A/N: All of you reviewers are horrible. You all kept me up late at night with your urgings to continue this. So to satisfy you, I've posted another chapter (it's been a while). Sorry to keep you all waiting. I'm focusing on another story at the moment, but since I've had the next few chapters ready for quite a while, I'll continue to post them. I present to you the long-lost chapter 5
Chapter 5 - Friends?
Trin sniffed slightly as she smiled at the awestruck James. 'He deserves her,' she thought to herself. 'She's such a wonderful person.' As she walked closer and closer to James, she hardened her stare. James, feeling her glare, met her eyes. 'If I ever find out you mistreated her,' she told him mentally, 'I'll hunt you down.'
Despite the fact that Lily had always looked after Trin, she still felt very protective of the woman James was about to marry. Trin still couldn't believe how lucky she was to have been where she was when she first met Lily Evans. Their friendship, she knew, would last forever, no matter where they ended up.
---
Lily willed her jelly-like legs to start moving through the crowd. Soon, she was busy discovering everything around her. She watched as children her age went into a small boutique and came back out with parcels of robes. She watched as little children petted the various creatures at the owl-filled pet store. She watched as adults scrambled into bookshops to buy textbooks. But most of all, she was curious as to why a large crowd of people were gathered around one tiny store. She hesitated before making her way through the crowd.
“New model, this is.”
“My mum promised she’ll buy me one for Christmas.”
“You’re lucky, mate!”
Lily reached the window after elbowing through the thick crowd. She surprisingly found herself looking up at a regular broomstick. Shearched her eyebrows. “What’s so good about a broomstick?” she asked out loud.
A girl nearby heard her and turned to look at her in surprise. “You’re Muggle-born, aren’t you? Obviously you are, seeing as how you don’t know what that is.” She pointed to the broomstick, in the display window. “That is the newest and best model of the Nimbus. It’s the Nimbus 1000. Said to be able to go faster than the wind and has great control too, that one.”
“Oh” was all Lily could say, still confused.
The girl seemed to feel that Lily was uncomfortable. “I’m Celastrina. Celastrina Illyia, but you can call me Trin. I’m eleven years old. These are my two little sisters, Anthene and Eupharedria. My mother named us after butterflies." She waved at two smaller versions of herself, each with the same set of dazzling blue eyes and rich brown hair, pressing their petite noses against the display window. "What about you?” the girl asked, tilting her head to one side as she scrutinized Lily.
“I’m Lily Evans. I’m eleven years old also. I have an older sister named Petunia who's not a witch," she paused taking in the thrill of the word. "My mother named us after flowers."
Trin nodded her head. “So, is it your first year at Hogwarts this year?”
“Yeah, it is!” Lily answered, wide-eyed at the idea of making her very first witch friend. “Is it your first year too?”
Trin nodded again, her eyes sparkling with delight. Then she asked, “Are you buying your school supplies?”
Lily nodded her head. “I haven’t bought them yet, and I’m having a bit of trouble, I suppose. Have you gotten yours?”
Trin replied, “Yeah, my mum got them for me last week. I’ll help you with yours; I’ve got plenty of time.” She waved her hand at the broomstick. "I was only here to admire what I can't have," she sighed. "Well," she turned back to Lily, her lips forming a smile again, "Shall we?"
Lily replied gratefully, “Thanks.”
“No problem. The first place we need to go is Gringotts, if you haven't got any money. Here, follow me,” Trin said with authority and started walking away. Lily followed.
After a few minutes of excited chattering, Trin stopped and pointed to a white towering building. “There it is, Gringotts.” Lily took a moment to gaze at the majestic building before the two girls walked into the building, which was bustling, not unlike the rest of the alley.
Half an hour later, Lily’s moneybag was full of coins instead of the English notes.
