Chapter Text
When James was three years old he made bubbles appear out of nowhere. His first sign of magic.
“It must be because he loves bubble baths so much!” they laughed to themselves.
It became a part of their family lore, a sweet anecdote about their golden son for them to tell at parties.
Julie didn’t show any signs until she was seven when she accidentally shattered all their china in a particularly bad fight with James (her parents obviously cleaned it up quickly enough but Julie carried that shame with her for weeks afterward). She knew in her heart there was nothing wrong with that, some kids don’t even show signs until their eleventh birthdays. Unfortunately, the message didn’t quite make it to her head and so from the ripe old age of three, Julie convinced herself she was the inferior twin.
There was plenty more evidence she used to build this idea up in her head until sometimes it was so overwhelming all she could do was sit in silence and think about their differences.
“At least I have Peter beat,” she mused to herself as she threw the final bits and bobs into her trunk. Peter Pettigrew, their next-door neighbor, worshipped James but Julie never really understood why James was willing to spend so much time with him.
She closed the lid of her trunk and sealed the clasp with a satisfying clink. Even from upstairs in her bedroom, she could hear Euphemia and Fleamont Potter singing along to Celestina Warbeck’s latest song: ‘You Charmed the Heart Right out of me’.
“They’re so cheesy,” Julie thought to herself as she dragged her trunk down the stairs, almost tripping over her untied shoes near the bottom. James suddenly appeared on her left with his trunk as well.
“Shall we go try to surprise them then?” he whispered, fidgeting with his new wand.
“ Don’t ask such silly questions, Jamie,” she replied, “Of course we should”.
Julie tugging him over to the entrance to their kitchen, both of them trying their very best to not make a sound.
“ARGHH,” they both screamed and ran into the room.
Euphemia laughed, “Nice try dears, but we heard Jules dragging her trunk down the stairs.”
Drat. How had she forgotten that? Julie and James made eye contact and burst out laughing, both flushed a little bit pink from the embarrassment of their failed prank.
Fleamont cleared his throat to get the family’s attention.
“James, Julie. I have a story to tell you”.
They made eye contact again and then both dropped into chairs at the little table they kept in their kitchen while Euphemia turned down the radio with a flick of her wand.
“When I was eleven, my dad sat me down to tell me a very similar story. And his dad before him, all the way in our family. It involves something very special, a gift for you two to share,” he quickly strode out of the room and returned with a wrapped package.
“Go on, open it up. It’s easier than explaining it anyways,” he encouraged.
James eagerly grabbed the package and pulled it towards the two of them, then grabbed one end of the string. Julie picked up the other, and they pulled simultaneously. Opening their joint gifts that way was a tradition that had started when they were four and had gotten into a fight over who would get to open their gift from Aunt Angie.
That gift had been little sets of matching quidditch robes, and looking back Julie had always thought it funny that it wasn’t a joint gift after all. This was not the case with this gift, as the wrapping paper fell off it revealed a silky and fluid-looking cloak. James pulled it out of the wrapping completely and stood up. Julie hurried to stand too, and James threw one side of the cloak around Julie’s shoulder. Julie looked down to see how it looked and shrieked so loud James thought his ear was at risk of falling off. But when he looked down too all he saw was the kitchen floor and emptiness where their bodies were supposed to be.
“Don’t worry dears, this is what is supposed to happen,” Euphemia hurriedly interjected. “Your father should have explained a bit more before just giving it to you,” she added, casting a lightly threatening look at Fleamont.
“Sorry, sorry all. I see now that was not one of my better choices,” but Fleamont had a sly smile attempting to break free as he tried desperately to subdue it.
“At any rate, now you know what you’re dealing with. An invisibility cloak! The best invisibility cloak around, as a matter of fact. Albus wanted me to leave it available for the Aurors, but I had so much fun using it at school,” here he paused to throw a wink in the direction of Euphemia, “that I convinced him to let me keep it. It does belong to the Potter family originally, but lord knows Dumbledore can be convincing sometimes.”
James was beaming as he asked, “So we’ll be allowed to bring it with us to Hogwarts then?”.
He cast a mischievous glance in Julie’s direction at Fleamont’s nod of assent.
Euphemia launched into a short speech about being careful and not causing too much trouble with it, but Julie tuned her out and just looked down at the place her arms should me.
