The First Four Years

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter world (although I wish I did), which was created by the brilliant J.K. Rowling. However, I do own any characters and concepts unfamiliar to you.

Chapter One: The Birth of Lily, Prologue

The sound of a woman screaming could be heard throughout the maternity ward at St. Vincent's Hospital in England.

“Congratulations, Mrs Evans! You just gave birth to a healthy baby girl.” Dr Stevens said.

Laura Evans sighed happily, “Isn't she beautiful, Gary?”

“Yes, she is,” her husband replied, “Her emerald eyes are gorgeous. Her skin is as soft as a flower petal.”

“Yes,” Laura agreed, “Let's call her Lily.”

“Ok.”

“Lily Evans, welcome to the world.”

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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter world (although I wish I did), which was created by the brilliant J.K. Rowling. However, I do own any characters and concepts unfamiliar to you.

Chapter Two: There's an owl in the Kitchen!

-- Flash Forward 11 years --

“Mom!” eleven-year-old Lily Evans called from the kitchen, “There's an owl sitting on the window sill!”

“Oh, shut up, you freak!” her older sister, Petunia Evans, shouted, “Why the hell would there be a god damn owl in the kitchen?”

“Petunia! Watch your language!” Laura Evans said, walking into the kitchen.

From the sitting room where she was watching TV, Petunia muttered, “Oh, please!” and rolled her eyes.

“Now what's this about an owl, dear?” Laura asked, turning to her younger daughter, smiling fondly.

Lily smirked before replying, she loved it when her fourteen-year-old sister got into trouble, “Yes, mum. There's an owl sitting on the window sill over the sink, and it's holding a letter with a funny wax seal on it.”

“Well, see if you can get the letter from it. If you need me, just call.”

“Ok, Mum!” Lily proceeded to walk carefully towards the owl. When it didn't move, Lily reached her hand out, and took the letter. When she looked at it, she gasped. In emerald green ink, the exact same color as her eyes, she read:

Miss L. Evans

The Kitchen

643 Crimson Drive

Bristol

England

On the back, there was a wax seal that said:

ï�¦γHogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

“Mum, could you please come here for a moment?” Lily yelled frantically.

“What is it, dear?” Laura asked, concerned, as she ran into the kitchen, “Is it about the letter?”

“Yes, mum,” Lily thrust the letter into her hands, “Read the front and back of it.”

Neither of them noticed as Petunia walked in.

Laura read what the envelope said, “Miss L. Evans; The Kitchen; 643 Crimson Drive; Bristol; England,” she read slowly, her eyes wide, “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

“I always knew that there was something freakish about you!” Petunia muttered angrily, “Now I know what it is. You're a witch!”

“What are you doing here?” Lily asked rudely.

“I live here, you dolt.”

“Funny, as I recall it, you don't live in the kitchen, my darling sister.”

Laura rolled her eyes at her two daughters, who were always bickering. It seem that once Petunia got Lily started, it could go on for days. She cleared her throat, and said loudly, as both girls turned to look at her, “Now that you're both finished arguing, let's open this letter to see what it says.”

Petunia glared at her sister. Lily smirked, and then turned to look at her mum. “May I open it, Mum? After all, it is addressed to me,” she asked sweetly, in a voice that Petunia thought was absolutely revolting.

“Of course you may, dear,” her mum replied, smiling.

Lily opened the letter and gasped. Then, with a loud, clear voice, and emerald eyes bright with excitement, she began to read:

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Evans:

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Now I know that you are Muggle-born (having non-wizard parents), so you don't know about us. You can get your school supplies in Diagon Alley, by going to the Leaky Cauldron in London. (Manchester Drive, between the big bookstore and the record store). Go into the back alley, and tap the bricks over the garbage pail in this order: three up, and two across.

I have assigned a wizarding family to help you in case you need help. This family is the Potters. Their son, James, will be in your year at Hogwarts. Please arrange to meet them at Diagon Alley before the start of term. They will be sending you an owl.

We await your reply no later than the start of term, September, the first.

Attached, you will find a list of supplies necessary for the year to come.

Sincerely,

Prof. M. McGonagall

Professor Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Lily was amazed. She looked briefly at the list of supplies before turning to look at her mum.

“Oh, Lily! I'm so proud of you! I can't wait to tell your father when he gets home!” Laura exclaimed.

Petunia rolled her eyes. “Oh, mum! May I open it? Please, mum!” she mimicked, “I always knew there was something wrong with you, you FREAK!”

Lily burst into tears, and ran out of the room. “Petunia! That was uncalled for, and unnecessarily mean. Go apologize to your sister RIGHT NOW!” Laura demanded angrily, in a very loud voice.

