The last couple of weeks before Christmas flew by in a flurry of homework and suddenly Lily found herself packing up a suitcase to go home over break.
She tucked her Aurora Beam ticket safely into her suitcase. The three girls were planning to meet at Alex’s house the day before the concert and then leave together.
“Lily, hurry up!” that was Alex, always impatient. “The train’s about to leave! Come on!”
“Coming!” Lily called. She zipped up her suitcase and lugged it down the stairs. Alex and Cadrian were waiting downstairs.
The three girls exited the common room and joined the throng of people heading for the doors. “Got your ticket, Lily?” Alex said, yelling to be heard over the tremendous noise.
Lily nodded, concentrating on not getting separated from her friends in the crowd. She gripped her suitcase tightly with one hand and curled her other fingers around the handle of Alex’s. Alex either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
Finally they got through the doors and the crowd thinned out. It was a bitingly cold day, but the sun burned brightly overhead. Reflecting off the glistening snowbanks, it was blindingly bright. Lily squinted from the glare.
The Hogwarts Express was waiting, gleaming and crimson. The lightly falling snow melted upon touching it; droplets of water were streaking down the sides. Nobody was doing anything about the gang of sixth-year Slytherins who were trying to turn the train green (they had always thought that the crimson color favored Gryffindor too much.)
Lily, Alex, and Cadrian grabbed a compartment quickly before they all filled up. A few minutes later the door opened and James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter spilled in.
Ignoring Lily’s loud groans, the four boys made themselves comfortable. “So, guys,” said James casually, swinging his feet up beside Alex (she pushed them forcefully off). “Any plans for break?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Yes, James,” she said irritably. “We’re going to the concert, remember?”
“Oh yes.” For some reason all four boys found this very funny. So immature, Lily found herself thinking. “Of course. Maybe we’ll see you there.”
“Maybe so,” Lily replied coldly.
Lily hoped the boys would leave, but as the train ride wore on it became clear that they were there for good. Lily crossed her arms moodily across her chest and stared out the window, not caring to join in the conversation. When they finally pulled into Platform 9 ¾, she bid her friends a huffy good-bye and then went off to find her parents.
“Oi, Evans! Wait up!”
She groaned. “What do you want, James?” she asked.
He slowed to a walk next to her. “Well, you forgot to say good-bye to me. I figured you’d want another chance.” He grinned. “So here I am.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Good-bye, James. And good riddance.”
James smirked. “See you at the concert.”
“I suppose,” said Lily icily.
James just laughed. “Yep. See you around, Evans.” He ran off.
Lily crossed through the barrier without another look behind her. Her parents were waiting for her and they broke into wide grins when they saw her.
“Hi, Mum,Dad!” said Lily brightly. Her father scooped her into a rib-cracking hug.
“We missed you so much!” Mrs. Evans exclaimed as they started to the car. “So how was it? Your letters got shorter and shorter lately!”
Lily laughed. “I’ve been so busy!” she said. “You wouldn’t believe everything my friends and I have done…”
“Tell us about these friends,” said her father jovially as he dragged Lily’s suitcase along the road. “Alex and something, right? Katie?”
“Cadrian,” Lily corrected him. “Yes, Alex is very wild and Cadrian’s really nice. We have lots of adventures.”
“Like what?” prompted her mother as they entered the parking lot.
“Well, one time there was this Dark wizard loose in the castle,” began Lily. She had neglected telling her parents this story just yet; she didn’t want them to worry.
“Dark? What do you mean?”
Lily laughed. Her Muggle parents were awfully ignorant.
“Like…evil,” she said. Her mother gasped.
“Evil magic? Like black magic? You aren’t learning black magic, are you?”
“No, Mom. This Dark wizard snuck in somehow. He was after this famous singer, Aurora Beam. Aurora had come for Slughorn’s Halloween party.”
“Slughorn…the name rings a bell,” said Mr. Evans.
“He’s a professor. Very round and bouncy. Anyway, this Dark wizard cast a spell on my friend Chris so that he could control him and he almost got Chris to kill her!”
“Oh my,” said Mrs. Evans. “That certainly does sound exciting. Did your friend murder the poor girl?”
“No, Mom! She’s fine. But then the Dark wizard was still in the castle the next day. Which is dangerous, of course. But we couldn’t get in our common room because the Fat Lady had left.”
