One In a Million
A Lily and James story
About the Hierarchy of the inside of a Ping-Pong Ball
Fights, Fireworks, and Father Christmas
Once upon a time there were 8 children with a great power. They had the power to change the destiny of the world for good or evil. They have changed the world today as we know it, but whether people take those changes for granted or not, I do not know. For some of these children, their tale starts at a party. For the rest of them, it started on a train, to their school. My school. My name is Albus Dumbledore. I am telling you this story, because people who forget, are cursed to make the same mistakes over again.
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"Lily Sarah Evans! Get down here now!" Lily rolled over in bed. She did not want to get up and start making Christmas dinner at some ungodly hour of the morning. She decidedly pulled the pillow over her head, ignoring the big 10:58 on her bedside table clock.
About two minutes later, she was awoken again by her tall blonde sister, Petunia, storming into the room and pulling off her covers. "Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep your highness" she muttered scathingly, "but it's 11-bloody-O"CLOCK!"
Lily sprang up from bed and threw on some clothes, before racing down the stairs. "damnit, damnit, damnit" she muttered to herself as she flew down the hallway and turned sharply into the kitchen.
Phoebe Evans glanced up from the simmering pot she was stirring over the stove and smiled at her youngest daughter. "Ah, the bed bug has finally decided to grace us with her presence."
Lily grinned sheepishly.
Petunia made a face into the pile of plates she was stacking.
Lily stuck her tongue out at her older sister.
The girls mother, failing to notice this exchange, began allocating chores to her daughters, "Lily, would you mind starting to chop those veggies on the board for me? Petunia, watch what you're doing- china is breakable you know."
Petunia, waltzed around the kitchen, humming off tune and pushing everyone so she could get the things she needed to set the table for that nights Christmas dinner party. She pushed past Lily making her hand slip and send a pile of potatoes flying across the bench onto the floor.
"Petunia!" Lily said angrily, stamping her foot. "Look what you've done! Mum, Petunia knocked-"
"-I haven't done anything!" Petunia scoffed. "It was your silly clumsiness that made you do that"
"Now girls, quiet down please!" said their mother, "Lily you really should be more careful around the kitchen, and Petunia, don't annoy your sister." Mrs Evans sighed, then squatted down and began to scoop the potatoes into a bowl. She handed it to her youngest daughter.
"You can wash these now Lily and please try to watch what you're doing from now on."
Lily's mouth fell open and she curled her fists into balls. Just because Petunia refused to learn how to cook, didn't mean that she could mess up everyone else's attempts. It wasn't fair- her sister never got the blame! Lily was just glaring daggers at Petunias retreating back when suddenly, the pile of dishes that her sister had been carrying rose out of her hands in quick succession and zoomed up towards the ceiling with lightning speed. They halted inches from smashing and hovered above their heads in mid air.
Petunia shrieked and jumped backwards, her terrified eyes round as saucers. "Mum!" she shrieked, completely hysterical, "MUM! Theres…the…plates…!" She faltered, then seems to loose her voice and just gaped upwards at the plates.
Lily glanced at her mother, her heart hammering in her chest. This was not the first time that something like this had happened.
Mrs Evans looked scared.
"What…Lily?"
"I-I don't know mum." Lily replied weakly. They were sure to blame her. They always did.
"Lily Evans get those plates down now!" her mother yelled, her face flustered. Lily could hear the fear in her mothers voice. And she wasn't surprised. There was something odd about her, and she knew it. Something different. Something like magic…but that wasn't possible.
*************
Sirius Black pushed his twin aside and ran down the stairs, barely glancing out the window at the house next door. But even that glance stopped him in his tracks so suddenly, that his twin, Viva, ran into him, making them both tumble down the stairs. At the bottom, Viva sat up, and brushed her long black curls out of her face.
"What was that for?" she snapped, ready to pummel Sirius into the ground for making her fall down the stairs.
"Have a look" Sirius said, rubbing his sore elbow.
Viva, forgetting to be annoyed at her brother, slowly climbed the stairs and gazed out the window, which had a perfect view of their next door neighbours kitchen. She was joined by Sirius, and the two of them stood together, looking at the weird sight that beheld them.
