It was August now and Lily had not heard from many of her friends. Caitlin had written that she was with her family in Spain and she knew from Emma and Leah that they were gone for a while but no letters had reached her. Mostly she had been spending her summer with her parents. It was nice of course and she enjoyed being around them again but Petunia was constantly in her room or gone with friends, like she could not bear the thought of being in the same room as Lily. It made her anxious and lonely. She even thought about writing to one of the boys but then realized she did not know them too well and also didn't know if it was appreciated from her.
"Lily dear, would you like to go to the market with me?" her mother's soothing voice called.
She didn't have to think about that, seeing as it was either the market or staying at home alone. She pulled on her summer- jacket, blue with small butterflies on it, and made her way to her mom's car.
"Are you alright sweetie?" her mother asked, looking worried and touching Lily's hand.
"Mh, I just don't understand why no one has written yet."
"Oh sweetie, maybe they are just not back yet. They also haven't seen their families in a while and I am sorry we could not go on a trip this summer. We just planned around it."
"It's alright, mom. I guess you are right, I should stop worrying about it. Can we get some more ice creams? Dad ate the last one."
"Of course, maybe even tomorrow or so you and I can go shopping for some new clothes for your next year."
"That sounds like fun." And that is how it happened that Lily was standing in front of an array of dresses in a department store, looking for some she could bring to Hogwarts. She hadn't told her parents yet but she wanted to spend one Christmas at Hogwarts and this year would be it.
"Oh my goodness, Lily is that you?" she turned, looking for the voice and saw Lacey, Tamara and Katja standing there with their mothers.
"Oh hi."
One mother looked at her, most likely Katja's mother, "Lily, we haven't seen you in a year. Where have you been?" Her daughter continued "There has been some rumors. People saying you had to go somewhere because you were too much to handle."
Rose Evans came through the lines, holding a gold and a red sweater and started saying "Lily, these would go perfect for your uniform and I found this skirt which has large pockets for your wa- oh hello Liliana, Missy, Lisa. I didn't see you there. How are you?"
"We are well, Rose. We didn't know Lily was back. We hardly knew she was gone."
Rose gulped and Lily felt herself going white "Yes, she has been back for a few weeks. It has been great."
Tamara sneered "Did you have to go to a mental institution?"
"No." Lily said quietly.
Lacey exclaimed "Are you coming back to school? You missed a lot. There would be so much you would need to get used to."
"No I am not coming back. I go somewhere else."
"There is no other school close by with uniforms."
"Uniforms?"
"Your mother" Lisa, the mother of Katja, said "said something about these sweaters working with your uniform. I know all the schools in a one hour drive radius, even if they do have uniforms none of them are gold and red."
"The school isn't here. It is in … Scotland" her voice went up a bit.
"Are you certain? You did not sound so convinced."
"Yes Lacey I am certain. My school is in Scotland."
While Lacey tried to open her mouth a scream and a "Lily" was heard. Lily turned and saw Leah, who looked very tan and taller, running towards her with Remus behind her. "Oh finally. I thought we would never find you in this place."
"Leah? Remus? What? How are you here?"
Remus smiled "We got back yesterday and Leah didn't want to send an-" he saw the Muggles "ehm, send a message and just wanted to surprise you, but then you weren't at home but your father told us your mother and you were here."
Leah rolled her eyes "Yes, bla bla, let me hug my best friend." She flung her arms around Lily and hugged her tightly. "I missed you so much. It was so weird not waking up in a room with you and the others the first week. AH I can't wait for our dorm again. We need to do some more decorating. I have to tell you so much. Ryan is going to start his training soon and Michelle is anxious to get her results back, she has been bugging me so much and I wanted to invite you to our Garden Party but so much was happening and- "
Remus put a hand on her shoulder "Take a breath, bug." Leah did as instructed "Oh where are my manners, Hello Mrs. Evans. So nice to see you again. You are of course also warmly invited."
Lily's heart was beating so fast. Her friends had not forgotten her. "What about Emma and Caitlin, I did not hear from them all summer."
"Yes, me too. I only saw Caitlin in the Maldives' as well, which was a surprise for her mother and she told me Emma was brought to Romania, just for the summer but she will be back shortly before our letters will arrive."
Lacey's voice rang through again "Dorms? Lily are you attending a boarding school?"
She took a deep breath "Yes I am."
"And these are your friends?" Lily heard Tamara and Katja snicker and murmur "Why would somebody want to be friends with Lily."
