A/N: For those, like Sofie, who are asking, "Why, Evans?" J.K. Rowling stated in an interview that Lily's surname was Evans. Click here.
GELD: Okay. ^_~
Hugs and kisses to all those who read this story. You also get a long stemmed, red rose if you provide a review. All three automatically go to my original fans of Lily: The Hogwarts Years. ^_^
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters, places, and ideas belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers, not me.
by Auror5
Lily was glad to be home even though her relationship with Petunia had not improved. Lily was disappointed and sad that Petunia, after nearly ten months of Lily's absence, still behaved as though she disliked her. To add to her hurt, friends she had known nearly her entire life shunned her. It saddened her to see that her former best friend, Lauren, had become close to Petunia. On each occasion Lily's former friends visited Petunia at the Evans' home, they ignored her. A week ago, Lily accompanied Petunia, Lauren, Betty, and several other girls Lily once considered friends to an ice skating rink. They did not want to include Lily but reluctantly agreed to allow her to come along after Zinnia insisted. At the rink, they treated her as an outcast. Needless to say, Lily was miserable with them. Afterwards, she decided to continue her education at Hogwarts despite what happened to her earlier in the year. At least I have friends at Hogwarts, she thought. Her only consolation, during the first several weeks at home, was the letters she received from her Hogwarts' friends.
***
Dread filled her as she walked through the corridor but she could not stop and turn back, although she desperately wished to do so. Lily continued on while listening to the mind-numbing sound of dripping water. She reached out and touched the wall. Quickly, she pulled her hand back when it encountered something wet. Lily glanced at the wall and observed blood oozing from it. Gagging, she wiped her hand on her shirt and ran. A heavy, oak door materialized in front of her. She tried to turn back but large hands seized her. She screamed, and was lifted onto an altar. Large, monstrous faces towered over her. Suddenly, Lily felt intense pain. She shrieked.
A voice seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere thundered, "You or the animal?"
An orange, striped kitten appeared on the altar. She stood next to the raised structure and solemnly gazed down at the tiny feline. Tall, hooded figures in black cloaks were on either side of her, and surrounding the altar. The kitten cried pitifully. Its eyes pleaded for her help.
"The animal," Lily answered, grimly.
She reached into her cloak, withdrew a sharp dagger, and plunged it into the kitten.
"No! I take it back! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Lily wailed.
She was bound, supine, to the altar by her wrists and ankles. A pale face loomed over her in the gloom. Lily began to scream for the face had horrible, red eyes. The pale face with red eyes laughed. Its mirth chilled her bones.
Then it boomed, "You are the kitten."
A giant, booted foot appeared above her and slowly descended toward her face. There was high, cold laugher. She screamed and screamed. Then there was terrible, green light and the sound of the wind.
"Lily! Lily! Wake up, honey!"
Lily was jarred awake. She shook and gasped, with tears on her face and heart thudding painfully.
"Mum? Mum?"
"Shh, sweetums. It's all right. It was just a bad dream. Shh," Zinnia embraced her tight.
Her shaking slowly subsided.
"I'm so sorry," Lily whispered.
"What, sweetheart? What are you sorry about?"
Lily did not respond for she had fallen back to sleep.
***
The morning of the 6th of July dawned bright. Sunlight streaming into the kitchen and the sound of noisy bird chatter pointed to another pleasant, mild day in Keswick.
Lily entered the kitchen half-dressed and yawning.
"Happy Birthday!" her parents greeted.
Lily grinned. "Thanks!"
"Come, sit. Have some toast for a start." Zinnia smiled warmly at her.
Lily sat down across from Petunia, and Snowball immediately leapt onto her lap. Her father leaned over and noisily kissed her on the cheek. Lily giggled and returned Wesley's affection.
"What would you like for breakfast, honey? It's your day today. I'll cook whatever you want."
"Erm, I would like some sausage. Thanks, Mum."
"Is that it? Would you like some porridge, also?"
"Erm, all right."
"Mother, I really don't like sausage. Could I have bacon, instead?"
