Indifference. (Unless anybody else can think up a better title…)
By snowflakey
Chapter one (The chapter in which some characters are introduced)
For any normal fifteen year old, going back to school was something that loomed miraculously close as the summer holidays passed. However, for a certain seven young men and women, all completely different in character and physique, September the first could not have come fast enough.
"Mother! Look!" A girl with long, wavy red hair rushed down the long marble staircase clutching a piece of yellowed parchment in one hand, and a shiny red and gold badge in the other.
"I've been made a prefect!"
Watching Lily Evans that morning, one would have thought that she had the perfect life. She was a beautiful, petite girl with long, red hair, green eyes, and a complexion that many girls would sell their souls for. She was a top student at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, in Gryffindor, by far the best house, renowned for its bravery, she had many friends, and, to top it all off, she had just become a fifth year prefect. Sounds good, doesn't it?
But things are never quite as good as they seem. Lily's mother entered the hallway, with a torn up bundle of papers in her hand.
Fabulous. Lily thought sarcastically. I'm gonna get it now.
She winced, preparing herself for the entourage of screeching words that were sure to come.
"Just WHAT do you think you are trying to do, young lady? Going through MY mail in order to MALICIOUSLY REMOVE A CRUCIAL LETTER offering you the CAREER OF A LIFETIME!"
Lily snorted; a modelling contract was hardly the career of a lifetime. To some girls, perhaps, but not to Lily.
Lillian Marie Evans was about as far away from a 'girly girl' as one could get. To put it bluntly, she would much rather have been born a boy. When given the option, she would wear boy's clothes, play boys sports, and in general, act like a boy. Unfortunately, in the large, spacious Evans mansion, she was not given the option. However, she did try her hardest.
Her mother's one dream, apart from having Lily marry into a filthy rich family, was for her to be a supermodel. Anyone that looked at Lily knew she wouldn't have any trouble achieving this dream on her looks alone, but it was definitely not something on Lily's to-do list.
Donna Evans dragged Lily kicking (literally) and screaming obscenities (also literally) all over London to find the person that would do her daughter 'justice' in the modelling industry.
Mrs. Evans only had one other daughter, Petunia, whom she much preferred to Lily. To Donna, Petunia was the perfect daughter. Petunia went to a normal, respectable school and had normal, respectable friends (in Donna's opinion, anyway). But there was no chance that Petunia would ever follow her mother's footsteps down the catwalk. Her looks weren't going to attract any filthy rich men, either; so Donna focused her ambitions upon Lily by stealing all her hair elastics so she had to wear her hair out, putting only dresses in Lily's wardrobes and not letting her out of the house until she walked 'gracefully' towards the front door. Basically, Mrs. Evans did everything she could to stamp out any boyishness (yes, it is a word) that Lily had in her. Petunia was deeply jealous of Lily's looks and talents and thus hated her, and Colin Evans was only interested in trying to persuade his daughter into duplicating money illegally for him.
You can see why Lily was unhappy at the Evan's residence.
Her mother continued to rant and rave
"And so poor, KIND Mr. Allen MOST GENEROUSLY writes offering YOU a modelling contract on the basis of the photos I sent him – something most girls only DREAM about and you TEAR IT UP and THROW IT AWAY!! Where have I failed as a mother? Where? It's lucky that dear Ferguson noticed it when he was taking out the rubbish."
Lily scowled; the butler, Ferguson, was a nosy git in her opinion. She had caught him looking through her desk drawers on more than one occasion, and had a sneaking suspicion that it was on her mothers orders, which didn't help.
"I will telephone Mr. Allen NOW and you WILL go to him and pose tomorrow. You will come home EVERY single school holidays and do more photographs. Now is NOT the time to decide to be a rebellious teenager!"
"I DON'T WANT TO BE A FRICKIN' MODEL!" Lily yelled, facing her mother defiantly. "I WANT TO BE AN AUROR!"
Her mother, who had opened her mouth to speak, shut it tightly, turned on her heel and left the room, knocking a small tawny owl out of the way in the process. Lily grabbed the envelope that the owl was carrying and ripped it open, desperate to hear from anybody in magical community.
Dearest Lilykins,
Lily frowned at the nickname; she had made it her lifetime job to stamp out any nick-name she could find, unfortunately for her, her friends made it THEIR lifetime job to see to it that they make as many as possible up. And Lily's name allowed for a lot of 'room for improvement'.
How's your holiday? Hope it's better than mine! My parents have had another huge fight, and my dad's moved out, for good probably, so it's just Mum, Darren and me. Say, can you be at Fortescue's at 10:30 tomorrow to get your school stuff? I know it's early but I don't think I can go another three weeks without seeing you and Hails! Write back A.S.A.P.
xox, Shelly.
