Chapter Text
Lily hadn't slept so she had no trouble waking up, at eight o'clock sharp Moonlight started whistling. She brushed her short hair in a half ponytail and put on her nicest clothes, the ones her mum had bought specially for the occasion. She'd kept them hidden at the bottom of her drawer, so Petunia wouldn't mess with it. She had her letter in an envelope and saved it in her photo album, which she had to squeeze in her bag, already filled to the brim with muggle books. Her highest worry was what she'd do in her spare time, aside from studying and being with Sev. She had prepared a list of activities she could pursue, her mum suggested she picked up painting, or playing an instrument.
"Lily, are you ready?"
Her mum had known something was off with her for a long time but chose not to disclose much to provide Lily with a nice and normal childhood.. Matter of fact, Dumbledore had visited Lily every year for her birthday. As it turned out, he wasn't a distant uncle. She hadn't wanted to ask too many questions, but she'd always wondered whether her sister had known all along or not, or how different her life would've been had she always known the something different in her wasn't as bad as she had been led to believe by the kids at her school, or maybe the something different wasn't about magic, and more about... her.
The station was busy, it was rush hour and people ran everywhere to catch their train, for once she understood what her mum said about the station being a jungle. Before reaching platform 9 3/4 she counted at least four different people that had pushed her out of the way, though only one woman had apologized, and one man turned to say something but paused when he'd seen she was a child. Her mum had said that when people are short of time they become imbeciles, thought she made Lily promise to not ever repeat that word. The realization that she was leaving home hit when they found a quiet spot. Dumbledore had warned Lily tat her mum wouldn't be able to cross with her, as the magic prevented muggles from entering. Crying, she hugged her mum one last time under the promise that she'd write letters every day, and that, if she hated it, she'd have Lily taken out of the school. With all the courage she could muster she held on tight to the trolley and ran, slower than she'd want to admit, towards the wall. Suddenly, no more sound of screaming men, or rattling heels, or announcements of delays, just... just a sort of murmur. No more ties, or suits, or business attire, wizards and witches certainly dressed differently, the first thing that came to her mind were vampires, thought that wasn't quite it.
"Lily, I have been waiting for you."
Severus was holding a black suitcase tight, which looked expensive. His long black hair was slicked back into a low ponytail, and he wore the same monochromatic .
"Come on. We need to get seats or we will have to mix with those people..."
Lily followed Sev's side eye to a kid with a buzzed hair and a black eye. Lily thought he looked friendly, and decided that his parents were probably muggle as he was all alone in the station. Inside the train it smelled like chocolate and candies, but Severus didn't seem to care, instead he marched to the very end of the train and entered a carriage where a boy who looked a bit gone presented himself as Barty Crouch Junior. The way to Hogwarts had been longer and far more uncomfortable than Lily expected it to be. She took turns between reading Around the world in eighty days and looking out the window, trying to make out some sort of scenario. Severus frantically revised notes and notes, though lessons were a week later until the train stopped. Lily's stomach twitched in funny ways, immensely overwhelmed by expectation, fear and excitement. She first saw the trees, big, old and majestic, green vegetation surrounded each and every bit of ground; not only trees and grass, but also flowers, somehow in full bloom though autumn was slowly creeping its way back. A young woman with a pointy hat a black tunic guided them to carriages, pulled by invisible beings, as Sev explained, it was only after five minutes that she could finally make out the shape of Hogwarts. In her dreams Hogwarts was an old crumbling and creepy boarding school, maybe a hospital given a new life, but no. Hogwarts was majestic, magical... powerful, it was a castle like the ones she imagined as a kid when her mum read to her and Petunia the tale of Sleeping Beauty.
A thick mist surrounded the big wooden doors, and flying candles lit a corridor to enter the castle and led them to a big hall, so big that Lily almost fell backwards when the doors opened. The ceiling was gone, gone to let way for the stars and the moon and everything else on the sky. Severus did not seem to care and only asked Lily to come sit by his side, soon enough Lily was in between Barty and Sev; out the corner of her eye she could recognize the buzzed head kid, seemingly angry or maybe uninterested. How could he? Lily's only emotion the last few hours was just amazement.
