Disclaimer: Okay, since this is still set in the summer holidays, and therefore Lily and co are in the Muggle 1970s, can I again repeat that I do not own the TV show “Starsky and Hutch”, or the supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. Or hippies. Or communism. Or any other pop culture reference (okay, communism isn’t pop culture, but you know what I mean). People might suggest that the Marauders and Iola wouldn’t know as much about the Muggle world as they appear to do in this chapter, but I figured that since they would have to live in it during the summer and their childhood, they are the kind of people who would throw themselves into it, and enjoy it, not spend their time as recluses because they’re different. Anyway, I personally I really like this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it!
Chapter 10: A Life Without L.O.V.E Is Like A Life Without Chilblains
It’s my birthday. I am seventeen. Only just, mind “ Iola and I stayed up all night to wait for the clock to strike midnight. And when it did, we started screaming, and jumping up and down.
“Do a spell!” cried Iola. “You’re of age now!”
Euphoric, I had reached for my wand, and shot flowers raining from its tip like fireworks, or a very floral shower. Missy, who was sleeping on the end of my bed, looked very affronted as they fluttered down on top of her, waking her up. She started batting the nearest with her paw, growling slightly.
“Ha! A minute ago and you would have had the Ministry swooping on you like flies attracted to an out of date sandwich!” Iola said.
I wrinkled my nose at this image. She shrugged apologetically. Mum and Dad burst into my room with tennis rackets in their hands “ clearly, they thought all the screaming was because we were being murdered in our beds (I looked worriedly out of my window at the twitching curtains of Creepy Stalker Guy opposite).
“Lily? What’s all this screaming for?”
“I’m seventeen, remember? It’s ...” I looked at my watch, ““ two minutes past midnight!”
“Oh.” They began to go back onto the landing outside my room. “Go to sleep, girls. We’ll celebrate in the morning.”
“Hey, Mum, Dad,” I called. “Exactly how much damage did you intend to cause with a single tennis racket each? Were you going to swot the potential burglar until he left?”
The door slammed. Yeesh. Someone couldn’t take a joke.
Missy stopped trying to attack the flowers, and fell over on her back, before purring softly and going to sleep again.
Anyway, then we settled down, and now I’m trying to sleep, but it’s not working. I’m not an excitable person, so it’s odd that I am so hyped up about this. I mean, everyone over seventeen has their seventeenth sometime, don’t they? It’s not as if this is out of the norm. Well done, Lily, how long did it take you to realise that one?
“Hey, Lils,” Iola begins, speaking from her bed across the room “ we bought another one cheap last Saturday, so now we don’t have to take turns with who gets to sleep on the floor. I love living with her, it’s like a constant sleepover. However, ‘Lils’ is something I won’t tolerate.
“How many times have I told you not to “”
“Oh, stop whining. What have you got planned for tomorrow “ sorry, today “ because ... well, James and Sirius would have got back a couple of hours ago. I thought we could maybe ... you know, pay them a visit.”
“Are you insane?” I ask her, shocked, propping myself up on my pillows. She is sitting cross legged on her bed. Clearly, she had never even planned on trying to sleep. “You do remember how much James and I loathe on another?”
“Well, yeah, but that was when there was still an ‘L’ in L.O.V.E ... hey, do you think they’ll call themselves O.V.E now?”
Dear Merlin. My tendency to go off on an unrelated tangent has clearly rubbed off on her. “Get to the point, Iola,” I say, reminding myself of my own oh-so-polite conscience.
“Well, I’m just saying, he’s more likely to give you another try now that you’ve made a complete break! Unless he’s lost all his brain cells, in a terrible shipping accident or something, that is. Or, of course, you could carry on hating each other and making everybody around you miserable ...” Ah, there’s that old Iola charm, back again.
“Look, if he wants to deflate his engorged head and apologise for being an ass, that’s fine by me. But there’s no way that I’m going to make the first move,” I say, sulkily.
