CHAPTER 16 "Fun and Tears"

Lily came back from school a week later. Between the funeral, the paperwork, and organizing her father's new routine without his wife, it was by the second week of February she was sitting on the train on her way to school. Having Nita was wonderful, the train ride back was less tedious as she had her to talk to and play with. Lily was anxious to get back and wondered how behind with schoolwork she would be. Professor McGonagall arranged the trip for Sunday afternoon so it was nighttime when Lily arrived.

Lily had taken only a small bag and Nita who would ride on her shoulder. She was a shoulder cat. Professor McGonagall was there to receive her as she got off the train.

"Welcome back Miss Evan," she greeted.

"Thank you, Professor," Lily answered as she arranged Nita and her bag.

"I'm really sorry for your loss, if you need anyone to talk to, I'm here,"

"Thank you," Lily had heard these same words many times that week so her answer was almost automatic. They walked together until they reached the fat lady's portrait and with a swing of her wand the Professor had a plate appear with food.

"Here, you should eat before bed," she handed Lily the plate and left her alone.

"Password?" the fat lady asked sleepily.

"Unicorn," she said and the portrait opened. Lily walked in to see the almost empty common room and felt a little strange to be back after everything. James Potter was sitting in one of the sofas kneeling over a piece of parchment with his wand in his hand. He was whispering words and moving his wand. When she walked in, he interrupted his spell to look up and stare.

"Hello Potter," Lily said, letting the portrait close behind her.

"Evans," Potter acknowledged and smiled, "and cat."

"This is Nita."

"Hi Nita," he said politely and left his wand on the table. "How are you holding up?"

"Doing the best I can," Lily sighed. She sat on the other couch and placed the plate with sandwiches on the table. "Happy to be back."

"Yes, Hogwarts helps. The distractions, friends, it all makes it hurt a little less." James seemed like a different person when he wasn't with his friends. "Can I have one?" he asked, pointing at the sandwiches.

"Haven't you eaten already?" Lily asked, squinting.

"Yes, but those look delicious. I didn't get those at supper."

"Fine, but only one because I'm hungry. What are you working on?" Lily asked, taking a bite from the sandwich she picked up.

"I'm trying to modify a spell," James said and looked back at his parchment. "Can't seem to find the trick."

"But modifying a spell is advanced magic," Lily said surprised.

"You can't know you can't do if you don't try."

"Let me help," Lily scooted closer to the parchment. James hesitated for only a second.

"I'm trying to modify the Homenum Revelio charm so it reveals itself in writing."

"I've read about that spell, doesn't that give the person you're looking for a swooping feeling?"

"I've never really used it," James looked thoughtful.

"I don't think you want the parchment to let people know you're tracking them."

"Obviously."

"So, I'd drop the 'revelio' part."

"And why?"

"Because you want to track, not reveal. Reveal is for everyone including the person being revealed."

"Interesting point," James' brain exploded with ideas. "Homenum in chartam... in charta, Homenum subcriptio in charta" he whispered under his breath.

"You speak Latin?" Lily asked, surprised.

"Just some words, I think this can work!" James looked excited, he hadn't realized until then that Nita had walked over towards him and laid on his lap. He looked down and started rubbing her head.

"Can't believe she likes you, of all people," Lily said and James rolled his eyes laughing.

"I'm actually a very animal-loving person," he said and confidently began to caress her belly, which was a mistake. Nita turned around and stabbed her 10 nails into his hand.

"OUCH!" Lily started giggling. "GET HER OFF ME." At that moment she had suddenly decided to also bite him, Lily's giggles got worse. "SERIOUSLY GET HER OFF ME." The more he wiggled his hand the harder Nita would hold on and Lily would laugh harder.

"Come… haha.. on… haha... Nita," Lily pulled the cat off of James, her giggles still uncontrolled.

"That cat is mental," James said.

"You just need to learn to respect cats," Lily said, drying her laughter tiers. "Really, cats don't like to be touched on their belly. Try to keep the petting on her head, that's a safe place."

"I'm not planning on petting that thing ever again."

"Hey! She is not a thing," she said. Lily swallowed her last piece of sandwich and scratched Nita's head. "I'm going to bed. Hope you make the spell work."

"Good night, Evans." James laid back on the sofa and messed up the back of his hair and smiled.

"She is adorable!" Mary squeaked the next morning as she met Nita, she picked her up and gave her a big hug ignoring the clawing little kitten.

"Leave her be, Mary," Phyllida said and took the kitten away from her.

"She is a beauty!" Meredith said and also got close to pet her. "I am proud to have her as a roomie."

"She's going to have to get used to you crazy girls," smiled Lily.

"Come on, we'll be late for breakfast," Mary said and the four girls left, leaving a stressed little kitten behind to sleep.

The three girls had really been there for Lily that last week, sending her letters, sweets, and their love. They were all asleep when Lily arrived and they all gave her a big hug in the morning. Lily was glad to be back, her heart ached for her mother but was grateful for her friends.

