Chapter 10: Lily's Birthday.

The news of Edward Beattie's injuries had reached the Evans. And they couldn't let Lily off with that, so her punishment, being grounded for a week and helping out in every household chore. Lily had just rolled her eyes at the punishment. At least she had got revenge on that little fart that annoyed her so much when she was in primary school.  It had been so annoying because he always thought he was better than everyone else, a self righteous bastard was what he was in Lily's opinion.

After a week of scrubbing, cleaning, polishing and vacuuming, Lily was free of her punishment. Only to be landed with another, her birthday.

Lily groaned, her birthday was always the most disastrous day of her life. And she had no doubt that tomorrow would be the same. Her parents always had a party, and half the time, Lily didn't know who the guests were, sometimes she thought the party-goers were just hired. Those who she did know were either Petunia's friends or family. It was ok when her Aunt Maple and her cousin (who had a gothic charm and appearance) came over. They were always different from the other guests and that's why Lily liked them. However, they could rarely come because of busy times and they also lived in Mexico, so that was yet another flaw.

Another thing that she hated were the presents. They were in her opinion, very retarded. They weren't useful to her in anyway and they just made cluttered up the little space she had in her room. Many of the gifts she received were the things Petunia would most like, for example, make up and cuddly toys. Most of the time, she ended up throwing her gifts away or giving them Petunia who would readily take anything offered to her.

And yet another problem that always occurred on her birthday, Petunia. She happened on her birthday. She'd always manage to do something that annoyed Lily's to immeasurable extremes, and they often ended up fighting with each other. By the end of the day, Petunia would end up crying, Lily would be royally pissed and she'd get into trouble by her parents for making Petunia cry.

***

Lily woke up to find Ravis staring down at her. She was startled at seeing those yellow eyes first thing in the morning, but at least it wasn't Petunia. That would be the worst. She noticed Ravis holding a letter out to her. Lily yawned and took it. As she opened it, water came spurting out at her. Lily immediately closed the envelope and stared at the letter. 'What the…?' Lily thought, dripping wet. She opened it again, this time, no water doming out. She pulled out the parchment, which was full of water droplets, dyed red. The droplets started to form a message.

 Lily,

Hey! How's you? Me, Sirius, Remus and Peter are fine. We've been having fun pulling pranks on the old folk here and playing quidditch. But it's starting to get boring around here and we need to get out! We went to Diagon Alley yesterday and incidentally met up with Gladys. She's been bored stiff too, so we all decided to drop by and visit you. Don't know when though, but as soon as possible. So, don't go ANYWHERE for the next five days, because we're coming! Aren't you excited? My mum would come, but she says that she has some huge potion to work on, so with us out of the way, she can get on with it. Well…I felt so loved after that! Anyways…see ya later!

From-your-most-hansomest-coolest-greatest-niftest-bestest-friend,

James (the one and probably only) Potter.

P.S: It was Sirius's idea for the water thing. Can't wait to see you throttle him!

A smile swept Lily's face as she knew that her best friends were going to come over. Maybe not on her birthday but most definitely sometime soon. She quickly scrawled down a reply saying that they should come over quickly.

Breakfast time was rather annoying as her mother kept on saying that her baby was growing up. And her father was just as worse, he kept on talking to her about the responsibilities of 12-year-olds. She opened birthday cards that came from distant relatives and friends. Her mother insisted on opening her present. Lily opened the small package and her eyes widened as she saw what it was.

"Mum! You can't give me this!" Lily blurted out.

"No Lily. It's been with me for too long. It's yours now." Her mother replied smiling down at her eldest daughter. Lily held out the bracelet. It was a charm bracelet. Full of different charms, charms that her mother had collected ever since she was 12. Not only her mother, but all the way to her mother's great-grandmother. So it really was quite full, and special. When Lily had been younger, she had always wanted to wear it but her mother hadn't allowed it. But now it was hers. To keep.

"I expect you to add more charms to it as you go on wearing it." Her mother announced smiling proudly at her daughter as Lily put it on.

"It's a bit ironic. A charm bracelet, and my favourite subject is Charms at school." Lily commented. Her father had given her a new outfit, which was cool in Lily's opinion. It was slightly strange though seeing as her father didn't really like her taste of clothing. Petunia hadn't bought anything for Lily as she was in a mood with Lily as usual. And now that Lily had been given her mother's charm bracelet, she was positively livid. She stomped out of the kitchen and up to her room.

Lily had sat down to watch something on the TV. She couldn't leave the house in case her friends came. There wasn't anything interesting on, so she tried reading. However, Lily had never been the most dedicated reader and she was bored as soon as she got midway down the first page of her book. She gave up and decided to enter the war zone; her and Petunia's bedroom where a currently huffy Petunia resided in.

She opened the door and made way to her side of the room. Petunia lay on her bed facing the ceiling. Lily knew how much Petunia had wanted the bracelet as much as she had wanted it. But she didn't get it, just because she happened to be born later. Lily knew she'd be pissed if she was in Petunia's position.

"So, Petty, what's up?" Lily asked, hoping to have some civil conversation with her and at least cheer her up a little.

