A/N: So I now know why I hate spending time at my Aunt's house, and a three day weekend for my cousin's graduation party, especially when she just graduated Magna Cum Laude from Notra Dame, not so much fun. Every time I was around my Aunt she would compare me to my cousin, who is seven years older than me. Anyway, the next chapter should be up on Sunday, and I have to say there is a part in there that could not have happened without my little brother. Thank youShane!Right, so, enjoy, and review.
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. – Mahatma Gandhi
Life is short. Forgive quickly. Kiss slowly. – Robert Doisneau
Chapter Nine
Lily woke early the next morning to find Emily staring out the window. "Hey."
Emily glanced over, "Hey."
Lily narrowed her eyes, "What's the matter?"
Emily shrugged her shoulders, "Nothing."
"Em, come on, I'm your best mate."
"Things have been too quiet lately; I'm worried about going home."
Lily bit her lip; she'd been thinking along those lines lately as well, "You know that Voldemort doesn't do a lot of real damage during the school year."
"I know, but this past year, it's almost as if he disappeared."
"That'd be nice." Lily murmured.
"Wouldn't it just." Emily replied. "But usually there's something. It's got me really worried that there's been nothing. It's like my mum says, 'You know there's trouble when you can't hear anything.'" Lily walked over to the window to stand next to Emily. "We're at the top of his list, you and I."
"I know."
"It's scary to go home." Emily said. "Lily, I don't want to die. I want to graduate, get a job, get married, have babies." Lily didn't answer, she didn't know how. They watched as the sun came up, "Do you ever wonder what your life would have been like if you'd said no to the letter, that you didn't want to come here to Hogwarts? What your life would have been like if you'd decided to stay a muggle."
Lily thought for a moment before answering, "Sometimes." She admitted. "But, we've always been witches, we just didn't know about it before."
"You know what I mean. Sometimes I wonder if I hadn't chosen to come here if I'd be safer."
Lily shrugged, "I've wondered about it myself; more so when Voldemort was first starting to get really powerful. But I really think that no matter what he'd have targeted us eventually. I mean we still would have been muggle borns, we just wouldn't know what was going on or how to do magic. At least now we know about him and how to defend ourselves."
"You're right; I know that you are, intellectually at least. But I can't help thinking that maybe, in this case, ignorance would have been better. I go home on holidays and lie to my parents, tell them that everything is wonderful because they wouldn't let me come back if they knew what was really going on. I wake up every morning wondering if I'll get through the day alive and I go to bed every night hoping that no one I know will be in the paper in the morning. It's not fair, we shouldn't have to do this, we're only seventeen years old. We should be looking forward to our futures, not wondering if we're going to have them."
"He'll be stopped eventually." Lily replied.
"But how many more people will have to die before that happens?"
Lily shook her head, "I don't know." She said sadly.
"What are you guys doing?" Dorcas called from the other side of the room.
"Just being dour." Emily replied. "I'm going to get in the shower."
"What was that all about?" Dorcas asked.
"She's worried about Voldemort." Lily replied.
"We all are."
"I know. But it's scary for us; you're not as much of a target as we are."
"Tell that to Alice or Peter or Remus." Dorcas said softly. "They're the ones who had their family's attacked last summer and Alice nearly died."
"I know; it's not something I'd forget." Lily shot back. "But it's different. It is." She added when Dorcas looked skeptical. "I know that everyone who hasn't joined Voldemort is a target, but at least you guys get to go home and talk about it with someone. Em and I, we go home and tell our parents how great everything is. We suck it up and don't talk to anyone about what's going on. And we wonder if we're doing the right thing by not telling them. There's no way that they can protect themselves even if they did know, but maybe they'd know enough to run if they knew. But you don't want them worried all of the time, to always be looking over their shoulders."
"Lily, the rest of us may be able to talk about what's going on, but we worry about our families as much as you and Em do. When Voldemort really wants to kill you there's no way to stop him, no matter how much magic you know. People don't survive Avada Kedavra."
