Illusions of Reality

Illusions of Reality


Chapter 1: The Beginning of the Beginning


It all started with a letter. The one written in the strange, spidery green ink. Hypnotizing you while you read it. It talked about a wizarding school, named Hogwarts, and how I was accepted. At first I thought it was one of Petunia's pranks. I mean, I might be a good student, but the size of my imagination, and the fact that weird things tend to happen around me, would prevent me ever getting accepted anywhere. But then I came to realize that no matter what connections my older sister might have, not even she could get a live owl. And Petunia wasn't one for starting pranks. She was the one who got us out of the pranks I started. Also, the weird occasions, maybe it's caused by magic?

That's when I began to wonder if it was real. Were there really witches who lived in candy houses and ate children? Could you really brew spells in a smoking black cauldron that would conjure the Goddess Hecate to help lead a man to his death? Was there a way to fly on a broomstick accompanied by an army of flying monkeys? I never thought so before, but now I'm not so sure. My stomach felt like a rubber ball. The kind you bounce against the wall on those days when you're so bored you can't stand it. And you watch it bounce, over and over, faster and faster, until you get so dizzy you're sick. I wanted to hit myself and say "Lily Evans, get a grip, you're dreaming." But... I wasn't. And somehow, in my subconscious eleven-year-old mind, I knew that.

I showed Mum the letter; she was convinced it was some sort of joke. After all, a post office with owl deliveries? That's something out of a storybook. But... so was it's message. We decided to send a letter with the owl saying I had no idea what all this meant or how to get my supplies. I mean, if this was real, was I just supposed to make them appear? Well,... I would be a witch if it was real ... and I suppose I would be able to do that. But I can't. And I was owed some sort of explanation.

After a couple days with no replies, the letter began to be a family joke between Mum, Petunia and me. Imagine how we all were shocked out of our wits when the man in the bright red cloak showed up.

We were all eating dinner. Petunia was asking if any owls had flown by lately when a knock interrupted us. Mum got up to answer while I threw witty replies back at my horse-faced sister. A few moments later, Mum came back into the kitchen. She was pale, her face white and motionless, like she had become a ghost. Her brilliant green eyes, exactly like my own, looked impossibly huge in her thin, now marble face. There was a strange man standing behind her. His hair was an extremely light brown and very messy, his eyes a caramel color framed behind extremely thick glasses. A pity to hide such beautiful eyes. In his hands were papers with that same strange, spidery, hypnotizing green ink. Mum motioned for me to stand. The slight jerk of her head startled me. I had begun to imagine it as stone; after all, it hadn't moved. She startled me even more when she spoke. I thought her voice was gone, that she'd never even had one.

"Lily, darling, this is Robert Potter. He's been sent here from, what did you call it Mr. Potter?"

The man, Robert, looked up at Mum, then down at me. Smiling. His teeth were extremely straight, perfectly white. I have an odd obsession with teeth. His voice was lilting, startlingly soft, yet also too loud. "The Ministry of Magick. I'm Director of Student Affairs regarding Hogwarts, the school you have been accepted to, Miss Evans. You wrote to us saying you didn't understand, so they sent me here to explain.

"You, Lily, are a witch. And being a witch, you have been accepted to one of Europe's wizarding schools, and I dare say, the best one of them all. Now, being that you're from a Muggle family, you obviously are bewildered, naturally--"

"A what Mr. Potter? A Muggle? What is that?"

The light haired man smiled and appeared to be slightly embarrassed. His cheeks turned a faint pinkish color. "Forgive me Lily, I forgot that you don't know. A Muggle is a non-magickal person. Your family are Muggles, while you, Lily, are a witch. Understand?"

I nodded... what else could I do? I sort of understood... yet not wholly... my thoughts were being French braided in my mind, twisting out all my logical reasoning, leaving me with bits and only pieces of things I could scarcely comprehend, things I know I needed to know.

"Mr. Potter, what about all those supplies, and Platform 9 3/4? I've never seen that before ... how am I supposed to get there, or have any supplies?"

Robert Potter smiled that perfect smile and glanced at my Mum. "That's the other reason I came. The Ministry has approved that you may come spend the remainder of summer break with my family and I. We will take you to get supplies and then to the station. There is only a week left, so it wouldn't be long. And my son, James, is starting Hogwarts along with a bunch of his friends,"

My mind was a thousand snakes, coiling and turning upon my reasoning. I couldn't think, yet my mind was crowded with questions. Observant ones, sensible ones. Of course, I asked the stupid one... "Are they all boys?"

This comment was followed by Petunia snorting into her napkin, it sounded more like a neigh, though. Mum was exclaiming "LILY!" over and over again in a horrified voice which made me feel ashamed, yet extremely wicked. Horrifying her does that to me. Mr. Potter was trying to be polite and not laugh at me I appreciated that. When he trusted himself to speak, he told me the answer.

