Lily-Flower
A/N: I was struck with the inspiration to write after re-reading all the Harry Potter books. This is the first of what I hope will be many Marauder-era stories. Read and review!
UPDATE: shine lots noticed that there are heavy similarities to a story called Lily Evans: A History by Bethany, including the title, which is the title of her first chapter, and a lot of the beginning. Please note that these were ENTIRELY ACCIDENTAL. I in no way meant to copy such a brilliant writer as Bethany.
It really sucks when your subconscious mind rips people off. Mine is grounded until further notice. I've changed to the beginning of the story so it's not so *cough* exactly the same. The story title will have to stay until I think of something else. If anyone has any ideas, let me know!
- Miss Maddie
"Daddy, she did it again!"
Petunia's shrill voice echoed down the stairwell and into the dining room, where David Evans was reading the Evening News. His hand jerked violently at his daughter's sudden cry, and a brown tea stain blossomed on the otherwise immaculate white tablecloth.
David closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, forcing himself not to lose his temper. "Sorry, Petunia, didn't catch that?"
Petunia stomped flat-footed into the dining room, her horsy face crimson with rage. "It's Lily! Look what she did to me!"
She pointed to her left eye, over which a spectacular purple bruise was blooming.
David raised an eyebrow. "Lily punched you?"
Just then, a tiny figure emerged from the stairwell. Lily's flaming red hair fell past her pretty face and thin shoulders, and her large, almond-shaped green eyes were bright – too bright. She looked as though she was holding back tears.
"Tell Daddy what you did!" Petunia shrieked, pointing a finger at her sister. Lily flinched.
Lily voice shook. "I'm sorry, Daddy, I – I swear I didn't mean to."
"What happened?" David asked gently.
"I was in my room, reading," Lily continued. "Tuney came in and grabbed my book away from me," Lily's next words were so quiet that David had to strain to hear them. "I got angry. My book jumped out of Tuney's hands and hit her in the face. I'm sorry."
"See!" Petunia screeched. "She is a freak!"
The tears that had been welling in Lily's eyes began to fall, thick and fast.
David's green eyes, identical to those of his younger daughter, flashed dangerously. "Petunia, what have I told you about calling your sister that?"
Suddenly, Andrea Evans stuck her head out of the kitchen, an apron tied around her waist. Her hands were soapy from washing the dinner dishes. "Petunia, have you been using the F-word again?"
"But Mummy – "
"No buts, Petunia. We've gone over this a hundred times."
Petunia began to cry tears of rage, her tall, bony frame shaking with fury. "You always take her side, both of you!" she cried. "What about me?"
"Now, Petunia, be reasonable – "
But before either of her parents could say another word, Petunia stormed back up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door.
David took his ten-year-old daughter and gathered her, sobbing, into his arms. Andrea came out of the kitchen to join Lily and David at the dining room table.
"Why does Tuney hate me?" asked Lily in a small voice.
"Oh, Lily-Flower," said David, stroking his daughter's red hair. "Tuney doesn't hate you. I think you just scare her a bit."
Lily made an odd hiccupping noise, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "But I'm not scary."
"We know that, sweetheart," said Andrea. "But these things you can do – moving things without touching them and all of that – I think maybe you should try to keep them to yourself for awhile."
"But – "
"At least until Tuney calms down," Andrea interjected. "I know I told you before to stop, but it's been five months and nothing's changed. We know you can't really control it, but just try."
Lily bit her lip, considering. She was about to protest, but held her tongue when she caught her father's eye. "Okay, I'll try."
David smiled. "That's all we can ask. Now dry those tears."
"Can I go visit Sev?" asked Lily, dabbing at her eyes with her sleeve.
"Lily, it's too cold – "
"I'll bring a coat."
"Well, don't you think you should call first?" Andrea asked.
"Mummy, you know they don't have a telephone. Besides," she said, smiling, "Sev'll know. He always knows when I want to play."
Sure enough, Severus Snape was waiting for Lily when she arrived at the playground a few blocks away from her house, where they had first met. He was huddled under the slide, wearing an overcoat that was several sizes too big for him and a pair of bright pink earmuffs.