“Fine,” Petunia muttered, walking out of the room, and walking up the stairs to her sister's room.

Laura sent the owl off with a response saying that Lily would be attending, while wondering what she was going to do with her eldest daughter.

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“James, honey, your Hogwarts letter is here! Yours is too, Sirius,” Christine Potter called down the hallway so that her son, James Potter, and his best fried, Sirius Black could here, “I'll let you two open your letters for yourselves.”

“Coming, mum!” James shouted back, as he and Sirius ran down the hall, early crashing into Christine.

Christine handed each boy his letter. “Thanks, Mrs. Potter,” Sirius said enthusiastically.

“Yea, thanks, mum,” James frowned, “It says that we have to help this girl, Lily Evans. She's muggle-born. It also says to owl her after we get an owl from Dumbledore confirming that she's going to Hogwarts.”

“Oh, yes, I remember Albus asking me if we would do this,” Christine replied.

“I don't have anyone that I have to help,” Sirius noticed.

“Mum, how come Sirius doesn't have to help anyone?” James pouted.

“Probably because my whole family would rather kill a muggle-born than to tell them how to get to Diagon Alley,” Sirius muttered angrily, “They're pureblood freaks, the whole lot of them.”

Just then, a bright red and gold bird appeared in the kitchen, where Christine, James and Sirius were sitting. “Wow, mum! Is that Dumbledore's owl?” James asked, captivated by the bird's bright colors.

“No, dearest, but this is Fawkes, his phoenix,” Christine replied, opening the letter, “Good! Lily Evans has decided to go to Hogwarts. I will owl her now. We can meet her, and her family on August 31 at King's Cross Station, and then from there, we will head over to Diagon Ally, where we will get supplies for both of you. Capisce?”

James nodded, and Sirius said, “I should be going now. Mum said I had to be home by five. And don't worry. I wont tell her about you helping Lily Evans. I don't think she'd let me speak to you again if she knew,” he added hastily.

“Ok, then good-bye, Sirius, dear. The floo powder is on the fireplace mantel,” Christine told him.

“Ok! Thanks for having me, Mrs. P! See you later, James!” Sirius called, and with that, he shouted, “Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place!” and he was gone.

Christine went off to owl Lily, and James went off to fly around on the field behind the Potter Manor, which, of course, was protected with Muggle-repelling charms.

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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter world (although I wish I did), which was created by the brilliant J.K. Rowling. However, I do own any characters and concepts unfamiliar to you.

Chapter Three: Love At First Sight, Or Should We Say, Fight?

When James awoke on the morning of August 31, he immediately got out of bed. `Today is the day that we go to Diagon Alley to meet this Lily Evans' he thought to himself, `I wonder what she will be like.' Now James was very handsome for a boy of only eleven years. He had raven black hair that was so messy, it would never lie flat. Just like his father's hair. It was one of those things that made him so much more attractive. He had gorgeous hazelish-blue cat's eyes that really stood out on his face, and he had a fair complexion with a nice tan. He had a nice build, and a nice toned and muscular body from flying a broom and playing quidditch since he was four.

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Lily Evans was running around her house, trying to get ready to meet the Potters, and go to Diagon Alley. Now even though Lily was only eleven, everyone new that she would be drop-dead gorgeous when she got older. She was already a beauty. She still had those dazzling emerald eyes, now accompanied by beautiful, smooth, shiny, flowing red hair that came down to her waist. It wasn't a bright red, but it wasn't really dark, either. It was a few shades lighter than auburn. Her skin was a very pale, creamy white, and it was powder soft. She had a stunning figure, and although she didn't have a lot of curves yet, she knew that she would have more in a few years.

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It was time for the Potters to leave. They would be going to the Leaky Cauldron to rent three rooms, as Lily's parents were going home, because they didn't trust Petunia to be home alone at night.

“James,” William Potter called up the stairs, “Are you ready? We are leaving in five minutes!”

“Just about, dad! I'll be down in a second,” James replied. Just then, Christine came into the parlor, where William was sitting.

“We only have enough floo powder for James. You and I will have to apparate. We can get some more today,” she said, clearly upset.

William nodded as James came running down the stairs. Christine explained the situation to him. James nodded.

“We are going to the Leaky Cauldron, darling. Your father and I are apparating now. Go on, dear,” she said, and with that, there was a soft pop, and William and Christine were gone. James walked over to the fireplace, dumped the remaining floo powder into his hand, ad threw it into the fireplace. Emerald green flames shot up in the fireplace, and James stepped into it, shouted, “The Leaky Cauldron!” and he disappeared, spinning, until he fell out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron, covered in soot. He brushed himself off, and stood up to see his parent's faces above him, smiling.