"No, Lily. James's friend, Remus, has a twin sister, Gwyn. She's your age. There are also other girls your age who live in other fields around ours. "

"Oh." What else could I say, after all?

Petunia couldn't stop laughing, so she hurried upstairs to laugh in freedom. I could hear high pitched giggles sliding down the staircase to ring inside my mind. Mum just sat down. I looked at her. I wanted this. I'm the daring one, the opportunist. When have I ever been sensible? I wasn't made for the human -- no, Muggle. I wasn't made for the Muggle world. Mum has always said that my life was right out of a storybook. I made it that way. I lived in the world of Fantasy. And I wanted this. My emerald eyes, identical to her own, pleaded as I spoke.

"Mum, is it okay if I go?"

At first she just stared at me. Her eyes searching out mine. Finally, she sighed and slumped down in her chair looking for all the world like a lost child. Her eyes were dulled, and even her blonde hair lay limp on her shoulders. She seemed smaller to me. Or had I just grown?

After a minute, she looked back up at me, a fake smile trying to form. "If your Father were here, he'd accompany you. And I can't go. I need to be here, with Petunia. For some reason, despite his crazy story, I trust Mr. Potter, and this letter. And I think it would be a great opportunity for you. So go upstairs and pack your clothes. I'll give you all the money you were going to get for school supplies and clothes, plus some extra. Oh God, I hope I'm not sending my baby off to her death."


~*~


For years I used to watch new Muggle-born wizards board at our house, each one telling me that soon it would be me. Wearing the black Hogwart's robes, boarding the scarlet train. All my eleven years my family has accompanied young male wizards to Diagon Alley for supplies, and then to the Hogwarts train. Always the young, male, Muggle-born wizards. We never had a witch stay with us. I preferred it that way. Would have been content to keep it that way. Alas, no such luck for James Potter.

Dad told me her name was Lily Evans. That she was "special." He swore he could tell, just by looking at her, that she would be powerful. I didn't know what that meant yet, but what I did know was that I was going to have to have some strange Muggle-Born girl occupying MY house.

Maybe I'd get lucky and she'd stay with Gwyn most of the time. But that wasn't likely. After all, not many people could be around Gwyn for long periods at a time. Not even her twin bother, Remus, who is the most patient person I know. Well, Sirius could stay around her always. But that was Sirius. He and Gwyn were a breed unto themselves. Like two snowy owls born to a barn owl and her flock of barn owl babies ... it was odd...

The moment of dread was arriving, like death, slowly moving toward its victim, bony fingers sticking out to brush your face. Dad had left to pick her up and Mum was cleaning the house in a fury. Mum is always cleaning. Maybe it's her Barcelonian roots. Sirius, Remus, Peter and I sat outside on the grass playing a wizard chess tournament. Remus was killing us all. No one can play chess like Reem. Peter was putting up a good fight, but not successfully. I was miserable and Sirius, my best friend out of all the Marauders, was doing an extremely poor job trying to cheer me up. The sun was unbearably hot, like hell fires lapping at my skin, burning me. Everything indicated that today was doomsday. Sirius was getting sick of my dread, however.

"Come ON James, it won't be that bad."

"Not that bad, Seer? There will be a girl, did you hear me, a girl, occupying MY house for a week! A week! AND going to Diagon Alley with us!"

Remus looked up at me. His golden-brown eyes twinkled with silent laughter. "James, I've had a girl share my house with me for the past 11 years ... hell, she was even with me before we were born. It's not that bad, trust me. And when I say it's not that bad and I'm talking about Gwyn, believe me when I say that's saying something. Lila, or Lely--"

"Lily"

"Whatever, Lily, can't be as bad as Gwyn. NO girl can be as bad as her."

"As bad as who, exactly, Reemie?"

The four of us looked up to see Gwyn leaning against a tree her long light brown hair braided in a coil around her head. Gold eyes shimmering with mirth or rage, I couldn't tell which. It wasn't good to presume. Sirius grinned. "As bad as you, Gwyn. You're the worst."

To my relief, and I'm sure Peter and Remus's, Gwyn smiled her mischievous smile and laughed. "Good. I'm glad I have a title. By the way, James, when's the Muggle gonna get here?"

I flashed my black eyes at her mocking golden ones. She had to bring a subject that started with "the girl" back to "the girl." Only Gwyn would do this to me. And Sirius, hewouldn't hesitate. "Hopefully never."

Peter shook his head at me. "Don't mind him Gwyn, he's been moaning about it all day. And James, if what you say is true, never came awfully fast. That's your dad's ministry car pulling in."

I hate girls. All of them. They could all march into Hades with Gwyn and Lily leading the way for all I care.


