Living A Legend
Book 2- The Price of Glory
Chapter 2- Family Friends and Welcoming Environments
Fortunately for Lily, James was not able to put his plans into action for several weeks. Cornelia had been scared off by Sirius's part in the Bludger incident and would not allow him to return to her house until James had finished a long list of chores. Cornelia was the one who ended up paying for the damage to the neighbor's home and she was none too happy about it.
Still, Lily was in enough trouble as it was. Her parents, while not downright hostile, were a bit jumpy around her, and forbid her to have any friends over for the rest of the summer, by friends, meaning James and Sirius. When Lily insisted that the two boys were not her friends, and had not come by her invitation, her mother just shook her head and her father shrugged. They both had been favorably disposed towards James after he had rescued her at the end of the school year from death eaters, but were a bit annoyed with him after his latest stunt. Mostly, they just blamed Lily, and refused to believe that she had nothing to do with it.
However it was not her parents who proved the real trouble. It was Petunia. Lily found herself subject to constant fits of anger, shouted insults and physical violence brought on by her older sister. Despite herself, Lily discovered that she was a bit afraid of Petunia, who would never let matters lie.
More than she feared Petunia, she feared what misery James and Sirius would concoct and inflict upon her. She knew perfectly well what the terrible twosome was capable, and without Remus and Peter to balance them out, they could be downright dangerous, as they had proved when they had crashed through Lily's window.
The damage to the window had been repaired, but there still remained two gigantic gaping holes in the dining room and living room walls. Every time Petunia walked by them, she went into another fit of despair, which ultimately would turn to anger, against her sister.
Eventually Petunia's attacks subsided into her ordinary meanness and Lily spent as much time as possible in her room, reading her school books and writing letters to Brittany, Dora and Jackie. Although the girls had promised to keep in touch, Lily had not received one letter, though she had sent out quite a few.
All in all she was not having the best summer of her life. Even her sleep was affected. She woke up every night, visions of death eaters and Voldemort fresh in her head. While she had been assured time and time again that she was safe now, by Dumbledore and her parents, Lily could not help seeing the worried glint in their eyes. Devin was still alive and free, and he had come after her once.
The nightmares woke her every night, and afterwards she would lay awake and worry. James had explained to Dumbledore and their families how he had known the box was a port key. He had seen it in a dream. The whole concept seemed very fishy to Lily. For her dreams were just that, dreams. She wasn't sure if James had been telling the whole truth. Sometimes she wondered if he had some sort of inside information, or perhaps he was involved. Lily was much inclined to think this, she couldn't stand the thought of being in debt to him. James had saved her life, he was "a little hero" as her parents had proclaimed.
Lily did not think James was "a little hero", but she did think he was "a little prick". Now that he was living next door to her, her worst fears were confirmed. This summer she would have to deal with not only Petunia, but also James and the rest of the Marauders.
It was during one of her late night nightmares that James and Sirius decided to start their campaign to make her life miserable. Lily slept with her window open a crack, so it was easy for the two boys to pry it open enough to slip through several of Filibusters No Flame Indoor Firecrackers. Unfortunately for James and Sirius, the fuses which they had carefully tied together landed face down on the carpet and promptly went out.
After a quick but furious fight over who would go in, James finally crawled through the window and landed as quietly as he could manage on Lily's bedroom floor. Carefully, he glanced at the sleeping redhead before bending over to light the fuse.
Moments later, the room was filled with hissing shrieks and flying, non flammable magical balls. James did not have time to get back outside the window.
Lily screamed and jumped out of bed in a panic, tearing a lamp off her nightstand and swinging it wildly at James's head.
"Death Eaters!" Lily called desperately.
James ducked, and the lamp barely missed him. Lily swung again and this time it collided with his head with a crash.
"Lily!" Sirius called through the window, as Lily continued to beat James senseless with the lamp. "Calm down! It's just us!"
Still, it took a while before the smoke cleared and Lily could see that it was indeed only the two boys.
James, was lying unconscious on the floor with quite a welt spouting from his forehead.
"Oh! I killed him!" Lily shrieked in horror. "I thought he was a death eater!"
Sirius kicked James lightly and James let out a small moan and started to sit up. "Don't worry," Sirius said casually. "He's not dead."
Before Lily had a chance to respond, Petunia was there. "LILY!" she screeched, and then dropped dead in her path at the sight of the two young wizards. It was obvious that Petunia was afraid of James and Sirius, and that was not unreasonable considering what the two boys had done in her presence. It was not unlikely that Petunia would not have lasting emotional damage from the horrors that James and Sirius had inflicted upon her.
"ID Emmmmmm!" Petunia shrieked shrilly apparently at a loss for comprehensible words.
