~*~Chapter 13~*~
The killings at Hogwarts put the whole English wizarding world in a frenzy, for this was something so unheard-of that its last occurance was beyond living memory. The Daily Prophet had a field day with the gossip, making the front page of the paper almost as bizarre as the tabloids seen in the non-magical world. The Ministry of Magic was in quite a tight spot as well. Every department had its role in solving or assisting with the mysterious deaths.
Hogwarts itself was so insane it could have been the set for a horror film: parents were forcing their kids to come home; the rest of the students were pleading to ride the train out of there; everyone rounded each corner with their eyes watchful and wand poised, ready to hex a foreign evil; even when classes resumed, students were forbidden to walk to corridors alone, and teachers escourted everyone from class to class; aurors were stationed to patrol the halls; Minister Potter checked in frequently; detentions were given for things as minor as visiting the lavatory by oneself. And to top it all off, all quidditch practices and games were cancelled.
Lily had turned completely bitter for those in the school. So bitter, that students looked forward to class, even Binns' class. It kept their minds off everything else going on. Professor Dumbledore's class was especially looked forward to because it was simply the safest place anyone could be.
Lily slammed her books on her desk and sat, awaiting her Care of Magical Creatures class. Usually, before class started, the room buzzed with excited chatter, but not now. Recently, no one spoke much, but the whole class did begin whispering when Dumbledore walking in the room with Sibley.
"Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon, Headmaster," they all greeted.
"Today I ahve something special planned. Our new second year, Sibley Bogus from Gryffindor, had agreed to teach my class today. I believe you will enjoy her presentation. Please give you her undivided attention; no side-bars."
Sibley meekly walked to the front of the room with Ignatius in hand, and attemtped to smile.
Dumbledore saw her nervousness, so he lightly applauded her. He was glad to see that when the whole class clapped, her confidence sky-rocketed.
"Hi, this is very difficult for me to do, but Professor Dumbledore explained to me that teaching this lesson should get you all in higher spirits. I hope he's right because I'm sick and tired of everyone feeling sorry for themselves."
"Here here!" Sirius announced, receiving a couple chuckles from around the room.
"This," she held out the turtle. "Is Lily's Inferno Tortolacus, more commonly known as a Fire Tortoise. His name is Ignatius, which means fire."
She set him on top of a demonstration table and took out her wand. "Engorgio."
The whole class was in awe at the meter-long amphibiean, and the fact that a second year could enlarge a live animal. That type of magic wasn't usually mastered until fifth year.
"Fire Tortoises are very rare, and the majority or them are found in Spain, my native country. My uncle, who taught me everything I know about them, raises and protects turtles like Ignatius back home. In many areas of the world, Ignatius would be considered sacred, or even an earthly representation of a god.
"An Inferno Tortolacus has many amazing powers which makes them all the more desirable as the ideal pet. First of all, the shell produces enormous amounts of heat, hence the flame-coloured shell." She shrunk him back to normal size and let the front row feel him. "Notice how warm you immediately get?"
They all nodded.
"Another of his traits is used to instantly cheer the mind and spirit of the holder. Lily had already used this power many times over the past few days."
Another boy exclaimed, "I was wondering how she could possibly be so happy!"
Lily rolled her eyes as Sibley giggled. People were actually getting in to her class! "What Ignatius does is when you touch him and relax, your nerve impluses from your brain are transmitted into Ignatius. He then sends a magical signal back to your mind which triggers one of your happiest or funniest memories to replay itself to you. That, combined with its emitting heat, will temporarily cure all your anxiety."
Every student was staring at her in what seemed to be disbelief.
"Does anyone want to give it a shot?"
Before she could worry about no one volunteering, every single hand shot up in the air. Sibley internally smiled.
As they neared the end of class an hour later, the entire room was either smiling widely or laughing to the point of bursting. It was a grand sight, especially to Sibley, who, in the beginning, wasn't sure how they'd take her presentation.
The whole class was in good spirits as Dumbledore dismissed them. They all left, except Lily, who had to gather her things and pick up Ignatius, who was looking rather exhausted after summoning so many memories.
