The Very Beginning

Hey everyone, I really hope you enjoy this story I plan to start with Lily and James as they were little and then skip to their first year at Hogwarts and go from there. If you enjoy this, Please read my other story Harry Potter: After the Final Battle. All the italicized writing in this story is not mine, it comes directly out of the HP books and belongs to JK Rowling. The first chapter has a lot because I thought it would be the perfect way to start my book and I love this memory (which I must say they didn't do a good job of in the movie). DISCLAIMER: HARRY POTTER BELONGS TO JK ROWLING NOT ME. Please, Please, Please Review! I love to read reviews and they encourage me to write updates faster! Thanks, please enjoy - HT188

Chapter 1: The Witch and the Prince

Lily was so excited; their parents were finally letting her and Tuney go to the playground today. She was finally going to show Tuney what she could do. It had all started in February a little after her ninth birthday; things she couldn't explain but she just made happen.

She remembered one day her mom had just made homemade delicious chocolate chip cookies and she really wanted one. Told that she was not allowed one until after supper, she angrily turned her back on her mother. After her mother had left the room, all of a sudden the cookie started floating towards her as she stared at it in shock. Hungrily eating the cookie while pleased, Lily had cookie crumbs all over her mouth and lap as her mother returned to the kitchen.

Even though she was punished she was curious and kept testing her abilities every day. It was now May and she realized she could make things happen just by the sheer will of wishing for them to come true.

Today was it…. Finally the time when she would share her secret with her older sister, her best friend, Petunia.

Snape looked no more than nine or ten years old, sallow, small, stringy. There was undisguised greed in his thin face as he watched the younger of the two girls swinging higher and higher than her sister.

"Lily, don't do it!" shrieked the elder of the two

But the girl had let go of the swing at the very height of its arc and flown into the air, quite literally flown, launched herself sky-ward with a great shout of laughter, and instead of crumpling on the playground asphalt, she soared like a trapeze artist through the air, staying up far too long, landing far too lightly.

"Mummy told you not to!"

Petunia stopped her swing by dragging the heels of her sandals on the ground, making a crunching, grinding sound, then leapt up, hands on hips.

"Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!"

"But I'm fine, said Lily, still giggling. "Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do."

Petunia glanced around. The playground was deserted apart from themselves and, though the girls did not know it, Snape. Lily had picked up a fallen flower from the bush behind which Snape lurked. Petunia advanced, evidently torn between curiosity and disapproval. Lily waited until Petunia was near enough to have a clear view, then held out her palm. The flower sat there, opening and closings its petals, like some bizarre, many-lipped oyster.

"Stop it!" shrieked Petunia.

"Its not hurting you," said Lily, but she closed her hand on the blossom and threw it back to the ground.

"It's not right," said Petunia, but her eyes had followed the flower's flight to the ground and lingered upon it "How do you do it?" she added, and there was definite longing in her voice.

"Its obvious, isn't it?" Snape could no longer contain himself, but had jumped out from behind the bushes. Petunia shrieked and ran backward toward the swings, but Lily, though clearly startled, remained where she was. Snape seemed to regret his appearance. A dull flush of color mounted the sallow cheeks as he looked at Lily.

"What's obvious?" asked Lily.

Snape had an air of nervous excitement. With a glance at the distant Petunia, now hovering beside the swings, he lowered his voice and said, "I know what you are"

"What do you mean?"

"You're… you're a witch," whispered Snape.

She looked affronted.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to somebody!"

She turned, nose in the air, and marched off toward her sister.

"No!" said Snape

He flapped after the girls, looking ludicrously batlike, like his older self.

The sisters considered him, united in disapproval, both holding on to one of the swing poles as thought it was the safe place in tag.

"You are," said Snape to Lily. "You are a witch. I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one, and I'm a wizard."

Petunia's laugh was like cold water.

"Wizard!" she shrieked, her courage returned now that she had recovered from the shock of his unexpected appearance. "I know who you are. You're that Snape boy! They live down Spinner's end by the river," she told Lily, and it was evident from her tone that she considered the address a poor recommendation. "Why have you been spying on us?"

"Haven't been spying," said Snape, hot and uncomfortable and dirty-haired in the bright sunlight. "Wouldn't spy on you, anyway," he added spitefully, "you're a Muggle."

Though Petunia evidently did not understand the word, she could hardly mistake the tone.

"Lily, come on, we're leaving!" she said shrilly. Lily obeyed her sister at once, glaring at Snape as she left. He stood watching them as they marched through the playground gate.

As soon as the two sisters reached their house, #4 Privet Drive, Lily ran up the stairs to her room without even greeting her parents. Sobbing onto the purple comforter on her cozy bed, she recounted the events that occurred earlier in her head. How dare that Snape boy call her a witch. It was such a mean thing to do, witches were mean and ugly with warts and green faces, I mean look at all the evidence, the witch from The Wizard of Oz and Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. And Tuney, Tuney didn't even like her tricks, She thought that they were weird and … unnatural. She was so disappointed, here for months she had been dreaming of herself as special like someone from the many fairytale books she read but Petunia ruined it all when Lily thought she would be pleased and excited as well.. How could her own sister betray her and make her feel this awful, like a… like a freak. She sobbed harder as her mother walked into the room.

"Lily, come on Lily flower tell mummy what's wrong" her mother said kindly while leaning over to sit with her on the bed.

Lily jumped into her mother's embrace and tried to speak while still sobbing uncontrollably.

"Tuney doesn't like me anymore, and the boy on the playground called me a… he called me a witch!" she said between sobs.

"Calm down it will be alright, you know Petunia will always love you no matter what, you just got into a small fight today. That wasn't very nice of the boy to say, how could he ever call my sweet Lily flower a witch?"

Her mother continued to console her until Lily finally stopped crying and she had to leave to cook dinner.

Now having the time to analyze the situation, Lily felt that Snape hadn't meant being a witch as an insult, if it wasn't an insult that what did he mean? He seemed almost pleased to tell her.

Lily would find out what he meant and figure out what was happening to her, even if she had to do it without Petunia's help.