Discalimer: Harry Potter is J.K. Rowlings, not mine.

A.N.- I realise that being in the 1970s, technically none of the songs I might put in would have existed, but I'm taking advantage of the fact that this is fanfiction, and assume that they didP. Song is Deliver us, from the Prince of Egypt. Apologies for the long delay…What with moving houses and exams and my stupid computer crashing…with the chapters I had written, I honestly have not had time to rewrite the story. Rewriting stuff is always harder since it never turns out as good as the original(or so I feel). Please don't hate me…I've also vaguely unsure of where to take this story, which I began on a whim, but hopefully I'll be able to it back on track. Tata for now!

Italics are just thoughts. Italics with -– before and after them are directed thoughts to Leyaanthii.

Chapter 6:-Fairy lights, babes, and yellow socks with blue stars

Dear Mum and Dad,

Thanks for the chocolates. I especially liked the ones with the hazelnut filling. How's things at home? Maybe you should get a dog to keep you company at home Mum. I'm sure it'll dispel the "emptiness and silence" at home without "your girls". Although I clearly remember you complaining about our noise when we were home.

School's fine. It's like normal school at home. The main thing I'm having trouble with is transfiguration. I suppose it's because I was always taught that a ball is a ball, not a snow globe or a fairy light. So it's hard to understand that it could be something else with just a few latin words and a flick of my wand, since to me it would still be a ball.

Looking up at the picture of a four year old Lily in her hand, Rose Evans smiled sadly, remembering when the picture was taken. Lily had been playing with the Christmas decorations, pretending they were fairy lights as she danced around and Rose had quickly snapped a picture of her. She had always loved "playing pretend". Having tea parties with her toys, dressing up her dolls for balls where they'd meet princes and live "happily ever after" like in all the Disney shows she watched. Petunia had always been more practical and realistic, unlike Lily, the whimsical idealist, living in her own daydreams half the time.

At least that was how she used to be.

She still was not sure what had happened. All she knew was that she had gone to put the camera away, knowing Lily would be careful not to break the glass ornaments she loved so dearly, only to come rushing back as she heard the doorbell followed by a loud crash. Richard had come home early from work for once, and in her joy to see her father Lily had rushed to meet him at the door. Rushing to the living room, Rose had stopped at the doorway in shock at the sight before her. The delicate glass balls, bells, and angels were lying in pieces all over the floor. The box they had been in was where it had been on the floor, but all over the room around it, even near the door, were the shattered pieces of what had once been the Christmas decorations.

Getting over her own shock, Lily had promptly burst into tears, and would have rushed into the room if her father had not grabbed her arm. In his worry that Lily or Rose might have gotten hurt by the glass, and the fact that the decorations had been from his mother, Richard had proceeded to give Lily the harshest scolding she had ever received, not bothering to curb his angry words as he reprimanded Lily. Lily kept saying that she had been playing with the fairy lights and she hadn't meant to, unfortunately Richard had assumed that she had been throwing them in the air, although Rose had argued that there had only been one crash. Feeling that Lily was too young to deserve such a sever lecture, Rose had pulled Richard aside, trying to reason with him. How the ornaments had gotten all over the floor when the box was still upright was a mystery. Especially since Lily couldn't have put it back upright without having to walk through the mess. But Richard was adamant that Lily had to have done it, whether by accident or on purpose, and both deserved a punishment. He was like that sometimes, refusing to see something because he was sure he was right. Lily had interrupted, saying she had thought the fairy lights would stay in the air because that was what fairy lights did but they had all come falling down, like in London bridge. Not understanding and now thinking that she was lying Richard had angrily told her she shouldn't make things up and that fairy lights weren't real and could not have been flying around the room. With that simple statement, the wounded look on her face that her father did not believe her had been replaced with an even more shattered look, almost empty, as if everything she had believed in was a lie.

Whatever it was, from then on Lily had never played pretend again, no matter how many new dolls Rose had bought, hoping that being so young Lily could bounce back and continue playing like every other child her age did. She had never really forgiven Richard for that, for "killing Lily's childhood". With Petunia she had always tried to be more mature and 'grown-up' than she needed, and after that incident, Lily was like that as well. Too solemn and thinking too much for someone so young. Nanna had helped a bit, so Lily still had times when she was her old self, or what Rose imagined she would have been without the restrictions and rules Richard had placed on her, but those times grew rarer and fewer. Hopefully in this new school, Lily would be able to find some good friends who would help her to find out who she was and help her to "just be", as Nanna used to say.

Coming out of her thoughts Rose realised the poor owl who had delivered the letter was still perched on the table, looking at her with what could be perceived as concern in its eyes. Tentatively reaching a hand out to stroke it, Rose chuckled softly as she remembered how just minutes ago it had startled her so much her neighbours had rushed over, thinking something drastic had happened by her screams; to be met with a ruffled owl (what an owl was doing there they did not know) and a sheepish looking Rose who assured them she was fine. Smiling at the sated owl, she went back to reading the letter.