Lily stood at his desk.
"May I help you, Miss Evans?"
"I was wondering -- not that you're not a great teacher or anything -- when we're going to get a permanent Care of Magical Creatures teacher."
"I'm afraid I don't know. Truth be told, there's no one to hire. We can trust very few to come here, with all these attacks, and the few qualified teachers we can trust aren't up for the job. Not that I blame them. As much as I hate to admit it, the school is in a mess right now."
"Ok, I understand. I was just curious." She began to walk out, embarassed, when he called her back.
"There's no problem in that, Lily. We'd still be living in caves and wondering how to fly if curiosity hadn't gotten the better of us." His eyes twinkled.
"Thank you, Professor."
"And thank you for letting us use Ignatius. He may be a bit tired, but he delivered greatly-needed happines to many kids today."
Lily left the room smiling, glad to hear Dumbledore's consoling words.
~~~~~~
Over the next few days, the continuous uproar made it unrealistic for a class to be properly taught, so Dumbledore and the ministry decided it would be in everyone's best interests if students weren't there at all. A castle full of teenagers only made them more susceptible to an attack. It was December 15, the day before they were scheduled to leave, and the whole school was getting ready.
Lily had speedily tossed a book and a change of clothes in a satchel, called it quits on the evils of packing, and sat down to finish Christmas gifts. She knew that Remus, James, and Sirius would, unfortunately, be around her all break, so she could give them their gifts at home, but she doubted she'd get the chance to see Ashley.
"Love always, Lily..." she mumbled as she signed the card and gave it to Viggo to deliver. She watched her roommates throw packages and outfits all over in disarray, and laughed while thinking, I love them all, but man, I cannot wait to leave this place. I truly need a break.
~~~~~~
Viggo dropped her gift from Lily in her lap about an hour before the train left the next day. It was an enlarged, framed, magical photo of the two of the them and Kristy laughing joyously together during a shopping excursion the summer before their first year.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Kristy, smiling and laughing as if the world would go on forever, like her life was perfect. She then read the card:
'Happy Christmas Ashley!
We've been through a lot together, especially this year, and I know the holidays won't be the same without Kristy, but always remember that I'm here if you ever need anything. You've been my support through the whole ordeal, and I'll never forget that.
May all your hopes and wishes come true this Christmas!
Love, Lily
Oh! By the way, take note of this Christmas card. I'm honouring my Musketeer vow! Did you ever think I'd forget?
Love always,
Lily'
~~~~~~
"Happy Christmas Daddy!" Lily ran from the platform the instant she saw her father. "It's so great to see you!"
"And you, my flower!" He hugged his little girl tightly.
"Where's Mum and 'Tunia?" She asked as they went to the car.
"Your mother's at home, cooking as usual. Her catering business has this new signature dish, so I guess we'll be forced to eat it all holiday."
He winked when Lily giggled.
"And Petunia went for a walk with Vernon."
"Oh ok." She was glad that her dad was smart enough to know not to immediately ask her about the deaths. It would have started Christmas out on the wrong foot.
Lily's eyes bulged the instant they landed on her house. Calling it a house, in fact, was an abomination to architects everywhere. It was a manour. She was speechless as she took it all in. Evidently they had bought the two adjacent lots and added on to their house -- added around 8,000 square feet to both sides and a whole 3rd floor.
"A bit shocked?"
She nodded slowly. "Yeah..."
After the grand tour, she was acquainted with the huge new kitchen, wreck-room, small indoor pool and jacuzzi, racquet-ball court, her own bathroom, a massive library, and a piano room, for starters. She was delighted to see that her room was just how she had left it months ago -- very yellow, and very bright.
Almost an hour of gawking later, she made her way back to the kitchen.
"What took you so long, dear? Get lost?" Her mother asked, smiling.
"You could say that."
"Well, Christmas is rapidly approaching, so if you could begin decorating the banisters, that'd be lovely."
"Yes Mum," she willingly agreed. Decorating always got her in the Christmas spirit.
