Chapter 1
"You are a witch!" and immediately at those words, a scream tore through the Evans House, as the young daughter of the family screamed for their mother, as a boy ran out of her room.
"Mother!" Lily Evans, with her bright red hair and green eyes, shouted from her room.
"Alder called me a witch again!" and she made to chase after the boy running out of the room, as the voice of the mother followed soon after.
"Alder! Do you want me to wash your tongue with soap again?" and Lily was not one to wait for her mother to fight her battles and chased after her brother on her own, who strode and jumped down the stairs as she chased after him with vengeance in her eyes.
"I am not lying! She really is a witch," and Lily's patience with her brother was running out, who suddenly found himself running into their mother, who had come out of the kitchen because of the commotion.
And Lily smirked, as she saw her twin stop, and grow pale as she saw their mother looking, and one glance at the three of them could tell that they were family, for all three of them shared those hazel green eyes.
"Ask him yourself," Lily began as she complained to their mother, who was the only one who could control her twin.
"He just called me a witch again," she told him, as their mother's eyes turned towards her twin brother, and they were rather similar in their appearances, with sharp noses and small, round faces, and hazel green eyes.
Yet the color of their hair set them apart, for she had inherited the fiery red locks from her mother, while his were a pale blonde much like their elder sisters, taking after her father's side of the family.
"I would like to point out that there were extenuating circumstances," and her mother's face contorted at that as she began to shake her head.
"Extenuating circumstances! Where do you even learn all these words?" and even she had no idea what that first word meant, and she knew what he was doing.
He was trying to shift the topic to save his hide from the ladle resting in their mother's hands, but she would not let him succeed.
Not today!
"At the library, actually. They have a dictionary, and Miss Dean thinks that I could win the National Spelling Be...."
"He called me a witch," she repeated, refusing to let him change the topic, and saw his eyes narrow as she foiled his plan, as their mother sighed and gave him a glare.
"Alder!" she called out, as he raised his hands.
"She said that she could feel that she could do magic," he explained quickly as her head snapped towards him.
"So, I called her a witch, which is nothing more than a word used to describe a female magician," and she quickly retaliated.
"I spoke no such words," she called out his lie, as he turned to face her.
"Swear that you never spoke such words," he threatened, and Lily found herself tongue-tied, for she had said those words but not today.
"I did not say them tod..."
"Enough!" and the ladle was swung, and hit her brother on the head as Lily chuckled, though her joy lasted for but a second as her mother refused to spare her.
"Ouch!" she joined her twin in wincing, and began to rub her head as her mother hit them both.
"Will the two of you ever stop bickering?" she sighed as they both spoke in unison.
"He started it..."
"She started it..."
And her mother's patience ran out as she pointed at the door.
"Both of you, out of the House at once. Your father will be home in an hour, and I want to cook in peace," and she tried to argue against her, but one glare from her mother was enough to stay the words in her mouth as she slowly walked past her, and through the door alongside her twin, who was still rubbing his head.
And the Evans Home was located in Cokeworth, near Spinner's End, though their neighbourhood was much better, with the houses all having porches and little gardens in the front.
"You tattletale," her twin mocked, as Lily spoke in indignation.
"You called me a witch," she complained, and her twin rolled his eyes as if it were a joke.
"And you are a witch," he repeated, and she made to kick his shins, but he jumped back and she did not even try to chase him. Her twin was both taller and far more athletic than her, and so chasing after him was a lost cause.
"Stop calling me a witch!" she screamed angrily, and she could see his lips twist up in a smirk as he continued to tease her.
"I have a question, ok," he began slowly.
"What do you call a female mage?" and she never should have brought this up that thing with him.
What was she even thinking, telling him about the strange things that happened around her?
"I never should have told you about that," she sighed, and she should have talked with Petunia, at least she would not have teased her like this.
She had just thought that with his big brain, he might have an answer for her. Twins, they may be, but Lily was no match for her brother when it came to studies, who had skipped quite a few grades and was already ahead of both her and even their elder sister.
Though Petunia held little interest in school and studying, but Alder was the star student. Perfect grades, perfect after-school activities. Her brother even ran for the school track team, and with all that knowledge of his, she had thought that he would have an answer for her.
"I shouldn't have mentioned it to you," she whispered as the two of them ambled down the road, and towards the little garden that was at the edge of the town, with the large tree, and those swings and slides.
"Petunia would have been the better choice," and he scoffed, as he slid to her side once more.
"Nah! You told just the right person," he whispered, and she saw his eyes glint as they reached the little garden, and they would come to play here often when they were young, but with school and all that, it had been some time since Lily had come here.
"You said that you were able to make a flower fly," he asked, suddenly as he crouched down and picked out a little daffodil, as she nodded.
"Yes," and she had mentioned it to a couple of friends of hers, but no one believed her yet, for all his teasing, Alder had not once called her words a lie as he held the flower towards her.
And Lily took it as a challenge as she grabbed it out of his hands, and closed her eyes as she held it in her palms, hoping to repeat what had happened quite a few times with her now.
