A/N: Welcome back! You join us for the start of the Christmas holidays. I kind of wish it was Christmas now. Summer is too hot for me to function properly. I'm not even exaggerating. The amount of times I wrote 'ang' instead of 'and' in this chapter is scary. Don't worry, I did edit this afterwards.

Anyway, enjoy this chapter and as usual a disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and all that jazz.

Chapter Eight

Lily hadn't rested well on the train journey to London. The events of their first night at school had played continuously on her mind and it had taken ten minutes of her unnecessary fussing with her trunk before she braved stepping out onto Platform 9 and ¾. She was quick to smile, however, at the sight of her parents waiting near a stone pillar, eyeing their Wizarding neighbours with a mixture of apprehension and fascination. A small boy near her mother was holding a bright purple toad and, chuckling lightly, Lily observed her mother glance at the creature nervously every few seconds or so.

'Lily!' She was quickly engulfed in a many armed hug when they noticed her arrival. 'You're looking a little peaky.'

'Thanks, mum.' Lily said, rolling her eyes at her father as they all let go and Mrs Evans took a stern look at her daughter. 'I think you're forgetting I'm always this pale.'

Mrs Evans tutted, gesturing for her husband to relieve Lily of the burden of her trunk. Grinning at his daughter, Mr Evans lead the way off the platform and Lily linked arms with her mother. They didn't say anything on the way to the car and Lily climbed into the back seat, waiting while her parents murmured something to one another outside before getting in as well.

The car pulled out of the parking spot and into the traffic beside it. Mr Evans drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand as his wife watched him pointedly. He coughed.

'Er, Lily…' he began, and Lily looked away from the car window into the rear-view mirror.

'Hm?'

Mr Evans coughed again.

'You know Pet's been dating Vernon for a while…' he said, glancing at Mrs Evans, who was now sifting around in her handbag for a tissue. 'Well, he's staying with us for Christmas; Pet's bringing him with her.'

'Okay.' Lily nodded, turning her head to stare out of the window. 'When are they arriving?'

'On the 24th so we've got a few days of just us.' Mr Evans chuckled into the silent car.

Lily tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as Mrs Evans blew her nose. No one spoke for the next hour or so until Lily breached the subject of the protest she intended on going to; not that her parents were to find out the real reason.

'Mum, dad?' she said into the silence and both of her parents hummed their recognition of her addressing them. 'Marlene's throwing a Christmas party tomorrow – can I go? She wants to go shopping beforehand so I thought I'd go to hers around ten.'

'Ten?' Mrs Evans turned around in her seat to face her daughter. 'That means you'll be gone practically the whole day!'

'Mum, I promise I'll spend the rest of the holidays stuck to you two like glue.'

'I don't know –'

'Please, mum.' Lily pleaded. 'I promised her I'd go.'

'Let her go, love.' Mr Evans said, reaching out to squeeze his wife's hand. 'You let her go to that New Year's bash last year.'

'Yes, but this is the first day of the holidays we're talking about. She's only just got here.'

'And you heard her, she'll stick to us like glue for the rest. Isn't that right, Lily?'

'Yup.' Lily pulled off her jumper and rolled it up into a makeshift pillow to sleep on. 'I will.'

Mrs Evans sighed.

'Fine, you can go.'

'Thanks,' Lily smiled before resting her head on her rolled up jumper. The silent inside of the car combined with the low hum of the engine lulled her into sleep.

…

She woke when they arrived and once her father had hauled her trunk into the house, Lily helped him carry it up the stairs and into her room. He left her to unpack and she sank down into her bed, staring around at her rather plain room. Aside from the books of her childhood, her room bore no signs that this bedroom was anything other than a guest bedroom. There were no photos, no posters, only the singular vase of fresh flowers her mother must have placed on her windowsill ready for her arrival.

Lily hadn't bothered to pack up any of the photographs or posters she had in her dormitory in Hogwarts; she was only home for two weeks so there was no point. She did when it was the summer holidays, but each year she left more and more of her decorations in her dormitory, not seeing much point in hauling everything back to her parents' house for a six-week holiday either.

She sighed.

