Chapter 1: Glow of Magic
Lily Evans tossed her dark red hair over one shoulder as she came down the stairs to the kitchen. The radio, which had turned on automatically, sang its usual morning jangle as Lily opened the refrigerator. She suddenly paused while pushing things aside to search for the milk.
What is the newscaster saying? “...something like an aurora borealis. Two eyewitnesses swear they saw blue and yellow lights in the evening sky yesterday. Most odd--”
Lily shut the radio thoughtfully, cutting off the newscaster’s voice. I didn't see anything...a pity. That sounds interesting. She put the milk on the table and opened a cabinet for a bowl and cereal. She barely caught a mug as it began to slide off the edge of the shelf and breathed a quiet sigh of relief, placing it further back to prevent it from falling again.
She heard the click of the mail slot as she carried her breakfast to the living room. The post can wait a few minutes. She reveled in the peaceful stillness of the first sunlit hours, when nobody would tell her that food belonged only in the kitchen, and Petunia wouldn't be complaining loudly that she found some of Lily's books in her room.
Yes, she was definitely a morning person. That is, whenever she got up in time to enjoy the peaceful morning hours. She sighed contentedly as she finished her cereal, and put the bowl and spoon away after soaping and rinsing them. Washing your own breakfast dishes was a family rule.
She raised her face to the sunlight pouring in through the kitchen window, then went to the front door and returned with a stack of envelopes. She settled in the living room once more, a recliner this time, and flipped through two bills, a toothpaste advertisement, a coupon for a major department store, another bill...suddenly she stopped. She stared at the heavy yellowish parchment on her lap. Who uses this type of stuff nowadays? And--wait a minute--it’s addressed to me!
“Lily Evans, “ she read. “The Kitchen, 46 Elmwood Rd, Redhill, Surrey.”
A sudden fear overtook her. How could anyone have possibly known I would be in the kitchen? Am I being stalked? Her eyes involuntarily glanced at the window, but she saw nothing but the gently waving branches of an oak tree and puffy white clouds barely moving against a pale blue sky.
Maybe she should wait for her parents before opening the letter. Yes, that was the wisest thing to do...she wouldn’t open it.
Or would she? Naturally inquisitive, and of a somewhat impatient nature, Lily couldn’t help turning over the envelope to search for some sign, some clue to the identity of the sender. She looked oddly at the old-fashioned red wax seal. She could make out a lion, a serpent, an eagle, and a badger. Or something like a badger, anyway.
Feeling slightly reckless, and knowing she might be horrified at the contents of the letter, she nevertheless broke the seal and eased the letter out. Dropping her eyes to the first line, she read, “We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”
Her mouth fell open, and for a few seconds she couldn’t think. Then she quickly read the entire letter, her eyes flying over the parchment. A slow smile spread across her face. Could this be true?
She had always loved magical fairy tales, and had never completely believed that magic didn’t exist. And now, it seemed as if her dreams had come true...maybe there was such a thing as magic.
Or maybe this was all just a great joke, cooked up by her next-door neighbor and best friend, Tamara Lorens. Yes , that makes perfect sense, she thought. Logic kicked in. Tami knew of her hope that magic was still alive, and Tami also knew that if she was awake, she'd get the mail.
In retrospect, it was a good thing she hadn’t waited for her parents before opening the letter and worried them for nothing. Another thought suddenly occurred to her, and she realized that the envelope had not been stamped or postmarked. That confirmed her suspicions. Tami would’ve been able to just slip the envelope in through the mail slot.
The hope and longing that had flared briefly inside her at seeing the letter died. She grinned. Ooh, Tami. You’re gonna get it this time.
She ran to the backyard, climbed the stone wall that bordered their property, and was beneath Tami’s second floor bedroom window in three minutes. Before she had a chance to call her friend’s name, the window flew open and Tami waved.
“Come on up, the door’s unlocked!” Tami called.
Lily opened their back door and bounded up the stairs. This was like her second home, and Mr. Lorens was sort of like an older brother to her. Lily didn’t have any brothers or boy friends-that is, friends who were boys--and thought Mr. Lorens was nice.
Often, his work would take him away from home for a few days, and if he couldn’t take Tami along, she would stay either at her aunt’s or at Lily’s house. Lily smiled, remembering their last sleepover. They had watched a movie and eaten popcorn and chocolate till they felt sick. They had stayed awake, talking, till after midnight. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if magic were true?” Lily had asked dreamily.
Tami had nodded with an odd look on her face. “Yes, it would be....” her voice had trailed off into a yawn and they had both gone to sleep soon after.
That was probably what gave Tami the idea to send the letter.
“Lily?” Tami called. “Did you faint or something?”
Lily looked up to the head of the stairs. Tami had a huge grin on her face and beckoned to Lily. “We have so much to talk about! Come on up!” she said excitedly.
