Chapter Three: At Diagon Alley Part II

Summary: Lily and James' story of growing up with their beginning friendship, to their rivalry with each other, then back to their story of love. This story starts from their first year, going through the whole Hogwarts process again.

Lily

One week later

A week had passed since Lily's birthday and the Hogwarts letter. They had no idea what the letter had meant by, "We await your owl. . ." until Lily had suggested that perhaps it meant to write a letter and sent it back with the owl. Kathleen, John, and Lily had decided to completely trust these claims. If they really were pranks, they were sure Mr. Evans could do something about it. After all, he owned on of the most prestigious law firms in Surrey. So they had sent back a response:

Dear Minerva McGonagall,

We accept Hogwarts' invitation to the school and want to thank you for inviting Lily. We have but one question: where can we get the supplies needed?

Yours Sincerely,

Kathleen and Robert Evans

Two days later, an answer came back by the same owl. It read:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Evans,

I am sure that you have many questions about Hogwarts and the wizarding world. There is too much to explain on paper, I'm afraid. But, for the supplies, go to London. On the corner of Hyde Park and Gloucester Terrace, there is a shop called the Leaky Cauldron. Look carefully. It is designed so only people who know where it is for certain may find it. When you are inside, ask someone to help you get to Diagon Alley. Also ask to exchange pounds for wizarding money. £100 is worth 10 galleons. Go into Diagon Alley, and buy everything you need or find necessary for Hogwarts. Good luck.

Yours Sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

So four days later, Lily and her mum left for London by train, but not before Lily talked to Petunia. Petunia had locked herself in her room on the other side of the house, refusing to come out except for meals, and even then she ate sullenly and avoided everyone's eyes, pretending that they weren't there. Once she was done with her meal, Petunia would the kick the chair she was sitting on noisily, and leave the dinging room without a word. Kathleen and Rob had worried about their older daughter and tried to talk to her when she ate, but she just ignored them and marched to her room. They knew Petunia was the kind of person who didn't want people to talk to her while she was upset except for Lily and even her only on rare occasions.

Lily knocked on Petunia's door. There was no sound, just as Lily would have expected from Petunia all week long. She couldn't imagine what Petunia had done for the past seven days to keep herself from going crazy. I guess I'm going to find out, Lily thought. Taking out two bobby pins she'd kept in her hair, Lily picked the complicated lock. She'd learn how to pick locks when she was seven, wanting to gain access to the playroom, where Rob had locked once all of her gifts in. It was a very useful skill. She quickly finished the task, and strode in her older sister's room. . .and saw what had kept Petunia in her room for such a long time. Petunia had produced a knife from somewhere, and carved into her white walls. Scrawled across in block letter, at least five feet high and two feet wide, were the words that hurt Lily most out of all things Petunia had ever said to her: LILY EVANS IS A FREAK!

Lily forced herself to keep looking around the cluttered room. It looked as though Petunia had tried to ruin everything in her room- slashing her silk curtains, stabbing the Persian rug, kicking her desk, chair, and more furniture over. She even somehow managed to puncture a hole in the middle of her T.V. The computer screen of Petunia's I-Mac was cracked; the large windows were shattered. Even though it was almost summer, a bone-chilling wind whistled a tone of hatred into the destroyed room. And there was Petunia, in the centre of it all, sitting cross-legged, and sneering evilly.

"You like, freak?" gesturing round the room. Lily's heart sank; Petunia had officially decided that Lily was abnormal, but being called a freak was the most insulting insult of all, in Petunia's mind.

"Petunia, why did you do all of this? Being a witch doesn't make me a-a freak! We don't even know if it's true yet!" However, Lily had just noticed a pattern. There had been a girl in Petunia's grade named Lucy. Petunia thought she was weird, and made fun of her all the time in private. However, a year later, Petunia decided that one of her good friends Katie was strange; she'd declared publicly that Katie was weird and that she would not be her friend anymore. Then her best friend Laurie started acting odd, and Petunia humiliated her in public by telling all of her secret o everyone. Last of all was Uncle Mumphrey, and now it was her. Lily was frightened. Lily was the closest to Petunia; Petunia loved-had loved her even more than she loved their parents, and Lily didn't want to think about what Petunia would do to her.

