Lily

Chapter 15

(A/N): Thank you for those people who have been reviewing, I loooovvveee reviews.





Lily sobbed uncontrollably. She lifted her gaze and looked around at the crowd of students gathered in the Great Hall for Chrissy's funeral. Since her death, Chantel and Sirius seemed to have gotten closer. Sirius had been very sensitive, quite unlike his usual self.

Dumbledore stood up at the Head Table and cleared his throat.  "As you all know, there was a death at Hogwarts two nights ago. This was an extraordinary happening, not only in its devastating quality, but in the sense that Christina Lindon Johnson was murdered by Voldemort." Murmurs arose throughout the Hall, all full of fear of the name as well as the person. "She was a wonderful student, a caring person, and...and a good friend." Dumbledore's crystalline gaze lingered on the Gryffindor table, where Chantel was crying into Sirius's shoulder, and tears were flowing down Lily's cheeks.
"She would have gone far in life, to be sure. To Chrissy." He raised his own golden goblet, and the students followed suit, the metal reflecting the dancing candlelight in an immortal toast to Chrissy's soul.

When the ceremony was over, Dumbledore approached Lily and Chantel.  "Professor McGonagall found something by Miss Johnson's bed that may
be of interest to you both. It is addressed to you," he said softly as he handed them an envelope. In blue ink on the front was written "To Chantel and Lily."

Lily's hands as she hastily opened the letter. Chantel read over Lily's shoulder.


~*~*~

Dear Chantel and Lily,

I don't know why, or how, but I feel like I'll be leaving soon.  Please don't cry over me. By the time you get this, it'll probably be too late...so I order you to stop crying! It won't do any good, it won't bring my soul back to my body. We'll see each other again, I swear it.

Tell my parents what happened, the complete truth, and tell James that it wasn't his fault. I don't know what he could have done just yet, but I know that my fate was decided by someone else.

Look after yourselves. Stay together forever, and never leave each other's sides. There's more value in friendship than you could ever know. Live life to the fullest, I've just realized the value of it.  Never be scared, because I'm watching over you as your guardian angel.


Good-bye, I love you both as though you were my sisters.

Forever,

Chrissy


                                                                                                         ~*~*~


Before anyone knew it, the end of the school year had come. Lily, Chantel, Sirus, Peter, James, and Remus had all passed with flying colors, although Peter's Transfiguration grade was a little low. The students were once again assembled in the Great Hall, this time for the awards ceremony and end-of-the-year banquet.

To Gryffindor's sorrow, their Quidditch team had lost AGAIN, defeated by Slytherin. And, by some miracle, Slytherin had also won the House Cup, so the Great Hall was decorated in shimmering green and silver.

Lily saw James scowl when Dumbledore mentioned the Slytherins' victory. "Shame," he said acidly. "It was such a nice banquet before he brought THEM into it."

Sirius nodded and growled darkly, "They cheated at that Quidditch final, I know they did!"

"Nothing we can do about it, though," Remus chimed in. "Why is it that people who are such idiots can possibly figure out a way to cheat
so that the referee can't catch them?"

"Well, they must not be such idiots, then," Peter calculated. However, this remark got him nothing but searing glares from his three friends
(and every other Gryffindor within earshot).

"Who asked you?"

"Maybe you'd rather go sit with them?"

"Yeah, go ahead, here comes one of them now."

Peter turned around fearfully to see a tall, gangly Slytherin second year standing directly behind him. "Er...hello."

The Slytherin boy jerked his head in greeting and smiled thinly at James. "Well, hello. I'm Severus Snape, you might remember me from the Quidditch Final...remember, I was the one who outflew you and caught the Snitch from right in front of your nose before you even noticed it?" His smirk broadened as his eyes roved over James's narrowing eyebrows and clenched jaw. "Isn't it just a crying shame that Gryffindor lost again? You haven't won in decades!"

James leapt up from his seat and approached Severus, rolling up the sleeves of his own robes. Before James could wring his neck, however, Lily stood up, pushed James back down, and stuck her hand out congenially in one fluid motion. "Hello, my name is Lily Evans.  I'm a first year, and I don't have any older brothers or sisters, so I'm not too familiar with all the people here...tell me, are all Slytherins this badly groomed, or is it just you?" This last question
was delivered with the same politeness and innocent curiosity that one would expect from a little girl inquiring as to what a swear word meant.

