"Say goodbye to Lily, Oliver." Connor Smith smiled down at the boy clutching his hand. He was in tears.
"I want to go with her." the blonde blubbered. "I want to go with Lil."
"Aw Livvie." the girl scooped him into her arms. "I'll only be gone for a few months until Christmas break. And I'll write to you every week, and I'll get you tons of presents for Christmas." she smiled at him, kissing her brother's cheek. "And I'm going to miss you the most."
"Promise?"
"From the bottom of my heart." she chuckled. "Oh, and don't go about crying. I can tell what you're thinking, remember?" the girl winked before putting him back down. "I need to go meet Murphy now." she waved at the boy. The couple stood by the doorway in each other's arms, a sad smile on their faces as they watched their children say their goodbyes.
Lily walked over and hugged them. She was pretty sure her dad was crying.
"Why can't you learn normal studies, like, like Math, or Art, Literature, anything." her dad pouted squeezing her tightly.
She laughed. "I'm going to miss you too dad."
And with one final goodbye to her parents, she walked across the street to her best friend Murphy's house. He was getting ready to go to school too.
"Lils!" the boy cried, talking her into a hug. "I'm so glad you stopped by before leaving."
"I'm glad I caught you before you left." she grinned, pulling him closer before the two broke away, still holding each other's arms. "You better write to me every week." she warned.
"Only if you do." he smiled with a playful glint in his eyes. "I still don't get why you have an owl of all things to deliver letters."
"You know I don't trust the post. Besides, won't it be cool when an owl comes to your doorstep with a letter? It'll be the talk of all the Woldingham boys." she winked.
"I suppose." he laughed. "I can't figure out for the life of me how Vanilla is so tame." he snorted. "I have something for you." he dug into his pocket and pulled out a photograph. It was the two of them making snowmen together just last Christmas.
Lily took it excitedly. "Aww Murph, I love it!" she squealed, throwing her arms around him. "Oh, I'm going to miss you so much."
"What school did you say you were going to again?"
"Not important." she waved the question off.
And then she saw Murphy's face morph into one of disdain.
"He's here, isn't he?" she asked with a small sigh.
"I don't get how he's your actual father. I mean, just look at him, you two look nothing alike. Your hair is red, his is black, your eyes are bright green, his are black, your nose is straight, his is crooked. And he looks so bloody cross all the time. Besides, he left you when you were born."
"Hey." she nudged him with a pout. "That's my father you're talking about." she glanced behind her shoulder as the man with the strange robes stood on her porch, with a trunk, a few other bags, and her owl, Vanilla. "Sev is just...a little introverted, you could say." she looked back at the blonde boy and his deep blue eyes. "But he means well. He loves me." she said, as if she was trying to convince herself. And then she remembered that while she could read minds, her father could too. So she shook her head, gave Murphy one last hug goodbye and photo in hand, she skipped back across the road to where Severus Snape stood.
_____
"Trunk?"
"Check?"
"Backpack with robes to change into on the train?"
"Check."
"Wand?"
"Check."
"Bag of books?"
"Check."
"Couldron?"
"Check."
"Money?"
"All 30 galleons of it."
"Owl?"
"Check."
"Ticket?"
"Check."
"Good." Severus Snape smiled down at Lily. "You'll be fine. Remember, you can't let anyone know you're my daughter." he warned.
"Right. Snape, bad. Smith, good." she nodded. "Didn't realize I was such a disgrace to your name." she muttered.
"That's not the reason and you very well know that." he said firmly, straightening her clothes.
"I know." the girl grumbled unhappily from beside her trolley of luggage. "I'll see you at school Severus." she took the trolley, ready to enter King's Cross Station when-
"Lily?"
"Yes?" she turned around.
"I might not say it often, but I do love you." he looked into her eyes seriously.
Lily looked at him before she let go of the trolley and ran to hug him, her face buried into his black robes. "Bye Sev." she smiled softly, letting go before giving him one last bright smile and guiding her trolley into the station.
