A/N: -:: Announcer voice::- and introducing…Bonstermonster! (No, she's not a part of ffnet so we apologize to any other 'Bonstermonsters' out there-it's not you.) She'll be helping me write this story, and she wrote almost all of this one (only small input from myself)
-also, when I posted last chapter I didn't realize I had figured out how to make italics, sorry to anyone I confused.
Disclaimer (oops I forgot this last time!): I do not own any of this; it is all property of the literature genius J.K. Rowling. I only own the plot (if there even is one) and any characters you don't recognize.
Before the Boy Who Lived
Chapter 2
Before Hogwarts: Lily
It was six in the morning and all the houses on Privet Drive were quiet and peaceful… except one… Number 2 Privet Drive was the address of the Evans family
and to say the least it was not peaceful this morning.
"EEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!!!" Came a long shriek from the direction of Lily Evans' bedroom. "PETUNIA!!!"
"Yes,
dearest Lily?" Answered her older sister Petunia Evans as she came into the
room very barely stifling a laugh and looking quite pleased with
herself.
"WHY AM I ALL WET?!?!?!"
"Goodness Lily, I have not the slightest idea why you happen to be wet."
" YES YOU DO!! IT WAS YOU WHO POURED THIS WATER ALL OVER ME!!!" Lily said with rage.
"No Lily, certainly not I. Why in the world would I do something so terrible to my lovely little sister?"
"Then pray tell what DID happen to me dearest Petunia? Was it magic?"
Lily had
regained her cool by now. Petunia shuddered. Lily knew that Petunia hated
anything to do with magic, or imagination, or absolutely anything that
was unexplainable by simple logic. So naturally she hated Lily.
Lily Evans
was undoubtedly strange and had been so ever since she could walk and talk.
Lily could see many things her friends couldn't, and odd things
always seemed to happen around her.
Once when she was just 2 years old, Petunia had taken her favorite teddy bear. Lily screamed and cried so loudly that to Petunia's-and everyone else's-surprise the bear flew out of her older sister's hand and right back to Lily.
Another
instance when Lily's parents knew that she was not a normal child was on her
7th birthday. Lily received a beautiful new dollhouse and got so excited that
purple and green sparks flew into the air right in the middle
of the living room.
Today was Lily's 11th birthday and she decided to take Petunia's little prank as a sisterly birthday present.
Lily changed out of her wet nightgown and went down stairs for breakfast with her family.
Downstairs in the kitchen, a scrumptious birthday breakfast, dozens of beautifully wrapped gifts, and Mr. and Mrs. Evans were there to meet her, after they had gone on their morning walk.
"Good morning my beautiful birthday girl", cooed Mrs. Evans as Mr. Evans gave Lily a hug and playfully rumpled her hair.
"Where is your sister? Why must she always sleep so late?" muttered Mrs. Evans as she walked out of the kitchen to call Petunia down for breakfast.
Lily thought about telling her father about the morning's fiasco but on second thought decided not to make her own day miserable by having to listen her older sister complaining about how unfair it was to be punished for something that she "didn't do".
After breakfast and opening all of her lovely gifts, it was time for Lily to choose a place to go for her special birthday outing (a birthday tradition in the Evans household).
She chose an art museum since she had a great love of anything beautiful and peaceful.
"Do we really have to go to a stupid art museum?" whined Petunia as they got into the car.
"Now Petunia", said Mr. Evans calmly, "It's Lily's birthday she gets to chose where she wants to go."
"Yes, besides", Lily piped up, "I had to go to that awful science presentation on your birthday." She stuck her finger in her mouth in disgust at the memory.
At the museum Lily headed straight for the abstract section where there was plenty of room for her imagination to run wild. She noticed one piece of art that made her think of potion bubbling over a huge red cauldron.
At this thought, Lily went into a daydream about witches and wizards, making her long, as she had done so many times before, for all her fantasies to come true. How she would love to be a witch with flowing robes and a sleek brown wand in her pocket ready pull it out whenever she might have need of magic.
