© Ariana Veelagrace and Clara Maplewood, years 2000-2002

Lily

Chapter 54







"RINGRINGRINGRINGRING"

Lily sat bolt upright in her bed and instinctively whipped the blankets to one side, making ready to clamber out and run to the nearest exit.  Her first thought had been that a Muggle fire alarm was going off, but, as she turned to the side, Sirius's presence negated that fear.

"Rise and shine!" He said, smiling brightly and giving the brass bell in his hand an extra shake for emphasis.

Lily closed her eyes tightly, trying to convince herself that this was just a weird dream.

"Sirius, it's the summer holiday. We have no classes, and I want to - what are you doing here, anyway?"

"Lily," Sirius said, the look on his face now earnest. "We are going to get you a pet."

"A what?"

"A pet. A creature that will follow you around and cause you stress and generally improve the condition of your life. By definition, I believe it's any domestic or trained animal that is kept and cared for affectionately. You know, an owl, a cat, a rat, a dog - may I recommend a dog? - a Schnoodle, perhaps?"

"What the heck's a Schnoodle?" Sirius had cast the bell aside and was headed towards her dresser now. "Hey! Get away from there!"

"Well, you're not helping any, and we need to get started early if you're going to be as indecisive as you want today, so I'm going to help you get an ensemble together. I mean, it'll help if you have time to figure out whether to buy a Flobberworm, a manticore, a quetzallic...d'you really need these?" Sirius had been rooting through her drawers, and suddenly held up one of her more lacy pairs of underpants. She leapt out of bed and snatched them away, hissing into his face like an angry snake.

"Get. Out. Of. My. Room. Is that clear?"

Sirius flashed a grin, then headed towards the door beofe whirling around dramatically and saying, "I must warn you of the fate that awaits you should you not accept my kind invitation! A day full of flying lessons with James! Adieu!"





"May I help you?"

Lily smiled tensely at the storekeeper at the Magical Menagerie and shook her head. Sirius had all but dragged her into the tiny, cage-filled shop, and she didn't feel very capable of talking without hurling obscenities at the next person with whom she spoke. She shook her arm free of Sirius's grasp and started to explore the shelves.

A huge terrarium was pushed against one wall, and contained several Fire Crabs and a good number of brilliantly-coloured Fwoopers, all of which appeared to be singing their hearts out. A sticker clung to the glass on their cage: "For Licensed Owners Only." The ceiling was covered with neon tree frogs. Lily was gazing at them in wonder when she heard a loud purr from around her ankles.

There was a huge, bowlegged ginger cat with a completely flat snout. It was probably the ugliest animal that Lily had seen, except for its eyes...what was so familiar about its eyes? They were an unexceptional cloudy blue in colour, but they conveyed a sense of communication and urgency.
"Er...hello," Lily said.

The cat meowed in response.

"What's your name?"

"It doesn't have one," said the shopkeeper, limping around the counter.  One of the old man's legs was considerably shorter than the other. "Just sort of walked in here a few months ago, made itself at home. I couldn't ever get him to leave. Seems to like you, though."

"Hmm." Lily had lost interest in the cat and moved on to an aquarium full of little spherical, spotted fish. "What are these called?"

"Plimpies. Are you sure you don't want the cat?"

She looked down at the cat, who was giving her that pleading, urgent look again. "Well, of course. I'm not really a cat person," she added apologetically, more to the cat than to the storekeeper.

"Lily, you've got to see these little puffskeins! Whoa...they can jump!" Sirius called.

James ran across the room from a staring contest with a mournful-looking Ramora and started unwinding the puffskeins' tongues from Sirius's arm.  


The shopkeeper shuffled over to assist James, and to prevent one of the little furballs from eating Sirius's nose. "They get restless if we don't feed them for an hour or so. I'm very sorry...you can have one free if you want."

"Er, no thanks," James said, now stuffing the creatures back into the bag. "Maybe it was a bad idea to come here."

"Oh, come on, I was just starting to have fun!" The now puffskein-free Sirius reluctantly started for the exit between James and Lily.

"Now, just a minute! You aren't leaving with that cat unless you pay for it!" the storekeeper yelled.

Lily glanced downward. The cat was still following her! "Shoo! Go! Psst! Go away!" It looked sardonically up at her, as if to say that those silly tricks wouldn't work on him. Her eyes moved from the cat to Sirius to the shopkeeper's outstretched hand.

"That'll be twelve Galleons."





So the summer continued, with James's abominable flying lessons every day and Sirius's moods waxing and waning, until September first.  Miraculously, Lily wasn't as afraid of heights anymore, and her balance on a broomstick had improved. Now it was time for the acid test: a flight to King's Cross station in London.



A/N: Sorry it's so short! But at least the LONG summer has ended!! YAY!