A/N: Again, a big thank you to those of you who have taken the time to read and review. I really appreciate it. There aren't that many chapters left in the story; I just have to write a suitable ending for this since I never got to the end when I started it 5 years ago. It's been fun revisiting this little story though, and I hope you all have enjoyed it so far :D
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Two days after arriving in London, I received an owl from James. He wrote to say that he missed me and that Sirius would be spending Christmas at his flat. He also mentioned that he wanted to meet up with me before returning to Hogwarts, and that immediately made my day. I didn't argue with my mother at all that morning, because the thought of feeling James' arms around me made everyone tolerable for as long as I remembered his words.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
I spent the rest of my afternoon locked up in my bedroom with three other women I didn't even know. They were pinning my hair up, putting mountains of make-up on my face and reaching under my bathrobe to apply all sorts of scented moisturizers. My ball gown was a gold monstrosity that revealed more cleavage than I was comfortable with, but I set aside my reservations, knowing I would be racing toward my bedroom the moment the party got underway.
I looked at myself in the mirror before walking downstairs to the dinner my parents hosted before the dance, and I honestly didn't recognize the person staring back at me. I had changed so much in four months that dressing up for a party simply wasn't as satisfying as it once was. I realized I no longer needed an event of that grandeur to solidify my place in society, and frankly, I didn't want it anymore. There were far more important things happening outside the mansion walls, things in the wizarding world that would make the bravest Muggle squirm, that attending a ball was the absolute last thing I was concerned with.
As I waited at the top of the stairs to be introduced, I noticed my sister Petunia and her husband Vernon standing at the other side of the corridor. I hadn't spoken to Petunia since my sixth year at Hogwarts, and her reluctance to associate herself with me only intensified after Vernon found out I was a witch.
My father had insisted that Petunia tell Vernon my secret because he would be a part of the family and needed to know. Petunia refused, but finally agreed one week before their wedding. When she told him, he almost called off the ceremony. After much crying, cursing and name calling, my father was able to bring Vernon to his senses. No doubt he promised him a share in his business.
As the Dursley's names were called, my mother came up behind me and whispered frantically in my ear.
"Richard is here, Lily, and I don't want to hear one complaint from you," she ordered, and I gave her a puzzled look.
What did I care that a Richard was there. There were at least ten Richards at the party, was that supposed to mean something to me?
As I descended from the view I had at the top, I was well aware that all eyes were on me. I walked down to the foot of the stairs as quickly as possible where I was met by a tall, dark and sour looking gentleman that was at least five years my elder. He held out his arm, and I reluctantly took it under my mother's careful scrutiny. He led me past several guests and into the dining room where I was to be seated between him and my brother in law.
Finger bowls, caviar, soup, venison, champagne and other oddities were placed in front of us as I numbly sat listening to irritating stories from my appointed companion. He regaled me with details of successful business deals in Japan and mundane information about traveling in America that I wouldn't put anyone, not even my worst enemy, through. He spoke to me as if I enjoyed his company, when in fact I was dying to get away. The only thing that kept me going through the dinner was the knowledge that I would be meeting up with James in Diagon Alley on Boxing Day.
As I finished poking at my dessert, the man sitting next to me stood up and held up a glass of champagne. The room immediately went quiet, and he proceeded with the air of someone who had just conquered a small country.
"Good evening, esteemed guests. First I want to thank our admirable hosts for bringing together such an illustrious fete this evening." There was applause and much nodding and smiling on my parent's parts. I didn't see where the speech was going, but I got the odd feeling that all eyes were on me again.
"It is an honor to stand before you in what I hope is the first of many more intimate dinners to come. As you all may be aware of, there comes a time when a young man, particularly a man of my stature, to set aside the onerous responsibilities of the business world and settle down to start a family. I come here tonight to delay those duties with the intent to make generations of Rutherfords proud and to continue with as much success as my ancestors."
As he ended that sentence, an alarm went off in my head. Richard. Rutherford. The man standing next to me was the one person my mother expected me to marry, and he was making an engagement speech. The world froze before my eyes and all I kept thinking about was the look on James' face when I told him I was engaged to another man. I wanted to stand up and shout to everyone that I didn't want to marry Richard, but my legs were rooted to the spot. I wanted everyone to know that I was falling in love, and that I didn't care if James wasn't as rich as Richard, but my brain was incapable of processing any thoughts. What finally took me out of my reverie was the enormous diamond that was thrust in front of my face.
I stared at the rock in front of me in numb silence as the people around me waited with bated breath. As the ramifications of what that ring meant finally hit me, I stood up, knocking down my champagne glass, and rounded on my parents. They were looking at me expectantly, and by the look on my mother's face, I could tell she was mortified by my silence. As she made a face, pointing towards Richard's outstretched arm, I slapped the ring out of his hand in one swift motion. The room gasped collectively and my mother stood up in anger.
"How dare you make me come to this dinner without telling me you were planning this!" I roared. "I told you I wasn't going to play into your stupid little marriage game yet you refuse to believe even for a second that I can make a decision on my own! I won't marry him!" I cried out, and pointed a finger at Richard.
He was understandably stunned, and so were the other guests. My hair was in disarray and tears were running down my face as my mother stood up as fast as I had ever seen anyone move and roughly pulled me from the dining room. She led me into the downstairs parlor where she faced me with a look clearly inherited from Satan himself.
