The Rise of Terror

Chapter 2: The Invitation

**********

Anthony yelled above the din, "Everybody! Party at my house in an hour!"

Anthony struggled against the tide of the crowd to James and Sirius who were jumping up and down with the rest of the crowd, despite the fact that they had absolutely no idea what was happening.

"Come on. We're going back to my house now," Anthony told them.

"Why?" James asked. "Can't I get more candy?"

"You can get candy from my house. We need to get back quickly because my parents are going to throw a party for the team to celebrate our win and we have to help. Plus, I need to change out of my sweaty clothes," he replied.

"Alright! Party!" Sirius practically yelled. "Who's going to be there?"

"Just the team and their families. Maybe a few reporters who manage to get past the guards in our house," he replied.

"Enough of this idle chatter, on to the party!" James said pointing to where he thought the house was.

"Stupid, the house is the other way," Sirius said, rolling his eyes and pulling James's arm until it pointed in the opposite direction before walking off with Anthony.

"Oh," James said shrugging his shoulders and then running to catch up with Anthony and Sirius.

**********

Lily ran with Elizabeth to where Petunia and her parents were cheering and screaming like idiots in the stands. Actually, her parents were cheering. Petunia looked like she would die of embarrassment.

"Mum, Dad, did you hear what Anthony said?" Lily asked.

"No, dear. What did he say?" her mother asked.

"He said that there's going to be a party at his house in an hour because we won. We better leave now so that Elizabeth and I can get ready," Lily replied excitedly.

"Well then, we'd better hurry!" her mother exclaimed.

"Oh, Petunia, you can come too," Lily added as an afterthought as they headed to their car.

**********

Lily and Elizabeth ran on ahead of Lily's parents and Petunia. They wanted to get something to eat before they headed back to Lily's house to change. They were joking around and not paying much attention to where they were going when they turned a corner and literally ran into two people. Lily and Elizabeth each landed on top of a boy.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lily apologized as she got up. She turned around to try and help the person she ran into.

"That's quite alright," he said, ignoring her proffered hand simply because he couldn't see it. His glasses had been knocked off. Lily picked them up and handed them to him. After he thanked her and was trying to clean his glasses, she was able to get a good look at him. He was tall. Taller than her, at any rate. With pale skin, extremely unruly black hair, and deep, blue eyes.

She was brought out of her observations when she heard a muffled, "Oof!" coming from behind her. She turned around to see Elizabeth hitting another boy. He was also tall, with dark brown eyes and black hair, although it was a little neater than the boy Lily had run into. Just a little.

"Elizabeth! What are you doing?" Lily asked, shocked.

"Well, first I fell on him. That much you know. And then when I got up, he tried to kiss me!" She screeched.

"James! Sirius! Lily! Elizabeth! What's going on?" Anthony asked, running over. He turned to the two boys, "You two can't even behave yourselves for five minutes. I can't believe you!" he scolded, then turned to Lily and Elizabeth. "I'm really sorry if they bothered you.'

"He didn't really bother me," Lily said, pointing at the black haired boy with glasses. "But that guy over there sorta bothered Elizabeth." She jerked her thumb in the direction of the black haired boy with brown eyes.

"What do you mean 'sorta bothered me'! He bloody well kissed me!" Elizabeth screamed.

The black haired boy was beginning to look like he thought kissing the pretty blue-eyed blond while she down wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Sirius, sometimes you can be so stupid," Anthony said sadly, shaking his head.

"Sorry," Sirius mumbled as he quickly turned and shuffled away.

"Bye," the black haired boy said. "Oh, by the way, my name is James Potter," he added sticking out his hand.

"Lily Evans. Nice to meet you," Lily replied, shaking his hand.

"Hope to see you later at the party," Anthony told them as he started to drag James and Sirius away like a couple of two year olds.

"That was interesting," Elizabeth commented wryly.

"Yes, that certainly was," Lily replied softly, staring after James.

**********

45 minutes later...

"Petunia! Hurry up! It's a quarter to five o'clock and you're going to make us late!' Lily screamed up the stairs.

Lily and Elizabeth were sitting on the sofa, each dressed in jean skirts and a fitted shirt. Lily's was green while Elizabeth's was blue. Lily and Elizabeth had only taken about five minutes each taking a shower in Lily's bathroom and another five getting dressed and brushing their hair. Petunia, on the other hand, decided to take over half an hour.