"So, what did I miss?" Lily asked at breakfast.

"Not much. Just the Slytherin-Hufflepuff game," Mary said.

"You didn't miss a thing," Phyllida said.

"Horrible game. Slytherins love to play dirty," Meredith said.

"Fifteen infractions!" Mary said loudly, "and they won."

"Poor Hufflepuff," Lily said.

"Well, they should be used to it by now," Mary said. "Their team sucks."

"I don't think they are that bad," Lily said.

"You'll see next month when we play against them," Mary said.

"Has there…" Lily lowered her voice. "Been any more disappearances?"

"No," Mary said, Meredith rolled her eyes and focused on her breakfast. Mary continued, "Not that we know of. But I do believe they've stopped."

"No attacks, no disappearances, and no punished Slytherins. Something's different." Phyllida observed.

What was left of February flew by in a wisp. Lily was profoundly sad sometimes but school was a perfect distraction, most of the time she didn't have time to sulk. And other times she couldn´t believe she had to come back to her life like nothing after everything she had been through. Someone had left her a gift the first week she was back, she found a perfectly wrapped book sitting on her bed one night. It was named Felines written by Andrea Pincher, it detailed the history, traits, cares, and illnesses of cats. It made Lily smile, there was no note.

The upcoming match wasn't something the Hogwarts alumni were excited about, but on the other hand, James Potter's natal day's celebration was the event of the month everyone was silently expecting. All this was of course driven by himself and his group of troublemaker friends.

27th of March

Lily had already gotten used to it but in every corner of the Gryffindor common room was some sign or magic that reminded everyone of the date. They were planning something, and everyone was expectant.

The Quidditch game was somewhat boring, Gryffindor won by 210 points and Hufflepuff scored one goal giving them only 10 points.

"They should really change their team. They can't be that bad," Lily observed.

"Potter says it because they are all old," Mary said. "They never renewed their team, they've had the same players for 3 years."

"You're friends with Potter then?" Lily asked.

"Well, yes I guess," Mary said. "I mean when you weren't here, Meredith was off with Tomas and Phyllida has her loner days so I talk with them."

"Do you know if they've finished their project?"

"I think they have," Mary smiled. "A few days after you were back I heard them say they had succeeded. They had a few things to polish first, I think."

Classes were getting harder, and they had to spend more and more time doing homework and studying. Lily actually started to get excited about the upcoming birthday just because she would be able to relax and have fun.

"So, you've finished it?" Lily asked James as they walked to DADA class.

"Yes we have," James smiled proudly. "Thanks to you actually."

"As a co-author, can I see it?" Lily asked curiously.

James didn't answer immediately, but said, "I'll think about it." he smiled and winked as he went to sit next to Sirius.

"What were you talking to him about?" a sour-looking Severus asked Lily.

"Nothing important," Lily said.

"I don't like that guy."

"I know," Lily said with a sigh.

"He's up to something."

"The whole school knows that," Lily laughed and Severus squinted annoyed. "It's only going to be a party, I think."

The 27th of March was a Monday. Classes were normal and the teachers did not suspect a thing. The common room password was changed, only Potter knew how, and it was changed from unicorn to Marauder. Everyone who wanted to attend would be able to enter, the message was spread from mouth to mouth and no written evidence was able to be seen.

The girls, expecting a party, put on their best clothes, and Meredith as always did the hair and makeup. Lily wore some new jeans and a blue and white striped sweatshirt. Blue was her best color.

The four girls' mouths dropped when they walked down to their common room. The place was completely different. None of the usual furniture was in its place. There were chairs arranged along the walls, long tables full of food and drinks, balloons floated magically all decorated with sparkles and writing changed from James Potter to 27th of March. Lily could see a record player blasting a wizard band song she had never heard.

Lily could never have imagined the repercussion this small event (or at least that was what she had expected) had. She also hadn't expected to see not only seventh-year students but from other houses, even the two Heads were there.

"This is going to be so much fun," Mary giggled loudly.

"There's Thomas!" and with that Meredith disappeared.

James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all together close to the entrance giving their guest a warm welcome. The four of them were well dressed but James and Sirius were the most handsome.

"James and Sirius are looking fine," Mary said. Lily turned to look at her friend surprised.

"Meredith is rubbing off on you," Lily laughed.

"Oh come on, it is true," Mary said. "Now that I hang with them sometimes it's nice to see them clean."

"Clean?" Lily asked

"Yes. Boy's are stinky," Mary giggled.

"Until they hit puberty," Phyllida said. "When they start looking at girls they start bathing."

"I think I prefer them stinky," Lily laughed and couldn't stop herself from looking at Potter. Mary was right, he did look good in his blue dress pants and white shirt. Lily rolled her eyes annoyed at herself.