She was still fiddling with it, moving her arms about to see if she could detect anything when Euphemia exclaimed, “ Look at the time! Oh my goodness. James, Julie go grab your trunks at once and meet me and your father by the door.
Julie and James dashed to the stairs where they had left their trunks, and then hauled them to the front door where they found their Dad holding their new owl, Archimedes, in this cage. Euphemia joined then, pulling a coat over her arms and they stepped onto the front porch.
With a crack, they apparated away from their tidy house in Godric’s Hollow to the bustling King’s Cross station.
...
Sitting next to James on the train, Julie was bouncing her knee up and down and trying to remain calm and focus on her mother’s last words before Julie had boarded the train.
She had pressed a kiss to her hair and whispered, “Be safe Acorn, write me every week.”
Euphemia was the only person allowed to call Julie by that nickname, born from an unfortunate mispronunciation incident when Julie and James were younger. However accidental it may have been, for Euphemia and Julie it stuck.
Julie took a deep breath and smoothed down her skirt again. She glanced up, seeing a new boy at the door of their train car. He barged right in, seeming unintimidated by the fact that this car was already occupied, and currently housed a very animated James Potter who was rattling on to Peter Pettigrew and Julie about how this was going to be the year Puddlemere United made their triumphant comeback. Peter was a rather watery-looking fellow, he always seemed a bit meek, and everything about him reflected that. Washed out dirty blonde hair, pale eyes but in a way that was entirely unremarkable.
“Alright then?” inquired the new boy.
“Cheers,” James replied easily, offering his hand for a shake.
This mysterious intruder shook it and went on to introduce himself as Sirius Orion Black. He had wavy dark hair that fell just beyond his ears as if he was trying to grow it out, and he carried himself with an unmistakable air of regality. James and Peter barely had the chance to offer their names before Sirius launched himself into the discussion about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup he had interrupted with his entrance.
Julie could tell by the glint in James’ eye and the hurt in Peter’s that Sirius was bound to become her twin’s new best friend. She was happy that James seemed to have found his person so soon, and yet she felt herself starting to feel crushed by her own worries again.
Yet again, her thoughts were interrupted by a boy entering their carriage, but this one was very different from the last. Dressed in clothes that all looked a size too big or too small, and like they had survived a year past when they should have; stood a skinny and slightly cranky-looking boy.
“All the other carriages were more full,” he offered as an explanation.
James grinned at him, already looking to make another friend, and helped him place his trunk above his seat. Sirius also appeared to be captivated by this new addition to their car and turned his attention to him too. James and Sirius began a process of interrogation that the newcomer reluctantly responded to. They learned his name, Remus Lupin; his age, the same as them; his parentage, his mum was a muggle and his dad is dead, where he’s from, he lives with his mum in Wales.
Julie began to feel more comfortable. She felt that she must be a good deal more interesting than Peter, and while maybe she couldn’t compete with James or Sirius, she could instinctively tell that she and Remus would get on well. Even if it would take some time to crack open his shell, as it were.
Finally, the age-old question that slinks from first-year carriage to carriage was raised by none other than Sirius Orion Black.
“So, what house do you think you’ll be in?” he asked, and Julie was able to detect a hint of unease, which she could already tell was uncharacteristic from this boy who so clearly oozed confidence.
James looked at Julie and replied, “Probably Gryffindor. That’s where I’d like to end up anyways. Long family history there,”.
Here Peter chimed in that he also wanted to be in Gryffindor, but before he got a chance to explain why Remus cut in.
“What are houses?” he inquired, sounding genuinely curious.
“Right,” thought Julie, “He wouldn’t know about houses or really much to do with Hogwarts at all if he was raised without magic,”.
Before she had a chance to ponder the subject more, Sirius began to explain the house system at Hogwarts in a way that was eerily similar to the explanation found in “Hogwarts: A History”. Julie sighed a little and realized she would probably have to get used to her thoughts getting cut off by Sirius, but then, she did quite like Sirius from what she knew of him thus far, so it really couldn’t be that bad.
Remus still looked a bit confused once Sirius had finished his summary of the house system, but he was given a reprieve from having to explain as Sirius shared what seemed to be his personal thoughts on the matter.