Lily rolled her eyes. Shortly after Petunia became a teenager, she resorted to formally addressing her parents.
"Tunia, I thought you loved sausage." Zinnia looked at Petunia with a baffled expression on her face.
"Not anymore."
"Well, all right," Zinnia responded, sceptically. "I'll fry some bacon for you."
Petunia gazed at Lily with an expression of gloating. Lily had decided that she would not allow Petunia to ruin her birthday; therefore, she ignored her.
"Wes, what would you like?"
"I'll have sausages, Zin. Thanks."
While Zinnia cooked, Lily munched on a piece of toast with plum jam and petted Snowball. Her father read the morning paper, and Petunia leafed through a magazine.
"A mystery, indeed," Wesley remarked while frowning at the newspaper before him.
"What's that, Wes?"
"There is an article in the paper about a London family that vanished a week ago. They found their bodies early yesterday in a wooded area outside the city. All of them were dead but there were no wounds on the bodies. None of the officials can figure it out. The examiner plans to check for exotic poisons."
"Why, that's terrible! The entire family was murdered, and they don't know how? That's peculiar."
"Aye, it is. If they were murdered, you would expect to see some trauma on the bodies but they found nothing. No bruises, lacerations, shot wounds. Nothing. In fact, this report says that the family appeared to be in perfect health. The only problem is that they are all dead."
"Oh dear. Does the article mention any children?"
"Yes. Sadly, there were two: a boy, age thirteen, and a girl, age nine."
"Wes, that is awful! Who would want to do such a thing? Murder children?"
"It's an evil thing. I do hope they solve this mystery." Wesley continued reading for a while longer. He then glanced up from the paper.
"Lily, what time are your friends arriving?" he inquired.
"Fiona said that her dad will drop them off at 3 o'clock."
"All right."
Lily invited Fiona, Samantha, Daisy, Ivy, Catherine, and Tamara over to celebrate her birthday. She was having an overnight party. Fiona explained, in a letter, that the girls would meet at her house from where they would travel, by Portkey, to a location in Keswick. Once they arrived in Keswick, they would drive to Lily's house in an auto so as to not attract any Muggle attention. Lily had no idea what Fiona meant by a Portkey but she planned to ask when she arrived.
"Mother, Father, may I stay over Lauren's house?"
"Petunia, today is your sister's birthday. You will remain here."
"But, Father, it will be just her friends here. I don't know any of them. Whom will I socialize with?"
"You can socialize with Lily's friends, Petunia. They seem like nice girls. I met them at King's Cross."
"But, Father, I would rather be with my sort of friends."
Annoyed, Wesley put down the paper.
"Petunia, you will remain here. If you want to invite one of your friends over, it is fine by me, but only one. All right?"
Petunia ignored him. "Mother, may I go over to Lauren's?"
"Petunia! What did your father just tell you?"
Petunia mumbled under her breath.
Wesley glowered at her. "Petunia Anne Evans, I will not tolerate you disrespecting me or your mother. Is that clear?"
There was silence from Petunia.
"I SAID, IS THAT CLEAR?"
"Yes, Father," Petunia muttered. She then gave Lily a rotten look.
Zinnia returned to the table and handed a bowl of porridge to both Lily and Petunia.
"Lily, dear, do you remember waking up last night screaming?" Zinnia said.
"Erm, not really." Lily shifted uneasily in her chair.
"Do you remember what the dream was about? You kept saying that you were sorry. What were you sorry about?"
Lily shrugged. "I don't know."
The phone rang and startled them all.
***
That afternoon, Lily's friends from Hogwarts arrived at the Evans' home. Lily reintroduced them to her family and gave them a tour of the house. All of the girls were fascinated with Muggle living. Daisy was surprised that they were able to keep their home clean without the aid of a house-elf. Since the Evanses had no idea what a house-elf was, Daisy, with help from the other girls, described and explained the role of a house-elf. At the end of her spiel, Zinnia expressed her desire for one. They also explained to Lily and her parents the concept of travelling by Portkey, which Wesley found immensely intriguing. Wesley then asked the girls to demonstrate some of the magic they had learned in school. The girls very soon discovered that he was the perfect audience, but, unfortunately, he bombarded them with questions. To rescue her friends from Wesley's seemingly ceaseless queries, Lily gave him a piece of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum. Lily and the girls were entertained by the sight of Wesley floating up to the ceiling after blowing a huge bubble.
