Lily Evans: A History

Lily Evans, A History
Chapter 35 - One dance too many and thy heart is gone
By: Bethany
Rated: PG
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If ever there was a moment that Lily Evans felt like her life was about to come an abrupt halt, it was this moment. She wasn't even sure that Bellatrix Black or Severus Snape could have pulled off such a look of pure and utter loathing. Lily honestly thought that Petunia would stop the entire wedding, walk over to her, and strangle her with her bare hands. At the same time, it felt like the smile on her face had become more like a mask as the seconds ticked by painfully slowly. But if Petunia had any fleeting thoughts on breaking Lily's neck, they were interrupted (thankfully) by the vicar clearing his throat. The room went quiet, and Petunia, seeming to realise exactly where she was, bent down so Daniel could lift her veil.

"Who giveth this woman to this man?"

"I do," Daniel said. Petunia bent down once more so Daniel could kiss her cheek, and when she rose again to join Vernon, he was smiling and not looking in Lily's direction. Daniel wheeled himself over to the pew beside Christine and the ceremony began.

Lily listened with half an ear to the vows that would bind her sister with Vernon Dursley for the rest of her life. The rings were exchanged, the registry signed, and the new bride and groom kissed. Lily looked out over the church full of people, saw them all clapping, and wondered for the first time what her own wedding might be like. After all, she was fairly sure that wizarding weddings had different traditions, and she didn't know any of them.

The photographs seemed to take forever, and not because they lasted very close to an hour. No, it was more because at every available moment Marge and Eileen sent death glares at Lily, who smiled back as sweetly as possible. But even Lily realised by the time they left for the Reception that she was pushing her luck. The thought crossed her mind to stay as close to her parents’ sides as possible, but Lily had no more thought it than she dismissed it. She was a Gryffindor; hiding from her problems in this manner wasn't heard of. She would face whatever consequences resulted from her actions, and hopefully live to tell the tale.

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With the end of the wedding breakfast, the dancing began. Lily sat alone at a small round table, idly swishing the wine around in the glass she held. She had been asked to dance several times but had declined each time, opting instead to sit at the table and watch everyone else dance the night away.

Currently Christine was being swept around by Vernon, who made the dance they were attempting seem more like a painful attempt to break toes. Petunia was dancing with the best man, Vernon's cousin, Richard, and even Marge had managed to dance. Well, it was her father, but either way, she was dancing. But Lily didn't feel like an outcast by sitting alone, instead she considered that she was weighing her options carefully. After all, being on the dance floor, and thus reminding Petunia about the dress she was wearing, would only bring on a fight that much faster. And that was something Lily was keen to avoid altogether, or at least for as long as possible, if the first option wasn't available.

But as most things in Lily's life were never simple, her plan to sit the night away at the table watching everyone else flail around the dancefloor wouldn't be so simple either. After all, with people like James Potter in the world, the unknown was a scary thing. Well, not as much scary as surprising. After all, a muggle wedding (and of Lily's sister to boot) was most certainly the last place Lily expected to see anyone she knew from school. So she could barely suppress her surprise when someone tapped her on the shoulder, and Lily turned to see none other than James Potter standing behind her, a grin that went on for miles lighting up his features when she turned.

"J-James?" Lily sputtered, blinking several times to be sure she was seeing correctly. No matter how many times she blinked, he still stood before her. And if that wasn't shocking enough, what he was wearing certainly was. Lily was very sure that if she hadn't known he was a wizard, she would have never guessed. He was wearing a very smart muggle suit, shirt and tie, and even looked like he had tried to tame his hair. Judging by the way it stood up in the back though, he hadn't been very successful.

"Good evening, m'lady," James said, bowing low and causing Lily to cover her mouth to catch an escaping giggle. "Would you care to dance?"

Lily felt herself smile and she put her glass down on the table. "Why certainly."

James' eyes sparkled through his round-rimmed glasses and with the air of being the Minister for Magic, as opposed to a fifteen year old wizard, James led Lily out to the dance floor and pulled her close. Watching the room fly by in a circle of colours and faces in James' arms, Lily found herself relaxing for the first time since the summer had begun. After a few minutes of getting used to the dance, Lily pulled her head off James' shoulder. "I didn't know you could dance."

