I know, I know—it's been 3 months and you want to kill me! If it makes you feel any better, I've been volunteering and I got my wisdom teeth taken out. WHICH HURTS LIKE H-E-DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS, for your information.
Also, in a few days, you're going to get a lot of Author or Story Alerts b/c I'm editing two chapters because HBP has changed the fact that Lily has Slughorn for a teacher and that she is good at potions. So, you can read those again, there will be a few changes there (when you get the alerts, not now). Also, in my 8th update, Magic Carpet Ride is by Steppenwolf, not the Who. (let's pretend that Lily made the mistake, not I!) Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! -PhoenixPlume
A refresher: Lily has just returned from Hogwarts after a harrowing experience, namely, James Potter telling her parents that they are "together."
Ch. 13 From Behind the Bushes
The moment Lily and her parents arrived at their home, a tall, skinny blonde girl minced towards her haughtily and said in a falsely friendly tone, "Welcome home, Lily, dear! We simply must talk—in my room."
Lily wrinkled her brows in confusion as Petunia ushered her rather forcefully up the stairs to her bedroom, a room that matched Petunia's personality: clean, boring, but…well…that really was all there was to say. It was white, with white furniture, and Petunia's bed had a white bedspread. The only thing odd about the room was a feather duster sitting quietly on Petunia's white desk. Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise. Of course. Petunia would have cleaned her room in order to intimidate Lily. Lily smiled. Neatness didn't scare her in the least. What scared her was the sour expression on Petunia's face that greeted Lily when she turned away from the feather duster. Lily flicked a speck of dust away from Petunia's white, button-down blouse.
"There. Now everything is clean," Lily said, smirking in delight at Petunia's pursed lips. It felt so good to take her frustration out on someone after what James had done only an hour ago.
"Frr—I mean, Lily," said Petunia, readjusting her horse-like features into something a teacher might be fooled into thinking was a salary raise, "I have a proposition for you."
"You'll clean my room too for free?" suggested Lily, hopefully. Lily wasn't a neat freak.
Petunia wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Of course not, Freak! I mean, Lily."
"Get to your point, Petunia," Lily said, sighing, as she shifted her feet. She really wanted to go for a nice run. It was such a temperate day. And although Lily wasn't in excellent shape, she really enjoyed running from time to time.
"Vernon doesn't know your nasty little secret," began Petunia. "And I want it to stay that way. Do I make myself clear?" Petunia folded her arms and looked down at her shorter sister in an irritable manner.
"What are you going to do if I can't keep my 'nasty little secret,' Petunia?" inquired Lily in a bored tone. Really, Petunia was acting so stupid about this. If Vernon was so important, he was going to find out eventually.
"I can make your summer bearable, or I can make it your worst nightmare."
"Not even you could round up an army of teddy bears and enchant them to say, 'Let James Potter make out with you!'"
Petunia narrowed her eyes. "Very funny. I think I heard Father mention you had a boyfriend. I could tell him that you've been having dreams of making out with James Potter."
"Noooooo!" thought Lily. The last thing my "boyfriend" needs to know is that I'm supposedly dreaming of him. But she smiled, "Go right ahead. You have no way of reaching him."
"Oh, don't I?"
"Look, Petunia, I'll act however I see fit towards Vernon, and that's final. Now, leave me alone. I need to go running."
Petunia sneered and said, "You're such a freak, Lily. I'm surprised anyone would want to kiss you."
Lily smiled. She had wanted to say this to Petunia for a long time. "Yes—well—I won't disagree with you there, Petunia." Petunia smiled. "But you know what, if I'm a freak, you know what you are?" Petunia looked befuddled. "THE SISTER OF A FREAK!" Lily laughed and headed swiftly towards her room while Petunia ground her teeth and went back to her room, which strangely enough, suited her, Lily thought. White walls and one very crazy person…
Lily opened the curtains and cracked open her window. What a lovely view. She would just slip on a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt. Lily did this, and tied her running shoes on. Oh, they felt so good. She hadn't been running since last summer. She stretched, and hurried down the stairs. She waved to her mother who had begun cooking dinner.
