Illusion

"Girl! Hurry up!" yelled Joren Snape.

"I'm coming, Uncle!" a voice called back. Soon a girl of about seven appeared.

"Well? What took you so long?" snapped Uncle Joren. "Some very important people are coming over. The house MUST be spotless."

Sometimes the red-headed girl wondered why the house must be spotless if Uncle Joren couldn't even wash his hair! But still she replied, "Yes, Uncle. It will be."

"It better be, girl! These people are important, and I can't afford to get on their bad side! Well! What are you waiting for! Get moving! And dinner better not be burned!" The girl sighed resignedly and started to dust the house. Though it was big, long years of neglect had robbed it of its grandeur. Also, though the Snapes had once been a very rich, high family, the current Mr. Snape had lost the family fortune and respect in a gamble.

The girl knew this, but she didn't know what exactly had happened. I will find out exactly what happened, she vowed. As the girl moved onto mopping, a figure watched her from the shadows of the staircase.

Severus Snape was nine years old. I don't understand, he thought worriedly to himself. Father treats her worse than me. I don't get it. Isn't Lily supposed to be my cousin, and family? She's come here in the summer for two years now.

Down below, Lily finished mopping. She sighed. Well, that's finished now. Time to start dinner.

Once, not so long ago, the Snapes had multiple house-elves. However, when the family lost its money, the house-elves were sold also.

Lily opened the door to the kitchen. Uncle said to make a three-course meal. I wonder who these people are. Lily started preparing the meal. Lily loved cooking, and was quite good at it. This was due to the fact that her mother had taught her, which was good since her uncle always made her cook.

Another thing Lily loved was reading and school. She loved to be immersed in a good book, especially ones with magic. It was a dream come true for her to be able to come to her Uncle Snape's house in the summer, even though he worked her hard and-

"Girl! They'll be here in one hour! You must present a good picture! Hurry up. Get ready, and make sure that dinner doesn't burn!" Well, speak of the devil! Lily thought. I think about him and he calls!

"Yes, Uncle!" she yelled back. "I'll be ready!" Lily hurriedly stirred the soup one last time before dashing off to get dressed.

***

Ding-dong. When the doorbell rang Lily was in the kitchen making last minute adjustments to dinner. She rushed to open the door.

"Hello, I'm Lily Evans. Come in. Can I get you something to drink?" she asked the guests. She ushered them into the house. There were three. From what Uncle was saying, I thought there were going to be a lot more guests! Maybe more people are coming, she thought.

Sure enough, the doorbell rang yet again. Once again, she opened the door. "Hello, I'm Lily. Lily Evans. Please come in, can I get you something to drink? Some other guests have already arrived, they're right this way in the parlor."

Lily led these guests into the house.

"Hello, Lily. We're the Black's. I'm Orion, this is my wife, Adelaide, and our son Sirius," the man replied. He had black hair, and inviting blue eyes. Lily was startled. She wasn't used to adult wizards speaking to her so politely.

"Hiya! Since we are neighbors, we can play sometimes!" the boy said. He had black hair and blue eyes, just like his father.

"I don't think so, but thank you for the offer. Please, the parlor is this way," Lily replied softly. She knew her uncle would never let her out to play with someone. Sadly, she led the way to the parlor.

When they arrived, she was surprised to see the contempt on the face of Mr. Black. It was obvious that he didn't like the other guests, whomever they were.

"Orion. Fancy meeting you here," said the other man. He was a pale man, with blond hair and icy blue eyes that held none of the warmth that Sirius's and Mr. Black's did.

"Draco. How are you?" Mr. Black replied, evenly. He turned to the man's wife and boy. "Hello, Greta, Lucius."

While this was taking place, Sirius and the other boy exchanged greetings as well. The other boy looked exactly like his father, with his mother's cold gray eyes. Well, it looks as if Sirius is a lot nicer. I wonder why the two families don't like each other, Lily thought. One more thing to find out!

"Malfoy," Sirius said quietly.

"Black," replied the other boy, whom Lily thought to be Lucius Malfoy. Even his name sounds mean, just like the rest of him, she thought.

