A/N: I know, this took longer than I promised! Believe me, I've spent
forever trying to get it the way I want it. As a reward for waiting so long
(I guess), this is a really long chapter – the longest I've ever written!
But I have to warn you, I'm far better at emotional scenes than action
scenes – if you have any tips as you read, please pass them along!
Also, I'm including a favorite theory of my friend and I in this chapter. I know that it's probably not the most likely thing in the world, but we're willing to give it a chance. Please don't flame me over it! Just go with it, and remember that this is called FAN fiction for a reason!
I don't own the Harry Potter universe.
Once Defied
"Dana? Liv? Are you home?"
The sounds of giggles met her ears.
"Girls?"
"We're in here!"
"Come quick! You'll want to see this!"
Lily followed the sounds of her friends' giggling into the living room. She smiled as she entered. Dana and Olivia were huddled together on the couch, laughing over pictures.
"What are the pictures?"
"They're from your engagement party," Olivia said, moving over so that Lily could join them on the couch.
"Liv just got them developed," Dana added. "Here, look at this one, it's adorable!"
Lily took the picture from Dana's outstretched hands, and looked down at herself and James. She was laughing uncontrollably while James tickled her. As she watched, James stopped tickling her, and pulled her close for a kiss. She smiled.
"Do you have any that don't involve James and I snogging?"
"Sure, I have some of Dana and Aidan snogging," Olivia replied with a grin.
Dana threw a pillow at her friend. "She has tons of really cute ones," she said. "Here, sit down and look!"
"All right," Lily agreed. "But I only have a few minutes. I need to get home tonight."
"Oh, is this the week of Petunia?" Olivia laughed.
"Yes," Lily replied, wrinkling her nose. "But, as my mother pointed out, you only get married once, and I am her maid of honor, so I owe it to her to be there to help her get ready. Besides, she did agree to be in my wedding, and she was being rather nice to me the last time I saw her."
"She's not going to be afraid of us at the wedding, is she?" Dana asked with a grin.
"I think she'll be all right," Lily smiled. "I was tempted to pair her with Sirius just to be mean – I figured if anyone would get to her, he would. But, she has been really nice about this whole thing, and since James picked Sirius for the best man, I decided to be nice, too. I'm going to pair her with Remus."
Dana gave a shriek of laughter. "You're pairing her with Remus? He's a werewolf, you know! I think that might freak her out!"
Lily looked at her for a moment, then laughed. "You know, I didn't even think about it. I never think of Remus as a werewolf, you know?"
"He's not," Dana replied, sobering. "He's . . . Remus. Just Remus. But, you have to admit, Petunia won't like it."
"Petunia won't know about it," Lily said. "I'm not going to let her find out. I don't know what she'd do if she knew, but I'm sure it would only hurt Remus." She paused. "But, in terms of Petunia's freaked-out level, I think that Remus is the easiest to handle of all of the guys. Peter would be afraid to even look at her, and Sirius would do who knows what to annoy her. This is for the best."
"Peter's changed recently," Dana said quietly. "He's not the same person he used to be."
"None of us are," Olivia said. "We've all changed since graduation. We're growing up. Peter's becoming more assertive – he's starting to step out of James', Sirius', and Remus' shadows. But we're all different now . . . I mean, look at Lily! She's engaged to the man who she hated for years! Nothing stays the same, Dana."
She looked so mournful that Lily reached out to hug her. "Change is good, Liv. If we never changed, I'd still hate James, and I'd be missing out on the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me!"
Olivia smiled. "Get out of her. Go be your sister's maid of honor."
Lily glanced at her watch. "I do need to go. But I want to see these pictures as soon as I get back!"
She darted down the hall to her bedroom, and grabbed her already-packed suitcase. She carried it back into the living room, and gave the girls a smile.
"I'll see you next week, then."
"Here," Olivia said, thrusting the picture of Lily and James back into her hands. "Take this so you'll have James with you."
"He's coming to the wedding with me."
"Yeah, but that means you're going to have a James-free week without it. Take it!"
Lily laughed, and put the picture in her purse. "Thanks, Liv."
"Anytime. We'll see you in a week!"
"Bye, girls!"
Lily hurried out the door, and jumped into the engagement-gift car. Once again, she silently thanked her friends for their thoughtfulness. Without the car, she would have had quite a time getting to her parents' house.
Due in large part to her lead foot, she reached the house before she had told them she would. The only car in the driveway when she arrived was Petunia's. She groaned. How would she be able to deal with her sister without her parents there? She was tempted to drive away and return later, but forced herself to get out of the car. She was Petunia's maid of honor. It was her job to get along with her sister.
She grabbed her overnight bag, and made her way up the front walk. She knocked on the door, and steeled herself for her first meeting with her sister since she and James had shared the news of their engagement.
Lily could hear the click of Petunia's heels against the tile floor as she walked toward the door. A smile flitted across her face. She remembered stomping across the tiles with Petunia as little girls, trying to make their steps sound as loud as possible in their mary janes. Their father had hated the sound, declaring that they were giving him a headache. He eventually realized they weren't going to stop, and told them they sounded like construction workers hammering in nails. The girls had merely giggled at the comparison; it didn't stop their enthusiasm for prancing around the house.
Lily was still smiling at the memory when Petunia opened the door. She looked at Lily in confusion.
"You seem happy," she said by way of greeting.
Lily's smile faltered. "I was just remembering when we were little."
Petunia frowned slightly, and gave Lily a look like she had lost her mind. "Mum and Dad are out," she said, opening the door wider so that Lily could enter. "They'll be home in time for dinner."
Lily nodded as she stepped into the house. "I guess I'll just put my bag in my room, then. What do you need me to do first?"
"I need you to do a recount for me on the RSVPs. I want to make sure I have the right numbers to give the caterer."
Lily nodded. "I'll be back down in a second."
"I'll be in the kitchen," Petunia called as Lily walked up the stairs.
"All right," Lily called over her shoulder.
She entered the room that had been hers since birth, and placed her bag next to her dresser. She sighed, and ran her hand through her hair. This was going to be a long day with Petunia. She tossed her purse on her bed, where it fell open. Several items tumbled out, scattering across her bed.
"Clumsy fool," she muttered to herself, crossing to pick them up. Her eyes widened as they fell on her wand. "Well, there's something that Petunia needs to see," she whispered. She carefully buried it in her purse.
The wand was followed into the bottom of her purse by several sickles and a galleon. She placed her lipstick and compact on top of them. The last thing that she picked up was the picture of James kissing her. She was about to put it in her purse, but, as she watched, James broke the kiss, and winked up at her. She sighed, and placed it on her bedside table. She couldn't hide him from view. So what if Petunia saw it? She'd just have to deal with it.
"Lily! What happened to you up there?"
"Sorry!" Lily yelled. She set her purse down more carefully than she had before, and hurried out of her room, closing the door behind her.
"What took you so long?" Petunia asked crossly as Lily entered the kitchen.
"Sorry," Lily said again. "I dropped my purse, and everything went flying. I wanted to pick it up before I forgot about it. Knowing me, Mum would find everything under my bed ten years from now."
Petunia smiled faintly, knowing that Lily wasn't the most responsible person in the world about picking up after herself. "I've never understood how you could handle being so messy," she said with a shake of her head.
"I've never understood how you could be so neat," Lily countered.
"Does James know what he's getting into with you?"
Lily's breath caught in her throat. They were bantering – they were getting along almost like they had as little girls! Oh, a terrible current swirled around them just under the surface, but this was as close as they had come to a civilized conversation in years. She smiled, trying desperately to hold on to this unexpected moment of pleasantness with her sister.
"I've already told him that he's in charge of all cleaning," she smiled. "He laughed – I don't think he really believed me."
"Show him your room the next time he's here. He'll have to believe you after that."
"But it's clean."
"Yeah, Mum cleaned it for you. But he won't be here for a week. God only knows what you'll have been able to do to it by the end of the week."
Lily made a face at her. "Where are these RSVPs?"
Petunia turned businesslike. "The responses for the chicken are here, the pasta ones are there, and the beef are here. All the negative responses are in this stack here. I have my totals, but I want you to recount them and see if my numbers are right."
"All right," Lily replied.
She went to the task of counting, while Petunia walked out of the room. She had no idea where her sister had gone, but figured that she'd get done faster without her hanging over her shoulder.
She finished counting each stack of RSVP cards, and carefully recorded her totals. She picked up the sheet of paper she had written her numbers on, and went in search of her sister.
"Petunia?" she called. "Where are you?"
She didn't hear a response. Sighing, she wandered through the house, trying to find the bride-to-be. She wasn't in any of the rooms downstairs. Lily walked up the steps, assuming that Petunia was in her room.
She knocked on her sister's door, and pushed it open. The room was empty. Frowning slightly, Lily turned around. It was then that she noticed that her own door was ajar. Her frown deepened. She was certain that she had closed it before she went downstairs.
She moved toward her room, feeling a bit apprehensive. For some reason, Moody's words floated through her head, barking about constant vigilance. Moody wouldn't be very impressed to know that she was about to walk into a room without her wand – particularly when that room's door was now open despite having been closed earlier. She peered into the room, trying to see if it was safe before walking all the way in. Before training to join the Order, she would never have thought to be so careful in her parents' house. Now, it was second nature.
She sighed, and entered the room fully. "Petunia, what are you doing in here?"
"What's this?"
Lily looked at the object in Petunia's hands, and recognized the picture she had placed on her nightstand. "That's a picture of James and I. My friend Olivia took it at our engagement party. You know, the party you didn't attend." She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. Her parents had come. Why hadn't she?
"Oh," Petunia said softly. She didn't offer any explanation for not being at the party. After so many years of hating Lily for what she was, an explanation didn't seem necessary. "It's true, then – the pictures really do move?"
Lily stared at her. Petunia had remembered the comment from so long ago? Lily had told her family about the moving pictures during her first time home from Hogwarts. At the time, Petunia had scoffed, refusing to believe that it was possible.
"Yes," Lily said slowly.
"How does it work?"
Lily was sure she could have been knocked over with a feather. "Magic," she said simply.
Petunia flinched, and put the picture back on the table. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I can't – We have work to do."
Lily nodded, and followed her sister back down the stairs. What had just happened? It was as though the barriers had been lowered for a brief time. However, when they returned to the kitchen, Lily could see that the barriers were firmly back in place.
"Your totals don't match mine," Petunia said, frowning as she looked at the paper Lily had left on the table. "Count them again."
"But what if you were off?"
