Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize! Pinky Swear!
Lily's POV
My room was small, with a window seat tucked into a niche in the wall opposite the door, covered in crumpled pieces of paper and novels with dog-eared covers. This was where I slept, while my twin sized bed that sat along the adjourning wall lay empty for many nights at a time. I wasn't a rich girl- I didn't have a computer, nor a closet full of expensive designer clothing, but I considered myself the luckiest girl in the world to have such wonderful neighbors: the Audley's.
Rose Audley, nicknamed Rosie, had been my best friend since kindergarten. We walked home from school together every day, and when I got my Hogwarts letter, so did she. We were like sisters, only closer now, since my own sister Petunia disowned me the very Christmas I came home during my 1st year. And as my own parents began to love me less and less, Rosie's loved me more and more, until they told me quite honestly, that I was like a second daughter to them.
Rose and I had the friendship many would and did envy, but my home life was more of pity than jealousy. My parents used to adore me, and take pride in my being a witch, but now I was like a guest in the house, the cousin who showed up uninvited but had to be housed out of politeness. By this time my sister had gone so far as to spend weeks at a time at her friend's home, coming back only to get fresh clothes before going to a different friend's home, and to reassure her safety to Mum and Dad.
I'm not saying I was a Mary Sue of sorts, no not at all. I had a quick temper founded on assumptions, mostly false, and could never ever do anything half way, as Rosie was quick to point out. And I had a love for thinking that, because of the unavoidable daydreaming that came along with it, got me in trouble alarmingly often.
I was in the middle of a debate with myself about when would be a suitable time to start studying for NEWTS, when a knock on my window made me jump out of my seat. Literally.
I crawled across the boring, brown carpet to the window seat and pulled back the curtains to find none other than Rosie herself, smirking at me in my pajamas so early in the evening.
I opened the window and pushed the screen out, so that she could crawl in. Rosie did, her jean mini skirt making it difficult to do so.
When Rosie was standing on her feet again, she simpered down at me from her impressive height of 5'7". Damn the tall…
"Well?" She asked expectantly.
I blinked. "Well what?"
Rosie sighed exasperatedly, overdramatic as usual. She tucked a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear, and reminded me calmly, "Lily! You're coming over? For the rest of the summer? Remember? Diagon Alley… 7th year… school…"
"Oh!" I shouted, followed by, "ohhh…"
"You forgot to pack…" Rosie assumed correctly.
"I forgot to… ask." I mumbled, kicking a crumpled piece of paper with my toe.
Rosie raised her eyebrows in a traditional Audley look that Rose shared with her father. It meant, "You have to be kidding me."
I couldn't very well leave without at least telling Mum and Dad where I was going, but if I asked they would surely say no… we were going to Diagon Alley tomorrow, and leaving on the train a weekend later!
"Right. Well we better get packing then!" Rosie said cheerfully, and dug my trunk out of my closet.
"But Rosie… My Mum and Dad aren't going to let me go… You know they won't!"
"That is why we aren't asking! Leave a note on your bed, by the time they notice you're gone you'll be sipping tea outside a shop on Diagon Alley with me, and they won't be able to say a thing against your coming with me un-chaperoned! Now go write your note… I'll do the packing. I know you have some cute stuff in here, you just never pack any of it!"
I stared at her, sitting on her feet in front of my trunk, her solid, athletic body bent over a jean skirt nearly identical to the one she had on. "For weekends…" I heard her mutter.
"Rosie…" I started, but couldn't find anything to argue with. She was right. I hated when she was right. I gave a sigh, and then grabbed my favorite pen and a sheet of paper and sat down on my window seat, legs crossed, and began to write.
Half an hour later, heaven knows what Rosie packed, but my note was on my bed, and I was dressed in an outfit Rosie saw fit to clothing me in. I didn't even know I owned a yellow sundress, but so be it.
We climbed out of my first story window, somehow managing to pull the very fat and heavy trunk out behind us. Rosie placed the screen back in the window, and together we walked back to her house, dragging the trunk behind us.
I smiled as we stepped through the front door, breathing in gulps of familiar air that smelled of whatever goodies Rosie's mother had cooked up for dinner.
