Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been, J.K. Rowling though I do wish I was on every penny, shooting star and rainbow. Every character, reference and general outline plot is hers, unless it is... well... mine.
Chapter Two
Strange Encounters
Lily awoke, having been at home for a few days now, to a sharp rapping of bony knuckles on her bedroom door. She attempted ignore the noise and roll over, even debated putting a soundproofing charm on her bedroom, but before she could act, the sharp voice of Petunia Evans was right beside her ear.
"Wake up, I need to talk to you," the elder girl said matter-of-factly. It was almost incredible to Lily how little emotion her sister could put into her voice, she wondered if she had spent hours perfecting the art of doing so. The thought made her chuckle and gave away that she was not, in fact, asleep.
Rolling over and sitting up, Lily pulled down her Weird Sisters t-shirt and attempted to take her unruly mass of red hair. She glared at her sister who, at nine o'clock in the morning, had her perfect blonde hair precisely primped and wore a smart navy blue skirt suit and matching heels.
Sighing, Lily resigned herself to the fact that her sister was clearly not going to leave. "What is it, Petunia?"
The blonde glanced around the, already messy, bedroom and picked up a chair, tipped the clothes off of it and, placing it beside her sister's bed, sat down. "We need to talk about summer. Now, I know you like being at home because of Mum and Dad and you never seeing them but this year, we really can't be dealing with that," Petunia stated.
Lily opened he mouth to reply, but before she could get a word in, her sister continued. "My relationship with Vernon is getting very serious and I'd hate to jinx things," a slight smile passed over Petunia's tight lips, almost unable to contain her excitement, even to Lily, "but I think he might propose soon… and I don't want anything, or anyone," she looked very pointedly at Lily, her demeanour going straight back to her strict and unsmiling one, "ruining my chances. So, you are going to go and see your freaky friends and spend as much time as possible away from Cokeworth. You can take that filthy animal with you too," she finished, acknowledging Athena who was perched on the top of Lily's wardrobe, glaring at the intruder. "Is that clear?"
It was perfectly clear that Petunia was not requesting anything; she was ordering Lily to stay as far away from home as often as possible.
Coldly, the blonde sister stood, "Vernon has taken time off work to come for lunch this afternoon so I expect you gone within the next," she checked the watch on her wrist, "three hours." Petunia walked towards the door but turned back as she reached it with a sickly sweet smile, saying, "And if any of those weirdos come anywhere near this house, you will wish you were never born."
With that final, loving sentiment, Petunia left the room and slammed the door behind her, leaving Lily speechless with three hours to get up and find something to do with herself.
She flopped back down on her bed and groaned, wishing shamefully, and not for the first time, that she was an only child. Rubbing her eyes, Lily rolled herself out of bed, opened her window so that her owl could stretch her wings and picked up her towel heading for a shower to think over how she was going to spend her day.
By the time she was fully dressed, Lily had been through the pros and cons of owling her friends numerous times, over and over again in her head. It would be nice to see them outside of school, something she had never done apart from bumping into them in Diagon Alley or the Leaky Cauldron. Lily's problem was that they probably already had plans, not expecting her to be available, and she did not want them to feel like they had to hang out with her.
In all honesty, that was a problem Lily had with everything. She always felt like a burden – she certainly was to her family, even if they did not admit it – and it was a complex that infested her every action.
So, instead of owling Marlene or Mary or Alice or Dee, Lily opted to head out alone. Maybe she would go to a library and read for a bit or something. She would find something, she was sure. It would probably be a good idea to find some other stuff to do during the summer. The girls would be around at some point…
Lily resolved to owl Marlene, who, out of all her dorm mates, knew the most about her family situation, AKA Petunia. Using the time she had before having to vacate the house, Lily took out her parchment, quill and ink and began to write to her closest friend.
27th June 1977
Hey Marls,
I hope you're enjoying your summer so far and you're not causing too much trouble – I know what you're like! What've you been up to? Tell all and don't spare the details.
My sister is being less than civil, as per usual, and we've hit a pretty big hiccup quite early on. So instead of not being able to hang out with anyone over the holidays, I have to get out of the house as much as possible. I was rudely awoken early this morning and the ground rules were set so there we go.
