Lily had never considered herself a clumsy person. She had accidents like everyone else, but she wasn't particularly prone to hurting herself. And she was meticulous. It wasn't like her to lose track of things or miss assignments. So she couldn't understand how these things kept happening. It seemed as though every time she was out of her dorm, she'd trip or fall out of a chair or knock something over. And she was losing everything. She'd lost track of the number of times she'd misplaced her homework. Books, quills, and other personal items continuously vanished. It drove her to distraction.
On the other hand, James had pretty much gone back to normal. Well, what was normal for him. He'd tease her and say harsh things like before. Things to hurt her feelings and make her cry. Only now he didn't follow her. He didn't kiss her and make things better. In fact, it was becoming obvious that he was deliberately holding her at arm's length.
Besides her stress with James and school, another problem was building: She hadn't heard from her dad since the beginning of the year. More worrying was that the letters she had sent to him started to come back unopened. At first she had assumed it was some sort of mistake. Maybe he'd just been out or the owl couldn't find him. But it had been several weeks and the owls to her father and her sister had returned with startling regularity. When she heard about a Muggle attack in Edinburgh, well, she became frantic.
"Lily, I'm sure it's nothing," Alice assured her as she searched fruitlessly for her Charms homework. It was Friday during lunch and she had misplaced it for the third time already.
"I don't like it, Alice," she sighed from her position on the floor. She had thought that maybe the scroll had rolled under one of the desks but... "And there's no one else I can contact. What if something terrible has happened to them? The Prophet said-"
"You only read that this week," Alice sighed as she rose empty handed and dusted her knees. "If something had happened, it would have been nearly a month ago. You haven't heard from him since we came, right?"
Gnawing impatiently on her lower lip, Lily chose not to respond. She knew that she was grasping at straws, but she was really worried. She finally found her homework stuffed between two books on the top shelf of a bookcase she hadn't been near all year. She was certain that she didn't put it there. Was James teasing her again? Was making her fail his idea of a joke?
"Gotcha," she murmured, tugging the parchment out of its hiding place.
A noise at the door distracted her. As she turned to look, the chair she had been using to reach the high shelf wobbled and she gasped as she fell backward. She probably would have gotten hurt if Alice hadn't been there to cushion the fall. Unfortunately, she wasn't strong enough to actually catch her and both girls tumbled harmlessly to the floor.
"Oops! Sorry Alice," Lily apologized quickly. "Are you okay?"
"I forgot I wasn't the knight in shining armor type," the petite blond giggled, shoving Lily gently to get her off her lap. Frowning, she glanced toward the door. "Only, did you see those Slytherins in the hallway just now? They seemed like they were up to something..."
The bell for class rang before she could answer. "Oh! I didn't realize it was so late!"
She grabbed Alice by the arm and tugged her to her feet before both girls sprinted to get to class. They had just reached the door when Lily was hit from behind by a leg-binding curse. She uttered a soft cry as her legs snapped together, her forward momentum causing her to overbalance.
James was there before she could hit the ground. She didn't know where he'd come from, but couldn't help being grateful to him for sparing her more skinned knees. She'd had more than her fair share of those in the past few weeks. Unfortunately, the moment she was in his arms, he threw her gracelessly over his shoulder and spun, shooting a deadly bat bogey hex at a tardy fourth year.
"Potter! What are you doing?" tiny Professor Flitwick cried in outrage as he scrambled down from his stack of books. "Attacking students in my class-"
James ignored the small man's tirade as he undid the curse and set Lily gently on her feet. Putting a hand to her head, she smiled and was about to thank him when he gave her a furious glare. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you, Evans?"
"Twenty points from Gryffindor!" Flitwick called in outrage, wagging his finger at James.
Confused, Lily frowned at him. "Me? What did I do?"
"Gods, you are so fucking useless!" James continued to rant. "It's a wonder you can even feed yourself, you helpless cow"
"Thirty points from Gryffindor!"
Lily's temper flared under his censure, the last few week's stresses causing her to finally snap. "It's not like I meant for that to happen! Why are you yelling at me?"