Lily never commented on Severus' strange clothes.
Her boots crunched through the ankle-deep snow as she approached his refuge under the slide. She crouched to her knees and crawled in with him, away from the snow that fell gently around them.
"You came!" Lily never ceased to be amazed that Sev always knew when to meet her.
"Of course I came," he said, his sallow face breaking into a smile. His breath hung in thin clouds in the chilly January air. "I always do."
Severus was the same age as Lily, but she was at least a few inches taller than he was. He had too-long black hair and a pinched, stringy appearance, but he was Lily's best friend.
"I had another row with Tuney."
"What happened this time?"
"She stole my book and it hit her in the face."
Severus snorted, but his grin faded as quickly as it had come when he saw the look on Lily's face.
"Don't laugh!" she exclaimed. "It's not funny! I hate it when Tuney yells at me." Lily hesitated for a moment, and then said, "She called me a freak again."
Severus frowned. "Lily, how many times do I have to say it? You're sister's wrong. You aren't a freak - you're a witch."
Lily rested her chin on her knees. "I know that, Sev. I believe you, but nobody believes me. Not even Mummy and Daddy. I've stopped trying to convince them that what I can do is magic."
"Hey!" said Severus suddenly. "I've got something that might cheer you up." Digging for a moment in an inside pocket of his ridiculously long overcoat, he pulled out a parchment envelope.
"No way!" breathed Lily, awestruck. "Is that –?"
Severus grinned broader than ever. "It is."
Turning over the envelope, Lily saw that the wax seal, a lion, a serpent, an eagle and a badger all grouped around the letter H, was already broken.
"Can I read it?"
Severus pulled the letter from the envelope and handed it to Lily, who handled it almost with reverence. Her hands trembling, she began to read:
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 Mr. Snape;
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 9 January.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
9 January. That was Sev's birthday, Lily remembered. "Wow." It was all she could think to say. "Did you send them the owl?"
"Mum sent a message back with the school owl that brought us the letter," Severus responded. "We don't have one of our own."
"Because he doesn't like them?"
"Yeah."
Lily didn't want to press the subject. She knew Severus hated talking about his father.
"Did you want to show that to your parents?" Severus asked, gesturing to the letter.
"No, I'll wait for mine to come," Lily said. "They might actually believe me if it's my name on the letter. How much longer before mine comes, do you think?"
"Well," said Severus thoughtfully, "I got mine a week before my birthday. I would assume that's when you'll get yours as well."
"But not by owl?"
"No. Like I said, someone from the school will bring it, since you're Muggle-born."
Lily shivered, but she knew it wasn't because of the cold. Glancing out from under the slide, she saw that the pearly clouds were beginning to darken to an angry iron-grey.
"I should go," said Lily. "It's getting late."
She and Severus crawled out from under the slide, stretching their stiff limbs. Lily started back the way she had come, and Severus turned to go back to his house on Spinner's End.
"Bye Sev!" Lily called. Pulling up the hood of her coat, Lily turned her back to the oncoming snow and trudged back home.
Severus watched her go until she was no longer visible through the steadily thickening snow, which was starting to turn into a blizzard.
"Bye Lily."
When Lily returned home, she shed her coat and hung it on the rack to dry. Her sodden boots went over one of the heating vents. She stuck her head into the sitting room where her parents were watching television to let them know she was home, and then took the stairs two at a time up to her bedroom.
Lily was so excited she could hardly breathe. Her birthday was in ten days, and if Severus was right, her Hogwarts letter would arrive in three. The sooner she could prove to her parents that it was all real, the better. And she could show Tuney that she wasn't a freak!
Her older sister's bedroom door was closed. Lily peered through the keyhole, but the light was off. She couldn't see anything.
Picking up the novel that lay forgotten on the floor, Lily flicked on her lamp and sat on her bed. Finding her page, she was dismayed to see that the corner was badly bent from where her sister had grabbed it.
Lily ignored it. Not even Petunia could dampen her spirits today.
