Author's Note - Sorry it's been so long, but I think this is how I'm going to be updating for a while. A couple updates every other weekend.
I've got a bit of first person in here (two different people), guess who? Well, you'll find out and I doubt it's who you think it is for one of them, but the other I'm sure you'll be able to guess. I've also got another surprise in here: Lily seems to have forgotten to mention something/someone.
Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter or anything related, even though I wish I owned James . . .
June 22nd, June 23rd, June 28th, June 29th, and July 5th, 1977
-x-
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She shook her head, eyes brimming with tears.
James sighed, "I know, but it's going to be okay. Eventually."
-x-
"I hope so," Lily whispered, her voice hoarse from crying so much.
"Do you want some breakfast?" James asked.
Lily shrugged, "I guess so."
James suddenly remembered something, "Lily, do you know if your sister is okay?"
"I-I didn't see her b-but she was s-supposed to be at her b-boyfriend's house." Tears spilled out of Lily's eyes, "D-Do you think they got h-her, too?"
James replied, "I don't know, but I can ask my dad to find out. He's an auror," James clarified. "He's going to make sure that his team will be . . . there."
Suddenly Lily's eyes widened. "Oh no," she said quietly.
"What?" James asked, "What is it?"
"Daisy!" Lily said, ashamed of forgetting.
"What? Do you have another sister?"
"No! But I do have a very protective German Shepherd who knows when something is wrong."
"Oooh," James said. "Um, would you mind if the aurors have to stun her? They legally need permission before stunning someone's pet."
"Er, yeah. I don't mind. I've done it before, it doesn't hurt her."
"Okay, I'll just send him an owl then."
"Wait, do you think they're already there?" Lily asked.
"Yeah, probably. Why?"
"Well, you have a doorbell, do you have a phone?"
"Yeah, but we don't actually know how to use it. It's really just to annoy the other purebloods."
"Well, thankfully, I do."
---
[Charles' point of view]
There was a loud barking from behind the now closed living room door. Whenever one of us approached the door, the dog started barking. When we stayed away from the door, we could still hear the poor creature's whining.
I didn't blame Lily for forgetting to mention the dog, I mean, she was a bit preoccupied. It's so sad to know that she will graduate school without her parents being there to congratulate her.
I was wondering whether I should owl James or not when a ringing sounded throughout the room. Most of the aurors looked confused, only the ones with muggle background or who took muggle studies looked towards the telephone hanging on the wall.
Tentatively, I picked up the phone and held it to my ear.
It was rather annoying that we couldn't stun pets but we could answer phones without permission.
"Er, hello?" I said.
"HEY! THIS THING DOES WORK!" James shouted.
In the background I could hear Lily's voice, "James! You don't have to shout, he can hear you perfectly fine!"
"ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT, LILY? I DON'T KNOW, THESE MUGGLE INVENTIONS ARE A BIT STRANGE. YOU MIGHT BE WRONG!" he shouted again.
"I grew up in a muggle household, I think I know how to use a telephone!" I heard Lily sigh and grab the phone from James. "Hello?" her quiet voice said.
"Hello, Lily. How are you doing? Is James being too much of a pest?" I asked.
"HEY! I HEARD THAT!" James yelled.
"Hello, Mr. Potter. Not so good and no, he's being fine." she replied quietly, "James told me you need permission to stun Daisy, so, uh, you can do that."
"We've got permission," I said to the nearest auror. To Lily I said, "Thanks. She seems awfully protective. Well, I'll see you later today, correct?"
"Um, yeah. Bye," she said before the line clicked off.
Putting the phone back in it's original position, my team and I walked into the now silent living room. This was going to be a long day.
---
[back to third person]
"Okay, Lily, would you like breakfast now?" James asked.
"Um, sure. If you don't mind." Lily replied quietly.
James led Lily to the kitchen, where Sirius and Remus were already sitting at the table.
James sat across from Sirius so Lily could sit across from Remus.
Lily sat down gratefully, ignoring Sirius. "Hello," she mumbled to Remus.
"Hello, Lily," he replied quietly.
The kitchen was almost completely silent for the next few minutes. Finally, Sirius couldn't take it anymore. "I'm sorry! Okay? I'm sorry and I didn't know and I'm sorry I never think before I speak and I'm just sorry, okay?"
"No, it's not okay. Nothing is ever going to be 'okay' for me anymore." Lily replied, "But I accept the apology, nonetheless."
"Why can't it be okay? I haven't seen my parents for months and I'm perfectly fine."
The entire room went silent.
"Your parents aren't . . ." Lily took a deep breath, "Your parents aren't d-dead."
"They might as well be!"
"But they AREN'T! You could never possibly understand. Never! I can't just change my mind and get my parents back! Nothing is ever going to be the same for me!"
"But-"
"NO! I don't even know if my sister is alive or not! You have no idea what it's like to live in this uncertainty. I may never see anyone from my family again and you think things can still be 'perfectly fine' and just go back to how they were?!? No. They can't and they won't. Not now, not ever."
Lily couldn't be strong anymore. She began to sob into James' waiting arms.
---
That night, Charles came home, looking tired but triumphant. He had good news to bring.
He walked into the living room, where Lily was sitting between Remus and James, Sirius was nowhere to be seen.
"Lily," he began. "Your sister is fine and will be staying with her boyfriend and his family."
Lily's eyes lit up with hope, "Really?"
"Definitely. So, would you like to see her tomorrow or wait a little longer?"
"Oh, please, tomorrow. I really have to see her."
"Okay, it's all set. You can Apparate up with two aurors, and, judging by the look on his face, I'd say James will be accompanying you."
"Thank you, Mr. Potter."
---
Early the next day, the two aurors Apparated Lily and James to Petunia's boyfriend, Vernon Dursley's, house.
