Hello everyone! Here's another chapter. Sorry it's a little shorter than usual; this is more of a set up for the summer arc coming up next, and I thought the transition was complete. I hope you enjoy, and I can't wait to get into more aspects of the dangers of the war and of course Lily and James ;). See you next time and please leave a comment with your thoughts!
The day before summer began, the Gryffindors were still sore over Hufflepuff having won the House Cup. They sat together at the final feast, decorated in banners of black and yellow, having come in a meager third after Ravenclaw.
"At least Slytherin came dead last," Sirius insisted, shoveling roasted potatoes and gravy onto his plate. This didn't make James, who was picking at some Shepard's Pie without much interest, feel any better, having a sense of personal responsibility over the whole thing given his dismal quidditch season.
"I've got to train hard this summer, no mercy." He said to the others, his handsome features schooling into a look of determination.
"Moony, any chance I can stay with you?" Sirius called out jokingly.
James scowled at him while Remus and Peter laughed. They continued eating, diving into treacle tart and ice cream as Lily and the majority of the room kept shooting them furtive glances. Lily, like most of the castle's population, was on her toes, waiting for the Marauders' annual destruction to come to fruition. However, the end of year feast continued without incident, until Dumbledore rose to finish it with his speech.
"This has been a challenging year, and I fear more challenging years lie ahead. I want you all to take this summer to enjoy yourselves, stay out of trouble, make good memories with friends and family. Keep those you love close." Dumbledore's eyes darkened with a look that, strangely, Sirius recognized, a look of great regret. The young disowned Black heir considered this a moment. Dumbledore was a great man, a great wizard, and a near perfect headmaster-he had allowed Moony in after all. However, Sirius knew no one was truly perfect, everybody had darkness inside them, secrets to hide. He couldn't help but wonder as he stared at the old man's weathered skin and tired eyes what he might be hiding from his extraordinary life that he wished he could take back. His thoughts were swiftly interrupted by an elbow thrown into his ribs by James.
"Padfoot, feast is over."
"Right, sorry." Sirius said, not realizing that he had missed the second half of Dumbledore's speech.
He shrugged, following the others for one last night in the Gryffindor dormitory before they all headed home for their final summer. Maybe if he had listened, he would have heard Dumbledore urging everyone to be on their guard, suspicious of even your closest friends. Maybe he would have heard the cold lack of trust in the headmaster's voice and taken it to heart even three years later. Maybe he would have been able to protect James then, but the fates play out the way they are meant to, and Sirius Black was never a very good listener.
Regarding the lack of festivities upon returning to the Gryffindor common room along with the lack of any massive event at the end of year feast, the majority of the Marauders' classmates shrugged it off, figuring it was due to the tragedy or the lost House cup or both. Lily, though, was thrown.
"No end of year prank, Potter?" Lily called out, jogging to catch up with James and the others before they disappeared into their dormitory.
"Didn't think it was super appropriate. I'm not a complete prat, Evans." He said, although Lily couldn't help but snort.
"Oh, you disagree?" James said, smirking.
Rather than stand awkwardly, Sirius and the others headed towards the stairs, although he gave James a supportive pat on the shoulder before Remus dragged him off.
Lily bit her lip as she tried to find her words, a habit James found adorable.
"I just didn't expect such forethought from you of all people. You have a pattern of acting impulsively." She said.
"That's fair, but maybe people can change." He said.
Lily laughed at that, and the sound gave James such butterflies that he couldn't stop his hand from reaching for his hair to make sure it was respectably ruffled.
"People can't change, Potter." Lily said.
"Why not?" He said, their faces mere inches from each other now, as Lily unconsciously glanced at the taller boy's lips, thin and soft, unlike her own which were constantly chapped.
James cleared his throat, noticing the awkward moment and pulling back; he ran a hand through forever messy hair and spoke up.
"Look, I know it's not all the time, but we at least try to amuse people other than ourselves with these end of year bashes. It doesn't seem sporting to do something that no one else will be laughing along with."
Lily contemplated this for a moment. "That's surprisingly mature of you, Potter."
"Well, I am full of surprises," James said, that same flirtatious tone cutting through the seriousness of the moment.
Lily scoffed, shoving past James to head towards her own dormitory. "Same old Potter," she muttered, although while he stared after her there was a distinct glint of hope in his eye. He rubbed the back of his ever-present bedhead and made his way upstairs to have one last quiet night in with the other marauders. A quiet night in for them was still quite rowdy, and if they ended up spending the majority of it wandering the Hogwarts grounds in and out of animal form, hey, who could blame them? It was the day before their last summer before graduation, after all.
