This Time Around

This Time Around

Sequel to Lily Evans

Chapter Four "Maria's adventures in Muggle Land"

By Dorthey Star

"Tell me

what do they see

When they look at me

Do they see my many personalities?"

Pink's Split Personality

This chapter is dedicated to Susi Q

On Christmas morning, Maria and Lily woke up to Daisy jumping on the bed screaming "Presents!" Lily and Maria went downstairs where Mr. and Mrs. Evans and Petunia were waiting for them. Lily got a book of complicated Charms from Remus, a toy cat that really moved from Sirius, a mirror that you could confide in from Jessica and Natalie, bottle green dress robes (the color of Lily's eyes) from Maria, and a gray cat from James and a note from all of them put into one.

Red Rosie,

How is your Christmas holiday so far? I hope you like to cat. I wrote to your parents ages ago asking them if I could get you a magical cat. Why? you ask. well, I saw this cat when my dad took me to Diagon Alley over the summer. Remus is allergic to cats, I would be scared and insane (well, more so than I am now) if I gave it to Sirius, and my mum hates cats, so I couldn't think of anyone else to give it to. I'll see you when you get back from break.

From,

James

Red,

How do you like the cat? I thought you could name it James…only joking! You should have stayed over Christmas break. Last night, we snuck into the Slytherin Commonroom and drenched Snape in toilet paper. The weird thing was, he didn't even wake up when we were doing it! We put a sleeping spell on him and we drenched him with water. I'm sure he had bits of toilet paper sticking all over his face this morning! I'll write you and let you know. Have a great break.

See you soon,

Sirius

Lily,

I knew that you are good in charms, so I got you a book of complicated charms. I was going to get you a book of hexes (to use on Sirius, James, and Snape, of course) but I saw this one and I looked through it and thought that you'd like it better. Have fun and savor your time without James and Sirius.

Your friend,

Remus

Lily,

When we tell you this, you'll be glad that you didn't stay. The whole school knows that Peter likes you…James or Sirius (don't remember which one) let it slip one day…well, the whole school doesn't know, but Snape (that foul Slytherin) does know and We're sure he'll tell everyone once break is over. We found this mirror in an ad in the daily prophet, and we thought you'd enjoy confiding your love for James in it. Just kidding! We'll see you when we do (which will hopefully be soon!)

Love,

Jessica and Natalie

The rest of the day, Lily, Maria, and Daisy all tried to figure out what to name the cat.

"How about gravy?" Daisy asked.

"That's a stupid name," Petunia called from across the room where'd she'd been watching her sisters and Maria play with the cat.

"Petunia," Mrs. Evans said in a warning voice.

"Shadow. I'm naming my cat Shadow," Lily announced. The cat rubbed up against Lily's chin, showing that she approved. The rest of the day was spent playing with the gifts and getting ready for Lily's cousin Brendan Evans and his family coming for Christmas Dinner.

"Is he cute?" Maria asked Lily once they were alone in Lily's room, getting dressed for dinner that they would be eating at the Ivy where Lily had seen Remus the year before.

"I don't know! I don't go around saying whether my cousins are cute or not, that's just disgusting. Besides, I haven't seen him since I started Hogwarts. Don't mention it, either. If you are asked, just say that you go to boarding school with me." Lily warned as she put on a black dress. Lily and Maria were the last ones to go down stairs where the family was meeting. Lily pulled Maria to where her cousin was standing.

"Brendan, this is my best friend, Maria from school. Maria, this is Brendan." Lily introduced Maria to her Aunt Phyllis and her Uncle Norman then they headed off to Ivy in Norman's van.

"Muggles sure travel slow," Maria whispered in Lily's ear.

"Wizards and witches may say that, but Muggles don't think so and they'd think that we travel fast," Lily whispered. Finally, they arrived at the Ivy.

"Isn't this where you saw Remus last year?" Maria asked.

"Yeah, but I think he's staying at school this time." Lily sat down at the table. Had Maria not been there, Lily would have been extremely bored. Petunia was boring Lily, Maria, Daisy, and Brendan with her talk about her best friend Marge and her older brother Vernon who loved drills. The adults were talking about things that adults talked about at dinner parties. Lily and Maria quietly discussed pranks to pull on Sirius and James.

"Do you know who did that red paint and roses thing?" Maria asked as they left the restaurant.

"Sirius and James haven't admitted to it, but I still think it was them." Lily allowed a small smile. When they got back to Lily's house it was late so Lily and Maria went upstairs and changed into their pajamas. Suddenly, they heard a tap-tap-tapping at the window. Lily opened it to let a tired owl in. It was Regan, Sirius's owl.

Lily and Maria,

How was Christmas? Did you two get the presents we sent? Well, Snape did come down to breakfast with toilet paper all over him. The sad thing was that he didn't even know it! This proves that he doesn't shower or look at himself in the mirror, all though I can't blame him. I wouldn't look at my self in the mirror either if I had a nose like his. I know you're probably going to kill me, but after you left I kind of let it slip around Snape that Peter likes you…poor kid, he can't go anywhere without being laughed at. They're not laughing because its funny that he would like you, well, actually they are, but its nothing bad. They're just thinking about how little of a chance he has with you as you hate him. Either that or you're madly in love with him, but you won't admit it to anyone and not even yourself so you have to front like you hate him in order to convince yourself that you don't love him, even though you do. James said that that theory couldn't be true, but I think he was just jealous because you love Peter…I'm only joking! But James still doesn't like that theory. Have you named that cat yet? I wanted it, but noooo. James thought it wouldn't be a good idea to let me have a cat. Well, I guess I'll see you soon!