Leah grinned her award- winning smile "Yes hello I am Leah Parker, nice to meet you." She turned back to Lily "I am so sorry but we need to run again, mom didn't even want us to come but I told her I needed to bring you your gift, which, I now realize, left at home. Okay, No worries, an invitation should arrive at your house soon anyway and we can talk again. It is somewhere else this time but you and the others are more than welcome to spend the night or a few with us at the Mansion. I would like that anyway. Oh and of course we need to go school- shopping together soon. Alright we need to go. Love you Lil. Bye Mrs. Evans." She grabbed Remus hand, he waved and they were walking off again.
"I forgot how hectic and eccentric she can be." Lily smiled.
"She is a dear." They turned again and the three girls and their mothers were still standing there. Lily's mother took an initiative "Well alright, we must be off then if we still want to find a nice outfit for the Garden party. Good day to you." She grabbed Lily's hand and turned her around.
"Thank you mom."
Lily walked out of the Floo- Portal into bright sunlight, grass so green it looked fake, the smell of fruits and cakes everywhere and so many witches and wizards in bright robes, laughing and dancing. Lily spotted Caitlin, also tanned and wearing a pink dress. "Caitlin I missed you." Caitlin beamed and hugged her. "Isn't this incredible? Everything is so bright."
Thomas Evans voiced the question they all had "But why not in their own house, they have a huge garden from what I could tell last time."
A voice answered them "Because this is not a social and private event but an event for the Ministry and families. It is nice that you all could come" the voice belonged to none other than the oldest Parker child Ryan. "Hello Lily, Caitlin. How is your first summer after Hogwarts?"
"Different."
"I imagine, let me bring you to the others."
Caitlin asked "Ryan how were your N.E.W.T.S?"
"Really good, thank you. I start my training next week. I had an introduction a few days ago and I think I will really like it."
Rose asked "What is your training for?"
"I want to be a healer at St. Mungos Hospital."
"That is impressive. I bet your parents are very proud of you." He only smiled at that.
Lily followed with another question "Has Michelle then gotten her O.W.L. results back as well?"
"Not yet, but they should arrive any day now. NEWT results are the first ones to be sent out, only a few weeks after the last day due to deadlines on applications and job interviews. She is excited though. Here we are. Leah is right there as well as my parents. Please make yourself comfortable, I will excuse myself, I just saw the Head of the Department of International Magical Affairs arrive, I better go greet them."
The red haired girl looked over and saw Leah next to her sisters, all of them in white dresses and a flower crown on each head. Her mother was talking to a young man and her father was talking to somebody who looked vaguely familiar. They stood in line to greet them and when it was their turn Mrs. Parker smiled and told them to please make themselves comfortable and once Lily and Caitlin turned to greet Leah she hugged them both tightly and pointed them to a table close by, saying she would be there as soon as she greeted the rest of the line. She was looking around the room and spotted someone who looked so familiar "Oh my goodness, is that Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall?"
Caitlin looked around so fast her neck gave a little pop "Oh by Gryffindors underpants, I can't believe it. And there is Slughorn!" she pointed a little further back behind Dumbledore. Leah came up behind them "I was able to get away, I said I was looking for Ashley, who ran off with Jenny somewhere."
Caitlin smiled "James is here?"
"Yes, of course. So is Remus. Peter said he was hoping to make it but they are in Ireland."
"Is Dumbledore really here?"
"Yes, he works closely with my dad." She shouted "Professor, hello!"
"Leah stop! Don't embarrass him." Leah just rolled her eyes and waved. The three professors moved closer to them "Hello you three. I was assuming that you would be here and I was right and very happy about that. Have you had a nice summer?"
The three nodded and Leah asked "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Yes we are." Dumbledore said "As always. And be prepared the letters will be send out soon."
Lily was astonished, she was sitting beside her parents, waiting on the second course. Everything was so big and grand and she never would have experienced that if she had not gone to Hogwarts. She was only wondering where Severus was, if this was a Ministry event, wouldn't his mother be here also? "What are you thinking about Lil?" Caitlin asked beside her.
"Where Severus is. His mother works at the Ministry, Eileen Snape." A man looked over and asked her "The Snape family has never attended one of the Ministers functions, not in years. Not since her marriage I believe."
She wondered "Their son, has told me that his mother was never invited. Because of his father who is a Muggle."
The man shook his head dramatically "Not since Minister Parker has been in the office has there been any discrimination because of partners who were Muggles, even before that it did not happen too often. I don't know about before the Minister but every employee of the Ministry gets an invite. Of course this is always a challenging day due to vacation of the children and the summer, so most only attend the Ministry Ball in September, before school starts again and the other functions actually at the Ministry but there has never been a person who did not get an invite. This child must be mistaken."
