Welcome Back

[Lily Evans]

She was there.

She had made it.

A girl of around eleven stepped onto the platform she thought she would never see, pulling her school trunk behind her with help from a couple of sixth year boys. Her parents couldn't come through because of them being muggles so she was left to go alone and say her goodbyes before she came through.

Tears had left reddened tracks down her cheeks, but her emerald orbs were full of life and excitement at the idea of going to a school of magic.

This girl was Lily Evans, but with the way she was, she couldn't care less because all was focused on keeping her books safe in her trunk.

Walking slowly down towards the Hogwarts Express, she looked around. A few people that looked like her were waving their hellos and some just nodded their heads.

What now?

Did she have to look for a compartment?

She had no-one to sit with.

Lily was lost.

"This is great," she muttered with a sigh, pushing back a stray piece of her long auburn hair.

[Adaire Blake]

"Have you got everything?"
"Don't pull my hair!"
"Oh, you take the owl."
"Hey those are my robes!"
"Mum still has my luggage!"

Amid the hustle and bustle of the busy Platform stood a small brunette, bright blue eyes locked on the shiny steam engine. She was remembering every year that she'd come through the barrier, stood on this platform, watched the train pull away. She'd waved goodbye to her siblings, then wandered back home, waiting and wishing for the time to come when she'd board the train herself. Finally, she was on her way!

Adaire was broken from her daze by a brusque tap on the shoulder by a sour-faced security guard. She was told that her family was blocking the entry way, and that she would have to advance to the tip of the platform. Adaire, her 4 siblings, 2 parents and 7 carts of luggage begun the ascent.

"Can't we start to load the bags?" Her mother suggested, picking up a small leather satchel from the tip of the cart. Her eldest brother and father sprung up to do most of the heavy lifting, while the rest of the kids helped with the smaller things. Once it was all loaded, Adaire was itching to hop aboard the express.

"Well, goodbye Mummy." She called, giving her a quick hug. "Goodbye Dad." He got a peck on the cheek. "I'm off."
Adaire ambled into the train, not thinking that that would be the last time she saw her parents for the next few months. She and her siblings dispersed about, and Adaire began the hunt for a compartement with kids her age.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius Black stood staring at the train before him as his mother buzzed around him gruffly, reminding him of his duties while at school.

"Now, make friends with other Slytherins, be sure to get in with the Lestranges' kids, they're a good family to know," she was telling him. "Don't make trouble for us, don't bother with Gryffindors or mudbloods. Try to make a name for Regulus if you can. Now get on the train." Without a wave, a kiss or a goodbye of any kind, she walked off into the crowd.

"Yeah, bye mother," Sirius muttered under his breath, annoyed. "Thanks a lot." She left him alone to make his own way, as long as it went with her plan. How wonderful. He couldn't even do what he wanted. It wasn't old England, didn't she know that? He didn't need to get in favor with the highest ranking families. Even if he did, they were one of the higher ranking families.

Sirius wasn't planning on obeying her completely anyway. Why did he have to? It wasn't like she really cared about him. She only cared about two things: herself and Regulus, his younger brother.

He started dragging his trunk onto the train and almost ran into an auburn-haired girl. While he kept from actually running into the girl herself, his trunk knocked into hers.

"Oh, hi," he said. "Sorry about that." Sirius pushed a strand of black hair out of his eyes and grinned at her. "I'm Sirius Black."

[Lily Evans]

Lily stumbled forward as someone knocked into her and she was about to give them a piece of her mind when her eyes caught sight of a raven-haired boy smiling at her and couldn't help herself from smiling as well.

This is a chance to change things! Don't let things be the same as they were in the muggle world.

She had been bullied for nearly three years because of the strange things that had happened to her when she had been angry or scared or upset, and now being surrounded by kids who were the same as her made everything feel so much better.

"Hi, I'm Lily," Lily replied, her emerald eyes smiling for her. "Are you a first year too?"

[Sirius Black]

Sirius seemed to have that effect on people. It was natural when he was smiling to find yourself smiling as well. He just had that presence, a natural ability to get people to smile, and he loved making people laugh. It was something he was good at, and his mother couldn't punish him for it.

"You too?" he said, still grinning. "Should be fun. I can't wait to get there." Maybe it would be better at Hogwarts then at home, even if his cousins were there.

Being surrounded from birth by magic, it was never weird for an outbreak from him or someone else when they got mad or upset. He had had his own fair share of bullying, though. His cousins, except for Andromeda, never let him alone. That was the one reason he wanted to disregard his entire family and tradition and not become a Slytherin: his family. He was tall, but skinny, and not the best fighter (yet, anyway). His cousins that were closer to his age (such as Bellatrix) enjoyed exploiting that weakness.

[Lily Evans]

"Yeah! Do you want to go and look for a place to sit on the train? Some of the older boys said that it would be hard to find somewhere to sit when all the other students are here," Lily smiled, pulling her trunk towards the train and nodding her head at it.

It looked, though it was still too early to be certain yet, that she may have gotten herself her first friend.

"Do you know what house you want to be in yet? I got this book 'Hogwarts: A History and from I saw in it, Gryffindor looks to be the best. I don't think I like Slytherin very much, it doesn't sound like the people who are in it sound very nice."

No. Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius nodded. "Sure," he said. Maybe he'd just gotten a friend. It was easier then he thought it would be. See, he wasn't exposed to many people outside of relations and their kids.

He started to pull his trunk through the train corridor, looking for an empty compartment, and there was the question he had been dreading. What House do you want to be in? How to answer that? He didn't really want to be in Slytherin, but he knew that's what he was going to get in.

