Lily Evans woke up and stretched her arms towards the ceiling. There was barely a week left of the holidays before she got to go back to Hogwarts and begin her sixth year. She could hardly wait.
She came from a family of Muggles; which meant for the holidays she had no real connection with the magical world. Granted, Lily loved to see her family, but after five years of living with magic she missed having it around.
She got out of bed, and slowly padded over towards her mirror. Lily’s usually shiny red hair was lank and greasy, and her eyes were so puffy that you could barely see their bright emerald green. She had gone to bed late, and Lily wasn’t a morning person, no matter what time she fell asleep.
Yawning, she put on her dressing gown and slippers and made her way to the bathroom down the hall. Petunia was just exiting, wearing her favourite salmon pink sundress and lathered in so much makeup Lily was surprised her face didn’t fall off.
‘Morning, Tuney,’ Lily said.
Petunia glared at her and hurried downstairs, looking a little frightened. When Lily had first found out she was a witch, Petunia had done everything in her power to try and become one too. After that didn’t work she began to treat Lily like dirt, but lately it had descended to just horrible looks. Petunia was jealous, Lily knew, but everything she did to try and repair their relationship was met with insults and unkind remarks.
Lily rolled her eyes and went into the bathroom, which smelt sickeningly like her sister’s expensive perfume.
After she had showered and dressed, Lily went downstairs to breakfast, still feeling not at all like herself. Although the shower had improved her looks, it hadn’t managed to wash away her drowsiness or the tiresome thoughts running through her brain.
Lily hadn’t been sleeping well for a while now, and it was all because of Severus Snape. They had been best friends since they were ten, but last year Lily had broken off their seven-year friendship for good. Deep down Lily knew she had done the right thing, but that didn’t stop her from missing him like crazy and wondering what might have happened if she hadn’t ditched him.
She poured herself a coffee and made some buttered toast, slamming things around a little more than she would usually. Her father looked up from his newspaper and raised his eyebrows.
‘Sorry,’ she muttered, sitting down to eat her breakfast. Stupid Severus , she thought. It’s all his fault.
A few minutes later, Lily’s mother bustled in with the post.
‘An owl just delivered this, dear,’ she said, handing Lily an envelope that bore the Hogwarts crest. Lily opened it eagerly, skimming through the booklist for the upcoming year. She had received enough OWLs to continue with any subject she wished, even though her Transfiguration mark had only just scraped an E.
Lily had only just finished her breakfast when a familiar barn owl flew in through the open window. Smiling, Lily took the letter from the owl and stroked it.
‘Thanks, Delilah. I’ll just go reply to this and you can take it back, okay?’
She made to leave the owl there and go upstairs to her room, but Delilah hooted and jumped onto her shoulder, watching Petunia, who was edging around the table as far away from the owl as possible. Lily sighed and bounded up the stairs two at a time.
Once she was back in her room, Lily sat down at her desk, moving a pile of homework off the chair. She would have to clean her room before she went back to Hogwarts. It was a complete mess. Delilah jumped off her shoulder and onto Lily’s Herbology essay to watch her read.
Lily –
Have you got your Hogwarts letter yet? Well, of course you would. I’ve got mine. Your house is further, but by the time you get my letter you should have it.
Anyway, do you want to come to Diagon Alley with me today? Is ten o’ clock good? Mum’s going in already, so she’ll come pick you up and bring you back here, and then we’ll go by Floo Powder.
Love,
Maddi
Lily went back down to the kitchen to ask her mum, who was starting the breakfast dishes.
‘Can I go to Diagon Alley with Maddi today?’
Her mum nodded. ‘Will Mrs. Collins be picking you up?’
‘Yes, and she’ll drop me off again afterwards, if I don’t stay at Maddi’s.’
‘You can go then. Have fun!’
Lily kissed her mum on the cheek and ran back to her room to reply. Madeleine Collins was her best friend. Even if Lily said she couldn’t go, Maddi would still probably send her mum along to try to make her come with. Lily had been friends with her long enough to realise that when Maddi wanted something, she would do everything in her power to get it.
Maddi,
Sure! Ten’s great. See you then!
Lily
Delilah stuck her leg out so Lily could tie the letter to it, and then the owl hooted and flew out her window. After watching her fly into the direction of Maddi’s house, Lily glanced at the clock, which told her she had approximately two hours before Maddi’s mum came to get her. She set to work cleaning her room, which would probably take that long.
