Disclaimer: Went to see "Madagascar" tonight with my little sister (13) and brother (6). It was hilarious. Quite funny. Loved the random sayings—"Hoover Dam!" Anyway. I didn't write the HP series, but Charmelite and I do own the characters you don't recognize!

Enjoy. It's shorter, but goes to clips of earlier life. Please Review.

Charmelite and Abarraine. 17 June 2005.

When She Smiles:

Chords of Lovely Songs

Thursday 6 November, 198

"MAYAN"

All of the pained and worried expressions have softened over the last week and our lips curve upwards into smiles. My spirit feels so uplifted! Finally an indifferent week, one where nothing amazingly horrible or offending happened. We could even call it the normal teenage week—homework, eat, sleep, exploding snap, sleep.

As you have already read, I am in a particularly good mood today. Classes didn't seem horribly long and they weren't even remotely boring! Especially charms, it was absolutely fascinating! We learned a clever little spell that, when performed correctly, will automatically proofread all of our papers…now tell me why they wait till sixth year to teach us something like that?

The spell can practically do the homework for you! The marauders were particularly excited about this, as you could probably guess. Less time doing homework, makes more time for inventing pranks for the Slytherins, Petey, or (much to our displeasure) Lily and I.

Oh, they do have such productive ways of spending their time….

Besides charms, history of magic went pretty smooth today as well. Professor Binns retired from his usual 'droning' methods, and instead, dramatically reenacted his own death scene. This was a good change, everyone in the class perked up, and I don't think a single person fell asleep on their books! Professor Binns has been a ghost for the last four-hundred years— a victim of England's tragic 'witch burnings'.

After the first ten minutes of the reenactment everyone was on their feet, surrounding Professor Binns, and hollering as though it was some sort of sporting match. James and Sirius were on the right side of Binns cheering for the witch burners, while Lils, Remus, and I stayed on the left hollering and clapping for Mr. Binns as he tried to escape the hunters!

The entire event was rather gruesome, but the class was in such good cheer that we couldn't help but to laugh when the witch hunters set fire to the brush. I suppose if it had been any other day, the class would have deeply depressed me, but today was not any other day! I made sure to push my past back inside my head.

Binns was so pleased with our enthusiasm and great understanding of death that he awarded Gryffindor with twenty-five house points! Score! I guess a little enthusiasm can go a long way with a old fellow like Binns.

That was about the extent of today's classes. A minimal amount of homework was assigned for this evening, so I got mine done early and have the entire evening to spend as I please.

The common room was fairly deserted as May slumped down into a large green armchair sitting in front of the fire. The traces of a smile still lined her rosy cheeks as she thought about something Sirius has said to her earlier.

The room was perfectly cozy and she closed her eyes to relax. It was about 7:30 pm. All of the friends were off doing their own things. James and Remus up in their dorm room playing a game of exploding snap. Sirius, serving a detention with Professor Hilton. Peter, most likely in the Great Hall for an 'after dinner' snack. And Lily…well no one ever really knows what she is up to. So we'll just say that Lily was gone at the moment too.

May sighed as she reopened her eyes. The cool November wind blew harshly against the castle windows making them rattle and shake. The castle was always drafty this time of year, the air carrying a bitter nip of the cold. May snuggled a bit deeper into the comfortable chair and opened a book in front of her.

Since all of her friends were preoccupied, she didn't care to feel left out. So she avoided that feeling by getting lost inside one of her favorite books. It always worked.

After half an hour of intent reading May felt a pair of hands grab her shoulders. Lily's slender face came quickly into focus.

"Wow May, you must be really into that book! I've been standing here for at least five minutes intently staring at you!" said Lily with a smile. "At least five first years have walked by giving me that 'are you some kind of a stalker' look! I don't think standing on my head and whistling the Betty Crocker song could have gotten your attention."

May laughed, "You know me Lily, if I was reading a really good book, a bunch of deranged madmen could come into my house, steal everything I have, roast a chicken for dinner, and sing 'Yankee Doodle' at the top of their lungs without me even looking up!"

Lily rolled her eyes, "We're two of a kind May—joined at the hip!" May nodded her head in agreement while Lily continued. "I was just up in the owlry writing Ben a letter, when I was struck with sudden inspiration!" she paused.

May stared at Lily blankly, in hopes that she would elaborate. Lily just continued to stare up towards the ceiling, her eyes in a dazzle.

"And…!" asked May impatiently when it was apparent Lily wasn't going to elaborate.

Lily looked back at May in confusion. Then remembered where she was, "Oh yes, my inspiration!" Lily paused again, then cleared her throat. She began to hum the melody to a slow song. May had never heard it before and guessed that it was something Lily had made up. The melody was somewhat sad, yet absolutely beautiful.

