Lily Evans: A History

Lily Evans, A History
Chapter 25 - St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries
By: Bethany
Rated: PG
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"Pull it up gently, so you don't harm the roots in any way. Then place it down in the ground like this, and fill it in with this potting soil. Water it, a bit, as well, when you're done."

Lily mimicked the instructions her father was giving her and patted the soil around the base of the miniature rose bush to make it strong enough to hold up the plant. Then with a small watering can, she poured a bit of water on the soil, so it could reach the roots and then moved over to the next hole. Her father sat on the ground beside her, digging holes large enough to place the plants he had pre-grown in his greenhouse. They worked side by side, Daniel digging and Lily planting the roses. And Lily couldn't help but notice, that when Daniel was sitting on the ground, as he was now, that everything seemed almost normal. The way it was before the car accident that had taken the ability of her father's legs away. She imagined this was why Daniel spent all of his time gardening. For a sense of normality.

Lily leaned back on her knees, wiping her arm across her forehead to rid it of the line of sweat that had accumulated there. The summer sun was beating down on them brightly, but not overly so. She readjusted the hat on her head, to block the sun from giving her an interesting sun burn on the back of her neck, and surveyed their work. So far a line of beautiful miniature pink and red rose bushes were winding their way around the side of the house and towards the front door.

"I thought about planting some geraniums along the pavements. I have a nice amount of violet ones in the greenhouse that would compliment these roses well," Daniel said, interrupting the comfortable silence that had fallen over them.

"Do you want me to go get them?" Lily asked, pausing in watering the rose bush before her to peer over at her father.

"No, let's finish here," Daniel replied, smiling slightly at his daughter and continuing to dig in the soil beneath them. Lily smiled back and went back to planting, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of the Earth between her fingers and the satisfaction that came with seeing how beautiful the line of flowers behind her was. "So," Daniel said, breaking the silence, but not looking up. "Do you do anything like this at school?"

It was the first time in a very long time that Daniel had asked Lily about her school. Since his and Christine's visit to Hogwarts the year before, her father had avoided the subject of Lily being a witch almost as much as Petunia avoided Lily. The red head hadn't thought much about it, until recently. But still, her father hadn't seemed uneasy in her presence, so it hadn't bothered her. After all, it took some getting used to; the fact that your wife's family had a history of magic and suddenly one day you find that your daughter is a witch. Lily could understand the confusion.

"Actually, yes, but with magical plants. I have a Herbology class where we learn about different plants and how to care for them."

"Herbology, hmm?" Daniel said, moving over a bit so Lily could continuing planting. "Sounds interesting."

"It is," Lily confirmed, flashing a smile at her father. "Though I like these kind of plants better. They don't bite."

Daniel chuckled, shaking his head. Lily wasn't sure if it was because of what she said, or if he thought she was joking. Tensely, she continued. "We repotted Mandrakes once, ugh," Lily snorted in disgust. "They were ugly."

"Mandrakes?" Daniel asked, leaning back and looking at Lily to see if perhaps he should laugh or not.

"The leaves looked normal enough, but when we pulled them up, the roots looked like ugly babies. Only they were, well, really ugly. And they cried. Only, if you heard them cry, it could kill you. We wore ear muffs that blocked it all out, though."

Daniel looked a bit startled by this news, but then only shook his head in amazement and bent down to gather up their supplies. He glanced up at the sky and then towards the house. "It's about dinner time, your mother should be calling for us soon." He turned and fastened his eyes to Lily's. "I'm glad you came out here to help me with these today. I don't feel like I get to see you much anymore." He gave her a lopsided smile that reminded Lily sorely of how she remembered her father when she was young. "I miss my little girl."

Lily smiled, but felt as if she was fighting back tears. With a chest full of emotion that felt like it would rip her chest apart, she leaned forward and hugged him. "I'll always be your little girl, Daddy. Always."

"Lily! Daniel! Dinner!"

"Coming Chris!" Daniel called as Lily knelt back on her knees. Daniel reached up and brushed a piece of shining red hair from Lily's face. "You're growing up so fast. I'm so proud of you."

Lily wasn't sure what to say, but she knew that if her father didn't stop talking, she would cry. There was a happy pain in his eyes. That came from having a child, and watching her grow up to be her own person. She hoped that she would know what it felt like one day, to see her children grown and making their own way. She smiled and kissed Daniel's cheek before standing. "I'll carry this to the greenhouse, shall I?"

"Sure," Daniel said, pulling himself over so he could get back in his wheelchair.

Lily paused around the corner to make sure he didn't have any difficulty getting back in his chair, and then went around to store their gardening supplies. As she came back through the back garden, she glanced up at the sky, where the full moon was just visible through the evening haze. She closed her eyes briefly and was suddenly assaulted with the sound of a powerful howl. When she reopened her eyes, she was standing back on the Hogwarts grounds, only it was completely dark.

For a second, Lily couldn't understand what her vision was showing her. The grounds seemed peaceful and silent, except for the howl that was now so faint that Lily couldn't tell if she was hearing it or if it was just the memory of the one she had heard. And then, just to her left, the branches of the Whomping Willow stopped, frozen, and the silhouette of a person climbing down in it's trunk was just visible from the light of the moon. Then the tree began trashing once more.

