Red Bird

Red Bird

As Lilly said goodbye to her mother and father, Ginny and Harry Potter, she boarded the train with her other four brothers and sisters. Lilly was the youngest of five children. She had two older brothers and two older sisters.

James was the oldest- he had black hair, brown eyes and was a seventh year. Next came Sarah: she had red hair, brown eyes, and was a sixth year. Then Sam and Katie (the twins): Sam had red hair, freckles and Katie had black hair and freckles both had green eyes and were third years. Lilly had curly dark red hair, brilliant green eyes and you could tell she was small for her age.

All of her siblings had been sorted into Gryffindor and Lilly was accepted to be in Gryffindor too. But Lilly didn't want to be in Gryffindor; she wanted to stand out from her brothers and sisters and Weasley cousins. She was determined to get into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff.

Lilly sat alone, with her owl Gwen, in her own compartment on the train because her siblings had friends of their own. Suddenly the door slid open and a little girl and boy both peered in. The girl had long dark blond hair and blue eyes and the boy had shaggy silver blond hair and bright blue eyes. They looked familiar for some reason but, Lilly couldn't place them.

The girl asked Lilly, "Could we sit with you? There's nowhere else."

Lilly quickly answered, "Sure! My name's Lilly Potter."

The boy replied, "My name is Jacob Malfoy and this is my twin sister Anna."

Lilly asked, "Is this your first year?" Both nodded and Lilly said, "Great! It's mine as well! So... do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Anna said, "We have one older sister, one older brother and a younger sister as well!"

Lilly asked, "Really? I have two older brothers and two older sisters."

Jacob said helpfully, "Morgan is a seventh year, she's in Ravenclaw and Head Girl! Ashley is a Second year; he's in Slytherin. Mother's not too happy about that..."

Lilly thought about it for a minute, wondering what her parents would think and then asked Anna, "What house do you want to be in?"

Anna replied, "I want to be in either Gryffindor or Slytherin."

"I don't care so long as I'm with Anna," Jacob said that with pride.

Lilly thought for a second and then said, "I don't want to be in Gryffindor, which's where all of my brothers and sisters and cousins are."

Lily suddenly remembered why they looked so familiar! Their mother Hermione was a best friend of her mother! Lily asked Anna, "Is your mother by any chance Hermione Malfoy?"

Anna looked up at her and said slowly, "Yes. Why do you ask?"

Lily was thrilled! She told Anna quickly, "Our mothers are best friends! They went to Hogwarts together! I knew I had seen you two from somewhere. You used to come over to our house in the country all the time!"

Anna smiled, "I remember! You had a swing set in the backyard and we would come over when we were little! I don't think we've been over to your house in 4 years."

Jacob looked at Lily and said, "Isn't your father Harry Potter?"

Lily blushed, "Yes, he is. My mom has tons of pictures of your mother and father all over the house... along with lots of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and of course of me and my brothers and sisters." She rolled her eyes and they dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Lilly and the Malfoy's spent the remainder of the journey to Hogwarts in their compartment talking about their families and what houses they wanted to be in. When the train arrived at Hogwarts, Anna, Jacob, Lily, and the rest of the first years crossed the lake with a giant of a man named Hagrid. They all got into the same boat with a girl named Heather. Lilly was amazed when she finally got her first view of the school. It was huge!

When they got out of the boats, the three of them stuck close together as they all waited nervously in line for their names to be called during the Sorting. Anna went to Slytherin after the Sorting Hat spent two full minutes questioning her and Jacob soon followed her to the Slytherin table. When Lilly's name was called she sat down on the stool and put the hat on.

"Yes I can see it all. You want to be different." Lilly heard a voice say into her ear, "You have talent...yes... and you want to prove yourself... very much like your father. Well, if you're sure you don't want Gryffindor? Then it better be - SLYTHERIN!"

Lilly ran and joined her fellow Slytherins. Her family was devastated but Lilly was overjoyed as she sat with her new friends. She would prove that she just wasn't a goody-two-shoes Potter like the rest of her family. She would be different... she would be better than all of her sisters and brothers.

All of her brothers and sisters watched in horror as their little baby sister ran and happily joined the wrong table! They were all strangely quiet during the rest of the meal. Watching Lily throughout the whole dinner, they were amazed that she looked so... happy when she wasn't with them- her family.