"Ahh well", she sighed and walked on to see the rest of the exhibits.
Back at home there was a letter waiting for her at the front door.
"Oh wonderful!" Lily squealed, "a birthday card!"
But when
she opened the letter Lily Evans life would be changed forever...
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As she began to read the letter Lily's mouth dropped open. "Mummy, Daddy, come quickly!!!" screamed Lily.
Lily's parents came running into the living room where she was sitting on the sofa looking as if she were about to faint.
"Look at this," Lily breathed. Her mother took the letter and read:
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 Ms. 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 the necessary
books and equipment along with an explanatory letter to your parents.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July
31.
Yours sincerely,
Joan Alberich,
Deputy Headmistress
Lily was the first to regain her voice. "That's splendid!!!" she cried, "I'm a witch, I'm a witch." And she pranced around the room absolutely ecstatic that her life long fantasy had come true. It was unbelievable!
"Where is my list of books and equipment?" she asked eagerly. Mrs. Evans passed her a small piece of paper. It had many strange items on it-like a wand, a cauldron, and many other things they could not purchase in London.
"John", said Mrs. Evans, " I think we better have a look at this in the kitchen", as she picked up the explanatory letter and headed for the kitchen.
When they were the kitchen Mrs. Evans immediately unfolded the letter and read:
HOGWARTS
SCHOOL
of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Dear Parents of Lily Evans,
We
understand you are muggles (non-magic folk) and therefore may be confused as to
the
contents of the acceptance letter sent to your daughter, Lily Evans. I realize
that you may well
(and with good reason) be in disbelief regarding this news but I assure you
that there is indeed a
magical world to which most muggles are oblivious. Your daughter has shown
signs of magic and
therefore has been accepted to Hogwarts School to be trained in Witchcraft. You
will receive updates
on her grades and progress throught out the year. Considering that most of the books and equipment
on your daughter's list cannot be found in London (or any area surrounding) you must enter Diagon Alley to
purchase these items. The entrance to Diagon Alley is behind the Leaky Cauldron pub located in London, it is
placed between the bookstore and a record shop. When you enter the Leaky Cauldron please ask Henry the bartender.
He will
lead you into Diagon Alley.
Yours,
Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster of Hogwarts
Mr. and Mrs. Evans sat speechless in disbelief.
"Is this some sort of practical joke?" Mr. Evans wondered out loud.
"If it
is than I certainly didn't have anything to do with it" said Mrs.
Evans in reply.
"I just can't believe all of this," said Mr. Evans "there is no reasonable explanation. First there's a letter addressed to Lily saying that she's been accepted to a school of magic, and then the supposed headmaster assures us that there is a magical world to which non-magic people-or muggles as he put it, are oblivious. And we're expected to go along with it."
"Well, no dear" said Mrs. Evans thoughtfully "If you think about it it's not so unbelievable. Do you remember when Lily was 2 years old and Petunia took her favorite teddy bear? The bear flew right back to Lily when she started crying. And more recently, on her 7th birthday when sparks went off in the living room."
"That's true," said Mr. Evans "maybe this whole thing isn't so crazy after all."
Just than a new dilemma arose in Mrs. Evans mind. "How are we going to go about getting an owl to send a reply to the acceptance letter and even if we did have an owl we don't know the address of this Hogwarts place."
As if in answer to her problems, a loud thump sounded at the window.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans looked up to see a small brick colored owl sitting on the windowsill.
Mr. Evans got up to let the owl in. It flew through the window and onto the table where it lifted up its right leg to reveal a small roll of parchment.
As Mrs. Evans unrolled the parchment she noticed that it was much shorter than the other three letters. It read simply:
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Evans,
The owl
bearing this letter is for the use of sending a reply to your
daughter's acceptance letter. There is no need for an address. The owl that
carried this letter will know how to find me. I look forward to you seeing
Lily Evans at the Hogwarts castle on the 1st of September.
Yours,
Albus Dumbledore: Headmaster of Hogwarts
That was enough to convince both of them of the validity of the magical world.