"Exactly!" he shouted back, raking his hand furiously through his hair. "You can't even defend yourself against the most elementary attacks! How do you expect to survive outside of school?"
"What? You think I'll die the moment I'm away from you?" she retorted heatedly, taking an angry step toward him.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor!" Flitwick bellowed, standing between them to push them apart. The angry couple stared at him blankly. "In all my years I have never seen such a disregard for propriety! And from the Head Boy and Girl... Both of you- to your seats! This instant! And if I hear another peep out of either one of you, I'll have you in detention so fast your heads will spin! Yes, you too Miss Evans! I am very disappointed."
"But Professor-" Alice tried to explain.
"Not a word, Benton!" Flitwick interrupted, clearly pushed beyond his limit.
Lily moved quickly to her desk, feeling completely ashamed. She liked Professor Flitwick. He had mentored her since she had arrived at Hogwarts, helping anytime with homework or spells. He was part of the reason she'd joined the charms club and the choir. He was probably a big part of her academic success. She was one of his favorites and he had never had to discipline her. Before today. She glared at James, who made a good show of pretending not to notice.
She was still worked up when she left class. It was her intent to go straight to her room, but James was obviously headed the same way. Wanting to avoid another fight, she opted to go outside. The weather was noticeably cooler than it had been earlier and it had been raining most of the week, but Lily didn't mind. She had her temper to keep her warm as she stalked down the muddy path toward the bridge. She was so consumed by her thoughts that she nearly screamed when an owl glided silently past her face.
She stopped short when recognized it as the one she had sent with the last letter for her sister a few days earlier. It lit cautiously on her arm, looking weary and rumpled as it held out the familiar scroll on its leg. Lily's stomach clenched. "I'm sorry for sending you out for no reason."
The bird clacked its beak impatiently and she took the scroll. It took off toward the tower without hesitation and Lily watched it go before noticing Alice trailing nervously behind her. Forcing a smile, she waved. "Bad news?"
"No news," she replied as the smaller girl approached. She looked so nervous that it made Lily wonder if she was being unintentionally intimidating. Gritting her teeth, she crushed the scroll in her hand. "Alice, I need you to cover for me."
"What? Why?" Alice asked cautiously.
"Just for the weekend. If anyone asks, tell them I'm not feeling well," Lily instructed, turning abruptly back to the castle.
"Lily, what are you-?"
"Please, Alice," she begged, rounding on the smaller girl with tears in her eyes. "I need to know what's going on."
Biting her lip, Alice searched her face before nodding reluctantly. "Just... be careful. You could be expelled for leaving school without permission."
"I know, but none of the teachers would give permission for me to leave on my own," Lily pointed out in a low voice as they entered the courtyard.
Thankfully, her friend kept quiet as they made their way to her room. She knew this was foolish, but she was desperate. Dad... Petunia... what if they were both-? She couldn't think of it. Couldn't consider the possibility.
James was nowhere to be seen when she entered their common room, but that suited her just fine. She didn't want to see him right now. He was such an arrogant bastard. Who yelled at someone that got hurt anyway? Like it was her fault! Fuming internally, she shoved some things into a bag before moving to change. Alice watched her silently, clearly nervous.
As if she could read her mind, Alice asked, "What about James?"
"What about him?" she replied sullenly.
"He'll know you're not sick," she pointed out reasonably.
"Like he'll even care. Despite what he thinks, James Potter doesn't need to know every little thing I do," Lily snapped, viciously dragging on her jacket before hooking her bag over her shoulders. Seeing Alice's wry look, she winced apologetically. "Sorry, Alice. He's just such a pain."
"True," Alice agreed easily, moving over to give her a hug. After a moment, she stepped back. "Be carefully, Lily. This is a really bad idea."
Lily's lips quirked into a mirthless smile as she threw her cloak over everything. "Thanks for the vote of confidence. You think I'm hopeless without him around to take care of me too, don't you?"
Alice giggled uncomfortably. "Well, you have to admit he has his uses."
"I don't want to think about that right now," she said wearily. Biting her lip, she caught and squeezed Alice's hand. "Wish me luck."
"Are you sure you're not doing this because you're mad at him?" Alice asked suddenly. "I mean, it's not like you to rush into things."