The Hogwarts student population woke early, making their way to Hogsmeade station after being scanned up and down once again for dark objects. The ministry officials squinted at them all with suspicion, a handful of disappearances still happening here and there, although nothing as devastating as the attack from weeks before. The rowdy group hopped on the Hogwarts express, all the Gryffindors sharing a compartment for once. Lily was as surprised as anyone that she didn't protest to stuffing herself into the compartment with the Marauders and her roommates, save Susan and Mary who had wandered off to sit with the Ravenclaws for the sake of Susan's friend and Mary's boyfriend respectively. As the group was discussing the upcoming summer and the nerves surrounding seventh year and NEWTS and the future, Alice was more quiet than usual. She normally chimed in with some clever quip, similar to Remus in her rare but effective assertions. Now she just sat dully, staring out the window as the hills rolled by and the others chatted and roughhoused.
"Alice, you alright?" Lily said, noticing her friend's subdued mood.
The others were still talking uproariously about the quidditch matches they wanted to see this summer.
"I'm fine," Alice said, although her soft smile didn't meet her eyes.
Lily met her eyes with calculated suspicion, and Alice bit her lip before revealing what had been on her mind.
"I'm just not going to be here next year is all." She said it so quickly and quietly that Lily didn't think she'd heard right.
Sirius, with his heightened ears, spoke first: "What?"
"What's up" Marlene asked, glancing at Alice who was looking severely uncomfortable at the attention sent her way.
"I'm not coming back to Hogwarts." She said, letting the others take this in as they paused with disbelieving expressions.
"You're not finishing? You?" Peter said, trying to work out in his mind why the girl who was always at the top of the class was possibly going to drop out of school in the final stretch. He had thought about the prospect, many times, but he was rubbish at spellwork; Alice was exceptional.
"What do you mean you're not coming back?" Marlene was next, looking disbelievingly at the girl she'd shared a room with for six years; Lily was still gaping in shock.
"Give her a chance to explain," Remus spoke up, noting the grateful glance his way and nodding as if to say it was nothing.
"I'm starting auror training this summer. Dumbledore called me in a few weeks ago, after the last attack. They looked at my grades, and they knew I was planning on joining up. They gave me some tests, and they decided I'd learned enough to enter without NEWTS."
"You're going to the aurors?" Marlene said, unable to hide the terror in her voice.
"I have to do something, Mar. Frank's out there risking his life, why shouldn't I be?" It wasn't just about Frank, and they all knew it.
Every Gryffindor in that car wanted to do something, but the rest of them were lying in wait, grateful for the extra year that was afforded them before they had to join the fray. Alice's quiet bravery was unmatched, and none of them had expected it from the girl, though none of them could truly say they were surprised either.
"That's incredible, Alice." Lily said, the first to congratulate the girl and not just question her.
She pulled her into a tight hug, and she whispered in her ear: "But if you do something stupid and get yourself killed, I'll never forgive you."
Alice laughed at the morbid statement, unable to keep herself given the nerves.
"It's worse than they're saying," James said, thinking of the greater implications, while everyone else was still reeling from the shock.
Alice pulled back, wiped some tears from her eyes, and furrowed her brow.
"What do you mean, James?"
"If they're letting you join up without even finishing, they need help. You're brilliant, Alice, I'm not disputing that, but how many aurors did you know who got picked when we were first years?"
"One," Sirius replied, thinking back.
"One, and then for a few years there were none at all. And then all of a sudden in three consecutive years it was Frank and Michael and Kingsley Shacklebolt and Lydia Savage. I'm not buying it. They're lowering the standards, no offense Alice, because they need as many aurors as they can get."
"Even so, I'm not going to just sit by and let this happen to our home. I'm not going to let my children grow up in a world run by Death Eaters." Alice said, cementing her belief in a future for her and Frank, a future that she would get to see not just from the other side of a grave.
"Neither am I." Marlene said.
"Me neither," Sirius said next, grasping Marlene's hand tight.
"None of us will, yeah?" James said, and the Gryffindors shuffled closer together, clinging to each other and the collective understanding that they were all going to fight. They were going to do what had to be done, kill or be killed, take part in a war at seventeen in order to make sure that their world was finally at peace.
When they arrived at King's Cross, Lily caught sight of Petunia standing twitchily on the platform. However, she couldn't bring herself to speed up the time she would have to spend without magic over the endless summer. Marlene and Sirius shared a quick snog to the disapproval of her parents and William as Alice leapt eagerly into Frank's arms, and Bertram planting a shy kiss on Mary's cheek before parting ways. Love was in the air, it seemed, for the Hogwarts sixth years, seventh years now Lily thought. She glanced subconsciously at James who was exchanging parting words with his quidditch mates, hugging Jane particularly close Lily noticed, although that could just be a matter of them being close teammates and her graduating.
She didn't have time to dwell on why she was worried about James Potter's love life of all things as she found herself hugging Alice and Marlene goodbye, waving to Susan and Mary as they rushed to their respective families, promising to write and visit.
