Chapter 16 ~ Owls, Bearers of the Good and the Bad
Lily woke up the next morning refreshed. She had had a good day yesterday altogether. Soon James will actually tell Laura how he really feels. And then they won't be together anymore. She tried to keep her mind from swaying in that direction. She corrected herself sensibly, "And so they won't be together, so what? They will just be… not together," she finished unconvincingly.
"Oh Lily, give it up," came a voice from behind her—Robyn.
Damn those Ravenclaws, Lily thought to herself. They are far too clever for their own good, she thought rather crossly. "Give what up?" she asked out loud innocently while picking up her brush to de-snarl her long hair.
"Umm…wait, hold on for a second. Oh right—James!" Robyn said, being completely sarcastic the whole time. Lily turned to scowl at her, trying to prepare a decent comeback. She found Robyn standing there, blithely smirking. Lily just continued to scowl, not being able to deny anything without breaking into laughter and Robyn's expression. Escape was easiest.
"I'm going to go get some breakfast." Lily slumped and walked out of the door still scowling to Robyn's bursting laughter. She managed to make her way down to the kitchen without too much difficulty and seated herself at the kitchen table; the Delanns had a separate table for breakfast. She sort of felt like a guest star on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
"Good morning, Lily, how did you sleep dear?" Mrs. Delann asked politely.
"Just fine, thanks."
"Would you like some of the paper, Lily?" Mr. Delann offered. And right about then Lily felt like she really was just a guest. I suppose I'll never really be in a family again. The thought depressed her, but she still accepted the paper with a smile. She had grown accustomed to reading The Daily Prophet each morning and catching up on the news of the wizarding world. She was eating her breakfast quite peacefully until she came to the very last page.
"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed quietly, not realizing that she had captured the full attention of both Mr. and Mrs. Delann.
Mrs. Delann, who had sat up in attention, was looking at Lily concernedly, asked her, "What's the matter Lily? What's wrong?"
Lily spluttered, still regarding the article in the paper with awe, "Well, this, this says that there is a new Dark wizard. But, it talks of it like it's not even a big deal!" Mr. Delann looked at Lily rather gruffly then bit off a piece of his toast. After swallowing it he answered, "Really, Lily, this Dark wizard has been trying to rise to power for quite some time, but the Ministry obviously believes that they can deal with this hot shot with no problem." Mrs. Delann stiffened and if Lily hadn't been hearing things she had heard a small amount of malice in Mr. Delann's voice.
"Now, Robert, I'm sure that the Ministry has it completely under control. Don't tax yourself by worrying about their problems," Mrs. Delann told her husband, trying to hide a frown that Lily recognized anyway. Lily had tried to do the same thing many, many times before, Mrs. Delann wasn't fooling her.
"Ha, Mr. Fudge can hardly keep anything under control now that I'm gone. How the board elected such a submarginal man to replace me is utterly beyond my comprehension. Their first security leak within six months, six months!" He said this all, laced with venom, while reading up on the sports section. Mrs. Delann was extremely uncomfortable, and to tell the truth, Lily was as well. It seems as though he almost didn't want to leave the Ministry, Lily thought to herself.
"Oh, quit griping dear," Mrs. Delann tried to play it off, smiling.
Mr. Delann seemed about ready to say something else about the Ministry but then his face suddenly calmed. "I'm not griping. I love being at home with my family. Speaking of which, Lily do you know where Robyn is? I didn't see her at the breakfast table this morning." Lily convinced herself that maybe Mr. Delann just wasn't feeling himself this morning, not that anything was going on. After all, he was smiling. She answered him, telling him that Robyn was upstairs changing for work. She went up to fetch her down after quickly gulping down her orange juice and picking up her toast to eat it on the way upstairs.
"Robyn?" Lily called out. "Robyn where are you?" Her voice practically echoed in the hallways.
"I'm in my room!" was the quick reply and Lily hurried to her voice. When Lily knocked and was allowed in Robyn quickly asked, "Why are you back so soon? Didn't you want breakfast?" Lily just held up the last bit of her toast before stuffing it in her mouth. "No," she answered. "Your dad just wanted me to check and see if you had eaten breakfast, he hasn't seen you this morning." Robyn just groaned in response.