“This is a Knut,” Trin was saying to Lily, holding up a little bronze coin. “This is a Sickle. Twenty-nine of those Knuts are equal to one Sickle,” Trin continued, holding up a slightly larger silver coin. “Seventeen Sickles are equal to one of these, Galleons.” She held up the last type of coin, a large gold one. Lily nodded, indicating she understood.
“Now, let's get to the fun part." Trin rubbed her hands together. "Making these disappear.” Trin looked around. “Let’s start at Ollivanders’. They sell wands. No witch or wizard can do without a wand.” Trin led Lily toward a small, shabby shop nearby.
Half an hour later, the girls emerged from the shop with Lily examining her wand with fascination. "Absolutely gorgeous," she breathed.
“Now, for Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. We’ll buy your school uniform there.” Trin pointed at a small boutique Lily had walked past before.
As soon as the girls walked in, Madam Malkin greeted them. “Why, Celastrina! Again? Weren’t you here last week?” she asked Trin, her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Trin laughed. “Yes, I’m showing my friend here around. This is Lily Evans,” she replied, introducing Lily.
Madam Malkin smiled at Lily. “Hogwarts too, dear?” she asked.
Lily nodded, delighted that yet another person knew Hogwarts existed. “Yes, ma’am.”
Madam Malkin beamed and said, “Follow me, Lily. I’ve got a young man being fitted now as well.”
Madam Malkin started toward a door that led to the back of the shop. Lily looked at Trin questioningly, but Trin just shooed Lily after Madam Malkin.
Lily walked into a small room where another boy was standing on a stool, where an assistant was measuring him. The boy was a bit stout for his height and had blond hair that seemed to be pasted to his scalp. When he looked up, his face reminded Lily instantly of a mouse. She waved at him hesitantly, and he smiled timidly back.
Madam Malkin brought another stool in and motioned Lily to stand on it as well. Lily hopped on as Madam Malkin, with a wave of her wand, summoned measuring tape to start measuring Lily. Lily stared wide-eyed as the tape moved by itself, taking measurements of Lily's body parts. Madam Malkin turned back to help the boy standing next to Lily.
While waiting for his fitting to end, the boy took to staring at Lily. Without thinking, he spoke. “Your eyes are almost popping out.” Then he clapped both hands to his mouth, his eyes looking horrified.
The assistant, who almost stabbed herself with the pin when the boy jumped suddenly, cried out, “Peter! Stop moving!”
Lily turned to look at the boy, who seemed to be waiting for Lily to blow up angrily at him. Lily found the fright on the boy’s face amusing. Instead, she asked him politely, “Your name is Peter, is it?”
Peter lowered his hands slowly and nodded his head. “Peter Pettigrew is my name,” he answered, his eyes shifting uncomfortably from side to side as if wanting to sprint out the door.
Lily smiled at him. “My name is Lily Evans. I’ll be a first year at Hogwarts this year. What about you?”
“Me too.” Peter’s eyes brightened considerably after seeing that he had made a friend rather than an enemy.
Madam Malkin walked to Peter’s side, carrying his set of robes and proclaimed, “Here are your robes, Peter. And try not to soil them again. Your mum wouldn’t like bringing you here every other week to exchange robes, now would she?” she scolded him sternly.
Peter’s face flushed a bright red as he dismounted the stool and muttered his thanks to Madam Malkin. As he walked by Lily who had her arms spread at her side for the measuring tape, he said, “Good day!” and left abruptly.
After Lily bought her robes, she and Trin wandered about Diagon Alley for more supplies. They stopped for a quick snack at Florean Fortescue's to rest their tired feet.
As the two girls sat down at one of the tables outside, Trin told Lily all she knew about Hogwarts. “My mum and dad went to Hogwarts. They said it was the finest school in all of Europe, possibly even the world. They had a different Headmaster than the one we have. I think the Headmaster’s name is Albus Dumbledore. There are four houses: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. My mum was in Ravenclaw, and my dad was in Gryffindor. Each House has its own characteristics.” She shrugged her shoulders. “All I know is that I don’t want to be in Slytherin.” She shuddered. “Almost all the wizards and witches that left as Slytherins became Dark wizards and witches.”
