The Change
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. And my sequel to Goddesses at Hogwarts will soon be up. Don't worry, fans.
Lily Evans was not a shy scared child too frightened to look in the mirror. But unlike her sister Petunia, it was not a huge factor in her life. Her sister looked in the mirror almost all the time—looking to see if her hair was good, and her makeup, for, at thirteen, Petunia wore makeup almost constantly. Their parents didn't agree. But what? They didn't stop Petunia.
So that day was strange, for Lily caught a passing glance at her reflection in a mirror, and blinked in surprise.
Lily knew her reflection well, though she didn't use the mirror often. She'd had auburn hair, veering towards ginger. Her eyes were green, and she had a whole set of freckles dotting her nose—brown ones that her sister teased her unmercifully about. But that wasn't what she saw.
Her hair, shoulder length, was auburn now, a wonderfully rich shade of red-brown, and it had just the hint of a wave, just a little. Her skin was a wonderful creamy shade, and the little golden brown freckles that dusted it were not the ones her sister teased her about. But what were most strange were her eyes . . . a little darker, deeper, alluring and mysterious. The colour was not one flat shade of green. It was emerald, flecked with gold and forest green. The long lashes that shaded them only added to the mystery.
She stared, and her reflection stared back at her.
Then she blinked, nearly screamed this time.
Her ears were pointed. Definitely pointed. Like faeries in books. They winked from under her hair teasingly.
What was she?
This was a secret. An awful strange secret. But Lily, at nine, was capable of keeping her secrets better than the Sphinx. Older than her age, Lily knew—and told—strange things. But this was a secret. At least until she figured out what she was.
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Lily found out half a year later. She was ten now, and her age was slowly catching up to her appearance. Her mother didn't notice, nor her father. And Petunia was too caught up with her newest boyfriend to care. And no one noticed at school. They hated her there, hated her little light frame and the small knowing eyes. And Petunia hated her. Petunia counted for a lot.
So she was glad when she went with Petunia (but that couldn't be helped) to her grandmother for two weeks. Grandma was Lily's favourite grandmother, and she loved her cookies.
True to Grandma, she gave her the best of times. She gave her a huge room for herself, with a large double bed covered with soft light green sheets. The large soft, light green, plushy carpet and huge windows with their matching colour lacy curtains was luxurious to Lily. And the white chest-of-drawers, bedside table and the wardrobe were wonderful. And best of all was the large white bookcase filled with tons of her favourite books.
Lily was overjoyed. Her house was nice, but it was the love, and the wide open space that Lily loved. No one ever gave her that kind of space. She hated being confined. And another she loved was the fact that her room was on the top floor. In the last half year, she loved being up, high from the ground, very much.
The first couple of things she did were utter madness. She hugged her grandmother, took her cookies upstairs, dropped her bags and bounced on her bed completely joyous. Then she began to read a book from her bookcase.
Her grandmother watched her happy grandchild. She loved this little girl. She had her eyes, the same green eyes. She was wonderful. Yet so fey, so withdrawn. So her two weeks had to be a slice of heaven.
They were. For the first week, Lily did nothing but run wild. While Petunia locked herself into a room, and talked hours on the phone, to some unknown boyfriend, Lily ran wild. In the large field behind grandma's house grew lilies. And in the wonderfully big garden. So Lily picked lilies for grandma, who laughed at her not so little granddaughter so happy, and getting fatter.
Best of all, she loved the large rock in the field, that after a few scraped knees she found was fun to climb on and lie flat on her back, watching the perfect of arch of blue above. Sometimes, she squinted her eyes and looked at the brilliant sun, sometimes at dusk she watched the purply sky.
That Saturday though, something happened. That week, Lily was feeling wilder, more adventurous, happy. She wanted to escape, go UP. UP was important.
Lily fell asleep that night early. Her head hurt, her back hurt, she hurt. Her large bed was comfortable, and usually she slept through the night. She did, for most of it. It was such a dreamless black sleep that when she woke to real colours she was happy. But why did she wake an hour before dawn? She didn't know.
She got up, chilled, and decided that a book would be nice. She tiptoed across the floor, not wanting to wake anyone. But suddenly she was warm. Curious, and almost instinctively, she put the book, The Arabian Nights on her bed and crept to the mirror.
This was more shocking than the first mirror image. Or the ones that followed, with her eyes lengthening, her rib cage deepening, slightly.
