Chapter 17 ~ Chaos, Chaos Everywhere

Another Killing by Dark Wizard

LONDON, England—The former Minister of Magic, Mr. Robert Delann, was found dead early this morning, victim to the most horrible murder staged yet.  The location of his cadaver is not to be released, and it is rumored that not even the Dark Mark hovered above his body.  This signature mark has been seen hovering  over every other body found, all believed to have been committed by the same culprit in charge.

Until now the name of this culprit has not been revealed, but I bring you the information from the first-hand witness.  Burned into the forehead of Mr. Delann was the name Lord Voldemort.  One other inscription was burned upon Delann's face, a blurred image of a snake and a skull.  Lord Voldemort is a newly arrived Dark Wizard who first appeared on the scene just a couple of years ago.  He then staged only minor attacks, and it is only very recently that his attacks have become more vicious, as seen in this case.

Curiously, otherwise the body was undamaged save for the knife lodged in his back.  This murder goes against the norm set by the others.  What is so special about Robert Delann?  What made him deserve such odd and disturbing treatment?  It might never be discovered, but currently a specialized team of hit wizards is after the culprit and is expected to be reprehended very quickly. 

The description, not particularly vivid, gave Mrs. Delann convulsions. She dropped on the floor, much in the same fashion as Lily had earlier.  And when she awoke she screamed, and she trembled, and she prayed that it wasn't true.  She lashed out at reporters who were too insensitive and forward for their own good, banishing them from her house.  Literally banishing them.  The reporters were sent flying, and for one unlucky woman who forgot to cushion herself it was a very painful landing.

Robyn walked the house, mute.  She stared at the walls, the floors, and one particular coffee mug stain on the kitchen table for hours on end.  She has the trivialities to remind her, Lily thought resentfully. She can look around and be reminded.  I have nothing. Her thoughts went far to depress her.  Lily was jealous of all things, jealous because she still had someone.  For weeks they all moped about the house.  Nerves were short and Lily was on the worst terms with the Delanns that she had ever been.

Mrs. Delann pulled herself together, obviously trying to be strong for Robyn. About time, Lily thought, compassion drained.

"I thought we might go away to our summer home for awhile," she offered, smiling.  Robyn made no response so she made another attempt.  "We haven't used it in so long that I thought—"

"Fine," she said shortly, jamming her spoon sharply into her bowl of oatmeal.  Mrs. Delann gave a grateful smile.

"Well then, that's settled," she said, still smiling, spooning some oatmeal in her mouth.

"I wasn't aware that I didn't have a say in this," Lily said, acidly sweet.  Mrs. Delann stared fixedly at her, then gulped her porridge down.

"I'm sorry Lily, what do you want to do?"

"That's not the point."  Lily knew she was being horrible, but she just couldn't stop herself.  "I'm not in this family to you, am I? I don't matter," she challenged Mrs. Delann.  She could tell that Mrs. Delann was at the breaking point.

"Lily, I'm sorry.  With—with everything going on—"

"You couldn't be bothered to think of me," she finished.  "I understand, you know. I can kind of see the place you're at right now.  Except for my entire family is dead, well, except for my sister, you know," she added, laughing while tears gathered at the edges of her eyes. "But she just does me the favor of not talking to me. You know, considering—" she sobbed, her chest heaving, "considering my parents are dead.  She seems to blame it on me."  She stood up warily from the table, faltering. "But I'll go to the summer home.  Wouldn't want to ruin your holidays."  She stood up and left the table at a run. 

Robyn fingered the coffee mug stain.  A tear dropped on it and she rubbed it in to the grain of the coffee table, not even watching Lily leave.  But Mrs. Delann watched.  She saw Lily go and her lower lip began to tremble.  Her head slowly hit the table as the trembles reverberated through her body.  And they both continued to cry.

Who knows how long those two stayed sitting there.  Robyn rubbing her finger into the coffee stain, many more tears to make up for the original that had dried; her mother still sitting there, crying, shaking.  They sat there, sinking into their own sadness, their own tears.  But soon they embraced each other in a hug thanks for the other's simple existence.  For Lily had been right about one thing, they had each other.