Iola sighs, and takes something out of her trunk. It’s a letter. “James sent me this yesterday when I suggested it to him. And I quote; ‘If she’s willing to stop being an annoying busybody and apologise for having a pointy, sticky nose, then that’s fine. Just don’t expect me to make the first move.’ Why can’t you both get over it? Haven’t you ever even heard of second chances?”
“Did you really ask him if it was all right before you asked me? It’s my birthday, after all!” I accuse, knowing how petty I am being. There’s something about James that brings out the worst in me.
“What are you people, five freaking years old? Why don’t you just both apologise at the same time?” she asks, heatedly.
Concealing a grin, I say, “Only if he agrees to first.” She looks as if she’s about ready to kill something. I can’t hold it in any longer, and begin to laugh.
“Lily! Stop that! I’m trying to be serious! This is my friends and family that’s in a collision crisis, here!”
Once I have begun to laugh, I cannot stop, and almost fall off my bed in hysteria.
“Lily! I’m trying to “ I’m being “ would you stop “” Suddenly, it becomes to much for her and she too begins to shake with laughter.
“Will you two keep it down!” Petunia’s voice rings through from the next room. “Just because you’re high on sniffing magic tea leaves or something!”
This only causes us to get worse. As if there’s such a thing as sniffing magic tea leaves! Although, thinking about it, sometimes when I look at the Marauders ...
Which brings me crashing to reality. “Can’t we go and see them when it’s not my birthday? The day after, maybe? It’s just that if we end up arguing, I don’t want it to spoil things,” I say, convincingly worried sounding.
“I know, Lils. But I’ve really missed him. And leaving Dad, that was a big thing for me. I just really need to see him. He’s the only one who truly understands “ I know you think you do, but you’ve never met my Dad. And I just think that if I was able to talk to him about it, then I might be able to let go a little, and really enjoy your birthday properly ...”
I give in. It’s inevitable. She’s too good at getting what she wants, is Iola. Damn her puppy dog eyes that she can take on and off like they’re a pair of sunglasses! It must be a family trait “ I’ll admit that while under severe attack of James’s own version, I almost accepted his invitation to dinner once or twice when he was in his “hung up on me” phase. It had taken a lot of effort to remember that only a moment before, I had caught him torturing Snape, or playing tricks on First Years, or selling his soul to the giant squid in exchange for magic beans, or whatever other waywardness had been underway when I had arrived. Oh yes, I may make out that I am the only female in the school who hasn’t fallen head long for him at some point “ but that is through extreme self-discipline and severe restraint.
“Thanks, Lils ...” she says, smiling when I agree.
“Careful. I could rejoin L.O.V.E anytime. All I’d have to do is buy Eve some expensive perfume, and I’d be welcomed back with open arms ...”
“And you’d always remember what you almost had, but lost,” she replies, grinning, fully aware that my threats are completely idle. “And don’t worry about James. He’ll be awkward at first, but once he sees how you’ve changed ...”
“It’s fine, Iola.”
“And sometimes he makes fun, but you have to remember that he never means it, it’s just his way.”
“I said it’s fine.”
“And if he “”
“Iola! Shut up! It’s FINE!”
I turn off the light with my wand dramatically, still relishing in being able to use magic without getting expelled.
I wake up the next morning at nine “ early for me considering it’s the holidays. Me and Iola are always the last to wake in our Dorm, and I’ve often had to get Valerie to run downstairs to the Great Hall, grab some toast, and bring it back while I have a shower, and then eat it on the way to my first lesson. Of course, I won’t get that luxury any more, and will probably have to go against everything I believe in and buy an alarm clock.
I go downstairs, to find Mum, Dad, and a reluctant Petunia waiting at the breakfast table. I notice Missy is eating bacon straight from Petunia’s plate, as my poor sister tries desperately to push her away. Everyone else is ignoring the situation, and I’m not about to step in.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!” my Mum cries, jumping up, and throwing out her arms. Always the one to take things that bit too far ...
