Disclaimer: I do not own Lily, James, Hogwarts, Diagon alley or any other random stuff that you were going to sue me for owning.
A Little Bit of Magic
~Chapter 1 ~ A Normal Girl ~
Lily Evans had just gotten off the phone to her grandmother. It was rather an odd call. Her grandmother had requested to meet her immediately in the centre of London. "Come alone," she had said. "And don't mention a thing to that so called sister of yours. She'll only cause trouble."
Lily was puzzled. She hardly remembered Grandmother Evans, and was surprised that she would want to talk to her, especially alone. However, Lily, at ten years of age, was exceptionally curious, and got ready quickly to go before her sister asked were she was off to.
Lily was now waiting in a very odd part of town. There were many empty shops, the cobblestones which made up the narrow streets were uneven, and the passers by were dressed quite peculiarly. She was trying not to stare, but men in capes, children with strange possessions, and one woman who, with green hair, looked like she was going through more than a bad hair day, just caught her eye. She was starting to get edgy when she saw a woman coming towards her, with the same eyes as her father. Something, a little voice inside her head told her this was her grandmother. After polite introductions, in which Lily's grandmother firmly told her it was 'Gran', they set off in the direction of a small pub, called the Leaky Cauldron. It was just as cobwebby as the rest of the stores seemed along that street. After ordering two hot drinks, Gran began telling Lily the reason why she was here.
Gran's Story
"My darling Lily. You must be wondering why I have asked to meet you now, after all these years. I have always tried to distance my self from my family, but now I find it is esentitial for me to see you. It all started when I met Harold Macmillan. We fell instantly in love, and after a few months, we decided to get married. That, I'm afraid was when the trouble began. For I had a secret, I was a witch." Lily opened her mouth, but her gran silenced her "Let me go on. I was not ashamed of this fact but I realized that society would not accept me. It was the time when the world was very superstitious and people did not understand us. I didn't tell anyone of my true identity, not even Harold. That was my greatest mistake. He would've understood. I know he would've. An uprising of bad wizards came that year. They came and attacked all the magic folk that they could. Unfortunlty we were such folk. Poor Harold did not know what was happening. He thought they were ordinary robbers. As a result he was killed." Lily wasn't able to utter a single word. Gran went on "I promised myself then I would forget about my magic and live life as a muggle, a non magic person. I met another man, your grandfather, Bert Splatt. We married, had three children, you Mother being one of them, a lived a normal life. I never touched my wand, or made any contact with the magic world again. I did no want to bring Bert into this dangerous world. However, now, I have discovered that my powers have skipped a generation, and you my darling are a witch."
Lily was thunderstruck. "But… but…what… how… why…I mean ME? A witch? But I'm just a normal girl. I mean sure it's not Petunia? She's evil enough to be a witch, but not me, surely."
"Lillian Evans. Didn't you listen to anything I explained to you before? Do you really think I am evil? Witches aren't evil. Wizards aren't evil. They are magical people. And you are a magical person."
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On the train home, Lily just stared at the envelope her grandmother had given her, oblivious to everyone around her. She hadn't really listened to anything her gran had said after the news had been broken. Even now, the shock hadn't completely worn off. She still just couldn't take it in. How could she have lived 10 years of her life with out knowing? She had always been a …well …normal girl. She wasn't beautiful, but she certainly wasn't ugly. She was reasonably bright, but not a genius, and her friends… well they were normal too.
Suddenly, Lily felt a tap on her shoulder. She jumped her many wild thoughts broken. She was not expecting that. After she recovered, she turned and saw a rather nice looking guy standing there with blond hair falling over his face. A million thoughts ran through her head: 'does he like me?' 'I'd be the first of my friends to have a boyfriend' 'I can take him to the graduation dance and I can show Erin and Sally that I'm not hopeless'. She amazingly managed to calm her head long enough to realize that he was looking at her not with love and affection, but with raised eyebrows and a quizzical expression, like she had suddenly turned into a blue blob
"Just wanna tell ya that ya've got somethang red stuck to ya back"
"Oh" said Lily blushing "um…. thanks"
However, the blond boy was gone. Lily put her head in her hands. "Why does life always happen to me?" she sighed.
The rest of her train ride was almost uneventful, if you except tripping over a lady's designer hand bag, and as a result causing a businessman to spill his drink on a snoring old man, as she was heading towards to the door to detrain. After hurriedly moving off the train to avoid a rather wet grandpa and a woman upset about a smudge on her bag, Lily walked home, relying on her legs to trace the familiar route instead of her brain, which was in a quite dazed state. After somehow managing to find her way to her room, Lily realized that staring at the envelope wasn't going help open it. She took a deep breath and unsealed it. The letter read:
Dear Lily
I'm sure today must have come as a great shock to you, and I'm very sorry but there simply wasn't any other way. However, I am equally sure you did not pay any attention to me after I told your about you family history. Therefore, I've written it all here in this letter. Firstly and most importantly, do not say a word of this to anyone. Not even your family. I will tell your mother when the time is right. She will not find it easy to take, as she has been lied to all her life. Your friends will not understand either. I will show you real friends like you. I would like you to meet some very good friends of mine, the potters. I am Melinda's godmother. They also have a son who I think is about your age. I will call you when I am ready. You will be starting at a school called 'Hogwarts' next year. It is a school for Witches and Wizards. You will get more information later. Remember, not a word to anyone.