Finally, after another five minutes, Petunia walked haughtily down the stairs dressed in a bright orange mini-skirt which clashed horribly with her lime green sleeveless shirt. She had attempted to curl her plain blond hair, but had failed miserably. Before anyone could say anything mean about Petunia's appearance, Clara Evans stood up and cheerfully said, "Well, it looks like we should be going now if we don't want to be late," while ushering the children and her husband out the door.

They actually arrived at the Ricker household a few minutes early to find the house in total disarray. There were decorators struggling to put up enough decorations and caterers panicking to arrange all the food.

As they walked through the open front door and into the entry hall, Lily, Elizabeth, and Petunia gasped at the sheer size of the two-story home. It was located in the more affluent part of the town, as was Lily's house, but the interior seemed so much larger than the house appeared on the outside. On the outside it appeared to be like any other large, two story house belonging to one of the rich families of the area. The inside seemed to be an impossible three times the size of its exterior.

While they stood gaping, Lily's parents had walked off the talk with Anthony's parents. After a few more moments of gawking at the elaborate decorations, Anthony ran down the steps, trailed by James and Sirius, having obviously been told of their arrival.

"Thanks for coming," he said sincerely.

"It's no problem," Petunia replied silkily. One would assume she had a crush on Anthony, however, that was not so. She was one of his brother's many admirers. "So, where would your brother, Marco, happen to be?" she asked sweetly.

"I think he is out of town visiting a few friends from his boarding school," Anthony answered.

"Oh," Petunia replied, trying to appear cool and uncaring, but only succeeded in appearing very crestfallen. Lily and Elizabeth struggled to hide their sniggers.

Apparently no one had noticed the presence of James and Sirius until Sirius let out a great belch that echoed off the walls of the entrance hall.

The three girls groaned and screwed up their faces in disgust.

"That was great!" James exclaimed, attempting to high-five Sirius, but succeeded in smacking him upside the head instead.

"Yup. And all the thanks goes to that cokey-cola stuff that Anthony gave us earlier," Sirius said proudly.

"Don't you mean Coca-cola?" Elizabeth asked.

"Um, yeah," Anthony said quickly, trying to come up with a plausible excuse. "Their parents are a little old fashioned and they haven't really had much of it."

"Oh, okay," Lily said with suspicion, but let the subject drop.

Anthony then chastised them by saying, "Can't you two ever act normal?"

"Aw, Anthony, do you have to act like our mother?" Sirius asked.

"Someone has to," Anthony muttered quietly, but loud enough for the group to hear. The boys made a show of being offended while the girls burst out laughing. At least Lily and Elizabeth did. Petunia was still trying and failing to look indifferent at the fact that Marco wasn't in town.

Anthony turned to Lily and Elizabeth and said, attempting a smile, "You may follow me out to the patio where my parents have graciously set up activities." He rolled his eyes. "I wonder what kind of little kid games they're going to have us play today," he wondered aloud, making them all, except for James and Sirius, laugh.

"Hey, we like little kid games. They're fun," James said, by way of defending Sirius and himself.

It turned out that all the team members came and they all had lots of fun eating and playing and chasing each other around. They even started an impromptu game of football right there in the yard.

Lily and Elizabeth spent quite a large amount of time discussing the boys and their dating potential.

"What about John Landon?" Lily asked. "Isn't it so adorable how he tries to get his hair out of his eyes?"

"He may be cute, but he's got a horrible temper," Elizabeth stated matter-of-factly. "Remember last year at school, Christopher made him mad? John nearly got expelled for breaking his arm. I was thinking more along the lines of the Morgan twins."

"Well, I guess they're reasonable if you'd like insects and reptiles covering every inch of everything you own," Lily remarked, shivering at the thought.

"Right. I hate their insect and reptile fetish. I hope they grow out of it soon because they are quite cute." Elizabeth sighed wistfully. "Personally, I think that James guy you ran into earlier today is pretty cute," she added suggestively, jabbing her elbow into Lily's ribs and raising her eyebrows.

"Well, yeah, I guess he is," Lily stuttered turning a light shade of red. "I think you should go for him."

"Honestly, Lily, you saw him first," Elizabeth said, obviously enjoying making Lily uncomfortable. "Besides, he's not my type."

"So, who would be more your type? His friend, Sirius?" Lily asked, taking her turn in making her best friend uncomfortable.

"Actually, he is." Elizabeth smiled, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Come on, let's go get something to eat."