"Be home in a couple of hours, Mum!"
"Alright, dear! Be on time—Petunia's boyfriend is coming to dinner and I'm sure he'd love to meet you!"
Apparently, her mother was cooking up something special not only for Lily, but because of Petunia's boyfriend, Vernon.
Lily sped down the front door steps as she inhaled the summer air. Running down the sidewalks past freshly mown lawns, breathing heavily-- Lily was sure there was nothing else like it. Just as she was running out of breath, and the lactic acid was really kicking in, Lily slowed down, noticing an abandoned park. The park was the one she used to play at when she was little, but now, no one seemed to go there anymore, which made Lily feel sorry for it. She sat in a swing, and was delighted that it still moved despite the rust encrusted on the old chains that held the seat.
Lily meandered quietly through some trees and shrubbery that didn't seem to have been planted in any particular order. Just as Lily came upon a particularly large bush, she heard three distinct "pops." Ducking swiftly behind the overgrown shrub, Lily quietly made a hole in the dense foliage with her hands, and was surprised to find something else brush against her elbow.
She hesitantly touched where she felt something on her elbow, and found the something to be very soft, yet liquidy. It felt like something she had seen before…
Before she could do anything else however, the something covered her mouth with an unattached hand. Another hand appeared to lifting something, and to Lily's distinct surprise, it was a head. It was a man. The man put a finger over his mouth, and took his hand away from hers. The man was obviously wearing an invisibility cloak, and was a wizard. Lily wondered if the man knew that she was a witch. If he didn't, he might try to erase her memory, so she mouthed, "Hogwarts," at him, hoping he'd understand. He nodded slightly, and turned his attention to the middle of a grove of trees, just a few meters from the bush. There were three wizards in white masks. Lily gasped in surprise.
One of the wizards turned and said, "Did you hear something?"
"Most likely just the wind," the shortest wizard responded in a throaty voice.
"I hope, for our sake, that is so. The Dark Lord would be very angry if someone heard the little conversation we are about to have," said the first wizard, nastily.
"May we discuss the Plan?" demanded a deep voice.
"Ah, yes. Do tell me why the Dark Lord wanted us to meet in this filthy, Muggle park?" asked the short one, in an irritable manner, which did not accentuate his throaty voice well, and came out in a kind of squeak. "My father keeps asking me why I'm late for dinner."
"Still living with your father?" mocked the first wizard, in his overly sweet voice. "How…sweet."
The short one started to reach for his wand when the deep-voiced one said, "Enough! Can you two put aside your little…differences…so that we can discuss something that actually matters? Or shall I return to the Dark Lord and say that you just couldn't handle the small mission I was commanded to explain to you?"
"Mission?" the first wizard's thin lips that were just exposed below the mask formed a cruel smile. "What kind of mission does the Dark Lord provide?"
The deep-voiced wizard replied, sounding vaguely amused, "He wants you to kill a Mud-blood, by the name of Lily Evans. She lives at 1538 Cherrydale Rd." Lily nearly choked with surprise. What was she going to do?
"A Mud-blood?" the throaty-voiced one said, not even hiding his contempt. "Why does he need two of us to dispatch of her?"
"In killing her, the Dark Lord makes an example of all Mud-bloods, Muggles, and those who stand in the Dark Lord's way. And, the Dark Lord takes no chances and with both of you, has made sure there is one full brain fulfilling the mission."
"Do we do away with the rest of her family?" asked the thin-lipped one, conversationally.
"Well, naturally," replied the deep-voiced one. Lily was frightened. Not only for herself, but for her family. They were defenseless. She needed to stop these wizards now! But, there was one, small problem. She had no wand.
She turned to the spy next to her, and pointed to herself. In one swift motion, he covered himself in the invisibility cloak and moved away from Lily. Before the three wizards could continue their plan, he had stunned one of them, the one with the deepest voice.
The spy slid behind a tree and pointed his wand at the thin-lipped wizard, and shouted, "STUPEFY!" The short one, however, didn't take any chances. He looked down at the other two wizards and disappeared.
