Chapter 2: An Unknown Writer

Summer holiday went as usual. Lily and Chelsea posted each other, but didn't actually get together. Petunia called Lily every foul name in the book, while Lily herself just stayed in her room hoping to avoid an encounter. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, who were used to their two daughters getting along, didn't even notice anything peculiar about the way they were behaving.

Lily went upstairs to her room after breakfast one Saturday, two weeks before her return to Hogwarts, to find three owls sitting on her bed. Two of them she recognized, but the third was new.

Crossing the room, Lily headed straight to the bird she knew was carrying a letter from Chelsea, and snatched the envelope. The other two owls hooted at her for recognition.

Lily turned to them and said, "Now I know that you're from Hogwarts, but who are you from?"

The new owl just hooted again and playfully pecked her finger, while dropping the letter.

Grabbing all three posts, Lily deposited them on her desk. She then picked up a handful of owl treats and distributed them evenly on her bed.

The trio of owls graciously downed the food. As if on cue, they all rose into the air and, with a flurry of feathers, were out the window and gone.

Sighing, Lily picked up the letter from Chelsea and immediately recognized the curly handwriting.

Hey Lils!

Guess what? Mum and dad said that you could stay the rest of the summer at our place! We'll go to Diagon Alley next week to pick up our school supplies; I'm in dire need of a new dress robe! I made prefect this year, aren't you proud? I never expected that to happen since you were the more responsible one out of the two of us. If you can come, I'm picking you up by floo at 7 tonight. If you can't, I'll be there anyway to rescue you from your evil sister and I doubt your parents will get a good first impression of me! See you later.

Love ya lots!

Chel

Forgetting about the other two letters, Lily ran blindly down the narrow staircase to the ground level. When she rounded the corner into the kitchen, she smacked into something hard causing herself to go flying backwards.

"Watch it you prat!" screeched Petunia as she picked herself off of the ground.

'I don't have time for this,' Lily thought. "Sod off Petunia."

If possible, Lily's older sisters face became even more pinched than usual as she glared down at her sisters 5' 7" frame. Petunia brought herself up to her full height (which was a lanky 5' 11") and put on her best "intimidation" face. "I wouldn't talk back if I were you freak."

Pushing past her sister and into the kitchen, Lily approached her parents who were still drinking their morning tea. "Mum, dad, can I visit my friend Chelsea for the rest of the summer holiday?"

Mr. and Mrs. Evans exchanged nervous glances. "I don't know sweetheart. How will you get your new robes and books?" her mom replied.

"And we won't be able to see you until Christmas holiday," her dad added.

Lilly gave an exasperated look at her mom. "Chelsea's parents will take us to Diagon Alley next friday, and dad," she said, giving Mr. Evans the same look his wife got, "I'll be with you for a fortnight during Christmas, so it'll be like making up for the time I don't see you now. Please!?!?"

Her father was the one to cave. "All right, but you're not going anywhere during your next holiday. What time are they picking you up?"

"7 o'clock tonight. Thank you so much!" Lily cheered before running back upstairs, passing an evil glare from Petunia on the way.

Once in her room, Lily started throwing her belongings into her Hogwarts suitcase, including the two remaining letters. Both of which were unopened. By the time she double-checked to make sure she had everything it was already 6:53.

Lily lugged the case down the stairs with a loud plunk as it hit each new step. She then rolled it into the living room. After taking a seat on the couch, Lily glanced at her watch. 6:55.

Before she could even lift her eyes off of her wrist, there was a loud boom and soot flying everywhere. "Bloody floo powder, I hate it," Lily heard Chelsea shout as she stepped out of the fire and into the living room.

"Chel!"

"Lily!"

The two friends ran towards each other and shared a hug. Petunia stood in the doorway and scowled, but refrained from saying anything. Lily's mom rushed into the room as soon as she heard the explosion.

"Oh my goodness is everyone alright?" she asked while getting a quick overview of the room, which was now covered in soot. It was a good thing that Mrs. Evans was not a clean fanatic.

Lily gave a quiet chuckle and turned towards, her now frantic, mom. "Yes mum, we're perfectly fine. This is my best mate Chelsea. Chelsea, this is my mum," she introduced.

Mrs. Evans reached out and shook Chelsea's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Chelsea…?"

"McKennely. Chelsea McKennely," beamed the 5' 4" brunette. "It's nice to meet you too, but right now we really have to go. My parents asked me not to stay too long, because they're making dinner. Lily you go first," she added now facing her friend. "The address is 52 Alanswood Drive."

Lily nodded her head to show she understood and stepped into the fireplace. "Thanks," she muttered as she took a handful of the floo powder her friend handed to her. "52 Alanswood Drive!" she shouted ad was soon passing by bunches of living rooms. Lily was suddenly thrown out and onto a hardwood flooring, her luggage following suit moments later.

"Lilers!" yelled a tall, thin girl with shoulder length pink hair.

"Oh my God Dacota, I love what you did to your hair!" Lily exclaimed. Dacota Riley had a habit of constantly changing her hairstyle and color.

The used-to-be-blonde smiled and said, while fluttering her eyelashes, "Yea well, it brings out the color of my eyes."

