Lily drifted downstairs to breakfast humming "Happy Birthday" to herself, lost in her thoughts as she reflected on the visit she had received last week. The parchment in her pocket with her school supply list was the only proof she had to convince herself that the visit had been real. There were some rather odd things on that list too, such as a pewter cauldron and a collapsing telescope, but Lily had decided not to dwell on it too much. She was just excited to get out. Besides, today was her birthday, and she was going to make the most of it.
"Look, it's her coming to sit at our table," a boy with an obnoxiously nasal voice said, loud enough for all to hear as Lily drifted towards his table, porridge bowl in hand. "Just 'cause it's her birthday today, she thinks she can do whatever she wants."
Lily looked up just in time to see the boy's hand flying up from below her bowl, tossing its contents over her and several of the other orphans nearby. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to cry in front of Carson and his gang of thugs. Carson was fourteen, and seemed to run the orphanage when Lady Carnella wasn't around to supervise. Everyone was too scared to speak out against him, and so just suffered through his humiliations day after day, letting him have power over them all. Today, though, Lily had had enough. It was her birthday, and she wasn't going to let Carson ruin it for her. She wasn't scared of him anymore.
Grabbing a fistful of her hair, Lily pulled as much of the porridge out as she could, smearing it all over her hands, and then marched up to Carson, taking him by surprise, and wiped her hands across his front. The room seemed to freeze as she stood back and glared at him. "I'm not afraid of you and I won't let you bully anyone else. It's been a pleasure to share my breakfast with you."
She marched away before he could gather his wits about him again and retaliate. She was almost to the door when he heard a shout from one of his cronies, "you'll pay for that, Kensington!" Something wet and mushy slammed into the back of her head, causing her to stop mid-step. It's not worth it, she told herself. This evening I'll be gone, and then it will be just a couple more weeks until September. Laughter rang out behind her, but she kept walking, hurrying to take a hasty shower to tidy up once more, braiding her hair back from her face, and setting about her morning chores. Soon, she told herself, soon.
Neville Longbottom stood outside the orphanage and glanced once more at the letter he had received from Professor McGonagall. The girl's story seemed very familiar, and he dreaded meeting with the woman who ran such a rundown place. It was common to find muggleborns in orphanages, but Neville hated being the one to retrieve them. It was all just so sad, and the orphanages always left him feeling gloomy for the next several days. Taking a deep breath to settle himself, Neville reached up and rapped on the peeling door, and waited.
After a minute or so, a gloomy face peeked around the door and gave Neville the once over before standing aside with the door ajar. The boy was young, hardly more than seven, and he kept his head down, staring at the ground, as Neville let himself in and glanced around the entry way. A large woman wearing too much makeup bustled down the hall in his direction, her scowl changing into what she seemed to think was a welcoming smile that scared Neville more than comforted him. She introduced herself as Lady Carnella and led him to an office just inside the front hall. Neville took in the faces of the orphans he passed, seeing fear in the eyes of the few who met his gaze. What was this place? Lady Carnella's office was occupied by a small girl in overlarge, drab muggle clothes sitting against one wall. Her hair looked wet and there was an odd fire in her eyes as she watched him and Lady Carnella enter and take seats at the desk.
"So, Mister . . . er?"
"Longbottom," Neville said as cordially as he could. He didn't like this woman much.
She snickered. "Yes, Longbottom then. The woman who came to visit last week said everything was in order and that you had the paperwork?"
Right, the muggle documents in his pocket. He pulled them out and laid them on the desk. "Miss Kensington is well accounted for, and as you can see, everything is indeed in order. We have prepared a place for her to stay before the school term begins, and hope that that isn't a bother."
"No, no bother at all," Lady Carnella said with a gleam in her eye. "Tell me again, where exactly is this school you're taking her to?"
Neville was prepared for this one, but he noticed the girl perk up in her chair as well. McGonagall always left him the hard parts to explain. "Its north, in the country side. Lots of fresh air and open space, which we believe to be good for the students. We offer a very demanding program, but our students have always risen up to the challenge. I was a student there myself many long years ago."
This seemed to satisfy Lady Carnella, and so she took a moment to review the documents. The girl continued to stare at Neville with an odd, calculating look. McGonagall had said that she was quick minded and very careful, seeming to take in every detail before making a move. The scraping of Lady Carnella's chair brought him back from his thoughts and he quickly stood, his full attention back on the severe woman. After a few more minutes' discussion, they shook hands and Neville quickly led the girl from the building, waiting until they were far down the road before addressing her specifically.
