The Beginning

Halloween~*Lily*

Halloween

Lily

The Halloween feast was said to be extravagant. It was exactly as Lily expected; heaps and heaps of regal-looking food on the tables, elegant banners decorating the halls, the candles lit ominously...what she didn’t expect was Professor Quirrel running in like a madman, instead of sitting at the teachers’ table.

“TROLL!” He screamed out frightfully. “TROLL! IN THE DUNGEON! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!” his turban waved behind him. he stopped suddenly, and looked at the Headmaster. “Thought you ought to know...” he tried weakly, before passing out onto the floor. There was that beauty of silence that lasted about a few seconds before the room exploded into chaos. Students were screaming, getting out of their seats and running for the exit. Most of them were the Slytherins, while the Gryffindors mostly had a look of panic in their eyes. The older Ravenclaws were standing in their seats, trying to think of a logical explanation for all this chaos, while the younger ones tried to copy their motions. Now, some of the Hufflepuffs were standing in panic and trying to run to the door while the more mature ones tried to keep the first years calm. Lily sat there, finishing her pudding and looking calmly around the mess erupting around her, licking her spoon in delight. “I love pudding,” she said to nobody in particular.

“Everyone please proceed to your house common rooms,” Dumbledore said calmly. “Everyone should remain calm.”

This brought on an outbreak of screaming. “OUR COMMON ROOM IS IN THE DUNGEONS!” screamed a group of Slytherins.

A few Gryffindors laughed at this. “Serves them right,” one said in a low voice. Lily didn’t get it. Gryffindor, Slytherin, they were all the same to her. Now Ravenclaws, they were different but they didn’t very stand out to Lily so she sometimes forgot they were there.

As she filed out of the great hall, Lily noticed two boys running down a hallway, alone. At first she wondered why they were getting away from the crowds and prefects. Oh, they're probably just going to their common room. Lily thought.

She slipped away from the group of Hufflepuffs going back to the common room to follow the boys.  Running down the hallway after them, her blonde hair flew out behind her, her glowing green eyes bright with the sudden desire for action. Wherever she was headed, she sensed excitement and no way was she going to miss that. No matter how grand and beautiful the feast was, it was still very boring.

Actually, this had to be the first excitement since she’d step foot into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The boat ride, boring. The Sorting, a snooze fest. Her classes, she was asleep during the second half of her first.

As she was running her throat caught. Lily stopped abruptly and choked. She started to gag, then reached her hand up to her throat and yanked on the yellow and black tie knotted around her neck. She’d been yelled at by the teacher before when they saw that her tie was untied, hanging loose. Against the school policies, not right for a first year, dressed inappropriately, yadda yadda yadda. So the teacher had personally tied it in a choking knot. Now, tie hanging free and loose, Lily started to run again, following those boys.

She followed them quietly through the twisting turns of the hallways, only to be led into the girls’ toilets. So much for excitement. She was about to turn back but halfway there she heard a scream and a crash. Grunts and yells carried through the halls from the bathroom.

She froze, turned around and jogged back towards the entrance. She snuck her head in and saw sprays of water, almost splashing her face. With a yelp she jumped back, and more slowly this time, poked her head in again.

“Watch out Hermione!” someone shouted. More crashes and screams. Lily couldn’t resist anymore; she stepped into the bathroom, only to almost slip on the water. She grabbed hold of the walls and her eyes widened as she took in the scene. She could see glimpses of Hermione crouched underneath the sinks. Then there were those boys she was following, standing in the middle of the floor...staring up at a  ginormous troll.

A girl with her head screwed on tight would have screamed and fainted. A normal girl would have run right out the bathroom, yelling for a professor. But Lily was not that girl. She stared magnificently at the troll, staring at it in an awed expression, admiring its height. Lily had thought that trolls were disgusting creatures, vile, fat, gruesome. But this, this creature was magnificent! Her eyes followed in awe its arm as it lifted its club high in the air and swung it towards the sinks. Hermione screamed and crawled away.

One of the boys, the redheaded one, lifted up a wooden chunk and rammed it into the troll’s leg. It broke in half. The troll looked down at it as if a fly had landed on it. It lifted its club again, aiming for the boy, but the black haired boy with the green eyes caught it and swung up onto the troll’s head. The troll looked confused.

It shook its head and bounced up and down, but the boy only moved with it. He stuck his wand up the troll’s nose in desperation, but the troll only sneezed, getting snot over it. “Ro-o-o-n! Do-o-o i-i-it!” The redheaded boy whimpered and raised his wand in a trembling hand. “Remember Ron, swish and flick!” She heard Hermione yell.

“W-wingardium Leviosa!” The troll’s ready raised club stayed up in the air while its hand slammed down. It looked up in confusion, and the club swished down onto its head. The troll stood still, then stumbled. Aww poor baby, Lily thought. Before she knew it, it was slanting towards her, foot almost crushing her head. She tried to run away, but slipped on the water and skidded across the floor on her back, stopping only when she’d bumped her head against the water pipes.

For a moment, all she could see was a blur, hear only a buzz. “Do you think she’s alright?” Lily heard someone ask. It sounded like they were right in front of her. She shook her head clear and jumped. Three pairs of huge eyes peered into her. “Hey, are you okay?” the black haired boy asked. His round glasses framed his green eyes, and with his hair swept sideways she could see the tips of his lightning scar.

Harry Potter. She looked from his eyes to the redheaded boy. A Weasley perhaps. Then she looked at Hermione’s brown eyes, then to the troll laying unconscious on the floor. Harry, Weasley, Hermione, troll. Back, back, back, back. The three pairs of eyes turned from the look of caution into a look of concern.

Then Lily did something they probably didn’t expect. She burst out laughing. They jumped back in surprise. She could almost imagine what they were seeing; a girl with drenched clothes and hair, her eyes brilliantly glowing with laughter.