"LILIAN ADELINE EVANS!"
Lily sighed, folding the freshly laundered shirt and placing it on the pile of folded clothes. "Coming, Petunia!"
Ever since her father had died, Lily had been forced by her stepmother to earn her keep. What her father had seen in Petronella Deschenes, she would never know. The woman was a gold digger, with a spoiled brat of a daughter who always seemed to get her way.
"LILI-AAAAAAN!!!" came another shriek. Lily smirked. It seemed that her "beloved" stepsister had found out about the water bucket over the door. Reluctantly, the ten-year-old arose from her position in the grimy kitchen and made her way to Petunia's scream.
"Yes, mistress?" Lily asked. Though the address was polite and respectful, the tone Lily said it in made it insulting.
"Don't just stand there, brat, I'm sopping! Get me some towels! I want a nice large fire in my room, and I want it five minutes ago! And where's my breakfast, I'm ravenous! Oh, and Lilian, you get no food for three days for your prank, understood?"
"Yes, mistress," Lily replied in a singsong voice. She knew that Petunia could not enforce the punishment; Marielle, the household cook, would see to it that Lily got at least a little nourishment.
Lily walked into Petunia's room and began tending to the fire. After she had gotten a blaze started, she walked downstairs to get Petunia's breakfast.
'I hope you choke,' Lily thought as she left her older stepsister to scarf down the food. Marielle was bustling around the kitchen when Lily arrived, making breakfast for "Madame Deschenes".
"Bonjour, Marie," Lily greeted, sitting down in a chair by the fire.
"Bonjour, Mademoiselle! How are you, this morning?"
"Same old. Played a prank on Petty… she's not too happy with me," Lily said glumly, sitting back and staring at the ceiling.
"The 'no food' punishment for you, c'est ne pas?" Marie asked, pouring hot water into a chipped mug, the one that was reserved for Lily.
"Yeah. Merci, Marie," Lily said as she accepted the warm cup of tea from the cook.
"I will be back as soon as I take this tray up to Madame Deschenes. Be a good girl and get the mail, would you?" Marie said, picking up the tray and walking out of the kitchen. Lily sighed, dusted the soot off of her threadbare dress, and walked down through the front garden to the lane. It was quite a walk, seeing as the estate was 160 acres all around.
Lily reached into the fancy mailbox at the front of the estate, pulling out the letters. She didn't notice one letter flutter to the ground, addressed in green ink, with a peculiar seal on the back: four animals arranged around a capital "H". The address stood out clearly.
Miss Lilian Adeline Evans
Kitchen Floor
127 Hedgefield Close
Dover
England
.:.
Lily placed the bundle of envelopes on the dining room table, where Petronella could read them at lunch. Lily had expertly removed the bills and junk mail from the pile, leaving only invitations, postcards, and letters from friends.
Now was Lily's time to herself. She normally would go and play hide and seek with the young children across the road, but today the sky was looking stormy, so she knew that the children would be kept inside. Sighing, she made her way to the library. Since Petunia and Petronella were (in Lily's words) "illiterate prats," the library was rarely cleaned, and always a good place for Lily to hide out.
She selected a novel from a dusty shelf, read the back flap, and returned it to its place. She rather enjoyed rags-to-riches stories, such as Cinderella, and always envisioned herself as the main character, being whisked away to a large castle to fall in love with a handsome prince… However, she knew that could never happen. She was doomed to serve the Descheneses until she could support herself.
She moved deeper into the large library, selecting promising books, and then putting them back. Her hand came to rest on a black book with gold binding. Curious, she pulled it from the shelf. The book was obviously well made; thin, gold patterns of leaves and flowers patterned the front, where there was no title to be found. As if she was being controlled, Lily opened the book, where, in gold writing, were penned the words:
Lyliane Genevieve Rousseau-Evans
Lily nearly dropped the book. She recognized the name, all too well. It was the name of Lily's mother, ten—almost eleven— years dead. Trembling, Lily sat down in the closest armchair, unaware that a tear was flowing down her cheek. She had never known her mother; Lyliane had died only a day after Lily had been born. She had lived just long enough to name the child: Lilian, after herself, and Adeline, after her mother.