The spy threw off his cloak, and went over to the two unconscious wizards, and bound them. Lily came out from behind the bush and said, "What are we going to do? One of them escaped."
The man nodded. "I will inform the Ministry. I am an Auror. But first, I need to get you to safety. I'm afraid living with your family will be too dangerous. You're going to have to relocate."
"Then you know who I am?" Lily asked, her voice betraying her fear.
The man nodded. "The Ministry will put wards on your house that should protect your family well enough. But I doubt that their Dark Lord will come after your family. It's you that he wants to kill. Disgustingly enough, he isn't satisfied with just that, and must kill your family as well."
"That's… horrible! What if he tries to kill other Muggle-borns?" demanded Lily, her eyes blazing with anger.
"He already has, and will continue to do so. But, we must not linger here. The Deatheater that escaped will bring more with him. I must get you to safety. Take me to your house."
"How do I know this isn't all a trap?" asked Lily, suddenly stopping as they headed in the direction of her home. "What is your name?"
"Alexander Potter."
"Can I ask you a question to make sure you really are Alexander Potter?" Lily inquired.
Mr. Potter smiled and said, "James was right. You are something else."
Lily said, "Who is James' best friend?"
"Sirius Black. Trust me now?"
It was Lily's turn to smile. "Yes, sir. And thank you, by the way, for saving my life."
"I haven't saved it yet. Come, we must hurry!" Lily quickened her pace, breaking into a run. Mr. Potter seemed to have no trouble keeping up with her. As soon as Lily reached the door and knocked, Mr. Evans rushed towards her and opened the door, exclaiming, "Lily! Where have you been? We expected you home an hour ago!"
Mrs. Evans hustled behind him and queried, "Are you all right, Dear?"
"Mum, Dad, I need to talk to you about something very important—and this man here needs to talk to you also. He's a wizard."
"Alright," Mr. Evans turned to his wife. "Why don't you sit down here? We just set the table for dinner, but chairs are chairs." Lily noticed that Vernon and Petunia were already seated, looking very disgruntled at having their dinner postponed.
Mr. Potter smiled and hastily shut the door. "Yes. I'm an Auror at the Ministry of Magic—" At the words "Ministry of Magic," Vernon choked on the lemonade he was gulping down.
Lily interrupted to explain to her father, "An Auror is like a police man, Dad."
"What's wrong? Is Lily in some sort of trouble?" asked Mr. Evans, seeing that all was not right.
"Um, sort of. I don't know if you are aware of this, Mr. Evans," explained Mr. Potter. "But, there is a Dark Wizard"- (at the sound of wizard, Vernon spilled the remaining lemonade on his shirt)- "at large right now, killing people and gaining power rapidly. He kills wizards, witches, and Muggles alike. In short, he planned to kill Lily and your family tonight, but we stopped them."
"He wants to kill Lily? And us?" Mrs. Evans asked, clasping Lily's shoulder as if she were afraid Lily would evaporate if she let go.
"I'm afraid so, Mrs. Evans."
"What are we going to do?" screeched Petunia. "I don't plan to be murdered in my sleep because some criminal wants to kill my freak of a sister!"
"Petunia!" Mr. Evans glared at his daughter warningly. "I won't have you calling your sister a freak in this house."
Vernon shifted his hefty weight uncomfortably. "What are all these wizards and Muddles? Who's the criminal?"
Lily sighed. "I'm a witch, Vernon. As much as Petunia tries to keep it from you, I can perform magical spells." Vernon's piggy eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"That's preposterous! Stop lying, girl! You know that you're one of those loonies who live in mental institutions! Petunia told me! YOU'RE LYING!"
"Vernon!" Mrs. Evans let out in surprise. "Lily is a witch, and if you can't be civil to her in this house, I will not allow Petunia to have a relationship with you." Vernon continued to twitch, but remained silent as an astonished Mr. Potter took this as a cue to continue.
"Lily is not safe here, and I plan to take her somewhere where she will be safe: namely, my home."
