WARNING: Some language in this chapter. Just a warning
Calliope sat on the couch in the living room of her house, playing with a relaxation ball. She didn't find the ball relaxing though. Just aggravating. Calliope was waiting for her husband to come home from work. This wasn't the first time, and certainly would not be the last. He was supposed to be taking her to a party that one of his business associates was throwing, and Calliope was dressed up to the nine's. She looked very pretty, and she was aware of that fact, often glancing up at her reflection in the mirror that hung over the mantle piece. Her suspicions as to where her husband was so late were grating on her mind. He would not, ever, be doing what she was so worried he was. Mark would never cheat on her, not his wife of 12 years.
What Calliope really wanted to do was pick up the neon yellow phone, and dial Mark's work number. She wanted him to answer, and tell her that he was swamped with work, and that he loved her, and he would be home soon, and to forget the dinner, because they would have cheese and wine when he got home.
In a sudden moment of determination Calliope picked up the phone, dialed the number that took her directly to his office, and waited for it to ring.
"Hello?" Mark's voice, slightly distorted by the phone line, answered.
"Hi, honey, it's-"
"You have reached Mark Evans and associates. We're not in the office right now, please, leave your name, number, the time you called, and a short message after the tone, and we'll get back to you ASAP. Thanks."
Calliope hung up, and choked back tears.
"Mark is just on his way home now." She reminded herself, squeezing the stress ball "He'll be through that door any minute now, and we'll go out to dinner." The ball popped, spraying Calliope's dress with grains of sand, and Calliope buried her face in her hands.
An hour and a half later, She went and changed into slacks and a blouse, packed an overnight bag, some money, and went out of the front door.
Lily couldn't wait for Christmas vacation to arrive. It was only three weeks away, and all of Hogwarts was a buzz of nervous activity. Moreover, Lily's friends still weren't speaking to her. She didn't know why, and didn't ask. Because of her reluctance to talk to any of her dorm mates, house mates, or school mates, Lily found herself very alone. And she hated it. She hated it so much so that she had begun to cry herself to sleep, she was so lonely. This, for Lily, was unusual. She rarely cried, because she thought it showed weakness. Sirius, who often looked around for Lily, saw her puffy eyelids and the deep circles under her eyes, and felt bad about ignoring her. But, not wanting to loose his male friends, he did something he had never done; he followed the crowd.
On a surprisingly sunny day in late November, Lily was leaving the charms class room, where she had been practicing the petrification charm with Professor Flitwick. She was just about to duck behind a tapestry that would take her to the girls bathroom, when she heard a tiny whimper around the corner of the hallway. Lily backtracked, and peered around it.
Pettigrew was being pinned against the wall by three Slytherins. One, a fifth year, Luscius Malfoy, who was the one holding him to the wall, had his wand was pointed at Pettigrew's nose. The other two, Severus Snape, who wore a rather nasty smile, and Hans Goyle, an ape of a boy who was too stupid to have an expression on his face, flanked Luscius.
"Pettigrew, this will teach you and your stupid friends to hex the Slytherin common room, won't it?" Luscius sneered, ready to cast a spell that would, with no doubt, be very painful. Lily wanted to leave, but her conscience had other ideas. She gathered her courage, and stepped around the corner.
"Why Pettigrew, I see you've made friends with the Slytherins." Lily said, trying her best to be nonchalant.
"Lily!" Pettigrew said, relief visible in his face. Luscius glared at the boy, and turned to Lily.
"May we help you?" he demanded, looking her up and down, trying to discern if she posed any threat. What he saw- a scrawny girl of eleven or twelve, her red hair in two messy tails, her robes wrinkled, and her face dotted with impertinent freckles- did not inspire much fear in him.
"I would say yes, you see, I heard a yelp, and I was coming to rescue someone from your clutches. But, since it's Pettigrew, I don't really know if I want to." Lily told him, looking directly at Pettigrew as she spoke. The latter shrunk down- if it was possible in his position- and managed a pleading look.
"Please, Lil." Pettigrew said, a look of panic on his face.
"Please what? Do you expect me to fight three boys? One who is a fifth year, one who is a foot taller than myself, and one who could kill an elephant if he sat on it?" Lily demanded, feeling her face change color to match her hair in indignation.
"N-no." Pettigrew admitted, not having thought about it.
"Good." Lily turned to Luscius "Can I have Pettigrew back, please? His friends would miss him terribly if something happened to him. So terribly, in fact, they might do something like this-" Lily pulled out her wand, and used the charm she had just mastered. Luscius Malfoy fell over, clattering to the ground like a board. As he let go of Peter, the boy dashed off, leaving Lily to face Snape and Goyle. Lily herself wasted no time in running off, aware that she had the two boys on her heels. Luscius Malfoy's yells chased them down the hall
"Come back here you idiots and un-curse me!"
Panting, Lily reached the entrance to the common room
"Nimble House-elves!" she gasped to the Fat Lady.
