Year One: The Legend Unfolds

Chapter 1: Lily's Birthday

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Please don't sue me. That wouldn't be nice.

A/N: RE-POSTED AND TOTALLY REVISED! Okay so I had this story up before, it was my first story, but it kind of sucked because... well... we'll just say that I am a much better writer now than I was 2 years ago. So I took down the original story and I'm reposting this completely revised. The name of this story was originally Lily and James: The Whole Story, but instead of having one long seven year story I'm going to do it in 7 year-long instalments. Hence the title change. So please read this story and review. I love reviews! Please make my day . First 11 chapters are totally done so if I get reviews I'll update soon. Maybe wednesday/thursday?

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"James! I'm not going to tell you again to get ready! And you need to wear something nice! And comb your hair too!" Jane Potter yelled to her eldest son, James, who rolled his eyes in response behind the closed door of his room.

James Potter was sitting on his bed, staring at the wall, procrastinating as much as humanly possible. His neighbor, Lily Evans, was having her 11th birthday party today. Saying he would rather eat a pound of cockroach clusters that go was an understatement.

You see, he and Lily were not the closest of friends. In fact, they hated each other. They had gone to primary school together, and were sworn enemies. Lily hated the way James always teased her, and picked on younger kids. James hated how Lily and her friends always told on James and his buddies. Plus, they were 10, so the whole 'boys have cooties' thing still played a part in it. However, Lily and James' parents were friends, as were their sisters, so James was stuck going to the boring birthday party.

James glanced at the clock on his bedside table. It was 4:05. Lily's party started in 55 minutes. Sighing, James got up and headed towards the bathroom, figuring he had better get ready. If he didn't, his mom would be mad at him. Just then, Jack, his 9 year old brother, came bursting through his door, his face alight with happiness.

"James, Aunt Arabella is here!" exclaimed Jack, his light brown eyes sparkling excitedly, "She wants to see you." James was instantly cheered up. Aunt Arabella was James' favorite aunt. She was his mom's sister, meaning her last name was Figg. She was however, very different than everyone else in her family. All of the Potters and Figgs were wizards. Potter was a pureblood name that went back for generations. Figg was too, though it was not as well known. Arabella Figg, however, was different. She was a squib, meaning she didn't have magical powers, she wasn't a witch.

Being a squib tends to run in a family, so James had been worried that he might be a squib for some time. Not that anything was wrong with that, but James was always so interested with his older sister Brighid's studies. James' 11th birthday was yesterday, July 17th, which was when he received his letter of acceptance into Hogwarts. He was very happy about it.

"And how are my two favorite nephews?" Aunt Arabella asked, rushing forward and pulling James and Jack into a giant bearhug as soon as they stepped into the kitchen.

"Fine," both boys managed to choke out from their aunt's grip.

"Congratulations James! My little wizard," exclaimed Aunt Arabella, pulling James into another bone-breaking hug, only seconds after being liberated from the first.

"Thank you," James said, beaming.

"Are you coming to Lily's birthday party with us?" asked Jack, sitting down in a chair at the kitchen table.

"Of course. And I'm staying for James's party tomorrow. Is this the first year you two have had separate parties?" Aunt Arabella replied, sitting across from Jack, her question directed towards James.

"Yep," James answered, sitting between his aunt and brother. Lily's birthday was on July 22nd, five days after his (which meant he was older, something he constantly bragged about). They usually had their parties together, however, this year was different. This was the year James would be going to Hogwarts, so he and his parents thought it would be better if James had a separate, all wizard party. That way, James would know some people before he left for Hogwarts.

Lily and her family weren't invited, for as far as anyone knew, they were all muggles (there was some question about Lily being a witch because of when James' hair mysteriously turned purple after he poured paste all over Lily in the 3rd grade). There was a lot of explaining required for Mrs. Potter as to why she didn't invite her best friends to her son's birthday party, and she ended up saying that they were visiting a relative in Greece for his birthday. Mrs. Potter was going to charm the house so that it looked like nobody was home.

James, Jack and Aunt Arabella chatted for a few minutes, when suddenly, a high pitched squeal was heard from the doorway. James's 14 year old sister, Brighid, came dashing into the room and ran over to Aunt Arabella. Brighid had curly brown hair, and the same hazel eyes as James and their mother. Many people thought she looked like a miniature version of her mother, which was something she took great pride in.

"Aunt Arabella!" screamed Brighid, rushing over to hug her favorite aunt, "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine honey," replied Aunt Arabella, letting go of Brighid. Brighid sat down at the remaining seat at the table, but jumped up suddenly, sending their cat streaking out of the room.

"James!" Brighid yelled, "Lily's party starts in 10 minutes! And you aren't even dressed yet!"

"Oh, shoot..." James said, rushing from the kitchen. He took a quick shower, and threw on the first clothes he could find. He was completely unaware that down in the kitchen, his aunt and siblings were laughing their heads off. He was also completely unaware that Brighid had just gotten the ultimate revenge.

