A/N: Hey guys! Liloony here again! I dropped the '12' in Liloony12 so now I'm only Liloony. :D Sorry that I really don't update much but I promise, I'm working hard but I hardly get to touch the computer these days.

Disclaimer: J.K. OWNS, J.K. OWNS


Chapter Three: Get Your Priorities Straight
by: Liloony


With one resounding crack like a gunshot, the four Apparated into the Evans' backyard in Oxshott, Surrey. Lily hesitated in using the Tube instead of Apparating but she just passed the Apparation test. And they're witches that could appear out of nowhere. She likes Apparating; yes, even if she wants to hurl afterwards. But anyway, Mrs. Evans looked out the second story window, looking a little bit jumpy since she was afraid of guns and firing arms but as she surveyed the garden, relief washed out on her slightly lined features and broke into a smile.

"Lily!" her muffled voice came from the window, "Tarkie! Tarquin dear, they're here!" Lily grinned as they heard footsteps running down the steps. Mrs. Evans was always happy to see Lily, and she didn't know why. On the other hand, Petunia never wanted her here. Of course, she always hated her ever since Lily went off to Hogwarts but it was so irritating when she'd act all rudely in her presence. For Merlin's sake, she was Lily's sister! The elder sister, mind you. A bang erupted as Mum and Dad opens the backyard door and grins at their youngest daughter.

"Mum!" Lily cried and hugged her. Tears started to form in her eyes as she sunk her face deeper into her dirty blonde hair. Something to prove Petunia and Lily were different was their hair colors. She looked pale and deranged horse-like under locks of light blonde hair (so unlike Mrs. Evans') and Lily had bright piercing green eyes under her dark red wavy hair, like Mr. Evans.

'Didn't we have a deal on the way to Surrey?' Lily told herself, 'You're not going to cry. You're going to be a big girl for Mum the rest of the stay, Lilian.' She wiped the tears quickly and pulled back to grin at her mother. Mrs. Evans smiles and pats her cheek, reminiscent of how she used to that when Lily was a small kid.

"Nice to see you, Lily dear," said Mrs. Evans. Lily let go and hugged Mr. Evans

"Hey, Dad," said Lily into her father's chest.

"Hello, darling," said Mr. Evans. A small sob was heard coming from the direction of Mrs. Evans, but it was just Mary sobbing into Mrs. Evans' shoulders.

"There, there, Mary," said Mrs. Evans who looked taken aback, "You don't have to cry like this."

"But Mrs. Evans!" Mary cried. Mrs. Evans stroked Mary's honeysuckle hair and grinned at the other girls who hovered awkwardly at the background.

Mary was quite close to Mrs. Evans ever since Lily brought her home for Christmas holiday in first year. Mrs. Evans was like Mary's second mother and Mrs. MacDonald was Mrs. Evans' best friend. After a few more hugs from Alice and Marlene to Mrs. Evans, they all went inside and had a cup of tea. It was exceptionally quiet. A very rare feat here.

"Mum, where's Petunia?" Lily asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, she's with Vernon," said Mrs. Evans. She sipped her tea and peered at Lily from the top of her cup. "Remember that boy she brought here in summer last year?"

"Oh," said Lily irritably. Vernon Dursley was a fat papa whale ready to make baby whales with her sister. When he first visited, Lily really thought Petunia was joking but she had her convinced when she would look at him with her eyes all gooey. Worst of all, he's inheriting a boring little drill company from his dad. Lily never liked him that much. He thinks of Lily as an abomination for no actual reason; he just does whatever Petunia does.

"So, as you know," Lily began, "I'll be staying over for… who knows how long."

"That's fine, dear," said Mrs. Evans quietly, "You could have your old room and Alice, Marlene, and Mary could stay in the guest rooms."

"Oh, it's fine Mrs. Evans," Alice waved her off. "I need to get back to Frank and plan the wedding."

"But you've been at it for months, Alice dear, you deserve a rest. I insist," said Mrs. Evans.

"Erm – I guess so. But we wouldn't want to disturb, and your… condition," muttered Alice Marlene and Mary nod in agreement.

"Oh, it's nothing, dears," said Mrs. Evans offhandedly, "It's just for one night and you could tell Frank, Alice, that you're taking one night off from the preparations." Alice glanced at Lily helplessly.

"Yes, Mrs. Evans," she said in defeat.

"Great!" said Mrs. Evans excitedly and grabbed the muffin platter, "Would you like a muffin?"

Lily stared at the muffins and cracked a wide smile. James Potter had always asked in every feast in Hogwarts, 'Could you pass the muffins, Evans?' or 'Would you like a muffin, Evans?' or 'Will you go out with me, Evans?' and it used to annoy Lily a lot but now, looking back, it was amusing at how James used to ask Lily with wide eyes and a small blush on his cheeks. It was really cute. And then he would go and ruffle his hair yet again and Lily would be brought back to reality and ignore him completely.

"To think of it, why do I hate that ruffling thing?" Lily whispered to herself. She recalled all the past experiences with the hair and remembered having visions of her doing it herself. "No, no, stop! No ruffling James Potter's hair," she used to think. Now it all just seemed amusing.