"Ugh, my dad had been so overprotective of me ever since he retired. He would kill me if he knew that I was actually working a Muggle job!" Robyn just grinned as she looked in the mirror. Lily, however, hadn't known that she was working a Muggle job either and was sort of surprised. "Well, when were you going to tell me that?" Lily asked indignantly, yet jokingly.
"I already did. On the first day I had to go I told you right before I left. I believed that I stressed the 'Don't tell my father' part of it, but I suppose your mind was just on something else," Robyn said, finishing with an undeserved air of innocence, one that Lily chose to ignore.
"But you don't wear robes to work, do you?"
"No, I wear these robes over my clothes and then change before I get there. It's safer if I just wear my robes out of the house unless my parents or the house-elves see me," she answered, trying to fix her skirt through her robes, it was obviously itching at her.
"Do you have many Muggle clothes?" Lily asked. The Delanns had just about everything you could imagine—from the wizard world. Maybe she could finally offer Robyn something that she didn't already have.
"Not too many, enough though I suppose. I just hate using my wages to buy new clothes, and I swear that they are all overpriced. But that's life!" she finished with a smile. I wish I could be so optimistic, she thought.
"You could always borrow some of mine," Lily offered cautiously. Lily guessed that Robyn had never borrowed—or even had the need to borrow—anything from anyone ever before. And she was rightfully unaware of how to act. "It'll be fine," Lily assured her. "I have too many clothes to know what to do with them. You can wear them anytime you want."
"Really?"
"Of course you twit! Why wouldn't I let you borrow my clothes after, after you have given me so much?" Lily had brought up a sore point without even meaning to. But that's the way it was with her parents, they were always there. And before she knew it a reassuring hand was on her shoulder. "Thanks, Lily," Robyn said quietly. She didn't attempt to talk anymore. Lily didn't want her to. But Robyn was there, with her support and her everlasting smile. Lily engulfed her in a hug.
"Thank you too." And when she pulled away Robyn didn't mention how Lily's eyes were glazed over, either. "Come on," Lily said, "and I'll help you pick out what to wear.
* * *
Robyn left that morning without a hitch, her dad didn't notice a thing when she finally got downstairs to kiss him goodbye. She was in a good mood, and she was soon to be in a better one. She was going to be complimented on how good she looked five times that day, one that would come with a phone number, but she didn't know that yet. Lily, however, just stayed upstairs and took her time getting ready. She had woken up around ten and only had to be at James' by twelve, she had plenty of time to get ready.
After taking a leisurely shower she took the time that she normally never had to actually dry her hair. She had actually been attempting to grow out her hair and it had finally made it past her shoulders, growing at a snail's pace. She dressed as she normally would have over the summer, in a pair of shorts and a muscle shirt with a sweater to wear over it just in case. She still had plenty of time left so she settled down to read a book, The Nuances of Necromancy, which she had picked up awhile ago. Before leaving for James' house she grabbed a bite to eat, not really sure what to expect in the way of food once getting there.
He had just exited her house when she saw a dark blur flying in the sky. She stopped to watch it, wondering what on earth it could be. It was acting strangely. It was…it was doing…loop-de-loops? What? Lily thought. Then it all made sense and she cursed herself for being so dense.
Sirius.
He came to a halting stop in front of her from a very fast dive and it took all she could muster not to flinch, but she could tell she impressed him. "James thought that you might like a ride to his house" Sirius offered. "And he didn't want to leave me there without his supervision so I decided to be your chauffer today, Madam."
"Well that's good. I hope that you weren't expecting a tip, though," she added lightheartedly.
"And I hope that you really weren't expecting me to be your chauffer," he added as they started to walk, trying not to snigger very obviously. "Actually, I was just wondering what exactly you and James were talking about yesterday afternoon."
"Don't get your heart set on knowing, Sirius, because you never will. Anyway, I liked you better as my chauffer," she added, laughing. Sirius joined in and let Lily hop on his broom before riding back to James', a quick flight that Lily kept her eyes mostly closed on. She wasn't scared of heights, or the speed, she was just scared of Sirius. And who could blame her? This is Sirius Black we are talking about here, not exactly Mr. Responsibility. Truth was, she would have preferred it if James were the one giving her the ride…
Sirius, surprisingly, made a very smooth landing and as he hopped off he transformed, making Lily do a double take. She wasn't quite used to seeing them transform. She hadn't actually seen them since the night she had found Remus outside on the grounds. She tried to avoid actually saying 'the night he attacked her' for that really wasn't Remus at all. She knew that it hadn't really been Remus that night, it was somewhat of an alter-ego, so she just tried to glaze over the topic any way that she could. Nonetheless, Sirius' sloppy attitude was magnified in his dog form as he immediately jumped all over Lily, making her fall over and laugh. She crooned at petted him behind the ears as Sirius tried to get in the best position to slobber all over her. She picked up a stick from nearby and threw it making Sirius run after it with some sort of odd, doggish joy.
