The Story of Lily

The Story of Lily

Chapter 6: A Visit from Dumbledore

The rest of Lily's first year passed without incident; unless you count the time Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter blew up every single cauldron in Potion's one day, dousing everyone with Sleeping Draught. They all slept soundly from then until the morning after when there were a bit of confused and slightly angry feelings towards Sirius, Remus, Peter, and James - or the Marauder's, as they were calling themselves - and they triumphantly did their detentions for a month. Sirius told Lily and Gwen that they wanted to set a record for most detentions by the time they graduated. Lily and Gwen didn't doubt it.

All too soon, the Hogwarts Express was pulling into King's Cross Station. Gwen and Lily said goodbye to each other sadly, promising to owl soon. Lily hugged James (blushing scarlet, of course), Remus, and even Peter, who she got along pretty well with.

Lily went for the first time to her new house. Her bedroom was not the same as it was at Violet's because Violet's house was really still her true home. Instead, it had mood-walls like Gwen's and when Lily touched it,they turned dark blue, showing that she was sad. Her bed was huge and the comforter and drapes were fashioned to turn colors close to the color of the walls. Currently, her comforter and drapes were a lighter blue that went beautifully with the walls. Lily's favorite part of the room, though, was her ceiling. It was charmed just like the Great Hall ceiling at Hogwarts - to look the same way it did outside. Right now, the stars were shining in an inky black sky. Lily got into bed and was tucked in by her aunt and new uncle, and she drifted off to sleep clutching the beautiful necklace Orion had gotten her. She never took it off, that and her best friend bracelet that she shared with Gwen.

~*~*~*~*

"Tap! Tap!"

Lily looked up curiously from her History of Magic essay ("Discuss the Goblin Rebellion of 1482 - three rolls of parchment") out her window and saw a sight that made her shriek. James Potter was hovering outside her bedroom window on a broom. She hurried to the window and opened it, allowing him to fly in and land smoothly next to her bed.

"James! What are you doing here?" she demanded, her hands on her hips.

"Oh, hey Lils. Just wanted to see if you were up for a game of Quidditch?"

Lily looked at him suspiciously. "James, you know I can't fly a broom. Why didn't you go and ask Sirius?"

James suddenly looked sheepish and averted his eyes. "Erm, I don't know." It was more of a question than a statement.

Lily tutted impatiently.

"James-"

But she wasn't able to finish her sentence, because the Black's huge Great Dane, Cleon, who had an obsession with jumping on people, bounded into Lily's room and knocked her straight into James, who, in turn, fell backwards and landed with a heavy "thump!" on Lily's huge bed. This put them in a very nasty situation indeed. It got worse, though, when Sirius burst through the door.

He doubled over laughing at the site of his dog, laying on Lily, licking her face contentedly; who was laying on James, who was laying on his broomstick and looked to be in severe pain.

"AAAARGH! CLEON! GET OFF OF ME YOU STUPID DOG!" Lily screamed, trying to shove the ninety-pound dog off of her chest. Then, spotting Sirius, who was holding onto Lily's desk chair for support, she yelled, "SIRIUS BLACK! GET YOUR STUPID DOG OFF OF ME!"

James could only whimper in agreement.

Suddenly, Violet walked in with Celeste in her arms, her wand raised. She visibly relaxed when she saw it was only them, and that gave a way to full fledged hysterical laughter.

"HELLO? WHY IS EVERYONE LAUGHING? THIS STUPID DOG IS CUTTING OFF MY AIR SUPPLY!" Lily shrieked, struggling once more with Cleon.

Violet wiped her eyes and made to pull Cleon off, when Sirius stopped her and ran to his room. He came back moments later with a camera that gave off a puff of purple smoke after he flashed a photo.

"Oh, Sirius!" Violet half scolded, but then she proceeded to ask for a copy in an undertone. She then heaved the dog off with help from Sirius and Lily got up off of James quicker than a flash of lightning.

"Uhg," James grunted while pulling his broomstick out from under him.