James chuckled deep in his throat. "Tis' the heritage of a pure-blood wizard child, I'm afraid. My Mum taught me when I was nine. However," James added, spinning Lily out and then bringing her back in quickly, laughing all the while. "It may have finally come in handy. I'll have to thank her." James winked, obviously trying his best to stay in Prince Charming mode.

"You're impossible," Lily laughed, trying to catch her breath. The truth was that Lily had completely forgotten about the wedding party around her, forgotten that she was wearing an enchanted dress that was making her sister spit nails in a corner somewhere. She had forgotten the world around her, except for James' laughing eyes as he dipped her down and then back up. "James!"

"What?" he asked in his most innocent face. He stopped grinning slightly and squeezed her hand. "You look beautiful, by the way. In case I forget to say so later."

Lily felt every hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand up and heat rush to her face. With a shy smile she looked at him. "Thank you."

"You are very welcome." Lily once more found herself looking over James' shoulder, for which she was very glad. In the matter of seconds he had made her go from laughing to blushing so hard she thought there may be steam pouring out of her ears. When, she asked herself as they moved around the floor, had James Potter become so charming? Or was she only just noticing?

The song ended, even though Lily wished it wouldn't. James let her go and they both applauded. For a fleeting second Lily worried that James was about to leave, but he only inclined his head towards the drinks table. "Do you want to get something to drink?"

"Ok," Lily replied. James grabbed her hand and led her towards the refreshment table where he poured them both a glass of punch. He handed Lily hers, then took a sip of his own. Instantly he pulled a face. "Well," he sputtered, setting the glass down and smiling slightly at a curious guest near-by. "It's a far cry from pumpkin juice, isn't it?"

Lily laughed out loud without meaning to. Quickly she brought her glass to her lips again, but didn't take a drink. Over James' shoulder she saw Petunia approaching. Lily put her glass down and grabbed James' hand. "Come on."

"What?" James asked, looking around, confused.

"Just come on," Lily hissed, pulling James back onto the dance floor. Petunia stopped, watching them disappear into the crowd. Lily put her hand in James' and her other arm around his neck. She exhaled deeply. "That was close."

"What was?" James asked, moving easily to the music and trying for a better view of Lily's face.

"Petunia was behind you," Lily said, as if that explained it all. But then it occurred to her that it didn't; James didn't know about what she and Kassie had done to the dress. But suddenly, in James' arms and the illusion that as long as she was there she was safe from the wrath of Petunia, Lily found it very funny. Laughing lightly, she explained to James what she and Kassie had done.

James' eyes widen approvingly. "You mean to tell me that you and Kassie made this dress?"

"Well, remade it," Lily corrected, smiling still.

James pulled away from her slightly, looking her up and down. Lily felt another blush threaten to colour her face again. "That's some very nice charm work you two did."

Lily smiled and placed her chin back on James' shoulder, surprised that it fit there so well. The last time she had even hugged James (granted it was second year) she had actually been a hairsbreadth taller than him. But he had grown, she realized, enough that even though she had also become taller, she fit into his arms perfectly.

Lily was suddenly very aware of exactly where her thoughts were leading her. But it had to be the music, the dancing, and the situation, she decided. Because at no other time had she ever felt attracted to James, right? Was she attracted to him? Instead of answering that question, Lily pushed her thoughts to other subjects. "James?"

"Hmmm?"

"Not that I mind, but what are you doing here, anyway?"

James laughed, though Lily didn't hear it. Instead she felt it rumbling through his chest and her knees felt slightly weak. "It was a party I wasn't invited to, wasn't it? I had to crash it. It's my duty as a Marauder." James spun around a bit faster than before, making Lily's head spin pleasantly. "Besides, I couldn't leave you here to suffer alone. What are friends for?"

Lily's world came to a suddenly halt and crashed down around her feet. The music no longer seemed sweet and alluring, but plain. Her heart no longer fluttered when she felt James' breathing on her neck. Because he was right; they were only friends.