Lily and Elizabeth walked over to the large table that was laden with finger foods such as cheese cubes, ham rolls, and chopped fruit for the adults along with the typical junk food for the children. They each got a plate and a drink and decided to watch the boys some more: Lily watching James, Elizabeth watching Sirius.

**********

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Anthony's friend, the black haired boy with glasses, is soooo cute," Petunia whispered conspiratorially to her best friend, Amelia Landon. "I mean, he's eleven and I'm fourteen, but I just can't help it."

"I know. It's like he's a magnet or something. I just can't watching him," Amelia replied, her eyes memorizing everything he did.

"Hey," Petunia warned, "I saw him first."

"Of course," Amelia conceded, "but that doesn't mean I can't still look."

The two girls went back to staring at James as he played football with the rest of the guys.

**********

A few hours later, most of the people had gone home, with not a little children swapping. For example, Petunia went home with Amelia and Amelia's little brother, John, went home with the Morgan twins. And later, Elizabeth would be going home with Lily.

Since Lily's parents were good friends with Anthony's parents, Lily and Elizabeth would be spending some extra 'quality' time with Anthony, James, and Sirius.

"So, James, Sirius, I think you should tell us a little about yourselves," Lily said with mock severity.

"Well," James began, "I live in London. My dad works for the government. My Mum stays at home. I have a twin sister, Julianne. The last pet we had was a goldfish when my sister and I were four. We never had another pet."

"Why not?" Lily asked, curious.

"James set it on fire," Sirius said.

"It was an accident," James replied indignantly with a very childish pout. "Besides, I was only four."

"You set your goldfish on fire? How could you possibly do that?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Sirius just I did and I don't want to talk about it," James snapped.

"Okay. Next subject. How about you Sirius?" Lily asked, raising her eyebrows in suspicion.

"Um. I don't know what my dad does because he's never told me. My Mum also stays at home. I have a younger brother named Regulus and we have a dog."

"Aww...What kind of dog do you have?" asked Elizabeth.

"Uh, it's a black dog..."

"What breed?"

"I don't know."

"Oh. Well I'm sure it's cute. I absolutely love dogs. Maybe I could come over and see it sometime?" She smiled sweetly.

"Maybe," Sirius replied noncommittally.

Their conversation continued over an enormous variety of topics. Anthony made sure James and Sirius stayed clear of any mention of magic while Lily and Elizabeth became more and more infatuated with James and Sirius. Well, as infatuated as two ten year olds can get.

"Did you see John's sister, Amelia?" Anthony asked, barely containing his laughter.

"Which one was that?" James asked.

"The one wearing that awful bright pink shirt and purple skirt," Lily replied, not trying to hold her laughter.

"Gosh, is it just me or does she get uglier every time we see her?" Elizabeth asked, only just catching herself before falling off her chair.

"Ooh, ooh, what about the other girl, the really horsy looking one with the horrible orange skirt and purple shirt!" James laughed.

No one noticed that Lily wasn't laughing. She smacked Elizabeth on the arm and gave her a meaningful stare before Elizabeth stopped laughing and gasped with understanding.

"James Potter, you are so cruel. The 'horsy looking one with the horrible orange skirt and purple shirt' is my sister!" Lily yelled, standing up. While Lily and her sister didn't get along very well and often got into meaningless arguments at home that resulted in hurt feelings from cutting insults, they defended each other fiercely in public.

"Well, you didn't protest when we were making fun of Amelia," he said in defence.

"Yeah, well...she wasn't my sister!" Lily sputtered angrily searching for an understandable excuse for her anger, her eyes flashing. Elizabeth stood up behind her.

"I-I'm sorry," he said weakly.

"I hope you asphyxiate on a cheese cube," she declared, picking one off the table and throwing it at him.

"But I happen to like cheese."

"James, you're not helping yourself," Anthony whispered.

"Then it will be all the more tragic," she responded with surprising vehemence. Turning to Anthony she said, "Thank you, Anthony, for inviting us, we had lots of fun." Then she left with Elizabeth following, both wearing equal looks of anger and disapproval.

**********

Later that night, James lay on his bed in Sirius's room. His inability to sleep had nothing to do with Sirius's chainsaw snores, although they didn't help. No, he couldn't sleep because he kept thinking about Lily. Lily and her brilliant green eyes, fiery red hair, and slightly freckled nose.

He sighed. Good job James. The only girl you ever possibly thought of having a crush on. The only girl who didn't immediately fall over you. True, she did fall on you, but she didn't start acting like third appendage. Now she hates you. You really botched it, James. You idiot.

