Chapter 9: Back to Normal?
It would be immensely awkward to meet up with her parents after the events last Christmas. But she couldn't run away from them forever. As she stepped into the muggle-world she once again saw the mound of parents, anxiously waiting for their children to arrive. Lily immediately saw Nancy and she waved at her. She smiled and waved back. James had been a little behind her, but soon enough, he clattered through the barrier quite noisily. Nancy rolled her eyes and shook her head in silent laughter at her son's antics. James looked slightly embarrassed but brushed it off. Nancy walked up to Lily and James.
"Hey you two. Enjoy school?" she asked and ruffled their hair.
"Why yes mother dearest, it was absolutely spiffing," James replied in a posh snooty accent.
"That's what I like to hear. I'll be taking Sirius and Remus home with us too, their parents were a bit busy today," Nancy said to James.
"So, Lily. Did James behave? I think there are a few owls with reprimanding letters that got lost up in the highlands, still trying to find Godric's Hollow!" Nancy said half sarcastically.
"No. James was a right pain in the arse this year! Do you know what he and Sirius did to me! They threw cold LAKE water on me whilst I was sleeping, they nearly ruined my Transfiguration essay by 'accidentally' spilling my inkwell and they sneak into the girl's dorm!" Lily replied with a grin on her face.
"Lily! What did I tell you about 'snitching' on people! And mother…I cannot believe that you would think I would commit such lowly, ridiculous crimes that would therefore conclude in getting a Howler sent to you! You know I'm your little angel." James replied smiling angelically and trying to look very innocent.
"No one likes a kiss ass," Nancy grinned at her son and ruffled his hair once more.
"And people wonder why I have messy hair," James muttered, but both of them heard and laughed. A lot of clattering was heard and Sirius appeared through the barrier. He came to an abrupt stop, and started dusting himself off. He saw James, Lily and Nancy and grinned.
"Why, if it isn't Nancy! How delightful it is to bask in your wonderful presence." Sirius greeted in a posh snooty accent similar to the one James had used earlier. Nancy raised one eye brow.
"Hello to you too Sirius," she smiled. "Why are you both speaking like that? Has Hogwarts turned into an etiquette school too?" she asked.
"No, we're just being the charming gentleman that we've always been," James replied with an air of nonchalance.
"Yes, for we are both god's gift to you beautiful ladies," Sirius added on. Lily rolled her eyes and hit Sirius upside the head.
"Maybe this is a sign of the apocalypse?" Lily asked Nancy. Nancy nodded as she laughed at the two boys. Remus then appeared through the barrier and pushed his cart towards his friends.
"Hi Nancy," Remus greeted.
"Oh good! James and Sirius haven' rubbed off on you! Hello Remus, how've you been?" she asked with a brief look of concern that swept her face, but was gone in the blink of an eye.
"I'm fine," Remus replied catching on her subtle implication. She smiled at him. Soon enough, Peter bounded through the barrier.
"Hi Peter! My, you've grown over the year!" she said as Peter blushed at her compliment.
"Thanks Nancy. But I've got to go. I can see my dad over there. I'll see you all later!" He replied and waved back at his friends.
"Are your parents here Lily? Because we can easily wait until they arrive." Nancy told her. Lily looked around the station and didn't find her parents there.
"If you wouldn't mind," Lily replied a bit sheepishly.
"Oh yes…I hope we get to meet that lovely sister of yours." James commented and Sirius started to snicker. Remus and Nancy hadn't met Lily's sister yet, so they had no idea what she was like.
"She'll probably be here; my parents don't let her stay at the house by herself." Lily replied with a slightly annoyed look on her face. "It's a shame I can't do magic over the holidays, then I could do something really bad to her in anytime that she might…no…will annoy me!" Lily sighed.
"Oh don't worry Lily, because when there's a will, there's a way and I have the way!" Sirius said grinning mischievously. He pulled out a velvet deep red pouch from his pocket and handed it to Lily. Lily looked curiously at the pouch and opened it. Inside were different gadgets to pull pranks that would last up to 24 hours. Lily grinned in acknowledgement.
