She Had the Perfect Life

Book Two - First Year Friendships and Secrets

Part One

The sight of a great scarlet train greeted Lily and Rose, puffing smoke as students and parents milled around. They both stopped and stared. The sisters glanced at each other, and then back at the barrier. The realization that they were very much alone in a very different world had just hit them.

"Well," said Lily finally, "we might as well get our stuff on board."

Each carrying their trunk in one hand and cat in the other, they carefully boarded the train. They hadn't gone far before they reached a large section where they could store their trunks. Working together, they managed to heave both trunks onto the pile. Then, soothing the terrified cats, the girls began their quest to find an empty compartment. They were soon successful, and in a few minutes the redheads had established their domain.

The first hour went uneventfully. Lily and Rose became deeply involved in their books; the only interruptions were by other students looking for someone.

Eventually Rose reached an intermission in her story, and she looked up, staring out the window as she went over the events in her book. She glanced at her older sister, who was still buried in her own story.

"Lily?"-tentatively. Lily looked up after a moment - when any one of the Evans daughters was reading, her nerve impulses were as slow as Mary's when she first woke up.

"Hmm?"

"Are we going to look for those boys we met in Diagon Alley?"

"Do you want to?"

"I'm asking you."

"I'd like to. But if you don't want to-"

"Oh no. I mean, they seem nice enough."

"And clever enough."

"And funny. A bit immature."

Lily laughed. "Just a bit. Wait one second for me to finish this one part, and then we'll search for them."

A few seconds later, Lily dog-eared the page and stood up, still holding Twilight.

"Are you taking her?" Rose asked her sister in surprise.

"Why not?" Lily replied. Rose picked up Midnight.

As the girls left their compartment, Lily grabbed Rose's arm. "Do you remember their names?"

Rose froze. "Er - the twins are James and David. The other two have really strange names."

"The boy with the brown hair - the one who showed up later," said Lily slowly, "he reminds me of Rome's history...Romulus's brother - Remus!"

"And the other one," Rose pondered, staring at Midnight, "oh, what was it - a star, the Dog Star - Sirius!"

"James, David, Remus, Sirius," recited Lily. Satisfied, they started down the corridor, peering into the compartments, for any sign of the four boys, because from the little they knew about them, the girls were certain that the boys would not be found apart.

Suddenly, an explosion of laughter occurred ahead of them, from one of the compartments. Lily and Rose stopped and looked at each other. At the same time, a boy with violently untidy hair ducked out of the compartment and picked up something off the floor. As he straightened, he noticed the girls.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, his face splitting into a grin. "You're here!" Lily smiled back.

"Yeah, we couldn't exactly miss it - er, David?"

"James," he corrected, though he didn't seem at all perturbed by the mistake. "Want to join us?" he added, gesturing toward the compartment.

"Sure!" Rose said.

James re-entered the compartment, calling out, "Hey, look who showed up!"

When Lily and Rose stepped in, they found an absolute mess. Sweet papers were scattered across the seats and floor, and Ice Mice and Chocolate Frogs were running wild everywhere. Remus and David were on one side, while James plopped down besides Sirius opposite them.

"Budge up!" he commanded. Amid the calls of "Hi, Lily!" and "What's up, Rose?" the sisters managed to squeeze in. Rose sat by James, and Lily was practically on Remus's lap. The situation called for much laughter and jokes, and it was only increased when Midnight leaped from Rose's lap and began to stalk the mice.

"Lily," said Sirius suddenly, "can I hold your cat?"

Lily looked at him, and then drew back, holding Twilight protectively.

"No."

"Why not?"

"I don't trust you."

"Why? What have I done to lose your trust? You barely know me!" cried Sirius indignantly.

"You just don't look like someone who should be trusted with small animals!" Lily insisted.

Their minor argument was interrupted by the door sliding open, revealing a small, fat boy who looked like he had been crying a good bit. He sniffed.

"Has anyone seen my rat?" he asked pathetically. They shook their head. Midnight looked up, a mouse in her mouth.

"Well," David amended, "we did have a lot of mice. But no rats."

"We could have had a rat come in," said Sirius brightly. "If it did, it's probably being digested right about now."

The boy's eyes widened.

"Sirius!" Rose hissed, poking him.

"Are you talking about this rat?" a voice drawled behind the ratless boy. The latter spun around.

Severus Snape stood there, smirking. In one hand he held a shrieking rat by the tail. As they watched, he began to spin it in little circles.

"Put it down, Snape," Sirius said, standing.

