Authors Notes: I will briefly introduce myself to you all, as this is the first chapter of the first story that I shall post under this screen name. My name is Aimee, if you have questions or comments about anything on this page, feel free to email me, as I have my email address visible on my profile. I absolutely adore reviews, as do most, they fuel me into writing future chapters with much vigor, so really reviewing is as much for you all as it is for me. Constructive criticism absolutely welcome and wanted. I do hope you enjoy this story as I take Lily on her Path to love and truth and heartbreak. Thank you! Read and Review!
Finding Truth
Chapter one
The wedding
The alarm screeched brazenly in Lily's ears, catching her completely offguard. The sudden, harsh tones caused the fiery-haired teen to fall in a messy tangle of blankets, hair, and appendages from the tall oak bed, onto the hardwood floor below. It took Lily a full minute to remember where she was, and then she felt foolish. Why– she was home, if you could call a place she spent only three months a year at home, that is. For the past six years, she'd really considered Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to be her home, since that is where she spent most of her time, and where most of the dearest people to her lived. Gaining her bearings, Lily glared up at the alarm. Retched little muggle gadget she cursed it silently as she pulled her lean body from the covers and hit the off button on the top of the machine. Just as she was crawling back into bed, however, her bedroom door was thrown open, and her sister Petunia, three years her senior, pranced in with a dramatic flair, her head covered in hair curlers.
"Good, you're up." Petunia said, as she looked down her long narrow nose at her sister sprawled across the bed. "Mum is having a little break down, and I certainly don't need the stress today."
Lily covered her head with a soft groan as she heard her sister snap the door shut behind her as she flounced from the room. Now she remembered why she was home in the middle of November. It was Petunia's 'big day'. She was getting married to that portly boy she'd been with since Lily could remember– Vernon. She shuddered slightly, not at all from the cold. Lily couldn't fathom what someone as beautiful as Petunia could want with a pig like Vernon, except maybe the money, which he certainly had with his daddy's drill company in his pocket. She reluctantly rolled out of bed and touched one timid toe to the floor below. It was freezing. After gathering her courage, Lily tiptoed across the frigid floor to her slippers. Her mum needed her, and like always, she was going to rush right over to fix things up.
After a little searching, Lily found her mother sitting on the canopied bed in Petunia's room, looking mournfully down at something small and yellow in her hands. Lily walked slowly and silently to her mother and touched her shoulder softly.
"Mum..?" She said the word gently, not wanting to alarm her in this fragile state.
Her mother blinked a few times, then turned her bright green eyes, so much like Lily's own, towards her youngest daughter. She smiled softly, unconvincingly, and then looked sadly away again. Lily sat beside her, gingerly taking her mothers weathered hand in her own.
"Mum, what's the matter?"
"What?" Mrs. Evans' voice was soft and distant, as though she were in another place. "Oh, it's nothing, dear."
Lily gave her mum a skeptical look, then decided another tactic. "What's that in your hand, mum?" Mrs. Evans held up that which she held, revealing that it was a miniscule yellow dress, with small flowers checking its surface. Tears welled in her eyes as she started to speak. "This… this is the dr-dress that I brought P-p-petunia home from the hosp-pital in." She sobbed lightly. "It was that day that I knew that my one purpose in life was to provide for my children, and now that you've both grown up, what am I sup-pp-posed to do?"
Lily slipped her arm around her mothers hunched and shuddering shoulders. "Mum, this is a natural progression. You're not losing Petunia, or you're purpose in life! Now's when you're finally going to get your chance to show the world how beautifully you've raised her, and how well she will function in society. Besides, she's just moving up the street to number four. I'm sure she'll be dashing over every day to inquire about recipes and how to clean certain things. We'll always need you mum. You've taught us everything we know, and we want to keep dipping into that fountain of knowledge!" Lily smiled as she finished her speech, then added slyly, "Besides, you do want grandchildren… right?"
Mrs. Evans brightened slightly. "You know, I didn't even think of grandchildren. I could have such fun..." She sighed. "I know I'm being silly. I know, yet knowledge doesn't make it any easier on me. Its something you won't understand until your firstborn is getting married." She looked lovingly down at the dress she still clutched in her hands.
"Mum, there's a wedding to put on! Don't be upset, be happy! Look how wonderfully Petunia has turned out! You've done a great job; this is a day to celebrate." Lily smiled widely at her mum, who returned the smile only slightly. "I know. Shouldn't you be getting ready, incidentally? I mean, as a bridesmaid you have a lot to do!" Mrs. Evans gave Lily that age old look of exasperation that she saved for her youngest child. Lily smiled and stood, heading for the door.
"Yes, I have quite a bit to get done. First of which, figuring out how to get into that mountain of a dress she picked out." Lily made a face at her mother. Then with a smile skipped out of the room, heading back for hers.