Petunia stayed in that sitting position, and all of the sudden, Lily noticed an air of difference around her older sister. Her aura was full of. . .frostiness. Lily had never thought about what Petunia felt like before, but now the very air in the room felt frosty, radiating from Petunia. She smiled a cold smile. "It does not matter Lily, whether or not you are an old hag who brews potions, but the fact that does matter is the fact that you believe that you are one."

Lily had had enough. "Petunia, what you are doing is crazy. Now, listen to me-"

"No! You listen to me!" Petunia snarled as she sprang to her feet and walked menacingly towards Lily. "You are not my sister and you are a freak! When you used to be my sister, I thought you were the greatest sister anyone could have! But now-now I realize that it was all lies! YOU were the favorite! Everyone gave YOU better presents, everyone always told out parents that you were so perfect, beautiful, witty, smart, pretty, charming." She spat out each word. "But what about ME? I didn't used to care about that because YOU were always so nice to me and cared about me! But now you've become a TRAITOR," she shrieked. "YOU'RE A FREAK AND I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!" She had tears streaming down her pale face starting at the first "I hate you."

Lily stepped forward, eyes glistening with tears that had started at the part when she'd called her a traitor, to make a final attempt to help her.

"Petunia. . ."Lily trailed off desperately. Petunia took a step forward too, eyes hard, but still with tears spilling out, and slapped her younger sister with all her might. The impact threw Lily to the ground. Lily could have stopped it, seeing as she was a black belt in karate, but allowed Petunia to hit her with such force to make her sister feel better. Lily looked up from the floor, right cheek throbbing intensely.

"Get out of my room," Petunia said in that cold tone.

Kathleen and Rob had been looking for Lily, but she wasn't in her room. They wandered around the house for a bit, until they heard a distant screeching from one direction. They looked at each other and ran to Petunia's room, knowing that Lily had finally confronted their older daughter. Even sprinting to Petunia's room took a full two minutes because the house was so large. They arrived in time to hear Petunia scream, "-HATE YOU, I HATE YOU!" Then in a much, much quieter tone, they heard Lily say, "Petunia," in a pleading tone, and three seconds later, a loud slap, and a thud. Kathleen and Rob looked at each other, horrified. They both knew that Lily had risked breaking her cheekbone or nose to make Petunia feel satisfied. Then, in an icy voice, they heard Petunia tell Lily to get out of her room.

As Lily stumbled out of Petunia's room with her cheek still stinging, she saw both of her parents looking at her, frightened, their gaze drawn to her right check, where there was still an imprint of Petunia's hand. She immediately turned her head, so they wouldn't see it, but it was too late. They didn't look surprised, just upset. "You-you heard everything then," she croaked.

Her worried parents glanced at each other until her dad finally answered, "We heard enough." Her mother's expression turned darkly angry and was about to go into Petunia's room to give her a huge punishment, but Lily stood in her way.

"Please. Mum, Dad, don't. I've accepted her opinion," she pleaded beseechingly, her usually sparkling eyes dull and wet. Kathleen and Rob understood her reasoning, but still hesitated, but finally agreed.

"But I promise you Lily, Petunia will get punished, one way or another. I will just do it later though, since you asked." Her dad sighed. "I can't believe Petunia did something like this. . ." he shook his head, muttering to himself. Lily was grateful.

"Come darling, we'll get a salve for your cheek, and then we'll go to Diagon Alley with just the two of us. Dad has an urgent case he must work on."

Three hours later, Kathleen and Lily were finally in Diagon Alley. They had taken the 11:06 am train from Leatherhead Station to Victoria Station, then taken the tube to Paddington Station, and then from there to Lancaster Gate. From there, they'd walked right, until they reached the corner of Hyde Park and Gloucester Terrace. Feeling a bit foolish, Lily and her mum walked back a little, and started inspecting the wall between a souvenir shop and the Queen Victoria Hotel. The wizarding community must be pretty powerful if the entrance to their "Diagon Alley" is in the very centre of London, Lily thought. But they aren't going to be so stupid that any fool funning his hands over this wall will be able to feel it. Standing back, she picked a pot right in the middle of the wall, and believed that Diagon Alley entrance was right there. And sure enough, a few seconds later, the souvenir shop and Queen Victoria Hotel moved aside to let this new building in. Lily blinked in amazement, then spun around to see if anyone to see if anyone else was surprised as she. But no pedestrian looked as though they noticed anything, though a couple were subtly staring at her mother, who Lily realized was still trying to feel the wall for any unusual crack or hole; she was touching the Leaky Cauldron door, and still felt only brick wall! Lily hurried over to her mum and pulled her back.

