The Crying Lily

For the rest of August, Miss Elena treated her almost as if she were invisible.

Rose's whole body was filled with an unprecedented energy. She went out eagerly looking for work during the day, and when she returned to her little bed at night, she read A History of Magic for a while—but after a few attempts, she replaced it with Newt Scamander's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, even though A History of Magic gave her the best sleep she'd ever had.

Every day, Laughing Becky pressed her about where she was going to school, begging Rose with an envious look to tell her a little about it—they all thought Rose was going to a private girls' school in Nottinghamshire in September. It was expensive, but Rose had been granted admission.

Alice had almost completely stopped speaking to Rose. She had asked Rose repeatedly how she had managed to get in, but Rose could only say vaguely that she wasn't very sure herself. Rose knew that every girl at the workhouse worked herself to the bone because she longed to go to school.

She felt a little guilty, as though she had betrayed the girls—she hadn't worked hard, and she had even talked back to Mr. Johnson.

Marge, the oldest girl, quickly noticed her low spirits and patiently comforted her for a long time.

Soon, with Marge's encouragement, that little bit of guilt gave way to excitement, and Rose began taking stock of her possessions-apart from the things on the list that Professor McGonagall had taken her to buy in Diagon Alley, all she had left were a few outfits washed until they had faded and a few thin rolls of parchment. Even with her textbooks, old cauldron, and the like, they wouldn't fill half her large suitcase.

Rose felt her empty pockets. She couldn't even produce a single Galleon now.

I won't need to spend much once I get to school, Rose reassured herself optimistically. Perhaps she could also ask Professor McGonagall if she could help out in the library or the Hospital Wing.

Before long, the morning of September 1 arrived.

After saying goodbye to her friends at the workhouse (Alice, incidentally, was speaking to Rose again, because Rose had promised to write to her as soon as she started school), Rose took the Underground to King's Cross Station alone.

She carried a heavy suitcase in one hand and clutched her ticket tightly in the other. The ticket listed the platform where she was to board the Hogwarts Express.

The station was busy as eleven o'clock approached. After Rose had been forced to turn sideways to let a fourth person rushing past get by, she finally reached the space between the enormous plastic signs marked 9 and 10. The palm of the hand gripping her suitcase handle was already slick with sweat.

Rose held it tightly, as though that could give her enough courage, then closed her eyes and jogged forward—a whistle sounded, and she grinned at the scarlet steam train before her. A sign on the train read: Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock.

Thick smoke curled above the bustling crowd as Rose carried her suitcase forward. At this moment, her heart felt fuller than ever before.

Platform Nine and Three-Quarters was packed with parents and students, and several cats were weaving about on the ground.

"Freak-"

The familiar word made Rose turn instinctively. She saw a girl with a deathly pale face spit angrily at another girl with red hair, then turn and run away.

Lily Evans.

It was 1971, so she was starting school in the same year as the Marauders.

Rose turned and pretended to glance casually in Lily Evans's direction. She saw a sallow-faced, black-haired boy standing beside Evans. He was so thin that even wrapped in his baggy old robes, he seemed to leave them hanging empty.

That had to be Severus Snape.

Rose had always liked the character.

Snape was powerful, devoted to one person, and a Potions genius. Rose had been very fond of the character when she read the original books.

The much younger version of the Potions Professor struck Rose as quite a novelty, and she couldn't resist trying to listen to their conversation.

"She's only a Muggle, she-" Snape said in a contemptuous tone.

Evans could no longer hold back her tears, and they spilled from her eyes. She looked at Snape angrily, as though she didn't want to say another word to him. Rose watched her pick up her suitcase, knock hard into Snape's shoulder, and climb aboard the train alone.

Rose put aside her idle curiosity. She didn't look again at Snape, who had been left standing there, and resolved not to get involved in anything concerning the main characters—she had decided long ago that after graduating, she could find a job in the Wizarding World or the Muggle World, then return to China once she had earned enough money.

She really had had enough of Britain's food and weather.

Because she had wasted so much time on the Underground and the platform, Rose discovered only after boarding that nearly every compartment was packed. The older students sat in groups, chattering as they shared stories of their summer holidays.

She even saw a few tall boys holding oddly colored sweets, playfully feeding them to their friends, then cheerfully watching them make faces as though they were going to vomit.

Rose squeezed through the crowd and finally found a fairly empty compartment near the back of the train. She peered through the compartment window and saw Lily Evans curled up in the seat by the window, her face pressed against the glass.

"Excuse me, may I sit here?" Rose settled for the only empty seat.

Lily Evans rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand—she had been crying the whole time—and gave her a distracted nod before turning her head back to look out of the window.

Rose silently pulled her suitcase into the compartment, put it away, and sat on the side farther from her.

A whistle sounded, and the train started moving.

The compartment door slid open, and several first-year boys stood in the doorway, dragging their suitcases.

"They're all full, so we'll just have to squeeze in with them-hey, can you move over there? Sit with her." The boy leading them spoke in a loud voice that filled the compartment. Rose saw him jerk his chin toward Lily Evans, his messy black hair bouncing twice with the movement.