Chapter One: The Letter
A loud tapping noise filled the spacious kitchen where a small family was seated at breakfast. A girl with dark red hair flicked her green eyes down the hallway that led to the door, but nobody moved.
"Don't all get up at once," the man seated at the head of the table muttered sarcastically, "I'm sure it's not at all important." With that, he stood up, stretched, and left the room. The two girls giggled and slyly glanced at their mother, who rolled her eyes.
"Your father works hard, you know. You could help him out every once in a while."
The red-haired girl still looked amused, but the blonde, who was older, and obviously less mischievous, stopped laughing and looked properly chastised.
"Sorry mum," she mumbled, "I didn't-"
But before she could finish, her father re-entered, looking confused.
"I could have sworn I heard the door. Lily, was that you? Why are you laughing?" He looked from girl to girl before glancing up at his wife. "Josie?" he questioned.
"Are you sure it wasn't a package, Sam?" his wife, Josie, queried, "I'm waiting for the last bit of your parent's old china set to arrive from London.
"Nope, I checked," Sam replied, "nothing there."
"I bet it was that awful, awful boy," the blonde girl whispered so only Lily could hear, "he would knock and then run away."
"SHUT UP, TUNEY," Lily Evans snapped, trying to gain her parent's attention by capitalizing on her sister's rudeness, "Mum, Tuney is being ru- Oh! What's that at the window?"
Her parents, fully ready to upbraid Lily for interrupting their conversation, turned to see what she was exclaiming about. There, outside the window, sat a large barn owl. Petunia screamed.
Gasping with excitement, Lily ran to open the window. This could be the moment. Severus had told her this would happen, but she had never fully believed him until now. There was just too big a chance of being let down. But now, now it seemed it was really happening. Sure enough, the owl had a letter attached to its leg.
Lily's parents were too surprised to speak. They watched curiously as their daughter untied the letter, petted the owl, and then sat down and gazed at the purple wax seal. Imprinted in the wax, she could just make out a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake, surrounding a large 'H' in an arrangement that reminded Lily of the crests that she saw on suits of armor in museums and the like.
Flipping the letter over, she read and re-read the emerald green, hand-written address:
Ms L. Evans
The Second Downstairs Bedroom
35 Careweather Lane
Mill Town
England
With the utmost care, Lily broke the seal and tugged on the letter within. Unfolding two sheets of the same stiff paper, she continued to pore over the words inside until her mother cleared her throat.
A smile spread across Lily's face as she turned her eyes toward her nervous-looking parents. "You will never believe this." Looking back down, she proceeded to read the letter aloud:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Ms Evans,
It may come as a surprise to you to hear this, but you live in a world where magic exists. We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A representative will arrive at your residence later today to inform you about the magical world and educate you on your situation. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Throughout the letter, Josie had gotten paler and paler until her daughter finished reading, at which point she collapsed into her chair, utterly speechless.
"Is it a joke?" Sam inquired warily, "There's no return address."
Lily took a deep breath before replying, "No. It's real. Severus told me this would happen. He is a wizard as well. He recognized what I was doing on the playground one day. Magic."
"Magic!" Petunia gasped. "No way. I thought he was making it up! How, how-" but Petunia did not get the chance to finish as her mother finally discovered her voice.
"LILY! This is amazing, sweetheart! Oh my, my little girl! I can't believe- how could this- is it really true?" Josie kept cutting her sentences short as she attempted to make heads or tails of the situation. It was unbelievable. Her little girl, her Lily, was magical? A witch? Well, it did not sound as nice when she put it that way. But magic existed? This was the moment every little girl dreams of, and it was coming true. It was coming true for her daughter.
By that time, both Sam and Josie were glowing with pride, and not hesitating in expressing their joy to Lily, who beamed. Petunia took the chance to slink out of the kitchen, and nobody noticed as she departed.
Petunia ran out of the house, frustrated and confused. How could this happen? How could it happen to Lily? Most importantly, why hadn't it happened to her? It was all so overwhelming. At thirteen, Petunia's life was complicated enough as it was. With school, friends, and boys to think about, Lily's becoming a witch was out of the question. And a boarding school! With that, the reality of the news hit her. Every realization sank in at once. Lily was leaving. Lily was leaving home, leaving school, leaving her sister, Tuney. Her sister, her best friend, her confidant, they were all disappearing with Lily. And then, Petunia made her decision. If Lily was going to become a witch, she would simply have to become one as well.
As Petunia stood up from the patch of grass she had sunk into in dismay, a scrawny, black-haired boy ran up to her, looking breathless and excited. Petunia saw a familiar-looking, yellowish letter grasped firmly in his hand.
"Severus," she said snappishly, "What are you doing here?"
Severus ignored her less than welcoming greeting and coolly replied, "Where's Lily? I have to see her."
