First Meeting on the Train

The train had left the city behind. Outside the windows lay vast stretches of low farmland dotted with small houses.

Rose sat across from Lily Evans, her eyes closed and her head resting against the compartment seat as she pretended to be asleep.

This was the first meeting between Evans, Snape, Potter, and Black. That unpleasant first encounter had laid the foundation for the decades-long feud between the Marauders and Snape.

As someone who was never supposed to exist, she could not be sure whether her involvement would introduce some unknown variables into the future, so she could only avoid contact with the main plot as much as possible. In a little while, Snape would slide open the compartment door and loudly proclaim his love for Slytherin, followed by Potter and Black's mockery and scorn.

But even when the sky outside gradually darkened and the train noticeably slowed, Rose still had not seen Snape arrive.

Lily Evans had stopped crying. Her reddened eyes and nose made her emerald-green eyes look startlingly bright, and Rose noticed James Potter stealing several supposedly indifferent glances at her out of the corner of his eye.

With Snape absent, the atmosphere in the compartment had not become tense.

Potter and Black went from discussing Quidditch to joke products, Exploding Snap, and the Weird Sisters, until they came to the subject of the houses.

"I reckon I'll be in Gryffindor for sure. My whole family was there," Rose heard Potter say, his voice full of pride and excitement. "Where do you think you'll go, mate?"

"My whole family's been in Slytherin," another voice said leisurely. Rose knew it was Black.

"Blimey, and I thought you seemed all right!" Potter said in surprise.

"Isn't Slytherin good?" Rose heard Lily Evans ask in a nasal voice. This time, she had to open her eyes and pretend she had just woken up, sitting straight and twisting her stiff neck a few times.

Hearing what the girl he had been watching all along said, James Potter frowned and asked, "Whoever told you that must be a sneaky, cunning sort. Nobody wants to be there!"

"Exactly, mate." Black nodded solemnly in agreement and patted Potter on the shoulder. "Maybe I'll break my family's tradition and get into Gryffindor!"

Lily Evans looked a little unhappy at Potter's words. She noticed that Rose, who had been sleeping beside her, was now watching them in silence, so she spoke to her.

"Hello, I'm Lily Evans." Lily smiled at Rose and spoke in a friendly voice.

No one who loved the magical world could refuse Lily Evans's friendship.

"Rose Claude," Rose said. "A first-year." She added stiffly, though she felt she had just stated the obvious.

"Do you know which house you'll be sorted into?" Lily Evans asked worriedly. "I'm so worried they might have made a mistake. What if I'm not a witch at all..."

"Nobody could make a mistake about that!" Potter cut in bluntly, looking as though Evans were worrying about something absurd and stupid.

"No. One. Was. Talking. To. You," Evans said angrily. She had already stopped wanting to speak to them when he called Severus sneaky and cunning.

Rose was amused. Even without Snape there, they could still argue because of him.

"Don't worry, Evans. Potter's probably right," Rose said reassuringly. "They both seem to come from wizarding families, so they should at least know what they're talking about on this."

"We know what we're talking about the rest of the time, too," Potter muttered.

"Call me Lily." A little dimple appeared when Lily smiled, making her look even cuter.

"You can call me Rose, too."

The chill of the night made Rose shiver. Seeing this, Lily gripped her cold hand tightly and pulled her along with the crowd.

"First-years, this way-four to a boat!" Rose heard the half-giant Hagrid shout in the distance.

Lily kept pulling her forward until Snape came to stand beside them.

"I don't want to talk to you," Lily said flatly, but she did not want to bring up Petunia again, so she shook her head at Snape.

"I... I wanted to call out to you on the train, but..." Snape frowned and glanced at Rose. Then he said excitedly, "We're finally at Hogwarts."

"Yes, we're finally here." Lily smiled too. With the hand that was not holding Rose's, she pointed at her and introduced her to Snape. "This is Rose Claude. We sat together on the train. Rose, this is Severus Snape. We grew up together."

"Hello." Snape forced the word out of his throat. Clearly, he minded that he was no longer Lily's only friend who "could do magic."

"Hello, Snape," Rose said politely, pretending not to see him repeatedly glancing at her hand in Lily's.

In the end, the three of them shared a boat with another girl, a small girl with her hair in two braids.

The little boat drifted across the pitch-black lake, while the castle towered above them, soaring into the clouds. Its scattered lights cast a hazy halo around it. Rose felt she would never forget the sight before her at that moment. Her eyes ached as though scalding tears might spill from them at any second-Hogwarts, a sight that had once existed only in her dreams, was now real and right before her eyes.