Stag and Flower

Chapter 7: Disappointment and Devastation

After Halloween, the weeks passed quickly. Lily and her friends began hanging out with the Marauders a lot more often though one of them had become distant. James, who was much more quiet and, dare I say it, reserved, had not asked Lily out once since Halloween. In fact, the only time they ever talked was during the weekly meetings to plan the Yule Ball and Christmas party. Meredith and Katherine both insisted that James had changed and perhaps Lily should ask him to the ball. However, Lily was certain that he had finally gotten over her and she couldn't be happier.

Finally, the day of the ball arrived. Lily, James, and all the prefects were excused from classes to decorate the Great Hall and the empty classroom where they were hosting the party. They finished at four and Lily went upstairs to meet Katherine and Meredith to start getting ready.

"Are you finished yet?" Sirius yelled through Lily's door.

"Shut up or you'll be going alone tonight!" Katherine shouted back.

Sirius turned his back on the door and sighed.

"This is getting ridiculous." Both Sirius and Remus were wearing black dress robes. They had been waiting there in the Head common room for forty-five minutes. Peter and James had left awhile earlier to meet their own dates.

"Girls," Sirius muttered before Lily's door clicked open and Katherine stepped out.

She wore a long baby blue dress with three quarter length sleeves and a plunging back. Although, you couldn't see them, her shoes were silver. Her hair was in a bun and she wore a silver cross on a chain around her neck.

"Wow," Sirius said kissing her lightly on the lips.

"Wait until you see the others," Katherine replied blushing.

"I only have eyes for you."

"Good answer."

Less than a minute later, Meredith made her debut. She wore a light pink dress with long sleeves the covered her hands. Magenta flowers were embroidered around the edge of the v-shaped neckline. The dress came to her knees and she wore high-heeled magenta shoes with ribbons that laced halfway up her legs. Her hair was in a simple up-do and she wore a pink ribbon around her neck.

"You are beautiful," Remus breathed.

"Thank you, it took me hours to perfect my look," Meredith smiled.

"Ready to go?" Sirius asked, offering his arm to Katherine.

"We have to wait for Lily."

"Who's she going with?"

"Nobody. Micheal Pellerin asked her but she declined."

They didn't have to wait long as Lily came out seconds later.

She wore a beautiful strapless silk ball gown that was the exact color of her eyes. A sash was tied around her waist with a bow in the back. The full skirt swished on the ground around her feet and she wore simple green slip-ons. Half of her hair was pinned together with a diamond barrette and it fell in soft curls down her back. To complete the look, she wore a diamond-encrusted choker that her mother had given her for her sixteenth birthday.

"You look amazing, Lily," Remus smiled.

"James is going to die."

Lily rolled her eyes at Sirius and said, "Let's go."

Downstairs the Great Hall looked like a winter wonderland. Giant white Christmas trees covered in crystal baubles line each side. The four tables had been replaced by round tables, each sitting eight, that were positioned around the dance floor in the middle. In each corner of the dance floor was a different ice sculpture: one lion, one snake, one badger, and one raven.

"It looks wonderful, Lily," Katherine said.

"Thank you."

Lily followed the happy couples to a table where James and Peter sat with their dates. James had brought Carolyn McMahon, a pretty seventh year Gryffindor. Peter was with a cute sixth year girl named Susan Williams.

"Oh," Lily said realizing there was no place for her to sit.

"Um, we could pull up a seat," suggested Susan.

"No, it's fine. I…um…have a few things to check on. You know. Head duties."

"Should I-" James began, standing up.

"No," Lily said firmly. "It's fine. Sit."

Lily walked out of the Great Hall not looking back once. She walked outside and stood at the bottom of the steps. She looked out over the white landscape and the frozen lake. The sky was perfectly clear and she could see the half moon and twinkling stars. Light music floated from inside and an owl hooted somewhere in the castle. She shivered then summoned her cloak from upstairs and wrapped it around her bare arms.

Lily wasn't sure how long she stood outside, her mind completely blank, but after a long while, she turned around to go back inside. However, she stopped when she saw a black figure walking down the front steps. She immediately noticed the greasy black hair and hooked nose as Severus Snape and cursed under her breath. This got Snape's attention and he looked up.

"Well if it isn't the precious mudblood. What? No friends to share the evening with?" he said.

"No, I, unlike you, have two best friends who care about me deeply," she retorted. "I think," she added silently.

"You'll soon find out that I have a group of friends who are much more powerful and influential than Hart and de Prix."

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked narrowing her eyes. Snape ignored her question and stepped up closer to her.

"You know, Lily, you may have filthy blood running through your veins but I must admit that you are beautiful on the outside," he said running a finger lightly down the side of her face.