Lily stood, petrified to the spot. Who had that been? If the full moon was already out, then Remus was down there. He was a werewolf! Whoever that was could be bitten, or killed! Lily turned, as if to go to the castle to warn someone, when the side doors flew open and someone ran out of the castle. As Lily watched, the person approached the Whomping Willow, never seeming to slow down. Just before he was within reach of the giant branches, they stopped moving.

But nothing could have prepared Lily for what she saw next. Within the matter of a few seconds, the boy vanished, to be replaced by a beautiful white stag with huge antlers. It ran straight at the tree trunk and disappeared within it's hidden chambers.

Lily's heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her head. None of what she had seen made any sense. The only animagi at Hogwarts was Professor McGonagall. But she was a cat, not a stag. Lily's head pounded with her heart, making her hurt so bad that she felt her knees would buckle. And they did. The ground came at her quickly, rushing to up meet her vision and then...

Lily blinked, a groan escaping her lips as she did. The blue sky filled her vision, mixed with pink and orange hues as the sun dipped beyond the horizon, making way for the full moon to rise. Lily blinked again and attempted to sit up. The house seemed terribly far away, when she could have swore it was only a few feet. Her head still pounding, Lily moved to sit up, and then closed her eyes as her vision swayed and the world seemed to topple sideways.

"Lily! Hurry u--oh!" From seemly far away, Lily seen her mother rushing out the back door of the house and towards her. In what seemed no more than a second, though, Christine was leaning beside her. "Lily? What's wrong? Did you trip?"

Lily shook her head, but regretted it almost as once. The pain in her head wouldn't stop. Of all the visions Lily had, this was one for the record book. Never had a headache lasted this long, or the lingering of the vision stayed so close within her grasp. It was like it was trying to imprint itself behind her lids, so that every time she closed her eyes, she seen the stag charging at the Whomping Willow. "Lily?"

"I'm fine, Mum," Lily heard herself saying, though it wasn't the truth. Exactly. Physically, she supposed she was fine. But mentally, she thought she could do with a well brewed headache potion. "I just got dizzy, that's all."

"You look like you have a nasty cut on your head, Lily. Are you sure you're all right?" Christine asked worriedly, helping Lily to her feet. Lily felt the side of her head where blood was oozing down her cheek from a gash on the side of her head. "That is terribly deep," Christine noted, her voice higher pitched than a moment before.

"Wish I could go to the infirmary," Lily muttered distractedly, walking towards the house as her mother hovered over her protectively. "Madam Pomfrey could mend it with a wave of her wand."

Christine bit her lip as if she was going to say something, but changed her mind. She helped Lily to sit down in the kitchen and grabbed a cloth that she ran under water and started trying to clean the wound. "I'm fine, Mum," Lily insisted, pulling away from the warm cloth her mother held.

"Let me clean it, Lily, so I can see how deep it is. You may need stitches." Christine hovered insistedly until Lily gave in and allowed her to clean it. The skin in and around the wound was very sensitive, and Lily pulled away more than once, but Christine only moved closer. "Oh, dear, there's a piece of wood. You must have cut it on a stick or something. We should probably take you to a doctor...."

"Mum," Lily groaned. "They'll leave a scar if they stitch it. Can't you fire call Olivia or Kassie's aunt or someone?"

The words were no more out of her mouth than Lily realized how they sounded and wished she could take them back. Christine pursed her lips, not angrily, but sadly. And Lily realized that Christine would probably would have done anything to have the magic to heal Lily's wound and not leave a mark. But all she could do was suggest a doctor.

After all, she was only a Muggle.

Lily swallowed. "I'm sure it doesn't need stitches, Mum. Just pull the wood pieces out and clean it. Perhaps some antiseptic ointment?"

"Eh, yes," Christine replied, handing the cloth to Lily. "I'll just run upstairs and get some." And before Lily could open her mouth to reply, Christine had slipped down the hall and out of sight. Lily sighed, shaking her head. Which once again, she wished she hadn't done.

Lily held the cloth to her head to prevent the blood from dripping down her face. Which, had she had a mirror, she would have realized it wasn't bleeding all that freely now. She sat in the chair, staring out at the full moon as it rose higher in the sky, casting its rays over the Earth. Lily had just began, once again, to examine her vision for hints of what it could mean, when her mother returned.

Followed by Olivia Potter.

Lily at once felt sad and relieved to see James' mother standing in the doorway. She hurried over, following Christine, and prying Lily's fingers away from the wound on her head. "Hi dear," Olivia said, whipping her head to the side a bit to move her black hair away from her face.

"Hi," Lily replied sheepishly.

Olivia smiled slightly and pulled the cloth back from the gash on the side of Lily's head. Lily heard her soft intake of breath. "Oh, Lily, dear, how did you do this? It looks almost as bad as the time James fell off that blasted broomstick when he was nine." She glanced up at Christine. "I sometimes don't know what gets into those boys when they start playing around like that. Taking their lives in their own hands." She tutted softly and began examining the wound again. "Is that a piece of wood? You weren't flying, were you, Lily?"

