A/N: Thanks for the reviews!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.K.'s characters or any of her plot.
-Second Glance-
Lily ran through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 and gasped. She had half been expecting to crash straight into the wall, but had trusted the old woman well enough to try. She had burst into an entirely different platform. After gazing around, star-eyed for a few moments, she found that she had apparently come through a large stone wall, with a giant iron arch with the words, "Platform 9 3/4," engraved into the metal. Many people were bustling around her saying goodbyes to others and climbing onto a giant scarlet engine labeled, Hogwarts Express.
She silently followed a group of older girls and climbed onto the train in search of an empty compartment. After searching what had felt to Lily as the whole train, she found one towards the back of the train. Carefully she slid her trunk inside and sat down, still it total shock. She still couldn't understand how she was a witch, and what the secrets of the magical world held.
She was suddenly startled from her thoughts when an excited looking girl opened the compartment door. The girl had shining dark chocolate eyes and long luxurious brown hair.
"Mind if I sit here with you?" The girl said. She looked around Lily's age. The girl sat down on the seat across from Lily and smiled.
"My name's Katie, Katie Fotheringham. This is my first year," the girl chirped happily, her eyes scanning the compartment walls.
"I'm Lily Evans," Lily said calmly, "This is my first year too."
"Oh really?" That's great, you're the first one I've met today," Katie's eyes were wide with delight. She started rummaging through her trunk and slid out a small thin box.
"Want to play me in a game of Exploding Snap?" Katie asked anxiously as the train began to chug to a start.
"Well, um, what exactly is Exploding Snap?" Lily blushed.
"Ooh," Katie said with a look of sudden knowing, "You'd be a muggleborn, wouldn't you?" Lily nodded, lowering her gaze to the ground.
"Well Exploding Snap is a wizard's card game," Katie stated matter-o-factly, opening the small box and tipping it upside down. She didn't seem to be the least bit perplexed by the fact that Lily had confirmed she was a muggleborn. Lily, confused but happy, listened intently to Katie tell her the rules the game she called Exploding Snap.
Lily had beaten Katie for the fourth time straight when the old witch pulling the lunch trolley opened the compartment door. Lily, who absolutely loved chocolate like no other, purchased a large quantity of strange candy called, "Chocolate Frogs." Katie reassured her that it was indeed chocolate, and not a live frog. Katie squealed with delight at the sight of the, "Pumpkin Pasties," which she claimed to be her favorite.
Thirty-six games of Exploding Snap, twenty-five chocolate frogs, and twelve pumpkin pasties later, the train ride finally ended. The pair of them exited the train and followed the booming voice calling into the darkness, "Firs' years, firs' years this way."
The voice led them to a large man, too large to be normal, who was covered in an even larger shabby overcoat. This giant man was holding a giant lantern. The tall man led them to a giant shimmering lake. A ways past the peaceful lake stood a gargantuan stone castle. It was exactly like the pictures in Lily's childhood fairytale book. Well, so far this has been a lot like a fairytale, Lily silently concurred with herself. A large amount of small rowboats sat on the silky water, as if they were waiting for them.
Inside the boat there were no oars, and Lily silently wondered how they would move. Lily and Katie climbed into a boat with three boys already sitting inside. Once Lily had sat down, the giant of a man, who was so large that he filled an entire rowboat himself, yelled into the night, "Forward!" Suddenly, the boat began to move. Lily squealed with delight, for the boats appeared to be moving by magic.
After a few little while, Lily's fascination at the magic propelling the boats subsided. She now focused her attention on the three boys that they were riding with. One of the boys was extremely pale, and had sandy hair. He was staring wearily at the reflection of the moon on the rippling water. The moon had now been waning from its full state for only three days. One boy was extremely energetic, and had long dark hair. He was practically jumping in his seat. Lily was afraid he had to use the loo. The last boy had messy black hair, glasses, and hazel eyes. Puzzled, Lily continued to stare at this particular boy.
Now where could I have possibly seen him before? Lily thought curiously, but she couldn't deny that she had seen him before. When her eyes had scanned over him, something in her brain had snagged. Frantically she attempted to recall the memory, but to no avail.
The boy had now noticed her staring at him and turned his gaze towards her. At first his face spread into a giant grin.
Wait…The memory was getting more and more annoying as Lily started to remember more…where have I seen that grin before? Lightning flashed across Lily's mind and she quickly saw the boy on the beach grinning at her through the rain. She gasped. The boy's face suddenly as it had spread into a grin, fell.
He's recognized me then…Lily thought, quickly adverting his eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, She saw the energetic boy lean over and whisper something to the boy with messy black hair. He stared pointedly at her as he talked. Lily found herself growing hot in the cheeks. The energetic boy was quite cute.
The boy with messy black hair quickly shook his head at the energetic boy's comment. He swiftly focused his attention on the giant squid they were now passing in their boat. Lily had seen something quite similar at the aquarium a few years back, but that particular squid had been miniscule compared to the monstrous one that was now wigging its tentacles in every direction, much to the other children's delight.
