A Busy Year Full of Surprises

IMPORTANT! READ! Author's Notes: This is something I want to make very clear. This story is an Alternative Universe one. Alternative Universe (also called Alternate Universe) means that some things in the story are out of the canon - they differ from the book/film or whatever the fanfiction is based upon. Anyone who wants to read more about it can read it at en -DOT- wikipedia -DOT- com. Replace the '-DOT-' with a real dot.

When I planned the story, I made a major mistake in the time line, but the mistake is actually important to my story. The AU (AU is the abbreviation for Alternative Universe) is that I have placed Lily in the year after the Marauders. I know she is as old as the Marauders, which is confirmed in Chapter 28 - Snape's worst memory in 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'. So, please do not remind me. And, blame yourself if I just spoiled the fifth book for you - but I made clear in the notes over the Prologue that this story will contain spoilers for all six Harry Potter novels.

That said, I hope you enjoy the story.

This story has been Beta read by Janis, a Perfect Imagination Beta reader.

Chapter Two

Violent Shopping

Lily smiled as she left her room, and started moving toward the bathroom. Tomorrow, she would go to Diagon Alley. And it was not just the exciting trip to Flourish and Blotts that interested her - Her mum had promised her an owl as a reward for her good O.W.Ls. Her mother seemed to be very happy and pleased with Lily's results; they seemed like a gift from heaven since Petunia was not very good in school. Lily opened the door and stepped in. She brushed her teeth and took a quick shower before walking down to breakfast. When she got there, she saw that Petunia was not in the kitchen. Lily was glad to be rid of Petunia.

'Good morning!' said Lily.

'Morning.' Her mother smiled at her. 'We've decided to go to Diagon Alley today instead of tomorrow, if that is OK with you. What time should we leave?'

'You're very keen on giving me an owl, aren't you? I thought we weren't going until tomorrow, but today is even better!' Lily laughed. 'Well, how about ... a little while after breakfast? I have to get my booklist and so on first.'

'OK, then it's decided. We're going to Diagon Alley an hour after breakfast. That will give us time to get ready and Lily can make a shopping list. That should be enough time, shouldn't it?' asked Lily's father. Lily and her mum nodded.

Half an hour later, Lily sat down in the kitchen, waiting for her parents to get ready. Lily had been ready for the past fifteen minutes. The only thing Lily had had to do was to get her booklist, and that had not taken much time. In fact, it had taken three minutes. Lily did not like waiting. That was one of her least favourite things to do. She looked at her watch again. Only one single minute has passed since I last looked at the time, she thought. She made a grimace. Oh, this is going to be a long half hour ...

Lily must have fallen asleep, since the second half hour did not seem as long as the first one. When Lily's mother and father finally came downstairs, Lily quickly stood up and greeted her parents.

'Hi, sweetheart,' her father said. 'Shall we go now?'

'Sure!'

- - - - -

An hour later, Lily and her parents found themselves in front of the Leaky Cauldron. Lily didn't like riding in a car very much because she developed a headache if she travelled too long in a car. She sighed and tried to think of something else, but it was impossible. So when they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron, Lily and her parents sat down and ordered some Butterbeer. Lily's parents had not tasted it before, but they liked it.

Fifteen minutes after they had ordered their Butterbeer, they stepped out through the door opposite the one they had gone in earlier that day. When they were outside, Lily took out her wand and tapped some of the bricks. An entrance suddenly began to form in the brick wall. It started as a little hole, and seconds later, it was an archway, big enough even for Hagrid, the enormous Keeper of the Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts, to enter. Actually, Hagrid was not a giant. Lily had found out in her first year that he was a half giant. Hagrid had not told anybody else the truth, and so, Lily had not either.

They had now entered Diagon Alley. The alley was crowded with people - many were Hogwarts students Lily only knew from their faces. In fact, the only real friend she had inside and outside Hogwarts was Remus Lupin.