Lily turned the page, only to find an obviously old envelope that had been slid into the pages. Oddly enough, the letter was addressed to her. Carefully, Lily opened the letter.
My Darling Lilian,
I am sure that by now you have a nickname, most likely "Lily", as my friends called me in primary and secondary school. I can already picture you: my long red hair, your father's brilliant green eyes…I am sure you have grown into quite a lovely young lady.
I know that I am to die soon, and I will have to leave you and your father. There is nothing that can save me, and I am sorry. I just wanted to tell you that I have loved you since I knew you were in my belly, when I was three weeks pregnant. Your father and I were overjoyed, and couldn't wait for you to be born. I also wanted you to know what my own life was like, as a child.
The best time of my young life was when I was at Hogwarts. You might have heard of it, but then, you might not. It is a wonderful school, Lily! You will enjoy going there very much. I do hope you are not a squib! You should receive the letter the summer of the year you turn eleven. Marielle will know what to do.
If you are rough-and-tumble, like me, you will enjoy Quidditch very much. It is a glorious sport, though quite complicated and dangerous.
Behave yourself, however! Just kidding…I, myself was one of the students with a certain "disregard for the rules". See if you can break my record for the most detentions one can get in a single year! I got at least one per week in my fourth year.
Make lots of friends, Lily! Friends are very, very important!
Lots of Love, Luck, and Wisdom,
Your Mother
XO
PS- In this diary, you can find all of the pranks I played while at school. Put it to good use, and beware of the Slytherins, the slimy prats.
Lily was speechless. A letter from her mother… A jumble of feelings raced around her heart: love, sadness, anger, loneliness, happiness…
She stood up, rereading the letter as she walked out. Marielle will know what to do, her mother had said. Biting her lip, she made a quick decision to show the cook the letter.
"Marie! Marie!" she called, racing from the room.
Marielle looked up from her sewing as Lily entered the room, huffing and puffing as if she had just run the length of the UK in ten seconds flat.
"Oui, Mademoiselle?" Marielle asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Marie, what is Hogwarts?" Lily asked, holding out the letter. Marielle gasped as she read over the letter, and then she smiled.
"Ah, Hogwarts! I went to Beauxbatons, myself. C'est une école merveilleuse!"
"In English, please?" Lily asked. "You will have to teach me French, Marie! It is such a beautiful language!"
"Oui, oui… I said, 'it is a wonderful school!'" Marielle translated.
"I know, I know, so I have heard… several times. What is Hogwarts, Marie? Is it a charm school?" Lily prodded.
"Charm school? Tu rigoles!" Marielle scoffed. "Hogwarts is a… well… it's a school for wizards and witches," she finished. Lily stared.
"A what?" she said. "A school for what? Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly?"
"Oui, oui, Mademoiselle. Your mother was a witch. As are we," Marielle explained. Lily pinched herself, then sat down hard.
"I'm a… I'm a… a… a…" she trailed off.
"Witch."
"But why haven't I received the letter yet?"
"Je ne sais pas. You are certainly not a squib… I will owl Minerva…" Marielle bustled around the kitchen, pulling from a drawer three items: a piece of parchment, a quill, and a vessel of ink. After writing down a quick note on the parchment and tying it with a piece of ribbon, she looked out the kitchen window and whistled. To the surprised delight of Lily, A large, tawny owl flew in and perched on the window sill. Tying the letter to the owl's leg, Marielle whispered to the calm owl. "This goes to Minerva McGonagall, at Hogwarts. Hurry back with a reply." With an affectionate nip, the owl flew off. Marielle turned to Lily. "The owl should be back in a couple of days."
"Merci, Marie."
"De rein. Now, about those French lessons…"
.:.:.:.
A/N: ::flinch:: Looking back on this… it sucks. I'm editting it because it's got so many reviews, but I still loathe it. Now that I've actually taken French, I am much better acquainted with the French language, so the French should be more accurate.
I also got rid of Marie's accent. It sucked. End of story.
Translations:
Tu rigoles: "You're joking!" (familiar form)
Je ne sais pas: "I don't know"
De rien: "It was nothing"
The rest you can probably figure out.
Editted 7/6/04