Author's Note: I have a confession to make, I'm a little nervous. This is my first Harry Potter fanfiction and, reading the so many wonderful ones out in the fanfiction world (including my personal favorite, Paradigm of Uncertainty); I feel I have a rather large gap to fill. Let's hope this turns out as good as I think it is. So read, review and spread the word!
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, places and the magical world of Harry Potter. This belongs to J.K. Rowling, respectively. However, my original characters, places, and events belong to myself.
Chapter One: Tradition
Yet another school year had passed. Bells and gongs, signaling the end of the day, rang out through the streets of thousands of towns and cities from Nova Scotia to South Africa and from Indonesia to Egypt. There was only a single moment of serenity until the masses of students flocked from their enclosures to the wild outdoors; locker combinations already long forgotten.
All students, whether an able student or not, ran as if their lives depended on it-away from the school grounds; many already planning what they would do the next day. But as soon as the swarm had arrived, it had gone. The only thing remaining were a dozen or so papers, lost to the wind. That and one other, also forgotten: a little girl.
At St. Mary's Academy for the Gifted and Unchallenged a large wooden door opened, revealing black patent leather shoes with white stockings. As the door creaked to a sudden halt at the end of its hinge, the girl stood in the archway, surveying the grounds. Seemingly, forgotten once again.
She gingerly stepped down the stone stairway, letting the wind whip her red hair around her head, smacking her face. The girl walked about forty paces until she reached the end of the pathway, leading to the parking lot where two cars sat. One of them belonged to Principal Aldridge and the other to one of the members of the janitorial staff. She knew this as well as you or I. How many times had she walked out of this building, only to see a black sedan and a beaten and rusty white pickup truck instead of her sister's bright blue sports car?
Again, for the hundredth time that year, she sat down on the last square stone before the curb and for the hundredth time, she tucked the edges of her red and black plaid skirt underneath her white stocking legs. When doing so, all she could think about was how ugly her school uniform was: a white, long-sleeved shirt, a black tie, a black sweater vest with a black jacket over it. The crest of St. Mary's Academy for the Gifted and Unchallenged was on the upper left hand side of her chest which was mostly white. This matched her white stockings. It was the same boring outfit everyday. You would think that if one were so gifted and unchallenged, she thought, the staff could think of something more creative than this. She sighed heavily, placing her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. I suppose tradition always prevails. Bored, much like her outfit, she started tapping her fingers against her cheekbone. Screw tradition.
The wind died down slightly as she closed her eyes, trying to think of anything else besides the familiar predicament she was in. Think of a tropical island, she told herself, like Costa Rica. She imagined the beautiful birds and the cascading waterfalls. It was almost as if she could hear the banging of tribal drums; deep at first but then becoming more exact and lighter as they drew closer to her...wait a second...closer to her?
"I think there's a young lady who is in need of some cheering up. What do you think George?"
The girl opened her eyes and saw two friendly faces.
"Hello Albert," she said, the sadness rushing away as she stood up and reached for the red and orange tiger lily that the man passed her. The girl couldn't help but wonder if the flower had come right out of her Costa Rican daydream.
Albert Farnsworth was one half of a horse and buggy team that rode around the streets of London, England, letting tourists and lovers have a moonlight stroll through the park or an old-fashioned sight-seeing tour. The other half of this team was George, the massive chestnut Clydesdale. And for the past eight months, Albert and George would pick up the young girl and bring her home.
As the girl jumped right into the old-fashioned carriage, she thought to herself that this kind of tradition was okay and even somewhat of a comfort.
"You're not going to ignore George now are you dear?" Albert said jokingly, and just on cue, George whinnied for a response.
The girl laughed, which quickly started to turn to a giggle as George jerked his head up and down, impatiently waiting for her to greet him. "I couldn't forget you, George!" She said, giggling some more. "Not in a million years!"
She looked over to Albert just now, admiring his tradition. He wore a black suit with long tails and a black satin top hat to match. In the lapel of his jacket was a red carnation which matched the red stripes in his tie. Albert also wore white gloves that usually were stained black by the end of the day, due to the reins.
"So," Albert said, removing her from her reverie. "Has your sister lost her car keys again?" She shook her head, becoming a little sad at the reminder that she was indeed forgotten. "No? Wait, I know," he said, giving a signal to go from the reins as George took off. "I bet she was held up running an errand." Again, she shook her head, but this time she smiled. She knew where this was going. "Then she must have fallen down the stairs and broke her legs in fifty different spots to prevent her from coming to pick you up!" She shook her head some more. "Wait! She must have-"
"It's okay, Albert!" The girl said, turning to him. "You don't have to invent lame excuses day after day for me." There was a small silence as Albert accepted this. All he ever tried to do was give this girl a little sunshine. And it didn't seem to be working this time. "Although, I will give you this," she said, giving him some hope and a smile. "You come up with a new scenario every time this happens. And seeing that it's everyday of the school week...kudos for you Mr. Farnsworth!" She applauded him enthusiastically as he gave her a small tip of his hat. She almost swore she saw his long mustache curl a little more.