"No, I tripped in the backyard and must have fallen on a stick," Lily lied, closing her eyes so that perhaps no one would see the lie staring at them. She swallowed. "Is it bad?"

"I don't think a simple healing spell will get it, dear," Olivia replied tartly. She gnawed on her bottom lip for a moment. "Might have to take you up to St. Mungo's."

Lily's eyes grew wide. "Is it that bad?"

Beside them, Christine was having a fit. "What's that? Where is it?"

Olivia smiled warmly at Christine, which seemed to bring her down a couple of notches on the hysteria scale. "It's our hospital. It shouldn't take very long. Do you want me to take her? Only, I could try to fix it," Olivia pointed her wand at the cloth and steam rippled up from it. She placed it gently back on Lily's head. "But it may scar. And I'm not sure how deep it is, because of the wood piece."

Lily was now very anxious to see this wound on the side of her head. Her head was still throbbing fit to kill, but she couldn't imagine it being so bad that she would need a Healer to fix it. She must have looked a bit fearful, because Olivia patted her shoulder gently. "It's not that bad, Lily. I just don't want to take chances. It is very close to your temple. I've fixed lots of injuries, what with Sirius and James running about. But both of them have a few bit of scars to show for it, as well." She chuckled. "You probably don't want an ugly scar on the side of your head. Shall we go?"

As if just realizing that there was more voices in the house, out of the side of her eye, Lily saw Daniel wheel himself into the kitchen. He gave a moment's start of surprise before smiling fondly at Olivia. "What a surprise," he said, wheeling himself closer. "How good to see you, Olivia. How are the boys?"

"Mischievous as ever," Olivia replied, busing herself with cleaning the dried blood off the side of Lily's face. "When I left, it was quiet. I daresay I may not have a home to return to, they might have blown it up."

"Come now," Daniel chuckled. "James seems to have a bit more sense about him than that."

"It's not James I'm worried about," Olivia admitted, straightening up just as Christine returned to the room, holding Lily's cloak and her own jumper. "It's Sirius and James put together."

Daniel laughed, but it was cut off shortly by his notice that Christine was helping Lily to fasten her cloak. He blinked in a confused manner. "Are you going somewhere?"

Lily turned in her seat, still holding the warm cloth to her head. "St. Mungo's," she muttered. Her headache intensified as she stood. "I seem to have done quite a number on my head."

"Is it that bad?" Daniel asked worriedly. Lily seen Petunia standing just inside the doorway to the dinning room, listening.

Christine gave her husband a nervous smile, but said nothing. Olivia helped Lily to stand. "It's nothing life threatening, I would just feel better if a Healer looked at it."

"A Healer, you say?" Daniel's head perked up. "Is that like a doctor?"

"Well, sort of," Olivia replied. She steered Lily towards the living room where the largest fireplace was. "Do you feel up to Floo Powder, dear? If you're head is hurting too badly, there are other ways to get to the hospital. Though they take a bit longer."

"Actually," Lily eyed the fireplace doubtfully. Her head was still throbbing, and she wasn't sure a quick spin in a fireplace or two would help at all. But she didn't have a proper chance to answer, her mother seemed to have thought of something.

"How do you Floo?" Christine asked, eyeing the small container above the mantel with distrust.

Olivia blinked in a confused manner and bit her bottom lip softly. "I-I'm not sure that you can, Christine," the witch replied. "I think only witches and wizards can.. You may get burned."

Lily immediately felt very, very sorry all of this had happened. Her mother's face fell and she looked as if it wouldn't take much for her to actually cry. Olivia shifted uncomfortably, obviously knowing how she would feel if James was hurt and she couldn't accompany him to the hospital. "I'm sorry, Christine. I could firecall Harold, and ask him. But I'm almost sure I'm right. You can't use Floo Powder. I-I don't even think you can go to Mungo's."

"But that's coswallop!" Christine declared, her voice rising. Lily winced. "How do other--other kids like Lily, how do their parents take them to hospitals? Or these Healers? Lily shouldn't be denied the treatment her kind has, just because I'm--and Daniel--because we aren't... magical."

Olivia was biting her lip again, and Lily faintly remembered James doing the same thing during his Transfiguration final. Suddenly she took a pinch of the glittering powder from the vase on the mantel and threw it into the fire. It roared up with sparkling green flames and Olivia bent down to her knees, sticking her head through. Her head was gone for a few minutes. And all the while Lily, Christine, Daniel (and Lily's suspected Petunia was somewhere near-by) seen nothing but Olivia's body from her shoulders back, leaning on their floor. Just when Lily was beginning to worry that Olivia's head was some how stuck in the fire and couldn't get out, James' mother suddenly pulled her head from the fire and the flames died once more. "I hate doing that," she said to no one in particular, shaking her head a bit. She stood up, dusting her robes off. "Harold said the same thing I did, that you can't Floo. But the good news is, you can come to St. Mungo's with us. If we go by the front entrance."

"Then it's settled," Christine replied abruptly. "How do we get to this front entrance?"

