FROM THE BEGINNING
CHAPTER ONE-ARE WE EVER NOT? / GOODBYE
Lilian Evans and James Potter sat outside Lily's house in suburban Muggle-land, England. Neither knew of the other's magical powers, and frankly, neither cared. The two six-year-olds lounging in the dewy, lush grass were oblivious to the world around them. They didn't care about a bad wizard who was slowly gaining power in the dark recesses of the wizarding world. They could have cared less that Lily's parents were suffering great financial problems. All that the two were concerned about right now, really, was the hole of sloshy, brown mud from which they were digging up worms.
"Lil, hand me the can," James asked, his tiny hands covered in slimy worm guts and dirt. Lily grinned at the fat, writhing worm that James was holding up as she handed him the can. Ooh, they were gonna get Petunia GOOD tonight!
"How many is that?" Lily asked, wiping a strand of her wavy auburn hair from her face. Brown streaks were left slashed across her forehead, but Lily wasn't the type of girl who cared. James pushed the worms around, counting. He and Lily were both very bright children, though they preferred to have fun over going to school. First grade was a waste of time, in their opinion. Why study stuff you already knew when you could be plotting against Lily's older sister?
"We have fourty-seven," James informed his best friend. He grinned at her, and she grinned back. He ignored the fact that this was probably the last time he and Lily would be playing together in her front yard. They were getting older, Lily's money was getting lesser. In just two days she was moving clear across England, too far to travel to play with James. Lily knew this, too, though she also didn't mention it. Better to focus on the present, while she and James were having such fun!
"More!" Lily exclaimed, giggling. James laughed too, his messy black hair sticking up at all angles. Lily often teased him about his hair, saying he looked like a black porcupine. James would laugh and call her names right back. Their mothers would tut-tut at them and scold, "Don't call each other names, you're best friends!" But James and Lily would just sit and laugh, they knew the other was teasing.
Lily smiled proudly as she held up a long, skinny worm that wriggled and writhed about. "Fourty-eight," she said joyfully, and dropped it in the can. She and James dug their little hands into the hole, pulling out worm after worm. When James informed Lily that they had seventy-five she shrieked with such happiness that the two of them collapsed into fits of giggles. It was almost fifteen minutes before they got up and kept digging. The sun was past above them, now, heading west to sleep for the night. The worms were getting scarce, and they were about to give up when-
"Look!" James pulled something out of the ground. It was a smooth, shiny-green stone. The sunlight glittered through it and sent little sparkles of green onto the muddy hole in between them.
"Ooh!" Lily breathed, looking at the stone sparkling away in the sun. "It's beautiful!"
James studied the stone carefully. His six-year-old mind, smart as he was, was too undeveloped to understand that this stone was an emerald. It had been dropped years and years before even James and Lily's parents were born and had been hiding in the earth ever since, waiting to be dug up.
Even if James didn't know this, he knew one thing about the stone. It was as deep and sparkling green as Lily's eyes. James had always liked Lily's eyes. They could dance and laugh when she was happy, but when she was angry the spark in them would grow until her eyes seemed to be on fire with little lights. When Lily was sad it was just the opposite; her tears would put out the flame and her eyes would grow distant-looking and glossy.
Depending on the way you turned this emerald it matched exactly every emotion that Lily's eyes could show. James looked up at Lily's eyes now and noticed that they were wide and awestruck, reflecting bits of sunlight as the stone was doing. Lily was looking longingly at the stone.
In two seconds James's mind was made up.
"Here," he said, holding out his hand. "You have it."
For a moment Lily just stared at James's outstretched palm, the stone dazzlingly bright.
"Really?" Lily breathed, slowly taking the stone and turning it about, looking at it from all angles.
"Yeah," James said, grinning at how happy Lily was. "To remember me by."
Lily looked up at James sadly, and when he realized what he'd just said he grew sober, too.
"I don't want to leave!" Lily said desperately, but she kept her voice low. If Mama heard her whining about moving she was dead meat.
