The REAL story of Lily Evans and James Potter
By: Chelsea
It all started out as most stories do, on a beautiful sunny day in England, though the story does not begin in a tall, magnificent castle, but in a small, three bedroom home in Surrey. It was a lazy July day, where the heat was almost too much to handle, and nobody dared to step out of their wonderfully air-conditioned homes. Actually, it was more than just any July day; it was July 20th, which meant it was Petunia Evans' thirteenth birthday.
However, the birthday girl in question was struggling to be a mature teenager, and, like most teenagers, was still snoring away in plush-pink bedroom, with her blind shut, so no curious birds would annoy her.
The parents, Mr. Daniel Evans and Mrs. Cathleen Evans, were sipping decaf coffee at their plastic green kitchen table peacefully, the radio playing a soft classical tune in the background, preparing for four o'clock, when all the neighborhood kids would arrive at their home for Petunia's birthday barbeque.
Sadly, though, their peace was momentarily disrupted by an enormous pounding on their wooden stairs, just out of site of from the kitchen door. They hadn't the faintest idea what on earth the noise could be, until the newest addition to the family bounded into the kitchen, barking playfully, and scrambling for the backdoor to be let out to do his business.
The second newest addition, not a dog, but a small girl of age ten, came bounding along soon after to let him out. She was the youngest Evans daughter, by the name of Lily, which, no, was no short for Lillian, or Lilac, or anything else, for it was simply Lily.
Lily was quite cute, the older girls would always coo at her like they would to a little child, with her bright red hair, big green eyes, and the splatter of freckles across the bridge of her nose, she could have been Wendy. (A/N: For anybody who doesn't know who I am talking about, I mean the logo of Wendy's Restaurant.)
"I'll let him out!" She cried, scrambling towards the door before either parent could move. Duke was her dog, and her dog only, she always reminded them. Just like Cleopatra was Petunia's cat only and Rudolph was the family's dog only.
She swung the door open, and Duke went flying out into the yard, although something else came crashing in, right smack into Lily. "Oomph!" She cried, as all her breath got knocked out of her.
Getting back onto her feet, she peered at the animal closely. "Why, it's an owl! How strange!"
"Don't be silly, my flower, owls don't come out during daylight." Her father chortled; his bald held which had once held brown hair shone under the kitchen light.
"Well, they must! It is an owl!" Lily argued, pointing down at the poor owl that looked absolutely dazed, confused, and above all else, miserable. "Oh, you poor thing. Would you like some water?" Lily cooed, she had always loved animals, as she got out a tiny dish from the cupboards, and turned on the sink. The owl hooted feebly.
Daniel Evans look perplexed at the creature sitting on his kitchen floor, for it was an owl, and it had something tied to one of its legs at that! Bending down, he quickly untied the string to find a letter addressed to Lily! Sharing a look with his wife, who gave him an amused look and left the room, he set it down onto the kitchen table for Lily to find, and followed her.
Lily, meanwhile, had also poured some of Duke's food into another dish, and set both food and water in front of the owl. She had never seen an owl so close before; actually, she had never seen an owl!
After it had had its fill, she put the dishes in the sink, and turned her attention to the letter addressed to her on the table. "Who would be writing to me? Especially by owl mail!"
She looked at the back; it bore a coat of arms, of some foreign place that she did not recognize. It had a lion, a snake, a badger, and a raven surrounding a capital letter H. "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus." She read aloud. From her little studying of Latin, she thought it said something along the lines of 'Never Tickle A Sleeping Dragon.'
Child curiosity taking a hold of her, she eagerly tore open the envelope to find a neatly written letter in green ink on parchment.
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she read in an astounded voice. "Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards).
Dear Miss L. 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, equipment, and instructions on how to get to Diagon Alley, where you will purchase your school things.
Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress."
She finally exhaled after holding her breath in after quite some time. She couldn't believe it! There were no such things as witches, and wizards, were there? Wait-hold on a moment. Order of Merlin? That was in a fairy tale she had read before, Merlin the Wizard from the Sword in the Stone. He wasn't real, was he? "What does it mean, await my owl? I certainly don't have a..."
