Bookworm Lily

I do not own Harry Potter or its associated franchises, those belong solely to J.K. Rowling.

-Note that this Lily Evans is my own version, and not at all meant to be a lore accurate representation of her character.-

Lily Evans discovered the wondrous world of books at the tender age of four years and three months. After she was seven, she never again went a day without a book in hand. You see, Lily Evans had a destiny, but at that moment, it was altered. Not yet irrevocably, but a new path had been carved out for her.

When the poor boy from Spinner's End, one Severus Snape, later stumbled upon Lily Evans, it was not with her sister Petunia scolding her for her freakish magic. No, she was levitating and reading a book under her favorite willow tree. She was the one doing the scolding to Severus Snape, as she berated her for disturbing her peace and reading. Severus Snape did something he would rarely do again. He laughed and pointed at her book.

''Don't you see, it's floating ! ''

Lily Evans looked at her book, causing it to fall as her concentration broke.

''Oh, that is just my freaky thing. It happens from time to time. I don't quite know why. None of my books say anything.''

Snape's face twisted into a smirk.

''That is because you are a witch, like I am a wizard. The muggles aren't supposed to know magic exists.''

She gaped at him. ''Prove it. Do something freakish.''

He put out his pale hand, and from nothing, and the tiniest of flowers sprouted from thin air onto his hand, which he presented to her.

''It is not freakish, it is magic. My mom's a witch, just like you. I can tell you all about magic and Hogwarts.''

From that moment ever knowledge hungry Lily Evans and Severus Snape were friends.

When their Hogwarts letters showed up, Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall was very much surprised to find a muggle-born already very knowledgeable on magic in the Evans home. She guided them and the Evans Family around Diagon Alley, and helped them set up a Floo connection in their home. When they actually went to Diagon Alley the next week, Lily cashed in all her saved up birthday money from three birthdays, her pocket money, and anything else she had gotten, and splurged on magical books. She was only reluctantly extracted by her parents three hours later to complete their remaining magical shopping.

One other thing she got was a somewhat sleepy barn owl for her to owl her parents with when she did finally go to Hogwarts. Her Elder and Unicorn Tail Hair wand in hand, she spent most of the train ride in pleasant silence, until she was disturbed by four boys that would undoubtedly be Gryffindors, by attitude alone. Her magic had flamed when they threatened her friend, and had pushed them quite unceremoniously out of the compartment. She'd swiftly locked it then, and she and Severus continued reviewing their potions book, which both of them had taken to heart and devoured within a single night.

At Hogwarts, she was however surprised when she was sorted into Gryffindor, despite vehemently arguing with the Hat's she should have been in Ravenclaw. Although, when she had sat down at the table with red and gold banners flying above it, she had mulled over the Hat's words. She'd nearly slapped herself in the face when she realized her drive to get into Ravenclaw was probably the reason she now sat at this very table. She'd given Severus an apologetic smile, and finished her meal in due time.

The next morning, when they had their first free period after lunch, she fell in love. No, not romantic love. She was eleven. Metaphorical love. You see, after getting their first assignments from the imperious McGonagall and jovial Professor Slughorn, Severus suggested they get to the library to get a head-start on the assignments. Her eyes widened, and she had asked, nay, outright demanded to be lead to the Hogwarts Library. The passing Ravenclaw Head Boy had been very much amused when the small redhead Gryffindor girl had poked his chest and demanded she please be taken to the library. He nearly burst out laughing when she almost dragged her Slytherin friend with him by his hand.

When they arrived, Lily Evans knew she had found Heaven on Earth. Thousands upon thousands of books, as far as the eye could see. The Ravenclaw Head Boy had departed from them then, as little Miss Evans got the necessary books for their assignments. And only three others, as that was all she could carry. Severus had not budged when she had asked him to carry her books for her, rather surprisingly.

Lily Evans made it her goal to get through the entire Hogwarts library before she finished her Hogwarts education. She came close. So very close. But in doing so, she had outright disregarded some of the finer aspects of life at Hogwarts. Indeed, she became almost snappish at anyone but Severus or a teacher, who, she had noted, was infatuated with her and only sought to remain in her good graces. James Potter and his goons Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were beneath her contempt, and she simply did not give them the time of day.

