Authors note: Hi guys... girls... okay people! I have decided to totally re-do Unexpected Circumstances due to the fact that I wasn't really happy with some of it. So here I am back at square one, doing what I hope is a better job ... and hopefully you people will like it better then before, because I get the impression that you didn't like something about the other one. -Wipes away tear.-
It just occurred to me that I should probably tell you that I'm from Australia so the spelling of certain words will be different to that of some American or British spelling, things such as mom are spelled mum here and honor is honour, so please don't get confused. If you have any questions, just ask.
Disclaimer: I guess I really should say all this stuff right at the start and get it all over with. I don't own the origins of this fanfic. Most of the characters aren't mine, I did invent a few to fill in the gaps and the plot of the story is mine as well. All of the rest though is JK's
Enjoy!
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Unexpected Circumstances
PrologueLily Marie Evans lay curled up on her bed reading a book. It was the summer holidays and the heat and humidity outside was unbearable, Lily couldn't ever remember it being as hot as this in the summers past. The street outside the Evans' house in Surry was completely deserted, any smart person stayed inside their nicely air-conditioned house. But still, being inside didn't give you much to do, and with Petunia on the phone 24-7 talking to that annoying new boyfriend of hers, you couldn't very well call up your friends to pass the time.
So Lily chose to spend her summer holiday locked up in her bedroom, re-reading all the books from the family library. Thus far she was about three-quarters of the way through. She put down the book she was reading and looked at the title on the front cover. Wicca, by Cate Tiernan. It was about witchcraft.
What would it be like to be witch, she mused? Imagine all the things you could do; you wouldn't have to fret about anything. Not a care in the world… although you would have to worry about dark covens and such, but normal things that normal people worry about wouldn't bother you at all. You could do just about anything. While looking back on her life, Lily wondered if all of those unexplainable things that always seemed to happen to her could be explained by magic.
Ha, if only you were so lucky. You're a klutz, that's the only plausible explanation, she thought to herself. But still, it was nice to think about all the things she could do to Petunia if she did have magic.
Lily got up and went to the window; the sun was beginning to set behind the many houses that lay in front of it. It was the end to another long day.
"Lily, Dinner!"
Turning on her heel, Lily headed for the door to her room. As she headed down the stairs she could smell grilling salmon. Lily laughed as she heard her stomach growl in anticipation of the meal awaiting her. Picking up speed, she took the last few steps toward the kitchen at a run but screeched to a stop when she heard the booming voice that could belong to none other then Vernon Dursley, Petunia's overweight boyfriend that looked like a cow. As she walked into the kitchen, she cringed at the topic he was talking to her father about.
Could that man never have a decent conversation?
Vernon Dursley was seated across from her father at the dinning table, talking - roaring more like, - about the outrageous behaviour of the hippies.
How very interesting, Lily thought sarcastically.
"They should all be thrown in jail," he roared, thumping his beefy fist upon the table causing it to shake in an unnatural way.
"You need to lock them up like the dogs that they are. Cause nothing but trouble, they do and the way they dress is disgraceful!"
Lily walked toward her mother, while discretely rolling her eyes.
It's going to be a long night, she contemplated as she helped to serve the food on to the table. Siting down between her mother and Petunia she started to heap potato salad onto her plate.
After dinner Lily excused her self quite hurriedly and ran upstairs to take an extended bath, while the rest made their way into the lounge. At eleven o'clock Lily went back down stairs to say her goodnight's, before going of to bed.
When Lily walked into her room and crawled into bed, she didn't notice the letter atop her writing desk that hadn't been there before she went down to dinner.
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It was nine A.M the next morning when a cry rang out from Lily's bedroom.
This was followed by the sound of someone running up a staircase. When Rachel Evans burst into her daughters' bedroom she had expected to see her in mortal peril of some sort, not Lily standing perfectly whole in front of her writing desk with a letter in hand. Taking the letter from her daughter, she read the green cursive handwriting that said:
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY.
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards).
Dear Miss Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you have received a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment, followed by a detailed map to Diagon Ally.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later then 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Mary Magnolim,
Deputy headmistress.
"What kind of joke is this?" Rachel asked her daughter.
"I don't know… is it a joke? How could it be? The letter was on my writing desk this morning, and the only people who have access to this room are you, Dad and Petunia. Petunia wouldn't joke about a thing like this, you know how much she hates anything that even remotely defies normalcy; Dad on the other hand…"
"No, I don't think it was your father. He always gets this glint in his eyes when he's played a joke on someone and he was acting completely normal before he went to work this morning…"
Tap-tap
The two Evens' women turned their heads towards the direction of the sound. There, standing on the window ledge was a small tawny barn owl. Once again it taped on the window, as if asking to come in. Lily ran over toward it and threw the window open, then stepped to the side to watch the owl as it swooped inside to land gracefully upon her writing desk.
"I don't think Dad… or anyone else for that matter would go to the extent of training an owl just for a practical joke, so I guess this proves that it's not… a joke I mean, how could it be … so ahh … can I go?" Lily asked, barely suppressing her growing excitement.
