1. Lily's Chapter

I know I'm not going to be afraid to die. I hardly ever have dreams that I remember. When I go to sleep, it's just blackness. Complete oblivion until my alarm goes off. I know that I'll always feel this way. Blackness is a blanket. Reality is pain.

My life doesn't suck, in fact, quite the opposite. I have a pretty good family. They love me, I love them. I get good grades, they approve of me. I am kind, they adore me. There is one thing I can do that they will never like about me.

Whenever I'm mad at someone, whenever I'm scared, whenever I'm really happy, I can do things. It freaks Petunia (A.K.A. Tuney, A.K.A. My older sister) out. I can tell my parents are worried about me too. But Sev told me what is was. It is magic. He says I am a witch. At first I wanted to hurt him. Hurt him so badly he'd never forget the pain. I left with Tuney almost at once. But while there are many bad things you can say about Severus Snape, there are also several good. Persistence is one of his best traits. It's also his most annoying one.

Slowly, Sev explained the world of magic to me. I haven't told my parents what Sev says. I just tell them he's like me. I'll tell them when I have proof Sev is telling the truth. I'll tell them if I get into Hogwarts.

Hogwarts is the greatest school of witchcraft and wizardry…that is what Sev says anyway. It also happens to be the only one in the U.K. So maybe we're a tad prejudiced. I've heard so much about Hogwarts and its four houses. There's Ravenclaw; who are extremely intelligent and hard workers…academically anyway. Sev says they're a bunch of whiney know-it-alls, but it's better than what he says about Hufflepuff (The loyal, hard-workers) and definitely better than what he says about the Gryffindors. The way he makes it sound, all the people in Gryffindor are jocks, tough and stupid. I think he's probably right, but something about the idea of being told that I'm brave is attractive. I think Gryffindors are probably just brave and chivalrous…for the most part. But of course, I wouldn't know.

The only house Sev seems to like is Slytherin. They are cunning, sly, and ambitious. They also are known to have the most amount of evil wizards, but Sev disagrees. He says evil is determined by the victors. He says that he thinks most evil wizards were just trying to make a difference which people don't like. Sev even tries to defend Voldemort, but I got a book on him from Sev. He wants to kill muggles. Sev says he doesn't approve of that. He wants equality. But he knows that won't happen with Vol -I mean, "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or You-Know-Who", so he's with me. Sev's my best friend, which is why, on April 21st, when I wake up from total oblivion, he is the 4th person I tell about being a witch (My family is in the house with me, you see).

I wake up when the sun hits me in the face. It's a Saturday, and I drowsily survey my room. The white lace curtains are being blown by a breeze. The window is open. That's why it's so bright. I take in the sky blue color of my wall, and my eyes settle on my hand-done mural of the rising sun. Or maybe it's the setting. I still don't know. I stretch, thinking of taking a book from one of my numerous book shelves, when my eyes rest on my alarm clock. 11 o'clock AM. Wow. I slept late. Mom didn't wake me. I wonder why….wait. I shoot straight up. April 21st. Today is my 11th birthday. Which means that if all goes well, I'm going to be accepted into Hogwarts. I dart up and get dressed. I look in the mirror as I brush my teeth. My unruly red hair gets in my face, blocking the gaze of my green, almond shaped eyes. I groan and pull my hair back into a ponytail, and scrub my face. My face isn't covered in pimples. In fact, it's very smooth. I don't even have freckles, but I'm used to it.

I run downstairs and go outside after grabbing a piece of toast and listening to a chorus of "Happy Birthdays". When I'm outside I grin. Please let it be today, please, please, please, please…. It becomes a mantra in my head. Suddenly a letter drops on the mailbox. A letter delivered by owl. I grab the letter made of thick parchment and read the address. It is in green ink, same as my eyes. It reads:

Ms. Lily Evans

2nd Bedroom on the right

Number 13, Chestnut Lane, Bristol

I grin and run inside. I yell "MUM! It Came! My letter from Hogwarts." The night before I finally cracked. I told her all that Sev had told me. Mum told me that if he was wrong, I had to stay away from him. I agreed reluctantly, but it was worth it! I have my letter! Elizabeth Evans comes in and stares, and I grin at her. I ask "What should I do?"

"Open it, of course," She breathes. I do. The letter inside is written on equally heavy parchment. I shake it open. It says:

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,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 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

My heart is lifting in Jubilation. A knock comes at the door. There is a man outside. He keeps fiddling with his jeans like he's not used to them. I open the door and he says "Are you Ms. Lily Evans?" I nod mutely. Then I shake myself. A fine impression to make! I start over.

