The Best of Friends

The Summer

Lily had known James since she was little. They had both gone to the same schools, and were about to start their first year together at the local high school. James was Lily's best friend, and she was his. They were inseparable. The only problem was that James had a secret, a secret so unspeakable, he wasn't even allowed to tell his best friend Lily what it was.

James' family consisted of his father, mother and himself. The Potters were a pleasant family, and were always polite to Lily when she was over. However, Lily thought that the Potters were a bit, er, strange. Their house was always messy, and for some reason, the broom cupboard was filled with not one, but several broomsticks. And, perhaps Lily was just imagining things, but objects in the Potter house seemed to move a lot. For example, once Lily had noticed a portrait on the wall. James had said that it was of his ancestor Godric Gryffindor. That's an odd name, thought Lily at the time. The only odd thing about the actual portrait was that the eyes seemed to move whenever Lily passed by. She thought this to be creepy, but perhaps she was just imagining it.

That summer, just as Lily was turning eleven, James stopped talking to her. This upset Lily very much and she wondered constantly what she had said or done. Little did she know that the Potters secret is what forbid James to speak to her.

You see, James' family were wizards, and very powerful wizards at that. James' family had descended from Godric Gryffindor, one of the greatest wizards who had ever lived. When a magical child turns eleven, they get a letter of acceptance from an institution of magical learning. James' parents and family before them had all gone to Hogwarts, one of the best schools of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. The reason that James had stopped talking to Lily was that if she found out that James was a wizard, the consequences had the potential to be disastrous. Lily and her family were muggles, or non-magic people. Muggles had long feared magic, and James' family worried about how Lily would react to her best friend's secret. Besides, James would be going to Hogwarts in September, and it would be best if Lily and him stopped talking now, when the separation could be maintained.

With James not talking to her, Lily's summer was the worst one ever. The only other person she could talk to was her sister Petunia. Petunia was Lily's twin, but she still deeply admired her sister. The two girls were close, and it was a comfort to have Petunia as a confidante when James wasn't there.

One day that summer, as Lily was walking out of the house to meet Petunia for lunch, she noticed that the post was there. She gathered it, and looked through the envelopes for one with her name on it. Maybe she had received a party invitation, or better yet, a letter from James. There was a letter there for here, a thick yellowish envelope with green writing addressed to "Miss Lily Evans, 1733 Bumblebee Court, London, England". She opened the envelope, and there was a letter in the same writing on the same paper. "Dear Miss Evans, you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Term starts September 1st, we await your owl no later than July 31st. Enclosed is a list of necessary school supplies."

Thinking this was some sort of joke, Lily stuffed the letter into her bag, and headed to the café where Petunia was waiting.

"You won't believe what some git sent me as a joke, Petunia," said Lily as she sat down. "Look at this." Petunia took the letter, examined it, and then said, "This is some joke! Why would someone send this to you?"

Lily scoffed. "I don't know, but it didn't work. I am not stupid enough to believe that there is such thing as magic." The girls had a good laugh over the joke, and that was that.

Meanwhile, James had also gotten his letter, and unlike Lily, he was busy buying new Hogwarts robes, cauldrons, and a wand in preparation. Although he missed Lily, he was too excited to be starting school to dwell on it.

Lily, however, was dying to talk to James. She was sure that he would think that the letter was a marvelous joke. But, James wasn't talking to her, so she couldn't tell him. The funny thing was that the Hogwarts letters kept on coming. The day after the original letter arrived, she got two. The day after, four. The amount kept on doubling until Petunia said to her sister, "Why don't you just answer them? I mean, maybe they will leave you alone."

Since this seemed like a good option, Lily wrote back. "Dear Whomever This May Concern: My name is Lily Evans, and I gladly accept the admittance to your school. The trouble is, however, I don't know where to get my school supplies. If you could direct me to the nearest wand shop, it would be greatly appreciated." Lily sealed the envelope and set it out on the front porch. The next day, Lily and Petunia came home to find their parents sitting and drinking tea with the oldest man Lily had ever seen. Half-moon glasses were perched on his long, crooked nose, and his white hair and beard were long enough to be past his waist.

"Good afternoon Lily," said the old man. "My name is Professor Dumbledore, and I am the headmaster of Hogwarts. I have been discussing the school with your parents. It seems that they have never even heard of Hogwarts."

"I--I thought it was some sort of joke. Wow, is it a real school?" asked Lily, shocked.

"Of course. If you need further proof, please watch this." And with that, Dumbledore proceeded to turn a book on the coffee table into a fish, which flopped around for about two seconds until Dumbledore changed it back into a book. Lily stood there, stunned. She realized that her mouth was hanging open, and quickly closed it.

"Mum, Daddy, can I go? Can I go to Hogwarts? Please, please, please?!?" Lily's father held up his hand to quiet her. "Lily, sweetheart, there is no need to sound like you are three. Of course you are going. Your mum and I are so proud of you! We have a witch in the family."

