Rushed fic is rushed.
R & R.
Enjoy~!
1.
Lily Marie Evans has always been a peculiar child.
She even admits it herself.
At first glance, you wouldn't see it; yet it's those little things that happen behind closed doors that gives it away. After all, when you look at her, all anyone would see would be a curious, precocious little girl with flaming red hair and the brightest green eyes.
Strangely, no one commented on how she seemed… older, whenever they look into her eyes.
The little girl with the too old eyes, some people would say whenever they think the Evans family wasn't listening. Her older sister, Petunia, wasn't; but her parents surely were. She knew it irked them that people were talking about their youngest behind her back, but Lily secretly agreed with them, even though she didn't understand what's going on.
I mean, how could she explain that she once levitated her bedside table to them? Certainly, they would be mind-boggled. It was already difficult dumbing herself down when she thinks and acts like a fully-grown adult. Worst case scenario, they send her to a psychiatrist and they diagnose her as 'loony'.
Something in her bristles in discomfort from the thought of it.
Her peculiarity doesn't just end there, because of course, she wasn't weird enough for the universe's standards.
Whenever she had these bouts of… magic — because what else would it be? Definitely not the devil because she doesn't burn when they attend mass every Sunday — her eyes flash gold for a moment.
And every night, she dreamt of a man who can't be moved.
How oddly poetic, Lily would often think. But she could not come up with any other words to describe what she saw. There was a man who couldn't be moved from his spot. He was simply there; greying hair, matching long beard, and all. And she can't help but think that she knew this man. She should have known him better than anyone else.
In her dreams, he does nothing but stare at an eerily familiar lake, standing there alone. She didn't know why, but her heart clenched whenever she saw him. It was simply too sad to look at, yet she couldn't avert her eyes from him.
Sometimes, he would speak, though that was far and few in-between. However, when he does, he always said the same thing over and over— "When will you be back, Arthur?"
Subsequently, something in the back of her mind would say, "You shouldn't remember," and she would wake from her dream.
2.
She never told Severus this: the first time they met, despite the initial wariness of meeting a stranger, she instantly felt a connection with him. And she could see he did, too, without realizing it.
It's not just the magic, although that did kind of cement their friendship. There was just something nostalgic about him. The quick-witted sarcastic humor he had going for himself didn't help, either.
In fact, it simply drew her closer to him. It felt right, the two of them being friends and bonding over their magic. It was as if that she was finally correcting her mistakes and doing what she should have done a long time ago.
Lily didn't know why.
There were so many things she didn't know, and as her life went on, the mystery kept growing deeper and deeper and the unanswered questions keep piling up in the back of her mind.
She had a bad feeling about all of it. Lily was aware that she knew the answers by heart; it's only her memory that's failing her.
And when they got their Hogwarts letters on their respective birthdays, something inside her leapt in joy— that everything was going as it should. But Lily also had that hidden worry that something, sometime, will go awfully wrong.
The man in her dreams started to change, too. He spoke more often, and it wasn't the same things, either. He spoke of friends that he failed, of his past mistakes that he should never have committed, and that someday, he hoped not to repeat those actions.
She hoped that her friendship with Severus would not suffer the same Fate.
3.
"I'm so tired. Until when would I be here, Freya?"
A feminine voice answered, but she could not make out who it was.
"Maybe… it wouldn't hurt to try. Just this one time, then I'll never do something like this again."
Another reply from the same voice remained unintelligible to her, but she thinks she kind of got what they were speaking of. They were probably talking about this 'Arthur' person the odd man kept muttering about.
In a burst of golden light, the old man disappeared. In his place, a tiny, bluish orb of light came into existence and floated towards the lake. The waters swirled and swirled until a transparent silhouette rose from the lake. It was a woman, and was probably the same voice she heared earlier.
The lake woman stretched out her hand and the tiny orb drifted to her hand. And then…
And then, she couldn't remember what happened next.
Lily didn't completely understand, but she did know one thing about the man; he didn't want to spend the rest of his life waiting any longer.
