Disclaimer: Everything you recognise in this story belongs to J. K. Rowling. I own only October, the sorting hat songs, any other new characters, and the plot. Please don't sue me!

Chapter one- In the Beginning -

"Lily sweetie, breakfast!" Mrs. Evans called from the kitchen.

"Coming Mom!" Lily replied as she bounded down the stairs, pulling her dark red curls into a messy bun.

"Happy Birthday, honey!" Lily's parents chorused as she helped herself to some homemade chocolate chip pancakes and a glass of milk.

"Morning Petunia." Lily said cheerfully.

"Morning." Petunia grumbled back from across the table.

It was easy to say that Lily and her sister were not exactly the best of friends. Truth be told, Petunia was actually quite jealous of her younger sister. Petunia, although not terribly ugly, had a very long neck and was not very smart. Lily on the other hand did very well in school and was stunning in appearance. She had bright green eyes and red hair falling in loose curls down to her waist. She was slim and also very fair with a few freckles dusting her nose and cheeks.

As today was Lily's 11th birthday and a hot and sunny day, Lily thought that things couldn't get much better, but to her utter delight, indeed they did. After the breakfast dishes had all been cleared away, Lily set into opening the pile of presents her parents had placed in front of her. She received several things that she liked very much, but her favourite was the last and most unusual. Beneath the new clothes, art supplies, books, and punching gloves (Lily did karate), there lay an envelope. It was made of a thick yellowish parchment and in emerald green ink it was addressed to her; Miss Lily Evans.

Lily, thinking this was just another birthday card, opened the letter without a second thought. When she finally realised what was written, she gave a small squeak before passing the letter over to her rather curious parents who then scanned the page themselves.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, supreme
mugwump, International Confed. Of wizards.)

Dear Miss Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress

P.S. Miss Evans, seeing as you are a muggle (non-magic person) born witch, a ministry official will be popping by at 12:00 noon on August 9th to help you with your supplies.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Lily's mother exclaimed.

"We have a witch in the family!" Her father piped in.

"What a FREAK!" Petunia screamed.

"Now Petunia, that isn't a nice thing to say." Declared Mrs. Evans.

"Exactly! Now go to your room." Mr Evans bellowed.

With that, Petunia trudged angrily up the stairs muttering evilly under her breath as Lily and her parents continued talking.

"So Lily, the ministry official won't be here until tomorrow and therefore we have the whole day to do whatever you wish!" said a very exuberant and rather excited Mrs. Evans.

"Well Mum," Lily startred, "I would kind of like to go to the beach. After all it is really hot outside!"

"What a wonderful idea." Mr. Evans proclaimed.

"Yes, I shall pack a picnic while you two get petunia and change into your suits." Exclaimed Lily's mom who was already bustling around the kitchen and 'that nice big watermelon she had picked up just yesterday'.

Lily ran upstairs, told Petunia to start getting ready and then proceeded into her room to find her bathing suit. Five minutes later she was wearing her new apple green bathing suit and her new sarong with the pink orchids. Finally, she slipped on her flip-flops, grabbed some sunscreen and was ready to go.

At the beach, Lily had a wonderful time; She swam, ate, and lazed about in the sun. it was just as she reached for another slice of melon, - and saw a group of children laughing together - that she was suddenly filled with painful and lonely memories.

'I wonder, she thought, will things be different at Hogwarts?' Lily wondered. You see, even though lily tried to look on the bright side of everything, she still had to admit that for the past few years, she had bee quite lonely due to her lack of friends. When she had been younger she had fit in perfectly with the other children. They got along great talking about castles and unicorns, pretending they had magical powers. The other thought Lily she was cool when she sent sparks flying around the room one- day. They thought she was until they started to grow up. Lily's old friends gradually began to forget their childhood ideas and shunned Lily when she refused to do the same. That was what set Lily apart from other people her age; she just could not bring herself to stop believing in magic.

Oh well. Lily thought to herself as she drifted back from her memories. Even if she didn't make any new friends, she would at least she would be learning about and living in a world that she always knew existed.

"At least I'll be able to get away from Petunia for a while," she said softly as she jumped into the ocean splashing her sister with the refreshing, salty liquid
* * * *

That night, when the Evans family returned home, they were all quite worn out. They ate a quick family supper of barbecued hamburgers and salad before going their separate ways to relax.

After supper, Lily went upstairs to take a shower. She wanted to wash the salt water out of her hair and she needed a chance to think about everything that had happened that day.