Mrs. Evans quickly wrote a note on the back of the parchment accepting the enrollment of Lily into Hogwarts.
"I think that we should go tell our beautiful flower the good news," said Mr. Evans and with that they started out of the kitchen and into the living room where Lily was waiting.
"Can I go?!" asked Lily jumping up and down with excitement "please, please!!"
"Hold your horses," said Mr. Evans with a broad grin on his face "Of course you can go, your mother has already sent a reply accepting your enrollment"
"Oooooo thank you!" squealed Lily as she hugged both her mother and father in turn.
"When should we go to London to get all of your supplies?" asked Mrs. Evans
"Tomorrow!" yelled Lily still extremely excited
"How about Saturday" suggested Mr. Evans "That way the whole family will be able to go"
"Ok, sure" said Lily "I wouldn't want anyone to miss all of the excitement" she gave an evil little grin and added "especially not Petunia."
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By Saturday, Lily had gone through her list of books and equipment about 30 times and had decided, after careful consideration, to get a cat to take with her to Hogwarts so that she wouldn't be lonely.
"It's time to go" called Mr. Evans from the hall as he took his keys from a peg on the wall and opened the door.
Petunia was in an especially foul mood this morning, as she had been since Tuesday when Lily received her letter.
"This
is going to be one of the most splendid days of my life," thought Lily as
they got into the car and set off for London.
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Soon they were in London.
"Now that we're here" said Mr. Evans as he got out of the car "we need to find out where the book store and record shop are."
"I've already done that Dear," said Mrs. Evans patiently "They are located at the end of that street down there."
"Right you are Elizabeth" said Mr. Evans as they headed down the street
Once there, Lily was the first to spot the Leaky Cauldron.
"There it is!" she shouted to the others who were lingering behind. And almost missed it.
"This place doesn't look like much to me," said Petunia disdainfully as she came into view of the pub.
Indeed it was a very tiny grubby-looking place.
Mrs. Evans gave a look somewhere between suspicion and fear and said, "I guess we ought to go in" and led the way through the small black door.
"You three wait here" said Mr. Evans "I'll go find, uh, Henry I believe his name is" and he set of across the crowded dank little room to the counter on the other side. Mrs. Evans, Petunia, and Lily could see Mr. Evans approach the bar and begin talking to a middle aged man at the counter. A few minutes later Mr. Evans returned with the man at his side.
"Henry, I'd like you to meet my family" said Mr. Evans as they approached Mrs. Evans, Petunia, and Lily "My wife Elizabeth, my eldest daughter Petunia, and my youngest daughter Lily who will be attending Hogwarts this year"
"Pleased to meet you!" said the bartender cheerfully "Do follow me."
Henry led the way through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trashcan and a few weeds.
"Stand back please" said Tom to the Evans' as they reached the north wall of the courtyard.
And to the
surprise of everyone except Lily, he pulled out a thin grayish
wand and tapped the wall three times with the tip of it.
The brick
he had touched quivered. It wriggled. In the middle, a small hole
appeared. It grew wider and wider until, in a few seconds, they were facing
a large archway, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned
out of sight.
"There
you are" said Tom smiling at the look of amazement on the face of
each of the Evans' "Welcome to Diagon Alley!"
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Mr. Evans pulled out a pound note and tried to give it to the bartender, but he refused mumbling something like, "I'd have no use for that."
As they stepped through the archway the Evans' saw that the street was crowded with peculiar looking people in differently colored robes and pointed black hats looking into the windows of hundreds of shops with very odd names."Wow" breathed Lily
"We'd better go get our money changed out" said Mrs. Evans "Apparently wizards don't have the same frequency as us muggles. Let's look for a building that looks like a bank." and she started off down the crowded street.
They passed many shops, each selling something as unusual as the last. Cauldrons, owls, spell books, racing brooms, etc. There were even barrels outside of one shop that were labeled, bat spleen, eels' eyes and pickled dragon skin.