4.
Lily didn't know what to make of the Hogwarts castle.
Sure, it was magical and mysterious and definitely awe-inspiring, but it all seemed normal to her; like it was nothing new. And at the same time, it elated her; like it was a missing part of her life that she was recently reacquainted with.
But surely she would be aware when she encountered numerous feats of magic some time in her life, right?
"Evans, Lily!" Professor McGonagall called out.
The young red-haired girl took a deep breath and exhaled before walking down the aisle. She perched on the chair and the quite ratty singing hat was placed on her head, blocking her view of the students who stared at her as her sorting began.
"Oh, what do we have here?" A voice echoed in her head that she supposed was the Sorting Hat. "My! It's been a while since I've seen you, old friend. How goes the waiting for the king? I hope you haven't been lonely since Godric and the others have passed."
Old friend? What do you mean? Lily inquired. She didn't understand. What was the hat going on about? And Godric? She was pretty sure that's the name of one of the founders she learned from Hogwarts, A History.
"You don't remember? Surely, you jest!"The hat exclaimed. "Hmm, let's see… ah! So that's why you— no, nevermind, child. It is sad to see that we cannot talk for old time's sake but I am certain we can reconnect some other time."
Can you please go on with the sorting? She was thoroughly confused by the hat and no longer wanted to listen lest she be more befuddled by the hat's ambiguous chatter. Lily vaguely remembered Severus's favoured House. May I be sorted in Slytherin?
"Slytherin? Well, I suppose I can see why you would want to go to your old House and you would definitely fit there, albeit with a slight difficulty in connecting with your future peers, but when has something like that ever stopped you?" The hat mused. "Then again, you're not the same as you were all those years ago."
Lily impatiently tapped her foot as the hat made its assessment. "Wit and love for learning new things, I see… yes, the thirst to prove yourself hasn't gone away. Despite your bravery, you are still quite reckless, hm? And throughout the years, waiting for the king with unwavering loyalty should be given merit, no?"
Slytherin, She intoned. I would like to be in Slytherin with Severus Snape.
"Sorting doesn't work like that. Although, based on your memories, your friend has a decent chance of ending up there and you do belong in Slytherin," It said. "But don't you think it's time for a change of pace? Besides, I'd reckon it would do all of us a lot of good if someone from another House is friends with a Slytherin."
So what's the verdict?
"I think it's about time we rekindle the broken bonds between the two Houses anyways. Better be GRYFFINDOR!"
As she walked towards the table of the cheering students in red and gold, Lily pretended not to see the disappointed expression on Severus's face.
5.
If there was something Lily loved more than learning about magic itself, it was Charms.
Yes, she excelled in the other subjects and she did have a knack for potions, although not as great as Severus's great talent for it. On the other hand, Charms came natural to her, like breathing. It was also the aspect of her studies that was the closest to the muggle interpretation of magic, which was another plus.
Professor Flitwick was so impressed by her prowess in Charms that he often joked that she could be the next Prince of Enchanters, or well, Princess in her case. Something about the title made her feel like it rightfully belonged to her, no matter how much it made her feel flustered being dubbed with such a grand moniker. Well, being oddly close to the professor as if he was a father figure of some sorts did add to the issue, but that's beside the point.
(To be honest, Lily successfully performed wandless magic, especially wandless Charm spells, but the Wizarding World seemed to be almost completely reliant on wands and she really didn't want to be the odd one out so she never showed it to anyone.)
And at times, when she gazed at the spells in her textbooks, something in her itched to… claim them, per se; as if she created them, which she was pretty damn sure that it's just her imagination. There was no way she could have invented any of those.
Not only that, it was only her whose eyes flashed whenever she executed a spell (not that anyone else noticed). When first learning about the Wizarding World, she figured it was not a rare occurence (based on Sev's own feats of magic) but it was not so common, either. However, it doesn't seem to be the case after seeing everyone else in Hogwarts. Heck, not even the Headmaster or Professor McGonagall had it!