"I know that, everyone knows that. But, if, god forbid, something happens to your family it wouldn't be your fault."
"Lily, it wouldn't be yours either." Dorcas responded.
"Okay, maybe not my fault, but I'd be responsible." Lily replied, "I would be Dorcas. My family wouldn't be involved in this if I wasn't a witch."
"You can't help being a witch. That's like saying it's your fault you have red hair and green eyes. It wasn't a choice you made."
"That's not the point; the point is if I wasn't a witch they wouldn't be a target. So if he does something to them I'll be the one, not at fault maybe, but still responsible."
"Lily…"
"No, don't worry about it." Lily interrupted. "Listen, I think that I'm going to head to the Prefect's bathroom and take a bath."
Dorcas looked worried, but she said "Still not going to tell us what the password is?"
Lily smiled, thankful that Dorcas wasn't going to pursue it any further. "Nope." She grabbed her stuff and headed down the stairs.
"Hey, where are you off to this early?"
Lily glanced across the common room to see James staring at the fire, "To the Prefect's bathroom."
"Do you want some company?"
Lily raised an eyebrow, "I guess. Don't you ever sleep? You're always awake and already in the common room before I am."
"I'm used to getting up early. The guys usually sleep late, but normally I'm up fairly early."
"Huh."
"So what made you decide to head all the way over to the Prefect's bathroom?"
"Emily's in ours and I was getting into a pretty morbid conversation with Dorcas. I needed to get away, so this seemed like a good answer."
James lifted an eyebrow, "Running away from something? That's not usual for you."
"Not normally." Lily agreed, "But, I really didn't want to talk about it anymore and I couldn't think of any other way to get out of it."
"What were you talking about?" James asked as Lily said the password to the bathroom.
Lily shrugged, "Don't worry about it." She said as she stepped into the bathroom. James glanced at the statue of Boris the Bewildered next to the door as it closed in his face and knew exactly how Boris felt. Then he jumped a few moments later when the door opened again, "Coming?"
He grinned, "Just waiting for an invitation." Lily pulled him into the bathroom and kissed him deeply when the door closed.
James glanced at Lily out of the corner of his eye as they were walking down to breakfast, "What are you doing this summer?"
"I dunno. My sister's getting married, so there's the wedding." Lily replied.
"Your sister's getting married?"
"Yeah, to a horrid oaf of a man."
James smiled, "So, tell me what you really think of you future brother-in-law."
Lily grinned, "He's awful, he's just like her really, so I'm not surprised that they get on so well. I'm going to be in the wedding, which was a surprise when I read that, I have a feeling that mum had something to do with it."
"When is it?"
"The wedding?"
"Yeah."
"The middle of July. Why?" Lily replied.
"I just wanted to know if you wanted to spend some time at my house. We're not going to get to see each other otherwise; we live across the country from one another."
Lily smiled up at James as they walked into the Great Hall, "Yeah, I'd like that."
"Like what?" Alice asked.
"Nothing." Lily answered.
"Fine, that's okay, I didn't really want to know anyway." Alice said rolling her eyes. Then when Lily wasn't looking she threw some eggs at her.
"Hey! That's not nice." Lily said sticking out her tongue. "I'll get you back for that when you least expect it." Alice grinned back and stuck her tongue out at Lily.
"So, Lily, how was your bath?" Dorcas asked smiling evilly at her and James.
"Why? You want to join me next time?" Lily replied.
Gideon choked on his orange juice, "If she says yes can I come along?" Both Lily and Dorcas gave him dry looks, "I swear I'll stay out of they way, and I promise to just watch."
"Well, when you put it that way, sure." Lily replied.
"Really?" Gideon asked excitedly.
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Dorcas?"
Dorcas rolled her eyes, "What is it with guys getting off watching two girls together?"
"Nicely done. She's usually much harder to distract." James whispered to her.
Lily grinned at him, "I thought so."
They were almost finished with breakfast when the mail came, as they were all going home that day most of the owls were ones carrying the Daily Prophet. Lily had barely paid the owl when the screaming started.