*******

Lily's headache had dulled to nothing more an occasional stabbing sort of pain by the time they drove into London. The neighbors had given Olivia an odd look when they left the house, mainly due to the (rather fashionable, Lily knew from reading Witch Weekly) deep red robes she wore. They didn't seem to notice Lily's cloak, so much as the robes. And they didn't notice either very long, because Christine rushed them into the car and off they headed to London. They stopped in front of a shopping district that was scarcely populated at this time of the evening and got out of the car. Christine looked around in a confused manner, but Olivia seem to know exactly where she was going, because she walked purposely up to Purge and Dowse, Ltd; a store that was closed for refurbishment.

Christine threw Lily a questioning look, but she only shrugged in response. Lily had not been to St Mungo's any more than Christine had. So together they followed Olivia to the front of the store, to a window showing an ugly female dummy wearing a green muggle dress went out of style quite a few years before. Olivia looked around a bit, beckoned Christine and Lily closer, and said in a soft whisper, "We're here to see a Healer."

Lily couldn't exactly tell why Olivia was talking to the dummy, as if she honestly expected it to answer. So one could only imagine her shock when the dummy nodded her head, turned her wrist and Olivia nodded her thanks. "Come on," she said, grabbing Lily's arm and steering her towards the window.

Olivia walked purposely towards the window and straight through the glass. Lily blinked, but didn't have much time to think before she, too, was pulled through. Christine followed, her eyes as large as saucers. The other side of the glass was not exactly what Lily had been expecting. She found herself in a large waiting room of sorts that contained a reception desk and walls that were covered in moving pictures showing everyone from Mungo Bonham (the founder of the hospital) to Healers that had worked at the hospital. Olivia consulted a floor guide that was before them. "Hmm," she muttered, scanning the list of floors and what areas of injury they covered. "I'm not sure. Perhaps we'll just ask."

Christine and Lily (still holding the wet cloth to the side of her head) followed the black haired witch to the reception desk where a portly looking witch in lime green robes was talking to a man who was speaking in a language Lily hadn't heard before. The witch hadn't seem to have ever heard it, either.

"I'm sorry, you'll have to speak English," the witch said in an exasperated tone, looking ready to pull her hair out. "Start again, and slowly."

In a slow tone that drawled on, the wizard said clearly, "Ti odnu tnac I dna em desruc rehtorb ym!"

The witch looked exasperated. "Did it have to do with a wand?" She held her hands up quickly. "Just nod!" The man nodded quickly. "All right. Fourth floor." The man walked away and the witch took a deep breath and turned to Olivia. "May I help you?"

Olivia chuckled appreciatively. "Yes." She pulled Lily up beside her. "She tripped and fell outside, and there is a piece of wood embedded in this cut. And this didn't seem to be described in any of the wards," Olivia waved her hand to the floor guide. "Could you direct us?"

The witch threw a sympathetic look to Lily and checked a piece of parchment before her. "If you'll have a seat, I'll have a Healer out in a moment to see you. Next, please."

Lily turned and nearly ran into a man being levitated by another man's wand. He looked to have sprouted several branches out over his body. The man holding the wand opened his mouth, but the witch cut him off. "Through that door," she directed, pointing to the hall that was clearly marked Ground Floor: Artifact Accidents.

Lily, Christine and Olivia crossed the lobby and sat in a few squashy armchairs. Lily's headache had went from bad to possibly numb, or perhaps she had learned to ignore it in the hour or so since it happened. Instead of dwelling on the pain (and running the risk of making it worse) Lily concentrated on her surroundings. St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries was the replica of what Lily had thought a wizarding hospital might be like. The walls were covered in moving paintings of past Healers and information guides on how to prevent injuries, spells you can do at home for common injuries and other guides on things such as cauldron safety (Only you can prevent potion explosions!) and plant safety (Don't let your plant get the bite out of you!). A large emblem covered the wall behind the reception desk of a wand and a bone crossed over one another.

Lily had just picked up a book on the table beside her (How to Undo What You Didn't Mean to Do) when a short witch with long blonde hair came over. She wore lime green robes (which Lily thought must be the uniform robe) with an apron tied around her waist with different instruments and small bottles of potion stuffed down in the pockets. "Who is injured?"

Lily raised her hand meekly and the Healer bustled over. She pulled her wand from the pocket of her apron and gently pulled back the cloth Lily was still pressing firmly to her cut. The Healer didn't looked surprised at all, and immediately Lily felt like her mother (and Olivia) may have been making a big fuss over nothing. Maybe it was something parents were designed to do. Lily remembered her mother panicking over Petunia's broken nose a few years ago. So caught up in her thoughts, Lily was startled when the Healer pointed her wand at Lily's head and said, "Relegario!" Just as quickly, she flicked her wand, and said, "Appropinaquo!"

The feeling of the skin coming together felt rather strange, like something had taken a hold of each side of the cut and were fusing them back together one skin cell at a time. Lily didn't care for the feeling, it was like something was inside her skin poking around. In a few seconds, though, it was over, and the Healer tilted Lily's head. "Lumos." She inspected the area for a few seconds and then said "Nox" before pocketing her wand. "There you go, dear, just like new."

As if to make sure for herself, Lily felt of the side of her head and then smiled. "Thank you."