I know you have some plans with your family and with the girls but if you're ever free, it'd be nice to hang out.
Speak soon,
Lily x
Folding up the letter, she placed it on her desk ready to send it once her owl returned. Athena was a large, white, barn owl, flecked with browns and greys, which was given to Lily as a gift for her twelfth birthday from her parents. Petunia loathed the bird from the first moment she entered the house, but Lily adored her. The name came to her quickly, having recently become fond of the ancient myths and gods (she even started taking Ancient Studies as an extra curricular subject), and it seemed only natural to name her owl after the goddess whose symbol was an owl.
Checking the time, Lily decided she may as well leave or else she would drift back to sleep and get into even more trouble with her sister.
James Potter rolled out of bed and into the shower at the obscenely late time of one o'clock. Sirius had left the night before to stay with his uncle, Alphard, and so James was left at home to find his own trouble. Remus and Peter had been over the day before and the four boys had spent the day generally causing mischief around Potter Manor and the ground, annoying almost everyone who lived and worked there. But now the Marauders had gone back to the respective homes and their ringleader was alone again.
After dressing and settling at the dining room table with pancakes from Tippy and the Daily Prophet, James began to ponder what to do. He could always start his holiday work, but that was exceedingly unlikely, or go for a nice long fly or sit and do nothing all day or even go to the beach as he had joked he would do. Just before he could decide, his mother entered the room with a cup of pumpkin juice for him and some tea for herself.
"I'm heading out today, I have some errands to run in Diagon Alley," Andrea said, taking a seat opposite her son and a sip of her tea. "Do I want to know what your plans are for the day?" A hint of a smile sparkled through Mrs Potter's eyes, perfectly aware of the things her son could end up doing when left to his own devices.
James shrugged and munched on his mouthful of pancakes; washing them down with a gulp of pumpkin juice before replying, "Don't have any."
"Come with me to Diagon Alley," Mrs Potter said quickly, jumping on a rare opportunity to spend some time with her son. "I need someone to carry the bags," she added with a smile, "and we could get you some new robes for school, you're growing out of your others. We could make a day of it – lunch out and who knows what I'll buy for you…"
If there was a way to get James to come with her, it was bribery. He had plenty of his own money, the Potter's certainly were not short of it, but being treated by you mother is always nicer. Plus, he had nothing better to do.
"Sure, whatever," James mumbled, finishing off his pancakes and all but licking the plate clean. "Let's go then," he said, standing and heading towards the fireplace, summoning a jumper as he walked. Andrea did the same and together they stepped into the green flames and said, clearly, "Diagon Alley."
Lily's first stop on her quest to find things to do was the Cokeworth Library, a place she used to frequent as a child, however it held little amusement for her now. Unable to concentrate with annoyance and anger at her sister building, the witch found there was little for her in a place full of silence. It was just too loud.
Exiting the large building, Lily realised exactly what she needed. She had not even thought of it up until that point but when it was right in front of her, it seemed obvious. Walking straight across the road and through the doors of 'The King's Head', the young witch headed straight to the bar.
"Whiskey, please," Lily asked the bartender. It was the only strong alcoholic drink she could think of, mainly because it also existed in the wizarding world.
"Really? And how old are you, lovely?" The man asked her, seemingly worried that a young girl should be drinking such heavy stuff at midday.
"Old enough," was her simple reply as he poured the drink and took her money.
Lily was well aware that the official drinking age in a pub was eighteen, but she also knew that few people actually cared. Still, to be on the safe side, maybe she should go to the Leaky Cauldron where she was old enough to drink.
The girl took a sip of the golden liquid and made a face as it burned down her throat. She shook her head and prepared herself, resolved to head to the great wizarding pub which held the entrance to Diagon Alley, and downed the remainder of the whiskey. The bartender glanced at Lily, slightly impressed, and nodded as she said goodbye and moved away from the bar.
Only a few times in Lily's life had she actually drunk alcohol. A few times at New Year when she had had some sips of champagne and once during one of the Marauders' stupid parties when it was practically forced down her throat. This left Lily as quite a lightweight and with a complete lack of knowledge as to how she would react to copious amounts of the stuff.