"I don't think so," replied Snape, his smile widening. He turned back to his captive's owner. "When it first ran into my compartment I decided to kill it and throw it out the window. But when I found out it was yours, Pettigrew, I realised it didn't deserve such an easy death."

"Please give it back!" Pettigrew pleaded weakly. "Please!"

"Get a life, Snape!" said David angrily. "If all you have to do all day is taunt kids smaller than you, you need one."

"Want to run that by me again, Potter?" Snape said, his eyes narrowing.

Lily bit her lip. This was getting out of hand, and all over a rat! They weren't even at school yet, and she was sure someone was going to get hurt - or worse, in trouble.

She sought a way to peacefully end it. Her eyes locked on the rat. He wasn't holding it very tightly, she realised. Her eyes narrowed.

All at once the rat flew from Snape's fingertips and into the compartment. Rose snatched Midnight up.

Snape started in surprise, but he quickly tried to cover it up. "Who did that?" he demanded.

Lily's mouth opened to answer, but James, who had seen her eyes concentrate, was quicker.

"I did," he said evenly.

"Where's your wand?" Snape asked icily.

"Up your bum and around the corner," James shot back - it was the first thing that came to his mind. "Goodbye." And he pulled the boy called Pettigrew inside the compartment - much to the dismay of its many occupants - and slammed the door shut.

"All right," gasped Remus, "this is crowded."

Pettigrew was looking at James with something close to worship in his eyes.

"Thanks!" he cried. "You were incredible!"

James gave him a startled look. "It was nothing," he assured him. "What's your name, anyway?"

"P-Peter Pettigrew."

James introduced everyone.

"Wonderful," Sirius called from beneath Remus. "Now we know everyone's name. Can we please work on giving everyone some room to breathe in?"

"It is a bit crowded," agreed Rose in a muffled voice - David's back was against her face.

"A bit!" shrieked Sirius - the only part of him visible was his foot protruding from underneath Lily's arm. "Understatement of the year."

"Regardless, Rose is right," Lily announced. "We'll leave."

"No," David said, casting his mind for a polite way to tell Peter to get out. "Er-"

"No, it's okay," Lily said, disentangling herself from the bodies and then helping her sister out. "We need to change anyway. And so do you."

"See you at the Sorting," Remus called.

Sure enough, Lily and Rose had barely finished switching into their school robes when a bodiless voice called out, "Five minutes until we reach Hogwarts. Please leave your luggage in the train. It will be taken separately to the castle." The sisters were very excited now: soon they would be reaching their new home for the majority of the next seven years.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," Lily called. James opened the door - the girls only knew he wasn't David because of his nametag.

"My dad said that in the boats we ride to Hogwarts they only take four people. David, Sirius, Remus, and Peter are going in one boat, so can I go with you two?"

That's odd, Lily thought. They just met Peter. Why is he taking James's place?

"Sure," Rose said.

"James, do you know if we take our cats?" Lily inquired, gesturing toward Midnight and Twilight, who were asleep on the seat. James grinned.

"No, but you can take your bags if you want to."

Outside, it was just beginning to get dark. They were all surprised to see a giant figure standing in front of a row of boats on the edge of an immense lake.

"Firs' years o'er here! Four ter a boat!" the giant bellowed. James guided the girls to a boat. After all the boats were filled, they rapidly started across the lake. Lily turned to James.

"Why didn't you ride with the other boys?"

"I wanted to ask you something, Lily."

"What?" she inquired, curious.

"When we were talking to Snape," he began, "I saw you staring at Peter's rat right before it flew out of his hand. Your eyes - I mean, they were concentrating on it, and they flashed, right as the rat escaped. Did you do that?"

"Er - yes," Lily admitted.

"How? You didn't have a wand," he pointed out.

"Practical Magic," Rose answered. "It's a brand of magic that goes back centuries. We don't need wands to move things. All we need are our eyes, and sometimes not even that."

"Hey!" The shout came from another boat. Turning, James, Lily, and Rose saw Sirius standing up in the boat next to them. Behind him, David, Remus, and Peter were sitting down. Sirius took out his wand and tapped the boat. It promptly rammed James's boat. Lily and Rose grabbed the side. James quickly pulled out his own wand and returned the favour. As Sirius raised his wand again, Lily called,

"Don't, boys. Someone's going to fall out."

"So?" Sirius retorted. "I heard there's a giant squid that lives in the lake. Mermaids, too."

"You'd like that, wouldn't you, Sirius?" James shouted back. Lily shook her head, smiling.