"Mum," she whispered, "look. Right there. It's the Leaky Cauldron!" Kathleen blinked once, then her hand flew to her mouth, eyes round as little ping-pong balls. Lily walked, trying to look confident, to the door and her mum followed in suit.

They entered a dark little and shabby pub, where old men and women were drinking tiny glasses of sherry. The bartender was a rather grizzled old man who was bald. He was behind the counter, cleaning glasses with his rag.

Lily and her mum approached the bartender meekly, their red hair standing out in the dimly lit room.

"Erm. . .we were wondering if-if you could help us get to Diagon Alley."

The bartender smiled, showing crooked teeth, set down his rag, and opened a door on the side of the shop. He gestured for them to follow him into the yard with a brick wall. The two Muggles hesitated, until one of the old women encouraged them in a raspy voice. "Go on. He's not gonna murder you." Another old lady sitting with her smoking a cigarette burst into a cackling laughter. They were still laughing when Kathleen and Lily went out.

The bartender was waiting patiently by the wall, used to this kind of reaction. The old man took out a wand, tapped the wall in certain places, muttering strange words, and stepped back. The bricks started to move, faster and faster, until it revealed a gaping hole in the wall. Through the entrance, Lily could see crowds bustling through stores. The bartender led them in. "Welcome to Diagon Alley," he grinned and left.

Kathleen and Lily stood, still shocked. Slowly, they made their way down Diagon Alley.

"Take out your list, Lily," her mother called over her shoulder, leading them both into a shop that looked like it sold clothing. Lily caught up to her mum, and rattle off the list:

Three sets of plain work robes (black)

One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

One pair of protectve gloves (dragon hide or similar)

One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Blah, blah, blah. . .here, course books.

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Wuentin Trimble

And then. . .oh, six more things

A wand

A cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

A set glass or crystal phials

A telescope

A set brass scales

An owl OR a cat OR a toad

She finished, looking up. Her mum sighed, then made a face, realizing she had forgotten to exchange money. "Lily, you wouldn't mind waiting for a few minutes would you, while I run back to exchange money?" Lily shook her head no. "Alright, just stay here for five minutes." Lily looked at her surroundings as her mum rushed off. The shops looked like normal shops, but Lily knew otherwise. She saw a shop nearby with weird objects in small fish bowls, tentacles waving around. She wasn't sure what it was exactly. Owls soared overhead. Boys stood by the Quidditch shop, foreheads pressed against the glass, staring at the Cleansweep. Lily caught snippets of conversations as people passed her.

"-galleons for a dragon's heart? Honestly, it's-"

"-get the Cleansweep for my birthday! I've wanted-"

""-to meet Albus Dumbledore! You know how excited you've been to meet-"

"Hey Lily," her mum rummaged through her Prada purse and held up two foreign coins. "I went back and got 20 of these for £200. I'm not sure if it's enough, but if we run out, I'm sure we can go back and exchange more." She dropped the two coins in her purse again. "Right, let's go into. . ." she pointed to Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions, "there."

Four hours later, they had managed to get everything on Lily's list except a wand and animal. This was what Lily had been looking forward to. They wandered to Ollivander's, where a soft, tinkling bell announced their arrival. The very atmosphere of the place made Lily ant to sit quietly and speak in only whispers.

"Good afternoon," a soft, whispery voice said from behind her. Lily whirled around and found herself facing an old man. His eyes drew her gaze. They were wide, and looked like two shimmering moons. Lily forced herself to blink.

"G-good afternoon," she stammered. Luckily, her dear mum came to the rescue.