Lily grinned, looking forward to seeing her two best friends, Michelle Finley and Hayley Brooks again. Completely forgetting her mother's plans for her the next day (not that she cared in the least), she quickly scrawled a 'yes' with her biro, gave the parchment back to the patiently waiting owl, and watched it fly out the window, wishing it was her. Reminded by the thought of her miraculously turning into an owl, she rushed upstairs to continue her Animagus potion, hoping to have it ready by the beginning of the school year.
***At the Brooks Household***
"But Mum, this means a lot to me! I really want to go!"
"I've told you, you're grounded! You were forbidden to play any pranks on your brother, but you broke the rules and you have to accept the consequences of your actions!"
"But if I'd known that you weren't going to let me go tomorrow I wouldn't have done it in the first place!"
"Well you'll just have to think about that next time you're thinking of doing something wrong, won't you?"
Lost for words, Hayley, or Hails Brooks stared angrily at her mother, and with a flick of her long blonde plait, left the room, slamming the kitchen door behind her with such force that the teapot rattled. Sighing, Mrs. Brooks wiped her hands on a tea towel and prepared to go out to dinner.
I can't believe she's not letting me go thought Hayley angrily as she paced her room, looking for a way out of her punishment. He needed a bath anyway. Okay, he didn't need a mud bath, but still…
Her bright blue eyes fell upon her floor-to-ceiling length French windows leading out onto the balcony.
"Hayley, Jason, I'm going to a seminar, alright? I'll be back before midnight," her mother yelled from downstairs.
Stupid seminars, Hayley thought. She's always at one every other night. How to make more galleons, how to take care of your adolescent … geez … Although … this could be a good chance for me to make an escape…
With a mischievous glint in her eye, Hayley began to gather the things she would need for a three-week long stay at the Leaky Cauldron.
***Half an Hour Later…..***
"Ouch!" Hayley grimaced as she 'departed' the Knight Bus, in not an exactly graceful manner. So ungraceful, in fact, that she ended up in a heap on the concrete footpath outside the Leaky Cauldron. No departure from the Knight Bus was ever graceful, though.
At least, not for Hayley.
Shelly could probably do it: she walks as if she's floating on air. Gosh, she missed her friends. Cooped up in her house, grounded, and with no entertainment was enough to drive Hayley Brooks insane. That is, more insane than she was to begin with. After one small prank she wasn't even allowed to go out into her garden for the entire summer. Hayley was one of those people that just can't keep still. Literally. After eating or drinking any form of sugar she just bounced off the walls, and she loved it. She lived on a high, as did Lily and Michelle, though not quite to the same extent. Hayley smiled, thinking about tomorrow's 'reunion' and the fact that she was going back to the place she loved most, Hogwarts, in just a few weeks. She conveniently ignored the fact that she had just run away from home and her life in the next couple of summer holidays would most likely become even more unpleasant because of that.
She pushed the creaky door to the Leaky Cauldron open and peeked in. The place was positively alive, with music, dancing, and a live band up on a stage she was sure hadn't been there the last time she came. She walked in, and upon looking around for the reception table for the hotel part of the building that she had never wanted to use before, she suddenly felt a huge force come bounding into her from one side, knocking the wind out of her and upsetting her bags all across the floor, luckily, though, she somehow managed to keep herself upright.
"HAYLEY!" the high pitched and uncomfortably loud voice of Michelle Finley yelled in Hayley's ear. The latter cringed.
"Hi Shelly," Hayley responded breathlessly. "Can I breathe now?"
"Oh! Sorry," Michelle released Hayley and beamed at her. "What brings you here?"
Hayley grinned. "Got grounded. Hope Mom doesn't catch me here or I'll be in HUGE trouble,"
Michelle made tutting noises under her breath. Then a thought hit Hayley and you could almost see the light bulb above her head coming to life with a 'ding!'
"What about you? How come you're here early?"
"Aw, I had to get away from the house for a little while," said Shelly, twisting her hands awkwardly. "Mom's really stressed at the moment,"
Hayley nodded understandingly. Michelle's parents had been experiencing marital problems for quite a while now. Hayley almost wished that they would just divorce; it would save Shelly, their only child, a lot of pain.
"So, you gonna invite me to your room or not?" Hayley said; glad to have found a reason to change the subject.
"Sure, it's kind of messy, though…"
"That goes without saying." Hayley mumbled, not loud enough for her friend to hear.
Both girls picked a couple of the many bags belonging to Hayley off the polished wooden floor and headed off to the two–bedroom room already occupied by Michelle.
