Disclaimer: I don't own the anyone or anything from the Harry Potter books.
Escaping Her Destiny
"Mama, will you read me a bedtime story?" Five-year-old Lily Evans trudged into the living room in her little pink nightgown, clutching her beloved blanky and sucking her thumb.
Her mother laughed. "Of course, sweetheart. Are you ready now?" Lily nodded, unwilling to remove her thumb from her mouth by talking.
"Okay, what story shall we have this time?"
"Oh!" Lily exclaimed, bouncing up and down on the sofa. "I want to hear the one about the princess . . . you know, the princess who didn't die!"
"Okay, but calm down, Lily!" Mrs. Evans said, smiling. She began to read: "Once upon a time, there was a knight who was in love with a beautiful princess. But before they could get married, and evil witch came and took her away. As the witch left, she said to the prince, 'Do not try to rescue this girl, because the prophecy says that if you do, you both are doomed to die.' And with that, the witch left, taking the princess.
The prince was very sad. He knew that it would not help for him to try and rescue his princess, because then they would surely die. One day, when he was outside of his castle in the garden, he met a very old wise woman. She said to him, 'You may still rescue your princess, if you love her enough. Tell me, would you sacrifice your life for her?' The prince nodded, wondering how this woman knew of his problem. 'Well then, listen closely. There are three ways to escape your destiny; through overpowering love, intense hatred, and the Dark Arts. I will not tell you anything about the last two, because they will do you no good. I will let you know that if you are brave enough, and loving enough, to give your life for that of the princess, her life shall be spared.'
The prince loved the princess so much that he was willing to do anything to rescue her from the clutches of the evil witch. So he went to the palace of the evil witch to save his love. When the witch saw him there, she gave a delighted cackle. 'I see that you have decided not to heed my warning. For that, I shall kill you both. . . and you, you shall experience the pain of seeing your beloved die!" She raised her arms to perform an evil magic that would kill the princess. But at that moment, the prince leapt in front of the princess, sheilding her body with his own. The curse that was supposed to kill the princess instead was taken by the prince. And so he died." Mrs. Evans shut the book with a sigh. "The end."
"But mommy! What happened to the princess, and the evil witch?" Lily asked.
"You ask that every night, Lily! I don't know. I'm sorry, but the story ends right there. Remember, this is an old story that has been passed down in the family for ages . . . maybe centuries, even.It's not a common fairy tale. It looks as though the ending of the story was ripped out of the book. I wonder why . . ." Lily's mother trailed off, deep in thought. After a moment, she shook herself, as if to wake herself up. "Anyway, my dear, it is time for you to go to sleep. Take yourself up to bed now, and have a good sleep!"
"Okay. Goodnight, Mommy!" And with that, Lily gave her mother a kiss, and scampered up the stairs.
Six years later, Lily had matured from the pudgy child into a graceful and very pretty girl. She had rather bright red hair, that glistened like gold in the sunlight, and dazzling green eyes. The day that she turned eleven, she had received a letter from Hogwarts, the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Naturally, she accepted their invitation to attend, once her parents had gotten over their disbelief at the entire situation. Only her sister, Petunia, remained against it.
The idea of magic had taken a while to get used to; sometimes Lily felt like she was living in one of her old fairy tales. Tomorrow she was the day that she was going to start at her new school. She had to get up at eight o'clock to make sure that everything was ready for her to leave.
Lily desperately wanted to be well-rested before she had to leave. It would be too much to take to have to move to a new school, take on a new life, and to be exausted all the while. But at the moment, it was one in the morning, and it looked as though that was what was going to happen.
Lily stared at the dark wall in front of her. She could hear Petunia's violent snoring in the other room. The crickets were chirping much too loudly. From the noise, Lily wouldn't have been surprised if she housing a whole kingdom of crickets in her one small bedroom. She looked at the clock again. It read 1:15. Time to count some more sheep. One sheep, two sheep . . . three sheep . . . Incredibly, Lily could feel herself drifting off into sleep. Five minutes later, and Lily could no longer hear the crickets, or even Petunia. She was fast asleep.