"Write me as soon as you get home, yeah? We'll get you out of that place if we have to jailbreak you." Marlene said with a wicked grin.
"Honestly, I'm not going to Azkaban Mar," She pulled her in for one last hug, "Get me out of there as soon as possible, though, yeah?"
Marlene pulled back, offering Lily a cheeky salute as she headed towards her parents who sent Lily sympathetic glances that stabbed a pang through her heart. Petunia waited, growing ever more bitter as she tried not to eagerly drink in the sights and sounds of magic all around her. This world hadn't wanted her, and she wouldn't give it the satisfaction of provoking her envy.
James stayed near the train as the Gryffindor girls disappeared one by one through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, feigning a casual air as his eyes stayed on one particular redhead not-so-subtly stretching her time on the platform until she could no longer make excuses. He waved Sirius on to Mr. Potter standing alongside the other parents of the Marauders, and Sirius winked knowingly as James kept waiting. Lily was one of the last people to grab her luggage from the train's outer compartment, concerned that if she waited any longer the train would take off back to Hogsmeade with her clothes, books, and other articles still onboard. The moment she began reaching for her luggage, James moved boldly forward to help Lily unload her things. To both of their surprise, she didn't protest.
"You should really do the featherlight charm to get these home Evans." He grunted, struggling to drag them onto her cart.
"Tuney wouldn't like that much," she responded, pointing out her sister to James who turned up her nose at his pleasant smile.
He shrugged, looking back to Lily who looked almost…unhappy to go. That was a first. He thought about asking her about it, but he saw a familiar glint in her emerald eyes that reminded him of his best friend's trips home his first five years of Hogwarts and advised him to let her handle it on her own. Maybe he could write her this summer, although given their history he wasn't sure how well received that might be. He resolved to ask his dad about it when they got home.
The Marauders had gathered with their families, each boy taking in the spectacle that was Lily and James interacting without screaming at each other…or at least without her screaming at him. Remus, in particular, was glad to see the two of them getting along while Sirius was making bets with Peter on how long it would take James to get slapped again.
Meanwhile, Lily's bags were set up on her cart and she was glancing back at her impatient sister standing as close as she could to the barrier-portal.
"All set then?" James said, eyes trying their best to drink in the beauty of Lily Evans one last time before they parted.
"All set," she replied, beginning to walk towards her sister with a resigned expression. "See you around Potter." She said, over her shoulder, glancing at Sirius who held up the address she'd given him in two fingers, offering a sort of promise that she wouldn't have to be alone with Petunia for long.
Despite the loss of her parents, Lily at least knew that she had a group of friends, old and new, who would have her back this summer. She was able to force a reasonable smile at the thought as she approached Petunia's less-than-welcoming countenance.
"Come on, we've got dinner waiting." Petunia said, not glancing back as Lily followed.
She wore frilly gloves over her thin hands, a peacoat and hat marking her as the perfect English lady as she waved down a cab on the outskirts of the station. They drove for less than fifteen minutes before they arrived at Petunia's flat, a third story walk-up in the center of London.
Lily followed her, heaving her bags up three flights of stairs, wishing that Petunia wasn't such a twat, and she could just put the feather-light charm on them. She was of age after all, and Mother would never have minded. Put those thoughts away, Evans. She found herself saying that more and more lately in her mind.
As Petunia unlocked the door, Lily's nose caught a whiff of a delicious aroma coming from within. She didn't realize Petunia could cook.
She took in the sight of the flat, a decent sized living space with a stove and a fridge next to a spacious kitchen counter. The decorations were sparce but practical, which was just like her sister, and Lily couldn't help smiling at the sight of her Christmas present (a painting she'd found of a bundle of petunias and lilies) hung on the wall above the couch in the living area Petunia had set up off the kitchen. One of their mother's woven blankets was draped over the back of the couch where Lily figured she'd be sleeping. There was also a small television and a coffee table with a book on London architecture placed at its center, and there was a small bedroom off the kitchen which Lily glanced in, noticing that the bed was made, not a wrinkle in place.
"It's a great place, Tune." Lily said, but her sister was already grabbing plates and forks and knives, hardly shooting Lily a passing glance.
She noticed now that there was a large roast on the kitchen counter, the source of the delicious smell, resting on a bed of carrots and potatoes. Petunia had also made homemade rolls and pigs in blankets, which she knew were Lily's favorite, along with a large, iced cake that read "Welcome Home Lily" in crisp, pink letters.
"Tuney," Lily said, tears pricking her eyes.
Petunia shrugged off the affection, moving towards a side table next to the couch, which Lily hadn't noticed, where a package sat on top of dark oak.