A twinge of nerves made her pause, but Lily quickly shoved it away. She'd be fine. And besides, this was important. It wasn't like she was just doing this to show James that she wasn't completely useless. She was only thinking of her family. Biting her lip, she gave Alice a stern look. "Absolutely not. I don't care what James says. I just need to be sure that my family is alright."
Reluctantly, Alice let her go. James had kidnapped her once using the secret passageway that led into Honeyduke's cellar, so she went that route to get out of the castle unnoticed. Once she was in Hogsmede, she purchased a ticket on the next train to Edinburgh and headed out, feeling sick with adventure. In spite of her nerves, no one assumed she was a student. She was honestly surprised that everything had turned out so easily.
"Well, well, well... what have we here?"
Shit. She looked up to find a trio of boys that were obviously a few years older than her filing into the compartment. A boy with spiky brown hair and a hooked nose took a seat beside her, draping his arm over the seat at her back. "Hey there, lovely. Going my way?"
Lily kept her eyes riveted on her book, forcing herself to remain calm. "Isn't that a bit of a silly question to ask someone on a train?"
The boys laughed as though she had said something funny. Leaning close on her other side, a boy who was obviously working too hard for his scraggly beard caught a strand of her hair and curled it around his finger. "So what's your name? Are you here alone?"
"I'd thank you to leave my niece alone," a man called as he pushed open the compartment door. Lily glanced up in surprise to find that he was a young man, probably in his late twenties, with a thatch of carrot-red hair and admittedly shabby attire. In spite of his appearance, he glared the boys down boldly and Lily felt a rush of relief.
"We're not looking for any trouble, man," the third boy grumbled aggressively.
The stranger raised an eyebrow at him. "When I catch three boys ganging up on one girl, I tend to disagree. I wonder what my friends at the Ministry would say about it. What did you say your names were?"
Of course, mention of the Ministry was enough to clear the boys out. Lily smiled as the man took a seat across from her. "Thank you so much!"
"It's my pleasure," he said with a pleasant grin. "My name is Arthur. Arthur Weasley."
Lily introduced herself shyly. "Do you really work for the Ministry?"
Arthur smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I do. Only, I work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department, so unless they've got some shrinking keys or something on them, I haven't got much jurisdiction. But I can write one hell of an angry letter."
She tilted her head at him curiously as he pulled out what appeared to be a perfectly normal swiss army knife and began tinkering with the attachments. Catching the look, he rubbed his short hair ruefully. "Ingenious the things Muggles dream up, don't you think? There's no end to their creativity. I've got a nice collection of their gadgets and gismos back home. My wife says I'm mad, but there you are."
Giggling, she asked him about his wife. He told her about his Molly, his eyes lighting tenderly as he spoke of her and his three children. Lily loved kids and she was fascinated by the man's story. His description of their funny home and the way he went on about the car her was restoring made her smile. Within an hour, she began to relax.
"I really shouldn't pry, but what's a pretty young girl like you doing traveling by herself?" Arthur asked after offering her a corned beef sandwich. "These are dangerous times to be on your own, Miss Evans."
Lily flushed self-consciously. She had never been a very good liar, and she felt doubly guilty since he was being so kind. "I think my family may be in trouble, so I'm going to check on them."
That was true enough. Arthur frowned in concern. "By trouble, do you mean-?"
"All of my owls keep coming back untouched," she admitted quietly, reaching up to twist her hair around her finger. "That's not normal, is it?"
"I should say not," Arthur agreed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He gave her a measuring look. "You're not a student, are you?"
Her mouth went dry as she shook her head. "N-no!"
To her surprise, the older man only chuckled. "You're a terrible liar, Miss Evans. It's refreshing in this day and age. Let me guess... Gryffindor?"
She nodded uncomfortably, but he grinned. "Well, I can't pretend that I approve, but I understand. I was a Gryffindor myself when I attended Hogwarts. And Molly. Gosh, that must've been ten years ago now. I was a bit of a scamp in my time. I remember once during my fifth year when my mates and I rigged up a whole load of dung bombs to go off in the library during the OWLs examinations. Molly nearly killed me for that one."
