Lily Evans and the Lefay Torc

Lily Evans and the Lefay Torc
by ErtheChilde

"There are very few people who could claim ownership over this particular item. I am sure once you have a moment to examine it, you will realize why you are one of them and why it is of the utmost importance that you accept that."

AN: I make use of some passages from Deathly Hallows in this chapter. They belong to J.K. Rowling and not to me, although I've tried to paraphrase them properly. I use them only to make the chapter more authentic and canon. Please don't sue me; I'm a poor student with no money to give you.

- CHAPTER SIX - Aboard the Hogwarts Express

Lily's fears about her sister proved correct.

The minute she came home with all of her new school things, Petunia took one look at her, and disappeared into the room they had shared for ten years. Within minutes, she was carrying piles of her clothes and dolls into the spare room down the hall, and told her stunned family that she was old enough to have her own room now. Sharing with a witch was the last thing she intended to do.

This resulted in one of the largest rows Lily could ever remember having taken place at her home, with Petunia and their father yelling back and forth, but in the end, Petunia got her way and Lily found herself occupying their room alone. It was the beginning of what would be the worst summer of Lily's life, for although Petunia was thankfully still speaking to her, there was a coldness that had never existed between them.

It was the first summer that she spent entirely with Severus, and although he was a good and understanding pal, she missed the companionship of her sister; the few attempts she made to include Petunia were rebuffed airily, as her sister insisted she had older friends to hang around with, and so Lily contented herself with brewing up potions with Severus in her room. They were careful only to work on inconspicuous brews, such as Boil-Cure Potion and Hiccoughing Solution, because Mrs. Evans was given to wandering by to hover curiously whenever she was home. Severus would get rather cross when this happened, but as Lily reminded him, he refused to have her at his house.

One day a letter came for Petunia, which she whisked away secretively, and no one saw her for the rest of the day. Lily wouldn't have thought of it - Petunia was rather given to sulking of late - except her dislike of Severus and resentment of Lily appeared to double over the rest of the summer, and she ignored any questions about it from her family.

"What's stopping you from going to find out yourself?" Severus asked one day in August as he and Lily debated which of the four houses would be the best to be sorted into. Lily thought she would make a good Ravenclaw, while Severus was busily trying to convince her why Slytherin would be a better match for her. "She's out with one of her giggly friends, it's not like she could stop you."

"It's her privacy, Sev," Lily told him shortly. "I'm not going to invade that."

"Whatever it is, she's taking it out on you," he told her pointedly. "So that makes it your business, in a way. And you're the one who's getting hurt over it, so there."

"Severus..." she trailed off, caught between wanting to do right by her sister and wanting to know what Petunia was so upset over.

"I've got an idea," he told her, getting up and stretching. Even under his too-large clothing, she could see the points of his bones and ribs. "I'll go look, and tell you what it is. That way you're not prying."

And before she could stop him, Severus had slipped out the open door of her room and was gone.

"Sev!" Lily hissed, and after a half-second's deliberation, hurried after him. "Severus Snape, don't you dare!"

But her friend had already opened the door to Petunia's room and disappeared within.

The former spare room was in pristine condition, a shrine of neatness that reminded Lily of one of the only reasons she was glad to have her own room now. She's wasn't the neatest person in the world, but neither was she as passionate about order and cleanliness as her sister was. It was because of this neatness that Severus so easily found what had upset Petunia.

Stuffed roughly between two books on the shelf was a piece of what appeared to be parchment, and before Lily could tell him not to, he had pulled it out. Lily could make out loopy green writing as he began to read out loud:

"Dear Miss Evans,

I received your recent letter concerning the possibility of you coming to our school, and I must admit that I was so touched by the sentiment I believe you deserve a personal answer.

While it pleases me to see a Muggle who is so interested in Hogwarts, I sincerely regret that it is currently impossible for any non-magical person to attend. Hogwarts has been and - as long as our board of governors is made up of stodgy old purebloods with an aversion to change - will always be a place of magical education for witches and wizards.

Your sister is lucky to have someone has dedicated as you are, and I hope that you will always remember that family is one of the most important blessings a person can have.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore."

Severus looked up from the letter, gaping, and couldn't hide the slight note of admiration in his voice as he asked, "Your sister wrote to the Headmaster of Hogwarts?"

"She must have," Lily murmured, reaching for the letter to read it herself. "No wonder she's been so upset lately."

"But how did she address it?" Severus puzzled. "It's not like Hogwarts has a postal code. I read in Hogwarts: A History that it's hidden. You've got be an owl or an extremely powerful wizard to get through all of the enchantments on it."

"Oh, Tuney," Lily sighed unhappily.

"Maybe there are wizards who watch the postal service," Severus continued. "That's got to be how they do it. Or maybe -"

The sound of the front door opening and closing made Lily jump.

"Hurry - get out before Mummy sees you," she hissed, shoving the letter back into its hiding place with one hand and pushing Severus out with the other. "And if you ever breathe a word of this to anyone - if you ever even let on to Petunia that you know about this, I'll find out how to do that Entrail-Expelling Curse you were telling me about and use it on you!"

While Severus had the decency to look worried, it didn't stop the odd looks he sent Petunia over the next few weeks.