"This is my daughter, Lily Evans, and she's here for a wand. She's going to Hogwarts," Kathleen added proudly.

Mr. Ollivander moved his gaze slowly to Kathleen. "Ah, yes, yes," he murmured. Now he looked at the stacks of boxes piled up on shelves.

"I must take your measurements. Which is your wand arm?"

"Well, I'm right-handed."

He nodded briskly and told her to hold out her right arm. Immediately, a long tape measure with strange silver markings on them floated into the air and started measuring her. Lily got out a squeak of surprise, and heard her mother gasp from somewhere behind her. Mr. Ollivander started talking as he walked around the room, looking at boxes. "You see, Miss Evans, every wand chooses the wizard or witch. They all have a core of a magical substance, whether it be unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, or the heartstrings of dragons. No wand is the same. That will do," he said to the tape measure. At once, it dropped to the ground, as Mr. Ollivander came over with three boxes.

"Try this one," he opened the top box carefully, and handed the wand to Lily. "Oak and dragon heartstring. 10 ½ inches, nice and flexible. Go on, wave it." Lily had just raised her arm, when Mr. Ollivander snatched back and replaced it with another one. "No, no, here, try this one, maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches and quite whippy. Try it. . ." Lily waved it around, feeling quite foolish, until a jet of black sparks spurted from the wand and blasted a hole in the wall. Lily was horrified.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I had no idea-"

But he was already taking the one in her hand, and giving her another one saying, "Ebony and unicorn hair. Eight inches, springy. Try it out." He gave no sign that he had even noticed her blast a hole through his wall, but Lily was still shaken up. When she hesitated, he told her, "Happens all the time," and raised his own wand, muttered an incantation, and the wall built itself back up. Lily gaped, but agreed to give the wand another silly wave. This one shot out an electric blue light, which ricocheted off everything until it sped back into the wand with a jolt, making Lily stumble back. Everything it had hit was broken, or in a different position. Lily felt her face burn, and quickly handed the wand back. Mr. Olllivander placed another wand he had gotten from a further shelf in Lily's grip. "Willow, ten and a quarter inches long. Swishy, excellent for charm work," he mused.

The moment the wand touched her hand, Lily felt a thrill go through her entire body. Sure that this wand was special, Lily waved it confidently, and colourful, beautiful sparks burst out of the wand and into the air. As the sparks gently showered down on them, Lily's mum clapped excitedly, and Mr. Ollivander smiled.

"Well, I see that we have a match-and a rather perfect match it is, indeed."

Lily couldn't remember being more excited or happy in her entire life. The wand she was gripping felt like it was a part of her, that it was something she couldn't live without. She tried to make her grin a bit smaller, but she couldn't. She was so happy!

"And how much will that be, Mr. Ollivander?" her mum asked politely, now standing next to her.

"Seven galleons," he said, staring at Lily again. She shivered, her happy feeling dropping a little. Her mum paid, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.

"So now I need an animal. An owl, cat, or toad. Can I get an owl? Please, mum?

"I was going to decide the same. Okay, 13 galleons left," she said as she checked her purse. She started walking, then stopped. "I don't suppose you know where it is?"

For the next hour, Lily and her mum asked people who looked like they knew what they were doing, where the owl shop was. Unfortunately, as Lily and her mum didn't know, people who looked like they knew what they were doing were pureblood families against Muggles going to Hogwarts. This was because pureblood families who thought Hogwarts should accept all kinds of people, like the Potter family, wore Muggle clothing (it was in style,) and Lily and her mum based their judgment on what kind of clothes they wore. Basically, they thought people who wore wizarding robes knew the place, while people who were wearing clothes like them were Muggles. The wizards they asked were all pureblood and often gave answers such as, "Why would I tell a Mudblood like you?" sneer, and walk away. After the third time of being called Mudblood, Lily turned to her mother, exasperated.

"What does Mudblood mean? I thought our kind was called Muggles?"

"I think-I think it means something bad," Kathleen answered, eyes troubled. "The word 'mud' with 'blood' can't be something good."

Both of them were tired, walking and asking for an hour already. Their confused expressions must have been apparent, because a woman with a lovely face suddenly said, "Hello! I couldn't help but notice you looked a bit lost."