Lily smiled. She supposed things never really changed. Each year brought a new batch of mischief. She wondered if he could even compare to James and his friends. Polishing off his own sandwich, Arthur gave her a curious look. "Why didn't you speak to Dumbledore about your concerns?"
She flushed in surprise and shrugged awkwardly. "The Headmaster is so busy these days. I'm sure he has better things to think about than my problems."
"You didn't even consider it, did you?" Arthur guessed astutely.
"Not really," she admitted sheepishly. "I just... I need to know my family is okay."
Arthur smile morosely. "I understand, Miss Evans. Still, it's probably not the best idea to run off on your own."
"I can take care of myself," Lily told him defensively.
"I'm not saying you can't," he replied affably.
She hung her head shamefully. "I know. It's just... there's this boy..."
"Ah," Arthur murmured in understanding, "he doesn't think you can handle yourself, right?"
Taking a deep breath, she nodded unhappily. "He's always saying how useless I am. He acts like I can't do anything right. Just because I'm not perfect like him..."
The older man watched her for a moment before digging a thermos of tea out of his briefcase. He handed her a cup without asking. "Muggles use this to keep things warm. Funny, isn't it?" She gave him a weak smile as she took a sip and he started on his second sandwich. "Maybe he fancies you."
"That's the working hypothesis," she murmured dully, keeping her eyes fixed on the honey colored liquid. "But I just don't understand. He's cruel and insulting and arrogant and I-"
She stopped abruptly. Lifting her eyes to meet his, she realized he already knew how she felt. He conjured up his own mug and poured himself some tea. Sipping thoughtfully, he glanced out the window. "You know, Molly never gets so cross with me as when I do something dangerous. It's because she worries, bless her heart."
"So you think James is doing this because he's worried about me?" Lily asked incredulously.
"Could be," Arthur speculated. "What was his reaction to you leaving?" Lily bit her lip anxiously and he smiled. "You didn't tell him. Well, don't be surprised if he's furious when you get back. He must really care for you."
Lily could only nod. She didn't really feel like talking anymore. He'd given her plenty to think about. He didn't seem to mind her silence as he shuffled through his papers and examined different Muggle gadgets. With his protection, she made it to Edinburgh in one piece.
"Take care of yourself, Miss Evans," Arthur admonished as she gathered her things to leave.
"I will. Thank you," she told him with feeling. "Give my best to your family."
His brown eyes lit with amusement behind his spectacles and he nodded. "I'll do that."
The minute her feet touched the platform, she disapparated. It was a short distance to get home. She had been nervous about apparating such a long way from Hogsmede, but she'd gone this far before. It was getting dark, but there were no lights inside. There was a lorry parked in the drive, still half full of boxes.
Frowning, Lily moved to the front door. Her key didn't work, so she used a spell. The house was dead silent. And mostly empty. There were boxes everywhere, but nothing she recognized. Everything from pictures to furniture had disappeared. Confused, she ran up the stairs to find that the rest of the house was equally empty.
Mrs. Monkleigh had lived in the house next door for more than thirty years. Lily used to think she was a witch before she had found out that witches were actually real and, for the most part, nothing like the reclusive old woman. After that, she'd been able to get on friendly terms with her. So the woman opened the door immediately when she knocked.
"Oh you poor dear. Come inside. I'll make you some tea." Mrs. Monkleigh was so old that she only came up to Lily's shoulder on a good day and was perpetually swathed in a moth-eaten bathrobe. Her blue hair was cropped close to her head and giant glasses magnified her milky blue eyes to give her a bug-like stare.
"Actually, Mrs. Monkleigh," Lily hesitated in her doorway, "I was wondering if you could tell me where my father is."
The older woman paused before turning to blink at her. "Oh dear. You don't know?"
All of the anxiety she had been trying to deny flooded into her as she froze. She couldn't breathe. "Know what?"
A car accident. Just after she'd started school. He'd been crossing the street for work when he got run down. The driver still hadn't been found. Within days, the house had been cleared out by her sister and put up for sale. That was all Mrs. Monkleigh knew from the newspaper and her brief contact with Petunia.
