Disclaimer, A/N, and All That Jazz
Disclaimer: Sadly (oh, so sadly), I own nothing. This story, the fruit of my hard labor, is barely even mine. The theory, and any recognizable characters, belong to the Goddess (J.K. Rowling), the story belongs, not only to me, but in bit and pieces to fae (The Story of James Potter), all4sirius (A life of 6 a world of friends), ariana (Lily), Deadly Salami (The Original Pranksters)…well, basically everyone on my favorites lists, and…well, me! By the way, read their stories. Oh, and by the way, the Hogwarts letter to follow is copied directly from the book. Please don't shoot me for doing so because I am, right now, giving endless amounts of credit to the Goddess (see note above) and, of course, much gratitude.
A/N: I promise you all that I will follow the books, even if it may not always seem like it. I am, however, quite pained to do so, because *SPOILER FOR THE FIFTH BOOK* I want Lily and James to be friends, Sirius to be happy, Sirius to live…*END SPOILER FOR THE FIFTH BOOK* Also, I won't update just for reviews…you know, no limits or anything, but I do appreciate REVIEWs and definitely don't mind when you REVIEW. That is to say that you do REVIEW, or even read. Also, I love happy, favorable REVIEWs, greatly appreciate constructive criticism, would not recommend flaming me unless you would like a lovely little A/N flaming you right back!
All That Jazz: There really is no all that jazz, but I do love that song, and, of course, the play/movie that it came from.
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The Story of Lily Evans
Chapter 1-How Typical?
Whichever way she thought of it, Lily Evans was a regular girl, nothing special about her. Or so she thought anyway. Sure, she had some weird quirks about her, but even they weren't so unique. Well, she was considered pretty and was definitely smart (not by her sister, but she was like a horse, with the looks and brain included) and had an extremely nice, if not slightly strange, personality. Lily wasn't perfect, though. She wasn't exactly coordinated: she could almost never walk without falling, and her hand-eye coordination was less than zero. Because of this, she always seemed to have problems with any sports that involved aiming, throwing, walking, running…basically, anything on the ground. She could catch, though, as long as she didn't let her feet get in the way.
One early summer evening, three before her eleventh birthday, Lily noticed that she wasn't the typical, boring, not-so-special girl she had always thought she was. Her parents had gone out of town for a week or so the day before, so she was kind of moping. It would be a bad enough birthday stuck with her sister Petunia, who wasn't exactly the world's best sister, but now her parents wouldn't even be there to share her birthday with her. Well, her parents weren't exactly the best parents either. They loved their daughters, but Lily was always a bit of a disappointment, and told her so often (including on all of her birthdays so far), and so they always seemed to favor Petunia. Petunia loved it; she loved being superior to Lily, and showed this whenever possible.
"Lily, get the post!" screamed fifteen-year-old Petunia from her bedroom window, where she was trying to spy on the neighbors, in particular, the rather large, purple seventeen-year-old Vernon Dursley, and happened to see the post van.
Lily sighed as she got up and went to the door. In the letterbox, though, in addition to the various bills and the assortment of boring letters, she was pleasantly shocked to find a letter with her name on it.
This could very well be her first birthday card, which made her pretty happy and lifted her spirits sufficiently. However, upon closer inspection, during which she had managed to smack herself in the forehead with the door, (earning herself some funny looks and a small bit of laughter from her neighbors), she discovered that this was no birthday card; it wasn't even an ordinary letter. It seemed to be written on a weird sort of paper (parchment, maybe?) with a funny sort of wax seal on the back involving an 'H' and assorted animals, and was addressed, in bright green ink to a Miss Lily Evans, Forgotten Bedroom, and then the rest of her address.
Lily often referred to her bedroom as just that, 'the forgotten bedroom" because she was herself the forgotten child. She wasn't exactly the favorite: she wasn't treated specially or paid much attention or anything of the sort.
Lily cautiously opened the letter after a long moment of staring at the seal on the back. It appeared to be some sort of crest, which she tried and failed not to break as she opened the envelope and pulled out the piece of parchment. It proved to have the most unbelievable content of any letter she had ever seen.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRYHeadmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)
Dear Miss Evans,
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 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress"What???" Lily exclaimed. She was sure this was a joke; it just had to be. Suddenly her face turned pallid. What kind of person would do that? Who would be so mean? Her first suspicions, of course, drifted to her darling sister upstairs, but Petunia detested, loathed magic. It just added more to her charm. Her thoughts drifted around the block, but she knew that to be dumb. Everyone on her block was almost as simplistic as her sister when it came to magic.