While Zinnia prepared dinner, Lily's friends asked many questions about the mechanics of Muggle cooking. Samantha concluded that cooking Muggle fashion was too much work and offered to assist Zinnia with preparing the meal. Zinnia accepted, mainly in the hope that it would reduce the girls' chatter. The rest of the girls also helped. Much to Zinnia's delight, with the help of magic, dinner was prepared in less than half the time it would have taken, considering the number of mouths she had to feed.
Lily received nice birthday presents such as clothing, games, and candy from her parents and friends. Petunia gave her a toothbrush, and Lauren presented her with a fountain pen. Wesley and Zinnia were very disappointed with Petunia's idea of a gift, but they tried not to display it.
During the entire two days Lily's friends were visiting the Evans' home, Petunia socialized little with Lily or her friends. Petunia and Lauren spent most of their time upstairs, in Petunia's bedroom. Tears stung Lily's eyes when Lauren barely acknowledged her. Despite Lily and her friends' cheerfulness toward Petunia and Lauren, their attitude toward them was cold, bordering on hostile. Eventually, they gave up on Petunia and Lauren after their amicable overtures were repeatedly snubbed.
***
In early August, Lily and her parents met the McKinnons in Diagon Alley. Both families shopped together while there, and discovered that they enjoyed each other's company. Liam and Kendra McKinnon made arrangements to keep in touch with Wesley and Zinnia.
August came to a close, and the return to Hogwarts was imminent. Lily and her parents met the McKinnons at their home in Windermere. They were fascinated and intrigued with how the McKinnons used magic in their daily lives. Lily and her mother were delighted with the McKinnon's house-elf, Blinky. They travelled, from the McKinnon's, to an abandoned building in London via Portkey. Lily and her parents found travelling by Portkey quite thrilling. Her father found it even more so, and embarrassed Zinnia by repeatedly and jubilantly discussing the experience with the entire group. Fiona, grinning fondly at Wesley, told him that he was "much fun."
On platform nine and three-quarters, the Evanses and McKinnons paid farewell to their children. On the Hogwarts Express, Lily shared a compartment with Fiona, Daisy, and Ivy.
***
Lily, Fiona, Daisy, and Ivy were sighing over pictures of the wizard band, Merlin, in Daisy's Rockin' Magik magazine, when James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus burst into their compartment. All four were smirking and wearing expressions full of mischief.
"Er, this compartment is taken," declared Fiona.
"Oy, it's too crowded in here! Go back to your own compartment!" Fiona shouted when the boys began to sit down, forcing the girls to crowd toward the window.
"We're all chums, aren't we? Like one big happy family, we are, eh?" James stated with a devilish gleam in his eyes.
"Indeed, we are. How do you, Miss McKinnon, Miss Evans, Miss Craven, and Miss Wittleston?" inquired Sirius.
Fiona narrowed her eyes. "Remus, please do tell us what you four are up to."
Remus looked at the other boys, and they all snickered.
Fiona leapt up. "OUT!"
"No! No! We can't!" said Peter.
"Why NOT?" Fiona retorted.
"Er, well, you see. There is a slight problem," replied James. "For my mates and I have placed dungbombs in select compartments full of Slytherins." He glanced at his watch. "We have them timed, you see. They should go off in about, erm, ten seconds."
"You didn't!" Lily said, incredulously.
"We did," replied Sirius smugly.
Suddenly, they heard a series of booming sounds coming from the back of the train. James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus doubled up with laughter.
"Just what kind of dungbombs were those?" Ivy's face was full of amazement.
"Yes, they sounded awfully large!" remarked Daisy.
"Master James and I decided to, er, liven them up a bit." Sirius leaned back in his seat with an expression full of satisfaction.
