Amicitia
"There's moments in your life that make you, that set the course of who you're going to be. Sometimes they're little, subtle moments. Sometimes... they're not.
Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are going to come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are. You'll see what I mean."
- Angelus/Whistler, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
---
When you're a ten-year-old girl, you can't wait to be eleven. You're sick of your small school, your older sisters taunting and most of all, you want to make yourself shine, to stand up and be somebody.
So when she hit eleven, Lily Evans was very excited. She had a birthday party, with cake and presents and in the end, she had a lovely day. So much so that she didn't even notice the owl hooting away on her front lawn.
Several weeks later when she finished school, promising to stay in touch with friends that were going to other schools and chatting excitedly to people going to her own, she didn't notice another owl, swooping around.
In actual fact the only time Lily noticed anything out of the ordinary was when she came down for breakfast in late July to notice an owl coming flying through the kitchen window and land on the table in front of her cereal.
Ignoring her sister's screams at having a 'rodent with wings' on her breakfast table, she reached over to find an odd letter that was grasped in her hand. On the front it had: Lily Evans, the Kitchen Table and her house address. Mystified She opened the letter and read aloud the parchment in her hand:
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, 1st Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Lily Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We hope to receive your owl shortly.
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress."
"What a joke," snorted her elder sister.
"Honestly," commented her mother. "What will these children think of next?"
And into the trash it went, leaving Lily Evans only to wonder who could be so precise to know she where she was.
---
In a house on the outskirts of London, the letter was given a very different reception.
There in his bedroom, James Potter was trying stubbornly to get his hair to stay down. It was refusing to and was really getting on his nerves. Anyone strolling past the door of his room would her the occasional muttering of "Stay down, damn you!" or sometimes even a "Would it kill you to sit down?"
Finally, he just gave up and went down stairs. As in most households, by ten o'clock the breakfast was already being made. What was different were simple little things like the odd elf running in and out on occasion or the dishes seeming to do themselves. But in a magic household, these things were normal too.
Walking into the kitchen, James said a grumbled "Morning," to his father sitting at the table and went the sink where the toast was sitting, along with some unguarded cakes.
An owl came through the window of this house too, but instead of a jumping, the young man simply put a bronze coin in the pocket the bird was carrying and retrieved the three things from its grasp.
"Posts here," he said, reaching for a pumpkin muffin.
His mothers hand seemingly whipped out of nowhere, retrieving the post and giving him a gentle slap on the hand. "Not till they're cool."
She looked through the papers: The Daily Prophet, Junk Mail and.
"Look what I seem to have got," she said teasingly, holding up the envelope with her sons name on it.
James suddenly grinned, "Mum, give it here!"
She took a step backwards, "And oh look," she said, waving it at her husband who'd already reached for the Prophet. "The Hogwarts seal."
"Mum!" whined James, swiping for it.
"Magic word, James." She said gently. "We don't just take things in this house, we ask nicely."
"Accio?"
"Hilarious, James." "I thought so," commented the young man. "Please can I have it?"
She handed it over and James practically ripped it open. He read through, and then checked the book list, declaring it "Kind of tame."
His Father picked up the list, "We'll have to go to Flourish and Blotts for these."
"I can take him on Saturday," commented his wife. "I need to go to Diagon Alley anyway. I swear, my dress robe has completely gone to pieces."
---
"There's moments in your life that make you, that set the course of who you're going to be. Sometimes they're little, subtle moments. Sometimes... they're not.
Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are going to come. You can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that counts. That's when you find out who you are. You'll see what I mean."
- Angelus/Whistler, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
---
When you're a ten-year-old girl, you can't wait to be eleven. You're sick of your small school, your older sisters taunting and most of all, you want to make yourself shine, to stand up and be somebody.
So when she hit eleven, Lily Evans was very excited. She had a birthday party, with cake and presents and in the end, she had a lovely day. So much so that she didn't even notice the owl hooting away on her front lawn.
Several weeks later when she finished school, promising to stay in touch with friends that were going to other schools and chatting excitedly to people going to her own, she didn't notice another owl, swooping around.
In actual fact the only time Lily noticed anything out of the ordinary was when she came down for breakfast in late July to notice an owl coming flying through the kitchen window and land on the table in front of her cereal.
Ignoring her sister's screams at having a 'rodent with wings' on her breakfast table, she reached over to find an odd letter that was grasped in her hand. On the front it had: Lily Evans, the Kitchen Table and her house address. Mystified She opened the letter and read aloud the parchment in her hand:
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, 1st Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Miss Lily Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We hope to receive your owl shortly.
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress."
"What a joke," snorted her elder sister.
"Honestly," commented her mother. "What will these children think of next?"
And into the trash it went, leaving Lily Evans only to wonder who could be so precise to know she where she was.
---
In a house on the outskirts of London, the letter was given a very different reception.
There in his bedroom, James Potter was trying stubbornly to get his hair to stay down. It was refusing to and was really getting on his nerves. Anyone strolling past the door of his room would her the occasional muttering of "Stay down, damn you!" or sometimes even a "Would it kill you to sit down?"
Finally, he just gave up and went down stairs. As in most households, by ten o'clock the breakfast was already being made. What was different were simple little things like the odd elf running in and out on occasion or the dishes seeming to do themselves. But in a magic household, these things were normal too.
Walking into the kitchen, James said a grumbled "Morning," to his father sitting at the table and went the sink where the toast was sitting, along with some unguarded cakes.
An owl came through the window of this house too, but instead of a jumping, the young man simply put a bronze coin in the pocket the bird was carrying and retrieved the three things from its grasp.
"Posts here," he said, reaching for a pumpkin muffin.
His mothers hand seemingly whipped out of nowhere, retrieving the post and giving him a gentle slap on the hand. "Not till they're cool."
She looked through the papers: The Daily Prophet, Junk Mail and.
"Look what I seem to have got," she said teasingly, holding up the envelope with her sons name on it.
James suddenly grinned, "Mum, give it here!"
She took a step backwards, "And oh look," she said, waving it at her husband who'd already reached for the Prophet. "The Hogwarts seal."
"Mum!" whined James, swiping for it.
"Magic word, James." She said gently. "We don't just take things in this house, we ask nicely."
"Accio?"
"Hilarious, James." "I thought so," commented the young man. "Please can I have it?"
She handed it over and James practically ripped it open. He read through, and then checked the book list, declaring it "Kind of tame."
His Father picked up the list, "We'll have to go to Flourish and Blotts for these."
"I can take him on Saturday," commented his wife. "I need to go to Diagon Alley anyway. I swear, my dress robe has completely gone to pieces."
---