July 28, 1971 - Little Park and Evans House, Cokeworth

"I went to Diagon Alley!" Lily exclaimed, rushing over to where Severus and Cassie were playing on the swings. She was the last of their group to receive her Hogwarts letter – theirs having arrived late last evening –, but the first of them to visit Diagon Alley.

"Happy birthday, Lily."

"Did you ge' your wand?"

Lily lit up, and pulled the wand from her pocket. It was a light color and simple in its shape, but quite pretty. Their friend swished her wand, producing a shower of golden sparks.

"That's pretty. I can' wait 'till Eileen takes us."

"Oh, I want to see what your wand is made of. Mine's willow with a phoenix tail core."

"Phoenix?" Severus asked, quite impressed. He knew that Phoenix tears were very powerful healing agents, and could be used in several extremely potent healing potions.

Lily smiled proudly. "Mr. Ollivander said that I'm destined for great things."

Severus smirked. "Cool."

"Oh! And mum and dad got me an owl!"

"Wow," Cassie sighed. She'd always wanted a pet of her own. "What's its name?"

"Her name is Iris. She's a screech owl. Tiny and cute."

"She's in your house? Won' your sister have a problem with tha'?" Cassie asked off-handedly.

After their initial meeting, Petunia had rarely joined their group. Whenever she did, she complained loudly, and was even rude to both him and Cassie for how their clothes looked, and Cassie's accent. While his blue-eyed friend had at first tried to invite 'Tuney to join, she'd been hurt by the older girl's words, and had even cried about them in his bedroom. And when, at their next meeting, Petunia hadn't even tried to apologize...well, it was no wonder that the two didn't care for each other too much.

Lily giggled. "Oh, she was so mad. She said she didn't want a dirty animal in her house for people to stare at."

Cassie giggled, while Severus smirked. Lily added, "It'd be fun if one day hundreds of owls just show up to her house and everybody can see."

"She does seem to care an awful lo' 'bout what other people think," Severus said, thoughtfully.

"I think she's just jealous 'cause I can do magic and she can't."

Cassie agreed with the statement completely. Petunia was jealous of her, Lily's and Severus' magic, that much was clear. Cassie's da had also always been jealous of her ma's magic - after he found out, of course. Being a Squib, and cast out from his family, he thought he would marry a Muggle and be free from the world. Instead, he was stuck with a witch for a wife and a witch for a child.

She could understand why he resented her, for having magic, the way Petunia resented them. She didn't know how she would be able to live if she didn't have magic – it was too much a part of her.

"Lily, maybe if you could tell Petunia tha' it's hurting you tha' she's actin' tha' way towards you, maybe she'd stop."

Lily shook her head. "Nope, I already told her that I think it's very mean, and that I don't like that she's making me choose between my friends and her, but she hasn't changed. In fact, she's getting worse."

Cassiopeia suddenly felt very frightened for her friend. "Lily...she hasn' hit you, has she?"

Lily stared at her in outrage. "What? No, never! Why would you even say that?"

Cassiopeia stayed silent.

"Cassie?"

"Cassie?"

"Nobody's hitting you, are they?"

Cassiopeia bit her lip, and stared away from Lily's face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Cassie," Lily said, hugging her friend tight. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"It's not tha' easy, Lily," Severus responded, perhaps sharper than he intended.

"You knew?"

Severus raised an incredulous eyebrow. "I told you me da doesn't like anythin' much, 'specially magic. Did you think he would sudd'nly change his opinion on me, an' that I wouldn't be able to tell when the same thin' was happenin' to my frien'?"

"But...but...he can't do that!"

Shrugging, Severus declared, "Hasn't stopped him yet."

Lily frowned fiercely, her eyebrows furrowing together. "You should come visit my house, see my family."

Cassiopeia pulled away from the hug, startled. "Lily...are you sure? I mean, your ma and da...an' I don' think Petunia would appreciate it."

Lily simply flapped her hand. "Oh, 'Tuney won't care. She's grounded in her room and not supposed to come out. I reckon she won't even know that you've come."

Cassie bit her lip, and Severus fidgeted with the edges of his coat. "If you're sure."

Clapping her hand together in excitement, Lily led the way to her house. Coming inside, both kids marveled at the new-looking furniture, and the fresh, clean smell of the entire house.

"Wow," Cassie exclaimed, running her hands over the frame of the hallway mirror. "This is beautiful."

Lily smiled proudly, before yelling out, "Mum! Dad! My friends came over! I'm gonna show them the house, okay?"

"Okay, dear!" a female voice called out from somewhere in the back of the house.

Severus and Cassiopeia shared a quick look. Hadn't she said that Petunia wouldn't be able to hear them come in? With that level of sound…

"Come on," Lily said, grabbing both of their hands. Already used to the grabbiness of their youngest friend, the two simply submitted and followed her upstairs.

