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 lay in her front yard for a long time, just thinking about her mum. She could picture her perfectly in her mind; after all, she'd known her mum for twelve years when she'd died.
To Lily, Adrienne Evans was the picture of beauty, with her soft, delicate wave of brunette curls down to her waist, and the same emerald green eyes that Lily herself had prized since birth. Mrs. Evans hadn't been particularly tall, standing only at five feet, three inches, but her height didn't really matter. Her complexion was creamy, her skin soft to the touch. The bridge of her nose was dotted with freckles, just like Lily's.
Not only had her mum been beautiful on the outside, but she also held a great deal of inner beauty. She was kind, rarely ever raising her voice at her girls or at her husband. She loved flowers (which explained Lily and Petunia's names). She adored animals, and had insisted that the girls grow up with at least one animal in their lives, so she had bought a parakeet.
The parakeet had died shortly after Mrs. Evans had.
The sound of a car door slamming pulled Lily out of her thoughts. "Hey Lily!" called a cheerful voice from the driveway. Lily turned to see a woman with blonde hair in her early thirties waving at her. Veronica. "You want to help me bring in the groceries?"
"Oh, hi Veronica," Lily said in a less-than-enthusiastic manner. "Sure. I have nothing better to do with my life than to help you put away food." Veronica was her dad's new wife, her step mum. They'd been married for three years now, and Lily could still not manage to make herself like her father's blushing bride.
"Good to hear it," Veronica said, handing a bag full of vegetables to Lily. Veronica wasn't cruel or anything, but Lily still couldn't help not liking her.
Lily took the bag of vegetables in to the house and set them on the table. She hadn't seen her father for a while, and she wondered distantly where he was. She wandered to the bedroom that her father and Veronica now shared. She opened the door and looked around. Her dad was sitting on the floor with a shoebox full of pictures and a bottle of beer beside him.
"Dad?" she said, entering the room and closing the door behind her. "Daddy? What are you---?" Lily's mum's face smiled brightly up at her from the floor. Lily stopped where she was and fell to her knees on the floor in front of her father. He was looking at her mum's pictures.
Lily carefully picked up one of the pictures and looked at it. It was one of Adrienne, Petunia and herself at Christmas time. It was the one taken just before her mum's death. Her stomach was swollen, her skin a bit pale, but she was still smiling never the less. Lily had her head resting on her mother's stomach, trying to feel the baby kick, she remembered. Petunia was on the other side of their mum, with her arm around Mrs. Evans's shoulders, smiling at the camera.
Those had been happy times. Everyone in the household always wore a smile on their faces, getting ready for the baby. No one had even suspected murder, or even a death in the family. They'd been so stupid, Lily thought now. Now that she looked back, she noticed that her mum had been getting sicklier everyday, but everyone just thought it was because of the pregnancy. Even Adrienne had believed it to be the unborn baby causing her to get that sickly.
But it hadn't been baby Harry at all. Someone had wanted Adrienne Evans dead, someone in the magical community. But why did they want her dead? What had her mother done to deserve to be killed?
Memories of a little blue baby lying on a small bed flashed through Lily's brain, followed by her mother's pasty-white corpse, lying on a hospital bed, her beautiful green eyes closed forever, her lips placed in a thin line, never to smile again, her dimples never to be shown again.
No one deserves to die in such a horrible way, Lily thought fiercely. She set the photo back on the ground when she realized that she was holding it so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. She thought back to just a few hours ago, when James wanted to know what was going on with her, and she hadn't told him. Looking back at that moment when she'd gone running out of his house, she felt guilty for not telling James what was wrong. After all, friends told friends everything.
Then again, she'd just learned that everything she believed about her mother's death five years ago had been a lie. After all, she had just learned that her mother's death wasn't accidental, but actually wanted by someone. Someone magical who had access to a wand and a spell to cause magical cancer.
"I've got to...clean my room now, Dad," Lily said softly. Her dad looked up at her, startled, as if he'd just now realized that she was in the room with him. He seemed to take in her words slowly, because after a moment he nodded at her, and went back to looking at his former wife's pictures.
In her room, Lily sat down at her desk, pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and began to write a list of things. She usually wrote lists about things that were bothering her, which generally helped relieve some of her stress. Mostly, though, not all the time, but it helped some of the time.
This list read:
My List of Problems: Someone in the magical world murdered Mum. Dad is sinking into depression again. Petunia is marrying the ugliest man I've ever seen. James is prying into my life again. James is Head Boy. I know that I have to find out who murdered Mum, I'm just not sure I want to meet them.
A tear fell onto the paper as everything that had happened that day finally caught up with Lily. She curled up into a little ball on her bed, trying to stifle her little whimpers and sobs in her pillow.
She cried for an hour and a half before finally falling asleep, still clad in her shorts and sleeveless green shirt, curled in a little ball on her bed.