Upon entering, she had no idea where platform nine and three quarters was. There were only platforms nine and ten. And she was too shy to ask anyone else where it was. She stood between the two platforms impatiently. The 'Hogwarts Express' was supposed to leave in fifteen minutes.
And then, she saw a trio of boys all with red hair, a shade lighter than hers. And she watched as the youngest of the lot did a run-up with his trolley before disappearing into a pillar. Her eyes rose in wonder. She knew it had to be something related to Hogwarts, or magic at least.
"Excuse me?" she cried, just as another ginger boy prepared to run. He stopped mid-way, almost crashing into the pillar. Passers-by gave him looks and he only muttered an apology before he and a similar looking boy gazed over at her curiously.
"Um, hi!" she smiled, or more like tried to, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." she apologized.
"It's all right." the older of the two boys shrugged. "Is there something we can help you with?"
"Um, yes, actually. Can you tell me how to... how to do whatever that was?" she asked curiously, pointing at the pillar. "I... I'm new to all of this."
Well, she wasn't exactly new to magic. Severus Snape had made sure he had started her studies five years ago, but she was still new to Hogwarts.
"Where are you parents?" the younger red-head asked.
"Charlie, she's obviously a muggleborn." the older boy sighed, before looking back to Lily. "Are you starting Hogwarts this year?"
Lily nodded, her eyes wide and doe-like.
"Oh, okay. Well then, welcome." he grinned, offering her his hand. "I'm William Weasley, Head Boy. But you can call me Bill. And this is my brother, Charlie Weasley." he gestured to the boy beside him.
"I'm in the fourth year, and Gryffindor's Quidditch captain." Charlie said proudly as he shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Lillian Smith. You can call me Lily." she grinned.
"Pleasure. So you want to know how to get across, right?" Charlie asked.
Lily nodded.
"Charlie, would you do the honours?" Bill glanced at his brother who nodded. Then he turned to the first year. "What you want to do, is aim for that pillar right there." he said, pointing at the one the boy before had disappeared into. "Imagine you can go through it. Run-ups help. See?" and with that, Charlie Weasley ran into the pillar, disappearing just as the boy before had.
"Oh." was all that left the amazed girl's mouth.
"You go next. I'll come after you." Bill said kindly.
"Thanks a lot for your help Bill." she smiled at him before clutching her trolley and running into the pillar. The next thing she knew, she was on the other side of the pillar, with an ancient steam engine waiting in front of her. People bustling about, mostly parents and students.
"See, you made it. Good job." Charlie congratulated as Bill emerged from beside her.
"How about you help her get settled in? I need to round up the other prefects for the train meeting. Bill looked at his brother expectantly. Charlie nodded.
"Come on, I'll help you pull your trunk in." he grinned and Lily blushed slightly, muttering a thank you as she carried her book bag and owl cage.
"Do you have more siblings?" she asked curiously as they entered the train.
"Me?" Charlie chuckled, glancing at her as they trudged through the train, searching for an empty compartment. "I have six siblings. Three brothers, a set of twins and a younger sister."
"Six siblings? My, I only have a brother. I can't imagine six other children in a house as small as ours. You must be rich." she said in surprise.
"Not exactly." Charlie grinned. "But we make do. My father works in the Ministry. Maybe you'll meet my brother Percy. He's starting his first year as well." he stopped as they approached an empty compartment. "There you go." he nodded, heaving the trunk under a seat. "Don't worry about getting it back out, just make sure you've changed into your robes before we reach, okay?"
"Thank you so much Charlie." she grinned.
"No problem. Let's hope you're a Gryffindor." he winked, before disappearing ahead in the train.
Lily checked her watch, sitting quietly by the window. The train would leave any second now.
"Hi! Is anyone else joining you?"
Lily's head shot up at the peculiar accent. It was Scottish.
"No." she squeaked, looking at the brunette boy standing outside her compartment.
"You wouldn't mind if I sat here?"
"Not at all." her blank expression spread into a smile as the train started moving. "I'm Lily Smith."