For the rest of the trip to her home, the girl sat and listened to the adventurous day that Albert and George had had. She couldn't remember a time when she laughed more and by the end of their trip, her stomach was in a knot.
"Alrighty, then," Albert said, pulling the reins. The carriage came to a smooth stop. "Here we are. 105 Templeton Place, Earls Court, London," he said, rather professionally." And do mind your step getting out, dear."
Like she had done everyday at about four o'clock, she stepped over Albert and carelessly jumped down to the street below. Turning back to the carriage, Albert handed her the traditional St. Mary's satchel and traditional beret, both with the very traditional (not to mention, very boring) St. Mary's emblem on each.
"The design isn't that boring. You make it out to be like some sort of medieval coat of arms."
"No, Albert. I would settle for that. But even George thinks it's rather stupid, don't you, George?" George immediately turned his head away from her, as if the St. Mary's seal disgusted him. "See?"
"Alright," Albert said, giving in. "It's utter rubbish. There. Are you happy?"
She flung the satchel over her arm and gave one last pat to the beret on her head, making sure it was secure. "Happy? Yes, I suppose I am. Thank you once again, Albert. And you too, George," she said walking up to the Clydesdale and stroking his mane.
The girl walked up to the large Victorian hotel, The K+K Hotel George (not to be confused with George, the Clydesdale horse), the very hotel her father, William Evans, owned and operated. Her, her mother, Elizabeth, and her sister, Petunia, all shared a large flat directly located on the fifth and top floor of the K+K George, overlooking its own private garden. This hotel was nicely located in a rather quiet and residential street in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. This was her home.
"And Lily," Albert called out just as she reached the large black door that would lead her into the hotel lobby. "I have always thought that a petunia was a dreadful excuse for a flower!"
Lily smiled. Knowing well enough that what Albert had really meant to say was that Petunia was a dreadful excuse for a sister.
__________________________________________________________
An eleven year-old Lily Evans walked the five flights of stairs rather than take the elevator. The stairwell was very old but the wood was always neatly polished until it gleamed magnificently. It was smooth to the touch and always smelled like cedar laced with lemons.
Lily walked down the corridor at the top of the stairwell, counting off the room numbers on either side. 208…209…210. These rooms were the deluxe suites and important people were always occupying them. She remembered that when her dad first started working at the K+K Hotel George, she used to envy the people who stayed here. 213…214…215. Them with their crisp Armani suits with their perfect wives in cocktail dresses and their little girls with those innocent white dresses. She used to watch them walk down the stairs, all in a row, like a mother duck and her hatchlings crossing a pond. 218…219…220. But she remembered even more clearly when William Evans got promotion after promotion and finally, after old Mr. D. K. George died, her father took over the business. Her parents had never had much money but now, it was quite the opposite.
At the end of the hall there was a large bay window overlooking the private gardens. Lily stole a look outside at the miniature white lights placed in the trees before turning to her left. Where a single door should have been, there were two large oak doors each with a silver knob. She stepped closer to the door and rapped once, twice, and then another before she heard the soft clicking of footsteps.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Evans," came the voice of Christoff, the Evans's butler.
"Hello, Chris." She stepped inside and he helped her take off her knapsack and school jacket. "How was your day?"
"Just fine, thank you. And yours?"
Lily looked down the hall and saw her sister, Petunia Evans, sitting in a chair, talking steadily into a cordless telephone. Petunia glanced Lily's way, but it was only a glance as she stumbled over a word and then shut the door before continuing on with her conversation.
Turning to Christoff, Lily put on her best smile. "My day was just wonderful, thank you." She took her jacket and bag from her butler. "Where are mum and dad?"
"They had to attend a conference this afternoon but should be home within the hour, Ms. Evans."
She nodded once and with a small 'thank you', retreated to the privacy of her room.
Lily's room was at the very top of their luxurious flat within the K+K George. When you first entered from the oak set of doors, it is quite an overwhelming experience. There is a winding staircase to your right and left that leads up towards each other and meets at the top, giving way to the hallway with bedrooms and bathrooms. The first room near the stairs is quite spacious, a living room of the sort with a fireplace and chairs to sit on. Past that is the kitchen, dining room, the office for William Evans and for his wife, Elizabeth. There is also another sitting room with an extensive book collection as well as balcony off of the kitchen.