After an hour Lily was lying on her bed, exhausted. She had moved everything off the floor and vacuumed it, but the result of this was that every surface in her room was now covered in her schoolbooks, clothes and everything else you find in a teenage girls bedroom.
There was a knock on the half open door, and Lily glanced up to see her sister Petunia standing there, looking a little frightened.
‘Hi, Tuney!’ Lily said, beckoning her older sister in. Petunia glared at her and didn’t move.
‘Don’t call me Tuney.’
Lily blinked. Sure, her sister had been horrible to her lately, but she had called her Tuney ever since Petunia was born and Lily couldn’t pronounce her name. She had shortened it to Tuney, and rarely called her anything else since.
‘What do you want, Petunia?’ Lily asked coldly. Petunia looked even more scared at the change of tone.
‘M – Mum told me to tell you not to stay at your – your – friends house tonight, because Vernon’s coming over.’
‘Who’s Vernon?’ Lily asked, getting up and beginning to toss all her clothes into the washing basket, which cleaned up a lot of the mess.
‘You know,’ Petunia said, smiling smugly. ‘My boyfriend . One of the things you don’t have ever since you broke up with that evil one. What was his name? Sav? Sev?’
Wham. Clothes went flying everywhere as Lily threw her washing basket onto the wooden floor. Petunia had touched a nerve. The Evans family all knew talking about Severus was off limits, but apparently Petunia had decided to test Lily’s non-existent patience with the subject.
‘Don’t you dare call him evil, Petunia,’ Lily hissed, advancing on her sister. ‘You don’t know a thing about him, and you never will!’
Petunia looked terrified, but she stood her ground. For once, she wanted to be able to get one over her sister. Petunia had never been brave like Lily, and she would never be able to perform magic, but she still had a trace of spirit left in her.
‘I heard you talking to Mum about him,’ she said viciously. ‘He did awful things … you’re all such freaks! I knew you would turn out horrible!’
‘Horrible?’ Lily shrieked, incensed. ‘Horrible? You’re the horrible one! Strutting around this place calling me a freak just because I’m a witch? You wanted to be just like me once!’
Petunia’s face burned red at the memory. ‘I was a lot younger then!’ she cried. ‘At least I don’t hang around people who try to hurt others, like you and your nasty friends!’
Lily drew her wand and pointed it into her sisters’ face.
‘Shut up, Petunia,’ she hissed. ‘If you say another word I’ll curse you until you’re slime on the floor.’
At that moment, she was so mad that she didn’t care what the consequences would be if she cursed her. All she could think about was that Petunia had confirmed one of her worst fears. That Severus was evil, like all his Death Eater friends, and she had blindly followed him down that path.
Lily’s horrendous glare and narrowed green eyes scared Petunia almost as much as the wand and threats. With a frightened whimper, she turned and fled out the room. Lily strode to the door to yell after her.
‘Don’t expect me to be here for your stupid boyfriend tonight!’ she cried.
With that Lily slammed her door shut and let out a heart-wrenching sob.
Half an hour later she was still sitting in the same position, with her clothes strewn across the room. Both her parents had tried to talk to her, only to be met with silence. So when Chloe Collins arrived, she was shown upstairs without much hope.
Madeleine’s mother owned a Muggle aromatherapy shop, which was a huge success, considering all the magic that went into producing everything. Chloe had needed masses of permits from the Ministry of Magic to get it started, but it was worth it once the money started rolling in.
Chloe’s husband had left them when Madeleine was born, and Chloe had been a little older than Lily was now. Maddi thought her mother was a complete embarrassment, but Lily thought she was amazing.
‘Lily, honey? It’s me, Chloe. May I come in?’
Lily opened the door and let her in. Chloe took one glimpse of her tear-streaked face and gave her a hug.
‘Poor Lily.’
After ten minutes, Lily had managed to choke out the story of what Petunia had said, and gathered all her things together so she could stay at the Collins’ house until school began. Chloe was going to offer anyway, but now she saw how much Lily would really need it.
Lily said goodbye to her parents, and did nothing but glare at Petunia, who was sulking on the phone to Vernon after she had been scolded for her argument with Lily. Chloe took her arm, and then Lily found herself experiencing the unpleasant feeling of side-along Apparation.
It was soon over, and Lily was gasping for air on the Collins’ front lawn. Madeleine rushed over to give her a hug, since she hadn’t seen her since the end of last term.
If you didn’t know her, Madeleine was the kind of person you could easily pass in a crowd. She had straight brown hair and brown eyes, and sometimes Lily thought that she had gone to some trouble to look different to her mother, whose outrageous clothing matched her personality. But Madeleine couldn’t fight the Collin’s spirit. She was more alive than any other person Lily knew.