Her mum sighed with relief, and started spilling out everything that had happened, starting from the letter to today, though not including the part with Petunia. Lily stepped out from behind her mum, and noticed a girl about 13 years old standing next to a boy around her age. The girl had dark brown hair and light brown eyes and a pretty face. The boy, who was definitely her brother, had spiky and messy black hair. He was almost as tall as is slim sister, and had a lean body and was very cute. She suddenly had an odd feeling as she looked at him. It was as if her stomach had butterflies in it, and she felt a bit light-headed as she looked at him. She tore her gaze away, heart pounding. She was aware of him looking back at her, but pretended admired her surroundings instead, her face turning red. She blinked, and it was all gone. She shook her head slowly, wondering what that had been, why it had felt like a special moment, but it had already vanished, leaving her to wonder if she had just imagined it.

James and Lily

"Don't worry, Kathleen. We'll help you get to Eeylop's Owl Emporium," she said, "We're actually going there ourselves to get James an owl," Alanna nodded towards her son. The two families walked alongside each other, Alanna and Kathleen in a friendly conversation. Melanie introduced herself to Lily, and they started talking.

"So, how are you feeling about going to Hogwarts?" Melanie asked Lily.

"Scared," she admitted. "I never even knew witches and wizards existed, until a week ago, when I found out I was one!" Melanie laughed, and proceeded to tell Lily all about Hogwarts, or at least, tried to, because Lily kept interrupting, eyes wide. But Melanie didn't mind in the least.

"There are moving staircases!" Lily's mouth was a perfect O. "They just. . .I dunno. . .move? By themselves!"

Melanie laughed again and told her, "Yes. And, the people in the paintings move too. And in photographs." Lily's mouth practically dropped to the ground. James joined the conversation.

"Here, I can show you one, if you want." Lily nodded eagerly, and James pulled out a recent picture of his family from the Daily Prophet. "This is my family," he showed her the newspaper article. The people in the photo were waving smiling, and, in James' case, winking. Lily blinked, and blinked again. The people were still moving. Lily shook her head in wonder.

"This is so cool. Our newspapers don't have photos that move! You guys are so lucky! Wait, why are you guys in the newspaper anyway?" Her eyes roamed down to the title of the article: Mr. John Potter, and his family, Alanna Melanie, and James warn magic community of a possibly new, evil and powerful dark wizard." The first line read, "John Potter sent his Aurors out to search the last home Voldemort has destroyed." "And what's an auror?"

"Well, I guess you know already, but my family and found traces of a dark wizard with very powerful magic at a Muggle home recently destroyed. It was a Muggle wizard's home," he explained, hazel coloured eyes troubled and angry. When he saw Lily's look of worriness, has hastily added, "But he'll be taken care of by the Aurors. An Auror is kind of like a," he paused, looking at Melanie. She finished his sentence.

"A peeleese-man. They are like an elite force of peeleese-men that take down the really dangerous criminals, like powerful dark wizards."

Lily giggled when she said "peeleese-man," and corrected her. "Actually, it's police-man. And I think you're talking about something like the MI5 or the MI6." Seeing her two new friends' confused expressions, she hurriedly explained, "The MI5 takes care of the big criminals in England, and the MI6 hunts down the really big international criminal criminals. They both have spies and stuff, and basically deal with politics underground organizations, which is like the Mafia, not literally underground, and loads of espionage," Lily had learned that, and much more from her favorite American television show, Alias, even though that was about the CIA, American's Central Intelligence Agency.

James nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, kinda like that. Anyway, my dad is the head of the Auror's department at the Ministry of Magic is kind of the magic government. Currently, the Minister of Magic, like your prime minister," he added for Lily's benefit," is Belectus Menglore. He's a great big toad." Lily could see that Melanie agreed by the satisfaction on her face. "The Daily Prophet, the newspaper that this is from, is also produced by the Ministry of Magic. Loads of people read and believe it, so the Ministry can put all sorts of rubbish in, and people will believe just that." He shook his head, disgusted. "Dad always taught us to trust our instincts, not any poison the Daily Prophet's spewing out." Melanie looked her brother, amazed.