"I don't want you to either, Lil," James said, getting up and moving next to his friend. He put an arm around her and hugged, saying, "But we'll see each other again. We just have to! You can't be as good friends as we are and not ever talk again."
Lily sniffed back her tears and looked up at James's brown and honey- coloured eyes.
"Will you write to me?"
"You bet," James said, smiling and wiping a lone tear from the corner of Lily's eye. "But this part comes tonight, after dinner. Right now you and I have a little trick to play on Petunia. Come on!"
James grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her up. Lily pocketed the stone and grabbed the can of worms, racing after James.
Petunia Evans was in her room at the top of the attic stairs reading a book for English class. Though Petunia was only a fourth grader, she held herself high above Lily and James. They were just silly little kids to her. Right now they were probably bouncing a ball back and forth to each other, or something. Petunia rolled her eyes at this thought. // Maybe I'll go see, though. This book is sooo boring. //
Petunia climbed off her bed and hurried down the stairs, thoughts on messing with Lily and James fixed in her mind.
But as the curly-haired fourth grader scampered down from her attic room, Lily and James snuck into the bathroom, which was next to the stairway. When Petunia disappeared down the second staircase to the kitchen, Lily and James scurried up to Petunias room, grinning and clutching the jar of worms close to them.
"All right, we only have a little time," James whispered urgently. It was custom that Lily would think up the pranks and James would be the boss when carrying them out. It'd been that way since day one, when Lily and James had first pulled a prank on Petunia.
That was back in pre-school, where James and Lily had met. One night while James was over playing and Petunia baby-sitting them, Lily had created the idea to pour some pepper into the milkshake Petunia was making. They waited for the perfect moment, James whispered, "Now! GO!"
Just three years later they were pulling their final prank.
"Okay, Lil, you put half under the blankets, I'll put the rest in her slippers for later tonight."
"Got it," Lily said happily, and she pulled half the worms out of the can and dashed to Petunia's bedside. Throwing back the fluffy pink comforter, she spread the worms strategically. A few were still wriggling, though some had spent a bit too much time in the can. Lily felt bad for the worms, but her pity was interrupted as James yelled, "She's coming!"
The two of them abandoned the can and ran down the stairs. They'd just barely made it into the bathroom when Petunia passed the door, muttering something about 'crazy little kids.'
Lily let out a sigh of relief, but James tugged her hand.
"We gotta get out, she's gonna find them in a second!"
So they hauled butt again until they were safely out by Lily's garage.
"When do you think she's gonna find em?"
"I think probably. now."
"AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHH!" Petunia's high-pitched scream came floating down from the attic window. The sound of Lily's parents thumping up the stairs were dull, but no one in the neighborhood missed, "WORMS! IN MY BED! THOSE STUPID LITTLE KIDS DID THIS!"
With a burst of uncontrollable laughter the two six-year-olds were on the ground, tears streaming from their eyes and gasping for breath.
That's exactly how Lily's mother found them shortly thereafter, saying, "You two are in such deep trouble!"
"Are we ever not?" Lily whispered to James, and he grinned.
********
"Lily! James! Come on, we have to go meet the Potters for dinner!" Lily's mother clicked her foot impatiently against the wooden floor as the two children scampered down the stairs. The dirt had been washed from their faces and hands, and they looked much more presentable.
But Mrs. Evans sighed looking at how clean they were. It hadn't been an easy feat. The two little ones had struck up a water fight and splashed themselves, the kitchen, and Mrs. Evans with soapy water until there wasn't a dry patch left in the room.
"Let's go! Dad and Pet are already in the car," Lily's mom said, shooing the two friends out the door.
They were meeting the Potters for a farewell dinner in London. The two families had grown close over the years, going out to dinners and spending evenings in London. Usually the Potters had to pay, the Evanses didn't have very much money. But they didn't mind much, it was a comforting routine for them to pay for a night out with the Evanses. Tonight's schedule was no different, but it would be the last time the Potters and Evanses went out together.
