A Different Path

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Chapter 1

Fateful Meeting.

Lily Evans, soon to be Potter ran down the path to the Oxford building where her first lecture was being held. She was about to be late. Had her fiancé, James Potter, not insisted on turning up and 'wishing her luck' then she wouldn't be running late. She just hoped she didn't miss too much. She ran into the lecture hall, and took an empty seat as soon as possible. The lecturer wasn't there yet. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Hello." A voice to the side of her said.

Lily looked to the side, and saw a man with light brown hair, and blue eyes. "Oh, hello. You weren't reserving this seat for anyone, were you?"

"Oh, no, you can sit here. I'm Charles Xavier." He held out his hand for her to shake.

"Lily. Lily Evans." She replied, taking his hand, and shaking it.

"You're lucky the lecturer is running late." Charles said.

"I guess I am. It's all James' fault mind."

"James?"

"My fiancée. He insisted on staying to wish me luck."

Charles laughed. Just in their lecturer walked in, and they stopped talking to concentrate on taking notes. The lecture went well, and soon they were leaving the hall, chatting again.

"My sister, Raven and I, are going out to a pub tonight. I was wondering if you wanted to join us." Charles asked Lily. "I'm sure we could help you get used to the area."

"Thank you. That would be nice. It'll do me good to get to know people outside my classmates from secondary school."

"Great to know. There's a pub on the street corner just down there, we'll be there at seven. Bring James if you want."

"Oh, he's already started heading back home by now, but I'll be there." Lily said, smiling.

Just then, a blonde walked up to them. "Hey Charles, who's this?" she inquired.

"Raven, this is Lily, Lily this is my sister, Raven."
"Nice to meet you Raven. Charles has already told me a lot about you."

"Has he now? Are you studying the same subject as Charles?"

"Yes, I am. It was a tie between that and Literature."

"Those are two completely different subjects." Raven said.

"I'm varied. James, my fiancée told me to go for the one that was the most interesting and challenging to me."

Raven nodded.

"Lily will be joining us tonight, if you don't mind of course, Raven." Charles said. He obviously wanted to make sure she was ok with the plan.

"Fine by me." Raven said. "I could do with someone new to talk to. Charles told you the arrangements?"

"Yes, he has." Lily nodded, smiling.

"That's cool then. I'll see you tonight, I have to go, I have a shift to work. Bye."

"Bye." Lily said.

Raven hugged Charles, and then headed off. Charles smiled, and then said; "I have another lecture. I think it's time for me to go. See you tonight."

"See you tonight, Charles." Lily said.

The two went their separate ways. Lily smiled to herself, glad that she'd made two new friends.

That night, Lily, Raven and Charles met up in the pub, and got to know each other better. They all got on like a house on fire, and quickly formed a strong friendship. Over her first year at Oxford, Lily decided that even though it would be a breach of the statue of secrecy, she would tell her new friends what she was.

So, one day, when they were in her flat, she broke the bombshell.

"Guys, I haven't been completely… honest, with you." She said.

"What do you mean, Lils?" Raven asked, her head cocked to the side, curiously.

Lily took a deep breath, stood up, and closed the curtains. "I need to tell you something, and I need you to hear me out. Promise you won't say anything until I've finished."

Charles and Raven nodded. "Sure." Charles said. "Go ahead."

Lily pulled out her wand, twirled it in her hands for a moment, and then raised it. She charmed objects to start moving, and even turned a paperweight into a hamster.

"How do you do this?" Raven asked, awed, picking up the hamster.

"I'm a witch. As in a wand waving, potion brewing, broomstick riding witch." Lily said, stopping all the charms, but leaving the hamster. "I said that I went to a very selective boarding school, well I did. It was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. There is a whole hidden community of us. I shouldn't even be telling you, but I trust you."

"Thank you for telling us." Raven said, smiling at her. "I believe you."

"So do I." Charles said. The two seemed to have a silent conversation for a moment. "Lily, we haven't been completely honest with you, either. We're different too, but not in the same way you are."

"Oh, how are you different?" Lily asked.

"I'm a shape shifter." Raven said. "This isn't even what I look like."

"What do you look like?" Lily asked.

Raven bit her lip, but still changed, showing her friend what she really looked like. Blue, with red hair and yellow eyes. Lily smiled at her. "Beautiful." She said.

"You don't think it's freaky?" Raven asked.

