Chapter 1: Dinners With A Dursley
Standing out on the dock had become a habit for Lily Evans this past holiday. There was something about it that calmed her, and given her year she definitely needed some calm. Not only had this 'Dark Lord' emerged with a goal of killing all the muggleborns like her, but she had also lost her childhood best friend.
Severous Snape, the name now brought a chill down her spine. They had been on thin ice for awhile but his actions this year pushed it over the edge. She couldn't understand how she had been so wrong about him. But to him, it seemed, she was just another mudblood. Her friends had been right about him, but that didn't make it hurt any less. Smiling, she recalled her friends' reactions to that horrendous day by the lake.
Mary Cradock, a close friend of hers and fellow Gryffindor, charged at Snape with every curse she could think of. Which lead to a month of detentions that carried over into the next year.
Her other friend, Gabrielle Smith, was stealthier. She somehow made it into the Slytherin common room, and tied Snape unconscious to a branch of the oak tree which overlooked the Black Lake.
"LILLIAN!"
Lily cringed as she heard her mother's shrill voice cutting through the peaceful quiet. "COMING!" She hollered back as she slowly made her way towards the house. "Yes mother?" She asked as she entered her country home.
"Petunia is having Vernon over tonight, so I need you to cook dinner while I help her get ready." She said as she untied her apron and handed it to her.
"Ugh, what does she see in him? Honestly, she can do so much better. All he does is eat and talk about his drills. I mean no one really cares how many drills he sold this quarter!"
"Lillian…"
"Don't try and deny it. I can't stand her and even I think she can do better. She's your daughter! Shouldn't you want more for her?"
"Lillian, I love Petunia. I really do. Of course I want more for her, but this is what she wants so I am trying to be supportive. Now cook dinner, I already started it." She said as she pointed to the half-cooked stew, and walked up the stairs towards Petunia's room.
Lily truly did not see what it was that was so wonderful about Vernon Dursley. And as she sat through this dinner she kept finding more and more things that annoyed her about him. Everything from the way he talked, with his mouth full, to what he talked about, his new promotion at work, had her itching to throw him out of the house. How anyone could listen to this without going mad was shocking to her, but Petunia was looking at him like everything he said was vital to her. It was sickening.
"You see, some people don't understand the importance of a good game of golf. I believe it was my excellence on the green that sealed the deal with the Donnelle case. After that they gave me the position as head of sales. I'll be surprised if I don't get transferred to corporate by the end of the year." Vernon finished smugly as he continued to chomp down on his dinner.
"And where are the corporate offices?" Mrs. Evans asked. 'Somewhere far far away from here, hopefully.' Lily thought as she looked from him to Petunia to her mother, it truly was disgusting how accepting of him they were.
"The offices are in Dewsbury, it's only a ½ hour drive from here."
'Damn it, there goes that plan.' Lily sulked as she stood up to clear the table, which was her responsibility, since Petunia had a guest. 'Five more days' she kept repeating to herself 'five more days and I'm back at Hogwarts.'
Those five days passed by dreadfully slow. Vernon came over every night for dinner. Which meant Lily had to sit and listen to him go on and on about his company. On the third day of this Lily was pleased to see annoyance creeping on her mother's face as he once again went into extreme detail on how he sealed the deal with a wealthy client. The way he described it one would think that he solved a baffling murder case, rather than selling a few drills.
But Lily was not to judge, she was meant to be supportive. And it was killing her. 'How could she not see that she deserves better than him?' Lily thought as she cleaned the table the night before she was due back at school. Petunia and Vernon had left to see a film, and her mother had just retired for the night, so she was free to do whatever she wanted. The question was, what did she want?
She couldn't go see a film because she did not want to run into Petunia and Vernon and frankly it is pathetic to go by yourself. She didn't have any friends here because once she started attending Hogwarts she had lost touch with the girls who had once been her friends. So on her first day of freedom all summer, she was stuck at home with nothing to do. 'Well this is just bloody perfect.' Lily thought as she climbed the stairs to her room.