She got up and brushed off to find James, Remus, and Peter all looking at her oddly. Remus was trying to hide his amusement, at what, she didn't know; Peter was just gaping back and for the between Lily and Sirius, looking like a Gerber baby who got his blankie taken away; and James gave her this half-glare and a weak smile, making her very self-conscious for a moment before she brightened up and said hi.
"Hey, Lily," James said. "You look like you had fun." She couldn't tell, was he making fun of her? Was he mad? Was he…jealous? And it was wrong to hope so, but she sort of did, in a way.
"Yes, I did have fun, though for a moment I thought Sirius would drop me. But, I got lucky; he just clobbered me as soon as I returned to ground." Peter chuckled, Remus laughed, but again James just gave her another weak smile. "Well, how are you guys?" she asked, trying to focus on something other than James.
"I'm great, summer vacation is so much nicer than school, don't you think?" Peter replied, toying with a piece of grass, leaning against the willow they had been near yesterday, a large tree with big weeping branches that almost completely enveloped them from sight. It seemed like some sort of meeting place for these guys.
"I for one am happy to be on vacation. It's so much less stress than classes every day," Remus added. Lily nodded and added, "As much as I love Hogwarts, nothing can compare to sleeping in." She took a seat by Remus against the tree and moments later Sirius came rushing up, stick in mouth. He dropped it at her feet and she conked him on the head with it softly. Seconds later he transformed back, still rubbing his head. "Ouch," he said, "that hurt."
"You big baby, I hardly hit you."
"I guess you don't know your own strength, but somehow I think I'll survive."
"Well, that's reassuring," James added, laughing at his best friend. Maybe Lily had just imagined James' bitterness. Maybe.
Sirius took a seat next to James on the grass, resting his head on his elbow. "What are we going to do all summer you guys? It seems boring all of a sudden."
"I don't care if it's boring, I'm still just happy to be off school," Peter said, repeating his earlier statement. But Sirius made sense, and Lily had to agree with him partially, "I'll agree, school gives us something to do, but I don't think that I would ever give up my summer vacation, not ever."
"Yeah, I agree with you," James said, and Lily peered at him. He didn't make eye contact. Sirius changed back into a dog all of a sudden, and Lily had a spur of the moment thought. "You know, I kind of wish that I could be an Animagus. It would at least keep me from getting bored all the time."
"What animal would you want to be?" Remus asked. Lily thought a moment, coming up with the best answer that she could. "A unicorn, perhaps?" Peter laughed. "What a typical girl answer!" James, Sirius, and Remus all shot him looks, but Lily just brushed it aside. There were guys that could be friends with girls, and there were guys that couldn't. Peter couldn't. She just decided to loft the slobbery stick in Peter's direction, and he, having no other choice, caught it and got dog spit all over his hands and clothes. He at least had the good humor to laugh at himself. "I suppose that I deserved that," he said, chuckling.
"Yes," said Lily decisively, "you did." That earned a small laugh from James, but he didn't make eye contact yet again. She decided to try and forget about it. "I bet it took you all awfully long to decide what animal you wanted to be. Aren't they supposed to represent you in some way?" She gave a small glance at Peter who was frowning. "Don't sulk, Peter, I know it's important for you to be small," she said, though she really had wanted to see if he was discontented with his Animagus form. Sirius understood what she had done and gave her a wink, masking its blatancy by transforming back into a human again.
"Padfoot, can't you just make up your mind? Besides, what if my Mum saw? She'd think there was a Grim in our backyard!" James said good-naturedly, laughing at the pure idea of it while trying to reprimand Sirius.
"Come on, you know you can't see anything through these branches, James!" He defended himself.
"Fine, fine. You win, just don't transform again."
"Deal, Prongs." Lily, Remus, and Peter had watched on in amusement, and Remus turned back to Lily to continue the conversation.
