Lily found herself biting her nails, something that she hadn't done in
years, as she sat on her parent's living room sofa with James. Her mother
was out of the room preparing tea and her father was sitting on the sofa
across from them with his head in his hands after a feeble attempt to get
his wife to accept the fact that she was going to be a grandmother.
Lily thought the whole thing was pointless, although she did miss speaking with her mother like she used to. She remembered when she had received her Hogwarts letter. Her mother reacted in almost the same way: she screamed, cried, and shut herself off from the world.
Mr. Evans had always been the one to pull them together in the end. Without him, Lily and her mother would probably always be in a fight. He had been accused of favoring Lily for a long time by his wife and oldest daughter Petunia. They were right though, he had always favored Lily. She was his little girl. She took on all of his characteristics as well as physical appearance, save for her hair which she inherited from her mother.
Petunia never had anything in common with him. She loved fashion and hated sports of all sorts, she had no toleration for differences which is why she had always hated Lily. Lily was different. She was exceptionally smart, pretty, caring, athletic, and she was, in spite of everything her sister said, special.
Petunia entered the room and as soon as she saw who was seated there she turned to leave. She was not going to spend her afternoon trying to get her sister on speaking terms with her mother. After all, she did like getting more attention than Lily, and it seemed that the only time that she really bonded with her mother was when Lily wasn't speaking with her.
"Poppy, come back in here, we could use your assistance," called her father.
Petunia frowned. She hated her nickname that her father always called her by. She had half a mind to just run through the door and get on with her life, but then she heard Lily protesting, saying that she'd rather not have Petunia sit in on this conversation. Against her better judgment, Petunia forced a smile and went to join her sister, brother in law, and father.
James groaned. Why did Petunia have to be here? He never really got properly acquainted with her, but after listening to all of the stories that Lily told him about her, he wasn't sure he wanted to meet her. She sounded horrid and cruel, the total opposite of Lily. He heard Mrs. Evans come through the door again. He heard the clatter as the tea tray hit the table and he opened his eyes.
"Petunia, so nice of you to join us," she smiled.
Petunia smiled back at her, but James could tell that both smiles were fake. Lily straightened up and pulled her head out of her hands, eyes glaring at Petunia with fury. One of her hands moved back toward her pockets. James grabbed her hands and she smiled weakly at him. He couldn't let her do something that she would regret later. They needed to put this whole mess right and magic wasn't exactly the best answer to their problem, at least not yet.
An hour later the tea cups were empty. They had made some progress, not very much, but some. Lily had started a one sided conversation with her mother who was refusing to look at her. Petunia was inspecting her nails and smiling as she watched Lily's face turning red and the rage build up in her eyes.
"...why can't you see that this is right mother?" asked Lily.
James sighed. It was the 7th time that she had said this. He had tried to help by putting in his good word, but Lily hadn't let him. It was probably for the best, he was never good at these types of things.
Mr. Evans sighed and figured it was his time to speak up. "Katherine, I really think you are acting childish about all of this."
Mrs. Evans gave him a glare. Mr. Evans smiled to himself, he had gotten somewhere. "What do you see wrong with this situation, Katherine?"
Again, Mrs. Evans just glared at him. "Ahh...see? You are obviously just holding a stupid jealousy grudge, you can't find anything wrong with it, admit it, you can't find anything wrong."
The smile faded from Petunia's face as she watched her mother start to spill silent tears. "I am sure that mother has her reasons for being upset. We shouldn't have to press them out of her."
"What am I supposed to do then? Just let her be mad at me forever?" Lily screamed throwing her hands up in the air.
Mrs. Evans didn't show any response. James was getting mad. "Why can't you just be happy for us?" James asked.
Lily shot him a look in an attempt to shut him up. "No Lily, I'm not going to give up," said James shocking everyone in the room, "I want my little Rose to have a real family. She has my parents so far as loving grandparents along with Lily's father. She has Sirius, Remus, Peter, Gloria, Amy, and Teresa as aunts and uncles. If you two would like to be part of this picture, you are welcome. If not, Rose can get along without you," James finished.
Lily felt a surge of pride in James. His words had depth and meaning. She tightened her grip on his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder.
