Prologue- Lily Evans
Young Lily Evans played in the meadow what bordered her family home (which was in Cokeworth, England) with her elder sister, Petunia.
"I'll bet I can beat you from the old tree to the house, Lily!" Petunia grinned, already walking to the tall, dead oak that stood proud, its damp bark radiating a musky smell.
"You're on, Petunia!" Lily laughed, skipping ahead of her sister so that she reached the tree first.
"It stinks!" Petunia screeched, wrinkling her nose in utter disgust, before she erupted into fits of laughter with Lily, wondering what her face must've looked like.
"On three!" Petunia shouted, acting as though she was a referee at one of the Olympic races. "Ready?" She asked for confirmation to start the countdown from Lily. She grinned at her gorgeous younger sister, her ginger hair making her brown freckles what her spread across her nose stand out. Lily briefly nodded, letting Petunia know that she was god to go, before getting in position to run .
"One... Two... THREE!" Petunia yelled, racing down the grassy hills and golden patches to reach her home, where her mother was surely baking (again) and her father reading that day's local newspaper in his favourite chair. But before Lily could run, she heard a quiet: "Psst..." From behind the tree. She turned fast, her summer dress twirling as she did so. A young boy, about the same age as Lily herself, stepped from behind the tree, and stood about three yards from her. His greasy, black hair reached his shoulders, and his black eyes intimidated Lily to a point where she wanted to cry for help.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you..." The boy said to Lily, holding out his hands, stepping forward cautiously.
"W-W-Who are you?" Lily stammered, her heartbeat drowning out her own voice.
"My name is Severus. Severus Snape." He smiled. He extended an arm for her to shake, and she did so slowly. "I'm here to tell you that me and you are so alike." He added.
Lily was utterly bewildered by this boy's sudden confession-of-sorts. She didn't even know the boy, how could they be in any way similar?
"What do you mean, we are alike?" She asked, tilting her head to the side and frowning slightly. The boy grinned, and took another step forward.
"Have you ever made something happen that you didn't mean to? Has something ever happened to you what was not... Ordinary?" He asked. Lily was shocked at how the boy knew this. Just last week Lily had been sitting in the living room on her own, staring at her mother's favourite case, admiring it, when it suddenly exploded, splinters of glass cascading into all four corners of the room. Of course, she told her mother it was the cat.
"Yes... Why?" She asked. She mentally prayed to god that Petunia would come looking for her soon, realising she had not followed her in the race.
"I knew it!" He beamed, fist-pumping the air, and doing a sign what meant "kerching" with his hand. "You're a witch." The stranger said.
The whole universe around Lily Evans began to spin rapidly. Everything became blurred, except the boy facing her. A wave of dizziness and nausea washed over and, and she sat on the floor, her back against the foot of the tree.
"What do you mean, I'm a witch? That's absurd!" She squealed, but somehow, she believed him, deep down.
"It isn't! Think about it! Unexplainable, weird events occurring ALWAYS when you're there. Deep down, you know I'm telling the truth. And I know you can make things happen on purpose, too." He whispered. And he was right, she could. Just the other week, she had been so angry at her father, that she wished his shampoo was hair-removal ointment. He got out of the shower that day as bald as a coot. "Try it! Stand up, and make something happen!" The boy laughed. He held out his hand to Lily, which she took once again, and pulled her to her feet. She looked around, suddenly in the mood to make something happen. And then she thought of the perfect thing. She took one last look around the meadow. The flowers, the grass, and studied it deeply, then closed her eyes, picturing it in her head. She heard the boy gasp as what she was doing registered into his mind, and then her eyes shot open, but yet she still concentrated hard. All the flowers were rising, forming into a whirlwind of nature surrounding the pair of the children. The flowers began to knot together by the stems, intertwining themselves with one another, before they created the perfect flower-wreath, and it rested n Lily's head.
The boy clapped viciously, laughing and letting out wolf-whistles. Lily laughed with him, her face going the same shade of red as her hair, and she took a bow mockingly.
"That was amazing!" The boy breathed, he was positively bewildered. But one thing that had occurred was not amazing, in fact, it was the opposite. Lily's sister, Petunia, stood about seven metres to the right of Lily, and she looked totally disgusted.
"Lily..." She stammered, stepping back a few inches. "You're a freak! I'm telling mum! You're a freak, Lily!" She sobbed, running back to the house and through the back door.
"Don't listen to her, you aren't a freak, Lily. Oh, I'm Severus, by the way." He grinned.
Lily laughed at Severus, shaking her head. "You already told me your name, silly!" She giggled. Severus blushed furiously, and moved his hair in front of his eyes as he spoke.
"Oh, yes, I did. How daft of me!" He muttered. Lily could sense he was embarrassed. So, to lighten the mood she decided to play a game. She tapped him gently on the arm.
"Tick." She whispered. She ran like a mad-woman around the meadow, Severus chasing her, and they played for about ten minutes, until Lily's mother came up the hill.
"Hello, lily. Who is this you're playing with?" Her mother asked sweetly, smiling at the young boy and her daughter. Lily tried to catch her breath before answering her mother, she didn't want to sound like a fool, after all.
"Hi, mum! This is Severus! He lives in..." Lily paused, She hadn't asked Severus where he lived.
"Spinner's End. I live in Spinner's End, Mrs. Evans." He grinned, winking at Lily. Mrs Evans stared open-mouthed at the wink, making Severus stand still, no expression on his face.
"Lily, can I talk to you for a moment?" The woman asked her daughter. Lily nodded, and walked away with her mother, leaving Severus to stand awkwardly on his own.
"Is it true, Lily?" Mrs. Evans asked Lily when they were well out of earshot.
"Is what true, mum?" Lily responded, wondering what on Earth she was going on about.
"Are you really a witch?"
Lily stood frozen, paralysed to the spot, her feet rooted to the ground. She didn't know what to say. If she said yes, would her mother react the same way her sister had? Would she brand her a freak, be mad, disown her? After all, it wasn't something she could control. Or would she be happy, congratulate Lily? She didn't know, but she thought it best to tell the truth.
"Yes, mum. It's true." Lily gulped, squeezing her eyes shut, awaiting her mother's fury what was sure to come. But it didn't. Instead, Lily was hugged by her mother, the first hug she had given her in a long time.
"Oh, Lily! That's great news! Absolutely grand! You're father will be so proud, I'm telling you now!" She bellowed, tears forming in her eyes.
"But mother, you're happy with this?" Lily asked, her mothers reaction still shocking her.
"Of course! My grandmother was a witch, honey. And when I didn't inherit the gene , I was gutted! But now you have the chance! You are going to love it! Oh, come here!" She answered, and she pulled her daughter into a tight embrace for a solid two whole minutes, before Lily pulled away.
"Now, you go back to your friend..." Mrs. Evans said. Lily sensed that her mother disapproved of her choice of having Severus as her friend, until Lily told her the news.
"Mum, he's a wizard!" Lily smiled, and took great pleasure in watching her mother's jaw drop. Lily turned and skipped back to Severus, before turning back to her mother.
"Mum, can Severus come for tea tonight?" She asked, batting her luscious eyelashes, what she knew always let her get her own way.
"Sure thing, honey!" She responded. Mrs. Evans returned to the family home, leaving Lily and Severus in the company of themselves.
"Um.. Thanks?" He murmured.
"No problem!" Lily responded.
Lily grabbed Severus by the hand and they walked together down to the house, were they were greeted by Lily's father, who hugged his daughter and shook the hand of her new best friend.