And the thought thoroughly depressed Lily.

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The evening wore on painfully slowly for Lily. She felt unsure and very uncomfortable with James now; the easy way they danced and laughed before seemed to be gone. At least in her eyes, it was. If James noticed a difference, he didn't mention it.

It was getting so late that Lily had fleeting hopes that Petunia would leave without a word to her. So far she had managed to avoid Petunia, Vernon, Marge and Eileen all evening. She had barely even spoken to her parents, except for them to speak to James momentarily. So as the party began to wind down, and Petunia and Vernon changed out of their wedding clothes, Lily clung to the hopes of no confrontation tightly. Lily had brief thoughts of congratulating herself for this when she saw Petunia coming towards where she and James were seated. Hastily she stood, making James start slightly, but before she could get away Petunia was standing at the table. She smirked down at James then turned her small hazel eyes to Lily, who swallowed hard. "We need to speak."

"I was actually thinking of another dance, weren't you, James?" Lily asked, giving James a very pointed look. The black haired wizard stood and took Lily's proffered hand. But Petunia wasn't going to let her get away so easily.

"It can wait." And taking no notice of the small group of guests that were witnessing this, Petunia grabbed Lily's hand and dragged her into another room, shutting the door as quickly and quietly as she could behind her. James followed them, slipping through the door just as Petunia shut it. "This doesn't concern you," Petunia spat at James, who looked taken aback for a moment. "What you think you are doing here is beyond me," Petunia suddenly said. It seemed as though since James was there, she would take her temper out on him as well. "You most certainly were not invited."

James shrugged. "I happened to be in the neighbourhood."

"I seriously doubt that," Petunia snorted and then turned to Lily, her eyes blazing. For a moment she seemed to be beyond speech, but this didn't last nearly as long as Lily had hoped. "What gave you the right to embarrass me like this?" she finally hissed through clenched teeth.

Lily stared for a second, blinking slowly. "Embarrass?" she said softly, feeling her entire body tense up. "Embarrass you? Petunia, who exactly would have been embarrassed if I had worn that dress? Who?" Petunia said nothing, but Lily didn't give her much of a chance. "I'll tell you--BOTH of us! That's right! But you couldn't see past humiliating me to realise that, could you? Imagine looking at your wedding pictures years from now, and seeing that hideous dress. Imagine what people would say about you knowing you put me in that dress." Lily knew she had hit a nerve. Petunia's face went slack as the information seeped into her mind and Lily smirked with the knowledge she had the upper hand. It was Petunia's worst fear that people would talk about her and Lily knew it. "You should be thanking me."

The door to the reception opened again, this time Vernon coming through. Lily noticed a quick look of panic cross his features before he cleared his throat. "Petunia, dear, are we ready to leave? The car is waiting."

Lily ignored Vernon and directed her wrath at Petunia. "Well?" she spat, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm waiting."

"You'll be waiting a long time to hear those words from me!" Petunia spat. "I could have endured the embarrassment to know that you got what you deserved!"

"Wait just a minute," James injected. So far he had said nothing, only watched with fascination as the calm little redhead he had known for four years let out the fiery side he hadn't known she had until recently. Usually James loved mayhem and such, but by the look on Lily's face, he knew she didn't want it. Calmly James stepped up beside Lily. "Look, no one needs to know about all of this."

Vernon seemed to have just realised who, or rather what James was. His large purple face seemed to be turning a bright red. "You stay out of this," Vernon muttered. James stepped forward, but Lily caught him by the back of his jacket. "This is none of your concern."

"And it is yours?" James spat. "Look, Petunia, just let it go."

"Don't talk to her," Vernon said, his voice rising slightly. Lily was finding it hard to hold onto James' jacket. He was pulling away. "James," she hissed, but he ignored her.

"I'll talk to whomever I please!" said James, his fist clenched.

"You’re the same as her," Vernon spat, pointing a fat finger at Lily. "And the lot of you freaks need to stay away from me, my wife, and my family!"