Lily looked around and saw that people all over the Great Hall were tearing into the paper and growing pale. It didn't take Lily long to figure out why. "Bloody hell, Lily what does it say?" Marlie asked biting her lip in fear.
Lily glanced down at the paper where a black and white dark mark was glaring back at her. "'Massive Death Eater Attacks Across Country.'" She glanced at her friends before continuing, "'Last night death eaters simultaneously attacked all parts of Britain in the deadliest attacks to date.'" Marlie gasped and Lily skimmed down the article. "Oh, my god."
"What? What happened?" James asked.
"'Over five hundred muggles and nearly two hundred witches and wizards were killed in last night's attacks.'"
"What? How could that many people be dead?" Alice asked.
"God, what did they do?" Emily questioned.
"Does it say who?" Gideon asked nervously.
"Er, hold on." Lily said going through the paper quickly. "Yeah, it has, er, a couple of pages." She skimmed down the names then, when she was finished breathed a sigh of relief, "It's no one we know." She watched as the others all let out breaths. From the amount of crying students in the Great Hall she knew that not everyone was so lucky.
"How did they kill so many people? Does it say?" Dorcas asked. "Merlin, what happened?"
Lily skimmed the article, "They attacked crowded restaurants, shopping malls, sports arenas, anywhere with a crowd of people."
"What did they tell the muggles? They have to have realized that something is going on, bloody hell, nearly seven hundred people. How could they?" Emily asked starting to cry, "How could anybody?"
"They're saying it's some kind of freak hurricane." Lily murmured.
"And people believe that?" Dorcas asked.
"I guess, they don't have any other answers do they?" Lily replied.
"Why?" Alice asked quietly. Like many people in the Great Hall there were tears falling down her cheeks. "Why would anyone do something like this?"
"Because they could." James replied, his voice was rough, but his face was set. "They did it to show that they could. There isn't a logical answer for this; Voldemort wants us to be afraid. And what better way to do it than something like this; especially on the night before we leave Hogwarts."
"Ruddy bastards." Remus said hotly. "They're nothing but cowards. They attack people who can't defend themselves so that they can do more destruction."
Gideon opened his mouth to say something, but Dumbledore stood up. He was looking grave and more serious than anyone had ever seen him and the Great Hall quieted immediately. "Before anything, I would like to extend my condolences to all that have lost those close to them. I must implore you not to seek revenge for these losses. Take solace in your families and friends, those who love and care for you. It is after all love that will be the undoing of Voldemort," many people in the Great Hall shuttered at the name, "not hate. Be careful this summer holiday, follow the safety guidelines set out by the ministry. And most importantly, know that help will always be here for any who are in need."
"I don't think I've ever been less happy to be going home." Gideon said as the Hogwarts Express pulled to a stop.
"Bloody hell, look at all the ministry officials." Peter murmered.
Lily glanced out the window; there were men and women in purple robes lining the platform, no more than ten meters between them. "Whoa, I don't think I've ever seen that many ministry officials in one spot before."
"Well, considering what happened." Marlie muttered.
They were pulling their stuff off the train when Sirius walked up to them. Remus looked over, "Everyone, be careful. I'm going now." Then with a pop he was gone.
Sirius blinked when Remus disapperated, "I need to talk to the two of you." He said to James and Lily.
Everyone else looked to James and Lily, "Go ahead, we'll be fine. Stay safe everyone." Lily hugged them all before they either disapperated or found their parents on the platform.
"What do you want Sirius?" James asked.
"I want to apologize."
James blinked, "You what?"
Sirius huffed out a breath, "I was wrong and I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking that night and I messed up."
"Yeah, you did." James said. "But, I'm not the one that you should be apologizing to."
"There are a number of people that I have to apologize to, you're one of them. Lily, you're another." Sirius responded. "I know that Remus is the main person I need to apologize to, but I wanted to give him some more time." James didn't know how to respond, he couldn't remember the last time that Sirius had apologized to anyone. "So, I'm sorry for the way I've acted and for the things that I've said over the last couple of months."
