A/n: Hello again! Hope ya enjoy this chapter, I know it's kinda short, but I thought it should end where it does. Anyway, reviews are welcome:) Oh yeah, I don't have a beta reader or anything (I've been trying to get my friends to do it, but…) so if there are typos or grammatical mistakes, sorry, you'll just have to excuse it
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Harry Potter; actually I only own the plot, and that isn't even completely, uh… developed.
Fifteen year-old Lily Evans groaned as the sunlight reached her closed eyes making them flutter open. She stretched and yawned a good deal before sitting up in her king-sized bed with its fluffy comforter and soft pillows. Then, ever so slowly, she got out of the warm bed, and, still wearing her pajamas, headed out of her room, down the back staircase, and into the kitchen.
Petunia was already sitting at the counter, sipping coffee. She was looking at a small slip of paper that was lying in front of her.
"Not again?" Lily half asked, half cried.
"What else?" Petunia said handing Lily the letter to read for herself.
Lily and Petunia,
We're off to Italy. It seems like it's been ages since the last time we went. The Potters are coming with us, so you two can take the limo over to James's. We're not sure how long we'll be gone, but be expecting us in about a week or so,
Love,
Mom and Dad
"I'll go tell Mike it's off to the Potters," Petunia offered. Lily nodded.
"Yeah, I'll go pack our bags."
!
James was waiting at the front door when they got there.
"They went to Italy the first week of the holidays!" he said as they approached the front door.
"We know," Petunia said.
"Really, I think our parents need therapy. Not only do they think it's ok to leave their kids by themselves for weeks at a time, they're also loosing their memory," Lily said disdainfully as they walked through the familiar entrance hall.
"I'll meet you two in the game room," James said. Lily and Petunia nodded their assent as they walked up the large stairway to the rooms they knew so well.
Lily and Petunia had had to stay at the Potters' manor so many times they even had their own bedrooms; bedrooms that were quite as good as the ones they had at their own manor. In fact, the Potters' manor was very much like their second home, as was the Evans' manor for James. How both families managed to be rich and not work is rather a tale, but to make two long stories short, Lily and Petunia's grandparents on both of their parents' side were more than wealthy, and the Potter name went way back as did their wealth. Anyway back to the story…
After they had put away their things the two girls met up with James, as they had said, in the game room.
"What shall we do today?" James asked, plopping himself into one of the chairs that were spread around the large basement-like area.
"Let's watch a movie!" Lily said while she jumped onto the exceptionally comfy couch.
"You always want to watch a movie," Petunia countered.
"Is there anything wrong with that?" Lily asked from her rather odd position on the couch.
"No, but I think I'm going to go outside," Petunia said looking at her sister as if she were saying 'Am I really related to you?' She then left the room with the pocket-sized notebook you would never find her without and a pen.
"What does she write in that thing?" asked James.
"I dunno, it's like her journal, and I, being such a caring and loving sister, have never read it," Lily said as she changed from one odd position to another.
"I see."
"So, what movie do you wanna watch?"
"I don't care. Actually, I think we've watched all of them," James said.
"Really? Well, damn, that takes all the fun out of watching movies…what am I ever going to do now?" she pondered, more to herself than to James.
"I've got to write a letter," he answered.
"To who?" Lily asked.
"Does it matter? You're not writing a letter to them," James asked.
"I was just asking…" replied Lily.
"What are you doing on that couch anyway?"
"I'm going to choose not to answer that question."
"Aren't you going to do something?" he questioned.
"I suppose I'll go see if I can find a book in your library," Lily said standing up and heading toward the well-known room.
The Potter's library was huge, almost as big as the one at Hogwarts. The difference was you could find both wizarding and muggle books there. Lily had no trouble finding the book she wanted to read, Watership Down by Richard Adams. It was her favorite; she had read it at least five times. Sitting down in an old, worn-out, leather chair, she began to read.
Nearly ten minutes later she found she couldn't concentrate on her book, and so decided to go back to the game room where she assumed James was still at; she knew better than to disturb Petunia when she was writing.
Humming as she entered, she was quite surprised to find him still writing his letter.
"Must be some letter," she said. He jumped a little when she spoke.
"Geez, Lily, don't do that," he said.
"Will you tell me who you're writing to?" she asked, ignoring his plea.