Dinner was a sober affair, the sadness of the Evanses leaving dampening the usual high-spirits that ran at their dinner tables. Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Evans talked softly about this and that, market prices and such. Mr. Potter and Mr. Evans discussed politics. Only Petunia seemed glad to be leaving, for once they were away from those dreaded Potters then perhaps she'd be able to get some peace. And not find worms in her bed. Shivering at the thought, Petunia stuck her fork back into her fish and munched away.
Lily and James whispered to each other at their end of the table, giggling as they remembered the "old times." Lily fought the urge to laugh hysterically as James reminded her of the time the two of them had left ice in Mr. Evans's socks. It had taken the poor man nearly an hour to figure out why his feet were so cold.
That reminded Lily of the time last winter when they'd put all of Lily's mother's bras in plastic bags and stuck them under the snow. They got a big scolding for that one, but it was well-repaid by the fact that Mrs. Evans had complained of her bras being cold for weeks after that.
The night went quickly and ended too soon, just as all nights will when you want them to last forever. In no time the Potters were on their feet and hugging the Evanses, saying, "Goodbye! Good luck, we'll write! Maybe we'll catch up with you sometime!"
But they knew they would never see each other again.
Lily stifled a sob as James gave her a last hug and, overcome with emotion, she kissed him on the cheek. James blushed and wiped at his cheek jokingly, whispering, "Eww, cooties!" But Lily didn't care, and neither did James, really.
"Come on, Lily, it's time to go," Mrs. Evans said gently to her little girl. A few tears slid slowly down Lily's cheek, leaving a bright red trail behind them. James wanted to cry, but it wasn't manly to do so. Not in a classy restaurant in the middle of London, anyway.
As the Evanses walked away, Lily looked back and gave James a sad wave. He waved back, and kept waving after Lily was out of sight.
Mrs. Potter sighed and Mr. Potter cleared his throat.
"Well, there goes a fine Muggle family," Mr. Potter said, putting and arm around Mrs. Potter. James was still staring at the door that the Evanses had disappeared behind, and didn't notice his mother dab her eyes with a tissue.
"Come now, let's take care of this bill and go on home," Mr. Potter said, and James followed his parents slowly back to their table. He stared silently at Lily's empty chair while Mr. Potter paid, thinking, //Lily's gone. Really gone. We're never gonna see each other again.// It was odd to think that just this morning they'd been playing together in Lily's front yard, acting as if it was any old day.
"All right, James, time to go," Mrs. Potter said, and James followed his parents out the door. They stood on the porch and tried to hail a taxi while James looked up and down the street; maybe he could catch a last glimpse of Lily. But she was already driving home, head buried in her arms and tears pouring out of her eyes. Her mother had turned around from the front passenger seat and tried to comfort her daughter, but it didn't help much. Lily missed James as much as he missed her.
James looked down and kicked a few pebbles with his feet while Mr. Potter tried to get a cab to stop. In the streetlight glow of Muggle London, James noticed one of the stones shining softly. He picked it up as Mr. Potter said helped Mrs. Potter into a cab, and noticed with a great tug of his heart what stone it was. He let out a small sob.
Lily's emerald lay in his open palm, though it's glittering was very dim. James thought it looked like Lily's eyes did when she was crying.
And at this thought, James couldn't help it. He cried, too.
