Christmas Day flew by in a whirl of good food, presents, and rambunctious cousins. It was cold, but there was no snow on the ground, so the thirteen children of the Evans family stayed indoors, running up and down the stairs and breaking vases and arguing. It was chaotic, but Lily loved it. Three of Lily’s cousins were quite older than her and four were much younger, but there were four within two years of her age, and they got on quite well.
It was a bit awkward when they asked her about her new school, and Lily’s lies were not the most convincing. But even though she acted oddly whenever this topic came up, it was Christmas and her cousins did not really care.
The next day was the twenty-sixth. Lily was leaving for Alex’s house at three-thirty. She was uncertain about the little packet of powder Alex had given her, but as she had no other means of transportation she figured she should try it.
At three o’ clock, Lily packed her bag and slipped her ticket safely inside. Then she bounded down the stairs into the family room where the fireplace was located.
“Dad, can you make a fire now?” she asked.
Mr. Evans was reading the paper. He set it aside. “Do you really think this will work, Lily?” he asked dubiously. “It sounds potentially dangerous to step into a fire.”
“Don’t worry, Dad. It’s magic,” Lily said breezily. “Now please! Alex and Cadrian are expecting me at three-thirty.”
“All right,” he grumbled, easing himself up from his chair. “But…how can you possibly travel through the fireplace? It’s so bizarre. How will I know you’re safe?”
“I’ll be okay, Dad, I promise! I’ll write you as soon as I arrive.”
“Well…” Mr. Evans tended to be a bit overprotective of his daughter. “All right. Where does Alex live, anyway? Are you sure you don’t know? She could live anywhere.”
Lily shrugged. “No clue. Now can you please start a fire?”
“Wait one minute. How will you get home?”
“Same way, I expect. I’ll be home by tomorrow night.”
“Well….alright then,” said Mr. Evans grudgingly. He lumbered over to the fireplace, struck a match, and dropped it on the waiting logs. The fire spread rapidly and Lily stepped uncertainly in front of it.
“Okay, then…” she said. She was beginning to get a bit apprehensive about stepping into the fire; she could feel the heat emanating from the flames.
She ripped open the packet and tossed the fine, shimmery powder into the flames. They instantly turned emerald green. Lily hovered her hand over the flames cautiously. She could still feel the heat, but it wasn’t as intense.
Gripping her bag, Lily squeezed her eyes shut and slowly raised her foot. She brought it down, ready to yelp and jump back, expecting to feel great pain…but her foot touched the bottom of the fireplace and she opened her eyes in surprise.
It wasn’t painful at all. The flames were warm, but they felt pleasant. Lily grinned and stepped all the way inside. She was short, and the flames were so high they practically engulfed her. Suddenly it didn’t feel so great: smoke stung Lily’s eyes and when she took a breath she choked on the rising ash. “Parker residence!” she choked and she was gone.
She fell out of the fire in an ashen-faced, coughing heap on a soft rug. She wiped her face off and got to her feet.
Alex was sitting on a couch. “Lily, you’re here!” she exclaimed. “I hoped you’d figure it out.”
“Yeah.” Lily’s head was spinning and she suddenly felt very dizzy. She crawled over to the couch and collapsed on it.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just…that was…weird.”
Alex laughed. “It can take a little time to get used to Floo powder. But you’re here now, at least. Cadrian should be coming any minute.”
Soon Lily’s dizziness subsided. “Alex, where’s the bathroom?” she asked. “I need to wash my face.”
“Down the hallway, second door on the left.” Lily left the room, staring around. Alex’s house was huge and it made her house seem like a mousehole in comparison. She stopped to look at a tall portrait hanging in a hallway and when she turned she bumped into somebody.
“Oops, sorry!” she said. Whoever it was, she’d knocked them to the ground. He was a young boy, younger than Lily, with the same curly hair as Alex. She offered him her hand. “Are you okay?”
He took her hand and pulled himself to his feet. “I’m Adam. You must be Lily or Cadrian, right?”
“Lily. Nice to meet you.”
“Yeah. What happened to your face?”
Lily scowled. “Floo powder. It was my first time.”
Adam grinned. “Oh. The bathroom’s just down there, if you want to wash up.”
“Thanks. Well, I’ll see you later.” Lily walked in the direction Adam had pointed and soon found the bathroom. Her appearance shocked her. Her red hair was tangled and messy, her face and clothes caked in soot. She quickly washed her face off and smoothed her hair down, then found her way back to the room where she had come in.
Cadrian had arrived while Lily had been gone, although she looked a lot better than Lily did. “Lily! Are you alright?”
Lily grinned. “Yes…Floo powder isn’t that easy.”
Cadrian giggled. For coming through a fireplace, she looked immaculate. Not a speck of ash soiled her clothes and her dark plait was perfectly intact. “It takes some time to get used to.”
