Lily Evans looked around, a little anxiously, for a sign of anything familiar. She drew a blank. There was nothing, absolutely nothing familiar about the huge, intimidating castle looming in the distance. There was nothing familiar about the scarlet train she was riding, the many faces swarming around her, the black lake shimmering dangerously, or the small, skinny tree standing next to it. Suddenly homesickness and fear washed over Lily in terrifying amounts, blacking out any previous excitement she had felt.
The train slowed to a stop and the narrow train corridors were suddenly full of people. Her stomach twisting into thousands of knots, Lily grabbed her trunk, her eleven-year-old hand sweaty, took a deep breath to calm her dizzying nerves, and stepped bravely out of her compartment.
Almost immediately she was shoved back in. Lily swallowed, willing herself not to cry in a new, frightening atmosphere surrounded by strangers. Why in the world had she decided to come to this magic school? She could be at home right now with her best friends, perfectly happy, instead of here…
“Hey, do you need some help?”
Lily’s spirits rose slightly. She looked up. A freckled face was staring bemusedly at her from outside her compartment. The girl was tall and lanky with bouncy brown curls that cascaded down her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep blue and they sparkled with mischief.
“I’m Alex,” said the girl warmly, pushing into Lily’s compartment.
“Lily,” Lily replied.
Alex nodded. “Well, come on. We’d better get going or we’ll get left when they start rowing across the lake.”
“Rowing-what?” Lily jumped up and followed Alex into the jostling crowd. “Across the lake? That lake?”
Alex laughed. “Well, what other lakes do you see?”
“But-but-” Lily sputtered, disheveled by the unpleasant surprise, “can’t we just walk like everybody else?”
“No. It’s a Hogwarts tradition that first-years row across the lake. Be glad it’s not raining. My older sister had to cross the lake during a terrible thunderstorm. One boy got shocked by lightning.”
“Shocked!” Lily was at a complete loss for words.
Alex grinned. “Lighten up, Lily!” she said. “Everything will be fine. I promise.”
Lily couldn’t calm down, but she forced a smile. “Right. Okay. I’m cool.”
Lily followed Alex off the train and into an even larger crowd. But luckily, Alex knew where to go. She strode confidently over to a small group of scared-looking kids. Obviously the first-years.
“First-years, this way!” called a strong, commanding voice. Lily looked to its source: a short, stout woman with an air of power. “Grubbly-Plank,” whispered Alex. Lily felt lucky she had befriended somebody who knew so many things.
Finally it seemed all the first-years had arrived. Grubbly-Plank directed them into tiny, rickety wooden rowboats. Lily, Alex, and a black-haired boy stumbled into a boat. Grubbly-Plank handed them paddles and they set off, all feeling a bit awkward and confused.
Alex broke the tension. “What’s your name?” she asked the boy, forcefully steering the boat in the right direction.
“Sirius Black,” he replied. His black hair was long, almost covering his deep gray eyes. He had a slim, pointed face and seemed lofty and graceful.
“I’m Alex Parker. And this is Lily Evans.”
Lily was a little annoyed that Alex had introduced her, as if she couldn’t speak, but she decided to overlook that. “Hi,” she said.
Sirius nodded at her politely and silence descended once more into the boat. Again, Alex chased it out. “Any idea what House you’ll be in?” she asked Sirius.
“House?” asked Lily. “What do you mean?”
“There are four Houses,” said Sirius. He had a soft, sensitive voice. “Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. You have your classes with people in your House. Mostly. You’re put in a House based on values and you sleep with them, eat with them, that sort of thing. I’ll probably be in Slytherin,” he added dully. “My whole family is. Or was.”
“Well, my whole family’s been in Gryffindor,” said Alex boldly. “Of course, that doesn’t mean anything. Families don’t always end up together.”
“In Slytherin they do. Almost always.” Sirius did not sound very excited about the prospect of being a “Slytherin.”
“What’s the difference?” asked Lily.
“Well, some people think some Houses are better than others,” said Alex. “They’re not, really. It’s just different traits you possess, you know. Which you can’t really help. Anyway, Gryffindors are supposedly the bravest, you know. Brave, loyal, courageous, true to their heart, valiant, you know. General hero types. Ravenclaws are the brainiest. Hufflepuffs are like, hard-working, loyal, fair, kind. That sort of thing. And Slytherins, well, they’re ambitious, cunning, sly…”
“Oh, just face it,” spat Sirius. “Slytherins are nasty slimy gits who think that only purebloods are worth anything.”