Lily hardly realised that her hold on James' jacket was non-existent. But it was the least of her worries. Because James had just punched Vernon Dursley in his left eye. The snap of his fist connecting with bone made a sharp, loud noise that sounded more like a cannon in Lily's ears. She moaned softly. "No, James...", but she was immediately drowned out by Petunia uttering a short scream.

Vernon was holding both his hands up to his eye, bent over and turned away from James and Lily. Petunia whipped back around to Lily, her face more furious than Lily had ever seen it before. "You awful, awful, foul..." she muttered, glaring at James. "Get out of my sight! I never want to see you, or that boy, again!"

"Gladly," Lily replied, standing a bit straighter. She pulled the door open and stepped out without waiting for James. With the sound of Vernon's groans behind him, James followed Lily, shaking his hand slightly.

Lily made it back to her parents’ car before stopping and taking a few calming breaths to push tears back. She put her hands palm down on the bonnet of the car and sighed deeply. The soft crunch of gravel behind her announced James' arrival, but he said nothing.

Lily blinked rapidly, trying to clear her eyes of tears. Behind her, James shifted his weight uneasily. "Lily, look, I'm sorry about that. Do you want me to go?"

"No."

James nodded, though Lily hadn't turned to see him. Silently he waited for her to say something more and finally, after making sure she was in complete control of all the emotions running through her body, Lily turned and leaned against the car. "That certainly was interesting," she muttered, digging her heel against the ground and not looking at James.

"Yeah," James agreed, trying to nurse his bruised hand without actually seeming like he was. It wasn't working. Lily watched him shake it out a few time before she suddenly reached out and grabbed it. "It will be ok," James said quickly, trying to shrug it off.

"It's bruising all ready," Lily said quietly, turning his hand over in her own. James felt like his stomach had moved to somewhere around his Adam's apple as her cool fingers moved over his knuckles. "We should get some ice on this before it swells."

"Really, it's ok," James insisted, trying to pull his hand back, but not really wanting to.

"No, come on." Lily let go of his hand and started back inside the hall. "You need something on that."

With a heavy sigh, James followed Lily, thinking all the while that it wasn't ice that he needed. But everything else seemed so very difficult at the moment. Especially anything to do with the redhead in front of him.

"Here we go," Lily said, pulling some ice out of the champagne bucket on the bar and wrapping it in a tea-towel. She handed it to James, who obediently placed it on his knuckles. A door swung open across from them and a waiter came in. He put an empty tray down and picked up another full one. Saying nothing to James or Lily, he left the room again. "I don't want to go back out there."

"Then don't," James suggested softly, leaning against the bar next to Lily so that their forearms were touching.

Lily let out a shaking breath. With James this near she felt like her heart was going to explode in her chest. Taking deep breaths, she made herself calm down. But all that she managed to do was give herself a huge whiff of his aftershave. Shaking her head mentally, Lily scolded herself. This was James, after all. Only James. She had been friends with him for five years.

And only friends, she kept repeating in her head. Pushing those thoughts out of the way, Lily sighed again. "I guess we should go back out before my parents start wondering where we are." James nodded, not looking entirely convinced. But when Lily straightened up and went to the door, he was right behind her.

When they got back to the reception area, they found that Petunia and Vernon had already left. Some of the guests were leaving, but most were standing around talking. Lily said hello to a few people has she made her way to her parents. Christine broke away from Contessa Merriweather and came to Lily. "Yes, dear?."

Lily smiled hurriedly to the people behind her mother, who were waiting to speak with her again. Knowing the answer far before asking it, Lily pulled her mother a bit further away from anyone listening. "Are we leaving soon?"

"Not until everyone is gone," Christine replied, looking out over the crowd of people that were still talking and dancing. "But you can go on. James, would you be a dear and see that she gets there safe? You can use our fireplace to get home."

"Sure," James replied, glad that at least Christine was still being nice to him after what he had just done to her new son-in-law. Granted, he wasn't entirely sure Christine knew about it. Yet. The last thing he wanted to do was think about how angry Lily’s parents would be with him after that. Lily kissed her mum and dad goodbye, and she and James left.

