Chapter One: Discovery
Lily turned in front of the full-length mirror and smiled at her reflection. 'Perfect,' she thought. Staring back at her was a petite curvy figure dressed in a beautifully laced white gown. The strapless gown tapered her waist then flowed outward with beads placed in strategic areas, making her sparkle when the sun hit them.
Someone rapped on the door. Stunned out of her mesmerized state by the intrusion, Lily gasped. "Come in," she called to the visitor.
"Lily?" A tall pale woman came into the room. She was dressed in a lavender bridesmaid dress with spaghetti straps and a billowing skirt. Her bodice was also beaded strategically, her dress glistening in the most perfect spots. "Oh, Lily," she breathed when she saw Lily smiling at her. "You look marvelous."
Lily beamed. "You really think so, Trin?" She turned back to her reflection.
"Lils, I know so. Come now," Trin said as she rushed into the room. "We only have a few moments before it's time." She let out a squeal diving into the drawers full of brushes, ribbons, and laces.
Lily sat at her bureau and stared wistfully at her reflection as Trin grabbed a brush and delicately ran it through Lily's auburn hair. Lily let her mind drift to the day in her tenth summer when her entire life changed...thanks to a chance meeting on Charring Cross Roads.
---
Lily Evans stared blankly at the fried eggs and toast in front of her. ‘What to do today?’ she thought to herself. ‘Maybe a stroll around the park. Or maybe read another book…’
She sighed and began to eat her breakfast slowly. She felt her mother’s eyes on her and knew without looking up that she was concerned. Everyone in the household knew how difficult it was for Lily to find something to do. Everyone tried everything they could think of to interest Lily. Mother had taken Lily shopping for hours at a time. Father drove her to the ice cream shop every so often. Even Petunia played an occasional game of cards with her. But after a while, such a routine became bland.
As Lily got up to put her dishes in the dishwasher, her mother asked, "Are you up for some back-to-school shopping, honey?"
Lily looked up at her mother and smiled a little. It was obvious to her what her mother was trying to do, and she was grateful. "No, I was thinking of walking around town by myself today," she answered. "If you don't mind, of course."
Her mum smiled. "Of course not. Go on upstairs and get ready; I’ll call the Abercrombies and see if Selena can come with you."
Lily grinned, something she hadn't been doing very often. "Thank you so much, Mum!" she cried and bounded toward the stairs.
"Oh, and if you don't mind, would you wake Petty up for me? We can't have her sleeping the entire day," her mother asked.
Lily climbed the stairs two at a time and stopped outside her sister's room. "Petty!" she called, knocking on the door. "Mum says it's time to wake up!"
A muffled groan was heard from the other side of the door. After a bit of shuffling, Petunia's voice was heard. "All right. Give me minute."
Lily smiled at her older sister's antics and headed toward her own room.
One of the few things in her life that satisfied her was her room. The walls were bare except for the paintings that her mother had painted for her. White lilies bordered the corners of the walls while the part of the wall that was touching the wooden floor was decorated with overly sized lilies growing out of the fresh, spring grass. Lily, being obsessed with her namesake, had lily bed sheets, pillows, curtains, and throw rug. Every night, before she went to sleep, she took the air freshener (lily-scented, of course) and sprayed it all over her room so she could fall asleep to the scent of fresh lilies.
Lily picked up the telephone (the word "Lily" was painted on the receiver) and dialed Selena's number.
"Hello?" a woman's soft voice asked.
"Mrs. Abercrombie? This is Lily. Is Selena awake?" Lily asked eagerly.
"Oh, good morning Lily. Yes, Selena is awake. Let me go get her," Mrs. Abercrombie said.
Lily sat in her chair, twirling the telephone cord in her fingers as she waited.
"Lily?" a softer and sweeter voice answered.
"Lena! My mom said it would be okay for me to spend the day in town today, and she said you could come! Want to go?" Lily quickly asked in one breath.
Selena chuckled softly. "I don't think I'm doing anything today, but I'll have to ask my mom to be sure. Hang on."
Again, Lily waited impatiently for her friend to answer.
"Lily? She said yes," was the answer from the voice on the other side of the phone.
Lily squealed with delight, smiling widely. She knew Mrs. Abercrombie would love for Lena to get out once in a while. It was known, and clear, to everyone that fresh sunlight would do very well for the all-to pale and skinny Selena.
The two girls quickly said their good byes to one another, and Lily dashed to her mirror. Her emerald eyes, her favorite feature, stared back at her. Lily pulled a brush through her dark frizzy red hair once or twice to tame it and ran down the stairs.
