Inevitable

Chapter Eight

Confrontations

There is no such thing as fun for the whole family- Jerry Seinfeld

Owls were the highlight of each day. For Lily, who had no owl, receiving one didn't only mean that she would receive mail, but that she could send it out as well. James' owl must have been making nonstop flights over the holidays, nearly every day it brought her an owl from him and she would have one ready to send back, and Lily knew that she could not be James' only correspondent. Lene's owl also appeared frequently, carrying, at first, letters from a depressed girl, one who had just realized that standing around didn't get things accomplished. Pat's letters were short and comical, describing the latest holiday party she had attended, and what she was planning for the next one. Sirius scribbled a few notes, as did Remus, Peter, Michelle, Garret, Alice, Kingsley and a large handful of others who sent Christmas cards. The arrival of owls was what Lily looked forward to the most.

On Christmas Eve, the tension that had been building between Lily and Petunia finally broke. They had a screaming argument, hurling insults across the room. Lily was furious, red in the face and seriously considering cursing her sister until their parents intervened. After which Lily went up to her room and cried; she couldn't believe she had given into Petunia like that. She sat on her bed sniffling for almost two hours. It was an owl from James that came to her rescue.

The owl came suddenly, tapping on the window and jerking her out of her trance-like state. Grateful for a distraction from her family problems, Lily relieved the owl of its letter and brought it a bowl of water from the kitchen. As it settled itself contently with the water, Lily curled up on her bed, and opened the letter.

Lily, it read

How're things with you? Anytime you need to escape the Muggles just Apparate over here. Has Petunia been on your case still? I'd threaten her with something that could destroy her feather haired look. That would get to her. Or, if you don't want to curse her, I'll do it for you.

I'm okay, we've been busy with something I won't mention here because there's always the chance that this will fall into the wrong hands. Like my mother's.

My parents dragged Sirius and me I to this Ministry Christmas get-together last night. It was the most boring thing I've ever been to. Sirius' parents were there, so we spent a lot of time avoiding them. The food was good, the music was bad, and there was no one worth talking to besides Sirius. And you know how boring he gets after a while.

Is five o'clock all right for the 31^st? That way we can eat at the Leaky Cauldron before whatever it is you want to do for New Year's Eve. So I'll Apparate to your house then we'll go to London together.

How's you-know-what coming? I'm set to go on the twenty-seventh. It's going to be great. I promise, first thing I do when I get back is owl you. I won't die, but if I do, make sure Sirius doesn't inherit my broomstick.

Happy Christmas,

James

Lily grinned as she put down the letter. He was so horrible at writing things down! Although, his offer for 'just Apparating over' was something she would have to take him up on if things continued as they had been. At least James and Sirius were having fun, and James would fill her in on New Years Eve after he was not killed.

She took out a spare piece of parchment and a quill. She had so much to tell him and yet, she didn't know how to say it.

Dear James,

I'm all right, I guess, but I will be taking you up on your offer to visit. Petunia and I had a horrible row today. I don't know how I'm going to put up with her for another week and a bit. No cursing will be needed though, thanks anyway. I'm glad that you're having a good holiday. What are you two working on? Tell me, I won't laugh or lecture or tell anyone. The party sounds boring - do they have one every year? You should have taken me as well I'm bored out of my mind here, so even that would have been a relief.

Have you been to Sirius' flat? Maybe on New Year's Eve we should spend the night there instead of going home. We could get Pat and Remus to come too; it would be fun. I can't wait for the 31^st. Five o'clock is fine with me. I've never had dinner at the Leaky Cauldron before, and there will be fireworks at midnight, right?

My project is coming along fine. Be careful on yours, all right? Don't do anything stupid to be heroic. If you don't come back I swear I will make sure that Sirius gets everything, just to get back at you.

I love you,

Lily

Lily tied the letter to the owl's leg, then sent it back out the window. She watched it fly off until it was a mere speck n the distance, and then it was gone. She flopped back onto the bed and re-read James' letter, trying to pick anything out from between the lines, anything subtle he hadn't said outright.

"Lily," her father called up the stairs, "dinner time!"

Groaning, Lily heaved herself up and set off to the kitchen. Upon entering the kitchen she cringed at the glare Petunia was giving her across the table. Their parents tried in vain to make conversation, every time they asked a question one of the girls would answer in a clipped voice then return to her dinner.

"How is the studying going for your final exams, Lily?" her father asked.

"Fine," she answered shortly.

"Petunia," said Mrs. Evans, "where again is the party you're going to for New Year's Eve?

"Just at Maria's," Petunia gave Lily a look that said plainly, 'I have a life and you don't.'

"I'm going to Diagon Alley for New Year Eve," Lily said suddenly.

Mrs. Evans looked shocked. "That's in London. I don't know if I want you going to London by yourself, Lily."