By the time they got back to Little Whinging, it was nearly dark. The stars were just beginning to come out as Lily walked silently down Magnolia Crescent and towards Hollis Drive. James stayed in step beside her, asking questions about the different things they passed. By the time they made it to the playground, James was adamant that there was no such thing as a postman. "A man that gets paid to deliver post? And you have to buy stickers to go on the envelope? Why would anyone do that when they can use owls?"

Lily smiled and rolled her eyes. "Honestly James, I've told you, muggles think owls sleep during the day, hunt at night and stay in the wild. You could never convince most muggles that owls can be pets, let alone carry post."

"This entire postman thing seems dodgy to me," James muttered, scratching the back of his head and glancing around. "What's that?"

Lily looked to where he was pointing and shook her head. "It’s a playground - you know, swings, see-saw, climbing frame, roundabout... You mean to say that you don't know what they are, either? I thought you were taking Muggle Studies?"

James gave her a blank look in response. "We, eh, mostly studied electricity last year."

Lily grabbed his hand. "Come on, then. I'll show you."

She led James over to the swings and took her shoes off. James watched, his face showing his misgivings about the entire thing as Lily set her shoes aside, then sat on one of the swings. He mimicked her and then waited. "Go on, then," she instructed. "Hold your hands here, on the chains, and then push back and forth."

James followed her instructions, but didn't seem to be doing anything but moving his legs back and forth. Lily laughed at the picture he made; she knew four year olds that could swing better. Still not moving, James gave Lily a look of disbelief. "And why do muggles do this?"

"You're doing it wrong," Lily replied, laughing and shaking her head. "Here, watch me." Lily pulled herself back and pumped her legs until she was swinging through the air. James watched her, a look of utter disbelief on his face. "See? It's fun."

"A broomstick would be easier," James grumbled. Lily stopped pumping her legs so that she slowed down, and then finally stopped. Smiling, she looked at James, who raised an eyebrow. "And muggle kids do that for fun?"

"Yes," Lily replied. She dragged her toes through the dirt under the swing and looked across the playground. "Petunia and I used to come here when I was little."

James sat in his swing again, but didn't move. He watched Lily as she stared across the grounds. "I didn't think you and Petunia ever got along."

Lily smirked, still not looking at James. "We did every now and then. Sometimes, when none of her friends were around, she would play with me. And sometimes she would talk to me, like somehow she could talk me out of being me." Lily laughed bitterly. "But we would always end up arguing and I would get upset and do magic. Of course, I didn't know what it was. So when she called me a freak, I believed her."

James said nothing for a moment, and just watched Lily. The daylight was completely gone now and a streetlight above them flickered for a moment before coming on, accenting the playground with orange light. Lily sighed heavily. "For a long time I had hopes that Petunia and I could be sisters. More than just shared blood." She laughed bitterly, shaking her head and looking at James, an odd, faraway look in her eyes. She seemed to be looking through him, not at him. "Even after I started at Hogwarts I wanted to be friends with her. But I couldn't force something that wasn't there to begin with."

James got up from the swing, making Lily snap out of her thoughts. She watched him walk around behind her, and then gently push her back. As she rose gently into the air, Lily closed her eyes and relished the feeling of the warm night air on her face. James' breath tickled the back of her neck as she came back, and she could hear his breathing. Her heart fluttered quickly under her breast, but at the moment she couldn't have cared less. All she wanted was for this moment to go on forever. The peaceful silence, and James' strong support behind her, letting her know he would catch her whatever happened.

But her calm would be broken; as always. It never failed. If there was ever a moment when Lily felt peaceful, something would break it. A storm lurked constantly around the edges of her life. At that moment a real storm was interrupting her thoughts. The thunder grumbled in the sky. Lily opened her eyes just as the sky lit up with forked lightning in the distance. She sighed. "We'd better get back to my house before it starts raining."

James grabbed hold of the swing chains and stopped Lily from moving back and forth. For a moment he said nothing, only stood behind her. Lily made to get up when suddenly she found James' arms around her neck. He placed his chin on top of her head. "Just remember you always have your friends, ok? I'll always be here for you." James exhaled a bit, loosening his grip on Lily. "And Sirius, Remus, Peter, Kassie, Alexis..." he added as an after thought. "Don't worry about Petunia."

