Disclaimer: You mean Lily and James aren't mine!? What!? This can't be true! *runs around the room pretending to cry, but her brother walks by with his friend behind him and gives her a really weird look.* Right, anyway. I own nothing except this plot line... :'( so sad…Okay, so, on with the story…
A Really Quick Author's Note: Well, I really hope you like this story. I've been writing for more than a year now (started it June 24, 2002), and I've posted it on HarryPotter.com, gave up on that. Now I've come to try fanfiction.net! I really hope you like it. I've poured so much time into it, so much time to perfect it. Although there's probably hundreds more improvements I could make. It's my baby, so when you review, don't be too mean. Thanks for reading! – Elle (a.k.a.: Mountain's Dew)
Chapter 1: The BeginningA red-headed girl, just a normal girl, about 11 years of age, was sitting in the front seat of her mom's new car. She was listening to her favorite song, which was on the radio. They were both on their way home. For the girl, it was from the Summer Basketball Camp, and for her mum, Cindy, it was from work.
Cindy turned off the radio.
"So, sweetie, how was camp?" she questioned.
"Absolutely fabulous, mum! Everybody is looking forward to my party! Patty even said she was going to bring some of her mum's makeup! It's going to be so much fun!"
"I'm sure it will be, darling! In fact…" Cindy made sure the car was steady and turned around. She searched for something in her bag, which was in the back seat.
The girl looked too. She was curious to what her mum was getting out. Neither one of them were paying much attention to the road.
Finally, Cindy found what she was looking for. It was a movie! Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! The movie was new; just released! The girl turned around before her mum, and she screamed.
A car was heading right toward them!
"MUM! WATCH OUT!!!" the girl yelled. Cindy frantically turned around just in time to see a red truck that was heading right toward them.
Cindy grabbed the steering wheel and veered the car in another direction, while also slamming on the car's breaks. They were going to die! But the girl had so much life left! She couldn't die! Cindy quickly took a look at her daughter. Terror and confusion were written all over it. Her usually bright, emerald green eyes were alive with terror. She was screaming. The girl saw memories rushing through her mind. The time she figured out how to ride a bicycle. The time she ran away from home caused by a huge fight between her and her sister. The first day at school. Out of nowhere, came a lamp post.
"MOMMY!" cried the girl.
Many people had now gathered around the accident. Noises. Loud, loud noises were going on. Her head ached, and her body was in awful pain. Stabs of pressure pounded her whole body. Pain cut at her legs and arms. Broken glass from the windshield was all over her body. What was happening? Where was her mother? She was so scared!
The girl felt a tear run down her cheek. It stung. Blood was gathering in her mouth. It tasted awful. She tried to spit some of it, out and it ran down her cheeks and chin.
A man ran up to her, dressed in white. He was carrying a black medical bag. He looked pretty young, and he was tall. He also had blonde hair and blue eyes. Another young man followed him, bringing a gurney with him.
"My mum!" the girl whispered. "Where is my mum?"
"It's going to be alright, sweetie. Everything is going to be just fine," the man assured her.
"My mum!" she repeated.
"What is your name?" the man asked softly, ignoring her question completely. "My name is Charlie. I'm going to help you!"
"Please. Where is she?" The girl groaned in pain as a sharp pang of pain cut her chest. She started to have trouble breathing. Blood was filling her mouth.
Charlie looked over her. Her red hair was tangled and pasted on her face from blood. Minus the blood and cuts, she was fairly pretty, though a little young looking. Charlie looked down the rest of her body. Her arm looked severely broken; as did her legs. She looked in an immense amount of pain. She didn't need to hear about her mother's condition, since hers was poor enough.
"Sweetie, what is your name?"
The girl coughed, spitting up blood. It was getting harder and harder to breathe for her. Her lungs felt heavy, and she was feeling weak and dizzy. Her eyes drifted shut for a second.
What had he just said? It had been slurred. She thought he asked for her name.
"Lily," she whispered hoarsely. She coughed again. "Lily Evans."
That was the last thing the girl said before she drifted into darkness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Beep, Beep, Beep; the heart monitor kept a steady beat. The noise hurt her ears however. It made her head ache.
"Doctor!" someone shrieked. A male voice. "Lily's conscious!"