Her gaze flickered to the not-so poor thing perched on the edge of the counter.
"I'm a witch." She said, seeing how it sounded. "I'm a w-i-t-c-h." She spelt. Excitement kicked in. "MUMMY! DADDY! I'M A WITCH!" she cried, running into the living room, forgetting about poor Duke whining at the door.
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Let us just say that Petunia did not have a very happy birthday. Oh, it continued on as usual, with over thirty children ages ranging from 4 to 14, but the star of the show had an ever growing spot of jealousy in the pit of her stomach.
She had combed back her thin, stick straight blonde hair into a rough braid, her blues eyes glistening. Her boyfriend, Rodney Simpkins had even given her a kiss when he came. She had tons of beautiful presents, and many $20 bills to spend at the Mall, but what she wanted more than anything was to be a witch like Lily, like they were in the fairy tales she liked. Where they were the prettiest, most extravagant, and most likeable characters, aside from the beautiful Princess, and the handsome Prince, of course.
But no, the younger sister got her dearest wish, while Petunia was average-looking, average-intelligence, average-everything, Lily got to be different. She wasn't shy around most people, she didn't have to work at keeping extra weight off-yet, and she wasn't moody, like Petunia could be, for no apparent reason. She blamed the sign she was born under-Cancer. It had created the homebody in herself.
Lily was a Sagittarius, though born December 17, rather late in the year, her sign made her outgoing, and friendly, and kind, but her red hair made her temper. Even so, everybody still loved Lily, even when she got angry because it was 'so adorable' in their words, but when Petunia was moody, or actually angry it was 'go to your room to cool down, Pet' as her mom would always say.
She had always been jealous of her sibling, and she probably always will be, until she perfected her life. She silently made a list of what she could do to perfect herself, as she ate her chocolate ice cream cake.
Do something with her limp, lifeless blonde strands, such as make them bouncy or curly like Lily's.
Once again have a perfectly clear complexion, also like Lily's, pimples always ruined her day.
Get rid of her braces, but not until her teeth were absolutely straight, or else she would never live it down.
Lose weight, she should start dieting immediately, but she could not tell her parents, for they already thought her too skinny at 5'6" and weighing only 117lbs. Ha, real beauty meant looking like Twiggy.
She stopped eating her cake immediately. She would soon be the prettiest, most outgoing, most wonderful person on the block, and she would get to rub it all into her sister.
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Two weeks into August, Lily found herself finally able to go to Diagon Alley, and to get there she would have to follow the instructions exactly, something that at 10, she was not very good at. She had to go by herself, seeing as though her mum would not be able to get a day off until 15 September at this point, so she could not afford to wait any longer.
Her mum drove her to the train station on her way to work, though she loved her daughter very much, and was very proud of having a witch in the family, she couldn't afford to play hooky from work, since Daniel's medical bills took up much of their income already.
Lily picked up a ticket for a train that would be going to London in 5 minutes time, so she waved goodbye to her mum, and went onto the train. She watched as everything swiftly passed by from her window seat in the train.
After a while, she found herself on a busy street in London, and absolutely lost. She hadn't the faintest idea where 'The Leaky Cauldron' was, and hadn't the faintest idea where to look. That is, until she spotted a tiny, grubby looking pub, with a sign that said 'The Leaky Cauldron' in faint printing. She noticed that none of the passers-by were even giving it one glass, which made her fairly sure that none but herself could see it, until a roaring young gentlemen, who only looked around twenty-five, made his way out of the dark doorway, and stepped drunkenly into the street.
Nervously, she entered the pub, which was full of many various sorts of people. There were two young boys, who looked no older than Petunia's age giggling away at something they had trapped in a corner, a one-eyed witch stirring what looked like mucus, the bartender, and several drunken men arguing angrily at the top of their lungs. 'Drunk, already?' she thought.