For someone who rarely let her hair down, that sounded exciting.
Before she could second-guess herself, Lily apparated straight to the Leaky Cauldron and ordered herself a double of firewhiskey.
Flooing into a busy Leaky Cauldron, James and Andrea Potter wiped the soot off of their robes before stepping onto the flagstone floors of the old pub. Mrs Potter, clearly on a mission, headed straight for the exit towards Diagon Alley, nodding briefly to Tom, who bowed and offered her a drink. James followed behind but stopped in his tracks as a voice he recognised ordered a double of the hard stuff.
Lily.
Was it Lily? Why would Lily be ordering a firewhiskey, a double at that, in the Leaky Cauldron of all places? And when it was barely noon! That was Sirius behaviour, not Lily behaviour. Plus, she always spent her holidays with her family. It can't be Lily. But that was a voice he would recognise anywhere.
"Mum, I have to do something. I'll see you at home, I'm sorry," James called after his mother who was already almost out the door. She sighed and called an affirmation just as her son turned back to where he thought the voice had come from.
The figure at the bar turned, showing the face and a mass of fiery red that was clearly Lily Evans. Staying a few paces away, James watched her head over towards a booth in a darkened corner of the pub, clearly hoping not to be recognised. He followed but watched from afar, trying to gauge her state. Something was clearly bothering her – her furrowed brow and intense concentration on the glass in front of her told him that, plus it was not her first drink of the day.
Scooting in the booth opposite her, Lily nearly jumped out of her skin, shocked to have someone invading her thoughts with their presence. "Evans?" Tentatively, he spoke to the girl in front of him, "Rough morning?"
Ensuring she had not spilled any of her precious alcohol, Lily pursed her lips and glared at James. "You could say that," the redhead replied as calmly as her voice would allow before sipping at her drink.
The sudden presence of James Potter, knocked Lily off kilter, giving her a slight head rush, although she covered it well. Now she thought about it, it was probably worth getting something to eat seen as she had skipped out on breakfast. The drink would go to her head far too quickly on an empty stomach.
Lily was just about to snap at him, asking why he was bothering her, but instead decided to bite her tongue. She and James had never really been on good terms – they were acquaintances that shared friends and argued more often than most. After all, he was an arrogant toe rag. But right now, Lily did not have so many friends and so maybe she could not be so harsh just this once.
James sighed and motioned for a waitress to come over, clearly this was going to take some time and he did not want to leave Lily alone. Things could only go downhill if someone did not step in and it seemed James was the only one willing. Being Lily Evans' therapist was the last thing he wanted to do but at this point his options were limited.
The waitress arrived and James ordered a single for himself and told her to put everything Lily had ordered on his family's tab. The witch opposite him tried to protest, but he quietened her and decided she probably needed food too so ordered some chips.
Once the waitress had gone, Lily leaned over the table and said in an angry whisper, "Potter, I do not need you looking after me, nor do I need you buying me things. I am perfectly -" she hiccupped, "- fine, thank you very much."
"Yeah, sure, whatever you say," he replied with disbelief. "Care to tell me what's bothering you?"
"Not particularly."
Lily looked away from him and traced circles around the rim of her goblet. She did not want to talk about her family problems and most definitely not to James Potter. Marlene was the only person who even had inkling about her familial issues and she did not even know the half of it. Just thinking about them made her want to drink more, so she downed the goblet in front of her and when the waitress returned with her companion's, she ordered another. This time, however, with soda water – she had not planned nor wanted to be drunk in the present company.
The silence between them quickly became as stifling as it had in the library back in Cokeworth and James made no move to release the tension so Lily spoke up.
"So… Potter… what brings you to the Leaky Cauldron?" Awkwardly, she chewed at the inside of her cheek and drummed her nails on the table.
James grinned, that stupid, lopsided, trademark grin-slash-smirk, which only irked Lily even more, as he clearly enjoyed that fact he had outlasted her in silence.