"I said to count them again!"
The rest of the week followed a similar pattern. Petunia would be pleasant to Lily for short spans of time, then would fall back to the behavior that had become second nature during the past eight years.
The day before the wedding, Lily pulled herself out of bed, preparing for a day of near-chaos as they finished their final preparations for the next day. She wasn't exactly looking forward to it. She spent as much time as she dared in the shower, then dressed, and went downstairs to help her mother with breakfast.
Petunia walked in while Lily and Mrs. Evans were still cooking. "Good morning," she said. She ran her hand through her hair. "I hope you aren't making a big breakfast. We have a lot to do today. Lily, we have a dress fitting at ten."
"I know," Lily replied. "We'll be ready in time. I promise."
Petunia nodded. "What are you making?"
"At the moment, eggs," Mrs. Evans replied. "We have some bacon, too, and Lily's making toast."
"How does it feel to know that Mum only trusts you with toast?" Petunia smiled.
"Oh, funny. I didn't see her giving you anything to do."
Petunia opened her mouth to reply, but found herself shrieking instead. Mrs. Evans and Lily both jumped.
"What is it?" Mrs. Evans exclaimed.
"Petunia!" Lily cried.
Petunia pointed at Owl, who had just flown through the open window. Her eyes were open wide, and she seemed to have lost the power of speech.
"Owl!" Lily cried, moving to take the letter he was carrying.
"He's just bringing the mail, sweetie," Mrs. Evans soothed.
Petunia gave another little shriek, and ran from the room. Mrs. Evans watched her go with a sigh.
"Why does she always have to be so melodramatic?" Lily exclaimed. "Everything always has to be a production with her!"
"Oh, Lily."
"Really, Mother! Have you seen the way she's been with me?"
"She is trying, you know," Mrs. Evans replied. "She wants the two of you to have the relationship you used to."
"I don't think we can have the same relationship anymore, Mummy," Lily said softly. "We were little girls when we were friends. Even under the best circumstances, our relationship would have changed as we grew older. But, with everything that's happened . . . I don't know. It's been so long, Mum. I don't know if we can fix it anymore."
"Try, Lily." Mrs. Evans put down the knife she had been using, and grabbed her daughter's hands. "Try to move past everything that's happened. Try to forgive the harsh words. Try to understand what it's been like for Petunia. You can't understand all that she's endured . . ."
"All that SHE'S endured?" Lily cried. "She's been nothing but horrible to me ever since I got my Hogwarts letter! And you saw what happened just now when Owl flew in! I can't deny what I am to make her happy, Mum. I want us to have the type of relationship we used to, and I've tried so hard for so long to be a good sister, but it hasn't worked. If she had just been willing to bend even a little, it would have been different, but as it is –"
"She's trying now," Mrs. Evans interrupted. "She's trying now, and if you were even a third of the good person you're proclaiming yourself to be, you'd meet her halfway."
Lily was successfully silenced. She looked back down at the dishes she had been taking from the cupboard. Her mother was right. The brief periods that were reminiscent of their childhood good relations should have shown her how willing Petunia was to fix what had gone wrong between them. For some reason, Remus and Laura appeared at the forefront of her thoughts. If they could fight their way back from all the obstacles they had overcome, surely she and Petunia could find their way back to speaking terms. She sighed, and mentally resolved to try harder to understand her sister – to comprehend whatever it was that her mother was so sure she had "endured" during the time Lily had been at Hogwarts.
Petunia had made a great effort to put the mail delivery behind her over the course of the day. She and Lily had got along fairly well, going together for their final dress fitting, and cleaning the already-spotless house. Although the wedding would take place at their church, the reception would be at the house, which had thrown the entire family into far more turmoil than should have been necessary. Lily instantly made up her mind to find a hall for her reception. She'd have to tell James that when he arrived the next morning. She was sure he'd agree.
As they scrubbed the kitchen cupboards together, Petunia cast a glance at Lily. She stared long enough that Lily looked up at her.
"Not clean enough for you?" she asked.
Petunia shook her head. "It's not that. It's just – I was thinking about what you said when you got here. You said something about a memory from when we were little. What was the memory?"
Lily frowned for a moment, then a smile spread across her face. "I could hear your shoes clicking as you walked toward the door. It made me think of us stomping across the floor when we were little."
Petunia smiled as well. "We would put on our dress shoes, and try to be as loud as possible."
"Yes!" Lily laughed. "Do you remember how Daddy hated it?"
"Do you remember the time he threatened to send all our dress shoes to starving orphans in China?" Petunia laughed.
"Do you remember Mummy's face when he said that?" Lily laughed.
"She started yelling that our shoes were expensive, and if he didn't like the way we wore them, he could hide them from us, but there was no way he was giving them away."
"And every time he tried to hide them –"
"We found them!"
Both girls started laughing uncontrollably, leaning on the counters to support themselves. Their mother, who was walking past, stopped to watch them, a soft smile spreading across her face. Her girls were finally getting along again.
"Petunia," Lily said when they had calmed down, "can I ask you a question?"
"I suppose."
"This morning, Mummy and I were talking, and she said something about you enduring hardship while I was away at school." She paused, and drew a deep breath. "I know we haven't been close since I went away, and I'm willing to take partial responsibility for that, but if something happened to you, I'd like to know what it was. I mean, if you're willing to confide in me, I'm willing to listen."
Petunia looked at her for a moment, her eyes widening in surprise. "You mean you don't know?"
"Obviously not," Lily said, trying to keep her tone light.
"They really haven't told you?"
"Would I ask you if I knew?"
"I'm just surprised – I mean, I assumed they would have told you after you got your letter."
"Petunia, you're not making sense." Lily's agitation was becoming evident.
"Well, I thought they would have told you that they're –"
"Petunia," Mrs. Evans said, entering the kitchen, "did you call the florist to make sure everything's all right with your flowers?"
"No!" Petunia yelled. She dropped her sponge, and hurried to the living room to pick up the telephone.
Lily turned to her mother, her expression accusatory. "What don't you want me to know?"
"What do you mean?"
"Stop it, Mother. There's some big family secret, and Petunia was about to spill it before you stopped her."
"Petunia gossips too much. She doesn't know when to keep quiet."
"Well, in this case, I think she's completely justified! What are you keeping from me? Obviously, I'm the only one in the family who's out of the loop! What is this all about?"
"Lily . . ."
"Don't try to placate me! I want the truth, Mum!"
The door opened, and Mr. Evans walked in. "Hello, my lovelies!" He bent down to kiss his wife's lips and the top of Lily's head. "How are we doing now that we've reached the twenty-four hour mark?" He looked between them, and took in the frightened expression on his wife's face, and the determined expression on Lily's. "All right, ladies, what is going on?"
"Mum is keeping something from me," Lily said angrily. "Petunia tried to tell me, but Mum stopped her. I want to know what everyone else already does. Out with it, Dad. What's this family secret that everyone but me is in on?"
Mr. Evans looked at his wife. A silent message passed between them, and they both nodded slightly.
"Sit down, Lily," Mr. Evans said wearily, indicating the chairs at the kitchen table. "We'll tell you everything."
Lily obediently took her seat, and waited for her parents to sit down. They looked at one another again, and Mr. Evans reached out to take her hand.
"Your Hogwarts letter was a surprise for you, wasn't it?"
"Yes, of course," Lily said, frowning in confusion. "We had never heard of Hogwarts, or of magic outside of card tricks. Why wouldn't we be surprised?"
"The thing is, Lily, your mother and I weren't surprised. We had been expecting you to receive a letter. We had seen your magic for years. We had watched you refine some of your skills before you even went to school, before you even knew what you were doing."
"But how?" Lily asked, shaking her head as though to clear it. "How could you have known? I didn't even know what I was doing. How could you?"
"Because we had seen magic before," Mrs. Evans said softly. "I told you once, a long time ago, that I knew how Petunia felt. I told you that I understood what it was to be different from your sibling. That was true." She paused, and drew a shaky breath. "I'm a Squib, Lily. So is your father."
Lily fell back in her chair, her hands flying to her face as though she had been hit. "What?"
"We're both Squibs," Mr. Evans affirmed. "Neither of our families are pureblood, but we're the first Squibs in several generations."
"You never told me."
"No, we didn't want you to know. We didn't want you girls to even have to think about magic. It had caused us so much pain, and so many problems for so long . . ."
"But I'm a witch!" Lily screamed. "Didn't it occur to you when I got my Hogwarts letter that I might want to know?"
"We were so proud of you," Mr. Evans said fondly. "You were restoring some respectability to our family in the eyes of our relatives – but we wanted to keep you away from that. We didn't want you to have to worry about what everyone thought of you."
"But you always told us that you didn't have any living relatives," Lily said, still shaking her head.
"Well, that's true now," Mrs. Evans said. "My sister died several weeks ago, and your father was an only child. All our other relatives died at one point or another over the course of your lifetime. But, before, when you and Petunia were little, we didn't want you to know our families. We didn't want to expose you to magic, knowing very well that the chances of either of you being magical were slim to none. Then, when we recognized your magic, we tried to hide it from Petunia."
"She was more observant than we would have thought," Mr. Evans said calmly. "We you were about seven, she started asking us about the odd things you could do. She had finally realized that they were out of the ordinary, rather than just 'Lily.' She wanted to know what was going on. We had to tell her the truth – that you were a witch."
"Since you hadn't received a Hogwarts letter yet, we didn't know for sure," Mrs. Evans said. "We told her that, too. She didn't want you to be magical. She didn't want you to be different. So she pretended that it wasn't going to happen, and things stayed pretty much the same between the two of you."
"Then I got my letter," Lily whispered.
"Yes, then you got your letter."
All three heads snapped up, and turned to Petunia, who had appeared in the doorway. She was leaning against the doorframe, her eyes narrowed into a glare.
"Mum and Dad told me all about the magical world – the world that had shunned them," she said venomously. "They weren't accepted by their families because of what they were, and, if you ask me, we were better off without those people. We didn't need people like that in our lives!"
"People like me?" Lily asked. "People like James?"
"People with freakish tendencies!" Petunia shrieked. "But everyone was so proud of you – you didn't know about all the cards and letters that came in, celebrating your 'good fortune' at being accepted into that freak school! You didn't know –"
"How left out you felt?" Lily interrupted quietly. "How you would have given anything for your own Hogwarts letter?"
Petunia flinched as though Lily had slapped her. She stared at her for a long moment, then ran out of the room.
"Lily," Mrs. Evans said.