Mr. And Mrs. Evans exchanged confused glances. What does a fat lady have to do with anything? was what they were both thinking, but they didn’t interrupt Lily’s story.
“Alex said we should go find the Fat Lady and Cadrian agreed. I didn’t want to go because we would get in terrible trouble. Or run into the Dark wizard. Well, we did run into the Dark wizard. He was torturing Aurora and he was going to kill her. We tried to help but he took our wands and broke them.” She paused. “We would have probably died, but this boy James saved our lives.” It was excruciatingly hard to squeeze those words out of her mouth.
“Oh…my,” said Mrs. Evans. “James sounds very nice.”
Lily snorted. “No. He’s the most arrogant git I’ve ever met.”
“Oh.”
Lily and her parents chatted as they drove home and in about half an hour they pulled up in the driveway. The sight of her house filled Lily with happiness.
“Oh, Mom! I forgot,” said Lily as they entered the house. “You know that singer, Aurora Beam?” Mrs. Evans nodded. “Well, she gave us free tickets to her Christmas concert. Because we saved her life. It’s on the twenty-seventh. Can I go?”
“Well, of course,” replied Mrs. Evans. “Er, but…where is it?”
Lily shrugged. “I don’t know, but Alex does. We’re meeting at her house the twenty-sixth. All right?”
“Where does Alex live?” asked Mr. Evans.
“I’m not sure,” Lily admitted. “She gave me a little packet of powder. It’s called Floo powder. I’m supposed to throw it into the fire, step in, and yell ‘Parker residence’ and supposedly I’ll get to her house.”
Mrs. Evans raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Will it work?” she asked. “It sounds a bit far-fetched.”
Lily shrugged again. “Everything at Hogwarts is a bit far-fetched, Mum. You get used to it.”
“Well…” Mrs. Evans wasn’t convinced about this “Floo powder,” but she decided to drop the subject. “Petunia!” she called upstairs to her other daughter. “Come downstairs, Lily’s home!”
Sour-faced, long-necked Petunia appeared at the top of the stairs. “So?” she asked sulkily.
“Don’t be like that,” Mrs. Evans reprimanded her. “We haven’t seen Lily in a long time. Come say hello.”
Petunia started down the stairs. “When’s she leaving again?”
“Her school starts back up on January the first. Now quit being so mean to your sister.”
Petunia rolled her eyes, but didn’t say anything. She eyed her sister with contempt. “Hello, Lily.”
“Hi.” Lily and Petunia were not the best of friends.
Petunia turned. “Can I go back upstairs now?”
Mrs. Evans sighed. “I suppose so.” As a child, Mrs. Evans had been best friends with her sister, and it saddened her that Lily and Petunia’s relationship was less than perfect.
Mr. Evans was in the kitchen. “What do you want for dinner, Lils?” he asked affectionately. “Whatever you want tonight. As an early Christmas present.” He winked.
Lily smiled. “Mmm…how about steak and mashed potatoes and your famous green beans?”
“Sounds good!” Mr. Evans loved to cook, which was lucky because Mrs. Evans was a terrible cook who burned everything. He began happily peeling potatoes, and Lily went upstairs to put a few of her things away.
Lily stepped into her room and collapsed on her bed, breathing in the familiar smell. She sighed happily. “It’s good to be home,” she whispered to herself.
She looked around her room, neat and tidy as always. It hadn’t changed. It was almost like she’d never left and for a moment a wave of terrible homesickness swept over her, even though she was already home. It’ll be hard to go back after coming home.
Lily got up and opened her suitcase. She placed her Aurora Beam ticket carefully on the dresser. It was a pearly, glistening white with streaks of bright yellow and blue. Very professional printing, she thought, of course.
About an hour later, her stomach rumbling, Lily wandered back downstairs. “Is dinner ready?” she asked.
Mr. Evans was finishing setting the table. “You’re just in time. Get your sister and we’ll eat.” Lily raced back upstairs and knocked on Petunia’s door. “Petunia, dinner’s ready!”
When they were all seated around the dinner table, Lily looked around, and a warm happiness spread through her body. Even with Petunia sulking, it was nice to be home.
Lily, Blossoming by halfbloodprincess22
Chapter Notes: Sorry if this chapter is a bit boring, and on the short side, it's kind of a little filler chapter. Don't worry, the action will be back!!