A/N: Next one as promised! Some angsty, sad Lily and some Lily/Petunia drama. I know it's a little slow, but the world gets darker as the years progress (and honestly, James gets more annoying), so i'm hoping stuff will speed up soon :)
"Marlene!" shrieked Lily as she dashed for the door of her house. Her mother had already answered the knock and Marlene had stepped into the foyer.
She wrapped a massive hug around her best friend, the force of it almost knocking them both over.
It was nearing the end of their spring break from Hogwarts, and Lily had been driven nearly mad with boredom. Sev had stayed at Hogwarts – probably getting close with the elder Slytherins and their cronies, Lily had thought bitterly. Petunia had made herself scarce. They'd had a row over Christmas that had caused Lily to accidentally light on fire some wrapping paper Petunia was holding. Tuney was clearly still angry about it – or scared, Lily wasn't sure. But she had apologized hundreds of times, and they were now at a stand-off. Lils wouldn't apologize one more time, but Tuney wouldn't budge and forgive her. So, to cheer her up, Lily's mum had called Marlene's mum, who had agreed to let Mar stay for the last two days until the term started back up at Hogwarts.
"I missed you so much," squealed Marlene. They detached themselves from each other, Lily grinning ear to ear. She was so glad she had Mar around now. "Plus, I need your help with that History of Magic homework."
Lily mock groaned in response. "Have you even started it, Mar?"
Marlene just grinned back at her. "Race you to your bedroom! Nice seeing you, Mrs Evans," she added, before dashing off.
"You girls have fun," Lily heard her mum call after her as she followed Marlene, dashing around the corner and up the stairs. "Don't forget supper in an hour!"
The girls giggled their way through some History of Magic and a lot of boy talk. Tuney made no appearances for supper, which disapppointed Lily if only slightly. She was glad that it wouldn't give them a reason to fight – but really, she left again for Hogwarts in two days. She just wanted to see her sister.
"How's Petunia?" asked Marlene later that night. The girls had curled up in Lil's bed, finally giving up on their History of Magic for good. Lily peered over at Marlene's face, illuminated in the soft glow of her bedside lamp. Her blonde hair was spread on the pillow around her head like a halo. Marlene had been gazing at the ceiling, but she shifted to meet Lil's eyes as if feeling her gaze. She looked curious, but also had a bracing look around her – as if she already knew how Lily would answer.
"I haven't seen her, really," Lily said with a sigh. "She's still angry about Christmas, honestly. It's just been me and mum, really. I almost wish I had stayed at Hogwarts."
"With the Mauraders?" Marlene wrinkled her nose at Lily, prompting a giggle from Lily.
"I suppose you're right, that would have been horrid." Lily mock shudders, although she can't help think that it might have been better. After all, Sev was still at the castle, so she would have had him. And Remus and Peter weren't all that bad, at least Remus could have helped her with the Herbology essay she'd been struggling with. Plus, Mary MacDonald had stayed for the break since her parents were travelling. Lily had even felt slightly guilty, leaving one of her best mates all alone in her dorm. But really, she had missed her parents something awful. And maybe she had even hoped things would be better between herself and Petunia if she came home. Clearly, that hope had been misplaced.
"They're not all so bad," Marlene concluded Lily's unspoken thoughts. "Well, mostly. Potter's a right git."
"So's Black," laughed Lily. "You never know if he's going to high-five you or hex you."
"He's fit, though," Marlene reasoned somberly. "Almost makes it worth putting up with his unpredictability."
"Marlene," Lily groaned in mock horror, but couldn't hold her mask of disdain for long. Both girls dissolved into peals of laughter.
"Do you remember when he proposed to McGonagall?" Marlene asked with another snicker. Lily groaned back, in real disdain this time.
It was in their second year – the four boys had just begun calling themselves the Mauraders, and they had hexed Severus' hair pink in the middle of the Great Hall. McGonagall had been furious, and had stormed down from the Head Table to deliver detention to Potter. Of course, Lily thought, it would have been Potter who had done the actual casting of the hex. What a git.
Somehow, this had ended in Sirius, down on one knee, holding an actual honest-to-god ring. Rumour has it he nicked it from his parents, and Lily wouldn't be surprised if that were true, knowing Black. The phrase "Minnie, will you marry me?" had even been uttered before McGonagall had served him enough detentions to last the rest of the term. He hadn't even been disappointed, the git. If anything, he had looked thrilled.
