A Busy Year Full of Surprises

This story has been beta read by Janis, a Perfect Imagination Beta.

Disclaimer; Harry Potter, all places and characters (except those I have made up), the names etcetera belongs to Mrs J.K Rowling, her publishers (there are so much of them, so, well ...), and Warner Brothers™. All rights reserved. This is not meant as theft or insult - I wrote it for fun.

Attention! Warning! Alert! Readers might want to read Chapter 3 before this chapter. The alert servers of Fanfiction[DOT]net were down a period last year (2007) - during the time Chapter Three was published. So, make sure you have read the chapter in question before this one - for obvious reasons!

Beta Reader's Note: My apologies to awn and to all of his readers. I have had this chapter for a very long time, but went through a long bout of glandular fever (mono) and then had a computer crash. It took a long time to find the corrected version of his story, but happily I have a new computer--and even better--awn's Chapter 4 is ready for publication. Enjoy!

Author's Notes: IMPORTANT INFORMATION IN THE AUTHOR'S NOTES BELOW THE CHAPTER! Please do read!
Read, as well, the Beta's note ahead! And I wish to agree with what my Beta said, there has been both real life and computer issues. Still, I hope you will enjoy the story - still after nearly fifteen months!

Chapter Four

The Second to Last Journey There

Lily awoke in the sunrise on the first day of that month, September, in the year 1977. It was a beautiful morning, and the sun sent out bright light which flooded through her square shaped window, making reflections of the sun dancing over the walls of her room. She watched them for a moment, during which the sun slowly rose outside Lily's windows. Some minutes later, Lily decided she could not fall asleep again, so she got up out of her bed and walked toward the bathroom.

After doing what she had needed to do, Lily crossed the hall again and seconds later, she stepped over the threshold of her room. She looked at the alarm clock next to her bed; the little hand pointed at the number between a four and a six. It was five o'clock in the morning. Lily sighed; she was probably the only one awake. As she had already packed her things in case she overslept, she had no book to relieve her boredom. And there was no point in borrowing a book from Petunia -or rather, taking it without permission. That was not a very good idea, since Petunia now was very angry with Lily. They had had more fights like the one by the breakfast table the day Lily's O.W.L grades arrived. That fight had only been the first one.

Well, Lily thought, I hope she will stir soon ... Or at least that I will be able to do so. She sighed; Petunia was not the easiest person to have as a sister. Actually, after a tantrum which had made the floor of Lily's room shake, Lily's mother remarked (after Petunia slammed the door shut, crying) that she sometimes wondered whether it was Lily or Petunia who was eldest. The others had merely shaken their heads and continued reading.

Reading was their big interest; they all enjoyed it. Petunia, though, did not. Her - Petunia's - regular explosions had become a part of everyday life in the house. Lily went up to her room or out to the garden when she recognized her sister's symptoms of a coming attack of fury. If Lily was near when Petunia got upset, Lily could easily get a big telling off just because of her impudence at existing and being a member of Petunia's family. Lily thought that very deep inside her almost empty head, Petunia knew that Lily could not help but exist; but that did not mean that Petunia liked it, nor did it prevent her from blaming Lily.

Lily sighed for the third time that morning. Petunia was the cause of many sighs from the rest of the Evans family - she was rarely nice to anybody and was quick to take offence at the smallest thing.

Petunia was almost always impolite to each and everyone whether she knew the person or not. That was also a reason for the Evans family's many sighs and concerns. Regular reports came from Petunia's school telling their parents (and Lily, who always managed to find a way to read the letters) about Petunia's latest rule breaking in school.

Lily was good at searching through and reading things since she had done it from the time she learned how to read by the age of five. She had never stopped since then. Lily's motto seemed to be: 'When you can do something and when you are enjoying it, why then stop?'

'Hoot! Hoot!' Lily's owl had just awakened and she probably wanted her owner's attention.

'Oh, Hildur,' said Lily. 'I must have forgotten you: I just complained to myself that I have no book, nor any company. That I was all alone. But now, I realize that I was wrong. I have you! Hildur hooted again, but now she hooted thrice. She sounded satisfied. Lily smiled, 'It is going to be nice starting school again, isn't it?'

'Hoot!'

'I am sure you will like it. Actually most of the students' owls do, and the school owls love the Owlery - but of course, it is their home. We are going -'

Lily suddenly heard a small sound on the steps; she was almost sure. She immediately froze in place and stayed so for a couple of minutes. Then, she rose as if she were a machine, and slowly approached her door. She remained silent and opened the door, just to see her father's back. 'Oh my God!'

