Lily Evans: A History

Chapter 29 - Through the looking glass
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I'm sure it's a surprise to hear from me, since I had planned on
never speaking to you again. Unfortunately a situation arose that
called for our communication. As I'm sure Mum told you, Vernon and
I have set our wedding date for August 2nd. I do not want you in
this wedding, or even present. I'm sure you have friends who can
make up a suitable excuse for you, if you need it. Mum and Dad let
you do as you please anyway.

Do not tell Mum about this. Make it seem like your idea, or it will be
more than your spell books that disappear next time.

Petunia

Lily blinked and let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Next to her, Kassie hissed lowly. "You've got to be kidding me. She's a real cow, isn't she?" Lily didn't reply, only folded the letter back up and shoved it into the envelope. Kassie watched her a bit worriedly. "Lily?"

"I don't care," Lily replied, but it was a lie. And Kassie knew it. And more than likely Lily knew that Kassie knew she was lying. But as she was going home in a little over twenty four hours, there was no use in getting mad about something that she couldn't control. That was Petunia being Petunia. And besides, Lily didn't want to go to her wedding anyway. And as she told herself this, a voice inside her mind questioned why Lily felt so upset about something she didn't care about. But she ignored it and continued to eat.

Kassie reluctantly dropped the subject, knowing that any further enquiry would only get her and Lily into a row. And if she was going to fight with Lily she'd rather it was over something a bit more important than Petunia. Or a bit more interesting. Whichever.

Lily finished her dinner quickly and left the table before even half the Gryffindors had shown up for dinner. As she climbed the stairs to Gryffindor Tower she thought about the letter crushed in her robe pocket. And not for the first time she wondered why things had to be the way they were between her and her sister. But no matter, she wouldn't show Petunia that it bothered her. In fact, she vowed to go out of her way to say to Petunia that she hadn't planned on attending anyway. Too bad things wouldn't work out as either she or Petunia planned.

*********

"Write to me, ok?"

Lily nodded, briefly hugged Kassie and then watched as she left with her Aunt and siblings in tow. They disappeared through the barrier to the Muggle train station and not for the first time Lily wished she could get back on the train and go back to school. But Platform nine and three quarters was emptying quickly and she had to go through sooner or later.

Tim had already said his goodbyes. They were short and sweet, and terribly to the point. Well, not so sweet. He seemed a little cross that Lily said she didn't think it was a good idea for him to come over to her home during the holiday (she could just imagine what her sister would do or say to him). She had also refused his offer to visit his home. Obviously her reasoning hadn't pacified him. But at the moment she couldn't care less. There was only one group in front of her and then she would pass through the brick wall and greet her family.

"Lily."

The redhead turned and found James Potter standing behind her. Alone. Which was a first, she was sure. He fidgeted slightly and ran his hand through his hair a few times. "Yes?" Lily said. They were the last ones left on the Platform and the wizard at the barrier looked impatient for them to get going. She looked expectantly at James.

"I-eh-" Lily tried hard not to smile as James searched for the words he so obviously wanted to say. He ran his hand through his hair one more time, and blurted: "I just wanted to-eh-wish you a Happy Christmas," James finished, lamely. Almost at once Lily knew this wasn't what he had come to say to her, but there was little time to drag it out of him. The wizard at the barrier was switching his weight from foot to foot impatiently.

"Happy Christmas," Lily replied, smiling at him.

He grinned back, and then suddenly bowed deeply. "After you, my lady," he said in a slow, drawn out voice. Lily brushed past him, grinning widely. "Thank you, good sir."

"Always my pleasure," James replied, his lip quirking up on the side. Lily passed through the barrier, James on her heels. At once she spotted her family, and to her unpleasant surprise, Petunia was standing just off to the side, her arms crossed and a particularly ugly sneer planted on her face. Lily groaned inwardly. Whatever had brought (or dragged kicking and screaming was more like it) Petunia here couldn't bode well. "Oh, and here," James said, suddenly turning and handing a small box to Lily. "I hope you like it." And before Lily could even properly thank him, James had sprinted off to where she could see Olivia and Sirius waiting for him. Olivia waved and Lily waved back, a stupid grin on her face.

