Famous Last Words

Famous Last Words

SacredDreams

For My Sisters: Alex, Ginny, and Kaylee

It was a bright and sunny morning when hell broke loose.

A blood-curdling scream reverberated throughout the Evans household, inducing terror on the occupants reminiscent of sitting through a seven-hour opera.

This did not make Lily Evans happy.

Grumbling murderously under her breath, she shoved the covers to the end of the bed and stumbled to the staircase. Dishes crashed, shortly followed by more hysterical screams. She had just enough time to take a deep breath as she descended the carpeted staircase. "Petunia, what in the world do you think you're doing?"

Petunia stopped her screaming to glance at her sister. "Lily!" She nearly sobbed. "Get it away!"

Lily squinted at Petunia in confusion. "Get what away?" She asked, but answered her own question when she rounded the corner and saw the kitchen.

On the opposite end of the room from Petunia, a large owl stood preening on the counter, a few feathers wafting towards the ground. Lily stood for a moment, watching Petunia cower at the very odd disturbance to daily life.

"Petunia, it's just an owl," Lily said slowly.

"But it's a big, wild, dirty owl."

"C'mere," Lily crooned, shouldering open a window near the owl. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

The owl gave Lily a look that quite obviously said, "I know that, moron," and fluttered over to her. Lily felt wind brush her bare feet as the owl flapped its wings and soared over the garden and into the crisp morning air.

"Traumatized?" Lily snickered, regarding her sister's cowering position. The expression of fear on Petunia's face was replaced with one of disgust.

"From encountering you? Very," Petunia answered.

Lily stuck her tongue out at Petunia and picked her foot up to walk away. A light object impeded her progress and Lily, surprised, looked down. An envelope lay at her feet. Puzzled, she picked it up. It was made of heavy, yellowish paper and bore swirly writing in emerald green ink.

Ms. Lily Evans

18225 North Main Street

Dublin, Ireland, Earth

Why would they have specified the planet? she asked herself skeptically. It's most likely one of Petunia's crazy friends having a laugh. Lily discarded it on her desk on the way to her closet. She had much more important things to do than think about some old joke letter, such as picking out her outfit.

The letter stayed there forgotten until nightfall.

* * *

A dozen roses were presented to Lily, who automatically gasped and held her hand to her mouth.

"Lily," a deep voice intoned. "Would you..."

"Yes?" she asked breathlessly.

The most handsome man on earth, in Lily's opinion, opened his mouth. Whatever Lily had anticipated him to say, this was not it. The most awful buzzing noise emitted from his mouth, making Lily squeeze her eyes shut and clamp her hands over her ears.

"Stop it!" she cried. "STOP!"

Lily hit the floor with a loud thump, tangled in a mess of blankets and sheets. That was quite possibly the strangest dream I've had in my life, she thought to herself. Climbing back into bed, she froze.

The buzzing noise hadn't gone away.

For the first time, Lily noticed an eerie green light had lit her room. Slowly, she turned her head to view its source.

The letter she had gotten was now floating in between her and the desk it once resided on. Apparently the current, and obviously impossible, scenario was not ridiculous enough, for a gold ribbon shot out of the envelope. The ribbon hung limply in the air for a few breathless seconds before beginning to twine itself into shapes.

OPEN ME NOW!

It ordered.

"Okay, okay!" Lily told it. She grabbed the envelope out of midair. Immediately, the buzzing noise and green light ceased, and the ribbon wound itself up and disappeared. Lily stumbled through the darkness to switch on the light overhanging her bed.

The envelope opened easily in her trembling hands. Carefully drawing out the letter, Lily gave a gasp.

Dear Ms. Evans,

Congratulations! You have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"This has to be some kind of joke!" Lily said to herself. "I'm sure the ribbon and the light and the noise were just some sort of mirage. Yes; that's it. A mirage."

Twenty minutes later Lily was standing in the dark of her parents' room.

"Mum," she whispered urgently, "Mum!"

"Yes, dear?" Mrs. Evans whispered groggily, rubbing her eyes.

"Read this!"

