Chapter One: Letters and Lectures

Lily,

She's not compromising. She's been staring at me like I'm some sudden angel or something whenever we eat dinner. I don't know what on Earth she's thinking of using me for now. Yesterday I saw

Emmeline Sarah Vance, sixteen years of age, blessed with good looks, fortune and a witty mind, paused in the process of finishing her letter to think for a moment. She stuffed the quill she had been doodling with on the scraps of parchment that were scattered all over her desk into her mouth and then choked, spitting out a flurry of feathers. She had gotten into the habit of chewing her quill (or anything that happened to come into her hands) after spending Christmas with Lily, who had had a large assortment of pens regularly in her house. Quills, she had however discovered upon returning home, were not nearly as satisfying as chewing the top of an ink ball pen.

She thought about crumpling the paper up and throwing it into the bin near her. She looked over at it and spying the fact that it was already over flowing with discarded parchments, sighed heavily. She didn't know what to write. She didn't want to scare Lily into thinking that her mother was up to something again so that Lily would start a huge lecture and start blaming herself for the distant relationship Emmeline shared with her mother. But Lily had always been like that: lecturing, kind and full of guilty pretence on other people's behalf. It was just one of those qualities that made Lily, Lily.

Emmeline sat back in her chair and stared out of the open window in front of her. It was the end of the Christmas holidays and the view outside of her window was a picturesque mixture of falling white snow that was sprinkled all over the gardens that made up Vance Manor. Far in the distance she caught a glimpse of the Gothic church that was the signature landmark of Desmond Hills, clashing furiously against the pale, empty blue sky with its dark color. She hated coming home but she knew it was worthless to complain after all these years. Lily had taught her to understand that home was home, no matter what your parents were like.

Returning back to her letter, she sighed once more and crumpled up the piece of parchment in front of her and threw it behind her. She took out a fresh piece of parchment from her drawer and picked up her quill.

Sarah's been fine. Can't wait to see you in school.

Emmeline

She decided that short was best and folded it up. She knew Lily would not approve of calling her own mother Sarah, but she didn't care. Infuriating Lily had always been something she and Ivy had particularly enjoyed. Seeing Lily angry and flurried was almost as fun as watching James beg her to go with him to Hogsmeade every weekend. She smiled a little, remembering James' previous tactics in November. "I love you James," she giggled, recalling how he always made her laugh whenever she was being moody over a letter she received from Sarah during school.

Her eyes strayed to Lily's creased letter on her desk. She had briefly skimmed through it when Nastia had dropped it in her room earlier.

Dearest Emmy,

You don't know how much I miss you now that you've left! I only have Petunia to talk to now! I'm starting to lose hope that we'll ever get along, even though I wish for it so badly. Remember all those pictures I used to show you of Tuney and I when we were little? But no matter. At least she doesn't push me around so often now. Her head's been filled with some stupid talk about some boy called Vernon lately. She's bringing him round for Mum and Dad to meet today. Now, thatshouldbe fun!

James has still refused to give up his letters. I've gotten about twenty six ones of them already, one for every day of December. I'm starting to think about actually giving him a chance, just so he'll get sick of me and then stop pestering me with all these letters. Why can't he like someone else? Potter is incapable of understanding the word"no".

Oh, well. I've been busy while you've left, finishing all my holiday work! I've started revising for our end of year too, because you know how hard our exams will be this year. Accompanied with all my Head Girl duties, I'm only surprised that I haven't gone mad yet!

I miss all of you so much though, especially you. Do give my love to Ivy and Mary if you see them.

Lots of love,

Lily

Emmeline smiled as she put down the letter. She had always been grateful for the fact that she had a friend like Lily, someone who never judged her by her Pure-blood status. Lily wasn't of magical blood but that was precisely what Emmeline loved about her. Lily enjoyed the freedom of having a normal, loving, non-magical family who loved her no matter what, and didn't care who she befriended. Except for Petunia of course, but then again, she wasn't completely sane as Ivy so frequently put it.

Emmeline remembered all those years ago; when she had actually used to sit down and fantasize about her mother even turning out remotely like Lily's parents. Sarah had never acted like a proper mother. Oh, she had given Emmeline the best clothes and the best schooling, had taken her to all the most important balls and parties to make sure she stayed in a good social circle; but she had never cared. When she hadn't been dashing off to meet her mysterious employer, she had spent hours criticizing Emmeline's friends and the way she acted in school. Emmeline remembered her mother's face when she had found out that Emmeline had been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin. She had been so furious that she had refused to look at her daughter for almost three weeks. "The shame!" she had gone around screaming. Sarah's life had purely revolved around her own position in society.

Her father was not much use either. He spent his days- and sometimes his nights too- working endlessly at the Ministry. He didn't care about her or her life; he was just focused on making as much money as possible to please himself and his wife. When he was home, he simply either ignored Emmeline or sat studying her as if she were a forensic piece of evidence that he had yet to identify. Emmeline had frequently longed to be able to open up to her father about her relationship with her mother but nay- he didn't care either.

Of course, after seventeen years, Emmeline didn't really care anymore either.

A knock at her door jerked her out of her thoughts. She hurried to stuff the letters into her drawer- if it was her mother, she really didn't fancy another lecture on befriending children of lower blood than she. Come to think of it however, Sarah hadn't been as lecturing as usual though. Emmeline didn't have time to ponder over it however, when her door creaked open and a small, thin figure shuffled in.