Charms is fun, we have this cute little professor who looks a few centuries old. Even his name suits him. Professor Flitwick. He reminds me of Mr Rubble, my old music teacher. Remember him? Anyway, I've managed to meet a few people, so don't be so worried. There's a really sweet girl called Joanna who's got blond hair (almost strawberry blond but not quite), and blue eyes. She's quite shy and quiet but I got to know her through a herbology assignment. Then there's Talia, who's Spanish, who's got the nicest black wavy hair and chocolate eyes. There's also Josh who has light brown hair and grey-blue eyes. I know you don't approve of boys with long hair but he's really nice Mum, so I'm sure you'd like him. I met him and Talia when I crashed into Talia ( as I tend to do to innocent strangers) and we both sort of fell onto Josh. Thankfully instead of seeking revenge we became friends. So my clumsiness counts for something after all. Well, I have to go for dinner now. Don't worry too much. I'll be fine.

Love,

Lily

Folding the letter and putting it back in the envelope for Richard to read when he got back from work, Rose leaned back into the chair with a sigh, missing her lively daughter and hoping she was doing as well as she said she was. Having raised her, she did know her daughter better than Lily thought, and hoped that the hint of restlessness she had sensed in the letter would not cause any problems. Lily just seemed to attract trouble like a magnet. Deep in thought, Rose did not notice when the delivery owl silently flew out the window, heading back to Hogwarts, where the object of her thoughts was.

Lily felt…itchy. Like she needed to do something. Problem being she had no idea what. Which really did not help matters. She had finished all her homework ages ago, even the ones due in a month, purely out of boredom. It was raining outside and she did not really want to bother Talia or Josh, who were both in their Ravenclaw common room playing chess. Joanna was still painstakingly doing her potions assignment in the library, having stubbornly refused to let Lily help. And despite what she had mentioned in the letter to her parents, she really did not know them that well. They had their own groups of friends in their own houses and she did not really see them except during shared classes or along the corridors. Not that she minded of course. Most of the time she was quite content being alone, when she'd just read or write or even just lie in bed and daydream. Feeling restless now she jumped out of bed, ignoring the momentary pause in the chatter from the other side of the room as the other girls turned from their "make over session" to see what she was doing. Strolling through the Gryffindor common room, Lily noticed Natalie laughing with a black haired girl called Li Hua near the fireplace. The two had fast become best friends, and Lily, feeling she would not be wanted in such a tight friendship, had not made much effort to know the two girls better, even though she felt as if they could have been very good friends.

Continuing out the door, past the Fat lady who waved, she made her way to the entrance of Hogwarts. Lily squinted as she tried to look past the haze of rain, before stepping onto the grass, tipping her head back with a smile as cool raindrops slid down her face and into her robes. She'd always loved the feeling of the wind and rain in her face, loved watching lightening dancing across the sky. In fact she slept best when there was a storm raging outside her window. While Petunia would run to her parent's room crying in fright, Lily would sit at the window, just watching. Following a tug that seemed to be pulling her towards a shadowy patch of trees, Lily paused uncertainly in front of the Forbidden Forest, vaguely remembering some sort of warning against going into it. The tug grew stronger, and throwing caution to the winds, Lily stepped into the dark forest, holding out her wand as if her meagre first year knowledge would be able to deal with whatever creature might confront her. Stumbling over buttress roots and slipping over mud and decomposing leaves, she finally came to a clearing, blinking her eyes as they adjusted to the brighter light. It was a pretty place, the raindrops casting little rainbows everywhere as they reflected the light. It even had a little waterfall, splashing into a little river, and beside it a unicorn lay, looking at her……

What the…?

Blinking her eyes again in disbelief, Lily finally grasped the fact that there was actually a unicorn looking at her with…was that amusement in her blue eyes? Somehow Lily knew it was a she, as if the knowledge had just appeared in her mind. She lay there, golden hooves moving slightly as her sides heaved continuously, silver hair glinting in the light. Why is she lying down? She's panting as if she's just run a race or something…oh..you've got to be kidding me… Mouth dropping open unceremoniously, Lily realised that the unicorn was about to give birth. Correction…Leyaanthii…again, she just knew this fact, was about to give birth.

But she seemed to be having trouble, and looking into Leyaanthii's worried eyes, Lily knew that for some reason the foal did not want to come out. Does not want to? How can it stop from coming out just because it does not want to? It seemed to Lily that Leyaanthii rolled her eyes, and she seemed to get the sense that unlike …inferior?…humans, unicorns could choose whether they wanted to come into the world, and those that decided not to unfortunately brought their mothers with them to…cielo?... I assume that's an equivalent to heaven, Lily thought. This was part of the reason why unicorns were so rare, less foals wanting to leave their mother's wombs to come out into the increasingly evil world.

All this information Lily managed to glean from Leyaanthii as images and ideas, which seemed to be how they could communicate. Hmm…I seem to be getting the hang of this whole telepathy thing… Lily raised an eyebrow as Leyaanthii asked her to …sing?