About five minutes later, a conductor entered the compartment. His face was livid with anger.
"Do any of you happen to know who exploded the dungbombs on my train?"
They shook their heads.
The conductor left the compartment muttering about "little cretins" and "bloody messes."
Shortly after the conductor exited, a bespectacled teen wearing a Head Boy badge walked in.
"Good evening. I am Morgan von Stencil, this year's Head Boy." He displayed his badge to each of them by removing it and placing it directly under their noses. "I am conducting an investigation. Do any of you know who exploded the dungbombs?"
"No."
Von Stencil sighed. "No one seems to know. Obviously, a student on this train planted and exploded them."
He heaved another sigh. They stared at him.
"If you must know, several of your fellow students are covered with a brown, sticky goop, which we are having an extremely difficult time removing. You can only imagine how awful they smell. Snoflache and I had to quarantine them into two of the damaged compartments. We placed an anti-olfactory charm outside the compartments so that nearby students will not have to smell them during the rest of the trip."
Von Stencil sighed again. "Oh well, I shall leave now."
They heard him mumbling about an engorgement charm being used on dungbombs. Then they looked at one another and giggled.
"Just who were the Slytherins you dungbombed?" Lily inquired.
James responded, "Oh dear, most of them we don't even know but I can tell you the ones we do know."
"Snape, Avery, Rosier, Erstwhilst, and Kernville," Peter solemnly stated.
They laughed.
Shortly afterwards, James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus exited.
"I'm glad they bombed Kernville and Erstwhilst. Those horrid girls deserved it!" Lily exclaimed.
"Aye, good thing for Snape, too. Now he has a chance to wash his hair before the term begins," added Fiona.
***
In the Great Hall, after the sorting and welcoming address, Dumbledore made a few announcements.
"First, to the student responsible for exploding dungbombs in three compartments full of fellow students on the Hogwarts Express: I assure you that you will be punished if discovered. I would be much mistaken if I were to think that you would not find it highly amusing to bathe your fellow students in a brown, sticky, and dreadful smelling material."
He cleared his throat.
"Moving on: this year's Head Boy and Head Girl are Morgan von Stencil of Ravenclaw and Melissa Snoflache of Gryffindor, whom you have probably met on the train."
Everyone clapped politely.
Then he went on to announce the Prefects.
The students clapped and cheered. Lily applauded half-heartedly, for Malfoy's name had been mentioned. She avoided looking in the direction of the Slytherins.
"Ah! I see that the students who met misfortune on the Hogwarts Express have returned to us. Good. Thank you, Professor Flitwick and Professor Chloride, for restoring them to their original state."
The students watched as about a dozen Slytherins, the ones who were dungbombed, made their way to the table. All appeared very angry. Some of the students snickered as they passed.
"I want to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest and the Whomping Willow are forbidden to all students. Ignore my warning and we may never see you again or, in the case of the Whomping Willow, we will see you in the hospital wing."
Dumbledore cleared his throat and solemnly gazed out at the students.
"Unfortunately, I have disconcerting news to share before we partake of the feast. One of our students, who would be in her sixth year this term, disappeared under suspicious circumstances during the summer holidays."
Whispering filled the Great Hall.
"The missing student is Kristin Dewdroppe."
Lily gasped, and stared at Fiona with a stricken expression on her face.
"As most of you know, Miss Dewdroppe is the Seeker for Gryffindor's Quidditch team. Let us pray Miss Dewdroppe is found soon. I am asking each of you keep Kristin in your thoughts."
He stared out at the sea of students for a moment, and seemed to peer into each face.
"Draco! Equinox! Orange!"
Dumbledore sat down. The students turned to see platters of food before them.
---------
Note: In Book 1, Petunia stated that Lily performed magic during the holidays (turning teacups into mice). So, I figured that perhaps the students were allowed to do magic outside of school at some point. Perhaps it didn't matter if Muggles, like Lily's parents, who were already familiar with magic witnessed sorcery. Then again, Petunia could have been lying about the whole thing....