The overseas ambassador of France had just moved to London with his English wife and two children. His youngest daughter was standing next to a ladder in the middle of the kitchen, looking up at the ceiling, which had what appeared to be about a dozen plates hovering just below it. The girl climbed the ladder, and tried dislodging a plate from thin air where it appeared to be stuck fast.
Vivas eyebrows shot up. She would have to investigate this tonight. The French ambassador was holding a dinner party for all his important neighbours in the important wealthy neighbour hood, and the Blacks were at the top of the list. The French ambassador wanted good connections in England.
"It looks like we have a witch next door" Viva said lightly, pretending to be not the slightest bit interested in what she'd just seen as it was her brother who had pointed it out. Then she pushed Sirius aside and ran downstairs to get to breakfast before him.
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It was 6:00 in the evening, and Lily had just been sent upstairs to get dressed for the party they were hosting that night. After finally getting all the plates down from the ceiling, her mother and Petunia had avoided her all day. Lily sighed. Why did weird things always happen to her? Just as she was about to flop down on her bed, her mother came in, dressed and ready.
"Lily!" she cried out in shock, apparently ready to put the mornings events behind her. "Why aren't you ready yet? The guests are arriving in half an hour, and pere will be furious if you look shabby!"
"Why did pere have to start this stupid dinner tradition anyway?" Lily grumbled,
"Because we hardly know anyone around here! It will be nice to meet some new people in England- and you never know, you might make a few friends of your own! There's a couple of kids living next door, and they look about your age!" Mrs Evans rushed Lily into the bathroom
"Pere just want to get a good rep with all the rich snobs that live around here and you know it." Lily muttered under her breath.
Mrs Evans raised a perfect blonde eyebrow, "Excuse me, young lady?" she said turning the shower on.
"I don't care, that doesn't mean I wanted to spend Christmas Eve cooking!" Lily shouted over the running water.
Mrs Evans sighed as she left the bathroom. She knew that Lily had not been at all happy about leaving France and her friends behind. "Look, sweetie, your pere has a very important position both here and back in France, and he wants to be friendly with the people who live around here! It may be very important for his job in the future. What better way than to have a Christmas dinner! And I am sure you will have lots of fun. Just enjoy- and behave- yourself, like your sister!"
"I don't want to be like Petunia!" Lily cried, stepping out of the shower with a towel around her. "I want to be like myself!"
"Be yourself then!" said Mrs Evans. "Just don't get in trouble!
Lily slipped her green velvet dress over her head and sighed.
"I won't mama, I wont."
Mrs Evans caught her daughter in a quick hug then held her at an arms length.
"That's better," she said with a smile, "See? That's my beautiful Lily!"
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"I WON'T!" the shout from the Blacks could be heard all over the world, in Sirius's opinion. But then again, if Viva Black was angry, you had to be afraid.
"I will ABSOLUTELY NOT wear that dress!" Viva yelled. "It is the most DISGUSTING thing since Brussel sprouts!"
Sirius thought she was going a bit far with this comment. He didn't think his white, ruffly, Spanish shirt and traditional black pants looked too crash hot either, but he wasn't saying it was worse than brussel sprouts. That was going a bit over the top.
Brussel sprouts were bad.
"Ahhh, here they are!" said his father, pulling something out of a dusty box in the corner. "You're sister is very loud, no?" he chuckled. "Just like you're mother!" he turned around, and Sirius saw he was holding two ridiculously large sombrero hats.
"WHAT!" Sirius yelled in outrage. He couldn't wear one of those hats. He would be the laughing stock of England. "There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY you are getting ME to wear one of those hats!" Ok, so maybe there was something worse than brussel sprouts, but not by much. There couldn't be something worse than this hat, could there? There was a knock on the door.
"That will be James" Sirius yelled, rushing to get the door, completely forgetting what he was wearing in his hurry to be as far away from the hats as possible. He opened the door and upon seeing him, his scruffy black haired, bespecled best friend took two hurried steps back, and fell head over heels into a pile of snow. Sirius started laughing but James cut him off.
"What the hell happened to you, mate!?" he asked gleefully and starting to laugh.
