LPOV

Lily sighs and gets up to leave. Remus has always been stubborn about letting people to take care of him, but he feels even more reluctant to accept help with migraines.

Lily doesn't mind. Things have been tense at Petunia's apartment for a while and so she tries to stay out of there as long as she can.

Vernon is being more rude every day. She tries to avoid arguments with him for Petunia's sake but the arguments are escalating. Maybe she should find a different place to stay, but Petunia is still her sister and they were planning to live together for a few more years until she graduated. Lily secretly hoped that these years will help them get closer.

Lily unlocked the door of the apartment and could smell delicious food cooking in the kitchen. Petunia was making her famous grilled chicken and roasted potatoes.

„Hi Tuny, how was your day?" Lily calls from the hallway, taking off her shoes and hanging her coat on the hook. Vernon's jacket is there, which means he will be having dinner with them again.

„Hello. Where were you so long? Didn't your shift end an hour ago?" Petunia answers from the sink that she's cleaning.

„Yeah, sorry about that. I was helping Remus get home because he had a really bad migraine today." Explains Lily and walks to the bathroom to quickly wash her hands before she can help set the table.

Vernon is already seated at the head of the table, drinking a glass of wine.

„That girl is only trouble!" He huffs from the table.

„Excuse me?!" Lily marches back to the kitchen, still holding the hand towel. „I'm no trouble and if you think that helping a friend is not a good enough reason to be a bit late for dinner, then you can get out of here and go eat at your own place!" She explodes. It was a long day and she has been enduring snarky comments from Vernon for a few weeks now. Somehow he feels entitled to comment about her appearance, her schedule at work and her friends.

„Humpf, not you. Although you could have more respect for your sister and let us know you will be late for dinner. We don't have to waste time on your friends." He argues back.

Lily usually tries to avoid arguments with Vernon for Petunia's sake, but it's difficult to do when he keeps starting them every night.

„Then who exactly did you mean by that girl?"

„You know very well who I meant. That friend of yours who likes to play dress up and ..." Vernon sneers but Lily interrupts him.

„Don't you dare to finish that sentence! Tuny are you seriously ok with him saying things like this?!" She turns to her sister.

„Well, why do you have to start arguments like that all the time Lily? I don't care what you call your friend when you are outside, at work or whatever, but why do you have to argue about that here? Vernon didn't say anything ..." Petunia started but Lily had enough.

„I have been making excuses for you all this time Tuny! I kept my mouth shut whenever he would criticise me and make snarky comments about my appearance or my job or every single little detail he can somehow find offensive, but I won't stay here and let him insult my friends!"

Lily turned around and stormed off to her room, trying to see through the tears that were spilling down her cheeks. She grabbed her school bag, laptop and a change of clothes and run outside the apartment without looking back.

She needed to be anywhere but near Vernon. And Tuny, how could Tuny let him say that...

She sat in her car for about 15 minutes before she calmed down enough to drive. It was starting to rain.

„Rem, I need to stay at your place tonight. I'm on my way over. I'll bring your favourite Thai soup. Let me know if you need anything else." She texted Rems before starting the car.

Lily knew that she could just show up at Remus' house. No questions asked. She loved this about their friendship. They grew close during high school years. There was one year when she lived with Petunia in London, and Remus was still at home with his parents, but thankfully he inherited the house here he was living now and they could continue their friendship where they left of.

Petunia knew Remus' backstory and she must have mentioned something to Vernon, which resulted in the comments he made tonight. Lily felt furious.

She picked up the Thai coconut soup for Remus and some tofu green curry with rice for herself. Remus didn't ask for anything else but when she checked her phone, there was a message from him with thumbs up.

Lily had an emergency key from the front door, which Remus insisted she takes and uses as if she was at home, but she never had to use it up until now.

She let herself in and locked the door behind herself. The lights were off but the string of solar powered fairy lights which were hanging on the back porch were on, giving the kitchen magical glow.

„Honey I'm home!" she yelled up the stairs, knowing Remus will hear her, but hopefully her voice won't be too loud in the attic.

The opened the garden door and looked outside. The garden was dark and blurry due to the rain. She took the watering can Remus kept next to the door and set it out under the rain gutter to fill it up. She served the soup for Remus and plate of rice and tofu for herself, then tidied up the kitchen, replaced the watering can, which was now full, on it's spot and went upstairs.