The two boys giggled involuntarily. Petunia looked very interesting, to say the least. Her limp blond hair was done up in curlers and she was wearing a frilly pink nightgown. Worst of all her face was covered in green gunk, a facemask meant to clear up her acne. Finally Petunia screamed again and stormed out of the room in horror.
"You look positively gorgeous, Lily, next to your witch of a sister!" James laughed, rubbing his bleeding head tentatively.
"Ooh," Sirius grinned, dancing in circles around James, "Someone thinks his future wife is gorgeous! See, Lily, Jamesie is fine. No need to worry."
Lily's pale face was turning red. She leapt up on her bed and glared down at the two boys, "I don't know what inspired you to sneak into my room at night and set of fireworks, but you two have already caused enough damage! You should be expelled, no arrested! If you don't leave right now I will call the police!"
At that moment, Lily's parents, Rebecca and Tom burst into the room. "What is the commotion?" Rebecca asked furiously. Then she spotted James. "Oh my dear boy! Whatever happened?"
She rushed over to him quickly, wrapping an arm around Lily's arch-enemy as Tom rubbed his eyes sleepily in the doorway, too tired to fully comprehend the situation. It didn't seem the least odd to him that the two boys who had wrecked their living room were currently residing in Lily's bedroom..
"It was Lily" James admitted in a tearful (and fake) voice. "She attacked me with a lamp."
"HE BROKE INTO MY ROOM AND SET OFF FIREWORKS!" Lily shrieked, astonished at James's daring and her mother's unfair reaction.
"I only wanted to say good night," James explained sadly, between pretend sobs.
Rebecca glared up at her youngest daughter. "Lily, I'm sure James had his reasons. That was no excuse for hurting him. Shame on you!" She turned towards James with a tender expression. "Poor little James, should I take you to the doctor?" she asked worriedly.
So Lily was forced to watch helplessly as her mother coddled James. The hatred that Lily had previously felt towards him was currently being multiplied by 100.
"Tom, go and call the boy's grandmother and ask her if she minds if I drive him to the hospital. And while you are at it, get Sirius a cup of hot chocolate," Rebecca ordered stonily.
Tom complied, content to take his wife's orders. James however, was not so eager.
"I'm fine Mrs. Evans!" he insisted. "I don't need to go to the hospital, I feel great now." James did not really want to be fussed over at a hospital. If his mother was notified she was sure to make an even greater fuss than Mrs. Evans.
"Nonsense. Sit down my dear and let me stop the bleeding," Rebecca ignored his protests. "Lily! Clean up this mess!"
Sick with the injustice of it all, Lily resigned herself reluctantly to vacuuming up the last of the debris left from the Filibusters fireworks. She muttered to herself angrily as her mother escorted the two boys to the living room for bandages and hot cocoa. Lily was stuck cleaning up the mess. Finally, when her room was once more fairly clean, Lily stomped into the living room, intent on giving her mother a piece of her mind. However, she stopped short, deciding that it was wiser to hold her tongue.
James and Sirius were still there, being coddled. James was shedding fake tears of dismay, "I just don't know why she hates me so much, Mrs. Evans. I only wanted to be her friend!" at this point, James shot Lily a vindictive look and buried his head in Mrs. Evan's pillow, erupting into violently fake sobs.
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I'm sure Lily will apologize to you," Rebecca assured him, shooting her daughter a significant look.
"I will not!" Lily called as calmly as she could manage under the circumstances.
Rebecca stood, with all the menacing power of a mother. "Lily Maroon Evans, I am warning you!"
"Maroon?" James snorted from beneath his teary façade. "That's your middle name."
"MOTHER!" Lily cried in embarrassment, she couldn't stand the idea of anyone knowing her middle name, especially James.
"APOLOGIZE!" Rebecca screamed back, every bit as fierce as her little red haired daughter.
Lily's mother pushed her close to James, applying slight pressure on her arm. "Fine!" Lily hissed. "James I am sorry…" she blurted out.
Instantly, her mother released her, content that her daughter had done her duty.
"I'm sorry that you are such a jerk!" Lily screamed and took off running before her mother could reprimand her further.
James watched her in amazement. He had really got to her. "See, I told you she hates me," he confessed once more to her mother.
Though he was forced to be driven to the hospital by Lily's parents, with Sirius in tow, James felt that the evening had been very profitable. He kept up his act while the doctors examined his head, and on the car ride back. James felt that a friendship with Lily's parents could prove quite a tool to use against her. So he acted as whiny and pathetic as he could, and Rebecca simply fawned over him. By the time the night was over, James was assured that he had earned himself an invite back into the Evans home anytime he wished. He was determined to use this to his advantage. Lily Evans was in for a horrible summer.