"Eww" said Lily as they passed the barrels "Do people really eat that stuff?!" she gave a little shudder at the thought.
The very last building on the street was a huge snow white building towering over all the little shops around it. Engraved in gigantic letters at the top of the building read: GRINGOTTS WIZARDING BANK
A tiny creature that looked like a very short man with pointy ears and long feet was standing at the huge white doors. To say the least the Evans' were rather taken aback.
Mrs. Evans looked away the second she laid eyes on it, Mr. Evans pretended not to see it, and Lily gave a tiny little squeak as they neared the creature.
Petunia on the other hand, who seemed to have been emboldened by all of the strange things she had already see that day, marched right up to the little man and said "Excuse me, but who are you, you ugly little brute?"
The creature turned to look at her with an unmistakable expression of disbelief on its face. "I think I'm the one who should be asking you that question, you pertinent little girl." it said revealing a set of sharp, ugly little teeth.
"I'm Petunia Evans" she said boldly "and I still don't know what you are."
"I am known to you wizards as a goblin, now get moving before I call security" it said "and you certainly don't want to meet them" he added with an evil glare that clearly said 'you better get away now because I'm not lying.'
Petunia understood the sign and led the way into the building.
Inside there were hundreds of goblins. Some leading witches and wizards through numbered doors, some sitting at high desks taking tiny keys from people, and others pulling small carts full of gold.
The Evans found a sign that read: CURRENCY EXCHANGE and had an arrow pointing towards a group of desks to the right.
Once Mr. and Mrs. Evans had exchanged their muggle money for wizard gold and had been thought the value of each coin by a grumpy goblin they went back outside to begin their shopping in Diagon Alley.
"Where should we go now?" said Mrs. Evans as she looked around at the many shops lining the street, "How about the wand shop?"
"Ooooo, perfect" said Lily and went skipping off down the street searching for a shop that looked as if it sold wands.
A little ways down she spotted it. A narrow and shabby building peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivander's: Markers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. a single wand lay on a fading purple cushion in the dusty window.
A little bell rang as Lily and her parents entered the shop. The room had a very gloomy and dusty appearance.
"Good afternoon" said a soft voice as an old man stepped out of a storage room near the back of the small shop. "I'm Mr. Ollivander," said the man "What's your name young lady?" he said speaking to Lily.
"My name is Lily Evans, sir," said Lily politely
"Let me guess," said Mr. Olivander "you're here to get your first wand"
"That's right," said Lily proudly. At this Mr. Olivander walked to the back of the store and pulled a thin box from a shelf near the floor.
"Give this one a swish Ms. Evans," said Mr. Olivander as he opened the box and handed Lily a beautiful pale wand. "Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow."
Lily gave the wand a slow graceful swish, as if she had done it before. Long pink and green ribbons flew out of the wand and then disappeared as they fell to the floor.
"Very peculiar." said Mr. Olivander "Not many people find the perfect wand on first try."
"How delightful" Lily said admiring her new wand
Mr. Evans paid for the wand and they left shop to buy the rest of Lily's school supplies.
"Would you like to get your cat now Lily?" said Mr. Evans when they had finished buying all of her other equipment.
"Oh yes" said Lily "I saw a menagerie up the street a little ways. We could try there."
And they set off for the Magical Menagerie.
The Magical Menagerie was a very noisy place with all sorts of creatures that Lily had never even imagined the existence of. In a large glass tank in the right corner of the store was a crablike creature with a dull orange shell that kept rocketing itself across the tank with blasts of fire from it's tail end and a huge bird was squawking at anyone who passed it from a swinging perch that was dangling from the ceiling.
As the Evans' approached the counter, they saw ten sleek black rats jumping rope with their tails, flipping into the air, and performing various other tricks.
"Excuse me," said Mr. Evans to the witch at the counter "do you have any cats?"
"Why of course" said the witch "follow me," and she headed off to the back left corner of the store in the direction of an elaborate set of climbing equipment and cat toys where at least ten cats were playing "there they are" said the witch and started back towards the counter.