Upstairs, Lily's room is the last door, straight ahead. As she opens the door, it's like her own personal hideaway. Nothing can touch her here. Absolutely nothing. She lets the door click shut behind her as she neatly hangs her jacket in the closet. She undresses from her school uniform ("It's like prisoner clothes…") into a knee length tan colored skirt and a white t-shirt. Lily sighs happily as she hangs the rest of her uniform with her jacket and shuts the closet door. "No more of you. Just be a good uniform and collect dust over the summer."
Just then, the door bursts open. There is no courtesy knock. But then again, it's Petunia; why would there be any courtesy?
"Have you gone mad?" She asks, quite annoyed at something.
"No, dear sister," she says, completely full of sarcasm. "Why ever do you ask?"
"I heard you talking to your uniform. Surely that can't be normal."
No, Lily thought, nothing I do could ever be normal. "Well, Petunia, surely that can't be all you want to inquire about."
"As a matter of fact," Petunia said, almost taking a step forward to come into her sister's bedroom but hesitated.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked. "You can come in, you know."
"I'd rather stay in the doorway. Who knows what…evil things you have in here."
"Right," Lily stated, crossing her arms. "Such as the books on my shelves? Such evil things books are. Crawling with information and all that evil nonsense."
Petunia, not knowing how to respond, just rolled her eyes. "Look, Lily…Claudia and Dana are coming over after dinner and I would prefer it if we pretended like we didn't know each other during their stay and furthermore…"
"Why didn't you come pick me up today, Petunia?" Lily hated to admit it, but she loved her sister. It had not always been this way. When they were younger they were almost inseparable. But as soon as Petunia reached High School, something inside of her changed. And it was only getting worse over the last few weeks as it dawned on Petunia that next year, Lily would be attending the same school, London Academy, for grades seven through twelve. That just couldn't be.
"Don't change the subject, Lily. Now I want a straight reply from you. They know enough I have a sister but if they just look at you, I'll be ruined. So…just stay in your room and read one of your useless books or watch the television in you room…"
"I don't even have a television in my room."
"I don't care what you do Lily! Just occupy yourself long enough!" Petunia's rage glazed over and she suddenly had the look in her eye she used to have, but it was only for a split second before it was gone. "I'm only asking for a few hours, Lily."
"Only a few hours," Lily repeated. "Okay, Petunia. After dinner I'll just come up here and read one of my useless books. There. Does that align with your standards?"
"Yes," Petunia replied, her tone neutral. "Thank you, Lily. I hope you understand one day."
"Perhaps I will," Lily said quietly.
Petunia nodded, feeling happy with herself and relieved, though she never showed it. She never gave Lily the satisfaction of a smile or a laugh, not unless the smile was because Lily made a mistake or she made fun of her. "Um," Petunia said, stopping at the door but not turning towards her sister.
"Yes?" Lily said hopefully. Maybe she'll invite me to hang out with her friends…
"Don't read aloud, Lily. They might hear you."
Petunia left Lily's room, shutting the door behind her.
At that moment, as a few tears ran down her cheeks, Lily Evans swore that the day would never come that she understood what Petunia was fussing about.
_________________________________________________________
After a rather pleasant dinner with her mother, father and Petunia, Lily, as promised, excused herself from the table.
"Darling," her mother said, a little worried. "Is something wrong?"
"No, mum. I'm perfectly fine. Just a little worn out from the final exams. That's all," she lied. Lily shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot and hoped that her parents wouldn't nervous.
"I know it was your last day at St. Mary's," her father began. "But you have an exciting summer ahead of you and when you start seventh grade at London Academy in September, you'll have so many new and challenging classes to begin."
"You'll just love it there, Lily. I know it," her mother added, smiling to her daughter.
"Thank you mum and dad but…you don't have to worry about me. Really," Lily said, stressing her last word. Her parents were wonderful but she seemed to think they worried too much for her well-being. "I'll see you in the morning," she said, ending the conversation. She kissed her mother and father goodnight and began to leave the dining room.
"If you're sure everything's fine…" her father began.
"It's okay, dad," Petunia said, interrupting. Lily turned around to watch the scene unfold. "If Lily says she's fine I think she really is. Lily knows what's good for her. She's not a child anymore and I'm sure she'll love it at the academy." Elizabeth looked to her husband for reassurance but Petunia kept right on. "Don't worry, mum. If Lily has any sort of problem, she can always come to me."
Lily had had enough. She turned around without another word to her family and walked right towards her bedroom.
____________________________________________________________________
About an hour had passed before Lily had finally finished her book, The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring. She had read it five times before but decided a few nights ago that it was that time of year again and pulled the hard-bound copy from her shelf. She scanned her shelves for another book to pass the time but when she found nothing she hadn't read more than three times, Lily decided to take a risk and go to the downstairs sitting room and find her father's copy of To Kill A Mockingbird, a book she had been wanting to read for ages now but always had seem to forget about it.
