Author's Note: Hi! It's been 9 or 10 years since I finished my first HP fan fiction, and I've really wanted to dedicate less time to my phone and more time to my ultimate passion: writing. So here I go again with my second story. It's been an interesting decade (I feel very old writing that); I've changed in many ways and remained the same in others, like all humans walking through life. No matter what happens to me, I turn to Harry, his friends, and JK Rowling's universe for comfort. I feel safe, warm, and at home in this magical world and I've felt the pull to return to adding my own stories to the wizarding world for awhile now. This chapter is very short, but it's to get the ball rolling.
Chapter One: Lily
She lay on a wool blanket by the river, opening and closing the flower floating just above her right palm. The deep blue Delphinium petals splayed open and tightened into a bud in waves, the movement closely resembling a jellyfish's tentacles treading water. Lily Evans had visited this spot since childhood, where she first discovered her witch's ability. As she grew older, it became her place of contemplation. This summer, Lily spent more afternoons ruminating than she cared to admit.
Every issue of The Daily Prophet reported another disappearance, another unexplained explosion, and another instance of the Dark Mark glowing above an unsuspecting neighborhood. The Wizarding War began shortly before Lily started at Hogwarts, but recently the violence had begun increasing exponentially. Lily received owls from friends, telling her the days of debating the likelihood of a certain dark wizard's agenda gaining traction were long gone. Wizarding family dinners passed with whispers of escape planning. Alicia Warrington, one of Lily's best friends, was put in charge of ensuring every fireplace in her home had enough Floo Powder to allow her parents and three siblings to escape. Marrietta McLaggen had an emergency bag packed, and her parents had hidden portkeys all over their house, each to a different safe location.
With Petunia not moving out until the end of summer – with months remaining of being reminded what a perfectly normal job in London she was starting - no such conversations took place in the Evans home. Petunia's derision filled the house, leaving no room for abnormality.
Normally it was the school year itself that made seventh years nervous. The impending N.E.W.T. exams were the biggest hurdle between their second and final boat ride across the Black Lake at the end of the year. Before the war the biggest question was what job a student would find. Now the choices were fewer, and the consequences more deadly: are you with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or are you against him?
The lukewarm Cokeworth sun enveloped Lily, momentarily distracting her from the world. All that mattered was the redness spreading through her cheeks, and the warmth repelling from her shoulders down into her fingertips.
A shadow crossed over her face, reawakening her. Lily opened her eyes and saw a dark brown owl fly south, in the direction of her house. An owl in the middle of the day meant one thing. Folding up her blanket, she stood up and wiped the pollen from the tree above off her pants.
The quickest way home was through Spinner's End.