"What's that?" Christine asked Lily while she loaded her trunk on a cart.

"I don't know," Lily replied, turning the box over in her palm. It was wrapped in a beautiful green tin foil with a small note attached that said, in James' rather untidy scrawl: To Lily, From James. Do not open until Christmas or it will explode.

Lily laughed, shaking her head a bit and looking back up for James. But he had gone. "He always gets you something for Christmas, doesn't he?" Christine asked, giving Lily a small wink. Lily rolled her eyes and proceeded to ignore what her mother was implying. James was only a friend, nothing more. What she didn't notice was the happy grin on her mother's face that knew all too well what Lily wouldn't know for years.

The Evans family made their way to their car. Christine helped Lily load her school trunk in, helped Daniel get out of his wheelchair and into the car, then placed the wheelchair in the trunk (magically expanded by Olivia). Petunia had yet to say a word (which Lily really didn't mind, it saved her hearing) and sat with her arms crossed, facing the window. Christine, glanced in the rear view mirror at Lily for what she supposed was the usual twenty questions about school, friends, Professors and magic. But instead Christine cleared her throat, gaining Petunia's attention, and smiled a bit nervously to her youngest daughter in the reflection. "I thought while we were in London today that we would go over to the bridal shop."

"Oh," Lily said, not sure exactly what kind of reaction her mother expected. She didn't plan on being at this wedding, so she wasn't clear on why they couldn't have done this without her. It became clear all too soon.

"You'll need to be fitted for a dress."

"Dress?" Lily repeated. Her face was surely contorted into a pure mask of confusion. Why on Earth would she need a dress? She glanced at Petunia, and noted with surprise that her sister's face was red and what looked like angry tears had formed in her eyes. "Why do I need a dress?" Lily asked, taking her gaze from Petunia back to her mother.

"Because you'll be a bridesmaid, of course," Christine said as if it were the most obvious thing. Lily felt her jaw drop and Petunia turned back to glare at window pane again. "I was thinking a green dress. It would bring out your eyes."

"My colours are burgundy and black," Petunia spat, her voice trembling slightly.

Christine smiled, but Lily couldn't help but notice it was a bit strained by now. "Petunia, dear, we've already discussed this. And I thought you agreed that burgundy would be the main colour, but we could squeeze in a bit of green and maybe navy blue?"

Petunia glared out the window again, and Lily thought she wasn't going to answer. But suddenly she turned back to their mother, red faced and tears burning down her face. "No, Mum, you decided that my colours would have green and blue. Not me. I--"

As Christine pulled into a parking spot and turned the ignition off, Daniel sighed deeply. He turned in his seat and Lily could tell instantly that this was a conversation they had already had, and he most certainly didn't want to be repeating. "Petunia, I think your mother and I both have told you that if we are paying for this wedding, then you are going to have to make some compromises. Now, are we going in or not?"

Petunia glared defiantly at her parents for nearly a full minute. Lily held her breath, waiting for Petunia to give in. Or storm out of the car. Finally, she did the former. But not in so many words. Instead she opened the car door, stepped out and muttered a "fine" as she slammed the door. Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This would be a trying afternoon at this rate.

***********

Patience is a virtue. Lily was sure no truer words had ever been spoken. Too bad she was out of both at the moment. She had been standing on a stool, in front of a three way mirror, for the better part of an hour while a lady on her knees on the floor pinned and adjusted the most horrific looking fabric Lily had ever seen in her life. At first Petunia had seemed insistent that she didn't like any dress the store had to offer. Even though there were many beautiful dresses on the racks. Finally Daniel made his eldest daughter choose, and Lily was sure that the thing they were calling a dress that was hanging around her form was Petunia's way of punishing Lily for ever being born.

Lily was just eternally grateful that none of her friends would be present at this wedding, lest she lock herself in the attic of Gryffindor tower until after NEWTs.

