Lily loved Hogwarts. The castle was so beautiful, but it was incredibly big, and Lily got lost very easily.
Her classes were great, and magic seemed to come naturally to her. Lily's favorite class was divination. Professor Parris was great. She was really nice, and she had the amazing ability to see into the future. Lily had read enough books to know that those who could actually see the future were very rare.
One day, after class, Professor Parris asked Lily to stay so she could have a talk with her.
"Lily, I sense a rare ability in you." Parris said as she sat down across from Lily.
"Really"
"Yes. I believe that you have the ability to see the future." said Parris very seriously.
Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"But, I've never been able to see the future before." Lily said, startled at what Professor Parris was saying.
"That's because you must be trained. There are certain signs that let me know that you are one who can see the future, and if Professor Dumbledore will allow me, I'd like to train you myself." Parris said
"O-Okay" Lily replied a little uncertainly.
"Well, in that case I'll talk to him, and let you know what he says." Parris said with a smile.
Lily went down to lunch and sat thoughtfully as she ate her meal.
"what's wrong" Jodie asked noticing how quiet her friend was being.
Lily told Jodie about what Professor parris had said 'Oh wow! That's great' Jodie had said, but Lily wasn't so sure.
Sometimes it's best not to know what is going to happen in the future Lily thought.
Later that week, Professor Parris got back to Lily.
"Lily, Professor Dumbledore gave me this to give to you."
It was a letter.
Lily thanked Professor Parris then went to her dormitory to read the letter in private.
Dear miss Evans,
I agree with Professor Parris in saying that you do indeed show the signs of one
who can see the future. I have told Professor
Parris that she will be aloud to train
you in your third year. Until that time
I would like you to think about this.
It is a great responsibility, and I want
you to make sure that you really want
to do this. Good luck Lily.
Professor Dumbledore
Lily had also not forgotten about her search to find out about Jodie's past. So far all she had been able to find out was that the Blankenship family, the Potter family, and the Vanderbuilt family were three of the oldest wizarding families, having been around for many centuries. Although Lily didn't see any reason for Jodie to hide this fact.
It was now late September and Lily had only one option left- look through Jodie's things.
Lily hurried up the stairs to her dormitory, and looked around to make sure it was void of any occupants. Confirming that it was, Lily slowly opened the lid to Jodie's trunk. She sifted through the items inside, looking for anything that might give her a hint about Jodie's past. After looking at half the contents of the trunk, Lily stopped, realizing what a terrible thing she was doing.
I would be upset if someone was looking through my things.....That's it,
I've had enough of this! I'm going to find out what's going on, once and for all!
Lily ran down the stairs to find Jodie. She was sitting in a chair by the fire, doing her homework.
"Jodie, I need to talk to you now!" Lily said forcefully, pulling Jodie up the stairs behind her.
"Lily what's wrong?" Jodie asked looking very confused.
"Jodie, were best friends, right?"
"right" said Jodie slowly as she watched Lily pace back and forth across the dormitory floor.
"Then why won't you tell me anything?" Lily asked as she stopped pacing to sit down next to her friend
"What do you mean?" Jodie asked.
"I mean that- you know everything about me, but the only things I know about you, are the things that have happened since you came to Hogwarts" Lily said gently as her friend stood up and pulled a large book out of the bottom of her trunk.
The book was forest green, and on the front 'JODIE ' was written in gold lettering.
"Jodie, what's this?" Lily asked.
"It's a magical picture book, and it shows important things that have happened in my life." Jodie said, opening the book.
On the first page, there was a picture of a man and a women holding a baby, who was wrapped tightly in a pink blanket-
'Isn't Jodie beautiful, John?'
'She sure is Michelle!'
The man and women said as they smiled down at their baby.
Jodie took a deep breath as she plunged into her story
"The first thing you should know is that I was born into one of the oldest, and most powerful wizarding families in the world."
Lily nodded her head in understandment as Jodie continued on.
