“That James Potter is so infuriating!” Lily said with a noise of frustration. She entered the compartment and slammed the door shut.
“Well,” Alice began, “you can’t really blame him. I mean. His father is…”
“I don’t care who his father is. What is with you people letting him lord over you like that? He’s just like any other kid!”
“Maybe if you let me explain, you would understand,” Alice tried.
“No. I don’t even want to hear it,” Lily said, angrily.
“You are one to talk. So dead set on hating him…” At this point Alice was getting annoyed with Lily for her stubbornness over James Potter.
“Alright ladies, why don’t we just agree to disagree?” Remus asked, clearly wanting the girls to stop arguing.
“That is the stupidest solution to things I have ever heard, Remus. When does it ever solve anything? You know what. Sure. Fine. I don’t want to talk about him anymore,” Lily said, glad to have an excuse to change the topic.
“So…” Remus said, trying to come up with something to say to end the awkward silence. “Hogwarts.”
“Hogwarts,” Lily repeated. Remus and Alice could see Lily immediately begin to unwind. A huge smile appeared on her face. It would take some time for Alice and Remus to get used to Lily’s rapid mood swings. She was so lively that she never stayed angry very long. Lily could go from seething anger to bubbling excitement in the blink of an eye.
“I’m excited, and ecstatic to be a witch, but I hardly know what to expect. I did some reading after I bought my books, but you can’t learn everything from a book.”
“Thank Merlin for that!” Alice said with relief.
“What? Not a reader?” Remus asked.
“It’s not to say that I don’t like it, just… I’m more of a hands-on person, I would say. I find myself getting bored when I read, then I end up having to read everything sixty times, and that just not very pleasant. All in all, it’s not generally something I like to do. Anyway,” Alice said, slightly awkwardly and very eager to get the spotlight off of her, “Lily, what would you like to know? I’m sure that Remus and I could answer some of your questions.”
“Well, I know that there are four houses, but how is it decided who’s in which? I mean, it’s not going to be some kind of public humiliation is it.”
“Oh my goodness, it better not be. I think I would vomit,” Alice said with a nervous swallow. “As to what else it could be, I don’t think that anyone going in knows that. We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess. I hope it isn’t anything hard. And it better not be some type of quiz. I might possibly be the worst test-taker to ever inhabit England. I either totally freak myself out and forget everything -- Seriously, my mind just goes blank -- or I get bored. I think I actually fell asleep during a history test once. Mum actually sent sparks at me that time; she might have set the test on fire that time come to think of it.” Alice stopped herself. Realizing that she had been babbling on about herself, she awkwardly said, “So… now that I have talked about myself pointlessly for an hour and a half, any other questions horrible questions that are going to make me even more petrified?” There seemed to be something perpetually awkward about Alice, but at the same time it was extremely endearing and hilarious.
Lily recalled her conversation, if you could call it that, with Potter and asked, “What, in the name of Merlin, is so bad about Hufflepuff?”
Remus laughed, and answered, “I suppose it’s not bad. People do tend to make fun of it a lot, though. I’m not sure why. Both my parents were Ravenclaws.”
“Come to think of it, I’m not sure why it gets made fun of either. I’ve always heard that it’s full of all the rejects that don’t fit anywhere else. I shouldn’t talk, though; I’ll probably end up in Hufflepuff. That would be just my luck. Don’t even worry about it, though, Lily. You’d never end up there.” Alice looked at Lily for a second and added, “I bet you’re in Ravenclaw. They say that’s where all the brightest go.” Lily blushed at Alice’s compliment.
“Anywhere but Slytherin would be fine by me,” Lily said.
“Ah, so you’ve heard of Slytherin’s infamous history, eh? I’d have to agree with you there, though,” Remus added.
The next few hours were past in companionable conversation. The trio wondered what Hogwarts would be like when they arrived there. Little did they know that it would be even more fantastic than they had imagined. They could never have guessed that in only a few hours they would be catch their fist glance of the most magnificent place that any of them had ever laid eyes on.
The group was still talking when the train slowed down and came to a stop. A nervous shock went through Lily’s body as she realized that they had finally arrived at Hogwarts. This was the moment that Lily had been looking forward to for the better part of the last month. She could not wait to see the school, not knowing what to expect.
“Well, I suppose we should get going?” Lily asked her companions.
“Yes, I suppose so,” Remus added, his nervousness clear in the tone of his voice.
Lily stood up and slid open the door. She looked out, gasped and quickly shut the door.
“Oh no!”
“What’s wrong?” Alice asked. A second later her face turned a ghostly pale color, “It’s not You-Know-Who is it?”
