Inevitable

Prologue
The Freak

Lilly walked home slowly, dragging her feet on the sidewalk and kicking tufts of grass every few feet. She was mad at herself for opting not to ride the bus, but could she really put up with more of Andrea and Petunia? She kicked a stone in the grass; not realizing it was much bigger than it looked half of it was underground. "Ow!" she yelled, hopping on one leg to lift up her foot.

A man looked up from his gardening, and upon seeing her, went around to his side yard. Lily saw this, and stuck her tongue out at his back. She knew what he was thinking: that Lily Evans, she's a freak. Lily knew she was a freak. Petunia told her so at least twice a day.

At least it's the last day of school, she thought to herself.

The summer vacation had been a beacon of hope for Lily all year. She wouldn't have to see people in the summer; she wouldn't get the strange looks that she had been getting all year. In September, she had somehow caused her voice to raise three octaves, she had sounded like a chipmunk all day. After that, even Gerard and Laurel wouldn't talk to her. She rounded the corner and saw her house. Her mother was standing on the front step, looking around her. She saw Lily, and hailed her over. Lily took a deep breath, and quickened her step.
"Where have you been, Lily?" her mother asked. "Petunia was home half an hour ago."

"I'm sorry Mum, I walked home," Lily looked down at her shoes, embarrassed about her reasons for not taking the bus.

Lily's mother looked down at her daughter, she knew Lily was different from the other kids. She knew that Lily was made fun of for her oddities.

"Come inside dear," she said lovingly.

"Freak," Petunia whispered when Lily came into the living room.

"Shut up," Lily whispered back.

"Carrot top," Petunia taunted her further.

"Stupid," Lily took the bait and retaliated, sensitive about her appearance.

"Scrawny, bookie, frog eyes, freak," Petunia, sang under her breath. She had been singing that song since Lily was eight and Petunia was ten.

"That's not funny," Lily's eyes welled up.

"You're a freak. A chipmunk voice, frog eyes, carrot topped, brown nosed freak." Petunia loved to torment her sister. Their parents were always so nice to Lily. It wasn't fair; it was Petunia who went to secondary school, who had a boyfriend at age twelve, who was getting decent grades while maintaining a social status. Lily was a mere second child. Lily had only two friends, neither of which had spoken to her since the chipmunk incident. Lily spent all her time reading fantasy books that were way to old for her. Lily was a teacher's pet.

At this point Lily burst into tears, seeing the hatred on her sister's face. She ran up to her room, shutting the door behind her. Lily stood with her back against the door, and looked around at her room. It looked nothing like Petunia's. Instead of a vanity, she had a bookshelf, full of interesting books. Lily had a tie-dyed duvet instead of the pink lacy one that resided on Petunia's bed. Lily noticed the lack of posters on the walls and the lack of writing on her calendar. Petunia's calendar was always full of parties she was invited to and people's birthdays who she must get gifts. Lily shuffled over to her bed and lay there staring at the ceiling.

"One day," she said to no one in particular, "I'm going to go someplace where I belong. I'll go and I'll never come back and Petunia will be oh-so jealous of me." She giggled at the thought, rolled over and fell asleep.

*

One month later, on August first, Lily was out in a hammock, rereading The Lord of the Rings. She was pondering the trials of Merry and Pippin when Petunia came top the door. Lily glanced up, the returned to her book. Merry is my favourite, she thought. I'll live in a place like Middle Earth one day and I'll have adventures just like this. She glanced back up at Petunia, who hadn't moved.

"What do you want?" Lily inquired.

"Someone sent you a letter. It's on the kitchen table." Petunia said with the air of one who was performing a particularly difficult task. "It's a letter from the circus, they can't take you as one of the freak show acts because you'd scare away all the business." Petunia laughed at her cruelty.

Lily pretended not to have heard the jab, as she put in her bookmark and stood up, leaving her novel on the hammock. She walked purposefully past Petunia, even gathering enough courage to bump into her while passing. Somehow, this made her feel better about the ridicule she had been put through for the past few weeks. She opened the screen door and shut it quietly behind her, stepping over Petunia's overnight bag and joining her mother and father at the kitchen table.

"Lily," her mother said, "you've got a letter. Its somewhere in here..." Lily's mother ruffled through the stack of letters, advertisements and bills until she pulled out an envelope of yellowish parchment and handed it to Lily.

"Thank you," Lily said as she sat down and opened it carefully. She unfolded the letter, also written on yellow parchment. She scanned the first few lines, then went back and read them again. Gasping, she dropped the letter and slouched in her seat.

"Lily," her father said suddenly, "Lily are you all right?"

"I'm- I'm a witch," she managed to stutter out.

*

Lily stood with all of the other first-years in a line in front of the Sorting Hat, which had just completed its annual song. The hall around her was roaring in applause, but she wasn't paying very much attention. Her mind was focused on two very different subjects, how happy she was to be here, and the antics of the boy in front of her.

Lily hadn't stopped smiling since she had gotten her letter. It had told her that she wasn't a freak after all! She was a witch. She had made a few friends on the train, and she knew that she would be happy at this school. Everyone here had done weird things before; everyone had the qualities that had once marked her as a freak. Lily was trying her best to hear what Professor McGonagall was saying to them, but the boy in front of her was raising such a racket.

"I'm going to be on the Gryffindor house team, I'll be the best player they've ever seen," he said to her, turning around. "I'm a Chaser, do you play Quidditch?"

"I've never heard of it," she replied honestly. What on earth is Kwiplich?

"Oh, you've missed out then." He looked a bit disappointed and continued while waving to someone across the room. "I'm James Potter, who're you?"

Lily immediately did not like this boy. He was obnoxious and conceited, and making it very difficult for her to pay attention. "My name is Lily Evans."