"Fine, I'm writing to Karen," he said absently.
"Karen Meredith?" she asked without hiding her distaste. Karen Meredith was in the same year as Lily and James, but she was in Ravenclaw. Not that there's anything wrong with the house; however, there was something wrong with Karen Meredith. "You're writing to the girl who's slept with half of the guys in our year?"
"If you really must know, then yes, it is Karen Meredith," he answered choosing to ignore her last comment, as it was pretty much true.
"Why are you writing to her? Can she even read?" Lily asked curiously. Strangely, she began to get a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something like…jealousy?
"Yes she can read," he said irritated, "and I'm writing to her to tell her that our relationship isn't working anymore."
"You two were going out?" Lily asked confused, yet oddly relieved. James seemed to surprise her more and more, and they were supposed to be best friends.
"Yes, for the last month of last term," James answered.
"Oh, yeah, I remember seeing you with her a couple of times," she said, "And why are you breaking up with her?"
"I have found she is a little too…much. I mean, I know I said I was going to try and find someone who was less shy than Alicia, but I think I just went from one extreme to the other," he said referring to the girl he had been dating before Karen. There wasn't anything wrong with her. In fact, she was really sweet, but, according to James, she wanted to take things way too slowly. Guys…they are way overestimated…
"I really question your taste in women sometimes, James," Lily said.
"So do I."
"Now that you're finished with your letter will you come do something with me? Please!? I'm sooooo bored," she whined.
"If I must," he said.
"You must," she said grabbing him by the arm.
"Where are we going again?" he asked.
"I have no idea," Lily answered.
"Good, because I do," James said.
"Oh?"
"Let's go swimming!"
"Why didn't I think of that," Lily asked herself out loud.
"Because I'm the genius," replied James.
"You just keep telling yourself that," Lily said while absently patting his arm, "I'll go find Petunia and see if she wants to come."
"Ok, I'm going to get changed." And so they went their separate ways.
It took Lily what seemed like forever to find Petunia. She had been hidden by the largest tree on the Potter's estate (it was a big estate).
"Ainutep, wanna go swimming?" Lily asked using a sort of nickname she and James had come up with at the age of twelve. It drove Petunia crazy.
"Alright," Petunia said halting her writing and standing up.
"Ok, let's hurry then. James has probably already got his swim trunks on," Lily said walking faster towards the huge house before them.
Lily had been quite right. James was waiting for them at the back door.
"Hurry! I'm ready to swim," he said.
"Don't rush me!" Petunia answered.
"Ditto," Lily replied.
After the girls returned in their suits (after much complaining on James's part) they headed down to the lake that was located on the Potters' property.
"I assume you two remember the Potter Lake Swimming Rule?" James asked when they got there. They had laid out their towels and were getting ready to jump into the water.
"A duh," Petunia said putting a hand on her hip.
"If you get pushed in by someone…be sure to get revenge!" the two girls recited in unison. In fact, they sounded a lot like Thumper in Bambi, 'If you can't say anything nice…don't say anything at all.'
"Great rule, isn't it?"
Instead of answering, they pushed him headfirst into the water.
!
They spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, and after that made an attempt at making their own dinner (the Potters' cook had gone on vacation). Finding that they weren't going to succeed in making anything worth eating they went out for a pizza and brought back a movie to watch.
By that time it was close to midnight, but no one was tired in the least.
"Let's play Truth or Dare!" Lily exclaimed.
"Ooh, yeah, let's," Petunia agreed.
"Ok, but the dares have to be worth doing," said James.
"Right, I'll go first," Lily said, "Um…Petunia, truth or dare?"
"Uh…truth," she answered.
"Hmm," Lily said thoughtfully, "Ok, I've got one. Is it true that you are really writing porn in your journal/notebook thingy?"
"Lily, you have such a dirty mind," James said, "Do you have a porn notebook?"
"It's not my truth," she said with a smile.
"No, it's mine, and no, I don't write porn, it's my journal. Therefore it's about my life," Petunia explained.
"So you're saying you've never…" Lily asked suggestively.
"I don't have to answer that," Petunia said with a mysterious grin on her face, "Anyway, it's my turn, so…James, truth or dare?"
"Dare," he said unhesitatingly.