With that, Snape walked off, a look of utter disgust on his face.

"Wow, Lily! You really put him back in his place!" James said, sounding quite dazzled.

"No, it was really nothing. That guy really needs to take a shower, if you ask me."

Dumbledore stood up and addressed the students. "I would like to wish you all a lovely, mind-numbing summer. You'll all have sufficient time to forget everything that you've been taught in the past few months, I hope. On a less happy note, I am required by the Ministry of Magic to distribute these." He waved his wand, and a slip of paper appeared at each place setting. As Lily picked up and read hers, Dumbledore quoted directly from it. "Any use of magic by underage wizards during the summer holiday will be detected by the Ministry of Magic and punished in a moderately severe fashion.

"For those of you approaching your third year, you will receive a permission slip. We need the permission of your parents to allow you to visit the village of Hogsmeade on scheduled weekends. If, at the beginning of next year, you don't have it signed, you will not be allowed to go. No exceptions." He smiled apologetically at everyone. "All right, finish up your meal. The Hogwarts Express is leaving in ten minutes, and we don't want anyone to be left behind, now do we?"

Lily suddenly realized something. In the tumult of students that began to boil around the Great Hall, each one trying to exit before the other, she approached the Headmaster. "Professor, can I talk with you?"

"Certainly, Lily. What seems to be the problem?"

"I was wondering where I'm going to stay this summer. I mean..."

"Ah, I apologize! I forgot to tell you. There is a very nice family who will take you in for the summer. The father is involved with the Ministry, and he heard of your confrontation with the Dark Lord. Evidently, he admired your bravery."

Lily shivered at the reference to Voldemort as the 'Dark Lord.' It made him sound so frighteningly powerful. "Am I going to be safe?"

"I have no doubt that the Potters will be able to protect you."

"The Potters? As in James Potter?"

"Yes, he lives with his father, his mother died a few years back."

"Oh," she said, not quite certain what exactly to think of it. "Okay, I have to go and get on the train. Good-bye, Professor."

She walked away, but she didn't notice the mischievous glint in Dumbledore's eyes. There is definitely something, he thought, between Lily and that Potter boy.




Lily grabbed some books out of her trunk and dragged it to the Hogwarts Express, where the giant, Hagrid, heaved it over to the luggage compartment. She was standing and waving gratefully after the huge man when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to see James standing there. "Oh, hi! Did Dumbledore tell you?"

"Yeah. We've all got a compartment settled in the train. Come on!"

Lily followed him and sat down in the compartment. Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Chantel greeted she and James as they entered.  "What book is that, Lily?" asked Chantel.

"It's called 'The Brave Little Toaster.' It's really good. Want to read it?"

"Sure, thank you." Chantel flipped to the first page eagerly and started reading.

While Chantel was reading, the others started talking about nothing in particular. They made plans to beat Slytherin out for the House Cup the next year at all costs. They played Gobstones and Exploding Snap, the Marauders thought up more pranks to play on hapless teachers, and Sirius and James had a rather exhilarating sword fight with their wands.

Before they knew it, they had arrived at Platform 9 3/4. They all promised to keep in contact through the summer, and to send lots of owls.

When Lily and James went through the barrier, a tall man was waiting.  He had the same nose as James. Lily couldn't see the man's hair; it was
covered by a baseball cap, worn backwards. He wore some crazy-looking bell-bottoms, a tie-dyed silk shirt, and some "peace" necklaces.

"So, this must be Miss Lily Evans. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Potter."

"Dad?" Asked an uncomfortable James.

"What is it?"

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"I was reading Muggle books, and it said that this is the new fashion," He said matter-of-factly.

Lily burst out laughing, buying her a dirty look from a very red James. "Oh, come on, James, you've got to admit that it's kind of funny."

"Yeah, but what kind?" James grumbled.

Mr. Potter laughed heartily, put one arm around Lily's shoulders, and the other around James's. As they walked up to the street, Lily
thought of what an interesting summer this promised to be.


(A/N): In my next fic, I will have the summer with James, Lily, and James' very out-there, dad. I hope you enjoyed this fic.

Disclaimer: I own Chantel, (Chrissy, if you can count her), and the plot.