Lily was just alone.

* * *

Staying at the summer house did good to mend Lily's frazzled nerves and pained heart.  She and the Delanns made a silent pact never to talk about that day of the argument in the kitchen, but they were reminded of it when she wept.  This house wasn't as big as their other, it was more of a cozy home than a majestic show-off and they could hear her at night.

Now she was just trying to survive, to survive the summer and then be free from these people.  It was a horrible thought, especially after they had taken her in, and she knew it.  It didn't make her want it any less.

They just hadn't been used to any other people and functioned as a family, she could understand that.  She was a guest, an outsider.  She just wished that she didn't have to be treated accordingly.  And she knew she was acting like a selfish spoiled brat, for they had just lost someone important as well, but she couldn't help it.

And this new behavior worried Robyn and her mother, for they really did care for her.  They talked about that day in the kitchen, even if Lily didn't.

"I can't believe that her sister doesn't talk to her!" Robyn exclaimed, viciously chopping up vegetables for the dinner that night.  They didn't have house-elves in their summer house, it was a Muggle place.  But Mr. and Mrs. Delann had loved it and bought in anyway. 

"I know honey, but not all people get along," her mother rationalized.

"Well, I know that.  But they should be together, helping each other through it instead of being separated," Robyn said. This was a bit of a sore point for her.  She had always wanted a sister and didn't see any reason for Petunia to simply try and pretend like Lily didn't exist.

"We can't change that, though.  All we can do is try and be supportive."  Robyn nodded and another thought came to her.

"You told me awhile ago, if I'm remembering this right, that Petunia is staying with some aunt or another of hers, right?"

"Yes."

"Well then, how come Lily is with us?  Couldn't they both go?" Mrs. Delann cringed slightly at her daughter's question and tried to block the harsh reality from her.

"But don't you like having her here?" she asked, trying to change the subject.  But her daughter wasn't a Ravenclaw for nothing, tricks like that hadn't really worked in years.

"Of course.  But under Muggle standards doesn't the child have to go to family first?  I remember learning about it in Muggle Studies."

"Well, this was a special case," she said.

"But Mum!  It's required by law," Robyn exclaimed indignantly.

"Well, the law of Lily's Great Aunt Varice is that no child like her was ever setting foot in her house.  She didn't want her, so the Ministry stepped in and brainwashed a few social workers to take matters into their own hands.  Your father, he heard about it and asked to be her caretaker.  That's all there is," her mother explained.

"Does Lily know?" Robyn asked.

"No, no dear.  And don't tell her, it will be easier on her not to know."  Robyn nodded and they continued with making dinner.

But the walls of this house aren't particularly thick.  Lily, around the corner from the kitchen, heard every single word they said.  And without another thought she grabbed her jacket, left a note by the door and took off.

No one in this town noticed the red-headed girl striding furiously down the street crying.  She didn't know how long she walked, but before long the street lights popped on.  That's good, Lily thought about her apparent invisibility. I don't want anyone to notice me.  No one should care, she reassured.  But more than anything she wished for someone's shoulder to cry into and a patient, attentive ear to tell her saddening thoughts.

She got something much different.

"Lily?" came a high screechy voice.  "What are you doing here?"  Lily looked up in astonishment.  It was Petunia.

"I could ask you the same thing," she sneered back.

"Great Aunt Varice lives around the corner," she said smugly and Lily's heart jumped.  The Great Aunt who didn't want her lay just around the corner.  How she longed to run rampaging through the house and touch as many things as she could just to set that woman's nerves ablaze.

"Well, currently, I live here too," Lily said.  "So I have a right to be here as well."

"Oh no," Petunia shuddered, "You, and your kind, they—they can't be here Lily!  You have to go!"  Petunia was scornful and fearful at the same time, Lily noticed.  She wondered briefly why before answering back.

