Chapter 2

Stolen Childhood

While the rest of the school attended morning lessons, Lily crept back into the Gryffindor Common Room. She had kept hoping that today would not come, but the dreamless draught she took before bed each night made the hours pass quickly. Now here she stood, wearing a simple Muggle style black dress. Lily's mother had bought it for her, with the reasoning "every girl needs a little black dress." Lily never imagined she'd be wearing it for this reason.

Lily silently prayed for the common room to be completely empty when she went back down. She had started to regret having asked James to come with her. It really did seem completely inappropriate; if they had been dating, well that would be different. She shook her head violently to clear it of the thoughts of dating James Potter. She didn't understand why she had this sudden attachment to him, but she assured herself that it would pass once she was finished grieving, and things would go right back to the way they used to be. James would continue to be an arrogant jerk, and Lily would spend every waking moment telling him off or ignoring his advances.

James, however, had kept his word. He sat silently in front of the common room fire, looking very pensive.

Lily dropped the small suitcase she toted with a dull thud when she saw him. "What are you wearing?" she quipped before she could catch the words.

"What?" James asked, standing suddenly and looking down with a frown at his Muggle suit. "Remus told me this is what Muggles wear to formal occasions. I swear, if he was messing with me I'll…"

"No, no, it's fine," Lily interjected. "I was just surprised. I'm used to only seeing you in robes. I'm not sure what I thought you'd wear, but I never thought you'd actually go get a suit."

"Well, I didn't actually go get one. It took me forever to convince Remus to transfigure this from a set of old dress robes without telling him what they were for."

"Well, you look very…nice." Lily gulped before picking up her suitcase and taking a very deep, though shaky, breath. "We'd best be going, or we'll be late."

James nodded solemnly and followed her out of the portrait hole, out of the castle, and down to Hogsmeade without saying another word. They both felt the awkwardness of the situation; it felt too much like something a couple would be doing. From Hogsmeade they would Apparate into the back garden of Lily's house. Lily pulled a map out of her purse to show James where he was going before giving him a final once over.

"Am I appropriate for appearing around Muggles?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"That," Lily said, pointing at James, "will have to go."

James looked shocked as his hand flew down to the jacket pocket where the end of his wand stuck out visibly. "Lily, I'm not leaving my wand. You know what has been going on outside of Hogwarts…"

"I don't mean don't take it," Lily replied, pulling her own wand out of a very cleverly hidden pocket on her dress. She pointed it at James' pocket and muttered something. Instantly the wand slipped into the now magically expanded pocket. "And just a few warnings before you meet my sister. If you have to mention Hogwarts, just say 'your school,' and make absolutely no mention of magic if you can help it, especially around her husband, Vernon. He doesn't know about me, and Petunia has made it quite clear that if she should have to explain to him…" Lily stopped suddenly as her voice cracked and she shivered in the January cold. She wasn't wearing her cloak, as it was too "magical" for her sister, so she had settled for a simple black button down sweater for over the dress.

"Come on," James said sternly, fighting the urge to take a few steps toward her and warm her up himself. "The sooner we get to your house, the sooner you can get warm."

Lily nodded a silent accordance, and then swiftly turned on her heel and disappeared with a soft pop. James followed seconds later.

A thin layer of snow crunched underfoot as James looked around the backyard of the place Lily Evans called home. The many flower beds lay dormant in the snow, but James could tell that in the spring and summer they would have been overflowing. One bed, however, bloomed in reds and golds. Gryffindor colors, James thought automatically.

"Anti-frost charms," Lily said slowly from behind James. "One of the first charms I performed once I turned seventeen. Mom always hated it when her roses went dormant in the winter."

James thought Lily was about ready to cry again, when her face suddenly went stony instead. The back door of the small, red brick house had been thrown open, and a skinny, horse- faced woman stood there, looking about as inviting as Madam Pince.

"Petunia," Lily said coolly, acknowledging her sister as she approached the door.

"Lily," Petunia returned equally coolly. "I see you have decided to bring a date to the funeral."

James' head spun back to Petunia. He had been busy trying to figure out how two so different women could possibly be even remotely related, never mind sisters. However, now that he had been dragged in, he might as well introduce himself.

Lily, however, beat him to it. "This is James Potter, a friend from school who has been a great comfort to me."

James put as much of an amicable look on his face as possible for the situation and stuck out his hand in greeting, but Petunia only gasped audibly and took a few steps back, as if touching James' hand might cause her bodily harm. After a few seconds, James retracted the greeting and gave Lily an awkward glance.

"Are you going to leave me standing outside in the cold all day, sister?" Lily finally asked, her voice colder than the air around her.