"Whoa, Lils! Where's the fire?" Petunia asked jokingly at the table as she ate her breakfast.
Lily grinned. "I'm going out today," she announced to her big sister proudly.
Lily’s mother glanced at her younger daughter's cheerful expression and smiled. “If I’d have known you would react so positively to a day out with Selena, I would’ve insisted you both go out everyday,” she exclaimed.
Petunia smiled too. Like her mother, she had noticed how distraught Lily had been all summer. Petunia raised a carefully plucked eyebrow. “That is enough to keep her satisfied?” she asked her mom in a mockingly incredulous tone. "Well, I hope you two have fun. And do keep an eye out for cute boys, won't you?" she asked playfully and winked.
Lily giggled and rolled her eyes. "Of course I will, Petty." Then Lily bounded to her mother. "Mum, can we go now? Please?" she begged, tugging her mother's arm.
Her mother laughed. "Oh, okay," she gave in. She looked up at Petty. "You won't mind finishing the dishes, would you, dear?" she asked. "If you want me to do them, I'll just do them first and then take Lily."
Petty looked at Lily's begging eyes and laughed too. "Of course not. Go ahead and take Lily," she said.
Lily gasped and ran to hug her sister. "You're the best, Petty!" she cried, throwing her arms around Petunia.
"I know that already, Lils. And remember, when you come home, tell me everything that happened!" Petunia warned, shaking her finger at her sister.
Lily nodded. "Of course. And I'll make sure to buy you all presents!"
Her mother frowned as she glanced at Lily over her shoulder. "Lily Evans! Where is your jacket?" she scolded.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Mum! It's August! It's not cold in August!" Lily cried.
"Now, young lady, you march upstairs and bring a jacket. At least a light one. There's a dear.”
Lily sighed loudly and ran quickly up to her room.
Mrs. Evans sighed as well and turned to her oldest daughter, who was already starting on the rest of the dishes and smiled. "What would I do without you, Petunia?"
Petunia smiled as well. "Don't fret, Mum. I'm always here."
Lily rampaged back into the small kitchen. "Okay Mum. Now I'm ready. Can we please go now?" she begged.
Her mum chuckled and said, "All right, all right. Let's go." Lily let out a whoop before stampeding out the front door. Behind her, her mother shook her head slightly as she fetched her car keys.
On the way to the Abercrombies’, Lily couldn't keep still in her seat in the car. "Mum, can't you drive a little faster?" she whined.
"Now, now. If I get into an accident, you'll never be able to get there. Be patient, dear. Selena’s not going anywhere but with us."
Lily groaned and continued staring out the window, as if willing the scenery to go by faster with her mind.
Finally, the car pulled into the Abercrombies' driveway. Lily opened the car door before it pulled to a complete stop, much to her mother's horror. However, before she could scold Lily, her daughter had already bounded to the front door and pushed the doorbell.
The door immediately flew open, and both girls squealed delightedly at the sight of each other. They jumped up and down before giving each other bear hugs.
Selena turned around, gave a small wave, and began running toward the car. For a pale, slim girl, she did have a considerable amount of stored energy.
Lily waved to the Abercrombies’ as well before leaping toward the car as well.
Selena, slightly flushed and panting, climbed into the backseat of the car. "Good morning, Mrs. Evans," she greeted politely.
Mrs. Evans smiled warmly and said, "Good morning, Selena. How's your summer
been?"
"All right, I guess."
Lily threw herself down in the backseat and panted out, "No fair. You had a head start."
Selena smiled and answered, "You have longer legs though."
Lily pouted slightly at this, finding it hard to retort, then stuck her tongue out. Lena laughed at her best friend's face. Lily started laughing along with her.
---
Mrs. Evans dropped the girls off at the heart of London. "Now remember," she reminded the girls as she handed them a few English notes. "No talking to strangers, no inappropriate behavior, no-"
"Mum, we know already," Lily sighed exasperatedly.
Her mother smiled slightly. "Just making sure." She changed her smile into a stern face as she continued. “If you ever need me, run to a payphone and call. I’ll be at the house.”
After a quick peck on the cheek for both girls, her mother drove off, still slightly worried. The two girls stood as they watched the car turn the corner.
"Right," Lily turned to Selena. "What should we do now?"
Selena looked thoughtfully for a moment. "How 'bout we go to that new museum? My mother said it might be fun," she suggested.