This too hurt her ears.
Lily felt someone check her pulse.
"Nice and strong!" whispered another male voice. "Lily, could you open your eyes?"
Lily cracked her eyes open ever so slightly, ensuring the doctor she had heard.
Bright light pierced her eyes, and she quickly shut them. Slowly, she opened them again.
"Good, good! Lily, can you tell me what happened?"
Lily checked her surroundings. There were four people in the room with her – her father, her sister, the doctor, and a priest. Her father, a fairly old man, was examining her with his soft, old gray eyes, which were starting to water.
'Oh father!' Lily thought. 'Don't cry!'
She shifted her eyes to her sister, who was sitting down in a chair in the corner casting glares in her direction. How awful she was! Lily had almost died, and Petunia sat in the corner being jealous, or so it seemed. Petunia was a spoiled older sister. Her boyfriend, Vernon Dursely, was an extremely ugly boy, probably the best she could get.
Lily skipped over the doctor, who was an old, wrinkly man, and the priest, who was a middle-aged man.
"Where is my mum?" she asked.
After a few moments of silence, the doctor spoke.
"You're mother is doing well, Lily. She's in recovery. She had surgery."
Lily laid her eyes back to the doctor as he said this.
"Oh…" was all she could manage.
"Yes…now, do you remember anything that happened?"
"Well…I was on my way home from basketball and we were talking about the party. Mum turned around and started looking for something, and I looked back too. We…weren't looking at the road…then she found what she was looking for. It was a movie: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I turned around before she did…I saw the truck. That's all I remember." Tears were starting to well in Lily's eyes.
"It's ok, sweetie," her father, John, soothed.
"Excuse me, doctor, Mr. Evans, visiting hours are over," a nurse said from the hallway.
"Ok, Mary-Ellen," the doctor replied. "Well, John, I'll see you tomorrow. We'll take care of her here,"
"But she just woke up!"
"Yes, I know, John, but you must leave. Don't worry, she won't go anywhere over night. Her health is steadily improving. She'll be fine!"
"Oh ok. Fine. Thank you Dr. Carlson. Thank you so much! Lily! I'll see you tomorrow. I love you so much! I'll see you tomorrow!"
"I love you too, daddy! Bye!"
Everyone walked out.
Lily slumped back down into her bed and fell into a deep slumber.
Lily was released from the hospital the next week, along with her mum. Everything was going smoothly. People she knew did treat her different, though. That was no big deal. She liked the attention.
Weeks later, on a Saturday morning, Lily was desperately looking around her room for a mysteriously missing sock. She was searching between her desk and the wall, when she found a letter on the floor. It had been wedged between them.
A letter. Why was a letter there? Lily examined the envelope. On the front. It said her name. The envelope was thick and seemed to be made out of parchment.
'Parchment? No one uses that anymore!' Lily thought. Lily turned the letter around to the back. A wax seal was keeping it closed. On the seal was some type of coat-of-arms. It had a lion, snake, badger, and an eagle. The lettering on it read Hogwarts. What was this?!
Lily broke the seal and opened the letter. It read:
Dear Miss Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed the list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later then July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Gladys Grays
Deputy Headmistress
Lily froze in her spot and stopped breathing.
A witch? Her? Lily Evans? A witch? This must be some cruel joke! Very cruel! A joke her sister would play!
"Petunia!!" Lily bellowed. "I'm going to hurt you! What kind of joke is this supposed to be!?" Lily asked running down the stairs into the kitchen.
"What are you talking about? Mum! Lily's gone mad!"
"I have not! Petunia! Don't play dumb! You know what I'm talking about!" Lily shoved the letter in Petunia's face.
"What is it?" Lily asked.
Petunia read it.
"Mum! Lily has gone mad!"
"Have not! Petunia! If you didn't write this letter, then who did?"
"I don't know…but if it is true, stay five feet away from me!"
"Mum? Do you think this is true?" Lily asked her mum, who was walking into the kitchen.
"Do I think what is true?" she asked back.
"This." Lily handed her mum the letter.
Her mum read it.
"Oh…Lily…it's absolutely true! I never would have guessed this would happen to a daughter of mine! My aunt was one. When she would visit us, she would do magic! It was amazing at what she could do! Do you want to go to this school?"
