'So...Petty dear, when do I get to meet this guy of yours?' Lily Evans had been asking her sister that question all through the summer.
Petunia looked shocked.
'You are not going to meet him if I can help it. I happen to like my Vernon as a human thank-you very much.'
'Who said I'd deform him? All I want to do is meet him. What's wrong with that?'
'Just because you can't get a boyfriend, doesn't mean I'm going to let you ruin my relationship Lily. "All I want to do is meet him." My arse.' Petunia stalked away to her room.
Lily sighed. That had been one of their longest convocation's since she'd received her acceptance letter from Hogwarts. "She's just jealous." Her parents had told her. "She'll get over it." Lily doubted that very much. Her sister was a bitch, but that didn't stop Lily from missing her.
'Lily!' Her dad's voice calling from downstairs interrupted her thoughts. 'Lily, it's time to get your school stuff.'
Lily jumped up from her chair. She had been dying to get her wand. 'Coming!' She shouted downstairs.
She ran to the top of the stairs and slid down the banister. Her dad was waiting in the hall for her. Car keys in one hand.
'I don't suppose Petunia wants to come for the ride?' He asked, looking up the stairs.
'I really doubt it.' Lily answered. She had always gotten on well with her dad. More so than with her mother. He said she had inherited his scarlet hair, but Lily found that hard to believe as her father had turned gray years ago.
'Come-on, hurry-up!' Lily urged him, opening the door and pulling him through it.
***
As they were driving through London it started to rain.
'Where is this place again Lily?' Her dad asked her.
'Um, it's just off Yorkshire Rd, behind the Leaky Cauldron.'
'Ok then.'
About 20 minutes later he parked the car.
Lily looked from the bookshop to the record store, then forced herself to look between the two.
'Here it is.' She told her Dad, pointing at the grubby little inn.
She led him inside.
There was a musty smell around the little inn, but it was cozy all the same. They walked up to the bar, and were about to ring the bell when a small boy of about 8 came out from a room behind the counter.
' 'Ello. 'Oo are you?' He asked them grinning. 'I'm Tom. My dad owns this place.'
'Hi Tom.' Lily said to him. 'We wanted to know how to get into Diagon Alley.'
'Are you starting at Hogwarts?' He asked curiously.
'Yep.' She answered.
He led them around the bar and out a door that led to a tiny back yard. Lily's dad was looking around him, amazed.
Lily watched as Tom drew a wand from his pocket and started counting the bricks above the dustbin. All of a sudden, the brick wall formed an archway for them to get through.
'Thanks Tom.' Lily said.
'Your welcome, I've gotta get back and mind the bar now.' With that, he scuttled back inside and Lily dragged her dad through the hole in the wall just before it closed up again.
Lily looked around in awe. This place was amazing. There was shop after shop of magical items. There were shops that sold broomsticks and books and turquoise dogs.
'Come on Lily, we'd better get some money first.' Her dad told her, he too was staring around at the shop.
'Ok.' She followed him into a white marble building.
'Hello. What can I do for you?' Lily jumped. A green little monster had just spoken to her dad.
'Um...er we need to exchange some money, for my daughters school things.' He told the goblin, also shocked by its appearance.
'Follow me.' The goblin had a croaky sort of voice, it sounded almost evil. He led them up to the counter and opened up a cash register. 'How much?' He asked them.
'Um, I'm not sure.' Lily's dad told him. He handed the goblin a couple of English notes. 'We can always come back for more if we're a bit short.' He reassured Lily.
The goblin handed him a pouch that contained several gold coins, as well as quite alot of silver and bronze ones.
'Thank-you.' They left the building.
'Hey Dad, are you ok?' Lily asked him. 'You look a bit pale.'
He shook his head. 'I do feel a bit queasy.' He told her. 'Do you mind if I leave you to do your shopping while I wait in the leaky cauldron?'
'Sure Dad, go ahead.'
He handed her the bag of coins and walked off towards the entrance.
When he had disappeared behind the brick wall, Lily started to feel lost. Here she was alone in a foreign world, with no idea where to go.
Suddenly, someone tapped her on the back.
She whirled around.
'Hi.' A girl of her age was standing behind her. 'I'm Jasmine.'
'I'm Lily.' She said smiling. The girl had short blonde hair and blue eyes. 'Are you getting your Hogwarts things?' Lily asked her.
'Yeah, I've been here a couple of times so my parents decided to dump me here alone while they go off to God knows where.'
'Are your parents a witch and a wizard?' She asked Jasmine fascinated.