"You're so full of it, Cota," Chelsea said as the way of announcing her presence. "You only want to get noticed by Sirius."

Smirking, Dacota turned to face the new arrival. "Well, if you're trying to catch the eye of the one guy in the school whose ego is as big as a blimp and has girls laying down at his feet, you have to do something to stand out in those crowded Hogwarts hallways."

"James might be able to match Sirius in that category," Chelsea chimed in, while sneaking a peek at Lily's reaction.

At the mere mention of his name, Lily's face turned red with anger. Dacota and Chelsea started to giggle but were saved a good yelling by Mrs. McKennely.

"You must be Lily," said the middle-aged woman, who quickly pulled the, still slightly mad, red head into a motherly embrace. "It's so good to finally meet you! I've heard so many good things."

Lily blushed slightly. "I'm rally happy to meet you too, Mrs. McKennely. Thanks for having me over."

Chelsea's mother smiled, "No problem what-so-ever. Now why don't you three step into the kitchen and eat. Dinner's on the table."

The three girls followed each other out of the room and started their two weeks of fun.

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Dacota lightly set down her scissors and cleaned up the red hair surrounding the chair, all the while sniggering. Lily started to wake up, so she quickly muttered the counter-curse that was holding the unconscious girl up in her chair. After setting down her friend, Dacota crawled back in her sleeping bag, awaiting the startled scream. She was rewarded quick enough.

"Ahhhhh!" screeched Lily as she sat up and looked across the room into one of Chelsea's many mirrors.

Chel jumped up from her spot on the ground. "I'm up, I'm up." She spun around to see Lily tugging at her considerably shorter hair. "Lils your hair looks great! but when did you cut it?" she asked now thoroughly confused.

Lily turned on her now smiling friend. "Dacota, how could you?"

"In my defense, if you look in the mirror again, you'll like what you see."

Staggering to get up, Lily reluctantly looked back in the mirror. Instead of long red hair that went down to the middle of her back, it stopped at her shoulders, angled in the front, and had layers. She had to give the girl some credit.

"Ok, fine. Where did you learn to style hair like this?" Lily asked while running her fingers through her hair.

Dacota gave one of her know-it-all smiles (that she mostly reserved for the guys she was seducing) and said, "I took a course in France, love."

Suddenly Mrs. McKennely's voice rang up the stairs and into Chelsea's bedroom. "Come on down you three. It's time to go to Diagon Alley."

There was a mad dash as the girls got dressed and headed down the stairs to the fireplace. Lily made sure to grab her Hogwarts letter and the one she still didn't know whom it was from.

"Diagon Alley!" Chelsea shouted, who was the first to make the trip through the dizzying fire.

Lily and Dacota copied Chelsea and soon all three were standing inside of Flourish and Blotts. "Oh geez, I still didn't open my Hogwarts letter," Lily announced as she pulled out both envelopes.

"Who's the other from?" Cota asked inquisitively.

Frowning, Lily stared at the sloppy handwriting on the front. "I don't know yet. I'll open it later, when we stop for ice cream. Oh, I made Head Girl!"

Dacota just laughed the last comment off. "That's no surprise. Anyway, what do we need for the upcoming year, other than hott guys by our sides?"

"A bunch of books, some potions ingredients, quills, ink, parchment, yada yada yada, and a formal dress."

Chelsea looked confusedly at her friend for a moment before taking the letter away from her. "Why a dress AND dress robes, instead of just the regular dress robes?"

Shrugging, Lily said, "I dunno. There isn't an explanation. But I'm sure we'll find out tomorrow at the feast, but for now…," she paused for emphasis, "we shop!"

"Agreed," both Chelsea and Dacota said at the same time.

A few hours and lots of bags later, the trio made their way over to nearest ice cream parlor. They quickly ordered and took up residency at a nearby table.

It was Chelsea that broke the comfortable silence, which they spent enjoying the cold taste of ice cream. "So Lils, who's that other letter from?"

"I completely forgot!" Lily exclaimed as she dug into her pants pocket, retrieving the envelope. She quickly ripped open the letter and began reading aloud:

Dear Lily,

Hey, how's summer treating you? It's going pretty good over her. I just received my Hogwarts letter and found out I'm Head Boy. I figured you'd be Head Girl, so I decided to write you. Isn't this great? We get to spend more time together this year, and who knows, maybe you'll even grow to like me! I can't wait to see you again.

Yours truly,

James

Lily sat there in silence staring at her two friends. They could see the rage building inside of her emerald-green eyes and just waited for her to let it all out.

"Oh my God, I can't believe he's Head Boy! He wasn't even a prefect. And then he has the nerve to post me and say, 'Who knows, maybe you'll even grow to like me.' I swear, everyday his ego grows bigger. I'm not gonna be like all the other girls that throw themselves at him. Ooo, he's in for a rude awakening once he sees me!" Lily let out in one breath.

Sharing a knowing glance with Dacota, Chelsea said, "I think it's time to take you home. We have to get up early to make it to Platform 9 ¾ on time."

Reluctantly allowing herself to be lead down the street, Lily continually ranted about the "biggest egotistical, wanker this world has ever known;" James Potter.

Pleez R/R. thanx a bunch! (also correct me on spelling errors. they bug the hell outta me)