"Thanks," Lily said, a bit unsure about what to say since James was being so serious. The thought didn't have time to linger; another spark of lightening lit up the sky. "Come on, we'd better hurry."

Lily grabbed her shoes and they took off through a darkened alley that cut between Magnolia Crescent and Privet Drive. They hurried up the dark pavement until they came to another alley that spilled them out onto Hollis Drive. They had only just turned into Lily's drive when it started raining. Lily fumbled with her handbag but by the time she had found the key and unlocked the door, it was pouring down.

"Ugh," Lily complained once inside the entry hall. "I feel like a drowned rat." She turned, wiping her hand across her face and suddenly laughed. "And you look like one."

"Thanks," James grumbled, taking his glasses off and wiping them with his jacket sleeve. "This isn't working."

"I'll just grab us some towels." Lily dropped her shoes and ran upstairs. She returned seconds later and threw a blue towel at James that he caught. He grumbled a thanks as he wiped his face with it.

"Do you want some tea or something to drink?" Lily offered, having finished drying herself as best she could. Her dress was still clinging to her because of the damp, but she didn't care. "I can put on a pot of tea."

"Actually, it's rather late. I should probably go home," James said. He looked like it wouldn't take much to make him stay, but Lily also knew he'd better be gone by the time her parents got there. Reluctantly she nodded. "I think the Floo powder is in the living room."

Lily started a fire in the hearth and sat back, waiting patiently for it to start. James watched, amused. When she turned and gave him a questioning look, he shook his head. "I was just thinking that I never realised how much easier magic made life. Won't it be great when you can use it all the time?" James asked, indicating the fire. It was true that at school it was nothing more than a flick of a wand, and a fire jumped to life. Lily nodded, not looking at James, but at the growing flames. When she didn't say anything, James stood up, unsure of what to say to end this odd day. On the whole he didn't know if he should be happy or not at how it all had gone. "Well, I'd best be off, then."

Green sparks and flames rose as James threw a pinch of Floo powder into the fire and he stepped in. "James," Lily said, causing him to turn to face her, the fire licking around his face. "Thank you for coming."

"No problem," James grinned a little more forcibly than was really required. "Potter Manor!"

With a swish and rise of flames, James was gone. Hugging herself against the chill in the room, Lily went upstairs to change and write to Kassie. She had way too much on her mind to go to sleep just yet.

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"MUM!"

Christine Evans looked up from the book she was reading and in the direction of the stairs. There was a loud slam of a door, followed by hurried footsteps, and then Lily's voice as she screamed out again; "MUM!"

Christine put her book aside. Any other time she might have been alarmed to hear Lily screaming as she was doing now, but unlike her older sister, Lily had different screams. There was a horrified scream that meant something was wrong, and then there was the scream that was echoing through the house. Whatever the owl on Lily's windowsill had delivered this morning, it must be exciting. Anxiously Christine watched the staircase and in a few seconds she saw Lily coming down them faster than was safe. The redhead, still holding onto the bannister, turned the corner and ran straight into the kitchen. "MUM!"

Daniel looked up from the paper he was reading and smiled in the direction of his wife. "Did she see us?"

"Not yet," Christine replied.

Lily suddenly came barrelling into the living room, stopping dead in front of her parents and holding up a letter in one hand, and a shining silver badge in the other. "I'm a Prefect! I'm a Prefect!" she exclaimed, jumping up and down and trying to show her badge to her mother at the same time.

Christine couldn't have stopped the huge smile on her face if she had wanted to. She jumped up and wrapped her maniacal daughter in a hug. "Oh Lily, I'm so proud!"

"Wow! My little girl, a Prefect, eh?" Daniel said, having caught the letter Lily had accidentally let go of. He skimmed over it while Lily gushed to her mother how she hadn't expected it. Daniel, grinning, looked up at his daughter; "Why weren't you expecting it, Lily? You don't get in trouble or anything."