"I have never, ever, ever heard put together such a clear and intelligent explanation on the spot. You usually just play pranks all day and can't add anything to any intelligent conversation me, Mum, and Dad have at supper. Deep, James," she clapped her hands mockingly, "very deep." James punched Melanie's arm and retorted,

"Yeah, it was deep, and clever. After living with me for 11 years, you must know that I am the most intelligent wizard in the world." Lily laughed, a tinkling music that made anyone who heard it happy. But seeing James and Melanie pretending to fight in a loving way reminded her of Petunia and herself. Why did it have to change? James and Melanie, noticing her change in behaviour, fell silent, though still making faces at each other.

Why did Petunia have to hate her because she thought that she was a freak? It was unfair. Just because I'm a witch doesn't mean she has the right to call me a freak! Lily thought angrily. Petunia calling her a freak led her to thinking about what those nasty wizards had called her and her mum.

"Guys," she asked, "what's a Mudblood?" James stopped in his tracks as Melanie also froze.

"Where, did you hear that?" James asked in a dangerously low voice.

"Well, before, when your mum hadn't found us yet, my mum and I were asking directions from these people with wizarding robes on. A lot of them were wearing snakes on their robes, or green and silver; is that important, or was I just being silly?"

"Yes, it's important. Go on," James said grimly. Lily couldn't understand why their faces were so serious and grave, but she went on anyway.

"So we asked loads of people dressed like that, and they called us Mudbloods."

"Was one family dressed like that, with a boy with almost white-blond hair with a rat-like face? The boy being around our age?" James asked angrily, so furious that Lily wouldn't be surprised to see steam coming from his ears.

Lily nodded slowly. "I think his family was the first to call me Mudblood." She still had no idea what the term 'Mudblood' meant, but chose wisely not to interrupt the two young Potters during their "angry fit." She wondered if the word 'Mudblood' held some personal meaning for them.

"Malfoy!" James exploded. Alanna twisted her head around fast to see if James was about to attack Malfoy as he had done once before to a girl who claimed she loved him and stalked him. When she saw that Malfoy was nowhere in sight, she resumed in talking to Kathleen.

"That little git!" Melanie hissed. She turned to Lily. "A Mudblood is a name that some pureblood wizards call Muggles. It means, 'dirty blood.'" At this, Melanie's eyes flashed angrily. "Purebloods who don't think Muggles should be allowed in Hogwarts call them Mudbloods. It's really the worst insult to Muggles."

"Oh," was all Lily could say. She now knew that it was really a lot like Petunia calling her a freak. Being called a freak and Mudblood were really on the same page, and it made her blood boil She was not a freak, and not a Mudblood. At that very moment, Lily started to hate Malfoy. She had no idea why- she'd never met him before, but perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Malfoy had made her new friend James, and even Melanie, who seemed to be more clam, so terribly angry.

James was thinking almost the exact same thing as Lily. Malfoy had never done anything to him personally, except the fact that his family had caused James' father loads of trouble. Other than that, Luscius Malfoy hadn't done anything to James. The only reason he'd asked Lily was because he'd seem Malfoy and his family on the street before. Malfoy had been wearing a self-satisfied smirk, which turned into a cold glare once he saw James. Malfoy had no reason to hate James though; he just did because the Potters were supposedly "Muggle-loving." From that moment on however, James started hating Luscius Malfoy, though he hadn't done him any harm. But he did do Lily harm, by calling her a-a Mudblood, and that is the reason why James Potter and Luscius Malfoy became arch-enemies forever.

Melanie had calmed down a little, while James was still raging on. "Lily, if anyone, anyone at all, calls you that word ever again, tell me. I'm a 5th year prefect for Hogwarts. Report any name calling at all."

Lily nodded to show her understanding. From then on, Lily thought of Melanie as an older sister, something Petunia had ceased to be. Then she had a sudden thought. "Aren't you two purebloods too? I mean, well, you know about everything and stuff, so I just assumed-" Lily stopped, afraid she had offended them. She should have just kept her mouth shut.

James read her fearful countenance correctly and smiled. "Yes, there are some pureblood families who don't like Muggles in magic schools, but only some. A lot, like us, love having non-magic families in the schools."