This time, she saw wings.
She nearly screamed, in fact she started with a gasp. Then calming her frightened self she went to work on her appearance.
The wings grew from her back, next to her shoulder blades. They were also slightly angled up. They were large, near eight feet in span. The white feathers, pale green at the tip, shimmered iridescently with sprinklings of silver and gold. At present though, she looked rather mussed. Turning at an angle, she saw that when she folded them, they folded a bit like an accordion. The pale moon smiled amid pink rays outside.
Looking at herself, she noticed that her eyes were elongated, and her hands were slightly webbed. Just slightly. So, examining them, were her toes. And along the backs of her legs were feathers. On her hands too . . . just tiny feathers. She looked very much mussed, though.
Her hands flew to her wings, and she was smoothing her mussed feathers into place, watching herself in the mirror to check her placement. Finally each one was smoothed, sleek and the effect was streamlined.
She blinked. She had been preening.
She was just not human. Her hand getting her brush, she brushed her hair softly, tugging at occasional soft auburn feathers, trying not to pull them out.
This was great.
She ran to her bed, and jumped on. Then she sat down and tried to read the Arabian Nights . . . tried. Finally she gave up and tucked herself into a warm ball, and wrapped her wings around her, waiting for sunrise.
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Lily climbed silently as she could out the large window and scampered down the tree. The large full moon lit the midnight world in an eerie way making the shadows looking darker and more mysterious, and the light areas weirder and wilder. At ten, Lily gave up hopes of faeries, but tonight, she felt that the little impish things would run out and play. But in a way she belonged.
Her feet touched the soft dewy grass, and she slid down. Her wings were folded, but she unfolded them and wrapped them around her self. She was a little cold. The moon lit her up, and she looked strange and eerie, just like the little imp things she used to look for. She belonged with that night.
Just as Petunia didn't.
She saw her sister, creeping out the house, and she saw some neighbourhood boy waiting to meet her. Hand in hand, with her sister's flirtatious laugh echoing in the night, they disappeared.
She had reached the big rock. Clambering up in the dark somehow seemed easier, her wings fluttering lightly every now and then. Her heart beat strongly, more than it had that morning.
Lily found out, that morning that her wings were invisible. She figured. No one had seen them, although her grandmother's green eyes blinked at her. She had felt relieved, her feathers pressing into her back.
She was up. Somehow, she knew what she must do. Whether it was instinct or knowledge or both, she knew what she had to do. Stepping back, for it was a flat rock, she was ready.
She spread her wings, the colours glistening in the moonlight. The tips arched on the sides of her vision. Her heart began beating fast, more fast than she thought possible. She ran forward bent her knees in one fluid motion then
She jumped!
She was falling, hard, the ground rushing up. Desperately she flicked her wings, and
She soared!
She was flying, and the ground was rushing up close to her again. She flicked her wings again, and she rushed up. This was ridiculous! She kept stalling. So instead she wavered her wings, and soon she was flying on a level basis. She breathed. Her heart was beating in a steady pit pat in her ears and she could feel her wings working hard.
She was flying in a straight line, and soon she would be out of the field, something she didn't want. So, she decided, she had to turn.
She dipped her left wing, and sure enough, she turned to the left. She tried going back straight.
Fluff, she thought, I'm not getting it.
After a while though, she managed to get the whole thing right. After landing on the grass, and trying again, she realized that she could take off from flat surfaces, though not easily.
She would try again the next day.
So Lily tried again the next day. She was getting better, and better. Then one night, she saw a person at the end of the field.
"Grandma," she managed, dropping her wings and landing.
"Hello dear. I see you can fly."
Lily felt herself turning ghastly pale. But she couldn't lie. "Well, yes, Grandma."
Her grandmother smiled. "That's nice. Your great grandma, my mother, looked just like you. And she could fly—I'd see her in the moonlight. So dear, let me tell you—your wings become more visible as the moon waxes, and invisible as it wanes. You'll have strange powers, but those you discover for yourself."
She stared at her grandmother, then rushed into her arms, giving her a big hug. She loved her grandmother so much. When she went home, she had these wonderful weeks to think on.
It was sad to leave, but she knew that she had to. But little did she know the wonders that were awaiting her.
A sudden inspiration hit me one day, in the form of some annoyingly idea flinging muses. Please review and say what you think. It could be interesting.