"That's it?" Christine asked, blinking. She looked half impressed, and half like she was waiting for someone to yell "Fooled you!" and do something else. The Healer nodded. "That's it."

"Thank you," Olivia said to the witch, who nodded once more and hurried off to help a wizard who had run in, trying to fight off a book that seem to be latched onto his arm. "Shall we go?" she questioned Christine, who was watching the Healers lead the man off with a look of fascination on her face.

********

The ride back to Little Whinging was rather uneventful, and Lily was especially glad to be home as she had missed dinner in light of the run to the hospital, and was starving. Christine thanked Olivia profusely for coming over, and then going with them to St. Mungo's. Olivia assured them that it was nothing, and Apparated, promising to say hello to James and Sirius for Lily. Two and a half hours after she had started in for dinner, Lily finally found herself sitting at the kitchen table with her mother, eating left over, re-heated roast and potatoes.

Stomach pleasantly full, Lily stood and placed her plate in the sink. Yawning, she stretched her arms up. "I think I'll head off to bed. Goodnight, Mum."

"Goodnight, dear," Christine said, already filling the sink with soapy water to wash their few dishes. Lily thought she would have left them there until morning, but Christine never left a dirty dish in the sink. She said her mother never did it, and neither would she. Lily thought she would have.

As Lily passed Petunia's bedroom door on the way to her own, her older sister opened the door silently and stood there smirking at her. Ignoring her, Lily continuing into her room and began digging through her drawers for her gown. Petunia followed. Finally finding the gown she was looking for, Lily laid it out on the bed and removed her shoes. "If you don't stop, you're face will stay like that forever," Lily commented in the tone of one discussing the weather.

"This came for you," Petunia spat, throwing a letter to the floor in front of Lily. It had been ripped open, and not discreetly.

Lily felt a sour acid burning in her throat as she bent to pick up the letter. The parchment had been stuffed back in the envelope so haphazardly that it was nearly impossible to straighten back out. Curse words (of either a vulgar kind or the kind that needed a wand, Lily wasn't sure) rose to her tongue, but when she looked back up, Petunia had gone. Slamming her bedroom door closed, Lily sat down roughly on her bed and pulled the parchment open. Tears of frustration filled her eyes, but she bit them back and forced herself to read her best friend’s letter.

Lily,

Konnichi wa!
Guess what?! I'm in Japan! My Aunt Wanda has some friends here, so
we're visiting. It's beautiful! I'm sure you were wondering why I
hadn't answered your last letter. I'm sorry! It was a last minute trip
and I'm sure it took Morgana a few days longer to find me. I didn't
want to keep her long, so I'm using one of the local owls here to
reply. I bought your birthday present, but it's too large to send by
owl. I'll have to give it to you when I return. We won't be back until
August 28th, and then we'll go to Diagon Alley for school supplies. Can
you make it then? I'm sorry I won't be there for your birthday, but I
hope it's a happy one. Don't let Petunia get you down, just a few more
weeks and you'll be rid of her for another year!

Let me know about Diagon Alley!

Love,
Kassie

Lily suddenly understood why Petunia had been so angry about this letter. Lily folded it as best she could and placed it back in the envelope. "Serves her right, reading my post," she muttered, placing the letter in her trunk with the rest of her belongings that she didn't want Petunia in. It was just like her horrid sister to get in her post while she was at the hospital. Lily peeked out her window in search of Morgana, to see if Petunia had harassed her, but then remembered that Kassie had used a local owl to reply. Sighing, Lily changed into her gown and climbed into bed after marking another day off on her calendar making it only fourteen days until she returned to Hogwarts.

*******

"Rise and shine birthday girl!"

Lily groaned and pulled her periwinkle blue blanket over her head, muffling the sound of her mother as she came into the room. "Come on! Up you get!" Lily heard her rattling around and the redhead peeked out from beneath her blanket to see what it was her mother was up to. She found Christine pulling open the curtains and pushing the windows open. The sun blazed in the room and Lily yanked the blanket back over her head.

"MUM! Blimey, it's my birthday! Can't a girl get some beauty sleep?"

"You don't need it," Christine replied in a sing-song voice and exited the room. She poked her head back in. "Be down in twenty minutes, ok?" And the door promptly shut behind her.

Lily tried to go back to sleep. She had been having a wonderful dream where she had been dancing with a tall man with dark hair. She remembered how peaceful and wonderful it felt, in his arms. Granted, in reality she couldn't dance, so that might have been what made the dream so wonderful. Either way, she was trying with all her might to return to the dream, but the birds outside the window were being extremely loud. And with all the racket they had been making, she wondered how she had been sleeping at all. Blurry eyed and yawning, Lily gathered up some clothes and stumbled down the hall to the bathroom.

By the time she had showered, dressed and dried her hair the muggle way, nearly forty-five minutes had passed. Lily had never really thought about how much time it saved when she used magic to dry her hair until she returned home. Then it seemed to take forever. A bit more awake after a hot shower, though, and Lily began to feel slightly excited about it being her birthday. She nearly ran down the stairs and flung open the door to the kitchen.

But it was empty.