"I won't be going alone," Lily explained. "James is coming here, then we're Apparating to London to meet some others. I'll be spending the night at Patricia Moon's. You remember her, right? You met her and her parents last summer."

Lily didn't understand why she was lying, she didn't even know if they would go to Sirius' flat or not. She did, however, remember that her parents had loved Pat, and found her parents very protective of their little girl. So if she had been going there, her parents wouldn't worry.

"Moon... Yes, I remember them," Lily's father said.

Mrs. Evan smiled. "Yes, that's fine Lily."

Lily beamed, and gave Petunia a smug look.

*

That night Lily lay on her back in bed, staring at the shadows on the ceiling. They didn't change, yet the pattern they made had intrigued her. Either that or she couldn't sleep and was bored. In her mind, she couldn't decide which. Having decided that the shadows were indeed boring, and if Petunia knew what she was doing it would take a year to live it down, Lily changed her focus. She instead tried to figure out a way to change Sirius' love life without hurting Pat or destroying the friendship of their dormitory.

Having for the past few days launched herself into Lene's problem every time she was bored, Lily had reached no conclusion that would work. The only thing she could think of was to make Pat break up with Sirius, so that if he asked out Lene she wouldn't care. There were several problems this approach: (a) Pat adored Sirius, she had for months; (b) how would Sirius offend her enough to make her dump him? (c) did Sirius even like Lene in that way? (d) there was close to no possible way that Lily could organise it all by herself and (e) Sirius had a record of, well, changing his mind. The more she thought about it the more convinced she became that in this case, Marlene was officially out of luck.

Her mind tired of Marlene's love life, Lily began thinking of her own. James had never seemed so perfect as he had in the past few days. She could remember exactly how it had felt to lie there with him, to fall asleep with his arms around her. Everything they had experienced that night had been so new to her, and yet, it was so natural. If there was one single reason why she had lied to her parents at dinner, it was so that she could fall asleep beside James again. His blunt letters were the highlight of her day. No matter how much or little he had to say, she would laugh over the letter and place it carefully in the drawer of her bedside table. On her bedside table she had a picture of the two of them together, which Remus had taken and given to her. Neither of them were looking at the camera: James had sneaked up behind her and hugged her; in the picture she had her head turned to look at him and his eyes tilted down at her face. She was struggling to get away, and he was holding onto her tightly. Lily felt, at that moment, that her love life couldn't possibly get better.

*

Christmas morning began far too early for Lily. Having not been able to sleep, she was very tired when her mother woke her up to open presents. Yawning, Lily pulled on her dressing gown and headed downstairs.

The tree was lit up with lights. Petunia sat beneath it, while their father sat on his favourite armchair. Lily was surprised at the amount of presents that looked magical. Wrapping with pictures hippogriffs in bows or fairies (real ones, not the Muggle version) on it was not common among Muggles. The different coloured lights made the room look slightly like a fairy garden, and Lily felt herself waking more easily in the spirit of the holiday.

"Who would like to start?" Lily's mother asked. It was tradition with that family for them to rotate turns in opening presents, although Lily hadn't been around for it since she was ten.

"Lily can," Mr. Evans said. "This is her first Christmas back with us since she began at Hogwarts."

Lily smiled, and picked up one of the presents with her name on it from under the tree.

"It's from Sirius, Remus and Peter," she read off the tag. Opening the paper, she found a cage. Having a fairly good idea what it could be for, Lily examined the note in the bottom.

Merry Christmas Lily! The rest of the present will be joining you tonight, we figured it wouldn't like being wrapped.

She began to laugh in happiness. "They got me an owl," she explained.

"Owl," Petunia repeated in disbelief. "What will you do with an owl?"

"Send letters," Lily said brightly.

"All right Petunia, you next," Mrs. Evans said.

Petunia's first gift was a jumper, which she exclaimed over as if it were the crown jewels.

My goodness she is annoying. I never realized what a complete bimbo my sister is before. I'm glad I'm not like that.

*

Lugging all of her gifts to her room, Lily remembered how much she liked Christmas after all. Besides the owl (and cage) she had also received makeup from Pat, a book on advanced Charms from Lene, a Sneakoscope from Moody (which she immediately dismantled), and several other little trinkets from members of the Order and acquaintances at school. A small box from James revealed a single chocolate cupcake. Lily laughed over it, but was then forced to tell the story to her parents. Some of the things she had received from her parents would be quite useless to her, but she thanked them all the same.

Dinner had been quite successful on Lily's terms. Her grandmother had come with countless puddings and well wishes for both her granddaughters. Lily loved her grandmother, although she had to pretend to be a Muggle attending finishing school. For some strange reason, the fact that they had the same eyes had always been of great importance to both of them. Large and bright green, it was a unique feature they both had, but shared with no one else in the family. Lily had managed to avoid many questions about her school and had thoroughly enjoyed the meal, as her grandmother spent most of it telling Lily and Petunia how much they looked like some various dead relative or another. She also made a big deal of telling Lily what a beautiful young woman she had become, and said nothing of the sort to Petunia.