Book 2- The Price of Glory
Chapter 2- Family Friends and Welcoming Environments
Fortunately for Lily, James was not able to put his plans into action for several weeks. Cornelia had been scared off by Sirius's part in the Bludger incident and would not allow him to return to her house until James had finished a long list of chores. Cornelia was the one who ended up paying for the damage to the neighbor's home and she was none too happy about it.
Still, Lily was in enough trouble as it was. Her parents, while not downright hostile, were a bit jumpy around her, and forbid her to have any friends over for the rest of the summer, by friends, meaning James and Sirius. When Lily insisted that the two boys were not her friends, and had not come by her invitation, her mother just shook her head and her father shrugged. They both had been favorably disposed towards James after he had rescued her at the end of the school year from death eaters, but were a bit annoyed with him after his latest stunt. Mostly, they just blamed Lily, and refused to believe that she had nothing to do with it.
However it was not her parents who proved the real trouble. It was Petunia. Lily found herself subject to constant fits of anger, shouted insults and physical violence brought on by her older sister. Despite herself, Lily discovered that she was a bit afraid of Petunia, who would never let matters lie.
More than she feared Petunia, she feared what misery James and Sirius would concoct and inflict upon her. She knew perfectly well what the terrible twosome was capable, and without Remus and Peter to balance them out, they could be downright dangerous, as they had proved when they had crashed through Lily's window.
The damage to the window had been repaired, but there still remained two gigantic gaping holes in the dining room and living room walls. Every time Petunia walked by them, she went into another fit of despair, which ultimately would turn to anger, against her sister.
Eventually Petunia's attacks subsided into her ordinary meanness and Lily spent as much time as possible in her room, reading her school books and writing letters to Brittany, Dora and Jackie. Although the girls had promised to keep in touch, Lily had not received one letter, though she had sent out quite a few.
All in all she was not having the best summer of her life. Even her sleep was affected. She woke up every night, visions of death eaters and Voldemort fresh in her head. While she had been assured time and time again that she was safe now, by Dumbledore and her parents, Lily could not help seeing the worried glint in their eyes. Devin was still alive and free, and he had come after her once.
The nightmares woke her every night, and afterwards she would lay awake and worry. James had explained to Dumbledore and their families how he had known the box was a port key. He had seen it in a dream. The whole concept seemed very fishy to Lily. For her dreams were just that, dreams. She wasn't sure if James had been telling the whole truth. Sometimes she wondered if he had some sort of inside information, or perhaps he was involved. Lily was much inclined to think this, she couldn't stand the thought of being in debt to him. James had saved her life, he was "a little hero" as her parents had proclaimed.
Lily did not think James was "a little hero", but she did think he was "a little prick". Now that he was living next door to her, her worst fears were confirmed. This summer she would have to deal with not only Petunia, but also James and the rest of the Marauders.
It was during one of her late night nightmares that James and Sirius decided to start their campaign to make her life miserable. Lily slept with her window open a crack, so it was easy for the two boys to pry it open enough to slip through several of Filibusters No Flame Indoor Firecrackers. Unfortunately for James and Sirius, the fuses which they had carefully tied together landed face down on the carpet and promptly went out.
After a quick but furious fight over who would go in, James finally crawled through the window and landed as quietly as he could manage on Lily's bedroom floor. Carefully, he glanced at the sleeping redhead before bending over to light the fuse.
Moments later, the room was filled with hissing shrieks and flying, non flammable magical balls. James did not have time to get back outside the window.
Lily screamed and jumped out of bed in a panic, tearing a lamp off her nightstand and swinging it wildly at James's head.
"Death Eaters!" Lily called desperately.
James ducked, and the lamp barely missed him. Lily swung again and this time it collided with his head with a crash.
"Lily!" Sirius called through the window, as Lily continued to beat James senseless with the lamp. "Calm down! It's just us!"
Still, it took a while before the smoke cleared and Lily could see that it was indeed only the two boys.
James, was lying unconscious on the floor with quite a welt spouting from his forehead.
"Oh! I killed him!" Lily shrieked in horror. "I thought he was a death eater!"
Sirius kicked James lightly and James let out a small moan and started to sit up. "Don't worry," Sirius said casually. "He's not dead."
Before Lily had a chance to respond, Petunia was there. "LILY!" she screeched, and then dropped dead in her path at the sight of the two young wizards. It was obvious that Petunia was afraid of James and Sirius, and that was not unreasonable considering what the two boys had done in her presence. It was not unlikely that Petunia would not have lasting emotional damage from the horrors that James and Sirius had inflicted upon her.
"ID Emmmmmm!" Petunia shrieked shrilly apparently at a loss for comprehensible words.