James stared at Sirius, but Lily was the first to speak. "It's okay."
Sirius blinked, "Just like that?"
Lily shrugged, "You said you were sorry and you meant it, so it's okay, I forgive you."
"You're an amazing person." Sirius said in wonderment, "James, I don't know what you did to make her like you, but keep it up. Don't mess up, you're really very lucky." James blinked again, "So, what do you say, do you forgive me?"
James didn't say anything for a minute, "Yeah, I forgive you."
Sirius grinned, "Yeah?"
"Yeah." James replied, "So, do you want to come home with me? I know mum said that you got your own place, but you're still welcome at home." Lily smiled at them.
"Nah, I think it's time that I get my own place. My uncle left me some money, so I'll be okay."
"You're sure?"
"Yeah. I might stop by now and again, because, really, you're mum's cooking is the best. But I other than that I think I might enjoy being alone for a while."
"Hey, you kids, what are you doing?" One of the ministry officials asked.
The three of them looked at each other, "We're just talking."
"Well, hurry up, you all need to get to you're homes as soon as possible."
"Okay. He's right. Be careful you guys." Sirius said and then disapperated.
Lily glanced around the platform was nearly empty now, "Well, I guess I'll see you this summer. I'll owl you when I get home, so we can work out getting together."
"Alright. Goodbye Lily." James murmured.
Lily hugged him tightly, "Bye. Please be careful." She said pushed her trolley quickly through the barrier. She glanced around the nearly empty platform and quickly spotted her parents. "Mum, dad! It's good to see you."
Mr. and Mrs. Evans enveloped her into a hug, "It's good to have you home again sweetheart." Mr. Evans said grabbing her trolley. "Here let me push this for you."
"Thanks daddy."
"How was the rest of your school term?" Mrs. Evans asked.
"I did really well."
"That's good darling, we're very proud of you."
"Lily!"
Lily and her parents turned around to see James jogging through Kings Cross, "James?" Lily asked surprised, "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah." James panted. He grabbed her arm, pulled her towards him, and kissed her deeply.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Evans raised their eyebrows, "Mr. and Mrs. Evans, good to meet you. I'm James Potter, Lily's boyfriend." James said sticking out his hand.
Mr. Evans blinked, shook James' hand, and looked at Lily who was grinning goofily, "Lily's boyfriend?"
Lily glanced up at James and grinned again, "Yeah daddy, my boyfriend."
"How long have you two been dating then?" He asked.
"Since the beginning of April." James replied.
Mr. Evans opened his mouth again, but Mrs. Evans elbowed him in the ribs, "Michael," she hissed, "stop it. It's nice to have met you James."
"You too, Mrs. Evans. I've got to go, my parents are going to be wondering where I am. Bye Lily, Mr. Evans, Mrs. Evans."
"Bye James." Lily called grinning.
"How come you never said that you had a boyfriend Lily?" Mrs. Evans asked.
"I dunno." Lily replied.
"He seems like a nice boy."
"He is. He's wonderful; he's smart, funny, caring, brave, loyal…"
"We get it sweetheart." Mr. Evans interrupted. "He treats you well?"
"Yeah, dad he treats me very well."
"And he makes you happy?"
"Yes daddy." Lily answered climbing into the car.
"Okay then."
Lily rolled her eyes then met her mother's gaze in the mirror, they both smirked. "Have you mentioned him before Lily? His name sounds very familiar."
Lily thought about it for a minute, "I might have." She responded. "James used to act like an arrogant little," Lily caught herself before swearing in front of her parents, "er, berk. But he's changed a lot over the past year; he's grown up a lot."
"James Potter." Mrs. Evans said, "Of course, I remember where you've said the name now. You always used to complain about him, didn't you?"
Lily flushed slightly, "Yeah, but he's different now."
Her parents grinned at each other, "That's good darling." Her father said. "And your mother is right; he does seem like a nice boy."