“Purebloods?” asked Lily, feeling very naïve and wholeheartedly wishing she knew more about this.
“People with only wizarding backgrounds,” explained Alex. “No Muggle blood. A Muggle is a non-magic person,” she added.
“Like me,” said Lily.
“No,” said Sirius. “You are magic. Just from Muggle parents. So you’re a Muggle-born. Rude people might call you a ‘Mudblood,’ but don’t pay attention to it.”
“What are you?” asked Lily curiously.
“Pureblood,” said Sirius.
“Half-blood,” announced Alex. “Which means I’ve got a Muggle parent and a magical parent. Better than my little brother, though. He’s a Squib.”
“A what?” asked Lily wearily. Was there no end to this endless rain of information?
“A Squib is a person who biologically should have magic powers, but doesn’t,” said Alex. “Like somebody with pureblood parents would be a pureblood wizard, but if they can’t do magic, then they’re a Squib.”
“Right. Okay,” said Lily slowly. Boy, there sure was a lot to know about this magic stuff.
Alex must have noticed that Lily looked a little worried, because she smiled warmly and said, “Don’t worry, Lily,” she said encouragingly. “You’ll do great. Tons of people are Muggle-born. Besides, I’ll help you.”
Lily smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Alex.”
Sirius cleared his throat. “Ahem,” he said. “I hate to interrupt this touchy-feely moment, but we seem to be, uh, lost.”
“What do you mean, lost?” asked Alex scornfully. “Just follow the other-uh-oh.”
“Exactly,” said Sirius. “What do we do? All the boats are gone.” He shivered. “It’s freezing cold out here and pitch-dark.”
“Um…we…” Alex swallowed, for once at a loss for words. “We should…keep paddling, I guess. Towards the castle.”
Lily nodded. This seemed logical. “But if everyone’s already gone inside…”
“They’ll let us in. don’t worry,” said Alex, regaining her confidence. She picked up her oar and promptly dropped it into the water with a splash.
“Oh, no,” wailed Lily.
“It’s fine,” said Sirius.”There are still two paddles.” He started rowing, but just then a strong wind started up, slowly but steadily pushing them off course towards a thick grove of black, spiky trees.
“PADDLE!” yelled Lily, grabbing her own oar and jabbing it into the water. But two eleven-year-olds were no match for the strong, blustery wind. They were still heading for the trees.
There was nothing they could do except yell.
Which they did.
“HELP!” screamed Lily, Alex, and Sirius simultaneously. They screamed and shouted and yelled until they thought their lungs would burst, but nobody came to their aid.
Just as their tiny little rowboat drifted into the land with the uninviting trees, they felt their boat being moved forward, through the wind. What was moving them? Alex’s bright eyes were wide with shock and fear and Sirius looked around in utter disbelief. Lily’s heart started pounding insanely. Was this some of the creepy magic around this crazy school or something else?
The mysterious force didn’t stop. It pushed Lily, Alex, and Sirius all the way to the other side of the lake. They didn’t hesitate in jumping out of the boat.
They turned around to see if they could catch a glimpse of whatever had helped them. There was a splash about ten yards out and the threesome could just make out the tip of three orange tentacles. “The giant squid!” breathed Alex excitedly.
“What squid?” asked Lily, confused once more.
“The giant squid lives in the lake. It’s legendary,” explained Alex. “And hardly ever seen. But apparently it’s not evil!”
Sirius had run ahead and was peering into a tall, rectangular window. “The Sorting’s over,” he called. “We’d better get inside. Like, NOW.”
Lily and Alex followed Sirius over to the dauntingly tall, heavy doors. They were locked and, as Alex said, “Probably sealed by magic.”
“Great,” said Lily. “Now what?”
As if answering her question, the doors suddenly creaked open, revealing a drafty entrance hall lined with suits of armor that looked ancient. Before them stood a severe-looking witch with black hair piled into a bun. She wore square spectacles and a no-nonsense look on her face.
“Um,” said Alex. “Hi.”
The witch did not smile. She merely said, “I am Professor McGonagall. Follow me to be Sorted, since you missed the original ceremony.” She turned abruptly and strode down the hall. Exchanging glances, Lily, Alex, and Sirius walked in, to.
