Little Flower

Chapter One: Ordinary Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Watching puddles gather rain,
There's no better place to lay.
She's as fine as dandelions blowing in the wind
She's not thinkin' about anything.

-Vanessa Carlton

June 22nd, 1977.

"Hullo, summertime."

Somewhere in England, there was a girl. An extraordinary girl. She was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Her room was dark, save for the early-morning light that radiated through her window. The sky was beginning to shine hues of blue and faded reds through the clouds, and from her open window the redhead could feel the slightest breeze flowing into her room. Birds chirped in the trees outside, but something about their song seemed distant.

She sighed.

She sat up and glanced at the clock sitting on her bedside table. 5:47 AM.

What, Lily Evans thought, in the name of Merlin am I doing awake so early in the damn morning?

She closed her eyes and put her head back down on the pillow, pulling the blankets up around her. She stayed like this for twenty minutes until it became obvious that she was not going to be able to fall back asleep. Rolling her eyes at herself, she stood up and stretched. Rubbing awake her emerald green orbs, Lily glanced around her room. Nothing had changed overnight. Her clothes were still strewn all over the floor, her books were still scattered around in various places, and her desk still looked like it had been hit by a rogue tornado.

Lily glared at the mess. Well, I might as well start my day off right with a bit of housekeeping, she thought ruefully. She picked up a long, slender piece of wood from her nightstand, waved it gently, and suddenly her belongings organized themselves, quietly shuffling back into their homes.

Yes, Lily was truly an extraordinary girl. A witch. It was her first day home from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and she already missed school. She just finished up her sixth year of schooling, and the next year would be her seventh and final year at Hogwarts. Her home.

Tossing her wand onto her bed, Lily got dressed and peered into the mirror. Her deep red hair was everywhere and her eyes were bleary. Next to her, an owl hooted softly in its cage.

"Good morning to you too, Portia," Lily mumbled to the creature, reaching through the bars to stroke its head. "Ouch!"

Portia the owl bit her hand. With a quiet, rather annoyed-sounding hoot, she tucked her head under her wing resolutely, going to sleep.

She glared ruefully. "Well, thanks."

As Lily walked down the stairs of her house for breakfast an hour or so later, she heard the voices of The Beatles emanating from the family's radio. That meant only one thing: her father was up.

Strolling into the kitchen, Lily saw her father reading the newspaper, holding a cup of coffee and humming along to the song on the radio. Blond with dark grey eyes, Lily didn't look very much like her father. He was a tall man, but Lily did not inherit much of his height, standing at a clean 5'4". He looked rather tired, but seemed to be in a good mood.

"Good morning, Dad!" Lily beamed as she glanced around the room. She saw her older sister Petunia glaring out the window on the opposite side of the kitchen, washing a frying pan in the sink.

"Morning, Lily darling," her father replied, reaching over to hug her as she approached. "It's nice to have you around for breakfast again, now that you're back from school!"

A snort came from near the sink.

"Why hello, Petunia," Lily called sarcastically. "It's certainly quite nice to see you again, you know, after all this time we've spent apart."

Lily's father looked at her pleadingly. "Stop it, both of you. Before your mother comes down and gets upset, stop it. Petunia, be nice to your sister. Lily, don't antagonize her, either."

"But I haven't said a word!" Petunia snapped indignantly, speaking for the first time since Lily appeared. "I'd rather not speak to that raving lunatic unless I have to!"

Their father just groaned and took another swig of coffee. Petunia resented Lily for her magical abilities. Lily never understood why; in the beginning, Petunia had seemed jealous. Now, it just looked like she hated her as a person. I wish we didn't have to practically be enemies, Lily thought sadly. Aren't sisters supposed to share gossip and clothes and makeup?

Saying nothing, Lily helped herself to a cup of coffee and buttered some toast that her father had already made for her before she came downstairs. She loved her father more than anyone else in her family. He never pried into any of her business the way her mother did, and he always supported her when Petunia turned foul against her. Both of her parents were thrilled when she was accepted to Hogwarts. They felt that magic was a talent, not a problem or a disorder. Petunia, however, constantly mocked Lily, calling her a freak of nature. Lily had long since learned to ignore it after years of verbal abuse, but still, it hurt her to see her sister treat her like she was a piece of dirt.

As Lily sat down at the table with her father, she asked, "Where's mum, anyway? I thought she would be down here by now. She's always up early and I haven't seen her all morning."

Her father rolled his eyes. "She's already out. She told me she needed to run to the grocery store. Something about not having enough milk. She left right before you came down, actually. I'm surprised you didn't hear her leave."

