Chapter 6: When Tragedy Strikes
During the next few weeks, Lily took Alice and Emily's advice. Since she and James were friends, they told her to start writing to him just to keep things friendly and to stay in touch. They sent letters back and forth and even met up a couple of times with Sirius, Frank, Alice and Mary. Usually, they met up at someone's house and most of the time it was either James or Lily's.
When they would meet up, everyone noticed that James and Lily were a lot closer than they had ever been. James was a little surprised by this but didn't question Lily assuming she knew what she was doing, plus he liked it. Frank and Alice were as sickening as ever but they mostly kept to themselves during these times. Even Emily showed up a few times which made things interesting. She and Sirius were always the life of the party.
Also, to Lily's dismay, Petunia and Vernon got engaged. Lily would unfortunately gain Vernon as a brother-in-law but she would suck it up because he made her sister happy. They may not get along, but Lily did love her sister.
As July ended, the first of August came with some exciting news for Lily. Lily and her Mum were sitting at the table when they heard a tapping on the window. It was an owl. Lily went over and let the owl in. She took the letter from him and gave him some food before he took off again.
Lily recognized the familiar envelope from Hogwarts. But this letter felt different to her, heavier. When she opened it, she saw a badge and an extra letter in there from Dumbledore himself. She read the letter over a couple times not believing what she was reading. Finally, she had to accept the reality because it was her name on the envelope.
"Lily, what is it?" her mother asked noticing the shocked look on her daughter's face.
"Oh, er…I have been made Head Girl at school."
"What? Oh that is wonderful! I'm so proud of you!" her mother said as she hugged Lily a little too tightly.
"Mum… can't… breathe." Lily gasped.
"Oops, sorry dear. I'm just so very proud of you. Oh, look I'm crying a little" she apologized as she wiped away a tear.
Just then, Mr. Evans walked in the room.
"What's going on?"
"Lily has just been made Head Girl at school."
"Lily that's wonderful" he said giving her a hug.
"Thank you. I just can't really believe it. I mean I'm so happy but I'm still so shocked."
Lily finished her breakfast in a daze. She couldn't believe that Dumbledore (and the other teachers) trusted her enough for this responsibility. But she knew she wasn't going to let them down. Lily about spilled her tea because her mother startled her.
"Dear? What would you say about getting Lily something special to show her how proud we are of her?"
"Mum, Dad, you don't have to get me anything."
"Nonsense, you deserve it."
"What does the freak deserve?" Petunia asked as she entered the kitchen.
"Petunia, don't call your sister a freak. And Lily just found out she was made Head Girl at school."
"So? That doesn't mean she deserves anything."
"You know for once, I agree with Tuney" Lily laughed.
"Well that's a first" Petunia said in disbelief.
"Girls, stop. Lily, I won't hear of it. Your father and I will go out and get you something. End of discussion."
"Okay, but nothing too extravagant. Please?"
"Deal."
At ten, Lily's parents left to run some errands and pick Lily something out. Lily cleaned up the house some and looked over what supplies she would need for school this year. She made herself some lunch and thought that it was strange that her parents weren't back yet. They only had to do a few things but she shrugged it off thinking that they still hadn't found Lily, according to them, that perfect gift.
The next thing Lily knew it was almost three and they weren't home yet. Lily started to get worried. Usually if they were going to be late they would have called. Just as Lily was about to look out the window to see if their car was coming, there was a soft knock on the door. Lily rushed to get it hoping it was her parents but it wasn't.
"Can I help you?" she asked the officer at her door.
"Is Lily or Petunia Evans here?"
"I'm Lily and my sister is in the other room. Shall I get her?" he nodded and waited as Petunia came to the door.
"Lily what is it?" Lily didn't answer but instead looked at the officer afraid of what was going to come next.
"I have some bad news for you" he began "your parents were in a terrible car accident. A truck crossed over the line and smashed head first into your parent's car. I'm sorry to tell you, but they didn't make it. Your parents are dead."
The officer finished and gave each girl a sympathy pat on the shoulder, a paper with numbers telling them what to do next and a box that he said was found in the car. Then he left leaving the girls holding on to each other.
Lily shut the door, still shocked from the news of her parents' death. She fell to the floor and started crying and soon after Petunia did the same thing. For the longest time, they just cried and held each other forgetting all their differences.
After a while, Lily stopped crying knowing that it wouldn't do any good. She got up and made her and Petunia a cup of tea. She led her sister to the table and they drank in silence. After hours of just sitting there, Petunia suddenly got up and walked away. Lily figured she just needed time to herself and let her be.
Lily decided to open the box the officer gave her, already knowing that it was her gift from her parents. Nestled into the soft blue silk sat a silver, lily flower pendant on a silver chain. When she saw that she started to cry harder than ever before. She looked up startled when the kitchen door burst open. Petunia looked furious.