"You have embarrassed me for the last time!" she screamed the moment we were safely inside the parlor. "I am tired of your shenanigans and of your claims of constant slavery under this house. If we did not believe you could make a decision for yourself, you would have been pulled out of that wretched place you call school years ago, but we thought it was in our best interests to keep you happy. We were obviously wrong about a lot of things. If we say you will marry Richard, then you will. If you still have any objections, then you are not my daughter," she finished with frightening calm.
As the implications of what she threatened me with hit home, tears still lingering in my eyes cascaded down my face with such force that I could no longer see her standing in front of me. I never thought my own mother would disown me for such a petty thing, but she was right, we were all wrong about a lot of things. If she would rather see me unhappy and married to a man I didn't love than to see me happily wed with a man of my choosing, then she was not my mother.
I wiped the tears from my eyes in a dignified manner, turned around, and slowly walked up the stairs toward my bedroom. I no longer had a family.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
I haphazardly packed my belongings, shrinking most of it, and dragged my trunk, my enlarged school bag and Chloe's cage proudly out the front door. Walking slowly across the street, I pulled out my wand and Apparated into the Leaky Cauldron since I had nowhere else to go.
I walked up to the innkeeper and requested a room for the night. I didn't usually carry wizard's money with me, but I was glad I had some left over from my last trip to Hogsmeade. I was led up to room number 13 where the innkeeper helped me with my belongings. As he closed the door behind him, I couldn't help feeling ashamed of what happened at home. I never meant to treat my mother that way, but she left me with no alternative. I threw myself on top of the moldy sheets on the rickety bed in the middle of the room and eventually cried myself to sleep.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
I woke up the following morning with the weight of the world on my shoulders. After looking out my window, I realized with pitiful heartache that it was Christmas morning. It was the first time in my life that I wouldn't be spending Christmas with my family. I tore myself away from the window and began rummaging through my school bag for quill and parchment. I wrote a note to James, telling him where I was and vaguely explaining my situation, then sent Chloe out to deliver it.
Twenty minutes later, I emerged from my bath to the sound of pounding at my door. When I opened it, I was greeted by a disheveled James Potter, and he was holding my note in his hand.
"What happened?" he demanded as he pulled me into a bone crushing embrace.
Feeling his arms around me and having him sound worried, tore at my heart and I broke down into loud sobs again. I tried to tell him what happened, but I was crying so hard that I couldn't get two words out. He kissed my forehead and sat down with me on the bed before he began to rummage through my bag for whatever I would be needing that day.
"Wha-what are you doing?" I asked and he held my hand, grabbing my cloak and putting it over my shoulders.
"You're celebrating Christmas with Sirius and me. Come on, let's go."
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo
James, Sirius and I ended up spending our morning and most of our afternoon in the kitchen. Sirius was hoping to have a smoked turkey while James and I were in charge of dessert. James was the only one in that flat with minimal experience in the kitchen, but it wasn't enough to salvage our cookies or to rescue the doomed poultry. By that evening, we were sitting in the living area, listening to the wireless, drinking Butterbeer with Firewhiskey, eating take-out Chinese food and enjoying each other's company.
"So I stood up," I explained, "and the stupid git was still standing there, holding that giant ring. I thought my mother's eyeballs would bulge out by the way she was staring at me!"
"Let me guess, she was motioning from you to him like this," Sirius said, and he did an exact imitation of my mother.
I spit out my spiked Butterbeer and laughed so hard my stomach ached. As I continued to tell the two boys all about my escape from Evans Manor, Sirius laughed and imitated my mother while James sat at the other end of the room, quietly observing me. We continued in that manner until Sirius grew tired and promptly fell asleep on the couch. My head was whirling and I was mildly aware of the way I was slurring my words when James stood up and announced that he was taking me back to the Leaky Cauldron.
Minutes later, I found myself spinning in a rush of emerald green flames on my way out of James' flat. When I landed with a loud thud inside the Inn, James helped me get back on my feet. As we walked up the stairs and into my room, James held me tightly by the waist, making sure I wouldn't fall over in my drunken state. When he laid me down on the bed, he kissed me on my cheek and began saying goodnight. I held his wrist tightly in my hand to stop him from going anywhere.
"Stay with me a while," I said in a hoarse whisper.
"You should go to sleep, Lily. You've had a lot to drink tonight," he soothed.
"Please?" I asked.
I heard him sigh and then I felt him getting the duvet from under me to cover my body with it. Once that was done, I felt his weight fall on the other side, on top of the coverlet.
"Only for a minute," he replied and he began to stroke my hair with his hand.
After a few minutes of silence, I spoke.
"You wanna know the real reason I walked out of that house?" I asked, my words slurring. He didn't answer, but I took it as a sign to continue. "It was the way she spoke to me. She…they have been telling me what to do my whole life. I was tired of being their little puppet. I was tired of not having a choice when it counts," I explained, my voice getting clearer and clearer as I spoke.
"You wanna know what else?" I asked, but I knew he was listening, waiting for me to put everything out in the open. "It was the way she spoke about you."
He stopped stroking my hair, and I heard him take in a deep breath.
"I hated the way she looked at you in the railway station and I hated myself for not standing up to her when it happened," I mumbled, and I could feel sleep trying to overtake me.
"Why's that?" he asked in a whisper.
I hesitated before answering, "Because you're a much better person than everyone I know put together. Because you don't look at anyone's social status and judge them based on that. Because you treat everyone as your equal. Because you protect people like Peter."
My words hung in the air for a while before he shifted his body and held my hand tightly in his.
"I'm glad you're not like your mum," he replied.
"So am I," I confessed, and as sleep finally overtook me, a smile formed on my face. The last thing I saw that night was my hand clasped tightly in his.