"Do you remember how red her face got?" continued Marlene, giggling now. Lily couldn't help but laugh, too. Her friend's laughter was honestly contagious.
"I can't believe he called her Minnie," Lily said through giggles. "If he hadn't been a student, she would have hexed him for sure."
A door slamming and a shout of "Shut up, freaks!" came from somewhere outside Lily's bedroom and she felt her heart sink, all laughter gone.
"Lil-" Marlene started as Lily stood up out of her bed, but she waved Mar away.
"Let me handle it," Lily sighed to her friend. "Be back in a mo'."
She brushed her red hair out of her eyes as she stepped past the threshhold of her door. Across the room, the door to Tuney's room was cracked open. It was quiet, but her light was on. Further down the hall, she could see the light to her parent's bedroom was off.
"Tuney?" Lily whispered, nudging Petunia's bedroom door open with her foot.
"What do you want?" her sister asked dully, if not a little bit viciously back.
Lily looked at Petunia, curled up in the corner of her bed with a book. Her brown hair was drawn back and clipped out of her face and it looked like she had the residue of makeup still on her lip. Lily almost asked where she had been, but stopped herself. Petunia wouldn't tell her anyways.
Not too long ago, Lily would have curld up at the end of this bed herself after a day of adventuring with Tuney. When they were younger they were thick as thieves. She wasn't exactly sure when that had changed, but she did know why.
"Sorry for being so loud," she finally responded.
"Whatever, Lily. We all know you're a freak, you don't have to shout about it." Petunia hardly glanced up from her book at all. It made Lily feel like her heart had dropped to her stomach.
"Tuney, why are you being like this?" She didn't care that she sounded like she was begging, although her mother would have said it was unbecoming. Petunia would have said so once, too. But now she just looked at Lily cooly.
"Honestly, I don't even know why you bothered to come home," Petunia spat back at her. Lily took half a step back; the words felt like a physical blow. "We're happier without you, when you're at your freak school."
Tears threatened to spill from Lily's eyes, but she willed them back. The last thing she wanted was to give her sister the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She knew what would happen – it always happened when the older Slytherin's at school taunted her – Petunia would see the tears and it would add more fuel to the flame.
"I'm still the same, Tuney. Nothing's different about me."
"You're right," her sister finally said, looking her up and down. Petunia's tone was soft, almost, but there was something about the look that made Lily keep her guard up. Still, she wasn't prepared for the pure hatred that came out of her sister's mouth when their eyes made contact again. "The difference is that now I know what you are."
The tears spilled over and Lily was paralyzed from it. Marlene's voice appearing suddenly in her ear was a saving grace.
"C'mon, Lils," her friend whispered, pulling her back from Petunia's room. She gave Lily a gentle shove toward her own room but didn't follow. Lily stopped – suddenly unsure without Marlene by her.
"Honestly, Petunia," Marlene's voice came from behind Lily. She turned to see her friend had poked her head into her sister's room. "I know you're jealous, but you don't have to be such a bitch."
Marlene spun on her heel, pulling the door shut behind her. It was loud enough to make a point, but not loud enough to wake Lily's parents. She was grateful for this – her parents didn't really know what to do when the girls fought, and Lily didn't blame them. Before Hogwarts she hadn't had a single argument with Tuney. Now? They hadn't said nice words to each other in at least a year.
The sobs came, then. Lily couldn't hold them back any longer. She felt Marlene place a hand on her back and lead her to her room where they curled back up in her bed. They were quiet for a while, Lily's sobs loud in the silence of their room.
"I don't know what to do, Mar," Lily finally gasped between sobs. "At Hogwarts I'm a mudblood and here I'm a freak. I don't really belong anywhere, do I?"
"Oh, Lil," Marlene sighed back. Lily relaxed as Marlene stroked her hair off her tear stricken face. She willed herself to stop crying, and felt the sobs slow down and turn to quiet whimpering tears. "That's bollocks and you know it. I know the Slytherins are arseholes." This drew a wet giggle from Lily, to which Marlene gave a wry grin. "We can't really help that, but I promise no one in Gryffindor thinks that. And Petunia will come 'round. She's just jealous, I can tell."
Lily relaxed into Marlene and her words. She felt a little bit more hopeful – about the school part at least. Really, she wasn't so sure about Tuney.