"No!  I'm doing fine where I am right now, thank you very much," Lily said, temporarily forgetting that she had wanted to get as far away from here as she possibly could just a few hours ago for the purposes of this argument.

"You don't belong here, you'll just cause trouble," Petunia said, deathly quiet.

"Oh!" Lily said, on the verge of tears.  "So now merely my presence causes trouble, does it?"   her emotions soared, she was triumphant and sarcastic, wanting one last victory over her sister, just to prove to herself that she wasn't worthless, that it was Petunia's loss to not be speaking.

"You didn't even have to be home to kill our parents, Lily. Just being who you are was enough," Petunia sobbed.

"What—the—HELL are you talking about, you—you—" She couldn't think of anything to describe the devil spawn in front of her.  "How can you… how can you say that?" she whispered, breath flushed out of her lungs.  Pure venom seemed to replace that air, and Lily advanced towards Petunia, but before she could touch her sister there was a great flash of light and a huge crevice opened in the road.

"See," Petunia said, gloating.  "Look what you did already!"  Lily just ignored her last comment.

"I did not kill my parents."

"Your parents? Suddenly their not mine anymore?" she asked, still dreadfully upset.  "I had to watch them die, Lily!  Nothing is more painful than that!"  Lily shook her head; she thought Petunia had been visiting a friend or something…

"How do you think it felt to have robed men—people like you!—come in our house and hold our parents.  The men wanted to know about you, Lily.  But they wouldn't tell, and they were killed."  Petunia sobbed.  "Then how do you think it felt when they came to me, still whimpering in a corner and asked, 'Should we kill her too?'"  Lily was crying so hard she could hardly stand.  Her lungs hurt, her body hurt, her heart hurt. 

"Bu—but the man just said, 'Oh no, leave her.  She doesn't care for her!'" Petunia was racked with sobs.  "I had to watch my parents die because you hate me."  Petunia collapsed on the ground. "How do you thin that feels, huh?"

It was long moments and still Lily didn't answer.  In a rage Petunia flared and jumped up. "HOW DO YOU THINK THAT FEELS!!!!!"  She was breathing heavy, all tears expended.

"I don't know," Lily replied, the guilt crushing all air from her lungs.

"That's right.  You don't know, do you?  But you were happy to go off and practice your magic.  And you didn't even send me apologies.  You killed my parents.  You and your magic." Petunia spit grossly in front of Lily, but she felt deserving.  I'm lower than filth. I'm horrible, evil even.

"I will never speak to you again," she said crossly.  "And I hope you get what you deserve.  I hope someone hauls you out of the rubble from a broken house like they did to my parents.  I hope—I hope…" Petunia stopped, gathering her wits that had scattered.  Forgetting about her earlier thought, she added one more thing before leaving.

"May you never have another happy day in your life."

Lily collapsed, sobbing.  "I don't think I ever will…"

* * *

That was how she was found.  Still crying, sitting in the middle of a deserted road with a tremendous crack running across it, two feet deep at points.  Lily hadn't even had her wand.  But the deed was done all the same.

Mrs. Delann approached her cautiously, not wanting to upset her. She stood there, next to the helped child.  She is still so small, so weak, Mrs. Delann thought piteously.  Lily slowly rose.  Mrs. Delann stepped in and brushed the tear-soaked hair from her face.  Lily staggered in her place.  Dad always did that… and she broke out in another burst of violent sobs, flinging her arms around Mrs. Delann in a consuming hug.  Mrs. Delann was terribly confused, but she just reassuringly patted the girls back, rocking her gently underneath the pale of the street light.  Slowly Lily's sobs died down to soft hiccups, then eventually disappeared.  Lily released from the hug, looking embarrassed, but Mrs. Delann just brought her back in and hugged her tightly again.

"It always helps to have someone, Lily.  You can have me," she whispered.  Lily was confused, I'm not replacing my Mum, am I? she thought. And she almost backed away.  But she didn't.

"Thanks, Mrs. Delann.  I needed that."  Lily smiled, cautiously yet gratefully.