Violet and Celeste eagerly crowded around Sirius. The picture developed, and they were all sent into hysterical fits of laughter. James got up (rather stiffly) and looked at the photo and began laughing hysterically as well. Lily glared at them, her hands on her hips, until curiosity got the better of her. She snatched the photo from James and burst out laughing. They were all on the ground laughing when Violet heard the front door open.

"Oh! Orion must be home! That's funny, he's supposed to work all day today...Kids, stay here," she commanded. She stepped outside and raised her wand. Then they heard "Accio!" and a piercing scream.

They looked at each other, white faced-

"ORION BLACK!"

"Yes, darling?" came the innocent voice of Sirius's father. The children all breathed sighs of relief and walked into the landing. It appeared that Orion had summoned Violet from the landing, since she was now rushing towards him. He caught her and spun her around, kissing her.

"Oh, not again!" Sirius moaned. "Dad! Please!"

Orion looked up at his son and grinned. Then he put Violet down gently.

"Daddy!" Celeste ran to him, almost tripping down the stairs in the process, and he swung her up in the air and caught her easily. Celeste cried with delight.

"Daddy, why are you home so early?" Celeste asked curiously.

Orion cleared his throat and glanced at Violet. "Sweetheart, why don't you go and play in your room? Daddy will explain later, okay?"

Celeste looked at him suspiciously, but ran up the stairs to her room obediently.

"Hey, children, why don't you all go out back and play Quidditch in the stadium or something? I need to talk to Violet."

"Sure, Dad..." Sirius looked doubtfully at him. He rushed to get his broom and James followed.

"C'mon, Lil, you heard them. Let's go play Quidditch." James looked at her impatiently, holding his broom.

"Erm, you go ahead. I don't fly, remember?" Lily went into her room and sat down at her desk again.

"Lily! You haven't even tried your new broom yet! And it's the best broom gold can buy!" Sirius looked at her disbelievingly.

"Wait - what? You mean, Lily has a Shooting Star?!" James exclaimed, thunderstruck.

"Yeah! Violet gave it to her for Christmas!" Sirius rummaged through her closet, much to Lily's annoyance, and pulled out the broom, still in its wrapping box. The boys "oohed" and "ahhed" for a few minutes, before forcefully dragging Lily outside and into the Quidditch pitch. Lily was amazed; she had never been inside their stadium before.

"Alright, Lily, this is a flying lesson. You have too great a broom to not use it, right?"

Lily looked around nervously. "James, I. Don't. Fly," She pronounced each word clearly and slowly.

"Yeah, but now you do," Sirius shoved the broom into her hands. "Now, kick off. C'mon, Lily, just do it!" He mounted his own broom and hovered a few feet above her. "We'll catch you when - sorry, if - you fall!" Sirius said encouragingly. Or at least, he though it was encouraging.

"Here, Lils, get on my broom with me and I'll do some laps so you can get the feel of it," James offered.

Lily looked at him apprehensively. "James, I don't think..."

James rolled his eyes, strode over to her, and picked her up in one fluid motion.

"James!" Lily shrieked. He paid no attention to her, and instead, sat on his broom, placed Lily in from of him, held her with one arm and the broom with the other, and kicked off into the air.

"JAMES!" Lily screeched and grabbed on to the broom with both hands.

"Whoa Lily! We're only about ten feet off the ground!"

Lily glared at him reproachfully. "Put. Me. Down," she hissed in a deadly quiet voice.

"You know what Lily? I don't think I will. We should have some fun first." And, with a devilish grin, he pointed the broom straight up and they shot into the air. Lily screamed bloody murder and threw her arms around his neck. He then pointed the broom at the ground and they rocketed downwards.

When they leveled out once more, Lily gave him a glare that would make most people cower in fear. He didn't even flinch, and that irked her to no end.

"James Potter, put me down right now!"

He dove again, and she shrieked and flung her arms around his neck, squeezed her eyes shut, and leaned her head against his chest.

"Hey! Lily! James!" They both turned their heads to face Sirius, leveled out once more, and a bright flash blinded them for a few seconds. When they could see, Sirius was waving a picture in front of their faces.