I took off my shoes and set them next to the door, enjoying the coolness of the tile on my bare feet. I had only stood up before the vicious man eating dog that was actually Rosie's puppy, Ralph, attacked me. I picked up the tiny, squirming ball of fur with a smile and carried it down the hall to Rosie's room, abandoning my trunk next to my shoes.
Any doubts I had about practically running away from home left me as soon as I entered the spacious room that belonged to Rosie. I smiled at the cheerful yellow walls and threw myself on the queen sized bed Rose was lucky enough to claim as her own.
I hugged a large, frog shaped, pillow to my chest, and sighed, feeling as if I could stay there forever in Rosie's company.
But Rosie had a different idea and decided to sit on me.
I let out an "oomph" and attempted to roll over, but Rosie kept me from moving anywhere. In the summer she was an avid football player, while during the school year she played beater for the Gryffindor quidditch team. Obviously, she was quite strong. I was almost positive that the rest of my life would be spent being sat on by my best friend, when a knock on the door announced the arrival of Suyuan Audley, Rosie's mum. Rosie threw herself off of me, landing quite ungracefully in a heap on the floor.
Suyuan opened the door, just in time to see her daughter slide off the bed. She rolled her eyes and began to mutter in Chinese, as she often did when she couldn't think of what to say in English. Before Suyuan could embarrass her daughter too much, I threw myself at her screaming, "Mum!" and engulfed her in a hug.
Suyuan smiled and held me back at an arms length, looking me over. She was the same height as me, a proud 5'2". Her black hair reached the backs of her knees when she let it down, but today it was braided and wrapped around the back of her head. Her face was slightly wrinkled, and her eyes had an oddly sad twinkle in them, as if she were remembering some sorrowful event in her life. A million times I'd look into her eyes and want to ask what had happened, but I'd never gotten the courage to do so.
"You look good, bun. Where have you been?" She asked, using her nickname for me, founded by my love for cinnamon buns.
"Oh, you know, around," I shrugged. Suyuan knew all about my family problems, but I didn't want to ruin the happy mood explaining everything. Suyuan was my confidant, and knew just as much about me as Rosie.
Rose laughed, "It's top secret Head Girl stuff, it is!" Only I could hear the jealousy buried deep in her voice. Rosie had a craving for power, and got none of it this year, as I had stole the role of Head Girl, and someone else was going to be the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.
Suyuan smiled, not understanding but not needing to. "You girls are having movie night?" She asked, and Rosie nodded eagerly, smiling with a hint of evil, in that Rosie Recipe that was meant for me.
I grimaced, knowing exactly what Rosie had in mind.
Suyuan left, laughing a little, to get us some food that would probably all be eaten by the almighty vacuum cleaner. Of course I'm talking about myself.
Before the door was even halfway closed Rosie was attacking a box overflowing with movies. She found the one she was looking for with an "aha!" and I groaned.
She popped it into the DVD player and I buried my head into my favorite pillow again, being overdramatic mostly for Rosie's benefit. Rose laughed as she fast forwarded through the credits, and stopped when she reached what I recognized through sound as the beginning of her favorite movie.
I began to hum loudly, so loud that I'm almost positive it shouldn't be called humming, more like screaming with a closed mouth. But I had seen this movie countless times with Rosie, and new exactly what was happening.
Two men are in a submarine sort of thing; one of them is digging through rubbish with the machinery. The other finds a safe in the water, then they take it up to look for this magnificent jewel, and instead they find a painting of a naked woman. Said naked woman (now clothed and old) is watching on TV as they find it.
And before I realize it I've stopped screaming/humming. Then I take my face out of the pillow. And I begin to watch the movie Titanic, really watch it. I find myself getting into the movie, getting almost scared when Rose (in the movie) tries to kill herself, and sad when she doesn't follow her heart straight away, and then I'm happy, and smiling without realizing it when she goes to a lower class party with Jack, and has fun just being herself… Sometime in the movie Suyuan brought food, but I don't know when. All I know is that by the time Titanic has sunk, and Jack is dead, that I am openly sobbing. Not just a single tear down the cheek, but huge, body shaking sobs.
