Disclaimer: i do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters.


"Bye, Lily!" Mary waved, before disappearing with her mother in a 'crack' of apparation.

"Bye, have a good summer!" still smiling, Lily walked through the barrier into the muggle part of King's Cross. She had to wait good ten minutes to make sure Sev... Snape had left the station. He tried to approach her again on the train, unsuccessfully thanks to Potter and Black being in adjacent compartment, and she was sure he would try yet again once both of them were in the muggle world. He could be really annoying when he wanted, but she wouldn't fall for his lies again.

Thankfully, there was no sign of Snape on the platform. She turned her head, looking for her parents, but couldn't see them anywhere. Finally she spotted Petunia to the right. Her sister was standing alone clutching her purse and currently checking the time on her fancy watch. Maybe dad couldn't make it this year, and mum went to use the loo or something. Tuney was probably getting really annoyed having to wait for Lily alone. She thought about going back for another ten minutes but decided against it. Lily didn't want to miss her parents coming back.

Tuney raised her head just as she approached and Lily was taken aback. Her sister's face was pale, more pale than usual, and her eyes were red and puffy like she had been crying. But Lily was outright shocked by what happened next. Seeing Lily, Petunia gasped, dropped her purse and hugged her tightly. Lily was probably hearing things at this point, because she could swear her sister was whispering in her ear repeatedly "Thank God, thank God, thank God".

Releasing Lily, Tuney wiped her eyes and picked up her purse. The redhead just stood there with her mouth open until relief in her sister's eyes was replaced by anger.

"Where were you?!" hissed the older girl gripping her shoulders. Now Lily was getting angry.

"It's none of your business, Tuney!" she said, shacking off the blonde's hands. "What is wrong with you?! You just wait until mum gets back!"

But her sister's reaction was not what Lily had been expecting. Petunia's face scrunched up, she embraced Lily again and started sobbing into her shoulder. They stood like that for almost a minute until the redhead started awkwardly patting her sister's back. Immediately Petunia released her, took a quick intake of breath and started wiping her eyes with a handkerchief from her purse.

"Tuney, what's wrong?" asked Lily hesitantly once her sister got herself under control.

"They didn't tell you, did they?" answered Petunia cryptically as she took Lily's hand and pushed her trunk in front of them, heading to the exit.

"Tell me what? What's going on? Shouldn't we wait for mum?" Lily was getting really worried. The last time Tuney voluntary took her hand was before Hogwarts.

Petunia stopped and turned to her, sighing heavily. This time she took both Lily's hands in her own.

"Mum is not coming, Lily," she said as new tears rolled from the corners of her blue eyes. "Mum and Dad... they are gone."

"What do you mean?!" cried Lily tearing her hands out of her sister's grasp. "Are you mad?! Is this some kind of a joke?!"

"No!" shouted Petunia getting angry again. Then she took a deep breath and continued softly. "No, this is not a joke. There was an accident... a car crash. They died instantly."

"No, no, you don't mean that!" Lily was shaking her head as she took a step away from Petunia. It couldn't be, what was she thinking believing Tuney, she was crazy, maybe it was just a dream, that's it, it was dream, it was really hot in their compartment and she fell asleep, she was always getting weird dreams when sleeping in an uncomfortable position...

"Lily!" suddenly two cool hands were holding her face and Lily looked up in her sister's pained eyes. Tuney's thumbs were wiping at her cheeks... when did she start crying?

"Lily, come on, let's get in the car. We need to talk about... a lot of things. Come on," said Petunia, taking Lily's hand again, uncharacteristically gently. Lily let herself be pulled along like a rag doll, her brain a mess of jumbled thoughts.

She helped Tuney lift her trunk into the car, moving on autopilot. Only when they were already leaving London did she notice something strange.

"You've got a car, Tuney?" asked Lily, looking at unfamiliar interior. It wasn't their father's car.

"No," said her sister keeping her eyes on the road, "it's rental."

Lily nodded numbly. She was grateful that Tuney wasn't trying to talk about... things right now. She wasn't ready, she couldn't take it all in, not yet. She felt exhausted, like she couldn't open her mouth or move her tongue again. Staring out of the window at the setting sun, feeling tears drying on her cheeks, Lily fell asleep.


As her sister started to snore, Petunia forced her hands to stop gripping the wheel so tightly. She wasn't an experienced driver and she didn't have time to get used to this car, but the main source of her anxiety was Lily. What was she going to do about her little sister?

Like she needed another proof that those awful freaks at that sorry excuse for a school didn't care for 'muggles' like her. It's been almost two weeks since she sent the letter to the address that's been supplied for 'emergency contact'. Well, apparently death of student's parents wasn't an emergency, at least if they were normal people. She was forced to go to Snapes after waiting for a week, but they didn't own an owl either so they weren't much help.

How was she supposed to assume legal responsibility for her sister if she couldn't even present Lily to the officials? But the worst thing was, attending their parents' funeral alone. Whoever or whatever Lily was, she was her sister. They were supposed to face it together, like family should!

When Lily did not appear from beyond the wall at King's Cross in time with Snape and several other students, Petunia's worry increased tenfold. Even though Snape assured her he'd seen Lily on the train, she couldn't get rid of the thought of those freaks taking her sister away, now that their parents were dead and couldn't stop them.

Petunia couldn't explain it, but losing her parents so suddenly had changed Lily's place in her life. She wasn't their parents' favorite, pretty, 'special' little girl anymore, she wasn't someone to compete with or to be scared of. Lily was her sister and her only family, but more so, she was her responsibility. Her parents' will stated it clearly – now that Petunia was 18 she was to be Lily's guardian. Even if she hated Lily (and she didn't, not really) she would never bear to disappoint mum and dad. If they thought her good enough to care for their precious Lily, she would live up to their expectations even if all the freaks in Britain tried to get in the way.