Mrs. Evans was kind enough to turn on her lamp instead of snapping at Lily to go back to bed. She read the letter that was shoved into her hands, looked up and Lily, and fainted.

* * *

"RRAAAA!"

"AAUUGHH!"

A monster jumped out from behind his mother's row of hedges and grabbed onto James Potter's broom. The tilt forced James to tumble in the direction of the monster, clobbering it as they both fell to the ground.

"Oof," the monster groaned in a familiar voice.

"Sirius?" James asked incredulously.

"I would be if you hadn't squished me," Sirius Black muttered, his voice muffled.

"Well I wouldn't have squished you if your genius plan hadn't involved tilting my broomstick!" James retorted, rolling off of his best friend.

"You weren't falling off!" Sirius explained, making a show of dusting off his clothes. "How else was I supposed to make you?"

"You have a point," James acknowledged.

"See?" Sirius asked loudly. "See? This is entirely your fault!"

"But," began James, completely disregarding Sirius' last comment," I have a better point. EAT WORMS BLACK!"

Narrowly missing having his face smashed in the dirt, Sirius turned on James and began an all out, no rules allowed, wrestling match. Rolling through several prize-winning flower beds, James secured Sirius's hands.

"Ha!" James finally crowed, thoroughly winded. "I win!" He pinned Sirius rather roughly to a small, skinny, apple tree. Much to their surprise, an owl came tumbling out of it and landed at their feet.

They both stared down at it. "Not really in your prime now, are you?" Sirius asked, poking it with his foot as he got up.

The owl gave an indignant hoot and hopped to its talons, shaking off its wings. As if to prove it was quite capable, it flew up and dropped two letters into James' waiting hands.

"Thank you," James said. The owl nodded in response and gave Sirius a dirty glare.

"What was that for?" Sirius asked as the owl flapped its wings in effort to fly away.

"Sirius!" James said. "Look! Look!!"

"Look at what? Your big nose?" Sirius chuckled.

"Sirius! I'm trying to be serious!"

"Of course you are. Everybody tries to be me."

James rolled his eyes. "Well, if you don't want to see your Hogwarts acceptance letter..."

"Of course I wouldn't want to see my...WHAT?"

James simply handed the letter to his friend in response.

Sirius' eyes lit up. "James! Just think of all the chaos we could cause there!"

James grinned. "The letters serve a more immediate purpose," He informed Sirius, tucking his own letter in his robes and handed the other to Sirius. "It will make my Mum stop in her tracks when she finds the fake rat that I put in her--"

"AAH! AHH! AHHHH!"

"-casserole."

Sirius snickered as James fixed an innocent smile on his face. His mother threw open the front door and glared. "Jam-"

"Before you kill me, Mum, I have something to show you," James said solemnly. He approached her and handed her the letter.

"Oh James," she said, making a move as to give him a great big hug.

James and Sirius were off and running before she could say another word.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Mrs. Evans asked anxiously.

"Yes, Mum!" Lily said impatiently. "It's what the letter said!" She waved the parchment in her hand. In doing so, Lily nearly smacked a man in the crowd. He gave her a dirty look as he pushed her aside.

"I don't see it. What's it called again? The Full Cauldron?" Mrs. Evans craned her head to look at the buildings cramming the sides of the street.

"The Leaky Cauldron," Lily corrected. "And it's right there!" Lily pointed excitedly to a small gap in between a book store and a clothes store.

"Where?"

"There!" Lily dragged her mother across the street.

"Oh...here," Mrs. Evans said. Her eyes glided right over the small, slightly weathered pub. Lily wondered if her mother could really see it.

A sign swung in the wind above the small, black door. Lily, suddenly nervous, slowly pushed it open. It made a loud creak that made Lily cringe. Once the door had opened all the way, though, she found she needn't have worried about the noise.

Hordes of adults sat at the tables that dotted the room. A bar that should have collapsed because of the weight of glasses stood directly in front of them.

"Welcome," said a deep voice.

The speaker was a young-looking man with brown hair and a smile that nearly blinded Lily, his teeth were so white. "H-hello," she stammered.

"I'm Tom, the bartender. What'll it be?"