The two boys giggled involuntarily. Petunia looked very interesting, to say the least. Her limp blond hair was done up in curlers and she was wearing a frilly pink nightgown. Worst of all her face was covered in green gunk, a facemask meant to clear up her acne. Finally Petunia screamed again and stormed out of the room in horror.
"You look positively gorgeous, Lily, next to your witch of a sister!" James laughed, rubbing his bleeding head tentatively.
"Ooh," Sirius grinned, dancing in circles around James, "Someone thinks his future wife is gorgeous! See, Lily, Jamesie is fine. No need to worry."
Lily's pale face was turning red. She leapt up on her bed and glared down at the two boys, "I don't know what inspired you to sneak into my room at night and set of fireworks, but you two have already caused enough damage! You should be expelled, no arrested! If you don't leave right now I will call the police!"
At that moment, Lily's parents, Rebecca and Tom burst into the room. "What is the commotion?" Rebecca asked furiously. Then she spotted James. "Oh my dear boy! Whatever happened?"
She rushed over to him quickly, wrapping an arm around Lily's arch-enemy as Tom rubbed his eyes sleepily in the doorway, too tired to fully comprehend the situation. It didn't seem the least odd to him that the two boys who had wrecked their living room were currently residing in Lily's bedroom..
"It was Lily" James admitted in a tearful (and fake) voice. "She attacked me with a lamp."
"HE BROKE INTO MY ROOM AND SET OFF FIREWORKS!" Lily shrieked, astonished at James's daring and her mother's unfair reaction.
"I only wanted to say good night," James explained sadly, between pretend sobs.
Rebecca glared up at her youngest daughter. "Lily, I'm sure James had his reasons. That was no excuse for hurting him. Shame on you!" She turned towards James with a tender expression. "Poor little James, should I take you to the doctor?" she asked worriedly.
So Lily was forced to watch helplessly as her mother coddled James. The hatred that Lily had previously felt towards him was currently being multiplied by 100.
"Tom, go and call the boy's grandmother and ask her if she minds if I drive him to the hospital. And while you are at it, get Sirius a cup of hot chocolate," Rebecca ordered stonily.
Tom complied, content to take his wife's orders. James however, was not so eager.
"I'm fine Mrs. Evans!" he insisted. "I don't need to go to the hospital, I feel great now." James did not really want to be fussed over at a hospital. If his mother was notified she was sure to make an even greater fuss than Mrs. Evans.
"Nonsense. Sit down my dear and let me stop the bleeding," Rebecca ignored his protests. "Lily! Clean up this mess!"
Sick with the injustice of it all, Lily resigned herself reluctantly to vacuuming up the last of the debris left from the Filibusters fireworks. She muttered to herself angrily as her mother escorted the two boys to the living room for bandages and hot cocoa. Lily was stuck cleaning up the mess. Finally, when her room was once more fairly clean, Lily stomped into the living room, intent on giving her mother a piece of her mind. However, she stopped short, deciding that it was wiser to hold her tongue.
James and Sirius were still there, being coddled. James was shedding fake tears of dismay, "I just don't know why she hates me so much, Mrs. Evans. I only wanted to be her friend!" at this point, James shot Lily a vindictive look and buried his head in Mrs. Evan's pillow, erupting into violently fake sobs.
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. I'm sure Lily will apologize to you," Rebecca assured him, shooting her daughter a significant look.
"I will not!" Lily called as calmly as she could manage under the circumstances.
Rebecca stood, with all the menacing power of a mother. "Lily Maroon Evans, I am warning you!"
"Maroon?" James snorted from beneath his teary façade. "That's your middle name."
"MOTHER!" Lily cried in embarrassment, she couldn't stand the idea of anyone knowing her middle name, especially James.
"APOLOGIZE!" Rebecca screamed back, every bit as fierce as her little red haired daughter.
Lily's mother pushed her close to James, applying slight pressure on her arm. "Fine!" Lily hissed. "James I am sorry…" she blurted out.
Instantly, her mother released her, content that her daughter had done her duty.
"I'm sorry that you are such a jerk!" Lily screamed and took off running before her mother could reprimand her further.
James watched her in amazement. He had really got to her. "See, I told you she hates me," he confessed once more to her mother.
Though he was forced to be driven to the hospital by Lily's parents, with Sirius in tow, James felt that the evening had been very profitable. He kept up his act while the doctors examined his head, and on the car ride back. James felt that a friendship with Lily's parents could prove quite a tool to use against her. So he acted as whiny and pathetic as he could, and Rebecca simply fawned over him. By the time the night was over, James was assured that he had earned himself an invite back into the Evans home anytime he wished. He was determined to use this to his advantage. Lily Evans was in for a horrible summer.