All my love, Your Gran
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Lily had heard no news from her gran, or any other indication that more had been done for some time. Even at times, Lily wondered if she had dreamt it all. At these times, she had to go to her secret drawer and take her letter to remind herself this was the real world, and it was happening now. Lily was having no trouble respecting her gran wishes and keeping her true self a secret. She knew she couldn't just go to her parents while they were eating dinner "That sounds like an interesting day gardening Mum. Oh and I forgot to tell you, I just found out that I'm a witch" Her father would probably choke on a Brussel sprout! And as for her friends, crooked pointy hats, broomsticks and black cats were the only images of a witch that they had. She would be an instant outcast. She shuddered to think of what Sally and Erin, two stuck-up girls who would make her life total hell if they caught hold of it, would do; why just a week ago they gave her the nickname undie-girl just for wearing a T-shirt with the label 'BONDS' on it.
Her eleventh birthday came and went, still no news from her gran. Then suddenly, one day she got a letter. It was very lucky Petunia had a ballet lesson as she always opened Lily's mail, and sometimes even hid it. It read like this:
Lily-
I am going to talk to your mother on Wednesday. Meet at the same place Thursday 4pm.
-Gran
Lily saw little of her mother Wednesday evening. When she arrived home, her father told her she was sick, but a few hours later, after her parents had a little conference, her Dad told her that her mother was in shock, but he himself was very proud. He had always lived a normal life, and finally his daughter was special. 'A witch for a daughter' he kept repeating to himself smiling in disbelief. Petunia was sleeping over at a friends place coincidently, so she knew nothing of this. Lily was very pleased about this. She knew Petunia would have to find out some day, but she hoped that day would be a long time away.
Lily met with her gran the next day. "Flower, I mentioned I want you to meet some of your own kind. Are you free this Saturday? I'm sure you will just love the Potters."
Lily knew she was free on Saturday. She was free any night of the week. She would've loved to have a social life, but it just wasn't happening.
"Yep, I'm totally free."
"Fantastic! Come on flower, we're going shopping"
"Shopping?" Lily repeated with an expression of disgust
"I've never liked shopping. Mum has given up trying to drag me round the mall. Shoe shop after shoe shop, each with the same brown, boring shoes. Like, get a life"
"Flower, believe me this isn't just shoe shopping. I'm taking you to diagon alley."
Lily followed her gran through the Leaky Cauldron, and into a little garden. There, she pulled out a shiny stick and started tapping the wall. The wall rapidly jumbled itself to reveal a doorway, through which they walked. "Flower, welcome to Diagon Alley". "WOW" Lily breathed. Many weird and wonderful things surrounded her.
"This is where we will buy your school supplies when the time is right. You haven't got your letter yet have you?"
"No" Lily answered dreamily taking in her surroundings. "This is so amazing."
"I would like to get you a dress for Saturday. The Potters are very old friends of mine and I would like nothing more to be proud of you. I'm sure I will be. However, I'd love you to wear a pretty dress and look like the beautiful flower I know you are."
Lily smiled. "Gran, I will make sure you are proud of me."
As her Gran led her to 'glitz 'n' glam for goblins, ghosts and girls', Lily saw cauldrons, spell books and magic wands, things she had only read about in children story books and had never thought could be real.
Once in the shop, her gran called the shop assistant, whose Nametag read Tamekia, over and enquired what dresses would be suitable for Lily. A few minutes later, Lily was in a long, emerald green swishy dress with gold glitter around the neckline. She didn't even have to go into the change room, as Tamekia was able to change her by a flick of her wand.
"Perfect" her gran said. "I am going to be so proud of you on Saturday' Tamekia smiled at Lily.
"What's happening on Saturday?" She asked. Lily's gran explained how they were going to meet the Potters.
"If you like, you could bring her in just before, and I'll do her hair and make-up. She'll look absolutely gorgeous!"
"That would be utterly incredible, thanks!" Lily's eyes sparkled as she spoke.
'Ok flower, let's get an ice-cream. There is this great place called 'Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour'. I'm personally fond of a raspberry sundae."
"Borrrrrrring! Laughed Lily, and promptly ordered a chocolate and mint ice cream, topped with caramel swirls, choc flakes, marshmallows, coconut, drizzled with strawberry sauce. They then spent the rest of the day browsing around the shops of diagon alley. Lily learnt about gallons, sickles and knuts, flipped though many interesting books, and just looked at the passing people in awe. She was really one of them. It was so hard to believe. It certainly had been an interesting few months, but even though she was a witch, Lily was still a normal girl. For now…
(AN)So everybody, did you like that? This is my first fan fic, so please review and let me know how I can improve. I promise Lily will grow-up soon, and James will appear in the next chapter. It does get more interesting, but I needed this chapter to set the scene. So thanks for reading, and I'll try to update soon. I know what will happen in the next chapter as I spent ½ an hour this morning lying in a scanner, so I had a lot of time to think. So REVIEW please!!!!!!!!!!!