The evening was enjoyable, the girls talked, ate and danced a bit. Everyone was having a good time, mingling with fellow classmates from other houses and the boys from time to time interrupted for some kind of show. They had prepared indoor fireworks, dancing house elves (Lily had never seen one before and was fascinated), and even invited Peeves who had a good time throwing food on peoples heads.

Lily felt her mouth dry as she moved to the rhythm of the music with Phyllida and Mary.

"Be right back" she said loudly to be heard over the loud music and pointed to her mouth. "Thirsty."

Lily walked over to the table that had a big punch bowl with a red liquid Lily thought looked good. She served herself a cup full of it and drank half of it in one gulp. It was mighty delicious.

"I would take that easy." It was James. Lily looked up at him and felt a little nervous as he grinned at her. Mary was in her head again, he did look good.

"Your cheeks are red," Lily didn't mean to say this out loud. At least she didn't say she thought it was cute.

"Are they?" he asked and touched his cheek. Lily nervously finished her red punch.

"Seriously," James said. "Take that easy."

"Why?" Lily asked and looked at her cup. She suddenly felt a bit dizzy and for some reason felt the need to giggle because of it. James looked at her and smiled.

"Because Sirius added a bit of…" he paused, " over aged wizards kind of drink in there."

"Alcohol?" Lily's eyes opened wide and she giggled again. Having a small window of clarity she said: "How could he? I'm only 12 years old." she dropped her cup on the floor and rubbed her forehead in worry.

"Relax, you'll be fine if you don't drink any more."

"I need some air," Lily said, fanning her reddened cheeks, it was more because of embarrassment than the drink.

"Come on, I'll get you some air," he said and smiled, taking her hand and guiding her away from the noisy party. She bumped into Meredith on their way out, who was with her arms wrapped around her boyfriend.

"Lily," she said and looked at James and smiled knowingly.

"What?" Lily said.

"We'll talk later," Meredith winked.

Lily rolled her eyes and continued on her way, she felt a bliss she hadn't felt in a good while. She giggled.

"What is it?" James asked.

"It feels funny," she said smiling.

"That's what it is supposed to do," he grinned.

"Did you drink any?" Lily asked, she tripped a little with her own feet. Her grip on James' hand tightened.

"A glass," he said casually. "I was a little curious."

They walked out to the courtyard and James sat her on one of the benches.

"I would've never voluntarily had an alcohol drink."

"Don't worry. I truly believe that."

"My mother would have a fit…" silence followed. Lily suddenly was flooded with all the grief she had been carrying deep inside. Tears started flooding and she couldn't stop them.

"Don't cry," James said in a squeak and sat next to her not knowing what to do.

"I don't like how this is feeling now," Lily said and she let all her tears fall. James took his wand out and said an incantation, a Lilac handkerchief appeared. He handed her the piece of cloth. She had stopped crying.

"How did you do that?" Lily asked, surprised. "We haven't learned anything like that yet."

"Picked up a few things when reading while looking for the spell for the map."

"So it's a map then," she said as she dried her moist cheeks with her new handkerchif.

"Ups," James said and covered his mouth. "Feel better?"

"Yes," she said and arranged her clothes, "Sorry about that."

"No worries, you've been threw a lot."

"I think my emotions are normalizing," Lily said. She didn't get any giggling feeling nor the desire to cry in dismay.

"I am glad I got to see Mrs. Evans first time getting sloshed," he laughed.

"I can barely call it that, a bit tipsy at best." she said. "Remind me to kill Sirius Black!"

"You cried, Evans. I count that as sloshed."

"Please, please don't say anything about that," she pleaded.

"Fine, it will be my little treasure. Remind me to thank Sirius Black."

"Come on, let's get back before we get in trouble." She started to walk back without needing Potter's hand for balance.

"Where were you?" Mary asked.

"I needed a little air," she said.

"You missed the food fight between Black and Peeves," Phyllida said.

"Guess who won," Mary said.

"Peeves? Isn't he a type of ghost?" Lily asked.

"Yes! It was so funny. Sirius is covered in food."

"I think he might be a little inebriated," Phyllida observed.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Lily said. "Stay away from the red punch."

The night ended when the last guest went up to bed. The invited houses left early to avoid problems with curfew. The girls left Lupin and James carrying up Black up towards the bedroom. A complete disaster was left behind of what was usually called the common room, now it was a dump.

"Where is Meredith?" asked Phyllida when they started to undress and found an empty bed.

"I haven't seen her since she left with Tomas," Mary said.

"I saw her for the last time when I went outside, in the corner of the common room with Tomas." Lily said, getting a little worried.

"She wouldn't leave, would she?" Mary asked.

"She would have let us know, don't you think?" Lily said.

"She does ignore everything that has been going on." Phyllida said.

"I have an idea," Lily said. "Let's go find Potter."

Well, I´m back. Sorry about that. So, theres a few plan changes with this story. Stay tooned for updates!

Reviews are appreciated.

Saludos! DB