"The next thing you should know is that there is a community in London, called Brookside Valley, were the most powerful wizarding families in all of England live. From the time I was born, I lived in Brookside Valley, next door to James Potter, and Valerie Vanderbuilt"
"But, I don't understand..."
"Just let me tell my story and I promise you will" Jodie said with a pleading look in her eyes.
"Okay" Lily replied feeling deeply sorry for her friend.
Jodie then turned the page. this one had three little children on it. they were holding hands and dancing around in a circle singing ring around the rosie. Lily recognized the children as James, Jodie, and Valerie.
"When we were young, we were best friends. Valerie was even sweet back then. Then something happened that changed all that." Jodie broke down into tears. She let out a small sob and buried her face in her hand, as the tears streamed down her face.
"Please, go on Jodie. I want to understand" Lily said, placing her hand gently on her friend's arm.
Jodie raised her head, wiped away her tears, and lifted a shaky hand to turn the page in her book.
A man who had messy black hair like James, walked to the three children who were now older and were playing in the back yard of a beautiful mansion.
"What's he doing here, Mr.Potter?" The young Jodie asked pointing to another man who was standing behind Mr.Potter, and who looked very mean. she did not seem happy to see the man at all.
He is your cousin and your only other relative
Mr.Potter said.
Yes, I know Mr.Potter
Jodie, y-your parents are, your parents are dead.
Mr.Potter said to Jodie gently.
No! I want my mummy and daddy! Mummy, daddy, were are you?
The little girl wailed as she collapsed in Mr. Potter's arms.
Jodie, since Mr. Baker is your only living relative you have to go live with him
Mr.Potter said with piety in his eyes.
NO!
little Jodie said as she ran over to James, and Valerie, and threw her arms around them.
NO! I WON'T LEAVE JAMES AND VALERIE!
The little girl screamed ,tears streaming down her face, as she held tightly to her friends.
Jodie's cousin came over and ripped Jodie away from them. Come On!
The man barked as he carried Jodie away, kicking and screaming, and threw her in the car.
NO! JAMES, VALERIE! HELP ME! PLEASE HELP ME!
the little girl wailed helplessly as she struggled to get out of the car.
JODIE!
the other two kids yelled at the same time as they ran after the car, tears in their eyes as well. They chased the car down the street, watching Jodie with her nose pressed to the window, still yelling 'HELP ME!'The car turned the corner and the kids stopped running as they realized it was hopeless.
"Oh, Jodie!" Lily looked up at her friend as the page went blank, she too had tears trickling down her face.
for a few minutes neither one of them talked. Then finally Jodie spoke in small shaky voice
"That's not the end of the story."
"I-It's not?" Lily asked, afraid of what she was going to hear next.
"Ever since I went to live with my uncle four years ago, he has been terrible to me. he never lets me go anywhere with my friends, he was always yelling at me, and sometimes he- he even abused me." Jodie said, barley above a whisper.
Lily, remember the bruise on Jodie's cheek at the beginning of the year.
"Jodie, you can't go back and live with him. What if he gives you more than a bruise next time?"
"I'm not going to live with him anymore. Right before I left for Hogwarts, we had a fight. He refused to let me go, because he hates magic. that's when he hit me. At the same moment, Professor Dumbledore showed up in my living room. My cousin tried to attack him, but he used some kind of magic that stopped him. Then he took me and my belongings, and the next thing I knew I was standing at the train station, right before it left. before I got on the train Dumbledore gave me this." At that point Jodie pulled a letter out of her trunk, and handed it to Lily.
Dear miss Blankenship,
Because of the situation with your cousin,
you will now be living in a muggle orphanage,
to prevent further abuse. I am sure you will
find it quite lovely, and you will be safe
from Mr.Baker.
Professor Dumbledore
Lily looked at Jodie
"Jodie, I'm so sorry"
"That's okay. Anything is better than cousin Tommy." Jodie said with a small smile.
"Can I ask you a question?" Lily asked Jodie.