"Miss Emmeline, your mother requests your presence in the main parlor," Edie whispered softly, her hands clasped in front of her. Her huge glass ball eyes were fixed worriedly on Emmeline's face, as if she feared Emmeline would say no and she'd have to suffer another beating. Emmeline's face instantly softened and all thought of rejection immediately went out of her mind as she saw Edie. She didn't want the poor soul to writhe under the hand of her cruel mother.

"Don't worry Edie, I won't let her do anything to you today," she said kindly to the small house elf, smiling slightly at her, "Tell her I'll be down in a minute."

"As you wish, Miss Emmeline." Edie bobbed a curtsey and then vanished in a flash of smoke.

Emmeline stood up and yawned. She dumped the rest of her letters and stationary into the drawer and closed it, remembering to pocket the key. She hated it when Nastia went nosing through her drawers and then gave everything to Sarah. She looked up and moved closer to her window, resting her fingers on the cold glass. The cold temperature instantly soothed her feelings and she exhaled slowly before walking out of her room.

A trail of grey smoke issuing out of the hall instantly assured Emmeline that her mother was already sitting there. Sarah was not only infamous for her cruelty but her tendency to smoke a cigarette every five minutes. Emmeline struggled to hold her breath as she walked into the hall and faced her mother.

Without opening her mouth, Sarah eyed her daughter carefully. Emmeline watched as her mother's pale blue gaze roved over her- the same blue eyes she herself had inherited. After a minute of silence, Sarah stood up, flicked her cigarette into the trashcan and smoothed down her skirt. She moved closer to where her daughter sat, eased herself onto a plush armchair and crossed her legs. "Well?"

Emmeline sighed and tapped her foot impatiently on the floor. Great. For the next half hour she'd have to sit and endure Sarah's cat and mouse games. "Well what?" she answered, annoyed at her mother's stupid antics.

Sarah drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair. "How is your friend Lily?" she asked, her lips twisting into a simpering smile. Emmeline eyed her mother warily. What game was she playing now? Sarah had never liked Lily; she had hated her for being a mudblood and more than that, for associating herself with Emmeline ("But Emmy darling, you're apureblood!And aVance!It just goes against all logic!").

"Mum, you and I both know that you don't give a damn about Lily. So save your breath and just come out with whatever you want to lecture me about. Leave Lily out of it." Emmeline knew that had she said such a thing a year ago, it most certainly would have earned her a slap across her face for being so rude. Yet Sarah did nothing now, but continue to smile forcefully.

"Now darling, that is hardly a way to talk to your mother. I've decided to take the high road and accept your friendship with this mud- I mean Muggle." For once, Sarah actually seemed sincere. There was no laughter or mockery in her eyes and there wasn't a smile playing around her lips like usual.

Emmeline crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows. "You have?"

Sarah blinked, an expression of mild hurt crossing her pretty face. "Of course, Emmy. Why would you think otherwise?"

Snorting, Emmeline dropped onto the chair opposite her mother's and shook her head slowly. She drummed her fingers on the arm of her chair and continued to observe Sarah with a disbelieving expression. "I'll tell you why. Let's start with the most basic of explanations: for the best part of seven years you have completely despised Lily and acted like she was a worthless little bug. Reason two? When you form an opinion on someone, mother, you generally tend to stick to it. Three? Whenever you act this nice around me, it's mostly because you require something in return. And seeing as you've decided to involve Lily in your niceties, I'm going to go ahead and assume that she's a big part of what you want in return. I'd go on, but I think I've made my point nicely, haven't I?" She smiled, satisfied with herself.

Sarah looked like she wanted to slap her. Her fingers were twitching and the smile on her lips was growing more forced by the second. She closed her eyes, breathed out slowly and seemed to regain her composure somewhat. She crossed her legs and looked at Emmeline silently for a moment before speaking.

"Whether you choose to believe me or not, I have decided to take the high road. And seeing as I'm your mother, I want to find out a little bit more about Lily- see if she's a good friend or not. And this time, my judgments shall be based purely on her personality rather than her blood status."

Emmeline closed her eyes and slowly let out a breath. She stood up and shook her head, rolling her eyes at her mother's theatrics. "Either you've had one too many butterbeers or you've just gone completely around the bend. I think I'm going to bed." She made to stand up but suddenly felt herself frozen, her legs frozen to the ground beneath her. She swiveled her neck around to glare at her mother, her eyes narrowing.

"I've been told that you catch more flies with honey, than you do with vinegar," Sarah began, standing up slowly and striding over to her, "But I'm not going to bother with that anymore." She glared at Emmeline and her hand twitched, as if she meant to slap her, but she regained control of herself and simply sighed. "The next visit you have to Hogsmeade, I want to see you and your little mudblood friend in my living room. No questions asked." She released Emmeline and Emmeline felt herself stagger a little from the power of the spell. She rubbed her forearms and made to utter back a sarcastic remark but Sarah instantly silenced her.

"One more word, Emmeline…"

Emmeline glared at her mother and then turned around, muttering beneath her breath, "I'll say more than a word to her if she doesn't shut up soon…like hell I'll bring Lily to meet her…" She placed her hand on the banister and started climbing the stairs, yet Sarah's voice stopped her once more.

"Oh and Emmy?"

"Merlin, what do you want from me now?" She knew it was disrespectful to be so rude to her mother, but Sarah was just insufferable. Emmeline was sick of her games and she just wanted to be out of there as soon as possible.

"Disobey me and you never speak to your mudblood friend again, is that understood? I'll personally make sure of that." Emmeline waited for the sickeningly sweet reply that was to come, the thing that Sarah always said after making a particularly nasty comment.

"Sweet dreams, darling."

Emmeline slammed her bedroom door closed.