Chapter One
The little silver bell that hung at the top of the door rang as a customer entered Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor. It was a mother and son, the mother with a distinctive purple handbag and the son with bags full of what were no doubt Hogwarts supplies—one each from Ollivander's wand shop, Madam Malkin's robe boutique, and Flourish and Blotts bookstore. During the last two weeks of August, Diagon Alley was in good business, with Hogwarts students beginning term on September 1st.
"What can I get for you today?" the girl behind the counter asked them. She was a tall, lanky, smiling girl with red hair French braided, and the employee tag on her shirt bore the name Lily.
"I'd like two scoops of pumpkin vanilla on a waffle cone, please," the mother asked. Lily began scooping out of the tub of green and yellow ice cream with her right arm, which by the end of the summer was becoming noticeably more muscular than the left from greater usage. She piled the scoops onto the cone and handed it to the woman, and then asked the boy what he would like.
"Maple walnut please, on a waffle cone," he said shyly.
"Maple walnut is my favorite as well," Lily told him, making the boy smile less timidly. "Are you going to Hogwarts this year?" she asked as she scooped out the ice cream.
"Yes, and it's my first year!" he replied with sudden excitement.
"First year? Congratulations! I see you've gotten your wand already." She paused, and then decided to give him an extra scoop of ice cream.
"I just got it now. Maple and unicorn hair!"
"Maple and unicorn hair? Why, that sounds like a spectacular combination," she handed the cone over the counter to him. "You may indeed have the makings of a great wizard in you."
"You think so?" he asked, eyebrows raised eagerly.
"I do," Lily replied. "That comes to five knuts," she told the boy's mother.
The woman handed Lily the five copper coins, and an extra for a tip, and then the two left the shop with a merry, "good-bye."
"I'll see you at Hogwarts!" Lily told the boy as he left.
Florean Fortescue emerged from the back of the shop, his hands gloved and sticky with ice cream. "You're very good with the customers, you know," he told her.
Lily shrugged. "My mother always said manners and cheer do the trick every time," she said.
The bell rang again, and Lily looked up as two boys that she recognized, and in fact knew rather well, entered the parlor. Both were tall with black hair, but one had hair much more disheveled than the other and wore glasses. They grinned almost identically though; with the same smooth swagger in their step they looked and acted like they could be brothers.
"Back again James, Sirius?" Lily asked them amicably.
"Red-heads and ice cream are powerful incentives," the bespectacled one, James, told her.
"Yes, Mr. Fortescue, she's very good for business," the other, Sirius said.
"Are you getting your school supplies?" Lily asked.
"Not until next week, with Remus and Peter," James said. He grinned, "but don't worry, we'll be sure to come back."
"I'll be expecting you then," Lily said. "Just the usual, boys?"
"Yeah," James said, "but I'll take an extra scoop. Quidditch game tonight, we could use the extra energy."
Lily smiled, shaking her head at him. "Because ice cream is full of energy-boosting carbohydrates," she said sarcastically. She began scooping James's usual order, chocolate marshmallow on a waffle cone, and piled it up with a fourth scoop. For such a skinny boy, he could sure take his ice cream.
"Here you go," she said, handing the cone to him.
"Thank you very much," he replied. "You know Tiger Lily, it seems I only ever get to see you behind the ice cream counter this summer."
"And you see me there quite often. Three times you were in here last week, I believe," Lily said, beginning to scoop Sirius' standard three-scoop dragonberry swirl cone.
"But I keep thinking to myself that I ought to lure you out from behind the ice cream tubs. I haven't seen your bottom half since last June," James said. "What time do you get off? Maybe we could go get dinner somewhere."
Lily sighed and shook her head. "Sorry James, but I've got a robe fitting this evening at Madam Malkin's."
"Pity," James said. "Next time, perhaps?"
"Oh, we'll see," Lily said, shrugging playfully. "Here's your ice cream cone, Sirius."
"Thank you Miss Evans, from the bottom of my heart," Sirius said facetiously.
They didn't leave the store, as the previous customers had, but sat down at the counter. James proceeded to eat his ice cream in long licks that swirled it into a smooth, carefully rounded cone-shaped sculpture, while Sirius attacked his with rather beastly licks and bites that made it into a choppy mess that dripped down the cone.
"So, Lily-pad, you know my favorite flavor, but I've yet to discover yours," James said.
"Well, I'm sure someday you will," Lily replied. "You're a clever boy."
"Hm… I think you're probably strawberry," he guessed.
"A simple subconscious connection between red ice cream and red hair," Lily noted, "but I had rather expected better from you, James."
Sirius laughed openly at him.
"Vanilla then? Very classic and sophisticated."
"Flattering Potter, but no."
