TRAPPED
Flat Number 25 A/C of Bayberry Apartments was not the flat of a rich man. It was an old dilapidated flat, whose walls were damp and chipped at all places and which had only one window looking down at the busy market-place below.
The furniture in the living room was of the cheapest kind, mere cane chairs, a loveseat and a single wooden centre-table. The entire place was littered with books and magazines, and the bed in the tiny adjoining room was squeaky and dangerously tottering on its weak legs.
Flat Number 25 A/C of Bayberry Apartments was the flat of Lily Cecilia Evans.
A tabby cat sitting by the stove perked up its ears when he heard a tiny 'pop' in the doorway. He swatted a fly angrily, and decided to give his mistress a piece of his mind.
How dare she come home at two in the morning! Didn't she have any bloody sense of time?
The cat's anger at his mistress evaporated at once, however, when his mistress lovingly cradled him into her arms and kissed him on his glossy black head.
"Good morning, Sebastian," said Lily, as he licked her hand. "I'm sorry I'm late tonight—"
Tonight and every other night, thought Sebastian wryly.
"—But there was such an awful load of work at 'The Druid', you know. Did you have your meal, hmm? You lazy Puss-in-Boots!"
Sebastian purred at her, and curled up in her warm lap, as she sat down on the loveseat.
"I had my dinner with Marlene today," said Lily, stroking his fur. "She and Sturgis Podmore have just got engaged. She was so ecstatic! I'm so happy for her, Sebastian. Dark times like these, and love is all that can keep you from drowning…."
She looked at her father's portrait on the wall opposite her. He had the same striking green eyes as hers, his forehead was the same, and she knew she had inherited his unflinching (and often foolish) trust in others, too.
Ten long years, and she could still remember and love him as if he had died but yesterday.
The loud rapping of the knocker snapped her out of her sad reveries. Who could possibly be visiting her at a time like this? At 2 a.m. in the morning?
"Hurry, up, Lily," said a gruff, booming voice outside the door, while Lily was still in a flux about her visitor. "We haven't got all day."
Lily didn't need to be told who her two visitors were. She had recognized his voice immediately. She unbolted the door to look into the blue eyes of her sister Petunia and the beady eyes of her brother-in-law Vernon Dursley.
"Hello, Lily," said Petunia, her bony shoulders hunched together. "We hope you don't mind us calling at such a time, but we couldn't risk being seen by any of our muggle neighbours. You know how they would gossip if news got out that my sister is a witch!"
The two of them were peeling off their robes and cloaks, and looking apprehensively around Lily's flat. The two squibs looked like burglars.
"I'm sure you know the purpose of our visit," said Vernon, biting freely into the apple that Lily had set out for herself.
Yes, Lily knew the purpose of their visit. It was the only reason why they still allowed her to be related to them. You see, the Dursleys used to collect a tribute from Lily every month from her the earnings of her firm 'The Druid'. This tribute was not a homage to the Dursleys, oh no, but it was the price Lily had to pay in order to be able to still call Petunia her 'sister'. Vernon had made it quite clear that if Lily wanted to maintain her connection with her sister, she would have to give them a part of her monthly earnings.
"Is that all for this month?" asked Vernon sourly as he tossed the small bag of galleons in his large, burly hands.
"I'm afraid so," said Lily. "I need the rest for the completion of a foreign project offered to us."
"And what is the project about?" asked Vernon.
"It's for developing a cure for sea-sickness," Lily lied quickly. She couldn't risk telling Vernon about Morpheus's Mead; he'd completely explode.
"You freaks get freakier every day," said Vernon, with a sneer that would have shamed Lucius Malfoy.
Lily thought it was a bit unfair of Vernon to call her a freak, when his own parents had been freaks' too. But then she remembered Uncle Gilbert telling her that Vernon was just bitter…. Bitter that he was born a squib, and not a wizard himself.
Funny that Vernon's apparent disgust of the wizarding world did not stretch to a pile of galleons.
"This is 30 per cent short of your last month's earnings," said Vernon, pointing at the bag in his hand.
50 per cent shorter, O' Mathematics Genius, thought Lily sarcastically.
"She told you already, Vernon, darling," said Petunia. "Lily needs the funds for her foreign consignment."
Lily felt a rush of gratitude towards her sister. Lily often had the feeling that Petunia's studied indifference towards her was rather the work of Vernon's dictatorship, rather than her own jealousy towards her. Deep down, Petunia still loved Lily as much as Lily loved her.
Vernon grunted.
"You have a very small flat here," said Vernon with very obvious derision. "It seems you're not a very gifted witch, if your earnings can't even afford a decent house!"
Lily suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. It wasn't the first time he'd seen her house!
"I think you should be leaving now," said Lily decisively, rising up and pulling the door ajar. "It is 2 a.m. of the morning and I've not had a wink of sleep since four days. Besides, you should not risk being seen in the company of the likes of me."
"Too right, you are," said Vernon roughly, but Lily could not help noticing the affectionate concern in Petunia's eyes. "We'll be back for our dues next month, so make sure that the shortage this month is covered."
Needless to add, Lily was not sorry to get rid of them.
Lily woke up every morning to the strange sensation of feeling—there was no other word for it—trapped.
Yes. She felt trapped in this three-room flat with its single French window and her pyramid of books. She had often had dreams of being a rabbit lost in a tunnel, fighting to get out of its burrow, fighting to escape the clutches of a python. She could not understand the underlying meaning of such dreams.