****************
A/N: So what do you all think???? I know its been done before, but if everyone had a perfectly unique story there would be maybe a fourth as many HP stories as there are now! Its kinda sad now but its so happy and fluffy later Ill probably get flames for the sappiness! (don't get any ideas, im just trying to right a mostly non-depressing L & J story. Whats this stuff about them hating each other? Its nuts!) So review review if you like, and if u don't u can go read a more dramatic fic and leave mine alone!! ( Thanks you for everyone who reads whether u review or not (but ill like u better if u review! J/p). Ciao! Luv, Cassi~
CHAPTER ONE-ARE WE EVER NOT? / GOODBYE
Lilian Evans and James Potter sat outside Lily's house in suburban Muggle-land, England. Neither knew of the other's magical powers, and frankly, neither cared. The two six-year-olds lounging in the dewy, lush grass were oblivious to the world around them. They didn't care about a bad wizard who was slowly gaining power in the dark recesses of the wizarding world. They could have cared less that Lily's parents were suffering great financial problems. All that the two were concerned about right now, really, was the hole of sloshy, brown mud from which they were digging up worms.
"Lil, hand me the can," James asked, his tiny hands covered in slimy worm guts and dirt. Lily grinned at the fat, writhing worm that James was holding up as she handed him the can. Ooh, they were gonna get Petunia GOOD tonight!
"How many is that?" Lily asked, wiping a strand of her wavy auburn hair from her face. Brown streaks were left slashed across her forehead, but Lily wasn't the type of girl who cared. James pushed the worms around, counting. He and Lily were both very bright children, though they preferred to have fun over going to school. First grade was a waste of time, in their opinion. Why study stuff you already knew when you could be plotting against Lily's older sister?
"We have fourty-seven," James informed his best friend. He grinned at her, and she grinned back. He ignored the fact that this was probably the last time he and Lily would be playing together in her front yard. They were getting older, Lily's money was getting lesser. In just two days she was moving clear across England, too far to travel to play with James. Lily knew this, too, though she also didn't mention it. Better to focus on the present, while she and James were having such fun!
"More!" Lily exclaimed, giggling. James laughed too, his messy black hair sticking up at all angles. Lily often teased him about his hair, saying he looked like a black porcupine. James would laugh and call her names right back. Their mothers would tut-tut at them and scold, "Don't call each other names, you're best friends!" But James and Lily would just sit and laugh, they knew the other was teasing.
Lily smiled proudly as she held up a long, skinny worm that wriggled and writhed about. "Fourty-eight," she said joyfully, and dropped it in the can. She and James dug their little hands into the hole, pulling out worm after worm. When James informed Lily that they had seventy-five she shrieked with such happiness that the two of them collapsed into fits of giggles. It was almost fifteen minutes before they got up and kept digging. The sun was past above them, now, heading west to sleep for the night. The worms were getting scarce, and they were about to give up when-
"Look!" James pulled something out of the ground. It was a smooth, shiny-green stone. The sunlight glittered through it and sent little sparkles of green onto the muddy hole in between them.
"Ooh!" Lily breathed, looking at the stone sparkling away in the sun. "It's beautiful!"
James studied the stone carefully. His six-year-old mind, smart as he was, was too undeveloped to understand that this stone was an emerald. It had been dropped years and years before even James and Lily's parents were born and had been hiding in the earth ever since, waiting to be dug up.
Even if James didn't know this, he knew one thing about the stone. It was as deep and sparkling green as Lily's eyes. James had always liked Lily's eyes. They could dance and laugh when she was happy, but when she was angry the spark in them would grow until her eyes seemed to be on fire with little lights. When Lily was sad it was just the opposite; her tears would put out the flame and her eyes would grow distant-looking and glossy.
Depending on the way you turned this emerald it matched exactly every emotion that Lily's eyes could show. James looked up at Lily's eyes now and noticed that they were wide and awestruck, reflecting bits of sunlight as the stone was doing. Lily was looking longingly at the stone.
In two seconds James's mind was made up.
"Here," he said, holding out his hand. "You have it."
For a moment Lily just stared at James's outstretched palm, the stone dazzlingly bright.
"Really?" Lily breathed, slowly taking the stone and turning it about, looking at it from all angles.
"Yeah," James said, grinning at how happy Lily was. "To remember me by."
Lily looked up at James sadly, and when he realized what he'd just said he grew sober, too.
"I don't want to leave!" Lily said desperately, but she kept her voice low. If Mama heard her whining about moving she was dead meat.
