Chapter 1: A Spark of Magic
"Tuney! Push me!" cried young Lily Evans. Her feet hung limp from the swing. Petunia pouted. "But I want to swing!" she whined.
Little Ivy stood up from the patch of ground by the slide. "I'll push you, Lily!" she stated confidently to her twin sister. She grunted a little as she pressed on Lily's back.
After a little bit of pushing, Lily was pumping her legs back and forth. Ivy retreated sat on a patch of grass behind the swing set.
"TUNEY! Look!" Lily shrieked. She jumped from her swing. Ivy tried to push her little body up, fearing her sister may be hurt. But to the little girl's surprise, her sister floated, and landed like a feather on the ground.
"Lily!" Petunia screamed. "That's freaky! I'm going to tell Mummy! You're going to hurt yourself!" She marched over to Ivy, and reached out her hand to help the little girl up.
"Well, are you coming?" Ivy shook her head. "Look, Tuney, I found a four leaf clover!" To Petunia's horror, she levitated the clover up and down in a playful manner.
And after gawking, a little boy with greasy hair came out. Petunia shrieked and ran.
The boy started talking to Lily. Ivy stomped over.
"Lily! Mummy said you have to include me!" she pouted to her younger sister.
The boy spoke up. "Who are you?"
Ivy stuck out her bottom lip even more. "I'm Ivy Evans. Lily's twin sister."
"You don't look like twins."
That was true. While Lily had mysteriously gotten red hair, Ivy had inherited their father's brown hair. And Lily had gotten their father's green eyes, while Ivy struck the genetic lottery and inherited brown eyes, unlike their mother's watery blue eyes. They, however, looked alike despite the difference in coloring.
The boy eyed Ivy up and down. His eyes widened when he caught sight of the hovering clover above her palm.
"I'm Severus. Are you sure your parents aren't witches or wizards?" Both girls furrowed their brows. "A witch. That's not a nice thing to call someone." Lily frowned.
Severus placed his forehead in his hands. "No, no, no. Let me explain.'
And so he explained everything.
Though for many years Petunia insisted Severus was telling tall tales, their parents, Rose and Matthew, hadn't heard the stories, and they saw Severus as a mere friend of the girls.
They never heard a word of his stories, though.
At least not from him or their daughters.
One Saturday morning in June, a man with a cigar that let out colorful wisps of smoke arrived on the doorstep. He held a piece of parchment in front of him.
He rapped at the door. Rose and Matthew both treaded over.
"Yes?"
"Oh, hello! I'm Professor Horace Slughorn. I'm here to discuss your two children-" he paused. "Lily and Ivy. Quite lovely names, by the way."
The couple ushered the professor in. He strode, still taking puffs on his cigar.
"Is there anywhere in private we could meet?" Slughorn was then shepherded down the stairs into a den.
"Ah, that's much better." He pointed a stick at an empty, dusty vase, and it cleaned itself and filled with flowers in a matter of moments.
Rose and Matthew gawked.
Rose cleared her throat. She brushed her blonde hair out of her face. "You wanted to speak with us about Ivy and Lily?" she asked feebly.
"Yes, can you please call them down? It is critical that they join us."
Matthew raised his voice. "Lily! Ivy! Come down here, please!"
Two giggling girls came down, both in loose t-shirts. Their laughter faded out as they realized there was company.
Lily and Ivy sat on the loveseat with their parents. Slughorn practically unfolded onto an armchair.
"You're from Hogwarts, aren't you?" Ivy quipped after a long silence.
Slughorn was taken back.
"Why, yes I am."
Lily and Ivy exchanged glances.
"What is 'Hogwarts'?" Matthew asked confusedly.
"Hogwarts, is a school for those with magical powers." Slughorn paused, ignoring the shocked faces of the parents. "I have been sent to deliver these." He pulled out two letters with red wax seals.
"The letters." Ivy breathed.
She ripped hers open incredibly anxious. She tore the envelope so fast she ripped the paper. Ivy held the separate pieces up, horrified by what she had done.
Slughorn chuckled. "No worries!" He had his wand up and mended the parchment. Ivy grasped the paper, her eyes wide, as she started to read it.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)
Dear Ms Evans
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
You will find enclosed a list of all the necessary books and equipment. Term begins September 1st. We await your owl no later than July 31st.