"This is all your fault!" she screamed at Lily.
"What's all my fault?" Lily asked hoarsely, confused at her sister's sudden outburst.
"It's your fault that Mum and Dad are dead!"
"How is it my fault?" Lily asked in disbelief, her voice just as loud as Petunia's.
"It's because of you and your stupid 'head girl' thing that they went out in the first place. Anything for their precious Lily!" Petunia sneered.
"No way, don't you dare put this on me! It's the truck driver's fault that Mum and Dad are gone!"
"I don't care what you say; this is still your fault! They have always paid more attention to you than they have me! They have always spent more time with you! Ever since you got that letter!"
"What? Do you really think that Mum and Dad paid more attention to me? Spent more time with me? Are you bloody mental?"
"No, I am not mental! It's completely true!"
"Oh, so if it's true, then what do you call all those times that I was away at school and you were here with them? For the past six years, I have only seen them for a couple of weeks during Christmas and for a few months during the summer. You're the one that has been with them the most!"
"That doesn't mean anything! Do you think for one second that because you were away that they focused all their attention on me? Because they didn't, they treated me no differently than they did when you were home. Whenever you came home, they all but forgot about me!"
"Oh, Tuney, I had no idea" Lily lowered her voice but it didn't last long.
"Don't give me that! I don't want your sympathy."
"Fine! Then I won't give it to you! But I'm your sister, Tuney, how could you blame me for our parents' death?" Lily pleaded.
"You are no sister of mine" Petunia snapped viciously.
Lily didn't know what to say. She knew that they were never best friends but she always thought that they were still sisters. Lily was in tears again.
"Lily, just get out of here and go back to your world. I will call Vernon and he will keep me company. I don't even think you should come to the funeral."
"But, Petunia, they're my parents too!"
"I know, but I don't want to see your face ever again!"
"Fine, I'll just go then!" Lily grabbed the box with her necklace in it and Disapparated right in front of Petunia. She had never done that before so her sister was shocked to see her disappear like that. But Lily didn't care; she just wanted to get out of there.
When she landed, she almost fell to the ground because she was crying so hard but was caught by Alice. Alice grabbed her and led her into the house.
"Lily, I saw you appear. What's wrong?" Alice asked as she set Lily on the couch.
"My… parents… died… today" Lily managed in between gasps and sobs.
"Oh, Lily" Alice said as she started to cry "you can cry on my shoulder as long as you want."
Six hours and several cups of tea later…
Alice finally managed to get Lily to fall asleep. She figured that it would be the best thing for her considering her awful day. Alice sent an owl to both Mary and Emily telling them what happened and that she would send them another when she knew more details. Alice figured Lily was exhausted so she thought that this would be a good time to get some sleep.
The Potter house was very quiet. As it should be considering it was two in the morning. The Potter's and Sirius were sleeping peacefully until a loud bang on the door woke them up. They all grabbed their wands and headed downstairs to the front door. As they walked to the door, Mr. Potter took the lead, followed by Mrs. Potter and then James and Sirius.
Mr. Potter yanked the door open and sighed in relief when he saw that it was only Alice and Lily. But then they saw that Alice was supporting a crying Lily and quickly got them inside. Mrs. Potter helped Alice lead Lily to the table and then Lily just slumped on the table and sobbed even harder.
"Alice, what happened?" Mrs. Potter asked.
"Oh, I want to tell you but I'm afraid if I speak about it, she will start sobbing even worse. Do you think we could get her calmed down and maybe put her to sleep?"
"Of course, I will make some tea."
Mrs. Potter got to work. She made a cup of tea for everyone but put a Calming potion and a Sleeping potion in Lily's cup.
"Lily, dear, please drink this. It will make you feel better."
Lily nodded and started to drink. Almost immediately she stopped crying and a minute or two later she fell asleep. Mr. Potter went to pick her up but James said he would do it. James picked Lily up and cradled her in his arms. He held her close but not too close so he would jostle her and wake her up. Sleeping potions may be powerful but too much movement can sometimes wake the person up. He had always dreamed of holding Lily like this. He just wished it was for a better reason. She was so light but he knew she was a force to be reckoned with. He decided to lay her on his bed because it was the most comfortable and considering how she looked, she needed a good night's sleep. He laid her down and covered her up with a blanket and turned to leave but he heard her whisper something that made him stop.
"James, please don't leave me" Lily mumbled sleepily. James went over to her and whispered back.
"Don't worry, Lily. I promise I will be back."
She just managed a "thank you" before she fell asleep. James left but kept the door cracked so he could get in the room making as little noise as possible. He went back down the stairs and entered the kitchen and saw that no one had moved since he left. When he sat down his mother gave his hand a squeeze and a small smile.