Mrs. Evans was now crying freely as images of a laughing red head child filled her head. She loved having children running around the house laughing and smiling. She felt a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. She wanted a grandchild, she had to admit. "I want to be part of the picture."
Lily started to cry and James felt a wave of relief pass over him. Mr. Evans reached out for his wife's hand. "What if she turns out to be one of...one of them?" Petunia snapped trying to change her mother's mind.
"I changed my mind," James said, "you, Petunia dear, can't be in the picture," he snapped.
Lily hit him playfully. "James!" she tried to hide her laugh, but failed miserably.
Petunia stood up. "I don't want to be in the picture," she said heading toward the French doors. She stopped before opening them and added, "I don't want you," she said pointing at Lily and James, "to ruin my picture!"
"Come now Poppy!" her father started before Lily cut in.
"You'll never have a picture!" Lily shouted as she stood up drawing her wand out of her pocket.
"Lily!" James screamed pulling out his own wand. "Accio wand!" her wand flew into James' open hand.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans were on their feet now looking terrified. The French doors slammed shut as Petunia left the room. James sighed a ruffled his hair.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"So, how did it go?" asked Sirius when Lily and James came home later that evening.
James looked over at Lily who had (carefully) flopped down on to the couch and he sighed. "Well her mother is on our side now, but her sister isn't."
"I don't care about Petunia anymore, Rose is better off without her," Lily said firmly.
Sirius sat on the couch by Lily's feet. "You are right, Red, Rose doesn't need a snobby aunt."
James nodded in agreement and decided to change the subject. "So, Sirius, any word from your brother?"
Sirius scowled. "Let's not go there tonight, Prongs."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!
Lily glanced at the clock on her bedside table. She sighed, it was 1:10 am. She hated not being able to fall asleep, but it was worse when she was the only one up as she was now. The house was silent except for the occasional snore from Sirius' room.
She looked over at James and nudged him awake. "Lily, I was sleeping," he mumbled. "What is it?"
Lily sighed. "I can't sleep."
James sighed. This wasn't the first time this had happened. He wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her cheek. "I'll stay up with you," he whispered in her ear.
Lily smiled lovingly at him. "I love you."
James smiled back at her. "I love you too."
Lily rolled onto her side and nuzzled into James who still had his arms around her. James waited until her breathing became slow and deep before he closed his eyes to drift off to sleep.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!
It was the eve of Amy's trial and Amy spent the whole day out with Lily, Gloria, and Teresa. She stopped by St. Mungo's early in the evening to visit her sister Rain, and then invited Remus over after dinner.
Remus was nervous and scared about the next day and what it might bring, but he was determined not to let Amy know. He needed to make her feel happy and cared for. He needed to occupy her mind and chase away all of her fears.
But, nothing can truly fight off all of one's fears.
Instead of being helpful, Remus ended up making Amy even more nervous. She couldn't help it. What if she was charged guilty? Amy had no idea what her sentence was going to be, but it wouldn't be light.
Remus could sense Amy's nervousness. It lingered in the air and made him extremely uncomfortable. They were sitting together on the couch experiencing the meaning of the phrase 'silent as the grave.'
It was not a fun thing to experience.
Remus sighed and looked over at Amy. Her eyes were glazed over and he could tell that her mind was else where. He pulled his hand to her head and began to play with her soft wavy brown hair.
Amy's head twitched as she came back from her thoughts. She gave Remus a small smile as she found herself wishing that tomorrow would never come.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kate paced around the empty hall of her master's house. She had fulfilled her mission, but she had failed to leave her evidence to make Amy guilty. Her master would not be happy with her, she was sure of that. There is always the slim chance that he would be alright with it, after all, it was her first mission. She would just do better next time.
Kate grabbed the handle of the door to the dinner hall with confidence and pulled it open. She drew her cloak tighter around herself as she walked towards her master's chair.
It was an awful shame that he wasn't forgiving.
A strange green light was seen reflecting off of the cars parked in the small neighborhood. Many neighbors came out of their houses looking for someone or something to blame for the strange occurrence.
None were concerned that Kate was now lying on the floor with her eyes shut and hair strewn about her head, no longer able to breath.