Petunia moved aside slowly, looking wary as Lily and James entered.

The house, James noticed, would have appeared welcoming if it weren't for the almost unnatural cleanliness that pervaded it. Lily seemed a little taken aback by it as well.

"Been cleaning?" she asked curtly.

"Well how else am I supposed to get this place to sell quickly?"

"Sell?" James was surprised to hear actual emotion in Lily's voice.

"Of course sell. I have a house of my own now, and surely all the fuss you made over being of age among your kind means you weren't expecting to move home with mother and father once you finished that thing you call school."

"But what about all my things that are still here," Lily argued, her eyes becoming noticeably moist.

"I've placed several boxes in your room. Take what you want." Petunia turned on her heel and walked back into the kitchen. James stood silently, stunned at how accurate Lily had been when she had told him that she and her sister preferred to pretend they weren't related.

The uncomfortable silence of the car ride to the funeral was forgotten when James saw the church where the service would take place. He had never been to a Muggle church, and this one was a huge, old, gothic style one that reminded him of Hogwarts. Gargoyles, with their mouths frozen open to let the rain pass through, perched on the corners, lightly dusted with snow. Stained glass windows cast colored shadows onto the snow covered ground. The large wooden doors opened into an isle that stretched between two rows of wooden pews before finally terminating at an altar, which was surrounded by poinsettias: remnants of the Christmas services. Two identical, polished coffins sat end to end in front of the altar, closed and surrounded by more flowers: more poinsettias, but also white lilies and petunias.

James turned his head immediately towards Lily when he heard her stifle a single sob, but by the time she returned his gaze, she had oppressed her emotions once more. The clergyman welcomed them, and then led Lily to the caskets in order for her to say her final goodbyes before the funeral. James slipped silently into one of the pews about half way up the aisle and studied the architecture closely to ensure that even his eyes didn't intrude on Lily's private moment with her parents. He didn't lower his gaze again until he felt someone slide into the pew.

Lily clutched a handkerchief in her fingers as she cried silently. She had hoped that as soon as she saw her parnets she would instantly accept their deaths; but she had found it to be the direct opposite. Being at the funeral only confirmed what she had been trying to tell herself hadn't happened. Lily would never believe that the pain she felt now really was the first step toward acceptance and moving on.

James took one look at her and did the only thing that seemed natural in the situation; he leaned over and hugged her. It wasn't a romantic embrace, but the embrace of someone who's been there too. And Lily hugged him back, leaning her head against the side of his and wetting his face with her own tears. But in a moment it was over, and Lily had pulled back again, drying her face with the hankie.

"I have to go meet my parents' friends," she said softly. "They were both single children, so I don't have many relatives, but they had dozens and dozens of friends."

Lily hadn't been exaggerating. The church soon began filling with well dressed people, most sniffling slightly and carrying handkerchiefs or handfuls of tissues. By the time the service was about to start, James wished he could have met the Evans before their deaths; if their amount of friends was any indication, they must have been exceptionally friendly and caring people.

Lily led James to one of the front pews, and he couldn't help but wonder if he and Vernon Dursley had been placed between the two sisters on purpose. James was shocked that they couldn't put their differences aside for one day; both sat at opposite ends of the bench, weeping and dabbing their eyes with their handkerchiefs.

After the funeral, all the attendees made their way to the funeral reception. Slowly, as friends began to rise and tell their memorable stories of Lily's parents, the grief turned into a celebration of two lives that, although too short, had been surrounded by joy and love and lived to the fullest.

Lily sat on the edge of her bed; she finally felt like she had used all of her tears, leaving her eyes red and sore. There were boxes scattered on the floor, just as Petunia had promised, but Lily was having a hard time motivating herself to pack anything up. James stood silently in the doorway, not wanting to intrude, but also feeling too protective to leave Lily alone at the moment.

"You can come in, you know," she mumbled from the bed. She wasn't looking at him though, she was staring at the blank ceiling absently.

James looked around the room Lily Evans had grown up in. He had learned more about her in the last three days than he had in seven years as her classmate. Of course, he had never really cared to know before. The only personal question he had ever asked her was "hey Evans, wanna go out with me?"

The bedroom walls radiated a soft pastel pink, but everything else was white with pink flowers; lilies, James discovered after a closer look. The walls were decorated with posters of Muggle bands (one with four young men was most common), a Gryffindor Pennant, and a large Hogwarts crest. There were several parchment letters taped up as well, in a neat line. James moved over to get a better look, and saw Lily's Hogwarts acceptance letter, her Prefect and O.W.L. scores letter, and her Head Girl letter. She had a white painted bookshelf covered in books. James recognized old text books from past years, but also some books he had never seen before, including one about some Muggle guy named Sherlock. Knick-knacks covered her dresser, including several small dolls with long blond hair, elaborate outfits, and breasts that James only wished came that big on Hogwarts girls.