"There we go, dear, all done. What do you think?"

Lily, her eyes shut to block out the horror, turned ever so slowly and peeked at the three way mirror.

It was worse than she had been imagining it, and that would be enough to give her a steady supply of nightmares for a week. The green of the fabric, rather than "bringing out her eyes" as her mother insisted it would made her already pale skin looking pasty and nearly see through. A deeper green might have had the desired effect, but again, it seemed Petunia was out for blood today. So the sea green dress fell down to Lily's ankles, was too big in all the wrong places and a bit too tight around the neck. It looked like a tent, there was no other way to describe it.

Lily swallowed, looked down at the lady who was admiring her dress (Lily secretly hoped she was blind) and tried to mask her disgust. "It's--well--"

"Perfect," Petunia suddenly said. Lily hadn't realized she was back in the fitting room. About a half hour earlier she had been in the lobby picking out dresses for her two best friends (and second and third in line of nosiest people ever) to wear. The blonde walked further in the room and around Lily. "It suites your personality very well."

Lily had opened her mouth to retort when Christine re-entered the dressing room. Her mouth fell open in what looked like a silent scream. "Petunia," she managed, holding one hand up to her chest. "That looks--"

"Perfect, doesn't it, Mum?" Petunia said in such a sickeningly sweet voice that Lily felt like gagging. "I love the way the green brings out Lily's eyes."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. Lily stepped down from the stool, two hands full of ugly sea green material and eyes full of fire. "I am not wearing this," she spat, holding her chin up and glaring definitely at her older sister. "I don't want to be in your wedding anymore than you want me to be. But if I have to, I'll be damned if you'll make me the laughing stock of the affair just to boost your pitiful self esteem." And with those parting words, Lily stomped past the lot of them and into the changing room where she promptly took the dress off and threw it back over the door.

"Lily! You shouldn't use that language!" Christine cried after her. Lily ignored her. "And of course you want to be in your sister's wedding."

By this time Lily had changed back into her jeans and re-opened the changing room door. She glared at Petunia as she replied. "I don't have a sister."

**********

Lily Evans had not been a problem child. She rarely was punished, even if she did do something wrong. All around her as a child strange things happened, but her parents overlooked it. It wasn't until she was eleven and received her letter for Hogwarts that she realized why it had all happened. But even before the letter arrived, her parents explained it away, claiming that something else must have happened, or it didn't happen at all.

But there was no denying what Lily had said to Petunia in the bridal shop. And not even Daniel and Christine could ignore it.. And Lily, for the first time in her life, found herself grounded. And this, on top of the horrible trip to the bridal shop that had started it all, was all the more reason why Lily knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she should have stayed at school for the holiday.

Lily turned away from the letter she was writing and leaned back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She could be at school right now, maybe playing wizard's chest with Remus. Or visiting Hagrid. Or doing a million other fun things that wouldn't involve staring at the ceiling of her bedroom. She couldn't wait for the Christmas Holiday to be over, so that she could escape this place and go back to where she felt she was understood.

The smallest part of her brain screamed that she didn't mean that, that no matter what she should want to be with her family. But the larger part, the part that was angry at being locked up in her room for something that Petunia deserved, wanted to be away from Hollis Drive and back at Hogwarts with her own kind. Hmph. Her own kind. She felt like a different species at moments like this.

Lily finished her letter to Kassie, folded the parchment and stuffed it in an envelope. She had ranted about the unfairness of life in general to her best friend for about three feet. Then had finished with saying that she would never spend another holiday at home. Too bad she couldn't include summer holiday in that. Especially this summer holiday. Because even after it was all said and done, Christine had insisted that Lily be in the wedding if she and Daniel were paying for it. And obviously, no matter how mad Petunia was over it, she wanted their parents to fork out the money. It was bad for everyone, it seemed.