The following four days consisted of decorating, cleaning, cooking, last-minute-shopping, and more decorating. The house was a zoo, but it was looking more brilliant by the second.
~~~~~~
"Happy afternoon!" James praised as he mosied into the Evans Manour with a box in his hands. "Decorating still? -- We are too. Dreadful thing, decorating."
"Yes, but this is the last of the wreaths," Lily replied, thankful. "It's pretty shabby to still be decorating on December 21. Plus, I haven't been feeling too well all day -- headache. What a Christmas, huh?"
He scrunched up his face in agreement. "That's pretty bad."
Shrugging, she asked, "So what's in the box?"
"As a joke, my dad conjured about eighty sprigs of mistletoe. Mum wasn't too happy about being kissed everywhere she stood, said she couldn't get anything done. So she sent me to hang some up in your house instead."
Lily's eyes opened wide in mock surprise. "Well tell her I am absolutely delighted that now I'll be stuck under mistletoe with Vernon! There's nothing I'd rather do."
James jumped in disgust, changing his mind. "Maybe we shouldn't put any of it up."
She laughed. "naw, can't let it go to waste. Vernon's not coming over anyway, praise the lord, so the only ones kissing will be my parents -- I think they could use the extra romance."
"Eww Lily, too much information."
She smiled sweetly and replied, "You're welcome, Loverboy. Now, if you don't help me hand this stuff up, I'll stick you and Petunia under a whole bouquet of the mistletoe."
James, scandalized, rushed over to the ladder across the hall and brought it over to her. "Help is on the way!"
She bonked him on the head with a sprig before climbing on the ladder and hanging it up. "See, isn't this --" When she looked down from the top, her already swimming head began to pound like a hammer on her sinuses. "Woah..."
"Doing ok up there?" He joked, but saw that it was serious when she started falling backwards off the ladder.
"Accio Lily!" James' wand automatically darted out of his pocket. He hurriedly, yet carefully, set her on a sofa and called for help.
"James, what is it?" Frank husstled in.
He signaled toward Lily as an owl whizzed in through the window and flew around chaotically until James took the letter from it.
Mrs. Evans walked in on the scene and cried, "Oh dead heavens! What happened?"
"I don't know, she just -- ouch!" The owl was pestering him to open the letter by snapping at his fingers.
Crack!
Chloe held her hand to her heart as a man appeared out of thin air. "My goodness, I'm going to have cardiac arrest if no one tells me what's going on!" She faced the unexpected guest. "And who are you?"
"Albus Dumbledore, ask Frank," he answered simply, racing to Lily's side.
"Professor --"
"James, is your father home?"
"Yes Professor, but--"
"Come, we will go to him." He politely shook hands with Mr. and Mrs. Evans. "I apologize for arriving and departing with such hastyness. Everything will be explained soon. As for Lily, get her a big bag of ice for her head and wave some of that strong Evergreen by her nose, and she should be up. There is nothing to worry about; please trust my judgement."
With that, they were off. "Professor, how did you know to come so fast?" James inquired.
"I was alerted that you perforrmed magic outside of school. When I arrived, I was relieved to see it was not in a dire situation such as an attack. I've been on my guard with all these killings. -- What spell did you perform?"
"Summoning charm, to catch Lily as she fell from the ladder. There was no way I could have caught her in my arms."
"Ah," he grinned. "That was very wise of you, Mr. Potter. Reflexes are an admirable trait, especially in an auror."
Seeing as the Potter mansion was only across the street, it was just a matter of seconds until they were there. Janine answered the door with a grin on her face. �Albus, what a surprise!� Her eyes landed on James next to him. �Oh dear, what did he do now?�
�Nothing Ma ��
Dumbledore pushed him in the house before he could finish. Is bar �he�s not in trouble, I assure you.�
A wave of relief spread across her face.
�James to explain to you this situation. I must speak with your husband, is he at home?�
�Yes, in the den.�
He got his head and appreciation, then found Mr. Potter. �Carson, hello. Do you have a moment?�
Papers of files were scattered all over the room in what was meant to be an organized fashion.