"I knew I couldn't stay here forever," Lily spoke suddenly, still staring at the ceiling. "I knew I'd have to go out on my own soon enough, but I'm not ready yet. I thought I'd get a few more months of calling this home. That I'd come here after I got off the Hogwarts express for the final time. I just assumed I'd always be able to come back for dinner, or for holidays, or just because I missed it. How can Petunia just sell it? She grew up here too."

Lily finally looked away from the ceiling, stood up, and walked over to where James stood. She picked up one of the dolls from the bureau and smiled at it fondly. "Petunia and I used to play together when we were young. We loved dressing up the dolls and imagining parties, and royal balls, and happily-ever-afters. I did my first bit of accidental magic with these dolls. Petunia had taken the ball gown I wanted for my doll, so I picked up a different dress and wished it was the other one, and when I opened my eyes, it was. It really scared Petunia. She wouldn't play dolls with me after that."

James shifted uncomfortably. He didn't have experience with siblings and his parents had left him their house. He could commiserate with Lily about her parents, but he didn't know what to say to her now.

Lily put the doll back down and looked up at James. "How am I supposed to chose what bits of my childhood to take with me, and what bits to leave behind? I can't take all this stuff back to Hogwarts with me."

"Then don't take it to Hogwarts with you," James replied, smiling because he actually had a way to help her. "You can pack it all up, the whole room, and store it at my house. When you get your own place after we graduate you can come get it. Then, at least, I know you'll have to come visit me at least once after we leave Hogwarts."

Lily overlooked the last statement and beamed back at James. "Really, you'd do that for me? You have no idea how much that would mean to me!" And she threw her arms around his neck. Then to his utter surprise and shock, she kissed him on the cheek.

"You're so different this year," she continued after ending the embrace. "And I don't mean just now. You've cut back on hexing Severus from every other day to only once a week, you've only been in detention five times so far, and half the time you take your Head Boy responsibilities seriously."

"Don't flatter me," James tried to joke while wondering why he was blushing.

"I'm being serious," she replied, sounding it. "I don't think many other girls at Hogwarts have discovered what I know about you."

"Oh, and what have you discovered?" James inquired, unable to hide the smile spreading across his face. Lily Evans was complimenting him.

"You're a dear."

James' smile flickered. How'd she find out? No one was supposed to know. Lily looked at him incredibly strangely. And then the light bulb in his head clicked on, much, much too late. "Oh, you mean I'm sweet," he gasped stupidly.

"What did you think I meant?"

James just shook his head. Stupid homonyms! "Nothing. Want me to help you pack?" He pulled out his wand and summoned a box over to him.

James watched Lily out of the corner of his eye as he gently packed the knick-knacks off her bureau. He saw her crying every once in a while as she worked. She had turned on the Muggle radio and was singing very softly along with the songs she knew as she sorted through the contents of her closet, banishing clothing across the room to one box, shoes to another, and small shoe boxes to yet another box. James bit his lip to keep from asking out of curiosity what were in those shoe boxes, but he couldn't resist when she miscalculated and one skidded to a halt near him.

"What are in all these shoe boxes, Lily?" he asked, picked up the one that had landed by his feet and shaking it a little. It sounded like there were papers inside. He lifted up just one corner of the lid and peeked inside; it was filled with photographs. Lily crossed the room and took the box from James' hands. She pulled off the lid entirely, tipping it slightly to show him the yellowing still photos.

"It's my life before Hogwarts."

James reached out and took a photograph from the top. It was of a seven or eight year old Lily, standing outside her front door next to two glowing, carved pumpkins and all costumed up to go trick-or-treating. She wore a long black dress, which had been torn into strips at the bottom and sleeves. Her face had been painted green and a long, warty nose covered her normal one. She had a wide-brimmed, pointed hat on top of her head. Her right hand grasped the kitchen broom, while her left clutched her trick-or-treat bag.

"What in the world were you supposed to be?"

"A witch," she replied.

James shot her a quizzical look.

"It's what Muggles think witches look like," she clarified as James started to laugh. "I was always something magical for Halloween," Lily continued. "I was the classic Muggle witch one year, the fairy godmother the next, and Glenda the good witch the year after: rather ironic, I know."