"I can't see why not. I suppose we're meant to send our reply back with this owl?"
"Well how else are we going to tell the school that I'm coming? It's not as though we have an owl of our own," Lily said as she walked back toward her writing desk and pulled out a blank peace of paper from one of the draws. She started to scribble down a reply, then folding it up she gently tied it to the owl's leg. Once she'd stepped back, the owl spread its wings and immediately took flight through the open window.
"You know, I don't think Petunia's going to like this, my going to a magic school. How cool does that sound? Lily Marie Evans is going to a school for Witches and Wizards… Oh my God! That means that I must be a witch! Can you believe it? I'm a witch." Lily started screaming in excitement, and then started to dance happily around her room while she laughed gaily.
"I'm a witch … I'm a witch … I'M A WITCH!!!"
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Lily gasped as she walked through the barrier separating platform 9¾ from the rest of the world. Before her stood a magnificent scarlet steam train, alongside the platform on which she stood. The platform itself was packed with people saying their goodbyes. Nearly everyone was strangely dressed, only a few feet away from her stood a woman in her early 40's, who seemed to be lecturing her son about something. What she was wearing had to have been the most outrageous outfit that Lily had ever seen.
Atop her head stood a tall purple hat with a stuffed vulture on top, her dress was long and green and the handbag she held in her left hand was red. She obviously had no clue about the laws of colour combinations. Shaking her head as she sighed, she planted a friendly smile on her face and headed down the platform in search of an empty compartment. Towards the back of the train she found what she was looking for. Lily placed her new pet Saw-Wit owl Astrix, whom she'd bought from Eeylops Owl Emporium at Diagon Alley, into the compartment first. She then proceeded to heave her trunk up the steps to the compartment.
"Do you need any help?"
Lily screamed and dropped her trunk painfully on her foot.
"Oh I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that." Said the girl with waist length brown hair and cobalt blue eyes.
"Don't worry, I'm sure I would have ended up dropping it on my foot eventually anyway and your help will be very much appreciated." Lily said with a laugh.
"Oy, Jess come here and give us a hand will you," the blue-eyed girl cried, calling over a pretty girl with long black glossy hair and forest green eyes.
With the three of them working together, they soon had Lily's trunk in the compartment and put to one side.
"Thank you. I'm Lily Evans by the way."
"I'm Kyra Woodvine and this lovely lady is Jessica Handley." Leaning towards Lily, Kyra very dramatically made a pretence of whispering behind her hand, "She's a bit of a freak".
"Hey, I am not … you … you retarded little snig wort."
"Oh lovely comeback Jessica. You are just Soo Smart." Kyra said in her snooty British ladies voice.
"It's nice to meet you." Lily said to the two of them, a little unnerved by Kyra's quirky attitude, yet at the same time finding her a little funny. "Thank you again for helping me with my trunk, I don't think I ever would have gotten it into the compartment if you hadn't come along."
"It's no problem," Kyra replied, dropping her silliness.
"Hey, do you think that maybe we could share the compartment, everywhere else is bound to be full by now?"
"Sure, I wouldn't exactly want to travel alone now would I?" Lily answered with a friendly smile.
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Across the corridor and three compartments down, sat two boys with their heads bowed low and close together. Both boys had messy black hair, but that was where their physical similarities ended. One boy, - whose hair was clearly messier the others – had hazel brown eyes, framed by oval spectacles and was somewhat lanky looking, whereas the other boy had a more square face, exceedingly dark brown eyes – to the point that they were almost black – and had a stronger looking build that gave testimony that the boy would defiantly be doing some major growing in the next few years.
Back and forth the two boys whispered, trying to keep down excited voices. The two were planing their first prank of the school year, the prank that was to be the first of many, many more.
"Where the hell is Remus when you need him?" Spoke the boy with the black eyes, in clear outspoken outrage.
The other boy looked toward his friend and laughed at the expression he saw on his face. "Calm down Sirius, it's not the end of the world. Remus should be here soon."
"Oh, shut up James. I want to get started with this already and I don't feel like going over all the details again when Remus finally gets here. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we start to build our reputation."
"Calm down Sirius. You're getting over excited. I swear, you'd think you were a dog or something," James' looked up at the door leading to the corridor out side with a frown on his face. "Although, it does seem strange doesn't it. It's not like Remus to be late for anything; do you think something's wrong?"
"Remus can take care of himself. Even if he is a bit of a bookworm, we made sure of that years ago, remember?"
"Yeah I guess you're right, his probably having trouble finding which compartment we're in."
At that moment the door slid open slowly, in a somewhat timid manner.
"Excuse me?" squeaked a small voice at the door. "Would I be able to sit with you, all the other compartments are full?"
"Err - sure, there's plenty of room." Said James, while quickly stuffing the plans for future pranks into a bag.
"So, what's your name and what house are you for?" asked Sirius once the boy had settled himself down next to James.