"She is much too young for drinks," Mrs. Evans interjected firmly.

"We have some non-alcoholic beverages," Tom said in a placatory manner.

"That's quite all right. We're here about Diagon Alley," Mrs. Evans told him.

"Hogwarts, eh?" Tom asked, winking at Lily. "Went there myself. You'll want to head out that back door." He pointed to a solid-looking door.

"Thank you kindly," Mrs. Evans said, pushing Lily in front of her.

The door lead to a sort of backyard. It was small, with two trash cans in front of a brick wall.

Mrs. Evans blinked.

"It says we have to tap a brick," Lily said, reading the letter again. "Well...which brick?" Mrs. Evans asked, sounding as if she didn't believe it.

"The second brick on the third row up from the brick growing moss," Lily replied.

Mrs. Evans counted the bricks and put a hesitant hand on the correct one. "To Diagon Alley," she said.

Nothing happened.

"To Diagon Alley!" she repeated more loudly.

"Um, mum? I think I might be supposed to do it," Lily said. "After all, I am the witch."

"Right," Mrs. Evans said, sounding funny. "Well, go ahead, then."

Lily put her hand on the chipped brick. "To Diagon Alley!" she said. With a grating noise, the brick disappeared into the wall.

Lily quickly drew away her hand as bricks began popping in and out of the wall. Grinding against each other, they moved to form a large arch.

Lily and Mrs. Evans stared at the scene before them. A cobblestone street that winded and twisted was crammed with brightly colored shops with just as bright signs. "Flourish and Blotts," A particularly regal sign proclaimed in gold script. Wide windows displayed everything from broomsticks to books to little round things Lily couldn't even name. Whatever space that wasn't filled with shops and street peddlers was filled with a crowd of people dressed in long cloaks or robes of all colors.

Whoever says magic isn't real obviously hasn't seen this, Lily thought. Out loud, she said, "Come on, Mum! Let's go!"

She pulled her mother out into the crowd. The arch of bricks melted into the wall it had been as soon as they crossed under it.

Now in the startlingly bright sunlight, Lily examined her list of school supplies. "Well, I need a wand," she announced.

"Well, I suppose so..." Mrs. Evans said, looking down at several large gold coins in her hands and then back up at the kiosk in front of her. "The exchange rate is a little high, though..."

"Where is the wand shop?" Lily asked, impatient.

"Doesn't the letter say?"

"Well...no."

Lily and Mrs. Evans scanned the streets for any sign of a wand shop, before Lily saw the weathered old sign. "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C." It read in peeling gold letters. The shop itself looked to be just as old as the sign. The lone wand in the window display only furthered the impression: the wand and the faded purple pillow it rested on were covered in a layer of dust.

Mrs. Evans assured Lily she would be right outside and handed Lily the money.

Alone, Lily pushed the door open and squinted in the darkness.

"Afternoon," a voice quietly said from the back of the shop. Lily nearly jumped.

"Hello," Lily said, her mouth dry. "Is this the wand shop?"

"Of course," the voice answered her. A man came into the lighter area of the shop. He was small and skinny, with abnormally large eyes that seemed to look right into Lily's mind.

Lily swallowed.

"I would like to buy a wand," she said.

"I imagine you would. Which is your wand arm?" the man asked, coming forward with a tape measure.

Lily blanched.

"Writing arm," the man clarified.

"Oh, right," Lily answered.

The tape measure sprang to life, running up and down her arm and fingers and even the spaces in between her fingers.

"Hogwarts, I see. Surprising to get your letter, wasn't it?" The man's words weren't exactly a question. "Yes, most muggle-borns feel the same way. Don't worry; you'll be at the same level all the students are, more or less."

The man rummaged through some boxes, casting some aside and stacking others.

Lily blinked. How had he known...?

"Try this. Mahogany, nine inches, stiff."

A wand was shoved into Lily's hand. Feeling silly, she waved it in the air.

"No, no..."

The wand was whisked away and another was put in its place.

"Maple, unicorn hair, 11 inches, quite thin. No? Well then what about the dragon heartstring wand...I see. Hmm..."