"It's true, isn't it? She had known all about this world, and she probably expected that if I was a witch, maybe she was, too. THAT'S why she's been so awful to me. She was jealous! She wanted what I had!"
"Awfully self-centered, aren't you?" Mr. Evans said, trying to smile.
"Maybe I am," Lily replied. "But maybe I'm right."
"Why don't you go talk to her, Lily?" Mrs. Evan suggested.
"Not right now," Lily replied. "I will later. We need to fix this by tomorrow morning."
"Petunia?" Lily knocked on her sister's door for the third time. "I know you're in there, Petunia. I would have seen you leave the house. Just open the door so we can talk. Please, I don't want to let this ruin your wedding."
The door opened, and Petunia glared at Lily. "Are you going to curse me if I don't let you in?"
"Don't be silly. I'd never curse . . . How did you know that term?"
"I know more than you'd imagine."
Lily sighed. "Are you going to let me in so we can talk about this?"
Petunia nodded reluctantly, and stepped aside to let Lily enter her room. She sat down at her desk chair. Sighing, Lily lowered herself onto the bed.
"What do you want to say?" Petunia asked.
"It's more what you'd like to say," Lily replied. "I want you to tell me everything you know about magic."
"I know that it exists. I know that there are spells, hexes, and curses. I know that the pictures move. I know that some wizards are more powerful than others. I know that there is an evil man who's trying to kill everyone like Mum and Dad – and like me, I suppose. I know that you received a letter, and disappeared off to some school that no one can find on a map." All this was said with her eyes narrowed, glaring at Lily.
"Petunia," Lily sighed, holding out her hand.
Petunia shook her head, and her eyes softened. "I know that Mum and Dad were thrilled when you got your letter. I know that they had been shunned by their families because they aren't what you are. I know that they called the wizarding world home for their entire lives until they got married and decided to leave it all behind so that their children wouldn't have to grow up knowing that they couldn't live up to their family's expectations." She lowered her head. "I know that you've always managed to exceed those expectations. I know that part of me always hoped that it wasn't really real."
"It IS real," Lily said softly.
"I know. I saw that picture in your room." She sighed. "Lily, this is something that I can never be or do. It's something that I don't want to have to think about. I'm getting married tomorrow. I'm going to start my life with Vernon. I don't want to have to think about the things I can't do. I want to concentrate on the things that I CAN do."
"And you will," Lily said passionately. "You're going to be a wonderful wife to Vernon, Petunia. You're going to have everything you've wanted."
"But there's always going to be you," Petunia said softly. "There's always going to be you in the background, reminding me, and Mum and Dad, of what we can never been."
"Why can't you focus on the good things?" Lily asked. "You're so worried about me being a reminder of all that you can't do. Think of the relationship that we could have if you'd stop thinking about the differences between us. We could be friends again, Petunia. Maybe – maybe we could even go back to being sisters."
Petunia drew a shaky breath. "I'd like that, Lil."
"So would I."
Both girls reached across the distance between them to clasp hands. They smiled at one another through teary eyes.
"It's not going to be easy for me," Petunia cautioned.
"Nor for me," Lily replied. "But I'm willing to try. Are you?"
"Yes."
"Then I think we're halfway there."
"Is this the right house?"
"Yeah, that's the one. Thanks for driving me, Dad."
"You're sure you don't need me to pick you up tomorrow?"
"I'm sure. Lily can take me back to London."
"All right. Well, have fun, James. And remember to be polite!"
James laughed as he climbed out of the car. "Thanks, Dad. I'll see you later."
"James!" Lily ran down the front lawn, her red hair flying out behind her. She flung herself into James' arms, clinging to him as though she would never let go.
"Miss me?" James teased.
"More than you can ever dream," Lily whispered. "We really need to talk."
"All right. Do we have time now?"
"A bit. Petunia and I have a hair appointment at noon."
James glanced at his watch. "We have two hours."
"That's enough time. Come on inside. Everyone wants to say hello."
James nodded, and allowed Lily to lead him into the house. She was still clutching his hand. He held hers tightly, hoping to reassure her. He had no idea what had happened to her in the last week, but knew that it didn't seem good. She was never this clingy around other people – and certainly never around her parents.
"James!"
James smiled, and released Lily's hand to shake her father's. "Hello, Mr. Evans. How are you holding up?"
"You wait until it's your daughter who's getting married, and then I'll let you ask me that," Mr. Evans grinned. "Until then, you have no idea what you're asking!"
James laughed with him. "I'll just keep my questions to myself, then."
"Hello, James."
"Hi, Mrs. Evans," James said, taking her hand. "How are you?"
"Oh, a bit flustered," she smiled. "I think Petunia's upstairs if you want to say hello to her."
"Yes, I'll take you," Lily said eagerly.
James raised an eyebrow, but Lily only shook her head. She led him upstairs, and tapped on a closed door.
"Petunia?"
"It's not time to leave yet, is it?" Petunia flung the door open, panic written clearly on her face.
"No, no, I just wanted to let you know that James is here."
"Oh." Petunia's face visibly relaxed. "Hello, James."
"Hi," James replied a bit cautiously.
"Thanks for coming for my wedding," Petunia continued. "I know that it means a lot to Lily."
James raised his eyebrows again. "No problem. I'd do anything for Lily – and her family."
Petunia smiled briefly. "I don't mean to be rude, but I do have quite a few things to do . . ."
"Oh, no, go get ready. We can talk later, I'm sure."
Petunia nodded, and disappeared into her room. Lily took James' hand again, and pulled him down the hall to her room. Once they were inside, she shut the door behind them. James looked at her in complete confusion. Lily always wanted to be very proper and reserved when they were together around their family. What had happened?
"Lil, what's wrong?" James asked gently, taking both her hands in his. "You're a wreck. What happened this week?"
Lily drew a deep breath. "Are you ready for this?"
"I guess."
"My parents are Squibs," she said without preamble.
James' eyes widened in surprise. "Squibs?"
"Yes. They're Squibs. They didn't tell me until yesterday. They would have kept on with the secret forever, I think, but Petunia almost told me. My mother stopped her, but I pretty much forced her and Dad to tell me. They both came from wizarding families – not pureblood – but they're the first Squibs in generations."
James pulled Lily over to her bed, and sat down with her. "Why didn't they tell you before?"
"When we were little, they didn't want Petunia and I to know about magic. They didn't want us to be disappointed like they were. But they could tell that I was a witch for several years before I got my Hogwarts letter."
James nodded. "You would have shown signs of magic, and if they knew what they were looking for . . ."
"Exactly. They didn't say anything then because they still didn't want me to be disappointed if they were wrong."
James shook his head. "But what about after you got your letter?"
"They said the entire family – a family that I didn't know existed – was thrilled for me. My parents didn't want me to have the pressure of a bunch of relatives I didn't even know I had watching my every move. I guess I AM glad about that – it would have made me terribly nervous."
"And you handled that pretty well on your own," James said with a teasing smile.
Lily looked at him reproachfully. "Can't you be serious for ten minutes?"
"I'm sorry, Lily. I'm not trying to make light of the situation."
"It's all right." She ran her hand through her hair distractedly. "This is all so new, and so incredibly strange, that I don't really know what to do with it yet."
"Wait a minute. You said that Petunia was going to tell you about this. She knew?"
Lily nodded. "She had noticed my magic, too, but she didn't know what it was. She asked my parents about it, and they told her everything. She didn't want me to be a witch, because she didn't want me to be different from everyone else."
"So that's why she's been so awful to you?"
"Well, I think that it's more than just that. I think she's been jealous of me for all these years."
James let out a breath. "This is crazy, Lil."
"Yeah, I know. It's like I've never really known my family."
"But do you think any less of them?"
"Of course not! My parents were just trying to do what they thought was right. And if I had been like Petunia, all that they did to keep the magical world a secret probably would have been for the best. But I'm different. I ruined their plan."
"Your parents are proud of you, Lil."
"Oh, I know! And they've been wonderful and supportive for my entire life. I can't fault them, James. I just wish I could have known sooner."
"Come here," James said, pulling her close. "You have wonderful parents, and you almost seem to be getting along with your sister. What do you have to complain about?"
Lily smiled. "Nothing, I guess."
"What's going on with you and Petunia, anyway?"
"We had a long talk last night. We decided to try to look past our differences. We're going to try being sisters again."
James smiled at the smile that broke out on her face as she told him. "Good."
"I think so." She sighed. "I wish Petunia and I had had that conversation years ago."
"Don't worry about what has happened. Worry about what will happen."
Lily smiled. "It's going to be great, James. Everything's really working out now."
Lily and Petunia were on time for their hair appointment, and returned to the house to get ready with plenty of time before they had to be at the church. Their mother joined them in Petunia's room, where the three women tried their hardest to convince one another that they were calm. Lily had just finished putting on her own dress when Petunia turned her back to her.
"Can you please zip me?"
"Sure," Lily replied, smiling. Apparently, Petunia was taking their "sister pact" seriously. Even a week ago, she would have turned to her mother first.
Mrs. Evans came up behind them with Petunia's veil draped over her arm. "Are you ready for this?"
Petunia drew a deep breath. "This is it," she whispered. "I'm really getting married."
"If you aren't, you just put this family through quite a bit of stress over nothing," Mrs. Evans replied, her light words contrasting sharply with the tears that were standing in her eyes.
"Ladies! The photographer is here!" Mr. Evans called.
"Just a minute!" Lily yelled, realizing that her mother and sister were incapable of speech. They were both caught up in the moment of Mrs. Evans arranging her daughter's veil.
Once the veil was in place, Mrs. Evans leaned over to kiss Petunia's cheek. "You're a beautiful bride, Petunia."
Lily had to agree. While she had never thought of her sister as being overly attractive, she did look lovely today. Perhaps it was because this was the first time Lily could remember in years that Petunia actually looked happy.
Mrs. Evans turned to Lily with a smile. "And just think, in a few more months, I'll be doing this for you!"
Lily grinned. "I can't wait, Mummy."
"No, I'm sure you can't."
"Ladies!"
"Coming!" Petunia called. "Let's go before that photographer decides to leave."
They made it through the pictures at the house without incident, and left for the church. When they arrived, quite a few people were already seated. Petunia's eyes widened.
"I can't let anyone see me!"
"Let me show you to the bridal room."
Petunia nearly jumped out of her skin as Father O'Leary, the man who had given both girls their First Communion, appeared beside her. He smiled at her reaction.
"I was afraid that you'd be a nervous bride," he chuckled. "Come on, let's go this way."