After tying the letter to Morgana's leg, Lily sent her off and flopped back on her bed to stare at the ceiling again. One thing was for certain, if she was grounded from everything else, at least she could catch up on a lot of beauty sleep. And with that thought in mind, Lily pulled the blanket up over her and closed her eyes.

All her life Lily had been plagued with odd dreams. If Professor Trelawney was to be believed (which she wasn't, in the eyes of Lily and Kassie) then all of Lily's odd dreams were visions. Those that she didn't remember were simply bits of the future she wasn't meant to see. But to Lily this made little sense. Was anyone actually supposed to see into the future to begin with? She didn't think so. Or Seers wouldn't be so far and few between.

At first the dream started out pretty normally; Lily found herself back at Hogwarts. She was walking through the halls, alone, not really heading anywhere in particular. But then, out of nowhere, a very large mirror appeared on the wall. Lily came towards it slowly, enthralled by the reflection. Instead of the skinny fourteen year old Lily looked at in the mirror every day, the face of a woman looked back at her. A tall woman, with flaming red hair that fell softly down her back. Laying softly on her collarbone was a beautiful silver chain with a sparkling charm of a lily on it that contrasted beautifully with her black shirt. Lily's eyes travelled slowly back up to the woman's strong jaw line. This reflection had a posture that presented a demanding presence. Someone very magical and magically talented. And through out looking at the body of this adult woman, Lily told herself that this was a trick. It couldn't be her. She didn't look like this, she was only fourteen. Would this be what she looked like when she was older? But that didn't make sense.... Lily had never pictured herself this way as an adult. She always imagined she'd look more like her mother. But the woman in this mirror resembled Daniel Evans strongly. Tentively Lily looked up, and locked eyes with this image. She gasped softly. There was no denying who it was. Those brilliant green eyes were bright, piercing, and an exact replica of Lily's own.

But the woman was so beautiful. She stood up straight with a confidence that Lily most certainly didn't feel most of the time. Her eyes were focused on Lily's, piercing in their stare. Lily came closer to the mirror, and so did the image. But just as Lily was so close to the mirror she could see her breath on its surface, the older Lily moved away. She bent down and from seemingly nowhere picked up a bundle of baby blankets, the face of a very small child just visible beneath the cloth. Lily couldn't see its face in its entirety, but could tell that it had a tuft of jet black hair sticking out of the blue blanket.

The older Lily moved towards the mirror again, holding the baby close to her chest. Her eyes were blood shot and a tear fell loose from its confinements, zig zagging down her face. Lily felt her own face, and to her surprise found it wet, as well. Startled, she looked back at the mirror. The older Lily had started crying harder, clutching the child to her chest as if it were a life raft in a sea of raging waters. She opened her mouth, saying something. But the only sound Lily could hear was that of her frantically pounding heart. The reflection fell to her knees, still holding the child and crying hysterically. Lily looked around, as if trying to find a way to help her. Find something she could do. Her own face was wet with tears that she wasn't crying, and the pounding in her ears was turning into a rushing sound that kept growing louder and louder....

Lily, feeling panicked, looked back at the mirror to find that the older Lily's eyes were no longer green, but red. A red that fell from her eyes, down her face. Blood. The scarlet drops fell down her face, faster and faster, pooling up on the child's head. They moved to make a shape, like a lightening bolt, and suddenly a sharp pain shot through Lily's head. Blood began dripping down her arms, down her neck. Lily gasped in, but couldn't seem to breathe and then suddenly the mirror in front of her blasted apart, sending shards spraying everywhere....

Lily sat up, gasping for air. Her hands clutched the sheets on her bed so tightly that she could feel her finger nails digging into the tender flesh of her palm. The room was dark, the half moon's rays shining through thin clouds but not really providing ample light. The sound of crickets reached her ears, but otherwise the house was quiet save for the pounding of her heart and the sound of her rapid breathing.

As her heart slowed Lily finally let go of the sheets and took a deep, cleansing breath. She closed her eyes, trying with all her might to recapture some of the images from the dream. But they were gone. The only thing that remained was her heart as it slowly began beating at a normal pace once more. Shaking off the chill that had invaded her body, Lily turned over and once more burrowed into her blankets. By the next morning she forgotten all about the dream.

