The Last Few Words

I walk through the living room, past my darling baby boy Harry, and into the kitchen. There I started to make breakfast, popping out every so often to check on Harry in his playpen. I smile. Life is so good. There was something about this day that was extremely special. Well, despite that it was Halloween. Some odd feeling that made cooking seem wonderful. Something elusive that prompted me to cook a rather large meal. James noted it when he came in, carrying Harry.

"What's the occasion? Usually people stuff themselves with candy, not a nutritious breakfast," he teased. I smile again. Even with the world crumbling around us, with people disappearing left and right, we still managed to have a good time.

"No particular reason, unless you count being glad that my husband is home and not at work." He smiled back at me and pecked my cheek with a small, "G'morning, love."

Breakfast passed away uneventfully. I dashed around most of the morning playing with Harry, reading and singing, much to his delight and mine. After lunch, James disappeared with him to obsess over Quidditch. I just smiled. My poor son won't know anything else, though I doubt he'll complain.

Now that the morning is over, I feel an unbelievably strong urge to go write down my thoughts. I went to my desk and began to write.

~*~*~*~

This is the life and thoughts of Lily Evans Potter.

My life, as uninteresting as it sounds, is and always has been important to me. It began with loving parents and a hateful sister. In retrospect, I realize she was only that way since she was confirmed that I was a 'deformed being with unnatural gifts.' Not that it made much sense to me at the time.

My first memory was of walking to the park with my sister. Petunia was sore because her annoying kid sister had to tag along, but she dealt with it. That was the first time Petunia pushed me on the swings voluntarily. I was practically beaming with happiness. My eldest sister, the one I idolized, Merlin knows why, was playing with me, her hated younger sister. It was also the last time Petunia ever volunteered to do something for me.

She pushed me so high that my toes skimmed the leaves. It would be so incredibly daring of me to jump, jump and show my older sister how brave little Lily was and how she wouldn't cry if she scraped her knee. I didn't say a word to Petunia; I knew she wouldn't think anything of it unless I honestly did it. So when I went flying through the air, you can imagine Petunia was horrified, already thinking in her mind what mum would say since she let Lily get hurt. But soon that fear shifted into shock at seeing me sitting in a tree. How I managed to realize that it would prove very painful to come crashing to the ground from so high a jump and levitate myself to safety is beyond me even now, when I've been trained through all that. From that day on, Petunia always had a combination of fear and distrust of her little four-year-old sister who had just begun to show magical talent.

Those years, despite my loving parents, were fairly lonely. Petunia refused to associate with me, no matter how much mum and dad coaxed her. Eventually it was time for me to go to school, to make friends, ones that didn't know Petunia or her stories about me. But my thoughts were misplaced, as they so often are with young children, for when I got to school, no one wanted to talk to me. They'd heard odd things about Lily Evans, from the kids in our neighborhood and the children that knew Petunia's stories through their own brothers and sisters. Then the first afternoon of school, a girl name Stacy came and made fun of me. Me, not being used to such childish insults, got angry. Sure, Petunia insulted me all the time, but that was Petunia, the one who never really liked me anyway. I was standing there, boiling with anger until Stacy ran off screaming, causing me never to have the friend in elementary school.

I'd managed to light her shoes on fire.

I was an outcast from the start, so, naturally, I lost myself in books. Even if studying mathematics far passed my level of mind sounds incredibly boring, I did it anyway. That was the summer I got my letter.

Ah, my letter, my little beacon of hope. I was happier then any birthday party combined. My questions - how did those shoes catch fire? - were partially excused. I danced and skipped through the hallways in ecstatic disbelief. My rejoicing soon came to a crashing halt because Petunia opened her door to ask what on earth I was doing.

"I'm a witch, Petunia!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, I know you're a horrid little witch, but what are you doing?" she snapped. I rolled my eyes and showed her the letter, the letter that hadn't left my hands since I'd gotten it.

Unsurprisingly, it did not bode well. Petunia drew away as if she was burned and closed her door such a harsh snap that I was confused. I felt horrible; was I still some terrible monster you had to shun? My thoughts were dark and frightening, but I decided to wait until I was on the train.

~*~*~*~

The rest of the summer passed slowly. I found myself standing at the station, alone with my trunk, unsure where to find Platform 9 ¾. My mother and father hadn't a clue how to get on the platform, so they kissed me at the front of the building and said goodbye. Petunia had managed to convince them to take her to a film, since they always did such things with me. So there I was, wandering around the station, vainly hoping for some indication of where Platform 9 ¾ was. I suppose I looked silly, but I have a very useful talent of looking lost. Maybe that's why the woman with dark black hair approached me.

"Hello, dear. You look a bit lost, do you need some assistance?" she asked pleasantly. I nodded fervently and she laughed. She seemed to realize I was a witch and was attending Hogwart's for the first time, since she saw my ticket and showed me how to get across the barrier. I have thanked this woman many, many times in my life. anyway, pushing my trolley through the barrier wasn't very difficult, even if believing that a stone wall wasn't solid proved to be. After somehow finding myself at the platform, somehow heaving my trunk into a surprisingly empty compartment, I sat down to wait in nervous anticipation...