"We've gone to this church all our lives, and I never knew there was a bridal room," Lily commented as they followed the priest down a hall.
"Well, you've never needed it before," Fr. O'Leary smiled. "Here you are, ladies. One of the altar boys will come and get you when it's time to begin. Do you want me to send your parents back?"
"In a moment," Petunia replied.
The priest nodded, and left them alone. Petunia turned to Lily.
"Lil, I want to thank you."
Lily's eyes widened. "For being such a cause of grief in your life for the past eight years?"
"No, for being my sister." She drew a deep breath. Apologies never came easily for Petunia. "Ever since you got your letter, I've been awful to you. I haven't been your sister in the past eight years. But you never gave up on me – all that you've done this week to help me proves that. I'm sorry for all that I've done to you, Lily. I don't deserve all your kindness."
Lily blinked back tears. "You're my sister, Petunia. You know that I forgive you."
A tear slid down Petunia's cheek. "Thank you," she whispered.
Then Petunia did something that Lily could barely remember her ever doing before. She closed the distance between them, and pulled Lily into a hug. Lily hugged her back, feeling like everything in her life was truly falling into place.
"No tears!" Mrs. Evans exclaimed as she entered the room. Even as the words escaped her mouth, she could feel her own tears forming at the sight of her girls hugging. "You're both going to ruin your make up!"
Lily and Petunia broke apart, both laughing as they wiped at their eyes.
A soft knock sounded on the door, and a small boy opened it far enough to stick his head into the room. "It's time to begin the ceremony."
"Thank you," Petunia smiled. She looked at her mother and sister, her eyes lighting up. "I'm getting married!"
"That was a beautiful ceremony," James said as he and Lily drove back to the Evans' house.
"It was, wasn't it? Petunia looked beautiful."
James grinned. "I think that you outshone her by far."
Lily laughed. "You have to say that."
James grinned again. "Why don't you get to ride in the limo?"
"Mum and Dad said that Petunia deserved some alone time. I don't know why; they have the rest of their lives to be alone together. But, you weren't in the wedding, so you wouldn't be allowed to ride in the limo with me, so it's better this way."
James grinned. "I'm glad that we get our own alone time." He leaned across to kiss her neck.
"I AM driving, you know! Do you want me to crash this car?"
James laughed. "Just promise me one thing."
"Anything."
"You'll spend the night at my place tomorrow."
Lily flushed. "All right."
"Good. Then I'll be good now."
Lily laughed. "You really do have a one-track mind, don't you?"
James laughed. "You think so little of me."
The party was already going on when they arrived at the house. Lily had to park down the street. She and James walked to the house hand in hand.
"Listen," Lily said quickly. "Most of these people are either Vernon's family or friends of someone. My parents have told anyone who asked that I'm in journalism, but haven't found a job yet, and that you're starting out in politics."
"Well, that's almost true."
"But not true enough that I wanted to make sure that you had the story."
"Got it. I'll be as Muggle as I can be."
Lily cast a sidelong glance at him. "That's what worries me."
The party was fun. Even James had to admit that a Muggle wedding was just as much fun as a wizard wedding. He and Lily had agreed to have a Muggle wedding to make her parents happy. As long as they were married in a Catholic church, his parents would be happy, so that was fine with him. He found himself paying close attention to the little details of Petunia's wedding, knowing that his mother would want to know what to expect with his.
Things were beginning to wind down when it happened. About thirty people were still in the yard. James was dancing with Lily, holding her close as they swayed to a slow song. Suddenly, they both shivered as a cold draft filled the air.
"Why is it cold?" Lily asked.
James tensed immediately. "Stop the music."
"Why?"
"Stop the music."
"James, what's going on? I'm –"
A long, rattling sound filled the yard. Lily's eyes widened in fear.
"Oh, God, no. Please no," James whispered.
"Lily!" Petunia ran across the yard. "What's going on? What is that?"
"James?" Lily asked again. "Is that --?"
"It's a dementor," James confirmed. "I don't know what on earth it's doing here! They're all supposed to be guarding Azkaban!"
"The wizard prison?" Lily asked, fighting back the painful memories that were flooding her mind. Why had Kathleen had to die?
"Yes," James said, blinking furiously as two dementors glided into sight. "Where's your wand, Lil?" How could they have killed his little cousins?
"In my purse." They had printed her death in the Daily Prophet . . . Sirius had shown the story to her . . .
"Get it now!" James grabbed his own wand, pulling it from his pocket. He was going to marry Lily. She had said yes. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Lily ran for her purse, trying desperately to summon a happy thought. She fumbled for her wand, and finally grabbed it. She thought of James kissing her for the first time. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Their Patronuses erupted from their wands, charging down the dementors. People all around them were shrieking, trying to run and stumbling. In all the chaos, James and Lily didn't even notice the pops and cracks of others Apparating into the yard.
"LILY, LOOK OUT!"
Lily turned to her left, and ducked just before a jet of red light passed over her head. James would never try to curse her. That meant . . .
"LIL! ON YOUR RIGHT!"
Lily managed to avoid another jet of light, this one green, and turned to her right just as a Death Eater prepared to send another curse at her.
"Stupefy!" she yelled.
The spell hit the Death Eater, and he fell to the ground. Lily ran across the yard to James.
"What the bloody hell is going on?"
"I wish I knew!" James yelled. "Why would they attack here?"
"Why would they attack anywhere?"
James nodded slightly. He glanced over Lily's shoulder. "Duck left," he whispered urgently.
Lily moved, and James brought his wand up, stunning another Death Eater. He hit the ground with a sickening thud.
"How many are there?"
"I don't have a clue."
"We need the others."
"I know. I just don't know –"James cut himself off, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a mirror.
"James, this is not the time to check your hair!" Lily shrieked as a curse hit one of Vernon's friends, sending her to the ground. She shrieked in pain. "They're using Unforgivable Curses!"
James held the mirror in front of his face. "Sirius Black!" he bellowed.
To Lily's amazement, Sirius' face appeared in the mirror. "James?"
"Sirius, we're being attacked by Death Eaters! Get to Lily's parents house NOW!"
"I'll get the others," Sirius said, his face a mix of shock, horror, and determination. He disappeared from the mirror.
"What is that?" Lily exclaimed.
"Do you really want an explanation now?"
Lily responded by charging across the yard to hex the Death Eater who was about to curse Vernon. James turned, and began a battle with the nearest Death Eater.
James and Lily managed to hold them off, but they didn't know how long they'd be able to keep it up. They were both quickly becoming exhausted, working through adrenaline.
"LILY! HELP!"
Lily and James both turned to see a Death Eater with his wand pointed a Petunia. Lily gasped, and ran across the yard.
"STUPEFY!"
The Death Eater fell, but Petunia shrieked again.
"Petunia, you're safe," Lily said.
"No," Petunia gasped. Her hands were covering her face.
Lily whirled around to see where she was looking, and saw her father lying on the ground. She ran to him, and fell to her knees by his side.
"No, no, Daddy, you're not . . . you're fine . . . you're . . ."
Even as she fought the truth, she knew it. The open eyes and mouth, the surprised expression – they said it all. Her father was gone.
"Lily, look out!"
Before she even had time to think, a jet of green light shot at her. She gasped, and threw herself flat on top of her father. The Killing Curse hit the tree behind her, causing it to wilt instantly.
Then, quite suddenly, the hexes stopped. The Death Eaters who were still standing became completely still. Lily breathed a sigh of relief as she raised her head. Help had arrived.
"I sent you into a Muggle neighborhood to deal with Muggles, Squibs, and Mudbloods, and THIS is what I see? One wizard and one Mudblood have managed to practically drive you home again! This is not what I expect from my Death Eaters."
Lily pulled herself to her feet, and inched closer to James. Lord Voldemort stood taller than any of them, staring at them with an expression of hate in his red eyes. Petunia made her way to Lily, and grabbed her arm.
"What's going on?" she whispered.
"Go inside, Petunia," Lily commanded.
"Lily . . ."
"Go inside!"
"You should listen to your sister," Voldemort said, looking at Petunia with an expression of complete loathing. "She knows what's best for you. Such a pity such a mind found its way into a Mudblood."
"That would be the MUDBLOOD who had practically defeated your Death Eaters, wouldn't it?" Lily spat. She knew she was being exceptionally stupid, but she didn't care. It was because of this man that her father was dead. It was because of him that her mother was a widow.
"Such bravery," Voldemort said, turning his eyes on her. "Such a pity." He raised his wand. "Crucio."
"NO!" James yelled as Lily shrieked in pain. "Expelliarmus!"
The spell didn't disarm Voldemort, but it did manage to break the curse he had thrown at Lily, which had been James' intent. Lily looked up at them. She was weak and shaking, but her eyes blazed.
"You bastard," she spat.
"Does someone need another dose of pain?"
James jumped in front of Lily, and threw a curse at Voldemort. He dodged it, and shot one back at James, who managed to deflect it. While Lily climbed to her feet, she watched the duel in awe. James – her James – was dueling with Voldemort! The sheer magnitude of what she was seeing hit her, and she grabbed her wand to join in the battle.
The Death Eaters were mobilized, and began to fight to assist their master. Petunia shrieked, and Lily stopped dueling to see what had happened. Petunia was still standing, clutching Vernon's arm, but she was staring . . .
Lily looked away. She couldn't see it. She couldn't even think of what had caused Petunia's shriek.
Cracks and pops filled the air as the members of the Order of the Phoenix arrived. Dumbledore shot a hex at Voldemort that forced his attention away from James. He took over the battle, freeing James.
With their reinforcements, Lily and James were able to breathe at last. James looked at Lily.
"Are you all right?"
"Later," Lily whispered.
If she thought about it, she would break, and she knew that she couldn't let that happen yet. She had to keep fighting. That was the only way she would be able to put off the inevitable realization of what had happened – that she was now an orphan. Gripping her wand, she jumped into the battle.
Gradually, the members of the Order managed to overpower the Death Eaters, and the battle became one of only two combatants: Dumbledore and Voldemort. James and Lily watched them fight in awe. They had always known that Dumbledore was the most powerful wizard alive, but they had never seen him like this.
Ministry Aurors began to Apparate into the yard, and Voldemort gave Dumbledore a twisted smile.
"I believe this is where I leave you."
With that, he disappeared. Moody kicked a tree in frustration. Once again, he had escaped.
James looked at Lily. "Are you all right?" he asked again.
Lily shook her head, tears beginning to spill down her cheeks. She couldn't speak.