�For you Albus, I have all the time in the world. � Cigar?�
�Ah, no,� he said as he took a seat. What was the relationship with businessmen and cigars? �I just need a few words regarding Lily.�
�I hope my son hasn�t got her blowing anything up.�
Dumbledore chuckled lightly. Now there was a relationship between the Potters and jumping to conclusions. �Of course not. It�s just that she had another �episode, so to speak.�
�Episode?�
�Yes, I arrived at the Evans� when I was notified that James had performed illegal magic; I was afraid it was in case of emergency that he had to bring his wand out. So I apparated there as quickly as possible to see that there was no attack, but Lily was laying out-cold on the couch. James said she fainted off the ladder and he had to catch her using a summoning charm.�
�Why is it that Lily keeps fainting?� Mr. Potter stroked his mustache, his mind racing. �It is abnormal for this to keep reoccurring.�
�I thought about this also. Do you remember the dates all the other times she fainted?�
Mr. Potter gave Professor Dumbledore an inquisitive look. �No,� he said slowly. �Do you?�
Dumbledore grinned with gladness. �As a matter of fact, I do.�
Overcome with eagerness, Mr. Potter shifted uneasily in his chair.
�The first time was on March 21st when she was tackling the dementor. That was when she went into a coma.�
Mr. Potter nodded.
�The next was during the summer while she and James were de-gnoming the garden, remember? I believe that was the 21st of June. She was out for little over week then, am I correct?�
�So far, yes, you are.�
�Then, on September 21st � I remember the date because it was my brother�s birthday � Lily took a death-defying fall from her broomstick during practice. That time it wasn�t too bad, but she sure got a hell of a scare.�
Carson to the deep breath and his eyes lit up like all the pieces were coming together. �And today is four days before Christmas...�
Both men sat, reclined, reviewing the facts over in their head, contemplating what it all could mean. Mr. Potter seemed to be holding his breath, but was unaware of it.
�Do you think we should prepare for a relapse occurring on March 21st again?� Mr. Potter questioned, more to himself than to Professor Dumbledore.
�Yes, I believe we should, but it probably will be very serious. Every time this happens her conditions are less severe. Right now, for example, she�s laying on the couch with a bag of ice on her head and a mild migraine.�
The minister was massaging his temples with his forefingers as he nodded. �This seems to happen only on the seasonal solstices and equinoxes...but what could possibly be the reason?�
�I believe I know,� Dumbledore muttered, waving cigar smoke away from his face. �But I�m not at liberty to tell you, for I am not sure I am right. I feel I must talk to Lily about it first.� He buried his head in his hands as from a wave of grief. �She�s so young, I don�t know if I could possibly tell her without it ruining her childhood.�
�Perhaps you should put off until she�s mature enough to handle the responsibilities.�
The headmaster agreed with a nod. �I believe that will be the best thing to do, but until then, at the beginning of each season, she must be supervised so as not to hurt herself.� He stood to leave. �Thank you Carson for hearing me out. I thought it best to make you aware of the situation we are in. Lily will be fine; just be sure to check up on her every once in a while. � And also be positive that it doesn�t go on James� record that he performed magic outside of school.�
Professor Dumbledore left and quickly apparated back to the ministry office; they were making some progress on the capture of the terrorists. Carson, meanwhile, visited Lily and assured her that she�d be fine and that the headmaster would see her soon to explain everything, and that until then, she should enjoy her holiday. He left swiftly for what he said was an important meeting with their old Care of Magical Creatures teacher.
~~~~~~
Dumbledore was thankful when he finally convinced a group of aurors that sitting through � dreadful meetings� discussing the situation was doing nothing to solve the problem. �All of you know what your job is in this mess, so get out there and get your hands dirty. If you find anything important, send a report back here. I will be researching in the Ministry archives. Any questions?�
The group of them accepted their orders with a curt nod. He then dismissed his small �battalion�.