Lily's grin became a little too innocent and Daniel chuckled to himself. "Ok, you don't get in trouble that we know of. But a Prefect. You can't get into too much trouble and get that."

"Oh, this is so exciting," Christine said, with one armed still wrapped around Lily and beaming as if her daughter had just become Prime Minister. "We must celebrate. Go and Floo Kassie, and we'll all go out to dinner. Anywhere you want."

Lily saw a look she couldn't quite place pass between her parents, but it was gone as quickly as it had came. Trying to shrug if off, Lily quickly crossed the room so she could Floo Kassie. But just as she grabbed the glass container full of Floo powder, green sparks rose in her fireplace and without warning Sirius Black came tumbling out. He grabbed Lily by the shoulders, and heaving deep breaths, exclaimed; "LILY! You've got to help us!"

Lily felt her heart stop in her chest. Reaching unconsciously for her wand, she demanded, "What's wrong? What's happened?"

Sirius looked Lily straight in her eye, shaking her shoulders slightly. "It’s Remus! Bloody hell, he's only a PREFECT!"

For a split second the room sat in a stunned silence that was broken only by the uneven gasping from Sirius. Lily finally felt her pulse rate slow, only to be replaced by anger. "Sirius! You scared me half to death! I thought something was really wrong!"

"It is!" Sirius insisted. He spun around wildly as the fireplace rose to life again and James came jumping out of it. "The shame Remus has brought on us! How can I ever face Hogwarts again?!"

"A Prefect," James moaned, acting as though he had been in on the conversation from the start. "We'll have to sacrifice him to the giant squid. It's the only way," James said lowly, acting for all the world as if Remus had died a horrible death by receiving a small badge.

Lily braced herself, finally pulling out of Sirius' near death grip on her arms, and held up her small Prefect's badge. Sirius and James' mouth dropped at the same time. Then, in perfect harmony, they both moaned; "Not you, too!"

"I'm afraid so, boys," Lily said, as if she were telling them they had a fatal disease. She sighed heavily. "I guess now it's up to Remus and me to keep you three in line." Sirius snorted. "Or we'll take points."

"You will not," James replied. He looked as though it was the most absurd thing he had ever heard. Lily gave him a look so reminiscent of Professor McGonagall's patented 'look' that both James and Sirius took a step back. Then, without warning, James threw a pinch of Floo powder in the fireplace and jumped in it. "I have to warn Pete."

Sirius watched him go, backing up from Lily. "Me, too!"

All in a matter of five minutes, Sirius and James had stormed into Lily's house, and then they were gone. The redhead blinked slowly at the fireplace and then laughed out loud. Christine and Daniel looked at each other, shook their heads and Daniel went back to his paper and Christine went to dress for dinner.

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Dinner was very enjoyable, except that Lily was dying to ask Kassie if she had decided anything about Sirius. But they didn't get much of a chance to talk, since Kassie had to leave right after dinner to baby-sit her siblings while her aunt went out. So Lily consoled herself with the fact that it was only two weeks until the new school year started and she could bombard Kassie with questions when the black haired witch had nowhere to run.

Apart from being curious to the point of obsession about what was going on in Kassie's mind (and Kassie refused to answer in letters) Lily was by far having one of the best summers ever. With Petunia out of the house, Lily spent time with both her parents, did her homework wherever and whenever she fancied, and even had her mother help her make a simple headache relief potion since her supply was gone. Something that could never have happened had Petunia been in the house. One look at a cauldron sitting on the fire and Lily was sure Petunia would have fainted.

Lily half-heartedly wondered if she would get another surprise party for her fifteenth birthday, but wasn't disappointed when her mother suggested they spend the day shopping in Diagon Alley instead. Lily got all her new books, replenished her potion ingredients, listened to Tom, the innkeeper at the Leaky Cauldron, drone on about the importance of her O.W.L.s that were coming up this year and even managed to talk her mother into buying her some items that weren't on her shopping list.

Armed with her school supplies, owl treats, robes, new travel cloak, a few biting tea cups, and lots of candy, Lily repacked her school trunk and had it ready by the morning of 1 September to head back to Hogwarts for what promised to be a great year.

--End chapter 35.