The Seventh Year Life of Lily Evans
Prologue
Sometimes, to do the right thing you have to let go. At least, that's what Lily Evans told herself.
As a muggle born witch with a sister who hated her, no friends, and a very anti social attitude, she told herself a lot of things. Make no mistake though, this slim, pretty redhead, with green eyes and a hell of a temper, was not crazy, just a little…eccentric. Mostly, she could be found in the library, filling her already full brain with information. For some reason (it must have been the shelves of dusty tomes and the few people who actually went there) it appealed to her, just like the prospect of tossing James Potter into the lake head first appealed to her.
James Potter. One often wondered, or at least Lily did, if he had somehow been dropped on his head as a child. After all, who could really blame her for thinking such things? He was arrogant, egotistical, and to bloody smart for his own good. It didn't help that he was attractive, with his black hair and hazel eyes, and that he had every pureblood witch fawning over him. Scratch that, he had every witch except her fawning over him. She detested him, for the pranks that he and his friends pulled, for the way he seemed to have every teacher eating out of the palm of his hand, to the loving family, which she had glimpsed a few times, that he was blessed with.
She didn't have a family; at least, she didn't have a loving one. One in which you were kissed, hugged, and positively smothered with affection. Her elder sister Petunia, whose likeness could be compared to that of a horse, except for the watery blue eyes and thin blonde hair, hated her and she made no secret of it. It was, in fact quite apparent to anyone and everyone, that there was no love lost between the two sisters, at least it was such on Petunias side, Lily however mourned every night for the close friendship that the two used to share. Her parents, David and Marie Evans did love her, but they didn't show it. After she had found that she was a witch, they curled up into themselves and showered their love upon Petunia, the perfect child, the normal child, the child who was not a freak. Lily knew her parents loved her, after all they didn't treat her badly, they didn't abuse her, and they sent her the customary Christmas presents, but they ignored her. During the summer holidays in which she must return home they acted as if she wasn't there and she didn't exist. They had had replaced their love for her with resentment because of the fact that she was different, that she was a freak, that she was a witch.
So here she was, laying on her bed and staring out the window and looking at the stars, wishing she was one, that she could be high above the earth twinkling in the night sky like them, while her Head Girl rested on the pillow next to her, giving off a silvery sheen in the darkened room. She knew that tomorrow, once her family dropped her off at Kings Cross, it would be the last time she would see them. She had brought them enough pain, they didn't deserve more, and she knew that though her parents might miss her just a little, they would be beyond relieved. With those thoughts floating through her mind, she fell asleep, dreaming of tomorrow and the rest of her life.
The morning rays of the sun fell across her face, rousing Lily from her slumber, just as the door to her bedroom burst open and her sisters' high pitched voice filled the room.
"Get your lazy arse up, freak!"
"I'm up, I'm up." Lily swung her legs over the side of her bed and briskly rubbed her face with her hands, wondering if it was possible for Petunia to be any ruder.
"Mum said that breakfast is ready. If you're not down soon, I'm feeding it to the dog, he's more entitled to it than you."
Apparently it was. With that depressing thought, Lily blearily grabbed her towel and went into the bathroom that she and Petunia shared to get cleaned up. Less than an hour later, she entered the dining room, decorated with light blue wallpaper and had a majestic wooden table in the center of the room. At her customary place was a plate of food, not quite cold, but not quite warm either. Petunia glared at her fiercely from her place, Lily however ignored it and was content to be grateful that her mother had not let Petunia throw out her breakfast.
"Good morning."
Her mother barely glanced at her, while Petunia turned her head away, refusing to acknowledge her, and her father rustled the morning paper. Lily however was used to such reactions, and with a heavy heart stuck her fork into a fluffy yellow scrambled egg and began to eat. Halfway through her breakfast, Petunia broke the customary silence to say something that had obviously been on her mind since the start of the meal.
"This is your last year at that wretched school."
Lily glanced up from her plate, curious to see where she was going with this.
"What do you plan on doing next summer?"
"Find a place of mine own and start work."
"Yes, well good luck with that, and don't come to me crying for help when no one will hire you."
Lily put down her fork, making it ting slightly against the glass plate. What little appetite she had had was gone.
"You don't have to worry Petunia, for I will never darken your door step." She sighed and looked down. Now was the hard part.
"Mother, Father, I want to thank you for taking care of me. I know that after I received my letter to Hogwarts-" here Petunia hissed in obvious displeasure at hearing the name of her school "things changed,but you still treated me with kindness, provided for me, and never abused me. Once you drop me off today, you'll never have to see or hear from me again. I'm sorry I couldn't be the daughter that you hoped for."
Lily picked up her plate and fork, ducked her head to hide the obvious distress in her eyes, and quickly strode through the swinging door that led to the blindingly white and practically sterile kitchen. Dumping her plate in the sink filled with soapy water, she took the back staircase up to her room, walls bare of any sort of presence with just a lone bed next to the window with a matching side table and her trunk at the foot of said bed. The effect was depressing and for the first time Lily gave herself a pat on the back for making the decision to never come back.
A knock on the door roused her from her thoughts. "Time to go."
Hiding her surprise at seeing her mother in the doorway of her bedroom, she nodded her head and followed her mother's blonde head down the stairs, out the door, and to the car. Driving away from her childhood home, which held the memories of so many joys and sorrows, Lily refused to allow herself to look back. That chapter of her life was closed. It was time to start another.
Pulling up at Kings Cross Lily and her father got out of the car and made their way to the boot. Pulling her trunk out of the car he set it on a conveniently placed trolley, then turned and got back into the drivers seat and drove off, all without looking at her. Turning and ducking her head, she dodged mothers with screaming babies, businessmen with newspapers, and other harried commuters. Glancing left and then right, she carefully leaned against the red brick barrier separating Platform Nine and Three Quarters from the muggle world and slipped through. The sight greeting her made her want to smile.
There in front of her was her savior, the Hogwarts Express. The scarlet steam engine was a familiar and welcome sight, as were the noises from the many people on the platform. She let her mind flash briefly back to her family and the happy times they used to have before shaking her head. That was in the past and it was time to move forward. Grinning for the first time in nearly seven years, she pushed her trolley toward the train.
Sometimes, to do the right thing you have to let go.
I know that many of you have noticed that I have deleted Finding Lily and Bookish Beauty. I have a good reason for that. I thought they were horrible. So I've decided to start aknew. I need an editor. Leave you emial address with a review and I hope to get back to you tomorrow or Monday. Constuctive criticsm is welcome, but no flames.