Lily looked sullen, she did not know who to believe. She didn't want to imagine Severus lying to her but she also didn't understand why he would lie to her. She had never been dishonest with him.
A while later everyone was mingling again and the Minister was beside her suddenly. "Good day Minister, thank you again so much for the invitation."
"Oh please Lily, I beg you call me Richard. You are a friend of my daughters, none of this official Minister protocol."
She smiled but knew she was not going to start calling him Richard anytime soon, he smiled knowingly as if he suspected the same.
"I actually wanted to speak to you. I heard that you were wondering why the Snape family is not here and I don't want you to believe that I would discriminate somebody based on their blood and who they marry. I have always invited every person and I will keep doing so."
Lily felt ashamed, having questioned the Minister "Please forgive me, Minister, I know you would not discriminate, else I would not be here. I was just wondering and my friend Severus had told me that his family had never been invited so I was curious."
"There is nothing to forgive Lily. Everyone deserves to be curious and ask questions. I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening here." Lily felt horrible, like a big rock had been pushed into her throat and she felt the tears coming to her eyes, therefore she ran towards a small alcove to hide for a minute. But somebody came by and she tried to cover her face but the person noticed her "Lily is everything alright?" the soft and soothing voice of Remus came from behind her. "Yes I am fine." He stepped closer and touched her arm "I can tell that it is not. What's wrong?" She finally caved "I just embarrassed myself in front of the Minister of Magic. I was questioning why Severus is not here and he explained it and now I feel dreadful." Remus comforted her.
"He is not a judgmental person, Lily. He will not make you feel bad about it. Trust me. He has always been kind." Remus was speaking from his own experience. Besides his parents, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey the only people who knew about his condition were the Minister and Mrs. Parker. His parents had felt it necessary to tell them, based on the fact that he was friends with their daughter and his father worked in the Ministry. They had been kind and understanding and had never treated him differently. Even when the Full Moon was coming close and his behavior changed a bit and the only thing to make him feel better would be to spend time with Leah, they had never frowned or batted an eyelash. They were, as the Parker children would put it, the most awesomest parents in the world.
Lily dried her tears and looked out to where the party was going on. "Do you think they noticed I was gone?"
"Probably not. Last I saw Leah was talking to James who had just arrived and your parents are talking to mine. Come on, we will get something to drink and join the others again." Lily nodded and grabbed onto his arm, which he had held out to her.
"Lil, I was wondering if you are staying the night? I will head back to the Manor in a few hours." Leah asked, pulling her aside.
"Oh, I don't know Leah. I forgot about it."
"That's cool. Maybe you can stop by in a few days for a sleep- over? Cait can't come tonight cause her dad has his birthday tomorrow and James is confiscating Remus because they haven't heard from Sirius in a while. I guess I will just bond with my siblings then."
"I am sorry Leah. I will definitely come over soon and we can have a big sleepover. I never got to see the rest of the house."
Leah squealed and hugged me "Just send me an owl for when and I will have everything ready. Caitlin you are coming too. I need some girl time." Caitlin agreed eagerly, saying she would love to. Remus suddenly started grinning viciously and he poked Leah in her side.
"What?"
"Look over there."
"Where?"
He turned her head into the right direction and she started laughing "Oh I wish I had my camera with me. This truly is a great moment to document and use for later times." Lily did not understand what was happening and asked what was going on. Leah explained "Look over there behind the cake table. You see my sister there, right? Well the guy beside her, is Brody. She has had a crush on him for the last two years and this is the first time he has come to one of the Ministry's events. Oh by Merlin look, he just took her hand. She is blushing." She was snickering now. Once again Lily wondered what it would be like to have that kind of relationship back with her sister. She missed her at times and also wanted to talk about boys and clothes and all that, in which Lily was not yet truly interested. But Petunia was, she heard her talking on the phone about a guy she liked. She wanted to be the person Petunia talked to about things like that. Like real sisters would. She was pulled out of her thoughts by a loud laughing; Leah and Remus were holding their sides, laughing, while Michelle and Brody walked away, both red- faced but still holding hands.
"What happened?"
"She wanted to lean against the table or something and her hand landed directly in the pie and she was so shocked she like stepped on his shoe and he like tumbled lightly and crashed his arm into a different cake. This was awesome." Lily looked after Michelle and saw her turning towards the Washing Tents and she felt a bit bad about feeling amused but Michelle was smiling.
Lily and her parents were standing close to the portal to leave again and Leah was hugging her best friend tightly "Be sure to write so I know when you want to come over and then I will also give you your present. Have a great night still!" Lily smiled and stepped through the portal, wondering if their next year would be just as great.