"My mother had errands so I came with," he shrugged, "there was nothing better to do." James took a sip of his own drink, not planning on becoming in any means tipsy, knowing he could handle the alcohol far better than his companion. It was half-impressive and half-disconcerting just how well she was doing. James had barely seen the witch touch alcohol; unless you counted Butterbeer (which had such a small percentage of alcohol it was ridiculous) or the time she had a sip of firewhiskey at a party in Gryffindor. "Now that I've shared my ever so interesting story, care to share what made you stumble into the nearest wizarding bar at such an early hour on a Monday, shall I add?"
Lily glared, yet again. It was amazing her eyes did not ache from the amount of force she put into the glare. "And how, Potter, do you know that this isn't my usual holiday behaviour?"
"Because I'm pretty sure muggles don't become adults until eighteen. I did take Muggle Studies in third year, Evans, I'm not stupid."
Lily almost spat out her drink, remembering how James would use the things he had learnt in that class to attempt to woo her. It was both the most hilarious and embarrassing thing at the same time. Merlin, when he learnt about Shakespeare, he refused to stop reciting sonnets at her every time they passed in the corridor. It had almost make Lily hate summer days, the number of times he tried to compare her to one.
"Fine," James said, before she could even think up a reply, "don't tell me. I'll guess." He smirked again and Lily began to dread the next thing that came from his mouth. "You just found out your long-term boyfriend was actually an acromantula in disguise."
"I think I would have noticed that before now, don't you?"
"So you do have a boyfriend?"
"I neither deny nor confirm," she retorted simply, struggling to hide a hint of a smile from her eyes.
"Okay then, you accidentally hexed both of your parents' ears off?"
Lily nearly choked on her drink, yet again, as she shook her head.
Taking a moment, James put on a serious face like he was thinking really hard before bursting into a long story, "I got it this time. You got home from Hogwarts to find your family missing and since then you have been on a quest to find them and bring them home. You've past the swamps of hinkypunks, slayed chimeras and dragons, solved many a sphinx's riddle, battled with fire crabs and after going to the ends of the earth and failing to find your family, you decided to come and get outrageously sloshed to mask the pain."
What intended to be a joke fell rather flat with both parties, and they both downed their drinks almost simultaneously. "It can't be as bad as that, Evans. What's going on with you?"
James had always been in incredible awe of how Lily handled difficult situations, so seeing her resort to alcohol was concerning. After Snape had called her a name-which-will-not-be-repeated in fifth year, she had held her head high even though everyone knew she must have been broken up about it. Never once did Lily even entertain the idea of drinking away the pain.
Beginning to feel woozier and woozier with every drink, Lily's lips were loosening. The laughter had helped too, softened her anger even if just a bit. "My sister is a bitch," she chuckled to herself, amazed that such a simple sentence could pretty much sum up everything. "And it's all my fault."
Lily paused, knowing it was true but having never said it aloud. "If I wasn't a witch, my sister and I would still be close, my mother would have never been ill, my family wouldn't be falling apart and I would not be sitting alone in a freaking pub because I was kicked out of the house for being a… a freak."
"One, Evans, you're not sat alone," James replied, gesturing to himself with a grin, "and two, if being able to go anywhere in the world with a mere 'pop', charming objects to do your bidding and transfiguring a pelican into a water goblet makes you a freak, then you should embrace the term and be proud! You are one of the most bright and talented witches in our year; if you can't see that and if your family aren't proud of that, then that's they're own damn loss. Clearly the only way your sister can compete with your brilliance is to bully you and I'm pretty sure that makes her the freak, not you."
This caught Lily's attention, and she stopped drinking for a second, placing her goblet back on the table. She knew James paid attention to her, too much to be honest, but the idea that he had such a high opinion of her made her feel quite shameful that she had such a low one of him. He was arrogant, a prankster, a joker, a bully himself, even! She had told him so on numerous occasions, and yet he thought she was brilliant. He was the one here trying to make her feel better and Lily just felt ashamed.
She had already said too much about her family, more than she had told anyone, and to James Potter no less. All he had been, since he sat down opposite her, was kind but the vulnerability Lily was feeling as she spilled her deepest feelings about her family was not a something she ever wished to feel and certainly not in a pub to someone who was not even her friend.