“Come on.” Alex jumped up. “Let’s go up to my room!”
Lily and Cadrian followed Alex up a stately marble staircase. “Jeez,” Cadrian whispered, “Alex’s house is huge!” Lily silently agreed.
Alex’s room was about three times the size of Lily’s. Her bed was huge, right in the middle of everything, with a blue and green bedspread. Her walls were painted a light blue and all her posessions were of the same color scheme. Alex plopped down on her bed and switched on the light.
Lily dropped her bags by the door and Cadrian followed suit. “Mom will conjure some beds for you guys tonight,” Alex informed them. “After dinner.”
“What time is the concert tomorrow?” asked Cadrian.
Alex shrugged. “Six-thirty, I think. I don’t know.”
“Where is it? Is it somewhere in Diagon Alley?” asked Lily.
“No, not there. It’ll be in a field somewhere in the middle of nowhere. They’ve probably spent weeks enchanting it so Muggles can’t find it.”
“Oh…okay.”
Alex checked her watch. “Okay guys, it’s four o’ clock and we won’t eat dinner until six. What do you want to do until then?”
Cadrian glanced out the window. “It’s a nice day. Can we go for a walk or something?”
Alex jumped up. “Sure!”
“Wait!” said Lily. “I just remembered. I promised my dad I’d write him as soon as I got home.”
“Here.” Alex produced a blue gel pen and pale blue stationary. “You can use my sister’s owl. Hurry!” she added impatiently.
Lily scribbled a short note to her father and folded it up. Alex grabbed it. “ADDISON!” she yelled.
About five minutes later a teenage girl with bright purple hair entered the room. “What?” she asked irritably.
“Can Lily use your owl?”
Addison eyed Lily. “Fine. Give me the letter, I’ll send it.”
Alex handed her the letter and Addison left, slamming the door behind her. “Now let’s go.”
They left the house and emerged onto a brightly sunny street lined with mansions identical to Alex’s. The perfectly manicured lawns were a healthy-looking kelly green with bursts of white and pink and yellow flowers. Some houses had kids running through the yards-the ideal picture of suburban life.
After about ten minutes Alex stopped abruptly. Lily and Cadrian turned back to her. A mischievous smile had spread across her face.
“Oh, no,” groaned Lily. “What are you thinking, Alex?”
Alex laughed, a sly grin on her face. “Guess who lives just down there.” she pointed at a huge mansion. It looked just like every other one.
“Who?” asked Cadrian.
“Sirius’s nasty cousin, Bellatrix.”
“Hey,” said Cadrian slowly. “I think…didn’t Sirius mention that he was going to Bellatrix’s house for Christmas?”
“Yeah!” replied Alex. “You think he’s here?”
“Who cares?” asked Lily indifferently.
“Because…I bet if he was, we could get serious revenge on Bellatrix and Lucius.”
“Alex…” Lily groaned. She knew why Alex wanted revenge: a week ago, Lucius had been aiming a hex at Sirius, but he’d missed and hit Alex instead. It had caused her to break out in boils that didn’t make sitting down very comfortable.
Cadrian was already grinning. “Oh no,” said Lily. “No way. No, no, no.”
“Yes!” said Alex. “Please, Lils? It’ll be fun.”
“Fun?” Lily asked in disbelief. “No it won’t. We’ll get in trouble.”
“Come on, Lily. Can’t you ever think about anything besides trouble?”
“No, I can’t, because everything you do leads us to trouble!”
Cadrian and Alex laughed together. “You’re right!” said Alex jovially. “Cool, isn’t it?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “I won’t do it.”
But Alex and Cadrian knew her well enough to know that she’d go along with whatever crazy scheme they thought up.
* * * * * * * * * *
A half hour later, Lily was crouching behind a prickly bush, her legs starting to burn from sitting like that for so long. Alex and Cadrian were peeking into the windows, but so far they hadn’t seen a thing.
Suddenly Lily heard the front door open and voices speaking loudly. “Guys!” she hissed. “Get down! Somebody’s coming!” If they were found in this position by one of Sirius’s cousins, it wouldn’t be pretty.
Cadrian immediately ducked down next to Lily, but Alex’s reaction was slower. She flapped her hand at Lily, motioning for her to be quiet, but she didn’t crouch down. Cadrian tugged at her shirt but Alex pulled away.
“It’s just Sirius, you guys,” she whispered, waving at the black-haired boy. “Come on!”
Exchanging exasperated glances, Lily and Cadrian crawled out onto the grass and got to their feet.
“Hi guys,” said Sirius, striding over. “What in the world are you doing here?”
“Seeing if you were still here,” explained Alex. Her expression darkened. “We want revenge on your cousins for that hex. Will you help us?”
Sirius grinned slyly. “Of course. What did you have in mind? We can’t use magic, you know.”
