Chapter Two

One dusty afternoon found the residents of 35 Careweather Lane exceptionally quiet for the household's recent state of uproar, however, much of the silence could likely be attributed to the stifling heat that had settled in the small town and surrounding country.

A week had passed since Lily received her Hogwarts letter, and the Evans' were just beginning to recover from the shocking news. A very kind Ministry of Magic representative had arrived the afternoon of the letter's arrival and had sat the family down and explained to them the truth about the world of magic. It was much like what Severus had told Lily, but with less insignificant details and a more 'adult' explanation of the way their government, the Ministry, worked.

He had gone as far as to demonstrate his magical abilities to Lily's disbelieving parents, transfiguring his empty glass into a small bird, which had flown around the room until Petunia, who was lurking in the corner, shrieked.

Lily was even more lively and spirited than usual as of late, spending every moment she could spare discussing Hogwarts with Severus. Severus was delighted, simply because Lily was happy. It was a surprise to him how quickly she had accepted the turn of events; he had expected a bit more persuasion would be necessary on his part, but his worrying was for nothing. He was receiving much more attention than usual from herself and her parents, and was relieved to finally be able to discuss with them the half of his life that about which only Lily had previously known.

This unbearably hot August day found the two friends sitting in Lily's room, enjoying the constant blast of cold air from her ceiling fan, while they hid from the sun.

"Sev," Lily began, after a long pause in their chatter, "How is your mum? She must have been pleased when you got your letter."

Severus froze at the mention of his mother. "Yeah. I suppose. Yeah, she was pleased. Dad, not so much."

Lily cringed at his very hesitant response, before bravely continuing, "Are you excited to be leaving home, then? You won't miss them?"

"Miss them?" Severus scoffed. "That would be a laugh."

"Oh, Sev, how can you be so-" Lily paused, choosing her next words carefully, "so nonchalant? I'm going to miss Mum and Dad dreadfully. And Tuney." She added her sister's name seemingly as an afterthought, but Lily truly was going to miss her sister. They already seemed to be growing apart.

"Speaking of Tuney," Lily said loudly, gathering herself together to keep in the tears, "She's got both of my favorite pens. Let's find them before we go outside."

"Outside?" Severus whined, "It's blazing hot out there!"

"You promised you would show me your new spot today," Lily reminded him, "Let's go."

The odd pair left the room and slowly trudged upstairs to Petunia's bedroom. Lily knocked at the door, but nobody was inside, so she pushed it open and entered, allowing Severus to step inside before she shut it again.

Unlike Lily's room, Petunia's was a sickly peach color with rose-colored trim. Accents of spring green added nothing to the overall effect, and Severus was left with the overall impression of bunny rabbits, babies, and Easter.

"Eugh, it's so girly," he complained, looking around curiously, "I've never been in here before."

"And you shouldn't be now, Petunia would kill me, so shut up." Lily warned.

Severus laughed, but suddenly grew quiet as he approached the desk in the corner and picked something up. "Whoa!" he whispered, "What's this?"

Lily tiptoed over to see what he had discovered. It was a short letter alongside a neatly opened envelope. She peered over his shoulder to see whom the letter was addressed to. The address looked very familiar:

Petunia Evans

The Smaller Upstairs Bedroom

35 Careweather Lane

Mill Town

England

It was not long before Lily realized what Severus already had: the letter was from Hogwarts. Glancing at the signature on the other sheet of paper, Lily gasped. The letter was from Professor Dumbledore! Had Petunia been accepted into Hogwarts as well?

"Sev! We shouldn't be reading that, it's personal." Lily intoned.

Smirking, Severus held the letter out to her. "She left it out. Anyways, I'm done reading. And I know what you're thinking. Petunia wasn't let in. Professor Dumbledore kindly let her know that it was impossible for her to learn magic, as she is not magical. She's not like us, Lily. Frankly, I'm shocked a muggle like her even managed to contact Hogwarts.

Lily glared at Severus, angry with him for his unkind speech, and for the truth it contained. Petunia was not like Lily and Severus. She would not learn to be a witch alongside Lily, and Lily would just have to live with that.

Refusing to meet Lily's eyes, Severus placed the letter down and resumed poking around on the desk. He quickly discovered Lily's two missing pens, which he meekly held out to her. She accepted them coolly, and then placed her hand on Severus's arm.

"I'm sorry, Sev. It's not your fault."

Looking up gratefully, Severus responded, "It's not your fault either, Lily. It's nobody's fault. This is just the way things are."

He was shocked to see tears forming in Lily's eyes. She let out a watery chuckle.

"Let's go outside, this is stupid." She moved her hand down and grabbed his briefly, tugging him toward the door, before letting go and running ahead down the stairs.

"I'll never understand you, Lily Evans." The greasy-haired boy whispered to himself as he watched her red hair fly around the corner, enchanted.

The day had finally come. Lily, Severus, and Lily's parents were going to Diagon Alley for Lily's school materials. Secretly, Lily was also hoping to find a pet owl or cat while they were out, but she knew that they would be spending quite a bit of money as it was and did not want to impose upon her parents.

Severus was quite embarrassed at the whole idea of the trip, but Sam had insisted that he go with them in order to save his parents a trip to London. Sam and Josie did not know the extent of Severus' parents' troubles, but they had heard enough to welcome Severus into their house, despite his slightly queer personality.