“Hello, darling,” Christine said happily.

“Hello mum and dad,” James replied, “Did you rent the rooms here, yet? I want to get to King's Cross Station to meet this Lily Evans.”

“Yes James, we did. We rented one room for your father and I, one for you, and one for Lily. Now calm down, darling.”

“What about her parents?”

“They're going home tonight. They don't trust Lily's sister to be home alone at night.”

“I see,” James replied, nodding, “Now lets go.”

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Lily was standing outside King's Cross Station with her parents, impatiently running her hands through her hair. She sighed, “I really hope that the Potters arrive soon. I really can't stand waiting!”

“James Potter, at your service!” Lily heard behind her. She turned around to face a boy slightly taller than her, with messy, raven black hair, grinning goofily at her.

Lily rolled her eyes and stuck out her hand, “Hi! I'm Lily Evans, and this is my mum, Laura, and my dad, Gary.”

James reached out his hand, and grasped hers, shaking it firmly, “Hi! I'm James, but you already knew that, and these are my parents, Christine and William Potter.”

Lily nodded. James noticed that their parents had drifted away, talking with each other about the differences between the Wizarding World and the Muggle World, and about Hogwarts compared to Muggle Primary and Secondary Schools. James took the opportunity to get a closer look at Lily. She was gorgeous! Even thought he was only eleven, he was a boy, and boys have hormones, and James' mind and hormones found Lily absolutely delectable, and James found himself wanting to eat Lily up. James was so immersed with Lily's beauty that he didn't even notice that his and Lily's parents had returned.

“Is there a reason that you are staring at me, James?” Lily asked curiously.

“Yes,” James replied dreamily, “Your beauty is captivating.”

“Wha-at!” Lily choked.

“Yes. Will you go out with me, Lily?” Wow. Did I just say that out loud?

“James!” Christine said sharply, “You will not be asking anyone out until you are older. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, mum,” James replied, still looking at Lily.

“And you will stop staring at Lily!”

“Yes, mum,” he complied as he diverted his gaze to the ground.

“Good.”

“Now lets go to Diagon Alley!” William said brightly, trying to get rid of the tension that surrounded them.

“Yes, lets. I'm looking forward to meeting the goblins that run the bank,” Gary said, looking excited.

“Oh, they are absolutely hideous,” Christine said with a shudder.

“Don't be a spoilsport, darling!” William said jovially, “The goblins are amazing!”

“Stop, dad. You're embarrassing me. You sound like a kid!” James said, blushing, sneaking a glance at Lily, who was laughing, her emerald green eyes sparkling.

James glared at her, “Why are you laughing?” he demanded.

“You're - dad - is - so - funny!” she managed to get out before lapsing into giggles, with Laura and Christine joining her.

“Well, lets get going,” William said in a booming voice, and they all started to walk towards the bank.

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Hey everyone! Review, because that would be totally awesome! You'll get portkey points, and I'll get reviews, and then I get to reply to you're reviews. And then I'll update sooner

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Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter world (although I wish I did), which was created by the brilliant J.K. Rowling. However, I do own any characters and concepts unfamiliar to you.

Chapter Four: At the Sign of the Leaky Cauldron

After they went to Gringotts, the group went to the Apothecary, Flourish and Botts, Eelops Owl Emporium, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occaisions, Ollivander's, they headed back to the Leaky Cauldron. Tom, the bartender, showed them the rooms that Mrs Potter had rented earlier that day. Lily put her stuff in her room, and went downstairs to say goodbye to her parents. She wouldn't see them at least until Christmas vacation, If they even have a Christmas vacation at Hogwarts, she thought to herself.

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The next morning, Lily awoke to James banging on her door, “Come on Lily. Wake up! We have to leave in an hour!”

“Go away,” moaned Lily.

James opened the door, walked into the room, and dumped a bucket of cold water on her head. Lily sat up and glared at him. Oh, if looks could kill, James Potter would have been dead ten times over.

James ran out of the room as Lily jumped out of the bed. She quickly threw some clothes on, and chased him down the stairs.

Lily skidded to a halt as she got downstairs, and looked up into the grinning face of William Potter.

“Ah ha! By George, I've got it! But no…it's not possible! James Potter would never rum away from a girl. He told me so himself. Ah, Lily, what did he do this time? Doubtless, another prank. He's going to out do me one of these days,” Mr Potter sighed unhappily.