The last two years had been a rat race for power. Meeting the potion-dealers, advertising her firm relentlessly, hunting for new medicines to make, recruiting and training potioneers all over the country, fighting to get an appointment with the big shots….
She felt like a woman on a warpath, sacrificing night-after-night to the accomplishment of her father's dream. She had no personal life to boast of.
She was pretty and over eighteen, yet her first date had been with Augustus Rookwood barely three months ago. She had numerous friends, but no one had ever really understood her. Not even Marlene, she thought sadly. Marlene only liked to talk about her own problems; she never cared to know about Lily's difficulties. Why, she didn't even know where Lily lived or that Lily had a sister! I may be Marlene's best friend, but Marlene isn't mine.
Perhaps she wanted too much from relationships. She wanted unrestrained open-ness and intensity; she had a hunger to be loved, a hunger that was insatiable, yet a hunger that could never be appeased.
Perhaps I'm not meant for love, she consoled herself.
Oh well. At least she had a chance with Augustus.
If only he wasn't so mysterious sometimes….
She had not even finished her tea when there was a knock at the door again. The second visitor that morning….
She felt extremely grumpy as she opened the door to usher in her guests.
Speak of the devil.
"Why, Mrs. Rookwood! And Ursula too…. What a pleasant surprise!" she exclaimed. "Do come in."
"How are you my dear?" asked Augustus's mother, kissing Lily affectionately. "And how is dear Sebastian? Ursula, darling, you've not met Lily's cat, have you?"
Ursula lowered her haunting eyes (so like her brother's) to view the cat entangled between Lily's legs. "Come here, Pussy. Come to Ursula," she said in a voice devoid of all emotion. But Ursula was in for a disappointment, because Sebastian hissed at her and pranced away.
"Ursula would like to talk to Sebastian," said Augustus's queer sister, her dark eyes curiously malicious, as they met Lily's vibrant green eyes. "Alone."
"Certainly," said Lily courteously. "I'm sure Sebastian and you will become the best of buddies."
Mrs. Athena Rookwood sighed as she watched her daughter stride after Sebastian.
"I don't know what to do with that girl," she said. "She frightens me sometimes. Even the Healers at St. Mungo's have given up on her. They can't work out why her behaviour is so odd…. She wasn't always like this, my Ursula. Why, she was the sweetest, gentlest girl you could know…When—You went to Beauxbatons, didn't you Lily?"
Lily acquiesced with a nod of her head.
"Ursula went to Hogwarts," said Mrs. Rookwood. "And you know, Lily, she was always the brightest girl in her class; she was the Head Girl at Hogwarts in her time. She was the favourite of her classmates. She represented her school in various art-contests, and Wizardry Olympiads…."
"What went wrong?" asked Lily, intrigued.
"She'd gone to Bulgaria during the summer holidays two years ago, with her friends," said Mrs. Rookwood. "She returned a completely changed person. She wouldn't tell us what happened there, but she'd just sit in the dark in silence, for hours, and she'd sing in some strange language."
"And you have no suspicions or clues as to what might have happened to her in Bulgaria?" asked Lily.
"None at all," said Mrs. Rookwood, "but I have noticed something…since then…. You see, I think Ursula might have lately developed a fancy for James Potter."
Lily's heartbeat quickened manifold. "James Potter?" she repeated.
"Yes," said Mrs. Rookwood. "She has a biography of his, and she keeps reading it, day in and day out. She also keeps his photograph upon her dressing-table. Now, ordinarily, I would not have had a problem with Ursula fancying a boy. But this is James Potter we're talking about! The boy who changes girlfriends like clothes, the boy who has no respect for authority, and no sense of commitment…. And you're aware that the Potters and Rookwoods have never really gotten along."
"Augustus told me that you're thinking of sending Ursula to New Zealand, for a holiday?" said Lily, when the uncomfortable silence had stretched on longer than necessary.
"Ah, yes, I thought it would make a nice change for my daughter, better than strolling in the garden and partying like a pixie at least... But that reminds me," said Mrs. Rookwood. "As I'm sure you already know, we're throwing a grand party for Augustus's 23rd birthday, the age at which he becomes owner of all the Rookwood property. And I'd like you to join us on this very auspicious day."
"Of course," said Lily, smiling, though her blood ran cold as she recalled her promise to Augustus.
"Good!" said Mrs. Rookwood with heartfelt satisfaction. "Here's the invitation-card, you must bring it on the evening of the party."
"Ursula wants to go home, Mother," said the strange girl, now holding a sleeping Sebastian in her arms. "Ursula wants to take Sebastian with her."
Mrs. Rookwood's grey eyes sought sanction from Lily.
"Of course. Sebastian seems to have become very fond of you," said Lily, even though she didn't want Sebastian to leave her sight. She didn't want to refuse the request of a mother who had donated most generously to the cause of 'The Druid'.
"You're very nice, Lily," said Ursula, the ghost of a smile about her lips. "Ursula likes you. No other girl would have allowed a complete stranger to take away her only companion. Ursula is so very sorry that you'll be lonely without him, but Ursula must have Sebastian, or her heart will ache."
Later, when Lily was dressing up for her meeting with Ali Bashir, she thought of Ursula's strange smile and of Mrs. Rookwood's grimace, and she felt a shudder shake her body.
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Hey, all of you there. I'm starved. For that tasty dish called a REVIEW:P