The sun had set by the time Lily and James had finished all the packing. Since she would have to sleep there that night, the only thing left to pack the next morning were Lily's sheets. Feeling hungry, they went down to the kitchen, only to find Petunia and Vernon already there, eating sandwiches. Neither offered any to Lily or James, so Lily crossed over to the refrigerator and pulled out the cold cuts, condiments, and bread. The kitchen remained awkwardly silent the entire time. Vernon and Petunia's conversation stopped mid sentence when Lily had walked in, and neither had said a word since. Once Lily and James made their sandwiches and poured themselves cups of tea, they headed back to Lily's room to eat. Petunia, however, broke the silence with a very audible gasp, and Vernon exclaimed, "what is wrong with that ruddy bird."

Lily and James both looked out the kitchen window and saw an owl they both recognized tapping on the glass, a newspaper clutched all too conspicuously in its talons. James hurriedly placed his plate and tea cup down on the nearest flat surface and headed for the front door, yelling, "Don't worry, I'll scare it away. No one else come out, it might be rabid or something."

Once outside, however, James stalked over the dewy grass and toward the kitchen window. "Come here, Elphias," he whispered, holding his arm out so the owl could land. He took the newspaper in one hand before admonishing his owl for trying to deliver the paper in front of Muggles. The bird, however, didn't seem to care. He clicked his beak at James a few times and then cuffed him in the head as he flew off.

When he re-entered the house, Lily was waiting in the entrance way, balancing all their food.

"Don't worry, it won't be back anytime soon," James called gallantly into the kitchen. "So, did Vernon buy it?" he whispered hopefully to Lily.

"Well enough," she replied. "But Petunia glared at me the whole time. As if it's my fault. What did your owl want anyway?"

"To deliver the Evening Prophet," James answered wryly. "Bloody bird. It once tried to deliver a letter to me during a Quidditch practice. Stupid thing nearly got pulverized by a bludger."

"You get the Evening Prophet? Since when did you follow the news?"

"You make it sound like you're shocked I can read," James retorted. "And yes, I happen to like to keep up with the news. With everything that has been going on recently, I thought it might be good to get the news twice a day."

"So, did anything news worthy happen?" Lily asked as they walked up the stairs.

"Oh, I see how it is," James teased. "Make fun of me, but then want information."

"I'm just as worried about everything that's been going on as you," she replied. "The teachers hardly tell us anything anymore, and Dumbledore can only tell me so much."

"Dumbledore talks to you about…the dark arts?"

Lily blushed slightly, "well, you know, just in passing. He likes to talk to me about the future, like what I'm going to do when I leave Hogwarts."

"Yeah, he asks me about that too," James confessed. "Say, umm, Lily, he hasn't mentioned anything about, errr, helping in, well, an organization, I guess I'd call it…"

"He asked you too?" Lily accused, rounding on him.

"Well, you didn't think you were the only student, did you?"

"I, um, no, of course not." She went silent and stayed that way through the sandwiches and tea. However, after she had finished the last bit of tea, she asked hesitantly. "James, what answer did you give him when he asked?"

"I said yes immediately," James replied simply.

"Oh," Lily replied, sounding disappointed.

"Why, what did you say?"

"I told him I had to think about it. It's not that I'm afraid, but, well, it's not important anymore. Now that my parents, well, things have changed, and I'm going to accept now."

"So I guess that means we will be working together after Hogwarts," James mumbled.

"Yeah," Lily replied quietly.

They fell back into awkward silence, though neither could figure out why it was awkward.

Lily finally muttered, "Well, I suppose I ought to figure out where you can sleep."

"Don't worry about it," he replied quickly. "I can just Apparate to my house."

"Don't be absurd, you'd have to light all the fires and everything…" Lily wondered why in the world she was arguing with James Potter in order to make him stay at her house.

"If you insist," he mumbled back, lowering his gaze to the carpet.

Lily blushed. "Well, I'll just set up a cot for you here, then, shall I?"

James' eyes shot up from the floor. Did she mean 'here' as in her bedroom?

Lily didn't seem to notice and continued on. "Petunia and Vernon are sleeping in the guest room since it has a bigger bed than in Petunia's old room." James swallowed a laugh. Petunia would need a very large bed if she was going to share it with her whale of a husband. "And my parents' room, well that isn't appropriate, and Petunia won't let either of us near her old room, and the sofa is old and has no back support…"

James interrupted the rambling, "a cot is fine."

Lily gave a nervous laugh and she waved her wand and a cot, pillows, and blanket appeared on the floor. Surreal wasn't even beginning to cover the way she felt. She and James Potter, nefarious James Potter, were alone in her childhood bedroom, dressed in Muggle formal wear, eating sandwiches, drinking tea, and talking about working together after Hogwarts. Surreal definitely wasn't even close.

A/N: I must give credit where credit is due. Thanks to Cogit8tor for the idea about using the homonyms dear/deer to bewilder poor James.

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