Sirius

Lily put the letter down after Maria had read it over her shoulder.

"Oh, no!" she moaned. Maria just laughed.

"C'mon, lets go to bed."

The next morning Lily decided she'd answer Sirius's owl.

Dear Sirius, she wrote

You know, I think James was right for once about not letting you have the cat. It is so adorable! I've named it Shadow. Daisy (my kid sister…you remember her, right?) wanted to name it Gravy, but I decided against that one. I always knew that Snape never showered or looked at himself in the mirror. I mean, just look at how greasy his hair is! For once I do feel sorry for Peter, but I feel even sorrier for myself, so I don't have much pity to waste on Peter. Maria says hi. She also wants to know why you won't admit to dumping the red paint and roses on me (I want to know that too!). Give everyone there my love (not James or Peter though…) Merry Christmas,

Lily and Maria

Lily gave it to Regan who had stayed there over night.

"So what are we doing today?" Maria asked.

"Well, I thought we might go see a play. 'A Midsummer night's Dream' is in town." Lily said. So, after lunch, the two girls set off to the theater to watch the play. They wildly discussed it afterwards.

"Was the fairy a guy or a girl?" Maria asked.

"That's a good question. It was played by a girl today, but in Shakespeare's days they didn't have women actors; they were all men." Lily said.

"Who is Shakespeare?" Maria asked. Lily was about to shout 'You don't know who Shakespeare is?!' but she remembered that Maria was a witch and magical people didn't know who he was.

"He wrote 'A Midsummer night's Dream' and a whole bunch of other plays like 'Romeo and Juliet' 'Othello' and 'Hamlet.' His plays are very popular." Lily explained.

"Oh! He's kinda like Fredrick Van Statton, right?" Maria asked, smiling.

"Who?"

"He's famous for his plays like 'I Fell in Love with a Vampire.' I went to see that over the summer. He's a genius, he really is."

"Oh, so he's a playwright?" Lily asked, finally understanding.

"Yup."

Too soon for both girls' enjoyment, summer holidays were over and it was time for them to go back to Hogwarts.

"Bye Daisy. I'll see you in June and I'll write you loads, sweetie," Lily said and hugged her sister. Shadow rubbed against Daisy's leg and purred loudly.

"Bye, Lily. Bye Maria." Daisy said and hugged each of them. Mrs. Evans hugged both the girls and they walked through the barrier.

"Your family is so nice. Except for Petunia."

"I warned you about her. She's a brat. That was funny when Shadow attacked her!" Lily laughed. A few nights before, Shadow had attacked Petunia, who was now pretty scratched up.

"Yeah. I don't see how anyone can be so…so…"

"Boring?"

"Yes! That's the word."

"I don't know either. I've known her all my life, and I still haven't figured it out yet."

"What I want to know is how can she be related to you? I mean, you two are completely different. You even have different looks," Maria sighed and sat down in a seat across from Lily.

"I'm not totally sure how we're related. Maybe I'm adopted?" Lily said hopefully.

"Nah, I doubt it. Hey, did we have any Potions homework?" Maria asked.

"Oops! Yeah, we do! We have the essay on the theory behind truth telling draughts," Lily said and quickly pulled out her Potions book.

"Shot, Professor Hauffle the Awful will kill us if we don't finish it!" Maria moaned and pulled out her own book. Professor Hauffle (nicknamed Hauffle the Awful by the students) was their new Potions master, replacing Professor Lewis who now was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Professor Hauffle had long white hair and brown eyes. She was very strict with everyone except the Slytherin.

The rest of the train ride was spent working on their essays.

Disclaimer: Natalie, Jessica, Maria, Mr. Evans, Mrs. Evans, Daisy, Professor Lewis, and Professor Hauffle the Awful are all my characters. James Potter, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and Severus Snape all belong to Joanne Kathleen Rowing; I am only borrowing them for my own evil uses. The chapter title was borrowed momentarily from Susi Q.

Author's Note: This chapter is out just in time for Labor Day ;) Did everyone hear about Aaliyah? I was SO SHOCKED to hear that she died. My sister came in and told me and I was like 'no way, she can't be dead.' Anyways. Please R/R. I'll try to get out the next chapter soon…Next year it won't be so easy as I'll have band from 1:40-5:30 most days and loads of homework (ah, the joys of high school). But this is this year and I will have time. Maybe I'll even have time to write a better profile *gasps* And I leave you with this final note. GO RAZORBACKS! (they're playing tonight, ya know.

"Remember, always treat your flute like you would your boyfriend" as Katy said in band yesterday, to which I replied "So you mean, control it, play it, and take it home every night?" er…sorry…

Love Always,

Dorthey Star