Disclaimer: None of this is mine, it's all J.K. Rowling's.

Chapter Two

Muggles and Magic

Ginny Evans woke to the smell of bacon, and happily got out of bed to wake her sister. Although they were not technically related, nearly everyone thought they were twins, and the family itself often forgot that they were not.

"Lily," she said quietly, gently shaking her shoulder. Lily's bright green eyes snapped open, and glared up at Ginny.

"What do you want? It's early," she growled. It wasn't that Lily and Ginny didn't get along; in fact, they actually got along extraordinarily well. However, they had certain differences, one being that Ginny was a morning person and Lily certainly was not.

"It's not that early," Ginny responded, "and Mum made bacon so I figured you'd want some." Lily immediately bolted out of bed, grinning.

"I love bacon! Race you downstairs?"

Both redheads took off as fast as they could, pushing and jostling each other as they raced for the kitchen, and more importantly the bacon. The two tied, although each girl claimed she had won. Lilah Evans, who had witnessed the whole escapade, laughed merrily at her daughters and served them bacon.

She was tall and thin, with a striking face framed with long, strawberry blonde hair. It had at one time been much darker, the same shade as Lily's, but after she had given birth to her daughter it had faded, and she often joked that Lily and Ginny had sucked it all out of her, even though Ginny did not technically come from her womb. She was a kind woman, and accepted Ginny as her own daughter, spoiling her with love.

"Girls, where's Petunia?" Lily and Ginny shrugged, and continued stuffing their mouths with bacon.

"Pwobably still shleeping," Lily responded, her mouth full. Mrs. Evans looked down at her sternly, and warned her not to talk with her mouth full. While she was normally good-natured, Mrs. Evans did not tolerate bad manners or any sort of a mess.

"I'll get her," Ginny volunteered. She had always been intrigued by Petunia, knowing that this girl would someday turn into the bitter woman who had mistreated Harry. It was odd, because she was very kind, and spent more time with the twins than Ginny had ever thought a teenager would want to. She knew for a fact that when she had been thirteen she wouldn't have wanted to hang out with two rowdy nine year olds.

"Tuney?" she called, pushing the door open. Her older sister sat up in bed and smiled at her. "Can we go to the park today, Tuney? Please?" she begged, hoping for a trip to the park. She really wanted to see Hermione, and she often encountered her at the park.

Petunia nodded. "I guess. Why don't we go downstairs? I smell bacon." Ginny grinned. It was in the Evan's blood that they all loved bacon, and it explained a bit about Harry. He had always had a small obsession with bacon, and now she knew where it came from.

Her heart hurt, and she tried to distract herself. Every time she thought of him, although it had been nine years, she became very sad.

"What's my little princess sad about?" Eric Evans asked, before kneeling down before his adopted daughter. Ginny groaned inside her head, but on the outside put on a puppy dog face. She hadn't meant for anyone to catch her while she was thinking such un-nine year old like thoughts, but Mr. Evans was very perceptive.

"Do you have to work today?" she asked, quickly thinking of a lie. Mr. Evans nodded his head sadly.

"I'm sorry, Ginny, but I'll be home early tonight," he said, flattered that his little girl wanted him around so much. Ginny smiled up at him. Flattery always was a good distraction.

"Okay, daddy," she said, and pecked him on the cheek, before taking his hand and leading him into the kitchen so that they could eat with the rest of the family. "Guess what, Lily," Ginny said, causing Lily to go wide-eyed.

"Ooh what?" the girl asked, and Ginny couldn't help but laugh. It was fun going back to such an immature age, and while she had originally thought it would be irritating, she was finding it to be a blast.

"Tuney's taking us to the park today! She said so when I woke her up," Ginny said, turning to look at her older sister who smiled at her and nodded. The girls finished eating and then headed upstairs to dress, then setting out in the direction of the park, Petunia holding each twin's hand.

Hermione and Severus Snape walked side by side down the street, the sun beating down on their dark hair. Severus wore a black jacket, which was far too large for him over worn clothing. His skinny frame only caused the clothing to look even bigger. Hermione's clothes were not much better, but she wore them without shame, unlike the boy who was clearly self-conscious.

"It's hot," Hermione commented, looking up at the summer sun. Severus nodded in agreement and scowled up at the sky.

"I can't wait for summer to be over," he commented.

Hermione looked at him in wonder. It was weird to meet a child who didn't enjoy summer, but if it were going to be anyone, it would be Severus Snape.

"Why do you want it to be over? The weather's heavenly, and we've been able to see Lily and Ginny nearly every day. It's wonderful," Hermione said happily.

Severus shrugged and kept walking. "I don't know. I do like seeing them everyday," he explained.

Hermione giggled. "By them, you mean Lily."

Severus blushed and turned away so she wouldn't see, but Hermione caught sight of his red cheeks anyways.