"Oliver Wood." he gave the girl a toothy smile.
"My brother's named Oliver." her eyes piped up. "He's six years old now."
"Oh... I'm an only child. I don't have any siblings." he said before they fell into a brief silence. "Chocolate frog?" he offered her one of the blue pentagonal boxes in his satchel.
"I... don't know what they are. Would you like a lemon drop? My friend Murphy loves them." she offered him a bag.
"Muggle sweets!" his eyes lit up as he gladly took a few of the yellow little sweets, popping them into his mouth. "Yum. Are you a muggleborn then?"
"Um... kind of. My mum and dad can't do magic. But I'm adopted."
"Adopted? Woah. I've never met an orphan before."
"I'm not an orphan. I still have a mum and dad. They might not be my biological parents, but they don't treat me any different." she said kindly.
"Oh..." he nodded his head in realization as the compartment door slid open.
"Is there any space here? Everywhere else is full."
Lily noticed that it was the same red-headed boy who had run in right before she'd stopped Charlie Weasley.
"You're one of the Weasleys. I'm Lily Smith." she greeted him. "Sure, you can come in. Your brothers were a great help to me."
"Oh?" the boy asked without a tone of surprise. "Of course they were." He shook his head absent-mindedly. "My name's Percy."
"Wood, Oliver Wood." the brunette and redhead greeted each other.
"Which house are you aiming for Carrots?" Wood asked Lily.
"Carrots?" the girl asked, a tad bit offended.
"Yeah, like your hair. It's orange, like carrots."
"So you're going to call me Carrots now?" she asked with an amused laugh.
"Precisely." Wood said proudly.
"Then I... get to call you..." she thought for a while before responding. "Livvie. That's what I call my brother."
"It's settled then, Carrots." he winked and the two turned to Percy. "What do we call you?"
"I assume Carrots is already taken." the boy answered, opening a book before straightening his glasses. Lily noticed that he was quite different from his elder two brothers. For one, they both had long hair. Bill's fell slightly past his shoulders and Charlie's were inching down his neck, tied neatly at the nape of his neck. Percy's on the other hand, were straight and cropped close to his hair, gelled in a side part. And the most significant difference was that the boy wore horn-rimmed glasses. No one would've thought they were even related if it weren't for the same shade of light orange that covered their heads.
"How about Freckleface?" Wood asked with a suggestive smirk.
Percy's head snapped up with a cross expression.
"I'll take that as a no then."
"I don't like pet names."
"Okay, calm down Percy." Lily said with an amused smile. "And to answer your question Livvie, I'm hoping to get into Slytherin."
Both of the boys looked at her with slitted and confused eyes. "Did you just say Slytherin?" Percy pulled a face.
"What's wrong with Slytherin?" she asked cluelessly.
"It's the worst house to be sorted in of course." Wood answered promptly. "They're the most cunning folk in the entire school."
"But according to the books I read, they're also ambitious, edgy and smart." Lily pouted.
"They're all into the dark arts. There isn't a single witch or wizard in Slytherin who hasn't gone bad."
"That's not a very nice thing to say. How can an entire house be full of bad people?" she asked confusedly. "Besides, I'm sure there's dark wizards from other houses too, right?"
"Not many when you compare them to Slytherin." Percy muttered, glancing unsurely at the girl.
"Oh. So which one should I hope for then?" she asked, the light in her eyes returning.
"Gryffindor." they both said in unison.
"Okay..." she said unsurely. "Why Gryffindor?"
"It's the house of the brave and courageous of course." Percy snorted, somewhat proudly. "My entire family's been in that house. It's even there on my List, see?" and that was when Lily saw a long piece of parchment with a list of things to do. Some of them had already been crossed out, and according to the date on it, the list had been started when Percy was eight. Lily didn't know if she was intimidated or impressed by the ginger.
"Same with mine." Oliver agreed.
"Well one can hope then." Lily smiled, still a little unsure. She knew her father had been a Slytherin. He had told her himself. And he was a good person. Why then, did they call it the worst house to be sorted in?
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