"What do you think?" asked Lily when she had finished.

May jumped to her feet and threw her book onto the table. "To the auditorium, now! Before you forget all that!"

The two girls raced through the halls and into the empty auditorium. This exact scene had been a constant routine over the years. One of the girls would get an idea, then drag the other to the auditorium where they would spend the next couple hours composing lyrics, and writing out chords.

May took her place in front of the lovely grand piano, and Lily sat down beside her. May flicked her wand above her head, and a single spotlight illuminated the them on the stage. Lily hummed her first chord out loud, and May matched the pitch on the piano. A 'G-sharp' chord.

May and Lily were both bright with excitement, writing music was something they both excelled at when they were together. Lily could invent the perfect melodies in her head while May could translate them from Lily's imagination and into her fingers. Writing Lyrics was something both of the girls could do, together they could make any set of words sound beautiful. As Lily hummed her way through the rest of her song May was reminded of scenes through out their child hood. One in particular:

It had been a long train ride. At least six hours. A small red-headed girl looked timidly out the window of her wizarding 'taxi-cab'. Large houses, all of them practically resembling castles, loomed up ominously on either side of her. She shrank back into her seat. She was exhausted and not quite sure why she had agreed to make this trip.

This year had been so full of surprises. First there was the letter that had told her she had been accepted into Hogwarts. The biggest surprise being that she was, in fact, a witch herself. The letter had been both a blessing and a curse. Being a witch had brought her so many new opportunities. Opportunities that most children could only dream of.

But the letter also made her grow apart from her family. In fact, she wasn't even sure that she had a family any longer. Lily cursed to herself. Why did things always have to work out this way? Now she had to start a new life, forget everything that she had once made part of it, and accept that which she still could not believe was true. Lily kept blinking and poking herself. Expecting to wake up at any moment.

This was Lily's first trip into a wizarding neighborhood. Lily looked over to a petite little girl sitting beside her, May. The girl had long dark hair, and stormy gray eyes. In the girl's eyes there brewed a sea of mixed emotions. This was perhaps why Lily had felt so drawn to the girl to begin with. May and Lily had both seen their own sets of sorrows, and together they had made a pact to be strong. May was the only person she had met since she had arrived at her new school. Or rather, the only girl that had treated her decently for being muggle-born. The two of them had become good friends instantly.

Lily looked back out of her window as the car pulled up a long driveway towards a monstrous looking house. She felt nervous and scared. May had invited her to her grandparent's house for the weekend. Lily had been looking forward to the trip, anything to get away from the horrible Slytherins. But now she was dreading this trip. Everything was so new, Lily longed for the comfort she had felt before she learned how different she was from the rest of the world.

May's grandparents had seemed nice enough. The aura of family and love that Lily felt in May's house made her heart pang with memories of her own home. Lily tried to hide her sadness, she wanted to be as polite as possible. And she hoped that May's grandparents wouldn't think any less of her for being a muggle-born. It was amazing how out of place Lily felt in both worlds. She couldn't find any place that would let her truly 'belong'.

The entire weekend Lily had remained polite, though rather shy and reserved. She appreciated everything so much, finally having a friend, and being accepted into this family. Though she still couldn't allow herself to have a good time. Lily hated herself for it, but she couldn't open up.

Sunday night eventually rolled around. The girls would have to travel back to Hogwarts in only a few hours. Lily's weekend was almost over. In the final few hours Elanor, May's grandmother, called Lily into the kitchen to help her make cookies, while May was sent to practice her chords on the piano. Lily listened intently while forming the small balls of dough between her hands. May had never mentioned that she knew how to play the piano. Lily was quite impressed. May played her scales faster and faster, a cascade of beautiful notes running up and down the piano. Eventually Lily began to hum along. First softly then much louder as may played the notes more quickly. Elanor chuckled lightly to herself from beside the small red-headed girl.

"May has always had her mother's talent." Said Elanor quietly, "Any chord that Isabel could strike would leave her audience singing along."

Lily smiled sincerely at May's grandmother. She knew all about the tragic death of May's parents. She stopped humming, not wanting to anger or depress Elanor, and excused herself to go see May.

Lily sat on the bench beside May, and leaned against her shoulder. The girl began to hum again, then changing the melodies of the chords into her own harmonies. May smiled encouragingly to Lily, and the two hummed and played chords for the rest of their time together.

Of course through the years the humming led to 'fa la la's, and from there into beautiful singing. Just as the scales led to chords, and the chords onto lovely songs. The girls grew up together, both physically and musically. The music was just one more thing that brought them even closer together.

May

I love the scene we get to envision here: little May and Lily. Sorry, now action between the boys and girls. That happens in the next chapter.

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