"I hate you," I tell Rosie when the movie is over and I'm still stifling tears. Every freaking time I watch that movie I cry, and I know it's not just because Rose lost her love, but also because I didn't have a love. I didn't love anyone with that passion, and was missing out on it. "Why do you do this to me?" I ask, being overdramatic yet again.
Rosie, too, was trying not to cry anymore. "Because I love it! Now it's your turn to pick a movie!"
And of course I just had to follow that up with another movie filled with love and moments that would make me cry… or sob… because it was a movie night tradition!
I decided on a Disney movie, Cinderella! It would have Rosie and I in tears in no time. But as soon as the movie began to play I was drawn from the room to attack Christopher Audley, Rosie's dad.
He had barely shut the front door and I was there, giving him the biggest hug in the history of forever.
"I'm happy to see you too, Lily!" He shouted, hugging me back.
It wasn't until he looked down at me, smiling, that he saw I had been crying, and frowned slightly.
"Movie night?" He asked, and I laughed in agreement, followed be a sniff. "I thought so! As long as you girls are ready to go by tomorrow afternoon it's fine by me if you spend the night sobbing…" He said with a wink.
He was tall. Very tall. So tall that you felt the urge to ask him about the weather up there, not because you wanted to be funny with an incredibly old joke, but because you really wanted to know. He looked almost exactly like Rosie, with dark brown hair and dark violet eyes that almost looked black. His smile was all his own, however. He smiled as if he had a secret.
A sudden sob escaped from the room, and Chris laughed. "That one was to get your attention, I'm sure. Shall I join you in your plot to permanently stain the carpet with your tears?"
"No, I believe that last 'sob' was trying to tell me to get in there and watch the movie I picked, and to hurry. No mention of parents in the sob, sorry!" I said, though somewhat regrettably. He was like a father to me, and I hardly ever saw him because of his job. He was a baker, and owned a bakery downtown. He was there almost every day, and because of my parent's plot to keep me grounded all summer (for reasons that I couldn't begin to comprehend), I was almost never over here.
I shrugged and skipped back into Rosie's room. Rosie was sitting cross-legged in her pajamas, staring with intent at the TV.
She didn't look up at me once, only continued to stare while the Fairy Godmother sent Cinderella, who was now beautiful, on her way to the ball to meet her Prince Charming.
I was in the middle of changing into Rosie-Approved pajamas when Rosie herself said loudly, startling me, "She's beautiful because she feels beautiful. I want you to feel beautiful, Lily."
"What are you talking about?" I asked her, already knowing exactly what she was talking about.
"Oh, peeshaw! Don't act clueless. I'm giving you a makeover! Tomorrow. And you have to stick with it, if you like it that is. M'kay? M'kay."
Countless times I had stared at Rosie and been jealous of her confidence. Could a make over really give me that? I decided to give it a shot, and lay down on the floor beside Rosie to watch the rest of Cinderella. When the movie was over, Rosie put on another chick flick that I couldn't remember the name of.
When I woke up it was to the smell of cinnamon buns.
Rosie had apparently already woken, and told me in her loud, clear voice "Cinnamon buns later. Makeover now."
I could hear my stomach growling already.
Sitting up, I saw that Rosie had once again followed tradition and slept on the floor, leaving the bed alone for Ralph to sleep in.
Then I saw what else was on the bed.
My stomach growled louder.
"Wow." That was all I could say as I let my hand wander over the sea of mascara, lip-gloss, and a thousand different colors of eye shadow. There were bottles of foundation, and compacts, and a sinister looking device that I would never let near my eyes, but with my luck that would be exactly where it would go. And I couldn't ignore the box full of manicure and pedicure supplies. "We are still planning on going to Diagon Alley this weekend right?"
"Ha Ha." She laughed sarcastically. "I'm doing this for your own good. And there will still be cinnamon buns when we're done."
I smiled at this prospect and sat down in the chair she told me to, preparing to sit through hours of torture, cinnamon buns on my mind.
Surprisingly, it only took an hour. And it had been painless, for the most part. There was the slight discomfort of tweezing my eyebrows. And the sinister device did come dangerously close to ripping my eyes out of my head. But other than that it really wasn't so bad.
Rosie's complimentary "Wow" assured me I wasn't transformed into a hideous monster. A look in the mirror doubly assured me.