It wasn't that Lily didn't love her parents, or the time she spent with them, but there was no denying that she lacked closeness with them. Seeing her parents for a total of two months a year from the age of eleven had taken its toll on their relationship. Of course, she couldn't vouch for all who had or still were attending boarding school but this absence in her life coupled with the fact that she was magic, and they weren't, had led to a strained relationship.

'Never mind…' she murmured to herself, getting up and going over to open her trunk.

Not being the best of packers, the mess of her things didn't look inviting to unpack so she sighed again and sidled out of the room in search of her parents. She found her mother in the kitchen, peeling carrots, and offered to help.

'You can set the table.' Mrs Evans replied, glancing up as her daughter spoke to her. 'Cutlery's in the top drawer over the–'

'I know.' Lily interrupted, striding over to the drawer her mother indicated, smiling at her briefly. Collecting a handful of cutlery and balancing a stack of three glasses in the nook of her arm, Lily left the kitchen and wandered into the dining room next door. An archway joined the dining room to the green wallpapered living room; it was on one of the matching sofas that Mr Evans lounged, his feet propped up on a poof, his head buried behind a newspaper. He folded the top half down at the sound of his daughter entering the room.

Gingerly, Lily set the glasses down on the table, letting out a slow exhale of air once successful, and then went about placing the cutlery in the correct place; one set of knife and fork on one side of the table for herself and two on the other side for her parents (the remaining gap had once been filled by Petunia when she had still lived at the Evans' residence).

Unsure of what to do with herself once she was finished, Lily hovered awkwardly under the archway until her father coughed from behind his newspaper and she took this as a hint to sit next to him. Obliging him, she lowered herself into the space beside him on the sofa and started to pick at the nail varnish she had on her nails.

'How's school been?' Mr Evans enquired, flipping up the folded part of his newspaper so that he could turn the page.

'Great.' Lily answered, her gaze focused on her nails. 'Really great.'

'That's good. Not too stressful, is it?'

'It's all right if I don't let my homework pile up.' The clock above the television set ticked loudly. 'I've got less subjects now, which is good.'

'Really? Why's that?'

'Oh, you know, last year I did the Wizarding equivalent of O levels and now I've moved on to A levels, so I do less subjects.' Lily shifted in her seat. 'Less subjects, more work for each.'

'Right.' Mr Evans nodded, simultaneously perusing the football results from the match he had missed yesterday. 'What d'you drop?'

'Divination and –'

'Divination?' he checked.

'Telling the future.' Lily elaborated, grinning slightly. 'Complete waste of time if you must know.'

'What a surprise.' They both chuckled appreciatively. 'Although don't tell your mum that – she likes to think people can do all that reading palms bollocks.'

'There are some real Seers out there.' Lily responded, stretching. 'I'm just not one of them.'

'So, ever seen a real prediction?' Her father was not peering curiously around his newspaper.

Lily's stomach lurched. Professor Acranum had certainly done his fair share of predictions when she had been in his class; she knew that all too well. His specific prediction about her – about her doom – well, she had never confided in anyone about that. And she certainly wasn't going to do that now.

'… Er, a few… But they're all small things like who's going to catch a cold next week or the weather in exactly a month's time.'

'So nothing exciting?'

'No, no… Nothing exciting.' Lily stood up. 'I think I'll go see if mum wants any more help.'

'Oh, all right then.' Mr Evans waved his daughter off, seemingly unfazed, but as she left the room, he watched her, his eyes narrowed shrewdly. He had the feeling, as parents often do, that his daughter wasn't telling him everything; of course, though he wasn't to know that, he was entirely correct, and the extent of his daughter's deceit was far greater than he could ever suspect.

…

'They're saying the Yorkshire Ripper's behind the attack on that prostitute up in Leeds.' Mr Evans said conversationally, taking a sip from his beer. 'Hope they catch the bastard soon. S–'

'Can we not talk about murders at the dinner table?' Mrs Evans chided, though she nodded in agreement at her husband's words.

'I don't mind.' Lily smiled across the table at both her parents. 'Go on, dad.'

Mr Evans pecked his wife on the cheek while she sighed before returning to what he had been planning to say.

