Greasy Encounters
Sirius did his shopping the week before and was only at Diagon Alley now because his parents dropped him off to get him out of their hair, so he offered to help Lily to her next stop. After all, he wasn't busy and she was a lovely girl. She was spontaneous, liberating and uniquely intelligent with a bit of sarcastic wit, which, to him, made her pleasant and entertaining to be around. She laughed at all his dull jokes and was fascinated by everything he said. He rarely was given the chance to interact with Muggles or Muggleborns.
He escorted her to Flourish & Blotts to help her get all the texts she needed. She marveled at the various types of books in the store. Some were normal muggle style prints while others screamed horrid insults at you as you passed by or ran away to hide behind the nearest stack of stationary publications. Along with her required texts, Sirius advised Lily to get Hogwarts, A History and a copy of the most recent Witch Weekly to catch up in the Wizarding world.
"Sirius, I just have one question," Lily said as she struggled to carry only two of the books she needed to purchase while Sirius carried the other four stacked up beyond the height of his own face. He peered expectantly around the massive stack as Lily continued, "How in the world am I expected to carry these, along with the rest of my things, through Diagon Alley and home?"
They reached the counter and heaved the heavy things on top, sliding them over to the employee, a middle aged woman with graying wisps of hair frizzed out around her face and an indescribably hideous wart on her chin. She received them, sneering with dislike as Sirius gave a dramatic performance complaining at how absurdly heavy the books were and that he was going to send a strongly worded owl as soon as he was home. Sirius turned around and caught his breath as the cashier rolled her eyes at the young first year.
"See, Lily, since you don't have your cauldron yet, they take care of that for you," he said. Lily stared back at him, waiting for the punch. It seemed like it was always something in this world. Though before he could explain the lady worker shrunk the books to the size of sheets of paper with a wave of her hand, placed them delicately inside of a thick cardboard folder, and handed them to Lily, smiling at her with yellow, decaying teeth.
"Thanks," Lily said and took the folder, anxious to get out of there. With a little help from Sirius deciphering the different coins in her change purse, Lily paid the lady and started towards the door. Sirius was hot on her heels, stopping her as soon as they reached the street.
"I have to go meet some…friends," he said.
"Oh," she replied looking a little upset. Lily scanned the street quickly, her eyes spotting the Cauldron Shoppe and the Apothecary. "I still need a few things, so I will just be off. It was nice meeting you, Sirius," she rambled quickly and turned to go.
"Oy!" he cried and grabbed her arm. "I'm not trying to ditch you. I just really have to meet some people, it's important," he said apologetically. She looked down.
Lily wasn't really mad, just a little disappointed. This was her first real friend she had met. Only the second person her age she had talked to at all. She was scared of losing her chance to make true friends. But he was so nice, so pleasant, understanding and patient with her ignorance of the magical world. His smile was so warm.
"How about this? I can meet you on September first at the train station. You won't know how to get to the platform. Just wait for me between platforms nine and ten and we can ride to Hogwarts together. Sound good?" he asked.
"Sure. I'll be there," she answered. He grinned a walked the other direction.
"Sirius! What time?" she asked.
"Ten thirty!" he called back to her, waved, and kept going.
"See you!" she yelled. Lily stood there for a moment, collecting her thoughts. He would be there, right? She shrugged. Lily had no reason not to trust him. She glanced down at her orange and green striped watch, the one her mum gave her for her birthday. She still had an hour and a half left.
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James and Remus sat at a patio table outside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, relishing in delicious ice cream sundaes. They chatted merrily about the upcoming year. The boys had just bought some Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks and were planning their attack on James' little sister when they were interrupted by another person taking a seat at their table.
"What do you want?" Remus said dryly. Sirius said nothing but looked right at James.
"Remus, I invited Sirius to sit with us earlier," James said, watching Remus closely for a reaction. He made no face, just shifted in his seat a bit. He didn't understand why James would ask this pureblooded maniac to have ice cream with them, especially after what had happened at the Supply store.
"Sirius, I invited you because I assumed you had a good reason for sticking up for Remus, here, earlier today and you would want to explain," James said hopefully. He figured it was the subtle way of demanding an explanation. Sirius hesitated for a moment and then decided he might as well. In for knut, in for a galleon.
"I know that I am a Black and that I am supposed to adhere to the Pureblooded principle, that only pureblooded wizards are worth anything. But the truth is, I don't. I never have. I have reason for this, but I hardly know you," he said hastily. Sirius waited for a response.
"Good deal, mate," James said. "Oy, Gloria!" he called after the waitress, "Can we get another sundae? Pretty please with a chocolate frog on top?" The waitress smiled at the boys and went into the parlor. James looked to Remus and nodded his head, confirming his next action. Remus nodded back, their expressions serious and solemn. Then they both leaned in towards Sirius who pulled back in uncertainty.
