Chapter 4 Ð Happy Birthday
ÒPetunia!!!Ó Lily rarely raised her voice, but this on occasion it seemed perfectly justifiable to shout at her older sister. She had used one of LilyÕs books to paint her toenails on, and had covered it in blobs of lustrous nail polish that reflected numerous colours in the light. Why Petty bothered doing this was another mystery to Lily, as she never wore sandals unless they were in Spain. But that was not why Lily was mad, she couldnÕt care less what colour her sisterÕs toes were or why and who she planned to show them, this was a book for godÕs sake! How could Petunia be so careless with a book?!
ÒThey should make biting books,Ó said Lily to no one in particular. She had rushed into the bathroom to try and clean up at least some of the mess that her sister had made, but it was no use, the front cover was ruined.
ÒI donÕt see what youÕre moaning about, LilsÓ Lily hated being called Lils, but it was her sisterÕs new nickname for her, and Lily just could not be bothered arguing any more with her sister. Petunia started enough arguments between them so there was no need for her to cause any more fights. ÒItÕs just a book, and anyway, you can still read it!Ó
That blew it. ÒRead it? Oh yeah and when have you ever read a book!? Why use my book when you could have used any of your stupid stinking magazines! I hope they burn! I hope all your magazines burn!Ó
As soon as Lily uttered those words the two girls heard the smoke alarm. Their smoke alarm.
ÒWhat theÉÓ Petunia didnÕt finish her sentence, she just started running, leaving her sister in the bathroom holding her book and very scared. In the few seconds that it took Lily to realise what was going on, Petunia was already out of the door. Lily knew that she shouldnÕt go into any of the rooms but she just had to checkÉ. Her sisterÕs door was slightly ajar, so Lily didnÕt feel quite so guilty peeking in on her way down stairs. Sure enough one of her sisterÕs candles had fallen over and set fire to a magazineÉ the whole pile was now in flames.
It was an accident though, thought Lily as she crept down the stairs and out of the house. Her parents had just arrived home and Petunia had broken down into fake tears explaining to them that she had tried really hard to get her sister out but she was in the bathroom and the flames were everywhere so she ran for her life. Lily heard Fire Engines approaching as she left her house and went to tell her parents and a very disappointed Petunia that she was in fact ok, and that the fire was in her sisterÕs room.
The neighbours were gathering round now too and this was becoming a bit of a social gathering. Petunia started pretending to cry but her parents shushed her up, telling her it was her own fault for leaving candles burning in her room. Petunia was shocked.
As Lily stood there watching the neighbours assess the damage and discuss what was happening merrily she noticed something moving out of the corner of her eye. She was sure it was a boyÉ but now he was gone. She waited to make sure no one was watching and then went across the road to the space between houses numbered 10 and 14. She felt like she was trespassing, although that piece of space didnÕt belong to anyone, nobody ever went there. For a brief moment Lily wondered why, but soon forgot as she tripped up onÉ. Well, nothing. There was nothing there, yet she definitely didnÕt trip on her own foot. She was confused and sat on the cold ground trying to think of a logical explanation.
Suddenly she heard what she was sure was SiriusÕ voice. But there was no one there.
ÒLily, RUN! Just do it IÕll explain everything later, just run Lily RUN!Ó He sounded terrified and as if he was running to tell her. Although completely baffled by SiriusÕ voice, she did as he told her and ran as fast as her diminutive legs would carry her. She heard several sets of heavy footsteps behind her and a fain yell, but didnÕt turn back.
Out of breath she stopped at the street corner, where the park was and fell on to the grass. Wheezing she lay there a second and looked at the clouds. She swore she saw a fluffy cloud dog wink at her and next thing she knew she was fast asleep.
***
ÒThere she is!Ó her fatherÕs voice was somewhere in a distanceÉ but she didnÕt want to wake up, it was such a good dream, she was riding a flying pumpkin to the moon with a fat ginger cat for company who occasionally called her names and gave her meaningless directions which seemed to make perfect sense.
When she opened her eyes, Lily realised she was not gorging in the brilliant sunlight any longer but was lying in stone cold grass shivering slightly. WhatÕs more her hands were an impressive shade of blue, and from her parents faces she guessed that the rest of her was too.
Lily opened her eyes fully and looked right ahead, which happened to be at the starlit velvety sky. She stared at the heavens sprinkled with glistering with diamonds for a second and looked for her favourite star Ð Sirius.
Sirius. Oh. She sat bold upright and a roll of parchment fell off her body. Next thing she felt was excruciating pain as she became aware of her (very cold) body. Coughing she tried to tell her parents that she was all right, but instead she croaked ÔIÕm fine, honestly mum,Ó as her father lifted her up and took carried her back to the house. Lily clutched the roll of parchment really tightly as he carried her to her bed. No one asked about it, even though both her mother and father had eyed it suspiciously.
As soon as they had tucked her up in her warm bed, and made sure that the room was thoroughly heated, LilyÕs mum and dad kissed her goodnight, reminded her never to sleep outdoors so late at night again. When she heard the bedroom door click shut across the landing Lily jumped out of bed and ran to her desk where she had left the parchment that had appeared under her delicate arm while she had slept soundly on the lawn.