Her thoughts started drifting. WHO COULD IT BE? Suddenly, she remembered her school, and then chastised herself for it. She was, well, not popular, but she had a temper to match her fiery hair, so no one dared mess with her. Anyway, everyone always knew her to be smart; she was the smartest in her grade and was well known to be, while a little gullible, incredibly sensible. It just couldn't possibly be one of those kids.
Suddenly, Lily's already pale face drained to a shade that would make any albino proud. What if, just what if, it was real? Suddenly, Lily scanned the street in front of her, but if was devoid of any clues. She then let her eyes drift up, anxious for some clue, and then stifled a laugh as she discovered an official and stern looking tawny owl sitting on a lamppost (which was quite strange, weren't they usually out at night?), and a disgruntled neighbour of hers, who was swearing at the bird and wiping the droppings out of his eyes. Chancing a quick look at the street before turning back inside, she saw a most peculiar person a way in the distance. He was a giant man, about 12 feet tall, it seemed, and was carrying a bright pink umbrella. He was honestly at least twice as tall as her dropping-strewn neighbor and about three times as broad. And he was approaching her house.
Lily quickly slammed the door shut. The scream she emitted mingled with Petunia's, who had just noticed this giant, seemed to be loud enough for the giant, who had just seen Lily. Lily quickly retreated to a corner, in hopes not to be noticed, but, of course, that wouldn't work. He knocked quite loudly on the windowpane, popping the glass out where it shattered on the floor. Petunia's eyes suddenly appeared at the top of the steps atop her long, horse like neck. She was eager to spy on this giant.
"Oh, blimey," she heard through the windowpane. "So sorry abou' that. Here, let me fix that for you." He pointed the pink umbrella that had been dangling at his side and pointed it at the glass. It fitted itself back together, though not quite perfectly. Lily, amazed, opened the door to this stranger, eager to meet him. He gently picked up the piece of glass with his hot dog-sized fingers and popped it back into the frame. "There, tha's better."
"Um, excuse me, but who are you?" asked Lily, still frightened although quite amazed with this kindhearted giant.
"Oh, yeah. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, but you can call me Hagrid. It's a bit o' an easier name than Rubeus. And everyone does, anyway," said the man.
Lily just stared rather blankly at him. He cleared his throat, hoping to make a better first impression.
"I'm from Hogwarts, you know. I'm keeper of the keys and grounds." He pulled out a large set of keys from one of his numerous pockets to emphasize this point. Lily noticed that one of them was labeled 'haunted toilet' and giggled in spite of herself.
"Wha'? What's so funny? Oh," he said, tracking her glace. "Well, I'm not lyin'. There's this ghost, Myrtle, her name it, and she haunts this toilet back at Hogwarts."
"Hogwarts. That place from the letter? Just some joke, wasn't it? And what are you doing here?"
"Told you, I come from Hogwarts fer you. You need yer books." Lily's narrowed, and then widened as she chanced a look at her right hand where the letter still lay clenched. What if it truly is a real place? she thought. "And yes, it is a real place, Lily," said Hagrid, chuckling, upon her skeptical glance at the letter in her hand.
Petunia suddenly came pounding down the stairs from her hiding place. "What are you talking about, this Hogwarts being a real place? I don't believe you." She said this quite defiantly, until Hagrid pointed his umbrella at a picture over her head, shattering it. At this point, Petunia shut her mouth and quailed.
"Whoops," Hagrid murmured, paling himself now. "Er, reckon on not telling anyone about tha' will yer, Lily. I can' do magic, legally, anyway. You won' tell, will yer?" Lily smiled a 'your-secret's-safe-with-me' sort of smile. "Good. Now, go on an' get yer supply list out, we need ter get a move on."
Lily had a questioning look on her face, but when she looked back at her letter, she noticed a second piece of parchment, listing all sorts of magical items, wand and caldron included. She suddenly believed him. But she was still questioning. Where could they possibly get all of these things?
Hagrid, who sensed Lily's confusion, said "Oh, yeah. Yer wonderin' where to get all that? Diagon Alley, the main wizarding street. It's righ' near London," he explained. Lily leaped up and out of the door, saying to her sister, "Hey, Petty, do me a favor? Tell, Mum and Dad where I've gone. Oh, wow! I'm really a witch!" She practically flew out of the door.