Upon their arrival outside the address they had been given for the Leaky Cauldron, Lily unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out of the car, breathless. A small cough from behind her reminded her of Severus, who was stuck in his seatbelt. Earlier, Lily had discovered that Severus had never ridden in a car before. Instead of making fun of him, Lily had taken pity on Severus and explained everything she had learned about automobiles as a small child. Severus was a very good audience, nodding with comprehension and asking for clarification in all the right places. Lily was happy to finally be the one with the answers, which was a change from her usual situation as a wizarding novice.

"Come on, kids!" Josie called from the sidewalk. "It should be right around here somewhere."

"What is she talking about?" Severus asked, pointing out a sign clearly visible to Lily and himself, "It's right here."

The sign was old, with peeling paint, but the words inscribed on it were clearly visible: 'The Leaky Cauldron.'

"I don't think they can see it, Sev." Lily guessed, looking at her parents confused faces.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sam asked, glancing around.

"The Leaky Cauldron is right here, but only we can see it. Turn around, mum." Lily demanded, walking toward the door. She turned the knob, and her mother gasped.

"Oh! It just appeared out of nowhere," Josie laughed, "But that's probably not the last surprise we'll be getting today."

Josie prediction was quite correct, as surprise after surprise awaited the group in the Leaky Cauldron, culminating in a tall brick wall, which transformed into the entrance into the breathtaking business of Diagon Alley.

Following the instructions of the friendly bartender of the Leaky Cauldron, the group first headed straight down the Alley to a large, grand building: the wizard bank, Gringotts.

Lily stared up at the massive building, quite impressed, as they passed through a set of bronze doors. Looking back down, she noticed something, and blinked in surprise. Lily turned to Severus, forming a question on the tip of her tongue, but stopped at his warning look.

Severus answered her unasked question in a whisper, "Yeah, those are goblins. Don't stare; you don't want to offend them.

Lily didn't need any more persuasion than that to quicken her step as she passed yet another goblin, noticing words engraved on the second set of doors, which were silver this time. She read in wonder:

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn,

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

The thoughtful look on Severus's face when Lily turned to see his reaction told her that he also had just finished reading the warning.

"Imagine all the gold that must be stored in here. It's amazing." Severus finally said.

"Yeah, I suppose that's why they've got so much protection around here." Lily agreed.

Josie and Sam proceeded through the second set of doors after the children, hurrying them along. They entered a magnificent, open hall of marble, full of columns with innumerable doors in between them. Goblins were seated at regular intervals along the marble counter that ran the length of the room, interrupted by columns, and even more goblins were leading people through these openings into rooms and hallways.

The group hurried over to a counter, and Sam pulled his wallet out of his pocket, preparing to exchange the muggle bills he had brought for wizarding money.

He handed a goblin a stack of bills, making his request, but what was piled on the counter in place of the bills was unexpected to everyone but Severus. Several columns of gold, silver, and bronze coins sat neatly piled in front of the party.

"No notes?" Sam asked to nobody in particular, perplexed. Turning to Severus, he continued, "Do they do all their transactions in coins, then? It must be quite tedious. This can't be worth that much." He picked up a Galleon and flipped it with his thumb, waiting to be contradicted.

"Yeah, it's all done with these," Severus responded knowingly, "But they're worth more than you think. There are twenty-nine of the little bronze ones, Knuts, in a silver Sickle, and seventeen Sickles in a Galleon."

"These galleons must really be worth a lot, then, if it's worth putting nearly five hundred Knuts in each." Sam chuckled.

"Five hundred! That's impossible." Josie scoffed.

"Mental math, darling. It's reality."

Severus stared up at the couple arguing lovingly and sighed. He wished his parents could get along like Lily's did. It wasn't at all fair that some relationships just worked out like magic, while others crumbled to ashes for no reason at all.

As Sam finished scooping the coins into a bag, where they clinked loudly, Josie turned and mumbled something to him. He nodded, brightening, and promptly turned to Lily.

"Darling, you and Severus take this and go start getting your things. Your mum and I are going to talk to someone about starting an account for you here. It was your mum's idea, but I agree completely. It's time you began saving up for your future."

Lily rolled her eyes, but Severus took it upon himself to correct Sam, saying, "Actually, you don't open accounts at Gringotts. They keep the gold in vaults underground. But I suppose you could get one."

Sam nodded and thanked Severus as his wife pulled him away to talk to a goblin. Lily turned to her friend and grinned, holding up the bag of gold.

"Shall we go, then?" she asked playfully.

"I don't see why not," the boy responded, "where to first?"

Her eyes sparkled with excitement and she replied sarcastically, "I dunno, you're supposed to be the expert."

Severus rolled his eyes, but retorted in mock seriousness, "You're absolutely right. I'm in charge!" He grinned, before offering his arm in a silly display of courtesy, saying "Shall we go?"

A laugh escaped from Lily's lips as she danced out of the silver doors, shaking the bag of money behind her so that it clinked merrily. "Catch me if you can!"

A/N: Here's a quick update to keep you coming back for more! Reading those reviews (tons, right?) made me incredibly happy, so spare a moment . Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate it! Once again, let me know of any ideas you have for the story, and any corrections you'd like me to make. THANKYOUUU