Her hands shaking she unrolled the parchment. What a weird way to write a letter she thought. She was sure it was from the strange boy though, Sirius. However she was beginning to doubt ever seeing him, or hearing him for that matter. But then it would be impossible to explain the letterÉ
Lily took a deep breath and unrolled the parchment to find a not scribbled in what looked like proper Olde English, however, it was normal English just in very curly handwriting.
Lily,
IÕm so sorry for all this confusion. I was playing catch with my friend from school and I got stuck in that alley thing. He was going to cover you in pain and I didnÕt want that to happen. Sorry we scared you,
Sirius x
Lily read it again and threw it down. She didnÕt believe a single word of it. She muttered the first swear word of her life, and was appalled at herself. Angrily she tiptoed back to bed. Once she got there she had no idea how she had done it, because she had never before heard of someone tiptoeing angrily. You tiptoed silently and you stormed angrilyÉ but Lily supposed that there was a first for everything, and she must have been the first to tiptoe angrilyÉwith these confused thoughts she fell into a troubled sleep.
Across the road Sirius black was falling into a similarly uneasy sleep. His parents were still fuming; his motherÕs screams echoed the house and his fathers grumbling filled in the blanks. He shivered as he tossed and turned. He felt bad about lying to Lily, yet it was odd that she had managed to get so close to the houseÉ
***
The alarm went off louder than normal in LilyÕs room that morning, and she briefly wondered if it was just her extra deep sleep of her alarm actually being louder when she realised something a LOT more important. It was the 23rd of JulyÉ
Her BIRTHDAY! Jumping out of bed she raced downstairs where her parents already sat waiting with big smiles on their faces. Petunia gave her an extra specially big birthday scowl, and Lily smiled even more. Nothing was going to spoil her mood. She unwrapped her presents that were laid out on the kitchen table, she noted that the pile decreased substantially in size every year, not that she cared much, and she knew her parents werenÕt exactly stinking rich. Her parents had giver her a few books and a beautiful leather bound book, which her mother told her she should use for writing in.
She curiously unwrapped PetuniaÕs present, which was a nail varnish kit. Lily couldnÕt help but giggle, when would Petty learn? Lily wasnÕt going to start painting her nails anytime soon, if ever. The thanked Petunia and even kissed her on the cheek, which made her scowl even more, and her mother hastily served the family breakfast. LilyÕs favourite was eggy bread, which they rarely had because her dad hated it, but they all ate merrily that morning.
LilyÕs Mum offered to get the post before Lily could even move, although Lily really didnÕt mind getting it, as she always did and it was a bit of a routine now. Her mum brought through a stack of envelopes, which, excluding a bank statement for her father, were all addressed to Lily. Several brightly coloured Cards were soon lined along the kitchen table and Lily took great joy in pocketing cheques, five pound and ten pound notes from various relatives and even twenty pounds from her grandfather.
She heard the letter box click once more as she was about to open her last letter, and didnÕt hesitate to run to the door herself this time, leaving her mother several steps behind her and bounding to the door. There was another letter, written in the neatest handwriting she had ever seen lying on the doormat. She tore it open and found the most amazingly coloured psycadelic birthday card. It was signed Sirius.
Lily beamed and then remembered that she had never told Sirius when her birthday was. Maybe she had but it slipped her mind... Lily soon forgot about it when she went back to the kitchen and admired her cards once again. She was almost about to go upstairs and begin reading her new books before her parents took her to the National History Museum, when Petunia reminded her:
ÒHey you forgot to open this one, birthday girlÓ
It was the strange envelope made of parchment, and written in green ink. On the back of it a was a wax seal, stamped with a coat of arms, like a school crest, with a lion, a snake, a badger and an eagle surrounding a large ÔHÕ. There was what looked like a motto engraved beneath the crest
ÒDraco Dormiens Nunquam TitillandusÓ Lily muttered out loud.
ÒSorry?Ó her dad enquired
ÒIts in LatinÉat least most of it isÉÓ muttered Lily again ÒNunquam means Never, Dormiens is sleep so sleeping in the accusativeÉ, Draco is dragonÉ Titillandus would be tickle IÕm thinking, but thatÕs Olde English so yeah, tickle? ÔNever Tickle a Sleeping DragonÕÓ
ÒWell Practical advice to say the least!Ó her dad joked.
ÒIndeed...Ó this letter fascinated Lily. Who could it be? A club? A School? And why were they writing to her?
Absent-mindedly Lily was tearing open the envelope, and unfolding the parchment paper that was inside it.
ÒWell?Ó asked her dad.
ÒWell what?Ó replied a clearly shaken Lily.
ÒWell what is it about?Ó
ÒerrÉ nothingÉÓ Lily couldnÕt believe her pretty little green eyes! This had to be a joke, or a fraudÉ but at the same time it looked so realÉ
ÒLily?Ó Her mother spoke now, gently.
ÔErÉ IÕm a witchÉÓLily finally said.
ÒOhÓ