Lily's arm quickly tired from waving up and down. "How many wands does is usually take?" Lily asked.

"Depends on how fast I find the wand that wants the person," the shop owner answered vaguely. "Try this. Willow, 10 and a quarter inches, unicorn hair core. Quite swishy, isn't it?"

Lily accepted the end. Her fingers immediately tingled. She swished her arm up and down with a renewed sense of energy. Pink and silver sparks shot out of the end of the wand, nearly igniting its box on fire.

"Very nice," the man said approvingly. "That wand is quite good for Charms work, you know."

The man handed Lily the box and accepted her money.

"I'm glad the wand found you," he said.

"Pardon?"

"The wand chooses the wizard, or witch, in your case." He looked at Lily with an unreadable expression on his face. "I think we can expect some wonderful things from you with that wand. Yes, a most fulfilling future."

The man opened the shop door. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Lily. Yes, I will remember this visit. Be sure to visit the ice cream parlour on your way out."

"How'd you know my name?" Lily demanded. "I didn't tell you it!"

The man merely smiled and shut the door behind her.

"Well, do you have your wand now?" Mrs. Evans asked.

"Yes," Lily answered, looking over her shoulder at the empty window of the shop. She had an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Good. We should get going to the book store; you have quite a few things to buy there."

Lily forced her mind off the wand shop and onto the task at hand: buying her books. The bookstore, Flourish and Blotts, was near the entrance. It was brightly lit and crammed with books in vibrant colors Lily didn't even have names for. Thinking she could learn about the Wizarding world, Lily picked up every practical looking book in the shop, along with her schoolbooks. It turned out that the galleons spent did Lily no good in thinking like a wizard.

"But it says 9 ¾!" Lily nearly cried. "It says!"

"Maybe there was a mistake," Mrs. Evans said over Lily's head to Mr. Evans. "Do you think-"

Lily saw them out of the corner of her eye first. They were pushing trolleys loaded with antique looking trunks and owls in cages.

"Wizards use owls," Lily whispered to herself.

The two boys were laughing and talking. They turned to wave to a woman over their shoulders, then walked right into the wall between platforms 9 and 10. They disappeared.

"Mum, I think it's right there," Lily said, pointing at the wall.

Her parents stared at her.

"Lily," Mrs. Evans started.

"I wasn't hit in the head! I just saw two wizards walk into the wall," Lily explained, exasperated. "See! Look!"

The Evans' looked to the stretch of wall between platforms 9 and 10. A girl sprinted toward it. Just before Petunia screamed, she disappeared.

"Well then, I suppose that's the gate," Mrs. Evans said, still somewhat convinced Lily would run right into it.

"Bye, Mum! Bye, Dad! Bye, Petunia!" Lily chirped cheerfully, swallowing the lump that suddenly appeared in her throat.

Her parents bid her farewell with many hugs.

Petunia just looked on reproachfully. "Good-bye," she said icily, and turned away.

Lily turned her cart and walked cautiously toward the wall. As it loomed closer and closer, the butterflies in her stomach multiplied. Beginning to think she was going to run into the wall and look like a complete idiot, Lily closed her eyes.

Lily was hit with a blast of cold air, as if she had just stepped into a house with the air conditioning on high. When she opened her eyes again, she was staring at a magnificent scarlet train.

The words "Hogwarts Express," were elaborately scripted on one side. Smoke pumped from the smokestack, making a few of the students cough.

The students! The huge number of children were mainly wearing different colored robes of some sort. They ran about with trolleys filled with owl cages, cat carriers, mice in tiny carriers, trunks, books, and wands. A few students already wearing the black Hogwarts uniform robes and shiny badges were attempting to direct a few of the students.

Deciding these people were the authority, Lily approached one. "Excuse me-"

"Hullo there," the boy said, grinning down at her. "First year? Thought so," he said when Lily nodded mutely. "First years always look a bit frightened. I'll help you with your trunk now, shall I? Let's move along then!"

Without even stopping for a breath, the boy picked up Lily's trunk and set off towards the train. Lily followed, struggling through the wildly chattering crowd.