Given what she and Severus now knew about Petunia, Lily was very surprised when her mother managed to persuade her sister to come see them off on September first. However, she overheard her mother telling her father the night before that the only way Petunia would consent to come was if they didn't offer a lift to Severus. It was a bitter pill, but Lily swallowed it, hoping that she might be able to talk her sister around on the long ride to King's Cross Station.

Lily couldn't sleep the night before, jumping up every half-hour to make last minute checks of her belongings, ensuring that everything was safely packed away. When her mother came to get her at five o'clock the next morning, she had already readied the large traveling trunk for her father to take out into the car and dressed in casual Muggle clothing - she had decided that her Hogwarts uniform was not only too conspicuous, but also more likely to upset Petunia.

Not five minutes into the drive, she almost wished her sister had stayed home. Petunia sulked the entire drive, staring fixedly out the window and ignoring everyone, and the definite tense feeling in the air made the drive seem twice as long as it had been when she and Severus visited Diagon Alley.

They arrived at King's Cross at quarter past ten, parked in the lot, and Mr. Evans lifted Lily's trunk out of the car with a grunt of minimal effort. As her mother went off to find her a trolley, Lily looked up at the station, trying to find the number of the platform she needed. Her ticket had said 'platform nine and three-quarters', but that didn't exactly seem right to her. Once again she began having second thoughts that went as far as to think Petunia had cooked up the entire thing.

But no, Lily shook her head, eying her sister covertly. In the last few weeks, she had realized what she had never noticed before - her sister had absolutely no sense of humour or imagination, both of which would have been needed to come up with such an elaborate hoax.

"Well, luv, where are we supposed to go?" her mother asked, looking nervously around as she wheeled the trolley over and Mr. Evans began to load his daughter's belongings onto it. Lily didn't and couldn't answer. She looked up at the big plastic signs that had the numbers 'nine' and 'ten' written on them, but couldn't see 'nine and three quarters' anywhere.

"Lily!"

The crowd parted a little, and Lily could now make out Severus, who was standing at the brick divide between platforms nine and ten. He ran over, nearly tripping over his too long trousers, and came to a stop in front of the Evanses. His eyes were alight with excitement, and he spoke to her without even acknowledging her family. "You're nearly late - the train leaves at eleven!"

"There was traffic," Lily said, glancing at her family and back. "How do we get on the train?"

"You've got to go through the wall there, between the platforms," he explained. "Listen, I've got to get back - I had to fight with Mother to stay out here until you showed up. I think she's more anxious for me to get on the train than I am."

"Not possible," Lily said lightly, but he didn't hear her, because he was already loping back to the barrier and - to the surprised gasps of her parents and Petunia - ran straight into the wall, disappearing from view. The people walking by didn't even seem to notice.

Her father swore, and Petunia's eyes threatened to bug out of her head, but Lily felt a new confidence fill her. The barrier was the door to...wherever she was trying to go to. Eyeing her family, she cleared her throat. "Should we...go one at a time, or together?"

"You and your father go," Mrs. Evans suggested. "Petunia and I will come after."

Petunia looked like this was the last thing she wanted to do, but didn't argue.

Steering her trolley towards the barrier, Lily and her father began to walk straight towards it, and she tried to seem as though she had only spotted some relative or friend in the distance. Exchanging furtive glances, they began to pick up speed, pointing the trolley in front of them. They were picking up speed now - she expected the brick wall to be a painful, jarring experience -

But there was no impact as they slipped through the barrier.

Lily and her father kept running, but slowed at what appeared in front of them.

A scarlet steam engine was already pulled in next to a platform that was packed with people; a sign overhead said that it was the Hogwarts Express. Looking around, she saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been, now emblazoned with the words 'Platform Nine and Three Quarters'. People were loading trunks onto the train, while cats of every colour mewled in their owners' arms; some students had already changed into their long, black school robes. Smoke from the engine filled the open air, the hissing noise joining the hooting of owls and the chatter of students and their families. Within the compartments she could see that some of them were already packed inside, hanging out the windows to talk to their parents and savour their last minutes with them for the year.

She saw Severus a ways away with his mother, who was looking around sourly. He seemed like he wanted to be anywhere else, but then Mrs. Snape began to speak to him and he visible forced himself to listen.

Behind her, the sudden disbelieving gasps told her that Petunia and her mother had come through the barrier as well.

"Amazing!" Mrs. Evans breathed, looking around. "They really do have a certain style, wizards do."

"If they were so great they wouldn't be keeping themselves secret," Petunia sniffed, eyeing a boy with a toad with the utmost revulsion. "Ugh, that's vile!"

"Now, Lily, you be careful," Mr. Evans said. "We'll want you to keep in touch, now. See if you can't find some time to telephone home every once in a while, yeah?"

"I don't think they've got telephones at Hogwarts," Lily said with a slight smile, "but I'll write you all every day."

Her parents had to be mollified by that and continued to look around, but Petunia appeared to find Lily's words meaningless.

"Write us about what?" she grumbled sourly. "Write about how you're turning people into bats and making potions with fish tongues and beetle eyes? And forgetting about what it's like to be a normal person? As if we'd want to know."