'What, Lily dear?'

'Y-y-you ... Oh, dear ... You gave me a real fright!'

'Sorry,' he laughed. 'Didn't mean to frighten you ... Do you want to help me making breakfast?'

'I would love to, dad,' Lily replied. 'I was just talking to Hildur before. I could not read, you know: I packed my books yesterday.'

'You are always doing everything as soon as possible and then you are left sitting, bored and waiting.' Her father still laughed.

'Well, Dad, I think about the possibility of oversleeping ourselves! Even if I ate breakfast on the train, there wouldn't be enough time to get ready and pack the trunk! And, what would happen if we had slept to ten? We would not have the time to drive to London, and therefore not to King's Cross either! And -'

'Well, I don't need to know what would happen, but you surely did the right thing when you packed yesterday, Lily.'

'Actually, I started a week ago with the less important things, or at least the ones I could not use at home, like the telescope or the Hogwarts school robes. The last things I packed were my books.'

'OK, dear,' Lily's father said. 'So you've packed everything except what you wear and your toothbrush?'

'Something like that, yeah.'

'Good,' said Lily's father. 'Then we should make breakfast and wake your mother up. I'm afraid it wouldn't be so good to wake Petunia up before you've left.'

- - - - -

'Morning, dears,' said Lily's mother. 'Thanks for breakfast; it's awesome, a very happy surprise. Especially when it was my turn to make it.' While saying the last sentence, she raised her left eyebrow. Though, she smiled widely at the same time.

'Well,' her husband began, 'we were hungry, and we didn't want to wait ...'

'... And we thought we should surprise you by making breakfast,' Lily added and looked at her father with a touch of anger when her mother all of a sudden looked away. The glance told him how stupid he had been because of his unconscious implication that his wife had slept too long and that he and Lily did not want to wait for her to wake up. Her father answered with a sheepish smile, but looked away when his wife looked at them. An embarrassing silence fell over the kitchen and the members of the family began eating their breakfast.

Lily took a teacake and started buttering it. She also sliced some cheese and put the slices on her bread.

'Where is Petunia?' Lily's mother looked at her husband and her daughter.

'Where do you think? Still in bed, of course, I suppose.'

'Be happy you didn't wake her up,' her mother replied instead of Lily's father. 'There is no point waking her up when we're driving you to London; actually, I think it will be better - you won't have any chances to argue, nor it will be time for Petunia to poison your happiness. Some people say that people who are very like each other usually can't co-operate, but you and Petunia are so different. You are the exception which confirms the rule.'

'Maybe we are, Mum.'

-----

After forty-five minutes of driving, they arrived at King's Cross Station in the capital. Lily's father left his wife and daughter by the car to go after a luggage trolley. When he came back, he took Lily's heavy trunk out of the boot. Lily had to help him lift her heavy baggage. Since she was taking ten classes, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, Muggle Studies, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Astrology, Transfiguration and Potions, her trunk was very heavy with all the different books.

Lily mused. Remus also had ten subjects - but since he was a year older than Lily they never attended the same classes. Remus did not participate in the Potions class, though he studied Divination. Lily did not study Divination since she thought it was very wishy-washy. Remus was not very good at Potions, and therefore he did not attend that class.

'Lily, dear?' her father called.

'Oh, lost myself in thoughts ... Again. What is it you wanted to say, father?'

'That you should hurry up now,' he replied, 'the clock says twenty minutes to eleven. Your train will leave at eleven o'clock, won't it?'

'Yes, dad; the train will leave at eleven o'clock. So we should hurry up if we want to be sure I arrive on time.'

-----

'Hello, Lily!'

'Hello,' Lily replied as she went over to her friend Remus with her luggage trolley. 'How was last month?'

'It was very good,' Remus smiled. 'I was at James', you know, so they got me making a lot of mischief.' Lily noticed Sirius smile in an odd way, but Lily did not think much more about it. Instead, she asked what kind of mischief Remus' friends had gotten him to do.

'Oh, just the old -' Remus was interrupted by a loud noise which reminded the students that they - if they were not there yet - should hurry up and get on the train. Peter and Remus got on the train while Sirius, James and Lily handed them the five trunks. Sirius, James and Peter went looking for a compartment while Remus and Lily made their way to the Perfect carriage. Lily had become a Prefect last year, and the year before Lily had received the badge in her letter, Remus had received his. Now, he was Head Boy.