"Aye," said a man behind her. She had not realized she had spoken aloud. He was darkly handsome, and quite tall, wrapped all around in a long robe. "Just lost their jobs, they did, so they have reason to be. I pity them; I'd not know what to do if I ever lost my job."
"Sir?" she spoke up. "Where do you work?"
"At the Ministry. Where else but there?" He growled, pointing at his badge which said clearly, 'Ministry Worker.' Her eyes bulged, but he gave a roaring laugh, and abruptly it disappeared. "Don't fret, little child, I suppose you are a muggleborn, I'd best get you into Diagon Alley before dark."
Pushing her along, she soon found herself in a great Alley, where hundreds, it seemed, of witches and wizards and children bustled along, many getting ready for back-to-school. She thanked the strange man, and turned away to his wide grin, after he directed her to Gringotts, where she could exchange her 'muggle money' for 'wizard money'.
She ended up running out of Gringotts several times before finally exchanging her money. There were Goblins in there! She first went to get her robes at 'Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions'. She felt quite nervous when she entered the shop, having no one to direct her in what to do, though she quickly picked out Madame Malkin as a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.
"Hogwarts, dear?" she asked, sweetly, when Lily opened her mouth. "Got the lot in here, I have another young lady being fitted up right now."
Madame Malkin led Lily to the back of the shop, where a girl with dark black hair, and hazel eyes was standing on a footstool, while another witch pinned up her robes. Madame Malkin got Lily to stand on a footstool beside the girl, and began doing the same.
"Hullo," the girl said cheerfully. "Are you going to Hogwarts, too?"
Lily nodded.
"I'm very excited to be going there, Melissa has been lording it over me for the past two years since I was too young. She's a Hufflepuff, I hope I'm not in her house, I'd dread it. And she's on her Quidditch Team, Seeker, and she'll most likely make Team Captain when Joseph Roddick graduates, so I'd have to beg her to make the team…"
She carried on like this for a few minutes before she saw the plainly confused look on Lily's face.
"Muggleborn, eh? Sorry about that, I tend to get carried away. My name's Dorcas Meadowes, by the way."
"Lily Evans."
"Pleased to meet you," Dorcas said as she jumped off the stool, bundling her new robes in her arms. "Well, I'd best be going or else my mum'll have another meltdown, she just returned from St. Mungo's yesterday…er, the hospital. So I'll see you at Hogwarts, then?"
"See you then."
Dorcas waved bye through the window, as she rushed to join a stout, dark haired woman with a permanently surprised look on her face, and another dark haired girl Lily supposed to be her sister, Melissa.
Soon Lily was done, and left the shop with her new robes. Lily found all her books at a shop called Flourish and Blotts. It was a fascinating store with books stacked from the floor to the roof, each containing something that, to her, was amazing. Some books were as large as paving stones, others as small as postage stamps. Some were full of peculiar symbols; some had nothing in them at all. In the end, she finally managed to pry herself away, and got the books she needed. She got her pewter cauldron, a set of scales, and a collapsible brass telescope. She went to the Apothecary, which was full of potion supplies, some interesting, and others disgusting. Lastly, she went to get her wand at 'Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC.'
She left the shop feeling as if every secret she had ever kept had been revealed by that man's eyes. She dearly loved her wand however, 'Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work.' The creepy man had said.
After she had went to a place that sold ice cream, and thankfully they still had normal flavors that Lily was used to, like chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry. Licking her ice cream, she made her way back down Diagon Alley, stopping every once and awhile to look into a new store she hadn't seen, once accidentally crashing into what looked like a seventh year, with light sandy blonde hair.
Making her way back out of 'The Leaky Cauldron', she bought another train ticket to head home. Soon, she was back in her bed reading blissfully through all her school books, and an extra one she had bought herself called, 'Hogwarts: A History'. It was a very fascinating read, and she finished it in less than two hours.
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Lily woke the morning she was going to leave for Hogwarts very excited, nervous, and anxious. She hadn't even looked at her ticket until this morning, and despaired, for it said 'Platform 9 ¾' on her ticket, but there was no such thing; only Platforms 9 and 10 existed, not an in-between.