"Umm – my name is Peter Pettigrew … I'm really know what house I'll end up in, I didn't think anyone knew until they got there."
"You don't, we were just asking what house you wanted to be in, Sirius and I are for Gryffindor. Although Sirius will most likely end up in Slytherin, it is after all 'family tradition.' "
"James, how many times do I have to tell you not to mention those slime bags in my presence?" Sirius growled.
"Probably about a million more time's before it penetrates his thick head," Spoke a boy with light brown hair and grey eyes as he entered the compartment, both his voice and expression gave the impression that he was totally fed up ... with what or whom we can only guess. Sirius laughed and rose one of his hands to high five Remus. James just scowled at the both of them, and then leaned towards his trunk and pulled out a strange looking deck of cards.
"Anyone up for a game of exploding snap?" Sirius and Remus just laughed more at James' obvious attempt to change the subject and poor little Peter had thought they'd all gone insane.
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Lily walked down the main aisle of the great hall, breathing deeply to try and calm her nerves. She kept her eyes looking straight ahead of her at the Head Table but she could still feel the eyes of the rest of the school on her and those around her.
Once at the end of the aisle, Lily began to congregate with her fellow first years in front of an extremely old worn out leather hat, which was siting atop an equally battered three legged stool. The woman, who had introduced herself as Professor Magnolim, stood beside it and as she lifted the old hat with her left hand, she notified them all as to what was to happen.
So that is all I have to do? Lily thought. I just have to sit on a stool with that old hat on my head and it would tell me what house I'm best suited for? That didn't seem so bad, although it did seem a little odd.
"Ashby, Tamara!"
A short girl with blond pigtails walked hesitantly through the people in front of her, and made her way up the three steps before placing the hat on her head.
"RAVENCLAW!" shouted the hat after a moment or two.
The table at the far left of the first years erupted into cheers and clapping, as Tamara took off the hat and made her way towards it.
"Appledorf, Vanessa!"
"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat cried. And once again the hall erupted into clapping and cheering, this time it sounded just to the right of the group.
"Brown, Sarah!"
"SLYTHERIN!"
"Boss, Terry" was called up next and once again the hat called out-
"SLYTHERIN!"
Lily was beginning to feel anxious. What if she was put in that awful house Slytherin? What if the other girls were put into a different house to her? She was beginning to feel as though she wouldn't be able to go through with this whole thing …
"Evans, Lily!"
Lily jumped as she heard her name. Too late for second thoughts now, she thought to her self as she briskly walked up toward the stool and sat down upon it. As soon as the hat was placed atop her head, a voice started to whisper inside her mind.
'Hmm … I see, ahh … all right yes. Yes you're definitely going to be hard to sort'. The voice seemed to be mulling over things, it was as though it were reading her mind.
'Very knowledgeable I see, but I don't think … no not for you. Unbelievably brave and very stubborn. Hmm … you also have the typical temper of a red head. There's talent here too. Yes well, there's obviously no question about it then, you're most definitely suited for ... '
"GRYIFFINDOR!"
Lily smiled as cheers arose to the left of her. She got up, gently lifting the hat from her head and handed it back to Professor Magnolim, before making her way toward her house table.
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James smiled as he heard the name of the house that Lily Evans had be chosen for. Good. There was just something about the girl that had drawn his eyes to her when they had been waiting out in the entrance hall. He'd never seen anyone like her before. She wasn't exactly the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, but there was just something about her eyes … every time he looked at her, his stomach started to do somersaults.
James looked over at Sirius, who was already siting over at the Gryffindor table. It had been priceless when the hat had called out that Sirius was in Gryffindor. James had looked over at the Slytherin table at that moment and nearly died trying not to laugh. The look on every one of their ugly faces showed complete and utter surprise, Sirius was the first of the Black family to not be put into Slytherin. It was looking at Sirius' cousinthough, Bellatrix Black, that had nearly undone James' barely controlled laughter. The look on her face had showed a mix of disgust, outrage and offence, it almost seemed as though she was about to explode. James wished she had of.
"Potter, James."
James' head whipped around in surprise, they'd certainly got down to his name rather fast. Recovering quickly, he walked towards the stool, his smile growing ever broader as he went.
'Ah ha, hello Mr Potter, I see it's now your turn to reek havoc on this school. Ahh yes, just like your father I see. Just as over confidant, hmmm … yes well. You like Miss Evans do you? Well good luck there ... Ha! You'll defiantly need it … All right then … well naturally your house would be …'
"GRYFFINDOR!"
James laughed gaily as he walked, or more strutted toward the Gryffindor table to sit with Sirius, Remus and Peter. Things were grand, James thought to himself. Yes, nothing could make it more so.
Although, as James sat there waiting for the house selection to finish, he couldn't help thinking that Lily Evans' could most definitely accomplish in making his life just that little bit more flamboyant.
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Authors Note: Well that's it for this Chapter, - feedback time people, I need to be fed! Love ya!!!