As they walked through the wagon - Lily had just warned a second year who had hit another second year on the head with his wand - the train started moving with a wrench. Lily almost fell, but Remus gently steadied her as she regained her balance.

'Thanks,' she said as she rose. Lily assumed they had just pulled out of King's Cross. 'I think we should hurry now; the meeting will begin soon ... The clock says five past eleven, and we should be there in five minutes.'

'Yes, we had better hurry,' said Remus. Lily nodded as she began walking faster; Remus did the same. They arrived at the entrance to the Prefects' Carriage at nine past eleven. Remus opened the door. 'Ladies first!'

'Thanks,' Lily smiled as she entered the compartment. All of the Perfects were there.

'Hello,' a tall brown haired girl said, 'My name is Lucy Clearwater ...'

'And my name is Remus Lupin. Some of you are new Prefects and some of you are old. We shall inform you about the school rules.'

'Yes,' said the Head Girl. 'You probably already know the basics, for example, that you should not use magic in the corridors, et cetera. We need to tell you lot about what you should and what you should not do as Hogwarts Prefects.'

'You can't take any points,' Remus picked up. 'Only the teachers, the Headmaster, Madam Pomfery, Madam Pince and Mr Filch can take points from a student. That means only the staff - the Keeper of the Keys and Grounds, Hagrid, qualifies as staff - can give and take points. A very serious breaking of the rules can result in expulsion, but you probably knew all that.'

'Please, do not abuse your position as Prefects. A few people have done so. Please, look at your position as an honorary task; the Headmaster has carefully chosen one girl and one boy from every Hogwarts House and he trusts them greatly. I think we should follow these Prefect Rules - otherwise, it would be a way of betraying the Headmaster's confidence in us.'

'Any questions?' Remus looked out over the group of Prefects around him. 'No one? Very well. We should patrol the corridors occasionally and catch people who are breaking school rules and so on. This meeting is considered over.' They all rose and went out of the compartment. Maybe they would go sit with their friends. At last, only Lily and Remus were left. 'Well,' said Remus. 'Where are you going to sit?'

'I don't know,' Lily replied. 'Where I can find an empty chair - or better, empty compartment - I suppose.'

Remus smiled. 'Come and sit with me, James, Peter and Sirius then!'

'Thanks!' Lily and Remus left the Prefects carriage. 'But ... Where are they? They did not say anything to you, did they?'

'Hmm ... No, they didn't. I suppose we'll have to go and search for them,' said Remus thoughtfully.

'Yes. We will find them soon enough. All we have to do is listen and see which compartment is the noisiest.' Remus did not answer Lily, but she saw him smile.

Twenty minutes later, they found Remus' friends. Lily appeared to be right. There was a lot of noise in the compartment. Remus opened the door, 'Hello there. Please, talk softer.'

James sat down when he saw Lily, and soon the others followed. 'Hey, Evans,' said James Potter in a strange way. He looked at Lily all the time, who ignored him and sat down next to Remus. As Remus started talking to the others, Lily took out a Charms book and started reading, but she could not help from overhearing Remus and his friends.

-----

It was three o'clock in the afternoon when the little witch arrived outside the compartment, and knocked on the door. When she opened it, Sirius, James and, of course, Peter started buying all sorts of food from her trolley. Lily bought some Chocolate Frogs, and Remus did the same. Lily was not very fond of sweets - but she was very fond of chocolate. So was Remus. The others had bought a small mountain of sweets. As they ate their sweets Sirius wondered aloud if they should play Exploding Snap.

'Am I allowed to play with you?' asked Lily.

'Of course,' said Remus. 'Otherwise I won't play, either.'

'OK, OK,' Sirius said. 'Lily - be our guest!' Sirius won the game easily and James accused him of cheating. Lily and Remus just laughed at the two of them. The, Lily suddenly looked at the clock.

'We really should change into our school robes now; there is only about half an hour until we are at Hogwarts.'

'OK,' Remus replied. They took down their trunks, and put the black school robes on. Remus adjusted his Head Boy Crest; Lily adjusted her Prefect Crest as well. 'We're almost there, I think,' Remus continued. They took Hildur and James' owl down from the luggage rack. Five munutes later, Remus turned out to have been right. The train slowed down and stopped. 'So,' he said, 'let's get a carriage to take us to the castle.'