"Dare…hmm…" she thought for a few minutes. Then her eyes lit up with what was obviously an idea.
"Ok, your dare, James, is to find your parents' secret stash of liquor so we can make this game really…interesting," Petunia declared.
"Now that is my kind of dare," James said as he headed off to the kitchen.
!
The rest of the week continued much in much of the same manner (except for the fact that they didn't play truth or dare again…). Swimming, movies, pizza, and the occasional night on the town; Petunia even managed to get them all into a bar one night. Needless to say it was extremely fun, but not anymore so than the previous times they had spent together. Of course, as the week came to a close the fun started to fade, and the problem began to present itself.
The Potters and the Evans were supposed to be returning at the end of July, but July 31st came and went with neither a call nor an appearance. This was rather common behavior from their parents, but when Lily and James received their Hogwarts letters and there was still no sign of their parents, they began to worry.
They couldn't call, no number had been left, no hotel name had been left, nothing had been left; the only thing that the kids knew about where there parents had gone was the name of the country.
The worry continued to rise as the trip to Diagon Alley passed along with the month of August.
"Tomorrow! Tomorrow James and I will have to go to Kings Cross!" Lily said angrily, "They were supposed to be here a month ago!"
"You sound like you're surprised by their behavior, Lily," Petunia said. They were seated in the game room discussing what was to be done about their missing parents; or at least trying to discuss, instead Lily kept pacing the room, denominating the conversation. She was usually the most upset by their parents' trips and tended to get a little over worried.
"I know it's not unusual for them to not tell us they had decided to extend their stay, but what with this new dark lord on the rise, and the Potters being a very important wizarding family…" Lily explained.
"Dark lord?" Petunia asked.
"Yes, but I don't think he's so much of a threat at the moment that he would consider murdering such an esteemed pure-blooded family," James said, rather assuring Petunia that Lily was just being herself.
"Still, I hate it when they do this, it makes me feel like a mother worrying over her children, when it should be the other way around!" Lily complained.
"Tell me about it," Petunia said, "Last December they decided to take a trip to California for a week, and ended up staying a month. When I asked why they didn't call and tell me, they said it 'slipped their minds'. How do their children 'slip their minds'?"
"I wish I knew," James said quietly. "They've missed so many birthdays, and holidays, and special events it's not even funny. Sometimes I wonder how they forget it all."
"Sometimes I wonder how they just drop the responsibility of parenthood on their children," Petunia admitted.
"Sometimes," Lily began, "I really hate them." She said this last part bitterly. Without another word Lily went upstairs to her room and began to do some last minute packing for Hogwarts.
A/n: Did ya like it? Please review, constructional criticism would be great. I've started on the second chapter, but I don't have much time at all to write during the week, so I'll basically be working on this on weekends, but even then I'm really busy, so just bear with me.
Plus, I have begun to write the second part of the HP fanatics and the mystery of Catasra, which is called the HP fanatics and the Prophecy, but that's not up yet. Anyway, I've sort of been working alternately with these two stories, so I'm not making promises about when the next chapter will be out.
Maybe, if I get a lot of reviews I'll be able to get it out fairly quickly.
Speaking of reviews, thank you all soooo much! I'm so glad you like my story!!
NeverendingEcho- I think I sorta have an image of a plot line, but who knows what could happen…
The Light in the Dark- Lily and Petunia know about magic because the Potters decided to tell the Evans because of their very close friendship? Is that good enough?? Lol, j/k, I thought it would be weird if for three years they hadn't noticed anything weird, plus it works well with the story line:)
reese- I will, please keep reviewing
loony loopy lupin- I know, I have trouble with descriptions…sorry, I'll try to work on that, and I love the name
Scarletteyes- I don't like reading the whole first year thingy either...so I didn't put it in! I skipped it right up to 5th year:) I'm glad ya like it, is it really original? Hmm…all my best ideas do come when I'm in the shower…
Quack Quack 88- Thanks, I know what ya mean about those first year fics…I don't ever read 'em, unless they're like really, really good:)
cleo- thanks for reviewing, and I will try to get up the chapters as fast as I can!
Anyway, please keep reviewing!!! They really do make me wanna continue (plus, I get all guilty when I don't get things up as fast as I'd like to…)
Beauty Full