'Yeah. My brother's also at Hogwarts so they expect me to be in Slytherin like him.'
'Slytherin?'
'Oh, there are four different houses at Hogwarts. Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Nearly everyone in my family was in Slytherin, but I reckon it's a hopeless house.'
'I don't know anything about the houses. Or anything else at Hogwarts for that matter.' Lily told her sadly.
'Oh, so you're a muggle-born?'
'A what?'
'Your family weren't witches or wizards.'
'Oh, yeah.'
'Well, lets get our school stuff then?'
'Good idea.'
Jasmine led her down the street to a shop called Madame Malkins Robes for all Occasions.
'In here.'
Inside it was dimly lit.
'Hello dears.' A young witch appeared from seemingly no where. 'Hogwarts?'
'Yes.'
'Follow me then.' The witch had a very kind sort of voice. 'Had alot of Hogwarts students coming in today. Yes, quite alot.' As she talked, she fitted them both into robes. 'There you are dears. Your all done.' She smiled at them as they paid for the robes and left the shop.
'Ok, where now?' Lily asked.
'Um, we need our potion ingredients, and...'
They visited the Apothecary, and Flourish and Blotts, and a shop that sold ink and parchment, then they went to buy their cauldrons.
'Oh Lily, look there's my Mum and Dad, I've got to go. I've already got my cauldron and wand anyway. See-you on the Hogwarts Express. Bye.'
'Bye' Lily called to her as she hurried away.
Lily went inside the cauldron shop and looked around. There was a whole wall dedicated to cauldrons. She took a pewter cauldron down and struggled to carry it too the counter.
'Need some help?' A boy with messy, black hair who had just entered the shop walked up to her.
'No thank-you, I can manage.' She told him.
'Are you sure?' He asked.
'Positive.' She reached the counter and dumped the cauldron onto it, panting. She paid the shop attendant and started to leave the shop.
'Hey wait!' The boy cried. 'I don't even know your name!'
'I know you don't.' Lily called back to him, walking out the door.
The boy quickly paid got his cauldron and hurried out after her.
'Wait up!' He called to her.
Lily pretended not to hear.
The boy caught up with her and grabbed her arm. 'I'm James Potter.'
Lily looked at his hand on her arm. 'Let go of my arm James'
'Sorry.' He said sheepishly as he removed his hand. As soon as she was free, Lily started to walk away again.
'Aren't you even going to talk to me?' He cried after her.
She turned around, but continued to walk backwards. 'Do I have a reason to?' She asked.
James thought for a minute. No girl had ever asked for a reason to talk to him. 'Well...I might be in your house.' He said quickly.
'I hope not.' Lily told him before entering Ollivanders: Makers of Fine wands since 382BC.
Damn. James thought to himself, why hadn't he thought up a better excuse?
***
Lily stared around her. The room was filled with boxes. In the window there was a red satin pillow with a gold wand on it. She walked over to a chair and sat down in it, still staring around her.
'Good morning.' Lily jumped out of the chair and whirled around.
A small, albino looking man stood in the doorway of a back room. His eyes were like silver slits of the moon.
'Hello.' Lily said timidly.
'Lily Evans?' He asked her.
'Yes, that's right. How do you know?'
He seemed not to hear hr question, instead he moved more into the room. 'I'm Mr Ollivander. I've made many a fine wand in my time. Your great-great grandmother I believe had one of my wands. Yes, a splendid wand, 13 and a half inches, ivory containing the hair of silver brumby.'
'My great-great grandmother...was a witch?' Lily asked puzzled.
Again Mr Ollivander didn't answer. He pulled a tape measure out of his pocket. 'Hold up your wand hand please.' He instructed.
Lily did so, and Mr Olivander started measuring the distances between her fingers.
After 3 minutes of taking down measurements, he put the tape measure away and started pulling a couple of boxes of the wall.
'Here,' he told her, handing her a wand out of the box. 'Wave this, 7 and a half inches, made of beachhead and containing the feather of hippogriff.'
Lily looked down at the wand in her hand, then waved it about.
'Nope.' Mr Ollivander snatched it out of her hand. 'How about this one; 10 inches, red-gum, continuing an echidna spike.'
Lily waved wand after wand. Each time as unsuccessful as the last.
Mr Ollivander seemed to be enjoying it. He kept muttering under his breath about tricky customers.
He disappeared into the room he came from for a minute, and returned with yet another box. 'Here, try this one; 10 and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Excellent for charm work. I just finished it this morning.'