Lily smiled. Tami was pretty, with brown wavy hair, light brown eyes, and a faint spattering of freckles on her nose. But it wasn’t her delicate features that made her likable so much as the twinkle in her eyes, the dimples with her smile, and her enthusiastic, fun-loving personality.
“Merlin, Lily--we haven’t spoken in ages !” Tami said.
After hearing Tami use ‘Merlin’ as an exclamation for years, Lily had gotten used to it. When she'd gone and checked up Merlin, and discovered he was some ancient wizard, she had asked Tami why she used it, but had never gotten a clear explanation. So she just took it in stride, and now barely noticed when Tami used it.
Lily grinned and began climbing the stairs. “Since when is the definition of ‘ages’ one day?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. She reached the top and high-fived Tami, who was so excited, she was practically jumping. They walked down the hall to Tami’s room and sat on the bed.
“So, did you get it?” Tami asked, delight written all over her face. “I just got mine...ooh, I’m so happy!”
“What?” Lily was suddenly surprised. What’s going on? Didn’t Tami send that letter?
“What are you talking about, Tami?” Lily asked quickly.
Tami’s face fell. “What? I mean...I don’t understand...you didn’t? You should’ve! I mean, you’ve always been able to....”
Tami stopped suddenly, her eyes wide, a hand on her mouth. “Don’t tell me you didn’t get one. Merlin--please don’t tell me you didn’t get a letter this morning.”
“Tami, what’s going on? I did get a letter this morning, but--I thought....” Lily’s voice trailed off as Tami began jumping all over the room. A miniature glass unicorn fell off the windowsill and shattered, but Tami didn’t seem to notice.
Lily preferred this Tami to one that was shocked and upset. She watched amusedly for a few minutes as Tami began loudly singing a song she had never heard, something about “Montrose Magpies” and “faster snitches.”
“Tami? You’re mad,” Lily proclaimed, and grinning, she stretched out on the bed. “When you feel like explaining, I’ll be right here.”
“Dad!” Tami yelled. “Lily’s gotten her letter! I told you she would!”
Mr. Lorens walked, smiling, into the room. “Congratulations, Lily. I’m happy for you, and obviously Tami’s thrilled.”
Lily was now more confused than ever. Suddenly, the truth hit her. The hopeful feeling she had buried earlier that morning rose up again. “You mean...that letter. It’s true?”
“Of course, you idiot!” Tami replied. “Oh, I’m so excited I can barely breathe!”
She turned to her father. “Dad, the unicorn fell again. I’m sorry. I’ll have to find a different place to put it. Could you please fix it for me?”
“Of course, darling,” he replied.
Lily looked from one to the other. How could it have fallen again? Didn’t it shatter every time it fell?
“Watch, Lily,” Tami said. “You’re about to see your first real magic show.”
Lily realized that Mr. Lorens was holding a thin wooden stick in one hand. He pointed it at the shards of glass, said ‘Reparo’ lazily, and blue sparks shot out of the stick. Lily gasped as the hundreds of tiny glass fragments rose into the air and reformed into the lovely glass unicorn they had been before.
Lily could feel her heart pumping forcefully. Was that magic? “What...what just happened?” she asked weakly. There was a pounding in her ears. She didn’t dare to believe....
“Oh, Lily.” Tami hugged her tightly. “The secrets are finally over. I’m a witch, and so are you.”
“I still can’t believe you kept it a secret all these years,” Lily said over lunch. “I knew I wasn't imagining it when that photograph in your living room winked at me last week," she added, grinning.
They had spread a picnic blanket in the Lorens’ backyard, and they laughed and talked as Tami told Lily everything she had ever wanted to know about magic. Mr. Lorens had promised to take them both to Diagon Alley the next day, and Lily’s parents were going to come along, too.
They were thrilled that their daughter was a witch. At first, they hadn’t believed her, thinking it was just her imagination running wild again. But after Mr. Lorens had spoken to them and proved that magic did, in fact, exist, they had been ecstatic.
“I always had a feeling Lily was special,” her father had said, smiling.
“Oh, darling. To think that you’ve been chosen....” her mother had said joyfully.
They had spoken for a while, her parents beaming the whole time, and then Lily had gone back to talk to Tami.
“Wait till you see Diagon Alley. It’s amazing!” Tami said. “My first memory of Diagon Alley is when I was five. I had gotten a strawberry ice cream, and after I ate it, my hair, skin, and clothes turned bright red. They stayed that way for a week,” she recalled, laughing. “My mum thought it was a great joke.”
Lily’s thoughts turned to Mrs. Lorens. She had been a veritable ball of energy, always busy, and always laughing or smiling. Tami was just like her.