Once safely in the confines of her room, Lily pulled a long strip of wood from her night stand. Now that she was of age, she couldn't possibly think of any reason why she shouldn't use magic to speed up the process of getting ready. With a flick of her wrist she charmed her dress to come out of the closet and put itself on the bed. She wrinkled her nose looking at it. It was lavender, with little white lace frills all over it. It was, in a word, horrendous. But, it was her sister's wedding, and therefore her sister's supreme choice, so Lily would have to deal with it, getting slight satisfaction thinking that when the time came, Petunia would have to wear wizarding robes to Lily's wedding. Slipping off her night dress, she stepped into the dress, feeling it hug her body tightly through the bodice, and not touch her legs at all in its poof. She stood in front of the full length mirror, and twirled around. The color, at least, complimented her perfectly ivory skin. She reached up and pinned back her thick red hair, adding a sprinkling of white flowers with an embellishment of her wand. She was ready.
The ceremony went smooth as silk, with hardly a single flaw. Lily had to admit, even though it was Petunia's wedding, that it was beautiful. Everything was perfectly coordinated, colors complimenting each other throughout the decorations. Lily stood tall in her dreadful lavender dress and smiled brightly in all the pictures, it was her duty as a bridesmaid. As soon as the flashbulbs and wine were put away, Lily switched back to her self. She took the dress off and balled it up, shoving it in the very back of her closet, hopefully never to be seen again. Tomorrow she was off to school again, her miniature three day vacation over, and it was back to business as usual in her difficult seventh year N.E.W.T. classes.
Lily had never done badly in school, she was the top in almost all subjects, but this year was really quite challenging. There had already been three meltdowns in her fellow classmates, and it wasn't even Christmas! These thoughts and memories creeping into Lily's mind, reminded her that she needed to finish a nasty potions paper on all the uses, and substitutes available for the scarab beetle, which was used in many potions. With a scrunched up face of distaste, Lily seated herself at her small wooden desk, pulling a few scrolls from her bag along with an inkwell and quill.
Lily tried to think back to what it was like before she went to Hogwarts, back when she used to sit at this very desk and do her arithmetic, using a ball point pen. She smiled, it was hard to imagine not using a quill, which was odd because she couldn't even get the hang of it for months when she started school. Now, however she dipped the quill into the ink like a seasoned expert, and scribbled away on the parchment she'd unfurled.
It was at her desk that Lily first heard it, a loud tapping noise coming from her window. Confused, and a little nervous, she stood up and walked across the room, peering out into the darkness of night. She couldn't see anything, but she still heard the tapping. Curiosity got the best of her, and she opened the window. Other than an oddly short lived breeze, there was nothing to be seen. Rolling her eyes, Lily shut her window back, switching the lock, just in case. She settled her self down at her desk and started back at the essay. Lily quickly forgot about the tapping as she delved into writing yet another perfect essay for Professor Slughorn, but when she dipped her quill into the ink, it promptly knocked itself over, and she could have sworn she heard snickering behind her. Feeling suspicious and curious again, she spun around, wand raised.
"Who... who's there?" She asked into the empty room. No answer, but she felt a slight breeze as though someone had walked by her.
She'd never been one to believe in haunted buildings, so spooks didn't enter her mind. No, this was someone, and she had a feeling she knew exactly who it was. She raised her wand a little higher, and stuck out her chin.
"I know you're there, so you might as well show yourself!" She mustered the most menacing scowl she could.
More snickers, another breeze. Lily felt foolish. She was being had by someone. Not that this was a new experience to her, no, she'd been the target of the mischievous marauders at Hogwarts since their ring leader James Potter had tripped her on her way to the sorting hat in her first year. Something deep down inside of her told her that James was behind this as well. She narrowed her eyes, and focused, listening to the silent sounds of the room for a moment. Then, suddenly, she whipped her wand around and shouted an incantation. There was a flurry of movement, and then there was James Potter and Sirius Black, looking stricken as she reached up and grabbed the invisibility cloak that floated to her.
"I thought that was you." She looked smugly at the pair.
James quickly regained his stature, and ran in hand through his hair, ruffling it. Lily rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms.
"What are the two of you doing here?" She glared at them, feeling more agitated than ever.
"Just thought we'd drop by to see how you were doing, Evans." James grinned cheekily at her, and gave her a once over. "Nice pajamas, by the way." He snickered.
Lily turned crimson as she realized that she wasn't wearing much indeed, just a shirt and very short shorts, with a pair of mismatched socks. She held her hands up in front of her bare legs, looking around the room for something else to put over it, the only thing was the cloak in her hand. She wrapped around her legs, watching them disappear. She looked up at James and Sirius, who were grinning wickedly.
"What are you two doing here!?" She demanded again, hearing the shrill humility in her own voice with a cringe.
"We told you, just paying you a friendly visit, Little Flower." Sirius chimed in, throwing her one of his 'winning smiles'. She rolled her eyes at both the smile and the age old nickname.