"Anyway," he started, quieting the other two. "It took Sirius the longest, both to decide and to find his animal sample." James could be heard muttering 'the hair from a Grim, honestly,' and Lily was trying hard not to laugh. Remus continued, "It wouldn't be very hard for you to become an Animagus now, unless you still wanted to become a unicorn, that is, because I think we still have the ingredients left over and we should be able to get it right on our first try this time because we would know what were doing."
"Really?" Lily head burst with the possibilities. I could be an Animagus. Me, Lily Evans, an Animagus! An illegal one true, but still, an Animagus all the same. "That would be awesome."
"I don't think that's a good idea," James commented.
"Well why not?" Lily was about ready to wring his contrary little tongue. What is up with him today? she wondered. He just keeps changing on me.
"We had three peoples power to do the potion and the transfiguration. I know that you're brilliant at Potions but the transfiguration will undoubtedly be hard for you. It was hard for me and I had Sirius and Peter to back me up." It took a little while for this all to register in her head. Brilliant at Potions? Brilliant? she thought, blushing at the praise. It took her awhile to consider what he had said.
"I could handle it, I think. And you could help." James gave her a bit of a blank look back, shaking his head slightly before answering.
"I would try, but it could backfire on you, and you might get hurt." James looked so sincerely cautious. He can be so sweet sometimes, she thought, sighing inwardly. Lily absently wondered if James had broken up with Laura yet.
"Well, whatever you two decide, it could be a possibility," Remus said, holding back a grin. James fidgeted and Lily's mouth shaped into a small 'o' at the mention of them as 'you two.' Both were staring at the ground while their friends looked on, amused.
"Yes," Lily said shakily. "We can all talk about this later."
An owl swooped down at that moment to deposit something on James lap. It was a Hogwarts letter. "James!" Sirius exclaimed. "You don't think we got in trouble for the Filibuster Fireworks incident from last week, do you?"
"What?" Lily asked. "Last week? But didn't you just get home?" James and Sirius shared identical grins.
"No time to waste when there are pranks to be done, Lily. We Marauders have to get down to business." Sirius seemed awfully proud when the prospect of getting in trouble was before him. Then again, Sirius almost reveled in getting into trouble. Detentions were a nuisance, true, but he was always game for trouble. James sat warily before his letter and Lily scooted beside him so she could read it after he was done. Instead of making her wait he motioned everyone over, though nobody came, and let her read it with him.
From the desk of Albus Dumbledore
Dear Mr. James Potter,
Something has come to my attention recently and I must discuss it with you.
Your performance in school last year has been kept on very close watch as a cause of
the disturbances that you caused in school. In light of more recent events, however,
the state of your schoolwork and grades has been taken into account.
"Oh my goodness," James said, closing the letter. "I can't read any more of it! He's just dragging it out, waiting to say 'We don't want you anymore.' I know it. I can't believe it." James hung his head and Lily put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, making him snap up.
"Just read the letter, I'm sure everything will be fine."
"Okay," he answered, and then unfolded the letter again, gingerly continuing reading what he was sure to be a death warrant.
And your grades reflect that although you must take considerable time to inflict the
amount of damage that you do you are still maintaining excellence in all your courses.
I do warn you to not take lightly on the idea of playing a prank however harmless it
may seem. Yet, for your seventh year the school has elected you to be Head Boy.
Congratulations,
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore
"I can't believe it, I can't believe it. Woohoo!" With that he flung his papers into the air, gave a frantic hug to Lily and then his friends and ran a few feet before cupping his hands and yelling towards the nearest window, "Mum, Mum, you won't believe it!" His mum Apparated to right in front of him less than a minute later and he exclaimed, "I made Head Boy!"
She gasped for breath for a moment, covering her mouth with her hand. "Oh, James," Lily could just make out what her mother was saying. "I'm so proud of you, Head Boy just like your father, James." They held each other in a long hug. "You know, he would have been proud too."
Would? she thought to herself. Seeing her confused look Sirius whispered over to her. "He died in third year from a heart attack. He doesn't tell anyone. I think he liked to think of him as still being here."
"Oh, dear," she whispered to herself. "But you still have your mum, James. You don't know how special that is, you really don't." Remus looked at her, having heard her talk, but didn't say anything. James mum finally let him go to ask, "Can I see the letter, does it have the badge in it?"