"Alright, Black, this is the deal breaker… who do you cheer for?" James asked. It only confused Sirius for a split second.
"Falcons," he answered. James and Remus both threw their hands up and scoffed at him. Remus groaned loudly while James hung his head. The Falmouth Falcons were a strong Quidditch team, but it wasn't their team. Remus, Peter, and James all religiously cheered for the Wimbourne Wasps.
"Amazing, Black. Although it doesn't surprise me at all," James said. "We're Stingers actually. But we won't hold this against you." James said seriously.
"Stingers? Are you kidding? No one beats the Falcons, Potter. Did you hear about their match against the Holyhead Harpies last week?" Sirius asked and the race was off. "Chapman and Bell pulled off the Dopplebeater Defense play perfectly and after Shreve caught the snitch they won by a landslide!"
"Ha, I beg to differ, my friend," Remus said. He then started in on how the Falcons were dirty players, having to result to violence to win when the Wasps were strategists. The boys talked straight though two sundaes. It wasn't until Sirius saw one of his arch enemies taunting his friend, that their conversation stopped.
"We need to go check this out," Sirius said in the middle of a Gobstones discussion, rising from the table and heading towards the Apothecary. James and Remus took one look at the situation and followed Sirius.
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Lily was having an interesting day alright. Everything that could have gone wrong at the Cauldron Shoppe went wrong. First she literally ran into a short, grumpy kid with long brown hair, knocking him and herself over. He wasn't exactly forgiving. He screamed at her a bit, something about a filthy Muggle, and left her there with the contents of her shopping bag sprawled out on the floor. Lily whined as she picked her things up off the floor, realizing that the folder her books were condensed into had opened and all her books were full sized again. The small eleven year old tried to stack all the books neatly and was interrupted when a nice girl started to help her out.
"Have you bought your cauldron yet?" the young lady asked. The newcomer was older than her, Lily would guess about three years, and stood tall with her light brown hair cut at about her shoulders. She smiled kindly at Lily.
"Yes, just did actually," Lily responded and picked up her pewter cauldron, which was roughly a tad larger than a football. The older girl took the cauldron and put in on the floor, picked up Lily's books, and put them inside. Lily watched wide-eyed as all of her school books fit into the tiny cauldron. That's why Sirius said she needed her cauldron. Then the girl picked it up with no problem and handed it back to Lily.
"It's an enchantment. My name is Patricia, what's yours?" she asked.
"I'm Lily," she replied. Patricia stuck out her hand for a gentle handshake. She was very thin and seemed delicate to Lily.
"I'm going to be a fourth year at Hogwarts. Are you a first year?" Patricia asked as she gathered her own things from the ground.
"Going to be."
"You're brave coming here all on you own for the first time, Lily. Maybe you'll be in Gryffindor. I'm in Hufflepuff myself. Never was one for bravery," the girl laughed, picking her own items up into her arms.
"Thank you for helping me, Patricia," Lily said, sensing the girl had to leave.
"It was nothing. Take care of yourself and I will see you at school," she said. Patricia whisked away, with a twinkle in her brown eyes. Lily had met her fair share of nice and rude people here at Diagon Alley. As she left the Cauldron Shoppe, she mentally checked off her list of things to do, still needing potions supplies. Lily looked up and down the street and saw the Apothecary two doors down. She still had a few minutes before she needed to meet Petunia back at the Leaky Cauldron so she started on her way.
As soon as Lily stepped off the sidewalk and onto the cobblestone street she was broad sided by a little boy on a low flying broom. She fell over with surprise, managing to keep her things together this time, and began shouting at the kid. Nothing was going right.
The Apothecary was dreary, cold, and lifeless. Inside the door, a thick, rotting wood, she discovered a deathlike atmosphere. There were rows of shelves, each holding jars of ingredients and labeled to perfection. In alphabetical order, Lily went through her list and down the rows, silently collecting her materials. People would pass by and sneer at her. Every now and then she would see a friendly face, but no one dared to speak to each other.
She collected beetle eyes, billywig stings, lacewings, unicorn hairs, and to her disgust, toad brains. She carefully put her new bought things into her cauldron and left for the The Leaky Cauldron, thankful to get out of there. On the way out, she once again bumped into someone, this time it someone more on her level.
"Am I going to run into every bloody person in Diagon Alley?" she muttered to herself, as she picked up her once again scattered supplies. At least this time my books didn't explode.
"Sorry `bout that, I guess I'm just in my own little world," she said apologetically to the person, not yet looking him in the face.