Lily took the box from him and removed the lid. This wand had a strange glow about it. With a trembling hand, she reached for it and picked it up. It gave out a warm, tingling feeling into her fingers. With renewed strength she raised it and brought it swishing down, sending a brilliant display of sparks around the room.
Mr Ollivander clapped and cried "Bravo! Bravo!"
Lily paid for her wand and thanked him before leaving the dusty old shop.
Outside it had started to rain.
'Crap.' Moaned Lily, as she started to walk back to the Leaky Cauldron carrying her packages.
'Hi again.' James suddenly appeared by her side.
Lily groaned. 'Please don't tell me you've been waiting outside for me all that time.'
'Ok, I won't tell you that I've been waiting outside all that time.' He said.
'Well...sorry, but you waited in vain. I'm going home now.' She began to walk faster.
He adjusted his pace to keep up. 'You know you're getting wet, do you want to share my umbrella?'
'Not particularly. I like the rain, it's got high moisturizing qualities.'
'Yeah, for plants.'
Lily walked through the archway without commenting. He stuck to her like glue.
'You still haven't told me your name yet.' He told her.
'What makes you so sure I'm going to?' She asked, looking around the room for her dad.
'Well, I-' He started to reply but Lily walked away up to the bar.
'Hi Tom, have you seen my dad?' She asked the boy watching them.
'Yep, he said for me to tell you to wait here for him.' Tom told her while drying a beer glass.
Lily sighed. 'Did he say where he was going?'
'Yes, he told me not to tell you that he was going to get you a surprise going-away present.' Tom smiled mischievously.
'Oh, cool.' Lily smiled, her mood lifting.
'Tom!' An angry voice came from a room upstairs.
'Uh oh, I gotta go now. See-ya round Lily.' Tom darted out into the back yard.
Lily sighed again and took a seat at a table, dumping her stuff onto a spare chair.
She pulled one of her new books out of her bag (Hogwarts; A history) and started reading it. The chair opposite her scraped across the floor and someone sat down in it.
'Any reason you keep bothering me James?' Lily asked without looking up.
'Yes.' He answered.
Lily looked up at him. 'And what would that be?'
'To find out your name.' He smiled mischievously.
'So if I tell you my name you'll leave me alone?' She asked hopefully.
'Maybe.'
'Fine, it's Harriet Glen. You can go now.' She looked back down at her book.
'Well, I could go, I guess... if that were your real name...' He said slowly.
'Well then goodbye.' She told him, still looking at her book.
'So Harriet is your real name?' He asked.
'Yes!'
He burst out laughing.
'What?' She asked him, annoyed.
'That is so not your real name.'
'How would you know?'
'Because, your not a Harriet.'
'And I suppose your the name expert?'
'Yes, as a matter of fact I am.' He said this very smugly, and Lily felt the anger surge through her.
'Look, I told you my name, so now you can go.'
'Harriet isn't your real name though.' He protested.
'Isn't it?' She said angrily.
'No. It isn't.'
Just then Lily's dad came into the door. Lily silently thanked him and got up.
'Bye person-who's-name-is-not-Harriet.' James said.
She smirked at him, picked up her stuff and rushed over to him.
'Hi Dad.' She gave him a hug and showed him her new stuff. 'What's that behind your back?' She asked him.
'It's a surprise.' He said slyly, holding it steadily above her reach.
Lily pouted, and tried to reach it. 'Pleeeeze?'
'Nope.'
Lily sighed, she knew her dad wouldn't give in. He was big on surprises.
'Come-on, lets go. I want to show Petunia my wand.' Lily told him evilly, making him laugh.
'Please, I'm begging you, don't turn your sister into a slug, your mother would kill me.'
'I don't need to turn her into a slug Dad.' Lily reminded him.
'You be nice to your sister.' He chuckled.
***
As they were driving home, Lily kept looking at the parcel in the back seat that her dad had bought. It had air holes in it. What on earth could be in there that need air holes?
They pulled into their driveway. It had stopped raining again, but was still very wet. She struggled with all her parcels while her dad carried the mystery package.
Inside her mother and sister were sitting in the living room having a heart-to-heart talk (probably about Vernon). She ran upstairs and dumped her parcels on her bed.
She ticked off another day on her calendar and counted the days until September the 1st.
Only 12 more days. Lily re-opened her book and continued reading.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
That's it folks!
I hope you liked this one, because I've been dying to write a fanfic about Lily. Anyhow, please review (reviews make me write faster).