Lily waited and waited, but her eleventh birthday came and went with no sign of her Hogwarts letter. This incident marked the beginning of her longest-ever fight with Severus:
"You said it would come! You said!"
"I thought it would! I don't know why it didn't!"
"You said I was a witch!"
"You are, Lily. I know you are."
"Then where's my letter?"
Lily spent the next sixth months avoiding Severus, her parents and above all, Petunia. Lily's sister had known what Severus said about witches and wizards; she had been there when Lily had first met him. When Petunia learned that no Hogwarts letter had come, she laughed herself silly.
"I knew it!" she snorted between shrieks of laughter. "I knew that weirdo was lying!"
And so Lily kept her head down. It didn't do much good, however. The spurts of the unexplained came even more often than ever, it seemed. Once, she had caused her teacher's chalk to poke him in the eye when he demanded an answer she didn't know. When she once complained about the disgusting cafeteria food at her school, her lunch, which had vaguely resembled oatmeal that had been left to rot, had inexplicably changed into a turkey dinner when she arrived at her table.
However many odd things Lily did at school, none were worse than when it happened to Petunia. Her sister had kept calling her names, reverting most often to "freak." Whenever she did this, Lily couldn't control what came next. The worst was when the rug on the upstairs landing had pulled itself out from under Petunia's feet. Petunia had fallen down the stairs and broken her arm.
Lily spent most of her time in her room, crying and writing in her diary. It was not until the end of June that things took a definite turn for the better.
Lily and Petunia were watching television in the lounge, during one of the rare evenings that Petunia could stand to be in the same room as her sister. Petunia's arm was still in a sling, and the bitterness over that incident remained. Lily was lying on her stomach on the floor and Petunia was sitting on the couch when the doorbell rang.
Lily stood up to answer it, and was surprised to see austere-looking middle-aged woman standing on her doorstep. The woman was wearing a tweed skirt and jacket with a white blouse.
"Good afternoon," she said to Lily, with a small smile. "Are you Lily Evans?"
"Yes, I am." Lily was polite, but still cautious. She knew what her parents had told her about talking to strangers.
"Are your parents home?"
Lily nodded. "Mum! Dad!" she called. "There's someone here to see you!"
David and Andrea came to the door. Petunia flicked off the television and poked her head into the hall to see what was going on.
"Can I help you?" David asked.
"Good afternoon," said the woman again. "My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall. I come as a representative of Hogwarts School, where your daughter has been offered a place."
Lily fell to the floor in a dead faint.
She was only out for a few seconds, but that didn't stop David and Andrea from worrying. They fussed over her as she came to, but Lily ignored them and turned to Professor McGonagall.
"Well," said Professor McGonagall, looking slightly alarmed. "That was one of the stranger reactions I've had, I must say!"
"Professor, you said 'Hogwarts,'" said Lily. "Surely you - you can't mean Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Professor McGonagall's eyes widened in shock. "How – how did you know?"
"My friend, Severus, he's a wizard, and – oh no!"
"What is it?"
"Severus!" cried Lily, horrified. "I got mad at him when my letter didn't come at my birthday, and – oh, it's all my fault! I have to go find him!"
Lily had her shoes on and was almost out the door when David came to his senses. "Hold on a minute!" David shouted, glaring at his daughter. "Lily, if this is some kind of joke, it's a very poor one." He looked extremely confused. "What in the world is going on? What's Hogwarts? Do you know this woman?"
"If I may, Mr and Mrs Evans," interjected Professor McGonagall, "I can assure you that this is no joke." She looked, bewildered, at Lily. "I, however, am astounded that your daughter knows what I am talking about. Perhaps it is best if you do let Lily go and find this friend of hers. As incredible as it seems, she obviously already knows all about Hogwarts. It will be better if I can explain myself."
David and Andrea nodded wearily.
"In the meantime, however, this is for Lily." Professor McGonagall reached into the pocket of her skirt and handed Lily a fat parchment envelope.
It was her Hogwarts letter.
