Lily smiled and drummed her fingers on the surface of her desk. Nothing, nothing at all, could ruin her day.
Except a letter from Claire. Or rather, a visit from Claire.
"My, my, Lily! I didn't realize you were living in a castle!" Her shrill voice carried through the dungeons. Professor Emerson, an irritable old man formerly a Ravenclaw, looked up with the rest of the class. Lily groaned.
The Marauders, however, were highly amused. Lily shot them a glare. "Hi, mommy dearest."
Claire frowned slightly, but then her face lit up. "Lily, darling, ask for permission to be excused."
Lily looked at Professor Emerson, but he seemed oddly happy. He waved at her to go, and she packed up her things.
"Well?" Lily asked, not quite closing the door behind her. Claire clutched her pink handbag nervously.
"Well, Lily dear.. The will. The real will was officially read to me last week. You're the only beneficiary. No trustee. Nothing. You can kick me out of the house if you want. You're a billionaire." Claire whispered. "So I thought you could come home.. You don't need to go to boarding school to hide from me."
"What?" Lily hissed.
"Well, that is, if Maria takes her share. But still. Your father was a billionaire. He left three billion to your sister, and a few billion to that child of James Potter's, but other than that, it's all yours. His investments, his houses.." Claire clutched her handbag tighter.
"You want me to leave Hogwarts?" Lily whispered helplessly, yet infuriated at the same time.
Claire nodded nervously.
"How can you say that to me? How can you make me leave what I want most?" Lily shouted, her words floating through the cracks of the dungeon door. Everyone had scrambled to lean against it, to hear what was going on. Lily looked away, angry, but then realized something. "Give me the will."
"E-e-excuse me?" Claire stuttered, not looking Lily in the eye.
"Give me a copy of the god damn will. I know you have it." Lily demanded.
Claire dug into her handbag and in a pink folder, handed it to Lily.
Lily's eyes scanned through quickly. "And to my wife, Mrs. Claire Mary Simpson-Evans, I leave nothing. Unless, of course, my darling Beneficiary decides to come home before her seventh year at her boarding school. Before graduating her sixth year, my Beneficiary is in the hands of my wife if she chooses to come home. You lying little gold digger. It may have worked on my father, but it won't work on me. You have done me nothing but wrongs, and you want me to let you live in my house?"
Claire nodded.
"Well, think again, you hussy! My father's fortune lies in the hands of Maria, that unborn son of my boyfriend, and me. Go suck up to them! Or have you already tried? I wouldn't leave Hogwarts if Voldemort and his whole band of Death Eaters were descending upon the place!"
Claire looked confused. "Get lost, mommy dearest."
"Why would my father leave a few billion dollars to the unborn child of James Potter, Professor?" Lily inquired.
"I don't want to change the future, but, seeing as things will go in your seventh year.. Lily, this child of James's will destroy Voldemort." Dumbledore told her seriously, his blue eyes straight forwardly looking into hers.
Lily's eyes widened. "Your father went through a stage when he was all for magic, didn't he? Well, at that point of time, Professor Trelawney was just another prophet, studying the stars. She gave him a prophecy, the only true one she's made to date, and he believed her. He left this fortune to the orphaned child."
"Orphaned? But that means.." Lily's eyes filled with shock. "No. I'm not going to let it happen."
She got out of her chair and slammed the door behind her.
"Shit." Lily muttered to herself, not deciding on where to go. She finally found someplace where she could be alone. Remembering slightly where the movable staircases were, she found the one she had nearly fallen from.
The staircase began to move again as she sat on the steps sadly. In mid-air she commanded it to stop. It was a nice feeling, the loneliness when you really needed it. Except, after a while, there was a whooshing sound.
"Hey there." A cheery voice called to her.
"Hi." She whispered sadly.
James Potter looked confused on his broom. She should have laughed. She should have smiled. She should have said, 'Oh, my hero!'. Okay, scratch that. That isn't Lily. But, she should have smiled. He landed and sat next to her on the stairs.
"Hi." He whispered.
Lily sighed. "This isn't going to work, James."
"What isn't going to work?" He asked worriedly. Lily looked at him.
"We aren't going to work." She told him.
"Why the hell aren't we going to work?" James demanded, standing up.
"James, please.." Lily muttered weakly.
