Disclaimer~I own absolutely nothing here that is even remotely recognizable as someone, other than myself's, property.
I AM BACK!!!! And also, so very very very very sorry that I haven't written in ages. It started off being a problem of absolutely no inspiration at all mixed with a depression of getting only 3 reviews per chapter instead of the usual…5 :P ! No, but seriously. I was getting a little upset. And then school started and I didn't feel like writing (sadly) what with all the homework being given out… and plus I know that my story is probably extremely boring for most of you because the characters are young and stuff…but…I always wanted to read one where everything isn't established yet. Yup…so those are my completely lame excuses for not writing in almost a month (EEEEK!). And my sincere apologies to all of you people out there who were expecting updates and didn't get them till now! I'm sorry! Now…since I'm done babbling on with useless apologies and most of you probably didn't read this…
…on with the fic!
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"Mum?! Dad?!" cried Lily Evans as she jumped off the Hogwarts Express, immediately spotting her parents standing awkwardly in the crowd of wizards and witches.
"Lily!" they both shouted as they watched their daughter come bounding towards them, scarlet locks bouncing vivaciously with the impact of her pounding steps. Her father opened his arms for his daughter to run into, sweeping her up in a huge hug and twirling her around before placing her back on the ground.
Lily was glowing red with embarrassment and excitement. "You didn't have to do that Dad…now everybody will think I'm a baby," she crossed her arms and pouted.
"Oh, don't be silly!" he said, beaming.
"Ehem!"
"Oh. Mum!"
"I was wondering when you'd notice me!" said Patricia Evans. "C'mere,"
Lily's mum pulled her youngest daughter into a warm hug and murmured in a soft, raspy voice while kissing those scarlet locks, "Oh, my baby. I've missed you so much."
Lily inhaled the scent of her mother, smiling at the feeling of love that enveloped her. 'I could stand here forever,' thought Lily. However, she was interrupted by a yell of "LILY! Don't move!"
"Huh?" Lily asked pulling away from her mother when she was pelted with dungbombs. "POTTER!"
A walloping laugh was heard from somewhere in the near distance, of course belonging to James.
"Expect to get more of this New Years, Evans!" his voice cried.
"I told you not to move," came a voice from behind.
"Oh, hey Bella," said Lily absent-mindedly while waving her wand and clearing the mess left behind by the dungbombs. She didn't notice the shocked, but impressed looks on her parents' faces. "Oh yeah. Mum, Dad, this is Arabella Figg."
"Very nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Potter," politely stated Arabella.
"And you also," said Mr. Potter while Mrs. Evans commented on how polite she was.
After standing around in an awkward silence for several minutes Mr. Evans piped up, "Err, well, Lily. We'll let you two say your goodbyes while we go get your stuff."
"Great. My things are right over by the train." Lily said pointing in the direction of her luggage's supposed location.
"Okay!" called Mr. Evans over his shoulder as he walked towards where Lily had pointed.
"We'll meet you outside the barrier, okay sweetie?" asked her mother.
"That's fine!"
"Well, alright then…hope to see you again Arabella!" and Patricia turned around to follow her husband.
"Your parents are nice," Arabella smiled, "But then again I guess you have to have something to make up for that wretched excuse of a sister!"
"Yeah, I guess so," muttered Lily half-heartedly while twiddling with her thumbs.
Sirius suddenly popped up beside the two girls and yelled "MISS ME YET?"
"I seriously doubt it, Sirius. But I'm sure Evans can't live without my constant pranking. No worries, Evans. I can help you with that probl—,"
"Don't even think about it, Potter."
"So, I guess you didn't enjoy those dungbombs. Well, too bad. 'Cause I did!"
"Ignore him, Lily. You wouldn't want to start off the holiday in poor spirits," reasoned Remus.
"Yeah, because an unhappy Lily is an unhappy everyone," Peter stated, before adding, "except James."
"Peter, what is with you and this whole 'let's all be friends, hoorah!' phase?" demanded James.
"I-I just thought it'd be nice if we could all get along, that's all." Peter said, a determined look on his face.
"And I think you've got a point Petey-boy!" Sirius clapped an arm around Peter's shoulder.
"I do?"