"James, we waited for you before Alice told us anything. Okay, Alice, go ahead."
"Today, well I guess yesterday, Lily's parents passed away" Alice started crying a little and so did Mrs. Potter.
Alice told them everything Lily told her. She said how Lily found out, that Lily and her sister had a fight but she couldn't get Lily to tell her any of the details, and how Lily showed up at her house almost completely on the ground. Alice was surprised Lily didn't splinch herself. She told them how she finally managed to get Lily to sleep.
"Then about fifteen minutes ago, I woke up to Lily screaming. She started sobbing again and she kept saying James' name over and over. I didn't know what to do. So I figured that you would be able to do something. My parents don't keep potions in the house because of my younger siblings and she did keep saying James' name. I hope that was okay and I'm sorry I scared you when I pounded on the door."
"Alice, you did the right thing bringing her here" Mr. Potter said giving her a pat on the back.
"So, she really didn't say anything about what she and her sister were fighting about?" Mrs. Potter asked.
"No, all she said was that she came right to my house when they were done fighting. Oh, and I couldn't get this box" Alice showed them Lily's box "out of her hands until she fell asleep. I didn't open it because I didn't think she would want me to."
Alice set the box on the table and no one touched it. It seemed that everyone agreed that Lily would show them in time. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Mrs. Potter spoke.
"What do you think Lily's going to do? I'm guessing that she doesn't want to go back to the house where her sister is but I can't speak for her" Mrs. Potter said.
"I think that in the morning Lily will be able to tell us what she wants to do. Do you mind if I come back in the morning to be with her?" Alice asked.
"Of course you can come in the morning. You may stay the rest of the night if you want."
"Oh, thank you, but I really should get back to my siblings."
Alice bid them good night and said she would be back in the morning. Neither of the Potter's or Sirius spoke but instead went back upstairs to bed. When James entered his room, he saw that Lily was in exactly the same spot he left her. He decided that he would sit against the bed and rest his head on the bed rather than being on the bed next to her. James fell asleep quickly and didn't wake until he felt someone gently shaking his shoulder.
He realized that he must have fallen over at one point because his glasses were askew and his face was pressed against the floor. He sat up and saw that Lily was the one who was waking him. She looked awful but she had a good reason to. Her face was all blotchy and her eyes were still puffy and red. Her hair stuck up in every direction and he suspected that it would be terribly difficult to brush through.
She gave him the tiniest smile before she sat back on the bed. He gave her a concerned smile and sat down next to her.
"Morning" she said, her voice hoarse.
"Morning, Lily" and as he said it she put her head on his shoulder.
"I suppose you know by now."
"Yes, Alice told us after we got you to sleep." They sat in silence for awhile before Lily spoke.
"Yesterday, my sister and I had the worst fight we have ever had" she began.
"Lily, you don't have to tell me this, if you don't want to."
"I know, but I need to tell someone and I think I'm calm enough to do so."
Lily told him word for word what the two said to each other. The fight was still fresh in her mind, like it had just happened. He listened in silence and with every word she spoke, he got angrier at Petunia. When she finished, Lily was crying a little and waited for James to speak. She could tell he was angry because he was shaking some.
"Lily, how could your sister say that to you?!" James outraged.
"I don't know, but she did and it's done. I can't do anything to change it."
When James calmed down, Lily asked him to help her to the bathroom. She was weak and exhausted from all that crying. After she finished, they went downstairs to the kitchen where they saw Alice, Sirius and Mr. and Mrs. Potter. They all looked up when they entered and Mrs. Potter rushed over and gave Lily a hug. Once they all sat down, Alice got straight to it.
"Lily, we all want to know what your sister said to you. I understand if you don't want to tell us but we really would like to know."
Lily nodded and begun. She repeated for them what she told James. They all were horrorstruck that someone could blame their sister like that. Alice and Mrs. Potter were in tears and the men just looked angry. Mrs. Potter finished making breakfast and everyone dug in. Lily didn't eat much which worried James but he didn't say anything. He knew she was grieving. After breakfast, Sirius asked Lily what she was going to do now.
"Well, I have been thinking about this and I'm going to go back." They all gasped a little and asked why.
"I'm not going to stay but I need to go to their funeral no matter what my sister says. I'm going to pack up things in my room and some other stuff around the house but I'm not going to stay there longer than I have to."
"Lily, where are you going to go?" Alice asked.
"I don't know yet. I'm sure wherever it is, will be better than staying with Petunia."
"I insist that you move in with us. I will have it no other way" Mrs. Potter said and her husband fully agreed.
"Oh, thank you, but I couldn't impose like that."
"No, you will move in here with us and that is final" she said with finality in her voice.
"Okay, I guess I can't argue with that. Thank you."