"Mum? Dad?" she called, checking the dining room. The family never had breakfast in the dining room, always opting for the smaller kitchen table, but there was a first time for everything. But the dining room was also empty. More than just a bit suspicious, Lily wondered through the side door of the dining room and into the living room, to find it empty as well. In fact, it seemed the entire house was empty. Which could only mean one thing. Lily ran through the house, through the doorway in the kitchen and out into the back garden where her suspicions were proved correct.

"Happy birthday, Lily!"

Assembled in the back garden of her home was her mother, father, James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, Kassie, Alexis, Madison, and Olivia. Slightly dumbstruck, Lily paused to take in the scene. Balloons were tied everywhere, streams decorated the table and fence and James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were blowing balloons with Droobles Best Blowing Gum causing large different colors balloons to float lazy around the yard before disappearing into the sky.

"I think we've shocked her," she heard Kassie saying as the black haired girl approached. "Don't need another trip to St. Mungo's, do you?"

Lily snapped her head around to Kassie and rolled her eyes. "Who told you about that?" At once James and Sirius raised their hands. Lily laughed. "I should have known. And you! Sending me a letter saying you were in Japan!" Lily hugged her best friend furiously then beamed around at everyone. "This is such a surprise!"

"That was the idea," Sirius said and James elbowed him hard in the ribs.

James chuckled as he dodged Sirius' fist. "Sirius is such a master of the obvious," he said in mock tones of seriousness. Remus and Peter jumped out of the way as Sirius gave James chase. The two didn't make it very far, as they nearly plowed into Olivia, who had her hand on her hips. "Sorry Mum," the boys said together, then grinned broadly at the black haired witch.

At Kassie's side, Lily greeted everyone else. She hugged each of the boys (including a blushing Remus) and then Alexis and Madison. "I'm so glad you came, too!" she told Alexis, grinning from ear to ear. "And you," she added, hugging Madison in turn.

"That would be me," Kassie said proudly, putting her hands on her hips and looking insufferably proud of herself. "Your Mum and I have been planning this for two weeks. Gabrielle and Kathleen sent a card, I think, but they're still in America until next week."

"For someone who has been in Japan, you've been doing a lot," Lily noted, smiling none the less.

"I was in Japan, your present is from there. I only just got back two days ago," Kassie explained. "Speaking of presents, come on! You've got a ton!"

Because everyone wanted her to open presents first, Lily obliged and dug into the large pile of presents laid out on a table near the cake that read Happy 14th Birthday Lily! in white letters on purple icing. Lily couldn't help but remember her last birthday. It was the first time Vernon had had dinner with her family. She pushed these thoughts from her head forcibly and concentrated on the task at hand.

Kassie had indeed got Lily something in Japan. It was a beautiful set of dress robes that witches wore there; the fabric was silk and had a very beautiful design that Kassie explained was "All the fashion" in Tokyo at the moment. Alexis had gotten her a watch, but instead of working like muggle watches, this one had only one hand and instead of numbers, there was words that said things like "Time to sleep" and "You're late!" Madison got her a witches dairy, that actually talked back to you when wrote in it. Olivia brought her a emerald green jumper; her Dad a gardening book that showed ways that magical herbs and fertilizer could help muggle plants grow. Christine had presented Lily with a box that had a air hole in it, and delightedly Lily pulled out a smoke grey kitten with four white paws. A large yellow bow was wrapped around it's neck.

"Wow, Mum!" Lily breathed, cuddling the kitten close. "Thank you so much!"

"And last, but not least," Sirius boomed out, holding up a large box with an even larger name tag on it that read To Lily, From The Marauders. "The best gift here," he announced, setting it in front of Lily and stepping back. The four boys' were terribly insistent to see this package opened. Lily felt almost a bit apprehensive.

Handing the kitten toKassie, Lily pulled off the bow and name tag and ripped the paper open. She flipped open the lid of the box and almost hesitantly, peeked inside. But of all the explosions, bangs or other things she had expected, what she found was none of the above. In fact, Lily was so shocked at the brilliance of the gift, that she didn't stop staring for a few moments. Finally Remus nudged her in the back. "If you don't like it, it was all James' idea."

James glared at Remus, who was chuckling silently, but Lily shook her head and reached into the box. First she withdrew what appeared to be a Muggle camera, then a bottle of Lanek's Photo Potion, and finally a photo album that had her name written out in flashing letters. "Oh my," she whispered, flipping through the photo album. Every page not only had a place for photos, but a place to write comments or stories out from them.

"The camera is magical," Peter piped up suddenly. "It has unlimited film."

Lily turned around, grinning happily at the four boys before throwing her arms around each of them in turn. "Oh, thank you! I love it!"

After Lily had hugged Sirius, he jumped to the end of the line so that she came to him again. Lily laughed, slapping him playfully. "What?" Sirius shrugged, grinning. Lily noticed, for perhaps the first time, that Sirius had an adorable grin. His blue eyes sparkled with mischief. "Can't blame a bloke for trying."