Lily smiled, "Yeah." Then, inspired, she asked, "Do you think that he could come over this summer?" She saw the look her parents shot each other, "This way you guys could get to know him better. Five minutes at a train station isn't really a lot of time, and you could see how he is normally then."
"Well see, Lily." Her father responded. "Maybe after your sister's wedding."
Lily grinned and did a mental victory dance, "Okay. Where is Petunia anyway?"
"She's at the bridal shop now; she's having a fitting on her dress." Her mother said. "That's actually where we're headed now."
"What?" Lily asked surprised. "Mum, I just got off the train from school."
"We know sweetheart, but the shop is in London, so since we had to pick you up from Kings Cross anyway we figured it would make sense not to have to make two trips into London."
"Why do I have to be there?" Lily asked.
"Lily." Her mother said. "Be nice. Your sister's been trying to accept your magic; you know that it's hard for her. Besides, you are going to be in the wedding and you need to have your dress fitted as well."
Accept magic my ass. Lily thought. She huffed out a breath, "Alright I'll be nice, as long as she is."
"Lily." Mr. Evans said sharply.
"What?" Lily asked.
"Be nice, or James will absolutely not be spending any time at our house this summer." He said.
Lily rolled her eyes, "I bet the dress is pink." She muttered. Her parents looked at each other, "Oh, god. It is isn't it?"
"The dress is certainly something." Mrs. Evans said.
When Lily walked into the dress shop she decided that her mother was the queen of understatements. The dress was, as Lily had feared, a garish pink, the sleeves were off the shoulder and started with big poufs at the tops and went down to points at the wrists, and, worst of all in Lily's opinion, there was a large bow on the back, right where her butt would be.
"Come on dear; let's get you into a dress so that way we can make the necessary adjustments." The seamstress said. "Size six?"
Lily, who had yet to take her attention away from the dress, answered with an absent, "Yes."
"Good. Mary, come do the alterations for our young lady." The seamstress called.
A tall, brown haired girl about five or six years older than Lily appeared out from a row of dresses. She took one look at Lily, "The pink one?"
"Yes, dear, the pink one." The seamstress said. "My niece." She said to Mrs. Evans. "She likes to question everything."
The girl had Lily go into a changing room to try the dress on. Lily slipped into the dress and shook her head. Wow, this looks terrible. "Are you set?" The girl called.
"Yeah." Lily said and stepped out of the changing room.
"Ooh." The girl said. "I'm sorry."
Lily sighed, "Yeah, me too."
"The bride's your sister?" She asked.
"Yeah, Petunia's my sister."
"Why did she pick this dress?" The girl asked pinning the dress at the hem. "I mean especially with your hair."
"Because of my hair. My sister and I aren't on the best of terms." Lily sighed.
The girl looked slightly uncomfortable, "Oh."
"Lily, dear, let's see how it looks." Mrs. Evans called.
"Yes, Lily, let's see how the dress looks." She heard her sister call.
Lily shook her head and walked to the main part of the store. "Oh, Lily." Her mother said as Petunia's eyes lit with amusement.
"Why don't you turn around so that way we can see the back?" Petunia said fighting laughter.
"Sure, why not complete the humiliation." Lily muttered, but turned as requested.
"That dress looks, er, lovely on you dear." The seamstress said.
Lily turned so that she was facing the front of the store again. "Thanks." She muttered as the seamstress checked the way her niece had pinned the dress. Lily squinted towards the door as a large woman in tweed entered the store. "Petunia, has Vernon taken to wearing dresses lately?"
Mrs. and Mr. Evans both snorted, "Lily." Her mother admonished.
"No." Petunia spat. "Vernon has not taken to wearing dresses."
It's only a matter of time then. Lily thought, but thought better of saying it aloud. "Well, I suppose that must be Marge then."
Petunia's eyes bugged out, "But, she's supposed to be in Ireland."
"Petunia, good to see you." Marge said bumping her cheek against Petunia's. Lily and her father exchanged looks and Lily had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. "Vernon told me where to find you. There's good news, I'll be able to make it to the wedding after all."