"I don't want you to either, Lil," James said, getting up and moving next to his friend. He put an arm around her and hugged, saying, "But we'll see each other again. We just have to! You can't be as good friends as we are and not ever talk again."
Lily sniffed back her tears and looked up at James's brown and honey- coloured eyes.
"Will you write to me?"
"You bet," James said, smiling and wiping a lone tear from the corner of Lily's eye. "But this part comes tonight, after dinner. Right now you and I have a little trick to play on Petunia. Come on!"
James grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her up. Lily pocketed the stone and grabbed the can of worms, racing after James.
Petunia Evans was in her room at the top of the attic stairs reading a book for English class. Though Petunia was only a fourth grader, she held herself high above Lily and James. They were just silly little kids to her. Right now they were probably bouncing a ball back and forth to each other, or something. Petunia rolled her eyes at this thought. // Maybe I'll go see, though. This book is sooo boring. //
Petunia climbed off her bed and hurried down the stairs, thoughts on messing with Lily and James fixed in her mind.
But as the curly-haired fourth grader scampered down from her attic room, Lily and James snuck into the bathroom, which was next to the stairway. When Petunia disappeared down the second staircase to the kitchen, Lily and James scurried up to Petunias room, grinning and clutching the jar of worms close to them.
"All right, we only have a little time," James whispered urgently. It was custom that Lily would think up the pranks and James would be the boss when carrying them out. It'd been that way since day one, when Lily and James had first pulled a prank on Petunia.
That was back in pre-school, where James and Lily had met. One night while James was over playing and Petunia baby-sitting them, Lily had created the idea to pour some pepper into the milkshake Petunia was making. They waited for the perfect moment, James whispered, "Now! GO!"
Just three years later they were pulling their final prank.
"Okay, Lil, you put half under the blankets, I'll put the rest in her slippers for later tonight."
"Got it," Lily said happily, and she pulled half the worms out of the can and dashed to Petunia's bedside. Throwing back the fluffy pink comforter, she spread the worms strategically. A few were still wriggling, though some had spent a bit too much time in the can. Lily felt bad for the worms, but her pity was interrupted as James yelled, "She's coming!"
The two of them abandoned the can and ran down the stairs. They'd just barely made it into the bathroom when Petunia passed the door, muttering something about 'crazy little kids.'
Lily let out a sigh of relief, but James tugged her hand.
"We gotta get out, she's gonna find them in a second!"
So they hauled butt again until they were safely out by Lily's garage.
"When do you think she's gonna find em?"
"I think probably. now."
"AAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHH!" Petunia's high-pitched scream came floating down from the attic window. The sound of Lily's parents thumping up the stairs were dull, but no one in the neighborhood missed, "WORMS! IN MY BED! THOSE STUPID LITTLE KIDS DID THIS!"
With a burst of uncontrollable laughter the two six-year-olds were on the ground, tears streaming from their eyes and gasping for breath.
That's exactly how Lily's mother found them shortly thereafter, saying, "You two are in such deep trouble!"
"Are we ever not?" Lily whispered to James, and he grinned.
********
"Lily! James! Come on, we have to go meet the Potters for dinner!" Lily's mother clicked her foot impatiently against the wooden floor as the two children scampered down the stairs. The dirt had been washed from their faces and hands, and they looked much more presentable.
But Mrs. Evans sighed looking at how clean they were. It hadn't been an easy feat. The two little ones had struck up a water fight and splashed themselves, the kitchen, and Mrs. Evans with soapy water until there wasn't a dry patch left in the room.
"Let's go! Dad and Pet are already in the car," Lily's mom said, shooing the two friends out the door.
They were meeting the Potters for a farewell dinner in London. The two families had grown close over the years, going out to dinners and spending evenings in London. Usually the Potters had to pay, the Evanses didn't have very much money. But they didn't mind much, it was a comforting routine for them to pay for a night out with the Evanses. Tonight's schedule was no different, but it would be the last time the Potters and Evanses went out together.