"Well, if you don't want my mum to…" She stopped dead when she heard her bedroom door open. She pressed her eyes closed, praying against everything that it was her cat making its way into her room. She looked around slowly, to see her Mum standing there, a stack of black, freshly laundered school robes in her hand, and a look of wonder on her face. "Lillian, you didn't tell me we'd be having guests..." Mrs. Evans addressed Lily, but didn't take her eyes off of the boys.
"Well, it was a little unexpected..." Lily glared from James to Sirius.
"You two should come right down stairs, and have some hot cocoa, I just made some, there's enough to go around." Mrs. Evans smiled brightly at the boys.
"Mum they were just leav–" Lily began, but James cut her off.
"Why, thank you very much, Mrs. Evans. My, how youthful you look! And just like Lily. You could pass as sisters." He headed for the door, smirking at Lily as he passed her. She felt like her life was about to end.
As the boys walked into the kitchen before Lily and her mum, she felt a tight grasp on her arm. She looked back into her mothers concerned face.
"Lily, I think that you need to go put on a little more clothes. And what were they doing in your room? You know our rules on beaus in bedrooms!" Her mothers gaze was piercing through Lily like daggers. She flushed crimson.
"They weren't invited, I swear to it. They just showed up! And they aren't even friends of mine!" Lily could hear the exasperation in her own voice as she tried to reason with her mother. It was pointless.
"Like I said, you need to change." With that, Mrs. Evans turned and bustled into the kitchen, leaving Lily fuming.
Lily stormed off to her room, quickly slipping into some jogging pants and a sweater. A glance in the mirror told her that she needed to contain her wild auburn hair in an elastic band as well. When she re-entered the kitchen, she found James speaking animatedly to her mother, but he stopped promptly when she walked in. She got a squirmy feeling about what he'd been saying. "Oh, no, James, go on. No need to stop on account of me being in here." Lily said dryly, sitting at the table and grabbing a mug of hot cocoa, vehemently throwing in marshmallows. "Well, I was just telling your lovely mother about quidditch. I don't see how someone can have a witch for a daughter, and not know what it is!" It was now James' turn to look incredulously at Lily.
"Not all of us are obsessed with flying around chucking balls at each other. Just like not all of us are impressed by those who think they are the best at it." She continued that dry, dull tone, staring him straight in the eye, one eyebrow arched.
"That's a shame, Lily, because your mum was telling me that she'd heard my name before. I almost got excited that you'd been talking about me." James winked at her.
Lily flushed. "Well, did she tell you that the only time she heard your name was when I was sobbing!?"
"No need to cry Lily, we can work things out. We can be together." James was really enjoying himself.
"You are the most foul... loathsome..." Lily sputtered, but her mother stood and cut her off.
"Lillian! I won't have you speaking to our guests that way!"
"But... they aren't guests. They're...they're… intruders!" Lily insisted, knowing she was whining, but finding herself unable to stop.
"Lillian Blair Evans." Her mothers tone was venomous, but James and Sirius stood.
"Well, Mrs. Marie, it was very nice to have finally met the beautiful woman who could have raised such a beautiful daughter, but I think we should be getting back to school now." James spoke in a quick fashion, and Lily knew he was trying to defuse her mother, and in a way, she was grateful. "We didn't exactly get permission to leave. I just couldn't bear the thought of not seeing my Lily for so long."
Mrs. Evans smiled sweetly at them. "Well, do take care James dear, and you too Sirius. Feel free to write and drop by any time." She walked with them to the door.
"Ah, Lily?" James turned back as he reached the door. "You have my..."
Lily looked back at him blankly.
"My cloak. I'll just dash upstairs and get it." James darted out of the room.
"You won't just dash anywhere!" Lily said angrily as she hurried after him.
In her room she found him standing, not by his cloak but by her desk, smiling at her. When she walked over to his cloak and shoved it at him, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her body close to him, securing his arm around her waist. He smelled of cologne, and cocoa, and he had a bit of a shadow of stubble on his chin, but when he leaned in and kissed Lily ever so gently on her mouth, she felt like she was going to melt. But only for an instant. Then, coming to her senses, she jerked away from him.
"What are you doing!?" She practically shouted at him.
"Just saying good bye, Lillian Blair." He smirked at her, and traipsed out of her room, clutching his invisibility cloak in his hands.
Lily didn't follow him; instead she thought it best to sit on her bed for a moment, feeling all the blood leave her face as she flushed. What had just happened? She'd been kissed by James Potter, and certainly not for the first time, but this time it was some how different. She brought her hand slowly to her arm and pinched it, hard. Not a dream, so what was that churning feeling she was experiencing in her stomach? Butterflies? Certainly not! And yet, when she walked to the window to see James and Sirius walking down the front walk before they disappeared under the invisibility cloak, she felt a small smile on her lips.