"I didn't forget Christmas, by the way," she said, approaching Lily with the package outstretched, "but seeing as you didn't come home, I wasn't sure how to get this to you through the regular post as it's a package."
Lily looked down at the gift, guilt overtaking her features as she realized that she had judged Petunia far too harshly. This was her sister, after all, and that was something that carried with it an unbreakable bond. She tore open the parcel, smiling down at a copy of Little Women that Petunia must have procured for her from a Muggle bookshop. Lily remembered from her years of schooling before Hogwarts that it was a tale of four sisters, rather than two, dealing with tragedy. It was fitting and practical as was Petunia's way. Lily was so distracted by the gesture that she almost didn't notice the ring on Petunia's finger.
"Petunia," she said, glancing down as Petunia slyly smirked.
All thoughts of the present were forgotten as Lily dropped the book and reached for Petunia's outstretched hand, pulling it towards her with such force that Petunia nearly toppled forward.
"What do you think?" Petunia asked, laughing as Lily drank in the size of the ring and the information that came with it before pulling Petunia into a bear hug, the best hug either of them had had in a while.
"You're engaged Tuney! I can't believe it. Who is he?"
Petunia perked up considerably at the mention of her beau, freaky magic and missed Christmases settling behind the sisters with ease.
"Well, his name is Vernon; we met at work." She said, waiting cheekily for Lily to question her further as she began cutting up roast to put on serving plates.
Lily rolled her eyes and put a hand on Petunia's shoulder, dragging her away from the admittedly delicious-smelling food, "And?" She said, encouraging Petunia to elaborate.
"And he's wonderful," she said, taking a break from the roast to gush about Vernon.
"He's a junior manager on his way up in the office." Petunia said in that self-important way with which she always spoke of quite mundane accomplishments. Lily set those feelings aside though, listening, "He's very practical and serious," Lily giggled at that. "And he's quite a looker if you ask me, not the most traditional definition of handsome, but..." Petunia found herself floundering, a trait Lily so often found in herself, and she held up a hand.
"Tuney, if you like him, I'm sure he's wonderful. I can't wait to meet him. When's the wedding?"
Petunia looked elated at Lily's support, and Lily couldn't help sharing the feeling of overwhelming joy. It was amazing to have something to look forward to and share with her sister for the first time in so long.
"We've set the date for December 12th, a winter wedding to avoid all those heavy costs the summer brings. Besides, a wedding in the snow sounds quite beautiful if you ask me."
"It does." Lily thought for a moment. "Wait, this December?"
Petunia nodded, matter-of-factly.
"That soon? How long have you been dating this bloke, Petunia?"
Petunia's nose wrinkled at Lily's choice of words.
"Nearly a year, we started dating in November if you must know, shortly after the funeral." Petunia's voice broke at that, and Lily tried to grab her hands. Petunia pulled away.
"I'm sorry, Tuney, I didn't know."
"Well, I wanted you to meet him this Christmas, but then you wrote saying you weren't coming."
"Tuney, I'm sorry, I…"
She put up a hand, "It's quite alright. It's in the past, and you'll get to meet him now."
That awkward moment stayed for a while as Petunia served up roast and potatoes for the two of them, Lily grabbing some pigs in a blanket with her fingers to Petunia's disgust at her sister's lack of manners.
They sat together at Petunia's small dining table shoved in between the wall and the couch, the tension between them remaining, as Petunia tried her best to ease it.
"The reason I bring up the wedding is I was hoping that you would be a part of the wedding party. I know you'll be busy with school, so I made Elizabeth my maid of honor for all the planning and logistical business."
Lily felt a small pang of bitterness, but she stuffed it down. It made sense; she was still finishing school, and what did she know about planning bridal showers and rehearsal dinners and such anyway?
"That's fine Petunia, I'd be honored to be in the party."
Petunia smiled wide at that, showing large teeth and Lily did her best to smile back. Petunia tried her best to not show bitterness at the fact that Lily's teeth were, like the rest of her, perfect. She tried to ask her sister about her plans following graduation, which she had never done before, and she tried not to grow even more bitter when her sister said she didn't know. Of course, Lily didn't know. It would all fall into place for her anyway, so why should she?
Petunia didn't notice the signs that Lily had answered her question with guilt in her heart, with a raw lip and incessant tugging of hair. Lily's terrible lying was missed due to Petunia's obsession with her own frustrations. Petunia's opinion of Lily, who was by all means an open book, was shrouded in disdain. Maybe if she had bothered to probe further, Petunia would have heard of Lily's plans to fight in a war of which she was completely unaware. Maybe if she had looked, she would have noticed the fear in her little sister's eyes and begged her to run. Maybe she would have been able to protect Lily then, but again the fates play out the way they are meant to, and other than the time she spent craning her neck to spy on her neighbors, Petunia was never very perceptive.