Everything was going well until she was right outside of Petunia's bedroom door, her book at her side. It started to open slowly and she could definitely hear the distinct voice of her sister along with two others. It's only a few more meters until my door, she thought but hesitated to move. When the door showed no signs of shutting, she tried to make a quiet run for it but was stopped.
"Petunia, is that your sister?"
Oh, no, Lily thought. This can't be good.
"Um, my sister?" Petunia said, with a hint of anger in her voice. Lily could tell from the way her voice cracked that she was straining not to explode.
"Oh, she must look exactly like you! Wouldn't that be cute?!" The other friend said. "Turn around, Lydia! Let's have a look at you!"
Lily turned slowly, knowing that their reaction would not be good. Lily and Petunia Evans looked nothing alike. Most people assumed one was adopted or that they were cousins. Very distant cousins.
"My name is Lily."
"What?" One of them said.
"You said, Lydia. It's Lily."
"Oh…well, sorry." The girl glanced at Petunia as if to say 'I'm sorry you have her as your sister,' and turned away from Lily, unable to hold in the laughter any longer.
"Don't mind Claudia," the other girl said, presumably Dana. "We just thought you would look like Petunia is all and uh…you're uh…cute." The last word was obviously forced. Dana took the same stance as Claudia and then the two girls ran down the stairs in a fit of laughter.
All that was left in the hallway was Petunia and Lily.
"What was that all about?" Lily asked, anger and sadness raked her voice.
"That's my line." Petunia took a few steps forward, grabbed Lily and forced her into her bedroom. "You promised me that you would stay here and read!"
"I finished my book, Petunia! And I'm not your damn slave!" Lily was just as shocked as Petunia was that she had said that, but with the ball already rolling, she decided not to stop. She made an offensive move and took a step towards her sister. "I don't know what was so funny to your friends, Petunia, but obviously they were a little surprised I didn't look like you! And I should be grateful I don't! Besides, it's not everyday that you have an ugly hag as a sister! Must be a full moon or something!"
"Ugly hag?!" Her sister yelled. "Me?! You wish, Lily Evans! I'm sorry to wake you from your dream but the only friend you have is in the palm of your hands!" Her sister angrily slammed the door behind her and stormed down the stairs in a fury.
And even if her sister's statement wasn't true, Lily had made a few friends at St. Mary's, she couldn't help but wonder if her sister was right.
_________________________________________________________________
That same night, hundreds of miles away, Professor Minerva McGonagall sat at her desk, reflecting upon the past few days. There were the final exams which had gone rather well, expect for the incident where a third year transfigured a picture frame into a snake instead of a worm. And of course there was the emotional event of graduation from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Minerva McGonagall always started to well up with tears halfway through her welcoming speech and had to cut down her welcome quite significantly.
The professor stood up and crossed her office to the back of the room and opened a cabinet. She took out a large wooden box from inside that bore the crest of Hogwarts and sat back at her desk. Minerva McGonagall slid open the larger of the two compartments and took out a silver piece of parchment and placed it on her desk. She opened the second compartment and took out a silver quill. Carefully placing the quill in midair she awaited for the quill to begin its work.
For a few moments it drifted, suspended in the air a few centimeters above the silver parchment, but as if by magic (and of course, it was), it started jotting down names. The Professor sighed happily, watching as the names of the new students who would be joining her at Hogwarts the following year, were written onto the paper.
Abrams, Theodora
Ambrosio, Anthony
Black, Sirius
Britton, Napoleon
Denico, Alexandra
Ellis, Summer
Figg, Arabella
Finnigan, Patrick
Golden, Dove
Hartwell, Rosalyn
Incandella, Jason
Kritzer, Claude
LeRoux, Remera
Lupin, Remus
Lussier, Magdalena
Malfoy, Lucius
McNamara, Nicholas
Merwin, Yancy
Norton, Dora
Oberlin, Cyrano
Pettigrew, Peter
Potter, James
Snape, Severus
One by one the names appeared on her list until there were at least forty or so students occupying the list. Forty or so blue names shimmered brightly on the silver parchment. It dried instantly and Professor Minerva McGonagall checked it over once, twice and then, satisfied, was about to roll it up and put it away when the quill jumped out of her hand. It started scribbling something on the parchment until the quill had nothing more to write and jumped back into the box, the compartment door shutting behind it.
Minerva McGonagall picked the parchment up and scanned the list until she found what had been added: one more name.
Evans, Lily
"Well, Ms. Evans," the professor said to no one in particular. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
Minerva placed the parchment back into the wooden box and closed the compartment, not even noticing that Lily's name was a shade deeper blue than the rest.
Author's Ending Note: Well, I hope that went well with all of you readers out there. I know this might seem slow and boring (though I really hope not!), it's just the beginning and I have so much more in store in the next chapters. So stick around, you might just like it. And in case you need an extra push…REVIEW! And please, try to positively critique.