“Who?” Lily asked, confused.
“I’m sure that’s not it, Alice. Lily, what’s the problem? Why aren’t we leaving?” Remus asked.
“I guess it’s nothing, it’s just that everyone is already in their robes. I hadn’t even thought of that. Are we even allowed to go up to the school in these clothes,” she gestured at her jeans and t-shirt.
“No, I’m pretty sure that would earn us a few lovely detentions. What a way to start the term,” he said. “It’s not too big of a problem, why don’t we just change in here? I don’t mind,” Remus said, although the girls were pretty sure that he didn’t catch what he had said until he saw the looks on the girls’ faces. “Oh,” Remus said, embarrassedly, “I’ll turn my back. I won’t look, I swear.”
Deciding that it was the best option, the girls agreed. The trio proceeded to change into their school robes. Remus was finished first but was very gentlemanly while the girls were still changing. He didn’t dare sneak a peek while their backs were turned. Lily finished next and turned around. She couldn’t help but notice the dark red shade of Remus’ neck around the collar. Knowing that he was very embarrassed by the whole situation, Lily couldn’t help but giggle.
“What?” Remus asked, turning partially around.
“Remus!” Alice shrieked. She had not yet finished changing. Remus was so shocked that he immediately flung his arms in front of his face, possibly injuring himself in the process. He turned his back so quickly that Lily was sure that he must have gotten a whip lash. Lily burst out laughing, earning a glare from Alice and eliciting an even redder shade in Remus’ neck.
“Oh, come on, Alice. You were perfectly decent, all that was left for you to do was tie up the front of your robes,” Lily said as she stuffed her clothes in her trunk. “Well, we should be off.” Lily looked at Remus and Alice as they were leaving the compartment. Remus was still mortified.
“What? Saw something you liked, Remus?” Lily asked with a huge smile on her face. She received a playful punch for that from Alice, which actually wasn’t very playful at all. Remus just looked at her, his embarrassment clear on his face, before continuing down the corridor to the exit. Lily was glad that she had made these two new friends. Remus was hysterical with his shyness around girls. She could tease him all day and never get bored. Alice was as different from Lily as anyone could be. Although Lily did not know her too well yet, she could tell that Alice was reserved and shy, and somewhat of a chatterbox.
Lily and Remus had stepped off the train and were turning to wait for Alice. Just as Alice stepped onto the platform a boy was walking by and the two collided.
“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Alice said, clearly embarrassed. She was busy fixing her skirt and had not noticed who she had run into.
“No. It was my fault. Really, I should have expected someone coming out,” said a boy with dark hair and a round face. At this Alice looked up and Lily had to laugh, for Alice’s face had turned a bright red, yet again, at seeing the boy that she ran into.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” He asked her. All Alice could do was nod.
“Alright then, see you around,” the boy said, smiling. When they went to get by each other they both stepped in the same direction. Correcting themselves, both went in the other direction. They both tried again with the same result. Alice was getting redder by the second and the boy was getting a slightly reddish tint but had a small grin on his face.
The boy let out a nervous laugh and said, “You know, I’ve always been a terrible dancer. My mother tells me I was born with two left feet. Whatever that means.” He put his hands on Alice’s shoulder and turned them around so that they were both on the correct side.
“I’m Frank Longbottom, by the way.” He held out his hand to Alice. It was all she could do to grasp his hand without shaking.
“Alice Winters,” she said in a very quiet voice.
“Are you a first year? I haven’t seen you around.” She nodded.
“Well, I have to go catch the carriages, and if you don’t hurry you are going to miss the boats,” Frank said.
“Boats? You have got to be kidding me. I hate boats. Have ever since my clumsy cousin knocked me off one into a pool of seaweed,” Alice said, momentarily forgetting her embarrassment. She shuddered with the memory. If Lily knew one thing about Alice it was that she had a knack for saying the most random things.
“Yeah,” Frank said, with a smile. This first year was quite the character. “That’s how the first years get to the castle. They’re in that direction,” he told her, pointing to a group of kids who were headed away from the platform. “Well, I hope I’ll see you around, Alice,” Frank said before turning to leave.
Lily watched as Alice stood rooted on the spot. Lily was beginning to like Alice more and more by the minute. The girl’s numerous nervous episodes were becoming increasingly more frequent and funny.
“Ohmygosh, I am such an idiot!” Alice said suddenly, covering her face with her hands. “Did you see me just stand there? That was so not suave and poised. It’s like everything my mother ever taught me goes right out of my head the second a boy walks in the room. He probably thinks I am the most ridiculous person to ever set foot at Hogwarts. And he’s and upperclassman!”