'Where shall we go first?' asked Lily's mother. She loved shopping, especially for clothes. Lily was not very interested in clothes, which gave Petunia a reason to think that Lily was a 'jerk'. Lily snorted at that.

'Hm ... First we must go to Madam Malkin's. I think my robes are a little too short. Yeah, Madam Malkin's first. But before that, we have to go to Gringotts to change money, you know.'

'That's the great marble building over there in the middle of the alley, isn't it, sweetheart?' her father asked.

'Yes, Dad, it is.' Lily smiled as they entered the bank and started going toward one of the goblins behind the counter. The whole hall was made of marble and it was lit by candles. The hall was very big. Lily thought it was a beautiful place, and it was exciting to be in there. Lily did not know why, but it was quite thrilling. When they came to the desk, the goblin asked, 'Good day. What can I help you with?'

'Well,' Lily's father began, 'we would like to change money ... Our daughter, Lily, will attend her sixth year at Hogwarts this September, and my wife and I--we're Muggles--would like to change from English pounds to ... What d'you call them now? Ah, yes, I remember. It sounds like gay lions!'

'Galleons, sir. How much would you like to change?'

'Well ... Lily, how much do you think we'll need?'

'Hm ... About ... fifty Galleons should be enough to buy clothes and books and leave me some money for school, trips to Hogsmeade and so on.'

'Well, fifty Galleons is about fifty pounds; Galleons are an even exchange with British pounds right now.'

'Yes, that's right, I suppose,' said Lily. The goblin nodded as Lily's father took out his wallet and opened it up. He took out a fifty-pound note and handed it to the goblin, who started counting out fifty golden coins.

'Very well, sir,' he finally said some moments later. 'Fifty Galleons. Here you are.' He handed the money to Lily's father, who nodded at its receipt and then made his way out of the bank.

Lily smiled and thought about the day she visited Diagon Alley for the first time. She remembered it well ... In her Hogwarts letter, they had included an extra sheet of parchment explaining all about magic and so on. Lily assumed that all of the Muggle-borns had received the same information sheet because the headline was 'INSTRUCTIONS TO ALL FUTURE STUDENTS WITH NON-MAGICAL PARENTS.'

On that extra sheet there was information about where they could buy all the things on the list, a map of Diagon Alley and a little information about Hogwarts. At the end, there was a note stating that some, not all, wizards thought that Muggle-born witches and wizards were not as good as wizard-born ones, but that it was not true. It also mentioned that some wizards liked bullying Muggle-borns. Lily snorted. Well, well, after five years, I certainly know that. Almost the whole Slytherin house, including Snivellus Snape, bullies Muggle-borns. Lily had actually protected him once in her fourth year - a thing that she really regretted since Snivellus had called her a 'Mudblood'. After that, Lily did not protect him again.

'Lily, what are you waiting for?' asked Lily's mother. She and her husband were already standing by the heavy gates of Gringotts, waiting for their daughter to come.

'Oh, sorry!' said Lily. 'I lost myself in memories; I forgot what I was doing. I suppose I think way too much. I'm like a professor. I've got a great long-term memory, but my short-term memory is awful, you know.'

'Yes, we are aware of that,' her mother laughed. 'Maybe you'll be a professor when you've grown up. We ARE going to visit the clothing shop first, aren't we?'

'Yes, mother. That is the most boring stop, so let's go there first.'

'What are you saying?' her mother asked Lily in shock. 'You think clothing shops are boring? How can you seriously think that?'

-----

The clothing shop visit was soon over. Lily's mother and Madam Malkin had talked a lot about clothes. Lily could not understand their fascination, and she thought it was very unnecessary. She strongly suspected her father thought so, too. Lily just did not understand it at all. She sighed.

'Where are we going now, sweetheart?' asked Lily's father. 'Do you need ... Hm ... Something from the Apothecary?'

'Well ... I could use some Potions ingredients.'

'OK,' her father simply said, 'so then let's go to the Apothecary.'