Lily shook her head in distaste. She hated museums. She hated the fact that she would have to whisper in hushed voices for the entire time. When she tried to make the museum more "interesting" people would just scold her or shoo her out. "How 'bout we go north? You know, where there are all those interesting and deserted places. It would be fun to find a little warehouse all to ourselves." Lily smiled at the thought of it.
Selena seemed a bit uneasy. "Oh, I don't think it would be much fun. I mean, there aren't any interesting people up there. And the streets are so much darker," she said quickly.
Lily took Selena's arm and started tugging on it. "Oh, come on, Lena! We'll have lots of fun! We might even find a dragon scale! Or a ghost!" she said excitedly.
Selena smiled. Lily was famous for her love of fantasy; stories about magical creatures and faraway lands never ceased to fascinate Lily. The only type of those stories she hated were the damsels in distress. Each time someone suggested telling the story of Sleeping Beauty or some other well-known damsels in distress, she would wrinkle her little nose and say, "Why would I want to hear about a girl who sits there all day, waiting for her prince to come? Tell me the story of the princess who killed the dragon with her magical sword!"
"Oh, all right,” Selena gave up. “But only for a while.”
Lily let go of Selena's arm to clap her hands together. Then she reached for Selena's hand again. "Well, hurry up, slow poke!"
The two girls ran quickly through the thick crowds. After a few minutes of running, the crowd began to thin until there were only 4 or 5 people visible in all directions.
The girls slowed their pace to look at each abandoned building, making up stories for them as they went.
"That was the haunted home of a ghost!"
"That one must've been the warehouse for pirates to store their stolen goods!"
The girls giggled as they kept naming the "familiar" buildings.
"That one must've been the saloon where criminals hung out." Lily pointed at a small building behind a large bookstore.
"Actually, that building is a tavern," another voice said from behind. The two girls spun around.
Standing before them were two tall boys about their own age, each wearing a grin on their face. The one who had spoken had chocolate brown eyes, which looked out from behind a pair of round glasses, his messy black hair spilling over them. His wiry frame seemed too big for his round face. The other had chin-length black hair with dark brown eyes and towered above the rest of them. His face was more chiseled than his companion's and he seemed a bit older.
"Well, well. Who do we have here, wandering around the streets of London by themselves?" the one who spoke before said.
"Are you two going to go in or not?" the other asked.
“Go in where?” Lily asked them, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
“The Leaky Cauldron.”
Lily tilted her head. “What’s that?”
The boys looked at each other in surprise. “Well, well. A pair of Muggles who can actually see the Leaky Cauldron?” the taller one asked.
The one with glasses nodded, grinning even wider. “That’s something you don’t see everyday.”
"What? What are Muggles?" Lily snapped at them and glanced with an annoyed expression at the now silent Selena who had been looking on with worried eyes.
"Oops, we better watch out, James. We wouldn’t want these Muggles to walk through that ‘saloon’ ," the taller one laughed.
"We aren't Muggles. We’re normal people like you.” Lily looked over the pair. The one wearing glasses wore a scarlet red robe while the other one wore a dark blue one. "Hmm scratch that," Lily added, not trying to keep a slight sneer out of her tone. "We're normal people unlike you."
A boy’s face darkened immediately while the other laughed heartedly. "Hey, James! This one has spunk!" he cried surprised.
"She doesn't have spunk. She has something wrong with her tongue. And that's putting it nicely," James spat at Lily.
"Why, you idiotic pert!" To everyone's surprise, Lily marched right up to James, who was a whole head taller than her, and slapped him with a smart smack. James, stunned stepped back, then curled both hands into fists and made toward Lily.
His friend grabbed him by the scruff of his robes and whispered sharply, "Stop, James! She's a girl!"
"There! That should teach you never to call me 'Muggle' ever again," Lily said haughtily.
Selena, finally snapped out of her silent phase, tugged at Lily's arm. "Stop it, Lily. You don't know what you're saying," she whispered.
Lily pulled her arm away impatiently. "I know exactly what I'm saying," she replied. She turned back to the boys. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have better things to do than to speak to likes of you." She spat the word out with as much venom as she could muster. With that said, she pushed past them and marched down the street back to the direction they had come from with her head held high. Selena shook her head and followed her fuming friend without looking back at the furious boy with glasses.
End notes: This chapter follows as closely to canon as my knowledge of the Harry Potter universe as of August 8, 2003 allows. Any information revealed to be false by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will not be changed.
Reviews are graciously accepted and appreciated.