"Chocolate marshmallow? That might explain our particular attraction."
"You mean your particular attraction? Wrong again."
"Chocolate chip cookie dough. A bit of spunk very characteristic of you, Lily."
"Oh, just a dungbomb short of a detention. Try again."
"Black raspberry?" Lily shook her head.
"Blueberry?"
"Second choice, actually."
"Almond?"
"No. You've got a few decent abilities, Potter, but guessing is not one of them. Try again next time."
James looked at her slyly. "If I guess your favorite flavor, Lily, will you go out to dinner with me?"
Lily laughed. "Nice try."
"Come on, Lily, give a guy a break! Please?" This time he tried appealing to sympathy, feigning innocence with wide eyes and a protruding bottom lip.
Lily considered for a moment. "Perhaps," she said, "if you're very good."
At seven o'clock Lily's shift ended, and with purse full of coins from her week's paycheck she was off to the other side of Diagon Alley to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.
"I need three sets of black school robes and a set of dress robes as well," she told Madam Malkin as the seamstress took her measurements.
"All right, I'll get those for you. Thirty-four, twenty-four, thirty-four, my goodness, you've got a lovely figure, my dear. And five feet eight inches tall!"
"Why, that's… that's very flattering of you to say," Lily replied awkwardly.
It was the first time that Lily had any substantial amount of money to spend on her robes for the year. In fact, she had never been to Madam Malkin's before. In the past, she had bought the cheaper secondhand robes and pinched her knuts for enough money to buy her school supplies. She was strangely anxious and excited about spending so much money at once.
"Here are three sets of standard school robes," Madame Malkin said, showing Lily three hangers full of robes. "You can have them with silk lining, if you'd like."
Lily hesitated. "No… I mustn't," she said.
"Very well. As for the dress robes, I've a variety of styles that would be flattering, especially with your body," the older witch said. She regarded Lily intently for a moment, and then said, "I think a pale green would be very fitting for you. It would bring out your eyes very well. A light golden shade would be quite attractive as well, to bring out the pale, porcelain quality of your skin."
"Oh… okay," Lily said, as Madam Malkin disappeared into the back of the boutique for her stores of robes.
Madam Malkin emerged with an arm's load of gowns, which she laid over an armchair. "Here dear, try this one on," she said, handing Lily a green bundle of silk and taffeta.
Lily did not like it. In fact, she did not like the next three dresses that Madam Malkin gave her. With each one, the image reflected in the triple full-length mirrors in front of her was not at all like the Lily she knew herself to be—she looked overly glamorous, very awkward, and a bit suppressed in the heavy, swishing skirts. The pile grew smaller and smaller, and by the time they reached the last dress, she was beginning to lose hope.
But this dress was different. "I think you'll like this one, dear. It hasn't any taffeta," Madam Malkin told her. Lily pulled it over her head, and then held her braid aside as Madam Malkin tied it up the back.
The reflection in the mirror was astounding. Lily regarded herself silently for a moment, and then said softly, "I…I have curves."
Madam Malkin laughed. "Of course you do, love! You've only been hiding them in poorly-fitting robes, I'm sure!" She pulled on the back of the dress. "I could take this in at the back to fit your waist better. Goddess you've a small waist."
Despite this slight imperfection, Lily immediately adored the dress robe. It was light golden and entirely silk. The skirt was long and freely flowing, unobstructed by layers of taffeta or hoop skirts, so that when she spun it fanned out and rippled gracefully. There was a small, swirling design in violet embroidery on the hips, chest, and sleeves, an elegant embellishment. The neck was very low and left her shoulders bare, and the sleeves clung to her elbows before fanning out to be wide and flowing halfway to her wrist.
"I love it," Lily said breathlessly.
Madam Malkin too took a moment to admire it. "It suits your coloring wonderfully," she said. "Your eyes, why, I've never seen such green eyes. It's simply stunning."
Lily was euphoric. The dress was not the most expensive in the boutique, nor was it the most elaborate, but to a girl who had never bought herself anything costly or beautiful, it was thrilling.
After changing out of it, she asked. "How much will this all cost?"
"Let me see," Madam Malkin said. "Twenty galleons each for the robes, and fifty for the dress robe. That comes to one hundred and ten galleons."
Lily stopped. She did not have that much. "I…" she paused. How could she have been so naïve to think that the sixty two galleons she had earned would buy a year's worth of robes? She suddenly felt belittled, ashamed.
"You don't have enough galleons?" Madam Malkin asked kindly.
"Can I buy the black robes today, and come back next week for the dress robe?" Lily asked timorously, her cheeks becoming warm with embarrassment.
"Of course you can, dear," Madam Malkin replied.
"You'll save it for me?" Lily asked.