“Oh, we don’t need magic,” said Alex breezily. “We’ll just…use our imaginations.”
Sirius laughed. “Okay, then. Meet me back here tonight at eight and we’ll get started. Now I should get back inside before somebody comes looking for me.”
“Eight o’ clock. Got it. See you tonight!” called Alex as the three girls turned to go back to the Parker residence.
* * * * * * * * * *
At seven-fifty, the three girls snuck out of the house and crept down to the Black mansion in the gathering dusk. Sirius was sitting outside on the lawn, waiting for them. When he saw them coming he jumped to his feet and gestured for them to hurry. The girls ran the rest of the way to him.
“So, Sirius. What did you plan?” whispered Cadrian.
“We need to get into Bellatrix’s room first,” he replied, “and that’s not going to be easy. Luckily she’s at a friend’s house for two more hours, so I’ve put up a rope ladder. Follow me.”
The girls and Sirius, hidden well by the darkness, shivering in the cold, ran around to the back of the house where a flimsy rope ladder was hanging from an open window. “It’s so high,” Lily murmured, but nobody heard her. Lily had a vivid fear of heights.
Alex scampered up the ladder easily and disappeared into the room. Her head promptly appeared, looking down at them. “Come on guys, it’s easy!”
Sirius and Cadrian climbed up with no difficulty and then it was Lily’s turn. She hesitantly placed her right foot on the bottom rung and reached for a higher one.
“Hurry!” Alex sounded impatient.
Lily brought up her left foot to the second rung and the ladder swung with a slight breeze. Panicked, Lily froze and clutched the ladder tightly.
“Lily, come on! Just climb up!”
Lily took a deep breath and then proceeded climbing. About halfway up, she made the mistake of looking down. She was about twenty feet in the air and the ground, so far away, stunned her. Her sweaty hands began to slip and she cried out.
“Shh! Be quiet! Come on Lily, you’re almost up!”
Gritting her teeth, Lily adjusted her grip and climbed slowly up the last few feet. Alex and Sirius grabbed her arms and hauled her inside the room. It had a creepy, black theme, but that didn’t surprise Lily a bit.
“Great. So what’s next?” asked Alex brightly, as Sirius pulled the ladder up.
“Well,” said Sirius. “This is Bellatrix’s room.”
“Yes,” said Cadrian. “We know.”
Sirius hopped over Bellatrix’s bed and then opened the drawer of her black nightstand. He pulled out a black notebook. “Bellatrix’s diary.”
“Ooh!” exclaimed Alex, locking the room’s door. (The door was also painted black.) “Read it. What’s it say?”
Sirius laid the notebook on Bellatrix’s bed and pulled a long, skinny stick out of his pocket. “We’re going to switch Bellatrix’s wand with this.”
Cadrian laughed, but Alex wasn’t pleased. “That’s all?” she asked, clearly disappointed.
“No, that’s not all. That’s just the beginning,” grinned Sirius. He found Bellatrix’s wand lying on her dresser and switched them. “Now back to her diary.” He opened it up and a devilish grin spread across his face. “Oh, this is good.”
“What does it say?” asked Alex, bouncing up and down on the bed.
“Hmm.” Sirius flipped through the pages. “Here’s something. She says, ‘I just can’t stand Rosie Parkinson. She is the most annoying person I have ever met, and the way she hangs on Lucius is sickening.’” Sirius looked up. “I always thought Rosie was one of Bellatrix’s best friends.”
“Read more,” Alex urged. “Please!”
“Severus Snape thinks he is so smart just because he’s a first-year and he can understand those complicated Dark Arts books. He acts like a pureblood, but I know better. He’s a half-blood.” Sirius snorted. “She doesn’t have a good word about anybody.” He turned the page and gasped. “Dumbledore is the stupidest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. The Muggle-loving fool is such a disgrace.”
Lily gasped. “How could she say that?”
“There’s more,” he said grimly, reading on. “I can’t believe Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor. Now he’s started hanging out with Mudbloods and blood traitors and scum.” Lily felt herself reddening at the “Mudblood” comment.
“Okay, okay. That’s enough,” said Alex hurriedly, sensing Lily’s discomfort. “So what are we going to do with Bellatrix’s diary?”
Sirius shut it and returned it to the drawer. “For now, nothing. But when we go back to school, we’ll take action. I’ll steal it right before we go back to Hogwarts and put a different notebook in so she doesn’t notice right away. Then, at school, we’ll make copies of the diary and spread them around the school so everybody will know what a horrible person she is.” He grinned, looking very self-satisfied. “There’s so much stuff in here, I’m sure everybody will be very offended.”
“Perfect,” breathed Alex. “Now we’d better get back. See you tomorrow, at the concert!”
Sirius threw the rope ladder back over the windowsill and the girls climbed down quickly. Waving good-bye, they ran back to Alex’s house.