Lily tried to hide how much her sister's words hurt her. "Of course not! Just because I'm going away doesn't mean I've stopped caring about my family. You especially. You're my sister - my best friend! I'm going to miss you the most."

"If you were going to miss me that much, you wouldn't be going," Petunia snapped, and there was a quaver in her voice that told Lily that her sister was holding back tears. "You'd have stayed home with me, and tried to be normal, and you never would have even thought about going to a school where I wasn't allowed to go!"

Lily pulled Petunia a few steps away from their parents, who were drinking in the scene on the train platform with an air of complete enjoyment.

"Listen to me - I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry!" she cried as quietly as she could while still impressing her seriousness on her sister, catching hold of Petunia's hand to keep her from bolting; immediately Petunia tried to pull away. "Maybe once I'm there - no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!"

"I don't - want - to - go!" Petunia hissed, finally succeeding in hauling her hand away from Lily. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a - a -" she trailed off briefly, glaring around the scene, before settling on the word that best seemed to fit, "- you think I want to be a - a freak?"

Lily recoiled, feeling as if she had been slapped, and felt her eyes begin to water.

"I'm not a freak," she told Petunia quietly. "That's a horrible thing to say."

But Petunia had finally lit upon a way to wound Lily, because her next words oozed with malicious relish.

"That's where you're going," she said triumphantly, "a special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy...weirdoes, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety."

A bubble of anger began to form in Lily's stomach, and with a quick glance to make sure that neither her parents nor anyone else could hear, she hissed at Petunia, "You didn't think it was such a freak school when you wrote to the Headmaster and begged him to take you!"

"Beg? I didn't beg!"

"I saw his reply," Lily returned. "It was very kind!"

She immediately regretted her words, for something akin to shame and betrayal glinted in Petunia's eyes.

"You shouldn't have read - that was my private -" Petunia spluttered, stricken, "- how could you -?"

Lily felt ashamed, and was unable to stop herself from the quick peek in the direction where Severus stood with his mother. Petunia followed this, and then gasped angrily.

"That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!"

"No - not sneaking -" Lily protested, although from her sister's wild demeanour, she felt sure that she was fighting a losing argument. "Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all!" She began to talk very quickly, trying to make her sister understand. "He says there must be wizards working in the postal service who take care of -"

"Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!" Petunia snapped, looking like the notion itself was terrifying. She had gone very pale, and narrowed her eyes at Lily.

"Freak!" she spat, and turned on her heel to rejoin their parents. Lily wanted to follow, but hung back when she heard her sister loudly demand that she wanted to wait in the car, and her parents had no choice but to give her the keys.

Lily watched her sister's retreating back, no longer able to hold back the tears that slipped over her cheeks.

"There, there, sweetheart," Mrs. Evans soothed, enveloping Lily in a hug. "It will all work out. Maybe this is for the best...you two have never really been separated before - perhaps some time apart will make Petunia realize just how much she misses you."

"How can she m-miss me when she h-hates me!" Lily cried, unable to hold back the sobs that suddenly wracked her body. "She's hated me s-since I got muh-muh-my letter!"

"I told you, popkin, she's just jealous," Mrs. Evans soothed, pulling away from Lily and kneeling down in front of her. "I'll have a talk with her, alright? You'll see. Come Christmas, she'll be chuffed to have you home."

Lily nodded, but didn't feel any better.

Her father embraced her now, and gruffly ruffled her hair. "Whatever Petunia says - we're proud of you. And we'll miss you -" he raised his finger mock seriously, " - but if you step a toe out of line, we'll march right up there and you'll have to explain to your Headmaster what your Mugger parents are doing at Hogwarts."

Lily forced herself to laugh, and allowed her father to lift her trunk onto the train. After a few more goodbye and tears (mostly from her mother, although Lily herself contributed), Lily was aboard the Hogwarts Express and finally about to start her journey to Hogwarts.

She dragged her trunk through several cars, looking for a place, and finally found an empty compartment near the end. She didn't have the energy or the will to lift her trunk into the luggage rank, and simply let it lean against the compartment door, before sitting by the window and pressing her face against it. The tears came again, and she let them.

'Why did I read that stupid letter?' she thought with furious sadness. 'Why did I let Severus get into her room? If I had been just a little faster, I'd have stopped him and... and... and she'd still be mad at me.'

She didn't notice when the train began to pull out of the station, nor did she even look up when a group of rowdy boys piled into compartment. She was vaguely aware of one of them asking if she was alright, but she was too upset to answer him, and he eventually left off. It took a while longer for the tears to stop, and by then her face felt swollen and dry where they had left tracks down her cheeks.

More time passed, and she heard the compartment door slide open, the sound of someone manoeuvring past the other boys, and then that someone sat down opposite her. She glanced up, recognized Severus, who had already changed into his school robes, and looked back out the window.

"I don't want to talk to you," she said in a constricted voice.

"Why not?"

"Tuney h-hates me," Lily whispered. "Because we saw that letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?"

Anger at Severus' complete callousness took over, and she glared at him, for the first time in two years feeling a deep dislike for him. "So she's my sister!"

"She's only a -" he trailed off, while Lily furiously wiped at her eyes, hoping he didn't notice.

Severus paused for a second, and then seemed to try a different track.