"I can't imagine why she wouldn't have phoned you," the old woman mused, pouring herself a second cup of tea from a set that was probably older than she was.
Lily's cup was going cold sitting untouched on the coffee table. She thought she might throw up. She was just stunned. Her whole life, everything at home was... gone. Hot tears puddled in her eyes as she shook her head. "Um... I don't know."
"I wondered when she threw so much in the bin," Mrs. Monkleigh continued. "Anything she couldn't sell got carted away to the dump."
She knew the older woman didn't mean any offense, but that news didn't help. Dumbly, she transferred her napkin from her lap to the coffee table. "Thank you for seeing me, Mrs. Monkleigh. I think I need to go find my sister now."
"It's late, Lily," her neighbor protested as she pushed herself off the dusty yellow divan. "Do you have anywhere to go?"
Biting her upper lip, Lily forced a smile. "I'll be fine. Thanks."
She left before she could convince her to stay. The tears she had been fighting burned her cheeks as she walked with no clear destination in mind. All around her the city streamed with life, but she didn't notice any of it. He was gone. Really gone. And Petunia hadn't told her. Hadn't said a damn word.
Rage boiled up inside of her and she disapparated with a loud crack, not caring who saw. She arrived moments later outside Petunia's dorm room and stormed up the steps, ignoring the surprised looks from the other students. The double doors flew open of their own accord and she strode through without looking to either side. She knew the way to her sister's room. Glass cracked in the window behind her as she banged on the door furiously.
"Petunia!"
The door ripped open beneath her fist and her sister regarded her with a startled glare. "What the hell are you doing here? Did they finally kick you out of that freaky school of yours?"
"I've been trying to contact you for weeks!" Lily shouted.
Sighing, Petunia caught her by the wrist and dragged her inside, slamming the door behind them. "Bring your voice down, Lily. I've seen your bloody letters-"
"What happened?" she cried as her sister brushed past to pour herself a tumbler of vodka.
Petunia gave her a sharp look as she downed the whole thing and refilled the glass. "What do you think? He got hit by a car and died. He's not special like you."
"I'm pretty sure I'd die too if I was hit by a car," Lily snapped sarcastically.
"Then why don't you go try it?" Petunia grumbled, slumping into the chair at her desk. Lily was so angry she couldn't think what to say, but her sister didn't need any further prompting. Her mouth thinned as though she had sucked on a lemon as she ripped out one of the drawers, rifling through and removing a thick stack of cash. "So what, Lily? Why are you here? You want money?"
"I don't want anything," she admitted softly, her rage crumbling into tears.
Seeing her grief, Petunia rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, let's play Poor Pitiful Lily, shall we? In case you hadn't noticed, I lost my father too. You don't see me blubbering about it."
"That's because you're a heartless bitch," Lily whispered brokenly. "You didn't even try to contact me. And then-"
"Yes, yes. You're so mistreated," Petunia sneered over her drink.
"You trashed everything! All of my things... dad's... mum's..." she spluttered to a halt, too overwrought to say any more.
Sighing, Petunia rolled her eyes. "Where exactly was I supposed to keep all that rubbish? With a mortgage due and funeral arrangements to be made? It's not like I have wads of cash simply lying around."
"You should have told me," Lily insisted. "We could have figured things out."
"How?" Petunia asked impatiently. "Oh, I know: we could both quit school and take jobs, just to keep a useless old house and all the shoddy memories of dead people-"
"Those are our parents!" Lily interrupted angrily.
Her sister curled her lip impatiently. "Yeah, well, you always were the favorite. I guess we both know why."
Lily stared at her blankly. "I cannot believe you."
Petunia gave her a hard look before gulping down the rest of the alcohol. "Whatever. Listen, I've got a date in twenty minutes, so if you would just shove off, that'd be lovely."
Biting her lip, she hesitated, then nodded. She turned to show herself out and paused at the door. After a moment, she glanced back. "I don't know what anyone ever did to make you so angry, Petunia, but maybe you should stop blaming the rest of us for your problems. If you ever need me..." Her sister's look hardened and she sighed. "Forget it."