*********

"LILY! Come on sleepy head! Get up so we can open presents!"

Lily peeked open one eye and then shut it quickly as the sun glared in at her, reflecting off the snow and making it that much brighter. With a valiant effort, she tried to go back to sleep, but the sound of her mother's footsteps on the stairs didn't bode well for her effort. Yawning, she scrambled up out of the bed just as Christine pushed her bedroom door open. "LILY! W--oh, you're awake."

"How could I not be?" Lily replied, still in bad temper from spending her entire holiday cramped inside her room; grounded.

"Oh, don't be sour today," Christine said in a sweet voice that reminded Lily forcibly of Petunia when she was being sarcastic. "It's Christmas and you've presents under the tree. Three owls arrived this morning, as well. I suppose from your friends. And you can finally find out what's in the box James gave you."

This did make Lily curious and without further convincing from her mother, Lily put on a dressing gown and followed Christine downstairs. Daniel was already pulled up to the table, drinking his tea. Petunia, looking as wrecked and half asleep as Lily, was sitting at the other side of the table, staring at her untouched plate. Lily sat down, grabbed some toast and bacon and ate silently while her mother insisted they all hurry so they could open gifts.

It wasn't too much later that Lily and Petunia were forced into the living room and the family began to open presents. Lily received a nice bottle of perfume and a fancy wrist watch from her parents, a hunter green jumper from Kassie (that she had been admiring in a magazine), and Honeydukes Best Chocolate from Alexis, Madison and the twins. She supposed they were out of ideas on presents for each other anymore. Lily had bought them sweets, too. Petunia, of course, hadn't bought Lily anything. But she hadn't got her sister a present either, so it didn't make a difference to her. Christine looked as if she wanted to say something about it, but managed not to.

After all the presents were opened, and Lily began gathering her belongings up, Christine held up a final package. "Oh! Lily, here is the present from James."

It was probably because of the look Christine had given Lily when she said it, but Lily felt her face heat up with a blush as she grabbed the box from her mother. Trying to forget that three sets of eyes were on her, she carefully pulled back the wrapper and out fell a small black velvet jewellery box. Feeling her face grow even warmer, Lily opened it and gasped.

Inside was a beautiful crystal charm in the shape of a lily, on a silver chain. An odd sense of deja-vu overwhelmed Lily, but she pushed it aside. Surely she had just seen this in a shop in Hogsmeade. Lily pulled the necklace out and clasped it around her neck. "Oh Lily, that's beautiful," Christine said, holding up the charm to admire how it sparkled in the light. "He's so thoughtful."

Petunia glared at Lily, but the redhead ignored her. She wanted to go up to her room and write to James, thanking him for this beautiful gift. All the presents he bought her were so thoughtful. She suddenly felt very badly for only sending the boys boxes of assorted sweets from Honeydukes. She vowed to find out when James' birthday was and get him something nice.

Lily put aside her letter to James for when Morgana returned from Kassie's house, and went back downstairs to spend the day with her parents. Because no matter how mad she was at what had happened, and what was still likely to happen, it was Christmas and they were her parents. And sometimes family was more important than arguments.

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

It turned out that Christine and Daniel felt very badly for punishing Lily, and after a great deal of screaming from Petunia, they let her off for the rest of the holiday. Lily supposed the row between her and Petunia would start again during the summer, since at the moment Petunia was too busy flitting around the house like a mad bee trying to get ready for dinner with Vernon's parents. ("They are normal people," Petunia hissed at Lily on her way up the stairs.) Lily ignored her and continued to the living room where her parents were parked in front of the television, watching the news.

"...and now for news around the region, there was a gas explosion in Kent earlier today. From what we've managed to gather, there were fatalities. Ida Greer is heading to the scene, and we'll have more as the story progresses." The man turned towards another part of the set and the camera switched to a tall, balding man. "Its turned out to be a very cold Boxing Day. Do we have anything besides snow in the forecast, Ted?"