Dad, meanwhile, merely looks up, smiles, wishes me a good birthday, and goes back to scanning the newspaper (some depressing story about murders being on the rise or something).
Petunia says, “Don’t you ever wake up in time? I’m late for meeting Vernon now.” And promptly stalks out of the door, throwing a disgusted glance at my cat, her “well wishing” over with for another year.
“Iola not up yet? What are your plans today?” Mum questions, as she presents me with a pancake “ complete with eggy eyes and a bacon smile. Dear Merlin ...
“Nope. And we’re going to meet her cousin and his friend later, they just got back from Greece.”
Mum sighs, wistfully. “Greece, eh? I’m sorry you couldn’t get a holiday this year, Lily, but your father just couldn’t get the time off work, you see.”
“I know, Mum. It’s fine.” Dad works as a policeman. He thoroughly disapproves of my new obsession with Starsky and Hutch, saying that it is unrealistic, and “If I ever did that, I’d be fired and my family would starve. Those boys are lucky they don’t have mouths to feed, or they wouldn’t take nearly as many risks.” He just doesn’t get it. As much as I love him, the idea of this newfangled “fiction” business is lost on him.
There are four small parcels on the table, which I carefully open. A nice expensive looking pair of earrings, a cheesy looking romance book, and a pair of brightly striped long socks that are pretty fun, and would go well with a plain skirt and bright t-shirt.
“Thanks, Mum,” I say, since it is clear that she was the one who picked out my gifts. The final one is an alarm clock, complete with the largest bells on top you’ve ever seen. It’s a beast of a contraption, and I thank Dad in a strained voice “ Mum could never be that cruel.
At least now I won’t have to stoop to the level of buying my own, that bloody thing will certainly do the job. Unfortunately, it will probably wake the whole school, and I’ll be voted “Most Hated” at the award ceremony (not that there is, or has ever been, an award ceremony).
Iola comes into the kitchen yawning. “Nice socks,” she says, as Mum presents her a smiley pancake, too. “Thanks Mrs Evans.”
Iola presents me with some jewellery that I would not normally go for, but I kind of like it anyway. Soon, we are heading off to “Potter Land” (The town where, apparently, pretty much ALL of the Potters live, along with some poor, unsuspecting innocent Muggles). I don’t know it’s real name. We have to travel there on the train and bus, because neither of us have passed our apparition tests, and my house isn’t connected to the floo network. It seems a long winded way about it, but even though we are now both of age, we can’t even make a Port-Key because of some sort of ridiculous legal reasons. We meet James and Sirius at a deserted children’s play park. The sight of them competing who can get highest on the swings makes me cringe a little, but Iola laughs. When James spots us, he jumps off, six feet in the air, and lands cleanly.
“Ten Padfoot Points for that!” Sirius cries, as he stumbles off his own swing, and comes towards us, dazed.
“Padfoot Points?” Iola asks James, an eyebrow raised.
“It’s his new award system that he decided to start in Greece. Don’t ask. I already have one-hundred-and-fifty-two point five Padfoot Points. You’re gonna have to catch up,” he explains, shaking his head in mock concern.
“You can have twenty, Iola, because I missed your presence. James got bloody irritating after two days, waffling on about all manner of suicidally boring topics. I had no one to share my boredom with!” Sirius says to Iola.
“You were high most of the time, anyway,” James points out. “You didn’t need to be entertained, oxygen seemed to do that for you.”
Sirius gasps loudly. “How very dare you! I am most affronted! Minus thirty-five point six Padfoot Points for you!”
“He still doesn’t understand when a joke becomes old,” James tells Iola, as Sirius has a heart attack of offence behind him.
“Some may say you don’t either, Potter,” I say, deciding to make my presence known at last, since nobody else was acknowledging it. “Does the name ‘Snivellus’ mean anything to you?” The two boys look at me, blinking. Iola bites her lip worryingly.
