Ch. 4 "Time for Change"

"Good morning, Mummy, good morning, Daddy," Petunia said cheerfully as she bounded into the kitchen that morning and slid into her seat, completely ignoring the fact that her sister was sitting right across the table from her. Petunia turned to her father. "Daddy, Vernon asked me to dinner tonight, and I really want to go. May I?"

Her father looked at her and smiled. "Oh course you can, sweetheart."

Petunia smiled and kissed her father on the cheek. Lily pretended to gag, and Petunia shot her a nasty glare. Lily didn't mind, however. She had learned to completely ignore Petunia, and Petunia was gladly doing the same.

"So, Mum," said Lily, turning her attention away from her breakfast. "I got a letter from Sara today and I was wondering if I could go over her house today, and hen I could just go to the station with her and her mother. It's a lot closer, too. So can I?"

Her mother stirred her breakfast on her plate around with her fork. "Sure, honey."

Lily smiled. "Thanks. Um, I'm done, so can I be excused?" Her mother nodded and Lily headed to her room. She picked the letter her best friend, Sara Williams had just sent her and read it again for the umpteenth time.

Dear Lily,

Hey you!! How was your summer? Terrible, I assume since Petunia is forced to be in your presence. Oh well, screw her, tell her to piss off, we're done with her.

Anyway! Listen, I know it's close – scratch that out, REALLY close to when we have to leave to King's Cross Station, but I was really hoping that you could come over today, sleep over, the whole nine yards. As we both know, I live closer, so we could sleep in. YOU'D BETTER COME!!! I have a surprise for you.

I have to go, bye, I'll see you when you come over, since you are. P

Love from you're best friend, you're savior, your life source, your guardian angel, your counselor, your wisdom, your life

Sara.

P.S. Wasn't that descriptive? Toodles.

Lily smiled, despite herself. Sara never was one for long letters, but neither was Lily, so it was all good. Lily often envied Sara, mainly for her looks, her personality, and the fact that she was a people person.

Sara Williams was exceptionally beautiful. She had darkish brown hair that had a red tint in the sun. Her hair reached just below her shoulders, and she never wore it up. Her eyes were a deep chocolate with flecks of gold and her tannish skin completed her look. She, unlike Lily, was fairly short, only about 5'3", but she had a way about her that made you feel inferior to her. Lily extremely envied that.

Sara, also unlike Lily, wasn't afraid of anything. When they were in fourth year, she would take suggestions for dares people wanted to see her do, and she completed them mercilessly. Even though she was beautiful, and she got many requests for dates each day, she barely dated. She was simply "waiting for 'the one'" as she often said.

Lily walked over to her writing desk, picked up a quill and a piece of parchment, and wrote:

Dear Sara,

Hello! Just writing to tell you that I can come over. I'll have to go to the Leaky Cauldron and floo over, so I'll be there in about an hour.

Love,

Lily

Lily folded up the letter and walked over to where her tawny owl, Gingerbread, was asleep in her cage, her face half-hidden under her outstretched wing.

"Ginger," Lily cooed. "Come on, Ging."

Gingerbread looked up, fluffed her wings, and waited for Lily to open the cage. "Good girl," Lily said.

Lily tied the letter to Gingerbread's foot and told her, "You need to take this to Sara, okay? That's right, good girl." Lily picked her owl up and carried her to the window. With one last kiss on the forehead, Lily opened the window and watched Gingerbread fly out towards the horizon.

Lily turned around and started to pack. She got her spellbooks, wand, quills, parchment, robes, shrank her cauldron and Gingerbread's cage, and pocketed her money. Then she moved on to her clothes. Lily's wardrobe consisted of her school robes, baggy T-shirts, sweatshirts, sneakers, and faded Gap jeans. Not exactly stylist, thought Lily as she started to fold them, but comfortable.

Lily, however, didn't envy Sara for her pick in clothes. Sara's wardrobe consisted of tight preppy shirts, ones that often showed her stomach when she stretched, tight jeans that were stylishly faded, and heels, if she didn't have to do much walking. For recreation, she wore Adidas sneakers and ankle socks. (A/N Yeah, it might be the wrong decade, but I really don't see Lily or Sara wearing tie-dye, bell-bottoms, with long hair and peace-sign medallions. Sorry.)

As Lily was packing some of her books, she noticed Sara's letter and decided to pack it anyway. Her eyes fell on the part where Sara says she has a surprise. Lily's eyebrows shot up in amazement that she had completely overlooked that part. She let her mind wander to different kinds of crazy ideas that only Sara would be able to accomplish.

Once Lily was all packed, she pulled her suitcase down the stairs, kissed her mother goodbye, and went up to her father. "I'm ready to go, Dad," she said. Her father finished the article he was reading in the newspaper, took one last puff on his pipe, then got up. "Alright, Lily," he said warmly.

Lily followed her father out to the car and got in the passenger seat. As he pulled out of the driveway, Lily listened contently to her father whistle "You're the Top" from his favorite musical, "Anything Goes".