"Doesn't look like it, Stan. There is--"

Christine sighed and flipped the channel, leaving Lily standing at the doorway, wondering about the gas explosion. Because of the activity with Voldemort, anything she saw in the news she automatically wondered if it was him. Shaking herself, she turned to head into the kitchen and knocked straight into Petunia. "THAT DAMN OWL--"

"Petunia!" Christine hissed.

"Is at my window again!" Petunia finished, though not nearly as loud as she had started, she didn't quiet down all that much. Lily opened her mouth to retort, thought better of it (since she had just got off grounding for the last thing she had said) and stormed up the stairs past her fuming sister. "Mum, I'm sick of having all these barn animals in this house! The next thing you know she'll be bringing home toads or something else and making brews, or potions, or whatever in the kitchen!"

Lily shook her head and hurried on up the rest of the stairs and into her room. Morgana was sitting on the edge of the closed window, looking very upset that she was locked out. Sighing, Lily threw the window open and let the owl in. "Morgana, you've got to stop coming to Petunia's window. She really doesn't like you." The owl hooted in response. Whether in response to Lily's scolding or the fact that Bast had just jumped up on the bed and swatted at her, Lily didn't know. The owl held her leg out and Lily took the letter from it and opened it as Morgana glided over to her perch. "Don't go anywhere," Lily said to the owl, who looked like she was getting ready to head back out the window. "I have a letter for James." Lily knew that if her owl could talk, she would be getting a not so nice ear full. Rolling her eyes at the thought, she opened the letter.

Dear Lily,

By the time you get this letter I'm sure much of the holiday will be
over, so it's no use for me to say that you can always come to my
house. So just tough it out, and then you'll have six long months
before you have to see the lot of them again. I know I'm just full
of sympathy, right? I can see you rolling your eyes at me!

So what's in the package you got from James, hmmm? He always gets you
something nice. Sirius sent me a gift, by the way. Well, two. The first
one made me want to stomp down to London and curse him, but the second
one was nice. First I got a sample wedding invitation. He'll never give
up! And then the second (and the gift that saved his arse from my
revenge!) was a pair of earrings. They are shaped like a K and sparkle
beautifully. Of course, the box said that if I opened before Christmas
it would explode. And of course, I opened it. Guess what?

It exploded.

Sometimes I could just curse those boys, especially Sirius. And
James, Peter and even Remus, just for good measure. Did yours explode,
did you not open it before Christmas? Mine didn't do any major damage,
just let off a lot of smoke and made a loud noise that about made me
jump out of my skin.

Well, I'd best be going. I'll see you in a few days. Don't let your
sister get you down. Kacy says hi.

Love,
Kassie

Lily laughed out loud, making both Bast and Morgana eye her strangely, and shook her head. No, she suspected Sirius would never give up. He was nearly frighteningly addicted to Kassie. And it was beyond Lily as to why, because Kassie had certainly never given him the time of day. But it made their lives a little more amusing, to say the least. In fact, anything the Marauders did made their life more interesting. And amusing, to boot. Putting the letter in her trunk, Lily went back downstairs. Kassie was right, in five days Lily was going back to school and then she'd have six Petunia-free months. And thinking a bit more optimistically, she went to join her parents and watch television.

*********

Thankfully Petunia was so upset over the fact that Lily had to be in the wedding, and that Lily wasn't even grounded for life over what she said (never mind that Petunia had said worse to her) the oldest Evans daughter spent the remainder of the time Lily was home at Vernon's sister, Marge's house. If Petunia thought that anyone in the house would be upset over this, though, she was sorely mistaken. Lily found that without her sister there, she finally could relax and enjoy some time with her parents, without Petunia scowling every time the word "magic" was used. So it was with a half heavy heart that Lily returned to King's Cross Station on 3rd January to return to school. But that small part of her that wished she could spend more time with her parents, by themselves, was soon washed away as she was greeted very enthusiastically by Kassie.