She tried and tried, but as she opened her eyes, the little flower was still in her palms, and she had expected laughter and mocking, yet as she looked up she saw none of it.
"It really happened," she eeked out, before he could call her a liar, and unlike her friends at school he nodded.
"I know," he whispered, and reached down and plucked out a flower for himself.
"How do you know?" she asked, and finally she saw him smirk as he held it in his fingers, and Lily's eyes widened as she saw it take to the air as it had for her.
"What...." she gasped as she looked him in the eye and saw him smirking.
"How?" she asked, and he chuckled as he gave her the answer.
"Because, just like you are a witch, I am a wizard," and his following words shocked her even more.
"And I am not the only one...."
.
.
.
.
Many months had passed since that day, and Lily had now met a total of one wizard and one witch apart from herself and her twin. She had also learned of the secret and hidden world of witches and wizards, and wands and magics, and books and schools.
She still found it all rather unbelievable, but while she could imagine Alder roping in Severus in this little jape of his, she could not imagine how he could have convinced his mother, Eileen, to go along with their ploy.
And the trick with the flower.
Alder had taught it to her as well, along with nearly a dozen other tricks like creating a small light, lighting a fire, and much more. She could not do it all, or do it as well as he, but she could make that flower fly now just like Severus.
"Are you sure that the letters will come?" she asked from atop the bed, as his brother lay there on the floor playing with a little orb of fire in between his palms, and unlike her who had just learned about this secret world and her abilities a few months ago, Alder had known about them for years.
He wouldn't tell her the exact time, but from how he spoke, he had known about them for more than a few years, at least. Though even Severus and his mother, who was a proper witch, could hardly do most of the things he was capable of.
"Yeah," he answered with full confidence, as he tried to control the flame in between his palms, though it went out the second he turned towards her, making him sigh.
"Shit!" and she swatted his head, as he grunted.
"Hey!" and she simply raised a brow.
"Orders from mother," and while none could deny his brilliance, her twin had a rather foul mouth, and so her mother had given her the duty to swat him in her absence if his tongue was ever to slip.
"Tattletale," he whispered, and she was proud of it.
"You still doubt my words after everything I have shown you," he asked, and she did not want to, but it all felt so unreal to her.
An entire society of witches and wizards, hidden away in secret. Schools and magics and so much more. She could not imagine it all.
"It's just hard to believe," and he raised a brow.
"Well, I am willing to bet five that the letters come," he offered, and she knew better than to accept a bet from him.
"I will have to pass," for she did not even have five pence, much less pounds.
"Are you sure Petunia isn't like us?" and they were siblings yet for some reason he was sure that their sister did not possess the gift of magic.
"I am," he answered as her smile dulled, and so that meant that she would not be coming with them to this school of magic.
"Hogwarts," she whispered the name that Severus's mother had told her, and it was the most fascinating place by her words, and the way she described it, Lily could not help but count down the time when she would get to visit those Halls.
"Honestly, I would much prefer to go somewhere else," he added, and it was not the first time he had mentioned something like this.
"Why?" and he did not answer for a second.
"Why not?" he began after a few seconds.
"We could go to France and attend Beauxbatons," he suggested, and she recoiled at those words.
"I thought you did not like the French," and he would call them haughty and useless, yet here he talked about relocating to the country.
"Hogwarts is older and better," according to Snape's mother, and then there was the matter of fees and so forth, and relocating their entire family.
"I just think that we would be better off there," he argued, and despite not having spent a day at Hogwarts yet, he held a sort of bias against it.
"You can go to France if you want, but I am not going anywhere." Besides, Severus was going to Hogwarts as well, and she did not wish to leave her friend, and she saw him sigh as he gave a whisper.
".....you might regret.....words," and she could not make out all of it, and called him out.
"What did you just say?" she asked, and he shook his head, as he pushed himself up and began to climb up the ladder to reach the top bunk.
"Nothing," he answered, and he would often become like this, and the room grew silent for a second, and this was not the first time she had seen that look on him.
Most of the time, her twin would be found laughing and joking, yet sometimes he would suddenly stop and become all serious. It was rare but, but it was beginning to happen more and more.
"You won't really leave me, will you?" she asked quietly as she turned to her side, for from the first day of her life Lily had always had him by her side, helping and pushing her along.
She was older than he, but he had always been the smarter of them, yet he had never gloated that over her and had always helped her along. He had even beaten one of her bullies in fifth grade and continued to help her with her homework to this day.
And though she may have spoken those words earlier about him going off to France, Lily could hardly imagine a life at school without him, and just before she entered the world of dreams his answer came and eased her mind.
"Never...."
.
.
.
"Wake up! Wake up!" and suddenly she found herself falling off of the winged horse, as she suddenly opened her eyes and felt the Sun burn.
"AGHH! What are you doing!" she called out, recognising the familiar voice of her brother.
"They are here. The letters, they are here," and she jolted at his words, and sprang up like a tree as she pushed open her eyes and saw him holding a pair of letters in her hand, with a letter H inscribed into the paper.
And she snatched it out of his hand, and stared at the emblem, and it was just like the one Miss Eileen had drawn for her months ago.
"Hogwarts...."
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