"Go away Lily!" she snapped and turned away from her. Lily crossed her room and went on to Petunia's side. She sat on her bed and looked at Petunia, her back still facing her.

"Oh come on Petty! I was only trying to be nice!" Lily said.

"No, you are going to flaunt that stupid bracelet at me and try and make me jealous! Well it's not working!" Petunia said huffily, still facing away from her.

"I don't sink as low as that Petty, despite what you may think." Lily replied, not letting her temper get the better of her. Petunia just sniffed.

"Are you crying?" Lily asked questioningly. Sure she had seen Petunia cry before, but all those times, she had forced her tears out, not actually cried.

"No! Go away Lily! You're the last person I want to talk to!" Petunia remarked angrily.

"Tough shit Petty. I want to stay in my…no…our room." Lily corrected herself. Petunia didn't reply just gave Lily the silent treatment.

"Oh come on Petty! I'm trying to be nice to you for a change and you're just blowing me off! The only time that I remember being remotely nice to you was just before you started going to school! Now I don't know about you, but I regret not actually being nice to you all those years, but you didn't give me much of a choice but to be nasty!" Lily ranted. Petunia slowly turned to face her. A stony expression on her face. 'Is she always this cold-hearted?' Lily thought as she saw that expression. But then, slowly enough, Petunia hugged her. Lily was little shocked at the gesture but awkwardly hugged her back, patting her back.

Petunia smiled at her warmly for the first time in years, and that was the best birthday present she could ever give Lily. A very tender and mutual understanding was what they had shared.

"And you know what, James and his friends are coming over some time soon, maybe today, I'm not sure. But he's definitely coming some time soon." Lily told her. Petunia brightened up immediately and started to get excited.

"Really! I can't wait! Oh no! WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?!" she suddenly screamed out loud. She instantly went through her drawers and wardrobes. Lily kept some smartass comments to herself and grabbed her guitar. As she headed towards the door, as she turned the knob, she said over her shoulder, "Wear whatever you like Petty. But don't wear any make up. You're a lot prettier without all that stuff on your face." Lily said and left, leaving her sister staring at the door with a slight tinge to her face.

Lily headed into the back garden and sat underneath the alcove. It was the only place which wasn't decorated as the party was going to be outside in the garden. She strummed at her guitar and started playing a tune that she had made up through improvisation.  Lily noticed a black dot in the sky and saw that as it got closer, it was her owl Ravis. She landed and perched herself on Lily's head. It was quite a site, because Lily's bright red long curls was the complete opposite to Ravis' black feathers. It wasn't long until her mother summoned her inside to go and get ready for the party.

"You should go get dressed! Wear the new outfit that your father bought!" she said and ushered Lily upstairs. Lily stepped into the ankle length black velvet skirt and the purple velvet top with green trimmings. She like it, even though she usually never wore skirts, this one was ok. As she headed downstairs, she saw that Petunia had taken her advice and didn't wear make up. She wore a blue dress, which was quite a change from the pink things that she usually wore. Lily gave a small smirk to her, which Petunia returned, but it quickly went away. Soon enough, the door bell rang and the first few guests arrived. They were people Lily hadn't seen a lot and didn't actually know that well. They wished her a happy birthday and gave her presents and card. Music was played and food was starting to get served.

As more guests arrived, it started to get more crowded and noisy. You could hear the sound of the barbeque and music was being played quite loudly. Some of Petunia's friends came and gave Lily the cold shoulder. Petunia didn't do anything about it, but lily didn't really expect her to. Even though they decided to get along, they probably wouldn't show it in public.

Lily's cousins, neighbours, family friends and family all came…and to her horror, so did Edward Beattie. What were her parents thinking? Did they want another fight to happen? Lily stormed to her mother.

"Mum…what's Edward Beattie doing here?" Lily asked through gritted teeth. Her mother looked towards Edward and his little posse of friends. They were sharing cold glares at Lily.

"Well, after that incident the past week, I thought this would be a good way to apologise to him about the injury. I want you on you best behaviour!" her mother warned.

"Apologise? Why should I apologise for something that was his own bloody fault?" Lily asked glaring at her mother.

"Now Lily. I don't care about what happened, but he's here. I don't want any arguments or fights. So just behave yourself." Her mother said sternly and started to tend to some more food. Lily stormed away from her mother muttering something about 'heinous people.'

As the party went on, Lily avoided talking to anyone at all costs. And if anyone asked her to dance she would simple give them a look that said 'bugger off.' Then the worst thing that could possibly happen happened.

"So Evans, softening up are you?" drawled Edward in a way of a greeting. Lily just rolled her eyes and looked away.

"What? Birthday girl's giving me the silent treatment? No comebacks? You're getting weak Evans." He snickered.

"Then why is that bandage still around your head?" Lily asked, giving him a very sly smile. He fumbled a little.

"Is it there for decoration or are you trying to make me feel guilty?" Lily asked standing up and folded her arms. She looked down on him. The boy was smaller than her and he cowered a little under her height. She waited a little bit, expecting a comeback but the boy didn't say anything.

