Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Written for Hogwarts Assignment; Mythology Task 4 - Write about someone with a floral name.

Other challenges listed at the bottom.

Beta'd by the lovely Lily and my gorgeous twin, Abs.

Word Count Without AN - 2396

The Last Straw

She sat in her childhood bedroom, surrounded by pink, and feeling trapped. Her trunk lay unpacked at the foot of her bed. She hadn't wanted to return home for the summer this year.

Oh, she missed her parents, and her sister, when she was away at Hogwarts, and she knew her parents missed her; they wrote her expressing as much very often.

Petunia on the other hand…

Lily had barely walked through the door before her older sister was sneering in her direction, warning her to keep her freakishness to herself over the summer, since Vernon, her fiance, would be there a lot.

Lily's bland answer of, "I'm not allowed to use magic over the summer," hadn't been met with gratefulness.

It was the last summer home though, and, after one more year at Hogwarts, Lily had plans to move into a flat with Marlene and Mary, her best friends. Her mother hadn't been particularly happy with that, but while Petunia showed no signs of moving out, even with the shiny engagement ring adorning her finger, she understood Lily's wish to not be back in the family home.

A tap on the window startled her, and she looked up to see Aesop, James' owl, fluttering by the glass. Crossing the room, she opened it up, welcoming Aesop inside. Athena, her own owl, hooted softly in greeting.

"He's writing quickly, I hope everything's alright," Lily murmured to the owl as she untied the letter, offering up a treat from the bag she kept handy for Athena.

Unrolling the parchment, Lily read the first line and smiled.

Lil,

I know we only parted a few hours ago on the train, but I already miss you. Can I come visit yet? I know you said that you'd talk to your parents, and I'm probably being over eager, but I really do want to see you.

Let me know,

Love, James.

She rolled her eyes and put the parchment down on her bed. He was definitely being overeager, she hadn't even spoken to her parents about him coming to visit, though she knew they wouldn't have a problem with it.

They loved meeting her friends, and she'd written to her mother a lot over the last year about her changing relationship with James.

Again, the problem was Petunia.

She looked around at the pink walls and smiled. Screw Petunia, she decided. If nothing else, she wanted to see James' face when he saw just how much she loved pink. She could terrify him with the prospect of a pink home, should they stay together.

Buoyed by the thought, she unpacked her trunk and left the room, heading downstairs to spend some time with her family.

…

"Can you help me?" her mum asked, nodding to the kitchen counter where salad products lay in a heap. "Vernon is coming for dinner, and Petunia is insisting on salad to accompany the main."

Lily rolled her eyes. "If she's insisting on it, she should be helping you," she muttered, but dutifully rolled up the sleeves of her jumper anyway.

She'd been home for a week, and in that time, she and Petunia hadn't managed to be in the same room for longer than ten minutes without an argument.

She'd accused Lily of all sorts, from making her things disappear, to trying to steal her spotlight by inviting James over.

Lily had taken to avoiding her older sister, not wanting a scene.

"When is James coming?" her mum asked as they worked side by side.

Lily felt a smile gracing her lips. "Tomorrow. He's going to stay for a week, most likely."

Her mum grinned. "Didn't you say he was already seventeen?"

When Lily nodded, her mum clapped her hands excitedly. "We'll finally be able to see some magic!"

Unable to stop her laugh at her mum's enthusiasm, she nodded again. "Of course, he'll be happy to show off. He's a git."

"Hmm, he might be a git, but you're obviously quite taken with him."

With a light flush colouring her cheeks, Lily grinned. "Perhaps. Though… maybe don't tell him that."

Laughing, her mum winked. "Of course not, dear."

…

Immediately as Lily opened the door, James wrapped his arms around her, burying his face against her neck as he squeezed her tightly.

"I missed you," he murmured against her skin.

Lily couldn't stop her smile as she wrapped her arms around his back, returning the tight embrace. "I missed you too," she admitted. "Come on inside and meet my mum and dad. Oh, and Vernon, Petunia's fiance, is here, so no magic, 'kay?"

"Sure, sure," James agreed easily. He looked around the hallway curiously as Lily led him inside and into the living room.

She'd thought Vernon would be leaving this morning, but Petunia had smugly informed her that Vernon was off work and was staying for the weekend. The smug look had quickly been wiped off her face when Lily had replied that James was coming to stay for a week.

She'd listened to her sister raging at her parents from her bedroom, the walls doing nothing to drown out the shrieking.

"Mum, Dad, this is James," Lily introduced. "James, my parents, Holly and Ian."

Pleasantries were exchanged, and Lily and James sat down on the two seater, their legs pressing together. James only hesitated momentarily before he linked their fingers. They talked for a while, her parents asking James questions about growing up in the wizarding world.

The conversation cut off awkwardly when Petunia and Vernon walked into the living room. After a pregnant pause, Lily introduced James to her sister and brother-in-law to be.

Petunia barely looked at him before she started in on Lily, kicking up a fuss because she wanted to sit on the two seater with Vernon.

James stood up, pulling Lily with him. Petunia's smirk was soon wiped off her face when James sat down in the lone armchair and pulled Lily onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her.