"But we're going!" he told her, the exhilaration in his voice such a change from his usual sullen tones that she had to look at him again. "This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

She couldn't help the half-smile that formed on her face at his words, and finished eradicating the last bit of tears from her face.

Severus appeared relieved that she wasn't going to continue crying, because he relaxed and grinned crookedly. "You'd better be in Slytherin."

"Slytherin?"

A familiar voice interrupted them, and Lily looked up in time to see its owner look around at the word. She recognized the black-haired boy from Madam Malkin's. James Potter was looking at Severus like he had just said a rude word.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin?" he continued loudly to the other boys. "I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

A darkly handsome boy with thick black hair and striking grey eyes lounged on the seat opposite James, but instead of laughing along, he frowned. "My whole family have been in Slytherin."

"Blimey," said Potter, looking surprised, "and I thought you seemed all right!"

The boy grinned. "Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

The Potter boy posed, pantomiming an invisible sword. "'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart'. Like my dad." To her surprise, Severus made a small, disparaging noise. Potter turned on him, a mean look in his eyes. "Got a problem with that?"

"No," Severus said, though from the slight sneer on his face, Lily was sure he thought otherwise. "If you'd rather be brawny than brainy -"

"Where're you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?" the good-looking boy interrupted, and Potter roared with laughter.

As anger tinged Severus' face, Lily sat up straight and glared at James and the other boy in dislike. She wanted to say something to them, but knew that given her currently unstable mood, it would inevitably lead to a temper tantrum on her part. Instead, she held her head high and announced haughtily, "Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Oooooo..."

The two boys started to imitate her, and as they passed Potter tried to trip Severus. She and Severus made it out into the hallway and she grabbed her trunk, while the compartment door slammed shut, a loud voice yelling, "See ya, Snivellus!"

"Ignore them," she told Severus, who was white faced with fury. "Pillocks. I don't want to be in any house they're in."

"Too bad there's no house for arrogant pond scum," Severus groused.

They walked the length of the train, dodging older students who were lounging in the corridors and chatting animatedly about their summer doings, but all of the compartments were occupied. Severus suggested that they could always sit in the baggage car, where he had left his things, but Lily didn't feel too keen on riding to Hogwarts with nothing to sit on but someone else's trunk. Eventually, Severus stopped in front of one compartment and motioned for Lily to follow him.

There were three students who looked to be their age already sitting amongst themselves, yet Lily hesitated upon seeing the occupants. A girl and two boys sat together, close enough that they seemed to be whispering conspiratorially, and looked suspicious when Severus motioned Lily inside. The girl was thin-faced and stocky, with sloping shoulders and stubby fingers, which were clutching her wand. The boy nearest Lily was pale and skinny, with thin blond hair and nose like a vulture's beak, while his friend was tall and tan, with dark brown hair. He would have been good looking, except there was a rather cool gleam in his brown eyes.

"Have you got room in here?" Severus wanted to know. "Only we had to leave our last compartment - some idiot was putting on like he was Godric Gryffindor come again."

The girl laughed, an odd, wheezy sound, and the boys both smirked. The thin boy looked like he was about to welcome them to sit, but the other boy stopped him and considered Lily and Severus. "Depends."

Lily felt wariness creep through her. "On what?"

"Whether you're the right sort or not," the good-looking boy leered. "Dangerous times, these. Can't be too careful who one associates with, yeah?"

"We wouldn't want to start off on the wrong foot," the girl tittered.

A dark look of understanding passed over Severus face, and he ushered Lily onward. "Come on, we'll find somewhere else."

"What 'right sort'?" Lily wanted to know as they continued wandering, the hair on the back of her neck prickling when the odd trio laughed unpleasantly as their compartment door closed again.

"It's nothing," Severus told her, not looking at her. "I'm sure they're just the typical rich sods who think they're better than anyone. It's not like we don't know what that type's like, right?"

But from the odd tone and his unwillingness to look at her, Lily felt sure it was something else entirely.

After a second run through the train with no luck, Lily's arms were getting tired of pulling her trunk along. In the end, she steered Severus towards a compartment which was occupied by two people and their owls.

She was cheered to see that one of the people was a familiar face.

Persephone was sitting as far away as possible from a boy with curly chestnut hair and brown eyes who, if possible, looked even more uncomfortable than she did. Every few seconds he would glance up at her in awe, dazzled by her looks, and then hurriedly look back down at his knees; when she noticed him do this, she would turn red, her mouth would form into a thin line, and she would studiously avoid his gaze until, inevitably, they locked eyes again. Lily would have laughed if the entire exchange hadn't been so pathetic.

"Hullo, Persephone!" she greeted, putting on a cheerful face and lugging her trunk into the compartment. Severus followed her in reluctantly. "Room in here for two more?"

Persephone nodded, and Lily saw a brief glimmer of appreciation in her eyes. She sat down next to her and smiled at the boy. "I'm Lily Evans, what's your name?"

"C-caradoc Dearborn," the boy stuttered, eyeing Severus warily as he took a seat on the same bench as him.

"Nice to meet you, Caradoc," Lily said warmly. "This is my friend Severus Snape. I hope we're not interrupting anything?"

"Not at all," Persephone said quietly to Lily with a shy smile. "I think if you hadn't shown up, we probably would have spent the whole trip diligently not looking at each other."