"My family's all in Slytherin, but I want Gryffindor I think," Sirius said. There, he had given form to his thoughts. "They'll probably be mad as anything if I get anything but Slytherin." He was telling her all this why? He barely knew her. And if any of his cousins heard him say that he wanted Gryffindor over Slytherin, he'd be in trouble.

[Lily Evans]

"Well...from what I could in the book, the Sorting Hall looks in your head and looks for things that match with a house so if you are brave and want to stick up for your friends, then you'll probably be in Gryffindor," Lily replied, putting her trunk next to her, and straightening her black tie.

Yes, she had already gotten changed.

"And anyway, your family should stand behind whatever house you get in because it wouldn't be your fault....Let's forget about that. Have you always be around magic?"

Questions were a girl's best friend.

[Piper Knightly]

Piper felt swarmed. So many people, all taller than her, jostling around with their baggage and family and yelling and running and jumping into the train. She'd said goodbye to her aunt, uncle and cousins at the house, her father had driven her, but she and her sister had had to say goodbye to him before coming through the barrier. Now, she felt very much alone. Her sister had wandered off somewhere, spotting her friend or love interest or something. She just kind of muttered 'ohthereheiskbye' and headed off. But Piper was determined to take charge and get this sorted out. She had to load her luggage and find somewhere to sit. They seemed like simple tasks, but really they were the hardest in the world. Every once in a while she'd catch glimpses of kids who appeared to be her age, weaving through the crowd, some looking as anxious as she did. She watched as many students simply pulled their trunks onto the train, without loading them into a bottom compartment or anything. Very different from a muggle train. Piper shrugged. Well, if that's the way it works...

Piper approached the train and pulled the trunk up the steps. Uh oh. Now she had to find a compartment. Through every window she could see older students piled to the rafters. Where were the first years? After a while, she began to walk faster, deciding that as soon as she saw a first year of any shape or form, she would ask to join their compartment.

She spotted a redhead and a black-haired boy chatting up ahead. They looked as though they were the right height, and one wasn't changed into their robes yet. Although, the boy did seem to really know where he was going.. And they looked as though they had been friends for a while... But Piper remembered her promise to herself, and started walking faster, until she was only a few feet away.

"Hi." She said, and there was a pause. The pause seemed like an eternity to Piper, when in reality it was more like a few seconds. "Um, I'm Piper. Are you first years? And uh, could I join your compartment? Once you find one that is. If you're off to join your friends I'll understand... Sorry. Um, if I'm holding you up for something." 'Great opening,' she thought miserably to herself.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius nodded. He had heard about the Sorting Hat from Mother. It would probably find all the Slytherin attributes that were drilled into his head. He snorted at her next comment.

"Any other family would. But not mine," he said. Glad to change the subject, he nodded. "Yeah. Mother and Father always used magic, and Kreacher of course used his house elf magic."

And who was this? He grinned at the newcomer. "Hi," he said. "Sure, you can sit with us. We're First Years too." He finally came to an empty compartment. "Right in here, ladies." His true personality was starting to show. Ladies man. He put his trunk away and plopped down near the window. "I'm Sirius by the way. And you would be...?"

[Piper Knightly]

Piper was beyond relieved, and she realized she was probably beaming as he ushered them into the apartment. She pushed her trunk to a far corner and sat down beside Sirius. "Oh, I'm Piper. I'm from Cambridge. My older sister started here last year. She's in Gryffindor. Do you guys have siblings here too?"

It only hit her later that Sirius, an 11 year old boy, had called them 'ladies'. Suave.

(shortness. x.x)

[Lily Evans]

Lily laughed.

"So this is the reason you bumped into my trunk, you're what my dad calls 'a ladies' man'," she replied, and then looked at the new girl. "Hi Piper, I'm Lily."

She turned her head around.

"You're...a pureblood? I'm something they call a muggleborn, I think they said because my mum and dad aren't magic,"

[Sirius Black]

"No, but I have cousins," Sirius said, kind of darkly. "They're all in Slytherin, though. And when my brother comes next year, he'll probably be the same. I'm hoping for Gryffindor, though." He didn't want her to think he wanted to be one of those mean Slytherins. He wasn't a mean person at all.

He brightened. "Do you want Gryffindor too?" That would make three of them. Two of them girls. He must be a very happy guy with two girl friends already.

Sirius laughed at Lily's comment. He hadn't meant to bump into her trunk, it just kind of worked out like that.

[Piper Knightly]

"Well, I've always thought I wanted to be in Gryffindor, but you know, I've never really heard all that much about any of the houses except for Gryffindor. I'm sure they'd all be fun. Except for... Slytherin? That's the not-so-nice one, right?"

Piper crossed her legs, slightly embarrassed that she didn't know more. Her and her sister were best friends, but she prefered to find things out on her own, and make her own opinions, so she'd always asked her sister not to give her pre-assumptions of anything at Hogwarts. Maybe she would have been better off more informed.

"Well, wait, how do they tell? What house you should be in? Do we draw from a hat or something?"

[Lily Evans]

Lily smiled at Piper.

"No, you get a hat put on your head and it's meant to help find out what things would make you good for a house and then it decides what house it's going to put you in...it's nothing scary."

She looked around, hearing the sounds of the train getting ready to go.

Finally going to Hogwarts.

It was amazing that she was going to the place she had been dreaming about for months. Ever since she had gotten the letter from a sweet white owl, Hogwarts had been the place for her to go.