“I guess you could have a Padfoot Point for that, since it’s undeniably true,” Sirius deduces. This seems to annoy James even more than my being alive.
“Well, the amount of times you and your friends have had high pitched hysterics over something that wasn’t funny in the first place, leaves you in no position to critique, Evans,” he says.
“I’m not in L.O.V.E any more,” I point out.
“So I’ve heard,” James says, darkly, his eyes narrowing. I hate that guy.
“Okay. Can you guys ignore that you loathe each other and try to get along like civilised human beings?” Iola asks, stepping in to try and divert the enmity.
“Prongs? Civilised?” Sirius cries, unnecessarily loudly, before bursting into over the top peals of howling laughter. He is mostly ignored, and I get the impression that that is not uncommon.
“Well, since I’m here now ...” I say, sulkily.
“And because it’s her birthday ...” James complies, reluctantly.
“Good. Now tell me about Greece,” Iola says. Sirius immediately collapses on the floor and begins snoring so loudly it’s funny. This instant spontaneous reaction makes even me laugh.
“Sirius pretended to find it monotonous, but inside he was fascinated by it’s culture and history“” the snores get louder and more determined sounding “ “but I did not hide away my interest. The Ancient Greeks were wonderful people, with some spellbinding philosophical opinions “” as Sirius’s pretend snores rise in volume, so does James’s voice “ “Do you know, they had gods for just about everything! There was even a god of wine! And then there was the incredible architecture, and “ SIRIUS, WILL YOU PLEASE BE MUTE?”
The snoring sound stops, although he continues to mime it. Iola begins to giggle, and James just shakes his head, giving up. He takes Iola’s sleeve. “So “ tell me about what you did,” he says, and they walk off together. I don’t follow, knowing when not to intrude.
“So ...” I begin, not wanting it to be too awkward a silence. “Was Greece really that bad?”
Sirius jumps up. “Not at all. Prongs was right, I was secretly fascinated. Mad lot, those Greeks. Although I wasn’t high most of the time, I’ll have you know, I just liked being in a different country. However, if one gets an opportunity to infuriate ones friend, one must oblige, must one not?”
“Uh ... sure.”
“You know, Jamesie-kinns gives you some bad press, but I think I could find it in my ever benevolent heart to forgive you for reporting all our misdemeanours all those times. Especially if it will make Iola happy. She’s a great lass, and shoot me if she’s not!”
I smile. “No, she’s marvellous, I agree,” I say.
“Prongs will come around. Once you demonstrate your unknown talent as a trickster, he’ll change his mind. By the way, you do have a secret flair for tomfoolery, don’t you?” he checks, sounding worried.
“Oh yes,” I assure him, surprised at how easy it is to talk to Sirius Black when you get going. I proceed to tell him about mixing as many ingredients as I could and disguising it as red wine to Dursley, earlier in the summer “ although it was only really a couple of weeks ago, if feels like an age, considering all that has happened in between now and then.
He laughs heartily. “You can have fifty Padfoot Points for that, Lily dearest! But don’t tell old Prongs, he gets jealous, bless him.”
I smile. “Thanks, you’re so kind. So, don’t get offended, but are these “Padfoot Points” actually worth anything?”
“Of course they are! Picture this; you are waiting for a job interview. Other people around you have the exact same qualifications. You need something to set you apart “ what better than Padfoot Points, awarded by the legendary Sirius Black himself?”
I laugh, happy that I am getting on with people so easily. In L.O.V.E, we barely spoke to anyone outside our tight friendship group “ but I never questioned that that wasn’t normal until lately. I’m finding that I enjoy meeting new people (okay, I’ve met Sirius before, but never properly spoken to him), even though I always thought of myself as quite shy. But maybe that was the label that got slapped on me because I was so timid in my first few weeks at Hogwarts, and I had just taken it to be true? But I don’t come across as shy now, I’m sure.
I look over at James and Iola. James is holding her to him as she sobs. I suddenly feel terrible. I didn’t know she was so upset about it, and feel a pang of jealousy that she is letting it be known to James, but has apparently been covering up her hurt to me.
