Prelude to a Love Story

Prelude to a Love Story

::Prologue::

Kathryn Evans woke to an odd scratching noise. It came from her bedroom window, and was certainly not a branch scraping against the glass. The illuminated clock beside her read: 5:03am - too early for a house call. But not too early for a burglar. Petal wrapped the blanket around her as she grabbed the closest object - her clock - to smash on the robber's face. Wide awake, she slowly crept towards the window, adrenaline flowing through her veins. On her bed, Gregory rolled over, making her jump as he let out a loud snore.

Picking up the clock that she had dropped in her sudden fright, Kathryn carefully picked at the clasps for the window, preparing her aim as she lifted the glass- And screamed as an owl came hurtling at her head.

"AGHHHHHHHH!!!"

Gregory Evans jumped out of bed, yelling himself. Only semi-awake, he grabbed for the clock that wasn't there, stumbling in the process. His reach for the clock throwing him off balance, Greg over-balanced and fell to the ground, crying murder in the process. It didn't help that the owl crashed into him while he was on the ground.

Having lost her fear, Kathryn almost laughed as she saw her husband kicking and shouting as he lay on the ground, attacking a non-existent enemy. Kathryn's calls of: "It's fine dear, only an owl. It's all right, calm down!" fell on deaf ears as her husband continued to writhe on the floor. Slowly it seemed to sink into him that he wasn't blind and that he wasn't being killed. Embarrassed, Greg straightened out his blue striped pyjamas and refused to meet her eye, which was fortunate, as he would have been most insulted at the laughter in them.

"It's just an owl, hon," saying this, Kathryn looked closer at the bird nibbling her curtains and noticed that it had dropped a piece of folded white parchment at its feet. Reaching down, Kathryn picked up the parchment carefully, frightened of being pecked by the bird. The owl continued chewing the curtains, oblivious to anything else.

Slowly unfolding the parchment, a bemused Kathryn admitted that she still wasn't completely used to this form of letter transport, despite the fact that her daughter had been part of the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry for almost five years now.

Not really concentrating on the parchment, Kathryn glanced fondly at her husband. He was now sitting in bed, the lamps she'd switched on lighting up his features. She really did find him attractive, with his red hair and green eyes - her own blue ones seemed dull in comparison.

Flicking a strand of blonde hair out of her face, Kathryn remembered the letter and stepped closer to the lights for their aid in reading it. She wasn't really concentrating on it, caught up in her husband's looks as she was. It was only when she read the words "emotional breakdown" and connected them with Lily that she began to turn serious - then worried. Tears threatened to burst out of her eyes as she read on.

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Evans,

It is with sincere regret that we inform you that your daughter, Lily Evans, has had an emotional breakdown. A build-up of stress caused by certain situations led her to this unstable condition. The Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry is currently keeping her in the hospital ward, hoping that good friends and a healthy diet will help her through to recovery. A full recovery is very possible, however she is currently a comatose state due to trauma. She can be revived easily, though we haven't yet attempted as our plans are not fully in place.

Despite her original plans to return to your home for the Christmas break, Lily will be remaining at Hogwarts to continue her recovery in the suitable environment. Might I also add that Lily's condition is due to the breaking out of a relationship with one of the students here at Hogwarts. The reasons for that break-up are strictly confidential, though as the parents we feel that you may be informed. Lily and Severus Snape were, to us, an odd pairing. Neither shared very similar interests and it had only been a weak friendship from the start. The staff at Hogwarts were not entirely surprised when Severus abused their trust, however, Lily's reaction to that abuse was entirely unexpected.

We ask you that if she has either any history of mental instability or bad relationships, could you please inform us as that would help to further our attempts at aiding her in this case of distraught behaviour.

Sincerely,

Prof. Minerva McGonagall."

The tears burst through; there was nothing she could do. Sobbing and whimpering, Kathryn fell into Greg's embrace and handed him the letter. She had always felt solace in his arms, though she couldn't this morning. She felt his anxiety as he read the letter turn to stress, and then all his muscles stiffened. Her head on his chest, she felt the drops of salty water land on her head as her own tears ran off her cheeks onto his pyjama top.

Gregory held his wife close, hating the emotions that ran through his body and the fear he felt in his heart. Mumbling into her hair, he asked quietly:

"Oh, Petal, Dear... What are we going to do?"