She had already done all her homework and packing. The only thing she had left to do was read the stack of letters which had accumulated on her desk. Grabbing the stack, she sat down on her bed, separating them into piles. 'Snape…rubbish, Snape…rubbish, Mary…read, Potter…rubbish, Gabrielle…read, Snape…Snape…Snape…yup the rest of this is rubbish.' She thought as she threw away all the letters he sent her. She turned to the letters Mary and Gabrielle had sent her.
Dear Lily,
I have barely heard from you this summer. Has Petunia and that rat that she's dating been treating you okay? I remember some of the stories you told us about them and I don't like the sound of that man. France has been absolutely wonderful! The boys here are so well-mannered and considerate. I'm coming back here after I graduate to find by husband that is if I haven't already! As you can probably guess I met a guy! His name is Pierre Lafluer. He is six foot four; almost a foot taller than me but its okay because I wore heels a lot! He has the most gorgeous blue eyes and really dark skin. (I enclosed a picture of us!) I'll tell you all about him when I see you on Thursday!
Your friend,
Mary
The picture Mary enclosed showed her and Pierre standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. He was quite taller than her, as she was five foot six. But his dark hair and blue eyes matched perfectly with her blonde hair and green eyes; the two complimented each other, that much was obvious. They looked at complete ease with each other, her arms wrapped around his waist and his arm gently laid across her shoulders with matching grins on their faces. Lily couldn't help but smile as she looked at the two of them. She tore her eyes away from the picture to look at Gabrielle's letter.
Dear Lily,
First of all, why haven't you been writing? It is very nerve-wrecking asking you for advice and then not hearing from you for a few days! But alas there is nothing I can do about this sad, sad situation *sigh*. Luckily, school starts up again on Thursday and you can't ignore me there! But, in all seriousness, are you okay? What happened at the end of the year must have really hurt. I have no idea how I would handle that so I can't even imagine what you are going through. Please write me back to let me know your okay, but since you're probably too busy running the household, I'll just have to wait until Thursday.
With much impatience,
Gabrielle
Smiling to herself, Lily placed the letters on her bedside table. 'I made it, in ten hours I will be leaving for Hogwarts. No more Petunia, no more Vernon, and no more drills…until next summer.' Lily thought happily as she quickly fell asleep.
"LILLIAN! UP! NOW!" Mrs. Evans called as she rushed around the kitchen trying to prepare breakfast.
"Five more minutes…" Lily mumbled as she pulled the blankets up over her head to try and block out the noise of her mother moving around downstairs.
"Honestly Lillian." Mrs. Evans sighed as she pulled the blankets off of her daughter's bed. "We need to leave in half an hour for the train!"
"Half an hour! Why didn't you wake me?" Lily yelled as she jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Sighing, Mrs. Evans grabbed her trunk and took it down to the car. 'I might as well pack her breakfast too.' She thought as she walked back into the kitchen.
"I'm ready, I'm ready!" Lily yelled twenty minutes later, as she ran down the stairs.
"Finally, I have your breakfast. You're trunk is already in the car. Let's go." Mrs. Evans called as she grabbed the keys off the table and walked out to the car.
Within fifteen minutes the two were at Kings Cross Station. "Hurry up mum, or I'm going to miss the train!" Lily yelled as she pushed her way through the crowd.
"Lillian, we have twenty minutes. There is no need to make a scene." Mrs. Evans huffed as she followed behind her daughter. "Now behave yourself, I'll see you at Christmas." She said curtly as she pulled Lily in for a quick hug as they reached the barrier.
A/N- Okay this is rough I will admit, but I haven't written in months so I wanted to get this out here. And I am not abandoning my story 'My Bliss, My Savior' I just needed to write and I have no idea where I am going with that story right now. I have had no motivation what so ever so I started this one. I will finish that story though don't worry. Now review please =)