"Hi Lily!" Kassie gushed, running up to the redhead and giving her a one armed hug. Her other arm was wrapped around a medium sized wrapped box. "I brought your present. And wait until you see what I got from my Aunt Wanda! I can't wait to use it!" Kassie pushed her long black hair (worn down today, for once) from her face and grinned at Lily's parents. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Evans. How are you?"

"We're wonderful, dear," Christine replied, smiling happily. "And don't I recall telling you to call us by our names?"

Kassie blushed a bit, but recovered nicely. "Respect is a hard habit to break, Mrs. Evans."

Christine laughed. "Lily, do you have everything? Where is your---oooh!"

Christine stopped mid-sentence, the breath knocked out of her. Sirius Black had appeared behind her, squeezing her mercilessly. "Helllo Christine! You look more beautiful than ever, if you don't mind me saying so, Daniel?" Sirius asked, winking at Christine.

It had been over a year since Christine had seen Sirius up close, and she laughed in a shocked sort of way at him. "My, Sirius, you've grown!" Sirius hugged her around the neck again, giving her a clear view to James and Remus, standing just behind him. "And you, too, James! You're both as tall as me!"

"Sirius, you're making a scene!" a female voice snapped, hitting Sirius lightly on the back of the head. "I'm sorry Christine."

"Hi Olivia," Christine replied instead. "Sirius is ok, just a bit over energized?" she added, straightening her clothes out.

"How are you doing, Daniel?" Olivia asked, inclining her head his direction. Sirius wriggled his eyebrows at Kassie, who rolled her eyes. Daniel chuckled at the two of them as he replied. "Fine, doing fine. We really appreciate all that you've done for us, too. It's helped so much."

"Oh, anytime. If you need anything, just use the Floo Powder. Lily's shown you how to use it, I assume?"

"Yes, yes," Christine replied, smiling at Lily and checking her watch. "Oh, it's nearly time. We're going to end up standing here talking and the children will miss the train." Christine hugged Lily, Kassie and even James and began ushering them through the barrier to platform nine and three quarters. "Have a good term, write to me often, try to stay out of trouble..."

"I stopped asking that last part, it's a waste of time and oxygen," Olivia told Christine.

"Not for them," Sirius said, jerking his head towards Kassie and Lily. "They're perfect angels, aren't you?"

"You're dead!" Kassie shrieked, running after a surprised Sirius, who bolted through the barrier and disappeared, Kassie on his heels. Lily giggled, kissed her father on the cheek and hurried through the barrier, yelling out "Bye!" as she disappeared. Remus, Peter and James (pulling both his trunk and Sirius') went on through as well.

"I wonder what that was about?" Olivia asked puzzled after the children had gone.

Christine laughed, walked behind Daniel's wheelchair and turned him back towards the exit. "Walk with me, I'll explain all about the halos on Kassie, Lily and Bast's heads. As well as the tails and horns the boys earned for that stunt." Olivia, a half exasperated and half amused look on her face, followed.

On the other side of the brick wall between the Muggle train station and the wizard one, Lily had boarded the train and stowed her belongings. Only she had no idea where to find her best friend. She had seen everyone else, from Severus Snape (who glared at her, and if looks could kill....) and Remus, Peter and James who seemed to have lost Sirius, as well. Guessing they were together (NOT in the way Sirius wanted) the four of them sat down in their compartment just as the train lurched and started away.

It was a good thirty minutes later when the compartment door slid open very slowly. Lily glanced up from her Transfiguration essay (that she had yet to finish) but no one was at the door. She furrowed her eyebrows, wondering who it could have been, when suddenly a very high pitched voice asked: "Is James in here?"

"Who is that?" Remus said lowly to Lily, who shook her head. She didn't recognize the voice, either. It sounded un-naturally high pitched.