"Oh, no," thought Lily, covering her face in her hands. "Now I'll have to see Potter during the summer, too."
"It's all right, Lily," soothed Mrs. Evans. "I'm sure Mr.—I didn't get your name, Sir." Before Mr. Potter could respond, Petunia stood up.
"What about us?" hissed Petunia. "It's all very well that Lily will be taken care of—but what about her family! Don't these miscreants want to kill us, too!"
"Yes," replied Mr. Potter. "Wards will be put around your house. But, I highly doubt that they will come here, knowing that an Auror was with Lily. They would assume that I would relocate her, and they really want her the most."
"But if they knew you were there, wouldn't they know that Lily might go to your home to stay the rest of the summer?" asked Mr. Evans, worried for his daughter.
"I was invisible to them." The purple-faced Vernon jumped out of his seat, and waddled surprisingly quickly out of the room, ("Brandy!") followed by a petulant Petunia.
"Well, then," Mrs. Evans said. "I'm so sorry for their behavior…they're not usually that…um…strange."
"Shock, no doubt," added Mr. Evans for good measure.
"Yes," Mr. Potter accepted, "I'm sure. As for my name—my name is Alexander Potter."
"Potter?" repeated Mr. Evans. "Lily, isn't that your boyfriend's last name?"
"Ah, yes—about that—James isn't actually my boyfriend. Uh, you see—"
"Dear, it's fine! We liked the boy! And we like him even better now that we've met one of his parents," reassured Mrs. Evans.
"I didn't know James was dating you, Lily. You should have said something," Mr. Potter laughed. "Or, wait—did James just tell your parents you were dating?"
Lily started laughing. "I love how you just thought of that without my telling you!"
"I'll have to have a talk with my son. Lily, you must pack your things and say good-bye as quickly as possible."
"I'll do that," replied Lily, and she ran out of the room.
"Hold on," Mr. Evans said, "So Lily isn't dating James?"
About fifteen minutes later (Lily was an efficient packer), Lily was dragging her things down the stairs. Halfway down, she heard Petunia scream, "I'll get you for what you did, Freak!" Lily didn't even bother responding. But she was glad to see that her trunk was now floating in the air towards Mr. Potter, who promptly minimized it.
"Now, Lily, do you have everything?"
"Yes," she replied, not able to keep back a few tears. "I'll go say good-bye to my parents—I won't be long."
"Yes, of course."
Lily went over to her father and gave him a great hug. "Bye, Dad. I'll miss you. I'm sorry I didn't get to spend much time with you."
"It's all right—I know it's not your fault."
Lily turned to her mother and was wrapped in a tight hug only a mother can give. "Good-bye, Mum. Love you."
"I love you too, Lily, dear. Send lots of letters, and say your prayers. I'll be keeping you in mine."
"Thanks, Mum," Lily said, tearfully, as she kissed both parents one last time. Neither even suggested she go say good-bye to Petunia.
Lily stood up straight and walked towards Mr. Potter. "Have you ever apparated with someone before, Lily?"
"No."
"Alright, well, it's the fastest thing, and since you haven't been hooked up with the Floo network… just hold on to me tightly."
Lily did as he said, although she did feel a little awkward holding on to someone she hardly knew, especially the father of James Potter. A split second later, something was mounding her entire body into a pancake. Lily liked pancakes, but she didn't have any pent-up desire to be one. Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, the pressure was lifted, and Lily felt solid ground beneath her feet.
"All right, there, Lily?" Mr. Potter asked, as he put Lily's trunk back to its original size. "I hear from James that it's not a very comfortable way to travel, but, under the circumstances…"
Hearing about something familiar like James Potter actually helped loosen the knot that had formed in her stomach. At least she knew James Potter. Reluctantly.
"I'm fine, sir, right now, thank you," replied Lily. But she wasn't too sure if she would be fine in the near future…
REVIEW, Review, review…I'm dying to hear what you think. And, perhaps it will lessen the pain of having four teeth pulled out of my mouth. Blasted wisdom teeth. PhoenixPlume