But as she slept, Lily could see images materializing in front of her. A baby, rocking gently in its cradle . . . a woman with anxious eyes, speaking in an undertone to the man next to her, who was running his hand nervously through his hair. And suddenly, a cold blast of air . . . a high, gleeful laugh . . . a piercing scream . . . the baby was wailing . . . and Lily could see before her another figure, with a face that was so pale it no longer seemed human, and malicious, shallow red eyes that were the only spot of color in his face. They didn't seem real, almost as if they were made out of plastic, or perhaps rubber. She watched as he raised his wand . . . and all too soon, the man was dead, the baby was dead . . . and she watched as he tortured the woman, as her blood flowed freely onto the previously spotless carpet . . . and the creature's eyes no longer seemed unreal, a glossy red surface, but were now very real, and very deep, as if they were comprised of the blood that the suffering woman had shed. Lily watched as the man raised his wand . . . the woman let out one last, terrified shriek . . . and then she was dead. Lying lifeless on the soiled floor. When Lily realized that she was dead, she let out a frightened shriek of her own . . .
. . . And woke up to find herself lying in bed, covered with sweat, and trembling uncontrollably. "It was only a dream, it was only a dream," she told herself in an attempt to calm down.
Lily lay shivering in her bed for a few minutes, refusing to open her eyes. She could see the dream play over again in her head. With an effort, she jerked her head up to look at the clock. 6:30 in the morning. Lily groaned. After a nightmare like that, there was no way that she was falling asleep again. She picked herself up, and with another heartfelt groan, made her way to the shower.
Four hours later, Lily was standing in front of what was supposed to be platform nine and three quarters. Unfortunately, there was none. Her parents had left her fifteen minutes ago, and she had been searching ever since then, but with no luck. She was still as clueless as to how to find the Hogwarts Express as she had been back then, and she was starting to panick. "Calm down, Lily!" she scolded herself. "You won't get anywhere if you can't think clearly!" She closed her eyes, and took a couple of deep breaths. When she opened her eyes, there was a boy standing in front of her, peering into her face. A boy with messy black hair, and sparkling brown eyes . . . a boy that looked strangely familiar, and yet Lily was sure that she had never seen him before. Well not in real life, at least. But perhaps somewhere else . . . wait! Her dream! The boy had been the man in her dreams . . . the man who died. Lily gave a startled gasp and stumbled backwards through the barrier, dragging her trunk with her.
Escaping Her Destiny
"Mama, will you read me a bedtime story?" Five-year-old Lily Evans trudged into the living room in her little pink nightgown, clutching her beloved blanky and sucking her thumb.
Her mother laughed. "Of course, sweetheart. Are you ready now?" Lily nodded, unwilling to remove her thumb from her mouth by talking.
"Okay, what story shall we have this time?"
"Oh!" Lily exclaimed, bouncing up and down on the sofa. "I want to hear the one about the princess . . . you know, the princess who didn't die!"
"Okay, but calm down, Lily!" Mrs. Evans said, smiling. She began to read: "Once upon a time, there was a knight who was in love with a beautiful princess. But before they could get married, and evil witch came and took her away. As the witch left, she said to the prince, 'Do not try to rescue this girl, because the prophecy says that if you do, you both are doomed to die.' And with that, the witch left, taking the princess.
The prince was very sad. He knew that it would not help for him to try and rescue his princess, because then they would surely die. One day, when he was outside of his castle in the garden, he met a very old wise woman. She said to him, 'You may still rescue your princess, if you love her enough. Tell me, would you sacrifice your life for her?' The prince nodded, wondering how this woman knew of his problem. 'Well then, listen closely. There are three ways to escape your destiny; through overpowering love, intense hatred, and the Dark Arts. I will not tell you anything about the last two, because they will do you no good. I will let you know that if you are brave enough, and loving enough, to give your life for that of the princess, her life shall be spared.'
The prince loved the princess so much that he was willing to do anything to rescue her from the clutches of the evil witch. So he went to the palace of the evil witch to save his love. When the witch saw him there, she gave a delighted cackle. 'I see that you have decided not to heed my warning. For that, I shall kill you both. . . and you, you shall experience the pain of seeing your beloved die!" She raised her arms to perform an evil magic that would kill the princess. But at that moment, the prince leapt in front of the princess, sheilding her body with his own. The curse that was supposed to kill the princess instead was taken by the prince. And so he died." Mrs. Evans shut the book with a sigh. "The end."
"But mommy! What happened to the princess, and the evil witch?" Lily asked.
