Follow Me Home

1: A Lonely Summer

With a defying wail the wind tore into the side of the houses on the small countryside road, rattling windows and commanding trees to wave their branches unsteadily to each other. Lily Evans sat at the window of one such house, watching as the roaring wind ripped leaves from the trees in her garden and flung them viciously at the glass panes. Sighing slightly, she tore her gaze away from the view as she heard someone enter the room behind her. Her sister, Petunia, had slipped in and was now looking upon Lily with a contemptuous gaze. She was tall and skinny, so skinny in fact that she appeared to have been stretched, her skin pulled tight over her pinched face and she had the permanent impression of her nose being stuck in the air in disapproval of entire planet.

"What are you still doing here?" Petunia asked of her sister.

"I could ask you the same thing," came Lily's reply, "haven't you got a home to go back to?"

Petunia turned her nose up even more if that was possible, "You know I'm staying the weekend."

Lily chose not to reply and turned her gaze back to the window hearing her sister huff quietly and stomp not so quietly from the room slamming the door behind her. Lily ignored the sound reverberating from the door frame and the shrill shriek that followed it immediately coming from her mother. A split second later the door swung open again to reveal Lily's mother and she strode straight over to where Lily sat curled up against the window.

"Lily! Did you just slam that door?" She cried.

Lily snapped her head round immediately and frowned, an indignant look on her face, "No." She replied simply, "that was Petunia. She needs to work on her temper control." This last part she muttered under her breath and it went unnoticed by her mother.

"I'm sick of you two always putting the blame on each other! This stops now!"

"I'm just sitting here, mum. I haven't done anything, I haven't even really moved for a while."

Lily's mothers gaze softened and she frowned slightly, "Why don't you go out and do something? Can't you get in touch with any of your friends?"

Lily sighed, this was the reason she'd resorted to watching the weather wreak its havoc on her neighbourhood, "They're on holiday mum. They won't be back until a few days before we go back to school."

"Oh. How about some of your old friends, you know, from primary school?"

Lily shook her head, "We've lost touch, mum. Everything would just be too hard to explain anyway."

"You could always go for a walk? If you headed down for the shops you could pick up something nice for tea."

Lily shrugged, "I don't know whether I'm really in the mood."

"Mum!"

Petunia had flounced back into the room again and, after throwing one hateful glance in Lily's direction, turned to her mother.

"What is it, Petunia?"

"Just to let you know that I'm going out for a meal – I won't be back 'till late!"

"That's lovely dear, have a nice time."

Petunia gave a sickly smile, "Oh, I will, bye mum!"

She left the room as buoyantly as she'd entered it and they both heard the front door shut before Lily spoke again.

"I think I will go for a walk actually."

Her mother smiled, "Oh excellent, do you good."

Lily trod the familiar path down to the local shops a slight frown on her face that she seemed not to realise she was wearing as she directed her gaze to the floor, deep in thought. Her sister, although she had left home before Lily arrived back for the summer holidays, was still managing to irritate her every day and make her feel unwelcome in her own home. She let out a barely audible sigh and, with one swift movement, kicked the leaves that the gale had torn from the trees up in air. As she lifted her head to watch their progress she had a shock, a shock that made her jump backwards involuntarily. In front of her face stood a beaming James Potter.