Friendship Has Its Limits
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, apart from Alexa and anyone else you might not recognize. The characters that you do recognize from the Harry Potter books all belong to the brilliant imagination of J. K. Rowling. Okay, I'm done now.
"Lily!" Lily's father's voice wafted upstairs and floated into her room. "Lily, you're friend is on the phone!"
Friend? she thought. Which friend? None of her friends knew how to work the telephone as far as she knew. It couldn't be a Muggle; Lily didn't have Muggle friends. Shrugging her shoulders, she went downstairs and in to the living room, where her father was standing, holding the telephone in his hands.
Tall and handsome, Mr. Evans had red hair, the same shade as Lily's and brown eyes. He was in his late thirties, but tried not to show it. He looked older than he actually was, but Lily knew that was because all the stress of her mother's death had caused him. She felt a pang of loneliness only thinking of her mum.
"Thanks, Daddy," she said, probably sounding as if she were three years old again. "Hello?" she said into the phone when her dad had handed it to her.
"Hello, Lily," a woman's voice said through the phone. "I know you don't know who I am, but I know that you'll be wanting to know who I am soon enough. My name is Dr. LehAnn. I was your mother's close friend, and her gynecologist."
Lily's jaw dropped open. She looked to her dad, who just smiled and walked out of the room, oblivious to the way Lily was behaving. He just passed it off as something that her "friend" said. For several moments, Lily couldn't speak. She just stood there, holding the phone to her ear with her mouth open. She took the phone away from her ear and looked at it as if it were going to bite her.
"W-why are you calling me?" she managed to ask finally.
"Because I know that you're in Hogwarts by now," answered Dr. LehAnn. Lily was totally taken aback by this statement. "And I have something to show you, that you really should be seeing now about your mum. Can you meet me at my clinic in say, an hour?"
An hour later, Lily was sitting in a grey chair in a small, cold building, waiting to be seen by Dr. LehAnn. She'd managed to borrow her dad's car (she'd gotten her driver's license over Christmas break when she was sixteen) without him asking too many questions about where she was going and why. She figured that if this woman, her mum's child doctor and close friend, had something to show her, something that she ought to know about her mum, then she'd better go.
A short woman with thick brown and slightly greying hair came out into the waiting room, looked around for a moment, spotted Lily and headed over to her. "Ah, Lily. I'm Dr. LehAnn." She held out her hand for Lily to shake, and Lily took it. "Come on back here with me, to Exam Room 2 so I can show you something."
Lily followed Dr. LehAnn down one hallway, left down another and finally to a door that said in gold letters, "Exam Room 2" on it. The woman opened the door, let Lily inside, and then closed the door after her. The room was not very large, with two beds on either side of the room with pale blue curtains hanging from the ceiling around them. There was a microscope on a counter, which Dr. LehAnn fussed with for a moment before beckoning Lily over to her.
"Lily, these are red blood cells from your mum's system," the doctor explained, motioning for Lily to look through the microscope. Lily did so, squinting to properly see the red cells.
What she saw made her stomach flip over. She knew this was going to be bad. "They aren't supposed to look like this, are they?" she asked, swallowing. She couldn't explain exactly what was wrong with the cells, but she knew that they weren't supposed to look like they did. "They're all...deformed."
"I'm afraid that they aren't supposed to look like that, no." Dr. LehAnn looked grim when Lily looked back at her. "Your mother wasn't killed trying to give birth to Harry, Lily. She had a magical induced cancer, which spread through her veins, deforming her red blood cells and, incidentally spreading to the unborn child."
"What---How do you know about magic?"
"I'm a Squib, dear."
Lily swallowed again. Her brain scrambled to understand what this all meant. "So what you're saying is that my mum's death wasn't due to complications in birth?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. I'm saying that your mum's death wasn't accidental. Adrienne Evans was murdered."
James knew when he took one look at Lily that something was wrong. He, Sirius, Remus, Alexa and Lily were all in the Potters' backyard, discussing Sirius's moving into James's house with his family. James noticed that Lily seemed disconnected somehow, like she wasn't even aware of what was happening around her. She was pale, and her green eyes had that same lifelessness in them as they had when he'd mentioned her mum a couple of weeks ago.
"And anyway, my dear old mother of mine says---"Sirius was saying to Remus and Alexa, who were both listening intently to him. James wasn't listening, but it didn't matter; Sirius had already told him this story several times now. He went over and sat beside Lily, without her even noticing the move.
"What's wrong?" he asked. She turned her head so fast that James could barely see her move it at all, seeming to snap out of her trance.
