8: Revelations
Lily stood in front of the full length mirror in her room in the Potter house, tugging a comb through her long hair. She was hoping to visit her parents later that day and as the Healer had told her the day before that they were likely to wake up soon, she wanted to look her best. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and began plaiting it, finishing just as there came a soft knock at the door.
"Come in." She called as she deftly slipped a bobble over the end of her plait to keep it in place.
The door opened and James came into the room, looking up, Lily met his eyes in the mirror and smiled slightly.
James seemed reluctant to return her smile, "Lily," He began, looking hesitant; "There are a couple of Aurors downstairs wanting to talk to you."
"Oh." She replied and turned around to face him. If she'd thought about it before, she would have thought it odd that no one had been to speak to her already.
"I'm sorry," James said hurriedly, "I've been turning them away for a couple of days, saying that you need to be left alone for a bit … but they're quite persistent they see you now."
Oh, Lily thought, that's why …
"It's okay, James – I'll talk to them." She said aloud.
"If you're sure?"
He looked so worried that Lily even laughed slightly.
"I'll be fine … but thank you."
James smiled in response to her laughter and gestured to the door, "Alright then, come on, they're in the kitchen."
Lily was about to tell him that she didn't need an escort to the kitchen but stopped herself just in time, deciding that it would be comforting to have James with her and so she walked with him down to the kitchen in silence. He pushed open the door and walked in, Lily followed and her gaze settled on the two male Aurors who were sitting rather stiffly at the expansive kitchen table.
"Lily Evans, I presume?" Said the one closest to her, and he shook her hand as she nodded, "I'm Clive Westwood and this is my colleague, Martin Gibbons. Take a seat."
Lily sat and saw James sit down next to her out of the corner of her eye. The word overprotective sprang to mind …
"Are you alright with Mr Potter sitting in?" Asked Westwood with a slight frown in James's direction.
"Yes." Replied Lily, with half a glance towards James. From the look on his face it seemed that he had every intention of 'sitting in', whether he was wanted or not.
"Okay, we just wanted to ask you a few questions about the day your parents were attacked." Clarified Gibbons and Lily swallowed a sudden lump in her throat as she nodded.
"Is it correct that you were not in the house at the time?" Questioned Westwood, who suddenly had a pad of parchment and a quill in front of him. Lily blinked at it before responding.
"Yes; I went out to the shops."
"So it was just the two of them in the house?"
"Yes, my older sister, Petunia, had been there but she left before I did." Lily stopped but then saw Westwood begin to open his mouth and added, "She's a muggle."
"Right, I see … When you discovered your parents; did you notice anything odd?"
"What – apart from the fact that they were lying about almost dead on the floor, you mean?!" She exploded incredulously. She felt James's hand on her arm and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry." Westwood apologised, "Let me rephrase – was there anything unusual about the house? Anything you noticed?"
Lily hesitated; now that the question was posed to her she could barely remember what had happened that day, let alone the state of the house.
She shook her head, "I'm sorry, I can't remember."
"Okay, it doesn't matter." Gibbons said quietly.
"I just want to ask you one more thing," Said Westwood and Lily stared at the quill whizzing across the parchment in front of him, "Did – sorry - do your parents know any wizards who may bear a grudge against them?"
Lily frowned deeply and looked up at Westwood's face which was deadly serious, "My parents are muggles," She clarified, even though she knew that the Aurors knew this fact, "they don't really have any contact with wizards."
Westwood glanced at Gibbons and nodded slightly, "Okay, thank you, Miss Evans."
"Erm," Said Lily hesitantly, "If you don't mind me asking … what's with all these questions? Surely you don't go around questioning this much after every Death Eater attack?"
This time it was Westwood's turn to frown, "Did you not look above the house before you entered, Miss Evans?"
"I – what?"
"There was no Dark Mark." Elaborated Gibbons quietly.
Lily felt James shift in his seat beside her as he spoke up for the first time, "You mean that this was no Death Eater attack?"
"It certainly seems that way."
Lily's mouth fell open, "But – I thought-"
"Of course, it is still possible that the perpetrators were Death Eaters but I find it extremely unlikely. I have never known a case where the Dark Mark had not been cast. Incidentally, did you not wonder why your parents had not been killed outright? The Avada Kedevra is typical in Death Eater attacks."
"It is beyond doubt, however, a wizarding attack," Continued Gibbons, "Therefore we will be doing everything within our powers to discover the perpetrator."
"That is all for now, Miss Evans, unless you have any more questions?"
"Er – no …" Lily stuttered slightly, still feeling slightly in shock.
"Alright then." Said Westwood, "Thank you for your time – we'll be in touch." Lily felt James half rise out of his seat next to her, "We'll see ourselves out." He added and bopped his hat to Lily as he left.
Lily rested her face in her palms and stared down unseeingly at the table as next to her, James blew out a long slow breath before putting a hand on her back and rubbing it gently in slow circles.
"You okay?" He asked quietly.
"I don't know." She replied honestly, keeping her eyes trained on the table.
