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b Ch. 6. – Friends the hard way. /b

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b Disclaimer: Only the characters I invented are mine. Everything else belongs to the genius of Ms. JK Rowling. /b center

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Lily turned and found her Harry Potter standing in front of her. She gave a rueful smile and tried to think of an excuse for her eavesdropping, but before she could do either, her brother smiled back her in an amused sort of way and shook his head. Just as his friends started yelling at each other, he inclined his head towards the stairway, and Lily followed obligingly.

At the bottom of the stairs, Harry said 'So, how's it been?' casually. Lily was not fooled. Her brother's face had almost turned into concrete, he was a pale white, and his eyes (the very same emerald greed she admired in her own) put her on the end of the most piercing stare she had ever received. The person she had been avoiding so diligently was concerned for her. Lily gave him a sweet smile in return and gazed at him. If her i brother /i wanted to talk to her, then he had to talk first and answer her questions. Then maybe she would return the favor.

Harry cleared his throat most uncomfortably. After a short wait for her answer he spoke again.

'So you heard us talking?' Lily simply nodded in reply. How could she have not heard the bickering? Once more silence filled the room and this time, Harry didn't break it. In the end, Lily decided that her curiosity couldn't wait anymore.

'Who is Dumbledore? Who is Voldemort? Who on i earth /i named those people anyways? And why won't i anybody /i tell me what freak murdered my parents? Where i is /i this place? How come I'm not allowed to leave? Can you i really /i do magic? Can i I /i really do magic?' Lily's questions shoved each other out of her mouth. Feeling annoyed with herself, she decided to take it out on the boy before her and proceeded to glower at him as best she could. If one more person refused to give answers, there would be some more murders soon…

It seemed that her brother realized this. He swallowed, took a deep breath, looked at her and immediately withered under her look. After another second of hesitation, Harry decided not to push his luck and started explaining.

'Ok. Calm down. i Stop /i looking at me like that, it's scary. Fine,' Harry Potter sighed and took an even larger breath than before. 'Ok. Dumbledore is - i was /i - the greatest wizard ever. Voldemort is the most i evil /i wizard to ever walk the planet. Dumbledore …' Harry choked at this point. Nevertheless, Lily wanted answers, and she wanted them b now /b .

'Dumbledore … i what? /i ' She shook her head, prompting him.

'He died, ok? i Voldemort /i killed him, like he's killed anybody who's wanted to protect me, like he'll do to anybody who'll want to keep i you /i safe!' Her brother fumed, and then realized she was still in the room, gaping a him.

'What?' Lily whispered, although she felt she would have happily screamed at the boy right now.

'I'm sorry. But it's true. He's an evil murderer who like's killing of anybody connected with our family,' her brother said, 'especially me.'

'So are they?' Lily whispered, still not having found her voice, and pointed at the ceiling. Harry knew who she meant. He smiled in relief.

'That's my friends. Ron and Hermione. They can't wait to meet you.'

'Oh.' Lily was lost for words. A psychotic madman had murdered her mom and dad because of i her /i . Everyone she would be friends with would be in danger of the same horrible death. She swallowed hard, and fought hard not to tremble. Her brother seemed to have picked up on her line of thought, as he abruptly interrupted her thoughts.

'No.'

'What?'

'No, it's i not /i your fault. It's Voldemort's fault, and he's the one responsible. Not you. Understand?' Lily gazed at the wall behind his back. She could not bring herself to speak.

'I'll come down for dinner today.' Lily left the room and her brother behind, and Harry ran upstairs to tell his friends the news.

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Lily found herself lying, yet again, on her back on the bed in the filthy bedroom. i Why would someone I've /i never i done /i anything i to want to kill me? Why? Why? /i The thought repeated itself over and over again, but tears did no leak from her eyes. Deep inside herself, she made a vow, to stop this person. Never again would someone die at the hands of this murderer if she had anything to say about it.

With that settled, Lily got up to find some clothes clean enough to be seen in. She thrust open the doors to the wardrobe, a new self, and a new meaning and a new life.

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Well, that's another chapter out of the way. The summer holidays are about to end, - ok, in three weeks – so soon I'll be back to studying. As ninth grade in Canberra means a HUGE project, so from February 7, updating might get a bit slow (I'd say about once 1 – 2 weeks).

I found this quite strange to write. How are you supposed to bring such a stubborn character out of a mourning trance? I hope I did faith to myself, but do let me know what you think of my story. How do you like so far? What can I improve? What do you think I should include?

This was a short chapter, (how are you meant to make stuff longer when all the information and narration is already there and you're perfectly happy with it?),but it gets MUCH longer from here on, don't worry!

Love,

Lily