"Here you go!" The boy slung the trunk into a compartment.

"Thank you," Lily said politely.

"No problem! It's my duty as a Prefect, you know."

With that, the boy disappeared, leaving Lily to wonder what a prefect was.

* * *

"Come on, you," Sirius said to James, trying to act as if his trunk wasn't straining him at all. "We're trying to get on the train sometime today!"

"My trunk is a lot heavier than yours," James told Sirius.

"Excuses, excuses!"

Sirius and James clambered onto the train, making as much noise as two preteen boys possibly could. They opened the door to the nearest compartment.

"Hello!" Sirius said amiably, setting down his trunk on James' foot and holding out his hand to the boy who was currently sitting in the compartment. "Sirius Black. Don't mind if we sit here, do you?"

"Make yourself at home," the boy with light brown hair pleasantly replied. "Remus Lupin."

"Nice to meet you, Remus," James put in, glaring at Sirius and rubbing his foot. "James Potter."

"Are you all first years?" Remus asked.

"And determined to make it the best class Hogwarts has ever seen!" Sirius said gleefully. "Or at least the most chaotic."

Remus laughed. "I doubt we'll have much trouble."

"A fellow prankster, are you?" James grinned. "Want to help with an experiment?"

"I'm not exactly a prankster, but-"

"Newcomers are welcome," Sirius assured him.

"Grab your wand and let's go!" James said, taking his and standing up.

James led the way out into the corridor in between compartments. He took a jar from his pocket and dangled it in front of Sirius and Remus' eyes.

"Whassit?" Sirius asked.

"A spider!" James said, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world. "I was hoping we could blow it to smithereens."

He unscrewed the bottle and set it on the floor. "Didn't want to mess up our compartment, though."

"Do you know the charm?" Sirius asked.

"I thought we could improvise," James answered.

"Great," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Blowus Uppus!" James said, waving his wand intricately.

The three boys stared intently at the spider. Nothing happened, much to Sirius' amusement.

"Why don't you have a go then?" James grumbled.

"Don't mind if I do!" Sirius answered. He pointed his wand at the jar and muttered some intelligible words.

There was a great flash of light and the leaf in the jar blackened and turned to dust.

"Whoops," Sirius said sheepishly.

"Your turn, Remus!" James said. "Do you know any real spells?"

"I know one charm, but I don't know what it does," Remus said.

"Try it!"

"Here goes nothing.... Crescorium!"

All stared at the spider, but nothing seemed to happening. Suddenly, the spider began growing.

"Quick! Get it out before it gets stuck!" James nearly shouted.

Sirius grabbed the jar and shook the spider out onto the floor.

The poor, rapidly expanding, creature scuttled to the other end of the hall and under the door of a compartment.

"Darn," Remus complained. "I wanted to see if it would get any bigger."

"We could try it again on something else," James suggested.

"What should we try it on?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

A piercing scream rang through the train.

The three boys looked shocked. Sirius' shock quickly transformed to hysterical laughter. "There must have been a girl in that compartment!" He laughed.

James threw open the door to the compartment and hit the boy who was trying to stomp on the spider that was now the size of a shoe square in the nose.

"Squish it!" The girl squealed. James had to snicker. Her brilliantly red hair was flying around her head as she tried to get as far up and away from the spider as possible. She turned to James and glared. "Did you do that?"

"Nope," Sirius answered for James. "He did!" Sirius pointed at Remus.

Remus smiled angelically.

"Well then for God's sake SQUISH IT!" She shrieked.

"Not to worry!" Sirius assured her. "We'll have it just a second!"

Sirius turned to the spider. "A little help here, guys?"

For ten chaos-filled minutes, Remus, James, and Sirius ran around trying to squish the spider with anything and everything they could get their hands on. Finally, they picked up a black trunk and dropped it on the creature.

"Whew." Sirius wiped his forehead. "Didn't think we'd ever get that little bugger."

"But anything for a lovely lady such as yourself," James said smoothly, bowing extravagantly.

The girl just glared.

"With by trunk, I'll have you bnotice," a nasally voice said nastily.

