Sweet Misery
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Lily was digging through her trunk one day in June looking for her Transfiguration book to start her holiday homework.
"Where is it?" Lily asked emptying the trunk. She knew she hadn't taken it out. "Petunia," she muttered. Lily got up and walked down the hall to Petunia's room. She didn't bother to knock and barged right in. She found Petunia sitting on her bed flipping through her transfiguration book.
"Petunia! Give it back!" Lily demanded.
"Interesting read," said Petunia, ignoring Lily. "Know who else might like it? Spike."
Spike was the neighbors' vicious pit bull. That thing would eat any and everything. If anything landed in the pen, it was gone for good. The pen was littered with the remnants of lost toys, from frisbees to footballs.
"No!" Lily shouted lunging for her book. Petunia dodged Lily and ran out of her room. Lily scrambled off Petunia's bed and chased Petunia down the stairs and out the front door.
"Petunia," Lily yelled, "if you don't give me back my book I'll… I'll" Lily searched her mind for a threat better than, 'I'll tell Mum.'
"You'll what?"
"I'll turn you into a toad!"
Petunia skidded to a stop and turned towards her. "You wouldn't…"
"Oh I would Pettie, I would. It's easy. A few small words and POOF! You'll be eating flies for dinner. Suoi dreg fu-"
"Mum!" Petunia dropped Lily's book and ran inside.
"Uh oh," Lily said. She picked up her book and ran towards Remus's house. She took the ladder that was leaning against the side of her house and propped it up against Remus's roof. Once she was on the roof, she kicked the ladder back so it was leaning against her home. She quickly crept across the roof and opened Remus's bedroom window. She crawled in and shut the window behind her. She let out a sigh of relief and plopped down on Remus's bed. A minute or two later Remus walked in with only a bath towel wrapped around his waist. He jumped when he saw Lily.
"Jeez Lily!" he shouted.
"Sorry Remus," she replied repressing laughter.
"Can you go wait downstairs?"
"Sure."
Lily got up and left Remus to get dressed. She took a seat on the couch in the living room. A sudden blur jumped in front of her causing her to scream out in surprise. She looked next to her and saw a boy who looked about ten.
"Ha! Scared you!" he said.
"You sure did, alright," Lily said.
"Are you that girl that Remo writes about in his journal all the time?"
"Excuse me?"
"You are Lily right?"
"Yes."
"So you're Lily."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Chase. Your hair isn't as red as Remo describes it in his journal."
"I don't think you should be reading Remus's journal."
"He doesn't know. What he doesn't know can't hurt him."
"Well I suggest you stop."
"You're different than Gwynn. Gwynn was always more than happy to know what Remus wrote about her."
"Well Gwynn doesn't respect people's private property."
"What he wrote about you was really good!"
"Stop trying to tempt me."
"Remo will never know! He never found out when I told Gwynn!"
"Told Gwynn what?" Remus asked walking down stairs.
"Uh…. Gotta go!" Chase said jumping up and running out the back door.
"Remus, I think you need a new hiding place for your journal," said Lily.
"That little prat!" Remus growled. "What did he tell you?"
"Nothing too bad. Just that you write about me and my hair isn't as red as you described it. I wouldn't let him tell me anything else. Oh, but he did tell me that he used to tell Gwynn everything you wrote about her."
"This school year is going to be horrible."
"He's joining us this year?"
"Yeah."
"Aw, poor Remus." Lily gave him a hug.
"Are you two going to kiss?" Chase asked walking back in.
"Chase!" Remus shouted letting go of Lily and was about to try and kill his little brother but Lily stopped him.
"Let me handle this," she whispered.
"Go ahead!" Remus said throwing his hands up in the air and walking back a few steps.
Lily walked over to Chase and began talking softly to him so that Remus couldn't hear.
"Chase, do you know what kind of disaster you stopped?" Lily asked.
"Huh?" he asked looking at her oddly.
"Yeah! You just saved the world! If you hadn't stopped Remus and I, we would've kissed, ran away together, upsetting the perfect balance of the universe."
"You're weird." Chase rolled his eyes and walked up stairs questioning Lily's sanity.
"What'd you say to him?" Remus asked, never seeing his brother so confused by a person.
"Nothing," Lily replied innocently.
"No way, you had to say something. He's not hyper for once. You're better than Sirius!"
"What about Gwynn?"
"She just gets him all riled up. She encourages that type of behavior, says it makes little brothers so cute. Anyway, if those two get put in the same room together, you can kiss the world good bye."
After a few hours, Lily decided it was time to head home and face the music. She waved good bye to Remus and left out the back door. She hopped over the fence separating their back yards and walked in to the kitchen through the screen door.
"Lillian Rose Evans! Where have you been?!" her mother shouted.
"Nowhere," Lily replied.
"Don't give me that, young lady! Threatening your sister then running off! You're grounded Lillian!"
"Good, I'm glad!" Lily said just to annoy her mother. Lily turned and walked up to her room. She shut her door and laid down on her bed.
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Later that night, Lily woke up to a loud howl. She got up and looked out the window towards the neighbors to see if they had left Spike out but he wasn't there. She heard the howl again and it seemed to be coming from Remus's home. 'I didn't know Remus had a dog…' Lily thought. There was a howl and a yelp this time.
"Can't they keep that bloody mutt quiet?!" Lily heard her father shout. She could hear him walking out of his room and down the stairs. The front door slammed shut. Lily looked out her window and saw her dad walking across the lawn to the Lupin's. Lily shook her head. Her father always had a tendency to over react. She walked back to her bed and crawled under her covers and tried to get back to sleep.
