Disclaimer: I don't own Lily, Emmeline, Mary, Marlene, the Marauders, Professor Binns or his classroom. And now your minds are all reeling. You totally thought I was JK.
I was so bored I thought I might implode. I was sitting in my History of Magic classroom, and I had written a grand total of nine words on my page. The date: June 21st, 1975, and the title of the lecture: Goblin Invasions of the Fifth Century. Emmy would be attacking me right now, if she could see me. I could see her, two rows away, scribbling furiously on her parchment.
In all, it wasn't really my fault that I wasn't taking notes. Our History of Magic professor, Professor Binns, is so boring, and so old, that several students have wondered aloud why he hasn't just dropped dead yet. I am not ashamed to admit I was one of them.
Any way, I was just sitting in Binns's classroom, busy being bored out of my mind, when I found the book.
Now, I do not want to get you all excited about this. The book was not magical in any way when I found it. In fact, I was not looking for a book of any kind when I came across it. I had just stuck my arm into my book bag attempting to retrieve my last quill (my habit of sucking on their ends tended to ruin them) when my fingers hit a small bound book. Since I was absolutely positive that I had not put any such book in my bag this morning, I drew it out and put it on my desk.
It was a pretty book, which is a rare description, coming from me. It was made of a soft deep blue leather, and had silvery white spirals swirling over it. Written in beautiful silvery calligraphy in the very center was one word: Diary.
I have never been one to write in a diary, but I was one to return lost possessions. Ever since one of my more important possessions- yes, alright it was a teddy bear- was stolen, and not returned until I retrieved it with a summoning charm. Unfortunately I would have to open the book in order to find out who the owner was. Rest assured, I would not do this otherwise. You know, unless I really wanted to. Probably.
So I opened the leather cover. The diary gave that little crack that new books give when you open them to wide the first time, and it had that kind of crisp, papery scent of a new book. Not to harp on way too much about the book. I looked on the inside cover, but I was so sure it was a new book, and that I would find no one's name.
In following with that, you can understand my shock when I saw, not just one name, but ten.
Meredith Ashwell-1885
Amber Greer-1903
Gwen Lires-1911
Laurel Wintergreen-1919
Willa Nolan-1924
Natalie Holden-1935
Heather Jones-1946
Jacklyn Price-1952
Paige Fressa-1961
Frannie Louwell-1970
I just gaped at the names for a while, willing my brain to get it. This brand new looking diary had been owned in 1885, almost 100 years ago. I traced the handwriting with my finger. It was all different. I wondered who Frannie Louwell was. Depending on when she had this diary, she might have been at school with us. She might be at school with us now. The bell rang, shattering my thoughts. As I put my things back into my bag, diary included, I decided that there was only one course of action to take in the finding of Frannie Louwell. I would have to ask Marlene.
This is not to say that Marlene is a gossip or something, because that is definitely not true. No, Marlene remembers people. She just has that knack. She knows the name of every first year, and if they've told her, their parents', siblings', and pets' as well. I don't know how she does it, but she's got a memory like a filing system.
On my way out of History of Magic, I caught up with her in the hall. She was talking to Emmy and Mary about something or other, and I joined their conversation smoothly.
"Oi, braid face." Marlene looked around.
"The braids are in my hair, not on my face- You know what? Never mind." I smiled and nodded.
"Good. Do you know who Frannie Louwell is?" Marlene closed her eyes for a moment, eyes flickering under the lids. Then her eyes snapped back open.
"She's five years older than us with lots of red curly hair and blue eyes. Every one thought she was crazy. She works at St. Mungos now." I nodded again.
"Thanks," I said, and all four of us toddled off to lunch.
I took out the diary again after classes. I had curled up in my bed and pulled out my quill, tapping it against the page. There was no way that Frannie Louwell could still be at school. And I'd already checked, the diary was completely empty. So I guess it was mine now…
Hesitantly, I pulled out an ink bottle and dipped my quill into it. Four little ink drips fell on the page before I managed to write my name.
Lily Evans-1975
It was strange, but despite all the previous owners, I felt that the diary truly belonged to me now.
Next I turned to the first creamy white, lined page. I dipped my quill in the ink once more and began to write.
June 21st, 1975
Dear Diary
I hate Potter.
Now that that's all said and done with, we can move on.
I paused for a moment. What exactly did one write in a diary? After a few minutes, I decided what my first entry should be. I could describe myself and my friends, so that when I was old, I could look back and remember my fourth year self.
I'm going to start with a description of myself.
My name is Lily Marie Evans. I am fifteen years old, and I'm a fourth year Gryffindor at Hogwarts. I have long, totally unmanageable red hair, and huge buggy green eyes. They make my face look too small, and it doesn't help that my nose is small but my mouth is big. I have skinny arms and legs, but my stomach is kind of chubby, so I go for one piece swimsuits. I don't tan like Marlene or Mary, so my skin is either the colour of milk, or it's bright red and clashes with my hair. Of course I have the added bonus of about a million freckles. I've heard that some guys like freckles. I've yet to meet one. Except maybe Potter. Which is not a good thing.
If Mary read this, she'd be all over me, telling me I'm beautiful the way I am. Mary's so naive some times.
It's not like my appearance matters anyway, because I'll never get a date, not with Potter hexing any guy I like, left right and center. More on that later.
I'm usually pretty shy, except when I'm angry, or when I'm with my friends. I try to do well at school, but I'm not naturally smart like Marlene, so I rely on her for help. A lot. I don't like pompous idiotic jerks like the Marauders (yes it's a dumb name) and I would much rather be invisible than popular.