"Snape!" Lily and Snape turned to see who had called him. McGonagall was standing on the steps looking sternly at them. "Leave us."

Snape gave one last look at Lily then went back into the castle. McGonagall came down the steps and stopped in front of Lily.

"Miss Evans, I have some bad news for you," she said, her face softening considerably.

"What is it, professor?" Lily asked a bad feeling sinking into the pit of her stomach.

"This is difficult to say. Lily, I just received a letter from the Ministry of Magic."

The feeling grew.

"Earlier this evening…your sister came back from a date with her fiancé and she found the bodies of your parents in your home. It seems they were killed by Death Eaters."

The feeling quickly rose in her throat and Lily knew she was about to be sick. She quickly stepped behind a nearby bush and retched. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she walked back over to Professor McGonagall.

"W-why would he want to kill my parents? They're just muggles," Lily wondered out loud.

"I don't know. I'm sorry this happened to you, Lily. Truly sorry."

"Me too. Do you think we could keep this between us? I just want to tell my friends on my own time," Lily said slowly.

"Oh. Okay. If it's what you want."

"It's what I want."

"Okay." McGonagall turned around and went back inside. Lily followed her but stopped at the doors to the Great Hall. Her eyes immediately found the table she had left a while before. Everyone was laughing at a joke Sirius was telling. Lily decided to just tell Meredith and Katherine later; she didn't want to ruin everyone's fun. Lily slowly made her way back to her room and closed the door behind her.

She unzipped her dress and threw it into a corner. She walked to the bathroom and took the diamond barrette out of her hair. She brushed the curls out and pulled it into a messy bun on the top of her head. She carefully took the diamond choker from around her neck then changed into an over-sized t-shirt. She took the barrette and choker and walked back into her bedroom. She folded her gown and placed all three items in the bottom of her trunk where they would lay, forgotten, for many months.

Lily climbed into bed and was immediately launched into her own world of thought.

She was an orphan. She was an orphan and her sister probably hated her even more than before. She had no family and she was slowly losing her friends. She wasn't sure how it happened but over the span of a few months, Meredith and Katherine had gotten boyfriends and were spending more time with them than with Lily. Even James had stopped liking her (not that she really cared). She was probably going to die completely alone.

Lily stayed awake repeating these things over and over in her head. At about midnight, someone knocked on her door and she heard it click open.

"Lily?" a voice she knew to be Meredith's called.

"Are you awake?" Katherine asked.

She wasn't sure why but Lily didn't answer. She just lay there silently until she heard the door close back. Lily crawled under the covers to the very foot of her bed and cried herself to sleep.

"Lily? Lily, wake up. Please wake up," someone called. The person sounded so far away but when Lily's eyes opened, she saw Katherine and Meredith leaning over her. She slowly sat up and looked around her room. James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter were standing at her door. For some reason she felt paralyzed with depression. Then it all came back to her like a tidal wave. She had to fight so hard not to burst into tears right then.

"We're going down to Hogsmeade to catch the train," Meredith said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"They're coming to say goodbye," Katherine said, nodding at the Marauders. "Are you coming, too?"

Lily had forgotten all about Meredith and Kat leaving today. She really didn't feel like getting out of bed until she was thirty so she came up with a quick lie and said, "I'm not feeling very well. Sorry but can we just say goodbye here?"

"Oh, sure. Listen, are you okay? You left the ball really early and when we came here looking for you, you had already fallen asleep," Meredith said looking worried.

"I'm fine. Like I said, I didn't feel well. I had really bad cramps so I just came upstairs and went to sleep," Lily replied.

"Okay, well have a good holiday and promise us you won't study and you'll have a lot of fun," Katherine smiled.

"We know it will be hard to do without us here but you can always hang out with these slackers," Meredith joked looking over at the boys.

"Hey, we happen to be active members of society," James said feigning offense.

"More like active destroyers of society," Meredith said.

"But I'm serious," Katherine began.

"No, I'm Sirius," Sirius said proudly.

"Shutup," Katherine replied then turned her attention back to Lily. "Don't stay in bed the whole time. Go out and have fun. Meet a boy. Throw a party. Abuse your Head Girl privileges and give detentions to all the Slytherins. Do something, okay?"

Lily just nodded. Katherine and Meredith leaned down and each gave Lily a kiss on the cheek. She watched as the six of them walked out of her room then turned over on her stomach and went back to sleep.

A/N: There you go. I know it was short. I started writing this chapter and the next as one full chapter but it got to be too long. This was the best place for me to cut the super chapter in half and make it two mini chapters so there you go. Please review!

ps: I know you want James and Lily to get together already. I hear all day from my friends and betas. Just give it a little more time.