I stood by the door of our new house. My family had just moved from rural England into mid-city London, which was about as much change as I felt I needed for a lifetime. I was in a new home, in a new city, which for all I care seemed like a new country! People even had odd accents unlike ours, more, British.

I looked up from the floor and my feet to see Petunia looking at me oddly. "This was on the doorstep. What is it?" She held a letter up and I snagged it from her hands. "Let's go see!" I said and we turned around and ran up the stairs.

Our small house had two bedrooms and one bathroom. Our parents shared one and Petunia and I shared the other. Boxes were stacked along the hallway wall and in our room, a small rug was the only thing unpacked. We took a seat on the rug and I pulled open the letter.

Ms. Lily Evens

452 West Ave.

London, England

Dear Ms. Evens,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted

At Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please

Find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term Begins on September 1st . We await your owl by no later

Than July 31.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

I looked down at it. "Is it real?" Petunia asked, I shrugged my shoulders and turned the paper over, "Muggleborn? What's that got to mean?" It was Petunia's turn to shrug. "Well what about supplies then, maybe that'll help us." Petunia suggested, I pulled another sheet out of the envelope. "Work robes, pointed black hat, protected gloves, dragon hide or similar? Where do they come up with this stuff?" "We have to go talk to mom! Maybe there's one for me down there too!" Petunia beat me out of the small violet room but I followed her outside onto our porch.

"We've got a witch in the family!" That's all that had been said between my parents all afternoon. They thought it was real, they read my letter and tomorrow they were taking me to an odd place, with a stranger name, Diagon Alley. Petunia sat on the porch all afternoon and after dinner, waiting for her letter. She came in discouraged and mad that night, she didn't even bother to thank me for unpacking all of her makeup and other junk. I spent all afternoon unpacking our room. I was already reading in bed when she came in and slammed the door behind her.

"Why you, you're nothing special! Why not me! I'm older, smarter, I should be the witch not you!" I saw tears emerging from beneath her lowered eyelashes. "That wretched woman, why aren't I going? I deserve it." I think she believed no one could hear her but it was loud and clear in my mind.

I woke up early the next morning, the sun streaming into the window over my bed. I pushed off the blankets and left the room as quietly as possible, I didn't want to wake the Kraken. I crept down the stairs and I pushed open the front door. Stepping out onto the porch I let the cool morning air wash over me, it felt like Petunia had taken all the oxygen out of the room when she cried, leaving me to grasp for it.

I sat on the porch as the sun rose higher in the sky. I was almost about to fall back asleep when a boy with oddly messy black hair and pale skin came out of the house across the street. "Hello!" I called out to him, desperate for someone to talk to. "Hello!" He returned. I stood up as he started to cross the street. "I see you received a letter, will you be attending Hogwarts?" I widened my tired eyes. "How do you know about that?" "Owls, Hogwarts is the only wizarding school to use them. Other schools use falcons, their faster but less reliable. I'm Severus, Severus Snape. Welcome to the World of Magic." "Oh, um, I'm Lily Evens, thank you." I sat back down on the steps and motioned for him to sit down too.

"It takes proof of magic to become accepted, anything odd happen around you lately." "Um, not really, the only 'odd' thing that happens sometimes is when I get mad; the entire room shakes like an earthquake. But nothing moves, we got used to it." "That's magic! You have to come to Hogwarts, we'll both be first years!" "I think my parents already decided I was going, we're going to Dragon Alley later. " "Diagon" I looked at him odd, "Diagon Alley, honest mistake. We could go together, I have money of course, but I don't have a way to get there, and I bet once at 'The Cauldron', your parents won't know how to get through, win-win situation, right?"

"Let's go ask my mum, I heard her come down the stairs." I stood up and moved towards the door; "Come-on Sev," "Sev," He questioned, "Nickname, take it or leave it, let's go!" we entered the house, a ginger in her pajamas and a boy in black robes, it was a sight let me tell you. "Mom, this is Sev, he lives across the street! He's going to Hogwarts too!" "That's great sweetie" she said as she moved around the kitchen with grace, frying eggs and cooking flapjacks. "Can he come with us to Dragon Alley?" "Diagon" "Of course honey, go sit down and have some breakfast, then we'll wake your father and then we'll go. Oh Sev honey you're welcome to eat here, don't worry!" My mother had an odd way of making people feel welcome. I hadn't even noticed that Sev was moving from the door. He moved back over to the table and sat across from me. "This'll be great; we're going to have so much fun Lily, I know it."