Rise Anew

Lily knew she had to give things a chance.

*

"I don't want to go," she said to her mother, when Petunia was out of earshot. "They're going to do something to me."

"I think they just want to play with makeup, that's all," said her mother kindly. "If you really want me to, I can tell Petunia you really don't want to. But it's her birthday party and I think she really wants you to be a part of it."

Lily was doubtful of this; in all of her ten years so far, Petunia had never made one effort to include Lily in on anything good.

But as it was her birthday party, she went downstairs to where Petunia's skinny, long-nosed friend was giggling around a phone.

"Come to join us?" said Petunia, smiling, in an extremely nasty voice.

The door closed but Lily walked bravely down the stairs. "What do you want?" she asked, not rudely.

*

When the letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry showed up, she didn't think much of it. Lily had been much too practical in her life to believe in - that. Probably it was one of Petunia's ideas of a joke, even though Lily's sister wasn't big on jokes or laughter or anything to do with fun, really.

Lily sat with her parents when the Ministry official showed up at their door, holding a fresh letter with a Hogwarts seal on it addressed to Lily Evans, First Room In the Hallway, London, England.

"It's a sort of another world," explained the official. "Outside of yours - which we call the Muggle world - there is our world."

"Of magic?" Lily's mother sounded almost convinced.

In the kitchen, as Lily and her mother were getting the tea ready to bring into the living room, her mother asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Lily could feel Petunia's eyes on her back. She'd been in a horrid mood when she'd heard about the Ministry official coming. She'd been even worse when the thought that the letters might be real. That the weird, freakish things her little sister could do might mean something, not just be...mere freakishness.

*

"To play a game," said Petunia's friend, Doris, grinning at her. Her teeth were crooked and her hair was scraggly brown. Lily took a step backwards.

"Petunia, you don't like games."

"Yes, I do."

"Er - no, you don't."

"Stop arguing and come here already!" Petunia held a lipstick container in her claw like hands.

"I think I'll go back upstairs," said Lily slowly, having a bad feeling about this, about all of it. She backed away.

"Grab her!"

Lily screamed but they shoved her in a closet, and when she tried to open the door, she knew they were holding onto it, pushing themselves up against the door so she couldn't get out.

She hated the dark. She hated close spaces. She hated them all.

"It's called 'Who Screams in the Closet?' and it's a really fun game," came Petunia's hateful, hateful voice. "We leave you here and time you. When you scream, you get to eat this lipstick."

"What!?" screamed Lily, "let me out of here!"

"And your dolly's head gets ripped off!" added Doris.

"Come on," said Petunia. "Now we can play with her tea set."

Lily started crying and pounded on the door, which still didn't budge, yet they had left, she was sure of it. She gasped to catch her breath.

*

"Yeah, Mum. I want to do this," said Lily decidedly. Her mother beamed at her.

"She wants to do it," her mother said when they were sitting sipping the tea (Lily her milk).

The Ministry official smiled and Lily's heart jumped. It was real.

When he'd left and Lily went to her room, she found it in ravages. When Petunia walked in to check up on Lily's reaction, she found the room in perfect order. None of the posters were torn up. Nothing was broken.

"You freak!" screamed Petunia, stamping her foot. Lily gave no noticed, continued reading her book. "You freak! You've always been one! You freak!"

*

The door blew wide open and a chair flew to smash against the opposite wall. Lily wiped her tears away and went to her room.

When Petunia and Doris saw her, they were shocked. Petunia hurried out of Lily's room and out of Doris's earshot. "What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed, swearing which was completely unlike her.

Lily stared back at her sister's murky brown eyes and said angrily, "I'm going to tell Mum how you locked me up like a - a - an animal! You have no right - none - get out of my - out -"

She walked to her room and her tea cup set began twirling around the ceiling and drifting lower, Petunia started shrieking and Doris fainted, poor dear.

Her parents came rushing in the room but Lily was sitting with Petunia by Doris, explaining hurriedly how she'd tripped over Lily's copy of Pride and Prejudice and fallen on her head -

"But the teacups! The flying teacups!"

"I think we'd better call your mother to pick you up," said Mrs. Evans firmly yet kindly, leading Doris out of Lily's room. Petunia gave Lily a horrible look and started crying to their father about how freak Lily had ruined everything - everything - she always did -

"You locked me in a closet!" yelled Lily and then they were both sent to their rooms for the night.

*

Now Lily sat in the Great Hall, sorted into Gryffindor. The brave, the noble. She was sitting with some girls in her year and they were both concentrating deeply on the Headmaster's speech.

Lily focused on the Headmaster and tried to hear every word he was saying but she was reeling from everything. The school, the people, the atmosphere. She felt a pair of eyes on her, but tried to concentrate on the speech, feeling like she belonged somewhere finally.

A boy with horribly messy hair and glasses smiled at her and she smiled back. He was sitting with a very good-looking boy who was grinning and talking to another boy.

It wouldn't be so bad, she thought, all those things her mother said to her about how it might be hard to find good friends and to fit in, it'll be fine.

Lily gripped her wand and she could almost feel it shoot out sparks, like the older students said it would if she flicked it right. She couldn't wait to get started. Diagon Alley, her books, even when she tried out her wand, nothing felt really real until now, when she was sitting and the candles were floating and she felt like she could hold out that wand and do something.

*

Petunia knew she didn't have to give anything new a chance.

The letter went into the fire and she, unlike Lily, didn't get any more of them.