Before her parents could change their minds, Lily took it and raced out the door and down the block in the direction of the playground, her letter clutched tightly in her fist. "Come on, Sev, please be there. Please!" she said to herself as she ran, her shoes pounding the dry pavement.
Lily was panting heavily when she arrived at the playground. To her dismay, it was completely deserted.
Undaunted, Lily turned the corner and hurried to Spinner's End. She had never been to Severus' house before, but Severus had once told her the number. With any luck, he would be there.
"Number six, number seven , number eight…" Lily counted the numbers on the identical brick row houses as she ran. She could hear the river somewhere on the other side of the trees.
At last she reached it: Number nine, Spinner's End. It looked exactly the same as all the other houses; Lily had no way of knowing from the outside if it was the right one. Still, it was her only chance. She navigated her way through the weeds and cracked stones of the walkway until she reached the porch. There was no doorbell; instead the door bore a tarnished silver knocker in the shape of a twisting serpent. Lily grabbed hold of it in both hands and knocked.
Almost immediately, a sour-looking woman opened the door. She was thin and sallow-faced, and her resemblance to Severus was so uncanny that Lily knew she had come to the right house.
"Um, Mrs Snape?" She asked hesitantly. The woman nodded mutely. "Is – is Severus home?"
Mrs Snape stepped aside and revealed her son. To Lily's surprise, he scowled at her.
"What do you want?"
Forgetting all sense of propriety, Lily rushed passed Mrs Snape and threw her arms around Severus in a bone-crushing hug.
"Oh, Sev, I'm so sorry!" Lily cried.
Both Severus and his mother were too stunned to move.
"Guess who came today!" said Lily excitedly. "Professor McGonagall! You know, from Hogwarts! And she brought me my letter and everything, look!"
Severus still hadn't said a word, but his normally pallid face was the colour of an over-ripe tomato.
"Oh – oops," said Lily apologetically, pulling away from him. She glanced at Mrs Snape, who gazed back strangely.
"Excuse us, Mum," said Severus, not meeting Lily's eyes. He stepped out the door and led Lily back the way she had come. They sat on the swings at the playground and Severus fixed his gaze resolutely on his shoes.
"Please say something," said Lily quietly.
"What is there to say?" he asked, staring at the ground. "You're a witch."
"I know, Sev. We can go to Hogwarts together!"
Severus was silent.
"You – you are going, aren't you?"
"I don't know, Lily. My dad doesn't want me to."
"But you said your mum sent the letter back –"
Severus still didn't look at her. "She did, but my dad was away at the time. He didn't even know I got a letter. When I asked Mum last night when we were going to Diagon Alley to get my school things, Dad when berserk. It was their biggest row ever," said Severus sadly. "Dad's staying in a motel right now."
Then he mumbled something into his shoes, so quietly that Lily could barely hear it. "He – he hit me, Lily."
For the first time, Severus looked up, and Lily noticed the hand-sized bruise on Severus' pale cheek. It was fading, but it looked to have been nasty.
Lily didn't know what to say. Finally, she muttered, "But you have to go, don't you? You're a wizard."
Tears were falling from Severus' deep black eyes.
"I hope so."
Professor McGonagall was still at Lily's house when she returned. For some reason, Lily was not surprised to see that the woman was now wearing a long robe of bottle green and a pointed witch's hat with a tartan band around the brim.
They were in the sitting room when Lily opened the door and kicked off her shoes. Andrea had obviously poured them all tea, but the three cups were full and looked to be getting cold.
David and Andrea were both very pale, but their faces were set.
Andrea jumped when Lily arrived in the sitting room. "Oh – hello, sweetheart," she said a little nervously. "Professor McGonagall explained everything while you were gone. I think – well, we have no choice but to believe what she says."
Professor McGonagall gave Andrea a small, grateful smile.
David cut in. "If you want to go to Hogwarts in the fall, you can."
Lily rushed across the carpeted floor and threw herself into her father's lap. "Thank you, Daddy!"
David gently stroked Lily's hair. "You do want to go?" he asked with a timid laugh. "I mean, you could always stay with your boring Muggle family."