“You don't seem like the prankster type. Well, yes you do. Oh, I don't know!” Lily said confusedly, “Anyways, back to what James did. He banged on my door at eight o'clock, saying that we had to leave in an hour. I told him to go away. He barged into my room, and dumped a bucket of cold water on my head. I then go dressed and chased him down the stairs. Thus, we are here,” she finished angrily.

William grinned. His eyes sparkled mischievously, “I have the perfect plan.” He then proceeded to whisper it in her ear. By the time he was done, Lily's eyes were sparkling even more than before.

“I love it!” she exclaimed, “even though I'll feel really guilty later on.”

“You see,” he said, “William Potter, not a prankster? Impossible!” he laughed.

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I know that it's really short, but if you review, then chapter 5 will be longer

When I finish posting this story, I'm thinking of posting a song fic version of it, so if you have any suggestions of songs for certain chapters, just send them in a review or an e-mail

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Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the Harry Potter world (although I wish I did), which was created by the brilliant J.K. Rowling. However, I do own any characters and concepts unfamiliar to you.

A/N: Two chapters in one day. Wow! (and this one is much longer) You’ll see why if you read the A/N at the end, and I would really appreciate it if you did read it, it would mean a lot to me.

Chapter Five: Plan in Action

It was ten o’clock in the morning, and William, Christine, and Lily were ready to put their plan into action. Christine had already been informed of the plan, and although she wasn’t one for pranks, she felt that it was high time that James was taught a lesson. Playing ticks on friends were one thing, but pranking a girl that the Potters were supposed to ease into the wizarding world was completely unacceptable.

Lily asked James to show her around Diagon Alley, since they still had half and hour befor they had to leave. James, being the egotistical prat that he was, thought that Lily liked him, and was asking him out, so he happily obliged. Mr and Mrs Potter had told her to seek out a store called Quality Quidditch Supplies, and ask James what it was. Lily found the store, and before she could say “Quidditch”, she was being dragged to the store.

“JAMES POTTER!” Lily shouted, furious about being dragged halfway across Diagon Alley like she was a dead cow (and happily, because it was furthering the plan), “You come back here right now!”

James was to engrossed looking at the new Shooting Star 560, which was the best broom in the world, to even notice Lily shouting furiously at him.

Lily stomped off angrily, and walked back to the Leaky Cauldron.

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William and Christine were back at the Leaky Cauldron waiting for Lily. When she got back, her face was bright red, and she was furious.

“He completely ignored me!” she exploded, “That Quidditch Freak! I don’t even know what the bloody hell Quidditch is!”

William’s eyes were twinkling, and he was shaking with silent laughter.

Christine hit him lightly, “William, stop that! You’re almost as bad as James sometimes,” she chastised, “Now Lily, go hide in that corner until we come back, okay?”

“Okay, Mrs Potter,” Lily replied.

“Christine,” she corrected Lily. “Call me Christine. Don’t make me feel older than I already am.”

“Yes, Christine,” Lily amended.

“Christine and William walked into Diagon Alley to find James.

“You know, Lily and James are acting just like we did back at school. James has admitted that he likes Lily, and Lily has shown absolute loathing for James,” Christine noticed.

“You are absolutely right, as usual, my lady,” William replied with a slight bow, “I noticed that myself.

“Of course you did, dear,” Christine responded teasingly, “Oh! Look! There’s James!”

William looked at where his wife’s finder was pointing, at a very worried looking carbon copy of him, except that he had his mother’s hazel eyes.

“Mum, dad!” he called anxiously, “Have you seen Lily? We were walking around Diagon Alley, and then I went into Quality Quidditch Supplies to look at the new Shooting Star, and when I came out, she was gone!”

This was exactly what the plan called for James to say, so everything was going along perfectly.

“No, James, I haven’t seen her since you were running away from her this morning,” William replied smoothly.

“I wasn’t running away from her. I was merely putting some space between us,” he said defensively, crossing his arms over his chest, scowling.

“If you say so, darling,” Christine said, smiling.

“Now, back to Lily. It’s ten o’clock right now. We’re leaving at half past ten. Be back here with Lily at a quarter past. This should give you plenty of time. If you aren’t back in time, we are leaving without you. This should teach you that you don’t run off when you are with someone just because you see a new broomstick in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies, or that Honeydukes has a new kind of chocolate. Especially when that person has never been in Diagon Alley, or any other part of the Wizarding World before!” William lectured, completely out of character, “Do you understand me?”

“Yes, dad,” James mumble, rolling his eyes. He had never seen his dad this serious before, so he didn’t know what to think.