Gratefully the library archive was empty. He figured the aurors would do their assignment, giving him nothing to worry about, so he was free to dissect Lily�s case.
Her illnesses or directly connected with the elixir, but he was sure of that. But what was the explanation behind it?
Before long there were files, accounts, book, and newspapers, stacked up around him to the point that he was buried behind them like a soldier taking cover behind a sandbag barrier.
For hours his mind slaved away, not coming any closer than he was when he first arrived. His present hopes dashed, he trudgedly put everything away and went home to think. He was getting nowhere.
~~~~~~
�I saw Mommy kissing Santa Clause...� Lily sang happily as she put the final ornament on the tree. �Mum, I�ve finished!�
�Thank you dear,� Mrs. Evans called from the kitchen. �All that�s left for you to do is set all the snow globes and musicals up in the dining room.�
It was Christmas Eve and tomorrow they were hosting a huge business Christmas get-together. They had been decorating for days on end and everyone was thoroughly excited. Everyone, except Lily. She wasn�t quite in the mood to host a party, she concluded as her eyes scanned her black dress. She was still in mourning for her two friends. It wasn�t the right atmosphere for a party.
In the middle of her thought, an owl rushed in through the chimney, dropped a newspaper bundle, and flew right back out. Lily, as she always did, went to pick it up and take it to her dad's office, but the front page article caught her attention.
What in the world? Hogwarts to close? She thought absentmindedly, flipping the paper open and scanning the article which dominated the front page.
'HOGWARTS SCHOOL TO CLOSE
Previously featured was an article describing the mystery attacks on two students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (For full details, please visit page 4A.)
Investigations have been overpowering the Ministry of Magic as to the identities and whereabouts of the murderers. Top security was also put into effect at the school before Christmas holidays.
Minister Potter regrets to announce that, despite all their efforts, the Ministry feels they would be putting students at high risk of another attack if sent back. "It is for this reason," says the Minister. "That Hogwarts will be closed until further notice. The children are our future and it would be against my better judgement to put them in a situation in which they will feel threatened. Staff, however, is still to report."
Lily threw the paper on the sofa and bolted through the house to go talk to the Potters.
"Woah!" She halted as quickly as her reflexes would allow, but not fast enough to keep herself from slamming into her neighbor.
"Happy to see me or something?" James grinned egotistically as his hands casually patted her back.
She brought her body away from the 'hug' back into her usual confident composure. "Don't kid yourself, James."
"Thanks. Why is it you ran head first into me, then?"
"I was on my way to your house."
"Ha, so you did want to see me!" He said gloriously, thrusting his finger into her shoulder.
Lily sighed and shook her head. "You give yourself props much too often. Just for the record, I was on my way to see your Dad about the school."
"Just got the Prophet too, huh?"
"Yeah, can you believe it?" She muttered downheartedly.
"I can't believe Dad didn't say anything to me about it! But isn't it awesome! We could be out of school for the rest of our lives, Lily!" He obviously hadn't detected her anxious tone. "Imagine -- forever...." He sighed dreamily.
"James," she laughed. "You really are a bonehead."
~~~~~~
"I trust you saw the Daily Prophet, Sire?" A cloaked man bowed low.
"Yes, I did. Everything is finally coming together," another man sitting at the head of a table wafted the air away from her nose. "Soon I won't have to live with this stench made from this rotting excuse for a shack. -- You have done well with the preparation."
"Thank you, my lord. The Potters did always have a weakness for the younger generation."
"Sickening."
"But now we just have to get in there and make sure that Minister Potter will have no choice but to close the school permanently."
And evil cackle drowned out all other sound as the servant left to finalize the plans.
~~~~~~
Christmas morning came and went, filled with the cheer it always brings, despite everything else going on in the world. Even Lily managed to stick a smile on her face and lighten the mood. They opened up all their gifts, and she was astonished that even Petunia didn't complain about anything.
By early afternoon, every square centimeter of the mansion was in utter chaos. It seemed like every room contained a crisis of its own: the dining room table was short on seats; half of the foyer Christmas tree wouldn't light up; the bar only had 5 bottles of bacardi rum. The list went on and on.