The party lasted for well over two hours. Everyone sat around, talking and laughing, until finally Olivia announced that she had to return home. And that she had promised Remus and Peter's mother that she would see them home, as well. Daniel had been as fascinated as Lily with her new camera, and had taken several pictures. Before the boys left, he took one more with all of them together. Lily thanked the boys again for the present, promised to see them on first September, hugged Olivia and watched sadly as they left. Kassie, Madison and Alexis were all sitting outside still, playing with the new kitten, when Lily returned. "Oh, I wish everyone didn't have to leave," Lily said, flopping down on the bench next to Madison.

"It's been a great party," Alexis agreed.

Suddenly Lily's eyes lit up. "I've got an idea! How about you all stay the night, and we can go to Diagon Alley for our school supplies tomorrow!"

"Sounds good to me," Kassie agreed instantly. She turned her attention to Madison and Alexis, who also looked susceptible to the plan. "What do you say?"

"Sure," Alexis replied. "I'll just have to fire call my Mum and ask her."

"I'll have to call my Mum," Madison replied. "My parents are Muggles, so if I could just use the phone..."

"Sure," Lily agreed. "Only, I should probably ask my own Mum first, shouldn't I?" Lily jumped up, nearly knocking her camera off the table. "I'll be right back." She ran inside the back door and into the kitchen where she nearly ran into Petunia. The taller blonde snarled down at Lily, but the latter ignored her and barreled into the living room where Christine and Daniel were sitting.

"Mum, Dad," Lily skidded to a stop in the entry way, just short of knocking into the wall. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Daniel replied, turning his attention to his youngest daughter. Christine pulled her eyes away from the book she had been reading and also fastened her attention on Lily.

"Can Kassie, Alexis and Madison spend the night? And can we go to Diagon Alley tomorrow, to get our school stuff?"

The Evans looked to each other, and in a language that parents usually had among themselves, came to a decision. Lily felt like it was taking forever. "I don't see why not," Christine replied. Daniel nodded his approval and went back to the newspaper in his hand. "Lily!" Christine called just as Lily had started back outside to tell her friends. "No trouble, ok? I don't want Petunia screeching around here like a--a---"

"A Mandrake," Daniel replied, a quirky grin on his face. Christine shot her husband a look that clearly said she had no clue what he had meant. Lily giggled before nodding. "Yes, Daddy." And before Christine could ask her daughter, she was gone. She turned to her husband.

"Daniel, what is a Mandrake?"

*************

At three in the morning, Christine had finally put her foot down and demanded that the four girls in Lily's room go to sleep. Or else. And since Lily didn't want to find out what or else meant, they put the lights out and did as they were told. What Christine didn't tell them, was that a mere five hours later, she would be waking them up. This didn't go over well with any female in the room that Lily called her own. Finally after much grumping and groaning (mostly from Kassie) they managed to get up and start the process of getting dressed.

"Here, you can wear these," Lily said, pulling a pair of jeans out and throwing them to Alexis. "It's a good thing we all pretty much wear the same size, since none of us thought to get you any clothes."

Alexis shrugged and took the shirt Lily had also handed to her and said, "Well, we didn't know we were staying the night or I could have brought some."

"Doesn't matter," Lily said, now throwing a pair of jeans at Madison and one at Kassie. "I have plenty of clothes."

"You can say that again," Alexis replied seriously. "You've got enough here to clothe all of us for a week." Alexis started out the door, but back tracked. "Err, do Muggle showers work like magical ones?"

"Actually," Lily told her, going down the hall and pushing the door open to the bathroom. "We run out of hot water. So, you might want to take a quick one."

Lily showed Alexis how to turn the water on and left her. It turned out that they had enough water for all of them to shower: barely. Lily didn't count the fact that Kassie came screaming out of the shower because the water was ice cold. She informed her it was her fault for taking so long. Finally amiss the running around, fighting for the blow drier and hair brush, the four girls managed to get dressed and downstairs.

Kassie came down last, fastening her cloak and chuckling to herself. Lily threw her a questioning look, but Kassie only widened her eyes, glanced in the direction of Christine and shook her head. Lily understood and fell silent. "I want you all back by dinner, ok?" Christine told them, standing before the fireplace. Lily was not only excited to be going with her friends, but excited because for the first year, no adults were accompanying them. She twitched anxiously. "I spoke with everyone's parents, and told them you would be home by no later than nine o'clock tonight."

Everyone nodded, having already heard this speech last night when Christine had talked to Madison and Alexis' mums, as well as Kassie's Aunt. "Everyone got their wands? Money? Ok, have fun," she finished at last.

Lily took the profferedFloo Powder, threw it in the fireplace and stepped in. "Diagon Alley!" As the flames wiped around her, and images of fireplaces came and went, Lily remembered the first time she had traveled to Diagon Alley. It was only her second time traveling by Floo ever, and she had been scared to death. Only that same morning had she traveled from her home to James' -- only with him. She still turned red faced when she thought about how close they had been for that to work. Thankfully she was distracted by her thoughts (and impending blush) by coming to a halt in the fireplace at The Leaky Cauldron. She stepped out of the fireplace, and not a moment too soon. Kassie came in right behind her, and nearly knocked Lily down.