(She never did get to tell Severus about her eyes.)
6.
James Potter was a toerag, Lily was sure of that.
Not only was he rude back at the Hogwarts train (well, Sev wasn't all that polite towards them, either, but Potter didn't have to antagonize Sev about his choice of House no matter how distasteful the Slytherin students seemed to be), but he was aggravating, annoying, and irritatingly arrogant.
Something about him also rubbed her the wrong way.
(Sometimes, she could see a golden-haired man smiling the exact same way Potter did in her mind.)
Unfortunately for her, he tends to stick around. And ask her out on a date every time they crossed paths. Didn't he see she was not interested? Certainly he wasn't that thick, seeing as he (begrudgingly) excelled in his studies despite goofing off to do who-knows-what with his merry band of pranksters (and that includes Remus, no matter how much of a quiet goody two-shoes he was. Sirius's penchant for flirting, playing hooky, and liking liquor also struck a nerve in a completely different way, though that's a thought for another time).
As much as she'd loathe to admit it, spending time with Potter felt right, in all sense of the word. It wasn't like her solid feeling of kinship and friendship with Severus, nor was it like any of her friendships with her fellow Gryffindors. It seemed more—
Which was just awful, because that didn't erase the fact that Potter was a toerag and immature and a bully (especially towards Severus) and that he grated on her nerves.
It was a strange experience.
(Lily ignored the slight twinge in her heart whenever she thought of him.)
7.
Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus.
What kind of proverb was that, anyway? It sounded too silly to her, as if it was thought up on a whim and they just couldn't think of anything else.
It honestly made her want to laugh like the school motto was an inside joke.
And why a dragon exactly? They didn't even have a House represented by a dragon — Pendragon, her mind supplied — so it didn't make any sense. Was there something that she missed? Were dragons greatly revered in the Wizarding World?
Of course that had nothing to do with the fact that she almost named her owl Kilgharrah or Aithusa (Fitting names for a dragon, she often mused) instead of his current name, Archimedes, from the movie (her eye often twitched at the sight of the old wizard Merlin and the boy king Arthur).
It also didn't have anything to do with any strange feeling of kinship towards a race of flying overgrown fire-breathing lizards. Nope, not at all. No-siree, they were completely unrelated—
Oh, who was she kidding? She dreamt of herself bringing a sword to a dragon for Merlin's sake! (And wasn't that wizarding swear kind of off to her?) And the dragon breathed fire to the sword, and it spoke to her!
Lily groaned and sat up from her bed. She was already wide awake and too aware to fall asleep again.
Damn meddling dragons.
8.
When she and Severus ceased to be friends, it wasn't your typical broken friendship.
It was more than personal, and the aftermath left Lily a bitter taste in her mouth.
To be honest, she could have forgiven Severus there and then when he came back to her, begging her to forgive him, but… the hurt was just too much for her, and seeing him reminded her of what he thought of muggleborns — Mudblood, he sneered — and what he did behind her back.
He didn't have to be a saint, but didn't Severus need to see that you don't have to be a saint to not discriminate someone?
Besides, failing to save Severus from dabbling too deep into the Dark Arts made her feel that it was her greatest failure; that it was her fault that he was going down, and she didn't want to feel like that anymore.
Can you blame her?
Lily was only human.
She made mistakes. She can be hurt.
She can be in denial, too.
9.
When she joined the Order, many of the members were familiar to her, too.
Molly and Arthur Weasley were one of those people, and they resembled another couple whom she can't seem to remember. Seeing them together was akin to seeing Romeo and Juliet reincarnated and ending up together for good.
Frank and Alice, too, to some degree; but the latter couple gave her the feeling that they were already together before, got separated for a while, and met each other again.
Molly's brothers, twins Fabian and Gideon, were the same, too. Although they were mischievous and often joked around, both are good older brothers (especially Gideon towards Molly) and Fabian seem to have taken James as part of their brood. The twins, James, Sirius, and Remus often hung out.
