Finding Our Way

September 1^st 1971

The platform 9 ¾ was filled with Hogwarts students. Some were going back to school, others were visiting it for the first time. The truth was that each and every one of them was excited to go there. Hogwarts was portrayed as a wonderful place, mostly remembered by its former students with a smile.

Among the students and right next to the train's door, a brown haired girl with chocolate coloured eyes, not older than eleven was standing along with three adults: a couple in their early fifties and a woman in her later twenties.

"The train leaves at eleven, doesn't it?" her mother asked, checking her watch. She looked down at her daughter. "Your father and I have a meeting in the ministry in five minutes. I'm afraid we won't be able to see you off, Amelia."

"It's alright, Mum," the girl answered as she kissed her mother goodbye. She was already used to the fact that her parents never had time to spend with her. Not even today when she was going to Hogwarts for the first time.

"Have a good school year, Mia," her father said kissing her forehead.

"Don't forget to write," Mia asked them before they disappeared with a 'pop' and she was left alone with her long-term nanny, Lulu, who was more her parent than Susan and Philip Davis ever were.

"Unbelievable," Lulu muttered under her breath. In the eleven years that she had spent working for the Davises, Lulu had never gotten used to how they didn't seem to care about Mia. She hated them and herself for that. "I just don't get your parents, Mia. I really don't."

"It's okay," Mia told her. "I didn't really have my hopes up about them staying."

"But it doesn't make it right, does it?" her nanny asked, meeting her eyes.

Lulu had always been more than a nanny to Mia. Since she was seventeen, Lucy Kathleen Graham had been in charge of Mia under the orders of her grandmother, Margaret Davis. Despite her wild (activist) nature and young age, Lulu had taken the task very seriously and Mia had become the centre of her life - she was more a daughter to Lulu than she would ever imagine...

"Who would need them when they have you?" Mia simply asked. "You're gonna write, aren't you?"

Lulu smiled. "Every week and I want a full report in return. The house will be so quiet without you."

"You could always find a husband," Mia said, mischievously.

"Marriage doesn't fit me," answered Lulu. "You should go and find yourself a compartment."

"I know," she hugged her tightly. "And you'll get married someday, mark my words. I'll see you in Christmas, Lu."

She entered the train and waved at Lulu from the window before entering one of the compartments. Hogwarts would bring change. She knew that.

---

"You stay away from those mudbloods, Sirius Black!" Orion Black ordered his son, who seemed to be anything but interested in what his father was saying.

"Sirius Black! Listen to your father!" his mother, Walburga, demanded, hitting her son on the back of the head.

"It's none of your business who I make friends with!" Sirius shouted.

"Don't you speak like that to your mother! Behave like the pureblood you are, disgraceful little brat!" his father declared.

Sirius gave his parents a daring look. To tell truth, he was so glad to finally leave them behind. The only thing that worried him was leaving his younger brother at their mercy. They would mess with his brain, the old bats. "I'm going," he said abruptly. "Bye Reggie."

His younger brother waved at him. "Bye Sirius!" Regulus answered brightly. "Don't forget to write!"

The Blacks watched their oldest son enter the Hogwarts express with rigid faces.

"That boy, he'll be our death," Orion commented.

Walburga simply nodded.

---

Mia watched through the window as the platform disappeared out of her view. The compartment was empty and several students still walked through the corridor looking for their friends.

Suddenly, someone knocked the door and Mia turned her attention from the landscape to the person knocking.

"I'm sorry," a girl with blonde, wavy hair that went down to the middle of her back and bright blue eyes asked, followed by two boys Mia couldn't really see. "Do you mind if we sit here?"

"Of course not," Mia answered. "I'm Amelia Davis, by the way, but you can call me Mia."

"I'm Elizabeth Harper," the girl said, stepping in. Then, she gestured to the two boys behind her. "These are Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew."

"Nice to meet you," she told them. The two boys were very different from each other physically. One was very short and had small watery eyes and his hair was mousy brown. The other was taller, with light brown hair and brown eyes. He looked sort of ill at the moment. Mia guessed he had probably been fighting a nasty flu or something.

"I'm sorry, we almost lost the train, the other compartments are full," the taller boy said apologetically.

"It's alright," Mia said.

For a good half hour, the four got to know each other. Elizabeth explained she was from London and her father owned a broom company. Her mother was a model and worked in a bank. Remus, the taller boy, stated he was from the north of England and his parents worked in an apothecary. Peter didn't speak much and only mentioned he lived with his mother in Scotland.

A little after lunch time, two other people showed up their compartment: a red headed girl and a boy with black greasy hair.

"Hello, I'm Lily Evans, this is Severus Snape, do you mind if we sit here?" the girl asked.

"No, the more, the merrier," Mia said and the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"Thank you," Lily said, occupying the seat by Remus's side as Snape sat on Peter's left.

Mia quickly introduced everyone in the group to the newcomers in order to put everyone at ease.

"It took you this long to find a compartment?" Remus inquired with an eyebrow raised.

"We had already found one," she explained. "But there were two awful boys in there who kept picking on Sev, so we left."

"That's horrible!" Elizabeth said. "Were they first years too?"