The three boys turned, surprised.

A boy with greasy hair was standing behind them, glaring ferociously and covering his nose.

"What happened to you?" James asked, noting the blood.

"You broke your nose?" Sirius said. "Because of a spider?" He disguised laughter as a cough.

If looks could kill, Remus thought he would've been dead on the spot. Rage seemed to explode from the boy's eyes.

"You idiots," he snarled. "You hit be with da door!"

"What?" Sirius asked. "I can't understand you...Try speaking out of your mouth!"

"You hit him with the door when you came in after your...creation!" the girl in the corner spat. "Which was completely disgusting!"

"Boys will be boys," James shrugged.

"We'll make it up to you," Sirius promised with a million-dollar smile.

"Get. Out." She glared. "Out! Right now!"

Brandishing her wand, she herded them towards the doors.

"Be careful!" Sirius warned her. "I wonder what you'd look like as big as that spider..."

The boys ran off laughing.

"Remus," James said, warmly shaking the boy's hand when they returned to their compartment. "Welcome to the club."

"Thank you." Remus grinned, shaking Sirius' hand as well for good measure.

"We should probably change into our robes," James said. As the boys reached for their trunks containing uniforms, Remus asked, "So, what houses do you want to be in?"

"Gryffindor," James and Sirius answered in unison.

"My family has never been anything else," James explained.

"All the Gryffindors I've met have been great," Sirius told Remus. "I want to be one of them!"

"I'm hoping for Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, myself," Remus said. "But I guess any house would do."

While the new friends talked, the train slowly came to a stop in front of what James decided was the biggest place he had ever seen in his life. The turrets pierced the sun as it glittered just over the horizon, bleeding golden sunlight onto the landscape. The windows were bright with flickering candles. Sirius could have sworn he saw a ghost float past a second story window.

"So this is Hogwarts," Sirius said appreciatively.

"I guess so," Remus smiled. "Bigger than I thought."

They had no time to marvel over the castle. The moment the train came to a stop, the doors slid open.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" A deep voice boomed.

The boys looked at each other and scrambled for their trunks, dragging them outside.

"Leave them here," a haughty voice instructed. A gleaming badge on the chest of the speaker declared her Head Girl. "They'll be taken in for you."

"Firs' years! Firs' years!"

Sirius turned to look at the man who called and his jaw dropped. "He's HUGE!" Sirius whispered.

"He must be part giant!" Remus whispered back.

"Or someone used your charm on him," James suggested.

"On teh boat righ here!" The man said.

"Thanks," Remus told him as he climbed aboard.

"Yer welcome. I'm Hagrid," the huge man said.

Sirius was tempted to ask him how the weather was up there.

"Remus Lupin. Pleased to meet you," Remus shook Hagrid's hand. "This is James Potter and this is Sirius Black." Remus introduced the others when their lack of speech became awkward.

"Nice teh meet you," Hagrid said. "Well, I'm teh be off..."

Hagrid left them for another boat. Before long, he was leading another person to the boat.

"Remus Lupin," Remus said, feeling very much like a broken record.

"Lily Evans," the girl said almost shyly.

"I'm James Potter."

"Sirius Black at your service!"

Lily peered at them in the twilight. "It's you! You spider-spellers!"

"You're that girl?"

"Yes I'm that girl!"

"Imagine that..."

"That was mean." She sniffed.

"You could at least try to be pleasant, you know," James said rather irritably. "I'm trying to have a good time here!"

"Well you should have thought of that before you spelled that spider."

"It was an accident," James explained.

"Some accident. And you broke that poor Severus Snape's nose."

"His fault," James grumbled. "Who stands behind a door?"

"I'd apologize to him if I were you," Lily informed him.

Sirius and Remus watched the exchange bemusedly.

"Luckily you aren't me," James shot back. "So shove it!"

Lily glared and then turned to face the castle. When the boat reached the other end of the moat, she jumped off and was one of the first to follow Hagrid to the castle doors.

"Thank you, Hagrid," a crisp voice said.

"Yer welcome, Professor." Hagrid winked at the first years and disappeared down an obscure path.