"There you are Lily," said Mr. Evans "have your pick."
Lily knelt down next to the climbing apparatus to watch the cats play. She noticed 3 small kittens rolling around and biting each other playfully, two jet black and one the most beautiful chocolate brown with white paws and a white tip on it's bushy little tail. Lily picked the brown kitten up immediately.
"I want this one," said Lily cuddling the furry little kitten as it purred contentedly
"That was quick," said Mr. Evans "Let's go pay for it"
"Are you sure that that's the one you want dear" said Mrs. Evans "Oh yes Mummy it most definitely is" said Lily still holding the kitten close
Mr. Evans went to pay for the kitten and they all off for the car.
During the ride home Lily had come up with the perfect name for her kitten. She decided to call her Yuri, after one of her favorite artists.
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Lily awoke on the 1st of September to a gorgeous blue-skied day.
"It's the 1st of September!" shouted Lily as she sprung out of bed
"Meow" said Yuri at the foot of the bed
"Good morning to you too Yuri!" said Lily and scooping up the kitten she ran downstairs and into the kitchen
"Well good morning sweetheart," said Mrs. Evans "what's the rush?"
"Kings Cross today" said Lily as she took a seat at the table and began wolfing down her pancakes and bacon
"We don't need to leave for nearly two hours" Mr. Evans commented looking down at his watch"
Lily pushed her empty plate back and got up "exactly" said Lily "I have lots to pack" and she ran out of the room.
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"Everyone in the car" shouted Mr. Evans an hour and thirty minutes
later
"Perfect" said Lily dragging an enormous trunk down the steps "I've just finished packing"
Petunia came down behind Lily carrying Yuri. She had taken quite a liking to the lovable little kitten despite the fact that it belonged to her strange sister.
Mr. Evans put the trunk in the back of the car, Petunia placed Yuri in a white basket on Lily's lap and they set off for Kings Cross.
Yuri then became mesmerized by the houses, people, and other buildings that continually passed by the window. This kept her busy the entire ride to the train station.
"Here we are" said Mr. Evans "I'll go find a trolley for you things Lily" and he set off towards the station
"I'll help you with your trunk Lily," said Mrs. Evans
Then they waited, what seemed like ages to Lily, for Mr. Evans to return with the trolley and started towards platforms nine and ten.
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When they reached the barrier between the two platforms the Evans' were all at least a little apprehensive at the thought of going through a wall so solid in appearance as the one that lay in front of them.
"Exactly how are we going to get through that barrier?" said Petunia, voicing the thought that was in everyone's minds.
Just than a tall woman with dark brown hair who seemed to be of a very cheerful nature came walking towards the barrier with a small sickly looking boy. She appeared to be completely oblivious to the huge brick barrier that she was heading straight towards.
"Excuse Me," said Mrs. Evans quickly
"Oh, hello" said the woman cheerfully
"I was just wondering, ah, if you know how to get onto platform 9 ¾" Said Mrs. Evans. She chose to word her question in this manner in case the woman did not belong to the magical world.
"Why, of course" said the woman "you must simply walk through the barrier straight ahead" and she pointed towards the big brick barrier.
"Thank you so much," said Mrs. Evans although she still wasn't so keen on the idea of walking at such a seemingly solid object. "My name is Elizabeth Evans. This is my husband John and my daughter Lily who will be attending Hogwarts this year."
"Pleased to meet you" said the woman "I'm Meredith Lupin and this will be my son Remus' first year at Hogwarts also."
Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Lupin began to talk so Lily took the opportunity to meet Remus.
"Hello" said Lily "it's a pleasure to meet you. Are you excited about attending Hogwarts? I certainly am."
"Oh yes" said Remus beaming "Mum says that the castle is absolutely beautiful."
"Splendid!" cried Lily "My parents are muggles so I'm afraid I don't know much about the wizarding world."
"That's alright," said Remus "I'm sure you'll learn quickly enough. Plus, mum says it's wonderful, with the four houses, Gryf…" but he didn't finish he was cut off by his mother.