Lily looked over at her father and smiled, watching him drive. His thinning red hair and small spectacles added to his good looks. Lily was very proud of him. She inherited her red hair from him, and her green eyes and tall, thin figure from her mother.

"We're here," announced her father as they approached the Leaky Cauldron. "Bye, sweetie," said her father as he hugged her. "Bye, Daddy," she responded.

"Send me an owl once you get a chance," he told her.

"I will," Lily promised as she stepped out of the car and got her bags out of the trunk. "Bye, Dad!" she said again over her shoulder and she walked into the bar. She went up to the bartender, Ted, who she knew personally. "Hey, Teddy," she said. Theodore Smith, who graduated from Hogwarts two years ago, looked up from the glass of beer he was preparing. "Hey, Lils," he greeted.

"Hi. Listen, I need to floo to Sara's house."

"No problem," he said. He gave a man the beer and walked around the counter and led Lily into a room off to the left that was full of fireplaces. "You're stuff will arrive there in a couple minutes, I'll take care of it personally for you." He stopped in front of one near the back. "Here, you can just walk into this one, and it'll transport you straight to her house." His neck turned a faint tinge of pink.

"Okay," said Lily slowly. She took awhile to think about what he just said. "Wait, were you visiting her or something?"

Ted blushed even more. "I . . . She – she was interested in a job here."

Lily snorted. "Sure, Ted. I'll bug you about it later, I really need to go." Ted smiled. "I can hardly wait," he said sarcastically. Lily laughed and stepped into the fireplace. She slapped her arms to her sides and waited for it to be over. She lost her footing on the landing and fell over.

"Ow!" she cried out as she rubbed her lower back. "Damn it," she muttered as she awkwardly stood up. A voice laughed behind her. "Well that's what you get for not locking your ankles."

Lily turned around and saw Sara, whose hair was up in a messy bun at the top of her head, and she was wearing a baggy black T-shirt that went down to her knees and tight blue jean pants rolled up to her calves. The shirt had a red heart in the middle and in silver and gold writing it said "LOVE GODDESS". "Your hair is up," Lily commented. Sara laughed. "Yeah, well, I was painting and it got in the way."

"Ooh, can I see it?" Lily asked. They walked from the living room to Sara's room in the refinished basement. Her walls were a royal blue with flecks of yellow paint, hand-painted by her. Sara dyed her bed sheets to match the walls, and there was a large canvas at the other side of the room. "Sara, you are a true rebel," Lily said, commenting the room. Sara grinned. "My greatest ambition in life. Tell me how you like it," she said while gesturing to the half-finished painting.

Lily walked up to it and studied it intently. It was of an empty jar on a stool, an upturned bucket, and an unused paintbrush. The only thing was, was that none of the lines touched, so the painting had an empty, emotionless vibe coming from it. Lifeless, was the word Lily decided on. Exactly the way an empty jar, an upturned bucket, and an unused paintbrush would feel! "Oh, Sara," whispered Lily. "You really captured this one."

She could tell Sara was blushing. "It's not like it's a masterpiece of anything."

Lily turned around. "Better than Monet." Sara giggled. "You liar," said Sara. Lily laughed, too. "Okay, I over exaggerated, but it's still really good. One of my favorites, actually."

"I thought you liked the one with the squares," Sara said as she picked up her paintbrush and continued to paint the picture. "I like this one, too," Lily decided. "Oh!" she said suddenly.

Sara stopped and looked at her. "What? What is it?"

Lily walked up to her and looked her in the eye. "What in the world is going on with you and Teddy?"

Sara looked away and blushed. "You blushed!" said Lily excitedly. "You never blush!"

"Shut up," Sara mumbled. "Okay, he's really, really, super cute, and I think I might ask him out over the summer. He told me he likes me and that he'd wait for my decision."

"Awe!" Lily exclaimed. "That is so sweet! Especially for Teddy! Man, I love that kid."

Sara grinned. "It's obvious to anyone who looks that that boy is no longer a boy. He's a man."

"A big, strong man," Lily said in a gruff voice. Sara and her laughed. "By the way," Lily added.

"God, you're just full of questions, aren't you?" Sara interrupted.

"How did you know I was going to ask a question?"

"I'm just good like that."

Lily pushed her lightly. "Shut up. Anyway, I just remembered. You told me you had a surprise. What is it?"

Sara smiled widely and set down her paints. "Lillian Elizabeth Evans, I am going to give you a full, head-to-toe makeover, whether you like it or not." Lily frowned and looked down at her outfit, felt her tangled, unbrushed ponytail, and touched her glasses, which she wore since she forgot to put in her contacts. "Please, God no," she whimpered.

Sara laughed again and said in an Austin Powers-like accent, "It's makeover time, baby."

THIS CHAPTER IS SO GOD DAMN F$ING SHORT!!! I'm sorry, sorry. Just had to get that out. Don't worry, I'm trying, I'm getting better. REVIEW!