Lily took a bite of her toast. "Well, I hope she gets back soon. I would hate to have to do the rest of the dishes myself," she quipped. As she finished speaking, an sandy-brown owl soared into the room through the open kitchen window above the sink, right where Petunia was standing. She shrieked as it barely missed her head. Perching on the end of Lily's coffee cup, the owl stuck out its leg, to which an envelope was attached.

"That monster almost took out my eye!" Petunia screeched. "My God, Lily, you freaks can't get yourselves some form of communication that maybe doesn't involve insane, rabid birds flying through windows without warning? You all insist you're so intelligent but you can't even wave your damn wands and 'bibbity-bobbity-boo' yourselves some magical method into existence?"

Her father sighed. "Calm down, Pet. They're tamed, and owls aren't stupid."

His words did nothing to comfort her as she continued her tirade. "I wish you just stayed at school over the summer, too. It would get you out of my hair for once. I swear, what am I going to tell Vernon about you? If you just stayed at that madhouse you say you go to learn, I could say you don't even exist. And God, that would be so much better than having to actually deal with you." She threw the frying pan back into the sink and stormed out of the room.

Lily and her father were silent for a moment.

"Well, she's in a good mood, isn't she?" Lily asked drily.

He groaned. "She wasn't exactly enthusiastic that you were coming home, but I wasn't exactly expecting this. Before you came back, I warned her to act civil, but I guess she's planning on ignoring me. She's having that monster boyfriend of hers, Vernon, over for dinner later, so things are only going to get worse." He changed the topic as the owl hopped up and down impatiently on the rim of the coffee cup. "So who's the letter from? Your friends are already up this early in the morning?"

Lily detached the letter from the owl's delicate ankle. She recognized the fancy, loopy script on the envelope before she even opened it. It was addressed, "To Lily Evans, from Alice Prewett." She smiled as she tore open the envelope. Alice, a rich, pureblood witch, was her best friend since her first year at Hogwarts, after which they became inseparable. Lily, a Muggle-born with no magical blood from her parents, was still confused over many aspects of the Wizarding World, and never had a girl to talk to other than her sister. Petite and blond, Alice was the sweetest girl in their year and one of the smartest as well, in the same ranks as Lily in all of their classes. Lily read the letter quickly.

Dear Lily,

This summer is already absolutely insufferable without you. I know we said we'd get together at least four times a week this summer, but I miss you already! What do you say we get together and go to Diagon Alley for shopping and ice cream around three? Please say you will! Frank is coming too, and he said that if you agree, he'll bring along some dashing beaux for you. If you like him enough, we can stop for drinks at the Leaky Cauldron. I know you've been so worked up since that nasty breakup with that boy, Davies. Don't let it get to you. We can go out and have some fun. Je t'aime, ma cherie!

-Alice

"It's from Alice," she said with a smile. "She wanted to know if I'd like to go shopping with her and Frank this afternoon. Can I, Dad?"

He smirked. "Oh, I don't know, Lils, are you sure that you don't want to stay for dinner with that whale, Vernon? I know you've been dying to meet him." Lily glared at him teasingly. "Oh, all right, you can go."

Lily threw her arms around him. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

That afternoon, it was raining outside. Pouring, in fact, in deep contrast to the sunny morning she had woken up to. As Lily gazed out of her bedroom window, she listened to the sound of the forming puddles. She watched as a bird flew past, hiding from the rain in a nearby tree. She sat cross-legged on her bed, staring outside. Dark clouds stretched beyond the horizon as the rain fell steadily. She loved rain and wished it could go on forever. As if in a trance, she watched the passing cars on the quiet street below, their headlights piercing through the water, listening to the sound of the tires flying through puddles. Summer rain was, to her, the most beautiful sensation possible. It was like roses: delicate, warm, fragrant, and fleeting.

Suddenly, Portia hooted and she was jerked out of her reverie. It was 2:30. She needed to start getting ready, or she would be late for her get-together with Alice.

Twirling as she jumped up from her bed, the redhead peered in the mirror. She stared into her own emerald eyes, trying to decide what to do with her hair. After a few minutes of thought, she decided to just throw it into a ponytail.

Whatever. Whoever is coming along will have to deal with how I look. At least I don't look too bad, right? …Right? Oh Merlin, maybe I should do something better than a ponytail. What if he's cute? Or what if he's hideous? Oh, bloody hell…

Lily tugged her hair out of her ponytail, letting the red mess fall about her shoulders. Whipping out her wand, she pointed it at her hair, muttered a few indistinct words, and her hair sprang into curls. She gazed into the mirror, satisfied. Good thing I read last month's edition of Witch Weekly…

A knock came at her door.