"Well…"
"So it is true?!?" Petunia asked.
"Yes, absolutely! Lily, why don't you think about it?" her mother suggested.
"Ok…I will…Mum, Patty is supposed to come over, and I can't find this other sock!"
Her mother laughed.
"Lily, Lily, Lily…what am I going to do with you?" she asked, leading Lily into her room to find the lost sock.
"Come on, Patty! Let's play basketball!" Lily said, dragging Patty outside.
"Lily! The season ended! It's been a month since! Why do you still want to play?"
"I love basketball!" Lily stated.
"But can you play…your leg is broken…"
"Fine, we can shoot baskets, but come on!"
They went outside.
"She shoots…she scores! Lily Evans is the next star basketball player!"
"Oh, you wish! Come on, let's get back to playing!" Patty said.
Petunia and Vernon came out at that moment.
"What do you want?" Lily asked snottily.
"Like we were going even talk to you?! We're just passing by."
"Fine. Go away then!" Lily demanded.
"Well…no…I don't think so. We're going to stay here!"
"We were here first!" Lily proclaimed.
A smirk came across Petunia's face.
"What are you smirking about?"
"Oh, nothing! Go away!"
"We were here first!" Lily repeated in frustration.
"Do you remember this morning?" Petunia asked.
Lily felt herself go pale.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Oh, would I?"
"Petunia! That's not fair!"
"Sure it is! Now, leave before I tell!"
Lily gave Petunia an angry look.
"Come on, Patty! Let's go inside!" Lily surrendered.
Lily threw the ball to Petunia really fast and walked off.
"Ouch! I broke a nail!" Lily heard Petunia complain.
"What was that about?" Patty asked, walking up behind her.
"It was nothing! Let's watch a movie!"
"Ok? I…I brought Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. If you want to see it…" Patty asked carefully, unsure of what Lily's reaction would be.
The memory of pain came back to Lily in a flash. The sound of windows crashing and metal bending sent a shiver down her back. She nodded with dignity and said,
"Let's watch it!"
"That was excellent!" Patty exclaimed. The movie had just ended.
"Yeah, it was. The Wonka guy was kind of freaky though. But, we should go and put on makeup now. Let's get my mum! She can give us tips!"
"Ok!" They went to Cindy, Lily's mum.
"Mum, can you give us makeup tips?" Lily asked, watching her mum fold laundry.
"Sure, sweetie, I'd love too! Go get your makeup, and then we'll get started!" Cindy told them.
~ James ~
James Potter lay on his bed in his room. He was tired from the party last night. So much had happened. Yes, it had been his eleventh birthday. All of his friends had come over yesterday. They had met up with Joan Periwinkle, a professional Quidditch player. They played Quidditch with him and learned new moves and techniques. James was going to try out for Quidditch as a Chaser when he was in his second year.
After meeting with Joan, his parents threw a party. Basically, everybody he knew was invited, including Samantha Fresta. He had a crush on her. She was so pretty and nice. Well, nice was questionable, but saying that she wasn't good looking was practically a sin! She had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her skin was so soft. It seemed like every boy liked her. James was sure no one was prettier than she was.
James sighed and rolled off his bed when a tap came onto his window.
He opened his window and let the owl fly in. Yes, it was an owl. Since James was a wizard, that was what was used for post. It was called Owl Post.
James took the letter. It was his acceptance letter from Hogwarts. He wondered why it hadn't come the day before, on his birthday. At least he had gotten it!
James ripped open the letter and read it. He was a wizard. No surprise, but still the thought of it made him proud. He was of pure-blood too. There was no muggle-blood in his family. The Potter family was very prestigious…and rich. Many Ministers of Magic had come through the family. In fact, his grand-dad was the current one.
James tossed his acceptance letter on his desk and got dressed.
"Mum! My letter came today," James said casually walking into the massive kitchen.
"That's great, James! Laura! Can you please get the milk out?"
"Sure," Laura replied.
Laura Potter was James' older sister. She was just a year older then he was. She was at Hogwarts already. James' other sister, Angel, was five years old. James' mother, Destiny, was a fairly short and plump woman. She was nice though. And very pretty. His father, Simon Potter worked at the ministry. He was going to become Minister of Magic as soon as his father was done serving.