"And we'll probably come and visit you every now and then," James said. All of a sudden, summer seemed bearable to Lily. As the crowd slowly began to fade, Lily started to see the familiar faces of her family. They smiled and walked towards her, waving merrily at her. Well, her parents did, Petunia was too busy gawking at something, or rather, someone.
"Lily! It's so good to see you!" her mother exclaimed and hugged her daughter. Lily blushed crimson and tried to escape her mother's embrace. When her mother finally let go, she had unshed tears sparkling in her eyes but she wiped them away quickly. She then looked at everyone around her.
"So, Lily, are you going to introduce us to you friends?" her father asked, grinning. Lily was flabbergasted. Her parents, being this civil and loving towards her, in a train station in front of her friends. Sirius nudged her from behind and knocked her out of her train of thought.
"Oh…err…well…yes. Um…ok," Lily started to stutter, still surprised. James and Remus laughed at her, whereas Sirius rolled his eyes and started on the introductions.
"Mr Evans! Let me introduce you to, James Potter, my partner in crime and marauding chief of Hogwarts, and his wonderful mother, Nancy Potter. My buddy over there is Remus Lupin, Hogwarts most intelligent and intellectual guy and I'm Sirius Black, prankster extraordinaire and Lily's current boyfriend and future husband." Sirius grinned.
"Sirius!" Lily shouted and hit him. "Dad, he's not my boyfriend, he never will be because he's the most annoyingly arrogant guy to ever exist!" Lily ranted.
"See! We were meant to be!" Sirius grinned. Lily's parents laughed at the friends.
"I'm sure you'd make a great son-in-law!" Lily's mother joked.
"You're all against me…" Lily muttered.
"Aw, come on Lil, it won't be that bad! Just make sure I get to be godfather to any kids that you'll have," James smirked while giving her a noogie.
"Go to hell!" Lily snapped. They all just laughed.
"Well, I'm Ryan Evans, this is my wife, Francesca and this is Petunia," he said in a way of introduction.
"Hello," Petunia said in a silky voice, in the direction of the boys. It took all their willpower to not burst out laughing at her. She was definitely a site, clad in a pink skirt and a pink leather jacket. Her eyes bore into the boys beside Lily. She thought she looked flirtatious, but anyone who would glance at her just then would think a fly had flew into her eye.
"Well, we better get a move on. It was nice to meet you Mr Evans, Mrs Evans. I hope that you'll allow Lily to come visit us during the holidays!" Nancy said smiling at them.
"Of course! Just as long as we get the pleasure of meeting these boys in the summer too!" Lily's mother replied. Nancy nodded and she, James, Sirius and Remus exited the station.
"What charming young boys. They're quite a catch Lily!" her mother commented and winked at her. Lily moaned a little but gave up. It seemed like her parents firmly thought that one of these boys would be her future husband. They approached the car and Lily's father hauled her trunk into the car. Lily sat at her usual seat at the back. As she buckled up her seatbelt Petunia grabbed onto her arm.
"I have to talk to James." Petunia demanded of Lily.
"What? No way! Anyways, isn't he a freak like me?" Lily asked, with a brow raised. Petunia let the question fly out the window and just squeezed Lily's arm tighter.
"I really need to talk to James, invite him over to our place during the holidays!" Petunia ordered and then let go of Lily's arm.
The drive home was full of questions on the school, about her friends, how she liked Hogwarts and what she saw herself doing as a witch in the future. Lily answered as vaguely as she could, not really wanting to go in depth about the school year. She was tired, and even having to hear Petunia chew on some bubblegum and twirl her blonde hair was annoying Lily to extreme measures. As soon as they reached home, Lily grabbed her guitar and Ravis' cage and headed for her room, leaving her dad to haul her trunk back into the house.
Once she got to the peace of her room she checked all her things, making sure Petunia hadn't ruined anything. She let Ravis out of her cage and the owl hooted gratefully. She flew around the room, avoiding Petunia's side and then flew out the window. Lily watched as her owl flew off. She was the only sane being Lily knew in the house right now, but her parents weren't being all that bad, they were being bearable. But if they continued acting all sweet and happy-go-lucky around her, she might just crack, again. Lily pulled out her guitar and strummed on it. She started to play some tunes that she had learnt and just left her home for that small time to drift into her own personal private world, where no one bothered her.
