Lily had been in the Great Hall. She was laughing and eating with her friends, discussing neutral topics. The first day back wasn’t that exciting...really.
Not that she had to show anyone.
As she had casually sipped her pumpkin juice, Lily had sees out of the corner of her eye a miserable-looking James Potter. He was picking at his food. Lily forced herself to look down at her plate.
Who was she kidding? So much had happened.
After her little...um...incident with Potter, Lily didn’t feel like she could face him. She did stay with the Potters for the rest of the break, but she avoided any confrontations with James Potter unless they were absolutely necessary (dinner, drive to the train, etc.).
Not that she had needed to; James had taken care of avoiding her the entire week. It made Lily feel even more wretched inside.
She had explained them this all to SamLin, Katie, and Alice. Thank Merlin she still had people out there who where holding out hope for her, otherwise she might as well stay in bed forever. They had stood by Lily as she cried herself to sleep and comforted her with handkerchiefs and hope. But they thought she was okay now.
Really, she was okay.
Okay, maybe not. But Lily didn’t want her friends worrying about her. The real case was SamLin, who looked like she wasn’t about to get over her breakup with Sirius. Since she didn’t want to get Katie or Alice any madder (at anything), Lily had kept quiet about why the breakup had happened. Alice and Katie had assumed he had done it since he was bored, but, for SamLin’s sake, they refrained from slapping him in the corridors. Instead, they kept their feelings of expression towards him to narrowed eyes and hands gripping their wands.
Lily sighed. She knew how SamLin felt about all of this, and felt as if they should have a little talk.
“Tell me again why you dragged me into the girls’ bathroom?” SamLin asked slowly, leaning up against the sinks. That was another thing: words never tumbled out of SamLin’s mouth anymore. She always seemed to think before she said something.
Lily met SamLin’s eyes, wondering the last time they ever sparkled. “I want to know how you’re doing.”
“It’s okay, I guess,” SamLin said, glancing around the bathroom. “Isn’t Moaning Myrtle around hear somewhere? Anyway, I may have an almost Poor in Transfiguration, but I’m doing okay in Divination and Charms.”
Lily shook her head. “No. Not school. SamLin, you haven’t said a word since, well...the letter.” Lily shifted uncomfortably. “How’re you feeling about Sirius?”
A look of hurt crossed SamLin’s face, but only for a second. Her friend put on a small smile, but her blue eyes were darting all over the place, as if looking for a window to climb out of. Lily could tell she didn’t want to have this conversation.
“I’m fine,” SamLin said levelly. “If he passed me in the corridors, I’d barely notice him. I’ve been so busy with my family, and that’s preoccupied me. I haven’t had a chance to think about Si...him.”
“SamLin...”
“It’s true,” SamLin almost yelled, making Lily look down. SamLin looked away from her.
“So...what else happened to you in Derbyshire?”
*
Dear Lily,
I just wanted to say that I’m truly sorry, but do you have to go and screech at me like that when
*
Lily,
I don’t understand why I did those “terrible” things (actually, they weren’t so terrible; it was just your false claims
*
Dear Evans,
What did I do to deserve this? All I did was try to protect my best friend, and you just said
“Why is this so hard?” James asked under his breath, crumpling up the eleventh piece of parchment he had tried to compose a letter on.
*
“You know, where’s Emily been?” Katie asked, scribbling out another answer in her homework. “It’s the third day back and it’s like she’s disappeared underneath an Invisibility Cloak.”
Lily shook her head. “Dunno. I didn’t see her at all during class.”
“Good riddance,” Alice mumbled, staring out the window.
SamLin sighed, picking at her bed quilt and staring at Emily’s empty bed.
*
It was a week later.
Time had seemed to move in short bursts for Lily. Her head ached all the time. So many problems had been occurring all that week. Not that they were big problems, but they just appeared, one after another. It was the last thing Lily needed.
And now, she was about to face another one.
“What’s this?” Katie asked, picking up two envelopes that had dropped to the ground.
Lily’s eyes narrowed. “Are those even for us?”
Katie and Lily were in the Owlery, since Katie was expecting some letter from home. Alice and SamLin were playing Exploding Snap in the Common Room, and Lily had chosen to pass, going with Katie. She really stank at Exploding Snap.
Katie’s eyes glanced upwards, and she saw her Snowy owl, Oliver, circling above her. She flipped the envelopes over.
“Huh,” she said, inspecting them. “This is odd.”
“What is?” Lily asked, looking over Katie’s shoulder.
“One is addressed to me and is from my parents,” Katie explained, handing her letter to Lily. Lily looked at the return address. Sure enough, it was from the Carrolls in Wandsworth.
“And the other one...?” Lily hated suspense.
Katie turned it over. “It’s...addressed to you.” She handed the other envelopes to Lily, and Lily grabbed them. Turning them over, she realized that in fact, it was addressed to a Lily Evans.
Lily stared at them. “Why would I get mail?” she wondered aloud.
“Why don’t you open it?” Lily could tell Katie was dying to tell what was in there.
Just to torture her, she tucked the letter into her pocket. “Not now, Katie. You can go back to SamLin and Alice. I’ll catch up later.”
Katie looked unsure, but she relented. “Okay. Bye, Lil.” And with that, she rushed down the stairs.
Lily waited about ten seconds, and then she walked slowly down the icy steps. When she was about halfway down, she looked around her and then checked her watch. Almost ten o’clock. Almost curfew. Lily sat down on the step she was standing on and opened the letter.
I don’t want to talk to you for a while. I need to get my head sorted out. But, if I may, I will try to recount my version of those offenses you have laid against me.
We were a very large family: me, Willard, my grandfather, my father, and my mum. We had taken in my cousin when his one of his father joined the ranks of the Death Eaters and was murdered by his mother. Willard and I were the best of friends. We were often getting into trouble, but the harmless kind. My parents were always kind but scolding. But my grandfather loved us, no matter what. When he was sick, just before Willard and I were to go to Hogwarts, he declared that he and I were to inherit a good sum of money when we were of age.
I was very sad when he died. Willard was also sad for a while, too. Yet pretty soon, he was demanding for his money, saying that he was responsible enough to handle it. My parents refused at first, and he spent the first months at Hogwarts throwing temper tantrums and taunting teachers. Soon, my father thought the only way to stop him was to give him half of the money, which they did. Within weeks, he spent it all on useless bets and expensive items he thought he could buy.
I was so mad at him. I couldn’t believe he would do such things. I refused to speak to him, and we Marauders once cornered him in the hallway, demanding to know what had happened. He sneered at us, and said he didn’t want to be prosecuted. Next summer, he announced he was leaving.
Now, on the other matter, about your friend SamLin and Sirius. I understand you thought what I did was stupid and heartless, but at the time, it was in service of a friend.
Sincerely,
James