"Sev, this is fantastic! How does it work? Why isn't the room freezing cold?"
Severus was pleased to tell her the spell kept the ceiling clear, but that there was another one which protected them from the cold or the rain.
"They are now going to sort us out. You'll go first Lily, It'd be amazing to be in Slytherin together, don't you think?"
Severus was speaking over Dumbledore's welcome speech, which she was disappointed to have missed, he was sure that Dumbledore would have said wonderful things. Sev was Lily's only friend, and she had been told several times that her nerdy personality would make it hard for her to find friends, so she prayed silently to be placed with Severus. Soon, the sorting started. Even if both Dumbledore and Severus had gone over the ceremony several times, she was still fascinated with the hat, far more talkative than expected. The young woman with the tunic, which she now knew was the head of Gryffindor was responsible for putting the Sortng Hat on each student's head, and Dumbledore was responsible to call them to stage. First was a girl in Ravenclaw, then one in Slytherin, and then boy with buzzed hair was placed in Gryffindor, after him two Hufflepuffs. Suddenly, silence, a boy with long black silky hair walked the stage, his mouth shut in a thin line, Lily couldn't help but notice the slight tremor in his hands.
"That one is Sirius Black, the oldest son of Orion and Walburga. The Black House is one of the last pureblood families left. They are always sorted into Slytherin, but that Sirius kid is rumored to be the black sheep. Ironic, isn't it?"
Indeed, Sirius was placed in Gryffindor, he displayed a cocky smile and fake bravery, but his hands were still shacking when he sat down at the Gryffindor table, which had once again burst into applause.
More and more kids went on to the sorting hat until it was Lily's turn. The hat that a serious looking woman put on her head left her without any sense, like floating in the middle of the ocean. The voice was loud and clear in her head. "I sense a lot of kindness, indeed you would be suited for Hufflepuff. Still, that brain of yours could do wonders in Ravenlcaw. But, there is something bigger, stronger... Oh, I see. Lily Evans, you are a...
Gryffindor!"
The room filled with applause and Lily could sense a big, big smile coming out her lips. She looked around to find Severus, he looked rather pale and she only then realized that she was part of the very same house that Sev despised. Her stomach knotted. He still smiled at her, but she wasn't sure what was awaiting.
She sat next to two girls, one with tight curls combed neatly to frame her face, and the other with messy blonde beach curls. As soon as she sat down both girls turned at her, hands stretched out.
"Hi! I'm Mary Macdonald. Pleasure to meet you, Lily, aren't ya?"
Lily nodded and took Mary's hand.
"I'm Marlene."
Mary and Marlene were the most cheerful people in a mile radius, and those were big words because the Gryffindor house table was perhaps the most festive.
"I'm bloody hungry, so what, did you enjoy your ride here?" Mary had a confident way around words which was hard to ignore.
"Yeah, it was ok. Bit boring. What about you?"
"It was a bloody long journey. Specially with this one in my carriage." Marlene looked at Mary "Don't look at me like that. Y'know I'm joking I love you a lot!"
"So how long have you been friends?"
"Oh, this one sat next to me and we just chatted during the ride."
"Yeah, guess we got along just fine."
Lily stared at them awestruck as they chatted. She got a feeling that those two had a long way to go still. Soon enough was Severus' turn, she turned around and waited patiently.
A Ranvenclaw, two Hufflepuffs... and then a Severus. The hat said "Slytherin!" having barely touched his head. She wondered if time was relative when you had the hat on. She'd have to do research... Sev had told her something about the school library being twice as big as his house, perhaps she could go take a look.
Mary and Marlene weren't all that surprised when the table suddenly filled with a bunch of meals she couldn't even begin to image. Her pale skin became red when she realised that she was the only one left stunned.
Across the table she could see the buzzed head kid staring with huge eyes (which he tried to hide) everything that was served.