"Um, yeah, I'm here," James replied, looking as confused as the other three felt. Their confusion lasted only a moment, though, as the compartment door started sliding open the rest of the way. Suddenly there was a bark of laughter, followed by the high pitched voice growling; "I'll hex you everyday for a week if you say one word, Tutor!" Well, growling was a exaggeration, as it sounded more like the squeak of a badly hurt mouse.

Peter, who was sitting closest to the door, yanked it the rest of the way open and in fell -- Sirius. Face down on the carpet, it was hard to tell at first if it was him that had spoken earlier. But that, too, didn't remain a mystery for long as Sirius jabbed his wand at the door and said; "Colloportus!" in such a high pitched voice that Lily and Remus both winced. James, however, snorted and then began laughing hysterically, Peter joining him.

"Don't laugh!" Sirius squeaked, raising his head up from the carpet. But that wasn't the best course of action, because as soon as his face became visible, Lily was doubled over with the laughter that spilled from her lips. And Remus, though he tried for approximately two seconds to not crack a smile, gave in and started laughing as well.

Sirius sat up the rest of the way, glaring at every laughing (and crying) person in turn. His lips were a bright shade of pink, his eyes painted a soft pastel blue and his cheek bones were flushed with colour. "I can't believe this!" he squeaked, which caused everyone to laugh harder. "She--she--Kassie--!"

"Tried to turn you into a girl?" Peter got out amongst the laughter.

Sirius glared, but the effect was lost somewhere between the eyeshadow and the lipstick. He started towards the door, thought better of it, and turned back to his so-called friends. "Would any of you stop laughing long enough to help me out? I don't know the counter spells for make up!"

At this Lily and Peter laughed harder. Lily's side was killing her, and her jaw was starting to ache, but there was nothing to be done about it. Every time she looked at Sirius, or better yet, every time he spoke, she lapsed into giggles again. "James!" Sirius squeaked. James fell over to his side, gripping his stomach, the tears pouring down his face.

"Fin--Finite!" Remus finally managed. The make up didn't disappear, as it wasn't a hex or jinx, but Sirius' voice did change back to normal. He let out a breath of relief. Remus shook his head and continued to laugh.

Lily managed to catch her breath a few seconds later, and fished in her handbag for a mirror. When she found one, and handed it to Sirius, she expected something completely different than his reaction. The black haired boy looked in the mirror, moved his head to the side and declared; "I don't think pink is my colour, do you? Perhaps blue?"

Lily nodded, but instead of giving him blue make-up, she pointed her wand at his face and declared; "Scourgify!"

"That was it?" Sirius muttered, raising an eyebrow and handing Lily her mirror back.

"That was it," Lily confirmed, grinning. "Just like you would clean muggle make up off."

"Wonder why I didn't think of that?"

"Because you are a male, and therefore not intelligent enough to come up with the obvious," Kassie answered, unlocking the door with her wand and shoving it open. "I see you've managed to get your voice back?"

Sirius pointed to Remus meekly. Kassie threw Remus a half delighted, half disgusted look. "I'm disappointed Remus, I thought you'd let him suffer for a bit longer."

"I'm just trying to be a good mate," Remus replied.

"A good mate wouldn't have laughed at me for ten minutes before doing the counter," Sirius retorted.

"I know that jinx, by the way," Remus warned in a casual tone, smirking at Sirius, who was now holding his wand up.

Sirius plopped down between James and Peter, nearly sending Peter off into the floor. "Kassie, why are you so nasty to me?" he asked, quite seriously for Sirius.

Kassie looked for a moment like she wasn't going to answer, but after realizing that he wasn't going to go away, she sighed and crossed her arms. "If you drive me crazy, shouldn't I be allowed to do the same to you?"

There was a two second pause while Kassie, and everyone else in the room, realized the black haired witch’s mistake. And then with a groan, Kassie pulled her wand out just as Sirius cried, "Expelliarmus!" Kassie's wand went flying into Sirius' hand and he said, "I drive you crazy, do I?"

"Help!" Kassie squeaked and ran out the door, Sirius on her heels, leaving the four other occupants of the room in fits of laughter.

--End Chapter 29.