Chapter 1

"Childhood is not from birth to a certain age and at a certain age
The child is grown, and puts away childish things.
Childhood is the kingdom where nobody dies."

-Edna Millay

I have a new copy of Lily's Story out because I got an AMAZING editor to start helping me! Username is xXjaziXx! Thanks to her this story is even better than it was before!

-:-

"Lily! It's time to go home!" my sister, Petunia, called as she hopped off her swing. She jumped onto a bench beside it, looking up at me. We had spent the day playing about at our neighborhood park, but we couldn't stay forever.

"Okay! Hold on! Watch this Tuney!" I said, laughing, as I jumped off the highest part the swing would go. My sister screamed and ran to try and catch me. I slowed right before I hit the ground, landed and then smiled up at my older sister. She wasn't smiling back. I sat by the sidewalk and picked a flower.

"Watch," I commanded. The flower blossomed right in my hand; it was rather pretty.

She stared at me, still not smiling. "FREAK! Lily you're a freak!" she accused, taking a few steps back.

"No she's not!" I heard someone protest; I turned to see a boy who looked not much older than me walking towards us. His black hair was greasy and fell in his face, covering black eyes and pale skin. Tuney wasn't smiling to see him either.

"You're not a freak," he said to me. "You're a witch." He smiled at me, as if he said things like this to people every day.

My sister had a sour look on her face. "That's not very nice to say to someone," she told him, her arms crossed in front of her. He frowned at Petunia, and the both of us frowned right back.

He smiled again, a little desperately this time, and said, "No! Don't think I'm being mean! It's okay that you're a witch! My mum's a witch, and I'm a wizard!"

At first, I didn't believe him. "You're crazy," I stated, turning on my heel. I didn't want to see any more of the strange boy.

"No!" he cried. "Why else do you think you could do those things? I've been watching you – you can do really good magic! You'll be a really good witch some day." He saw my disbelieving glance and added, "Look!" I turned to him, and watched with wide eyes as he made a patch of grass catch on fire. In seconds, it had been extinguished.

I was surprised, but it did comfort me to know why I could do these unexplained things. I smiled slightly. I felt … special. But – "You've been watching us?"

"Yeah …" he coughed. "Sorry." His cheeks developed a pink hue.

"Hey! I know who you are! You live in that neighborhood down there," Petunia said. She looked down the hill at the cheaper, grungier houses in distaste.

The boy nodded and looked at his feet. Instead of replying to Tuney, he muttered, "My name's Severus Snape. What's your name?" His voice was soft, quiet.

"I'm Lily," I told him. "Lily Evans. This is my sister, Petunia."

The boy seemed like he was about to say more, but a booming female voice cut him off. "Severus! SEVERUS SNAPE! Get home right now!"

Severus looked up at me apologetically, but didn't say a word. He just shrugged and ran down the hill, in the direction that the voice came from.

I watched after him for a minute before turning back to Tuney. Her face was contorted into an expression of utmost disgust. "You believe him?" she asked incredulously. "That grimy little … worm?"

My brows furrowed into a frown, but all I did was give a small nod. Petunia just rolled her eyes and tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder, before turning and walking away from me, heading home. I reluctantly followed.

-:-

Light rain sprinkled on me from above, droplets of water catching on my hair. I smiled, loving the cool breeze on my face. I walked happily down our street, making my way down the hill and to the river. I was turning a corner, my hands swinging at my sides, when I heard someone call, "Hey! Lily, right?"

Slightly confused, I glanced over my shoulder to see none other than the strange boy, Severus Snape, walking up to me. He grinned at me. "Hello," he greeted.

"Hi," I responded. His hair had been brushed back, so I could finally see his dark eyes.

"My mum wants to meet you," he said. A broad smile was on his face. "I told her about you. She's a witch too, remember?"

He beckoned me along kindly and began walking down the street. I was a little hesitant to go with him, but I didn't want to downright reject him, so I followed – albeit nervously.

A few minutes later, we had arrived at his house. It wasn't at all like mine – paint was peeling off the walls, dirt and dust had gathered in every corner and it smelt horrible. I wrinkled my nose, the floorboards creaking under my feet.

"Severus? Sev is that you?" a woman's voice called.

"Yes mum!" he shouted back. He rolled his eyes in my direction, and I tried to stifle a tiny giggle.

There was a loud pop, and out of nowhere a woman, her appearance much like Severus's, appeared in front of us. I gasped and put a hand over my mouth in astounded surprise.

Her eyes widened at the sight of me, and her face quickly turned angry. "Severus Snape!" she bellowed. "You brought a Muggle home, with no warning, and I just Apparated? I suppose I have to put a memory charm on her now ..." She glared at me furiously, then turned her gaze to Severus as she got out a long stick, engraved with patterns and delicately made. A wand.

I started to back up out of fear.

"No, Mum! Wait!" Mrs. Snape stopped in her actions and looked curiously at Severus, but anger was still visible in her eyes. "She's not a Muggle – remember how I told you about the Mud – Muggle-born down the road? This is her," Severus said quickly. "This is Lily."

Mrs. Snape looked surprised, but then held out a hand for me to shake. "I'm so sorry about that," she sighed.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Lily." She smiled warmly at me. I was a little bit confused when I saw this side of her, but I adjusted fast.

"To you too, Mrs. Snape," I said to her. I shook her hand.

She laughed. "Please, call me Eileen," she insisted. Once I nodded, a smile on my face, she turned to her son. "Severus, your father will be home soon. I would think not to have another witch here when he does. You can stay up at the park with Lily for a little while if you like."

Severus nodded and we went outside. He led me to the park; climbing back up the hill was hard work, but we did it. For a while, when we had arrived, we just lay down in the grass near the park, relaxing.

"So what happens if we are magical?" I asked him thoughtfully. "How did your mum learn to do that? To just appear?" I paused. "When do we get wands? Do we learn any special magic? What do we do?"

He laughed at my quick rush of questions. "When we turn eleven, we get invited to a school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he explained. "It isn't the only wizarding school – there's many others – but it's the one closest to where we live, so that's the school that we are obligated to attend. That's where Mum learnt to Apparate – when you can go anywhere in an instant, like you saw – but you can't do that until you're in your sixth or seventh year – you have to have turned seventeen by the final test. You can get hurt doing it, but they train us well so we should be alright, when it's our turn.

"We will get our wands the summer before the school term begins," he continued. "You'll be sent a letter telling you about everything that you need to get for school. You can go to a place called Diagon Alley, in London. It sells everything, and more."

I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn't say anything before I heard my sister yell, "LILY! Mummy said it's time to go home!" I sighed, but reluctantly got to my feet.

"I have to go," I told Severus sadly. "I'm sorry! Bye!"

Before he could say another word, I was running back home, away from the boy who had first opened me to the world of magic.