A little later, they entered one of the wagons, which smelled like straw. Almost at my second home, Lily thought. The horseless cab started moving from the Hogsmeade Station. They talked a little as they approached the school.

'I'm starving,' Peter said. 'It's good it'll be dinner soon. I'd die if I had to wait for an hour more. I hope there aren't too many first years; if there aren't the Sorting will take less time. Ugh! I'm so hungry!'

'Yeah, yeah, we know. You're hungry. What a surprise!' James rolled his eyes up to heaven. The wagon rolled, and the castle came closer and closer as they travelled forwards. Lily because happier and happier. She loved her home and her parents, but she loved the school castle with its towers and turrets. As they approached she could see that the windows of the Great Hall were lit: Lily knew the teachers and the Headmaster were sitting inside waiting for the students to arrive.

Since it was Friday, the lessons would not start until the fourth of September; Lily had to wait two full days for the lessons to start! Peter, Sirius and James thought it was great, but Lily and Remus disliked the fact. On the other hand, Lily thought it was good for the first years; they would have two days to stroll about the corridors and try and learn how to find the various classrooms. It was very hard to find class rooms at Hogwarts if you had not been there before. Actually, Lily sometimes still found herself in corridors she had never been in earlier.

The wagons stopped. Remus and Lily gave their things and animals to James, Sirius and Peter. Then they told students where they were supposed to go and where they needed to put their luggage. It was also their job to make sure nobody got hurt. One of the responsibilities of the Prefects was to make sure the students got to the Great Hall where the teachers were waiting.

The Prefects worked together calmly so the students would not panic in the crowd. Luckily enough, no one panicked, nor did anybody get hurt. Lily understood their stress and eagerness to get food - but she thought the students should know that the queue would be faster if people would not push one another trying to be first. She actually took her wand and pointed it at her neck.

'Sonorus!'

'HELLO EVERYBODY! MY NAME IS LILY EVANS AND I AM A GRYFFINDOR PREFECT! THE QUEUE WILL NOT MOVE FASTER IF EVERYBODY TRIES TO GET IN AT THE SAME TIME - ACTUALLY, IT WILL TAKE A LOT OF UNNECESSARY TIME! PLEASE CALM DOWN AND FORM A QUEUE. THE CEREMONIES WILL NOT START UNTIL THE FIRST YEARS HAVE ARRIVED!'

The students in the Entrance Hall formed a queue, even if it was not straight. They reluctantly waited patiently and fifteen minutes later, all students were inside.

Professor Dumbledore raised his goblet in Lily's direction when she found a place next to Remus by the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. Lily grinned back and raised her glass, too. The Headmaster smiled.

Author's Notes: I henceforth declare that I take back what I said in the last chapter. I am drafting Chapter 9 now. My recent goal is that this story will be finished in 2010. I hope and pray that it will NOT take a year before Chapter 5 is published. All people concerned with this story are doing their best for quicker updates.
But, just because we are aware of, and we all wish to apology for the delay, it does not mean we ignore the problem! From Chapter 5 and on, we will have yet another person in our little 'crew'. I would like to thank my friend Amanda for agreeing to help me as a preBeta who will check my chapters before I send them to my actual Beta. My Beta is still Janis - whom, by the way, I would love to thank for her time and help - but my preBeta is called Amanda, and goes under various pseudonyms, as Jultomten (Swedish for Father Christmas) on FanFiction dot net. She also refers to herself as Madmushroom and Grammatikhora (Grammar whore). Hopefully, updates will be in a higher flow. We are doing everything we can. A preBeta checks the story before the main Beta does, as a way of lifting the burden for the Beta.

I know this might get annoying in the end, but please, do drop me a review if you have read some part of this story. Trust me; I would love if every reader did. You do not have to comment, even if reviews are highly appreciated, whether you hate or praise my work. (They are even more adored if constructive - I usually say that 'this is awesome' is less worth than 'this story sucked because this and that' in my opinion.) Please - for me.
I know this is a late update and I am perfectly aware of the fact it has taken a year since last chapter was published. I do realize I might have dropped a few - if not most - of my readers. But this has to do with personal issues for everyone that has to do with this story, unfortunately.
And, as the major planning and core of the story was set in 2006, it will NOT follow Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. This was decided in June 2007, but it would not have mattered. But as my major plan is already done, it will be FREE OF SPOILERS, i.e not compatible with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - although it has been almost a year since the publication.