Lily squealed with delight. For the first time this summer, she was truly happy. Her head was buzzing with excitement, until-

"Er, Professor Dumbledore? Where is my letter? Don't I get one?" asked Petunia. Dumbledore looked a bit uncomfortable at this. "My dear, I am sorry, but you see, you do not have magical blood. When a child with magical blood is born, an enchanted quill writes down the name of that child. Lily was born with magical blood. You were not. Therefore, you will not be going to Hogwarts. I am very sorry."

A look of deep pain flashed across Petunia's face. And then, jealousy filled her. "FINE! Perfect Lily can go to her stupid school, but you know, all she is is a FREAK! I don't even want to go anyway!" And with that, Petunia ran upstairs to her room. Lily heard the door slam shut.

"Oh dear," said Dumbledore, "I never like when that happens."

Lily felt very bad for her sister, but she was so excited she pushed her guilty feelings away. "Um, Professor, where do I go to get my things?"

"I am happy you asked that. I have enlisted a boy whom is also starting his first year at Hogwarts. Unlike you, however, he comes from a wizarding family. His name is Sirius Black, and he will take you to get your things. He will meet you here tomorrow, and so I suggest in preparation, you get some money to exchange at the bank." With that, Dumbledore shook hands with Lily and her parents and left.

The next day, Lily woke up very early. Sirius was supposed to meet her at about nine-o-clock, but Lily was sitting out on her porch by seven. The hours seemed to crawl by. After long last, a boy appeared around the corner. He was tall and thin, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Hi! You must be Lily. I'm Sirius. Well, we best be off, its going to be a long day."

For about ten minutes, they walked in silence. They passed a record shop, and then Sirius took a right and walked into a place called "The Leaky Cauldron". "Wow, if you hadn't pointed this place out, I would've not seen it." exclaimed Lily.

"Well, you don't use your eyes properly! All muggles--those are non-magic people--can't see it. C'mon, let's go."

They walked through the little bar, and Sirius lead Lily through a door leading out to the back. He took out his wand ("I've already got my school supplies.") and counted two bricks up, three across. To Lily's amazement, the bricks that made up the wall moved aside to allow them to enter. On the other side of the wall was a street, full of shops and people. Lily got out her school supply list, and then they made their way to Gringotts Wizard Bank.

"The bank is run by goblins, but as long as you've got money, they're ok." whispered Sirius as the entered the white marble building. Lily exchanged her money and even set up an account. Now heavily laden with wizard gold, they set out to buy school supplies.

At Madame Malkins, Lily got robes fitted for her while Sirius looked at specialty robes. The apothecary was where she bought potions ingredients, and Ollivanders for a wand. She spent an hour there, trying different wands until she waved around a willow wand with a unicorn hair in it, and purple sparks flew out of the tip. Sirius clapped, and Lily paid eight gold Galleons for it. At Flourish and Blotts, she bought all of her school spell books, quills, and parchment.

After she bought everything, Sirius and her went back to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner.

"Only one week until school starts," said Sirius, "are you excited? Oh, that reminds me, you don't know how to get on the train."

"Yes, I am excited, and I am not an idiot. I know how to get onto a train," Lily replied.

Sirius laughed. "No, I mean, our train. Look at your ticket. It says platform 93/4. Do you think that there is a platform 93/4 at King's Cross? Of course not. But there is. The muggles just can't get through. All you have to do is run at the barrier between platforms 9 and 10."

Feeling rather stupid, Lily nodded. They finished their dinners, and Lily walked home. Sirius was going to get home by Floo Powder, whatever that was.

The next week flew by, even with Petunia not talking to Lily. On September 1st, Lily piled all her belongings into the car, and her parents drove her to King's Cross. They walked with her to platform 9, and kissed her goodbye.

"Now, be sure to write us the minute you get there. Be careful. We love you, and are so proud of you!"

With a final wave, Lily's parents turned and left. She was left alone to wheel her cart to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. Ok, she thought, here it goes.

Lily began to run. At the last second, she closed her eyes, and prepared to crash. The impact never came. Her eyes snapped open, and there was a scarlet steam engine in front of her, preparing to leave. Panicking, she boarded the train, throwing her stuff in before her. She began to move to a compartment, when she felt a rumble. The train had started, and she was off.

Lily walked through the corridor trying to find an empty compartment. She was almost to the end of the train when a familiar face poked his head out.

"Hey Lily! Glad you could make it. I've been waiting for you to show up."

Relieved, Lily laughed. "Thanks Sirius, its good to actually know someone." She entered the compartment, and to her surprise Sirius wasn't the only one in it.

"Lily, this is Remus Lupin. He's an old friend of mine. Our mums grew up together, and had us around the same time. And I guess this is another of his friends. Um, I'm sorry, but what's your name?"

But Lily had gasped in surprise, for there, sitting next to Remus, was her best friend, someone who she hadn't seen in months.

"JAMES?!?" she shrieked.