Written for The Last Poison Apple

The Importance of Friendship

"Lily, are you ready, dear?"

"Almost," Lily answered, ignoring her trembling hands as she placed the final book in her trunk. Everything was packed neatly – some of it was Lily's doing, some of it her mother's. She was ready to leave, but she didn't want to go.

She was terrified.

Her mother appeared in her room, clutching a camera and wearing a kind smile. "Oh, this is so exciting, isn't it? You, going off to a magic school."

Lily shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"Can I get a photo of you before you leave?"

"Yeah, okay." Lily posed for the photo, but she had to force a smile; she had to pretend to be happy. What was so exciting about an eleven year old girl going away to boarding school? Even if she could do magic there and she wouldn't be called a freak and she already had a friend?

"We're all going to miss you, Lily," her mother continued, oblivious to her daughter's uncertainty. "Our daughter can do magic. Who would have thought it?"

Certainly not me, Lily thought as she stood her trunk up against her wall. She'd always been able to do things Petunia or her school friends couldn't, but – for her friends at least – it had made her quite popular. Her friends had wanted to see her turn a leaf into a flower.

"We better go soon, Lily. We wouldn't want you to miss your train." Lily nodded and slung her backpack over her shoulders. Her mother took her trunk and together, they made their way through the house to where her father was waiting for them. He was jangling his keys in front of him, looking bored, but smiled when Lily appeared.

"All ready?" he asked.

Lily nodded again. "Yes," she replied weakly.

Her mother placed an arm across her shoulders. "Now, I know you're scared," she said soothingly. "But everything will be okay. That nice lady came a few months ago, remember, telling you all about the school. And you have that friend of yours who has been telling you things as well, hasn't he?"

"Severus," Lily said, nodding. "Yeah." If it hadn't been for Severus telling her she was normal, she really would have considered herself a freak. And it made her feel better knowing that she was going to a strange place, knowing somebody.

"He seems to think it's okay, doesn't he?"

"I guess," Lily said. "But his mum went there too. I don't know anyone who's been there before."

Her mother gave her a gentle squeeze. "Well, you can come home if you don't like it there," she promised. "Just call us and we'll come to get you."

"Mum, they don't have telephones there," Lily giggled. "Severus didn't even know what a telephone was."

"Well, how do they expect us to keep in contact with you?" her mother questioned, for the first time seeming slightly worried about sending her daughter to some place far away.

"By letter," Lily explained. "Severus said they send letters by owls."

"Owls?"

Lily nodded, her mood brightening slightly at the thought. There was so much she could learn at this school. She could learn to control her magic so Petunia wouldn't get upset and she could learn about things that Severus already knew so they could do them together.

"I guess it's not going to be so bad," she said to her parents.

There was a sniff from the corner. Petunia. Lily hadn't even seen her there.

"You can come next year," she assured the younger girl.

Petunia shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "That Mr Dumbel-door told me I wouldn't be."

"Now, now, Petunia, we've already been through this," their mother said. "You can't get upset over it."

Petunia gave another sniff, but remained silent. As her father was locking up the house, ready for the ride to King's Cross station, Lily pulled her sister aside.

"Don't worry," she said, making sure to keep her voice low so as not to be overheard by their parents. "I will talk to Professor Dumbledore when I get to Hogwarts and ask if he can let you in. Maybe if I talk to him face to face, he will change his mind."

Petunia's face brightened. "Really?" she asked.

"Yes. It would be cool for you to come too."

Petunia smiled. "Thank you," she said.

Lily returned the smile and then climbed into the backseat of the family car. Since clearing the air with Petunia, the trip was a lot more enjoyable. It was a fairly short journey from where they lived to King's Cross and by the time her father pulled up in front of the station, Lily's mood had certainly changed.