James ran off to find Lily, while William and Christine headed back to the girl in question, who was currently hiding behind the bar of the Leaky Cauldron, where Tom the bartender was serving drinks.

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While Lily was getting revenge, back in Bristol, Petunia Evans was getting revenge on her eleven year old sister, who had left the previous day to go to freak school, as Petunia liked to call it. Lily would have started to cry, and mum would have gotten mad at me if I had called it that. I’m supposed to call it Hogwarts. Who in their right mind would call a school Hogwarts? Petunia wondered. Only a freak would.

Petunia and Lily used to be really close until Lily was 9, and Petunia accidentally sat on Lily’s favorite toy. Lily was madder than a bull, and somehow, Petunia’s hair managed to catch fire amidst the chaos, and she blamed it on Lily. The two sisters had hated each other ever since. Now Lily had gotten a letter from an owl saying that she was a witch, and that she got to go to a special magic school. Their parent were so proud of her, oh, “Isn’t Lily wonderful?” or “We always knew you were special!” or something to that effect. Why can’t they ever be proud of me? Petunia wondered to herself as her eyes started to tear. Maybe, since Lily is going to that school, they’ll start paying more attention.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang downstairs, and the sound of breaking glass. Petunia got really scared because she was home alone since her parents had gone shopping. Then, everything went black.

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Back at the Leaky Cauldron, it was twenty past ten, and Lily was sitting at a table reading one her favorite muggle plays, The Taming of the Shrew, when suddenly, James burst in, looking around wildly for his parents.

“Hey, Lily! Have you seen my mum and dad?” he called to her, out of breath from running.

Lily started to giggle. “Yes, I did, but they left. They said that they would be back at ten-thirty, and if you weren’t here with your trunk, owl, and what ever other things you’re bringing, then you wouldn’t be going to Hogwarts on the train this year, if you went at all.”

“But dad said to find you and bring you back here by ten-fifteen, since you stormed off—“

“James—“ Lily tried to interrupt him, but he was too engrossed in his own rant.

“—at Quality Quidditch Supplies,” he finished, looking overly satisfied with himself.

“So now I have to go find y—“ James broke off, looking rather confused, “Wait! I found! You didn’t get lost! I’m not going to get punish—“

“I don’t know about that, James,” William interrupted, with a slight grin on his face.

But, but! What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything wrong! Wait . . . did I?” he sat down, pondering the answer to his own question.

Christine decided to interrupt her son’s thoughts, “James, honey, you left Lily in the middle of Diagon Alley.”

Oops. Sorry, Lils,” he winked at her, “But wait. How did you know about that? You couldn’t know. Unless, unless, wait! You set me up for that, didn’t you?” looking quite satisfied with himself for answering his own question.

“That is completely besides the point! You dumped a bucket of ICE COLD WATER on my HEAD at eight o’clock in the morning, and said we were leaving in an hour, when we weren’t leaving for another two and a half hours, and DON’T CALL ME LILS!” Lily burst out angrily, her face bright red.

“Guys, it’s almost eleven. We should head over to Kings Cross, because I don’t think that you would be happy if you missed the train. You can’t apparate to Hogwarts, you know!” Christine but in, hoping to prevent an argument, but her warnings went unheeded by the two bickering children. She turned to William, “Shall we do this the hard way?” She asked, grinning madly.

William winked, “I do believe we shall. On three?” He raised his wand, and Christine did the same. “Accio trunks!” they whispered together. Lily and James belongings came bumping down the stairs. Christine grabbed Lily and her belongings, and William grabbed James and his belongings, and they side-along apparated onto Platform 9 ¾. They, along with their luggage, landed with a loud THUMP! and a surprised look on Lily’s part, until she saw James, and the bickering continued. However, at that moment, the whistle on the Hogwarts Express sounded, signaling the last boarding call, and James finally stopped talking, grabbed Lily’s hand and all of their stuff, said “Good-bye” to his parents as Lily waved to them, and they waved back, and he then proceeded to drag Lily on the train, with her sputtering angrily the whole time.

A/N: I think that was a bit longer than the other chapters. What do you think? Anyways, I know I haven’t posted for a while, as I said in the A/N at the top, and I’m super sorry! I want to dedicate this chapter to my cousin Casey, because I loved him tremendously, and he died Wednesday morning (3/22/06) and I miss him so much. The funeral was today, and we were basically remembering all the great things about him that happened during the terrific 95 years that he was alive. So there you go. I don’t know when I’ll update again, as I’m really overwhelmed with school, and I’m really upset. I just wanted to get this chapter out for Casey as a tribute to his terrific life. Please review for Casey.