Lily Evans tapped the opposite end of her ballpoint pen on the kitchen table several times in succession while her foot twitched up and down and her eyes stared out the four-paned window and into her neighbours' yard where a blue bird was drinking from a stone bird bath. A note pad lay on the checkered table cloth before her; the top of it reading, "Things to Do Before Friday". On this list, twenty things were listed quite neatly in feminine handwriting, and out of those twenty, nineteen were crossed off. This last item was apparently much more strenuous to perform (or rather, maintain) than the rest, judging not only by her body language, but also by the fact that her neighbour had been waving in her direction for the past thirty seconds and she had not noticed because of the thoughts that had consumed her mind. Thoughts of the last item on the list.
It was outlined in a box several times over and had a large asterisk beside it in the left margin. It was written slightly larger than the rest of the list and in all capital letters: KEEP SANITY.
This task was not crossed off because Lily was not sure if she HAD kept her sanity over the past several weeks. She had arrived home from her sixth year at Hogwarts with expectations of what her summer would turn out to be, but never in her right mind had she expected it to be quite like this. Of course, at the moment she wasn't in her right mind. And she certainly hoped that "right" part of her mind had just gone on holiday and would be returning shortly, rather than the thought that it had taken its permanent leave.
A clock chimed the hour and Lily's eyes flew immediately to check the time, hoping it wasn't a mirage or a dream. She highly doubted the latter; she had had about six cups of coffee since the morning, though the former wouldn't surprise her, for she hadn't really eaten anything all day and why shouldn't she be having hallucinations with her sanity gone? It would certainly fit. Even through this thought, she stood from her chair and crumpled the list she had made in preparation of this moment, throwing it into the rubbish bin as she passed it on the route to the sitting room. It made a slight thumping sound as it hit the bottom of the small, wiry, and otherwise empty bin, reminding her of a thought bouncing around in one's mind. Quite a stupid mind, only to have one thought.
Sitting down on the sofa positioned directly in front of the quaint fireplace, Lily tucked her hands in between her legs and leaned back, relaxing her shoulders. She watched the fireplace intently for about a minute and then lifted her left wrist to examine her watch. It was two minutes past five. As she lowered her wrist once again, to her delight an emerald fire suddenly flickered to life in the fireplace and a moment later, out shot a slender girl with dark hair and a suitcase clutched in one arm. The girl coughed slightly at the black ash that seemed to be everywhere before she broke into a broad grin at the sight of Lily, who had jumped off of the couch, mirroring the girl's expression.
"Lily!" Maggie Cooper dropped her luggage and nearly tackled the red head to the ground. She let go a split second later to cough in the other direction, clutching her chest. "Inhaled a mouth full of ash on the way here," she explained wrinkling her nose. "Not pleasant, believe me...mind if I help myself to some water?" Lily was about to reply, but Maggie took it upon herself to head into the kitchen without a response, which caused Lily to smile fondly at her mate's nature and sigh happily at the fact she would be spending the next week with her. Maybe some of her sanity would return after all.
"Where are your cousin and his mate?" Lily asked, stepping into the kitchen herself and admiring the way Maggie so casually picked through the Evans's fridge, despite the fact she had only visited one other time.
"Should be along shortly," Maggie extracted a pitcher of water from the fridge and set it on the counter while Lily fetched her a glass from the upper cabinets to save her the rummaging. "They decided it would be best to pack last minute—something about 'we're on holiday, we'll pack when we bloody well want to.'" She poured herself a glass of water. "You can imagine how that conversation will adjourn when they're two days late and have to floo back home for their pants." She grinned slightly wickedly before taking a drink.
Lily laughed purely out of relief. "Never leave, Maggie." Her face was joking, but her tone was nearly serious.
"I won't leave." Maggie said quite sincerely. "I can pitch a tent in your yard, and you can bring me breakfast every morning and read me a story every night. I'll be just like your sister, but your neighbours' will probably think I'm a quack job when I get naked and shower under the hose. And I suppose it will be rather cold in the winter time. Eh, it's a work in progress. Or rather a thought in progress, I suppose." She smirked brightly as she brought the glass to her mouth, her teeth biting the rim.
"What story?" Lily inquired, an elbow propped on the counter beside where she stood, her lips in an almost painful smile (considering this facial muscle had been used quite rarely over the past several weeks).
Maggie considered this, her head cocked slightly. "Babbity Rabbity," she decided. "I like the name—it rhymes. The actual story, not so much. So maybe a Muggle fairy tale? Cinder-whatsits? I really should broaden my horizons, anyway."
"Yes, and what a better place to start than by educating yourself in the art of Muggle fairy tales." Lily agreed, hearing a loud crash from the sitting room the moment the words left her lips. She looked at Maggie who said sheepishly, "Sounds like they're here!"