Remus could see that Alice was upset over the situation so decided that it was a good idea to give her a little lesson about boys.
“One,” Remus began, “he probably didn’t notice you acting strangely at all. We boys tend to be rather dim at times. Two: he’s hardly an upperclassman; he couldn’t be older than a second or third year.”
“There is no way that he didn’t notice, Remus. I acted like a total moron.”
“I’m telling you, he did not notice. And even if he did, guys like it when a girl acts like that sometimes. It makes them more interesting,” Remus informed her.
“Really?” she asked, hopefully.
“Really.”
“You know, it might be nice having a boy for a friend. It’ll give me a little insight into their completely irrational brains,” Alice told Remus with a smile.
“Yeah as long as you return the favor every once in a while,” Remus said with a smile.
“Er, guys?” Lily interrupted. “Where did all the other first years go?”
“Oh no!” Alice exclaimed. “Let’s go!” With that the trio began running in the direction Frank had pointed out. There wasn’t a first year in sight.
“What if we’ve missed them? How will we get to the school?” Lily asked as they ran.
Ever the calm one, Remus said, “I’m sure we didn’t miss them, Lily. Look there’s the lake now. I think I see one last boat on the shore,” he said, a little out of breath from running. “Hey! Hold that boat!” He shouted to the kids who were getting into the last boat. From what they could see it appeared to be three boys that were in the boat, and they were, in fact, waiting.
As Remus, Lily, and Alice came to a stop by the side of the boat none of them noticed who the inhabitants were. They were all bent over breathing deeply from their mad dash from the platform.
“Thanks…for…waiting. We really… appreciate,” at this point she looked up and noticed that it was James, Sirius and Peter who were in the boat. “You cannot be serious!”
“Yes, I am!” James didn’t even bother warning him before shoving Sirius off the side of the boat. With a huge splash, Sirius disappeared beneath the surface of the lake.
“He thinks that ‘serious,’ ‘Sirius’ joke is so funny. But I’ve known him for so long that it is way past old,” James said.
“You know,” Alice interjected, “that wasn’t very nice of you. My cousin did that to me once and…” She was interrupted by Lily.
“Hey Potter, does your friend know how to swim by any chance?”
“Of course he does, what are you talking about?” Turning around, James saw that Sirius had not yet resurfaced. “Sirius?” Lily caught a glimpse of James’ face and noticed that James seemed genuinely concerned. “Sirius?” he tried again. James waited another second with no answer and then dove into the lake.
A few seconds later both boys came back up. Sirius was hysterically laughing. Apparently it had all been an act. James punched Sirius in the shoulder, saying, “Sirius, you prat, I am soaked.”
“Yes, but it was worth the laugh.”
“With you, everything is worth the laugh,” James replied.
“That it is, my friend. That it is.”
The two boys made their way to shore and got into the boat with the other four. By this time they had fallen significantly behind the fleet of first years. The rest of the bots were only small dark forms on the darker lake. Lily took a second to take in the enormous castle that was visible on the other side of the lake. Although it was only a silhouette at this time of night, Lily was still left in awe of its magnificence. As she was seated the castle was positioned directly behind Potter who was rowing the boat. He caught her staring, and assumed it was at him.
“Enjoying the view, Daisy?” he said with a grin.
“It’s Lily, Potter…”
“Lily Potter, I like the sound of that,” James said.
“Haha.” Lily was not amused. “And yes, I was.”
“Was what?”
“Enjoying the view,” she told him, rolling her eyes.
“Aha! So the dashing good looks and athletic prowess of James Potter, have entranced the ever proper Lily Evans? Or should I say Potter?”
“Of the castle. I was enjoying the view of the castle,” Lily said matter-of-factly, not liking his second reference to her as Lily Potter.
“So she says,” James said to Sirius in an undertone.
The boat was still not gaining on the others, so Sirius decided to take things into his own hands. He stood up and positioned himself at the front of the boat. “Potter! Let’s move! This is nowhere near impressive boatmanship. My house elf could row faster than you!” James threw his a nasty look. “Here we go… and, Stroke…Stroke…Stroke,” Sirius chanted, acting as the boat’s coxswain. His antics rewarded him with laughs from everyone but James, who was glaring at him.
“Black,” James said through his teeth, “would you like to take another swim?”
“If it gets me to the castle faster…”
Several minutes later the boat finally arrived at the castle. The climbed the stairs and soon saw the group of their fellow first years. It appears the class was in the middle of a lecture by the stern looking woman atop the stairs.