***Ten Minutes Later … ***
"This is an absolute PIGSTY!" exclaimed Hayley. There really wasn't any point in her saying so, though, because every single room Michelle had ever passed through always ended up looking as if an atomic bomb had hit it, several times.
"I know," she said simply, kicking a t-shirt and a pair of shoes under her bed in order to clear a space to dump Hayley's bags. "How'd you reckon Lily's holding up?"
"I dunno, but when she comes I'm sure we'll know. But for now, we need to sort out our pranking supplies before we can go shopping tomorrow. You could almost see Michelle's ears perk up.
"Did I hear somebody say 'prank'?"
"No, actually, I was speaking about the tooth fairy. OF COURSE I SAID PRANK!"
So for the rest of the night, Hayley and Michelle drank extremely large amounts of a muggle soft drink called "Fanta" that they had adopted a taste for after it was introduced to them by Lily(A/N: orange fizzy drink…mmm…) and experimented with the making of their very own dung bombs ('ten times the smell!') and the like, planning pranks for their fifth year, soon to come.
***The Next Day, The Evans Mansion (Yes, that's right, the MANSION)***
"Lilllleeeeeeeeaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnn! Time to get uuu-ppp! You're going to be laa-attte!" Donna yelled in a fake singsong voice, waiting for Lily to get out of bed.
The latter groaned and tumbled out of her ugly pink bed with frilly covers and stomped downstairs, not bothering to make it. That's what butlers were for, weren't they? The least she could do was make Ferguson actually work for the ridiculous amount of money he was paid. She went to pour an orange juice, but her mother came in and stopped her, looking scandalized.
"Just WHAT do you think you're doing? You have to sign your MODELLING CONTRACT TODAY!!"
"Yeah, so?"
"So you don't EAT breakfast! It'll make you FAT and you won't get a modelling CONTRACT!" Mrs. Evans was screaming by now, and it was not a pretty sight.
"I don't even want a contract!"
Mrs. Evans came right up to Lily and looked down on her, looking particularly ferocious. "Of course you want a contract! EVERY girl wants a contract! Go and put you best pink dress on NOW! And HURRY UP!"
Lily mumbled a long string of profanity under her breath, including some 'Why the PINK?'s and went to get changed.
After an hour and a half (Lily refused to wear the low–cut, lacy pink dress that Lily's mother kept forcing on her), both mother and daughter left the house and got into the Jag, Lily in baby blue instead, and not looking happy. On the way, Mrs. Evans gave her daughter a long lecture about the proper modelling etiquette whilst Lily vowed to do exactly the opposite. Twenty minutes later (and yes, after all that fuss about the dress, they were still ten minutes early), Mr. Allen introduced himself.
"Good morning, fine Lily," he said in a smooth silky voice, attempting to kiss her hand, which she wrenched out of his grasp in disgust. Mr. Allen bore a close resemblance to one of the people she disliked most, Lucius Malfoy. "Are you ready?" Lily's mother nodded eagerly and he led the pair to what Lily assumed to be his office.
After a long and exceedingly boring hour the youngest Evans signed the contract with her initials under her mother's watchful eye. Mr. Allen (the root of all evil, in Lily' opinion), stood up, looking very pleased with himself.
"Now, if you'll just follow me?" he gestured, his manner making the words an order rather than a question, he led Lily to the place she hated most: the dreaded photography studio.
Speaking in a quieter voice to Donna Evans, he said "She should be done in about an hour, if you'd like to stop by and pick her up then,"
"By all means," replied Donna. "Have fun Lily!" she waved and smiled, but her voice had a slightly menacing tone to it.
An hour of this torture? Thought Lily. Yeah, great fun.
***
"No, no, a little to the left," Although Mr. Allen ("Please call me "Tim", sweetheart) had only been photographing Lily for five minutes and he was quickly losing his patience. "Come on, Lily, I know you can do better than this,"
Lily scowled. This is NOT fun! She thought.
"Sweetheart, I
told you to SMILE! Do want to be here and enjoy yourself or not?"
Stupid question, really.
"OF COURSE I DON'T WANT TO BLOODY BE HERE! WHO BLOODY WOULD? I'M WEARING A DISGUSTINGLY GIRLY DRESS, SMILING AT SOME BLOODY PLASTIC THING THAT TAKES BLOODY PHOTOS OF ME LIKE THIS FOR FUTURE BLOODY BLACKMAIL AND EMBARRASSMENT, I'M COOPED HERE FOR THE NEXT BLOODY HOUR AND YOU THINK I SHOULD BE BLOODY ENJOYING MYSELF!?!"
"Tim" was lost for words.
"Uh, Sweetheart, can you just make it easier for both of us and move to the left?" He ventured timidly. "Please?"