Lily giggled. "Oh, Daddy, you and Mummy aren't boring! Or Tuney," she added as an afterthought. "And I'll come and visit you at all the holidays, I promise!"
"Well, that's settled then," said Professor McGonagall. "Thank you, Mr and Mrs Evans, for being so understanding. Not many parents take it as well as you did."
The adults rose from their chairs and shook hands. Then Professor McGonagall said. "I will return a week before September the first to take you to Diagon Alley to buy your school supplies."
"Goodbye, Professor," said Lily, "and thank you!"
Nobody saw a fourteen-year-old girl sneak out of her bedroom late that night. Nobody heard her pick up her sister's Hogwarts letter, which was sitting on the dining room table, and take it quietly back up to her room, nor did they hear the sounds of shuffling paper, or the scratching of a pen as it composed a letter.
It took a long time for Lily to pluck up the courage to ask Severus to her house for tea. She had dreaded what she knew would happen if Petunia saw Severus again, so soon after Severus had accidentally made the tree branch fall on her, for three whole weeks. Lily had taken Petunia's side in the incident at first, but when Petunia continued to act as if Severus had done it on purpose, Lily had made amends with her friend. She only wished at Petunia would too.
Still, Lily just couldn't bear the thought of Severus all alone in his dark, dingy house, with no one but his surly mother for company. Mr Snape still had not returned.
It was for this reason that Lily planned her tea with Severus for an afternoon that she knew Petunia would spend shopping with her friends. She had been nervously flitting around the house for most of the day, touching up the already clean house. For tea, she had asked Andrea to prepare sandwiches, cookies and lemonade.
Andrea raised an eyebrow but remained mercifully mute about Severus' appearance when he rang the doorbell promptly at four o'clock. Severus clothes looked a little better than usual; his trousers were the right length and fit reasonably well, and the sleeves on his odd smock-like shirt were rolled up. He greeted Lily's mother with absolute politeness, something that would improve her impression of him regardless of how Severus was dressed.
Lily and Severus had fun eating their tea, talking and laughing as Andrea refilled their glasses of lemonade. When they were both full to bursting with sandwiches and cookies, Lily and Severus headed upstairs.
They were just walking into Lily's bedroom when Severus said, "Hey, what's that?" he pointed, to Lily's surprised, into Petunia's bedroom, the door of which was ajar. A parchment envelope was lying on the floor beside her bed.
Unable to suppress her curiosity, Lily quietly pushed open the door. She hadn't been inside Petunia's bedroom for several months now, but it hadn't changed much since the last time. The walls were still a lurid pink, the one small window hung with lacy white curtains. Petunia's bed was neatly made; the stuffed animals on it were set in positions that were just a touch too jaunty to be natural. The few books on her shelf were at perfect ninety-degree angles. There didn't appear to be one speck of dust in the entire room.
Lily bent and picked up the sheaf of parchment. She and Severus both gasped out loud when they saw what was written on it:
Dear Miss Evans,
I regret to inform you that only children of magical blood can be accepted at Hogwarts. Though I admire your courage and determination in contacting me, I am afraid that I cannot offer you a place here. If you wish, we can continue to monitor you for signs of latent magical ability.
Sincerely,
Professor A. Dumbledore
Severus and Lily were dumbstruck.
"How – how -?" Severus gulped, unable to find the right words.
"Petunia would never have used an owl; she hates birds."
"You mean she used Muggle post?"
"She must have."
"I bet there are wizards working undercover at Muggle post offices," said Severus thoughtfully.
That still didn't explain why Petunia had contacted Professor Dumbledore in the first place. "She always called me a freak," said Lily a little sadly. "I had no idea that she was just jealous."
Then Lily heard the sound of a door opening downstairs, the shuffle of shoes of carpet and the tired but content voice of a teenaged girl returning from an afternoon spent shopping with her friends.
Lily met Severus' gaze.
"Petunia."
"I still need a wand," said Lily, panting as she hoisted the paper-wrapped packages in her arms. Judging by the weight, her new pewter cauldron and a few of her schoolbooks had been about to fall.