"Why? Did you have a row or something?" Lily wanted to know.

Caradoc looked at her blankly. "Course not. Didn' even know 'er name until you walked in." Severus snorted in disbelief, but the brown haired boy went doggedly on. "No, 's'true. Some big cove in a badge come up to me while I was lookin' fer a compartment, said 'e recognized me from last year's Quidditch World Cup - said I was ter look after 'is sister while 'e was up at 'is meetin'. Said if I didn', I'd spend first year finkin' I was a fruit bat. So 'ere I am."

"That's terrible!" Lily exclaimed, and then chanced a glance at Persephone. "Though...I guess it's something that he wants to see you looked after. I wish my sister had that much interest in me."

"It has nothing to do with interest," the pale girl said softly, and despite the questioning glances she got from the others, she looked away and would say no more on the subject.

Lily exchanged glances with Severus, who looked put out for whatever reason, and then smiled again at Caradoc. "Have you got any family at Hogwarts?"

"I'm the first in me family to go since Dad," Caradoc said. "Everyone thought I wouldn' 'ave any magic in me - 'cause Mum's a Muggle - but when I got my letter, they was all right proud."

"Why would they think your Mum being a Muggle had anything to do with it?" Lily asked, nonplussed. "Both of my parents are Muggles, and I've had magic since always."

Severus looked momentarily stricken, but Caradoc was looking at Lily with interest and even Persephone was glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.

"You're Muggleborn?" Caradoc asked eagerly. "Wow! Don' fink I'd be brave enough to admit it to anyone, if it were me."

Worry nagged at Lily, and although she directed the question at Caradoc, she was frowning meaningfully at Severus. "What's so bad about being Muggleborn?"

"Nuffink!" Caradoc squeaked, realizing that somehow he had offended her, "'s just - well, wif all the...all the rumours that have been goin' 'round..."

"What rumours?"

"People are saying that there is a wizard going around who wants to get rid of all the Muggleborns," Persephone spoke up softly. "They say that there are even people disappearing - Muggleborns, and people who stand up to him. He's got a lot of followers. People have stopped even using his name, it's gotten so bad."

Something flickered to life in Lily's memory - a terrible smile and equally horrible voice that whispered threateningly to her - and tuned out the noise of the train and chatter of the others.

'There are always those who seek more power, who would do anything to get it, even embrace me...something lurks at the edge of the human mind... there is one who rises, whose name his fellow humans are too scared to speak... he has embraced my might...'

Lily shivered, absently massaging her neck. Catching Severus troubled glance, she asked quietly, "Is it true?"

"Maybe," he hedged, and at her expression added, "but I honestly never thought there was anything to it. I thought it was just that - rumours."

But his eyes told her he had known it to be much more than rumours.

"So...it's dangerous to be a Muggleborn," she said out loud, disheartened.

"I wouldn't worry," Severus said quickly, obviously concerned about upsetting her again. "I already told you Hogwarts is protected by all kinds of enchantments. And you already know all those spells, so you'll be just as clever..."

"You done spells?" Caradoc demanded eagerly, his shyness momentarily abating. "Awright, le'see!"

This time it was Lily who was grateful for the change of subject, and made an effort to forget about the events of that morning and the uneasy feeling that was crouched at the back of her mind like a toad.

"I won't get in trouble, will I?" she asked.

"I think it's an unwritten rule that magic is allowed on the Hogwarts Express," Severus replied wryly, and so she brought out her wand. After explaining that she had really only read the theory, she proceeded to change Severus' robes bright yellow. Caradoc clapped and laughed, Persephone looked impressed, and Severus' face registered a mixture of annoyance and surprise.

"You couldn't use it on someone else?" he asked drily, fingering his now bright robes and frowning at her.

"But I practiced with you," Lily protested, unable to keep the pride out of her voice at having successfully cast her first spell. When he continued to give her a dirty look, she sighed huffily and with a wave of her wand, and a murmured 'Multicorfors', his school robes were back to normal.

This led to Caradoc enthusiastically trying to replicate Lily's spell, and accidentally setting fire to his eyebrows, which led to a rather disorganised attempt to put them out. Despite his lack of eyebrows, Caradoc seemed to think this was jolly good fun and insisted that Lily show him the proper way of performing the spell, which she did while Persephone and Severus looked on. By around half-past twelve, Caradoc had succeeded in changing the colour of one of his shoelaces a brilliant fuchsia, and further experimentation was stopped when a smiling, dimpled woman slid their door open and asked, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"

Caradoc was up in an instant, his money bag jingling, and out in the corridor, and after a questioning glance at Lily and Severus, neither of whom had any pocket money, Persephone slipped out as well. They returned - Caradoc with armfuls of colourful looking sweets, and Persephone cradling several bottles of pumpkin juice and boxes labelled Cauldron Cakes and Pumpkin Pasties. She offered them to Lily and Severus.

Severus wrinkled his nose. "I'm not hungry."

Persephone flushed, and began to withdraw from him in embarrassment. Lily, recognizing the familiar contempt Severus was showing when he thought he was being pitied, gratefully took the food Persephone offered her and interjected, "Liar. I bet you didn't have more than a bowl of stale cereal this morning, unless your mum was in a more cheerful mood than usual." He glared at her, and Lily softened her voice, "Go on, Sev, I can hear your stomach from here."