"Follow me," the woman Hagrid addressed as "Professor" said curtly. She turned and swiftly walked across a large hallway and into a smaller room.

The students followed at a slower pace. They gawked at the lavish castle surroundings. Tapestries adorned the walls, moving portraits that Lily found absolute amazing talked to the students, and decorations adorned every square inch left.

"I am Professor McGonagall," the witch said. "Deputy Headmistress, Transfiguration teacher, and Head of Gryffindor House. Before you undergo sorting-"

Butterflies rose in Lily's stomach.

"-I will be explaining a few things. The first is Houses. Houses are the "families" the school is divided into. You will be sorted by an impartial judge according to personality. While you are here, the members of your House will be your closest companions. You shall share the success of your triumphs and the bitterness of failures. House members gain points for doing good, lose points for breaking rules. At the end of the year, the House with the most points will win a prize."

A few first years looked smug about this. Lily wondered why.

"I wish you the best of luck. Follow me."

Without another word, Professor McGonagall pushed open two doors that reached to the ceiling and walked through them.

Unsure, the first years filed through the doors and followed. Lily found herself in a dining room of sorts. Four long tables stood in the center of the room. Each of the tables was decorated with either a yellow, green, red, or blue tablecloth. The students at each table peered down at them. Flags on the walls in each of the four colors gave the names Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. Lily supposed these were the houses that everybody had been talking about. Lily followed the rest of her class up to the front of the dining hall. A long table faced the rest of the tables. Adults sat here: the teachers. In one large chair sat an old man.

He had a long white beard and knowing blue eyes that twinkled merrily. Lily felt a bit better after looking at him. Obviously he had seen many of these ceremonies. If they had been disasters, would there be this one?

Lily stood to face the stool that all seemed to be looking at. On the stool sat an old, dingy hat. It looked as if it had once been blue, but was now fading into gray. There was a huge rip at the seam. Quite suddenly, the seam opened up and began to sing.

Lily was far too surprised to listen to what it was saying, although she caught the house names several times. By the time her shock had somewhat subsided to the butterflies in her stomach, the hat had taken its bows amid thunderous applause.

"When I call your name, please come forward and try on the hat," Professor McGonagall instructed. "Adams, Lucy."

Adams, Lucy stumbled forward, looking positively terrified. She approached the hat and sat down, putting it on her head.

The first years waited in breathless silence, craning their necks to catch a better view.

"RAVENCLAW!" The hat shouted.

The blue table let out a loud round of cheers.

"Allen, John."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The yellow table cheered.

"Bridges, Samantha."

"SLYTHERIN!"

Now it was the green table's turn to applaud.

"Bell, Alexia."

A sort of short girl with chocolate brown hair dignifiedly approached the hat. She set it on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Bell, Elizabeth."

This time, a girl who seemed to be the same height as the previous Bell walked to the hat. The only difference between the two seemed to be that she had curly hair. Twins? Lily wondered. Elizabeth Bell gingerly set the hat on her head.

After a pause, the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

Definitely twins, then, Lily decided.

"Black, Sirius."

Lily watched the annoying prat who had grown that spider walk up to the hat. He gave the crowd a winning smile as he dropped the hat over his face. The hat considered for a moment.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The red table cheered and welcomed Sirius in.

As the last names grew closer to the letter "E," the butterflies in Lily's stomach intensified.

"Evans, Lily!"

Lily swallowed and stepped forward. Ignoring everybody else, Lily approached the hat and set it over her head.

A little nervous, are we?

Lily blinked. Was the hat speaking to her? "A bit," She admitted.

I see you swallowed your fear though.

"No, just my spit."

The hat laughed inside of her head. You have spunk. Very nice. You also have a great deal of spirit and loyalty. I know just the perfect place for you. "GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily pulled the hat off of her head, relieved. Placing it back on the stool, she approached the table that was cheering.

"Welcome to Gryffindor!"

"Hello there!"

"Glad to have you!"

Lily was welcomed and patted on the back and smiled at from every angle. She felt herself grinning widely, more relieved than anything else. She was pulled into a place in between two older girls. They both grinned at her.