Lily furrowed her eyebrows. “What do you mean by Dark wizards and witches?”
Trin leaned forward, as if afraid a passerby might hear. “There’s a Dark wizard emerging. He’s powerful and feared, so feared that no one speaks of his name anymore. We just call him ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’ and ‘You-Know-Who’. He’s been gathering followers, Dark followers who kill and torture. He’s been killing off Aurors, the wizards and witches who fight against Dark wizards.”
Lily shivered slightly at this dark subject. “What is his name?”
Trin frowned. “I’m not saying it out loud.” She crossed her arms stubbornly.
Lily rolled her eyes slightly. “It’s just a name, Trin. It’s not like he’ll pop up whenever you speak it.”
Trin shook her head emphatically. “I’m not saying it.”
“At least spell it.”
Trin scowled at Lily and finally replied, “Oh all right.” She took a deep breath and prayed silently to herself before continuing, “V-O-L-D-E-M-O-R-T,” she spelled, very slowly and quietly.
“Voldemort?” Lily asked out loud, without thinking.
The witches and wizards, who were enjoying the afternoon around them, emitted a loud gasp in unison. One of the younger witches stood up abruptly and several others looked around frantically. One of the older wizards who was walking to the washroom fell down in a crumpled heap. When they realized who had said his name, they glared at Lily. One old witch scolded, “For shame!”
Lily just rolled her eyes. Trin herself looked at Lily with hardened eyes, the sparkle gone from her eyes. “Lily! Do not speak of his name!” she hissed.
Lily sighed and apologized to her friend and everyone else. Florean Fortescue himself came out and kindly, but firmly, asked the girls to leave his shop. “We can’t have you giving everyone here a heart attack, you know,” he explained, as he waved an apologetic hand to the quite shaken elderly witches and wizards behind him. Lily and Trin resignedly left the ice cream shop.
“Well, how much do you have left over?” Trin asked Lily.
“Um...” Lily weighed the bag in her hand. “A few Sickles left. Why?”
“Let’s go buy you an owl!” Trin exclaimed, her energy returning. “We can buy the prettiest one there!"
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. My sister is still uneasy around me. I don’t think bringing home a pet would make her feel any better.” It was true. The last two weeks had gone by with an uneasy silence between the normally close sisters. Whenever Lily tried to start a conversation with her older sister, Petunia would answer coldly and simply before turning in the other direction. Their mum had talked to Petunia about supporting her younger sister, but Petunia would throw a tantrum. It was hopeless.
“Oh, she’s being silly. Come on, please?”
Lily smiled at her new friend's playfulness. “Oh all right.” It couldn't hurt to have a companion, she reasoned.
After searching the pet shop feverishly, the two girls found the perfect owl. Lily carried her tawny owl, Blizzard, in a cage proudly out of the pet shop. Some younger children ran over to coo and sigh over her new pet.
“Oh, she is perfect!” cried Trin. “You have to promise to let me use her sometimes!”
Lily laughed. “Of course I will. You helped me pick her out. If it wasn’t for your excessive whining, I would’ve picked that black kitten!”
“True,” conceded Trin smugly.
It was late in the afternoon when the girls finally left each other. After promising to look for each other at the station, Lily went to a nearby pay phone and called her mother.
When her family arrived to pick her up, Lily found herself chatting endlessly with her mother, father, and a reluctant Petunia about her day. Petunia, who had been dragged out by her parents, shrieked at the top of her lungs when she learned she would share the back seat with not only a witch, but also an owl. However, her parents happily though reluctantly accepted Blizzard into their family.
Late at night, Lily still found herself replaying the entire day over in her mind. She smiled as she looked up at her decorated ceiling. The last thing she thought before she drifted to sleep was ‘This will be the best year of my life.’