"Lily, Remus," called Mrs. Lupin "Let's get onto the platform before you two miss the train. I'll go first with you" she said pointing to Petunia "Lily and Remus, you go next and then Mr. and Mrs. Evans will follow."
Mrs. Lupin took Petunia's hand. She walked confidently towards the barrier practically dragging Petunia and they disappeared.
"It's our turn," said Remus, his face radiant with excitement "Let's take it at a run. Just for the fun of it."
They took
off at a sprint and when they touched the barrier, they sank into as if it were
clouds and not brick.
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When they were through Lily and Remus were staring at a shiny scarlet train that went winding out of sight down the long platform. Huge silver letters on the front read: HOGWARTS EXPRESS.
Lily stood in awe for just a second and then turned to see her parents appear through the barrier. She turned around and gave them all huge smiles. Mr. and Mrs. Evans both returned the smile, though Petunia didn't feel extremely inclined to. In fact she stood barely centimeters from her mother with her hands on her had repeating 'This is a dream,' to herself.
Lily couldn't help laughing at her older sister, how ridiculous she looked! Remus interrupted her thoughts by tapping her on the shoulder.
"We should go get on the train."
"Alright then. But first…" she went over to her family to hug them all good-bye. "I'll miss you guys so much! I'll write often."
"We love you too Lily, we can't express how happy we are to have a witch in the family!" said her mother.
"Behave yourself my little flower," said her father
Nothing from Petunia, but that didn't surprise Lily.
Remus was also saying good-bye to his mother. When they had finished the two of them hopped onto the train. They were 10 minutes early-because Petunia had a dentist appointment at exactly 11:00-so Lily and Remus were able to snag comfortable sized compartments-unlike the smaller ones up front.
Because of the amount of time they had both she and Remus changed into their school robes and sat down and began talking about miscellaneous things. After a short while more people had boarded the train and it started on its journey to Hogwarts.
"We've established the fact that I'm muggleborn, so, what about you?" Lily asked.
"I'm a pureblood wizard-both of my parents are wizards."
"So, you know pretty much everything about the magical world."
"I dunno, maybe, do you know everything about the muggle world?"
"No
not really. So you probably weren't as surprised when you got your
letter to attend Hogwarts were you."
"Oh no I was really surprised-I didn't know if I had enough wizard in me."
"What makes you say that?"
"Well I have this…er…disease, that I thought would probably prevent me from becoming a wizard." Then he hastily changed the subject to her. "What was your reaction to your letter?"
"Well as you can probably guess, I was really surprised! I've always dreamed of having magical power…"
-BOOM-
Lily shrieked and her, Remus, and some other people who were in the back, ran away from the noise-and smell, something sure did stink. When the smell was gone and things had calmed down they headed back to their compartment.
Lily heard two boys laughing in the compartment about what had just happened. Those two were the only people in the very back of the train other than Remus and herself-Lily knew it had to be them who let off the stink bomb thing. She opened left their compartment to go and reprimand the boys on letting of those bomb things.
"Where you going?" questioned Remus.
"Those boys might ruin my chances at learning magic. I'm not going to stand around and let them do that." Remus saw a fire in those startlingly green eyes he hadn't seen before as she walked off.
Lily slid open the door to find two boys around her age eating sweets, both had black hair, only one's hair was very messy, he had hazel eyes, while the other had striking blue eyes. Both of them looked up at her innocently.
"I
can't believe you! My dreams finally come true, and you're already trying to
ruin them. Well listen up, because I'm here to tell you that I'm not
going to let that happen." She didn't wait for them to reply but
turned around and stomped off.
"So Remus, what are all the houses at Hogwarts like?" she asked nonchalantly as she walked back into their compartment.
A/N: All right! Let's give Bonstermonster a big round of applause!!!! :: Bonstermonster blushes furiously::
Special Thanks To: BOTH of my reviewers! Especially BluePhoenixFire who put me on their favorite authors list!
Thanks