"Look!" shouted Rose, pointing ahead of them. A tentacle was curled above the water, faintly resembling a question mark. Remus, David, and Peter leapt to their feet and rushed to the side. As they stared, it slowly disappeared under the surface.

"What did I tell you?" shouted Sirius gleefully.

A few minutes later, the boats pulled up in front of a huge, magnificent castle. Everyone fell quiet, staring up at their new home.

"Oh, wow," Rose finally whispered. They silently disembarked from the boats. Lily, Rose, and James quickly walked over to where Sirius, David, Remus, and Peter were standing. Peter took a step backward and gulped.

The door opened and a formidable-looking witch who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall explained to them about the four Houses and the Sorting Ceremony, which they were about to undertake. Then she led them into a chamber, instructing them to wait here and tidy up (staring pointedly at James and David's hair).

After a few minutes of very nervous whispering (James and David weren't very worried - their entire family had been Gryffindors. Lily and Rose were, however. Their Practical Magic background had them extremely anxious.), Professor McGonagall reappeared, beckoning them to follow her. She led them to a gigantic room with four tables side by side, and one long one in front of them all. Floating candles lit the entire hall.

Remus nudged the girls. "Look," he whispered quietly, pointing up. They obeyed, and their mouths fell open. There didn't seem to be a ceiling - the black sky stretched from wall to wall, stars just now beginning to dot the darkness. It was incredible.

But now Professor McGonagall was placing an old, threadbare, beaten hat on a stool. She stepped back, and after a moment the hat broke into song, explaining each of the four houses. When it was done, everyone applauded, and the Professor announced,

"When I call your name, come and sit on the stool and put on the hat." She unrolled a large parchment. "Black, Sirius!"

"Good luck!" whispered all his friends as he determinedly went forward. He set on the hat, but it promptly slipped over his eyes. There was a three-second pause, then-

"GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius climbed off the stool, replaced the hat, and walked over to the table that cheered the loudest.

"Cover, Abigail!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Evans, Lily!" Her heart began to beat very fast.

"You have to be in Gryffindor, you don't fit in any other!" whispered Rose reassuringly. Distantly hearing her other friends' encouraging words, Lily walked toward the hat. Like it had for Sirius and Abigail, the hat went over her eyes.

"Let's see here," a voice whispered in her ear. Lily started. "You're definitely bright enough for Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, and you have a good sense of humour, along with a tolerance of people who pull pranks - which would make you a GRYFFINDOR!" Weak with relief, and hardly able to believe the test she had been dreading so much was over, Lily slid off the stool and joined Sirius at the Gryffindor table.

"I knew it!" he exclaimed as she fell into the seat next to him. "You couldn't be in any other house!"

"Shhh! It's Rose's turn!"

Indeed, "Evans, Rose" was walking up to the Sorting Hat. Her heart was pounding as her sister's had. What if I don't get into Gryffindor? she thought wildly. The thought of being in any other house - even Ravenclaw - without Lily was unbearable. With sweaty hands she placed the hat over her head.

"Well, you are a lot like your sister, aren't you? So much that I'll put you in GRYFFINDOR!" Speechless, Rose returned the hat to the stool and made her way to Lily's side.

"You shouldn't have worried about it," said Sirius cheerfully. "You and Lil have-"

Lily interrupted him. "Lil?"

"It's either that or Lie, Lee, Lie-lie, Lee-lee-"

"Lil," said the nicknamed quickly. "Please."

"Look!" exclaimed Rose. "Remus is up!"

The boy was the calmest they had seen yet. He put on the hat and waited.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius, Lily, and Rose clapped the loudest. Remus sat across from Lily. His cheeks were a bit flushed.

"So far so good," he sighed. "Only James and David left."

"I really hope they get in Gryffindor," Rose said.

"They will be," said Sirius faithfully.

"Peter's next," Lily observed.

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

After a surprising number of trips for such a short distance, Peter made it to the stool. Ten minutes later, he was still there.

"Personally," said Sirius in a low voice, "I hope he doesn't get into Gryffindor. After you two left" -he motioned toward Lily and Rose- "all he did was stare at us as though we had wings growing out of our ears."

Lily muffled a laugh, just as the hat finally announced, "GRYFFINDOR!" Peter breathlessly took a seat on the other side of Remus. As he opened his mouth to speak, Sirius cried,

"James's turn!"

"Potter, James!" The hat had scarcely touched his head before-

"GRYFFINDOR!"

James shook hands with Sirius as he sat down.