"Sure" Jodie responded
"Why aren't you and James and Valerie friends anymore? I mean, I know you were taken away from them, but couldn't they have written you or something?" Lily asked.
"Yes, but other things happened....." Jodie trailed off.
"What things" Lily asked curiously.
"Well, things happened with Valerie and James, that kind of broke our friendship apart for good" Jodie said slowly.
"What were they?" Lily asked trying not to sound too pushy. The truth was that she was dying to know what they were.
What kind of things could have happened to make everybody act so strange? Lily thought to herself.
"Well, the first thing that happened was to Valerie. About a month after I left Valerie's mother died. It was terrible. Valerie didn't speak to anybody for months, and when she finally snapped out of it, she was no longer the sweet Valerie that used to be my best friend. She was cruel and cold hearted and stuck up. Now there are only two people in this world that she is ever nice to, James and her father." Jodie said sadly
"oh" Lily said as things finally started to make sense.
"The other thing is about James, and well, it's kind of strange" Jodie replied.
"Um, okay" Lily said.
"you see, a centuries ago, in the Potter family, the parents selected a husband or wife for their child. It was always someone from another wizarding family who was also rich and famous." Jodie said.
"But what does that have to do with James?" Lily questioned.
"well, in the past few decades, arranged marriages have stopped, so the Potter's evolved there way of doing things. now, they select a person, and make sure that the children spend a lot of time together. then hopefully, the two will fall in love and get married. So far, it has worked well. Even James' mother and father got married that way. And the person that has been selected for James, is Valerie." Jodie said quietly.
Lily turned very pale. Her chance of being with the boy she liked where very slim. "But, he doesn't have to marry her, does he?" Lily asked seeing a small light at the end of her tunnel.
"No, but the one thing I learned about James when we were friends, is that he will do anything to make his father proud. And I would bet you anything that James will marry Valerie if it would make his father proud" Jodie said
"The fact that he wants to make his father proud, is also the reason he stopped talking to me, when his father said-
Son, I think it would be best if you didn't speak to Jodie anymore.
Her classes were great, and magic seemed to come naturally to her. Lily's favorite class was divination. Professor Parris was great. She was really nice, and she had the amazing ability to see into the future. Lily had read enough books to know that those who could actually see the future were very rare.
One day, after class, Professor Parris asked Lily to stay so she could have a talk with her.
"Lily, I sense a rare ability in you." Parris said as she sat down across from Lily.
"Really"
"Yes. I believe that you have the ability to see the future." said Parris very seriously.
Lily couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"But, I've never been able to see the future before." Lily said, startled at what Professor Parris was saying.
"That's because you must be trained. There are certain signs that let me know that you are one who can see the future, and if Professor Dumbledore will allow me, I'd like to train you myself." Parris said
"O-Okay" Lily replied a little uncertainly.
"Well, in that case I'll talk to him, and let you know what he says." Parris said with a smile.
Lily went down to lunch and sat thoughtfully as she ate her meal.
"what's wrong" Jodie asked noticing how quiet her friend was being.
Lily told Jodie about what Professor parris had said 'Oh wow! That's great' Jodie had said, but Lily wasn't so sure.
Sometimes it's best not to know what is going to happen in the future Lily thought.
Later that week, Professor Parris got back to Lily.
"Lily, Professor Dumbledore gave me this to give to you."
It was a letter.
Lily thanked Professor Parris then went to her dormitory to read the letter in private.
Dear miss Evans,
I agree with Professor Parris in saying that you do indeed show the signs of one
who can see the future. I have told Professor
Parris that she will be aloud to train
you in your third year. Until that time
I would like you to think about this.
It is a great responsibility, and I want
you to make sure that you really want
to do this. Good luck Lily.
Professor Dumbledore
Lily had also not forgotten about her search to find out about Jodie's past. So far all she had been able to find out was that the Blankenship family, the Potter family, and the Vanderbuilt family were three of the oldest wizarding families, having been around for many centuries. Although Lily didn't see any reason for Jodie to hide this fact.