Peter used to come with them a few times before, but he confessed feeling left out when the five were together. And unlike the rest, Peter gave her the same feeling she had towards Severus.
Lily figured she was just plain whacked in the head.
10.
James had a confession to make.
He may not have been aware of who everyone was, but he did have lingering feelings of everyone from the start. It was the biggest reason why he immediately befriended Sirius, Remus, and Peter (with Peter most of all, whom he felt he had to watch out for), why he had taken a liking to Lily, and why he had an antagonistic behavior towards Snivellus.
Call him petty, but something about Snape opened some wounds he never knew he had and he automatically lashed out at him at every opportunity. Not to mention that the Slytherin male was especially close to Lily, who he instinctively knew was the closest to him. James used to wonder if Marlene McKinnon happened to be a guy, would he act the same towards her like he does to Snape?
By the time he remembered everything and realized everyone's true identity, it was too late to erase the animosity between the two of them.
And Lily… Lily greatly disliked him. Which was a sucker punch to the gut.
He couldn't blame her for it. He acted like a complete toerag all this time. Then again, metaphorically pulling her pigtails and harmlessly annoying her just seemed natural, so he did it in spite of deliberately annoying someone was not in his nature. And though he was fond of her from the start, he never entertained the possibility that he'd be smitten with her.
James didn't mean to fall in love with Lily. It just happened.
They clicked together like two peas in a pod.
When he met Molly Weasley, old feelings began to resurface then he gazed at the red-haired witch beside him, and the feelings dissipated. Besides, she and Arthur deserved each other. They were meant to be together, like he and Lily. Maybe this time, those two would have their happy ending.
Between the Prewett twins, he had been closer to Fabian just as Molly was closer to Gideon, and the two took him in like a wayward duckling. He was especially happy when the twins met the rest of the Marauders, because wasn't that great? All his friends were together again, and Peter had become a part of them, too.
Something was eerily familiar with Frank and Alice, too, though he couldn't pinpoint who they were. Perhaps who they were will simply be one of life's mysteries, or maybe he'd figure who they are eventually.
But first, he'd make sure to win and survive this war. Not just for himself, but for his friends, his people, and for Lily.
James used to be a king. Surely, he can do it.
"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!"
"Not Harry! Please… have mercy… have mercy… not Harry! Not Harry! Please — I'll do anything—"
"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!"
"Avada Kedavra!"
A golden light encompasses the child as the Killing curse rebounded to its caster.
Eh, that's all I can write in one sitting.
Roles:
Merlin – Lily. This all stemmed from Lily being good at Charms and HP Merlin being called the "Prince of Enchanters" because he was basically the master of Charms.
Arthur – James. This is because Lily disliked James for his arrogance (and for being a bully) resembling Merlin disliking Arthur for the same reasons. Both also end up befriending (or in Lily's case, marrying) the other. Also, if either Merlin or Arthur had been a girl, there was a good chance that they could end up marrying (because either of them could provide an heir to appease the council and the public plus they do trust each other the most).
Morgana – Snape. It was either this or Mordred, and I think this is better considering Snape's role in the series. Also, parallels to Snape loving Lily, Morgana is more likely than Mordred taking into account that she and Merlin used to be good friends and are closer compared to Mordred and Merlin together.
Gwaine, Percival, Leon, Elyan, and Mordred – Sirius, Remus, Fabian, Gideon, and Peter. This is why Fabian (Leon) is close to James (Arthur) and Peter (Mordred) used to be their friend until he betrays them. Only this time, Mordred is a complete coward and bastard compared to his past life.
Guinevere and Lancelot – Molly and Arthur. It's also the reason why Molly is closer to Gideon. I think that if they had been given the opportunity in BBC Merlin, Gwen and Lancelot had a good chance of ending up together.
Tristan and Isolde – Frank and Alice
William – Marlene McKinnon
Gaius – Professor Flitwick. I was debating between Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Flitwick, but since Lily's specialty is Charms, I ended up with Flitwick.