When the group of four walked into the large (though not as large as James' house) peach colored house, Lily joined her sister in the living room and was met by Petunia's screeches.
"Lily Marie Evans! Tell me why your folk won't let me go home!"
Lily winced and took a deep breath. She knew that she would have to tell Petunia what had happened, but she had hoped it wouldn't be this hard. "Tuney, M-Mum and D-Dad are . . ." Lily voice broke. Holding back tears, Lily started over. "Mum and Dad were m-murdered the night before last."
Petunia froze. "You're lying," she accused. "That's not true, you're lying! Stop lying to me!"
"I'm not lying!" Tears were streaming down Lily's face, "V-Voldemort killed them. This isn't something I'd lie about!"
"Go away! This is all your fault! Go away!" Petunia screeched. "If you weren't such a freak, this wouldn't have happened! I hate you! Get out!"
"I know," Lily agreed softly. "It is all my fault."
Lily hurried out of the room. "I want to leave now," she whispered to James, her face streaked with tears.
James nodded to the two aurors that had escorted them and then he and Lily Disapparated.
---
[Sirius' point of view]
I.
Am.
Such.
A.
Jackass.
Why do I always have to say the worst possible thing and make a bad situation worse?
It's been five days since the "kitchen incident" and Lily hasn't said a word to me. I'm scared to apologize, because what if I say the wrong thing again?
Everyone can see how miserable she is, especially since she came back from visiting her sister. Or so Remus tells me, I haven't really been in the same room with her enough to notice.
James has pretty much banned me from the living room, as that is where Lily spends most of her time. At night she sleeps on the big couch in there, James sitting on the floor next to the couch, as Lily won't let him too far away. Again, Remus told me.
I can tell that Remus is pretty pissed off at me, but not as much as James is. Remus is used to my insensitivity, but if he loved Lily, James would be the one telling me stuff while Remus watched over Lily, Remus silently plotting my premature demise. But, obviously, it is the other way around.
So now, with nothing to do, I am laying on my bed, bored out of my mind.
As I was about to leave to grab a snack from the kitchen, Remus walked into the room.
"Lily wants to talk to you." he said simply.
"Really?" I asked.
Remus nodded and I headed off downstairs to the living room.
When I made it to the doorway, I stopped.
---
[back to third person]
Sirius was standing in the doorway to the living room awkwardly.
James rolled his eyes from his seat on the couch, "You're officially allowed in the living room, happy now?"
Sirius walked over to James and Lily. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.
"I wouldn't suggest that. You'd just end up sticking your foot in your mouth again." James said casually.
Sirius sighed, "You're probably right."
Lily looked up for the first time since he entered the room. She had been crying again, that much was obvious. Though she had cried a lot in the past couple of days, she looked worse now.
"Despite whatever you're going to say in the future, I forgive you anyway." Lily said. Then she returned her attention to the piece of paper in her hand.
Lily, it said.
The funeral will be held tomorrow, Saturday the 29th. I expect you to be there, dressed your best. You can bring whoever you want. Some of those auror people said they would be there, too. I just hope the guests don't realize how many freaks are going to be there.
Petunia
She looked back up at Sirius, "If your wondering about the change in heart, I've just realized some things." she paused, "Anything could happen to anyone, at any time. I don't want something to happen to you or me leaving the other only remembering an argument as the last time we spoke to each other."
Sirius nodded, "I'm kind of afraid to speak. I exactly don't have the greatest history of saying the right thing."
James rolled his eyes again, "Just shut up now and you'll be doing us all a favor."
---
The funeral was a quiet ceremony with very few guests. James, Remus, and Sirius all accompanied Lily. She spent much of the time crying into James' shoulder, while her sister glared at her through her own tears. Lily was glad that she got a chance to say goodbye to her parents one last time, but she knew for sure that she would never want to go to another funeral again.
---
A week passed and Lily cried less and less, but still woke up in the middle of the night, screaming and/or crying because of what she had dreamt. However, that afternoon, Mr. Potter brought back a surprise for Lily.
As he walked through the door, he called, "Lily, someone wants to see you!"
When she walked into the entrance room where the front door went, she smiled for the first time since she arrived.
"Daisy!" she cried. Mr. Potter dropped the leash he was holding, and the excited dog ran to Lily, barking excitedly.
She laughed as Daisy slobbered all over her, eagerly petting her dog, whom she had missed since she had heard that she was okay.
James, Sirius, and Remus had followed Lily and grinned when they saw that she was finally happy.
Mr. Potter also grinned, "She can stay until the end of the summer, but I'm afraid you'd have to see if one of your muggle friends could take her after that since you have to return to Hogwarts."
"No problem," she said grinning. "All my friends adore her."
She kissed the German Shepherd's nose and it was returned by Daisy slobbering all over her face, Lily still grinning.
Author's Note - Well, What'd you think. I'm sorry the funeral didn't have much detail, but as I've never actually been to one, there wasn't much I could do. I know, this chapter isn't very detailed, but I wanted to get everything that I had planned to have in this chapter but I also wanted to get the chapter out before tomorrow. So, that's why the details were severely lacking.
Okay, I've got a couple of important things to say, so please keep reading.
First, we made it to 100 reviews! Thanks so much, you guys. That literally made my day!
Second, this is the last chance to vote on the poll on my profile.
Third, do any of you speak Norwegian? Gjertrud Louise has been kind enough to translate the beginning of this story to Norwegian, so if you can read it, check it out!
Fourth, this is my longest chapter by far in this story. I'm thinking the newer chapters might be about this size now, but don't hate me if they end up going back to the old length.
And I think that's it. If there is anything else, I will let you know in the next chapter. :D
Thanks for reading everyone and please review if you have the time!! :D