Yay, another update! The scene with Severus, Lily, and Petunia should be recognized as JK's work (with my own touches, as usual).

ps I'd love any suggestions or ideas you have for the story :) I'll try to incorporate the Maurders as much as possible!

Lily sat cross-legged on the grass, watching her companion intensely. Her heart was beating fast as Severus' words reached her ears.

"—and they kiss you, but not in a good way," he said mysteriously. "It sucks your soul from your mouth."

Lily shivered. Severus had explained many things over the past two years that sounded wonderful about the wizarding world; she couldn't believe that something so horrible existed. Still, she was morbidly curious.

"Have you ever met one?" she asked breathlessly.

"No," he said slowly. He quickly added on, "but I've seen loads of other cool things."

"Like what?"

"Well, once my mum brought me along to the Ministry of Magic—"

"Ministry?" Lily interrupted quickly. She was frustrated with her lack of knowledge that seemed so obvious to Severus, and probably other wizards. She wanted to be as prepared as possible for the upcoming September.

"Yeah, the minister right now is Nobby Leach. There are tons of departments...Regulation and Control of Magic Creatures...Department of Mysteries...Improper Use of Magic...and the Ministry can punish you if you do magic outside school, you get letters."

"But I have done magic outside school!" Lily said frantically.

"We're all right. We haven't got wands yet. They let you off when you're a kid and you can't help it. But once you're eleven," he nodded importantly, "and they start training you, then you've got to go careful."

There was a little silence. Lily picked up a fallen twig and twirled it in the air, imagining sparks trailing from it like a wand. Then she dropped the twig, leaned in towards snape, and said, "It is real, isn't it? It's not a joke? Petunia says you're lying to me. Petunia says there isn't a Hogwarts. It is real, isn't it?" She almost felt frantic for a confirmation; to have the idea of something this precious taken away was unbearable.

"It's real for us," said Severus. "Not for her. But we'll get the letter, you and me."

"Really?" whispered Lily.

"Definitely," said Severus, and even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck and oddly impressive figure sprawled in front of her, brimful of confidence in his destiny.

"And will it really come by owl?" Lily said, still whispering.

"Normally," said Severus. "But you're Muggle-born, so someone from the school will have to come and explain to your parents."

"Does it make a difference, being Muggle-born?" Lily was now definitely worried, especially when she noticed he had hesitated.

"No," he finally said. "It doesn't make any difference."

"Good" Lily said, relaxing.

"You've got loads of magic," Severus added comfortingly. "I saw that. All the time I was watching you..."

Lily stretched out on the leafy ground and gazed up at the canopy of leafs above, no longer watching Severus.

"How are things at your house?" she asked when she noticed he had fallen silent. She knew his parents were pretty horrible, but he usually managed to stay clear of them by hanging out with her. Her parents, although reluctant at first, welcomed him into their house for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day; although Lily had never actually told them that Severus hated his house, she had a feeling they understood.

"Fine," he said shortly.

"They're not arguing anymore?" she prompted hopefully.

"Oh yes, they're arguing," he said. She heard the sound of leaves being torn as she continued gazing at the leafy heaven. "But it won't be that long and I'll be gone."

"Doesn't your dad like magic?"

"He doesn't like anything, much," he said sadly. Lily knew she had pushed far enough.

"Severus?"

"Yeah?" he replied softly.

"Tell me about the dementors again."

"What d'you want to know about them for?"

"If I use magic outside of school—"

"They wouldn't give you to the dementors for that! Dementors are for people who do really bad stuff. They guard the wizard prison, Azkaban. You're not going to end up in Azkaban, you're too..."

Lily sat up when he trailed off to see what had distracted him. Hiding behind a tree was Petunia, who had lost her footing.

"Tuney!" Lily cried out in surprise and happiness. She had always rejected Severus' company, but maybe now she was going to hang out with them.

Severus, however, jumped to his feet. "Who's spying now?" he shouted. "What d'you want?"

Petunia was breathless, alarmed at being caught. Before Lily could come to her defense, invite her to join them, Petunia burst out, "What is that you're wearing, anyway? Your mum's blouse?"

Lily jumped as there was a huge crack, and a large branch over Petunia's head had fallen. Lily screamed, willing the tree away from her sister's head. The branch only caught her sister's shoulder, but it was enough to cause her to stagger backwards and burst into tears.

"Tuney!"

But Petunia was running away already. Angerily, Lily rounded on Severus.

"Did you make that happen?" she accused.

"No," he said defiantly.

"You did!" she screamed, backing away from him. "You did! You hurt her!"

"No—no I didn't!"

The lie did not convince her. She glared at him one last time and turned to run after her sister.

She sprinted down the sidewalk, wanting desperately to explain. She bolted into the house and up to Petunia's room, and ran into her door.

"Tuney!" Lily called, tears forming in her eyes. She couldn't believe that Severus had ruined Lily's one chance to include Petunia in her new life.

"Go away!" came her sister's muffled voice. "Don't EVER talk to me again!"

Lily's tears fell quicker, and she retired to her room to give her sister time to calm down.

Although Severus adamantly assured her that she was, indeed, a witch and therefore would definitely be invited to attend Hogwarts, Lily had still harbored doubts. It seemed too good—too amazing—to be true. So when the doorbell rang one warm, June night after dinner, Lily was shocked when her father welcomed a wizened man into their living room. He was wearing robes of deep purple.

