Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do own the character Natalie White.

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Chapter 2

THE WORST DAY

A couple of hours later, Lily was sitting on her bed strumming a guitar. It was her most prized possessions especially with its engraving of an Easter lily on the base. Music always had a calming effect on Lily's mood. At the moment, this little quirk was extremely useful. Earlier, Lily had been sent to her room as punishment for the "little" prank she and Natalie had played on Petunia. When Mr. Evans returned from work, he sat her down and gave his usual speech on how disappointed he was in her and pointed towards the staircase. She climbed with her head held high.

"Lily?" a voice called from outside her window. Lily placed the guitar gently beside its case. Quickly glancing at the partially opened bedroom door, she went to the window and opened it. Across the way, Natalie was sitting on her window sill waving at Lily. That was the great advantage about Lily and Natalie's houses living side-by-side, adjacent bedrooms. The girls would talk and sit at the window on rainy days or when they were in trouble.

" 'Lo" Lily said with a yawn. Natalie tilted her head to the side. "You alright?"

"I will be" Lily sighed

"Did he give the usual?"

"Do you have to ask?"

"Any rain?" Natalie asked worriedly.

"Two drops."

"Ah… Lil"

"I know, but I'm getting better. I'm only eleven. So how long are you in for?" Natalie's face went blank. Lily had never seen that happen before.

"Umm… actually to be quite honest, Mum and Dad said 'Go to your room. We need to talk to the Evans.'"

"What's that about?" Lily asked. Natalie did not reply. Instead, she just shrugged. Lily looked closely at Natalie's face. There was something in the depths of her brown eyes. She's hiding something, but why do I see fear and sadness in her eyes? Before Lily could voice her concerns, the bedroom door was pushed wide open. Mr. And Mrs. Evans were occupying the doorway, looking at Lily with a grave expression.

"Who died?" she blurted out, without thinking.

"Oh, no one sweetie. Your father and I think you have been punished enough" with that comment they left.

"Okay" she muttered slowly. Remembering Natalie, she turned around to find Natalie talking to her parents. Mr. White had a stern look on his face. Lily knew better than to interrupt that conversation so she just closed her window and returned to the bed. She placed her guitar into its case and then placed it under the bed. Lily found her nightgown and went to bed.

The next day was a day in Lily's life that she would never forget. From the moment her eyes fluttered open, the foreboding feeling that was not right was overwhelming. At breakfast, Petunia's cold stare was a quick signal that if the Evans left the house, Lily was fair game. This is not good, Lily thought. No one seemed to notice that she kept her head down for the rest of the meal.

As soon as the dishes were cleared from the table, Lily asked for permission to go to Natalie's house. Let me get out of the house before Petunia tries to kill me. Two minutes later after safely locking her room, Lily was walking up the stairs to Natalie's room.

"Natalie?" Lily called as she knocked on the door. Natalie opened the door with a small smile. With a deep sigh, she looked at Lily, "We need to talk."

The girls walked side-by-side down the stairs and into Natalie's backyard. There was a large dogwood tree on the edge of the White's property. They sat down under the tree and leaned their backs against the tree's trunk. Silence fell upon both of them.

"So," Lily began, "does this have anything to do with our prank yesterday?"

"No, but that was fun."

"How bad is it?"

"Pretty bad. We've always done everything together right? School, free time, and… everything."

"Nattie, don't beat around the bush, just come out and say it" Lily replied tiredly.

"I've got accepted to a private school and I've chosen to go." Natalie stole a glance at Lily. Her face displayed a mixture of emotion that ranged from anger to confusion.

"Is it a good school?' Lily asked after she found her voice.

"I don't know, I think it is" Natalie shrugged.

"What type of school is it?"

"I don't know."

"When do you leave?"

"Sometime in September."

"It's in the middle of July. What's going to happen to us?"

"That's for us to decide."

Lily turned to Natalie and they embraced in a bone crushing hug. Both got up and went to their houses. The rest of the day Lily stayed locked up in her room, wondering how she was going to survive, especially Petunia's wrath, without Natalie.

Things cannot get any worse.