"I have to go. Thanks for the drinks," the witch said quickly, not daring to look at her companion as she stood and started to leave. However, the food had not arrived and the girl had had a decent amount of firewhiskey, so quickly began to topple.
"Lily, no, wait," James stood and caught her before she could do any damage to herself.
"Wh-what did you just call me?" A shocked Lily Evans stuttered as the wizard set her straight.
"Evans, you just nearly hurt yourself because you've had too much to drink and you're focussing on that fact that I used your given name? Really?" James sighed and shook his head. "Look, let me at least get you home safe; you aren't steady."
The witch could not protest as he put an arm around her and headed toward the door. At that precise moment, the waitress arrived with the chips, which James took from her with a smile and shoved them in Lily's hand. "Eat," was all he said as the pair left the Leaky Cauldron and headed out onto a street in muggle London.
After a long period of silence when Lily refused to talk to James and merely ate her chips, the wizard eventually managed to coax where she lived out of her and took her home via side-along apparition.
Entering the place that Lily Evans called home was a very surreal experience for James, especially with a slightly drunk and recovering Lily on his arm. He could hear voices in one of the rooms down the hall and started to head there but the witch shook her head and whispered frantically, "no, no, no, upstairs," as she attempted to divert him.
Sadly, the damage had already been done and, as Lily stumbled up the stairs supported by James, Petunia excused herself from the table and went into the hallway to see what the banging and whispering was about.
Storming up the stairs, she grabbed her younger sister's wrist, threw a "who the hell are you?" at James and dragged Lily into her bedroom with her companion following closely behind.
"Was my message not clear enough for you this morning? I said stay away from the house and you waltz back in, having been drinking by the smell of it," Petunia took a breath and made a face, "and just to top it all off, you brought one of your freaky friends with you which I explicitly told you not – to – do."
James' face was a picture. He realised at once why Lily had been drinking so much because if he had a sibling like the woman stood in front of him, he would never be sober.
"I take it you're the sister. James Potter," he said, moving to hold out a hand to her, but changing his mind and putting it back into the pocket of his trousers, "I'd like to say it's a pleasure but it most certainly isn't."
Petunia was taken aback and let her sister go, who dropped to sit on the floor quietly.
"Now, I was merely bringing your sister home safe so she didn't get hurt and if you're looking for someone to blame for the state she's in, I'd consider checking the mirror, love, because you certainly have no idea how to be a good sister. Why don't you try learning how to do that before asking favours, or even ordering around, someone who does have the capabilities of being a good sibling if you let her?"
James went to the door of Lily's bedroom, a room that, in alternative circumstances, he would have thoroughly enjoyed being in, but turned before opening the door, "I'll be leaving now and you might want to get back to whatever precious occasion your sister just 'ruined'."
With that, the wizard waltzed straight out of the house and was gone, leaving both Evans sisters open mouthed and stunned.
And that was how it began.
Sighing, James walked through the front door of Potter Manor. It had been quite a day, he had to admit, even though it was only late afternoon. He was shocked at just how terrible Lily's sister was to her and resolved to be less hard on the witch in the future, feeling slightly ashamed of how much he had enjoyed antagonising her in the past.
If James had not been so wrapped up in his thoughts about Lily, he would have noticed that something was wrong as soon as he walked in the door without Tippy to greet him. As it was, he only realised when he entered the living room to find Sirius, his mother and someone he did not recognise wearing Healer robes all looking at him.
Confused, and apprehensive, James spoke up, "What's happened?"
The look on Sirius' face and the fact that he was even present told James all he needed to know, but he wanted to hear it out loud. He did not what to believe that any more horrors could befall his best friend's life.
"Uncle Alphard's dead."
A/N: Dun dun duuuuuuuunnn. My first half, kind of, not really cliffhanger of the story! I hope everybody had a good Halloween, oh wait, it was our OTPs thirty second death day anniversary *sobs*. I didn't actually wallow in sadness all day, I spent it commemorating them through this fic by writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it.
Thank you to everyone who has read it so far and is following the story. I am so grateful to everyone and amazed at the number of people who have even stopped to look. So thank you, thank you, thank you
xoxo Andromache
