A New Day

Having finished both essays, Lily turned to Mary, who had put away her parchment. "Shall we go to the Great Hall for a meal?"

"Let's go. I've finished too." Mary slung her bag over her shoulder and linked arms with Lily as they headed for the Great Hall.

They ran into a few Ravenclaw students along the way, and Lily went straight up to greet them as if they were old friends. They exchanged names, and once the others had gone, she raised her eyebrows proudly at Mary. "Now we know each other, it'll be much easier to borrow their class notes later."

Mary gave her a thumbs-up. "I really envy how good you are with people."

When they entered the Great Hall, all four long tables were laden with food, and its aroma washed over them. Lily immediately spotted Petunia halfway down the Gryffindor table and pointed her out. "Mary, I can see my sister. Shall we go sit with her?"

"Yes, let's!"

Mary leaned closer for a look. Petunia had long, light blond hair, light brown eyes, and soft, delicate features. She looked almost nothing like Lily, with her red hair, green eyes, and bright, exuberant manner. It was hard to believe they were sisters by blood.

"Petunia, Petunia, I haven't seen you all day!" As soon as Lily sat down, she attached herself to Petunia's side like a little pendant.

Petunia reached out and gave her cheek a gentle, helpless poke, then turned to introduce her to her companions. "This is my sister Lily, a new Gryffindor who just started this year."

The girl sitting across from Petunia smiled and teased, "We already met her at the start-of-term feast. She's like a little sun. It's really hard to imagine you two are sisters." Then she reached out to Lily. "Hello, I'm Petunia's roommate, Hestia Jones."

"Hello, hello! I'm Lily Evans, and this is my roommate, Mary Macdonald." Lily immediately stood up to shake her hand, her overflowing enthusiasm leaving Hestia a little at a loss. Mary poked her head out too and politely greeted the older girls at the table.

Another girl beside Petunia leaned forward to say hello. "Hi, I'm Emmeline Vance. I share a dormitory with Petunia too."

"Hello, it's lovely to meet you all!"

Lily pressed close to Petunia, keeping her arm firmly against hers and refusing to let go. Her emerald-green eyes fixed on her sister. "What classes did you have today? I didn't run into you anywhere in the castle."

"I had Charms and Potions today. Compared with your timetable, none of our time slots overlap at all." Petunia had compared their schedules in her head and reluctantly shared the fact that disappointed Lily.

"But we can arrange to do our homework together in the library."

Lily's disappointment eased a little. "Then you have to come to the library with me tomorrow."

"No problem." Petunia had nothing against the quiet library; in fact, she was quite happy to go.

With Petunia's promise, Lily's spirits lifted. She piled roast beef, little sausages, and chips onto her plate, then quietly bent over her meal.

At the far end of the Slytherin table on the other side of the Great Hall, Snape sat alone. As a Half-blood, he had never stopped being excluded by the Pure-blood children, so he could only sit at the very back.

Looking through the crowd filling the hall, he immediately picked out the dazzling red hair at the Gryffindor table.

The bitterness that had lingered in his heart for so long faded a little. He was secretly relieved that Lily had not entered Slytherin with him.

If she had come, a girl as bright and exuberant as her would only have endured the same cold looks, exclusion, and contempt as him, day after day.

After eating, Lily and her roommates returned to the Gryffindor dormitory together. She quickly washed up and sat down by the window, where her family's owl, Heidi, had already been waiting with a letter for quite some time.

She opened the letter and read it carefully. Mr Evans had agreed to let her open a sixth Tales of Blossoms branch in a rural town in Devon, with the official opening set for two months later. Lily immediately picked up her pen to reply, also writing about each of her magic classes that day, her wonder at the magical world filling every line.

After watching Heidi spread her wings and fly away, Lily turned to Alice and asked about the next day's classes. Alice picked up the timetable and examined it. "One Herbology class on Tuesday morning, then History of Magic in the afternoon, and the Flying Class everyone's been looking forward to."

At the mention of Flying Class, Marlene's eyes lit up. "Flying Class! I love the feeling of flying through the air. If I practise hard, maybe I can get onto the Quidditch reserve team in my second year."

Lily produced a plate of golden, crispy fried chicken from somewhere and smiled at everyone. "A late-night snack. Want to try some?"

She put on a pair of thin gloves and picked up a fried drumstick.

Marlene stared at the chicken's golden, crispy coating. "How come I've never seen this at the feast on the long tables? What's this crispy layer on the outside?"

"I think it's called breadcrumbs."

Alice and Dorcas both climbed down from their beds and gathered around the table. Dorcas took a bite and said indistinctly, "Lily, if you hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor, you'd definitely have been a Hufflepuff, always hiding all kinds of tasty food."

"Finish up quickly and get to bed early. We can't be late for Herbology at nine tomorrow."

At that, the girls ate faster. When they were done, Lily raised her wand and murmured, "Scourgify, Scourgify."

The crumbs vanished in an instant. She quickly washed up again and climbed into bed. Before going to sleep, the five girls continued chatting, and the conversation kept returning to the next day's Flying Class.

Marlene closed her eyes and murmured, "I really hope I have a natural talent for flying. I'll try to get onto the Quidditch reserve team in my second year."

Lily closed her eyes too. "Then I hope you get your wish."

At seven the next morning, Lily jolted awake and hurriedly roused her roommates. "Oh no, the alarm didn't go off! Everyone, get up! If we wait any longer, we'll miss our morning class!"

Mary sleepily rolled over and buried her head in the covers. "It's only seven. Let me sleep a little longer."

Lily fetched a Muggle alarm clock and set it by her bed. "All right, I'll set the alarm for half past seven. Don't be late."

Moving quietly, she washed up and changed into her wizard's robes. Standing before the full-length mirror, she fixed her hair, braiding her red locks into two neat plaits herself. Back home, Petunia had always done her hair for her. After Petunia started school, she had gradually taught herself, and by now she was quite skilled at it.

She looked at herself in the mirror and nodded gently. "Mm, that looks good."

Lily slipped out of the dormitory and quietly closed the door behind her. Only a few older students were in the common room. As always, she went up to greet them warmly and exchange names, then headed straight for the Great Hall.