Mrs. Lorens had died a year earlier in a terrible fire that had ravaged the Lorens’ home. The house had been rebuilt quickly, and Mrs. Lorens’ presence could still be felt all over the house. Photographs of her laughing and smiling hung in every room. All the memories Lily had of Mrs. Lorens were happy ones.
Tami’s voice cut through Lily’s thoughts. “It wasn’t an electrical fire, you know. Mum had been trying to transfigure something, but didn’t realize it had been ‘sealed.’ It..it exploded in her face and set the house on fire...I still can’t believe my mum could make a mistake like that. She was so good at transfiguration, head of her department at the Ministry. It’s so awful....”
“I know,” Lily said. “I miss her.”
“Me, too,” Tami whispered, tears welling in her eyes. “All the time.”
Lily put a comforting arm around Tami’s shoulders and they leaned back on the blanket, watching the clouds move gently across the brilliant blue summer sky.
Tap, tap, tap. James Potter sighed and rolled over underneath the covers. He had been in middle of a good dream--he was watching a Quidditch World Cup game, and the teams were at a tie, 70-70. Now he’d never know who had won.
Oh, well. You couldn’t have everything in life. Or at least that’s what his mum was always telling him. James smiled and stretched, pushing a hand through his messy black hair.
There were two weeks left to summer, which had been enormous fun. He grinned as he remembered some of the finer points of the summer, which included turning his mum’s favorite set of china dishes into rabbits.
With pink, rose-patterned fur.
He couldn’t help it. He had been forced to sit through a formal dinner one day with some of his father’s partners from the Ministry, and he had felt the boredom and impatience building in him until he couldn’t stand it.
Then something in him went pop and everyone’s dinner plates had started scampering around the table, nibbling at the lettuce in the salad bowl. James had laughed uproariously and had been sent up to eat dinner in his room, which was what he had wanted anyway.
His mother had calmed down rather quickly, considering that she had just been embarrassed in front of several important Ministry wizards, and his father had transfigured all the rabbits back within two minutes. Nobody was harmed except for the salad, which nobody would touch.
James knew his parents were secretly happy about his frequent “accidents”. They would’ve been horribly disappointed if their only son turned out to be a Squib. With this knowledge in mind, he usually managed to avoid punishment when he got into trouble involving magic. But the furry dinner plates had been the last straw for his mum and dad, and so he’d been sent up to his room.
Big deal. He loved a good prank. The only thing that bothered him about the rabbits was that he couldn’t take full credit for them, because he hadn’t been thinking specifically of rabbits when his magic had taken control.
That would all change once he went to Hogwarts. Once he had a wand and had learnt a few good spells, he would be able to prank people intentionally. He couldn’t wait.
The tapping sounded again. James walked to his window and threw it open. The handsome brown owl sitting on the windowsill hooted. It stuck out its leg, which had a letter tied to it.
James calmly untied the letter and the owl flew off. He stared after it for a second, then seized the letter and turned it over. The red wax sealing the envelope had a lion , an eagle, a badger, and a serpent imprinted on it.
James let out a joyous yell.
“James?” a voice floated down the hall. “Are you all right, dear?”
“I just got my Hogwarts letter, mum!” he shouted. Finally.
He tore the envelope open and extracted the heavy yellow parchment. His eyes quickly scanned the letter.
“Yes!” he cheered, punching the air above his head. He had been waiting for this moment for years.
Mr. and Mrs. Potter walked into the room, laughing. “Looks like we’ll be making a trip to Diagon Alley today, hmm?” his father said.
“I think this calls for a celebration breakfast.” Mrs. Potter smiled.
“Yes!” James cheered again. “Can we have waffles?”
“Of course, darling,” his mother answered. “And we’ll have chocolate ice cream on top.” She turned to leave the room. “Hurry and get dressed, James, will you?” she called over her shoulder. “We should get an early start if we want to spend the day in Diagon Alley.”
James, grinning, turned to get dressed. This was the perfect ending to a wonderful summer. He would get his own wand today, and the independence that came with it. He was more than ready to learn magic.
He absently stroked his pet Kneazle, Tiger, as his intelligent hazel eyes gazed out of the window over their expansive grounds. He watched one of their many Aethonans canter along the fence of the pasture it was in and take off gracefully, soaring through the air.
That instantly made him think of Quidditch. He smiled. He was good at Quidditch, and he knew it. His skill was a combination of a natural talent for flying he had inherited from his mother, and a dexterity that he had developed through practice. Hogwarts had a Quidditch team. He couldn’t wait till he was old enough to try out.
With a huge grin on his face, he finished getting dressed and left the room, Tiger following him down the stairs to the kitchen.
A/N: I'm feeling rather poetic today, so let me remind you all that a review to a fanfic writer is like water to a rose...without them we shrivel and dry up.
Well, not really. ;D But I'd really appreciate it if you left a review.