James pulled her close, and ran his hand up and down her back. Lily collapsed against him, sobbing. Neither of them spoke. At a time like this, there were no words.
Also, I'm including a favorite theory of my friend and I in this chapter. I know that it's probably not the most likely thing in the world, but we're willing to give it a chance. Please don't flame me over it! Just go with it, and remember that this is called FAN fiction for a reason!
I don't own the Harry Potter universe.
Once Defied
"Dana? Liv? Are you home?"
The sounds of giggles met her ears.
"Girls?"
"We're in here!"
"Come quick! You'll want to see this!"
Lily followed the sounds of her friends' giggling into the living room. She smiled as she entered. Dana and Olivia were huddled together on the couch, laughing over pictures.
"What are the pictures?"
"They're from your engagement party," Olivia said, moving over so that Lily could join them on the couch.
"Liv just got them developed," Dana added. "Here, look at this one, it's adorable!"
Lily took the picture from Dana's outstretched hands, and looked down at herself and James. She was laughing uncontrollably while James tickled her. As she watched, James stopped tickling her, and pulled her close for a kiss. She smiled.
"Do you have any that don't involve James and I snogging?"
"Sure, I have some of Dana and Aidan snogging," Olivia replied with a grin.
Dana threw a pillow at her friend. "She has tons of really cute ones," she said. "Here, sit down and look!"
"All right," Lily agreed. "But I only have a few minutes. I need to get home tonight."
"Oh, is this the week of Petunia?" Olivia laughed.
"Yes," Lily replied, wrinkling her nose. "But, as my mother pointed out, you only get married once, and I am her maid of honor, so I owe it to her to be there to help her get ready. Besides, she did agree to be in my wedding, and she was being rather nice to me the last time I saw her."
"She's not going to be afraid of us at the wedding, is she?" Dana asked with a grin.
"I think she'll be all right," Lily smiled. "I was tempted to pair her with Sirius just to be mean – I figured if anyone would get to her, he would. But, she has been really nice about this whole thing, and since James picked Sirius for the best man, I decided to be nice, too. I'm going to pair her with Remus."
Dana gave a shriek of laughter. "You're pairing her with Remus? He's a werewolf, you know! I think that might freak her out!"
Lily looked at her for a moment, then laughed. "You know, I didn't even think about it. I never think of Remus as a werewolf, you know?"
"He's not," Dana replied, sobering. "He's . . . Remus. Just Remus. But, you have to admit, Petunia won't like it."
"Petunia won't know about it," Lily said. "I'm not going to let her find out. I don't know what she'd do if she knew, but I'm sure it would only hurt Remus." She paused. "But, in terms of Petunia's freaked-out level, I think that Remus is the easiest to handle of all of the guys. Peter would be afraid to even look at her, and Sirius would do who knows what to annoy her. This is for the best."
"Peter's changed recently," Dana said quietly. "He's not the same person he used to be."
"None of us are," Olivia said. "We've all changed since graduation. We're growing up. Peter's becoming more assertive – he's starting to step out of James', Sirius', and Remus' shadows. But we're all different now . . . I mean, look at Lily! She's engaged to the man who she hated for years! Nothing stays the same, Dana."
She looked so mournful that Lily reached out to hug her. "Change is good, Liv. If we never changed, I'd still hate James, and I'd be missing out on the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me!"
Olivia smiled. "Get out of her. Go be your sister's maid of honor."
Lily glanced at her watch. "I do need to go. But I want to see these pictures as soon as I get back!"
She darted down the hall to her bedroom, and grabbed her already-packed suitcase. She carried it back into the living room, and gave the girls a smile.
"I'll see you next week, then."
"Here," Olivia said, thrusting the picture of Lily and James back into her hands. "Take this so you'll have James with you."
"He's coming to the wedding with me."
"Yeah, but that means you're going to have a James-free week without it. Take it!"
Lily laughed, and put the picture in her purse. "Thanks, Liv."
"Anytime. We'll see you in a week!"
"Bye, girls!"
Lily hurried out the door, and jumped into the engagement-gift car. Once again, she silently thanked her friends for their thoughtfulness. Without the car, she would have had quite a time getting to her parents' house.
Due in large part to her lead foot, she reached the house before she had told them she would. The only car in the driveway when she arrived was Petunia's. She groaned. How would she be able to deal with her sister without her parents there? She was tempted to drive away and return later, but forced herself to get out of the car. She was Petunia's maid of honor. It was her job to get along with her sister.
She grabbed her overnight bag, and made her way up the front walk. She knocked on the door, and steeled herself for her first meeting with her sister since she and James had shared the news of their engagement.
Lily could hear the click of Petunia's heels against the tile floor as she walked toward the door. A smile flitted across her face. She remembered stomping across the tiles with Petunia as little girls, trying to make their steps sound as loud as possible in their mary janes. Their father had hated the sound, declaring that they were giving him a headache. He eventually realized they weren't going to stop, and told them they sounded like construction workers hammering in nails. The girls had merely giggled at the comparison; it didn't stop their enthusiasm for prancing around the house.
Lily was still smiling at the memory when Petunia opened the door. She looked at Lily in confusion.
"You seem happy," she said by way of greeting.
Lily's smile faltered. "I was just remembering when we were little."
Petunia frowned slightly, and gave Lily a look like she had lost her mind. "Mum and Dad are out," she said, opening the door wider so that Lily could enter. "They'll be home in time for dinner."
Lily nodded as she stepped into the house. "I guess I'll just put my bag in my room, then. What do you need me to do first?"
"I need you to do a recount for me on the RSVPs. I want to make sure I have the right numbers to give the caterer."
Lily nodded. "I'll be back down in a second."
"I'll be in the kitchen," Petunia called as Lily walked up the stairs.
"All right," Lily called over her shoulder.
She entered the room that had been hers since birth, and placed her bag next to her dresser. She sighed, and ran her hand through her hair. This was going to be a long day with Petunia. She tossed her purse on her bed, where it fell open. Several items tumbled out, scattering across her bed.
"Clumsy fool," she muttered to herself, crossing to pick them up. Her eyes widened as they fell on her wand. "Well, there's something that Petunia needs to see," she whispered. She carefully buried it in her purse.
The wand was followed into the bottom of her purse by several sickles and a galleon. She placed her lipstick and compact on top of them. The last thing that she picked up was the picture of James kissing her. She was about to put it in her purse, but, as she watched, James broke the kiss, and winked up at her. She sighed, and placed it on her bedside table. She couldn't hide him from view. So what if Petunia saw it? She'd just have to deal with it.
"Lily! What happened to you up there?"
"Sorry!" Lily yelled. She set her purse down more carefully than she had before, and hurried out of her room, closing the door behind her.
"What took you so long?" Petunia asked crossly as Lily entered the kitchen.
"Sorry," Lily said again. "I dropped my purse, and everything went flying. I wanted to pick it up before I forgot about it. Knowing me, Mum would find everything under my bed ten years from now."
Petunia smiled faintly, knowing that Lily wasn't the most responsible person in the world about picking up after herself. "I've never understood how you could handle being so messy," she said with a shake of her head.
"I've never understood how you could be so neat," Lily countered.
"Does James know what he's getting into with you?"
Lily's breath caught in her throat. They were bantering – they were getting along almost like they had as little girls! Oh, a terrible current swirled around them just under the surface, but this was as close as they had come to a civilized conversation in years. She smiled, trying desperately to hold on to this unexpected moment of pleasantness with her sister.
"I've already told him that he's in charge of all cleaning," she smiled. "He laughed – I don't think he really believed me."
"Show him your room the next time he's here. He'll have to believe you after that."
"But it's clean."
"Yeah, Mum cleaned it for you. But he won't be here for a week. God only knows what you'll have been able to do to it by the end of the week."
Lily made a face at her. "Where are these RSVPs?"
Petunia turned businesslike. "The responses for the chicken are here, the pasta ones are there, and the beef are here. All the negative responses are in this stack here. I have my totals, but I want you to recount them and see if my numbers are right."
"All right," Lily replied.
She went to the task of counting, while Petunia walked out of the room. She had no idea where her sister had gone, but figured that she'd get done faster without her hanging over her shoulder.
She finished counting each stack of RSVP cards, and carefully recorded her totals. She picked up the sheet of paper she had written her numbers on, and went in search of her sister.
"Petunia?" she called. "Where are you?"
She didn't hear a response. Sighing, she wandered through the house, trying to find the bride-to-be. She wasn't in any of the rooms downstairs. Lily walked up the steps, assuming that Petunia was in her room.
She knocked on her sister's door, and pushed it open. The room was empty. Frowning slightly, Lily turned around. It was then that she noticed that her own door was ajar. Her frown deepened. She was certain that she had closed it before she went downstairs.
She moved toward her room, feeling a bit apprehensive. For some reason, Moody's words floated through her head, barking about constant vigilance. Moody wouldn't be very impressed to know that she was about to walk into a room without her wand – particularly when that room's door was now open despite having been closed earlier. She peered into the room, trying to see if it was safe before walking all the way in. Before training to join the Order, she would never have thought to be so careful in her parents' house. Now, it was second nature.
She sighed, and entered the room fully. "Petunia, what are you doing in here?"
"What's this?"
Lily looked at the object in Petunia's hands, and recognized the picture she had placed on her nightstand. "That's a picture of James and I. My friend Olivia took it at our engagement party. You know, the party you didn't attend." She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. Her parents had come. Why hadn't she?
"Oh," Petunia said softly. She didn't offer any explanation for not being at the party. After so many years of hating Lily for what she was, an explanation didn't seem necessary. "It's true, then – the pictures really do move?"
Lily stared at her. Petunia had remembered the comment from so long ago? Lily had told her family about the moving pictures during her first time home from Hogwarts. At the time, Petunia had scoffed, refusing to believe that it was possible.
"Yes," Lily said slowly.
"How does it work?"
Lily was sure she could have been knocked over with a feather. "Magic," she said simply.
Petunia flinched, and put the picture back on the table. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. I can't – We have work to do."
Lily nodded, and followed her sister back down the stairs. What had just happened? It was as though the barriers had been lowered for a brief time. However, when they returned to the kitchen, Lily could see that the barriers were firmly back in place.
"Your totals don't match mine," Petunia said, frowning as she looked at the paper Lily had left on the table. "Count them again."
"But what if you were off?"
"I said to count them again!"
The rest of the week followed a similar pattern. Petunia would be pleasant to Lily for short spans of time, then would fall back to the behavior that had become second nature during the past eight years.