"There is a time when we all need it.  Robyn and I needed each other and became too involved."  Lily could tell she really was sorry she felt it in her voice.

"I'm sorry, too.  I was being horrible," she sniffled.

"No, you were being hurt. We were all hurt and too blind to see it."  One last pat on the back and Lily was released from the hug.  "Come on, then. Let's go home."

"Yes," Lily replied, thinking of the cozy summer house, and nodded.

* * *

Waiting there, however, Robyn, extremely upset.  "Lily!" she cried, flinging her arms around the other girl's neck.  "I was so worried!"  Lily laughed slightly.

"Thanks," she said softly.

"No matter.  But dinner is ready," Robyn said cheerfully. 

"I don't deserve friends like you."

"Lily, you are a great person, you deserve twenty friends like me," Robyn said, laughing.  Lily ate dinner, oddly content.  But Petunia's words lurked at the back of her mind and part of her spark was smothered by it.  Petunia had had to watch, sitting in the corner.  And she had survived, but only because Lily didn't really love her.  But I did love her, she was my sister, Lily thought, depressed.  But I suppose it's for the better now, she's still alive, at least.

Lily slept fitfully and when she awoke two owls were waiting patiently by her bedside.  One cooed and stepped in front of the other so Lily obligingly took that letter first.  She gasped when she saw who the letter was from.  "The Ministry…" she said softly.  It hadn't even occurred to her that she had done magic and was going to get in trouble for it.

                        Dear Ms. Lily Evans,

Yesterday evening you were reported to have used a ground-breaking charm last night in Muggle precincts.  Magic is strictly forbidden for minors when not in school and the punishments are harsh.  However, as no wand magic was reported at the site and there were no potion residues we have determined that it was accidental.  The matter of control has been taken up with your Headmaster.  Until then, consider this a warning, and a strict one.  No more magic will be tolerated when unsupervised until you reach the legal age. 

The Ministry

Lily gasped, she didn't think she had ever really been in such serious trouble in her life.  I bet that other owl is Dumbledore's, she thought warily.  He's probably more upset that the Ministry was.  We are supposed to have learned control.  She carefully opened the letter, surprised at a glance that it was so brief.  She read:

                                    From the Desk of Albus Dumbledore

                        Dear Lily,

I was very disturbed to learn of what happened last night.  I can't fully explain it now, I will meet with you on the evening of the first day back  to explain.  Until then know that any more outbursts may seriously endanger your Head Girl position, you are to be an example for the students.

                                                Sincerely,

                                                Albus Dumbledore

Lily flung herself back on her bed.  "My Head Girl spot?" she quailed.  "James is the one who was supposed to get in trouble and lose it, not me!"  This was the most horrible thing that had ever happened to her.  She didn't care what some stupid ministry worker thought of her but she wanted Dumbledore's respect.  And it's not like I could have helped it! she thought, quite helpless herself.

This was horrible, terrible, rotten!  I'll lock myself in the house for the rest of break if it means not getting in trouble, she resolved, knowing she would do no such thing.  She looked forward to seeing James, Sirius, Remus and Peter when she returned.  Maybe they could come to my house, she thought, then took it back.  Invite the Marauders over and not expect to get in trouble? Don't hold your breath, Lily, she told herself, thoroughly discouraged.

She thought of Petunia again.  She could see her parents getting killed now, she could picture their every move.  She could see Petunia hiding around the couch, trembling and holding back tears.  Soon she was doing the same herself.  She wondered how they had died.  She thought of the newspaper article on Mr. Delann, it mentioned a name—Lord Voldemort if she remembered correctly.

Dumbledore had told her that name tat day so long ago, she strained to remember.  It came back clearly, he had told her that name, she remembered now.  He who had killed with so little dignity, he had killed her parents.

Lily ran into her bathroom and hurled.

"May you never have another good day in your life."  Petunia's words came to her head as she thought of them.

At this rate, it didn't seem as though she ever would.