Only in the defense of her friend Severus did she ever react to them, and they together made some very special spells. One, they tested on Pettigrew when the runt of a boy had remained when even James Potter and Sirius Black had enough. He was rewarded with a very primitive castration curse the poor boy never really recovered from, despite Madam Pomfrey's best efforts.

You thought Lily Evans kept to certain topics ? Nay, she did not. For her interest in all things literary also extended to Dark Magic, and by now she knew (though had never practiced) some Azkaban-worthy hexes and curses, just in case. Including her own research with Severus, together they would be attempting to perfect a version of the Wolfsbane potion to permanently incapacitate the wolf in a werewolf. But that research had come to a halt without willing test subjects. She knew of one werewolf at Hogwarts, the rather obvious Remus Lupin, but she did not stoop that low. Her morals were clear-cut, and human experimentation did not take a part of it.

She had however directed Severus Snape away from his Slytherin crowd. Her oldest assistant and most helpful person she had ever met had gotten a stern talking to when he had extolled the virtues of one Lord Voldemort and his pure-blood supremacy to her, and she had put an immediate halt to it.

James Potter valiantly kept his crush, and even became civil in her 7th year, when they were respectively Head Boy and Head Girl, but she rejected all his attempts to ask her out on a date of any sorts. It was too late anyway. If she had actively wanted a relationship with Potter, she would have accepted years before. So, after getting rejected(somewhat gently) for the last time, James Potter finally gave up, and the world was forever changed.

Harry James Potter, a bespectacled boy with Lily's eyes and James's face and hair, would never be born. Last she heard, James Potter's parents had betrothed him to Selena Selwyn, a fellow pure-blood. Being a good person in heart and spirit, she had sent her well-wishes in a formal card.

After she graduated, she applied for a Potions' Mastery to Professor Slughorn, along with her oldest friend Severus. It took them three years to earn their mastery, a record time, as they perfected and simplified the Wolfsbane potion. Werewolves would no longer have to suffer through painful full moons, and were essentially turned into unwilling wolf animagi. A last imperfection was a lingering discomfort on the full moon when not transformed, but they had declared their work finished, and had been internationally lauded for effectively curing lycanthropy, which instantly made them famous, as Magical Governments around the world gave equal rights to any werewolf willing to drink the one time draught.

Remus Lupin had profusely thanked them when he had drank the draught. He was but the first of many.

In that same year, Lord Voldemort tried to recruit Lily Evans and Severus Snape, but were met with staunch refusal, as long as they were allowed to experiment in peace. When Voldemort had tried to press the matter, the curses he was hit with took months to fully recover from. They were never bothered again.

Eventually, towards the end of her fifties, with even her magical biological clock ticking, she agreed to become Lily Prince. Severus had long before been blood-adopted by his maternal grandfather and grandmother, now lacking an heir with their son dead in the fight against Voldemort.

Lily Prince and Severus Prince eventually became the father to a single child, a son they named Paris, who had his mother's eyes and face, but his father's somewhat greasy black hair. Their wedding had been small and only direct family and friends, few as either had remaining at that point, attended. James Potter and Selena Selwyn were both long dead, being survived only by their son, the eventual defeater of Lord Voldemort, one Finn Potter. His daughter Maira would be in the same year as Paris, and eventually, when the Princes were now very old, marry late in life and give Severus and Lily three grandchildren.

Such was the tale of a different Lily Evans, where prophesy was given a different turn.

Hey everyone,

This was an idea that has been lurking around in my head for a while now, inspired by the relative lack of non James Potter/Lily Evans fanfiction. While I normally do not write Severus/Lily, it came out to be the way it was due to this Lily being a lot more pragmatic and just never giving James Potter the light of day. This Lily is just so focused on research, she never really got away from it, and her relationship with Severus is somewhat toxic to say the least.

See them marrying as more of a reward from this Lily to Severus for so many years of loyalty, and her desire for a child to spoil, rather than actual love. Paris Prince (I love alliterative names) is the result of that wish, and perhaps one of the few people this Lily actually ever showed love for. I left the rest open for your own thoughts and conclusions, and would welcome any further expansion by anyone else on ''Bookworm Lily'' . Of course, any critique is welcome, and reviews just motivate me to write further :D

Until my next creation,

Foadar