"You should be sorry, dirty Mudblood, now I'll have to wash my robes again," the voice replied sneeringly.
Lily whirled around, feeling insulted. She had no clue as to what "mudblood" meant, but by his distasteful tone she knew it was inappropriate. She glared at his deep brown eyes, as dark as the bottom of the ocean on a winter night. He had shoulder-length, uncombed hair with a greasy tint to it and a hooked nose that pointed downward. Definitely not as attractive as Sirius.
"Listen, I said I was sorry. You didn't even get your packages knocked about, so no harm done," she said firmly.
Severus Snape looked at the girl in front of him. He would admit, she was quite pretty, but there something about her. He just didn't like her, and for some reason he hated her. The boy threateningly advanced on Lily, causing her to stumble back with either surprise or fear, he wasn't sure.
"Oh, there was plenty harm done, Muggle-"
"Alright there Lily?" said someone from behind the boy. "Bothering a young lady, are we Snape? Didn't your mother ever tell you that if you want a girl to fancy you, you have to wash that filthy hair of yours?"
Snape spun around wildly to face the voice. Lily stepped on her tip toes and peered over her antagonizers' shoulders. Standing there with their hands in fists was, in Lily's opinion, one of the cutest boys she had ever seen. It was James Potter, her friend from the wand shoppe. Why he looked ten times more appealing than ever, she didn't know. Next to him was Sirius and another young man with light chestnut colored hair that was cut short.
"Get outta here Snape before we make you. I hate to use violence in front of the ladies," said Sirius. Lily smiled at her friends. They had come to her rescue. How chivalrous.
Snape glared at the three boys, recognizing defeat. He turned back to Lily, who pressed herself up against the brick wall. Even though she would never admit it, Lily didn't handle confrontation very well. This intimidation was making her increasingly uncomfortable.
"Would have known Potty would be the one to save you. Better watch your back this year, don't make the enemies with the wrong people," he hissed loudly enough for the boys to hear.
"Go Snape, before I knock you back to primary school!" James shouted as Severus stalked away, down the stone pathway, and into a dark alleyway. Lily watched him leave, breathing a sigh of relief. She looked back to her friends, thankful to see them again.
"Sirius! James!" she called.
"You know her?" both boys asked, looking wide-eyed at each other. Lily walked up to them and smiled happily.
"Sirius, I met James at Ollivander's. And I met Sirius when he saved me from having my hand bitten off at the Menagerie" she said. "I didn't know you were friends."
"Well…" James began, "it's sort of-"
"Funny how things happen, isn't it?" Sirius cut in. He grinned softly at Lily, then at James. James picked up on the hint and kept his mouth shut. He heard Remus cough softly behind them and turned around, pulling the shy boy towards Lily.
"Lily, this is our friend, Remus Lupin," he introduced. Remus was content with just a head nod and a sullen "hullo," but Lily grabbed his wrist, forcing him into a handshake.
"It's nice to meet you, Remus," she smiled. Then Lily glanced down the street, carefully patrolling for signs of the nasty boy again. "Who, may I ask, was that guy?"
"Severus Snape. He's a slimy git. Belongs to one of the darkest wizard families in Great Britain," Sirius answered, feeling slightly guilty for not telling her about his own family. "He won't bother you again, my mates and I will see to that."
James and Remus both nodded their heads in a silent agreement. Lily sighed and hoisted her things on her hip, pushing it out further to accommodate the load. She dropped her change purse in the transition and Remus promptly retrieved it for her, blushing madly.
"Well, boys, I must be going. My sister will be waiting for me outside of The Leaky Cauldron," she said sadly. "Sirius, am I still meeting you at the station?"
Sirius blushed and quickly glanced at his new friends. James and Remus raised their eyebrows in surprise and slowly turned their heads to stare at Sirius. Lily ignored them, smiling at Sirius and waiting for his answer.
"Yeah, I'll be there. Ten thirty," he said quietly and quickly. "You can count on me."
"Wonderful! `Bye Sirius, `bye James, Remus. I'll see you on the first!" she grinned cheekily and took off towards the pub, her scarlet ponytail tossing from side to side as she walked. The three eleven year olds watched her go for a moment and then retreated back to their table across the road. They sat down in silence and finished their sundaes with only the sounds of their spoons clinking against the glass ice cream bowls.
Remus couldn't stand it anymore.
"She was pretty," he breathed. James and Sirius nodded, scraping the remaining gooey mess.
"Guys, we're only eleven, for Merlin's sake! We'll think about how pretty she is later," James said after another few minutes passed in quietness. It was Remus and Sirius' turn to nod.
"Yeah," Sirius agreed, "She's just a girl. We'll probably see loads of pretty girls once we get to school. What could possibly be so special about this one?"
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