Lily's eyes widened in amazement. "There are more schools like Hogwarts!"

James tried not to laugh at Lily's comical expression. "Sure, there's Beauxbaxton and Durmstrang, but they're in-"

"Alright, we're finally here!" Alanna announced. They all looked up, and saw the name of the building they were in front of: Eeylops Owl Emporium. They entered a dimly lit shop, with cages littered all round in a disorderly fashion with various kinds of owls in them. There were few other customers in the store.

James walked around, trying to find the perfect owl. Many preened their feathers vainly, beautiful owls, but none that caught James' fancy. He kept searching until at last, he found a gorgeous Snowy owl. Even sleeping, it looked regal, yet able to deliver messages reliably and swiftly. He looked on the tag of the rusty cage, awakening the owl. The tag read: three galleons, female, Snowy owl. He looked up to find the owl gazing at him with startling but beautiful and intelligent green eyes. They were full of compassion, generosity, fierceness, and love. They reminded him of something, but when he couldn't remember what, brushed it off. The owl did nothing to try and impress him. By doing this, James was already impressed. This owl is special, he thought. Green eyes. . .it's just so amazing. He walked hack towards the counter with the cage in hand.

The same time James had been looking for an owl, Lily had gone in the other direction and searched too. She didn't really know what she was searching for, just something. . . special, and different from the others. Attractive owls tried to show off to her their large wingspan, but Lily hurried past those. An arrogant, self-absorbed bird was not what she was looking for. She searched and searched, until a quietly asleep Snowy owl caught her eye. It was a very handsome and strong-looking white owl. The moment she leaned nearer to the cage, it opened its eyes. Lily stood, transfixed by what she saw in the eyes. They were a hazel colour, like someone's she couldn't remember at the moment; bravery, alertness, protectiveness, and love flowed from the familiar eyes. Squinting to see the tag on the cage, she saw: three galleons, male, Snowy owl. The owl sat there, unmoving, not trying to show off. The moment it had opened its eyes, Lily knew that it was the perfect owl. She gently took hold of the cage, and brought it to the counter, where James' mum, Kathleen, Melanie, and. . . . . .James were waiting. Something tickled her mind that she couldn't place her finger on.

Alanna had paid for the owl and a deluxe cage happily, sensing that her son had found the perfect owl for him. James watched as Lily got nearer, his mind brushing onto something, but what, he did not know.

Lily's mum counted out three galleons and seven sickles (with Alanna's help) to the shopkeeper, a short, bald man, for the owl and the same luxurious cage James had purchased.

Lily spotted James' owl, "Hey! We have the same kind of owl!" she exclaimed. "Is it a girl or boy?" she wanted to know, kneeling to look at his owl. She was startled to see a pair of emerald green eyes gazing back at her. She straightened and met James' eyes. "You owl has the same eyes as-"

"You," James finished softly. How could he have forgotten! His owl's eyes reminded him exactly of Lily, the same feelings, same beauty, same colour. He knelt down next to Lily's white owl, and saw a pair of eyes the exact same colour as his. "Lily!" he gasped. "Your owl-it's eyes are the same as-"

"Yours," she realised quietly. She knew that it had reminded her of someone. She kneeled down next to James, looked at her owl's eyes, then at James. They both had the same traits, same handsomeness, same coloured eyes. How had she forgotten before?

James and Lily stared at each other, between the two, a silent mixture of feeling that words couldn't describe, yet they both understood. All of the sudden, the atmosphere lifted, and they both straightened.

"I'm going to name her Lily," announced James.

"I'm going to name him James," declared Lily at the exact same time. They grinned foolishly at each other.

Melanie came up to them, putting an arm round their shoulders. "Hello-o? We're leaving now." They quickly picked up their owls and let Melanie steer them towards the exit, with their cheeks coloured; James' only tinged with pink, and Lily's a bright red, which was contrasting horribly with her auburn hair, at Melanie's last sentence. They both knew that they had been too lost in their own world to hear people calling them from the other, but it was not an any less real world.

Thanks so much to Eva Angel, and Hazelocean for being my first ever reviewers!