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 lay in her front yard for a long time, just thinking about her mum. She could picture her perfectly in her mind; after all, she'd known her mum for twelve years when she'd died.
To Lily, Adrienne Evans was the picture of beauty, with her soft, delicate wave of brunette curls down to her waist, and the same emerald green eyes that Lily herself had prized since birth. Mrs. Evans hadn't been particularly tall, standing only at five feet, three inches, but her height didn't really matter. Her complexion was creamy, her skin soft to the touch. The bridge of her nose was dotted with freckles, just like Lily's.
Not only had her mum been beautiful on the outside, but she also held a great deal of inner beauty. She was kind, rarely ever raising her voice at her girls or at her husband. She loved flowers (which explained Lily and Petunia's names). She adored animals, and had insisted that the girls grow up with at least one animal in their lives, so she had bought a parakeet.
The parakeet had died shortly after Mrs. Evans had.
The sound of a car door slamming pulled Lily out of her thoughts. "Hey Lily!" called a cheerful voice from the driveway. Lily turned to see a woman with blonde hair in her early thirties waving at her. Veronica. "You want to help me bring in the groceries?"
"Oh, hi Veronica," Lily said in a less-than-enthusiastic manner. "Sure. I have nothing better to do with my life than to help you put away food." Veronica was her dad's new wife, her step mum. They'd been married for three years now, and Lily could still not manage to make herself like her father's blushing bride.
"Good to hear it," Veronica said, handing a bag full of vegetables to Lily. Veronica wasn't cruel or anything, but Lily still couldn't help not liking her.
Lily took the bag of vegetables in to the house and set them on the table. She hadn't seen her father for a while, and she wondered distantly where he was. She wandered to the bedroom that her father and Veronica now shared. She opened the door and looked around. Her dad was sitting on the floor with a shoebox full of pictures and a bottle of beer beside him.
"Dad?" she said, entering the room and closing the door behind her. "Daddy? What are you---?" Lily's mum's face smiled brightly up at her from the floor. Lily stopped where she was and fell to her knees on the floor in front of her father. He was looking at her mum's pictures.
Lily carefully picked up one of the pictures and looked at it. It was one of Adrienne, Petunia and herself at Christmas time. It was the one taken just before her mum's death. Her stomach was swollen, her skin a bit pale, but she was still smiling never the less. Lily had her head resting on her mother's stomach, trying to feel the baby kick, she remembered. Petunia was on the other side of their mum, with her arm around Mrs. Evans's shoulders, smiling at the camera.
Those had been happy times. Everyone in the household always wore a smile on their faces, getting ready for the baby. No one had even suspected murder, or even a death in the family. They'd been so stupid, Lily thought now. Now that she looked back, she noticed that her mum had been getting sicklier everyday, but everyone just thought it was because of the pregnancy. Even Adrienne had believed it to be the unborn baby causing her to get that sickly.
But it hadn't been baby Harry at all. Someone had wanted Adrienne Evans dead, someone in the magical community. But why did they want her dead? What had her mother done to deserve to be killed?
Memories of a little blue baby lying on a small bed flashed through Lily's brain, followed by her mother's pasty-white corpse, lying on a hospital bed, her beautiful green eyes closed forever, her lips placed in a thin line, never to smile again, her dimples never to be shown again.
No one deserves to die in such a horrible way, Lily thought fiercely. She set the photo back on the ground when she realized that she was holding it so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. She thought back to just a few hours ago, when James wanted to know what was going on with her, and she hadn't told him. Looking back at that moment when she'd gone running out of his house, she felt guilty for not telling James what was wrong. After all, friends told friends everything.
Then again, she'd just learned that everything she believed about her mother's death five years ago had been a lie. After all, she had just learned that her mother's death wasn't accidental, but actually wanted by someone. Someone magical who had access to a wand and a spell to cause magical cancer.
"I've got to...clean my room now, Dad," Lily said softly. Her dad looked up at her, startled, as if he'd just now realized that she was in the room with him. He seemed to take in her words slowly, because after a moment he nodded at her, and went back to looking at his former wife's pictures.
In her room, Lily sat down at her desk, pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil and began to write a list of things. She usually wrote lists about things that were bothering her, which generally helped relieve some of her stress. Mostly, though, not all the time, but it helped some of the time.
This list read:
My List of Problems: Someone in the magical world murdered Mum. Dad is sinking into depression again. Petunia is marrying the ugliest man I've ever seen. James is prying into my life again. James is Head Boy. I know that I have to find out who murdered Mum, I'm just not sure I want to meet them.
A tear fell onto the paper as everything that had happened that day finally caught up with Lily. She curled up into a little ball on her bed, trying to stifle her little whimpers and sobs in her pillow.
She cried for an hour and a half before finally falling asleep, still clad in her shorts and sleeveless green shirt, curled in a little ball on her bed.