Still eyeing Persephone suspiciously, Severus took the cakes and pumpkin juice and muttered a stiff, "Thank you," to which Persephone, obviously still affronted, nodded back, equally stiffly.

"Known each other long then?" Caradoc asked as he crammed something chocolaty and wriggling into his mouth.

"A few years now," Lily replied with a smile, noticing the look of momentary contentment at the food that appeared on Severus' face when he didn't think anyone was looking. "Sev's my best mate - in fact, I didn't know I was a witch 'til he told me."

Severus, for his part, lit up with a smile for Lily at this.

"Blimey, wish I was goin' in wif someone from back 'ome," Caradoc murmured, twirling a Liquorice Wand thoughtfully.

"I don't," Persephone piped up, unexpectedly animated. "People you know expect you to live up to stuff whether you like it or not. I wish I could go in and no one knew who I was. Then I could be a complete dunderhead and not get an owl from every second cousin or great-aunt complaining that I've shamed the family."

"Whether you're a complete dunderhead or not is up to you," Severus told her coolly. "It's your choice, not your family's. If I had to listen to everything my family thought I should do, I'd probably have starved to death in a cupboard somewhere before I was five. You've got to look to yourself."

The others looked shocked, however Lily was simply surprised at Severus' fervour, and while she appreciated his attempts to socialize with the other two, something about his words worried her.

"Well, yourself and the people you love and trust, right?" she added brightly, and for some reason when he caught her eye he turned red and muttered, "Yeah."

Persephone looked thoughtful, and Caradoc confused.

The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder, as neat fields turned into woods and dark green hills, wild rivers twisting in and out of view. Lily's heart began to thud in her chest, a pulsing rhythm that moved in sync with the train wheels thumping across the tracks. Something was pulling at her from wherever the train was going, something familiar and at the same time completely foreign - a wrongness that she knew nonetheless.

She imagined that the closer they went, the louder the strange, thundering laughter in her head was becoming...

'...you are the last...'

A knock on the door of their compartment made her look up, and a girl with straggly, mousy hair stuck her head in.

"Is there room in here?" she asked, her voice containing a whimsical note. "Some Slytherin sixgth years were starting to get rowdy up front, so we thought it'd be best to move. You lot don't seem too full up."

Lily and Caradoc moved to make space, Caradoc grinning in nervous apology at Severus as he accidentally trod on his toe, and the girl came in, followed by another, haughtier looking girl with poisonous yellow-green eyes and flaxen hair, and a short, chubby boy with the same mousy hair as the first. All three had already changed into their school robes.

"I'm Delonney Hedgekirk," the mousy haired girl announced, as though she was introducing herself as the Queen of England. She had rather sharp grey eyes and very pale skin. "This is my cousin, Peter Pettigrew, and this is Marine Blundell. We just met."

They exchanged introductions, and Delonney sat herself comfortably between Lily and Marine. "This is exciting, isn't it? I hope we'll start our lessons right off - has anyone read the book for History of Magic? Fascinating stuff, I think - especially the chapters on prehistoric magic and spell creation..."

Delonney Hedgekirk, it turned out, was one of those people who could monopolize the attention of anyone in a room, a fact which seemed to annoy her cousin. He listened, bored, obviously having heard her speeches before, and surreptitiously helped himself to Caradoc's sweets, which the latter wasn't paying attention to, too focused on Delonney talking about how she had read an interesting article about Albus Dumbledore and the newly discovered twelve uses of dragon's blood. While Severus nodded off against the window, Lily chatted with Marine, who, as it turned out, was from a French pureblood family.

"Papa insisted on 'Ogwarts," she explained airily, "because in 'is opinion, Beauxbatons is too soft. Zey are too set on ze artistique quality of magic, and not ze practical. Maman was upset, of course, but she agrees zat it would be useful to know 'ow to defend myself in zese dark times. And what eez a leetle trip across ze channel, non? We can well afford it."

The other girl continued on in this vein for a while, and although a lot of what she said sounded arrogant and snooty, she had an infectious urchin grin and a way of putting things that soon had Lily amused despite herself.

"...and so, for ze rest of ze day, my bruzzer 'ad to go around wiz pumpkin juice spilled all over 'is robes, because Maman would not give 'im 'is wand back - 'e looked as zough 'e 'ad wet himself!" Marine sniggered, and Lily and Caradoc laughed, while Severus smirked wanly. "Of course, I 'ad to go ze rest of ze week wiz a 'uge part of my 'air cut out, but eet was worz it. Reynaud never touched my Chocolate Frog Cards again."

The rest of her story was interrupted as a voice, magically-modified to echo throughout the train.

"We will be arriving at Hogsmeade Station in five minutes. Please be changed into your uniforms and leave your other belongings on the train. Thank you."

After asking Delonney and Marine where they could change into their robes, Lily and Persephone left the compartment with their things to do as the voice on speaker had requested. As she got dressed, Lily considered the uniform for the first time - she hadn't given much thought to her robes when she bought them, distracted by the annoying James Potter for one thing, for another she had been too excited about finally getting her want.