"Sure you do!" smiled Sirius and then muttered so only Peter could hear, "Shut up now before you find yourself a different color. You never know what'll set James off these days. Something about the Christmas hols that always bring out the worst in him, eh?"
"Yeah, sorry. I forgot. Thanks for reminding me."
"No problem." Sirius and Peter looked up just in time to see Lily waving goodbye and walking through the barrier. The others followed suit until none were left on the platform. The next time they would all be together was New Years Eve, at James' house.
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***She was sitting in the common room, studying for a transfiguration test. She was having particular trouble on the topic of Animagi, but she wouldn't dare admit it to anyone at all. She, Lily Evans, was seventeen, after all. The responsibility was hers.
As she sat, reviewing her notes for the millionth time and learning nothing, she heard the portrait hole swing open. She looked up to find a handsome boy, also of seventeen, walking in. It was, of course, James Potter, quidditch captain extraordinaire. He was wearing his quidditch robes and looked like he could do with a good nap.
As he searched the common room, he spotted Lily and all traces of exhaustion left his face. He smiled a wonderful smile, all of his perfect teeth gleaming with unrepressed joy. As their eyes met, butterflies exploded into rapturous flight inside of Lily's stomach. She could have never been happier…James Potter was her boyfriend.***
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With a gasp Lily sat up in her bed, the memory of the pleasant nightmare she'd just been having slowly disintegrating with each breath she took until it was gone completely. Wondering what had woken her so suddenly Lily looked around her room for signs. Her Muggle alarm clock, which read 8:45 am, was not ringing; her bedroom door had not been shut by one of her parents or slammed by Petunia; her window had an owl resting in it; her closet—, "Wait a second! What's Bella's owl doing here?" Lily thought aloud.
As if on cue, the owl swooped into Lily's room and landed on her bed with a light thump. "Hello Athena," Lily cooed as the bird stuck out her leg. Lily untied the letter from Athena's leg "Stay here. I'll need to use you to write back."
Lils~
Hello! I never realized how hard it'd be to be away from Hogwarts for so long! It's only been a few weeks, and already I'm craving the house elves' cooking…and the kitchens…and veg fests…and all the people. But, never fear! I'll survive!
Bad news though…Sirius and I broke up. And I don't know why! Everything was going so well when out of the blue (ON CHRISTMAS DAY!!!!) Sirius tells me he's not ready to have a girlfriend. You'd think he'd have told me earlier. The stupid git. But…all is well, I guess.
By the way, how was your Christmas! Mine was excellent (and thanks so much for the diary! I love it!). I can't believe the holidays are almost over. Tonight we have the New Years party, and then a week later we're back at school! And also back to Etoile's crazy star charts. How precise can a person be? 'Sirius, not zee person, but zee star, eez not 'ere, it eez zere!' and she points to a spot that's a thumbnail away! Sheesh! Who really cares about Sirius?
And speaking of Sirius. I want to impress him (not the star), so then he'll regret breaking up with me. Which is why I'm at your house right now…well, I don't really think I need to say goodbye. Instead I should be saying hi. Look up!
Lily looked up from the letter she'd been reading to see…nobody. She shrugged her shoulders and was about to write back to Arabella when suddenly someone stumbled through the open door- a blonde someone.
"Sorry. I'm horrible with timing."
"I noticed."
"Shut up."
"Wait a minute. How did you get the letter to do everything with almost perfect timing?"
"Oh, my brother charmed the parchment to say what I was thinking. Can I see that parchment?"
"Sure."
After handing her the letter, Lily watched as Arabella lit it on fire and threw it in the trashcan, dousing the flames with spurts of water spouting out of the end of her wand.
"What'd you do that for?"
"It was still tracking my thoughts, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, so?"
"I trust you Lils, I really do, but not that much… And thanks for the warm welcome to the Evans' home!" she added sarcastically.
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, I forgot…but what are you even doing here in the first place?"
"Didn't you read my letter? I want to impress Sirius."
"Oh, yeah. About that. I don't think it's such a good idea. I mean, if you showed up looking stunning, wouldn't Sirius know that you were doing it just to impress him?"
"No…he's a guy, Lily," Arabella said slowly as if Lily were the stupidest person on earth, "And guys aren't that smart…"
"That's what you think, Bells."
"Bells?"
"It just came out, okay?"
