AUTHORS NOTE: I am so sorry - I accidentally deleted the first chapter! I hope the re-written version is ok - It most likely will be different to the original...

January 1971

"...And then Tuney threw a snowball at me, right Tuney?" Said the youngest Evans daughter, excitedly. "And it stopped in midair, right before it hit my face! It was like magic!"

Mr Evans smiled at his youngest daughter, kids could have such a wild imagination. "That's nice dear. More potato?"

The Evans family was sitting at their dining room table, eating dinner. Mr Harold Evans offered his youngest daughter, Lily, the roast potatoes he had next to him.

"Thanks dad." His youngest daughter took some potato and smiled at her father.

The Evans family had two daughters, Petunia, who was thirteen and Lily who was turning 11 in a week; both girls were polar opposites (and not just with looks). While Petunia was tall, blonde with brown eyes, Lily was petite, with deep auburn hair and bright green eyes. Petunia could shout the whole house down when she was angry or frustrated, she would slam doors when she was in trouble and she had many friends who visited. Lily, however, was calm and relaxed, whenever she was in trouble, she went to her room quietly without argument; she didn't have many friends, mostly due to her uniqueness.

Mr Evans was a tall man, with dark brown hair; he worked at a bank outside the town of Cokeworth, where they lived. His wife, Kaye Evans, was a woman of average height with curly blonde hair that cascaded down her back; she ran a florist in town.

Petunia Evans looked at her sister. "It's not right, Lily..."

Lily shrugged, "I'm not hurting anybody."

Petunia frowned and, as if her mother sensed a storm brewing in her eldest daughter, she said, "So Lily, it's almost your birthday!"

Mr and Mrs Evans looked at each other as their youngest daughter chattered on about turning eleven; Petunia seemed to have calmed down again.

Lily had been meeting with the Snape boy from Spinners End for a few weeks, he was the one who had told her that she was a witch. Although at first, Lily took it as an insult, he explained further and showed her that he, too, was magical.

"And your letter will come at midnight and seeing as your muggle-born, I reckon someone from the school will come to explain to your parents."

"Sev?" Lily looked at her friend. "It is real, isn't it? I'll get my letter tomorrow?"

He nodded. "It's real. I got mine a few weeks ago, on my 11th birthday."

"Promise?" Lily asked nervously.

"I promise." Sev smiled at Lily, watching her eagerly.

"Lily!" Lily turned to see her angry sister walking towards her. "Why are you here with him?"

"Hi Tuney..." Lily said quietly.

"Come here, mum wants you home." Petunia said; she was standing a few feet away from where Lily and Severus were sitting on a bench.

Lily got up, "I'll see you later Sev." She walked over to her sister and followed her in the direction of her home.

Once they were out of earshot, Lily told Petunia that Sev told her that she was getting a letter the next day and it would tell her she's a witch.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous." Petunia said sharply. "That horrible boy is lying to you."

"What makes you say that?" Lily asked.

Petunia opened the front gate and the two girls walked in. "He's from Spinners End and you know what that place is like. We've driven through it with mum and dad before - they're all lunatics there."

"That's not very nice, Tuney." Lily said as they walked through the front door of their two-story home. "Sev's always been nice to me."

"We will see." She sneered.

Much later that night, Lily couldn't sleep, so she sat up in bed reading with her small torch. She counted down the hours to her birthday - she had to know if she would get a letter and if it was all true.

10:18pm her bedside clock said. She was getting impatient now; she put her book down and looked around her room for something else to distract her for another two hours... Maybe Tuney was right, maybe it wasn't true... But Sev had shown her things he could do! She had to know...

11:54pm. Only six more minutes... She heard the cold wind outside howling; she knew she would be very tired in the morning. Lily decided she couldn't wait another minute and put her slippers on to tip-toe downstairs to wait by the mail slot at the front door.

At exactly midnight, the mail slot clicked and a letter came through.

To Miss Lily Evans

The Smallest Bedroom

Second Floor

Lily peeked through the mail slot to see if she could see anyone; when she saw that there was no-one on the other side of the door, she squeaked with excitement and held the letter close to her chest.

I'm sorry I accidentally deleted the original! I hope that this new version is ok. It's a little different, I know. I hope you like it - please R&R :)