They walked across Diagon Alley and entered Slug & Jiggers Apothecary. It was a little shop which smelled of many different things that Lily preferred not to think about. She was not very fond of this shop.

'What can I help you with?' An old witch came from the desk towards them.

'Well,' Lily started, 'I am going to begin my sixth year at Hogwarts this September.'

'Sixth-year Potions! Wait a moment and I will prepare an ingredient supply for you!'

'Thank you very much!' said Lily. When the Apothecary witch had completed the order, Lily turned to her parents. 'OK, we are through with the Apothecary. What are we going to do now?'

'Well, we don't know what you need.'

'OK ... I think just Flourish and Blotts is left. The bookshop,' she added. 'Right down the street and next to Madam Malkin's. There are plenty of books and more books. Anything you can dream of and a little more. I love the place -'

'Well, that was unexpected.'

'- and there are so many books that I doubt anybody can count them. I love it there.'

'You're very eager to visit the book shop, aren't you?' asked Lily's mother. 'Do you really think it's that interesting? Well, I suppose you must thin so since you are reading your third-year school books "just for fun". It's strange, actually, that you read your school books during the summer holidays, and your sister barely touches them during the school terms. It's like everything else. You and Petunia are like night and day. You love school. She hates it. You are nice to almost everybody and she isn't. How is that possible?' Lily's mother looked at her husband in confusion.

'I really don't know,' her father said. 'Maybe our bright, red-haired daughter can answer that question?'

'Well, I don't know, but something I do know is what is going to happen if I tell Petunia about this -'

'Oh, please don't,' her mother sighed. 'She will be angry. Well, don't say that to Petunia and if you do, she'll kill you,' her mother said. And with those words, they went inside the shop.

Flourish and Blotts was, as usual, crowded with Hogwarts students buying school books for the approaching year. Lily made her way to an old woman working in the shop. The woman was short and wore long, red robes. Lily moved towards the witch and asked, 'Could you help me, please?'

'Well, that's why I'm here, you know, Miss. What can I help you with?'

'Hmm ... I could use Spells: How to Do Them and How to Stop Them by Rupert Axebanger, Advanced Transfiguration by Agatha Robinson, The Stars by Anthony Friddles, Runes by Runa Aldrad, Muggles' Lives and Ways by Rohan McDaw, Effective Defence by Kevin Knorr, The Standard Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk, and finally, Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage, please.'

'Er ... Could you please say the titles slowly, one by one, as we go after them? I don't remember a word of what you just said.' The witch smiled. 'I've got a very bad short-term memory.'

'Me, too,' said Lily. 'Well ... Hmm ... Where did I put the list? Here. Well ... I need Spells: How to Do Them and How to Stop Them by Rupert Axebanger.'

'Right. Charms section then. C'mon!' She went to a wall and Lily and her parents followed her. 'Spells. Here you are. What else do you need?'

'Er ... Advanced Transfiguration by Agatha Robinson.'

'So you're taking Transfiguration, too? That's a hard subject, and Professor McGonagall can be very ... severe, can't she?'

'Well, she can be very hard when she wants to be. And that's almost all the time. But she does not usually get angry with me, though. I'm happy about that.'

'Well, you should be. So, let's go get the book. Advanced Transfiguration, wasn't it? Yes. Well ... It's over there somewhere.' The witch moved to a different wall. Lily and her parents followed. A moment later, the witch said, 'So, now, where is it? Oh, here it is.' She pulled out a book. 'Advanced Transfiguration by Agatha Robinson. Nice book. You're taking the sixth year, I suppose? That's a good year.'

'Yes, I am. Why is the sixth year a good one? Do you think it is because it comes between the O.W.Ls and the N.E.W.Ts? Because the sixth year should be considered a year to prepare for the N.E.W.Ts, if you ask me ...'

'Our daughter has always done well in school,' Lily's mother smiled. 'She came home with ten Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations this summer.'