Next, a description of my friends.
First: Marlene McKinnon. Marlene is a Gryffindor like me, but she's a lot less shy. Her parents are wizards, but her mother works in the Muggle Liaison Office, so they're into pureblood-muggle integration. Last Christmas holiday, they went to Cuba as muggles, and Marlene got her hair corn rowed. If you're intelligent, you'll call her from a good three feet away, because getting whapped with butt length braids with poky little beads on the end is not fun. Trust me, I've been on the receiving end.
To look at Marlene, you'd swear she'd immigrated here from India or something. Really, she's from Ireland, but she spends so much time outside, that's she's as brown as a nut. She has really long black hair, currently in deadly corn rows. Her eyes are brown, but go scarily dark when she's angry, which is often. She's the bubbliest person I know and has turned down every guy who's ever asked her out. She says she's way into woman's lib. and doesn't want to be tied to a guy.
However, I have worked out her secret. It's not that she doesn't want to date, but the guy she does want to date hasn't asked her out yet. Too bad he's one of the Marauders.
Next: Emmeline Vance. I remember the first thing I thought when I saw her on the platform. All I could think was: That girl must be a princess. There's something about the way Emmy holds herself that makes you think she's extremely important.
At times, she can be really intimidating, but if you know her, you know how nice she can be. She's extremely loyal and so hardworking it's a wonder she wasn't put into Hufflepuff. Though, if the Sorting Hat had offered, Emmeline probably would've vaporized it. Her entire family has been in Gryffindor, and she is undying loyal to them. She loves all her 32 cousins, 12 aunts and 13 uncles(don't ask) and it's difficult to know where to mail her letters in the summer, since she hops houses so much.
Emmeline's pale, like me, but it suits her, unlike me. She's been mistaken more than once for Narcissa Black, but Emmeline's prettier. And she doesn't look like someone's stuck a skunk under her nose. She has long silvery blond hair (her great grandmother was a Veela) and big blue eyes. She has a regal sort of face with a thin nose and a small mouth. Exactly what I wish I had.
Finally: Mary McDonald. Mary is probably the most innocent fourteen year old I know. She doesn't know what snogging is, and if you mention the word "sex" she turns an extreme shade of red. Mary is a Gryffindor too, and is totally into the house pride thing. She raises her arm for every question, even if she gets it wrong, she never stops trying.
Actually, it's kind of annoying sometimes. Once Mary's got her teeth stuck into something, she never lets go, like a pit bull with a bone. She'll plant her feet, put her hands on her hips and glare until you give way. She says it's a useful skill she's picked being the eldest child in a family of 8. In fact, their scattered brained mother, Lisa, has more than once mistaken me for yet another McDonald youngling.
Mary has lots of long brown hair, more often than not in pigtails or braid. She doesn't believe in make-up, or anything that takes away from a person's "natural" beauty. Once, I had just bought a brand new shade of eye shadow that went perfectly with my eyes, and made them look a little smaller. It was really expensive, but I bought it, thinking; just this once. Mary threw it out the window.
It is now ten o'clock and Emmy is giving me the glare that means: stop writing in your stupid little book and do your Transfiguration essay.
Your Lovely Owner,
Lily.
I put down the diary and stuck the quill back into the inkpot, feeling satisfied with what I had written. Emmy was still boring a hole in the side of my head, but I ignored her.
Lily Evans had a diary.
Thanking God that it was almost the last day of classes, I sped along the corridor.
If I didn't go any faster, I was going to be late for Transfiguration, my absolute worst subject. People like Marlene and Emmy just don't understand how hard it is for me. As a muggle born, I just know that things aren't supposed to change into other things. It's not natural. Making a mental note to stick something about this in my diary, I flew into the Transfiguration classroom.
To my utter shock, I was one of the first people there. A couple nerdy Ravenclaws were sitting at their desks, reading their textbooks, but the only other Gryffindor was some girl I didn't recognize. Sighing with relief, I went and sat at my desk.
I shot a look sideways, trying to see what the other girl was reading about. I just saw the page number, 307, before she closed the book and gave a death glare.
Jeez.
I still wondered why I didn't recognize her. Suddenly, I heard a muffled chuckle behind me. I looked around and saw the Ravenclaws return their attention to their books.
Hmm… I heard another snort of laughter behind me. I turned to see the girl hide a grin behind her book.
"What?" I asked. "What's so funny?" This is, of course, a stupid question, because if you don't know, it's probably you.
"Nothing," she said, trying to keep a straight face. "I feel sorry for you, really."
"Sorry? For me? I'm not the one reading my textbook."
"Well you might want to try it sometime," she replied. The Ravenclaws burst into laughter once more.
"Try reading my textbook?" I asked, feeling rather slow.
"Yeah, then you might not have been moved back."
"Moved back?"
"Well you're a fourth year aren't you?" she said slowly, as if explaining something to a small child. "And this is the third year class." The blood drained from my face, and I pulled out my schedule. Sure enough, it said Charms, not Transfiguration.
"Oh," I said, feeling stupid. "I'll just go now…" I trailed off and left the classroom.
I was not that rude when I was in third year.
Author's Note: I've been toying with this idea for a while, but I finally decided to write it because I have four days off (dances in happy circle) Lily's first two entries are just gonna be describing her friends (this one) and the marauders (next chappie). After that I promise they get more interesting D. Oh did any-one catch the pattern in the girls' names? I was bored so I thought I'd try it out… Please leave a review?? Please??