All they wanted was someone or something to blame.
A/N- Yeah...so that was chapter 23, a little bit of everything.
Lily thought the whole thing was pointless, although she did miss speaking with her mother like she used to. She remembered when she had received her Hogwarts letter. Her mother reacted in almost the same way: she screamed, cried, and shut herself off from the world.
Mr. Evans had always been the one to pull them together in the end. Without him, Lily and her mother would probably always be in a fight. He had been accused of favoring Lily for a long time by his wife and oldest daughter Petunia. They were right though, he had always favored Lily. She was his little girl. She took on all of his characteristics as well as physical appearance, save for her hair which she inherited from her mother.
Petunia never had anything in common with him. She loved fashion and hated sports of all sorts, she had no toleration for differences which is why she had always hated Lily. Lily was different. She was exceptionally smart, pretty, caring, athletic, and she was, in spite of everything her sister said, special.
Petunia entered the room and as soon as she saw who was seated there she turned to leave. She was not going to spend her afternoon trying to get her sister on speaking terms with her mother. After all, she did like getting more attention than Lily, and it seemed that the only time that she really bonded with her mother was when Lily wasn't speaking with her.
"Poppy, come back in here, we could use your assistance," called her father.
Petunia frowned. She hated her nickname that her father always called her by. She had half a mind to just run through the door and get on with her life, but then she heard Lily protesting, saying that she'd rather not have Petunia sit in on this conversation. Against her better judgment, Petunia forced a smile and went to join her sister, brother in law, and father.
James groaned. Why did Petunia have to be here? He never really got properly acquainted with her, but after listening to all of the stories that Lily told him about her, he wasn't sure he wanted to meet her. She sounded horrid and cruel, the total opposite of Lily. He heard Mrs. Evans come through the door again. He heard the clatter as the tea tray hit the table and he opened his eyes.
"Petunia, so nice of you to join us," she smiled.
Petunia smiled back at her, but James could tell that both smiles were fake. Lily straightened up and pulled her head out of her hands, eyes glaring at Petunia with fury. One of her hands moved back toward her pockets. James grabbed her hands and she smiled weakly at him. He couldn't let her do something that she would regret later. They needed to put this whole mess right and magic wasn't exactly the best answer to their problem, at least not yet.
An hour later the tea cups were empty. They had made some progress, not very much, but some. Lily had started a one sided conversation with her mother who was refusing to look at her. Petunia was inspecting her nails and smiling as she watched Lily's face turning red and the rage build up in her eyes.
"...why can't you see that this is right mother?" asked Lily.
James sighed. It was the 7th time that she had said this. He had tried to help by putting in his good word, but Lily hadn't let him. It was probably for the best, he was never good at these types of things.
Mr. Evans sighed and figured it was his time to speak up. "Katherine, I really think you are acting childish about all of this."
Mrs. Evans gave him a glare. Mr. Evans smiled to himself, he had gotten somewhere. "What do you see wrong with this situation, Katherine?"
Again, Mrs. Evans just glared at him. "Ahh...see? You are obviously just holding a stupid jealousy grudge, you can't find anything wrong with it, admit it, you can't find anything wrong."
The smile faded from Petunia's face as she watched her mother start to spill silent tears. "I am sure that mother has her reasons for being upset. We shouldn't have to press them out of her."
"What am I supposed to do then? Just let her be mad at me forever?" Lily screamed throwing her hands up in the air.
Mrs. Evans didn't show any response. James was getting mad. "Why can't you just be happy for us?" James asked.
Lily shot him a look in an attempt to shut him up. "No Lily, I'm not going to give up," said James shocking everyone in the room, "I want my little Rose to have a real family. She has my parents so far as loving grandparents along with Lily's father. She has Sirius, Remus, Peter, Gloria, Amy, and Teresa as aunts and uncles. If you two would like to be part of this picture, you are welcome. If not, Rose can get along without you," James finished.
Lily felt a surge of pride in James. His words had depth and meaning. She tightened her grip on his hand and leaned her head on his shoulder.
Mrs. Evans was now crying freely as images of a laughing red head child filled her head. She loved having children running around the house laughing and smiling. She felt a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. She wanted a grandchild, she had to admit. "I want to be part of the picture."