James managed to tackle him and grab the picture. "Oh, Sirius, I'm gonna kill you!" And, the picture forgotten, he took off after Sirius. Lily stooped down and grabbed the photo. It was of her, clinging on to James, and somehow he had bewitched it so that their lips were glued together. Lily was pleased to note that her picture self was putting up a pointless but useful fight to unstick her lips. Just as she was about to rip it in half, something sped over her and snatched the picture from her hands: Sirius.

"Sirius Black! Get back here right now!" Lily screeched. And, without even realizing what she was doing, she jumped on her Shooting Star and helped James try to catch Sirius.

And this is how Violet found the three children later that afternoon:

Lily, hovering below Sirius, who was trapped in a corner of the stadium, his head mere centimeters from the ceiling with James right beside him, trying to snatch a piece of paper from his hand.

"Dare I ask what you all are doing?" Violet called in amusement. All of their heads snapped her way, except for James's. He snatched the picture from Sirius and dove to the ground.

"Yes!" Lily let out a cheer of joy and sped to the ground as well. "James, let me do the honors."

James grinned at her and handed her the photo. She ripped it ceremoniously into hundreds of tiny little pieces.

Sirius landed next to them, looking defeated. James and Lily gave each other high-fives and began walking to Violet.

"Lily, you're a great flyer when you don't think about it," he complemented.

Lily blushed. "I've decided I like flying." James grinned at her knowingly.

"Well, it seems you have had an interesting afternoon. I'm sorry James, but your mother just popped in to take you home," said Violet.

"Oh, ok, I'll go get my stuff. Coming, Sirius?" He grinned at the black- haired boy.

"Yeah, I'll be up in a second," he called. James and Lily trooped out of the stadium.

"Violet, will you do me a favor?" he whispered anxiously.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Repair that photo, please." He gestured to the pile of shredded photo.

"Alright," she looked at him curiously, but then pointed her wand at it and shouted, "Reparo!" The picture's pieces sprang back together immediately.

Violet knelt down and picked it up. She burst out laughing, and handed it to Sirius.

"Can I have a copy?"

~*~*~*~*

At breakfast one morning, about two weeks into summer break, the entire family sat around the table, enjoying the beautiful, sunny, Saturday.

Orion was telling them a funny story about a hag he had encountered in the Leaky Cauldron, when an owl swooped in from the dining room window. He dropped the letter into Orion's bacon, took some for itself, and set off again.

Orion opened the letter, looked at it confusedly for a minute, and read it over again.

"What is it dear?" Violet asked. He wordlessly handed the letter over to her and her face creased with worry as she read it.

"But, surely it can't be that bad if he wants the children with us?" Ella, who had been cleaning the counters, walked over and read the letter as well. The adults had a hushed conversation until Celeste called out, "Daddy, tell us the rest of the story!"

"I will later, pumpkin. Now we have to go and get ready, because Professor Dumbledore is coming to visit us," he said while patting her hair.

"Why?" Lily asked curiously.

"Well, he says here that it's a matter of the utmost importance and to make sure the children are present."

"When's he coming?" Sirius asked through a mouthful of pancakes.

"Sirius, dear, don't talk with your mouth open. He's coming around eleven o' clock." Violet said.

"Yes, and zat means yoo need to go and geet ready! Shoo!" Ella brandished her cloth at them threateningly; they scampered off to their rooms.

While Celeste ran ahead of them, Lily and Sirius walked at a slower pace.

"Siri, what do you think-" Lily began.

"I have no idea," he cut her off.

After getting dressed, they waited in the living room for Dumbledore. He arrived at eleven o' clock on the dot.

"Good morning, Blacks!" he said cheerily. "And Evans," he added to Lily with a smile. "Happy Fourth of July!"

They looked at him blankly. He chuckled and elaborated, "American holiday. It's when they gained their freedom from Great Britain."

Orion chuckled. "Well, Albus, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?"

Dumbledore's face sobered. "May I sit down?" He gestured to the nearest arm chair.

"Oh, yes, please," Violet said hurriedly, her face and tone very anxious.

"Violet, have you and Orion ever heard of Lord Voldemort?" Dumbledore said, the twinkle in his piercing blue eyes almost extinguished.

