[Thanks for the reviews, please leave more, for help and encouragement.. Someone rather criticized my using of the word 'magick' before, and I think I used it as a bit of inspiration to show how much Lily actually knows about magic. To that noter.. does that make it sound more offensive?]

"Mum.. Dad? I seriously don't.. really.. well, like, I don't really like.. um.. Mum?" Lily was heard blabbing, trying to get the attention of her parents.

Evelyn just watched on, shocked and surprised. Her parents had told her of one of her third cousins who was disowned and dismembered from the family-- precisely because she had gotten that same letter, with the shiny gold lettering, and had been so determined to go to the magic school. Her parents had ridiculed the girl, now in her mid-twenties, but Evelyn herself did not know much about her long lost cousin, except that she was an outcast and unworthy of mention in the family tree. She had been told about magic, but she knew Lily hadn't, from the look in her eyes.

Wizardry and Witchcraft at Hogwarts had nothing to do with the goths hanging around those high schools that she and Lily had seen in those teen-flicks. It had nothing to do with wicca, or the Devil, or the witches that they dressed up as every year. She, at least, knew this much about magic. And although she had never really thought it had existed (she thought it had just been an excuse to kick the poor girl out of the family), she always held a sort of wonder that would have gotten herself booted from the Sailles family toward witchcraft.

And now her friend was going to this mystic, imaginary castle? Evelyn knew from the look on Lily's face that she did not want to go, but she also knew from the look on Petunia's face that this was one of the rare times that Petunia would win. Something about the situation startled her; it was as if this was the final time she would ever see Lily.. sane, again. As if on cue, Evelyn's head started pounding like mad. Jesus! Must be thinking too hard again.. like, I really gotta stop doing that, ugh.. Resolving not to get any more 'brain cramps' from thinking too much, Evelyn started thinking about Jeremy and the times they had together.

"You'd better hurry up if you're going to go!" Lily's father said, somehow confusing Petunia's squeaky, suddenly enthusiastic voice with that of Lily's.

Evelyn realized that, although she knew the Evans very well, this was definately a beyond-private family situation. After all, it was this school that had caused the infamous black spot on her own family's history. Being a quiet (though often giggly and mischievous) girl by nature, Evelyn decided to slip out of the house and let the situation resolve itself. Lily will dial me up later to tell me what happens. She does it all the time, like regardless if I was there or not, anyways... And with that, the girl slipped out, unnoticed by all members of the Evans family.

"But Daddy! Like don't you see--"

"Yes, it says here! Buy your books at Diagon Alley! Oh! You'd better hurry! Only two days before school starts! We'd better go today!" Petunia rumbled, looking over Lily's shoulder at the list of school books and places to buy school supplies. Lily could feel her sister's lips curl upward, in that malicious smile.

Suddenly, Lily knew something was going to happen. She couldn't control it unless she calmed down--immediately. This was exactly what had happened at school in previous years that gave young Lily a sort of superiority over others. One, two, three, four, five.. breathe, in and out.. in and out, she thought to herself soothingly. She had been so busy soothing herself and calming herself down, so that she wouldn't make the toaster fly up into the wall and drop on her sister's head, or something of the sort (it wasn't that she didn't want it to, but anything of the sort happened, she knew she'd be going to that stupid school for sure), that she hadn't heard her parents agree on taking her out that day.

"... your shoes... your shoes... Lily!"

Lily jerked her attention from the images of lilies in bloom in a clear, fresh lake that were materializing in her mind as a result of the meditation phase she had just induced.

"Yes Mommy, I love my shoes, they're Sketchers, like the ones that like Britney wore to that one concert and like at that one time I saw her at the mall--"

"Honey, we're taking you to Diagon Alley to get your books now, now go. get. your. shoes! If you want to go to this Hog school of yours--which you just spent half an hour confirming--you had better go get your shoes on!" Lily could tell from the tone in her mother's voice that she was not very happy. But what was she supposed to do now!? She didn't want to go to some Hogwatt school! I want to be Prom Queen, Homecoming Queen, Beauty Queen, Everything Queen!