"You ask that every night, Lily! I don't know. I'm sorry, but the story ends right there. Remember, this is an old story that has been passed down in the family for ages . . . maybe centuries, even.It's not a common fairy tale. It looks as though the ending of the story was ripped out of the book. I wonder why . . ." Lily's mother trailed off, deep in thought. After a moment, she shook herself, as if to wake herself up. "Anyway, my dear, it is time for you to go to sleep. Take yourself up to bed now, and have a good sleep!"
"Okay. Goodnight, Mommy!" And with that, Lily gave her mother a kiss, and scampered up the stairs.
Six years later, Lily had matured from the pudgy child into a graceful and very pretty girl. She had rather bright red hair, that glistened like gold in the sunlight, and dazzling green eyes. The day that she turned eleven, she had received a letter from Hogwarts, the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Naturally, she accepted their invitation to attend, once her parents had gotten over their disbelief at the entire situation. Only her sister, Petunia, remained against it.
The idea of magic had taken a while to get used to; sometimes Lily felt like she was living in one of her old fairy tales. Tomorrow she was the day that she was going to start at her new school. She had to get up at eight o'clock to make sure that everything was ready for her to leave.
Lily desperately wanted to be well-rested before she had to leave. It would be too much to take to have to move to a new school, take on a new life, and to be exausted all the while. But at the moment, it was one in the morning, and it looked as though that was what was going to happen.
Lily stared at the dark wall in front of her. She could hear Petunia's violent snoring in the other room. The crickets were chirping much too loudly. From the noise, Lily wouldn't have been surprised if she housing a whole kingdom of crickets in her one small bedroom. She looked at the clock again. It read 1:15. Time to count some more sheep. One sheep, two sheep . . . three sheep . . . Incredibly, Lily could feel herself drifting off into sleep. Five minutes later, and Lily could no longer hear the crickets, or even Petunia. She was fast asleep.
But as she slept, Lily could see images materializing in front of her. A baby, rocking gently in its cradle . . . a woman with anxious eyes, speaking in an undertone to the man next to her, who was running his hand nervously through his hair. And suddenly, a cold blast of air . . . a high, gleeful laugh . . . a piercing scream . . . the baby was wailing . . . and Lily could see before her another figure, with a face that was so pale it no longer seemed human, and malicious, shallow red eyes that were the only spot of color in his face. They didn't seem real, almost as if they were made out of plastic, or perhaps rubber. She watched as he raised his wand . . . and all too soon, the man was dead, the baby was dead . . . and she watched as he tortured the woman, as her blood flowed freely onto the previously spotless carpet . . . and the creature's eyes no longer seemed unreal, a glossy red surface, but were now very real, and very deep, as if they were comprised of the blood that the suffering woman had shed. Lily watched as the man raised his wand . . . the woman let out one last, terrified shriek . . . and then she was dead. Lying lifeless on the soiled floor. When Lily realized that she was dead, she let out a frightened shriek of her own . . .
. . . And woke up to find herself lying in bed, covered with sweat, and trembling uncontrollably. "It was only a dream, it was only a dream," she told herself in an attempt to calm down.
Lily lay shivering in her bed for a few minutes, refusing to open her eyes. She could see the dream play over again in her head. With an effort, she jerked her head up to look at the clock. 6:30 in the morning. Lily groaned. After a nightmare like that, there was no way that she was falling asleep again. She picked herself up, and with another heartfelt groan, made her way to the shower.
Four hours later, Lily was standing in front of what was supposed to be platform nine and three quarters. Unfortunately, there was none. Her parents had left her fifteen minutes ago, and she had been searching ever since then, but with no luck. She was still as clueless as to how to find the Hogwarts Express as she had been back then, and she was starting to panick. "Calm down, Lily!" she scolded herself. "You won't get anywhere if you can't think clearly!" She closed her eyes, and took a couple of deep breaths. When she opened her eyes, there was a boy standing in front of her, peering into her face. A boy with messy black hair, and sparkling brown eyes . . . a boy that looked strangely familiar, and yet Lily was sure that she had never seen him before. Well not in real life, at least. But perhaps somewhere else . . . wait! Her dream! The boy had been the man in her dreams . . . the man who died. Lily gave a startled gasp and stumbled backwards through the barrier, dragging her trunk with her.