“When I return, you will enter the great hall to be sorted into your house. I advise you neaten yourselves up.” It was at this point that she noticed the group that had just arrived.
“Ah, Mr. Potter. I should have guessed that you were not here. Nothing of an objectionable nature has happened yet. I am surprised that I did not notice; it seems I may be slipping in my old age.”
“Oh, never! You are as sharp as a tack Professor,” James said. Lily was surprised by the familiarity that James had with this professor. It almost seemed like they were old friends.
“May I ask, Mr. Potter, why you and your friends are late?” Lily nearly corrected the woman. She was by no means James Potter’s friend, and she most certainly did not want to be associated with him.
“Must we get straight down to business, Min?” Lily went white. He did not just say that! “I was just going to comment on what a splendid night it is. Made all that much better now that I’ve seen you,” James said in a totally serious tone. Apparently he was almost as big of a jokester as Sirius.
“Potter, it is a good thing that you have not been assigned to a house yet, or it would already be negative in points!” McGonagall shouted. Though she seemed livid, Lily saw a twitch at the corner of her mouth. She couldn’t possibly think that James Potter was funny, a woman like her?
“You did not answer the question Mr. Potter. Why are you late? And,” she paused, squinting her eyes to get a better look, “why are you and Mr. Black soaking wet?”
“Well, we are late because of Miss Lily Evans, here,” Lily whipped around and gave James a death stare only to be returned with a smile that Lily found to be increasingly annoying.
“Miss Evans?” McGonagall asked, looking at Lily. She seemed a little shocked upon first seeing her, but hid it immediately and continued, “Don’t worry. I take everything Mr. Potter says with a grain of salt. You, I am sure, were not the only cause of delay,” McGonagall said with a glance at James and Sirius. Lily was relieved that she was not going to get a detention before the year even began.
“As to why we are wet, Mum,” Sirius began, giving McGonagall a wink, “in our eagerness to see you, we felt that Peter’s abysmal rowing was not getting us here fast enough. We were forced to jump out and swim the rest of the way.”
“I’m sure that was the case, Mr. Black,” McGonagall said, obviously not believing him, but not asking for another explanation. Lily watched this interplay with complete shock. She was not alone though, looking around, she could see that most of the other kids were in shock that anyone would ever joke with a woman as stern as McGonagall.
With that McGonagall turned around and left the first years alone. The following few minutes were filled with nervous chatter until the great oak doors opened. At once the students stopped talking and began to file into the great hall. Before them sat a rather spent-looking witch’s hat. Lily had no idea what they were going to have to do with it and began to feel nervousness creep up her spine. She nearly began to bite her nails, an old habit she had when she got nervous, but then remembered that she was in the middle of a room filled with hundreds of people. Chewing her nails would not be cool.
After a second, the hat began to sing. It described that its job was to sort the students into the four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. It told of the founders and what they valued in a student. When the song ended Professor McGonagall began reading names off a list. Lily wasn’t paying much attention to who went where. Her thoughts were on the houses. Which did she want to be in? How would the hat know where to place her? What if she ended up in the wrong house? Her thoughts were interrupted, though, when McGonagall called out “Black, Sirius.”
Sirius stepped out of line and casually walked to the front of the room. He winked at McGonagall, picked up the hat and sat down. After a few minutes of deliberation apparently the hat had made up its mind.
“GRYFFINDOR!” This was followed immediately by a shriek from what Lily assumed to be the Slytherin end on account of its occupants.
“You traitor!”
“Oh, come now, cousin. I was unaware you thought so highly of me. Can I have a hug, Bella?” Sirius said with a smile to a dark haired girl who was standing at the Slytherin table, holding his arms open at her.
“I would never lower myself to even touch such filth,” she said with a sneer.
“That is certainly enough, Miss Black! That goes for you as well, Mr. Black. Please take your seats,” McGonagall told them in a warning tone.
Sirius then laid the hat back on the stool, gave it an appreciative pat and made his way over to the Gryffindor table.
Soon it was Lily’s turn. “Evans, Lily.”
Lily nervously walked up to the stool where the hat was sitting. She picked it up sat down on the stool. She apprehensively placed the hat on her head and it slipped down over her eyes, drowning her world in darkness. The silence was interrupted by a voice that Lily presumed only she could hear.
“Lily Evans. I have heard so much about you…”
A/N: Sorry to end it like that, but it was getting extremely long, and extremely late. I just kept on coming up with ideas while I was writing. I hope you liked this chapter.
I would love to know what you think so far, especially about the characters. Do you like Alice? I want her to be the type that kind of goes off on a tangent a lot, but is it over done? Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!