Dinner was a sober affair, the sadness of the Evanses leaving dampening the usual high-spirits that ran at their dinner tables. Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Evans talked softly about this and that, market prices and such. Mr. Potter and Mr. Evans discussed politics. Only Petunia seemed glad to be leaving, for once they were away from those dreaded Potters then perhaps she'd be able to get some peace. And not find worms in her bed. Shivering at the thought, Petunia stuck her fork back into her fish and munched away.
Lily and James whispered to each other at their end of the table, giggling as they remembered the "old times." Lily fought the urge to laugh hysterically as James reminded her of the time the two of them had left ice in Mr. Evans's socks. It had taken the poor man nearly an hour to figure out why his feet were so cold.
That reminded Lily of the time last winter when they'd put all of Lily's mother's bras in plastic bags and stuck them under the snow. They got a big scolding for that one, but it was well-repaid by the fact that Mrs. Evans had complained of her bras being cold for weeks after that.
The night went quickly and ended too soon, just as all nights will when you want them to last forever. In no time the Potters were on their feet and hugging the Evanses, saying, "Goodbye! Good luck, we'll write! Maybe we'll catch up with you sometime!"
But they knew they would never see each other again.
Lily stifled a sob as James gave her a last hug and, overcome with emotion, she kissed him on the cheek. James blushed and wiped at his cheek jokingly, whispering, "Eww, cooties!" But Lily didn't care, and neither did James, really.
"Come on, Lily, it's time to go," Mrs. Evans said gently to her little girl. A few tears slid slowly down Lily's cheek, leaving a bright red trail behind them. James wanted to cry, but it wasn't manly to do so. Not in a classy restaurant in the middle of London, anyway.
As the Evanses walked away, Lily looked back and gave James a sad wave. He waved back, and kept waving after Lily was out of sight.
Mrs. Potter sighed and Mr. Potter cleared his throat.
"Well, there goes a fine Muggle family," Mr. Potter said, putting and arm around Mrs. Potter. James was still staring at the door that the Evanses had disappeared behind, and didn't notice his mother dab her eyes with a tissue.
"Come now, let's take care of this bill and go on home," Mr. Potter said, and James followed his parents slowly back to their table. He stared silently at Lily's empty chair while Mr. Potter paid, thinking, //Lily's gone. Really gone. We're never gonna see each other again.// It was odd to think that just this morning they'd been playing together in Lily's front yard, acting as if it was any old day.
"All right, James, time to go," Mrs. Potter said, and James followed his parents out the door. They stood on the porch and tried to hail a taxi while James looked up and down the street; maybe he could catch a last glimpse of Lily. But she was already driving home, head buried in her arms and tears pouring out of her eyes. Her mother had turned around from the front passenger seat and tried to comfort her daughter, but it didn't help much. Lily missed James as much as he missed her.
James looked down and kicked a few pebbles with his feet while Mr. Potter tried to get a cab to stop. In the streetlight glow of Muggle London, James noticed one of the stones shining softly. He picked it up as Mr. Potter said helped Mrs. Potter into a cab, and noticed with a great tug of his heart what stone it was. He let out a small sob.
Lily's emerald lay in his open palm, though it's glittering was very dim. James thought it looked like Lily's eyes did when she was crying.
And at this thought, James couldn't help it. He cried, too.
****************
A/N: So what do you all think???? I know its been done before, but if everyone had a perfectly unique story there would be maybe a fourth as many HP stories as there are now! Its kinda sad now but its so happy and fluffy later Ill probably get flames for the sappiness! (don't get any ideas, im just trying to right a mostly non-depressing L & J story. Whats this stuff about them hating each other? Its nuts!) So review review if you like, and if u don't u can go read a more dramatic fic and leave mine alone!! ( Thanks you for everyone who reads whether u review or not (but ill like u better if u review! J/p). Ciao! Luv, Cassi~