Lily nodded.

---

After leaving the boats that had taken them to the castle through the lake, the first years were taken to McGonagall, who, after describing the school houses, had taken the students to the Great Hall for the sorting.

"Avery, Sebastian," she called.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Black, Sirius."

Mia watched as a very good looking boy with black hair received the hat to be selected. He grinned at another boy, among the first years. This one had messy black hair and wore glasses.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Sirius all but raised his arms in victory, which lead Mia to believe he was happy about the sorting.

"Davis, Amelia."

Mia's heart raced, it felt like it was going to explode. She slowly walked and stood next to McGonagall, who put the old hat in her head.

"Amelia Davis... Mother in Hufflepuff, father in Gryffindor... I think I know where to put you," it said. "GRYFFINDOR!"

As she joined the other Gryffindors, Mia was confused. Her parents had both been in Ravenclaw. The hat had to be confusing her with somebody else... She sat by Sirius Black's side, still wondering if she was the one wrong.

"Hi, I'm Sirius," he said, interrupting her thoughts. "You're Amelia, aren't you?"

She nodded. "But call me Mia. Only my mother calls me Amelia."

"Looks like we both are in Gryffindor," Sirius said smiling.

"You seem surprised," commented Mia. "You seemed pretty glad when you were sorted..."

"Oh, I am, you don't imagine how much I am. My whole family was in Slytherin." He pointed at a very pale blonde prefect sitting by the Slytherin table. "See that girl, the prefect?" he asked. "She's my cousin, Narcissa." He pointed at an older girl, this one with brown hair. "That's her sister, Andromeda. Actually, I don't know how she ended up in Slytherin. She's really nice, my favourite cousin, actually. Their older sister, Bellatrix, she's graduated already, that one's a bad piece; Slytherin through and through."

"It does look like you broke the tradition," Mia pointed out. "I guess it is a good thing."

"I bet tomorrow I'll receive a Howler. My parents will be cursing Merlin when they know," Sirius told her, a devious grin playing on his face. "They had it coming, the old bats."

Mia smiled sympathetically, knowing what it was like to have unfit parents. Minutes later, Lily joined them by the Gryffindor table.

"Hey Lily," Mia said as the redhead sat by her side. "We're in the same house!"

"Yeah," said Lily in a low voice.

"You seem sad," she stated.

"It's not that I didn't want to be in your house, it's just that I wanted to be in the same house as Sev and don't think he'll come to Gryffindor," Lily explained.

"That doesn't mean anything," Mia told her. "You can still be friends. I'm sure the two of you will be fine. Besides, the two of us get to share dorms now."

"Make it three!" a familiar voice said behind them. It was Elizabeth. "I'm a Gryffindor too!"

The sorting continued. Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were also sorted into Gryffindor, along with a boy named James Potter, who, according to Lily, was the one who had made fun of Severus, who, as she had predicted was sorted into another house - Slytherin.

---

The feast went on smoothly and, after a brief speech made by the headmaster, the first years were guided to the common room by the prefects. Most of them were overwhelmed by the whole castle - high ceiling, moving staircases...

"Unbelievable," Lily said, watching the portrait of a fat lady speaking to a prefect before it moved and revealed the entrance to the Gryffindor's tower. Being a muggle-born, she had never seen that sort of thing before. "It's amazing."

"Mum once told me you have to mix a potion with the paint to make the portraits alive," Elizabeth explained as they entered the common room, all decorated in red and gold.

"Brilliant," Lily whispered.

"Did any of you hear the password?" Mia asked suddenly. They would be in big trouble if they didn't know it.

"It was 'Godric'," someone said behind her. She turned around to see Sirius standing there. "I see you are interested in the moving paintings. We have a bunch of these portraits back home. They get sort of irritating after a while."

"You and your friend James sure must know about being irritating," Lily spat at him.

Mia was a little taken aback. Had the two met each other before?

"Don't tell me you're still mad about our little joke about your friend," Sirius replied in disbelief. "He was sort of being annoying with the whole Slytherin pride."

Oh, so he was one of the boys who picked on Lily's friend in the train, Mia concluded

"You still didn't have to be rude," Lily told him with a scowl.

Sirius was about to respond, but James Potter, the other 'bully' in Lily's book. "Hey, Sirius, I was looking for you." It was only then that he noticed Lily. "Oh, we meet again. Lily Evans, right?"

"Yes," she replied coldly.

"I'm..."

"James Potter, I know," she finished dryly and turned to Mia and Elizabeth, who had just stood there, watching the exchange. "I think I'm going up to the dorm. Are you coming too?"

Elizabeth nodded and joined her.

"I think I'm gonna stay a little longer," Mia told them. "I'll see you there in a while, okay?"

"Sure. See you in a while," Lily said, before going up the stairs that lead to the girl's dorms, along with Elizabeth.

James watched closely as the redhead girl left. "That Evans girl is interesting," he mumbled.

"You sure are not her favourite person right now," Mia pointed out.

He shrugged. "She'll get over it."

Mia and Sirius crossed looks, before bursting in laugher.

"You're marked, mate," Sirius said. "She'll loathe you for all eternity."