He rolled over, trying to comfort himself with the knowledge that next school year he'd be going to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and would probably never see her again anyways.

With this knowledge, he felt somewhat better and finally allowed himself to fall asleep.

**********

Lily lay on her bed the she was sharing with Elizabeth in her room. She couldn't keep herself from thinking about James. True, he had been extremely awful to her sister, but he was right. She knew she shouldn't have blown up at him like that and she felt a bit of remorse.

Oh, well, she thought, I'll probably never see him again anyways, so I guess it's for the best.

She rolled over, snuggling up to her stuffed cat named snowy, slightly comforted by this thought. She wasn't one to dwell on things of the past that couldn't be changed. Finally, she fell into blissful sleep.

**********

The next day was a Saturday. After Elizabeth went home, Lily went into the hallway to check the post. Most were bills with a letter from her aunt who was on vacation in Italy. She picked up the mail and took it into the kitchen to give to her parents. It was a nice summer day, so the windows were open. Just as Lily sat down to the eat her breakfast with her family, a large brown barn owl flew haphazardly in through one of the open windows and landed in the middle of the plate of scrambled eggs.

Petunia jumped up and ran out of the room screeching her head off whilst Lily's parents stared in shock.

After the initial surprise of having a nocturnal creature catapult itself into your meal, Lily noticed an envelope of something that looked like paper attached to its leg. Cautiously, Lily walked forward and slowly reached out to take the envelope. Suddenly, the owl looked at Lily and proceeded to hop towards her. She gave a short scream before realizing that the owl had stretched out its leg, as if telling her to take the envelope off. More confident, she took the envelope off the owl's leg. With another mouthful of egg and a drink of orange juice, the owl hopped up and flew back out the window.

Lily stared at the envelope of strange, thick paper for several minutes before her father asked, "Are you going to open it?"

Slowly, with trembling fingers, she opened the letter that had Miss Lily Evans written on the front in looping script.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Dear Lily Evans,

We are very pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins September 1. We will await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

Uniform
First year students will require:
- 3 sets plain work robes (1 has to be black)
- 1 plain pointed hat (black) for everyday use
- 1 pair of protect gloves (dragon hide or similar)
- 1 winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Set Books
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
- The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
- A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
- Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
- A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
- One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore
- Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
- The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

Other Equipment
- 1 wand
- 1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
- 1 set glass or crystal phials
- 1 telescope
- 1 set brass scales

She read the whole thing over twice before saying, shocked, "It says I'm a witch."

Petunia finally decided to cautiously come back into the kitchen. "Is that animal gone? Does it have rabies?" She asked apprehensively.

"We don't have rabies in Britain, Petunia," Lily's mum said. "Honey, what do you mean you're a witch?"

Suddenly, realization dawned on Lily. She looked up with an evil grin. "I know who sent this. It's just a joke. An evil one at that, but a joke nonetheless," she said to herself out loud.

"Lily, what are you talking about?" William Evans asked.

"Remember last night? At Anthony's party? Well, Anthony had two of his friends over. One of them made fun of Petunia and I got really mad at him. This is probably his way of getting back at me," she said confidently. "Although I wonder how he got my address and trained that owl?" she mused.

"Who was this boy?" her father questioned seriously.

"His name is James Potter," Lily replied.

Petunia's face took on a shocked expression before she ran out of the room again. Lily's father stood up and made his way to his study.

"What are you going to do?" Lily's mother asked worriedly.

"I'm going to find where this Potter kid lives and then Lily and I are going to drive over there and have a little chat with that boy and his parents." With that, he closed his study doors, signifying that the conversation was over and that he was not to be disturbed until he was finished.

**********

James awoke at noon, approximately the same time as Sirius. They both walked groggily into the kitchen and sat down for breakfast. They both looked up at the flurry of wings that announced the arrival of two owls. James and Sirius grabbed the envelopes of parchment off the owls' legs. The owls left and James and Sirius began to read their letters. Their Hogwarts letters.

James's letter began:

Dear James Potter,
We are very pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Sirius's letter began:

Dear Sirius Black,
We are very pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

They both looked at each other with identical grins of joy before beginning to literally inhale their breakfast.

**********

Remus Lupin sat in his room looking out his window. He knew that around this time of year, most children would be receiving their Hogwarts letters. But he wouldn't. Although his father was a Muggle, his mother was a witch, which meant he was almost guaranteed to be magical. But him being what he was, he knew that it was beyond consideration.