"Well, yes, he's that man who killed all those Muggles in Kent and of course, we have all heard of how he tortured and killed that Muggle family who had a witch daughter. Wasn't he a seventh year when we were in first year? And why, Albus?" Orion said, with a confused expression.

"Yes, he was a seventh year Slytherin when you were in your first year. Unfortunately, he is growing to be a very serious threat." He focused his eyes on Violet's anxious face. "Violet, I am telling you this straight out. We have reason to believe, although we are not sure, that he has current possession of the Staff of Metrusia."

Violet fainted dead away. Orion, extremely white, crouched down next to her. He lifted her onto the couch and turned back to Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore, are - is this a joke?" He said hoarsely.

"I'm afraid not, Orion," said Dumbledore sadly. Orion stared. "And that is why I am here. I think it is best if we revive Violet. This is a matter of utmost importance, as I said in my letter." He pointed his wand a Violet and muttered "Ennervate!" under his breath.

Violet sat shakily up, her face deathly pale.

"Violet, please try and listen. This is important." He extracted two sheets of glowing gold parchment.

"Oh, Albus!" Ella exclaimed as she stood up.

"Now, see here, Albus, don't you think this is a little rash?" Orion asked angrily as he got up to face Dumbledore.

"No, not at all," Dumbledore said seriously, his blue eyes piercing into Orion's dark ones.

"Would anyone mind telling us what this is all about?!" Sirius demanded angrily. All four adults turned to face Sirius, Celeste, and Lily. They had forgotten the children were present.

"Mr. Black, do you know what the Staff of Metrusia is?" Dumbledore asked Sirius.

"No idea," Sirius said honestly, blunt as usual.

"Sirius!" Lily exclaimed shrilly. "We did that in History of Magic on our first day!"

Sirius gave her a look that clearly said, "Do you actually think I paid attention?"

"Lily, would you be so kind as to inform Sirius what the Staff of Metrusia is?"

Everyone was staring at her. Lily tried not to think about her fear and explained to Sirius what the Staff of Metrusia was. "Metrusia was an evil Dark wizard who wanted the Adviser at the time - I don't remember his name - to move to the Dark side, since the Imperious Curse doesn't work on them. But the Adviser refused, so Metruisa made this staff and the words to start the spell that will place the Adviser totally under someone's control are written on the staff." Lily finished, looking full of herself.

"Oh," was all Sirius managed to squeak out.

"Very good, Lily," Dumbledore praised.

"Thank you," said Lily, blushing slightly. She glanced curiously at the glowing pieces of parchment. She turned her attention back to Dumbledore. "Why are those pieces of parchment glowing gold?"

"These are the sheets of parchment that witches and wizards use to write up their last wills and testimonies on. It becomes legal instantly when they die, and it will never diminish or become invalid," Dumbledore explained gently.

"You - you really think they're in that much trouble?" Lily asked in a small voice.

"Yes, Lily, I do. I wouldn't ask them to do this if I weren't one hundred percent sure. So, let's begin, shall we?"

They worked for many long hours. Violet awarded Lily full custody of the Wellington mansion and she would inherit Violet's fortune. But, by far the hardest decision was where the children would go if anything was to happen to Violet and Orion. Orion immediately said that the Potter's would take Celeste and Sirius, since they were their godparents. He also said that Lily would be welcome there as well, but Violet wasn't sure. They argued over who would become her guardian for a while, until Ella stepped forward.

"Madame, I am willing to become Mademoiselle Lilee's guardian," she said quietly. Violet and Orion looked up at her in shock. "It would bee a great honor, as you know I cannot 'ave children." Ella looked hopefully at Violet.

"Oh, Ella!" Violet, overcome with emotion, hugged Ella. She had tears streaming down her face. "Would you? It would be perfect. I can think of no one else I would rather ask." **

"Of course I will, Madame. I love Lilee as if she were my own, like yoo do."

Lily sat there, in a state of semi-shock. Life would be miserable without Violet, but she knew that Ella would take care of her. She knew that they would get along fine. She wordlessly got up and hugged Ella and Violet. They stayed in each other's embrace for a long time, never wanting to let go.