Sirius looked down and cringed inwardly. Thinking quickly of the identical outfit that he'd grown out of the year before, he grinned evilly and whispered, "Don't say a word; you have to wear one too!"
James immediately sat up and stopped laughing. "I am going home right now" he said getting up.
"Sorry pal, no can do, you see, you're parents are somewhere in Australia at the moment- other side of the world, you know? And seeing as they're there on a second honeymoon, I'd really hate for you to disturb them, seeing as they might be doing something that you might not wanna see." Sirius muttered quickly, raising his eyebrows down at his friend. "Ok?"
"Is your dad in there, Black?" James, who had understood every word perfectly, asked.
"Actually, yes he is!" replied Sirius angelically, grinning charmingly. "why?"
"Oh nothing, nothing at all" James muttered, uncurling his fist. Nasty thoughts were runny through his head, and they weren't only limited to what parents did on 2nd honeymoons.
"Dad!" Sirius called. "Where's that outfit, like mine? James wants to wear it!"
"Why do I really want to punch you right now?" James sighed. He would never win
"Gee I don't know Jamsie-my-boy, but I do know why you don't!" He waited dramatically for James to ask why, but when he didn't, Sirius continued on anyway.
"It's because I'm the most handsome, gorgeous, perfect thing you've ever set eyes on, and you couldn't bear to reck me." Sirius pretended to fluff up his dark hair.
James rolled his eyes and looked past Sirius into the hallway, just as a struggling Viva was dragged down a stately staircase by her mother, who had proclaimed her perfect.
"No!" Viva was yelling "I will not go out wearing this THING!"
"You are a Spanish girl, be proud of your heritage!" Mrs Black shot back.
Seeing her dress, Sirius realised that maybe something was worse than his hat. Much worse.
"I will not leave the house!" declared Viva. "Oh, hi James. And Sirius" she added. "Don't know what you were yelling about, Siri, I have reason to be angry, not you. Even with that stupid sombrero pa's gonna make you wear."
"Don't swear young lady, and if I may say so myself, you look very- er- Spanish." Mr Black said, coming round the corner carrying the frightful hats. Viva looked down at her attire. Her long black hair in twin waist length plaits, with castanet hair bands in them and a big salmon pink dress, with frills in every place that it was physically possible to put frills- and then more frills on top of those frills. There were even hidden frills that could only be found if you lifted up other frills. It was all too frilly for her liking.
She felt like a baby.
"You look like a baby" said Sirius.
Viva glared daggers at her twin. "I think I'll go get Bobby", she said, turning around, frills swishing, and walking back up the stairs.
"No you wouldn't, would you? Mamma, tell Viva she's not allowed to bring Bobby downstairs. She knows I don't like him." Sirius said hurriedly.
"Now, children calm down." Mrs Black said. "Viva, leave that rabbit upstairs where he belongs, Sirius, take a deep breath, and James, lovely to see you! Now go get changed and we can go- that spare outfit is in the box on top of Sirius' wardrobe."
"Yes Samba." James monotoned, shooting a death glare at Sirius.
"Hey papa," Viva said, "could you change the dress to red for me, please- and get rid of a few frills?"
"Ok" said the big man, taking a wand out of his robes. "Hold still."
"No!" Mrs Black cried "that dress was my mothers! You can't change it! And besides" she cooed, "Viva looks like such a little darling in it!"
"You've got to give her some self respect Samba! She looks like a baby!" Mr Black argued. They continued to fight over it until Mr Black finally said, "alright! I won't change it!"
Vivas shoulders sagged, and Sirius snickered behind her, then caught sight of himself in the hall mirror and his face fell. James came down the stairs a moment later in full traditional Spanish attire, and standing together, the three children looked a picture of perfectly groomed misery. As they walked through the front door of the house, Mr Black pointed his wand and muttered a spell under his breath, before quickly pocketing it, and when the family entered the Evans' hall next door, Viva looked quite nice. She made her way over to Sirius and James, who were whispering about something. She only caught the words 'explosions' and 'food', before they saw her coming and shut up.
She went over to her mother who was gossiping animatedly to a tall blonde woman, instantly recognisable as Mrs Evans.
