Chapter Text
Happiness hit her like a train on a track,
Coming towards her, stuck still, no turning back,
She hid around corners and she hid under beds,
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled,
Florence + The Machines, Dog Days Are Over
Lily stood with a suitcase hanging at her side, autumn leaves brushing her feet as the wind raced past her. Her fierce red hair flew out behind her like a flag; she closed her eyes for a second, trying to sort her mind into the neat boxes it usually fits. Deep breathing had never worked for her, and yet she tried it more time, twisting the leather handle as an anchor. She appeared at her side, squeezing her arm just a little too tight, dragging her back into reality.
“Lily, you look as if you’ve never ran straight through a wall before.” Her father joked, carrying her trunk and admiring the steam engine. "It'll take us a while to get used to this whole magic thing.”
“Oh, Harold shush,” Her mother knelt before the girls, taking both of their hands whilst her father began loading her luggage. “Now Lily, remember to listen and pay attention in class, try to make new friends, and don’t forget to smile. Just do as you’ve been taught, and you’ll be all right. You’re a smart girl.” She ran her fingers through Lily’s hair, gently tucking it behind her ear. “I’m still not sure about sending you so far away.”
“It’ll be okay, I can figure it out.” Lily held her chin high.
“Don’t forget to send a letter every week,” Petunia said, “Otherwise I'll have to come down there myself.”
“Every week.” Lily answered, searching her sister's dark brown eyes for comfort.
Petunia met her gaze, but as hard as she tried, she couldn’t muster up the support that Lily was looking for. “Are you sure it’s safe? It’s not too late, you could still go to my school, mum could enroll you-”
“Petunia that’s quite enough,” Her father returned with a grin on his freckled face. “Of course she’s going, so would you if you were a witch. Lily will do splendidly at Hogwarts. Rose, Petunia, we must say goodbye now otherwise she’ll miss the train.”
Rose wrapped her arms around Lily’s small body, and she tried to soak up the feeling of her mother's warmth. Knowing she wouldn’t be able to hug her mother for months was terrifying. She’d never even gone on a sleepover, let alone live in a different house, although she wasn’t quite sure that Hogwarts could be called a house. Rose pulled away and Lily gave her the best reassuring smile that she could, ignoring the feeling of terror building in her gut. Petunia pushed past her mother and held Lily close, her slender arms around Lily’s neck. Lily buried her face in her sister’s neck, trying to hold back tears.
“If you have any problems, you send me a letter,” Petunia muttered into her ear, “find someone to talk to, and then if you’re homesick or scared you can talk to them, someone who can be your older sister when I can’t. Don’t let that snape boy push you around.”
She pulled back, her pale face scanning Lily’s.
“Tuney I will be just fine. I promise.” She squeezed her sister’s hands as comfort.
“All right Lily, be good.” Harold ruffled her hair affectionately and stepped back, gently pulling Petunia with him.
Lily took one last look at her family, her father with his brown hair and warm smile, her mother’s pale skin and red hair, and her sister's blonde hair and prim appearance. She nodded, afraid that if she said anything her voice might break, and turned towards the steam engine before her, not looking back.
Lily made her way through the train, looking for an empty carriage. She eventually found one towards the end of the train and across from a few boys who looked about her age; they were an odd grouping but seemed to be having a good enough time. Except for the tallest boy with scruffy brown curls and a thin white scar down the side of his neck, he looked quite unsure of how to act and kept to himself. Lily slid open the doors and plopped herself down on the seats, resting her suitcase on the floor. She glanced out the window trying to find her family, after searching for a while she saw Petunia anxiously glancing around her, ignored by her parents who seemed to be in deep discussion with a woman who had a kind face and big cross hanging at her neck. Another muggle parent then, she thought.
“Excuse me,” a voice called from the open doors, Lily turned to find a girl with curly brown hair, a round face and friendly smile standing with a pink duffel bag in her hands, “is that seat taken?”
Lily had to take a second to recall her thoughts; she was very pretty, not average pretty, but magazine cover pretty. “Oh, yes of course.”
“Great!” She sat down across from Lily, putting her bag in her lap. She didn’t seem even slightly nervous, in fact Lily thought she looked quite excited. “I’m Mary by the way.”
“I’m Lily, it’s nice to meet you.” She hoped she didn’t sound too shy; she was normally extroverted, and yet she found herself at a loss for words.
“Are you new to this? Or are you one of those wizard families?” Mary asked.
“I’m new to this, my parents are both... what the word?”
“Muggles?”
“Yes, muggles.” The word felt strange on her tongue, but then again so did everything to do with magic.
“My mums a muggle too, although I wouldn’t know if my father was a wizard.” At Lily’s obvious confusion she added, “He left when he found out my mum was pregnant.” She shrugged as if this was no big deal, but to Lily, who had known this girl for not even five minutes. This felt like a rather intense thing to say.
“I’m so terribly sorry.” She said.
Mary simply smiled, “It’s not important, I’ve got my mum, although I feel very guilty leaving her all alone.”
“I’m leaving my sister too,” Lily said, feeling guilty, “Although I have the feeling that she worries about me more than I worry about her. I do hope she doesn’t get lonely without me.”