The Hogwarts uniform was unlike anything Lily had ever seen before. Both boys and girls wore grey, V-neck jumpers or vests made of wool, their necklines matching the repeating colour scheme of their ties -red and gold, green and silver, yellow and black, blue and bronze - over plain white Oxford shirts. Lily had noticed before that all of the older students had ties with different colours on them; hers was merely grey, just like the other First Years. Boys wore grey trousers - and Lily had noticed Peter wearing a grey blazer over his jumper as well - while the girls wore pleated grey skirts. But the thing that made it differ from a Muggle school uniform was the long black robe with silver fastenings which, Lily surmised from the letter, was to be worn at all times. She had seen several older students with coloured patches on the left-breast of their robe, which she supposed were the house emblems, and when she asked Persephone, the other girl nodded.

"You get your house colours once you've been Sorted," the girl said, and for some reason she sounded particularly miserable now.

Now that they were alone, Lily thought she might have better luck finding out what Persephone was so upset about. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I-I'm fine," Persephone said, trying to draw herself up and failing.

"You can tell me, you know," Lily wheedled, "I know we haven't exactly known each other long...but I won't tell a soul. Not even Sev, I promise."

Persephone considered her carefully, and then to Lily's surprise, she burst into tears.

"I don't w-want to be in S-Slytherin," she sobbed, her face coming over all blotchy. In an instant her beauty was gone, and she looked terrible, her face almost beak-like. "A-all of Lucius's horrid friends are there...and they've t-teased me and treated me terrible for years...always playing t-tricks and cursing me...and calling me dirty half-breed when our parents aren't around...Lucius never f-forgave Father for marrying Mother after his mother d-died...but he's t-too scared to blame them, s-so he puts it out on m-me!" She hiccoughed. "I-if I have to spend all my time with h-him and his cronies the next y-year, I just know I'm going to d-die! And now that h-he's a p-prefect, I won't even be able to g-get away from him after s-school!"

Lily, taken aback, instantly reached out to comfort the crying girl. After a momentary tensing, Persephone allowed her to pat her gently on the shoulder. "Sh-sh-sh...! What's wrong with Slytherin? Surely there'll be others you can make friends with?"

Persephone shook her head fiercely. "Lucius will make everyone think it's alright to t-treat me like that - and it won't be hard, either, because most of our family is in Slytherin - even if they don't like her, Mother was one too, which they always joke is a big accomplishment because she's a half-Veela - and they'll be having a go at Father too, they say he's gone odd - everyone in Slytherin is so obsessed with blood purity. You get treated like an animal if you're not a pureblood."

This news surprised Lily, who knew how keen Severus was on being a Slytherin and wanted her to be one as well. But as she was slowly learning, Severus hadn't been completely honest in some ways, which she hadn't noticed before.

'Why would he want me in a house that doesn't even like Muggleborns?" Lily thought in confusion, but rather than dwell on it, she squeezed Persephone's shoulder comfortingly.

"Well, I don't know what a Veela is," she told her seriously, "But it can't be as a bleak as that. I'm sure if you're going to be miserable, no one will make you go there."

Persephone sniffed, and pulled away. Her porcelain features had rearranged themselves back into the look of the painted girl, although her eyes were red now. "Even if I'm going to be miserable, I've got to go. My p-parents will be so displeased if I'm n-not."

"Sod 'em," Lily said, feeling briefly like she was channelling her father. Persephone looked shocked, and she went on determinedly. "It's like Severus said, isn't it? You've got to look out for yourself sometimes - not always, mind, but I'd say in this case you definitely need to." And she offered a comforting smile. "And besides - wherever you end up, even if you do get stuck in Slytherin - we'll be friends, right?"

Persephone looked doubtful a moment, and then a steely look entered her eyes. "Yes, we will. And I don't care if you're Muggleborn."

"Thanks," Lily said, unsure if this was a compliment or not. "Now cheer up - let's go back to the others. I'm sure Sev is probably getting ready to curse Caradoc for spilling pumpkin juice or something else on him by now."

Persephone smiled weakly, finished wiping her tears and set her shoulders. "Alright, let's go."

They met up with the others, who had cleaned away the sweets and empty pumpkin juice bottles. Peter had managed to sit in the remainder of a Cauldron Cake, and was desperately trying to wipe as much of it off as he could, turning around and around trying to see his backside, reminding Lily of a rat chasing its tale. She wasn't sure if Severus took pity on him, or simply got annoyed watching him, because he barked out a harsh, "Scourgify!", and a jet of soapy bubbles shot from his wand and scoured the mess from the boy, but leaving a rather dark wet spot down the back of his school robes.

"Well, it's better than it was," Severus said defensively when he noticed Lily's raised eyebrow, and she made a face.

As the train slowed, Lily's stomach lurched with nerves, and she felt like she had a nest of wasps in her stomach, sending jolting stings at her from inside. The echoing, ominous voice was more than just a thought here.

'...you are the last...' it told her determinedly, but she blocked it out, joining the others in pocketing whatever sweets still lay among the seats.

There was a jolting stop and the train finally stopped. Lily followed the throng of people pushing their way towards the doors off, until she found herself outside on a tiny, dark platform, the cool night air nipping at her and filling her lungs with a fresh smell that was a nice change from the closed air of the train.