Lily shook her head, and held up her hand. "Freak and proud." She laughed. "I can hardly judge, can I? I mean, not only am I part of a secret magical society, but I have a friend who transforms and howls at the moon every full moon."

"You know a werewolf?" Charles asked.

"Yeah. You've met Remus. His nickname is Moony for a reason. So, Charles, what can you do?"

"I'm a Telepath." Charles answered. Need more of a demo, Lils?

Lily threw back her head and laughed. "Wonderful!" She said.

"So, tell us about witches and wizards." Raven said, bouncing in her seat.

"The Wizarding World is… amazing. It's so strange. Technology doesn't work there, because of all the magic, but we more than make up for it in some ways. It has its flaws, just like any society, but it also has its good points. Family first is a motto that many hold close to their hearts. Our main shopping area, Diagon Alley is so bright, and crowded, it's overwhelming on your first trip there. Then there are the magical creatures. The goblins, the fairies, the dragons and Unicorns, the Centaurs, all of them. British Witches and Wizards are trained at Hogwarts. The school years go from first year to seventh. The school is actually a castle. The staircases move, so do the paintings, but they also talk too. There's a forest on the grounds where many beautiful and or deadly magical creatures reside. I've loved it ever since I stepped foot in that world at the age of eleven, after receiving my Hogwarts letter. That's another thing, the post is delivered via owls, and Merlin actually existed."

"No way." Charles said.

"Yeah." Lily grinned. "I kept up with my muggle education during the summer and Christmas holidays. That's how I managed to come here. Hogwarts doesn't keep up with the muggle curriculum."

"Muggle?" Charles asked.

"Non magic folk." Lily explained. "I'm Muggleborn. There are Pure bloods, half bloods, muggleborns and squibs. Pure bloods are wizards that don't have a drop of muggle blood in them. Half bloods are born to one muggle or muggleborn parent and one pureblood parent. Muggleborns are born to non magical parents, and squibs are born to purebloods but with no magical powers."

"Is that where the prejudice's come from?" Raven asked.

"Yes. The Pure bloods think they are the best, and others are below them. Well, not all. James and his family don't. Sirius rebelled against his family. He doesn't believe the pure blood nonsense, and neither does Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, and greatest Wizard of our age. But some Pure bloods believe muggle borns are scum, and don't deserve to know magic. They even call us 'Mudbloods'. It's a term that means dirty blood. Anyone calls me that ends up being hexed to oblivion." Lily said. "Luscious Malfoy never did quite get over that one curse."

"Good for you." Raven said.

Lily conjured a cage, and Raven placed the hamster into a cage. Lily got thoroughly drilled that evening. After that night, their friendship only got stronger.

Halfway through Charles' and Lily's second year, Lily got a letter she hadn't wanted to get. She was needed to fight. She told Raven and Charles over lunch, leaving out the fighting on the front line thing. She hadn't told them about the war. She couldn't bring herself to.

"I've been called back home." Lily said. "Things are starting to happen, and I need to help."

"Will you come visit, and write?" Raven asked her friend.

"I'll try. I'll be able to write, and I'll visit as much as I can. I promise." Lily said.

"I'm glad we managed to get to know each other, Lily. You'll always have someone to come to with us." Charles said.

"Thank you. I'm sorry I couldn't finish my degree. Good luck with yours. And I want nothing less than becoming a Professor from you, Charles."

"I'll do my best." Charles said.

Lily hugged Raven. "You are beautiful the way you are. Remember that."

"I will. See you soon."

"Yeah."

Lily then hugged Charles, and stood. "Expect an invite to my wedding."

"We will. Bye Lils." Raven said, smiling.

"Goodbye Lily."

"Bye guys." Lily said. With that, Lily left. Her things were already packed, shrunk, and in her pockets. She walked to a deserted alley, and disapparated to Potter Manor.

Lily managed to keep in touch with Raven and Charles, and they managed to come to the wedding. Lily, the Marauders and James' parents told people that they were Lily's cousins from America who she was particularly close too, so the Ministry wouldn't see it as a breach of the statue of secrecy.

Charles and Raven enjoyed their first outing into the magical world, and had two more before they lost contact with Lily, not to hear from her, until one very fateful day, when she would shock them both.

A/N: Please let us know what you think. The next chapter is going to be sad, this is more of a prologue than a chapter, really.