"My my, aren't you a mess. My dear, young ladies should not behave like-" Lily didn't stop to hear the portrait's words, but sped into the common room before the Slytherins could catch up to her.
"Lily!" Pettigrew called, spotting Lily on her way upstairs. Lily turned around, and walked over to where Pettigrew was, glaring at her former-friends.
"Look, Lily, Peter told us you said something-" Sirius began
"Course I did." Lily told them. The shock on all of their faces was evident.
"You did?" Even Potter's face was incredulous
"Of course I did. Someone had to. I know you would have if you'd seen it."
"So, you really did say what Peter told us you said." Sirius asked, then looked at Peter "you just said she didn't."
"Of course. I did, any decent human would have." Lily told him, raising an eyebrow.
"So you called Peter an idiot mudblood and a squib?" Potter asked. Lily almost jumped back in surprise
"I most certainly did not!" she said, much affronted.
"What did you say then?" Sirius demanded, thoroughly confused.
"I said something to those Slytherins who had Pettigrew pinned against the wall- What's this about me calling him an idiot mudblood and a squib?" she asked, glaring at Pettigrew.
"Peter told us you said that about three weeks ago….and he just now told us that you didn't really say it, and he'd only said you did because- get this- he was jealous!" Sirius said, grinning at Lily as if daring her not to see the humor in the situation.
"So you….have been ignoring me……because Pettigrew said I said something……and you didn't even bother to see if I really had said anything?" Lily demanded, seething with anger.
"Well, technically…..yes" Sirius admitted.
"I should curse you all. I honestly thought that you were smarter. Ok, well maybe not Pettigrew…..or Potter….but you, Sirius, you didn't even bother to ask me. Even though you've known me longer than you have Peter?" Lily said, bringing out her wand.
"Now Lily, don't get angry-" Sirius began, reaching out to grab her wand.
"You owe me. You do, Sirius Black. I shan't forget this rudeness." Lily informed him, a nasty grin spreading across her face. "But for the time being, let's work on that map." She said, sitting down between Sirius and James.
Sirius grinned as well.
"Great." He told her.
()
"Mrs. Evans, Mr. Evans, the court has reached a decision." The Judge's voice rang out in the court room "Mrs. Evans will have custody over the children, the summer home, the car, and ½ of the household items. Mr. Evans will have their immediate residence, their second car, and ½ of the household items. Court adjourned."
Calliope looked over at Mark, who was sitting with that blonde idiot at his side. She was younger than Calliope, and Calliope briefly wondered how Mark, who was balding and not very handsome, had managed a girl like that. But then she remembered the money. Calliope had married for money. She had just been lucky enough to fall in love as well. Her marriage had almost been arranged- everyone had expected it, and so they had wed. And now, she was divorced, and left out on her own. Well, not entirely. She had a college education, a degree in Design, and she could live at the already-paid-for summer home. It was just the girls she worried about….them, and Christmas.
Dear Lily
I don't know how to say this, honey, so I am just going to come right out and confess. Your daddy and I have gotten a divorce. Things just weren't working out between us. We'd stopped loving each other, and a family without love isn't really a family at all. I am sorry chick, but your going to have to stay at school for Christmas vacation, because I have to get the summer house re-done, and find work. I love you, and I'll see you when school ends. I am very sorry, chick.
Luv
Mum.
Lily re-read the letter, than burnt it over a candle at the dining table. Her friends watched as she did this, and, after the letter was reduced to ash, Lily turned to them.
"I am staying here for Christmas." She said in a flat voice.
"That's great, Lil." Sirius said, putting a hand on her arm. " I think I'll stay too, and James plans to. We'll celebrate together!"
Lily nodded, slightly numbed. Why hadn't she seen the divorce coming? Mum and dad had seemed perfectly happy, and they had seemed to love each other. Could so much really change in three months? Could it be her fault? Perhaps, without her and Petty there to hold things together, her family had fallen apart. Lily excused herself from the breakfast table, and slumped off to find the late sign up list for those staying at Hogwarts, thankful that vacation started Friday.
"Oi, Red, wait up will you!" someone yelled, chasing Lily as she walked towards the great hall. Lily stopped, turned, saw it was Potter, and kept walking. Unfortunately, he caught up with her, and grinned disarmingly. Lily didn't really hate James Potter, she was, for lack of a better word, jealous. After all, he was the boy who had taken her place in Sirius affections (A/N this is not intended to be slash, I meant purely friendship wise) and who had shunted her out of the best friend category. She was jealous because he was a pureblood, and she was not. Jealous because he was Sirius' best friend, and she was not, jealous because he had that damned invisibility cloak, and she didn't. The list went on.