The day before the wedding, Lily pulled herself out of bed, preparing for a day of near-chaos as they finished their final preparations for the next day. She wasn't exactly looking forward to it. She spent as much time as she dared in the shower, then dressed, and went downstairs to help her mother with breakfast.
Petunia walked in while Lily and Mrs. Evans were still cooking. "Good morning," she said. She ran her hand through her hair. "I hope you aren't making a big breakfast. We have a lot to do today. Lily, we have a dress fitting at ten."
"I know," Lily replied. "We'll be ready in time. I promise."
Petunia nodded. "What are you making?"
"At the moment, eggs," Mrs. Evans replied. "We have some bacon, too, and Lily's making toast."
"How does it feel to know that Mum only trusts you with toast?" Petunia smiled.
"Oh, funny. I didn't see her giving you anything to do."
Petunia opened her mouth to reply, but found herself shrieking instead. Mrs. Evans and Lily both jumped.
"What is it?" Mrs. Evans exclaimed.
"Petunia!" Lily cried.
Petunia pointed at Owl, who had just flown through the open window. Her eyes were open wide, and she seemed to have lost the power of speech.
"Owl!" Lily cried, moving to take the letter he was carrying.
"He's just bringing the mail, sweetie," Mrs. Evans soothed.
Petunia gave another little shriek, and ran from the room. Mrs. Evans watched her go with a sigh.
"Why does she always have to be so melodramatic?" Lily exclaimed. "Everything always has to be a production with her!"
"Oh, Lily."
"Really, Mother! Have you seen the way she's been with me?"
"She is trying, you know," Mrs. Evans replied. "She wants the two of you to have the relationship you used to."
"I don't think we can have the same relationship anymore, Mummy," Lily said softly. "We were little girls when we were friends. Even under the best circumstances, our relationship would have changed as we grew older. But, with everything that's happened . . . I don't know. It's been so long, Mum. I don't know if we can fix it anymore."
"Try, Lily." Mrs. Evans put down the knife she had been using, and grabbed her daughter's hands. "Try to move past everything that's happened. Try to forgive the harsh words. Try to understand what it's been like for Petunia. You can't understand all that she's endured . . ."
"All that SHE'S endured?" Lily cried. "She's been nothing but horrible to me ever since I got my Hogwarts letter! And you saw what happened just now when Owl flew in! I can't deny what I am to make her happy, Mum. I want us to have the type of relationship we used to, and I've tried so hard for so long to be a good sister, but it hasn't worked. If she had just been willing to bend even a little, it would have been different, but as it is –"
"She's trying now," Mrs. Evans interrupted. "She's trying now, and if you were even a third of the good person you're proclaiming yourself to be, you'd meet her halfway."
Lily was successfully silenced. She looked back down at the dishes she had been taking from the cupboard. Her mother was right. The brief periods that were reminiscent of their childhood good relations should have shown her how willing Petunia was to fix what had gone wrong between them. For some reason, Remus and Laura appeared at the forefront of her thoughts. If they could fight their way back from all the obstacles they had overcome, surely she and Petunia could find their way back to speaking terms. She sighed, and mentally resolved to try harder to understand her sister – to comprehend whatever it was that her mother was so sure she had "endured" during the time Lily had been at Hogwarts.
Petunia had made a great effort to put the mail delivery behind her over the course of the day. She and Lily had got along fairly well, going together for their final dress fitting, and cleaning the already-spotless house. Although the wedding would take place at their church, the reception would be at the house, which had thrown the entire family into far more turmoil than should have been necessary. Lily instantly made up her mind to find a hall for her reception. She'd have to tell James that when he arrived the next morning. She was sure he'd agree.
As they scrubbed the kitchen cupboards together, Petunia cast a glance at Lily. She stared long enough that Lily looked up at her.
"Not clean enough for you?" she asked.
Petunia shook her head. "It's not that. It's just – I was thinking about what you said when you got here. You said something about a memory from when we were little. What was the memory?"
Lily frowned for a moment, then a smile spread across her face. "I could hear your shoes clicking as you walked toward the door. It made me think of us stomping across the floor when we were little."
Petunia smiled as well. "We would put on our dress shoes, and try to be as loud as possible."
"Yes!" Lily laughed. "Do you remember how Daddy hated it?"
"Do you remember the time he threatened to send all our dress shoes to starving orphans in China?" Petunia laughed.
"Do you remember Mummy's face when he said that?" Lily laughed.
"She started yelling that our shoes were expensive, and if he didn't like the way we wore them, he could hide them from us, but there was no way he was giving them away."
"And every time he tried to hide them –"
"We found them!"
Both girls started laughing uncontrollably, leaning on the counters to support themselves. Their mother, who was walking past, stopped to watch them, a soft smile spreading across her face. Her girls were finally getting along again.
"Petunia," Lily said when they had calmed down, "can I ask you a question?"
"I suppose."
"This morning, Mummy and I were talking, and she said something about you enduring hardship while I was away at school." She paused, and drew a deep breath. "I know we haven't been close since I went away, and I'm willing to take partial responsibility for that, but if something happened to you, I'd like to know what it was. I mean, if you're willing to confide in me, I'm willing to listen."
Petunia looked at her for a moment, her eyes widening in surprise. "You mean you don't know?"
"Obviously not," Lily said, trying to keep her tone light.
"They really haven't told you?"
"Would I ask you if I knew?"
"I'm just surprised – I mean, I assumed they would have told you after you got your letter."
"Petunia, you're not making sense." Lily's agitation was becoming evident.
"Well, I thought they would have told you that they're –"
"Petunia," Mrs. Evans said, entering the kitchen, "did you call the florist to make sure everything's all right with your flowers?"
"No!" Petunia yelled. She dropped her sponge, and hurried to the living room to pick up the telephone.
Lily turned to her mother, her expression accusatory. "What don't you want me to know?"
"What do you mean?"
"Stop it, Mother. There's some big family secret, and Petunia was about to spill it before you stopped her."
"Petunia gossips too much. She doesn't know when to keep quiet."
"Well, in this case, I think she's completely justified! What are you keeping from me? Obviously, I'm the only one in the family who's out of the loop! What is this all about?"
"Lily . . ."
"Don't try to placate me! I want the truth, Mum!"
The door opened, and Mr. Evans walked in. "Hello, my lovelies!" He bent down to kiss his wife's lips and the top of Lily's head. "How are we doing now that we've reached the twenty-four hour mark?" He looked between them, and took in the frightened expression on his wife's face, and the determined expression on Lily's. "All right, ladies, what is going on?"
"Mum is keeping something from me," Lily said angrily. "Petunia tried to tell me, but Mum stopped her. I want to know what everyone else already does. Out with it, Dad. What's this family secret that everyone but me is in on?"
Mr. Evans looked at his wife. A silent message passed between them, and they both nodded slightly.
"Sit down, Lily," Mr. Evans said wearily, indicating the chairs at the kitchen table. "We'll tell you everything."
Lily obediently took her seat, and waited for her parents to sit down. They looked at one another again, and Mr. Evans reached out to take her hand.
"Your Hogwarts letter was a surprise for you, wasn't it?"
"Yes, of course," Lily said, frowning in confusion. "We had never heard of Hogwarts, or of magic outside of card tricks. Why wouldn't we be surprised?"
"The thing is, Lily, your mother and I weren't surprised. We had been expecting you to receive a letter. We had seen your magic for years. We had watched you refine some of your skills before you even went to school, before you even knew what you were doing."
"But how?" Lily asked, shaking her head as though to clear it. "How could you have known? I didn't even know what I was doing. How could you?"
"Because we had seen magic before," Mrs. Evans said softly. "I told you once, a long time ago, that I knew how Petunia felt. I told you that I understood what it was to be different from your sibling. That was true." She paused, and drew a shaky breath. "I'm a Squib, Lily. So is your father."
Lily fell back in her chair, her hands flying to her face as though she had been hit. "What?"
"We're both Squibs," Mr. Evans affirmed. "Neither of our families are pureblood, but we're the first Squibs in several generations."
"You never told me."
"No, we didn't want you to know. We didn't want you girls to even have to think about magic. It had caused us so much pain, and so many problems for so long . . ."
"But I'm a witch!" Lily screamed. "Didn't it occur to you when I got my Hogwarts letter that I might want to know?"
"We were so proud of you," Mr. Evans said fondly. "You were restoring some respectability to our family in the eyes of our relatives – but we wanted to keep you away from that. We didn't want you to have to worry about what everyone thought of you."
"But you always told us that you didn't have any living relatives," Lily said, still shaking her head.
"Well, that's true now," Mrs. Evans said. "My sister died several weeks ago, and your father was an only child. All our other relatives died at one point or another over the course of your lifetime. But, before, when you and Petunia were little, we didn't want you to know our families. We didn't want to expose you to magic, knowing very well that the chances of either of you being magical were slim to none. Then, when we recognized your magic, we tried to hide it from Petunia."
"She was more observant than we would have thought," Mr. Evans said calmly. "We you were about seven, she started asking us about the odd things you could do. She had finally realized that they were out of the ordinary, rather than just 'Lily.' She wanted to know what was going on. We had to tell her the truth – that you were a witch."
"Since you hadn't received a Hogwarts letter yet, we didn't know for sure," Mrs. Evans said. "We told her that, too. She didn't want you to be magical. She didn't want you to be different. So she pretended that it wasn't going to happen, and things stayed pretty much the same between the two of you."
"Then I got my letter," Lily whispered.
"Yes, then you got your letter."
All three heads snapped up, and turned to Petunia, who had appeared in the doorway. She was leaning against the doorframe, her eyes narrowed into a glare.
"Mum and Dad told me all about the magical world – the world that had shunned them," she said venomously. "They weren't accepted by their families because of what they were, and, if you ask me, we were better off without those people. We didn't need people like that in our lives!"
"People like me?" Lily asked. "People like James?"
"People with freakish tendencies!" Petunia shrieked. "But everyone was so proud of you – you didn't know about all the cards and letters that came in, celebrating your 'good fortune' at being accepted into that freak school! You didn't know –"
"How left out you felt?" Lily interrupted quietly. "How you would have given anything for your own Hogwarts letter?"
Petunia flinched as though Lily had slapped her. She stared at her for a long moment, then ran out of the room.
"Lily," Mrs. Evans said.
"It's true, isn't it? She had known all about this world, and she probably expected that if I was a witch, maybe she was, too. THAT'S why she's been so awful to me. She was jealous! She wanted what I had!"