Her father, too, she had noticed, was becoming irritable and testy. She couldn't blame her parents. Everyone's parents were like that lately. The economy was down and all her parents' colleagues were being fired. Almost every week, Lily heard news of so-and-so's mom or dad being laid off. She knew it might not be long before her own parents were laid off. What she didn't understand was why they were so concerned with having and keeping a job. Grammie left us ten million to spend, what are they so worried about? she often wondered. Money, and popularity, and brand names, were all there was to life. Grades were important, too. They were reputation boosters for Princess Lily.

She put on her shoes and followed her mother into their expensive silver sports car. Her mother quickly opened the door and promptly got in the car and shut the door with a huff. Lily could feel the car shaking from the weight-shifting her mom had caused by getting into the car.

Lily opened the door to the car and said meekly, afraid of rebuke, "Mom, Dad, I don't want to go to that school."

"WHAT?!" The whole family practicality sawed off the innocent girl's head with their piercing, biting tones.

"NO. You are going to that school, whether you like it or not, young lady. We gave you the full morning to choose, and you wasted perfectly good time that I could have been using to catch up on bills and stock market reports. And I sacrificed all that time for you. I asked you if you wanted to go there, and you said yes! In fact, you asserted that you were going to go more than just a few times, young lady!"

"You are going now, whether you like it or not. Do you see me quitting work and then going back because of my stupid boss?! NO. I've stayed at the same company for the past five years! And you're staying at that wishwash school for seven years--and that is the end of it!"

Lily couldn't believe it. What had just happened!? She knew she had told her parents that she didn't want to go! She was raging with anger now, and stomped on the car. Lily was not angry often. She was more often found plotting for revenge than angry. But now she was angry, and she didn't care about what would happen if a toaster fell on Petunia's head, so she just sat in the car, seething with anger.

All of a sudden, a tissue box came attacking at Petunia, hitting the sister's head repeatedly. Petunia, scared out of her wits, could not utter a single word as she was beaten by the soft container. In fact, the beating was planned out so perfectly, that it made no sound at all. Lily didn't know where she had gotten these powers from, or why, but she knew they acted up when she was enraged to a certain point--which didn't happen all that often, of course.

"Ahh---duh....kkkkhhhd...." Petunia was stuttering, unable to form a chain of words to tell her parents what was happening.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans were too angry to care, at the moment, anyway. They were both lost in thought, fuming at their spoiled daughters and messed up careers. They drove on silently, until they reached the designated spot.

Mrs. Evans held a slip that came with the letter in her hand. Written in calligraphy upon the age-long parchment were:

¡@

"... To get to Diagon Alley by car, drive to Amnesty Street and drop your child off. Have Ms. Lily Evans clap her hands thrice and say 'Lily here has come sincere, Give some help and lend an ear!' If parents would like to stay with the child, that is fine, but most certainly unnecessary. Ms. Lily Evans should be back within three hours..."

¡@

The car slowed down to the head of Amnesty Street, and the expressions on Mr. and Mrs. Evans' faces softened. The tissue box immediately ceased its attack on Petunia.

"Okay dear, it says here for you to clap three times and say these words: 'Lily here has come sincere, Give some help and lend an ear!' We'll wait here and see what happens. I'm not quite ready for all this hocus-pocus nonsense.. but this school claims to be the best. Only the best for our princess, right?"

And Lily saw in her father's eyes that he really meant it. Reluctantly, Lily got off the car and clapped three times.

"Lily here has come sincere, Give some help and lend an ear.." Just as Lily finished off the quaint little phrase, the two boys she had seen previously at Jeremy's lawn popped up, as if out of nowhere. Following behind were a sour-looking girl and the two boys' parents, she presumed.

The Evans drove up to the family that had just popped up and Lily's parents said hello to the boys' parents.

"Hi, we're the Evans!"

"Hello, we're the Blacks. We're a wizarding family and these are our children, Sirius and Kate. There's another, but he's already graduated from Hogwarts.."

"Oh! So you are back-to-school shopping? Do you think you could help our little Lily out? She's also going to that.. school..."

It was obvious neither side could fully comprehend what the other was saying. But the word "help" registered with the Blacks, a very warm-hearted family.

"Yes, sure, we'll help her out! We'll send her home, too, it's all good!"

And with that, the fancy silver car drove off, bewildering the wizards. Sirius, Mr. Black, Ms. Black, Kate, and James were all wondering the same thing: What was that?!