Lily Evans had just had a somewhat frightening conversation with her mother. What had started out as last-minute planning for a New Year's visit (Lily had spent Christmas with her boyfriend James at his parents' house), had become potentially the most shocking and crucial update in the war against Voldemort.
"Yes, your sister will be here," her mother had said. "Where else would she be on New Years?"
"I don't know," Lily replied. "Maybe with her fiancé's family?"
"That's where they spent Christmas. Oh, and Petunia can't wait to show you what she's been working on. She met this girl near Spinner's End who was looking for someone. Maybe she was looking for Severus, you might know her."
"Probably not, Mum." Lily hadn't had the heart to tell her mother that she hadn't spoken to Severus in years.
"Anyway, so this girl was over there and she has been teaching all this interesting stuff to Petunia. She can't wait to show you what she's done. It's a real release for her, the Dark Arts. See you in a week. Love you!" Mrs. Evans hung up. Lily just stood there holding the receiver.
"JAMES!" Lily yelled, letting the phone fall to the floor. James ran up the stairs.
"What's wrong, babe?" James asked, his voice full of concern. He hugged her and then pulled apart and looked at her. "What happened?"
"It's Petunia."
"Did she insult you again? Did she call you a freak?" James knew how much it hurt Lily every time her sister made it clear how much she hated magic.
"Mum said she was involved in the Dark Arts."
Silence filled the room. "SIRIUS!" James called down the stairs. Sirius hauled himself up the stairs and leaned into the doorway.
"What?" he asked lazily.
"According to Lily's mum, her sister Petunia is getting involved with the Dark Arts."
Sirius entered the room completely and shut the door behind him. "But Voldemort wouldn't use Muggles in his conquest. He's trying to exterminate them."
"Mum said Tuney met a girl in Spinner's End, who might have been looking for Snape. Voldemort could give unsuspecting Muggles some kind of Dark object, teach them how to use it, and then eliminate them," Lily said. "If he knows that she's my sister, she could have been instructed to hurt me somehow."
"Well, then, you are definitely not going alone," James announced. "I'm going with you."
"James," Lily said with the air of someone talking to a confused child, "sweetheart, you were already going to be coming with me. You're supposed to meet my family."
"Sirius is going to come, too," James decided.
"And how am I supposed to explain that to my parents? That my boyfriend, who they have never met before, brought his best friend with him? I may be used to your oddities, but my family is not."
"Just say that I fell asleep in the back of the car and you didn't notice till you got there," Sirius suggested.
"He would do something like that," James admitted. "It's what happened the time I went shopping for his birthday gift. I go to put it in the backseat, and there he is, drooling all over the upholstery."
"Fine," Lily said. "Sirius is coming to be extra protection. But this is still my family and I would like a semi-normal New Years, so none of your usual antics. Is that too much to ask?"
James and Sirius looked at each other with identical devilish smiles. "Possibly," James said.
"Probably," Sirius clarified.
Lily, James, and Sirius stood on the front porch, waiting for the door to open. Mr. Evans opened and pulled his little girl into his arms. Then he noticed that there were two boys with her instead of the one she said was coming. "Who might these two be?"
"This is my boyfriend, James," Lily said, indicating the boy on her right, and her father shook James's hand. "And this is his friend, Sirius. Turns out, Sirius fell asleep after we had loaded up, and we found him when we got here."
"Well, the more the merrier," Mr. Evans said to Sirius, but he was obviously a little uncomfortable. "Come in, come in."
Lily led the boys to the kitchen, where her mother was waiting. "Lily!" she cried, hugging her daughter. "Look at what your sister has done." She gestured at the new paintings hanging on the wall. They were definitely abstract, so Lily didn't exactly know what they were supposed to be. "Petunia has met this girl named Megan who taught her how to release her inner creativity by painting in the dark. The Dark Arts is really a great program."
"Wait a minute, Mum. You're telling me that the reason I had to bring my boyfriend's best friend with me was because Petunia has started painting with the lights off?" Lily asked. Then she heard a small explosion from the other room. "I'm going to apologize now for anything my immature guests may or may not do."