"Good evening Mrs. Evans!" he said warmly, graciously taking her confused mother's hand and kissing it. He turned to Lily and her sister and nodded politely. "Miss Evans, Miss Evans. My name is Professor Dumbledore."

They all stared, mouths agape, at such a mysterious and odd person. He looked comfortably around, clearly accustomed to inciting such stares. Mrs. Evans was the first to finally remember her manners.

"Please—er—Professor, have a seat," she said, motioning to one of their armchairs. "I'll go get some tea."

"Oh, please don't trouble yourself," Dumbledore said pleasantly as he plopped down, with unusual agility for a man his age, into the chair.

Another silence ensued, which was interrupted this time by Lily's father. "So, do what do we owe the pleasure, Mr. Dumbledore?"

The professor's eyes lit up at the invitation. "So glad you asked! I am the headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and I would like to offer your youngest daughter a place at our school."

Lily's heart, which seemed as though it had stopped beating in such suspense, suddenly lightened. Severus hadn't been making it up. She was going to go learn magic!

Her heart sank a little as she heard Petunia snort next to her. She looked to her father and mother for comfort, but their looks clearly conveyed disbelief. Lily hadn't anticipated this. She had never told her parents about her special abilities, but she had been sure that if they heard it from another adult they would believe her.

"Witchcraft?" Mrs. Evans repeated, horrified.

"Now see here, Dumbledore!" exclaimed her father, striding across the room and standing in front of Lily, as if to protect her. "You will not be shipping my daughter off to some crack-pot school and teaching her nonsense!"

Lily peaked around her father's legs to gauge Dumbledore's reaction. Would he revoke his offer because of her father's rudeness? She had to step in.

"No daddy, he's telling the truth," she said timidly. Her father jumped and turned to look at her. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Petunia had a very ugly look on her face.

"What's that, Lily-flower?" he asked softly, clearly nervous for his daughter's sanity.

"Watch," she said, feeling bolder at Dumbledore's nod of approval.

She got up and went to the marbles that she and Severus had been playing with earlier. He had wanted to make them fly, but she made him play the "muggle" way because she didn't want her mom to see. Lily put three in her palm, held it out so her parents could see, and made them float a few inches above her hand.

Her mother cried out in shock and her father fell back onto the couch. Lily jumped at their violent reactions, horrified, and the marbles fell to the floor. She was thankful when Professor Dumbledore stepped in.

"I assure you, Mr. and Mrs. Evans," he began, standing up and putting a comforting hand on Lily's shoulder, "your daughter is not ill. She is a witch. Although none of you are magical, on rare occasions a person of non-magic descent will show magical abilities. We want to teach her how to use those, and Hogwarts is the best school for that."

Her parents were still silent. They shared a look between themselves and were quiet for some time. Dumbledore gently cleared his throat.

"I think I will have some of that tea now," he said. He pulled a wand that, if possible, looked older than himself, and with a wave, a tray with a teapot, five cups, and biscuits materialized out of thin air and landed neatly on the coffee table. Mrs. Evans let out another horrified gasp and Mr. Evans jumped back. Dumbledore helped himself to some tea, reseated himself, and motioned for the Evans' to do the same. Although reluctantly, Lily's parents took the tea she poured for them. With another violent sniff, Petunia ignored Lily's offered cup. Lily sat down next to her mother and turned to Dumbledore.

"Now, shall I explain the particulars?" he said with a comforting twinkle in his eye.

"Severus, I don't think we should be doing this," Lily whispered as they crept up the stairs towards her sister's room.

"But Lily, that owl I saw had to be for you. It was definitely a Hogwarts owl...they don't carry letters to Muggles..."

"I hate that word," Lily muttered.

"What? Why?" Severus asked in disbelief. "It's just what you call non-magic people."

"I know, but it's just the way you say it," she sighed. It sounded like it was a curse word to Lily's ears.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, continuing on.

The door creaked open, but Lily made Severus wait in the doorway out of respect for her sister. "I don't think she'd like a boy in here."

"Alright, just hurry."

Lily tip-toed through the door and surveyed the room. She didn't have to look far; there was an official-looking piece of parchment sitting on Petunia's desk. Lily grabbed it, butterflies of guilt in her stomach, and dashed out.

"Come on," she hissed at Severus, pulling him into her room. She wanted to get this over with before Petunia came back from her friend's house.

Severus took the letter and opened it. He stared at it for a minute, and smiled to himself. It wasn't a smile of happiness.

"What does it say?" Lily asked impatiently.

"Here," he said, the mirthful smile still playing on his lips.

Lily greedily gazed at it. It was written in loopy handwriting, and had the Hogwarts crest at the top right corner.

"Dear Miss Evans—

I would like to thank you for your letter, but must regretfully inform you that we cannot admit you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As a non-magical person, you would not be able to participate in the required courses. Your sister will have opportunities to write frequently, and you will be reunited every winter and summer.

Regards,

Albus Dumbledore"

Lily's heart swelled. Petunia had written to Dumbledore requesting admittance. She suddenly understood all her sister's words against Hogwarts. She was upset that she couldn't be included.

"A muggle in Hogwarts?" Severus said in contemptuous disbelief. "She really thought he would let her in?"

"Poor Tuney," Lily said sadly, distracted by pity for her sister.