It was now late September and Lily had only one option left- look through Jodie's things.
Lily hurried up the stairs to her dormitory, and looked around to make sure it was void of any occupants. Confirming that it was, Lily slowly opened the lid to Jodie's trunk. She sifted through the items inside, looking for anything that might give her a hint about Jodie's past. After looking at half the contents of the trunk, Lily stopped, realizing what a terrible thing she was doing.
I would be upset if someone was looking through my things.....That's it,
I've had enough of this! I'm going to find out what's going on, once and for all!
Lily ran down the stairs to find Jodie. She was sitting in a chair by the fire, doing her homework.
"Jodie, I need to talk to you now!" Lily said forcefully, pulling Jodie up the stairs behind her.
"Lily what's wrong?" Jodie asked looking very confused.
"Jodie, were best friends, right?"
"right" said Jodie slowly as she watched Lily pace back and forth across the dormitory floor.
"Then why won't you tell me anything?" Lily asked as she stopped pacing to sit down next to her friend
"What do you mean?" Jodie asked.
"I mean that- you know everything about me, but the only things I know about you, are the things that have happened since you came to Hogwarts" Lily said gently as her friend stood up and pulled a large book out of the bottom of her trunk.
The book was forest green, and on the front 'JODIE ' was written in gold lettering.
"Jodie, what's this?" Lily asked.
"It's a magical picture book, and it shows important things that have happened in my life." Jodie said, opening the book.
On the first page, there was a picture of a man and a women holding a baby, who was wrapped tightly in a pink blanket-
'Isn't Jodie beautiful, John?'
'She sure is Michelle!'
The man and women said as they smiled down at their baby.
Jodie took a deep breath as she plunged into her story
"The first thing you should know is that I was born into one of the oldest, and most powerful wizarding families in the world."
Lily nodded her head in understandment as Jodie continued on.
"The next thing you should know is that there is a community in London, called Brookside Valley, were the most powerful wizarding families in all of England live. From the time I was born, I lived in Brookside Valley, next door to James Potter, and Valerie Vanderbuilt"
"But, I don't understand..."
"Just let me tell my story and I promise you will" Jodie said with a pleading look in her eyes.
"Okay" Lily replied feeling deeply sorry for her friend.
Jodie then turned the page. this one had three little children on it. they were holding hands and dancing around in a circle singing ring around the rosie. Lily recognized the children as James, Jodie, and Valerie.
"When we were young, we were best friends. Valerie was even sweet back then. Then something happened that changed all that." Jodie broke down into tears. She let out a small sob and buried her face in her hand, as the tears streamed down her face.
"Please, go on Jodie. I want to understand" Lily said, placing her hand gently on her friend's arm.
Jodie raised her head, wiped away her tears, and lifted a shaky hand to turn the page in her book.
A man who had messy black hair like James, walked to the three children who were now older and were playing in the back yard of a beautiful mansion.
"What's he doing here, Mr.Potter?" The young Jodie asked pointing to another man who was standing behind Mr.Potter, and who looked very mean. she did not seem happy to see the man at all.
He is your cousin and your only other relative
Mr.Potter said.
Yes, I know Mr.Potter
Jodie, y-your parents are, your parents are dead.
Mr.Potter said to Jodie gently.
No! I want my mummy and daddy! Mummy, daddy, were are you?
The little girl wailed as she collapsed in Mr. Potter's arms.
Jodie, since Mr. Baker is your only living relative you have to go live with him
Mr.Potter said with piety in his eyes.
NO!
little Jodie said as she ran over to James, and Valerie, and threw her arms around them.
NO! I WON'T LEAVE JAMES AND VALERIE!
The little girl screamed ,tears streaming down her face, as she held tightly to her friends.
Jodie's cousin came over and ripped Jodie away from them. Come On!
The man barked as he carried Jodie away, kicking and screaming, and threw her in the car.
