Her detention was at eight the next night in the kitchen helping the houselves
clean that night's dishes. She arrived early, not wanting to risk another
detention. She got started right away and the houselves seemed to be glad for
the help. At eight five the door opened again and in toppled…
"Potter?"
"Hello Carrot. That'd be me."
"What are you doing here?"
"Remember when Snape showed up for breakfast with pink hair,
webbed feet, and his nose in a knot?"
"Yeah. Wasn't that near Halloween?"
"McGonagall took the cactus, and his ear was turned into as a
personal insult."
Lily almost laughed, but only a snigger escaped.
"So what'd you do?"
"Well, I was running to tell everybody 'bout my dad and Remus'
mom, and I ran right into McGonagall, the OB-GYN."
"OB-GYN?"
"Old Broad Girl? Yeah, Never."
James did laugh, and then they both busied themselves with cleaning. At about
ten James spoke again.
"Hey Carrot, my mom heard about the wedding from Remus' mom.
They've been friends since they were at Hogwarts, and she wants to invite your
family and Remus' family to stay with us over the honeymoon… She invited Gwen
too…"
Lily looked at him.
"And you're okay with that?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, I may not like you that much or anything
but…well it'll only be for a few weeks, so…"
"Well then, I guess that'd be cool."
At midnight they walked back up to the
common room with dishpan hands and Lily couldn't help thinking that James
Potter might not be so bad.
Christmas that year was rushed. Her dad was rushing about trying
to make calls that had to be made way ahead of time.
Rita was measuring them for dresses and suits bridesmaids for
Celeste and Lily, a flower girl dress for Rose, a ring bearer suit for Benny.
Alec and Remus would be junior ushers, and Ms. Potter was to be Rita's Maid of
honor. Mr. Potter had asked an old college friend to be his best man.
Even though the wedding was to be in June they were going crazy
with preparations so they wouldn't be caught in a mad rush before the wedding.
This tactic seemed to stress everyone, even more so that, in the
end, Lily spent the whole vacation outside with the kids, trying to keep them
from getting stepped on.
Neither of the little ones understood what was going on exactly, and she had to
explain a lot.
Remus, Alec, and Lily almost spun onto the train two weeks later
and Lily slept the whole ride. When they arrived, she was nearly jumped on by
Gwen who had stayed over at the castle. She was weeping like crazy.
"Gwen? What's wrong?"
Lily, Alec, and the Marauders, as the boys had recently dubbed themselves, were
crowded around her as they went through the portrait hole.
"Oh Lil…" She sobbed.
Lily hugged her and then led her to a chair.
"Gwen, come on, tell me what's wrong?"
"It's… It's… It's my Grandma… She was ki… Ki… Killed."
Lily gasped.
"Oh my god!!! Gwen! When'd you find out?" Her friend took a deep
breath before she spoke again.
"Little while before you got here. Got a letter. Brett's okay.
Was at a friends."
She spoke robotically and her eyes were blank. Lily helped her up and led her
to the dorm. She went back into the common room and saw all of her other
friends looking at her. Well, and James. They all looked at each other, unsure
of what to do. In the end, they went to the teachers lounge and found
Dumbledore.
It seemed however that he already knew.
"I was afraid of this." He told them. "Mrs. Prewet was a ministry
worker a long time ago. Back when the man who is now powerful was just starting
out."
"Pardon me sir." James interrupted. "But I think I heard my dad
say something this winter. Is the name Voldemort?"
"Yes young James. It is."
He sent Madame Pomfrey for Gwen and arranged for Brett to come to Hogwarts a
few months early. He was to stay with a family in the village.
Gwen showed up in classes two days later red-eyed but otherwise
looking okay. She told Lily right off that she didn't want to talk about it, so
they didn't.
Not talking about it, though, made a huge barrier in the friendship.
There was something looming between them. Gwen seemed too happy most times. She
was usually bubbly, but now, it was too purposeful. It was obvious she was
trying to cover up.
Finally, in about April, Lily confronted her in the common room.
"Gwen, Last year it was me who was withdrawn, but this year it's
you. After I apologized I promised myself I wouldn't let anything get inside
our friendship again, and now, I have to act on that promise. If you want to
talk, I'll listen. If you don't, I'll be here. Just know it's okay to need
someone."
"Oh Lil, I'm so sorry."
Then Gwen began to cry and Lily hugged her tightly. She cried for a while
longer and then she started talking about her grandmother. The two stayed up
and talked for hours.
Exams were in May, and even though she had worked hard during the
year, Lily spent weeks studying. She thought she was doing okay until she
walked into the transfiguration classroom. She froze. On each desk was a small
china cup. Everyone sat down and McGonagall spoke…
"You will have one hour to turn these teacups into an exact
replica of the flower that appears on it."
'Oh GOD.'
This would be no simple spell. To do this, you had to alter the spell to comply
with the direction. Lily picked up her cup. It was covered with violets that
had blue stems. She thought and thought, but all that would come to her was the
spell to turn it into a pink flower.
She kept thinking then remembered how to change something purple
from charms. She decided that if nothing else would work she could combine the
two along with the charm to turn something blue.
She tried it and to her shock the cup began to morph into a
purple and blue flower. It wasn't perfect but she believed that it would be
enough for her to pass the test. Sure enough she ended up with a C in transfig.