“Iola’s had a rough life,” Sirius says, noticing me looking, “And she tries to cover it up to people she doesn’t completely trust. And, I’m afraid, that means the only person she is always honest with about her feelings, is James. Because he’s been there from the start. I mean, me and her, we’re good mates, but she still doesn’t admit it when she’s upset about what her life is like outside of Hogwarts, even when that’s clearly what’s bothering her. They’ll be done in about five minutes, and everything will be fine again.”
“I just don’t like that she has to cover up her emotions,” I say, truthfully.
“Well, everyone deals with things in different ways. Me, I rage and storm and take it out on people I like until I’m over it. James, he’s the opposite, he acts all extrovert, and takes it out on those he doesn’t like “ more so than usual, I mean. Remus becomes a recluse for a couple of days, engrossing himself in his studies. Peter bloody whines until he feels better, but you can’t blame him, I suppose. And you ...”
I think about it. How do I deal with pain? “I become sarcastic and bitter about life, and then sob my heart out over Missy until I feel normal again.”
“You see? Is that any better than insisting that everything’s fine?”
“I guess not,” I admit, pleasantly surprised at how Sirius has managed to make things seem clear, and logical.
“See? They’re coming over already. Iola won’t have another break down to James for a few months, now. She can be happy until then.”
“You’ve shocked me, Sirius. I never knew you had any wisdom inside you at all.”
“Of course I do. I’m like a big fountain of wisdom. People throw pennies at me in exchange for my shrewd and insightful words!”
I laugh. As James and Iola come up to us, I notice that although they look relatively normal, James seems to be distant, and not quite there, while Iola’s eyes are rimmed red.
“So, what have you guys been chatting about?” Iola asks, as she must have noticed that we were both laughing.
“Oh, you know, this and that. A bit of deep philosophical arguments here, a dash of quantum physics there. Your average chit chat, really,” Sirius says, off hand. “She’s not a bad old stick, you know.”
James grunts his disapproval.
“Come on mate, everyone equal and all that lot. Don’t tell me you’re bearing a grudge for the sake of bearing a grudge! That’s just mad.”
“Since when did you become a communist?” mutters James, under his breath.
“Why, I’ve always been a commie at heart, Jamesie old chap! Wonderful outlook on life! Absolutely nothing could go wrong!”
Iola shakes her head in mock pity. Sirius grins and winks at her.
“So, what should we do now? You guys know the area, is there anything worth doing around here?” I ask.
“We could go and mock the hippies who still think they’re cool. There’s still a band of them outside the old Sainsbury’s,” James suggests.
“They’re still there?” asks Iola, surprised. “Well, maybe we could do that later. I’d like to eat first, though.”
It’s around lunchtime, and I suddenly realise that I myself am almost weak with hunger “ how had I not noticed that before?
We head into the centre of the village, and stop in a small café. There is a grumpy waitress, and the tables need cleaning, but Iola and James insist that the food is good.
There is a newspaper on the table, and I pick it up as we wait. It is the one Dad was reading this morning.
“Anything about Voldemort?” asks Sirius, leaning over.
“Why would there be?” I ask, confused. “This is a Muggle newspaper,” I hiss, keeping my voice low.
“Well, yeah, but look; an increase in murders and disappearances, it says.”
“So? What’s that got to do with You-Know-Who?” I am looked at as if I am insane. Okay, so shoot me. I don’t know much about politics. L.O.V.E always believed that such things were for the adults to worry about “ it wasn’t directly affecting us, so we just carried on with our own lives. It’s not like there’s anything we can do about it while we’re at Hogwarts. To be honest, I was always worried about finding out more “ I didn’t want to depress myself. As I am looked at with such disdain, I start to wonder if maybe, that’s not something that’s actually very smart.
