Every fandom I decide to play in manages to generate its own alias. People who only know me from only one place might be surprised at how many varied and myriad pen names and assorted tag lines trace back to me. I have a hell of a time keeping track of them myself, some days.

I know people who keep one name wherever they go, and whatever they do. I only seem to be able to manage that in real life, which the Internet is not. Being different, sometimes it follows different rules. Things work differently out here, no matter how much we try to make it like life after disconnect.

I also know people who go by their real names, and there are places and times when I do this, too. Mostly, though, my real name is not always as memorable or as fun as something else I might pick out. So along comes a fandom that I like, and I pick a name that fits it.

Maybe I do it because each of my obsessions represents a different part of me, and the names give me a way to express those differences. Maybe I'm just terribly lonely, and the laundry list of names gives me an excuse to talk to myself. Not that I've ever really needed one, you understand. :) For me justification is sometimes useful but not always necessary. In the last few years I've learned to be practical, not just publically, but personally as well.

Here, in a world I'd love to run away to, the world of Hogwarts, of Aurors and Death Eaters and everything in between, I am Lilly Malfoy. Which is not, by the way, the name of an original character. It's a strange combination of my idea of Lily Evans Potter as a really rather spiffy Gryffindor witch, and my great obsession with Draco Malfoy. I have an greater still obsession with Severus Snape, but Lilly Snape doesn't read nearly as well, and while in terms of fic I'll read anything if it's written well, I'm really not too keen on the Snape/Lily pairing.

If I'd really thought about it, I might have ended up as Lilly McGonagall, because Minerva McGonagall has stolen Lily's place as my absolute favorite Gryffindor witch. But I picked what I liked best at the time I went looking for a wizarding name for myself. I chose Lilly, instead of Lily, because I like the spelling better, but also because there's a Lily Malfoy at fanfiction.net (not that anyone ever pays any attention to ff.n) I didn't want to confuse people, but now I realize that nobody's ever heard of this person but me, and nobody else really even cares. So there I am worrying too much as usual.

I've almost never wanted to be where I am, so I found places where I could hide. I can't get to Hogwarts, but I wish like hell I could.

If I somehow did make it that far, I think the Sorting Hat would have a bit of trouble with me. I'm not brilliant, but I am smart. I like books, languages, and learning interesting things. I guess I've always been an academic at heart. So I'm sure the Hat's first thought would be Ravenclaw, and there is an intelligence and a wisdom there that does speak to me.

I'm also really sarcastic, usually the first person to toss out a witty quip or two, most of which aren't particularly kind. I won't pretend that I'm not ambitious, either. I want to go places and I want to do things; I want to prove myself to the world. My enemies, or the irritating sorts of people I mock when I get bored, I will bullshit as much as I can get away with. I suppose you could say I hold a lot of grudges for my own sake, too- like my mother always tells me, everybody needs a hobby. All of which says Slytherin, rather loudly.

And yet I'm also a bit on the stupidly brave side. I'll do things when I haven't got anything to gain from them, because they are the right things to do. I suppose I'm a bit noble, though I don't see myself that way. So there's a bit of the humble Gryffindor rattling 'round my head as well.

Sometimes I am the kindest person you may ever meet, kinder than I ought to be. Oh sure, I make jokes, and some of them aren't really very nice, but I'm loyal to my friends; I keep secrets and will faithfully hold gruges against the exes you're not speaking to anymore. I tell the truth because I respect my friends too much to lie to them. And thus there is Hufflepuff blood in me, too, though I don't much like to talk about it.

So. Ravenclaw for wits and brains, Slytherin for cunning, sarcasm, ambition, and the occasional desire to see the 'dark' characters win the day, Gryffindor for bravery and honor, Huflepuff for honesty and loyalty (but not patiance. Merlin's ghost, not patiance!)

Lilly in the real world is a college student who has too many obsessions and the web space to subject others to said obsessions. She likes books and movies, writing, and science fiction, and wants to be a writer when (if?) she grows up. She is hopelessly in love with Severus Snape, but firmly convinced that Minerva McGonagall got there first, and is more or less content to write about them. Her favorite member of the Hogwarts Trio is Hermione Granger, though she likes Ron and Harry as well.

She resides in California, where she dragged her mother to the theater to see "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and has since managed to convert her mother to HP fandom with careful application of the books.

When she's not up to no good in the realms of fantasy, she maintains urbandruid.net, her personal domain, ignores her novels-in-progress in favor of writing six million kinds of fanfiction, and every so often revises her plan to take over the world with her dear 'little sister'/beta reader, Lindsay.

If you happen to be looking for Lilly and can't find her, your best bet is to seek out Anna, her computer. Anna is without a doubt a Slytherin, named as she is after a Babylon 5 character posessed by evil, and she is the keeper of Lilly's fics and web files, and (most of the time) knows better than to eat them. If she's not with Anna, a bookstore or the local library would be the next logical stop.

And if she's not there, she's either in class, off on another of her strange adventures, or spending time with her eccentric Muggle family.

Leave a message. She'll get back to you.