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A week later, Lily was finally un-grounded and able to go outside again. Lily was lying on her front lawn just staring at the sky early one Friday morning (by early I mean 10:00 am. It is summer after all!) when an owl dropped a letter on her stomach and perched on her knees. Lily picked up the letter and opened it.
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Dear Lily,
Hey! How's the summer? Torturing Pettie much? Well, my summer's going pretty well. Earlier this week I duct taped Sirius to his bed then screamed 'fire' in his ear. It was funny watching him struggle. Too bad we can't use magic over the holidays… I knew they made that rule for a reason.
Enough ramblings from me. You free the 30th? If not, TOO BAD! You're coming shopping with Lauren and me. If you dare say you can't make it, I'll kidnap you, throw you in the boot of a car, and drive you to London myself. Scary thought isn't it? Save the world and just say you can come. So, I'll come pick you up around 11:00 okay? Just make sure you're ready and waiting by the fireplace then. Oh yeah, have Pettie in the room around 11:00. I want to give her a good scare. While we're shopping in Diagon Alley, you can buy yourself an owl! I'm sick of not hearing from you for weeks!
Speaking of owls, be careful when sending a reply with Rincewind. He's rather vicious around other people. Try feeding him first.
Cheers!
Gwynn
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Lily looked up from the letter to Gwynn's owl. It didn't look vicious at all. Lily reached out to pet it, but it snapped at her hand. Lily pulled back her hand before it could try that again.
"Um… Rincewind, how about we go inside and get some thing to eat?" she asked still a little surprised from it's attack. The owl hooted with delight and perched itself on her arm. Lily got off the ground and took the owl inside; wondering what owls ate besides mice.
When Lily got to the kitchen, the owl left her arm and perched on a chair. Lily looked around the kitchen for something the owl may like. Lily picked up a piece of toast left out by the toaster. She tore off a corner and handed it to the owl, which gobbled it up greedily. Lily tossed the rest of the toast on to the table and went to find some parchment. Upon returning, Rincewind was on the table feasting on the piece of toast. Lily sat down at the table and began writing the reply to Gwynn.
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Dear Gwynn,
My summer's going fine. About a week ago I told Pettie I'd turn her into a toad, which I ended up getting ground for, along with running off for a few hours. I wish I could've seen Sirius struggle. It sounds very funny. You wouldn't happen to have a picture, would you? Have you heard from Lauren lately? I'd write to her myself, but hey, no owl.
I'm pretty sure I can make it the 30th. If not, come anyway and get me out of here. I need an afternoon away from my family. They're getting on my nerves. Being stuck in a house all day with Pettie is not my idea of a good summer holiday. Save me!
Your owl is a monster. That thing nearly bit my hand off! It only cooperated when I offered it food. Oh and thanks much for telling me what your vicious cold-blooded beast of an owl eats. It's much appreciated.
July 30th can't come soon enough!
Tah for now,
Lils
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"Rincewind, come here," Lily said. The owl ignored her and ruffled its feathers. "Rincewind, come here please. I need you to take this to Gwynn." Lily held up the letter and looked expectantly at Rincewind. Rincewind blinked at her then hopped over to her and held out its leg. Lily tied the letter to its leg and sent it off.
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On July 30th, Lily stood waiting by the fireplace checking her watch almost every five seconds.
"What are you waiting for?" Petunia sneered looking up from the television.
"Gwynn, if you must know," Lily replied annoyed.
"Is she a freak too?"
"She's not a freak."
"She must be if she goes to that horrible school of yours."
"You know, that threat of turning you into a toad still stands."
"You can't even do magic over the holidays."
"Crud, Mum told you."
Petunia smirked and went back to watching television. Lily looked at her watch and saw that it was 10:58. Lily began pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace.
"Quit that!" Petunia snapped. "You're distracting me!"
Lily shot Petunia a glare and continued pacing. She looked at her watch once again. 10:59. Lily walked over and took a seat on the couch. Seconds after she sat down, she was up again. As Lily passed in front of the fireplace, there was a rather loud bang and Gwynn appeared. She quickly moved and dusted herself off. Petunia was staring at her half-amazed and half scared. A few seconds later Lauren appeared with a bang and a cloud of soot.
"Mum!" Petunia shouted running out of the room.
"Hey Lils!" Lauren said getting up and giving Lily a quick hug. Lily dusted the soot off and asked, "Aren't you going to dust yourself off?"
"No, we're going right back through and it makes no sense to dust myself off if I'm just going to get sooty again," Lauren replied.
"Good point," said Lily.
"Ready?" Gwynn asked.
"Yeah," replied Lily and Lauren.
Gwynn pulled out a small pouch and signaled for Lily to light the fireplace. Lily grabbed a box of matches off the mantle and threw two logs into the fireplace before lighting them. Lauren went first. Taking a pinch of floo powder, she threw it into the flames and stepped in.
"Diagon Alley!" she shouted and disappeared up the chimney.
Lily grabbed a pinch of the fine powder and tossed it in.
"Diagon Alley!" With that said, she disappeared.
Gwynn threw some powder into the fire and stepped in. Petunia ran in pulling Mrs. Evans rambling on about the fireplace. Gwynn gave a quick wave before shouting, "Diagon Alley!"
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A/n: Hey, sorry all for the long wait. I've just been busy. You know the usual stuff; movies, laser tag, DDR… all very important stuff. I HIGHLY suggest seeing Pirates of the Caribbean if you have not seen it yet.
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