Lily couldn't sleep that night. She had kept her Hogwarts letter tucked underneath her pillow, for reassurance that this was real. To reassure her that this fantasy was real. That this Hogwarts place was real.
Petunia's bunk was right under hers, and Lily could hear her sister snoring loudly. Slowly, so that their creaky bed wouldn't wake Petunia, Lily lifted up her pillow to reveal her letter. She had reread it again and again. The term wouldn't start for another 9 months, since her birthday was on January 20th, which meant she had lots of time to think about attending Hogwarts or not. Lily sat up carefully, without hitting her head on the ceiling, and tiptoed down the ladder and onto the floor. From there, she walked to the door and escaped from the darkness that had been swallowing her up in her room.
The light in the hallway was always on because Lily couldn't sleep in the absolute dark. Petunia complained about the brightness, but her parents still agreed to keep it on at night. Lily's eyes flooding with light and she waited outside of her door for a moment to let her eyes adjust. Then, she crept down the stairs, where she was met with a pleasant surprise. Aunt Daisy was sitting on a chair in the living room. She wasn't doing anything in particular, besides staring down at her own feet and fidgeting with her hands.
Daisy blinked and turned to see Lily in the hall.
"What are you doing up?" She asked.
Lily hesitated before replying, "Couldn't sleep," and went into the kitchen without another word.
She didn't understand why she decided to go to the kitchen, but stopped when she reached it and scanned the room.
A clear container filled with biscuits was sitting on the container, and Lily leaned towards it.
"Milk and cookies?" She heard someone say behind her.
Lily turned to see Aunt Daisy in the entranceway. Lily nodded, and Daisy smiled, "I'll get the milk, and you get a platter of biscuits."
Lily beamed and opened up the cabinet to see a silver tray. She took it out and piled biscuits on it.
"I'll bring them to the living room." She said to Daisy, and headed out quietly.
Lily sat down on the coral loveseat sofa in the living room and set the platter of biscuits on a coffee table. Lily then started on her first biscuit, when Daisy came in the room.
"Would you like me to tell you about Hogwarts?" Her aunt asked, sitting next to Lily.
Lily nodded. Then she questioned, "How do you know so much about this… Hogwarts?"
Daisy laughed, "Well, because I attended it!"
Lily froze.
"I'll tell you everything there is to know about Hogwarts. Oh, I've been waiting for another witch in the family for ages!" Daisy continued, "How I miss school!"
Lily blinked, "Wait, you can do… magic?"
Aunt Daisy nodded and said, "Well I can't just cast a spell in front of these old muggles. I'm a little rusty, but…" she pulled a long stick out from under her and said, "Lumos!"
The stick, -a wand actually- lit up, and illuminated the whole room, making Lily's living room yellow and bright. As the light faded, Lily's confusion only grew more, but she couldn't find which question to ask.
"What is a… mu-meg-mug-" she started.
"Muggle." Daisy said, and before Lily could ask, "A nonmagical being. Such as your mum and dad, and Petunia. Most humans are muggles, come to think of it."
Lily nodded, "and was that a spell?"
Daisy laughed and said, "Well of course it was! I have so much to teach you, darling."
"But, Auntie, I'm not even sure if I want to even go to this school. It seems a little… much." Lily explained.
"I know it's all overwhelming, but it is a wonderful school, filled with people just your age! You'll have so much fun!" Daisy replied excitedly, "and you'll get to take so many courses! Like transfiguration, defense against the dark arts, herbology, astro-"
"I should go back to bed now." Lily interrupted. This was too much information.
Aunt Daisy sighed, "of course. Of to bed, you'll need a good nights rest."
Lily sat up and went upstairs, where Petunia slept soundly, snoring louder than ever.
When Lily was up in her bed, rearranging her covers again, she stopped. There was a noise coming from her window. A rustling of something hitting it. She climbed out of bed and cautiously moved towards the window.
An envelope was hitting her glass window, again and again, as if trying to come in. She opened up her window, letting a cool breeze envelop her and the letter swept in.
It landed right in Lily's hands, and behind her, she heard Petunia stir. Lily closed the window and went out to the hall to sit on top of the staircase.
Carefully inspecting the envelope, she saw it was addressed to her:
Lily Evans
Cocksworth, Britain
Spinner's End
She carefully opened the envelope, knowing it was from Hogwarts. When she released the piece of parchment paper from the envelope, she read the contents.
Dear Ms. Lily Evans,
We fully understand that you come from a muggle-born family and may not understand your past letter. Attached, we have a list of terms and phrases that might suit your needs throughout you wizarding career. Please feel free to contact any magical relatives or Hogwarts staff that you may know.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Lily took out the second piece of parchment paper to see a list of magical words that she had never seen before, other than "wand" and "muggle."
She crawled into bed with the flashlight that was on her nightstand and the letter from Hogwarts. She wished she could do the 'Lumos' spell Aunt Daisy had shown her. That would have helpful for the many nights she stayed up late reading.
Lily would not sleep the rest of the night.
By the time the sun rose up, Lily had finished studying and memorized all of the most important wizarding phrases and had fallen asleep with her flashlight on and the parchment paper gripped in her hands.