dragons, but James amazed her even more when he told her that he thought her name was Belinda.
“How on earth do you remember a thing like that when you can’t even remember that Bill and his wife Fleur lives in France?” she whispered.
“Because that is completely uninteresting,” James answered her. “I mean anyone can move to France, but how many people do you know that work with dragons?” he asked. Lily shook her head. No matter how much she loved him there would still be things she would never understand. McGonagall had gotten almost to the end of the list now and the little Weasley girl looked very nervous. She was at the end of the line and very impatient.
Finally her name was called and James felt very proud to be proven right about her name. She almost ran up to the stool and sat down. The hat barely touched her head before it bellowed out GRYFFINDOR and the whole Gryffindor table began to cheer.
Belinda ran right down to her cousins that all hugged her and congratulated her on being put in Gryffindor and Millie made sure to get her a seat next to Sirius. A few other first-years were seated close to them and were whispering and pointing towards the High Table. Curiously James and Lily moved closer to hear what they were talking about. They had only managed to pick up the words “Potter” and “killed” when Professor McGonagall started to speak and thereby put an end to their conversation.
James and Lily had wondered where Dumbledore was, but it wasn’t until now that they realised that he wouldn’t be there and that McGonagall was now the Headmistress of Hogwarts.
“Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts,” she started. “I know that for many of you the situation is a new one, but I can assure you all that you will soon be right at home here. For those of you who already feel at home here I want to urge you to help and support the newcomers and make sure they feel welcome at our school. Now since I am sure that you are all hungry “ let the banquet begin!”
The students clapped and cheered as the plates before them filled with food. James remembered Nearly-Headless Nick once told him that the one thing he missed more than anything being a ghost was the pleasures of eating and drinking, and seeing all of the food before them he could definitely see his point. He looked over at the Gryffindor ghost by the table and saw him looking at the students digging in to the food with the same kind of melancholy as he always had at these feasts. James wondered for a moment if he and Lily would be able to talk or communicate with the ghosts, but looking around the Great Hall, none of the ghosts seemed to notice their presence.
His thoughts were soon interrupted when the first-years once again started to talk and point towards the High Table and Harry. This time James and Lily were closer and could hear what they said.
“I cannot believe our luck, having Harry Potter for Defence against Dark Arts teacher!” one of the students exclaimed.
“I know! He’s been my hero since I was five!” another one said.
“Mum says that if it wasn’t for him we would all be serving You-Know-Who,” a third one added getting nods of consent from those around him. James suddenly felt very proud when he heard this. Suddenly a little girl looking rather ashamed and confused asked loudly:
“Who is You-Know-Who and why would we be serving him if it wasn’t for Harry Potter, and who is he?” The first-years who had been talking all of a sudden went very quiet and stared at the little blond girl who had talked.
“Muggle-born?” It was Lily who asked. The girls looked at her shyly but when she saw that both Lily and those surrounding her were smiling warmly at her she seemed a bit more self-assured when she nodded.
“That’s ok; you’ll soon see that you’re not the only one. Some of the greatest wizards and witches have been muggle-born,” she added with another smile, making the girl feel even more at ease.
“So what’s your name?” Lily then asked.
“Sarah,” the girl said. “Sarah Jennifer Michaels.”
“Ok, well since we apparently are giving full names here, I’m Lily Alicia Potter, but you can call me Lily,” Lily answered and extended her hand to the girl. Several of the other first-years had heard her and were now looking intently at her.
“Potter as in…” one of them started.
“Yes,” said Lily with a shrug of her shoulder. “Harry Potter is our father,” she said plainly.
“Our?” another first-year asked.
“Let me introduce everyone,” Lily said. “Middle names and all,” she then added smiling at the muggle-born named Sarah. “As I said, I’m Lily Alicia Potter, this one over here would be Sirius James Potter,” she said pointing at Sirius who frowned at being introduced with his middle name as well. James however almost made a flip midair out of the joy he felt when he heard that the boy wasn’t only named after Sirius but after himself as well.