"Nothing," she answered quickly. "It's just that---never mind. It's- it's really nothing. Someone called me earlier today, and it was just kind of intense." She tried to change the subject. "So what's going on with Sirius moving in with you?"
But James wasn't fooled. "His mum disowned him after he started dating Alexa," he said impatiently. "Who called you?" He knew little about the telephone, but he knew that it was some form of Muggle communication. "What did they call you about?"
"It was a woman," said Lily uncomfortably. "A doctor, actually. She called about---about my mum. Can we leave it at that? Please?" Lily's tone was pleading.
"What did she want with you then?" James pressed, knowing that he was treading on dangerous ground. Lily already looked upset, and keeping on about the subject of her mum was not helping to make her happier. "Surely she knows that---"
"James, just drop it already!" Lily cried, causing the others to look at them both. "Please, let's just stop talking about it. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Please, James, just let it go."
"Lily, I---"He stopped, searching for words. He didn't dare take this conversation much further than he already had. A part of his brain was telling him just to let it go. But the other part, the larger part, was saying that Lily would probably feel better if she spoke about it. "Lily, if you just tell me, I'll leave you alone, I---"
"We've been through this before, James! Why can't you ever just leave something be? Must you constantly pick at something, even though I don't want to discuss it? Haven't you any consideration for my feelings in this matter?"
Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, all because James had dug up the raw feelings of her mother's murder. Lily stood up and ran through the Potters' house, mumbling an apology to Mrs. Potter, who she almost knocked over in her rush to get away from that situation. James instantly regretted pushing Lily so far.
A moment after the four teens heard the front door slam, Mrs. Potter came outside, a puzzled expression on her face. "What on earth made that sweet Lily Evans girl go running out in such a hurry? She looked as if she were on fire!"
"I don't know what was wrong with her," James answered slowly, "but I wouldn't recommend asking her about it either." Mrs. Potter raised an eyebrow, shrugged and went back inside.
"What was wrong with Lily, James?" asked Alexa. "Your mum's right. She sure was in a hurry to get out of here. What did you do this time?"
James shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what was wrong with her, but I intend to find out."
A/N: Oh the drama. Sorry about all the drama that I seemed to stuff in this chapter. I can't believe that I'm actually going to post this chapter. I hate writing about so much drama, but it just seemed to come out. Sorry.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, apart from Alexa and anyone else you might not recognize. The characters that you do recognize from the Harry Potter books all belong to the brilliant imagination of J. K. Rowling. Okay, I'm done now.
"Lily!" Lily's father's voice wafted upstairs and floated into her room. "Lily, you're friend is on the phone!"
Friend? she thought. Which friend? None of her friends knew how to work the telephone as far as she knew. It couldn't be a Muggle; Lily didn't have Muggle friends. Shrugging her shoulders, she went downstairs and in to the living room, where her father was standing, holding the telephone in his hands.
Tall and handsome, Mr. Evans had red hair, the same shade as Lily's and brown eyes. He was in his late thirties, but tried not to show it. He looked older than he actually was, but Lily knew that was because all the stress of her mother's death had caused him. She felt a pang of loneliness only thinking of her mum.
"Thanks, Daddy," she said, probably sounding as if she were three years old again. "Hello?" she said into the phone when her dad had handed it to her.
"Hello, Lily," a woman's voice said through the phone. "I know you don't know who I am, but I know that you'll be wanting to know who I am soon enough. My name is Dr. LehAnn. I was your mother's close friend, and her gynecologist."
Lily's jaw dropped open. She looked to her dad, who just smiled and walked out of the room, oblivious to the way Lily was behaving. He just passed it off as something that her "friend" said. For several moments, Lily couldn't speak. She just stood there, holding the phone to her ear with her mouth open. She took the phone away from her ear and looked at it as if it were going to bite her.
"W-why are you calling me?" she managed to ask finally.
"Because I know that you're in Hogwarts by now," answered Dr. LehAnn. Lily was totally taken aback by this statement. "And I have something to show you, that you really should be seeing now about your mum. Can you meet me at my clinic in say, an hour?"
An hour later, Lily was sitting in a grey chair in a small, cold building, waiting to be seen by Dr. LehAnn. She'd managed to borrow her dad's car (she'd gotten her driver's license over Christmas break when she was sixteen) without him asking too many questions about where she was going and why. She figured that if this woman, her mum's child doctor and close friend, had something to show her, something that she ought to know about her mum, then she'd better go.
A short woman with thick brown and slightly greying hair came out into the waiting room, looked around for a moment, spotted Lily and headed over to her. "Ah, Lily. I'm Dr. LehAnn." She held out her hand for Lily to shake, and Lily took it. "Come on back here with me, to Exam Room 2 so I can show you something."