--Excuse me? You want me to sing? Um...and my singing would help…how? --

--Right…now see, the problem with that is that I don't think my "sweet, pure and innocent voice" is going to be "enticing" anything from "coming out of your womb".--

--You want me to try anyway? Oh God, how do I get into these things…? --

Giving a resigned sigh, Lily tried to think of a suitable song. Why is it whenever you need to sing, all the songs pop out of your head and every other time, especially when you least want them to, they're stuck in your head…? Sigh…umm…let's see…Humming softly, then hesitantly singing, Lily slowly approached Leyaanthii, kneeling beside her and reaching out a tentative hand to stroke her flanks. To her delight, the unicorn did not shy away, if anything she seemed to calm down a little.

Hush now, my baby, be still, love, don't cry

Sleep as you're rocked by the stream

Sleep and remember my last lullaby

So I'll be with you when you dream

After what felt like hours of singing and encouraging to Lily's sore throat, she was starting to believe that her voice was going to be giving out before the baby did. And by the looks of Leyaanthii's inconsistent breathing and glistening sides, the unicorn wouldn't be lasting too much longer either. Lily's heart broke at the thought of such purity and beauty slowly dying away, and slumped over Leyaanthii as she whispered hoarsely, "Oh please… please don't die…I'm sorry...I couldn't help…I..I'm so sorry…please...please…Come on! You can't do this! It isn't fair! You can't just let your mother die just because you don't want to come out! She needs you to live! "

Jumping up and gesturing wildly in anger, Lily found herself alternatively berating the baby still in the womb and herself for her helplessness. "This stupid world needs you alive! If we don't have your innocence and purity and power then the world's going to keep getting darker and…then what will we have to hope for? You can't just run away from your problems! You have to fight back, do what you can, even if it's only a little! Come on!" Biting back a scream, Lily childishly stamped her foot on the ground, cringing as a sharp pain shot up her leg from the impact with a protruding root.

Dejectedly sitting down in the mud again, a tear finally fell, almost indistinguishable from the rain already trailing down her pale face. "What kind of messed up fantasy is this anyway? What good is dreaming if you can't have a unicorn in it? What good is magic and power if you can't even use it to save anything? Please…please…just try? Please?" She didn't even know who and what she was asking anymore. Whether it was to herself to keep on singing, or Leyaanthii to keep holding on, or for the baby to live. It was all just mixed up into a single heartfelt plea. And someone somewhere must have heard that prayer, as suddenly Leyaanthii's body contracted, and with an ease that almost seemed to mock the previous difficulties the baby slid out her. The foal was hornless and a pure gold under the matted blood that was slowly being washed away by the rain…Syluenteii…his drained but proud mother named him…my struggle for hope... Lily's smile became a laugh as she watched the foal's clumsy attempts at standing on all four feet at the same time.

Time disappeared as she helped to clean Syluenteii, and relaxed in the rain whenever he would lay his head in her lap to rest from his standing and walking endeavours, limpid pruple eyes gazing at her adoringly. All too soon, Leyaanthii had recovered from the birth and was ready to leave as the sun began to set. Waving and hoping she would see them again, Lily walked out of the forest to Hogwarts, trying to brush the caked mud and grass from her robes to no avail. The houseelves are gonna have a heyday trying to clean this robe. She was so busy looking down that when a pair of shoes appeared before her she did not have time to stop, with only a fleeting thought as to why one shoe had red laces while the other had green before they crashed, startling an "Ooomph!" out of both of them.

Crap…I really have to stop doing that. Now who did I bump intoooo…oh dear…

"P..P…Professor Dumbledore! I am so, so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going, and really it was all my fault! I didn't hurt you did I?" Shut up and stop babbling like a brainless idiot Lily! She reprimanded herself.

"Relax, Miss Evans," Professor Dumbledore interrupted before she made a bigger fool of herself. "I assure you I'm quite alright. But you on the other hand, look like you need a shower and something warm to eat. Dinner starts in a bit, so I would think that leaves you quite enough time to make yourself presentable before joining us in the great hall. I shall hope to see you there." His knowing blue eyes twinkled as he walked off with a small wave, humming a song to himself. He's wearing yellow socks with blue stars…No wonder everyone calls him a quirky old man. Relieved that she had not gotten into trouble Lily walked down the hallway towards the Gryffindor common room. That song he was humming sounded awfully familiar…Coming to a dead stop, Lily swung around with wide eyes to see the retreating professor go around the corner, yellow socks visible under the tattered floating hem of his cloak. He…How?...Wha…?But..? Blinking in shock, Lily tried not to panic as she tried to think of how Professor Dumbledore knew where she had been. Well…I guess everyone was right when thy said you couldn't hide anything from him. But he didn't say anything about it, so I guess I won't either. Feeling tired yet reenergised somehow, Lily quickly went to get ready for dinner, thinking If this is the kind of thing I have to look forward to, it's going to be a wicked seven years!