Thankfully, the Potters had given them the children of two of their own houseelves for Christmas -- normally, this would sound odd, but houseelves multiply like rabbits. And the children were already of obedient age. -- So they, along with Mrs. Evans, were the ones running around, preparing for the huge occasion that was to take place in only a matter of hours.
Lily, as she swung on the ice-cold porch-swing outside, rolled her eyes when the sound of shattering glass reached her ears. "This is a fiasco. I sure hope this party is worth it," she said to herself, flipping the pages of a poetry book. It was a collection of Robert Frost's poems, a signed copy. Celeste had given it to her for Christmas, courtesy of "her grumpy, wordy uncle" Celeste told her in the card.
She wished she could write poetry -- to get her mind off the present. If she could, the poem would be about the worthlessness of this evening, this business party for Steepridge. Everyone important in the wizarding community would be there, probably boasting about how much their dress robes cost them.
Out of nowhere she heard her father inside curse. "Blasted tree lights! One bulb goes out and the whole bloody tree turns off!"
"Yup, this party had better be worth it..." she muttered, putting her arm to her forehead and pretending to faint dramatically.
~~~~~~
"Let's get this party started!" Chloe announced, shaking her maracas and twirling in her Spanish salsa dress. The live band began to play, and within minutes, the 150 guests were shaking it up on the dance floor.
Lily felt a little awkward and left out, but loosened up when she found the only other person under thirty to dance with. "James, where did you learn to salsa like this?"
"Oh, I have my ways," he said, twirling her around.
"No, really, how?"
"Sibley taught me a few months ago -- in an empty classroom."
"I see... Why James, I do believe you are blushing," she teased.
Steadily, as the night wore on, the dance floor emptied and the adults talked of business, drinks in hand. Lily soon became bored as her parents showed her off to every important person there. The few old muggle guests were the worst.
"Ah, Lilian, your parnets have told us so much about you! What a lovely girl you are."
"Thank you," she politely held out her hand.
"And young James here, aren't you two a match. He is your beau, I must assume."
"Oh, no, he's just a friend!"
"A strapping young laddy such as him, a friend?! Well how old are you deary? Fifteen, sixteen?"
"Twelve."
The guests were beyond belief. "Nonsense! You look much too old for you age. -- So how is school? You have many good friends there, I am sure."
It was not their fault they were muggles and didn't know what had happened to her at Hogwarts. Her emotion getting in the way, she quickly left the scene to get some fresh air.
"Nobody understands..." she whispered to the night, sniffling and resting on the porch railing.
"Nobody understands what?"
Lily jumped, not having realized James had followed her outside.
"You're getting your dress wet." He brushed the snow off her black sleeves.
"James, they just don't get it. -- I didn't want to be at this party, I never wanted to be herded around like cattle, waiting for an ignorant guest to say things that hurt me. I told them I was in mourning, but no, we have to have this huge business bazaar, like nothing ever happened. -- And I just can't take it. My best friend was murdered, James, murdered. And I saw her."
She paused as he wiped a tear from her eye. "I'm sorry, Lily, that you have to go through all this. Life isn't fair, but we have to make the best of it."
"I'm sorry too James. I feel like such an idiot, blubbering all the time. Crying."
"You can't hold it all in, you know. You have ever right to be upset. -- Do you want to go back inside? It's cold out here."
"I don't want to go back in there. I can't help thinking that she should be here having a good time with me. -- No, I don't want to go back in here."
"Then you don't have to. Come on." He silently led her through the yard to the enclosed, heated gazebo they had recently set up for the winter. Once inside, they sat in the hammock, James with his arms comfortingly draped over her shoulders.
"James?" She laid her head down. "Thank you," she said, not caring about anything, not even the idea of the old muggles finding two twelve-year-olds asleep in a hammock together. Nothing mattered, except getting the memory of this party out of her head.
~~~~~~
Unfortunately, someone far worse than the old muggles found them.