“I’m sure that she will be fine.” Mary’s voice softened as she talked.
A sharp knock against the glass panels covering the doors startled both girls, they turned to see dirty blonde hair and a massive grin peering in on them. “Is it alright if I sit in here with you lot?” The girl said, her voice muffled. “Everywhere else is full.”
They both nodded and within seconds the girl was sitting cross-legged next to Mary. “I’m Marlene, Marlene Mckinnon.”
“Mary MacDonald.”
“Lily Evans.”
“Lovely to meet you both, do you know when the trolley will be here? I’m starving, my mum had to wrestle my brothers out of bed this morning and we had to skip breakfast to make sure we weren’t late.” She paused to glance out at the corridor. “It’s been an interesting morning.”
Mary giggled, and Lily couldn’t help but join in. The trolley did not arrive for some time, but Mary had luckily stashed some packets of crisps in her bag which kept them happy. They chatted for hours and only later would Lily realise that she hadn’t waved to Petunia on the platform, and she had forgotten to feel sad when the train pulled out of the station. They had continued talking, occasionally interrupted but crashes from the compartments near them. Lily felt at ease with them, as if she’d known them for ages; she didn’t have to worry about making a good first impression. Marlene told them all about her two older brothers, her favourite quidditch team, and after they realised she had wizard parents, they peppered her with all sorts of questions until Lily felt less terrified and more curious about Hogwarts. Mary spoke about her mum, how proud she had been after getting her letter and all the research that her mother had don trying to prepare her for the school year, although she was very sad because they didn’t allow dogs at Hogwarts as she had to leave her precious golden retriever Dolly behind. Lily explained that she had never heard about magic until after her letter, and about how her next-door neighbour was also a wizard but that she hadn't been able to find him.
“He’s probably somewhere else on the train,” Marlene said reassuringly, “what’s his name? Then we can keep an eye out.”
“Severus, but I always call him Sev.” Lily said, fiddling with her robes. They had just gotten changed, it felt strange undressing in front of strangers but as soon as Marlene had tripped and gotten her legs stuck trying to put on her tights, awkwardly asking them to help her out, they had all descended into chaos trying to focus instead of laughing.
“Gosh, that’s an unfortunate name.” Mary remarked.
“It’s some sort of old family name, it might be a magic thing.”
“He must be a Snape.” Marlene declared, seemingly proud of herself.
“A what now?” Mary said, confused.
“A Snape, it’s one of the pureblood families, like the Malfoys, or the Gaunts.” When she realised they had no clue what she has talking about, she explained: “One of the old English wizarding families, no one is quite sure where they came from but they’ve been around for ages. Some people care about that stuff but it’s all ridiculous, blood doesn’t mean power although it is a common misconception. For example, the Mckinnons are technically considered purebloods, but I had an uncle who married a muggle, which means their daughter has a pureblood name even though she’s a half-blood. It’s not really important.”
Lily was about to talk when Marlene added, “Actually that’s not true she took her mother’s name after he passed away so she was only a Mckinnon for a few years, we don’t really see her anymore.” Marlene bit down on a Bertie botts every flavor beans and spat it out again, inspecting the packaging, “Probably should’ve known that was booger flavoured, I’m not sure what I was thinking eating a green one.”
Moonlight shone through the carriage window, and when the girls finally looked outside, they realised that they had arrived at their destination. Lanterns hung in midair, illuminating the cobblestones and casting a warm glow over the platform. Several adults dressed in multicolored shimmering cloaks stood at the ready, waiting to escort students. Smoke from the steam engine began to gather across the floors, creating a mysterious haze adding to the nerves already building. Lily couldn’t believe she was really here.
Mary and Marlene grabbed their luggage and made their way to the exits, assuming Lily was behind them, Lily however was too enthralled by the view outside to follow, and when she realised that she was now standing alone, she hastily reached for her suitcase and stepped outside the compartment doors.
As Lily was leaving, she was far too caught up in the excitement to pay attention to where she was stepping. It came as a great shock to her when she collided face first with the tall boy she had observed earlier. She had forgotten all about them until she had accidentally stepped on his foot, causing him to jerk away and trip her over in the process. She went flying forwards until a strong hand pulled her back upright; she looked up to see tired hazel eyes and a panicked expression on the poor boy’s face.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there.” He released her and stepped back, handing her suitcase.
“Oh no, it was equally my fault,” she took the suitcase and tried her best to hide her embarrassment although she could already feel her cheeks heating, “I should’ve been paying attention.”
The boy looked down at his feet which were covered by Doc Martins with scratches covering them. His robes were a few sizes too big, and he looked quite worse for wear, but somehow that made Lily intrigued.
He gave her an awkward smile, then thought better of it and went back to a tired scowl.
“I’m Lily.”
“I’m Remus.”
“Lily?” Mary’s voice echoed through the corridor. “You’d better hurry otherwise we’ll lose you in the crowd.”
“I’ll be right there!” Lily called back, she turned to Remus, “Once again, I’m so sorry for running into you, thanks for catching me.” She nodded and raced down to meet Mary and Marlene; she could’ve sworn she heard him mutter “Bloody hell.”