"Lily is busy. I will tell her you came around."
"She can't be busy. I'll come with you."
"How would you know if she's busy or not? I'm her sister, not you." And with that, Petunia turned and strode quickly toward her house, which differed from the identical brick ones on either side only by the gold '35' next to the door. Severus trailed closely behind her.
Back in the kitchen, Lily's father was on the phone with his clinic director, Robert Green. Sam Evans was a doctor, a pediatrician precisely, and he loved what he did.
"Are you sure it's all right? I'll come in for whichever appointments can't be rescheduled. Oh, all right. Thanks a lot. I will enjoy it, Robert, thanks again. Yeah, I don't take days off too often. That's right. Goodbye." Ending his conversation with Robert, Sam turned around to his wife and daughter, beaming. "That's it! I've got a whole day off to celebrate. What are we going to do before this 'representative' arrives?"
Lily looked up at her father adoringly. "Well," she responded, hesitating, "I would like to send them my reply, if that's all right."
Sam laughed, as did his wife, at Lily's hesitance. "Go ahead, sweetheart," he chuckled, "It wouldn't be like you to put anything off for a moment more than necessary, anyways." He watched proudly as his daughter skipped off down the hallway, then turned to his wife.
"Well-"
Josie interrupted, "My goodness. Who would've thought?"
"Seriously, Jo, who wouldn't have. I can't think of anybody who deserves this more than Lily."
"But what about Petunia? I'm worried about her."
"Don't worry, darling. Nobody will ruin Lily's accomplishment, I'll see to that."
"Sam, I'm not worried about Lily, not in the least. She is a brilliant girl. But Petunia, how is she going to hold up through all of this?"
"I don't know, Josie, I honestly don't know."
The front door banged open as Petunia barged into the house, with Severus at her heels. She did not, however, close the door on him. He took that as enough incentive to tentatively enter and call out Lily's name.
Petunia took the stairs two at a time and raced down the hall until she reached her small second-floor bedroom. Thrusting open the shutters, she grabbed a ballpoint pen off of her desk and rifled through the drawers until she found a sheet of blank white paper. Slowly removing the pen cap, she bit her lip, waiting for the words to come. Finally, she began to write.
"Dear Professor Dumbledore-"
Finishing her letter, Petunia opened her drawers once again in search of an envelope. Finding one alongside a packet of postage stamps, she threw both on her desk, folding the letter and shoving it into the envelope. Then, having not the slightest idea where to address the letter to, she simply wrote:
Professor Albus Dumbledore
Hogwarts
England
Pleased with her letter, Petunia dashed downstairs to the letterbox out front, where she posted the letter, closed her eyes, and wished with all her heart.
In the meantime, Severus had not yet gathered up the nerve go straight to Lily's room, where he had been hundreds of times. Instead, he headed to the kitchen, from which he could hear soft voices discussing something seriously. Peering in, Severus cleared his throat before mumbling, "Hi Mr. Evans, Mrs. Evans."
"Severus! Lily's in her room, writing a letter. Go on in."
With that encouragement, Severus tripped lightly down the hall and into Lily's room. He was, as always, visually assaulted by a copious amount of lavender upon entering. The walls, bedspread, and curtains were all the same shade of lavender, Lily's favorite color. Beneath the window, Lily sat at her desk, writing rapidly, and yet unaware of Severus' presence.
"Lily." The intended greeting came out as no more than a whisper, and he cleared his throat yet again, speaking more loudly, "Hey. You got it, right? You must have."
Lily, who had spun around at his whisper, began to laugh at his timidity, while responding, "Yes, silly! Yes, yes, yes, I got it! It's true! Oh, Severus, thank you so much." With that, Lily jumped up from her chair, and threw her arms around the surprised boy. He cautiously freed his own arms from his sides and wrapped them around his friend.
"I can't believe we're really going to school together!" Lily overflowed with happiness, "And a magic school at that! Hogwarts-" she tested out the word on her tongue slowly, and burst out laughing. Severus rolled his eyes at the vivacious girl. She was always like this, bubbly, cheerful, and giggly. Nevertheless, Lily was one of the brightest people he knew, and her curiosity was insatiable.
Lily placed her pen down on her desk next to her completed letter. She turned back to Severus, saying slowly, "I want you to tell me all about Hogwarts. I want to hear everything."
"Lily, I've told you everything I know hundreds of times!"
"Well, I want to hear it again." As always, the stubborn redhead got her way, and they headed outside as Severus began to speak.
A/N: Well, that's that! My first chapter EVER is up. Read, Review, Re-read! I'd love to hear comments, constructive criticism, your favorite flavor of ice cream, and any IDEAS or PLOT TWISTS you'd like to see. Let's keep it interesting ;) Also, what do you think about the length? Too short, too long, just right? Review!