"I like it. It has a nice ring to it!" Arabella burst into a fit of giggles and was rolling on the floor clutching her stomach. Lily watched Arabella with pitying eyes, trying to seem cool and mature, but failed horribly once she let out a loud howl of laughter.
"Bells, you do know that I'm laughing at you and not your joke, don't you?" Lily said between laughs.
"Yeah. I'm laughing at myself too!"
"You're such a loser!"
"I know!"
Lily rolled her eyes.
*Five o'clock that evening*
"Oh my gosh! We're gonna be late! James lives three hours away and the party starts in one hour! Why didn't you tell me what time it was?" shouted Lily in a panicky state.
"Lily, Lily, Lily," Arabella tutted thrice, "Not to worry. We will be there on time. Maybe with time to spare."
"But how?" she cried, pacing back and forth across her room.
"I'll tell you in a minute, but just to mention it, for a person who supposedly despises the host of the party, you seem to care a bit too much. Why is that?"
Lily blushed crimson, but Arabella, having only known Lily for four months, was not yet able to distinguish the difference between Lily's angry and embarrassed blushes and was clueless to what it meant.
"Well?" Lily asked abruptly.
"Well what?"
"You were about to tell me how we'll get to James's house on time Miss-Know-it-All!"
"Number one, only you can be dubbed Miss-Know-it-All! And number two, floo powder."
"Are you ill?"
"Huh?"
"Floo powder?" Lily said doubtfully.
"Yeah, this stuff," Arabella held up a blood red velvet pouch, tied with a golden string. She untied the string and opened the pouch to reveal a silvery powder. "You throw it into a fire and then you step into the flames, which've turned green, and then you say where you want to go and it takes you there."
"Let me feel your forehead."
"I'm not sick, Lily! How do you think I got here! I arrived at eight in the morning, and you know I'm not the type of person to get up at five in the morning to get to somebody's house. Plus, I can't dlive!"
"Drive."
"Same difference."
"But it's not poss—,"
"Most anything's possible in the wizarding world. I though you'd have learned that by now!"
"Okay, fine. I believe you."
"Good. Now, let's get ready."
"What are you going to wear? You can't wear what you have on, can you?"
"No, of course not! But…I was hoping that maybe you'd let me borrow some of your clothes? Please? Pretty please with cherries on top! The tippity tip top…top……top?" Arabella pleaded, her voice growing higher with each 'top.'
"Oh, fine! But only because you're my best friend!"
"Thanks Lily!" Arabella cheerily cried.
"And you do know that that means you'll be wearing Muggle clothes, right?"
"Well, duh!"
"Okay. Try this." Lily handed Arabella a navy blue ribbed turtleneck and a pair of light blue denim jeans.
"Ugh! You're so plain and boring! And this is a party at the Potter mansion! This is a big event Lily! We're not the only ones going! We need to dress up!"
"We, what?"
"You do know that James' father is the Minister of MAGIC! He throws these huge balls at his house every single New Years. My mum and dad are going too!"
"James is the Minister's son?"
"YEAH!"
"Oh," Lily said in a quiet voice, "How did you know?"
"Sirius told me," Arabella said, looking down.
"Oh," Lily said solemnly, noticing the sadness in Arabella's voice, "Well, in that case, let's get some of my dresses out, eh? I can't wait to see the look on Sirius' face when he sees how stunning you look! I'll even get my mum to do our makeup. She always does it best! You should see her when she goes to parties. She looks like a goddess!"
"Really?" Arabella's blue eyes lit up, "Thank you!!!!"
"You're welcome," Lily couldn't help smiling at Arabella's gleeful expression. "Err, but Bella?"
"Yeah?"
"You may want to bring a change of clothes."
"And why is that?"
"This will be at the Potter mansion. As in JAMES Potter, King of the Dungbombs!"
"Ohhhh. Okay. Then I'll take that turtleneck and those jeans."
"But those are some of my better clothes!" Lily protested.
"Oh…right."