'But that's great,' said the old witch, making Lily blush.

'Our daughter is a witch, but we're Muggles,' Lily's father declared. 'It's strange; I can't imagine what sort of grades the children with magical parents got. They must've got all Outstandings, I suppose, since there are parents at home that can help them with homework, and so on. We can't, you know, and still, Lily's got almost all O's.'

'Oh, no,' said the witch. 'Many people think like that, especially the parents of the Muggle- borns. Strangely enough, the Muggle-borns often do the best. I don't know why; I suppose nobody does. It's very odd.'

'Yes, it is. But our Lily must be one of the best students then? That would feel nice, wouldn't it?' Lily's mother asked her husband.

'Yes ... But how could that be? How can students that are supposed to know almost everything about magic be "poorer" than people that don't know anything about it in the beginning? That sounds very strange if you ask me ...' All four fell silent in their own thoughts.

Well, there you see, Lily thought. Now, you know that 'pure-blood' wizards are getting 'poorer' grades than Muggle-borns. Maybe ten Outstandings and one Exceeds Expectations is pretty good ... But no. Many Muggle-borns have surely got better grades than you, Lily Marion Evans. But no. Some Muggle-borns might have got higher grades than you have. Yes. So ... But those grades were good, even for Muggle-borns ... STOP! Lily did not dare think any longer. She tried to think about something else, and warily looked at the piece of parchment in her hand. Oh, yes, we must have forgotten! She cleared her throat; 'Hrm, hrm!' The three adults looked up. 'Well, we should go on with the list, shouldn't we?'

'Well, you're right; we really should go on with the books. Other people wanting my help must be waiting right now,' the witch said. 'What is the next book on your list, Lily?'

'Oh, right. The next book is named The Stars and it's written by Anthony Friddles ... Funny name, Friddles,' Lily laughed. 'Anyway, that's the book.'

'The Stars,' the witch said. 'In the Astronomy section; come on!' The witch was a little strange in Lily's opinion. But she, Lily, could not explain what exactly was strange about the witch, who now handed Lily a blue book with the inscription The Stars, smiling. 'So, what's next?'

'Er ...' Lily looked on her list. 'Runes by Runa Aldrad,' she read out loud.

'Ancient Runes--that's interesting,' the witch said as they went to the Runes section. 'Took it myself at Hogwarts.'

'Yes, it's my favourite subject. It's hard, but still interesting.'

'I agree; it was my favourite, too,' the witch said. 'But now, let's focus on the books. "What's after Runes?'

'Muggles' Lives and Ways by Rohan McDaw.'

'But, didn't you say you're Muggles?' the witch asked Lily's parents.

'Yes, they are,' said Lily, 'but I'm taking Muggle Studies, though, to see it from the wizard community's point of view.'

'Yes, that might be interesting; I agree with you -'

'Hey, Evans!'

-----

Sirius Black heard James Potter yell 'Hey, Evans!' and saw him walking over toward Lily Evans. Lily was two years younger than he and James, who was born in the late autumn or early winter of 1959. Sirius knew that Lily Evans was born in 1960 or 1961 since she was in the year below them at Hogwarts. Lily was a beautiful, red-haired witch and was, according to Remus, best in her class, even if she did not talk about it. It was just like Remus; he was the best student in the Marauders' year, but he did not talk much about it. Lily and Remus were close friends, Sirius knew. When Remus got tired of the Marauders' mischief, he quite often went to see Lily ... . Sirius returned to reality when he heard James repeat 'Hey, Evans!'

Sirius knew James had been in love with Lily since the trip on the Hogwarts Express taking them to their second year at school. James had looked at Lily in a very strange way, the way Sirius had looked when he first realised ....

'Yes, Potter?' Lily had turned around, staring at James while her parents and some old witch that Sirius suspected was working at the shop looked on.

'What are you doing here?' asked James rudely.

