Chapter 1: Surprise Findings

It was a quiet day in the small town of Richmond, London, Birds were nestled in the neatly pruned trees and the only sound that could be heard was the trickling of water flowing from the numerous fountains in the front yards. Although it was a blistering hot day, one ten year old girl was sitting outside, under an old oak tree. She had large green eyes, a slim figure and red hair that framed her face beautifully. The girl casually flicked a strand of her fiery red hair out of her eyes as she concentrated on her novel.

“Lily Brianna Evans! Get yourself into this kitchen now, before you get heatstroke!” Rachel Evans called from the backdoor, fanning her tanned face with a laced fan. Lily sighed and gently closed her book, memorising the page number and made her way to the backdoor and into her air conditioned house.

The Evan’s home related strongly to the Evans themselves. From the high ceilings to the newly refurbished couch, everything was neat and tidy. Mrs. Evans was a strict lady who liked to follow rules but always put her daughters first. She worked in a nice neat building, as she was a lawyer. Mr. Evans was quite the opposite; he was fun-loving, always breaking the rules (much to Mrs. Evans disgust) but also handsome and loyal. He worked in the fire brigade. Mrs. and Mr. Evans were quite the couple, but the most important things in their lives were their two daughters. Petunia Evans was Lily’s older sister, she was as strict as her mother, had quite a long neck, beady eyes that never missed anything and curly blonde hair that never went the way she planned. Lily and Petunia were close and spent lots of time creating things for their rooms and doors. Overall, Lily loved her family and home.

“Lily, dear, you shouldn’t have been out there in the heat!” Mrs. Evans said.

“Mum, I was under the oak reading.” Lily emphasised the last word.

“Yes I know that dear, but why couldn’t you read in your room?” Mrs. Evans asked.

“Because Petunia was in there listening to music! I told you that’s why we can’t share a room!” Lily shouted furiously.

“Well then perhaps the lounge room?” Mrs. Evans shouted over the mumbling of Lily.

“Because Dad was in there vacuuming! I had no where else to go!” Lily cried.

“Okay, okay sweetheart, no need to get angry,” Mrs. Evans said rubbing her forehead.

Lily ran to her room, sprinting up the stairs two at a time and collided head-first into Petunia, who was walking out. Petunia fell to the floor with a thud and got the wind knocked out of her.

"What-the-hell-do-you-think-you’re-doing” gasped Petunia, through heavy breaths

“Sorry, Tuney, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Lily said quietly, bending down to help Petunia up.

“JUST DO ME A FAVOUR, NEVER RUN INTO OUR ROOM WHILE I MIGHT, JUST MIGHT, BE COMING OUT OF IT!!” Petunia screamed when she regained her breath.

She abruptly turned and stormed off down the stairs.

Feeling that this was going to be a long day, Lily strode into her room and plopped onto the bed. There she picked up her book, turned to the memorised page and continued reading without another word.

*

“James Potter! Get out of your bed this instant!” called a voice downstairs.

James Potter opened his hazel eyes immediately, jammed his round glasses on his face and jumped out of his bed. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he raced downstairs and came face to face with none other than his mother, Susan Potter.

“Sorry Mum, I was watching a Muggle movie, and I was sleepy. Honest,” James mumbled.

“Oh really?” Mrs. Potter said, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, rolling her eyes in a good natured way.

James grinned and made his way into the kitchen and ordered a house elf, a servant of some sort, to cook him pancakes. While eating them, James casually messed up his raven coloured hair that never seemed to sit flat on his head. James Potter was lanky for his age, and had hair that didn’t seem to fit his head, but gorgeous hazel eyes which sparkled with delight when he laughed.

As he hacked at a chocolate chip pancake, he thought about his life. Many kids in the street considered him normal, but in actual fact he was not normal

He was a wizard!

Soon he would be getting a letter accepting him into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, or so his parents said.

You see, Mr. and Mrs. Potter were Aurors, Dark Wizard catchers, and two of the top Aurors at the Ministry, to be exact. Being an Auror consisted of being on call all the time, so James rarely saw them. Though his parents were never around, James always found something to do in the Potter Manor, in Godric’s Hollow He would explore the secret passageways or fly around outside on his new broomstick, the Stardust II. His best friend was his cat named Godric, who he named after his hero Godric Gryffindor. Godric the cat, was a Burmese, but he was barely even a cat. James had received him for Christmas, as he had been bugging his parents for one for ages.

James was snapped back into reality by a great big, brown barn owl that had flown in through the open window. James gasped as he saw the writing that said,

Mr J. H. Potter
Kitchen
Potter Manor
Godric’s Hollow
London

He had been accepted.


*

Lily woke with a start; she must have fallen asleep reading. She got up and rubbed the sleep out of her emerald eyes, and saw that the blistering hot day had been replaced by a rather warm night. Lily’s stomach gave a rumble as she realised that she hadn’t eaten any dinner at all. She looked at her pink clock, which read 11.58PM.

Lily realised then that it was the 19th of July and tomorrow, in two minutes, would be her eleventh birthday. Lily jumped up and down with excitement, she wondered whether she would be getting any presents. Lily’s stomach gave an almighty rumble, and Petunia snorted in her sleep. Lily silently crept out of her room and glanced at the clock at the end of the hallway that now read 11.59PM.

As Lily crept past her parent’s room and looked in at her parents. Her mother was lying on her back snoring softly, her suit out for the next day. Her father was on his stomach, mouth open, feet outside the bed and his hand hanging limply over the side. His breathing was deep and heavy, but both of Lily’s parents looked at utmost peace.

Lily crept downstairs, just as the clock chimed twelve. Lily thought ‘I’m now eleven, whoopee!’ She grabbed some leftovers from the stainless steel fridge and sat at the table, eating it quietly and mumbling ‘Happy Birthday’ to herself. After she was done, she put her dirty dishes in the sink and hopped back into bed and was asleep before her head touched the pillow.

*

For the second time, Lily woke with a start. Petunia was no where to be seen, but faint talking downstairs meant that she and their parents were both awake. Lily got up and walked to the window. She gasped in surprise, for sitting on the window seal was a large, black, barn owl.