But his hair is cute, Lily thought, and his hazel eyes. No, shut up. You haven't seen him for a month now, you can't think like this, okay Lilian? Wait, isn't Lilian what he used to call me in first year? Arrgh, I have to stop this. I have to-

"Lily? Lily? Hey, Lily?"

"Oh, what?" Lily snapped back into reality.

"I was asking you if you could give the girls some clothes to sleep in," said Mrs. Evans, eyeing her daughter carefully.

"Oh? Oh, yes," Lily stammered and got up, "I'll go get some. I'll just put my other stuff in the wardrobe too, while I'm there." She grabbed her purple handbag, Momo's basket, and Hermione's cage and sped off and up the stairs. She turned right and found her door. She opened it quietly and ran inside, closing the door quickly in the process. Lily faced the room and sank down on the door. She was dazed and hyperventilating. She wrapped her arms around her knees and stared at her bright and open window. It was sunset.

"You cannot think of James like that, Lily," She muttered to herself, "both of you are just friends, no romantic feelings whatsoever. Just now that he got over you and dates a zillion girls, now you fall in love with him? He'll think you're selfish. Wait, did I just say "love"? No, you do not love him; actually you don't have feelings for him. You're merely friends. And Mum needs you; this isn't the time to act like that. Be there for Mum first…"

It took a while for Lily to unscramble her scrambled thoughts. She picked up her purple handbag and Hermione's cage. She put both on the desk and put her head out the window. There was a tall mahogany that stood right out the window. Lily used to play there and climb the branches when she was a kid.

"Hermione, come in, your cage is ready," Lily called out. A brown Ural owl burst out of the leaves of the tree. Lily stepped back as her owl sped in and perched herself on top of the cage. Lily opened the latch and Hermione flew in.

"I'll let you out at night, okay?" Lily told her quietly. Hermione hooted and sipped her water bottle. Momo jumped out of her basket and crisscrossed in Lily's legs. Lily giggled and picked her ginger cat up.

"Hello, there, Momo," she said. Green eyes and catty green eyes looked at each other, "you know how ticklish that is." Lily set her down on her purple bed and went over to the wardrobe. She started packing things into her wardrobe and taking some pajamas out. She went out the door, followed closely by Momo, who jumped off the bed.

"Can't you stay in one place at once?" said Lily quietly. The cat bounded off the steps and roamed the house. Lily stepped into the dining room and handed the pajamas.

"There. We all have same sizes so it'll fit you," said Lily as she put her tea cup to her lips.

Later that night, Lily couldn't sleep at all. She was having mental images of her mother dying and hugging James Potter. She slapped her face and rolled over on her bed to look out the window.

"I need to get my priorities straight," she muttered to herself.

It was a cool, pitch black night with stars in the sky. The leaves of the mahogany outside were rustling and dancing with the wind. It was peaceful and quiet outside, unlike Lily's mind right now. Her eyes were blood red from crying and her hair was tangled in a bushy red hay stack. Her eyes roamed around her room and fell on her piano. Getting up quietly, she crossed the room barefooted to the piano. She ran her hand on the keys lightly. She used to play the piano all the time.

Lily sat down on the bench and summoned her wand. After a quick whispered Silencio on the door, she set down her wand and eased her fingers on the piano. She took a deep breath and started tapping the keys rhythmically.

She played a kind of happy piece by Carole King that she really loved ever since she heard it on her eleventh birthday. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the happy melody. After the intro she started singing quietly,

"You've got to get up every morning
With a smile on your face
And show the world
All the love in your heart

Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes you will
That you're beautiful as you feel

Waiting at the station with a workday wind blowing
I've got nothing to do but watch the passers-by
Mirrored in their faces I see frustration growing
And they don't see it showing, why do I?

You've got to get up every morning
With a smile on your face
And show the world
All the love in your heart

Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes you will
That you're beautiful as you feel

I have often asked myself the reason for the sadness
In a world where tears are just a lullaby
If there's any answer, maybe love can end the madness
Maybe not, oh, but we can only try

You've got to get up every morning
With a smile on your face
And show the world
All the love in your heart

Then people gonna treat you better
You're gonna find, yes you will
That you're beautiful, you're beautiful
You're beautiful as you feel"

Lily sucked in a deep breath and exhaled. She opened her eyes and the red in her eyes were still there, bringing her back to the present and into depression. Not even the piano could help her for a long amount of time. She stood up, the bench scraping wooden floor under it and went collapsing into bed to brood even more.

"I hope you'll live longer, Mum," said Lily to the ceiling, "I need your advice, Mum. I need you with me all the time. Don't go."

And with that, she closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

A/N: So that was Chapter Three! Just a bit of a filler chapter. The main plot will arise in a few chapters and yes, James will arrive in a bit.

The song up there is Beautiful by Carole King. All rights belong to her and her record labels.

And something unHarry Potter, DID YOU SEE THAT CASEY ABRAMS GOT ELIMINATED OFF AMERICAN IDOL! I was like, NO WAY! THAT IS NOT HAPPENING!
God I was so devastated! He was the only guy I actually thought that had a good jazz voice. And I LOVE a good jazz voice. So now, my only reason to watch AI is Haley.

Anyway, hope you guys review! Thanks.

With sweetest love,
Liloony xoxoxox

P.S.: I LOVE CASEY ABRAMS! HE ROCKS!