A/N: This story was written in response to the prompt Education. It was originally posted at LiveJournal (username - latine) for a Lily/James New Years ficlet writing project.
Education
She remembered when her eleven year old self used to wake up every single morning at nine o'clock sharp. It was some weird routine she was used to following, but it was something she had always done no matter how many hours of sleep she'd got. It was, in a strange way, a part of who she was.
One day though, she recalled, that changed. She woke up at half past ten. That day, that same one, she woke up because she heard something on the window. As she turned to see the source of the noise she almost fell off the bed. An owl was poking the glass of her bedroom window with its beak. One, two, three, four, five times the bird poked on the glass and flew away. Young Lily had laid on the floor scared about what she'd just seen, scared that it wasn't nine in the morning, scared that she was dreaming. Nonetheless, she pretended nothing had happened. The clock in her nightstand table could have accidentally have changed its hands or got broken, and the owl probably wasn't an owl, per say, but any old bird simply looking for something to eat.
Slowly, she gripped her bed post and got up. She turned and looked at herself in her bedroom mirror, combed her hair, put on a pair of old jeans and a red shirt, and went downstairs for breakfast trying to pretend her routine had not bee altered by waking up at a different time.
~
This was the day, he just knew it. This was the day he'd get it. Eleven years of waiting and the day had finally arrived. James woke up with a start, got off his bed, and ran to the door. He tracked back to look at himself in the mirror. He rubbed his eyes trying to hide the bags under his eyes from anxiously waiting awake all night long. With one movement, he managed to put his hair in control and ran downstairs.
There it was. The pile of assorted letters was on top of the table in the dining room, just like every morning. But this isn't just like every morning, he told himself, today is different.
He took a deep breath and hastily started looking for the letter in the pile of correspondance. Yes, it was there. The owl must've delivered it early, during the few restless hours he had managed to sleep. Ah yes, there it was. The letter addressed to:
Mr. James Potter
Chamber on the Second Floor, Godric's Hollow
London, England.
He stared at it for a moment, his fingers tracing the envelope delicately, blinked, and then finally opened it.
~
Lily absent-mindedly opened the kitchen door and walked in having already forgotten about everything that had happened just a few minutes ago. She opened the fridge and grabbed the milk to start on her breakfast. While she poured some in a glass, she heard some distant voices in the living room. Silently, she put the milk back into the fridge and took a few steps closer to the door. She tried to listen intently, but she couldn't hear anything.
Without making any noise, she opened the door enough to see what was going on. Oh, Lily thought, it's just Mom and Dad with some friend of theirs.
Slightly disappointed, she closed the door not worried about being heard anymore. A few seconds later, she heard her mother calling her from the other room.
Lily grumbled; she hated talking to strangers.
Reluctantly, she opened the door and entered the living room. Both her parents were sitting in a couch whilst the stranger sat on a chair right in front of them.
"Hello," Lily said.
"Good morning, sweetheart," her mother greeted her, kissing her on the cheek. "Why don't you sit down with us?"
Lily raised her eyebrows but obeyed. She sat between her parents and looked at the stranger. He was irritating. He didn't stop grinning, and he was staring at her as if she was the only person in the room. Didn't he see that this was incredibly embarrassing? Lily shifted uncomfortably.
"Lily Evans," the stranger said, still smiling. At the sound of her name, Lily frowned and glanced at her parents, inquiringly. "It's nice to meet you."
~
He had gotten in. He had been accepted. Glory, this was glory. He had been sure he was going to get accepted; it was a magical school and he was, after all, a wizard. Now it was different, it was real, there was no doubt about it.
"I'm going to Hogwarts." he said it aloud. Oh god, how great it was. Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts! Sure that no one was around to see him, he started spinning, blissfully. There was absolutely nothing to worry about; he had gotten accepted at the legendary school, and he was happy.
Nothing could bring him down now. He had gotten in.
~
Lily gaped at the man, the thing, the, the... the wizard in front of her. She shook her head. No, no, this was not possible, it couldn't be, just... no. No. He was lying, he was some sort of cheap magician pulling her leg, he couldn't be.
The so-called wizard stood up and rested his hand over hers, trying to calm her down. This is real, he was trying to tell her, it's real. She pulled her hand away from his, but couldn't stop the tears streaming down her face. She looked at her parents hoping to see their concerned faces for any trace of, of, of...
This couldn't be happening. Realising that her parents weren't doing anything, they weren't reacting, she brusquely stood up and pushed the stranger away.
"Lily!" her father said, dumbfounded. "Lily! Don't, just don't--"
"STOP," she screamed,staring wide eyed at her mother and father. "What are you doing? Why are you letting this man talk to me like that? Why is he LYING to me? Why aren't you doing anything about it?"
She was hysterical.
"Lily, Lily," her mother said smoothly, surely tryingto talk some sense in to her but it was impossible. Too late.
Lily turned around and tried to reach the stairs, but before she did, someone's hand gripped her shoulder slightly, almost reassuringly. It was the stranger. He wasn't trying to stop her or to hurt her. He just took a letter from his pocket and gave it to her.
"Here, it's yours," he said. "I recommend you to read it. It'll make you feel better." He smiled sweetly at her.
Lily looked from the stranger's face to the letter and back to the stranger. Hesitantly, she lifted her hand and took the letter. After that, she ran upstairs, and a few seconds later the sound of her bedroom door closing was heard.
~
That day, two completely different people who didn't know each other experienced the same thing, and responded with completely different attitudes. Right before they went to sleep that night, the two of them at the same time, read the letter one more time before turning the lights off and closing their eyes.
Magic.
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