Lily could tell the boy with the messy black hair was paying no attention to the giant creature, because she could feel his gaze upon her. He was looking at her out of the corner of his eye. Lily quickly turned her face completely from his view and gazed at the shimmering water. They were now passing underneath the castle into a deep dark cave.
×°×
James gasped for breath as his mother smothered him in a giant hug.
"Mum…I…can't breathe…" He panted. His mother ceased her grip and held his shoulders, holding him out at arms length. She stared watery eyed at him for a minute. Spontaneously she planted a large wet kiss on his left cheek. "Ah, mum," he said frantically scrubbing the spot she had kissed.
"Oh how I will miss you James," she cooed, "My baby boy, gong off the Hogwarts for his very first time." She dramatically dabbed her eyes with her white handkerchief.
"Get a grip mum," James moaned, groping and clawing at the air towards the train, the opposite direction of his mother." Groups of people saying their farewells were now stopping to stare at the theatrical scene his mother was making.
"Let him go dear," a tall man with messy black hair, hazel eyes, and glasses smiled at his wife and son. "Have fun son."
James's mother gave her husband a reproachful look, but reluctantly released him from her clutches. She waved widely, sweeping her white handkerchief through the air. James lowered his head, his face hot, and tried to get onto the train as if nothing had happened.
"I love you Jamesy!" He heard his mother call from behind him, causing him to cringe immensely.
James clambered onto the train, still thoroughly embarrassed by his melodramatic mother. Without paying attention to what he was doing, he slid open the nearest compartment door. Inside he found two small boys, they didn't look much older than him. One had dark hair and shining eyes. This boy was staring excitedly around the compartment. The other was reading a large book, with a fixed look of deep concentration plastering his face. He was extremely pale and peaky with sandy hair.
"Look Remus, its Jamesy boy!" The boy with dark hair laughed. James laughed along.
"I see you witnessed that disturbing scene on the platform," James said shaking his head at his mother's emotion.
"How could we miss it?" The boy with dark hair chuckled.
"My mum can be a bit emotional at times," James sighed.
"Well at least your parents care," the boy with dark hair shrugged, James could tell he was trying to make a joke out of it, but could hear the note of bitterness enshrouded in his remark.
The boy with dark hair grinned at him, obviously changing the subject, "If you're looking for a compartment, you're welcome to share this one with us. I'm Sirius Black, and this is Remus Lupin." He glanced pointedly at the boy with sandy hair. He grunted in reply, but proceeded with reading his large book. Sirius rolled his eyes and slid down the bench until his shoulder was touching the wall.
James carefully sat down in the space Sirius had cleared for him and said, "Hello, I'm James Potter."
James and Sirius talked about quidditch the entire train ride, while Remus continued reading his mesmerizing book. It turns out James and Sirius had loads of things in common. By the end of the train ride they had officially but silently deemed each other friends. Their love of quidditch and their uncanny attraction to trouble were two major factors.
When the train slowed to a stop, Remus finally stowed his book in his trunk and the boys climbed off the train together. They followed the flow of first years towards the voice booming, "Firs' years, firs' years this way."
An enormous man with a bushy black beard who was holding a giant lantern led them towards a massive shimmering lake. The lakes mirrored surface was covered in tiny rowboats. They hurried onto a boat and stared in awe at the gigantic castle sitting at the other side of the lake.
The enormous castle was made of stone, and had many towers and wings. Lights were flickering in most of the tiny windows. James was awestruck by how large the castle really was. In descriptions and pictures it hadn't appeared this large.
Not long after they had sat down, two small girls climbed into the boat after them. James didn't get a good look at them, for at the same moment, a giant squid with tentacles five times larger than their boat emerged from the glassy surface of the lake. This particular creature held James attention until the boats started to move.
At this time he finally shifted his gaze to the girls. One was radiant with a strange luminescent glow around her, dark brown eyes, and long deep brown hair that flowed down to her waist. The other girl had flaming red hair tied in pigtails and startling green eyes. Her sparkling eyes transfixed him.
The girl had apparently been staring at him while he was watching the giant squid, for now her cheeks were turning the color of her fiery hair. James smiled, but at that precise moment, a strange memory sparked in his mind. It dawned on him, he had seen that girl before. He closed his eyes and his jaw dropped as lightning streaked across the back of his eyelids. The beach, I saw her when I was out riding in the storm! But I could have sworn she was a muggle…
Sirius was now aware of the two of them staring at each other and whispered in James's ear," You know her?"
"No," James replied hurriedly, shaking his head. He quickly looked away and refocused his attention on the first thing that he saw, the giant squid.
The two of them completely forgot this after meeting each other in person and becoming acquainted. Neither of them remembered it for a very long time.
A/N: I hope you don't find it too...cheesy. After reading it over I was leaning towards that myself....