'I'm shopping. Do you need a crystal ball to figure out that I'm here shopping? Because then you are in the wrong shop; I don't see any crystal balls in here.'

'Oh, Evans! Do you see anything?'

'OK, OK, quiet!' Remus spoke for the first time. 'Please, don't fight! You're the only friends I've got.'

'Sorry, Moony,' said James. 'It must be hard when you have only two kinds of friends and both are arguing with each other in front of you...' James looked slightly apologetic. Looking for a way to recover from his embarrassment, he added, 'I'm bored. Let's go.'

'You always are,' Sirius smirked. 'Why don't we pay for the books and go to Quality Quidditch Supplies? That'll be interesting, won't it, Prongs?'

'Yeah, let's go,' said James happily. 'Coming, Remus?'

'No, I'll stay here with a friend of mine,' he smiled. 'I don't actually understand Quidditch, brooms and all that stuff. But you can go; I suppose Lily and I can entertain ourselves well enough in here. What do you think, Lily?'

'Yes, I think we can.' Lily was distracted as the bell on the shop door signalled that someone had just entered.

'Who is this beautiful young lady?' What Lily suspected were James' parents had just entered the book shop.

'Oh,' said Lily, 'I'm Lily Evans-'

'Oh, Lily Evans ... We've heard of you -'

'Shut up, Dad!' said James angrily. Lily and Remus giggled.

'Well, d'you have your books?'

'Yes,' James answered.

'Good,' said James' father. 'Then your mother and I will go to the Leaky Cauldron. Will you meet us there when you're finished in the shops, boys?'

'Yes, we'll meet you there,' Sirius said as he answered instead of James. After nodding their good-byes, James' parents made their way out of the shop.

Looking for a way to continue his conversation with Lily, Remus asked, 'Have you read anything interesting over the summer, Lily? I've been reading a lot of books, most of them old school books. Preparing for the N.E.W.Ts, you know.'

'Oh! Me, too! I've read some of my old school books about -'

'Wait,' Lily's father interrupted. 'You're in the year above Lily, aren't you?'

Remus nodded.

'C'mon, let's go,' James whispered in Sirius' and Peter's ears. They stepped out of the book shop and then walked down the street to their very favourite shop.

Entering the shop, Sirius noticed another student. 'Oh, great,' said Sirius. 'Snivellus.'

'Hey, Snivellus,' said James. 'You haven't showered today either, I see.'

'Shut up!' Snape made threatening motion by making a fist and punching his other hand. Oh no, Sirius thought.

-----

Thirty minutes later, James, Sirius and Peter went to the Leaky Cauldron, discouraged, and, in James' case, bleeding. As they opened the door, Mrs Evans said, 'Oh, my God! What has happened to you?'

'Long story,' said James as he threw himself into an empty chair. Blood still dripped from his chin.

'James, sweetheart, what happened?' asked James' mother anxiously.

'Nothing.'

'Sirius, what happened?'

'Snape.'

'Oh.' The families Black, Potter and Snape had been sent several owls about their sons'

fights.

'What did you do to him?'

James did not answer, so Sirius said, 'James said, "Hi Snivellus! You haven't showered today, either, I see." Then, Snape punched James in the face.'

'Oh, James!' Mrs. Potter sighed.

Author Notes: Don't think that every chapter will be longer that the first one, because it will not be so, OK? And I know I forgot the owl and the Potions book ... Let's say she did now, when the chapter has ended ... And thanks to Celi, who helped me with a little detail!
And I really think I should explain a sentence in the last chapter which caused confusion: 'Lily had a vague memory of the eldest boy; he had been in Ravenclaw a year below her. If Lily remembered correctly, the girl was blonde and quite tall like Petunia. When she first met her, Lily had decided that she did not like her, only because of the girl's looks ... How mean and judging can you be?' - Lily remembered the boy vaguely. His sister was blonde. Maybe I did not explain so well - actually I think it is rather dull now while thinking about it.