"Potter, David!" Instantly-

"GRYFFINDOR!"

David took his seat next to Remus.

"I can't believe it!" Lily exclaimed. "We all made it!"

"Barely," said James, throwing Peter a grin. Peter's cheeks grew scarlet.

"I don't get it," Rose said, quickly changing the subject. "Why did you go before David, James? D goes before J."

"Because," he said, now giving David a very evil grin, "I am six seconds older." James announced it with a very grand air, as though this made him special.

"And he'll never let me forgot it, either," the younger added, scowling.

But Lily wasn't listening. She was still watching the Sorting, waiting for someone whom she knew would be up soon. And he was.

"Snape, Severus!"

He stepped forward, his sallow skin gleaming in the candlelight. The six friends fell silent.

"Five Sickles he's in Slytherin, James," said Sirius suddenly.

"I don't think so, Sirius," his best friend replied. "We've known that ever since we first saw him." Just as he finished speaking, the hat shouted,

"SLYTHERIN!"

The boys and Rose went back to their conversation. Lily, however, continued to watch the boy as he took his seat at the Slytherin table.

What is he really like? Lily wondered again. She was clever enough to know that everyone had two sides, and so far she had only seen one. She examined his expression closer. Was he happy or disappointed about his placement? But his face was as masked as if he had had his back to her.

Suddenly, he looked up - straight at her. Startled, she looked away, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. But James had noticed where she had been staring.

"You know," he said quietly, leaning in front of Sirius, "I wouldn't let Snape find out you're technically a Muggle-born if I were you. As a general rule, Slytherins don't like them much."

Lily nodded.

Dumbledore stood up and began to speak.

"Another year has arrived, and we have a new batch of students to stuff with knowledge.

"But I must inform you that a new tree has joined our grounds over the summer. Its name is the Whomping Willow, and I do not advise anyone to find out why it was so named.

"Other than that, the usual reminders: no one is to enter the Forbidden Forest, and please be considerate of Mr. Filch - he would appreciate it if you did not make any sort of mess whatsoever.

"And now, what you've all wanted to hear - Bon appetit."

And all at once the dishes and bowls were full with every kind of food. Hungry, the friends dug in.

After everyone had finished, the food faded away, and was replaced by ice cream of every flavour and biscuits, too.

Finally when no one could take another bite, that too disappeared, and Dumbledore stood again.

"Now that everyone is filled with food, it is time to go to bed, so you can be filled with knowledge tomorrow. Goodnight!"

As everyone stood up (the first years a bit uncertainly, as they knew not where to go) a sixth year Gryffindor called out,

"Follow me, first years!"

So the Gryffindors followed the prefect through the castle. Even though a warm bed was starting to feel very good right then, they couldn't help but have a sense of awe at the complex castle. She led them through tapestries, onto moving staircases, and into closets that turned out not to be closets at all. Walls became corridors at the touch of the right stone. Sometimes the floor became transparent, other times it became a raging sea beneath their feet, even though it felt like a smooth floor. James and Sirius swore that the bottom of their shoes were wet. And once they went through a hallway that played different notes when you stepped on different stones. Sirius actually managed to convince the prefect to stop so James and David could perform their version of Chopsticks.

But they finally did reach a large portrait of the Fat Lady, and the prefect showed them to their appropriate staircases.

Lily and Rose found their beds next to each other, much to their satisfaction. Their trunks were in front of their beds, and Midnight and Twilight were curled up asleep on their pillow. The sisters noticed there were two other beds in the room, but they were empty.

"They must still be downstairs," Lily reasoned. This was probable, as many Gryffindors had decided to stay up a while longer in the common room.

Exhausted, the two sisters changed into their nightgowns, plaited each other's hair as they had done for years, and fell into their beds.

But they didn't go to sleep right away. For a few minutes they stared up at their canopies, thinking about all that had happened that day. Saying goodbye to Mary, talking with the boys on the Hogwarts Express, the encounter with Snape, the Sorting - it was still a shock they were both in Gryffindor! - the marvelous dinner, and the wonders of Hogwarts all flashed through their minds.

"Lily?" whispered Rose at last.

"Yes?"

"Can you believe it? I mean, this is going to be our home for the next seven years!"

"It's everything Nicki said it would be," Lily whispered.

"And more."

"And more," the elder concluded.

"Do you think that we'll have a good time here?"

In the darkness, Lily smiled.

"We'll make sure of it."

There was a long, comfortable silence. At last-

"Goodnight, Lily."

"Goodnight, Rose."