McGonagall was walking fast, and her strides were almost double the kids’. They practically had to run to keep up, but soon they arrived at another set of large double doors. “The Great Hall,” said McGonagall, then pushed open the door.
Lily, Alex, and Sirius were greeted by an explosion of light and noise. There were four long tables, each a different color-red, blue, yellow, and green-and they were all filled with people eating and talking eagerly. The teachers were sitting at the other end of the hall, also eating. The smell of the food wafting over to the starving threesome made their mouths water.
McGonagall told Lily, Alex, and Sirius to follow her again, so they walked past the red and yellow tables, subject to many curious glances and few pointing fingers. Lily ignored it as best as she could and Alex and Sirius seemed to do the same.
McGonagall brought them to a silvery-haired man with half-moon spectacles resting on his long, crooked nose. His beard was long, and his hair was even longer. His ice-blue eyes twinkled intelligently, and he smiled at the three first-years.
“Who’s that?” asked Lily.
“Dumbledore,” whispered Alex. “The headmaster, and the greatest wizard ever to live.”
Lily nodded and gazed at the man. He certainly did seem powerful. And intelligent. But there was something very kind and understanding about him. Lily liked him instantly.
Dumbledore stood up and clapped his hands twice. Almost instantly, the deafening roar quieted as every pair of eyes focused on Dumbledore.
“It seems there are still three first-years to be Sorted,” he announced. “So if I can have your attention…” this was unnecessary. He already had it.
McGonagall waved her wand and a three-legged stool appeared out nowhere. Lily’s eyes widened in amazement. She withdrew a shabby, raggedy black top hat and set it on the stool. “When your name is called,” she said, addressing solely Lily, Alex, and Sirius, “sit on the stool and place the hat on your head.” The procedure seemed odd to Lily, but she didn’t question it.
“Black, Sirius!” Sirius stepped over to the stool and jammed the hat on his head, looking rather forlorn. For a long time, nothing happened. Then at the brim of the hat, a mouth opened from nowhere and shouted out, “GRYFFINDOR!” making Lily jump.
Sirius’s jaw literally dropped. Looking confused, he placed the hat back on the stool and slowly walked over to the red table. The Hall was deadly quiet. You could have heard an ant sneeze.
Sirius sat down on the edge of the bench. The other Gryffindors stared at him, and he stared right back.
Suddenly a heavyset, thick-haired girl from the green table stood and yelled, “That can’t be right!”
“Sit down, Bellatrix,” intoned Dumbledore, from where he was sitting. “The Sorting Hat is never wrong. But it certainly is…interesting.”
The girl, blushing, apparently had no intentions of sitting down, but two boys sitting on either side of her pushed her down. Lily watched her. She was still glowering.
McGonagall cleared her throat and went on. “Evans, Lily!”
Lily, her legs feeling exactly like jelly, stumbled over to the stool and picked up the Hat. Her sweaty hands promptly dropped it. She bent over and picked it up, her face red, and placed it on her head. Suddenly she could hear a tiny voice in her head.
“Hmm…quite a lot of possibilities here,” it said. “Very bright, I see. Loyal and trustworthy. Very courageous…quite passionate. These things will bring you far.”
Yeah, yeah, Lily found herself thinking.
“Bold,” the voice continued. “With quite a temper. A normal redhead thing.”
Then it shouted, so loudly Lily seized it and threw it on the stool, “GRYFFINDOR!”
This was a lot different than last time. The people at the red table, minus Sirius, burst into applause and cheers. Lily could feel her face heating up again and could hear Alex cheering behind her. She sat down next to Sirius at the red table and looked back up at Alex.
“Parker, Alex!”
The Hat didn’t take long deciding on Alex. Only about five seconds later, it declared Alex a Gryffindor. Lily cheered loudly. Alex grinned and sat down next to her. “Let’s eat,” she said. “I am starved.”
Agreeing whole-heartedly, Lily piled food onto her plate and dug in. It was all delicious. Lily and Alex joined in the conversation of the other new first-years, but Sirius was quiet and only picked at his food.
After dinner and dessert, Lily and Alex followed the other Gryffindors up to the dormitory and snagged beds together. They were both quite tired and went to bed immediately. Lily, though drowsy and stuffed with food, couldn’t help thinking that there would be more trouble to come with Sirius and his Slytherin family.
Lily, Blossoming by halfbloodprincess22
Chapter Notes: Disclaimer-it's all JK's.