"You like her," she teased, smiling at her brother.

"Shut up," he whispered, pointing at the three girls who were now approaching them from the other side of the street.

"Hermione, Severus," Petunia greeted them, and released her sisters' hands so that they could run to the other children. Ginny hugged Hermione tightly, and waved at Severus. Lily rushed to hug both Severus and Hermione, and Hermione took note that Severus once again turned a deep shade of red. "Well, why don't you all head off to the park? I think I'll stop by Marie's," Petunia said, before walking in the direction of her friend's house.

Ginny and Lily waved at her retreating back, and then linked arms with the other two children. They were best friends and had been for as long as they could remember. Almost every day the four met in the park, and often Hermione and Severus came to visit at the Evans'. Ginny and Lily, however, never visited the Snape's and knew not to ask why. They understood that the Snapes were not quite as well off as them, and that Severus was ashamed. Hermione didn't mind, but she knew not to overstep her welcome in the Snape household. While she got along well with Severus, her parents did not always accept her, nor did they accept Severus. Most of the time their father was working and their mother was drunk, leaving the two alone with each other for support.

"Let's play on the swings," Lily suggested, running towards them. They each claimed a swing, and began pumping to try and get highest. At one point, Lily and Severus swung at the same speed next to each other, and Ginny grinned.

"Look, Lily and Severus are married," she said, laughing and continuing to swing. Hermione and Lily laughed as well, but Severus glared at Ginny from his swing. They had never gotten along particularly well, though they tried to hide it from their two friends.

"Be quiet, Ginevra," Severus snapped.

"Don't call me that," Ginny threatened.

"I'll do whatever I like, thank you very much."

Ginny rolled her eyes, and got off the swing, heading towards her favorite tree. She climbed to the top of it and watched with narrowed eyes as Severus got down from his swing and went to join her.

"What do you want?" she questioned him, as he climbed the tree to sit across from her.

"I want you to stop making fun of me and Lily."

Ginny laughed. "You think I'm making fun of you? I was just teasing you, that's what friends do, you know."

Severus scowled at her. "I wasn't aware that we were friends," he said, before pushing her out of the tree. Ginny screamed, and began to cry after scraping her elbow. Hermione and Lily came running.

"Ginny, come on, let's go wash your cut in the fountain," Hermione suggested, leaving Lily to yell at Severus alone. Ginny stopped crying as soon as they were out of hearing range. "How are you?" Hermione inquired.

Ginny shrugged. "Same as usual. Trapped in a nine year old's body, separated from my world, but happy." Hermione grinned, and hugged her best friend close to her.

"Same here," she said with a smile. "I just can't wait until we go to Hogwarts, there will be so much more to do then, and I can't wait to visit the library again." Hermione sighed happily, and stopped at the fountain.

"You'll never change, will you? Once a bookworm, always a bookworm," Ginny teased. Hermione mock scowled at her, and then splashed her with water. "Hey!" Ginny screamed, and went to splash Hermione back. The two engaged in a water fight, for once truly acting the part of a nine year old.

The summer continued, with the four friends sharing their days in the park and soon it was nearing its end. In August, Ginny celebrated her birthday by inviting both Hermione and Severus to a sleepover. She had not initially wanted to invite Severus, but Mrs. Evans insisted, despite Ginny's argument that he was a boy.

"It's alright, I know Severus, he'll behave," Mrs. Evans had told her, interpreting her apprehension towards inviting Severus as fear of getting in trouble. So, Severus had been invited, and the four children had spent Ginny's birthday together, laughing and giggling through the night until morning. Severus was even on his best behavior, and had been sure not to anger Ginny. Hermione and Ginny found this amusing, as they were sure Lily had told him to behave, and were beginning to imagine just the type of mother she would be.

After the summer had officially ended, the children returned to the primary school that was located in their neighborhood, with all four excelling in their lessons. Lily, it seemed, was a bright child, and Severus was quick to learn. Hermione and Ginny already knew most of the course content, and tried to hold themselves back, but saw nothing wrong with occasionally showing off. Hermione's birthday came and went in September, ignored and forgotten by the Snapes.

She didn't mind, as she knew they didn't have the extra money to spare for presents anyhow, and she had celebrated her tenth birthday before. She was delighted, however, when Ginny provided her with a set of walkie-talkies, which the two used to talk constantly. Their friendship continued to grow, with the girls relying on each other for support when their situation got to them.

Ginny and Lily were close as well, and shared secrets with each other. Lily had even admitted to Ginny that she had done something odd, which excited Ginny very much. She knew that it was magic, and had to hold herself back from telling Lily. She knew that she must wait for Severus to tell her, as she was not supposed to know of these things either.

When January came the families got together to celebrate both Lily and Severus' tenth birthdays. Hermione and Ginny were very excited; there was under a year left until they would receive their Hogwarts letters.