"Awfully self-centered, aren't you?" Mr. Evans said, trying to smile.
"Maybe I am," Lily replied. "But maybe I'm right."
"Why don't you go talk to her, Lily?" Mrs. Evan suggested.
"Not right now," Lily replied. "I will later. We need to fix this by tomorrow morning."
"Petunia?" Lily knocked on her sister's door for the third time. "I know you're in there, Petunia. I would have seen you leave the house. Just open the door so we can talk. Please, I don't want to let this ruin your wedding."
The door opened, and Petunia glared at Lily. "Are you going to curse me if I don't let you in?"
"Don't be silly. I'd never curse . . . How did you know that term?"
"I know more than you'd imagine."
Lily sighed. "Are you going to let me in so we can talk about this?"
Petunia nodded reluctantly, and stepped aside to let Lily enter her room. She sat down at her desk chair. Sighing, Lily lowered herself onto the bed.
"What do you want to say?" Petunia asked.
"It's more what you'd like to say," Lily replied. "I want you to tell me everything you know about magic."
"I know that it exists. I know that there are spells, hexes, and curses. I know that the pictures move. I know that some wizards are more powerful than others. I know that there is an evil man who's trying to kill everyone like Mum and Dad – and like me, I suppose. I know that you received a letter, and disappeared off to some school that no one can find on a map." All this was said with her eyes narrowed, glaring at Lily.
"Petunia," Lily sighed, holding out her hand.
Petunia shook her head, and her eyes softened. "I know that Mum and Dad were thrilled when you got your letter. I know that they had been shunned by their families because they aren't what you are. I know that they called the wizarding world home for their entire lives until they got married and decided to leave it all behind so that their children wouldn't have to grow up knowing that they couldn't live up to their family's expectations." She lowered her head. "I know that you've always managed to exceed those expectations. I know that part of me always hoped that it wasn't really real."
"It IS real," Lily said softly.
"I know. I saw that picture in your room." She sighed. "Lily, this is something that I can never be or do. It's something that I don't want to have to think about. I'm getting married tomorrow. I'm going to start my life with Vernon. I don't want to have to think about the things I can't do. I want to concentrate on the things that I CAN do."
"And you will," Lily said passionately. "You're going to be a wonderful wife to Vernon, Petunia. You're going to have everything you've wanted."
"But there's always going to be you," Petunia said softly. "There's always going to be you in the background, reminding me, and Mum and Dad, of what we can never been."
"Why can't you focus on the good things?" Lily asked. "You're so worried about me being a reminder of all that you can't do. Think of the relationship that we could have if you'd stop thinking about the differences between us. We could be friends again, Petunia. Maybe – maybe we could even go back to being sisters."
Petunia drew a shaky breath. "I'd like that, Lil."
"So would I."
Both girls reached across the distance between them to clasp hands. They smiled at one another through teary eyes.
"It's not going to be easy for me," Petunia cautioned.
"Nor for me," Lily replied. "But I'm willing to try. Are you?"
"Yes."
"Then I think we're halfway there."
"Is this the right house?"
"Yeah, that's the one. Thanks for driving me, Dad."
"You're sure you don't need me to pick you up tomorrow?"
"I'm sure. Lily can take me back to London."
"All right. Well, have fun, James. And remember to be polite!"
James laughed as he climbed out of the car. "Thanks, Dad. I'll see you later."
"James!" Lily ran down the front lawn, her red hair flying out behind her. She flung herself into James' arms, clinging to him as though she would never let go.
"Miss me?" James teased.
"More than you can ever dream," Lily whispered. "We really need to talk."
"All right. Do we have time now?"
"A bit. Petunia and I have a hair appointment at noon."
James glanced at his watch. "We have two hours."
"That's enough time. Come on inside. Everyone wants to say hello."
James nodded, and allowed Lily to lead him into the house. She was still clutching his hand. He held hers tightly, hoping to reassure her. He had no idea what had happened to her in the last week, but knew that it didn't seem good. She was never this clingy around other people – and certainly never around her parents.
"James!"
James smiled, and released Lily's hand to shake her father's. "Hello, Mr. Evans. How are you holding up?"
"You wait until it's your daughter who's getting married, and then I'll let you ask me that," Mr. Evans grinned. "Until then, you have no idea what you're asking!"
James laughed with him. "I'll just keep my questions to myself, then."
"Hello, James."
"Hi, Mrs. Evans," James said, taking her hand. "How are you?"
"Oh, a bit flustered," she smiled. "I think Petunia's upstairs if you want to say hello to her."
"Yes, I'll take you," Lily said eagerly.
James raised an eyebrow, but Lily only shook her head. She led him upstairs, and tapped on a closed door.
"Petunia?"
"It's not time to leave yet, is it?" Petunia flung the door open, panic written clearly on her face.
"No, no, I just wanted to let you know that James is here."
"Oh." Petunia's face visibly relaxed. "Hello, James."
"Hi," James replied a bit cautiously.
"Thanks for coming for my wedding," Petunia continued. "I know that it means a lot to Lily."
James raised his eyebrows again. "No problem. I'd do anything for Lily – and her family."
Petunia smiled briefly. "I don't mean to be rude, but I do have quite a few things to do . . ."
"Oh, no, go get ready. We can talk later, I'm sure."
Petunia nodded, and disappeared into her room. Lily took James' hand again, and pulled him down the hall to her room. Once they were inside, she shut the door behind them. James looked at her in complete confusion. Lily always wanted to be very proper and reserved when they were together around their family. What had happened?
"Lil, what's wrong?" James asked gently, taking both her hands in his. "You're a wreck. What happened this week?"
Lily drew a deep breath. "Are you ready for this?"
"I guess."
"My parents are Squibs," she said without preamble.
James' eyes widened in surprise. "Squibs?"
"Yes. They're Squibs. They didn't tell me until yesterday. They would have kept on with the secret forever, I think, but Petunia almost told me. My mother stopped her, but I pretty much forced her and Dad to tell me. They both came from wizarding families – not pureblood – but they're the first Squibs in generations."
James pulled Lily over to her bed, and sat down with her. "Why didn't they tell you before?"
"When we were little, they didn't want Petunia and I to know about magic. They didn't want us to be disappointed like they were. But they could tell that I was a witch for several years before I got my Hogwarts letter."
James nodded. "You would have shown signs of magic, and if they knew what they were looking for . . ."
"Exactly. They didn't say anything then because they still didn't want me to be disappointed if they were wrong."
James shook his head. "But what about after you got your letter?"
"They said the entire family – a family that I didn't know existed – was thrilled for me. My parents didn't want me to have the pressure of a bunch of relatives I didn't even know I had watching my every move. I guess I AM glad about that – it would have made me terribly nervous."
"And you handled that pretty well on your own," James said with a teasing smile.
Lily looked at him reproachfully. "Can't you be serious for ten minutes?"
"I'm sorry, Lily. I'm not trying to make light of the situation."
"It's all right." She ran her hand through her hair distractedly. "This is all so new, and so incredibly strange, that I don't really know what to do with it yet."
"Wait a minute. You said that Petunia was going to tell you about this. She knew?"
Lily nodded. "She had noticed my magic, too, but she didn't know what it was. She asked my parents about it, and they told her everything. She didn't want me to be a witch, because she didn't want me to be different from everyone else."
"So that's why she's been so awful to you?"
"Well, I think that it's more than just that. I think she's been jealous of me for all these years."
James let out a breath. "This is crazy, Lil."
"Yeah, I know. It's like I've never really known my family."
"But do you think any less of them?"
"Of course not! My parents were just trying to do what they thought was right. And if I had been like Petunia, all that they did to keep the magical world a secret probably would have been for the best. But I'm different. I ruined their plan."
"Your parents are proud of you, Lil."
"Oh, I know! And they've been wonderful and supportive for my entire life. I can't fault them, James. I just wish I could have known sooner."
"Come here," James said, pulling her close. "You have wonderful parents, and you almost seem to be getting along with your sister. What do you have to complain about?"
Lily smiled. "Nothing, I guess."
"What's going on with you and Petunia, anyway?"
"We had a long talk last night. We decided to try to look past our differences. We're going to try being sisters again."
James smiled at the smile that broke out on her face as she told him. "Good."
"I think so." She sighed. "I wish Petunia and I had had that conversation years ago."
"Don't worry about what has happened. Worry about what will happen."
Lily smiled. "It's going to be great, James. Everything's really working out now."
Lily and Petunia were on time for their hair appointment, and returned to the house to get ready with plenty of time before they had to be at the church. Their mother joined them in Petunia's room, where the three women tried their hardest to convince one another that they were calm. Lily had just finished putting on her own dress when Petunia turned her back to her.
"Can you please zip me?"
"Sure," Lily replied, smiling. Apparently, Petunia was taking their "sister pact" seriously. Even a week ago, she would have turned to her mother first.
Mrs. Evans came up behind them with Petunia's veil draped over her arm. "Are you ready for this?"
Petunia drew a deep breath. "This is it," she whispered. "I'm really getting married."
"If you aren't, you just put this family through quite a bit of stress over nothing," Mrs. Evans replied, her light words contrasting sharply with the tears that were standing in her eyes.
"Ladies! The photographer is here!" Mr. Evans called.
"Just a minute!" Lily yelled, realizing that her mother and sister were incapable of speech. They were both caught up in the moment of Mrs. Evans arranging her daughter's veil.
Once the veil was in place, Mrs. Evans leaned over to kiss Petunia's cheek. "You're a beautiful bride, Petunia."
Lily had to agree. While she had never thought of her sister as being overly attractive, she did look lovely today. Perhaps it was because this was the first time Lily could remember in years that Petunia actually looked happy.
Mrs. Evans turned to Lily with a smile. "And just think, in a few more months, I'll be doing this for you!"
Lily grinned. "I can't wait, Mummy."
"No, I'm sure you can't."
"Ladies!"
"Coming!" Petunia called. "Let's go before that photographer decides to leave."
They made it through the pictures at the house without incident, and left for the church. When they arrived, quite a few people were already seated. Petunia's eyes widened.
"I can't let anyone see me!"
"Let me show you to the bridal room."
Petunia nearly jumped out of her skin as Father O'Leary, the man who had given both girls their First Communion, appeared beside her. He smiled at her reaction.
"I was afraid that you'd be a nervous bride," he chuckled. "Come on, let's go this way."
"We've gone to this church all our lives, and I never knew there was a bridal room," Lily commented as they followed the priest down a hall.