"Lily!" a woman's voice came from the other side of the door. "It's almost time for you to leave to meet Alice!"

Lily opened the door to see her mother standing there. Rather petite, her mother had the same red hair that her daughter had, but blue eyes instead. It was always a puzzle to the family where Lily's green orbs had come from. Often her parents joked that it was her magical blood that gave her that unique look.

"You look beautiful, Lily," her mother said with a smile. "But please, remember to keep up on your studies. I mean, I know it's only the first day of summer, but you mustn't forget…"

Lily sighed internally. Her mother cared a lot about education. Even though Lily went to Hogwarts, her mother still wanted her to study normal Muggle subjects like math, history, English, and chemistry. Lily didn't see much of a point to doing it, but since it pleased her mother, she did her best to learn it as well.

"Thanks, mum. And you know I never forget to do my work. Not when I have Alice to compete with, anyway," Lily said with a tinkling laugh.

Her mother smiled. She loved to hear her daughter's laugh.

"I love you, Lily. I know you'll never let me down." She reached over and hugged her daughter tightly. Lily hugged her back. "Have fun today. Now, be back before ten. I don't want you staying out too late. I mean, I know you can defend yourself, but with that man and those criminals you were talking about…"

"Death Eaters?" Lily winced. She had told her parents a bit about the problems in the Wizarding World, but hadn't wanted them to worry. She had glazed over the details, lest they get scared of what was really going on. She figured that what they didn't know, as Muggles, wouldn't hurt them. "Don't worry, mum. Diagon Alley's safe."

"Well, all right dear, but I still want you home by ten." Her mother kissed her on the cheek. "Now hurry up or you'll be late!"

Lily dashed down the stairs to the door. "Bye, Mum! Bye, Dad! Love you!" Her father emerged from the living room and hugged her goodbye. She stared up the stairs and whispered quietly, "Goodbye, Petunia."

No response came. It was possible that she didn't hear her, but if even if she had, Lily knew she wouldn't have responded.

Lily walked out the front door, waving goodbye to her parents. Little did she know that this would be the last time she ever did so.

Lily ran into the Leaky Cauldron at 3:10. She was late.

"Hello, Tom," she said, greeting the bartender. He had about two teeth left, and grinned happily at her.

"Nice ta see ye again, Miss Evans," he smiled. "Are ye lookin' for someone?"

An arm was suddenly thrown around Lily's shoulders.

"Why, yes indeed she is!" came a delicate voice from next to the redhead. Alice Prewett, blonde hair flying, grinned like a Cheshire cat. Next to her stood Frank Longbottom, her boyfriend since 5th year, smirking about something. He was tall, with golden blond hair, and all of the girls in their year at Hogwarts considered him to be one of the best catches possible. "We've been waiting for this damn girl for ten minutes, I'll have you know, Tommy!"

Lily laughed. "Get off of me, Prewett, or you'll be getting Frank jealous."

"I can't exactly complain about this, you know, Evans." There was a twinkle in Frank's eye. "Most men wouldn't complain about two girls in…you know…close contact…"

"Oh, you!" Alice lightly pushed Frank with a girlish giggle. "Don't be so disgusting!"

"So where's this mysterious date you were supposed to bring me, Frank?" Lily asked. "I'm not very good at blind dates, and I'd really like to know—"

Alice winced, and Frank's smirk widened. "You'll see soon, Lily," Frank said. "You'll thank me later for this. Trust me."

"So, erm, where is he, then?"

"Later than you, if you can believe it," Frank sighed. "He's definitely coming, though. This is something he would never pass up."

Alice cringed even more and grabbed Lily's arm, dragging her to the other end of the bar. "I tried to talk him out of this, honestly I did," she said in hushed tones to her best friend. "Please, please, please don't be angry with me for this. There was nothing I could do. I—"

"But who is it?" Lily demanded, growing impatient. "How do you know I'll be annoyed? Honestly, it can't be that bad."

The door to the Leaky Cauldron opened with a jingle of the bells attached to the door, but Lily didn't look up. She was staring at Alice, who looked incredibly uncomfortable. "I should have warned you beforehand," Alice muttered. "Look at who just walked in the door."

It was James Potter, the boy that Lily Evans couldn't stand more than anyone in the entire world.

Author's note: Do tell me what you think. Seriously, anything would be great. I love reviews and I haven't been in the habit of writing much lately, so this is my attempt to get back into it. So, yes, no, good, bad, horrible, fantastic, please tell me in a review. Much love to my readers, if I'm lucky enough to have any.