"Yes, I'm Lily. Are you here about Hogwarts? Are you going to take me to Diagon Alley now to get my stuff?" I ask. The man looks surprised.

"Yes, I am, my name is William Bones," he says chuckling, "But if I may, how do you know so much?"

"Oh," I say, "My best friend Sev told me all about Hogwarts after he found out I could do magic. I know a lot from him. Speaking of which, before we go, can I please tell him the good news?"

The man-William? - nods and I let out a squeal of joy. As I run away, I can distinctly hear the man shaking his head and saying "A Snape liking a Muggle-Born. Well fancy that!" I grin and run away.

I felt a whoosh of air as I enter Platform 9 ¾. I look around and see hundreds of kids running around. Mum said her goodbyes on the other side of the platform, wary of being in a close area with so many wizards. I look around and start to navigate through the crowd. My cat, Jasmine, is a pretty tortoiseshell. She sits on top of my trolley licking her paws in a dignified way. I chose her because we connected. William said he thought she might be my familiar. I hope it's true. I've read so much about familiars, and they seem dead useful.

I look around for a familiar face. There he is! There is a boy with black hair as messy as a rat's nest. He and Sev are facing off. I can't hear the words being spoken, but I know that they're bad. I walk over and say cheerfully, "Hey Sev, I've been looking everywhere for you!" I grin at him and say in my best no-nonsense tone to the boy with the messy hair, "Do you need anything?" He seems at a loss for words. I see him gaping at me stupidly and I roll my eyes. What's wrong with him? "What is your name?" I ask, in a tone that suggests I'm talking to a simpleton. There is a boy with long, black locks and an aristocratic look listening and shaking with laughter. I roll my eyes again, and the messy boy seems to shake out of his stupor. He straightens the glasses on his nose and says "Potter. James Potter." I snicker.

"Who are you," I ask, "James Bond?" I smirk again. He just stares at me strangely. I feel a need to explain. "You know, the Muggle movies that started in 1962….? He always introduces himself as 'Bond. James Bond.' They're such cheesy and cliché spy flicks…you should see one sometime." I grin. He stares at me.

"So you're a muggle-born?" He asks sounded interested.

I roll my eyes. "Yes. Now Sev and I had better be going. Bye!" I smile sarcastically and turn to leave.

"Wait," He yells, "What's your name?"

"Evans. Lily Evans." I reply mockingly. The aristocratic boy falls over laughing.

Sev and I can't find an empty compartment. We eventually find one with only 4 people, rather than 5. Not much of an improvement, but still one. Sev and I walk in. There's James, and the other boy from the platform. There are two others. There is a boy in clothes that look they they'd been worn for years. He is pasty and has deep shadows under his eyes. He looks positively ill. However, he is still slightly cute. The last one has wispy brown hair, watery blue eyes, and a plump figure. To put it bluntly, he is the ugliest boy I have ever seen. Not that that is bad, I simply cannot imagine myself feeling attracted, nor any other girl. His first year at Hogwarts will probably be pretty hard.

I smirk at the boys. "Hey Bond. Three musketeers." They stare at me blankly. I groan. "You guys are so naïve about the muggle world." They shrug. James finally remembers that there is a word called "manners" and how to use them.

"Oh, pardon me," he says quickly, "These are Sirius, Remus, and…what's your name?" He asked to ugly boy after gesturing to aristocratic boy and shabby boy in turn. The small boy looks slightly offended, but I am, terrible with names. Maybe James is too. I wouldn't know.

"Peter Pettigrew." He muttered.

"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Lily Evans and this is Severus Snape. I call him Sev." The boys smirk, but when I raise my eyebrows, they quickly cut off. We then begin to talk about houses.

"I hope you're in Slytherin with me," says Sev, "Then we can do so many cool things together." I grinned. This was going to be a great year.

The boy Potter interrupts. "Slytherin? I wouldn't be able to go back home. I wouldn't stay at Hogwarts though, would you?" he asks the aristocratic boy…Sirius.

"All my family has been in Slytherin" Sirius replies.

"Oh! You seemed a good sort!" James…no Potter… says.

"Well if you'd rather be brawny than brainy…" Sev sneers.

"Where will you go, seeing as you're neither?" asks Sirius snippily. Peter and Remus just sit there, looking vaguely bored. Seeing as no one is doing anything to take Potter down a few notches, I say "Well Potter, if you actually expect this to be a good year, you'd better learn to be polite. Come on Sev." Sev and I leave the compartment, I frustrated, he infuriated.

"Don't worry Sev. This will be our best year. Our first one." I say comfortingly, and he smiles at me. I hope I'm right.