It was 40 minutes later that Lily walked out of her bathroom in her pyjamas, with the faint smell of apple blossoms coming from her still damp curls. She just could not believe that she was going to be studyiing magic.

Lily decided that she needed to sort out her thoughts by writing them down, so she got out her new diary and put down the first entry.

August 8th /72

Dear Diary,

It's me, Lily. Today was the most exciting day I've had in my life. This morning I got a letter with my birthday presents and it said I was a witch! I can't believe it! I get to go to a new school and study magic. Maybe people will be nice there and I'll have some friends again. Anyway I have to go to sleep now. I'll write more later.

Love, Lily

That night Lily went to sleep thinking about her new life and the next day.
* * * *

The next morning, lily woke u and started getting ready. She put her hair in two braids and pulled on an emerald T-shirt and a pair of white shorts before going down to breakfast.

" Morning Daddy!" Lily said to her father who nodded from behind his newspaper.

After breakfast, lily went upstairs to her room to read until the ministry official arrived. Lily was so engrossed in 'The Fellowship of the Ring ' that she had no idea that it was already 12:00 until she heard a faint pop and her mother's shriek coming from below.

She ran to the living room to see what was going on. To her complete surprise, she saw her mother standing next to a young man with flaming red hair.

"Hello lily," said the man, "My name is Arthur Weasly, and I'll be showing you around magical London today."

"Hello Sir." Lily replied politely, about to burst from containing her excitement.

"How will we be getting to London today?" Mrs. Evans asked before being informed that they would be taking a ministry vehicle.
* * * *

Before Lily could take in the previous events, she and her mother were being led into a small, dingy pub that appeared to be squished in between two other buildings on the busy street.

"Where are we?" Lily asked as they walked into the little pub.

"This, my dear, is the Leaky Cauldron." Mr. Weasly replied. "Hi Tom!" he called to the bartender as they passed through a room packed with witches, wizards, and from what she had read in books, Lily was pretty sure she could identify a few hags.

Lily followed her mother and Mr. Weasly out through the backdoor of the pub and soon she found herself staring up at the brick wall in an alley.

"This," Mr. Weasly stated, "Is how to get to Diagon Alley," and with that, he took a thin piece of wood (Lily guessed this was his wand) out of his pocket and tapped the wall 3 times. Lily watched in amazement as the wall melted into an archway that lead onto a bustling cobble stoned street. There were people everywhere. 'Wow' Lily thought to herself as she walked through the busy crowds and up to a snowy white building.

"This is Gringott's bank," Mr. Weasly began to explain. "It's run by goblins so it's very safe. Nobody messes with the goblins, or their tunnels."

"Did you say tunnels?" Mrs. Evans asked, "And . . .and goblins?" she choked out.

"Um yes, . . .about that, . . . heh heh," Mr. Weasly stuttered before going into a lengthy explanation of underground vaults and some not so friendly creatures. When Mr. Weasly was finished, the three of them went inside the bank and proceeded to change Lily's muggle money into the curious looking galleons, sickles and knuts. 'So these are goblins,' Lily mused as they walked back out to the crowds, and began looking for her school supplies.

"What do you need to buy Lily?" her mum inquired as Mr. Weasly led them into a shop with a little swinging sign that read Flourish and Blotts.

"Let's see," Lily responded, going down the list that had come with her letter. "Um, let's see . . .for books I need, The Standard Book of Spells (grade1), A History of magical Theory, A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, Magical Drafts and Potions, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and The Dark Forces: A guide to Self-Protection." Lily reeled off before starting to look around.

About 15 minutes later, the three of them left for the next shop with all other new school books, quills, and parchment, as well as some other books that she had picked up for her own enjoyment. Next, they were off to get her robes. As they walked into, Madam Malkin's Robes for all Occasions, a squat little witch came bustling over and asked Lily if she was for Hogwarts. When Lily nodded that she was, Madam Malkin began scrambling about measuring, flicking her wand and fetching different hats.

"Thank you," Lily called to the witch as they prepared to leave.

"Your welcome love," Madam Malkin returned as she watched them depart for potion ingredients and other necessities for Lily's oncoming year in the magical world.

Eventually, after all the supplies had been bought, the three shoppers paid another visit to Gringott's. this time they went to Lily's new vault to deposit some extra money.

"That was so much fun!" The read-head screamed to her parents the minute she returned home.

That night, Lily fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She had had a very enjoyable yet exhausting day. She was so excited about Hogwarts, but she welcomed the rest and good dreams all the same.