Lily was in a horrible mood presently. She didn't want to contend with the likes of James Potter. What she wanted to do was cause him bodily harm, preferably with something sharp. Lily had been plagued by strange dreams….if she could call them dreams…..all night. Dreams she didn't really want….dreams that started out well enough, with unicorns and faeries (neither of which she really liked, but could tolerate) and then they had metamorphosed into dreams of a laughing clock, a lion with a long white beard dressed as a wizard, and numerous other things Lily couldn't describe. And ,after waking up twice because of these haunting fantasies, Lily had decided not to sleep. Which of course meant that she was as grouchy as anything.
"Say, Red, what do you think of Sirius?" Potter asked, trying to look casual. Lily gulped slightly.
"He used to be my best friend." She told him honestly.
"Why did you say 'used to' Red?"
"Why, your his best friend now, Potter. Congratulations." Lily sneered, her childish side (the bigger portion of her personality) taking over.
"Sirius can have two best friends, Red, it's not impossible, you know."
"Feck off James." Lily told him. Potter stopped, and let her continue on her way. He was slightly surprised. Not at the swearing. Given the chance, Lily would rattle off any number of swear words, both in English and French. Surprised because she had been mad enough to call him James. This poses some looking into he mused, rubbing his chin like the men in the movies Lily's soft spot is Sirius eh? What a horrible soft spot to have.
Christmas came and went like any other Christmas for Lily….well, not really exactly like any other…..other Christmases she had not been A) Away from home B) The child of a "Broken" family C) A Witch (well, she hadn't known about it anyway)
Her friends celebrated, and dragged Lily into it, setting off dungbombs, pulling crackers, and chatting to Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster. But the holiday lacked it's normal pizzazz, and wasn't any more enjoyable to Lily than it had always been. In fact, she was glad when school started again. Glad until Phyra, who had come back even more cheerful and kind than when she left, decided to make Lily her friend.
"Hi Lil, how was your Christmas?" Phyra asked, plopping onto Lily's bed in a way that suggested she meant to stay.
Lily made some kind of noise. Phyra immediately assumed that something was wrong, and put on a concerned look.
"Lily, what is the matter?" she asked, inching up Lily's bed as if invading her personal space would squeeze the secret out of her.
"Nuttin." Lily told her, burying her face deeper into 'Jude the Obscure,' a fascinating novel which belonged to her father; and had been taken without his consent.
"Aww, come on Lily, tell me." Phyra insisted. Lily was beginning to get annoyed with this girl.
"AB-SO-LUTE-LY nothing." She told the girl, turning around so her back was facing Phyra.
"Alright Lily. Listen, we're going to have a little party tonight, here, in the dorm, with some other 1st year girls. If you want, you can come, you just need to bring some kind of food. What do you say?"
"I think I'll sleep in the common room tonight." Lily grabbed her quilt, and stalked off, muttering curse words under her breath.
It wasn't that Lily didn't like the company of females as opposed to males…she just knew what Phyra and her set would be talking about. Romance, love, kissing, the good-looking boys. She also knew that among those mentioned would be Potter, Sirius and possibly Remus. And, as much as she would have liked to have eaten the food they brought, and talked about each other, Lily could not bear the idea of talking about her friends in such a silly way.
She made her way into the common room, and, selecting the red plushy couch, she curled up under her quilt, and dozed off, blissfully unaware of everything around her.
Around midnight, Lily woke up from a dream. She panicked, briefly, but then remembered that she was in the common room. In the dim light of a dying fire, her surroundings seemed much more different than they did in the daytime hours. Lily, who had always been fond of ghost stories, didn't particularly like the skin crawling feeling she was getting. The hairs on her neck and arms were beginning to prickle, and she shivered, suddenly feeling cold. Outside, the wind blew snow drifts into odd shapes that glowed ethereally in the moonlight, and, in the light of the full moon, Lily felt as if Hogwarts had been transformed into something ghostly and dangerous. She thought briefly about getting up and going back to her dorm, but then she remembered the girls and their party.
I suppose I'll have to stay here Lily reasoned with herself It can't be that bad, it will be morning soon. She closed her eyes, and tried to settle into sleep. But things kept haunting her thoughts, and after a moment, Lily opened her eyes to see that The common room had changed, and she was surrounded by people, whose skin had a transparent-like quality she couldn't quite explain.
A/N I am aware that divorces take longer to work out…for the sake of this, imagine it had been going on for awhile.
I am sorry, it's a cliffhanger or sorts, and it's evil of me, but…….oh well. I don't have time to finish. Heh.
StarChildHlermione86: I feel sort of sorry for Peter…..I mean, the younger Peter, not the older one. He sickens me. But the younger one always seems so…..scared. She made up with her friends, though, see?
PotterGurlie: I hope that they bring her back to life too…Dawn would be….not a good slayer. Yeah.
Hogwarts chica : Silly me, I never thought of that….I mean…..of course it is, you read my mind……yeah.
Jinskid3:Thanks, it's always nice to know people like what I am writing
Amelia: I don't think Peter was bad, for the most part, as a child. It's just later on, when he became a Deatheater and betrayed Lily and James. Thanks for what you said about my story!