She read through her textbooks one more time, maybe it had all been a very elaborate joke, she thought, sullenly. Maybe, but not very likely; nobody could pull of something that elaborate, plus hire all those actors; it was impossible.
She got her mum to drive her to King's Cross Station, and arrived 15 minutes before the 'Hogwarts Express' was supposed to leave. She tucked Jimmy into her pocket, it was an odd name for a brown-and-white cat, but she loved the name Jimmy, even though this particular Jimmy was a she. She had received the kitten from Petunia, though their mum had much to do with it, and Petunia grudgingly gave Lily the runt of the litter, scowling the whole time.
She waved goodbye to her family, and they waved back, excluding Petunia, who rolled her eyes and turned away. When they pulled away, she exhaled nervously, and tried to figure out what to do. She had pretended to be so confident, that she knew exactly where she was going. And now…
"Packed with muggles, as usual, what if someone notices for once?" A gloomy looking girl, with long black hair that had blue streaks in it, groaned. She was pushing a trolley ahead of her that held a tiny black cat, mewing persistently. "No, I'm NOT feeding you again, Éclair, you selfish little thing."
"That's what you get for naming it after a pastry," a much younger looking girl with dirty blonde hair said cheerfully. She only looked about a year older than Lily, and was also pushing a trolley, though it held a beautiful Snowy Owl.
The last girl with them had bright blonde hair and a bright smile on her face. "Oh, you know, those dearest muggles never notice anything, bless them. You're just mad today because Priscilla Murphy got Head Girl instead of you, Tatiana Winthrop."
"It's Tibby to you, Shepry," the first girl said, threateningly. "Only mum can call me Tatiana. You're only bright because you are a Hufflepuff Prefect. Stupid Hufflepuffs, they should get Head Girl, Ravenclaws should."
"No, Gryffindors," argued the youngest.
"Back out of it, Lavada." Tibby said, menacingly.
Not wanted to interrupt their family spat, Lily stayed behind, and decided to watch them go to the Platform, until another girl snuck up on her.
"Helene!" an older girl cried, and Lily spun around, missing how they got onto the Platform. She was looking directly into the face of a girl maybe two or three years younger than herself. The older girl looked apologetically at Lily, and then frowned at what must've been her younger sister. "Helene, I told you not to sneak off and scare others."
"But Marcia! She was spying! I wanted to spy, too!"
Marcia ignored Helene. "You might know now that I'm Marcia Boisvert, fourth year, Gryffindor. Anyways, this is Helene, she just turned eight. And you are first year, eh? Well, so is Vanessa, so you may see her, if she ever decides to show up." Marcia tapped her foot impatiently. "Anyways, you must be wondering how to get into the Platform. All you do is run through the barrier, between Platforms 9 and 10. Do it at a run, if you are nervous."
Marcia spoke in a calm, slow voice, as if she weighed every word before it escaped from her throat, she also had a bit of a French accent.
Lily nodded. She seemed to be getting shyer and shyer in this new world, which was most unlike her.
"Good luck! Bye!" Marcia called, dragging Helene behind her to find Vanessa.
Lily gulped, and then arranged her trolley. She took off at a run, and was surprised when she found herself on the other side of the barrier, instead of crashing into a solid barrier.
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Authors Note: Hello world! My numero deux story! Yay me! Anyways, hope you guys enjoy, I'll be updating How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days probably tomorrow or Thursday, unless my evil teachers actually give me homework in June, which is very probable, but I'll most likely get it up if not before, Friday, since it is a blessed P.D. Day, which are the best things since sliced bread. Anywho, please read and
R-E-V-I-E-W. There shouldn't be many spelling errors, since thankfully I have spell check to correct my errors, but I couldn't say the same for much else. Anyways, this'll go through all seven years and maybe after. The first one is boring, I admit, but hey, it's an intro! REVIEW and I'm out…