It was the middle of the night. Lily was in her bedroom back at home, seething. She couldn’t believe she had actually been kind of happy to go home during the Christmas holidays.
It had all started when she tumbled down the fireplace and into the living room.
Lily really should’ve known better. She wasn’t in the mood to take the train ride home with Emily (who was getting perkier and luckier by the day), so she decided to Floo home. That was a mistake. When she emerged from the fireplace covered in ashes, her mother and Petunia promptly shrieked. Her father hugged her, though. That made her remember why she wanted to come home so badly.
They had all settled in for dinner. The candles were lit, the food looked nice, and the snow was falling outside their kitchen window. The atmosphere should’ve also been warm and comforting, but no. Her sister and mother were stiff and they wouldn’t even ask her to pass the potatoes. Petunia even went so far as to going around the table to Lily’s side, picking up the bowl of green bean casserole and heading back to her seat. Her father seemed anxious, as if expecting something to explode. Lily only picked at her turkey, feeling nervous. Everything was silent. There was no laughter like the other times, no reminiscing the times when her mum nearly burned the house down that year when she forgot about the rice pudding.
Finally, Lily had had enough. She usually would’ve remained quiet, but she wanted to be friendly with her family.
“Aren’t you guys going to at least say ‘hello, Lil’?” she had asked quietly, putting her fork down and waiting for a reply.
Immediately, the two other female Evans stopped chewing. Petunia slammed her knife down on the table. “You expect us to say hello some witch?!” she had shrieked.
Lily was taken aback. She had known that Petunia was jealous she never got to see her sister anymore, always scowling at the mention of SamLin or the others. But this?
“What have I done?” Lily had asked indignantly.
“What have you done?” Petunia had continued shrilly. “What have you done?!”
“I don’t understand,” Lily had said, gritting her teeth.
“Our mum has been in debt to cousin Vernon for a long time,” Petunia started, her tone getting louder with each word. “The only way she could possibly pay off that debt was by marrying off one of us! Don’t you see, you filthy little witch?! You ran away and abandoned your family for that...that James Potter you were dancing with, tramp!”
“I did not even know of this!” Lily had replied hotly. “And I don’t like James!”
“It was written all over your stupid little face!” Petunia had shrieked. She had picked up a piece of bread and threw it at Lily. “So instead, I got engaged to Vernon to secure our family’s deal. I am the responsible one. You ran away from your family when they needed you most!” Looking back on it, Lily would’ve found the situation funny if it wasn’t so terrifying.
She remembered looking over at her parents and thinking, Why weren’t they intervening? Her dad had sat there, staring at his fork and her mum had been giving them both a beady-eyed look.
“I didn’t know about mum being in debt!” Lily had sobbed.
“Aren’t queer little witches supposed to read minds?” Petunia had snapped. “I’m surprised you didn’t torture us with your mind!”
“How dare you!” Lily finally yelled, scooping up a handful of mashed potatoes and aiming them at “
“Lily Eliza Evans!” her mother had screeched. “Don’t you ever throw things at your sister! Go to your room!”
Lily’s mouth had fallen open. Her mother was supporting Petunia after she threw a piece of bread at her? The filthy hypocrite! And her dad! He didn’t even say a word! She had stomped up to her room, her pride bruised and her head confused.
Lily could feel hot tears coming down her cheeks. She rocked herself back and forth on the bed, trying to stop herself from crying.
She knew she could not stay. Christmas morning would be even worse. Lily wouldn’t have been surprised if Petunia gave her an old pair of dirty knickers.
Lily glanced over at her trunk. She could leave. She didn’t even unpack anything the night before, falling onto her bed crying. Lily even got up and looked out the window. Her owl Evangeline was coming back from hunting. The tree next to her window looked okay.
But where could she go? SamLin was in no position to help, as she was still prone to crying fits at the mention of dating/Sirius/anything to do with Sirius. (Usually, she was the shoulder Lily cried on, but SamLin could only take as much as crying on Lily’s shoulder for once.) Katie and Alice were over Remus’ and Frank’s houses, and Lily couldn’t imagine running to their parents for help. Emily was just...she didn’t know. It was almost unbearable to think of being around her these days, but the minute she walked into the room, everybody would worship her.
Suddenly, Lily could hear a woman’s voice in her head.