As days passed, Lily made sure she was far away from the house. Her parents seemed to have taken her leaving at Christmas very seriously and had completely changed their attitude towards her. Lily had to admit that they were being nice, but too annoyingly nice. Petunia had even started to complain about their showering her with praise. It was quite comical to see Petunia get all huffy for lack of attention. She had always been a baby, always wanting attention, but now that she wasn't getting it, it made her all pouty. Lily herself liked the praise, but they were doing it constantly, and that was annoying her like hell.
Lily stepped outside her door and went for a walk. She walked wherever her feet took her and her mind would wander off whenever she saw certain things like the school. She remembered all the fights she had with the boys there and all the bitching she had to put up with when the girls were around. Lily shook her head and headed for a park that she used to roam about whenever she was seriously pissed off. It was a nice place, with gritty pathways and it had swings, slides, climbing frames and a tower for the kids to use. Lily made her way towards the swing. She stood on the seat and started to swing it gently. The sun shone down on the park brightly and Lily's red curls shown brightly from their loose ponytail. Some fiery strands made their way towards Lily's pale skin and it framed her face perfectly and made her green eyes stand out even more. Lily looked up at the tower and noticed several pairs of eyes watching her. She glared at the eyes looking down on her and jumped off the swing. She hated being watched by people that she couldn't see. Then, a head popped up from the tower to look at her, a cold sneer plastered on his face.
"Well…if it isn't Little Miss Tiger Lily. How's that preppy FREAK show boarding school been doing for you?" the boy asked grinning menacingly. Lily knew the boy immediately. He just never learned from all the beatings she had given him; that *Edward Beattie really was as stupid as he looked. Lily's eyes flashed angrily. Another boy popped up beside him, it was his little crony.
"Yeah, Petunia told us all about that freakish school! And it's an all-boy school too. Your parents must be really screwed if they don't know your gender!" he laughed. Lily was now really confused.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Lily asked, angrily but confused none the less.
"Well, she must have amnesia or something, she doesn't even know that she goes to St Brutus's Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys!" he yelled laughing his head off and pointing at Lily.
"Why you little bitch!" she screamed back at him and partly cursing at Petunia also.
"No wonder you're such an ass! You really think that an all boy's school would really enrol a girl?" Lily asked almost fuming.
"Well, you are…well…very tomboyish, and rather on the manly side." He stated and the other boy snickered.
"Well, St Brutus's would probably never enrol you, seeing as you are a girl that has gone terribly wrong." Lily retorted.
"If I'm a girl that's gone wrong, what are you then?" he asked brow raised. Lily picked up a stone from the ground and threw it up idly catching it without hesitation.
"A girl with perfect aim," she said and threw the stone hard. It hit him smack in the forehead and he squealed like a pig in pain. The boys surrounded Edward worriedly as some blood had started to ooze from the wound.
"Find the bitch! Kill her if you have to!" he yelled angrily as tears of pain made their way out of his eyes. But as the boys left the tower, she was no where to be seen.
***
A/N: Hi everyone! Right, firstly, sorry for that delay. I have an explanation or an excuse if you're going to be pessimistic! Well, I was going to write this chapter as a really long summer chapter…but I couldn't! It's very hard to come up with several events to come up in the summer, but I have some ideas!
So, Lily's parents are being more civil to her…and some of Lily's old fire is burning up again! What'll happen next? I'll tell you all later!
And guess what, I've broken a promise. I've decided to work on two fics at once! I know I said I wouldn't but…I seriously need to write this one because…er…I just have to! If I don't I'll forget all my ideas! And personally, I REALLY like this idea. So I hope you'll all read it! Because…yeah…I like you readers…you all kick immense ass!
Now for my shoutouts:
Pippin: You know you like my singing! You could listen to my angelic and beautiful choir boy voice singing for ages! And everyone…should listen to Tenacious D because, they are way too funny and for some reason, the song 'Wonderboy' fits in so well with Harry…and Draco for that matter!
Starbu: I think I'll have some body guards around me from now on. I have a low tolerance for pain…and kicking my ass everyday until I post chapters is making me worried! But I'm really happy you like my fic!