The Rivalry; Year One

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, the greatest writer EVER.

A/N: Hey Hey. Lily and James love/hate here. I'm re-editing every chapter, so there won't be as many stupid grammatical mistakes. Hope it's up to par...

The Rivalry of James & Lily

Chapter 1 - Lily's Birthday

It was a surprisingly stormy day in Salisbury, England when 10-year-old, soon to be 11-year-old, Lily Evans woke up in early July. She was very pretty for her age, with long, straight, dark red hair, a fair complexion, and bright green, almond-shaped eyes. She had a great sense of humor and a bright mind, though lacked any true or admirable friends. At school, she was constantly alone because, like many witches and wizards, she made odd things happen that frightened everyone, even the teachers. These odd occurrences were often left inexcusable by the teachers, causing Lily to attend all the local primary schools due to her multiple expulsions.

Throughout her childhood, the strangest piece of magic she ever performed occurred when she was in her third year of schooling. She was assigned a one page essay on her favorite animal, the sheep, and when she turned in the assignment, she discovered it was 62 pages, and written with a vocabulary way above her intellectual ability. She was just as surprised as her teacher by the magnificent paper, but was expelled from that school for "obviously copying the essay from another source instead of doing her own work."

Another tricky piece of magic she performed happened at another school Lily attended. She had been playing in the sand box respectably when the local bully started making fun of her red hair. He called her fire engine, carrot, and even devil worms, until she lost control and suddenly all the sand ended up inside the boy's pants. The boy went into complete spasms, for he had trouble with stressful situations, and had to be rushed to the hospital immediately. Due to the circumstances, she was unfortunately expelled from that school as well...

But today Lily was not in school; it was early July and Lily was just waking up, excited for her eleventh birthday. She had been asking her parents for a lovely locket from the local jewelry store for the past three years, and she had an odd feeling her parents just might have gotten it for her. She ran downstairs to greet her parents, and in the meantime said a stiff hello to her sister Petunia, who was slightly crazy in the head. Petunia, who was 3 years older than Lily, had always been too focused on externals, obsessing over her self-image. Lily, who looked attractive no matter what hour of the day, was so unconcerned with her appearance that Petunia could hardly hide the jealousy she felt for her younger sister. She would kick her under the table when her parents weren't looking, steal clothes out of her closet and return them with disgusting stains, and disorganize her dresser drawers to simply aggravate her little sister. Lily dealt with her sister's poor attitude very maturely, however, never complaining and quietly cleaning every mess Petunia ever threw at her.

Meanwhile, Lily's parents greeted her cheerfully as she made her way into the kitchen and handed her a plate of pancakes covered in maple syrup.

"MMMMM.... Thanks Mum, Dad! This tastes so incredibly good this morning," said Lily through a mouth-full of food.

"Oh your welcome, Lils. When do you want to leave for London on your special day?" asked her Dad.

"Well...."

Suddenly her Mum pushed a small package in front of Lily. Lily smiled excitedly, and very soon, she was ripping the paper of a tiny box and staring at a small golden locket. She opened it and there was a picture of her mother and father inside. It was perfect.

"Thank you so so much," Lily cried. She smiled so widely her face felt stretched further than it should have been able. She jumped into her parents' arms, Petunia scouring in the corner at the whole scene.

While clasping the locket around her neck, Lily heard the mail drop through the front door.

"A bit early for mail, isn't it?" she heard her father ask as she ran to get the entrance hall, hoping for a birthday card from a friend or family member, but not really expecting one because the rest of her family was dead, and she didn't exactly have any friends. Suddenly she reached down and felt an extremely heavy envelope. She looked at it and it was addressed to her in green writing.

"Hmmm... I wonder what this is..." she mumbled to herself, intrigued.

She tore apart the envelope and skimmed over the invitation to join other students in studying magic. She stared at the letter dumbfounded, then entered back into the kitchen and handed the letter to her parents.

"What is this, honey?" her mother asked bewildered.

"Ju-just read it," she stuttered, hardly able to speak.

Her mom read the letter and gasped, then passed the letter over to Lily's father, who looked up at her stunned after he had, too, finished.

"Well, that letter explains a lot of things," Lily finally stated, breaking the uneasy tension in the room.

"Do you truly believe all of this, Lily?" her mother asked questioning the mysteriousness of the letter.

Lily looked at the letter, understanding her mother's concerns; it wouldn't be the first time someone played a practical joke on her. Yet somehow something about the letter simply seemed true. "Yes," she finally said. "This is why all these weird things happen to me. I'm a witch and I want to take up this position to study magic at this school, Hogwarts or whatever it is."

Her parents looked at each other uneasily.

"Oh Mum, Dad, can't we just go to that place in the letter, the Leaky Cauldron, and see what it's all about?" begged Lily. "Please, for my birthday. We're already going to be in London anyway..."

Her parents continued looking at each other, then her dad shrugged. "I supposed since we're already going to be there, there's no harm in checking the place out."

Suddenly, Lily was in the car with her parents (Petunia didn't want to come along to celebrate Lily's birthday, obviously). After a long ride, the car pulled to a stop outside a very scrubby looking her pub. Her parents looking very melancholy stepped out of the car and frowned at the run-down building. Rapidly, however, Lily steered her parents into the black, rotting door and began a very awkward conversation with the bartender, who she noticed, had very crooked teeth.

"Er... Hello? Um... Yes, I'm Lily Evans, uh, do you, uh, know how I can, er, well, I'm a witch?" she said questionably, looking at the bartender for answers.

"Oh! You must have been invited to Hogwarts! Oh well, here, I'll get you into Diagon Alley, where you can buy your school supplies which should be listed inside that Hogwarts envelope you're holding."

Lily looked at the man shocked. So Hogwarts really was true? She really was a witch? There was actually an explanation to her miserable childhood?

"You alright, dear?" the man asked as he stared at Lily in her daze.

Lily beamed. "Never been better. Thank you so much for all your help."

The bartender, Tom, she read on his name-tag, lead her to a back alleyway behind the pub and tapped his wand on the brick two up and three over from the trashcan. And Lily smiled as she entered through a giant archway appearing from thin-air, nearly forgetting her dazed parents who were standing with the mouths open back in the alleyway behind the pub.

***LATER THAT DAY***

Lily later arrived home, carrying a bunch of funny shaped packages into the house, and a cage with a beautiful chestnut owl, that she had decided to name Oedipus. Although, according to Greek mythology, Oedipus ended up marrying his mother and killing his father, Lily named her owl after this famous mythological character because he once answered the riddle of a sphinx, which traumatized the sphinx so greatly that it killed itself, leaving Oedipus to rule a kingdom. This scene exemplified the man's quick-wit, much like her own.

When Lily, entered the upper landing to her house, she ran into her sister, who simply gawked at her. Lily quietly entered her room, shut the door in her sister's face, and started petting and talking to her owl. She jumped in bed, turned to Oe and mumbled, "This has been the best birthday ever," then started flicking through her school books.