"When are we going to go shopping?" James asked.
"Not until the end of the summer. We don't want to loose anything, do we?"
"No…but do I have to wait that long?"
"Yes. James, please don't complain. It's been so hectic around here lately! With this Voldemort Lord gaining power, the Ministry has been stressed. You'll just have to wait!"
"Fine mum!" James gave in.
James sat down in a chair and started eating his breakfast.
~ Lily ~
Lily sat outside on the swing in the Evans' front yard. She was deciding if she wanted to go to Hogwarts or not. She was completely unsure of what to do. Should she go and try something new; forget about her life here? Or should she stay at home and miss an opportunity of a life-time? Her decision was leaning toward going to Hogwarts, but she wasn't sure. She didn't want to leave Patty and her parents behind.
Lily jumped as someone walked up behind her. She turned around and found herself face-to-face with someone she had totally forgotten about.
"Charlie???" Lily asked incredulously.
"It's me, Lily! How are you?"
"How…what…how did you find out where I live?" she asked.
"I have my ways!" Charlie laughed. His laugh was cute. Everything about him was cute: his blonde hair, his blue eyes. It was all irresistible.
"So, may I sit down?"
"Oh…yeah! Sure. Go ahead. I was just thinking about something."
"Oh. So…how are you?"
"I'm doing well. It still hurts to think about…you know. My arm is going along fine…as with my leg…" Lily held up her arm and pointed to her leg. They had both been broken.
"That's good to hear, Lily."
"Yeah…so, umm…what's your name?"
"You know my name!"
They laughed.
"Yeah, but…I meant your last name!"
"Oh, ok…well…I'm Charlie Cross. And you're Lily Evans."
"Correct."
An awkward silence passed between the two for a minute. At the same time, they both started to say something.
"What did you -
"I just wanted to-"
"Oh," they both said. Lily laughed and Charlie joined her.
"Yeah…well…Lily…I just wanted to make sure that you were alright. When I saw the car and you laying some five feet away from it…that was the realest thing I had ever witnessed. Usually I get called for little things…but…I saw you and tried to help. Your whole body was messed up from the accident. I didn't really know what to do. They never trained us for that intense of a thing, you know, but I tried to keep you calm. I knew the pain was immense…I'm sorry about it…" Charlie took her hand.
His hand was rough and used. Hers was soft and hardly worn. She wondered how old Charlie was.
"Thank you…" Lily whispered. "Thank you so much! You were so nice. You helped me get through it…"
"Charlie ever-so-slowly inched his face toward hers.
Lily knew what was about to happen: she was going to get kissed.
Lily leaned forward too.
Their lips met. It was not just a simple kiss, it was much more serious.
Lily had no idea what to do. She had never kissed someone like this before. When was she supposed to pull away?
Charlie pulled away first.
"How old are you?" he asked softly.
Lily couldn't read his expression. She couldn't tell if he had liked the kiss or not. And the tone of his voice didn't help. He asked it plainly. No emotion. Just a question.
"I'm…how old are you?"
Charlie laughed.
"I'm sixteen. How old are you?"
'Oh no!' Lily thought. 'I can't tell him I'm eleven! Would he buy twelve? Thirteen maybe?'
Lily quickly looked down over her body.
'No, he would never buy it. I just turned eleven in July. I don't look any older. I'll just have to tell him the truth…'
"I'm…I'm eleven," Lily confessed.
Charlie jumped back.
"Oh my God…no way! I just kissed…an…an eleven year old??"
Lily dreadfully nodded.
"Shit!" he whispered. "Oops, sorry…"
"It's ok. I curse too."
"Oh. Yeah….I have to go."
"No, Charlie! Wait!"
"You're eleven though! I can't like an eleven year old! There's a five year difference!"
"So?"
"So?! Just…no! I'm sorry, Lily, but no. Not going to happen. I just can't!"
"Can we be…friends?"
"Well…umm…sure….I guess…."
"Ok! Can you stop over tomorrow?
"Umm…maybe…bye then."
Charlie walked away quickly.
Lily sighed and shut her eyes. Another relationship ruined. Though, it wasn't really a relationship, it could have developed into one…
"No use in staying here!" Lily muttered. "I'm going to Hogwarts!"