The rest of the school year passed quickly, and soon it was summer once more. Lily and Ginny were sitting in their backyard, talking animatedly about the magic show they had just attended.

"I think it's real," Ginny said with a smirk.

"Well I don't," argued Lily stubbornly.

"Wanna bet?"

"Yeah," said Lily, grinning. She clearly thought she was going to win the bet, though she was also unaware that Ginny had an unfair advantage. The twins shook on the bet, and went inside to where Mrs. Evans had just welcomed Severus and Hermione in. They beamed at their friends, and decided to go off to the park to play. Petunia had offered to walk with them, as she had intended to visit her friend's house, and wanted to be sure they were safe.

Once they had reached the park, Ginny and Hermione ran off towards the tire swing and began playing immediately. Severus and Lily, however, headed towards the creek. Lily didn't like the tire swing much as it had always made her sick, and Severus was always following Lily. The pair sat down beside it, talking and joking around.

"Hey Lily, want to see something cool?" Severus asked, his eyes alight. Lily nodded eagerly, and watched as he concentrated on a stick in front of him. She wasn't sure what he was doing, but soon the stick began to float into the air and she stared at it, then at him.

"You can do it too?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Wait, you mean you can do magic?" asked Severus, his eyes wide now as well.

"Well, I don't know if it's magic, but I can move things like that. Although not when I want to. Most of the time it just happens on it's own. It's kind of scary, really."

"It's magic, Lily. You're a witch!" Lily glared at him, taking his congratulations as an insult.

"What did you just call me?" she asked, on the verge of losing her temper. She had always had a short temper, and Severus knew not to cross her. A mad Lily was a very bad thing indeed.

"A witch. Not in a bad way, of course. It's a good thing, Lily, just ask Hermione," Severus said, gesturing towards the brunette.

"Fine, I will," she announced, and stomped off in the direction of her friend.

"Hermione, Severus called me a witch," Lily began, and both Hermione and Ginny looked delighted. "Why are the two of you grinning? It's not funny, it's insulting!"

"Calm down, Lily," Hermione said, remembering that Lily didn't know that being a witch was not a particularly bad thing. "Being a witch is nothing to worry about. It just means you're a little bit different, that you can do magic, that you're not a muggle."

Lily looked confused. "A muggle? Magic? That's not real. Did Ginny put you up to this?" she glared in Ginny's direction.

Ginny rose her hands up in surrender, "No I swear I didn't, Lily. I can do the weird stuff too, like making things lift up. I don't think there's any other way to explain it besides magic." Hermione nodded along, and Severus, who had just joined them, sent her a look of gratitude.

"It's true, Lily," Hermione said gently. "Maybe you should think about it for a little while."

"No, I want to hear more," Lily demanded, her eyes lit up with curiosity. It seemed that she was quick to believe the existence of magic. After all, it did explain the odd things she could do, and she was comforted knowing that her friends could as well.

The foursome spent the rest of the afternoon sitting by the stream, talking of the wizarding world. Ginny had to be very careful to act as though she didn't know about it yet, and found it difficult not to divulge any information. It was lucky that Hermione had been placed in a wizarding family; Ginny wasn't sure that she would have been able to restrain herself when a chance of explaining things came up.

The children continued to meet every day, with most days consisting of discussing magic and wizards and Hogwarts as well. Lily had been exposed to a whole new world and asked endless questions about it, always with her green eyes wide in wonderment. Hermione felt a pang when she realized that the look Lily took on was very much similar to the one Harry had when he had arrived in Hogwarts and had begun to learn more and more about the wizarding world. There were so many similarities between the two, and Ginny and Hermione often discussed these while in private. While it pained them to remember, it pained them more to forget, and so they vowed never to forget the lives they came from, no matter if they would ever return or not.

A/N: Well, I hope you liked this chapter, because quite honestly it wasn't my favorite. In my opinion it was missing action, but I needed to get the characters settled before I could really move on. If you have any comments or suggestions, please review! Also, if you want me to update another chapter faster, reviews are always good motivation :)

Oh, and also, a big thank you to lovlaurent, my first reviewer! In regards to your request, I will try to focus on Ginny, but there will also be a good deal of Hermione mixed in. Ginny is my personal favorite of the two (shh don't tell Hermione), so naturally she'll be a little more involved in the story than Hermione. Hermione will still be a main character, though, and play a huge role in the story.

mari: Thanks for reviewing! Your English is very good, actually. It's amazing that my story's being read all the way in Brazil, I've gotta say, that's pretty cool :) To answer your question, no, Hermione and Ginny will not be a couple. The couples will be, most definitely, Ginny and Sirius, James and Lily, and Hermione and Remus. Sorry if that was at all confusing for anyone.

Thanks,

Balinnka

P.S. Review review review review review review review review.... I know you wanna!