“The girl to my left is Millifred…”
“If you mention my middle name I’ll hit you,” Millie interrupted her quickly. Lily just smiled and pretended to look shocked.
“What’s wrong with Narcissa?” she then asked in such a surprised tone of voice it had to be fake. Millie moaned when she herd her middle name and buried her face in her hands.
“Anyway that would be Millifred Narcissa Malfoy,” Lily concluded happily.
“And since I dislike Millifred, detest Malfoy and hate Narcissa you might just want to call me Millie “ everyone else does,” Millie interrupted before Lily could go on with her introductions. Lily grinned and moved on pretending not to notice several first-years shocked reactions to the name Malfoy.
“The red-head over hear is Eddy Weasley, no middle name, but he is Head-boy even though he didn’t bother to tell his cousin about it” she added with an accusing look at her cousin before moving on. “And finally that is Belinda Molly Weasley and she’s a first-year too so you will be sharing a room with her,” she concluded.
“Hey, what about me?” Jordan said in a very insulted tone of voice the moment Lily stopped.
“Ah, yes, that is Jeff Jordan, and he is someone you really would do best to stay away from, at least when you get older,” Lily then said giving him a taunting look. Jordan smiled back at her trying to look cool but he did seem more annoyed then he wanted to let on.
“And you really shouldn’t listen to Potter!” said Jordan mimicking Lily’s mocking tone of voice. “I promise you I don’t bite,” he then said, once again trying to make it sound as if it was all a big joke. Lily frowned at him.
“Actually I’m fairly sure you do!” she then added sarcastically.
“Only when asked,” replied Jordan leaning in closer to her so that only she would here what he said. Lily looked at him critically for a moment before turning her whole attention back to Sarah.
“Now I think you had some questions right?” she asked. The girl nodded.
“So let’s see if we can answer them, shall we?” Lily then said with another smile. “Your first question was who is You-Know-Who if I remember correctly, right?” The little girl nodded.
“You-Know-Who was a wizard named Voldemort,” Lily began, ignoring the many first-years who flinched and gasped when she said his name. “Voldemort was probably one of the most powerful wizards ever to leave Hogwarts; unfortunately he was also one of the worst. He was extremely hungry for power and didn’t hesitate to kill or torture anyone who got in his way,” she continued. The blond-haired girl stared at her eyes wide open.
“What happened?” she then asked. She wasn’t the only one who listened to Lily. By now, all of the first-years were paying attention.
“He was killed many years ago, in an attack on Hogwarts,” Lily said plainly. This however was not colourful enough for some of the first-years who complained over such a short conclusion.
“He didn’t just get killed,” one of the first year girls, said. “It was a huge fight, right outside on the grounds here, and You-Know-Who had a bunch of Death Eaters with him...” she went on.
“What’s a Death Eater?” Sarah asked immediately, completely ruining the girl’s story and causing Lily to laugh.
“Followers of Voldemort,” Millie said helpfully. The first-years flinched yet again, but the girl who had started to speak was determined to finish her story and continued.
“Anyway, they attacked Hogwarts because they wanted to kill Harry Potter. You see,” the first year girl then said knowing the question would come this time, “Harry Potter had been predicted to overthrow and kill him so he wanted to kill him here, before he was a fully qualified wizard. Probably thought he wouldn’t be as dangerous to him then. But, You-Know-Who underestimated Harry Potter, who according to mum is the best wizard that ever left Hogwarts, and so Potter was prepared. He had started a Defence against Dark Arts group at school that trained at NEWT-level and above several times a week and together with the teachers and the headmaster they stood up against You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters.” The table was now very quiet. The little girl who spoke was a good storyteller and had everyone’s attention. James and Lily had also drawn very close to hear what she had to say.
