Chapter 2
The Crossing of Fate
Lily woke up on the morning of September 1, terrified. She had no idea what to expect, and honestly, she was starting to regret her decision to attend this strange school in the first place. All of her other friends, Petunia included, were going to Normile High School, but Petunia had insisted she tell them that her parents were sending her to St. Agnes School for Aspiring Nuns.
It's a good thing I packed my things last night, she thought. I'd be much too nervous to pack today.
Dragging her trunk behind her, she got into the car, ready for her first trip to Hogwarts.
He knew he was early, but he hadn't wanted to take a chance and miss the train. After all, if Dumbledore was nice enough to accept him with his, well, condition, the least he could do was show up early for the train. Remus looked around. The only other person on the platform was a young boy, who looked about his age, with neat dark hair, and even darker eyes. He was standing next to a woman, probably his mother, and the two of them kept glancing over at him as if they were judging whether or not he was worthy of their company.
Sirius kept glancing at the sandy-haired boy across the platform, judging whether or not the boy was worthy of his company. Finally, unable to tell just by looking, he decided to go over and check.
Leaving his mother's side, he approached the only other person on the platform, who smiled and said, "Hi, my name's Remus Lupin. What's yours?"
"Sirius Black," he replied, but, before he could ask about his family history, Remus' parents arrived, and began hugging and kissing their son goodbye. ("Aww, Mum! Stop it! You're embarrassing me!" said Remus)
Well, that settles it, then, Sirius thought, walking back to his mother. If his parents can get onto the platform, they can't be Muggles. Of course, his family is nowhere near as prominent as the Blacks or the Malfoys, but he'll do.
More people were flocking onto the platform now, and Sirius scanned the crowd looking for any students without parents. And then he saw one. She was petty, with shoulder-length auburn hair, and startling green eyes. She looked nice enough, but nice didn't matter. Blood mattered.
His mother had seen her, too, and voiced his thoughts. "Filthy Mudblood."
James was running dangerously late. Saying goodbye to his parents at the car, he ran through the station with his trunk and his owl, Mercury. Seeing the wall between platforms nine and ten, he headed straight for it, but instead of hitting it, he went right through.
A large sign overhead said, "Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock," and in front of him wasw a huge scarlet steam engine. But James wasn't particularly interested in all this. He was too busy staring at the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She seemed to be last to board the train, and was trying to heave her trunk onto the train when she dropped it on her foot. She gave a little gasp, and James immediately ran over to help her.
With a great tug, he managed to tuck her trunk into the corner of her compartment. Turning back to her, he ruffled his hair a bit, and threw her a dazzling grin. This smile had never failed to win over any girl… yet.
"You cocky, arrogant prick!" Lily screamed.
It was horrible-inexcusable. If she had wanted his help, she would have asked for it. Of course, she had needed help, but just the fact that he had done it without even the courtesy of asking first was unforgivable. And then that cocky grin and the way he had rumpled his hair had just made it that much worse.
The boy stepped back, obviously startled. "I…sorry…I didn't… know…sorry…" was all he managed to sputter before Lily turned into the empty compartment, slamming the door in his face.
He smiled. "I'm going to marry that girl."
Peter dragged his trunk from compartment to compartment trying to find and empty one, with no luck whatsoever. They were all completely full, and there was only one left at the very end for him to check.
Opening the door, he saw three boys sitting there. Sensing what he wanted, one of them, with messy, jet-black hair said, "Come on in, we've got an extra seat." He paused, and added, "I'm James Potter, by the way."
Another boy, with sandy hair, added, "And I'm Remus Lupin. Nice to meet you."
The last boy simply said, "Sirius Black."
Smiling, Peter sat down with the three boys. "I'm Peter. Peter Pettigrew."
Lily was sitting alone in her compartment, and she kept hearing people pass the door, laughing and talking. She was feeling a bit nervous now-like she would be the only one on this whole school without any friends. It was terrifying.
Just as she was seriously considering jumping out the window and running home as fast as she could, the door of her compartment opening, and three girls walked in.
The first girl, a dignified-looking witch with long, straight black hair, said, "Hello, my name is Emmeline Vance, and these are my friends, Marlene McKinnon (a pleasant looking girl with curly brown hair smiled and nodded), and Dorcas Meadowes (the blond girl waved feverishly). May we sit with you? Everywhere else is full."
Lily, feeling very relieved that she found some people to sit with, smiled and nodded. "I'm Lily Evans, by the way. It's nice to meet you."
"…and then I turned his hair pink, and sent him out to the shops to buy some broom polish. When he came back he talked for at least an hour about a girl who had been staring at him but I didn't have the heart to tell him why. Of course, he found out later when he looked in the mirror!" Sirius finished as the rest of the boys roared with laughter.
"Oh yea? That's nothing," Remus cut in after he had caught his breath. "Once, I set of a dozen dungbombs in my cousin's clothes, and she had a date with her boyfriend that night. It took her three hours to get the smell out! I've never really liked her…"
When the laughter had subsided, James added, "Well one time, my mum went shopping, and she told me to clean my room while she was out, so I used a cleaning charm on it to make it clean itself, and then I went into her room and exchanged her makeup for Flookles' Color Changing Face Paint. When she put it on the next day her face was changing from red to blue to green all day, and she didn't even think to blame me because she thought I had been too busy cleaning my room to pull a prank like that!"
Sirius had never had such a wonderful time in his life. The four boys had everything in common, and Sirius could tell they would be best friends. That is, if they all made it into Slytherin with him. The talk of pranks shifted to talk of Quidditch, and they were still talking about it when the train pulled into Hogsmeade station. They were all disappointed that the train ride had ended, but the displeasure soon dissipated when they saw for the first time the place that would be their home for the next seven years. Although only a speck in the distance, it was the most magnificent place any of them had ever seen.
It was the most magnificent place Lily had ever seen. It was just like the old castles she had read about in books-right at the top of a mountain with towers and turrets and everything. Against the night sky its glittering windows could almost be mistaken for stars. And it was HUGE! Not even the pictures in Hogwarts: A History had made it seem this big.
But if Lily had thought the castle was big, it was nothing compared to the man in front of her, shouting, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"
Sirius watched as Rubeus Hagrid called to all the first year students. The others were staring at Hagrid with a mixture of fear and respect, but Sirius saw him for what he really was.
"Disgusting half-breed," he muttered.
For a split second, he thought he saw Remus give him an odd look of surprise, and maybe…fear? But when he turned, Remus was listening fixedly to James and Peter, who were having a lengthy discussion about a greasy haired first year whom they didn't seem to like.
Oh well, Sirius thought. It's just my imagination. No one would ever care about a half-breed anyway.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called out, indicating a group of boats floating by the edge of a very big lake, which resembled a big, smooth mirror. The stars were reflecting onto it tonight, giving it the appearance of a large continuation of sky, like they were floating in nothingness.
But as the girls were quietly admiring the lake's beauty, the boys were sataring wide-eyed at several large tentacles stretching out near the opposite shore.
Taking an entire boat for himself, Hagrid shouted back at the first years, "Everyone in? Right then-FORWARD!" and the students gasped as the fleet of boats glided toward the magnificent castle.
-->