"Lily! Hurry up!" screamed the crazy woman downstairs.

Lily sighed, and folded over the top corner of her page. She had just received the last Harry Potter book as a 'going away' gift from her mother. Said psycho was sending Lily and her 8-year-old sister, Maddie, to England to spend the summer with her solitary aunt. Her mother had decided to take up a very pristine photography job, and although it meant they were remodeling the entire house, it also included the continuous absence of her mother. Lily didn't want to go, and leave her life behind. This was supposed to be the best summer of her young life, and she was wasting it by looking after her sister in muggy England.

"Mother!" Lily yelled. She was only on the first page, and didn't want to be interrupted. "What?" she yelled when she heard stomping up the stairs, heading toward her room. Lily jumped off the bed and dashed to the door, yanking it open just as her mother raised her hand to pound on it.

"We have to leave. We're going to be late." her mother said, pleading for Lily to go quietly.

Lily felt sympathy for her little sister, standing at the bottom of the stairs and gazing up at the potential yelling match. She clutched her worn, pink elephant doll and said, "Lily, can we go? Mommy said we could get ice cream on the way."

Lily glared at her mother. "Bribes, huh?"

Her mother looked at her in the eye and said, casually, "Five-scoop sundae bribes, actually."

Lily smiled, and turned to get her bags. "Six, and there has to be whipped cream on top."

Lily and her mother descended the stairs, each lugging hefty bags.

"This is so great how you decided to pack our house into carriers, Mom. Storage, Schmorage. This is manpower at its best!" Lily drawled, shoving the bags into the back of the minivan. Her mother snorted. "I'm sorry if your makeup collection weighs more than you do, but we're all leaving for the summer and I don't want to leave anything behind." Her mother was due for her first shoot in Milan by Wednesday. All of their flights were at the same time, so they left the house together.

"I think that's everything, don't you?" said Lily's mother, strapping Maddie into her car seat.

"Just give me a minute, mom." Lily walked to the side of the house, where there was an old, drooping tree. A fork in the trunk made for a perfect seat, and Lily remembered the good times she had had sitting in this exact spot. She would miss it.

"Lily? We need to leave." said her mother, turning the corner.

"Okay, Mom." Lily said, getting up and wiping her eyes. She followed her mother back to the car and sat down, ignoring the feeling of leaving something behind. That happened to be her life.

"Welcome to Surrey!" said Marissa, Lily's English aunt. Marissa was very nice, and treated Lily as a peer, and not a child. She made Maddie laugh incessantly, so Lily took her to be a good person.

As they exited the car, Lily gazed up at the small, two-story house, which was a calming shade of green. Maddie stood beside her and grabbed onto Lily's hand excitedly. "Look! A park!" she said, entirely satisfied with her new home. Lily looked at the deserted, barren park, which only had two swings and a meager see-saw. There was suddenly movement, and a tall, dark man sat on a bench and didn't move any more. Lily turned away and walked up to the house, just content she would have someplace to sleep. Planes don't offer the best comfort.

Once Lily was introduced to the house, she began to unpack her belongings to make her room feel more like home. Maddie walked into her room.

"Can we go to the park? Please please please?" she begged.

Lily smiled. "Okay." she said, and looked for her book, eager to start it. She couldn't find it, so she wracked her brain to remember the last time she saw it. Lily could picture it now, sitting on her bed...at her old home. She had left her book in America! Lily had a small second of depression before she realized she could just buy the stupid thing here.

She took a hold of Maddie's hand and told Marissa on her way out where she was going. They walked down the street and reached the park. Upon closer inspection, Lily realized the man was really a teenager, about her age, if not older. The kid was not bothering her, just sitting on the bench, half-hidden by the overgrown shrubbery and trees. Lily ignored him and let Maddie free to play on the swings, while she sat contemplating her forgetfulness.

Maddie was laughing and swinging by herself when a pack of young boys sauntered up to her.

"Bitch, this is OUR spot, you'd best get a move on if you don't want to get hurt." said the pack leader, a tall, fourteen-year-old-looking boy cursed with horrible acne. Maddie stopped swinging and cowered in her seat. Lily heard what he said and rushed to Maddie's aid. She saw the stranger shift in the corner of her eye.

"Don't use that kind of language on my sister! She's a little girl. You should know better than to pick on helpless people." She scolded. The boy scoffed, and gestured to the rest of the boys. They immediately started to surround Lily and Maddie, who was now clutching onto her big sister for dear life.

"I do whatever I want, bitch." The boy said, emphasizing the bad word. He grabbed onto Lily's forearm and tightened.

Lily's eyes widened at his strength and the predicament she had gotten herself into. "Ow! Let go!"

The boy smirked and slapped Lily, extremely hard. "STOP!"

The boy began to laugh and Lily saw one of the other kids grab onto Maddie. "DON'T TOUCH HER! LET GO RIGHT NOW!"

Maddie screamed.

Lily felt as if her soul was on fire. She couldn't control the rising feeling of lava throughout her body, and turned her head up to the sky to let out a shriek of pain. The boys were thrown back, and all the greenery within a ten-foot radius disintegrated. Strong winds whipped Lily's clothes, and the air seemed to crackle with electricity. Lily turned to see Maddie unhurt and bewildered, each movement costing her enormous amounts of pain. Lily smiled when she saw her little sister and collapsed.

The stranger ran over to the powerful girl's body. He knelt down and checked her pulse, but she was already stirring. Studying her face, he wondered at the strong, heart-shaped face and strait nose, the round, sensuous lips that had uttered that blood-curling war cry. What was she?He could not see her eyes, as they were covered by her fire-engine-red hair. He brushed it back to discover she had a slight dusting of freckles, and was quite pretty. He heard a small whimper and looked up at the girl's little sister, who was watching her sibling with tears running down her face. He held out a hand.

"I'm Harry. Your sister is going to be all right." he said, trying to comfort the little girl. She smiled feebly and took his hand, but then pointed at her sister's face. Harry looked down at the powerful witch's face, and was startled by two green orbs staring back up at him.

He smiled. "So, you're a witch too?"