"This is my room," Lily announced, throwing open the door. It was the dream room for a typical ten-year-old, with pink walls, a white bed, white furniture, and an actual cassette player. A large fluffy rug was placed in the middle of the room, and a chandelier stood as the light.

"This is…" extravagant, Cassie thought, "very pretty Lily."

"I know," Lily exclaimed, throwing herself on the bed. "I like it a lot. Do you like the player? Mum and Dad just got it for me today, though I don't have any songs yet."

Severus walked up to the piece of technology to admire it. He had heard of its release to the public in the paper about two years ago, but he hadn't even entertained the thought of ever owning one – it was ridiculously expensive.

Lily bounced off the bed again, acting completely her energetic self.

"This is our bathroom," Lily said, throwing open the door and then closing it again. "And this is my parents' room."

The Mr and Mrs Evans' room was slightly more toned-down, but both older children could see the furniture and bed were worth as much as thrice their own.

Their viewing of the room was interrupted by a door slamming open at the end of the hallway. "What are you doing here?" Petunia asked angrily.

Cassie, who had startled at the sound, took a couple of steps back from the girl. "Hello, Petunia. Lily invite' us."

Petunia raised a questioning eyebrow at them, Severus-style. "Oh, really? Mum and Dad said it was okay?"

Lily smirked proudly. "Yes, they said go ahead."

A hurt and hateful expression crossed Petunia's face, and she slammed the door to her room closed. Cassie and Severus exchanged another confused glance. Was Petunia not allowed to bring her friends over?

"Okay, let's go downstairs," Lily exclaimed, "Mum's making a birthday dinner."

When they got to the kitchen, Mrs Evans was just finishing her spaghetti. She was a middle-aged woman, with red hair and green eyes like Lily's. She smiled at them, but positively beamed at Lily.

"Lily! Perfect, I was just about to call you down," she said, then gestured for them to take a seat. "You're Cassie and Severus, aren't you?"

The two of them nodded, and Mrs. Evans smiled. "I'm Lily's mother, nice to meet you. Harry's in the garage right now, but he'll be back soon."

She then set out plates of spaghetti for everyone, and they got to eating. Severus wondered why Mrs. Evans hadn't bothered to call Petunia down, but he assumed that she might get her dinner later.

They began to eat, and listened as Mrs. Evans regaled them with stories of Lily.

"Did you know that she's top of her class at school?"

"That's great, Lily," Severus said, smiling shyly at his friend.

Lily blushed, and smiled, and Mrs. Evans continued praising her daughter and her achievements. "We're very proud that Lily's so special. We always knew she was different, with the–what was it called?–oh, accidental magic. I just can't wait until she goes to Hogwarts!" Mrs. Evans beamed at her daughter.

"This is delicious, Mrs. Evans, thank you," Severus said, finishing his plate. Cassie and Lily both echoed his words, finishing their last bites.

"Should we take a plate to Petunia?" Cassie asked tentatively, but Mrs. Evans shook her head, a slight frown crossing her face.

"No, thank you, Cassie. She's grounded right now, for being so mean to Lily, and we don't allow our children to eat in their bedroom."

Cassie nodded, and did her best to conceal the fear from her face until she was out of the room. Quickly excusing herself saying that she needed the loo, she ran and locked herself in the bathroom. Her whole body was shaking, and she tried taking deep breaths to calm herself, but it was difficult.

Mrs. Evans' punishment had reminded her of her father's treatment too closely for comfort. Whenever she performed accidental magic in his vicinity, he would lock her in their spare bedroom with no food, and keep her there for upwards of two days or so. It was a terrifying experience each time. The bedroom was completely barren, with no lights, a tiny window, and a blanket on the floor to protect her from the cold floor. That was it.

She knew that Petunia's punishment was nowhere as extreme as her own, and that Petunia actually could control what she was saying, unlike Cassie's magic, but it did not make her feel any better about what was happening.

She realized she had been taking too long when Severus knocked on the door. "Everything okay, Cassie?"

She opened the door, blushing deeply. "Yes."

Severus felt a responding heat rise to his cheeks, but he was still concerned. "Want to talk 'bout it?"

"Thanks, but no," she replied with a quick, forced smile. "Where's Lily?"

"Getting dressed. Apparently Mr and Mrs Evans decided they're taking her to the zoo. She really wante' to."

"An' Petunia?"

"She's coming too," Severus answered, and Cassie relaxed slightly. She really didn't like Petunia, but she didn't want her to be hurting.

"So we have to go home now?"

"Yeah," Severus answered, and the two of them walked downstairs, saying goodbye to Lily along the way. "Thank you, Mrs. Evans."

"You're welcome, dears," Lily's mother replied, leaning her head out of the kitchen. "Come back anytime you want."