"What a dreadful woman!" Neville exclaimed. "I feel bad for the lot of you every time I'm sent to orient. I'm dreadfully sorry, Miss Kensington."
"I don't mind," the girl said softly. "I'm just grateful to be out. I really don't have to go back there?"
Neville hesitated. "Well . . . you do have to go back . . ." The look on her face, so dejected and sad, wrenched at his heart. "But not until the school year is over, of course. You're welcome to stay at Hogwarts over the holidays, and you'll make plenty of friends, I'm sure of it. I have a friend that was in your position back in our school days. Perhaps you'll meet his children."
The girl looked up, a brighter look on her face. She pulled a crinkled parchment from her pocket and asked, "Where to first, then?"
Lily liked the kindly man who had come for her. Though he didn't like Lady Carnella, he had handled her well, and she enjoyed watching him as he peered around them as they journeyed to the underground. He was a tad on the chubby side, but he had a nice smile and was willing to answer any question she asked. For instance, he explained to her that he taught about the magical properties of plants when she asked which class he taught, and there was a gleam in his eye and a softness in his voice as he described some of the plants in his care that she liked. He explained the items on her list in a hushed voice as they rode the train into an obscure part of London and winked at her as he passed the fair over to the tender at the gate. He led her down an old rundown road and told her to keep an eye out for a building called The Leaky Cauldron, which was the first stop they needed to make that day. Just as Lily spotted it nestled between two newer buildings, Neville spotted some familiar faces approaching the entrance from the opposite side of the road.
"Harry! Ginny!" Neville called, catching Lily off guard. "Just the people I wanted to see!"
It was a family of them, half with messy black hair and the other half with fire red hair. The man turned to greet the professor with a broad grin as the three children at his and their mother's side looked curiously at Lily. She blushed and looked at the ground, sneaking glances at them while the men exchanged greetings, and the woman too. There were two boys, and one girl, the girl being the red head, like her mum. The two boys took after their dad, the older of the two playfully shoving the other while the grownups chatted. Sucking up the courage to talk, Lily looked up and met the gaze of the girl who seemed to be her age.
"Hello," Lily said shyly, and the girl grinned. The boys heard her too, and stopped their shoving game to say hello back.
"What's your name?" The red head asked. "Mine's Lily, Lily Potter, and these are my brothers, James and Albus."
Lily stared. "Lily? But that's my name too! Lily Kensington."
The girl smiled. "We'll be the best of friends then. You're a muggleborn? Neville always gets sent out to pick ones like you up. Best man for the job really."
"I . . . uh . . . yes, muggleborn, that's it. There are a lot like me then?"
"Loads! My aunt is one, and the smartest witch I've ever met. She –" Lily was cut off by her father's voice rising over their conversation.
"She's staying at the inn? I'd like to talk to her after the shopping's all done then, if that's all right?"
"Yes of course!" Neville said with a grin. "Best to get hurrying along though."
They all entered the building together, and Lily thought it quite an odd place. It was dimly lit, though clean as could be for an inn. Lily looked around at the curious folk sitting around at the various tables, reading newspapers that seemed to have moving pictures and wearing the oddest clothes! One witch was wearing bubblegum pink . . . well, Lily could only describe it as a bathrobe, but surely the woman hadn't just woken up. Another man wore the strangest combination of clothes: an overlong Beatles shirt with corduroy pants and a lime green suit jacket. Even odder about this particular man was that there was a snake comfortably wrapped around his shoulders and the smoke seeming to come from his drink. Lily didn't get to ogle for long though, for the others quickly swept back into what appeared to be a hidden courtyard. Neville pulled out a stick of wood from his pocket and tapped a stone in the middle of the brick wall. The Potter girl giggled as Lily's jaw dropped when the bricks began to rearrange themselves into an archway that led into a whole new world.
The boys dashed through, but before they got far, their father caught their shirt collars and reeled them in with a stern look. "Shopping first, or your mother will have my head, boys! We'll go to Quality Quidditch Supplies after. No running off."
"Yes, dad," they muttered, not meeting their father's eye.
"Right then. We're off to Gringotts first, Neville, but we'll catch up to you in a bit."