~*~


James is a moron. Of course, it's not a very hard thing to figure out, his being a moronthat is. Why my brother hangs out with these people I'll never fathom. He needs to be not under James's influence. What's so bad about a girl staying with him for a week? It's not like all of my species are manipulative and extremely hyper. As far as I know, it's just me.

But James just doesn't see that. Can't he see the poor girl is scared to death? And there he is glowering and moaning internally, giving her a wet fish handshake. Moron. I should go over and talk to her. She needs some female companionship. Being around only Marauders could be fatal for you. Look what happened to me. Not that I'm complaining...

"Lily, right? Hi! I'm Gwyn. My twin brother, Remus, is one of that git's best friends."

"Gwyn!"

I turned to give my darling brother an innocent smile. He really is way too uptight. Sirius had better loosen him up while they're at Hogwarts. I can't always be there... "What Reemie?"

"You know perfectly well what, Gwyn. Don't say anything stupid."

"You know perfectly well that James is being a git. Lily here is probably scared half out of her wits, and James is acting like she's going to give him some horrible curse, like the jelly leg curse or something wicked like that. She's not going to bite him. Hear that Potter! She's not going to bite you!"

James glared at me. I smiled sweetly as he grabbed Sirius and gestured for Remus and Peter to follow him. Remus gave me a warning glare and left reluctantly. Instantly I pounced back onto the small girl.

"Sorry about the interruption. My brother is such a stuffed shirt. None of his friends are any good, except for Sirius, but one wouldn't actually call Sirius good... James, as you can already tell, is a big git who's acting like having a girl near him will make the world end. Puh-Lease! And Peter, he's the fat one, he's such a pansy-ass! Agrees and plays only when he's absolutely sure he'll win. No common sense whatsoever. And, like I said, Remus is too up tight. He's "the voice of reason," as I like to call him. Finally, Sirius: he's perfectly wicked. Always has some prank, or new incredibly brilliant spell to try. His goal is to be the most remembered student in Hogwarts history. He'll do it, to"

I ran off when I noticed that Lily's startling green eyes had widened to the size of saucers, her mouth open. I looked at her curiously. "What?"

"N-nothing ... just, how do you breathe?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean ... you talk so fast and so much, how can you breathe? Is it a witch thing? Will I be able to do that also? Petunia says I already do that, that I never shut-up that is, and now maybe I actually can. What's it like being a witch? Can you do these really amazing things like in the storybooks? Of course, how silly, you couldn't have possibly read those storybooks. They're, what are they called? Muggle? Yes, Muggle. Muggle storybooks, very interesting. I brought a ton of them with me. I love reading, do you?"

Wow, James isn't going to like this. A girl who can nearly beat me in talking speed and length... I am going to love this year. And with Lily as a probable life-long friend, who knows what could happen!


~*~



Never in my wildest imagination had I expected anything like what happened after I was brought to The Hillock. First, I didn't expect the house to have a name. And The Hillock was a very odd name. As nice as Robert and Alajandra Potter are, their son is awful. I swear, if looks could kill I'd be dead. And he isn't even good-looking enough to be all high and mighty. His Mum is gorgeous; she's Spanish. Dark skin, long black hair, and these brilliant black eyes like James. Only James's aren't beautiful. His hair's messy and his eyes are piercing. And his Dad is quite good-looking... too bad James didn't get any of that. Not that I'm looking, of course.

His friends aren't that bad. Peter is kind of snively and reminds me of a very fat rat, but he's extremely polite. Though after a look from James he can be just as awful to me. Sirius is a riot! The first thing he did when he met me was turn my hair bright green to "match my eyes." When he saw I wasn't horrified, but intently fascinated by this, he showed me all his tricks. Unfortunately, he showed me them all by using me as the show-and-tell subject. But I'm fine now, and my hair is back to its dark red color. Remus is extremely nice. Kind of quiet, but he has a wicked sense of humor if you get him going. He has this really odd fear of the sky, though. As soon as it became dark he checked the moon and started muttering...

Nothing, though, compares to his sister. I never thought I'd find someone who was so like me, yet so different. We both love talking, and jokes, and best of all ... reading. But she's tall while I'm tiny. Her hair is brown as well as her eyes, while my hair is red and my eyes green. It's strange. But I love it. And tomorrow, we get to go to Diagon Ally. A Wizard Plaza, I'm told. I can't wait, I always loved shopping and now I can learn it in a totally different way!

I also get my wand tomorrow... I'm kind of nervous, though. I mean, how do I know my wand won't be faulty, or be non-compadable incompatible with me, or what if I don't find a wand? Maybe I just need sleep ... yea ... sleep is good.


~*~


I Hate Lily Evans. I Hate Lily Evans. Did I mention that I Hate Lily Evans? Not dislike her immensely: Hate her. With a capital H before the -ate. Hate.