'She might've been a prostitute, but she didn't deserve anything like that – none of those women did.' He grinned. 'Not saying I'd be happy if you became a prostitute, mind, Lily.'

'Cheers, dad.' Lily laughed while Mrs Evans looked disapproving. 'That's my back up if magic doesn't work out.'

She brought a mouthful of stew to her mouth.

'I don't suppose you hear about things like that at school, Lily.' her mother observed. 'From everything you've told us about the magical world, it all sounds quite peaceful. It's good to know Wizards aren't abusing magic.'

Lily choked on her stew.

'Yeah…' she rasped, coughing into her napkin before reaching for her glass of water. 'Everything's good on my end – nothing bad…' She tried to laugh but only managed to cough. Her parents, however, seemed relatively convinced by her answer. Thankfully.

…

The next morning, Lily awoke relatively early, staggering tiredly into the bathroom. She aimed to arrive at Marlene's at around ten in the morning, thus meaning she was required to abandon what could have been a lengthy lie in. The protest didn't begin until the evening; a ministry meeting was being conducted at five in regard to heightening Gringotts' security so it seemed ideal to protest as the officials arrived. Marlene wanted someone to help her write placards from them all to carry and Lily had volunteered; they also planned to do a little shopping in Diagon Alley before the protest began – Hogsmeade didn't have the biggest range of shops.

She hummed absently as she stripped out of her pyjamas and washed herself using a flannel and water from the sink. Today would be her first time changing her bandages herself, so she didn't want to ruin anything by risking a shower when she was only semi-conscious. Once dried and in her underwear, Lily turned her attention to her injury, carefully undoing the knot of her bandage and unravelling the material to reveal the revolting wound beneath.

Taking a wad of toilet paper, Lily propped her foot on the edge of the bathtub and tipped some of the smoking potion onto the toilet paper. Gingerly, she brought it to her leg.

She scrunched up her eyes, squinting through her eyelashes so that she minimised how much rising smoke she could see. Each dab left a small stinging sensation, but it quickly abated. Once finished, Lily threw the bit of toilet paper in the bin and reached for the fresh bandage. She was so focused that she didn't hear the bathroom door open. What she did hear was her mother's shriek.

'LILY EVANS!' Mrs Evans thundered, striding over and wrenching the bandage out of her hand. 'What in God's name have you done to your leg?'

'Oh, Jesus Christ…' Lily muttered under her breath before forcing a reassuring smile into existence on her face. 'It was a potions accident.'

'A potions accident?' Mrs Evans repeated, every syllable dripping with suspicion.

'Yeah, I accidently knocked over a potion I was brewing, and it went all over my leg. Madame Pomfrey – that's the school matron – she said I'll be fine, it'll just take a while to heal.' she lied, widening her smile in the hope it might deter her mother. 'I'm fine.'

'If you're sure.' Mrs Evans relented, the introduction of magic into the conversation convincing her of her daughter's honesty, holding out the bandage for Lily. 'I just don't understand why you didn't mention it in any of your letters.'

'I didn't want to worry you.' Lily replied, and this time her response was entirely truthful. She accepted the bandage back and started to wrap it around her wound. Her mother seemed to grow increasingly relaxed the more of it was covered. 'You're doing much better than Potter when he saw it – I was sure he was going to throw up.'

'Don't tempt me.' her mother replied and Lily grinned, tying a knot in the bandage and collecting the clothes she had brought with her into the bathroom to change into. Pressing a kiss to her mother's forehead, she made to leave.

'I'll get out of your hair.' she said and left.

Lily made her way back into her room, closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She let out a long breath of air. Lying to her parents had never been easy, but something told her that the events of the autumn term were only the tip of the iceberg. That coupled with her doomed fate, she was in for a difficult ride to concealing from her parents the reality of the Wizarding World.

You know, it makes me really sad to write Lily's family like this but I think it fits better with the story. I'm missing Lily's family from The Cat Chronicles writing this. I had to read the Christmas chapter to cheer myself up a bit. But what do you guys think?

Make my day and leave a review! There's a protest to come that you do not want to miss...