~*~*~*~

Oh, please let someone like me, please. I haven't done anything horrible, please like me...The words kept bouncing through Lily Evans' head, as fast as the train was now speeding along at. She sat in the compartment alone, twisting her hands together in her lap, only being distracted by the glimpse of bright brown eyes peeking in. They disappeared as soon as they appeared though, so she thought she'd imagined it. She absent-mindedly began to push her hair behind her ears, when a girl about her age burst in, shrieking from an outside influence and desperately trying to close the door. Lily, being hi strung as it was, shrieked as well when an older boy with the same brown curly hair came in, catching the girl and throwing her on the opposite seat to tickle her.

The girl shrieked some more, the boy laughed and Lily eventually calmed, silencing once more, looking at the two children wistfully. The boy grinned and stopped tickling the girl, letting her up and sticking out his tongue.

"Tootles!" was all he said before he disappeared.

The girl smiled and Lily smiled back. They stared at each other for a tense moment before the girl started giggling.

"I'm sorry, that was just my brother, you see. I came to sit in here and saw you. Usually I'm not really shy, but you seemed... I don't know, nervous, like you were waiting for someone? anyway, I went to go sit with Phillip, and he was exasperated and told me to find my own friends. I told him where I wanted to sit, he peeked in and said if I didn't come in and meet you that he would find a way to get me in there. I didn't believe him," she paused to giggle again, "Shows how wrong I am! Chased me in here, as I'm sure you've noticed. anyway, I'm Kira Ravenstar. Who're you?"

Lily's head was reeling. This brown haired girl practically burst with energy. Was this the normal way to make friends?

"Lily Evans," Lily said quietly. She tried to smile a little.

"I haven't heard of the Evans', are you Muggleborn?" Kira asked excitedly.

"What's that?"

"Oh, Muggles are people who have no magical blood. Muggleborns are children from Muggle parents," she explained.

"Oh! Yes, I am..." Lily began, but was cut off as the door opened again.

"Hey Kira! Have you seen Sirius anywhere?" A boy with extremely messy black hair poked his head in. Kira nodded.

"He was with Phillip a while ago, talking quietly, trading some sickles for a bag. You can guess what he's up to," she told him. He groaned.

"If he lights one of those things on the train... hey, who's that?" He had just noticed Lily, who was trying her best to disappear. Kira smiled and gestured towards Lily.

"This is Lily Evans. Lily, James Potter."

The boy grinned; Lily mumbled a 'hello' and Kira laughed.

"Nice to meet you. Well, anyway, Kira, I better go stop Sirius from doing anything stupid. Bye!" He ran off. Kira smiled at Lily.

"Don't worry about them. Sirius is his friend, known for pranking first and thinking later. He's right to go try and stop him."

~*~*~*~

The rest of the train ride was fairly uneventful, more of Kira's friends popping in to say hello, but then soon disappearing. I was very happy, Kira was so strange, but so exuberant. I couldn't help but like her, and she liked how quiet I was. She said that I never told her to shut up, like everyone else she knew did. I had just laughed at that. For once in my life I had a friend! A friend, when I told her about my accidents, giggled and thought they were brilliant, not freaky. I was so joyous that even the Sorting Ceremony didn't sound frightening. It was because I had a friend, a friend that proved to me that I wasn't alone, that I wasn't deformed, and that I was completely normal. It was very comforting.

The Sorting Ceremony was a little frightening, but I made it through. Becoming a Gryffindor was the greatest honor I ever felt was placed on me. Kira was placed there too. We stuck together everywhere after that. Went to breakfast together, skipped to class together, got bullied by Slytherin pigs (can you tell the House rivalry?), and helped each other do homework. We were best friends till the end.

And the end did come.

~*~*~*~

I pause. Writing all of it out was extremely taxing on my emotions. James comes in, placing Harry in his playpen. He leaned over my sitting form to kiss my cheek and nuzzle my neck.

"Are you alright, love?" he asks. I sigh and nod gently.

"Just remembering." I am very solemn. He glances at my pages worth of writing and frowns, pecking me on the cheek again.

"I'm right here if you need me to tell you about that dashing young man who was absolutely brilliant when it came to women..." he says playfully, a grin slowly forming over the frown. I smile. He knew just how to cheer me up. After saying, just as playfully,

"You wish!" I returned to my writing. Choosing a fresh piece of paper, I continued to write.

~*~*~*~

The years passed quietly. After being the subject of many pranks, screaming at the boys who preformed them, arguing with the Slytherin's, and having many lazy summers with Kira, it was finally my Sixth year. I didn't go as unnoticed as I did in my younger years, since my hair was a burning auburn, and it reflected the light like little stars. This caused more teasing from the Slytherin end, saying they'd never seen such an iridescent color of carrots in their life. But I never minded it; girls from the other houses would gush to me about how lovely it was. Not that I exactly liked that either, but from Kira I didn't mind.

But the road of my life took an unexpected twist...