‘Lily!’ Maddi squealed, jumping up and down. ‘How are you? I haven’t seen you for – what’s wrong?’
For she had looked at Lily, and seen the tear stains and bloodshot eyes that could only mean she had been crying. It only took Lily one sympathetic look from her best friend to start the tears all over again.
‘I had a fight with Petunia,’ Lily choked out. ‘It was awful.’
Maddi gave her a hug. ‘It’ll be okay, sweetie,’ she said. But Lily shook her head.
‘I don’t think it will,’ she said. ‘Not this time.’
Chloe picked up Lily’s luggage and the three of them walked inside for a cup of tea and some tissues.
The three of them left for Diagon Alley not long after lunch. Lily’s fight with Petunia was still on her mind, but it had at least faded into the background.
‘What do you want to do first?’ Madeleine asked, deliberately turning away from her mother as Chloe stopped to a witch trying to sell herbal remedies for magical diseases.
‘I dunno,’ Lily said, looking around. ‘How about we go get our books?’
The two girls bade goodbye to Chloe, Maddi looking relieved to escape her. They headed through the crowds to Flourish and Blott’s; stopping every now and then to talk to people they knew from Hogwarts.
In the bookshop, the store assistant walked over to them.
‘Hogwarts?’ he asked, and then without waiting for an answer, he continued. ‘Which books?’
Lily went first, reeling off the books she needed to continue with Herbology, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration. The assistant rushed around the store, dropping books into her arms as he went.
Maddi was doing all the same subjects as Lily, as well as Arithmancy. She wanted to be a Healer after she left school, and Lily an Auror.
Ever since Lord Voldemort had come into power in her first year at Hogwarts, it had been Lily’s dream to try and defeat him, and become a famous Auror. Now, at sixteen, this dream had become more realistic, and she just wanted to try to protect people from him.
After Maddi had collected her books, they paid for them and left the shop. Walking down Diagon Alley, they chatted happily as they bought all their other school supplies.
Chloe met them outside Florean Fortescue’s as they were buying large chocolate ice creams. She had a jar of smelly plant extract, which she proudly told them would cure any illness. Madeleine looked at it doubtfully, but decided not to comment.
They got back to the Collins’ house just before five. It wasn’t safe to be out after dark anymore. Most people in Diagon Alley had left by that time, and the Leaky Cauldron was empty when they passed through.
After dinner, Lily and Maddi walked down to the phone box so Lily could call her parents to tell them that she was fine. They were always concerned for their daughters’ safety since she had told them about Voldemort’s rise to power.
Lily’s mother, Penelope Evans, answered the phone.
‘Hello, Evans household.’
‘Hi Mum,’ Lily said, and Madeleine tactfully wandered a few metres away so she wouldn’t overhear the conversation.
‘Lily! No trouble then?’
‘None at all. Mum, is Petunia there?’
Lily could practically hear her mother thinking in the silence that followed.
‘Well … she is, but I don’t think that she –’
‘Hello?’ a third voice picked up the extension phone at the Evans house.
‘Petunia?’ Lily asked, and there was a groan.
‘Mum, tell me if Vernon calls, okay? He’s late.’
‘Petunia, can I at least talk to you?’ Lily cried. Her sister gave another irritated groan, and her mother discreetly hung up.
‘If you’re quick.’
Now Lily had the chance, she couldn’t even think of anything to say. She could apologise, but Lily had no reason too, and she wasn’t going to just to get her sister talking. But she needed to say something.
‘What do you want?’ Petunia snapped. Lily finally found the right words.
‘Look, Petunia, I know we haven’t been very close over the past few years,’ Lily began, and there was a snort from the phone, ‘but I really think we ought to stop fighting. We used to be such good friends! I don’t want our relationship to stay this way.’
There was silence. ‘Petunia?’ Lily asked.
‘I – I have to go,’ Petunia said, and her voice cracked. ‘Vernon’s here.’
‘Tuney –’ Lily began, but she was interrupted.
‘I have to go.’
The phone was slammed down and Lily was left with nothing but the incessant beeping of the disconnected line. Leaning her head against the cool glass of the phone box, she sighed. Lily still couldn’t believe everything she had with Petunia had changed just because she was a witch. It wasn’t right.
There was a hand on her shoulder, and wordlessly, Lily turned to follow Madeleine home, her mind occupied with worries about her sister.