"Down the road to the left," said Professor McGonagall, pointing. "Mr Ollivander's shop is the only place to buy wands."
"Is that everything?" asked Andrea. She and her husband were just catching up, both heavily laden with robes, parchment, quills, and potion ingredients, along with various other pieces of wizarding equipment. They seemed quite overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of Diagon Alley.
Professor McGonagall glanced at the delicate gold watch strapped to her wrist. "Oh, my goodness, is it really that late?" she exclaimed. "Mr and Mrs Evans, I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid I must get back to Hogwarts. Can you manage the rest on your own?"
David and Andrea looked a little apprehensive, but Lily cut in before they could say anything. "I'm sure we can, Professor. I can see the wand shop from here."
"And you remember how to get back to the Leaky Cauldron?"
"Three up, two across." Lily recited with a smile. "Thanks, Professor."
Professor McGonagall smiled in turn. "Well, your daughter really seems to have a handle on things. Goodbye, Mr and Mrs Evans." She shook hands with Lily's parents. "I will see you on September the first, Lily."
Feeling a sudden itch on her nose, Lily freed a hand and scratched it. By the time she had re-adjusted the bulky packages in her arms, Professor McGonagall was gone.
A bell chimed when Lily and her parents entered Ollivander's wand shop. Looking around the tiny store, Lily felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. As she gazed around the shelves, where thousands of narrow boxes were packed all the way to the ceiling, Lily felt as though she had stumbled across a secret she wasn't supposed to know, a powerful place, where the likes of her weren't supposed to be.
"Good afternoon." Lily jumped at the soft, whispery voice. It came from the far corner of the shop, where an old, wispy sort of man stood, watching her intently. Most of his sandy brown hair had long since turned grey, but what caught Lily's attention were the man's pale eyes, which seemed to cast a light of their own through the gloomy shop.
"Um, hello," said Lily nervously. "I'm, er, here to – "
"I know why you're here," said the man slowly. "The only reason people ever come here is to buy wands. I assume that you, my dear, are no different?"
"Yes, that's why. Are you Mr Ollivander?" Lily wished he would stop staring at her. Those colourless eyes of his were creepy.
"I am. What is your name?"
"Lily – Lily Evans."
"Very well, Lily Evans who is here to buy a wand. Hold out your wand arm, please."
"My -?"
"The hand you write with."
Lily presented her right arm as Mr Ollivander pulled a long silver tape measure out of his pocket, then held it up and measuring the distance between Lily's shoulder and the tip of her middle finger. Nodding and muttering to himself, Ollivander headed back to the shelves and perused the faded labels on the ends of the narrow boxes.
It took Lily a moment to notice that the tape measure, which was measuring the circumference of her thumb, was doing so of its own accord while Ollivander perused the boxes.
Pulling one carefully off a shelf at the back of the shop, Ollivander removed the wand from its box and passed it to Lily, who took it with trembling fingers.
"Olive and dragon heartstring," he said. "Eleven and a half inches, and quite brittle."
But almost immediately after Lily's hand closed on the handle of the wand, Mr Ollivander snatched it back from her and placed it on his desk, saying, "No, no, I don't think so."
He pulled another wand off the shelf and gave it to her. "Vine wood and unicorn hair. Ten inches. Bendy."
Lily actually got to give this wand a little wave, but instantly felt a pulse like an electric charge move up her arm. She shrieked at the sudden feeling, and, to her embarrassment, dropped the wand on the dusty floor.
"Not to worry, my dear, not to worry," said Mr Ollivander with a smile as he bent and picked up the wand. It joined its companion on the desk. "It happens all the time. I think it is safe to say that that is not the right wand for you."
Mr Ollivander took a little longer to choose the next wand for her to try, disappearing in the back of the shop for a full five minutes. David and Andrea were starting to exchange nervous looks when he finally returned with a new wand.
"Here we are," he said. "Willow and unicorn hair, ten and a quarter inches long. It's rather swishy and a very nice wand for charm work. Try."
The minute the wand touched her fingers, Lily felt a pleasant sensation, like a warm breeze, wash over her. She brought the wand down in a shower of multicoloured sparks.