“The battle was intense and several people died, including Hogwarts Headmaster, a man named Dumbledore who was the only one You-Know-Who ever feared besides Harry Potter. One of Harry Potter’s friends also died, throwing himself in front of Potter, not only saving his life but giving him the opportunity to kill You-Know-Who. Once he was dead many of the Death Eaters gave in, but several of them managed to escape and the war still went on for several years, and Harry Potter became an Auror to hunt them down. One time…”
“I think that is enough for one night,” Lily interrupted. “Sarah’s head must already be spinning, besides she can hear the rest from my father himself,” she concluded making the disappointed faces of the first-years once again light up.
“What do you mean?” one of the boys asked.
“First Defence against Dark Arts lesson Professor Potter always lets you ask what ever questions you like about Voldemort or Death Eaters or anything else. So if there is anything you want to know, better start to think about your questions now.” It was Eddy who had spoken and the first-years looked as if they just found out Christmas was coming early this year.
“We can ask anything we want?” one of them asked. Eddy nodded.
“But you want to consider your questions carefully, because you see you only get this one opportunity, then he answers nothing at all, ever again,” Jordan added. Lily turned towards Sarah again looking at her.
“So do you understand any of this?” she then asked after a while. Sarah looked down on her plate and thought the whole thing through carefully.
“Well I think so,” she said thoughtfully. “This Voldemort was a murderer and he tried to kill your father who killed him in self-defence?” she asked to make sure she got the whole thing straight, not even noticing how the first-years around her flinched when she said his name. Lily smiled.
“See that is why I like muggle-borns,” she said, “You don’t complicate things and say You-Know-Who instead of names, or dive into every detail. You get to the point without making too much fuss. And that would be a yes, by the way, that is exactly what happened,” she finished, still smiling. Sarah lit up and smiled too, very happy to be liked even though she didn’t know as much about magic and the magic world as the other first-years did.
“And your father is going to be our teacher?” she asked. Lily nodded. “Is he good?” she then asked curiously making Lily laugh.
“Well I think so, but then he is my father and I might just be a little bias,” she laughed. “I think you’d better make up your own mind on that one,” she then added with a smile.
“So who is the worst teacher?” asked another first-year interestedly.
“Snape!” The answer was unison from the entire group making the first-years start and shoot of frightened looks towards the High Table, trying to figure out who he could be. Normally James would never have missed an opportunity like this to inform Lily that he had been right about Snape since they started Hogwarts together, but at the moment, he was far to excited over the news that Voldemort was dead and gone for good, and that it was all thanks to his son. Lily too felt happy and proud although she couldn’t help to tease James about his feelings, telling him that if his head got any bigger it’d explode.
The banquet was over far too soon and even though the students, and especially the first-years, were tired, there was no one that wanted to leave the Great Hall. Nevertheless, Professor McGonagall eventually stood up and informed the new students of the school rules, reminded the old students to follow the school rules and wished them all a good night. James and Lily could for a while not decide whether they should go with Harry or the children, but when everyone stood up and started walking towards the entrance their wish to see their old common room made them go with the children.
Once up in the common room James and Lily was once again relieved to see that some things didn’t change. The room looked just as it had when they had been to Hogwarts and old memories came flooding back when they saw it. Lily tried to remember how many times she sat in the chair by the fireplace or how many times she fought with James standing just where she was standing now. Still the one thing she could remember more vividly than anything else was when he had kissed her standing by the foot of the stairs leading up to the boys’ dormitories.
She looked over at them and saw Sirius climbing those stairs right now together with his friends. They were followed closely by Eddy and Jordan. The girls too were heading of to bed and soon the common room was completely quiet. James and Lily both took a seat, feeling right at home, in front of the fire. They looked at each other and smiled. The day had been without a doubt an eventful one.
From the shock of finding out that Millie was a Malfoy, to the joy of finding out that Voldemort was really dead. They felt like their emotions had taken a ride on one of those Roller-Coasters found in muggle amusement parks the entire evening. Lily got up from her chair and curled up next to James in his, resting her head on his shoulder. He stroked her hair gently while his free hand played with her fingers. Neither one of them spoke. They didn’t need to right now, nor did they have the energy for it. Instead, they just sat there watching the fire die out, waiting for morning to come with more answers.