Half an hour and several dresses later, Lily and Arabella daintily descended the stairs, Lily donning a sleeveless dress, which once was a plain gray, and now (with the help of several charms) was a shimmery pale blue. It was nothing exceptional, but left her looking extremely pretty, nonetheless; Arabella wore one of Lily's nicest dresses, which was navy blue (also sleeveless) boat neck, and stopped a little above her knees. Sheer white shawls that they wrapped around their shoulders accompanied both of their dresses. (A/N-These are not frilly frou-frou dresses…but they aren't drop-dead-gorgeous OMG! gowns either. Do not forget that they're eleven and most eleven yr. olds I know aren't gonna go tromping around in long slinky gowns, six inch stilettos etc., etc. Oh and I suck at dress descriptions…so this is as good as it gets, sorry.) The two girls left their hair to fall down their backs in wavy curls.
"Mum! We're ready for you!" Lily cried.
"Come to the powder room!" Patricia Evans called to her daughter.
"Be there in a minute!"
Lily walked through a small hallway and opened a door at the very end. "And welcome to Evans' Beauty Supplies!" Lily jokingly exclaimed.
Arabella was shocked at all the makeup products that were lined out on the vanity. There were piles, rows, and stacks of mascaras, lipsticks, lip glosses, eye shadows and blushes in almost every color imaginable.
"Where did you get all of this?"
"Oh, before I had kids I used to do facials for anyone willing enough to try, but it was only a hobby. Anyways, people used to bring me makeup they wanted me to use on them. Some of them left it with me for the next time they'd come by. But don't worry! I am 100% sanitary!"
"I won't! I can't wait to get started!"
"But, unlucky for you ladies. I'm only doing the bare minimum. I don't want any young men drooling on those lovely dresses of yours. I recognize the navy one on Arabella, but Lily, where did you get yours?"
"Remember that ugly gray dress you got me for my birthday?"
"That dress is not ugly!"
"Yes it was! But, it's not anymore. I changed it to this blue! Don't you like it?"
"Well, it is quite lovely," Patricia said after a short pause, "I guess I better get started on you girls!"
"Yes!" squealed Arabella.
Only ten minutes later, Patricia was done with both girls. She'd applied a pale white eye shadow to Lily's eyelids and thickened the appearance of her eyelashes with a small amount of mascara. The contrasting black mascara and white shadow brought out the true brightness in Lily's emerald eyes. The simple job was finished off with a bit of pink lip gloss.
Arabella's makeup was similar to Lily's, but instead of having a white shadow she wore shimmery silver. The effect on her eyes was basically the same as on Lily. Her sapphire orbs were brightened, leaving her looking like a goddess, herself.
With their heads held high they walked towards Lily's fireplace, preparing themselves for the rowdy boys that would be by the fireplace they'd be exiting.
"Ok. Here's how you Floo. Watch carefully and mimic me, okay. Don't worry about anything and tuck your elbows in. It's quite simple, really," Arabella reassured before she threw her powder into the fireplace, the flames immediately shining a vibrant green. She stepped into the fire, green flames licking her arms and legs, and yelled, "Potter Mansion!" The flames rose up over her completely and when the flames had retreated she was gone.
'Well, here goes,' thought Lily as she threw the powder into the flames. Like with Arabella, the flames turned a brilliant shade of green. She tentatively stepped into the flames, to find they felt quite warm, but not hot enough to burn her. "Potter Mansion!" she yelled clearly. The flames rose up over her and suddenly she was spinning in a dizzying rush of passing hearths. She shut her eyes tight and prepared herself for the end…
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Hello people! I know that wasn't the best of chapters…again I'm sorry! But it WAS the longest I've written (2900 words, basically) Well, thanks to all who've reviewed so far! I've made 70!! That makes me feel so special (and Jen's review -review # 70- was really what motivated me. Thanks J) Well, I hope you enjoyed. I know I got you thinking that this would be the chapter of the party, but I was writing and realized the chapter would be way too long! But, I will try not to wait as long as I did this chapter to get the next one out. Well, please ReViEw and tell me what you think! Ok…well, until the next chapter!
~DanniBannani~
Oh, and if you're wondering where Petunia is…the truth is I don't know. Let's just say she's out with a friend! (I sorta forgot about her until NOW and it's a little too late to put her in, but maybe next chapter, or the next!) And yes, I do realize that this chapter was basically pointless…but I needed a transitional chapter…otherwise I would've written a horrible party and a lot of stuff wouldn't have been explained. Yeah…ok. Bye, then. Review, please!