"Get out of the way," Kassie muttered, moving herself and Lily just as Madison appeared in the fireplace. The blonde haired girl moved just in time; Alexis came in last, dusting ashes out of her brown hair as she stepped out. "If we had came any closer together, we would have been on top of one another," Kassie commented dryly, looking around the pub with interest.

"Ready?" Lily asked, directing them to the backdoor of the pub. They stepped out into the backyard area and Kassie tapped her wand on the wall. The bricks moved aside at the command, revealing the entry way to Diagon Alley. "First stop, Gringott’s," Lily said, waving her hand forward. "I've got to exchange money."

The girls made their way up the main street towards the large white bank that stood taller than all it's surrounding structures. Madison shivered violently when they entered the bank, but didn't explain her actions until they had exchanged their money and were back outside, on their way to Flourish and Blotts. "Are you ok?" Lily asked the blonde girl, throwing her a worried look.

"Fine," Madison confirmed, smiling slightly. "Goblins just give me the creeps." She shivered again, as if to prove her point. "The way they stare, like everyone in the bank is there to steal their gold. Ugh."

The book keeper in Flourish and Blotts had been there forever, according to Kassie and Alexis. Both of them could remember him from when they were younger. He shuffled forward as they entered, giving them an appraising look before declaring, "Hogwarts, I presume?"

"Yes," Lily replied. "Fourth year."

After they had purchased their books, the girls made a quick stop in the Apothecary to replenish their potions kit supplies and then stocked back up on parchment, ink and quills. By the time they stopped for lunch in the Leaky Cauldron, the sun was high over the sky, blazing down and making them all slightly too warm in their cloaks.

After doing a bit of last minute shopping for essentials (ex. sugar quills and exploding bon bons) the girls finally dragged their purchases back to Lily's house just as Christine was setting the tablefor dinner.

To say that Petunia wasn't happy about having not one, but four witches in the house, was most likely the biggest understatement of the year. The century, in fact. Lily couldn't help but grin at Kassie every time Petunia would sigh loudly at her plate, or roll her eyes at something Alexis or Madison said. Madison and Alexis both were prepared for Petunia's attitude, but both found themselves speechless a few times when Petunia would declare in not so subtle tones about "freaks" in the house with their "rubbish". Lily would smile reassuringly at them when this happened. Finally, to everyone's immense relief, Petunia excused herself from the table and stomped out of the room.

The evening came quickly, though, and Lily found herself having to say goodbye to her friends with promises to see them on the train. Kassie was the last to leave and hugged not only Lily, but Christine and Daniel as well. "I'll see you at King's Cross, ok?" Kassie smiled, clutching her shopping bags in her fist and waving with her free hand.

"I'll be there," Lily promised as Kassie climbed into fireplace and spun off towards home. Lily stared at the empty grate for several moments before heading up to her room, thinking that as much as she loved her parents, she couldn't wait to be back at Hogwarts with people more like herself.

--End Chapter 25.

Hi everyone!! Yes, I know. I'm a horriable person who should be burned at the stake for not updating when I said I would. New Years was suppose to be the deadline, but I started a new job, my editor was sick, and so there you have it. If he helps any, the chapter was done by New Years, just not edited/posted.

HUGE thanks to everyone who reviewed, everyone on the Lily Update group, and people who email me about this story. You are all wonderful and you don't know how much your comments/suggestions are appreciated. Also, love to my wonderful editor/Brit checker, Kate.

Review responces:
The last line at the end of the last chapter refered to Petunia noticing Lily crying/being upset. To say that she wouldn't understand the tears, had she even seen them. I'm sorry if that was confusing!

James is not a Seer. There is only two, Kassie and Lily. And there is a story behind Kassie's visions, that you won't really see until this coming year. The reason James kind of "knows" when Lily is doing things is me being a hopeless romantic and, well, I'm weird like that.

Lily was crying at the end because in her own way she was kinda completely letting go of the hope that one day she could have a sistery relationship with her sister. It was meant to be a slap in the face of reality that she had no chance to patch up the relationship with her sister.

James and Lily will get together sometime in their sixth year. I'm not making any more promises than that.

James was the last person Lily wanted to see because if something is bothering her, he always seems to know it and starts trying to get her talk about it and she wasn't in the mood to really talk about her nightmares. Which, incidently, she ended up doing anyway.

Petunia has always had blonde hair in the book, it was the movie that decided she wouldn't have it. Same with Dudley, if you notice. I don't know why they couldn't have dyed their hair or something.

And now, if you are interested in joing the LilyUpdate group/HP discussion (since we do that alot lately) send an email to
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After you've joined, you can sign into group home page by going to Yahoo.com and then "groups" and signing in with your yahoo ID. If you don't have a Yahoo ID and don't want to create one, to send emails to the group, send them to [email protected]

See, isn't that easy? So join! :D

I'm not making any promises as to when the next chapter will be out, since I can't seem to keep my own deadlines. I can only say that I'm working on it as much as my hectic schedule will allow and that I already have a good idea what is going to happen in that chapter, so it won't be too terriably hard to write. Just think, we're only two school years away from James and Lily dating :D!

Read, review, and eat lots of kettle corn!
<3 Bethany
01.07.04