Unfortunately, Lily then had to go to the kitchens to make sure dinner was not burning, so she didn't hear the rest of the conversation. As she stirred the sauce, she wondered what Remus was doing at the moment. She saw him during the whole year, though not a lot because of school. There were only two bad things about coming to Uncle Joren's over the summer. Not seeing Remi was the first. The second was-

"Hi! Whatcha doin?" asked a voice behind her. Turning around quickly, Lily saw that it was Sirius.

"You startled me! You aren't supposed to be here!" Lily said. If her uncle found out, she would be in big trouble.

"Aww, come on. It won't hurt anyone, will it?" wheedled Sirius. "We can go play out back!"

"I don't think so. I have to watch the dinner!" Lily replied. Uncle Joren would skin me if he found out that I was running off to play while I was supposed to tend to dinner and the guests. I wouldn't let that happen, oh no!

"Please? It'll be fun! Besides, you're tending the guests, right? And I'm a guest! So let's go outside and play! Put a timer on and you'll be back before your uncle ever knows!"

I doubt that Uncle Joren will hold with that logic, but it does work. I guess it couldn't hurt, as long as he doesn't find out. "Oh, alright. Come on then," she sighed.

***

"Girl!" Uncle Joren came storming out of the house. Oh no. Oh no. Oh no! Lily thought. I'm so dead. Maybe not now, but later. I'm so dead.

"Ah, young Mr. Black. I would suggest that you go inside, maybe have something to drink. Dinner is almost ready," Uncle Joren said oily.

"Lily shouldn't get in trouble, sir. She didn't do anything. It was all me," said Sirius.

"I know what happened, Mr. Black. Gir- ah, Lily. Get back to the guests. We'll talk later." That was all Lily heard. She trudged back into the house, hoping that Uncle Joren might forget about the whole thing. Not likely. As Lily served dinner, she felt detached. Time has a disobliging habit of doing exactly the opposite of what you want it to do, she thought. I wanted it to slow down, and it speeds up.

"Lily! Meet me at the old oak by the river," whispered Sirius, as Lily placed his plate in front of him. "I'll wait all night if I have to!"

***

It was past ten when the last guest was out the door. It was past midnight when Lily got to the tree. Sirius was, to her surprise, still waiting.

"I told you I'd be here!" said Sirius triumphantly. "Now sit down and we can talk. Why was your uncle so mad? And why did he sound like he had never said your name before?" Lily stayed standing.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Mad? Just because I neglected the adults."

"Sit. And don't lie. It's bad for you. Didn't you ever hear about Pinocchio?" asked Sirius, pulling her down.

"Oh!" Lily couldn't help gasping in pain.

"What? What is it?" demanded Sirius.

"Nothing, nothing at all. You were saying about something about Pinocchio?"

"So. How did you come to be here anyways?" asked Sirius.

"You weren't here during the year, that much I know. Or the year before that."

"I come here during the summers. When I was five, I showed signs of being a witch."

***

After that incident with Remus, nothing changed...for a while. A few months later, Lily levitated up to the kitchen counter to get cookies. When her mother came in, somehow she didn't see Lily at all. Lily told Remus, and he was just as mystified as she was. He told her that it might be magic, but neither child really believed that.

A few months after that, when both children had nearly forgotten about it, a strange man showed up at the Evan's house.

"Lily! This is your Uncle Joren. He has some exciting news for you!" said her mother.

"Hello, Lily. Do you remember a few months ago? You levitated up to get some cookies and then became invisible." Slowly Lily nodded yes. "Well, I have some great news for you! I think that you're a witch, like I'm a wizard. During summers, you can come live with me, and I'll teach you a little about magic. Your cousin, Severus, is also magical. What do you say? It's okay with your parents."

"I think, I think that I'd like that," Lily replied slowly. "Will I be able to fly?"

"With the help of a broomstick, yes."

"Okay then!" said Lily happily.

***

"That's about it," Lily finished.

"Wow. Cool!" said Sirius. "Give a hug!"

Reaching over, he hugged Lily tightly. She gasped. If Sirius finds out, and goes to Uncle Joren about it, I'm dead! was her last thought before fading into blackness.