“Well all the Blacks in history have been Slytherins, so I guess there’s a fair chance I get that. It’s all in the “pure” blood you know,” he had paused for a moment to make sure everyone caught his air quotes around the word pure and then launched back into his speech.
“Only kidding. Anyways, I’d love to be sorted into Gryffindor, that’d give my mom a heart attack when she found out. She deserves it, the old hag. Julie, what about you? Hoping to continue the family tradition like old Jamie-boy, or break it like yours truly?”.
Julie swallowed, she knew she could only avoid this question for so long. She really did want to be placed in Gryffindor but was unable to believe she would qualify. She felt like the least brave person she knew.
“I guess I would like to stick with tradition,” she responded tentatively, “I’d really be fine anywhere though. As long as ‘anywhere’ does not mean Slytherin. I’m a bit too soft for them I’d imagine,”.
This drew a smile out of James and a laugh from Sirius, although that was a rather easy feat, he laughed at nearly anything they said. Before the attention could move back to Remus, there was a knock on their carriage door.
“Any sweets from the trolley dearies?”
James and Sirius both jostled to be first with Peter trailing behind them as they approached the Trolley Witch and began to buy her out of her stores of Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.
“Not hungry?” Julie asked Remus, who had remained seated.
“No money,” he shrugged.
Julie’s cheeks tinted pink from the embarrassment of not thinking of that, but she tried to brush it away saying, “ I’m sure James will share. He and Sirius have bought way too much for the two of them already,”.
Remus seemed a bit skeptical of the magical aspects of the treats when James and Sirius returned to their spots across from and next to Remus, respectively. The rest of the train passed in a blur of trading chocolate frog cards, Julie somehow got the rare Newt Scamander card, and Sirius tried to offer her 12 galleons for it but, of course, she didn’t agree, she could get way more for it in the Hogwarts trading crowds if she really wanted to. The group laughed and joked and ultimately began to feel a bit more at ease with each other.
Julie looked about her at the moving portraits and crowd of first years and she felt a bit dazed to realize she was already waiting outside the Great Hall, having made it off the train and inside the castle almost without noticing.
Professor McGonagall made her way to the doors in front of the mass of students and reminded them of the school’s expectations of good behavior from them. She then unlocked and opened the double doors with a flick of her wand, and creaking loudly, they swung open revealing the Great Hall to the students.
Julie finally began to look around her at the other students as they all made their way inside, and she noticed some of them looked a bit green around the edges, whereas others seemed totally at peace. Julie’s eyes were caught by a flash of red hair and she saw the girl attached to that hair frantically whispering to a sallow-looking boy next to the redhead. Before Julie got a chance to continue staring at this encounter, the first name was called.
“Antwork, Eban. Come along dear,” Professor McGonagall encouraged.
A tiny boy who barely looked old enough to be there slipped to the front of the crowd and nervously made his way to the stool where the Sorting Hat was waiting.
The Sorting Hat barely touched Eban’s head before bellowing, “HUFFLEPUFF”.
The skinny boy looked happy enough and was quick to scurry over to the Hufflepuff table, which was cheering for their first first-year.
Julie paid strict attention to the whole of the sorting ceremony, anxious to see where all her peers would end up. Sirius Black ended up in Gryffindor, with a few boos from the Slytherin table at the announcement. She noticed that the redhead from before was also put in Gryffindor, but that her friend didn’t seem too happy about it. He seemed like the type who was never really happy about anything. Remus Lupin was also sorted into Gryffindor. He had seemed very intrigued by the sorting process and yet appeared to be a bit embarrassed when it came to his own turn. Nevertheless, he sat down near Sirius at the long Gryffindor table.
When it came to Peter Pettigrew’s turn, Julie was beginning to feel quite anxious. James had moved to her side and he moved closer to her so that their shoulders were touching. He had always been so good at spotting her worrying and trying to help her keep calm, and indeed his shoulder did have a steadying effect on Julie. The Potter Twins watched in silent anticipation as Peter shuffled his way over to the sorting hat, twisting his hands like he was about to pull his own fingers off.
He sat down, McGonagall placed the shabby old hat on his head and... Nothing. All the other sortings had been quick, almost instantaneously. Sirius’ had taken a bit longer but Julie began to feel a sort of horror overtake her as a minute passed, then another, then yet another.