Viva was immediately introduced to the youngest of the Evans daughters. The one with red hair and green eyes who she and Sirius had watched trying to get the plates of the roof earlier that day.
"Hey" she said to the girl. Viva's first thought, when looking at her, was that she had yet to grow into her eyes- which where a very striking emerald but entirely out of proportion with the rest of her freckled face,
"Ooh, you're from next door, aren't you?! I'm Lily" the girl said, sticking out her hand.
"Viva Black, nice to meet you." Viva could tell she was going to like this girl. She beckoned her over to a quiet corner of the room, and after checking no one was listening she said,
"Um, listen, Lily, I need you to help me with something. But first, that's my brother Sirius, and his friend James Potter. I think they are going to put fireworks under the buffet table tonight."
Lily's eyes widened. "No way on earth are they putting anything under that table, I spent all day cooking it!"
"My thoughts exactly." Viva said, nodding knowingly. She grinned, "So you want to help me pay them back?"
"Defiantly!" Exclaimed Lily, as though Viva was quite disturbed in the head to think she might answer anything else.
"We have an understanding then?" Viva asked, happy that she had encountered the nicer daughter.
"Yep! Hey, do you want to come up to my room- you can explain to me how these fireworks work." Said Lily, tying back her frizzy red hair.
"I'm an expert on pranks." Said Viva quietly. "I use them as self defence on my brother."
"Is he really that bad?" Lily asked sceptically. Few could be worse than Petunia.
"You are very lucky you don't have a brother." Said Viva and shuddered. "I wish I had a sister instead."
"Never ever say that again in my presence." Lily said in revolt. "My sister is the prissiest most stuck up piece of donkey dung in the entire universe. I don't know what I did to get her as a sister."
"Wow she must be bad!"
Lily shook her head, "Worse".
Viva laughed at the disgusted look on her new friends face, "We should get to work. We have to think like them" she said.
Together, they figured out the most strategic position to put the fireworks- the place where the boys would undoubtedly plant them. They then decided that Viva would be the diversion, and Lily would get the fireworks out from under the table, and put them under the boys' chairs.
"This is going to be funny!" Lily said happily. For the first time in ages she was having fun. "I feel rebellious!"
"c'mon, lets go get em" said Viva laughing.
"Lets go" Lily agreed.
They carried off the plan with perfect accuracy. Surprisingly for Lily, who was not used to the perfectly executed pranks of Sirius and James, the fireworks were in the place that Viva had said they would be; In the middle of the table right under the turkey. She got them out and carried them over to where Viva was standing next to the boys table. Predictably, the neither were there. She gave the fireworks to Viva, who secured them under their chairs, and set them to go off on contact- when Sirius and James sat down. They had one firework left. Just as they were walking back towards Lily's room, they bumped into someone. It was a short boy with spiky black hair and a sallow face.
"Hey." The boy growled. "No one bumps into Severus Snape and gets away with it."
"I'm sorry, Severus Snape, we didn't see you there." Said Lily stiffly.
"As I thought. You will have to be taught a lesson." He raised his fist.
"Are you going to hit me?" said Lily, furrowing her eyebrows, surprisingly unafraid.
"What does it look like, muggle?" snarled Snape and he swung his fist as hard as he could; only to have it hit thin air. Lily had merely stepped backward, avoiding the blow. Snape was put off balance by this, and toppled forward, smacking his face on the floor, because Lily had jumped to the side.
"Poor little idiot" Lily muttered.
"Go Lily!" Viva whooped, "That greasy slug's bad news- we know his family. Let's put that extra firework on his seat, shall we?"
"Great minds think alike!" Lily said with a grin, and they high-fived.
The rest of the Party went relatively smoothly, bar a few minor incidents. James, Sirius and Severus Snape all got the surprises of their lives when they sat down for dinner, and later in the evening the three boys, who knew each other from their expensive private primary school, had a small run in. For Viva and Lily, the party was the beginning of an instant friendship.
**********
7 months later three owls flew through Carmen Street. One stopped at the Evans's house and two more flew onto the house next door. The first one was greeted with a sleepy "huh?" and the second two were greeted to exited screams. These owls were carrying letters. Acceptance letters.
To Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.