As she entered her room the sight of an owl on her windowsill immediately struck her. Dropping her gifts on the bed, Lily opened the window and let the owl in. On it's leg was another quick note.

Lily,

Here she is! Now you can send us all cards with your extreme thanks, isn't it wonderful?

Merry Christmas,

Remus, Sirius and Peter

Lily gazed at her new owl with delight. The owl was not very large, but still looked up to long journeys. She was a light brown colour with specks of white on her throat. She had large black eyes, gazing at Lily contently.

"Your name is Isabelle," she told the owl.

As Isabelle explored her cage, Lily went to the bathroom to fill the water dish. As she was waiting for it to fill, Petunia came in and shut the door.

"You may be able to fool them," Petunia said smoothly, "but I know. I've done it all before, I can tell."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lily replied.

"New Year's Eve. You're not going to your friend's house, you're going to your boyfriend's. Don't lie to me Lily, I know. You little slut."

"You have no proof, just a guess. A wrong guess."

"Do I? You lost it, I know you did." Petunia gave Lily a smug look.

"Oh?" Lily asked. "Is that so? What exactly did I lose, big sister?"

Petunia raised her eyebrows and lowered her voice. "You know what I'm talking about. It's written all over your face, it was so obvious when he was here. Mum and Dad are just blind, they still think you're their perfect little girl. What will they think when they find out the truth?" She turned on her heel and left Lily standing there.

Lily's eyes widened in anger and surprise.

Will she tell? Will they believe her? Lily couldn't help but be a little worried. Does Petunia have proof that I'm lying? And how did she know about James and I? Was it - was it that easy to see?

Carrying the water dish carefully, so as to not spill anything, Lily went back to her room. She placed the dish in Isabelle's cage and stroked her new pet as she drank.

"What d'you think, Isabelle? Should I have told the truth? Petunia has nothing but a guess, and Pat's parents are both magical, so there's no way to check. It's not like I'm doing anything horrible, I just want to have fun." Lily closed the cage door softly for the night.

Isabelle hooted, and Lily took it as a sign that Petunia wouldn't say anything.

"Besides," she told Isabelle, "he has to live to New Years first."

*

On the twenty-seventh Lily tried to relax her consciousness. She knew that if she could just relax her mind she could somehow connect with James, and know if he was all right. She knew that she would feel everything he experienced and would know if he survived. She knew some people had powers to do that, she knew that she loved him so much that it would work.

Unfortunately, she was wrong, it didn't work, and she found herself instead curled up on a chair in the living room, practicing some of the spells from the book Lene had sent her and forcing herself not to worry.

Around four thirty in the afternoon Petunia came into the room with a book as well. Lily was amused to see that it was one of those cheap romance stories you buy in grocery stores. Their mother would not be impressed with Petunia's choice in literature. Smirking, Lily aimed her wand at the book and mumbled the spell under her breath. The book jumped from Petunia's hands, sprouted legs and ran to the other end of the room. Petunia screamed.

"How dare you!" she shrieked at Lily. "How dare you flaunt your freakish powers! You aren't fit to live with normal people!"

"That's a shame," Lily said cynically. "I like normal people. You, on the other hand..."

"Don't you speak to me like that, witch!"

"You are really lucky that Mum and Dad aren't home to hear you speak to me like that."

"You're just lucky that they're so understanding," Petunia said, as though she'd just remembered something. "They don't know what they're going to do once you've left that freak school, I heard them talking last night. You're going to want to get a freak job and move out, but they don't want you to. They want you to get a normal job and live here. If you want to stay a freak, you'll have to leave." Petunia grinned with her mouth closed, it gave her features an oddly stretched look, but her message had hit home.

Lily remained silent. What was she going to do after she left Hogwarts? She had never considered it before. It would be impossible to stay at home with a job in the Wizarding world, but did she want to live alone? Did she want to leave home right away?

Pretending that Petunia's statement hadn't bothered her, Lily went back to charming various objects in the room.

Bothered that her comments hadn't had more harming effects, Petunia retrieved her book and went into the kitchen.

"Agh! Freak, get in here!" she screamed.

Wondering what sized spider she was going to have to kill, Lily put her wand back in her pocket and went into the kitchen. Petunia was pointing at the window, rigid with fear. Following her sister's gaze, Lily saw something wonderful, James' owl.

"It's here!" she exclaimed, rushing over to let in the owl.

She untied the parchment and stroked the owl with one hand while she relished the contents of the letter.

Dear Lily,

I'm alive! Thought you might be interested in knowing that. The raid was great; I stunned four Death Eaters, one more than Kingsley. Moody said he wants me along again, isn't that great!

I got your letter Christmas Eve, Sirius says it's fine if we all stay the night at his flat. Remus has already said that he can come, and Pat's working on it. I'll be at your house at 5:30.

James