She was still terrified about the prospect of going so far away from her family, but as she made her way through the crowd with her trunk and cat in the trolley, she was beginning to relax. She began wondering what she would learn. She had bought a wand. Would she get to use it? She had spent some time reading the books she had bought from Diagon Alley and had even attempted a few of the spells. They hadn't really worked all that well. And then some man in fancy robes had come to tell her she wasn't allowed to do any magic unless she was at Hogwarts.

"I think this is it, Mum," she said, stopping in front of a brick wall with nine and ten on either side.

"O-okay." This part had always been the part her parents were worried about. Running through a brick wall...

"Professor McGonagall said it would be okay," Lily assured her. "I'll go first." She didn't even hesitate (after all, running at a brick wall was a bit foolish). She simply ran up to it, thinking any moment she would crash, and then she was through.

A large, steaming engine greeted her, blowing smoke into her face. Lily beamed. The Hogwarts Express.

"See, Mum?" She turned around, but she was staring at a blank wall. "Mum?"

"Trunks on the train!"

"I'm waiting for my parents," Lily told the man who had approached her.

"The train is leaving in a few minutes, love. They better hurry."

Lily nodded, looking around for her parents. Where were they? Couldn't they get through? Professor McGonagall had assured them they would be able to.

"Hi."

Lily almost jumped out of her skin at the new voice.

"Don't do that to me, Sev," she accused.

"Sorry."

"Have you put your things on the train yet?" she asked her friend.

Severus nodded. "Yeah. You better hurry, though."

"I'm waiting for my parents," Lily said.

"Why?"

"To say goodbye to them."

Severus's expression stayed the same the whole time. "Okay then, but hurry." He vanished into the crowd and the next time Lily faced the wall, her parents, Petunia and Professor McGonagall were stepping through.

Her mother's eyes were wide with fear as she turned around and faced the now solid wall again. Her cheeks were flushed with fright. "Oh, goodness," she said.

A whistle sounded from the train.

"That's a five minute warning," McGonagall said, and she, too, disappeared.

"Well, this is it, then," Lily's mother said, sounding sad for the first time.

"I'll be home soon, Mum," Lily promised. "And I can show you what I've learnt."

"Don't forget to talk to that Mr Dumbel-door," Petunia reminded her as she gave her younger sister a hug goodbye.

"I won't," Lily assured her. "We can ride on the train together next year."

"Don't forget to write to us, Lily," her mother called after her as she made her way towards the train.

"I won't," Lily called back, giving a final wave to her family.

Her mum looked sad to be seeing her daughter leave, where as her dad looked proud.

Their daughter; a witch. It didn't really sound like something he should have been proud of.

Petunia had returned to her sulky, sombre mood as she stood by and watched everyone board the train. Severus met her at the door.

"I've got us a seat," he said.

Lily nodded, acknowledging that she had heard, but didn't say anything. She waved to her family from the window until they were only specks in the distance. When she could no longer see them, she finally turned to Severus.

"It's sad, leaving your family, isn't it?" she asked.

Severus shrugged. "Not really. Now, come on. I have us a compartment."

Lily smiled as she followed him through the train. She was excited for this. And also terrified. But she knew she'd be okay. She was one step ahead of everyone else. She already had a friend.

This was written for The Last Poison Apple, who has done the wonderful job of running the Christmas Fic Exchange over at HPFC. A bunch of us participants have decided the write her some fics too, as she wasn't getting anything in the exchange. So, The Last Poison Apple, I hope you like it :) I couldn't really work with any of her favourite pairings, unfortunately (it just wasn't happening for me) so I wrote more of a friendship piece instead. I hope that's okay.

And, on a completely different note, if you go onto my profile, you will see I am participating in a year of gift-giving. Meaning, I am writing a fic for someone once a month. I have four months left. I am accepting absolutely anyone, so if you would like me to write a fic for you, please PM me with your favourite pairings, any prompts and the month you would like. It's first in, best dressed, so the next four people to PM me will be the ones who are added to the list.

Please leave a review. Especially if you favourite it :)