"I will. Just come back next week and it'll be waiting. I'll mark it as taken."
Having passed her Apparition test the month before, Lily apparated from Diagon Alley to her own front door.
"Hello," she said as she entered through the front door of her house. In the kitchen, her sister Petunia was fixing her father's lunch for the next day. In the parlor, Mr. Evans was sitting on the couch with a glass of wine.
The most remarkable thing about the parlor was the portrait on the wall above the hearth. It was of a woman, looking out towards the far corner of the room with fair, wistful blue eyes. She was not smiling, rather, her face was relaxed and unposed as if she were simply thinking of something pleasant. Around her neck she wore a golden-toned amber pendant.
She was the late Mrs. Aine Evans. Her hair was the deep red hair that Lily had inherited, and her round Irish face was Lily's as well. Her freckles belonged only to Petunia.
"Good evening, dad," Lily greeted her father with a kiss. "Good evening, Petunia," she called into the kitchen.
"You weren't here for dinner," Petunia said, emerging from the kitchen with an apron on. She was two years older than Lily, and her hair was black a frizzed, pieces of it falling out of its ponytail by the end of the way. If Lily was lanky, Petunia was lankier, with twiggish limbs and awkwardly large hands and feet.
"I had to buy my school robes," Lily said. "I'm sure I had mentioned it before."
"I'm sure you didn't," Petunia said, "and it was your night to make dinner."
"Well, thank you anyway for doing it for me," Lily replied. "I'm famished. Is there any left?"
"As you weren't here, I only made enough for two." Petunia had done this purposely out of annoyance, Lily knew. She was prone to passive aggression.
Lily turned back to her father. "Dad, how was your day?" she asked him, taking a seat on the couch next to him.
Mr. Evans lowered the wine glass from his mouth. He was a fragile-looking man, his face pale and papery, devoid of any real lines or wrinkles that would give it depth, and his eyes a distant gray. "Oh," he said, noticing Lily at his side. He was like a man just awoken from a dream; he was prone to reveries these days. "It—it was very good. I graded term papers." He was a history teacher at one of the Surrey high schools, and during the summers he taught at a community college in the area. Sometimes, Lily thought, he seemed more focused on the past than the present.
"Were they good papers?" Lily asked.
"Yes, there was one on the Glorious Revolution, and another on Guy Fawkes' revolt," he emptied his wine glass and went into the kitchen to refill it. "The best one so far has been on the role of tea in catalyzing the loss of the American colonies."
"An eccentric topic," Lily commented.
"Oh, Lily, one of those bloody birds came for you today," Petunia said bitterly from the kitchen.
"An owl? Do you have the letter?" Lily asked, suddenly very interested. It was certainly her list of books and supplies for the upcoming year at Hogwarts.
Petunia merely tossed the manila envelope over to Lily, who opened it up eagerly. There were three papers inside. The first was the usual notice of the Hogwarts Express departure on September 1st, the second was the list of required spellbooks and supplies, (Lily did not immediately read these entirely) and the third was what Lily had been most anxious about. She unfolded it quickly and began reading Professor McGonagall's neat handwriting:
Dear Miss Evans,
It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been selected as Head Girl for the upcoming school year. High academic achievement and extra-curricular involvement have merited this honor. Your badge is enclosed with this letter and it is required that you wear it on the Hogwarts Express to the school and throughout the year. Your duties will be explained more thoroughly upon arrival at Hogwarts and include patrolling the corridors at night and making a speech at the end of the year Graduation ceremony. Congratulations, and enjoy the remainder of your summer holidays.
Sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Lily looked up from the letter. "Dad! Petunia! I've got wonderful news!" she exclaimed. "I've been made Head Girl!"
There was no response. Petunia had never showed very much concern for anything that had to do with Lily's wizarding life, and Mr. Evans had fallen into whatever reverie he had been in before Lily had come home. Halfway through his current glass of wine, he was babbling softly to the portrait on the wall.
"Aine, we need a new tablecloth," he said. "The one we have is stained with black tea and red wine… red wine everywhere…I know, I didn't mean to, it just slipped from my hand, you mustn't be angry with me, dear…no, you're right, I knew you wouldn't be, you've always been kind…but why are you sad? Darling, I know it isn't the tablecloth… No, don't lie to me again Aine… I can see it, I've always seen it. You've always been sad… deep down inside… even though you try to hide it from me and the girls…let me help you…I love you…"
Lily sighed and stood up. "Goodnight, daddy," she said quietly, kissing him again on the cheek before slowly, halfheartedly ascending the stairs to her bedroom.
Author's Note: Thus ends chapter one. Review if you'd like. And just a sidenote, "Aine" is pronounced "An-yuh." It's the Irish form of Anne.