“Lil?” James sat on the arm of the chair and took her hand. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Do you have a Time-Turner?”
“Would you take it back, if you could?”
She pulled her hand away and glared at him. “Of course, I would!” she cried. “They’re dead because of me. Of course, I would take it back.”
“They’re not dead because of you.”
“We foiled Voldemort’s plans. This is the second time, James. Now my parents are dead. Their house was burned to the ground. The Dark Mark was in the air. How much more evidence do you need? Do you want Voldemort to stop by personally inform us that he did it?”
“Rosier would have murdered that little girl if you hadn’t grabbed her. Would you really do things differently?”
Tears finally began to stream down her face. “I-I don’t know. What do you want me to say, James? My parents lost their lives because we helped an innocent child. I don’t even know how to comprehend that? Isn’t there supposed to be a karma god?”
“I’m sorry, I’m making things worse. I didn’t mean to,” James said softly. “Just tell me what you need me to do. I’ll help you get through this, Lil.”
“I need to go to my sister’s.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? She was never thrilled that you were a witch. She’s going to use this to hurt you. She’s going to blame you.”
“It’s my fault, James.”
“It’s Voldemort’s fault. Every horrible thing that has happened is his fault. You can’t blame yourself, and you can’t let your sister blame you either.”
“I need to see her, James. I know we’ve had some issues since she found out that I’m a witch, but she’s still my sister. Our parents just died. We need to mourn together.”
“Let me go with you.”
Lily shook her head. There was a determined glint in her eyes. “You just make her more apprehensive. It would be better if I went alone. Don’t worry so much. She’s my sister. I just want to talk to her.”
James sighed. He knew there was no use arguing with Lily when she got that look.
Lily stood. She gave James a quick kiss on the cheek. “Don’t worry,” she told him. “I won’t be gone long.”
With a pop she was gone.
James sighed again. He knew Lily was mourning. He understood that she wanted to be with her sister. She was the only family she had left. But she had to realize that Petunia was not going to welcome her with open arms. Petunia had treated Lily like dirt ever since she the first time she left for Hogwarts. That was not going to change because their parents were dead. In fact, it might get worse, considering that magic was what took their lives. He worried about how Lily would respond to her sister’s attacks in her fragile state.
He settled down in the chair to wait for her return. There was nothing else he could do.
Lily reappeared a short distance from her sister’s home. She rushed up Privet Drive, hurrying towards her sister’s house. She could remember which one it was, even though she had only been there once before. Petunia had not been happy to see her then. She hoped her sister would be more welcoming on this visit.
She knocked on the door and stood nervously pulling at her hair. She heard loud footsteps trampling towards the door. She assumed it was her sister’s husband, Vernon. Petunia would never stomp like that. Most people wouldn’t. Then again Vernon Dursley always seemed a little more prehistoric than most people.
He threw opened the door and glared at her. He looked like a grizzly bear preparing to pounce. She knew right away that she would not be receiving any sympathy from him. Of course, this was something she should have realized in the first place. He hated witches, wizards, and anything even slightly abnormal. He was even more of a prude than her sister.
“Is Petunia home?” she asked in a polite voice.
“My wife is mourning,” he told her coldly. “I doubt very much that she feels up to speaking with the likes of you.”
“I’m mourning too, Vernon. They were my parents. I just want to share my grief with my sister. She’s the only connection I have left to them. Is it really too much to ask that I see her?”
Vernon glared at her again. Then he turned to leave the room, supposedly to fetch his wife. “Don’t try anything while I’m gone.”
Lily assumed he was referring to magic. What did he think she was going to do, dye his entire kitchen pink? James and Sirius had done that to the Slytherin Table in the Great Hall before, but this wasn’t the time for a prank.
She waited by the door. Vernon had not offered her a seat and she didn’t want to offend him by taking one in his absence. She seemed to offend him enough just by being alive.
A few minutes later her sister entered the kitchen. She was much thinner than Lily remembered. She was also an ungodly mess. Her hair wasn’t combed, she was wearing an old bath robe, and her eyes were swollen and red. She looked nothing like the sister Lily remembered. The Petunia she knew would never allow a hair out of place. This woman didn’t seem to care if she was mistaken for a street beggar.
Vernon stuck his oversized head into the room. Petunia waved him away. He gave her a nervous look, but did as she requested.
Petunia motioned for Lily to take a seat at the table. Gratefully she did so. Petunia joined her.
Petunia spoke before Lily had a chance. “What was it?” she asked.
Lily didn’t understand. “What was what?”
“In the sky, above their house, that thing. It was a freaking snake eating a skull. Everyone thought it was a trick of the light. I knew better. I knew it was something from your world. What was it?”
“The Dark Mark,” Lily told her. “It is the sign of a very evil wizard, Voldemort. He’s gaining power. He leaves that mark over the houses of his victims.”
“Why would he care about our parents? They’re not part of that world. What could they have possibly done to bring on the wrath of an evil wizard?”
Lily looked down. She knew she had to tell her sister the truth, but she didn’t know how to do it. She hated to admit that she was responsible for the deaths of their parents, but she had no choice. She was responsible and her sister had the right to know it.
“They didn’t incur his wrath. I did. James and I foiled his plan. His servant was going to kill this little girl. He was trying to get information from her parents, but they didn’t know anything. He would have killed the child in front of them. James and I were able to grab her and get away. Voldemort knew it was us. He killed our parents to punish me.”
Tears welled in Petunia’s eyes. “I begged them not to let you go to that school”I begged them. They wouldn’t listen. They thought what you had was a gift. I knew better. It was a curse. You should have ignored it. You should have tried to live a normal life. Then maybe they would still be alive.”
The tears were flowing freely down Lily’s face. “I’m sorry. I never wanted anything to happen to them. I never imagined that anything would happen to them. I just wanted to help the little girl.”
“You’re sorry!” Petunia screamed. “A lot of good that does. That won’t bring them back. That won’t fix anything. You killed our parents.”
“I”I’m so sorry.”
“SHUT UP!” Petunia jumped back, the chair toppled to the ground. “You killed them! I hate you! Get out! Get out! Thanks to you, my family is gone.”
Lily reached out to her sister. She wasn’t trying to conceal her grief or her hurt. She just wanted her sister to listen. She let a sob escape from her throat. She touched Petunia’s arm.
“Please””
“Don’t touch me! Don’t talk to me! Get out of my house. You don’t exist to me anymore.”
Lily started to sob uncontrollably. “But you’re my sister.”
“I don’t have a sister.”
Lily fell to the floor, sobbing loudly.
She didn’t know what was happening when two large beefy hands grabbed her. She struggled to get away, but her attacker was much stronger.
“I knew I should have never let you near her,” Vernon growled into her ear. He dragged her towards the door. He then pushed it opened and threw her onto the step. “Don’t ever come to our home again. Your kind isn’t welcome here.”
Lily lay on the step. She couldn’t will herself to move. She sobbed. She cried for all she had lost. Her parents were dead. Her sister hated her. Her entire childhood family was gone. She would never see her parents again, and her sister would never forgive her.
She lost everything because of a single act of kindness. She cried because of the unfairness of it all. She cried until James came and took her home.