~*~*~*~*

Lily's twelfth birthday arrived on July sixteenth. Not only was it her birthday, but it also marked the one-year anniversary of Lily being "rescued" by Violet. If someone had told her, exactly a year ago, that she would one day have a family who loved her, let alone her being a witch, she would have thought them insane.

Lily got up happily, dressed, and ran down the stairs two at a time.

"Morning, Lils," Sirius said normally.

"Morning, Sirius. Where's Celeste?" she asked as she poured herself some orange juice.

"Celeste? Oh, I think she went out with Violet," he replied off-handily.

Lily's spirits sank. Oh well, she thought, Violet will be here later...

"Where's Orion, then?"

"Dad went to work. Duh, Lily."

"Oh." Her spirits sank even lower, if possible.

"Morning, Lilee, Sirius," Ella greeted as she strode into the kitchen.

"Erm, hi, Ella." Lily got up abruptly from the table. "What day is it?"

"Ze sixteenth of July, Mademoiselle Lilee.Why?" Ella asked curiously.

"No reason," Lily bit down on her trembling lip. She felt the unmistakable prickling at the corners of her eyes that signaled the tears were coming. Surely they hadn't all forgotten about her birthday?

"Oh! Lilee and Sirius, I 'ave to take you to Diagon Alley today. We 'ave to get yoor schoolbooks," Ella said.

"But, Ella, I made plans to go with Gwen next week!" Lily cried. This was icing on the cake, and it was all she could do to not burst into tears.
"I am sorry, but we 'ave to go today," Ella said firmly.

"Well, can I at least Floo Gwen and cancel?"

"No, zere eez no time.We are going now," Ella said briskly. She walked out of the kitchen and Sirius followed obediently.

"Sirius!" Lily called as she caught up with him. "I though that you were going to go with James next week, too!"

"No, James cancelled, so Violet decided we should spend some time together with Ella and go today." He didn't look the least bit bothered.

"Sirius, what's-"

"'Ere, you go first, Mademoiselle." Ella gave Lily a pinch of Floo Powder and lit the fire.

~*~*~*~*

When they got home, late that afternoon, laden with shopping bags, Lily was laughing along with Ella at the story Sirius was telling. She was happy on the outside, but definitely not on the inside.

Lily said hello to Violet, Orion, and Celeste, who were sitting in the living room, and they all responded back normally.

She walked slowly and forlornly up the stairs to her room. They hadn't forgotten Sirius' birthday, she thought miserably, and they didn't even get to see him! It was in December!

She set her shopping bags down and sat on her bed. She tried to ignore the signs of tears, but they came.

She was lying on her bed, still weeping silently but very hard some time later, when-

"Lily! It's time for dinner!" Violet's voice called. She glanced at the clock. Now, that was odd. It read, "It's Not Time for Dinner Yet So Stop Wondering!"

Lily got up slowly and walked into her bathroom. She looked horrible. Her eyes were all puffy and red. She splashed water on them and dried her face. It helped, but not a lot.

She walked down the stairs and into the dining room. That was really odd. The lights were off!

"Violet!?" No answer. She stepped into the room a bit more. "Orion! Celeste!" Still no answer. "Sirius?"She stepped in a bit more, and-

"SURPRISE!" The lights flickered on, to reveal that the room was filled with people. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LILY!"

Lily gasped. Streamers, glitter, and confetti fell from the ceiling, and a large banner unfolded that said, "Happy Birthday, Lily!" in bright green letters.

"Oh my!"

Violet hugged her tightly, followed by tons more people: Gwen, squealing madly, Orion, Celeste, Harry and Katharine Potter, Elizabeth and George Watson, The Lupin's, Ella, Cookie, Hayley, Mary Katherine, Peter, Sirius, Remus, and lastly, James.

It was the best night of Lily's life. They ate a sumptuous meal, followed by a huge cake, and then she opened her many presents. Ella and Sirius apologized many times for pointedly ignoring her birthday. ("I almost burst into tears when yoo asked me what day eet was!")

She went to bed that night, truly content. Nothing could bother her, not even the growing threat of Lord Voldemort.