"Oh, I dropped the letter, sorry."
"Oh it's fine." They walked back over to where he had dropped it and looked at it, Lily wishing badly that maybe she would have gotten a letter of her own. No sooner thought, an owl dropped a letter from Hogwarts in front of her feet. Squealing, she picked it up.
From the Desk of Albus Dumbledore
Dear Ms. Lily Evans,
I am very pleased indeed to tell you of your new position as Head Girl
for this coming term. You have always had superb overall academic standing
and I believe that you are the perfect student for the job. Enclosed is the Head
Girl badge. Congratulations.
Until September First,
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore
Lily couldn't help but laugh in the comparison to James' letter. Dumbledore certainly knew what he was doing, she thought. All of a sudden James mum screeched out a loud "James!" James tried to laugh whatever it was off and his friends rushed over to see the letter and what had caused Mrs. Potter to be so upset.
P.S. ~ In no way am I amending your pranks. This responsibility should be taken
very seriously. I would not advise you to set anther neighbors garage on
fire with Filibuster Fireworks. I heard your neighbors were extremely
upset and had no idea of the culprits. I have taken the trouble of
informing them. Have a pleasant vacation.
"Oh yes," Lily said, her stomach hurting from the laughter, "Dumbledore definitely knows what he's doing."
* * *
Lily left James' home that day, almost wishing that she didn't have to go. The Delanns house was starting to depress her. Next summer, though, she wouldn't have to worry. She would be eighteen then. Her seventeenth birthday had passed rather uneventfully in the very end of May. She hadn't really looked forward to it especially, but next year would be different. At eighteen she would be free from her childhood; at graduation she would be free from her past.
But for now, she just walked down the road back to the Delanns. She was greeted by a cheerful house-elf. She had an animated conversation at dinner discussing the finer points of Charms with Mrs. Delann. With Mr. Delann she thoughtfully questioned of where he was departing to that night. Somewhere tropical, she couldn't remember exactly where by the time she had gotten into what was surely the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in. But she wasn't happy, and she wasn't home. She resolved, however, to make the best of it, as it seemed her new foster parents were catching on to her unhappiness. She resolved to wake up with a smile on her face even if it killed her.
And she did, though wearily. The next morning she bounded down the stairs to breakfast, offering an exuberant "Good Morning, everyone!" to the Robyn and Mrs. Delann. Lily realized she might have been a tad more depressed than she had realized when even one of the house–elves turned around in shock. Well, she thought, then this is my chance to prove that I'm not.
"Robyn honey," Mrs. Delann questioned. "Have you seen the Daily Prophet yet today?"
"No Mum," she replied, wolfing down her chocolate chip pancakes. "Dad always gets it."
"Doesn't the owl deliver to your door?" Lily asked.
"Oh no, Lily. It's a delivery owl so coming all the way up to our front door would take it too far off of its neighborhood route. It gets dropped off at the front of the driveway, near the mailbox." The Delanns neighborhood wasn't entirely wizarding, so the Delanns had many of the things that Muggles do in order to make their house fit in.
"Well, I could go and get it for you," Lily said, determined to prove her good mood.
"Oh no, that's not necessary, it's a long walk and you just woke." Mrs. Delann was right, it was a long walk. Their house was set very far back off the road. It was the last thing that Lily wanted to do right after she had woken up.
"I'll do it."
"Well, okay then. But only if you really want to," Mrs. Delann seemed to be unusually perceptive this morning. Lily just cracked a smile for insurance.
"Really, it's no problem. I'll go now." And she slipped on some shoes and walked on onto the long driveway. Its great to just get out of that cavernous house every once in awhile, she thought, breathing deep. It was true, the Delanns' house didn't feel homey the way Lily's had. After about two or three more minutes of walking she had come to the end of the driveway and had picked up the paper. She decided just to skim the front section so she could let the other two have the rest when she got back.
She flipped the paper open, and read the headline, eyes already skimming to read the article. Her eyes widened in horror, then closed in shock. She turned, stumbled, and fell, completely knocked out, her breath still ragged.
The paper fluttered down behind her, the paged scattered. The headline flashed, Another Killing by Dark Wizard!
Below it showed a wizard picture of the victim. But the victim didn't move—he never would.
For however it had been managed, Robert Delann was dead.