James sighed again and removed his hand, "Come on, let's go outside."
Lily looked up at the abrupt suggestion, "Why?"
"'Cause I said so." James said with a smirk and for a minute Lily saw the James she thought she knew in his face.
"James-"
James grinned, a proper smile coming out as he stood up, "No seriously, my parents will be home soon and I doubt you want to have to answer loads of questions from them."
Lily groaned and stretched, "Damn you, Potter, you're right."
"As always." Came the smart reply and Lily took a swipe at him, "Oi!"
Lily looked at her watch and frowned as she stood up, "Why are your parents coming home at half nine in the morning?" She asked.
James waved a hang airily, "They work nights sometimes." Lily opened her mouth again but James spoke before she could, "You coming outside then?"
-----------------------------------
Lily and James sat side by side on the swing seat in James's garden, engaged in a light meaningless conversation. Positioned strategically in a nest of trees, the swing seat was invisible from the house and yet gave a perfect view down the expansive lawn to those sitting on it.
"So what was it like, growing up in this huge place?"
"Exhausting." James laughed.
"What, going from one side of the house to the other?"
James continued to laugh, kicking his legs off hard from the ground causing the seat to swing rather alarmingly. Lily shrieked and whacked James on the arm.
"Lily, I think we need to talk about this violence issue you seem to have." James said very seriously.
"Shut up, you prat."
"Yes and the name calling issue." James added.
"But, James, that's not name calling; that's the truth." Said Lily sweetly.
"Hey!" He said indignantly, "That's enough James-bashing for today thank you."
Lily giggled, "But it's so fun!" James looked sideways at her, a slightly lopsided grin on his face, "What?" She asked, poking him.
"Nothing." He supplied immediately and instead turned his grinning face away from her and gazed out across the garden.
They both fell silent for a while and Lily inspected her fingernails out of nervous habit, stealing glances at James every few seconds. She noticed his grin had fallen off and was replaced with what an outsider would describe as a vacant look but Lily knew he was thinking. She couldn't say how she knew but she did.
After a few more minutes of silence, Lily, still gazing at her hands unseeingly, let out a barely audible sigh. Miraculously James heard her, maybe he had been vainly listening out for some sign of life from her, she didn't know, but he turned his head towards her once again and frowned slightly. The carefree look seemed to have disappeared from his face.
"Thinking about what those Aurors said?" He asked her softly.
"Yeah."
"Me too." James admitted, now holding her gaze, "I don't know what to make of it."
Lily sighed again and bit her bottom lip, "I wish it had just been a Death Eater attack. As horrible as that is – at least I wouldn't have had to worry about some unknown wizard who has possible grudges against my mum and dad." She paused before adding, "Or more likely against me…"
At this point she tore her eyes away from James, suddenly feeling immensely guilty. Petunia had been right - it probably was all her fault…
James, it appeared, seemed to be thinking along the same lines as her, "Lily," He said sharply, "Lily, look at me." Reluctantly she lifted her head to lock eyes with him, "None of this is your fault – you realise that don't you? You're not to blame for what happened so don't even think it."
Lily wrung her hands desperately, "But-"
"No." James interrupted her firmly, "Don't go down that road, Lily, it's not worth it." When she didn't reply he grabbed her hands and squeezed them, "You're not to blame," He repeated, this time more gently, "Okay? Trust me."
Lily hesitated, looking down at the hands still holding hers before lifting her head up again and nodding.
"Good." He said and let go of her hands, Lily pulled them slowly back into her lap.
"James…" She began slowly.
"Yeah?"
"How did this happen?"
"How did what happen?"
"This." She said vaguely, "I mean, I let you into my life and suddenly you're the one person I can talk to, the one person who can comfort me and reassure me … like you just did."
"Isn't it a good thing?" He questioned with a slight smile on his face.
"No - I mean yes, of course it is, it matters to me now when I'm going through all this to have someone there for me … I just – never thought it would be you." She finished the last statement quietly.
"Well it is." He said and Lily saw that he was smiling properly now, "And you're stuck with me."
Lily smiled a bit, "I suppose we're sort of friends now." She ventured, shocking herself at voicing her thoughts aloud.
"Well you've got my friendship, Lily."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." There was a brief pause where they smiled at each other and then James said, "Oh come here." And pulled her into a tight hug, "I'm always going to be here for you if you need me, you know that right?" He whispered into her ear.
They pulled apart and Lily nodded, "I know," She replied, "And thank you." She paused, "Now let's talk about something else before I'm sick from all this mush."
James laughed and obligingly set off a heated discussion about flying carpets which was completely nonsensical.
Yes, thought Lily, as James chattered on unconcernedly, I've definitely gained a friend here.
----------------------------
Hello, me again! I'm not too happy with this chapter but I felt I've kept you waiting long enough and I can't really think of another way to edit it! Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter – keep them coming! Oh and there won't be such a big wait for the next chapter I promise! This isn't totally unfounded because I've already written most of it! Until next time…
Mel xx