Petunia went pale, but the seamstress seemed to handle it better, "Mary, help our new guest with a dress."
"What am I going to do?" Petunia whined. "Everything's been set up already. Now Vernon is going to have to add another groomsman to make things even and the seating at the reception is going to be messed up. Everything's ruined."
"Petunia, dear, don't worry, it's not that big of a deal. I'm sure we'll find a way to fix it." Mrs. Evans soothed.
"Mum, the wedding is in less than three weeks."
"So, we'll be quick about it."
Lily suddenly perked up when an idea hit her, "She can have my spot in the bridal party."
"What?" Mrs. Evans asked.
"Marge can have my spot, so that way Vernon doesn't have to add any groomsmen or whatever."
"Lily, darling, you don't have to do that, you're Petunia's sister, you should be in the wedding."
"Mum, Petunia and I've always been sisters, and we love each other, right Petunia." Petunia grimaced at her. "Well, Marge is going to be a new member of our family, and she deserves to be in the wedding as well. Besides, my dress is the only one that hasn't had any permanent changes made to it, so it's easy enough to switch me out of the bridal party." Lily said in a rush.
"That's very considerate and mature of you Lily." Mr. Evans said. "What do you say Petunia? Does that sound like a plan to you?"
Petunia looked from Lily to their father and back again. Lily grinned at her, she'd finally gotten back at her sister for the way she'd treated her over the Christmas Holiday. "I suppose so." Petunia sniffed.
"Well then. There that's settled." The seamstress said. "Why don't you go put your clothes back on dear?" She said to Lily. Then she turned to Mrs. Evans, "We have several dresses that would look lovely on her if you'd like to look at them and we can fit them when you're finished."
"Mum?" Lily said following her mother into the kitchen when they finally got home.
"Yes, dear?"
"Do you think that since I gave up my place in the bridal party and all, I could invite a friend to the wedding?" Lily asked.
"A friend?" Her mother asked.
"Yeah."
"And by friend, do you mean James?" Her mother asked.
Lily blushed, "I did, but if you're not okay with that I could ask one of my other friends."
"I don't know Lily."
"Please, mum."
"I'll see if I can talk your sister into it. It was a nice thing that you did, allowing Marge to take your place like that." Mrs. Evans said walking up to Petunia's room.
"That was very nicely done, if I do say so myself." Mr. Evans said when his wife had left the room.
"What was nicely done?" Lily asked feigning innocence.
"The way you got yourself out of having to wear that dress and getting your boyfriend invited to your sister's wedding. I'm impressed; I didn't know that you were so cunning." He said smiling.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Lily grinned evilly, "But did you see the way Marge looked in that monstrosity? Like a humungous cupcake iced by a blind monkey."
"Lily!" Mr. Evans said, though he wasn't quite quick enough to hide the amusement in his eyes.
"What? You know it's true." Lily replied.
He nodded his head in agreement, "You have a point, though if you tell anyone I'll deny it vehemently."
Lily grinned at her father, appreciating his humor. "I love you daddy." She said suddenly hugging her father.
"What's this?" He asked hugging her back.
"Nothing." Lily responded. "I just don't tell you and mum often enough, I suppose."
Mr. Evans chuckled slightly, "Well, I love you too, sweetheart."
That was how Mrs. Evans found them when she walked back into the kitchen. "Lily, Petunia doesn't mind if you have a friend over for the wedding."
Lily bounded to her mother, "Can I invite James?" She asked.
Mrs. and Mr. Evans looked at each other, "Yes, dear, I suppose that you can." Mrs. Evans replied.
Lily grinned broadly, "Thank you!" She kissed both of her parents on the cheek, "I'm going to go owl him now."
Mr. Evans watched his youngest daughter bound up the stairs to her bedroom, "She's been acting odd."
"Yes, she has." Mrs. Evans agreed.
Mr. Evans narrowed his eyes, "You don't think she's pregnant do you?"
Mrs. Evans let out a laugh, "No, I don't think she's pregnant. I think she's in love."