Finally, after six minutes, the hat cried out, “Gryffindor!”.
James cheered next to her, and Julie clapped if a little half-heartedly as they watched Peter go join Sirius, Remus, and the redhead girl sitting near them.
“Potter, James,” called Professor McGonagall in a clear voice.
James squeezed Julie's shoulder, then strode away towards the stool. Julie figured she was probably the only person in the giant room who could see James’s true nervousness through his classic stoicism.
It was a joke that all the Potter men had faces of stone, and all the women were expressive enough for the both of them. Julie thought this joke was a bit worn down, especially as James and her father were both quicker to smile than Julie or her mom.
But James was able to keep his face perfectly still when he wanted to, and this was one of these times. The only indication of his anxiety was his fingernail pressing into the pad of his thumb, a tic that most would not be able to notice.
Obviously, there was nothing to be concerned about, because the hat almost seemed to yell out, “GRYFFINDOR”, before it made contact with James’s head.
He leapt up, grinning as though he had just won the Triwizard Tournament, and bounded over to the Gryffindor Table. He sat down next to Sirius, who slapped him on the back good-naturedly.
“Potter, Julie”, Professor McGonagall’s voice cut through the chatter once more.
Julie frantically looked to James, who pushed his glasses up on his nose and gave her a thumbs up from his spot at the Gryffindor table. She focused on keeping her steps steady as she made her way to the stool where the Sorting Hat was waiting for her. Taking a deep breath, she sat down, and Professor McGonagall placed the hat lightly upon her head.
Julie was counting the seconds, but she only got to six before the Hat bellowed out, “GRYFFINDOR”.
Her eyes popped open in shock, but McGonagall had already removed the hat and ushered her in the direction of the Gryffindor table. Julie hurriedly made her way to the Gryffindor table and dazedly sat next to the redhead girl she had noticed from before.
“What did McGonagall say her name was again? Oh yes, Lily Evans. Quite a pretty name,” Julie thought to herself until Gryffindor table burst out into cheers again as yet another first year was sent in their direction.
After a few more students, the Sorting Ceremony came to a close. Professor Dumbledore, who they learned was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, gave a brief speech before indicating they begin eating.
Of course, Julie and James had heard all about the way the food magically appears on the table from their parents. In the weeks leading up to their departure, they had spent hour upon hour pestering their parents for information about what was soon to be their home. But several students seemed very taken aback by the new development of food appearing on the table, including Remus and Lily. Remus visibly shook himself and then began to load up a large plate of every food he could get his hands on.
Lily took a deep breath and then turned to Julie with a bright smile and an extended hand.
“Hi, there! I’m Lily Evans. It’s so nice to meet you. Do you suppose we’ll be dormmates?”.
Julie quickly responded, “I’m Julie Potter,” here she chanced a look up and down the table, “I hope we will be dormmates, and there don’t look to be a good deal of other first-year girls,”.
Lily beamed and then began to add things to her own plate, occasionally asking Julie questions about life, Hogwarts, the food, anything really.
Julie learned that Lily was a muggle-born. She was very excited to be in Gryffindor, from her research it had seemed the best house. Her friend from before, Severus, was her neighbor and her best friend apparently, although he had seemed a bit too overjoyed to be placed in Slytherin house in Julie’s opinion. She learned that Lily hated mashed potatoes, and loved treacle tart. They giggled together and were overall having a delightful time when a prefect called out for attention.
He introduced himself as Frank Longbottom and said he was going to lead all the first years to the Gryffindor common room and teach them how to get in.
...
That night, snug in her new four-poster bed, Julie felt the exhaustion of a day filled with both excitement and anxiety.
“At least her roommates were nice,” she thought sleepily to herself.
Marlene Mckinnon, with her wild blond hair, had given a very impressive impression of Professor McGonagall that had calmed down Mary Macdonald from the verge of tears. Marlene was a pureblood, and Mary was a muggleborn, and while the two girls couldn’t seem more different, they already had the air of best friends. Julie would learn that Mary was louder and brasher than Marlene, but that Marlene could come up with very witty retorts when she really wanted to.
The girls had all confided in each other that they were a bit nervous for the year, and that simple act had relaxed them all. But now Julie could feel herself drifting off to sleep.