"Well, you've never needed it before," Fr. O'Leary smiled. "Here you are, ladies. One of the altar boys will come and get you when it's time to begin. Do you want me to send your parents back?"
"In a moment," Petunia replied.
The priest nodded, and left them alone. Petunia turned to Lily.
"Lil, I want to thank you."
Lily's eyes widened. "For being such a cause of grief in your life for the past eight years?"
"No, for being my sister." She drew a deep breath. Apologies never came easily for Petunia. "Ever since you got your letter, I've been awful to you. I haven't been your sister in the past eight years. But you never gave up on me – all that you've done this week to help me proves that. I'm sorry for all that I've done to you, Lily. I don't deserve all your kindness."
Lily blinked back tears. "You're my sister, Petunia. You know that I forgive you."
A tear slid down Petunia's cheek. "Thank you," she whispered.
Then Petunia did something that Lily could barely remember her ever doing before. She closed the distance between them, and pulled Lily into a hug. Lily hugged her back, feeling like everything in her life was truly falling into place.
"No tears!" Mrs. Evans exclaimed as she entered the room. Even as the words escaped her mouth, she could feel her own tears forming at the sight of her girls hugging. "You're both going to ruin your make up!"
Lily and Petunia broke apart, both laughing as they wiped at their eyes.
A soft knock sounded on the door, and a small boy opened it far enough to stick his head into the room. "It's time to begin the ceremony."
"Thank you," Petunia smiled. She looked at her mother and sister, her eyes lighting up. "I'm getting married!"
"That was a beautiful ceremony," James said as he and Lily drove back to the Evans' house.
"It was, wasn't it? Petunia looked beautiful."
James grinned. "I think that you outshone her by far."
Lily laughed. "You have to say that."
James grinned again. "Why don't you get to ride in the limo?"
"Mum and Dad said that Petunia deserved some alone time. I don't know why; they have the rest of their lives to be alone together. But, you weren't in the wedding, so you wouldn't be allowed to ride in the limo with me, so it's better this way."
James grinned. "I'm glad that we get our own alone time." He leaned across to kiss her neck.
"I AM driving, you know! Do you want me to crash this car?"
James laughed. "Just promise me one thing."
"Anything."
"You'll spend the night at my place tomorrow."
Lily flushed. "All right."
"Good. Then I'll be good now."
Lily laughed. "You really do have a one-track mind, don't you?"
James laughed. "You think so little of me."
The party was already going on when they arrived at the house. Lily had to park down the street. She and James walked to the house hand in hand.
"Listen," Lily said quickly. "Most of these people are either Vernon's family or friends of someone. My parents have told anyone who asked that I'm in journalism, but haven't found a job yet, and that you're starting out in politics."
"Well, that's almost true."
"But not true enough that I wanted to make sure that you had the story."
"Got it. I'll be as Muggle as I can be."
Lily cast a sidelong glance at him. "That's what worries me."
The party was fun. Even James had to admit that a Muggle wedding was just as much fun as a wizard wedding. He and Lily had agreed to have a Muggle wedding to make her parents happy. As long as they were married in a Catholic church, his parents would be happy, so that was fine with him. He found himself paying close attention to the little details of Petunia's wedding, knowing that his mother would want to know what to expect with his.
Things were beginning to wind down when it happened. About thirty people were still in the yard. James was dancing with Lily, holding her close as they swayed to a slow song. Suddenly, they both shivered as a cold draft filled the air.
"Why is it cold?" Lily asked.
James tensed immediately. "Stop the music."
"Why?"
"Stop the music."
"James, what's going on? I'm –"
A long, rattling sound filled the yard. Lily's eyes widened in fear.
"Oh, God, no. Please no," James whispered.
"Lily!" Petunia ran across the yard. "What's going on? What is that?"
"James?" Lily asked again. "Is that --?"
"It's a dementor," James confirmed. "I don't know what on earth it's doing here! They're all supposed to be guarding Azkaban!"
"The wizard prison?" Lily asked, fighting back the painful memories that were flooding her mind. Why had Kathleen had to die?
"Yes," James said, blinking furiously as two dementors glided into sight. "Where's your wand, Lil?" How could they have killed his little cousins?
"In my purse." They had printed her death in the Daily Prophet . . . Sirius had shown the story to her . . .
"Get it now!" James grabbed his own wand, pulling it from his pocket. He was going to marry Lily. She had said yes. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Lily ran for her purse, trying desperately to summon a happy thought. She fumbled for her wand, and finally grabbed it. She thought of James kissing her for the first time. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Their Patronuses erupted from their wands, charging down the dementors. People all around them were shrieking, trying to run and stumbling. In all the chaos, James and Lily didn't even notice the pops and cracks of others Apparating into the yard.
"LILY, LOOK OUT!"
Lily turned to her left, and ducked just before a jet of red light passed over her head. James would never try to curse her. That meant . . .
"LIL! ON YOUR RIGHT!"
Lily managed to avoid another jet of light, this one green, and turned to her right just as a Death Eater prepared to send another curse at her.
"Stupefy!" she yelled.
The spell hit the Death Eater, and he fell to the ground. Lily ran across the yard to James.
"What the bloody hell is going on?"
"I wish I knew!" James yelled. "Why would they attack here?"
"Why would they attack anywhere?"
James nodded slightly. He glanced over Lily's shoulder. "Duck left," he whispered urgently.
Lily moved, and James brought his wand up, stunning another Death Eater. He hit the ground with a sickening thud.
"How many are there?"
"I don't have a clue."
"We need the others."
"I know. I just don't know –"James cut himself off, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a mirror.
"James, this is not the time to check your hair!" Lily shrieked as a curse hit one of Vernon's friends, sending her to the ground. She shrieked in pain. "They're using Unforgivable Curses!"
James held the mirror in front of his face. "Sirius Black!" he bellowed.
To Lily's amazement, Sirius' face appeared in the mirror. "James?"
"Sirius, we're being attacked by Death Eaters! Get to Lily's parents house NOW!"
"I'll get the others," Sirius said, his face a mix of shock, horror, and determination. He disappeared from the mirror.
"What is that?" Lily exclaimed.
"Do you really want an explanation now?"
Lily responded by charging across the yard to hex the Death Eater who was about to curse Vernon. James turned, and began a battle with the nearest Death Eater.
James and Lily managed to hold them off, but they didn't know how long they'd be able to keep it up. They were both quickly becoming exhausted, working through adrenaline.
"LILY! HELP!"
Lily and James both turned to see a Death Eater with his wand pointed a Petunia. Lily gasped, and ran across the yard.
"STUPEFY!"
The Death Eater fell, but Petunia shrieked again.
"Petunia, you're safe," Lily said.
"No," Petunia gasped. Her hands were covering her face.
Lily whirled around to see where she was looking, and saw her father lying on the ground. She ran to him, and fell to her knees by his side.
"No, no, Daddy, you're not . . . you're fine . . . you're . . ."
Even as she fought the truth, she knew it. The open eyes and mouth, the surprised expression – they said it all. Her father was gone.
"Lily, look out!"
Before she even had time to think, a jet of green light shot at her. She gasped, and threw herself flat on top of her father. The Killing Curse hit the tree behind her, causing it to wilt instantly.
Then, quite suddenly, the hexes stopped. The Death Eaters who were still standing became completely still. Lily breathed a sigh of relief as she raised her head. Help had arrived.
"I sent you into a Muggle neighborhood to deal with Muggles, Squibs, and Mudbloods, and THIS is what I see? One wizard and one Mudblood have managed to practically drive you home again! This is not what I expect from my Death Eaters."
Lily pulled herself to her feet, and inched closer to James. Lord Voldemort stood taller than any of them, staring at them with an expression of hate in his red eyes. Petunia made her way to Lily, and grabbed her arm.
"What's going on?" she whispered.
"Go inside, Petunia," Lily commanded.
"Lily . . ."
"Go inside!"
"You should listen to your sister," Voldemort said, looking at Petunia with an expression of complete loathing. "She knows what's best for you. Such a pity such a mind found its way into a Mudblood."
"That would be the MUDBLOOD who had practically defeated your Death Eaters, wouldn't it?" Lily spat. She knew she was being exceptionally stupid, but she didn't care. It was because of this man that her father was dead. It was because of him that her mother was a widow.
"Such bravery," Voldemort said, turning his eyes on her. "Such a pity." He raised his wand. "Crucio."
"NO!" James yelled as Lily shrieked in pain. "Expelliarmus!"
The spell didn't disarm Voldemort, but it did manage to break the curse he had thrown at Lily, which had been James' intent. Lily looked up at them. She was weak and shaking, but her eyes blazed.
"You bastard," she spat.
"Does someone need another dose of pain?"
James jumped in front of Lily, and threw a curse at Voldemort. He dodged it, and shot one back at James, who managed to deflect it. While Lily climbed to her feet, she watched the duel in awe. James – her James – was dueling with Voldemort! The sheer magnitude of what she was seeing hit her, and she grabbed her wand to join in the battle.
The Death Eaters were mobilized, and began to fight to assist their master. Petunia shrieked, and Lily stopped dueling to see what had happened. Petunia was still standing, clutching Vernon's arm, but she was staring . . .
Lily looked away. She couldn't see it. She couldn't even think of what had caused Petunia's shriek.
Cracks and pops filled the air as the members of the Order of the Phoenix arrived. Dumbledore shot a hex at Voldemort that forced his attention away from James. He took over the battle, freeing James.
With their reinforcements, Lily and James were able to breathe at last. James looked at Lily.
"Are you all right?"
"Later," Lily whispered.
If she thought about it, she would break, and she knew that she couldn't let that happen yet. She had to keep fighting. That was the only way she would be able to put off the inevitable realization of what had happened – that she was now an orphan. Gripping her wand, she jumped into the battle.
Gradually, the members of the Order managed to overpower the Death Eaters, and the battle became one of only two combatants: Dumbledore and Voldemort. James and Lily watched them fight in awe. They had always known that Dumbledore was the most powerful wizard alive, but they had never seen him like this.
Ministry Aurors began to Apparate into the yard, and Voldemort gave Dumbledore a twisted smile.
"I believe this is where I leave you."
With that, he disappeared. Moody kicked a tree in frustration. Once again, he had escaped.
James looked at Lily. "Are you all right?" he asked again.
Lily shook her head, tears beginning to spill down her cheeks. She couldn't speak.
James pulled her close, and ran his hand up and down her back. Lily collapsed against him, sobbing. Neither of them spoke. At a time like this, there were no words.