Her father actually clapped. Lily blushed crimson as David took seven galleons out of their moneybag to pay for the wand.
Mr Ollivander fixed his pale, penetrating on her when she took the wand. For a moment he was silent, and then he said, in his strange whispery voice, "Good luck, Miss Evans."
"Evans, Lily!"
Lily's legs shook as she stepped forward and took a seat on the stool, feeling hundreds of pairs of eyes staring right at her. Biting her lip to keep it from trembling, she felt Professor McGonagall place the Sorting Hat on her head.
Oh, my, said a little voice. Well, this is almost too easy. I know just the place for you – "GRYFFINDOR!"
It took Lily a moment to realize that the last word had been shouted loud enough for the entire hall to hear. The table on the far left exploded into applause. Beaming, Lily gave the Hat back to Professor McGonagall and made her way over to join her fellow Gryffindors.
As she crossed the hall, Lily glanced back at the waiting students and caught Severus's eye. His mouth was set in a sad frown. She flashed him a tiny smile, willing her friend to cheer up. It wouldn't be that bad, she thought. They could still be friends, even if they weren't in the same house.
Lily reached the Gryffindor table and sat down next to one of the other first-years, who scooted over in his seat to make room for her. She turned, and was about to thank him when she recognized him as one of the awful boys she had met on the Hogwarts Express, the ones who had been so mean to Severus. This was the boy who had claimed that his entire family had been in Slytherin. He had also insulted her friend. Lily frowned as she tried to remember the name Professor McGonagall had called out. Something odd and old-sounding – "Black, Sirius," that was it.
He smiled at her, but Lily turned away from him, and stared at the Sorting Hat, which had just sent "Fletcher, Geoffrey" to the Ravenclaw table.
As the minutes wore on, the group of first-years thinned. Lily clapped as loud as the rest when the next Gryffindor, "Haner, Ellen," took the seat on her other side. However, she had to hide her dismay when the three other boys that had barged into her compartment on the train – "Lupin, Remus," "Pettigrew, Peter," and "Potter, James" – were all Sorted into Gryffindor as well. Lupin and Pettigrew took seats on the opposite bench, but when Potter joined them, he actually had the nerve to squeeze himself onto the bench on Lily's left so that he could sit beside Black. He was practically in her lap! Lily rolled her eyes. Throwing Potter a disgusted glare that he didn't seem to notice, she grudgingly moved over.
There were only a handful of students left to be Sorted when Professor McGonagall called, "Snape, Severus!"
Lily watched intently as her friend took a seat on the rickety stool. Beside her, Potter nudged Black and pointed at Severus, whispering something in his ear. Black smirked. After a moment of tense silence, the rip near the Sorting Hat's brim opened wide.
"Slytherin!"
Lily pressed her lips into a grim line as Severus headed for the table at the far end of the hall, which had erupted into cheers as their house was announced. He took a seat next to a tall boy with long, silver-blond hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. The boy, who wore a silver badge on his chest, patted Severus on the back as he sat down.
Severus smiled nervously, seeming pleased by the attention his new housemates were giving him.
As the final few students were called and Sorted, Lily gazed up at the ceiling of the Great Hall. While they were waiting, she had heard two of the girls behind her talking about how it was bewitched to look like the sky outside. A million stars twinkled in the inky blue-black expanse. The crescent moon, half-hidden behind a thin, wispy cloud, glowed bright and strong.
I'll learn to do something wonderful like that, Lily thought to herself. Someday.
A/N: I actually quite like this. I originally wanted chapters, but I think it works better with just the lines denoting the passage of time. This story takes place between and after the memories seen in Deathly Hallows. I want to do a few more with Lily and the other Marauders at Hogwarts. They are some of my favourite characters in the series. I'll see yet where I go with this.
UPDATE: As you can see, I added a section about Lily's Sorting. I'm going to work my way backwards and forwards from this point. I'll probably end up adding a chunk about the train ride, and maybe something from the other Marauders' perspective as well.
- Miss Maddie