"Lupin, Remus."

Sirius's friend walked to the hat. Sirius waved to him before the hat took him out of sight.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it announced after a while of thought.

Remus walked to the table and sat down next to Sirius, looking quite pleased with himself. Lily looked away.

"Monahan, Stacey."

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Nelson, Lindsay."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Pettigrew, Peter."

A short, chubby boy trotted to the hat. The hat took a long two minutes to decide what to do with the boy.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it finally shouted. The boy looked relieved and approached the table.

"Potter, James."

Lily glared at the boy who put the hat on his head. It had barely touched his hair when it shouted "GRYIFFINDOR!"

"Oh great." She groaned. She glared at James when he sat down. He caught her eye and winked. Lily scowled and looked away.

After "Snape, Severus," who was sorted into Slytherin with a bandage on his nose, through "Zaire, Liana" were called, the man with the white beard stood.

"Good evening," He said to the students. Instantly, all the whispering stopped. "I have been asked to make a speech tonight. Unfortunately, I have grown old and have a short memory and have had to decline."

He sat down among laughter.

"Professor Dumbledore gives the best speeches," The girl next to Lily said. "He's the best headmaster Hogwarts has ever had, not to hear the Slytherins say it. They're not the most pleasant bunch, you know."

Before Lily could question the girl, she was offered a plate of ham. "Ham?"

Lily gawked. The once empty golden plates were now filled with every manner of dinner food Lily could imagine.

After completely stuffing her face, Lily found she was a great deal more tired than she previously thought. This was when Dumbledore made his real speech.

"The caretaker of this school, Apollyon Pringle, has asked me to deliver a message. Biting Toads are hereby banned from the halls, as are a number of other objects. Please ask Mr. Pringle for the full list." Dumbledore paused. "Also, the Forbidden Forest is Forbidden to students of all years, hence the name. And now, with the school song, I shall dismiss you all to bed."

Lily noticed that some of the teachers' smiles were waning at the mention of the song.

With a wave of his wand, a ribbon shot out of the end of Dumbledore's wand. It twisted into words.

"Pick a tune and begin to sing!" he directed.

The school seemed to need no invitation.

"Hogwarts Hogwarts Hoggy Warty Hogwarts
Teach us something please
Whether we be old and bald or young with scabby knees
Our heads could do with filling with some interesting stuff
For now they're bare and full of air
Dead flies and bits of fluff
So teach us things worth knowing
Bring back what we've forgot!"
Just do your best we'll do the rest and learn until our brains all rot!"

Lily finished rather quickly with a fast tune. She patiently waited until only Sirius, James, and Remus were left singing the song as a ballad in high falsettos.

Lily ignored them and continued to do so even after they were dismissed. She let her eyes sweep over them as she stood up to walk with the rest of the Gryffindors the dorm.

"So Lexi and Lizzie, right? No...Lexi and Lizzie. Right?"

"Actually, I'm Lizzie and she's--"

"I know! Why don't we just call them Lexabeth?"

Lily turned her head as she went through the door to see what the commotion was. She saw James-the-prat and Sirius-the-git and Remus-the-loser making fun of the twins.

"Hey!" Lily said, glaring and putting her hands on her hips. "Leave them alone!"

"Or Lillexabeth," Remus suggested.

All three girls glared.

"If you make fun of them I'll slap you!" Lily threatened.

"Oh, the horror!" Sirius screamed. "Somebody help us!"

The twin with straight hair turned to Sirius kneed him. "I'm Lexi," she said as she walked past him, followed by her sister.

"Hello, I'm Lexi. What's your name?"

"Lily. And what's your name?"

"I'm Lizzie."

All three girls smiled at each other and walked through the doors to the hall.

"So violent," James commented after they left.

"Tell me about it," Sirius groaned, rubbing his stomach. "I think she has a rock for a kneecap."

"That's not possible," Remus argued.

"Yes it is! If you used the genouvious charm..."

The three boys turned and closed the hall doors behind them. From the other side of the great room, the corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched upwards. "This will be an interesting year," he mused out loud. "Very interesting indeed."