"Holy cheese on crackers, Rosie, thank you!" I screeched. Every scrap of make up on my face seemed to simply elaborate the features I already had. A little eyeliner made my bright green eyes brighter. A little blush, and my smile seemed ten times as pretty, as did my frown- an odd thing to be pretty. Was it odd to be pretty? I remembered the way I looked before the makeover and the after, and I realized I was the same, only now what made me pretty was obvious. I was pretty? What? Could it be? Another look in the mirror told me it was. My nails were pretty too. Rosie had spent quite a long time working them into the perfect length and painted them a light, natural shade of pink, all the while cooing that my nails were perfect, and how she wished she didn't have to wear fake ones. I smiled, looking down at my very real nails, wiggling my toes when I remembered how it had tickled when Rosie worked on those. Even my body was beautiful, Rosie having chosen clothing that actually matched for once, and fitted. I had on a rather flirty green skirt, that twirled prettily when I spun in a circle, and a formfitting white t-shirt that looked brilliantly white against my red hair, which I was wearing down for probably the first time in my life. I fell down to the middle of my back, and I smiled, because I was pretty, and new it.
I felt beautiful, just like Rosie said I should.
"Oh Rosie I love you!" I screamed, and gave her a huge hug.
Rosie laughed, and finished getting herself ready. "I love you too?"
A suddenly urgent growling of my stomach reminded me of an extra reward. "Cinnamon buns!"
Rosie laughed again, "Yes, yes, go eat. Then we have to go… remember?"
I did remember, and she knew I did, so I left, skipping to my favorite food in the whole world.
"Hey bun! Breakfast been ready for quite a while, what has Rosie been doing to you all morning?" Suyuan asked as she walked into the kitchen. I turned around and smiled, my answer.
Suyuan laughed in delight. "Makeover?"
"Your daughter has talent!" I said, and resumed on my quest to reheat the cinnamon buns.
Suyuan beamed with pride, and set about to making tea for herself, Rosie, and I. Christopher and Rosie walked in the room shortly after, Chris looking comfortable in a t-shirt and shorts. I suddenly felt very short, so I moved over to the table, and sat down .
"Rosie, you've done well with this makeover." Chris said, his voice filled with tears. Of course he'd get choked up, we were going to be leaving soon, and not coming back until Christmas. I wouldn't even be back then, as Rosie and the family were going to visit family, and my parents had already said "no".
Suddenly I wasn't so hungry, but I knew that when I stopped eating it would be time to leave. Slowly, I took another bite.
When I had finished eating, I stared at my empty plate, once again deep in thought. I looked forward to going to school, but the next time I saw Chris and Suyuan, I will have graduated. Wow.
I glanced at my watch. It was nearly eleven, time to go. Everyone knew it, including the kitchen, whose walls seemed unwilling to host Rosie and I any longer.
"I'm sorry, wall." I said, and got up to hug the wall as well as I could. The wall apologized for being so impatient, and reminded me that I really must be going or else I never would. "You're right. It's time to go, Rosie,"
Rosie, Chris, and Suyuan stared for a moment, and then broke out into laughter.
"Yes, the wall is right, it's time to go." And Rosie and I said our goodbyes to Suyuan and Chris.
I promised to write every week to Suyuan, and she promised to write back, and then handed me a small silk pouch, and told me it was an early birthday present, but not to open it until I got at the Inn. I smiled and tucked the pouch into my purse, thanking her all the while.
Chris hugged me so tightly I forgot how to breath, until he let go and found I couldn't say goodbye, because my throat was too tight.
A few hugs and a few more tears later, I was spinning in the fireplace, enveloped in green flames. I stepped out at the precise moment, my skirt still twirling, pulling my trunk with me. But before I could step out of the soot, my skirt was caught on a jagged brick.
"Oh bugger," I hissed, dropping my trunk with a loud thunk. I turned to unhook my skirt from the brick before Rosie showed up, and found that it was horribly tangled from the twirly thing it does when I spin.
"Here," a voice said, and suddenly someone about a foot taller than me was dangerously close to my leg, his hands dangerously close to mine. Then I was free, and this mystery person stood up straight.
"Thank you," I said, and looked up from my mostly unharmed skirt to find myself face to face with none other than one smiling James Potter.