"Did you see his face?! He is so gullible! He didn't even bother to look at the clock before running upstairs," Brighid gasped between laughs, trying not to fall off of her chair, "I bet that is the last time you trick Brighid Potter into eating a cockroach cluster." In reality, it was only 4:20. Seeing as Lily's party didn't start until 5, there was no reason to rush

At that moment, James rushed into the kitchen, hopping on his right foot, while trying to get his sock onto his left foot.

"Come on, we have to go!" exclaimed James, sitting down for a split-second to pull his sock on all of the way, then bolting right back up. He couldn't bear to think what Lily would do to him if he was late for her party. Probably trip him so he fell face first into the cake or something of the sort.

"Jamsie, sit down, we have time," said Brighid, standing up and putting an arm around his shoulder. She looked like she was trying to hide a laugh.

"Yeah James, we've got about 30 minutes, take a seat," said Jack, pushing a chair towards James.

"30 minutes, are you insane?! Lily's party starts at 5:00, and right now it's... 4:28?" James stated, consulting the clock in the kitchen, "But... but you said it was 4:50 when I went upstairs to take my shower!" James was now thoroughly confused

"I lied dummy," Brighid said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"What? Oh, come on, don't tell me this is about that tiny little piece of cockroach cluster I accidentally slipped into your soup yesterday," said James, smiling sweetly at the memory.

"Precisely. Now, go get Mom, Aunt Arabella wants to ask her a few questions about your party tomorrow," said Brighid, standing up and leaving the room.

"Okay," said James, walking out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Jack sat there shaking his head and laughing silently for a few more minutes, amazed at how gullible his older brother was. His mom came downstairs a few minutes later, and Jack left to go upstairs to get ready.

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The Potters were the first people to arrive at Lily Evans' 11th birthday party. Since they lived down the street, they didn't really have much traveling to do. Petunia Evans, Lily's older sister was the one who answered the door. Petunia and Brighid were the best of friends. Even though Brighid went to Hogwarts during the school year, they kept in touch, and always instantly reconnected during the summer and holidays.

Petunia was one of the most popular girls in her school. Brighid had also been very popular when she went to muggle school with Petunia, before Hogwarts. However, Petunia was the only person she kept in touch with. She was also very glad that she had Petunia; all of her Hogwarts friends lived far away, and life was just too boring without a friend around.

"Petunia!" squealed Brighid, rushing forward and hugging her friend. She hadn't seen Petunia in a very long time. Sure, they had seen each other at the very beggining of the summer, but the Evans family had gone on vacation to France only a few days later, and didn't get back until July 14, 4 days prior to Lily's party.

"Brighid! It is so great to see you again!" screamed Petunia, hugging Brighid back. She let go of her and screamed up the stairs, "Mom, the Potters are here!" Mrs. Evans came hurrying into the entry hall to greet the Potters as Petunia and Brighid hurried into the party room. Mrs. Evans had straight, deep red hair down to her shoulders, and clear, light blue eyes.

"Jane! It's so lovely to see you again," said Becky Evans, taking the gifts Mrs. Potter was holding out, and setting them on the table by the door.

"And the same to you Becky," said Mrs. Potter, ushering her two sons inside to greet their neighbor.

"Oh, James, look how big you've gotten. The ladies will be all over you next year! And Jack look at you.

"You both look so much like your father did! I'm sure he would be very proud," said Mrs. Evans. James's smile dipped a little bit. His father died when he was very little, about a year and a half old. His mother didn't like to mention him much, since she got tears in her eyes whenever she did. All she said was that he was a great wizard and died unfairly. James took that to mean he was murdered, but he wasn't sure.

Mrs. Evans then said, "I'll go get Mark. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you." No sooner had the words left her mouth than Mark Evans came striding in from the kitchen. He was very stong and tall, at 6'1", a very large contrast to Mrs. Evans petite frame and height of 5'5". He had dirty blonde hair and sparkling green eyes which were identical to Lily's.

"Jane, glad you could make it. And Arabella, it has been a while since you've been in town, eh?" said Mr. Evans, grasping Aunt Arabella's hand and shaking it profusely.

"Thank you, it's nice to see you again Mark," said Aunt Arabella, faintly wondering when she would regain control of her arm. At that moment, Lily Evans walked into the entry hall. She had deep red hair, just like her mother's and startling green, almond shaped eyes. She had also inherited her mother's petite frame. She saw who it was, and tried to slip away quietly. However, she had no such luck.

"Lily, happy birthday sweetie," said Mrs. Potter upon spotting the child.

"Thank you Mrs. Potter," said Lily, pretending she didn't see the mischievous grin on James's face. Who knows what trouble he will cause her this year? Just then the door bell rang, signaling the arrival of more guests.

"I'll get it," said Mr. Evans. He turned around just short of the door and said, "You can go in you know. I daresay the party won't be much fun with you lot standing in the entrance hall."

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"Happy birthday dear Lily, happy birthday to you!" Lily smiled and blew out all of her candles, meaning her wish of discovering a new talent would come true. James watched Lily blow her candles out, wishing dearly she would not make it. James was sitting next to Liliy, and took the opportunity to talk to her as Mrs. Evans cut the cake and began to pass it around to the guests.

