The letter arrived at 12:01 PM on Saturday, July 31, 1977. To Mr. and Mrs. Evans, it didn't seem unusual that their youngest daughter, Lily, was receiving a letter via owl. In fact, Lily had received many letters over the past six years through owl post, a very common way of communication in the wizarding world. Only Petunia, Lily's older sister, who hadn't been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, complained about Lily's somewhat unusual means of magical contact.

Petunia, who looked very little like her auburn-haired sister, took joy in criticizing the ways of magic folk. "Freaks" she called them. "Shady" and "untrustworthy" were two of her favorite words to describe their way of life.

To Lily, it was obvious why her sisters made such comments. The begrudging mindset came from their parents’ favoritism towards Lily. Often times, she would try to ignore her sister's crabbiness, and smile in light of the feelings she held towards her, but it wasn't always easy. Most of the time she would just ignore her sister completely and go to the comforting presence of her best friend, Severus.

Severus Snape, whose greasy black hair and bat-like appearance made him a target for humiliation and exile, lived down the street from the Evans in Spinner's End. He had been the one to inform Lily of her magical abilities. Lily had been friends with him until their fifth year at Hogwarts, when he made the mistake of calling her a "filthy little mudblood".

Lily's muggle-bloodline and Severus' association with known muggle-haters had put a strain on their relationship since the beginning of school, but it was this remark that had been the final straw. Lily had broken off all communication with Severus, and refused Severus every time he begged for forgiveness.

When Lily began dating James Potter, Severus' sworn enemy at Hogwarts, things got even more difficult. Despite her pleas, James took any opportunity to fight with or hex Snape. The juvenile behavior added even more friction between the ex-best friends, and it looked as though Lily and Severus would never reconcile.

Now Lily was going to be attending her final year of Hogwarts, and if she ever wanted to patch things up between her and Severus, this would have to be the year.

She smiled as an exhausted owl dropped an oddly shaped object on her bed and hobbled across her desk to where Petunia had left a bowl of chips. The owl looked down at the salted food and then raised its eyes back up to Lily, as if asking permission.

"Go ahead," Lily told the owl. "I just hope that junk food doesn't kill you."

The owl munched away happily and Lily grabbed the package from the bed, leaning back against her headboard and making herself comfortable. She tore the brown paper off of the parcel, and furrowed her brow.

Someone had sent her an hourglass.

Lily pulled the paper completely off the hourglass, and turned it over several times, searching for some small clue as to who could have sent this. There was none.

Lily shrugged and threw the paper aside, picking up the hourglass again, and began to study it. For the most part, there was nothing exceptional about the design. It had a plain, black frame, and the sand was a dark, purple color; it was almost black. It was a slight disappointment. Lily had been hoping it had been from James.

"Lily!"

Lily nearly dropped the hourglass as Petunia shrieked her name and stormed into the room. "That...thing is eating my chips!"

Petunia began screaming as the owl began flapping its wings and screeching at her. Lily rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to reassure her sister that there were more chips in the pantry, when the owl knocked the bowl off the desk and it shattered.

Petunia's eyes suddenly grew big and she stopped screaming. Instead, a deadly look crossed her face, and she grabbed Lily's pogo stick that was leaning against the wall.

"I'm going to kill you!"

"Petunia, don't!"

Lily immediately jumped off the bed, setting the hourglass on the desk, and ran towards her sister, grabbing her arms. They struggled against each other, Petunia wanting to destroy the feathered fiend in the bedroom, and Lily wanting to keep her sister from doing anymore damage than was already done.

They continued to battle until Petunia suddenly froze. Her face paled considerably, and Lily let go of her arms.

"What?"

Petunia didn't reply, she just continued to stare past Lily, a horrified expression plastered on her face.

Lily turned around and was shocked, as well. The hourglass was glowing.

"I must have accidentally flipped it when I set it down," Lily explained.

"What's it doing?"

"I dunno."

"Oh, well, that's just great!" Petunia snapped.

"Hush!" Lily replied, and she crept towards the gleaming object. It seemed to have a pulse; it would grow brighter and then dim again, radiating a violet lambency.

Lily reached her hand out to touch it, ignoring Petunia's frantic, "What are you doing!"

From the brightness of the glow coming off the hourglass, she would have expected it to be warm, but the glass was ice-cold. Literally. The glass felt like it had been frozen.

The glass melted under Lily's touch, and purple liquid began to run down her arms, spreading quickly and burning as it did so.

"Petunia! Go get Mom and-"

The cry caught in her throat and she watched her purple hands begin to disappear. Her flesh turned to sand, and the hourglass pulled this new sand into itself. Petunia gawked as her sister began to fade until the hourglass had completely reformed itself.

The owl hooted, grabbed the hourglass, and flew out through the window, leaving the broken bowl of chips at Petunia’s feet.