Lily followed Dr. LehAnn down one hallway, left down another and finally to a door that said in gold letters, "Exam Room 2" on it. The woman opened the door, let Lily inside, and then closed the door after her. The room was not very large, with two beds on either side of the room with pale blue curtains hanging from the ceiling around them. There was a microscope on a counter, which Dr. LehAnn fussed with for a moment before beckoning Lily over to her.
"Lily, these are red blood cells from your mum's system," the doctor explained, motioning for Lily to look through the microscope. Lily did so, squinting to properly see the red cells.
What she saw made her stomach flip over. She knew this was going to be bad. "They aren't supposed to look like this, are they?" she asked, swallowing. She couldn't explain exactly what was wrong with the cells, but she knew that they weren't supposed to look like they did. "They're all...deformed."
"I'm afraid that they aren't supposed to look like that, no." Dr. LehAnn looked grim when Lily looked back at her. "Your mother wasn't killed trying to give birth to Harry, Lily. She had a magical induced cancer, which spread through her veins, deforming her red blood cells and, incidentally spreading to the unborn child."
"What---How do you know about magic?"
"I'm a Squib, dear."
Lily swallowed again. Her brain scrambled to understand what this all meant. "So what you're saying is that my mum's death wasn't due to complications in birth?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. I'm saying that your mum's death wasn't accidental. Adrienne Evans was murdered."
James knew when he took one look at Lily that something was wrong. He, Sirius, Remus, Alexa and Lily were all in the Potters' backyard, discussing Sirius's moving into James's house with his family. James noticed that Lily seemed disconnected somehow, like she wasn't even aware of what was happening around her. She was pale, and her green eyes had that same lifelessness in them as they had when he'd mentioned her mum a couple of weeks ago.
"And anyway, my dear old mother of mine says---"Sirius was saying to Remus and Alexa, who were both listening intently to him. James wasn't listening, but it didn't matter; Sirius had already told him this story several times now. He went over and sat beside Lily, without her even noticing the move.
"What's wrong?" he asked. She turned her head so fast that James could barely see her move it at all, seeming to snap out of her trance.
"Nothing," she answered quickly. "It's just that---never mind. It's- it's really nothing. Someone called me earlier today, and it was just kind of intense." She tried to change the subject. "So what's going on with Sirius moving in with you?"
But James wasn't fooled. "His mum disowned him after he started dating Alexa," he said impatiently. "Who called you?" He knew little about the telephone, but he knew that it was some form of Muggle communication. "What did they call you about?"
"It was a woman," said Lily uncomfortably. "A doctor, actually. She called about---about my mum. Can we leave it at that? Please?" Lily's tone was pleading.
"What did she want with you then?" James pressed, knowing that he was treading on dangerous ground. Lily already looked upset, and keeping on about the subject of her mum was not helping to make her happier. "Surely she knows that---"
"James, just drop it already!" Lily cried, causing the others to look at them both. "Please, let's just stop talking about it. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Please, James, just let it go."
"Lily, I---"He stopped, searching for words. He didn't dare take this conversation much further than he already had. A part of his brain was telling him just to let it go. But the other part, the larger part, was saying that Lily would probably feel better if she spoke about it. "Lily, if you just tell me, I'll leave you alone, I---"
"We've been through this before, James! Why can't you ever just leave something be? Must you constantly pick at something, even though I don't want to discuss it? Haven't you any consideration for my feelings in this matter?"
Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, all because James had dug up the raw feelings of her mother's murder. Lily stood up and ran through the Potters' house, mumbling an apology to Mrs. Potter, who she almost knocked over in her rush to get away from that situation. James instantly regretted pushing Lily so far.
A moment after the four teens heard the front door slam, Mrs. Potter came outside, a puzzled expression on her face. "What on earth made that sweet Lily Evans girl go running out in such a hurry? She looked as if she were on fire!"
"I don't know what was wrong with her," James answered slowly, "but I wouldn't recommend asking her about it either." Mrs. Potter raised an eyebrow, shrugged and went back inside.
"What was wrong with Lily, James?" asked Alexa. "Your mum's right. She sure was in a hurry to get out of here. What did you do this time?"
James shrugged helplessly. "I don't know what was wrong with her, but I intend to find out."
A/N: Oh the drama. Sorry about all the drama that I seemed to stuff in this chapter. I can't believe that I'm actually going to post this chapter. I hate writing about so much drama, but it just seemed to come out. Sorry.