"Piss off Eddy…unless you want another beating." She glared at him and he walked away. Lily smiled smugly; she had won that word sparring round. But she didn't want to have to mingle with anyone else so she slyly headed inside. As she passed the living room, she noticed something peculiar. 'That's odd. No on lights the fire place in summer.' Lily thought. But then she did a double take as she saw the fire turn green and five figures appear.

"This better be the right house Sirius. We're running short on excuses as to why we're popping out of fireplaces!" Remus said in a scolding tone.

"Relax! I'm positive it's this one! I did my research!" Sirius said indignantly.

"You mean you dad did! He's the Ministry worker!" Peter added.

"Me…my dad…same thing!" Sirius said huffily.

"You keep telling yourself that Sirius." James said patting his friend on the shoulder.

"Hey, looks like there's a party going on," Gladys commented as she saw the streamers outside.

"Yeah. My birthday." Lily finally said appearing from the door.

"LILY!" Sirius was about to run up and give her a bear hug but he was abruptly pushed away.

"Not so fast Mister! You've got a lot of cold shouldering before I ever forgive you for that prank letter!" Lily glared at Sirius. He just grinned sheepishly.

"Aw come on Lily! It was only a joke!" Sirius said exasperated.

"Gladys! How've you been! You disappeared after we reached the barrier!" Lily said, completely ignoring Sirius.

"I'm fine Lily! Happy Birthday!" Gladys smiled and gave Lily a small hug.

"Yeah Happy Birthday!" The four boys said.

"You should have told us it was your birthday; we'd have bought you some presents." James said.

"Nah! It's ok. But I'm glad you guys are here because this party is as dull as hell and it's full of people who I dislike and hate." Lily told them.

"Never fear! Sirius is here to brighten up this party!" Sirius said putting his arm around Lily and nearly strangling her.

"James, I'm started to get scared." Peter said sarcastically. James laughed a little.

"Well…we did happen to bring a few items with us, so this party will be a lot better with us a round." James commented.

"Yeah! We're great at crashing parties!" Sirius commented pointing at himself, James, Remus and Peter. Lily grinned.

"All right! Let's go out then." Lily said. Sirius whooped and dragged Peter and Remus with him outside.

"Oh James. I should warn you. My sister seems to be slightly infatuated with you." Lily and Gladys laughed at the look of horror that swept his face.

"Well…that's just swell." He commented.

As they walked outside into the garden, they bumped into Sirius, Remus and Peter. Sirius looked thoroughly excited about the party. It was full of muggles after all…and he'd only been to parties with witches and wizards.

"Oh this is going to be fun."

***

A/N: Oooohhhh! A cliffhanger…well…kind of anyway! I was planning to write all of Lily's birthday as one big chapter, but then I thought I'd make y'all wait! Evil aren't I! So, if you wanna find out what happens next…you'll have to wait and read the next chapter. And have a laugh as James tries to avoid Petunia and her friends throughout the whole party. I finally thought I should add in more of Peter (murderous scum), because he was their friend after all and he was 'good' back then. I enjoyed writing this chapter! And I hope you enjoyed reading it! Please review! You'll make my day! Oh! And I'd love you for life if you checked out my latest fic! 'Trusting A Killer'! It's basically about how Remus starts to trust Sirius while he's on the run! I mean…when Harry was about to face off with Sirius during PoA, Remus couldn't have taken just one look at Sirius and say he was innocent! My story leads up to that incident! So please go read it!

Miranda: Thank you so much for your review! I really needed to read that because I know my story is quite 90's rather than 60's/70's! your comments really got me thinking and I really appreciate that! About the CD player part ^_^; well…it's hard to keep up with technology these days! I never knew the CD player came out around about the late 80's early 90's! But then again with Minidisc players, and MP3's and all this other music technology stuff, I guess you start to forget about some of the other stuff! I certainly do not think you were a jerk or anything! I really do appreciate your comments! And I'm glad you like my story! ^_^

Ruby: Wow! God I'm honoured that you reviewed my measly story! I love reading your L/J's! I really like that one with Lily as the cool tomboy Princess of Bavaria and James the ace Prince of Hungary! It kicks ass! And also that love/hate fic you wrote with them able to read each other's minds! I usually don't read love/hates but your one was just way too funny! I really like that one! I never knew James was supposed to be a rich boy! Oh well…if it is true…I can make it fit into my story, I've got it all planned! And don't worry, Lily will make it as Head Girl and for semi-good reasons! It's all in my head!

Starbu: I have my body guards! Start kicking my ass…I'll send my very vicious fluffy white poodles on you! And they do bite! ^_^ Hopefully I won't have to send Clarice, Maude and Deirdre (my poodles) on you! Because I don't think I'll stop updating this in quite a while!

Gary Skinner: Hehehe…I like the way you think! But I was planning on putting Sirius on the Quidditch team…but that can be rearranged! And…who says Sirius has to be the bold one and attempt the first snog! ::snickers:: Oh! And that H/H I promised to write for you…it's starting to look very promising in my mind! I so want to give you a hint about it, but I also want to surprise you! It's tearing me apart!!!! I really want to tell you about it!