Yours Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Ivy took a deep breath. This was happening. It was really happening.
Rose Evans read the letter, words rising in her throat, but no words coming out of her open mouth.
Ivy looked through the supply list. It was rather odd.
"Mr. Slughorn-" "Professor Slughorn," he corrected. "Right. You see, I'm not sure where I'd find-" she looked at her list, "unicorn horn or brass scales."
Slughorn's eyes widened as if a lightbulb went off.
"Oh yes! Diagon Alley, that's right. I've forgotten about that. Diagon Alley is a charming place. Filled with all the shops you'll need to get your stuff. It has excellent pubs, too. I'm rather fond of the Leaky Cauldron. Anyway, hard to find it if you don't know where you're going. Of course, I'll take you there. Dumbledore assigned me to be your escort."
"Where is Diagon Alley?" Lily asked.
"Oh, right outside of London."
Rose and Matthew met eyes. That would certainly be a trip.
"I'll just call Petunia to tell her to pack a bag." Rose called for her oldest daughter.
"Yes?" Petunia came down the stairs, who blonde hair obviously straightened, along with her fuzzy bath robe. "I didn't know we had company," she said stiffly at the sight of Slughorn. She was obviously lying, Ivy could tell. She obviously knew somebody was downstairs.
"He's from Hogwarts." Ivy said lightly. She watched as Petunia turned many shades of green.
"Come dear, I'll help you pack."
"Pack?"
"Yes, we're going out for the weekend."
At this point, Petunia ran at top speed up the stairs.
As they boarded a noon train to London, Slughorn plopped himself down in the first seats he saw and starting chatting animatedly. Of course, Ivy was listening, but her parents had their faces in the palms at Slughorn's sociable, and slightly overbearing nature. Petunia was hidden in the corner, her duffle covering her face, except for her eyes, which were darting fearfully.
After a long chat about, oddly enough, how many owls were around England, the engineer announced they had arrived in King's Cross Station.
Still continuing his chattering, Slughorn paved through London crowds, some of the people nearly missing the Evans family.
He rounded a corner, and arrived at a series of shops. The were all colorful and quaint, except for one dusty, boarded up building with a faded sign hanging from the windows.
"The Lea Cadron?" Ivy struggled to read the sign. She had been very good at reading at her old school. But that sign…
"Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron!" Slughorn announced.
Rose and Matthew squinted their eyes at an empty alleyway, under the impression that it was the Leaky Cauldron.
Ivy raised her hand. Slughorn chuckled.
"We're not in school yet, eh? You don't have to raise your hand, silly girl," the professor grinned, patting her on her back.
"Why can't they see it?" Ivy asked, nudging her head towards her parents.
"Muggles can't see it." Slughorn smacked his lips. "Let's go in."
Ivy furrowed her brows. Severus had told her what Muggles were. Everybody in her family besides Lily and her were Muggles. Yet Petunia was looking straight at the Leaky Cauldron, as if she saw it. Was that a coincidence?
They walked towards the entrance. "Why are we going into that broken old shop?" Matthew asked. There was no answer from Slughorn.
As they entered the building, Ivy heard voices, getting louder and louder as they ventured further towards the building. As the Evans walked through the doorway, they were greeted by a pub of sociable wizards.
A man behind the bar called out to Slughorn.
"Your usual, Horace?" Slughorn looked between the Evans and the man behind the bar, as if debating whether to stay or not.
"Next time, Tom. I'm showing these two lovely young witches around Diagon Alley." he gestured to Ivy and Lily.
Tom gave a distracted half-smile; he was more focused on the mead he was pouring.
"Come on, hurry up!" Slughorn weaved through the tables, occasionally greeting some fellow wizards.
They eventually came to a brick wall. Slughorn whipped out his wand and instead of muttering a spell like Ivy expected, he simply tapped the bricks in some sort of pattern.
The bricks shuffled, and formed a doorway leading to a bustling block of shops and people. Petunia let out a yelp of surprise, grasping onto her parents hands until the adults knuckles turned white.
"Welcome to Diagon Alley!"
And I'm going to end it here!
Hello! I'm so sorry I haven't checked on this account. I've been doing some other writing, and I am discontinuing every other story I have on this account. I have created a cast for this story, but I have yet to add a few of the minor characters in, so that will be up in a few chapters!
~Cherry Mall