"What did you wish for Lily?" James asked quietly, so only she and her friend Denise could hear him.

"She's not going to tell you, then it wouldn't come true," said Denise matter-of-factly.

"Well, there are some things that wouldn't come true anyway... like if she wished she wasn't a red-headed freak, there isn't much a dumb wish would do," James wispered as he and Lily each receive large slices of chocolate cake.

Lily tried to stay calm, but couldn't. She was so tired of James always picking on her, calling her names like 'carrot-top' and 'lizard-eyes.'

James was still laughing at Lily, and Lily actually started to shake with rage. She kept imagining James wearing his slice of cake, but kept her hands firmly folded in her lap. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, James's slice of cake flew off of his plate and hit him straight in the face.

Lily was amazed. Her hands were still clasped in her lap, yep exactly what she had just been imagining had become a reality. Lily blinked a few times to make sure what she saw was real.

All of the guests had stopped talking and were staring at the end of the table, where James was wiping cake off of his glasses. Only the Potters seemed to know what was going on. They were all glancing at one another, knowing looks on their faces.

No one spoke for a few minutes, until James turned to Lily, his glasses back on his face after he had cleaned them. He looked like he was in shock.

"Lily, yo-you're a witch," said James quietly, This did not have nearly the impact he had been expecting. Instead of realization striking her face, rage took over once again. She stood up, slapped James hard across the face, and screamed at him.

"That is it James! I'm sick of you always being so mean to me!" and with that, she got up and stormed out of the dining room, followed closely by Denise.

Everybody soon got over James calling Lily a witch, since everyone just thought it was James being mean to Lily, but no one could get over the cake spontaneously hitting James. Brighid was enraged at James. She was sitting diagonal from James, and quickly got up from the table.

She walked over to James, yanked him out of his seat, and pulled him into the kitchen, the room closest to the dining room.

"James! How can one person cause so much damage with one sentence?" Brighid asked, exasperated.

"Sorry, I didn't really realize that would be such a big deal," said James.

"Think again..." muttered Brighid, "why don't you just go apologize and explain to Lily what happened. It sounds like Mom is sorting out the cake," (Mrs. Potter's voice floated in from the dining room, "His elbow hit the plate, really.")

"Me?! Apologize to Evans?! You have got to be kidding me! I didn't even do anything! She's the one who jumped to conclusions so quickly!" James said.

"No I am not kidding. Just go, I'll ask Aunt Arabella to explain this to Lily's parents," replied Brighid firmly.

"Fine," James sighed, seeing there was no way he could win this conversation. He got up and headed up to Lily's room, assuming that was where she would be. When he got there, he turned the knob, only to discover the door was locked. He knocked, and when no one answered, he began to bang on it very loudly, losing what little patience he had left.

"Lily, it's James, open up!" James screamed.

"Go away, James! I never want to see you again!" came Lily's muffled reply. It sounded as though she was crying.

"Lily, I came to apologize, and if you would open the stupid door, you would see that you are crying over absolutely nothing," James said. The door opened a crack, just enough to see a lock of red hair, and a teary, bloodshot green eye.

"Fine," said Lily. She opened the door the rest of the way, and James walked inside. He say down on her desk chair as she resumed her seat on the bed next to Denise.

"Uh, Denise, you kind of have to leave for this," said James cautiously.

"No I don't. Anything you can say to Lily you can say in front of me," Denise said loyally, "Besides, how secretive can an apology be?"

"Very, now get out," said James, then he had another idea, "Well, actually I guess you could stay, but afterward my mom would have to totally erase your memory, which could possibly put you in the hospital with brain damage, but if you really want to, then so be it."

"Alright, fine, I'll leave. Lily will fill me in later anyway," said Denise, closing the door behind her.

"And no eavesdropping!" shouted James. You could just hear a faint groan from the other side of the door, and footsteps falling away.

"Okay, so what is with this weirdo apology?" Lily asked, getting impatient.

"Well, remember when I called you a witch earlier? I didn't mean it as an insult. I meant literally, you are a witch. With magical powers and everything," said James. Lily still looked confused, and James had the feeling that this wouldn't be as easy as he had hoped.

"How gullible do you think I am?" she said, arching an eyebrow.

"Wow, this is not working very well. Maybe my mom should explain this, then, if you still don't believe it, she can show you a little magic," James said standing up. He was getting angry at her again. He tries to explain it, and she doesn't believe him. Typical. Lily followed him and found her parents talking to Mrs. Potter. All of the other guests had left, since it was after the party was supposed to have ended.

Soon all of the Evanses were informed and everyone was thrilled. That is, except for Petunia Evans, who stayed quiet the rest of the evening.

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There ya go, chapter one of this story is up! I hope you like it! Reviews would be greatly appreciated! If I get enough I'll update by Wednesday or Thursday!

Next Chapter: James's birthday party. James pulls a prank on Lily.

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