NO! JAMES, VALERIE! HELP ME! PLEASE HELP ME!
the little girl wailed helplessly as she struggled to get out of the car.
JODIE!
the other two kids yelled at the same time as they ran after the car, tears in their eyes as well. They chased the car down the street, watching Jodie with her nose pressed to the window, still yelling 'HELP ME!'The car turned the corner and the kids stopped running as they realized it was hopeless.
"Oh, Jodie!" Lily looked up at her friend as the page went blank, she too had tears trickling down her face.
for a few minutes neither one of them talked. Then finally Jodie spoke in small shaky voice
"That's not the end of the story."
"I-It's not?" Lily asked, afraid of what she was going to hear next.
"Ever since I went to live with my uncle four years ago, he has been terrible to me. he never lets me go anywhere with my friends, he was always yelling at me, and sometimes he- he even abused me." Jodie said, barley above a whisper.
Lily, remember the bruise on Jodie's cheek at the beginning of the year.
"Jodie, you can't go back and live with him. What if he gives you more than a bruise next time?"
"I'm not going to live with him anymore. Right before I left for Hogwarts, we had a fight. He refused to let me go, because he hates magic. that's when he hit me. At the same moment, Professor Dumbledore showed up in my living room. My cousin tried to attack him, but he used some kind of magic that stopped him. Then he took me and my belongings, and the next thing I knew I was standing at the train station, right before it left. before I got on the train Dumbledore gave me this." At that point Jodie pulled a letter out of her trunk, and handed it to Lily.
Dear miss Blankenship,
Because of the situation with your cousin,
you will now be living in a muggle orphanage,
to prevent further abuse. I am sure you will
find it quite lovely, and you will be safe
from Mr.Baker.
Professor Dumbledore
Lily looked at Jodie
"Jodie, I'm so sorry"
"That's okay. Anything is better than cousin Tommy." Jodie said with a small smile.
"Can I ask you a question?" Lily asked Jodie.
"Sure" Jodie responded
"Why aren't you and James and Valerie friends anymore? I mean, I know you were taken away from them, but couldn't they have written you or something?" Lily asked.
"Yes, but other things happened....." Jodie trailed off.
"What things" Lily asked curiously.
"Well, things happened with Valerie and James, that kind of broke our friendship apart for good" Jodie said slowly.
"What were they?" Lily asked trying not to sound too pushy. The truth was that she was dying to know what they were.
What kind of things could have happened to make everybody act so strange? Lily thought to herself.
"Well, the first thing that happened was to Valerie. About a month after I left Valerie's mother died. It was terrible. Valerie didn't speak to anybody for months, and when she finally snapped out of it, she was no longer the sweet Valerie that used to be my best friend. She was cruel and cold hearted and stuck up. Now there are only two people in this world that she is ever nice to, James and her father." Jodie said sadly
"oh" Lily said as things finally started to make sense.
"The other thing is about James, and well, it's kind of strange" Jodie replied.
"Um, okay" Lily said.
"you see, a centuries ago, in the Potter family, the parents selected a husband or wife for their child. It was always someone from another wizarding family who was also rich and famous." Jodie said.
"But what does that have to do with James?" Lily questioned.
"well, in the past few decades, arranged marriages have stopped, so the Potter's evolved there way of doing things. now, they select a person, and make sure that the children spend a lot of time together. then hopefully, the two will fall in love and get married. So far, it has worked well. Even James' mother and father got married that way. And the person that has been selected for James, is Valerie." Jodie said quietly.
Lily turned very pale. Her chance of being with the boy she liked where very slim. "But, he doesn't have to marry her, does he?" Lily asked seeing a small light at the end of her tunnel.
"No, but the one thing I learned about James when we were friends, is that he will do anything to make his father proud. And I would bet you anything that James will marry Valerie if it would make his father proud" Jodie said
"The fact that he wants to make his father proud, is also the reason he stopped talking to me, when his father said-
Son, I think it would be best if you didn't speak to Jodie anymore.