1. Back to school

I woke up with a start and sat up in my bed, not caring to put the bedside lamp on. Outside the sun was just on its way over the horizon, making the sky a beautiful pinkish color. The usually yellow walls in my room seemed gray in the faint light. I could almost make out the letters on the front of my trunk spelling Lily Evans. Today was the day; finally I'd be going back to Hogwarts, I had already packed all my clothes and books, the only thing left to do was to get dressed before I could leave.

This had been a great summer. I spent most of it on the beach with some of my old muggle friends; they thought I was going to some special boarding school in Wales for smart people, and we usually met up every summer holiday to keep in touch. Luckily for me they were a little intimidated by the fact that I was supposed to be really smart, which meant that they didn't ask anything about my school or else I would have been busted right away since I didn't know anything about muggle history or whatever they learned at muggle schools. At first it had been really strange to use a phone, but after mom showed me a couple of times I finally got the hang of it, mom had even bought me a portable phone which certainly came in handy when I was hanging out with some of my muggle friends.

Petunia fortunately didn't spend much time at home the summer, which was probably for the best. The house was much to crowded when both of us were at home. Whenever I entered the same room as her, she would always go completely stiff, and pretend that I wasn't there and at the first excuse leave the room. Whenever I tried to start a conversation all her replies were single syllables, or sometimes a forced sentence. The reason for her absence was mostly that she had recently gotten a boyfriend, and partly because I was home. I didn't get to meet him during the holiday (much thanks to Petunia) but from what I had learned from my friends at the beach he wasn't the charming type. Quite bluntly I had him described as a; fat, ugly and rude type of guy with a newly grown mustache. I only wished she was happy, though I had my doubts about that.

After watching the beautiful sunrise through my window, I finally got myself together enough to get out of bed. I never was the type to jump out of bed with a smile. I quickly got dressed in some of my muggle clothes, and packed my pajamas along with my toothbrush after brushing my teeth, and dragged my trunk downstairs. My mom and dad were already sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast. When mom heard me in the stairs she quickly came to help me carry the giant trunk.

"Why, you are early up today! You don't have to leave before nine thir-…" she said, but she was interrupted mid-sentence when the trunk decided to take the stairs by itself, with two loud thumps it flew down the stairs and opened; spreading everything all over the hallway.

"Oh..." I said feeling a bit defeated.

We crawled down the stairs picking up books and robes as we went.

"As I was saying," she continued, "it's only a quarter past eight; it's over an hour till you have to leave."

"Yeah, I sort of woke before my alarm went off…" I said while I glared angrily at my stupid trunk.

"Well, there is eggs and bacon in the kitchen," mom said just as we were putting the last books back in my trunk. My mood immediately jumped a few notches at the thought of food; a little blood sugar was just what I needed now.

I entered the kitchen finding dad sitting in his usual spot reading the morning paper. I grabbed a toast and some eggs from the frying pan, and took a seat next to dad.

"Good morning, princess. Sounded like you had a little trouble with your trunk out there?" he said with a twinkle in his eye, looking over the top of the paper. I gave him a dirty glare, and started digging in on my breakfast. He replied with an easy laugh and patted my back as he continued reading. The breakfast tasted wonderful. My mom was the best cook, I'm very sure she could make even dirt taste good if she put her mind to it. She gave me a big smile when she sat, noticing how I dug in on the food. She picked up a couple of knitting needles, and continued on something that looked to become a sock, or maybe a mitten. It was hard to guess at such an early stage in the process.

We sat in silence for a while, while I finished my food, and dad finished his paper. He folded it neatly, and put it on the table.

"So, are you looking forward to going back to school?" He asked expectantly.

"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to seeing Alice," I said, thinking about all the hints and implications she put in her last owl. How she had so much to tell me. Apparently there was some guy involved. Yes, I was definitely looking forward to seeing Alice again.

The conversation continued in a merry tone until nine fifteen, when Petunia entered the kitchen. When she saw me sitting next to dad she stiffened. Her face was completely blank. She grabbed a toast, mumbled something about going out and turned to leave. When she was halfway through the door dad cleared his throat loudly.

"Petunia," he started in a dangerous tone. "You probably won't see Lily before the winter holidays. Aren't you at least going to tell her good bye?"

I didn't think it possible, but Petunia got even stiffer, locking her hands in fists she slowly turned around and looked at me.

"Bye," she said with her teeth firmly clenched together. Then she turned and left, slamming the door as she went.

An awkward silence settled after she left. I could see that mom had tears in her eyes, and she pretended to concentrate too fiercely on her knitting. Dad broke the silence.

"Ehm, we should leave now Lily, can't risk missing the train."