His mother slowly opened his door and poked her head in. "Honey," she began, "I have a letter for you that I think you'd really want to see."

"Maybe later," he replied dejectedly.

She walked into his room with the letter in her hand. "I really think you should open it now," she insisted.

Sighing, he took the letter from her. His eyes widened when he saw the Hogwarts crest printed on the corner of the envelope. He looked at his Mum hopefully, "Is it--?"

She nodded, smiling.

Quickly opening the letter, he read:

Dear Remus Lupin,
We are very pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins September 1. We will await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

He jumped up excitedly and hugged his mother. This letter was one thing he had always wanted, but never considered ever getting. Sitting back down, another piece of parchment slipped out of the envelope. Picking it up, he noticed it was handwritten.

Dear Mr. Lupin,

I realize that your attendance in Hogwarts will be quite a challenge, both on your part and mine, due to certain circumstances. I have arranged something that I hope will allow you to receive and education without endangering others. If you and your parents would not mind, I hope you will come visit me on the 1^st of August and we can discuss the liberties I have taken to ensure you and others a wonderful, safe stay at Hogwarts. Please owl me at your convenience.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards

"Look, Mum," he breathed. "They've thought of everything. I really can go to Hogwarts!" The thought was finally sinking in.

"Yes, dear, isn't it wonderful," his mother replied smiling. "Just wait till we tell your father."

**********

James went home that evening and showed his parents his Hogwarts letter. They were overjoyed and extremely proud.

At dinner James asked, "So, Julianne, did you get accepted?"

"Of course," she replied indignantly and proceeded to ignore him for the rest of the evening, just because she could.

James turned to his dad and complained, "I think it sucks that we can't bring brooms to school yet."

"Well, you'll be able to bring one next year when you try out for the house team," his father consoled.

"James, Julianne, we are going to Diagon Alley this Saturday. If you're good, James, your father and I will buy you an owl," his mother announced as she set food on the dinner table.

"What about me? Don't I get an owl?" Julianne asked, a little jealous.

"Of course you'll get one too. We just though that goes without saying seeing as you know how to behave yourself," her father replied, throwing a meaningful glance at James.

"Oh, goodie," James said unenthusiastically as he piled a mountain of food upon his plate and started to earnestly shove it down his throat.

**********

"Sirius, we are so disappointed in you. You don't apply yourself enough to the dark arts and now you've been accepted to Hogwarts, where that Muggle-lover Albus Dumbledore is now headmaster," his mother declared disapprovingly.

"I honestly think it's from the influence of that Potter boy," his father remarked.

"Yes, I believe you're right," said his mother. "You better try to get into Slytherin, that way you'll be halfway acceptable. At least Regulus is a good boy."

"I'm sorry. I'll try harder," Sirius said sadly.

"Go to your room, Sirius, we're going to Diagon Alley on Saturday to get your supplies," his mother told him before ignoring him.

Sirius walked sadly up to his room, wondering when he would ever be good enough for his parents.

**********

"Who is this Albus Dumbledore?" Remus's father asked after being told of his son's acceptance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Apparently he is the new headmaster. He's a good man, not to mention a powerful wizard," his mother replied.

"So, can I go?" Remus asked. His parents had been discussing this issue for the last hour.

His father sighed and looked back and forth between his wife and his son before saying, "If you'd really like to go, go wake up the owl so your Mum can send this Dumbledore a letter."

Remus grinned at his father, who returned the smile warmly. The young boy hurried off to get the owl. When he came back down his mother had already finished drafting a letter and was addressing it to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore.

"We should probably go to Diagon Alley on Saturday to get your supplies," his mother told him. "Now, I think its best you go upstairs and get ready for bed."

Remus ran up to his room. He was too excited to even beg for a few more minutes before bedtime.

I really get to go to school to be a wizard, he thought as he lay in bed. This is the best day of my life.

He quickly fell asleep and dreamed of casting spells.

**********

After hours on the phone and pulling every string he knew and some he didn't, Mr. Evans finally had the information he needed and walked out of his study.

He strode into the kitchen where his wife and two daughters were eating dinner. Mrs. Evans was stood up and took a warmed plate out of the oven and set it front of her husband. He ate in silence while his family watched. When he finished, he looked up and said, "I found where the Potters live. Lily, you and I are driving there tomorrow."