"Mum! Dad!" Petunia shrieked loudly enough to send the entire neighborhood into disarray.
"Ahh!" Lily suddenly woke with a start.
"I found them Mum!" She hollered again.
James woke up. "What's going on?"
"I should ask you two the same question," Petunia snapped. "Our parents have been worried sick, and here you are, Lily, cuddling with your boyfriend."
"Give it a rest. You know that's not true. But speaking of, where's Vernon? I don't see him hanging all over you -- not that I blame him, on second thought."
"For your information, Vernon refuses to be in the presence of freaks. They killed his brother. You're lucky I don't take on his philosophy."
Petunia was spared a rash blow to her ego when Frank entered the door. "You two must be freezing. It's not that warm in here! Quickly, you need to come inside. Everyone's already left."
"Thank heavens." Lily sighed with relief.
~~~~~~
For the whole next day, Lily could be found curled up in front of the fireplace in her grand high-backed arm chair, wavering in and out of unconscious sleep. Relaxation had been the only thing on her mind after the hubbub of the past few days.
"Lily, why don't you change out of your pajamas? You look hardly presentable."
"But they're comfy! And who do I have to 'present' myself to anyway?"
"I took the liberty of inviting your friends over. I figured they'd cheer you up a little; there's no way I'm going to let you mope around until school starts again. -- You can thank me later for being so concerned." She joked at the end.
Lily groaned.
"O-k...With that reaction, I guess I shouldn't be expecting a large tip, huh?"
Lily looked up at her mother with a goofy look on her face. "How much did you have to drink last night?"
Chloe huffed. "What a scandalous thing for you to say! -- And to answer your question: not too much to ruin the fun!" She ended their diologue with a confectious giggle.
~~~~~~
As promised, the door rang at 7pm, directly after dinner. "Hiya Lily!" James, Sirius, and Remus bounced in through the doorway. "Isn't this great! Now that we don't have school, we can spend every day at your house!"
"Oh dear lord!"
The boys laughed at her terrified expression.
"I'm going to go take an asprin. You stay here." A couple minutes later she reappeared, rejuvinated. "Let's play some exploding snap."
"Ok, but first, a late present from us." Sirius held out what looked like a small rock wrapped in ancient snake skin."
"Lovely choice of wrapping paper. It looks like something you'd find under Snape's bed," Lily said truthfully, holding it far away from her face and examining it to make sure it wasn't toxic or self-destructive.
"I told you she'd like the paper," Remus whispered to James, who snickered.
"Go on, open it. It's 100% accident free, we promise."
With the reassurance, she tore it open to find an ear made out of rubber with a little metal speaker inside and an earring which dangled a pair of wax lips. Her hands held it out while she scanned it with a lop-sided grin. "Uh, thanks guys. But I really don't think this will look good hanging in my room."
"It's not exactly a wind chime."
"Oh, that was my only guess." She said, blushing.
"It's probably our best invention yet!" Sirius beamed.
Lily raised her eyebrows at him. "Dare I ask what else you've been working on?"
"Believe it or not, it doesn't operate solely on magic."
"Really?" She replied, impressed. "Now I'm interested."
"See the metal box? It picks up sound waves from people's voices and records them."
"Muggles have already invented those, guys."
"No no! That's not all. You see, you don't have to waste time pushing buttons or anything. This is the magic of it. We created a spell that automatically records anything important."
"So it has a mind of it's own? That's comforting," she said sarcastically.
"Sort of, yeah. The spell lets it know which things are important. Then when you want to hear what it's recorded, you just say "Speak!" and the lips here, they move to talk to you."
"Freaky. Very cool though."
"Oh yeah, the coolest thing is, now, you'll never have to take notes in class ever again! That's what we designed it for." Sirius ended.
"Isn't that awesome?" James said excitedly.
"Wicked." She smiled. "Thanks guys. This could really come in handy!"
Little did she know how right she was. It would soon come in handy, and it would save her life.