Lily's face contorted with fury, and the camera exploded. Oops. She thought. Oh well.
She made a run for it, and 'Tim' yelled out "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm going home!" Lily headed for the door, wanting to make a quick getaway.
"Oh, no, you're not," Tim Allen grabbed her forcefully by the wrist and yanked her back. As you could imagine, Lily was not exactly happy with the situation. She yanked his wrist towards her, pulling him off balance and wrestling his fat body frame to the floor. Not that it was very hard. Without a second thought, Lily raced out of the building and took a cab home, ignoring the driver's stares at her clothes.
Once home, she grabbed her school stuff as well as her muggle money and headed to the middle of London, where she paid the driver and entered the bathroom at the Leaky Cauldron to change her clothes.
Coming out in a tank top and cargos (just about as far away from girly as you could get), she caught sight of a tall, blonde haired girl with bright blue eyes in jeans and another girl with tanned features and sparkling brown eyes that complemented her hair (which was also brown) across the other side of the Leaky Cauldron, just about to enter Diagon Alley.
"Shelly! Hails! Wait for me!"
Not hearing her, and, because of her height, not seeing her, Lily did the only thing she could think of to get her friends' attention. She screamed, loud and clear. Well, I got their attention, she thought. She had also gained the attention of the rest of the pub's inhabitants, but she didn't care.
Hey, you only live once.
"Lils! C'mon!" Lily ran up to Hayley and Michelle and engulfed them both in a bug bear hug. Well, tried to anyway, considering both were taller than her.
"How's your summer?"
"Fun, fun, fun." Lily replied sarcastically. "You guys?"
"Almost as much fun as you!"
(A/N: Pointless dialogue: My favorite!)
After a lot of pushing and shoving, the three girls managed to get through to Diagon Alley and upon their arrival headed for their all time favorite shop: the pranking supplies shop. After spending almost all of their money there, they headed for 'lunch' at Florien Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour (mmm … ice-cream…), where after a long month of separation, they caught up with each other and talked as only girls can talk.
Only then did it occur to Lily as to why there was so many people milling about in the Leaky Cauldron that day, waiting to get through to Diagon Alley. Fortescue's was located just opposite Gringotts, where a large, sparkling banner flying in mid–air proclaimed a "Charity Auction!"
"I wonder what they're going to be auctioning," said Michelle, voicing Lily's thoughts.
"Maybe it'll be signed Quidditch robes or something," said Hayley excitedly, bouncing up and down in her chair. Perhaps putting Fanta on her ice–cream (sometimes the girls decided to 'make their own' ice-creams) wasn't such a smart idea.
Although neither Hayley, Michelle nor Lily played for Gryffindor, as they didn't want to make the game competitive, all were avid Quidditch fans and loved to fly. They all owned broomsticks and often flew at night, over the Forbidden Forest where they could not be seen from Hogwarts castle. That was one of the reasons they had decided to try and become Animagus: to roam the school at night where they were free just to have fun and not worry about the small stuff.
"Yeah," added Lily. "Maybe a valuable broom or something…"
In the next few minutes a short, rather overweight goblin came out and announced that the purpose charity auction was in fact to auction historical artefacts, including those of the Founders (The Founders being Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin). All profits were to go to St. Mungo's Hospital for magical maladies and injuries.
"Wow," whispered Lily, "this stuff is going to be sold for heaps!"
The auctioneer (a slightly less overweight goblin), began to introduce the items that were to be auctioned. He started off with little things, like ancient quills and jewellery. These little things, however, went for more money than what Lily's house was worth. And that was a lot of money.
The goblin started auctioning bigger things for even bigger prices, until a large, ancient sword, with a gold handle decorated with rubies was carried out in a large glass box, resting on a blood red pillow. It was surrounded by whizzes of light that the girls recognized to be security spells and there were goblins all around the stage protecting it. Lily and her friends could not help but gasp. Although they weren't into swords and the like, they could tell how valuable this one was.
"Owned by none other than Godric Gryffindor," the goblin stated proudly.
"I'll buy it!" many people began to bid outrageous prices.
"Sorry, it's not for sale." There were many disappointed cries from the crowd, now even bigger than before.
"Why not?" another yelled.
The goblin shrugged. "It's priceless," he said simply.
The three girls sighed in awe. The security guards began to carry the heavy-looking glass case away. That's when the crisis began.
***
A/N: Do you like it? Then REVIEW, because the more reviews I get the quicker I post.
I feel a bit bad about leaving you with a cliffy, so here's a bit of what happens next:
One of the worst crises in history occurs: a new Dark Lord accelerates to power and the only safe place is Hogwarts. But not everybody makes it …
You know what to do …
Luv
Snowflakey.