Lily started to cry and James felt a wave of relief pass over him. Mr. Evans reached out for his wife's hand. "What if she turns out to be one of...one of them?" Petunia snapped trying to change her mother's mind.
"I changed my mind," James said, "you, Petunia dear, can't be in the picture," he snapped.
Lily hit him playfully. "James!" she tried to hide her laugh, but failed miserably.
Petunia stood up. "I don't want to be in the picture," she said heading toward the French doors. She stopped before opening them and added, "I don't want you," she said pointing at Lily and James, "to ruin my picture!"
"Come now Poppy!" her father started before Lily cut in.
"You'll never have a picture!" Lily shouted as she stood up drawing her wand out of her pocket.
"Lily!" James screamed pulling out his own wand. "Accio wand!" her wand flew into James' open hand.
Mr. and Mrs. Evans were on their feet now looking terrified. The French doors slammed shut as Petunia left the room. James sighed a ruffled his hair.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"So, how did it go?" asked Sirius when Lily and James came home later that evening.
James looked over at Lily who had (carefully) flopped down on to the couch and he sighed. "Well her mother is on our side now, but her sister isn't."
"I don't care about Petunia anymore, Rose is better off without her," Lily said firmly.
Sirius sat on the couch by Lily's feet. "You are right, Red, Rose doesn't need a snobby aunt."
James nodded in agreement and decided to change the subject. "So, Sirius, any word from your brother?"
Sirius scowled. "Let's not go there tonight, Prongs."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!
Lily glanced at the clock on her bedside table. She sighed, it was 1:10 am. She hated not being able to fall asleep, but it was worse when she was the only one up as she was now. The house was silent except for the occasional snore from Sirius' room.
She looked over at James and nudged him awake. "Lily, I was sleeping," he mumbled. "What is it?"
Lily sighed. "I can't sleep."
James sighed. This wasn't the first time this had happened. He wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her cheek. "I'll stay up with you," he whispered in her ear.
Lily smiled lovingly at him. "I love you."
James smiled back at her. "I love you too."
Lily rolled onto her side and nuzzled into James who still had his arms around her. James waited until her breathing became slow and deep before he closed his eyes to drift off to sleep.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!
It was the eve of Amy's trial and Amy spent the whole day out with Lily, Gloria, and Teresa. She stopped by St. Mungo's early in the evening to visit her sister Rain, and then invited Remus over after dinner.
Remus was nervous and scared about the next day and what it might bring, but he was determined not to let Amy know. He needed to make her feel happy and cared for. He needed to occupy her mind and chase away all of her fears.
But, nothing can truly fight off all of one's fears.
Instead of being helpful, Remus ended up making Amy even more nervous. She couldn't help it. What if she was charged guilty? Amy had no idea what her sentence was going to be, but it wouldn't be light.
Remus could sense Amy's nervousness. It lingered in the air and made him extremely uncomfortable. They were sitting together on the couch experiencing the meaning of the phrase 'silent as the grave.'
It was not a fun thing to experience.
Remus sighed and looked over at Amy. Her eyes were glazed over and he could tell that her mind was else where. He pulled his hand to her head and began to play with her soft wavy brown hair.
Amy's head twitched as she came back from her thoughts. She gave Remus a small smile as she found herself wishing that tomorrow would never come.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kate paced around the empty hall of her master's house. She had fulfilled her mission, but she had failed to leave her evidence to make Amy guilty. Her master would not be happy with her, she was sure of that. There is always the slim chance that he would be alright with it, after all, it was her first mission. She would just do better next time.
Kate grabbed the handle of the door to the dinner hall with confidence and pulled it open. She drew her cloak tighter around herself as she walked towards her master's chair.
It was an awful shame that he wasn't forgiving.
A strange green light was seen reflecting off of the cars parked in the small neighborhood. Many neighbors came out of their houses looking for someone or something to blame for the strange occurrence.
None were concerned that Kate was now lying on the floor with her eyes shut and hair strewn about her head, no longer able to breath.
All they wanted was someone or something to blame.
A/N- Yeah...so that was chapter 23, a little bit of everything.