“Remember, you will always be welcome at our home.”
“Mrs. Potter?” she whispered aloud.
She hugged her legs. There weren’t any other options. As much as she hated running away from home again, she doubted that her mum and sister would be sad about it.
Lily looked out the window again. Evangeline flew in and immediately perched herself on Lily’s arm. Lily smoothed out her feathers and placed her in her cage. She quickly changed into something suitable. Lily grabbed her trunk and birdcage, quietly opening the door and walking down the stairs, trying not to wake anybody up. She slipped out the door, hearing the creak as she closed it shut. Then she started walking.
*
Merlin, she was stupid!
Lily stopped walking and stared ahead at the road ahead of her. Though she wasn’t anywhere near a deserted countryside, she still felt stupid.
She had packed food (there were some Bertie Bott’s stuffed in her trunk), but now she was nearly out of it. She had no where she was. And most of all, Lily had no clue where she was going.
Sure, they had been in that house at Netherfield, but it just dawned on Lily that they had been renting the stupid mansion. The Potters could be living somewhere in Japan for all she knew.
Lily continued walking. I mean, there weren’t many other options. But it was dark, and she didn’t happen to see the gigantic puddle of water in front of her.
She slipped quickly, her legs going up and resulting in her falling on her head on the black pavement. Her suitcase dropped from her now limp hand.
Lily didn’t know how long she was there, but she did remember waking up to blinding lights. She quickly moved a hand in front of her face and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember something. Her cheeks reddened as she thought about her fall and she chewed the inside of her mouth.
“Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for a stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Sam Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this evening so “ Hang on. Is anyone even here?”
For a moment, Lily thought this was some kind of continuation of a dream.
“Hey! What are you doing down there?!”
Lily looked up at the voice. She saw a tall handsome man standing in the door of a bus, looking down at her with a quizzical expression.
“Slipped,” she said quickly, trying to get up. “And who are you?”
To Lily’s surprise, the man threw back his head and laughed.
“Who am I?” the Shunpike guy asked, as if Lily were ludicrous. “Who am I?”
At this point, Lily began to feel very irritated. She didn’t need anymore people belittling her. So she placed her hands on her hips and said in her most haughty voice, “Well, considering you just basically dropped out of the sky and now you’re laughing at me, I would like to know.”
The guy immediately shut up. He straightened and replied, “I’m the conductor of the Knight Bus. We take any witch or wizard anywhere they’d like to go.”
“Anywhere?”
“What do you think I just said?”
For a moment she contemplated. “Can you take me to places that I don’t know where they are?” she asked earnestly.
“What?” Sam Shunpike asked.
“Can you take me to somewhere that I don’t know where it is?” Lily repeated.
It was now Sam’s turn to be contemplating. “Such as...?”
“Well,” Lily said, “do you know where the Potters live?”
Sam started chuckling. “Merlin, you’ve got to be the hundredth person who has asked.”
“Huh?”
“Girls just seem to love that James Potter,” Sam explained. “They want to go over there and stalk him.”
“No “ no, it’s not like you think,” Lily said quickly, flushed. This comment reminded her of what Petunia said: ”You ran away and abandoned your family for that...that James Potter you were dancing with, tramp!”
“So...what?” Sam was now leaning against the rail.
“What?” Lily asked, confused.
“What are your circumstances?” he clarified.
“Ummm...” Lily tried to think of an excuse. “My parents are friends with Mr. and Mrs. Potter. They already went to the Potters before Christmas break at our school “ Hogwarts “ and I don’t know where they live since my parents usually perform Side-Along Apparation “”
Sam held up his hand. “Stop,” he commanded. Surprisingly, Lily listened to him.
“Your excuse sounds legitimate,” he continued, and then winked at her. “You can come on.”
Why would he wink at her? Did he actually think that she was chasing James Potter?! That “
“That would be wonderful,” Lily said, trying to stop herself from saying what she was thinking. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Sam replied dutifully. Then, he turned around and yelled, “Hear that, Ern? We’re finally going!”
Is it Pride or Prejudice? by Stormbringer
Chapter Notes: Lily doesn't know when her mother and sister turn her into the outcast of the Evans family, but then realizes she's had another family all along. Just a question...who's your favorite character? I've been wondering.