Remus was sill awake, as was to be expected. Lily placed the bowl of spicy coconut soup on his night stand and went to sit on the other side of the bed.

„How are you feeling?" she asked quietly.

„Hmmf." He growled and slowly sat up agains the wall."What happened?"

„Vernon. Not important." She turned on the small lamp but turned it towards the wall to dim the yellow light. „What am I going to do Rem?" She asked after a while.

„Well, you should have left long time ago. Might have been better if you'd have done it before I rented out the two spare rooms but..." He made her laugh. „You'll talk to Petunia in a couple of days and you two can figure it out. Don't worry about it for now."

They settled into comfortable silence and eventually fell asleep, dirty dishes and empty glasses scattered on the floor around the bed.

Petunia did not call the next day and did not reply to any of the texts Lily sent her. Lily let her know she will be coming home after work. The message was read but no reply came.

Lily was cleaning the counter at work, since the end of the shift was approaching and library was actually already closed and last students were slowly filtering out, when she suddenly heard someone calling her name. Remus has already left, since he had a half shift today and Dorcas was in the backroom finishing some orders of supplies.

Lily looked up and saw James standing at the bar.

„Oh, hi James. What can I get you?" She asked smiling.

He was dressed in his football uniform, hair a sweaty mess and he was holding a duffle bag over his shoulder.

„Well, actually, I was wondering if you wanted to come out after work and maybe have some coffee, or tea, I mean, it's quite late, so maybe a tea, or dinner?"

Lily had her mind still full of the argument with Petunia and was totally caught off guard. „Oh, actually I already have something else planned for tonight, sorry." She replied.

„Ah, well, of course, I ..." James sputtered, suddenly looking really uneasy and awkward. „I'll see you around then."

„James wait. I ...It's..." Lily didn't know what to say. How much do you share with a stranger that is soon going to become a roommate of your best friend?

„No, it's ok, really. I just thought I'd stop by. Have a nice rest of your shift." He waved and jogged out of the shop.

Ugh, what a mess. Lily threw the rug into the laundry hamper and grabbed her phone to check if Petunia said anything. Twenty minutes later, with no updates from her sister and confused thoughts about James she drove back home. When she unlocked the apartment door, she found the place empty. A quick search revealed a small note written on a piece of pink stationery that Petunia used for everything.

We went out for dinner. Will be back around 22:00. It would be better if you went to stay with one of your friends for a couple of days until things calm down.

-T.

Well, that was rather anti-climatic. Lily didn't feel upset anymore, just tired. Tired of all the drama and constant tension. Now when she was back in the apartment and it was empty, which rarely happened, she realised how different the atmosphere was from all the evenings and weekends she spent with Remus, or Dorcas or even Mary and the girls from her class.

Maybe she should move away for good. If Vernon was going to be a constant presence in the apartment it wasn't good for her.

With a sad heart she took her big backpack from the hallway closet and started packing clothes and toiletries she would need for the next couple of days. The room in the apartment was almost empty. She always liked bohemian decorations but Tuny preferred minimalist clean and modern style and they could never agree on anything.

The rest of the week passed by without much drama. On Friday night, she was closing again and James showed up, just like the other day. This time he was dressed in dark wash jeans and a button down, and his har looked like he attempted to smooth it down.

„Hi, Lily, could I get an iced hot chocolate to go?" He asked politely.

„Sure, coming right up." Answered Lily, all professional and efficient as always.

She got all the ingredients and started mixing the drink. „So you guys are moving in tomorrow?" She started a chit-chat.

„Yeah, Sirius is at home packing the last bits and pieces. Shoot, I should probably get him something as well. Could I add a strawberry milkshake to the order?"

„Absolutely." Smiled Lily and added the drink to the bill. „What time should we expect you tomorrow?"

„Oh, you're gonna be there? I mean... yeah, some time before lunch? I think it will take a while to pack up everything and get out of the house." James stuttered.

„Sounds great. You can come by any time, and we'll help you unpack if you want." She smiled at him and handed him the receipt.

James was about to leave when he turned around and took a deep breath. „Listen, about the other night, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable or to make things weird or anything..."

„Don't worry about it. I really just had some things to do that evening, just a bad timing is all." She added.

„Yeah, maybe next time." James had the biggest smile she ever saw as he walked out of the shop.