The family wandered off down the street. Lily watched them go, lost in dreams of a family like that until Neville tapped her shoulder and nodded his head down the street. Lily couldn't believe some of the items being sold in these shops, and when they went into Flourish and Blotts, Neville nearly had to drag her away from the advanced Charms and Transfiguration sections. Lily didn't question how Neville was paying for these items, though he did briefly explained to her what the difference between a Galleon, a Sickle, and a Knut were when he first paid for her cauldron and potion supplies. Neither of them wanted to carry all of the items, and so with a swish of his wand, he would make the items disappear to the room she would be staying in at The Leaky Cauldron for the next couple of weeks. The Potter family did eventually rejoin them when they reached Madame Malkin's Robe Shop, where Lily Potter also needed to be fitted for her first pair of Hogwarts robes. Madame Malkin herself was a kind witch, getting a little old though. Happy with the length and fit of the robes, the little band headed back out into the street.
"Can I get my wand now?" Lily Potter begged, tugging on her father's sleeve, reminding Lily that she too had yet to go get her wand. It was the last thing on her list.
"Yes," Harry said, glancing at Neville. "You headed to Ollivander's too?"
Neville nodded and together they approached the eerie little shop at the center of the street. Upon walking in, Lily looked around at the stacks and stacks of thin boxes lining shelves, piled on chairs, and spread across the counter top. Nobody seemed to notice the wizened old wizard approach the counter until he greeted them in a soft rasping voice. Lily jumped about a foot in the air and shied away from his silver eyed gaze which sent chills down her spine. Neville had told her he was the most famous wand maker in the wizarding world, and he was never wrong about a person or a wand.
"Ah, yes, the Potters have returned this year I see," Ollivander rasped, peering at Lily Potter with those odd eyes of his. "And Neville! Have you brought me another muggleborn then?"
"Yes," Neville said nervously. Lily was glad she wasn't the only one unnerved by the wand maker. "Lily Kensington, this is Ollivander."
"Curious," Ollivander rasped. "Lily Potter and Lily Kensington, I am delighted. Which of you would like to go first?"
Lily Potter leapt forward enthusiastically, the fire of excitement burning in her eyes. Her brothers carefully cleared off the chairs in the corner and sat down, bored, as Ollivander began taking measurements with an odd measuring tape that appeared to move of its own accord. Lily watched as he bustled around, pulling boxes off the shelf seemingly at random, snatching the tape away before handing the first wand to the Potter girl. She waved the wand theatrically, but Ollivander snatched it away almost instantly and replaced it with another, and then another, and then another. At last, he handed the girl one that seemed just right, and Lily Potter squealed delightedly. Holly and unicorn tail hair, ten and a half inches and supple, good for charms work. He boxed it up for her and then turned his attention to Lily.
"Miss Kensington, please step forward," he said, gesturing.
She stood still as a board as the measuring tape began flitting around and the wand maker began his process of retrieving various wand boxes once again. When he appeared ready, the tape dropped to the floor and he pulled the first wand out of the box. Before he handed it to her though, his eyes widened and he muttered "curious" again. Just as Lily Potter, he snatched most wands from her hand before she could so much as raise her arm. After what seemed like an hour, he placed a dark wooded wand in her hand, pronouncing it to be Cherry wood, dragon heartstring, sturdy, nine and three quarter inches. Gold sparks shot from the end as she raised this one, and her entire being seemed to warm. This was her wand. She was nearly deafened by the Potters and Neville's shouts of congratulations. Ollivander had a sly smile on his face as well as he took the wand from her and wrapped it up, accepting Neville's payment absentmindedly.
Harry spoke up before Lily could ask her question. "Sir, I asked you the same thing the day I came in, but what's curious?"
Ollivander smiled. "Well, both here are Lily, but Miss Kensington here is a very odd girl. Today is her eleventh birthday, I believe?"
Dumbfounded, Lily nodded.
"Ah, yes. Well, the circumstances of her wand are much like yours were, Mr. Potter. So far, it only has one brother, and I'm afraid it is in the hands of a witch I'm not pleased to have sold to. Have you heard of a Miss Rosalind Stone?"
Harry nodded, frowning. "She's just a name that's cropped up at the ministry. We don't actually know anything about her."
"Beyond that, I can't tell you much more. Miss Kensington, I ask you to use this wand very carefully. It is a powerful wand where defense and dark magic are concerned."
They all left the shop without a word after that odd exchange, Lily with her new wand clutched in her hands. Who was Rosalind Stone? The adults didn't seem to know, and Lily Potter just shook her head when Lily whispered the name to her. It was exactly as Mr. Ollivander had said, curious. Lily decided to shake it from her thoughts for the time being and reflect on the birthday she had had. Aside from the porridge this morning, it was the best birthday of her life, and she smiled to herself the rest of the way to the Leaky Cauldron. It had been a day full of surprises, and she felt prepared to face down any challenge in her way after today.