"Firs' Years! Firs' Years, over here," called a voice, and when they looked over, they saw a giant of a man, swinging a large oil-lamp. He was almost twice as tall as a normal human being was and at least five times as wide. He easily towered over every student, but behind the wild tangles of bushy black hair and beard that hid most of his face, there was a cheery smile that one couldn't help but like. Above everyone, he beckoned to the new students.

"I guess we follow him?" Lily suggested to Severus, who nodded. She turned round to look for the others. "Hey, Persephone?"

Persephone, who Lily saw was exchanging a look with her brother, turned around, her face carefully composed. Looking beyond her, Lily could see that Lucius was looking at her with disdain from his place near the front of the train, a sneering blond girl about his age holding onto his arm. His school robes billowed magnificently behind him, making him look older and crueller for some reason.

"Come on," Caradoc nudged Lily from behind them. "I'm hungry...the faster we go after this cove, the faster we can eat."

"You've been eating the whole way up!" Lily chided, but privately agreed.

While walking towards the giant man, someone bumped Lily hard from behind and she went sprawling onto the ground - had it not been for the man, who had caught her, she might have damaged her new robes.

"Careful there," the man said gruffly, pulling Lily up with ease. She sent a glare in James Potter's direction and looked up at the man.

"Thank you," she said.

"Yer welcome," the man replied, before straightening up and waving his lantern again. "Firs' Years! Over here! Get in them there boats, and be careful not to tip 'em!"

"I can curse him for you, if you like," Severus said quietly in her ear as he, Persephone and Caradoc joined her in one of the tipsy little boats. He was glaring after the retreating back of the bespectacled boy. "I could probably hit him from here if I tried."

"You really want to get in trouble before term even starts?" Lily hissed, pushing her friend's wand away from him. "They might decide to send you right home!"

Severus looked dubious, but lowered his arm.

"Everyone in?" the giant of a man called. He didn't wait for a reply before calling, "Off!"

The fleet of boats pushed off from the lake edge, and with a squeak, Caradoc clasped on to Lily.

"I can't swim," he explained when Lily sent him a questioning look.

She turned to ask Severus if he had noticed anything, but he was staring ahead of them all, his eyes alight with joy.

"Oh, look!" another First Year cried, pointing ahead, and Lily immediately forgot the edgy feeling. The castle that she recognized as Hogwarts from the pictures in Severus' copy of Hogwarts: A History loomed before them, becoming larger and larger as they got closer.

A sharp, fresh smell made Lily lurch suddenly, her arm splashing into the water in surprise. It was the smell of forest and river, and of old things that no longer had names - it made her dizzy, her blood charged as though an electric current was running through her. The air around her seemed to pulse, and she was sure she could hear whispers in the night.

They entered a tunnel like place that led to a sort of underground harbour, and finally got off, much to Lily's relief, as Caradoc's fingers had been digging into her arms.

"Alright, you lot, come on!"

The First Years followed the man up a stone staircase and stopped before a tall, oak front door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I should probably clear up several matters before continuing on:

Keep in mind, although I am trying to keep as close to the canon as possible, this is fantasy story, meaning instead of simply re-hashing Lily's seven years at Hogwarts like every other person out there is doing, I'm trying to write Lily an adventure of her own which will affect her son when I get back to him.

This first instalment of Lily's life is meant to show Severus Snape as she knew him. He has not yet embraced the Dark Arts, though I'm trying to hint at his future path. Subsequent sequels will show this a lot more, but for now, all of you Snape-haters are going to have to accept that Lily and Severus are the best of friends

Regarding Persephone Malfoy, who I am aware comes off as a little Mary-Sueish because she's a Malfoy and a half-Veela - she's a character I created about six years ago and have since reworked a lot to try to weed out as many elements that would be considered "Mary Sue" - these two particular elements refused to change, so I left them. She is an OC, but no - this story is not about her, although she is going to have a large effect on what happens in Lily's first year - and no, she doesn't have any special, non-canon powers that sometimes get attributed to Veela. LILY EVANS is the main character in this story, and will remain so through every subsequent sequel until her character goes on to her reward as the good Ms. Rowling originally wrote. That being said, give Persephone a chance, as she - like all of the characters I'm using - has a good deal of room for growth and personal development. Oh, and in case you didn't get it, Persephone's mother is Abraxas Malfoy's second wife, married after Lucius' mother died, so for you canon-sticklers, this means that Draco Malfoy has absolutely no Veela blood in him. Just call Abraxas a dirty old man looking for a trophy wife and let's be done with it.

Marine Blundell belongs to my very dear friend Megan, so any props for Marine will be passed on to her.

A note on Caradoc Dearborn - I have him speaking in a cockney accent, however as my knowledge of cockney is sadly limited to Spike from BTVS, I've tried to keep it at a minimum for the sake of not offending anyone who actually does speak cockney. I'll occasionally throw in some slang, sayings and whatnot, but I'm not even going to attempt the full on accent because I know I won't do it justice. Apologies. I wanted to give him an Irish accent, but the little bugger kept sounding cockney in my head, so he got his wish :P And yes, I frequently have conversations with my characters. Don't you?

TBC