~~~~~~
Most would expect the next few months to be like an extended summer for Lily: no school, no homework, all day to do whatever she wanted. But that was not the case. While half the English wizarding population was in mass hysteria, the Evans household was nothing but stress. Where most people would put pictures of their kids' artwork on the refridgerator, the Evans' had newspaper articles -- some good, some not so good.
Lily couldn't help but read them almost every time she walked by:
'PRISONERS DIE IN AZKABAN -- FINAL WORDS: "HOGWARTS WILL FALL"'
That lovely article featured the two people caught who turned in Figg.
Another:
'MINISTRY TAKES EXTREME ACTION AGAINST TERRORISTS AT HOGWARTS'
The scariest of all:
'DARK MARK LOOMS OVER PRIVET DRIVE
This past Monday, it is reported by a pair of muggles that "two people appeared out of thin air, dressed in long cloaks! They broke into our neighbor's house, and then minutes later, we could see a green skull lighting up the sky!"
The Ministry took immediate action, but was unable to find the source or reason behind the appearance of the Dark Mark. The Dark Mark is not becoming more well-known and universally feared; if seen anywhere, it is to be reported immediately!
It is to be noted that muggle witnesses have had their memories cleared of the event.'
The next article gave room for a breather:
'STEEPRIDGE PREPARING GRAND RE-OPENING'
And Lily's personal favourite:
'HOGWARTS SAFE AGAIN: SCHOOL TO OPEN MAY 1'
~~~~~~
"Why are you so... bouncy?" James raised an eyebrow at her.
"She's crazy." Petunia rolled her eyes.
He ignored her. "What's is it with you, Lily?"
"We're going back to school!" She announced, taking a couple frolicy steps.
"I rest my case," Petunia snickered. "Why'd you have to come anyway, Potter?"
"My parents were in business meetings. I'll be seeing Dad at school anyway. He's in charge of security there."
"I'm sure they were glorifying the heavens when they found out you were leaving."
"Which, Petunia, I bet is why you go to a boarding school instead of the public one."
She stuck her tongue out at him.
In the middle of their bickering, Lily couldn't help but be ecstatic that they were returning to school. Hogwarts was her favourite place in the world, and she missed all the excitment that came with staying there. She had waited five months and finally, it was May 1, the beginning of the end of their non-existant term.
Professor Dumbledore had announced that they would not be holding students back a year to make up the time the school had been closed. Instead, they would have class on Saturdays and school throughout the summer months. This didn't bother Lily; she would live at Hogwarts if she had the option.
She was abruptly thrown out of her thoughts when she heard her dad scolding James.
"Don't lose control of the trolley! Watch where you're --!"
Lily body clenched as James' trolley crashed into a couple standing near the platform. "James, for one moment, do you think you could act a little more -- Mr. and Mrs. Johnson!" She was stunned to see them, of all people, at Platform 9 3/4. They hadn't spoken since Kristy died. "-- I'm so terribly sorry! James can be very... uncoordinated at times."
"Oh, no apologies, really," smiled Mrs. Johnson.
Lily felt very awkward, trying to think of something to say that didn't mention, include, or relate to Kristy. "I um... We haven't seen you, that is... err..."
Mr. Johnson laughed. "No need to be bashful."
"Yes, but it's just that--"
He continued to chuckle. "Let's start over. -- Lily, Chloe, Frank, Petunia! How are you all?"
"Great!" Lily replied, thankful for Mr. Johnson's people-skills and charm. "But what are you doing here? I mean... oops..." Her face went scarlet at the realization of what she had just said.
Mrs. Johnson spoke up. "It's alright Lily. We're comfortable talking about it. The wounds will never heal, but we all do need to continue living our lives."
She nodded. "So what are you doing here, then?"
"We still want to live like we used to, still feel like Kristy's alive with us. -- No matter where she is right now, she'd have wanted to be on this train with her friends. We thought that maybe if we came, we'd be able to feel her presence, see her again."
This touched Lily deep in her heart, and as she boarded the train, she thought that for a split second, when she opened their compartment door, she really did see her.
Chapter 12 ~~~~~ Chapter 14
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