Lily Evans woke up to the bright Saturday morning sun blazing through her window. She shielded her eyes from the light and climbed out of bed. She dressed and hopped down the stairs for breakfast.
"Mum?" she called.
"In here, Angel," her mother replied from the kitchen. "What would you like for breakfast? How about a piece of toast? A half or whole bagel? Some kippers?"
"Um…a half a bagel," Lily replied, seated in a chair at the Evans' enormous dining table, and as an afterthought, she added, "with peanut butter."
Lily could hear her mother bustling around the kitchen. Her sister pounded down the stairs and took the seat as far away from Lily as she could.
"What's wrong, Petunia? Are you afraid I'm going to give you cooties if you come too close?" teased Lily.
Petunia scowled at her and gave no reply.
"Now you're afraid to talk?" Lily asked as her mother brought in two plates, half a bagel with peanut butter on each.
"I thought I heard you coming down the stairs, Petunia Darling," their mother said. "So I made you some breakfast too."
Petunia frowned as Mrs. Evans walked back into the kitchen. "She always forgets I hate peanut butter."
Lily finished her bagel and walked back up to her room. She chose her favorite shirt and pair of pants; she had a feeling it was going to be a good day.
***
"Lily, get the mail please," her mother called.
"Fine," Lily said, sighing. She had been talking to her best friend, Anne Ferrell.
"It's fine, I'll wait," Anne said.
Anne is so patient and loyal, Lily thought as she walked outside.
Lily reached the mailbox and retrieved a rather thick stack of letters.
She flipped through them as she walked back to the house.
Junk, mum, mum, ad, blah, blah, blah, Lily thought. Then she found a letter that was addressed to her.
Lily walked into the kitchen and set the rest of the mail down on the countertop. She headed back up to her room where Anne was waiting for her.
"Look at this," Lily said as she entered the room, Anne looked up.
"What's that?" she questioned.
"Dunno…don't recognize the handwriting," Lily replied uncertainly.
She peeled off a piece of wax that had engraved a shield containing a lion, raven, serpent, and a badger surrounding the letter H.
Her eyes scanned the letter, as did Anne's, who was reading over her shoulder.
"Hogwarts?" Anne asked, puzzled.
"It's some sort of school, for Witchcraft and Wizardry," Lily answered, eyebrows rising.
"Do you think it's a joke?" Anne questioned.
"Maybe…but it's a pretty good one, I mean, who would ever be able to come up with this?" Lily asked.
Anne turned towards the doorway. "Let's ask your mum."
Lily followed Anne out of her bedroom.
"Mum!" she called at the bottom of the stairs. She received a reply from the living room. She scurried in and said quickly, "This came in the mail, read it!"
Her mother took it, her eyebrows rising even higher as they went farther down the paper.
"You're trying to fool me, aren't you, Sweetheart," Mrs. Evans said, handing the letter back to Lily.
"No! I'm serious, it came in the mail!" Lily exclaimed.
"Yes…I see, well maybe it's someone's idea of a joke," her mother answered.
"I dunno…it's not like a kid's handwriting, and it's a pretty clever idea," Lily answered. For a whole minute she had actually believed she was going to a school for magic.
"Yes, but I'm quite certain someone is trying to fool you," Mrs. Evans declared.
Lily sighed and turned to her friend. "Yeah, I guess so. Let's go on over to your house, Anne."
"All right," Anne said, leading the way across the street.
"Hey! Maybe you got an acceptance letter!" Lily exclaimed, pointing to the Ferrell's mailbox. "Go check!"
Anne thrust her hand into the box and pulled it back out with a stack of mail slightly smaller than the Evans'. Anne flipped through them, and then took a sharp intake of breath.
"I did! Look! Same handwriting, but mine has Miss Anne Ferrell instead of Miss Lily Evans," Anne exclaimed brightly.
"This can't be a joke," Lily said brightly, her spirits rising.