James is the first to speak, of course. He seems to enjoy looking for a reason to criticize me. “Please tell me you know something about what’s happening to our world? There’s a reason that families are being torn apart, that people are being killed. And you were aware that it’s affecting the Muggle world as well, right? That he’s killing them too, for the sake of killing them? Well, maybe not him personally, but his Death Eaters. You do “ You do care, don’t you?”
“Of course I care! And ... well, I know the gist of what’s going on, if not the whole thing. But it’s not like there’s anything we can do, so why bother getting all worked up about it?”
“What sort of logic is that? And what about preparing yourself for when we leave Hogwarts? If the world was full of people like you, Voldemort would have taken over so fast we’d all be dead by now!” James’s voice is getting louder, and we are being shot funny looks by people who clearly have no idea what he’s talking about.
“Okay. If it’s so essential for me to know all about this, why don’t you all tell me exactly what’s going on, and why I should spend all my time worrying about it?” I suggest, with a slight edge to my voice.
So they do.
I realise promptly, that I, Lily Evans, am completely stupid, and naive, and useless.
But not for long. Oh no, not for long! I am determined to find out as much as possible, and, like James said, prepare myself for when I leave Hogwarts. I’ll try and do something to help, I’ll try to fight. I think I need to fight.
There is a slight barrier broken when I announce this with such velocity. Iola smiles, Sirius nods, agreeing, and muttering something about giving me Padfoot Points for such an inspirational speech. James says “Good,” all broodingly.
We spend the rest of the day happily enough, and when Iola and I go home, it is to be taken for a meal at some posh new restaurant to celebrate my seventeenth. Unfortunately, my parents bully Petunia into attending, and so she brings Dursley along for some company.
But it is made funny by Iola’s shameless flirting freaking him out (she does it as a joke ... if she really was flirting with him, I would have to desert her forever). And how we are able to constantly make fun of them without them realising, because they don’t bother listening properly to what we’re saying.
Let’s just say, I go home happy, and we stay up all night again, determined to enjoy every minute of the remainder of my birthday.
We are awoken the next day by stones being thrown at “ and finally shattering “ my window. It is this that causes us both to shriek, and run to see what on earth was happening.
“Shame on you!” Iola calls down to Sirius and James, who have apparently apparated here. How they got my address, I don’t want to think about, but we go out to meet them, and enjoy the rest of the summer. I even break the ice with James a little. We’re not great friends, not by a long shot, but somehow we begin to be able to bear each other’s company. It’s so hard keeping up a grudge when we are surrounded by the upbeat attitudes of Sirius and Iola, who are like rapid fire machine guns of wit and humour “ and Padfoot Points, of course.
When our letters come from Hogwarts, though, we get the biggest shock of all. Sirius and James stroll into our bedroom (by that point, Mum and Dad are so used to them making themselves at home that their presence is barely noted, except to let them in each morning), and hand us each our own letters, which they have apparently swiped straight off the kitchen table. It seems they have saved theirs, so we can open them together.
Missy jumps up on my lap to investigate as I peel open the envelope, and take out the think sheets of parchment. A Head Girl’s badge falls onto my lap. As I scream in delight, I hear James exclaim, “No way!”
We look at each other in alarm, and our eyes travel downwards ... to the gleaming badge that has fallen out of both of our letters.
Sirius looks from me, to James, and back again, before saying loudly, “Well, give me a wimple, and call me a nun, because the hills are alive with the sound o’ music, baby!”
AN: Lol, can I just explain that final line “ the original, “Well, cut me in half and call me a munchkin, because ding dong, the witch is dead!” is something my older brother said, and I doubt he thought of it himself either. But I loved it, and it sounded like the kind of thing I imagine Sirius would say in that situation to break the ice. Originally I blatantly stole it, but my conscience got the better of me, so I adapted it instead. I hope you enjoyed your extra long chapter! If you hadn’t guessed, you will be seeing a lot more of the Marauders from now on. I’m sure you’ll be as glad to hear that as I am to be writing more of them! Don’t forget to leave a review!