"Please what, Lily? Please ignore my heart and my feelings and the year and a half chase I've done for you? Please ignore that we've only been going out for two weeks? Please ignore that there have been no signs of your, no, our unhappiness? Please ignore that this is completely out of the blue? Please ignore that I.." James broke off and took Lily's hands in his own.
"James, I don't want to hurt you." She told him with pleading eyes.
"Hurt me? Don't you think you're doing that by breaking it off?" He demanded.
"James.. Please..." Lily whispered. He was about to get angry again. "Fine. Don't listen. Go off and find some slut that will do anything you want to get over whatever pain you say you have. Because, if you just understood, you'd leave. You'd leave and you'd let me be alone, the wonderful owner of a fortune. Eat shit, James. Eat shit and die."
She grabbed his broom and took off.
"Stupid.. Stupid, stupid boy.." Lily choked back a sob. "Can't understand.. One.. Stupid thing.." She sniffled. "Okay, damn it.. You've broken up with boys before! You've separated yourself from this stupid, stupid.." She began to cry again.
"Silly girl.. You think you can get over James Potter like this?"
Sirius stormed into the Common Room. "WHAT'D YOU DO TO HER?"
James looked up sadly with confusion. "Huh?"
"She's crying. Because of you." Sirius snapped quickly. "What'd you do to her?"
"Your Spidey-sense is off, man.." James muttered.
"Tell me." Sirius demanded.
"If you want to know, Hercules, she dumped me." James told him sadly. "She's doing it again. Blocking me off. Kicking me out of her life."
"Dumped you, did she? She might have an ulterior motive coming up." Sirius muttered quietly, letting James walk on his way. "And there's only one way to find out."
"The worst part, Sirius, I don't want to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. And I was going to go home with James, but.. And I know you're going home, you lucky son of a-- And if I go to my house, I lose the entire fortune." Lily explained, her teary emerald eyes looking down at the floor. "I want my mom."
Sirius put his arm around Lily and pulled her closer, so that she could cry again. For somebody who was the dumper, she wasn't doing very well.
"We're going home for Christmas. To my brother's place." He announced. "There is no way I am leaving you this unstable."
"Thanks a lot." She muttered sarcastically, but she hugged him. "I really need somewhere to go."
In the fury of Christmas packing, both Lily and James came across some things that they needed to stuff under their beds. For Lily, there was the book, that pretty little book, those bubbles, the necklace, the picture and the picture frame.. There was a box brimming. She Charmed it to be invisible to everyone else, and completely undestroyable.
"Oh. Hi." James muttered. Lily picked up her suitcase and his from the ground.
"Hi." Lily whispered.
"Going home for Christmas?" He asked her quietly as they sat at the train staiton.
"Not quite. Going to Sirius's. Can't stay here, can't go home.. Are you waiting on somebody?" Lily realized she was ranting, the way she always did when she was around him.
James gave her a small smile. She was ranting, the way she always did when she was around him. "Yeah. I'm taking Jonathan home to Godric Hollow. You?"
"Sirius said he had some last-minute Christmas shopping to do." She murmured, looking straight ahead.
"I wish you wouldn't do this." He admitted to her, his eyes big.
"I wish I didn't have to."
"Merry Christmas, Lily."
"Merry Christmas, James."
The train ride was pleasant. It was horrible.
Lily and James sat on opposite sides of the compartment, each being nervous in their own way. Clarisse was going home to meet Remus's parents (Remus had calculated that this year, the full moon wouldn't occur until the 8th of January, leaving Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's all available for young fun), Jennifer and Mia were going home with their Irish cousins, Diana and Leola were going to their aunt's farm in Spain, and Coco was going to New York with her mother. Munguldus and Jackie usually went home together, but..
Everyone was chattering in the compartment- Except Lily and James.
"Change into your Muggle clothes, Lily."
"Is it extremely necessary? Cloaks are in fashion."
"But, Lily, my brother is sending a cab. We won't be forever in the high society part of London."
"Oh, alright."
Jennifer Potter joined her brother and her cousin on the train to Godric's Hollow, from her semester in London. Her eyelids fluttered shut and she leaned her head on her brother's shoulder- It was no longer the strong, tense shoulder it had been the years before. Now it was loose, relaxed- Sagging.
She supposed she would have to think about it later. It was Christmas, after all.