Lily noticed the smile on her mum's face.

Conversation was hard and stilted, but she listened dutifully as Petunia prattled on about Vernon's job while the man in question sat beside her, glaring at James and Lily as though they'd done him some personal wrong.

After half an hour passed, Lily couldn't take the tension anymore. She smiled apologetically at her parents before she tugged James from the room. Leading him upstairs, she grinned when she watched him take in her bedroom.

"It's very… pink."

She giggled, plonking herself down on the bed and crossing her legs. "I like pink."

His lips quirked up. "Then I like pink too."

Sprawling out on her bed beside her, he propped his head up on his arm. "Have you had to deal with those two being like that the whole time you've been home?"

She nodded, leaning back against the pillows. "Yep. In fact, that was almost polite."

"Merlin," James breathed. He leant across the bed and picked up one of Lily's old cuddly toys, admiring it with a small smile. "Tell me something good," he requested after a minute. "Where did you get this little guy from?"

An hour later, when Holly checked in on them, she smiled to herself. Lying on the bed, fully dressed, James was asleep with his head on Lily's favourite toy and Lily was asleep with her head on James' stomach.

Sneaking away to get a camera, she returned in time to snap a picture, just before James shifted his head away, curling further around the bed into Lily, his hand moving to rest in her hair.

Snapping one final picture, Holly closed the door , and left them to sleep. It was the most peaceful she'd seen Lily since she'd returned home.

…

Vernon left on Sunday evening, leaving James and Lily to deal with a doubly vindictive Petunia. With no Vernon there for her to play demure and sweet for, the full force of her true nature was coming out.

They withstood her sneers and barbed comments and had a great time anyway. One memory Lily was sure she'd never forget was watching James play with a rubber duck for a solid twenty minutes, getting more enjoyment out of it than she'd ever seen a child get.

Her parents were enamoured of him too, watching in wonder as he conjured things for their enjoyment, sending them spinning around the room, and even Apparated a short distance with her father, who promptly threw up at the sensation.

On Tuesday, the family and James sat down for their evening meal. Petunia had been in a foul mood all day, after a row she'd had with Vernon. Holly had told Lily about it earlier in the day, and they hadn't even picked up the cutlery before she started in with the sly digs.

James put up with it admirably in Lily's opinion, and eventually, even Holly had had enough of her oldest daughter, and told her to hush.

Petunia stood up, leaning on the table.

"Of course you're going to stand up for the little princess! She always was your favourite, even more so when she got the letter, offering her a place at that Freak School! Perfect Lily, magic Lily, wonderful, precious, pretty Lily!"

"Petunia -" Holly started, but she was cut off by the slam of the door as Petunia stormed upstairs.

Lily stood up. "I'll go. Maybe I can make her see sense."

Holly sighed. "If you really want to, sweetheart. But… try not to let her words hurt you. I know it doesn't seem like it, but she does love you."

James squeezed her hand as she passed him.

Climbing the stairs slowly, Lily knocked on Petunia's door before she pushed it open.

"What do you want?" Petunia sneered from where she'd thrown herself on her bed. "Come to shove your perfectness in my face some more?"

"Tuney," Lily said, her voice pleading. "I don't want to fight with you."

"Then you should have stayed away at your freak school with your freaky friends and your freak boyfriend. Your kind shouldn't be allowed to infect us normal folk."

"Infect? I'm not diseased, Petunia!" Lily retorted, hurt. She forced the tears back wouldn't allow her sister to see her weak.

"Yes, you are! You've got a horrible disease inside you, and I don't want you near me in case I catch your freakishness!"

"What did I do to make you hate me so much?" Lily whispered, holding onto the door frame. Her legs felt like jelly and a wave of nausea threatened to overwhelm her.

"You exist," Petunia sneered, utter hatred in her voice.

Lily stumbled away, not even bothering to try and stop the tears. She made it to the bathroom just in time to throw up, and the next thing she was aware of was James, rubbing her back comfortingly.

The same trapped feeling she'd felt when she arrived was pushing on Lily, making her feel like the room was too small, the walls crowding in on her. She wiped her mouth and turned, clinging to James.

"I can't be here anymore," she whispered. "There's no space in her life for me at all. She's never going to change her mind about me."

"Come home with me," James offered, stroking her hair. "My parents would love to have you; Sirius is already there. There's a room for you. I think my mum even has some pink bedding, so you'll feel right at home."

Lily barely hesitated before she nodded. She just needed to not be here.

James led her downstairs to her parents. Her mum took one look at her face and embraced her. Lily sank into the familiar smell of her mum. She barely heard the words James exchanged with her father.

"Come on sweetheart, I'll help you pack," her mum offered sadly.

Lily blinked. Apparently, James had told her parents what was happening. She felt so spaced out, disassociated from the situation.

Petunia's words echoed in her mind.

Lily packed on autopilot, throwing things haphazardly in her trunk.

"I'll write to you and let you know the next time Petunia visits Vernon for the weekend. You and James can come and stay before you head back to school," her mum promised. "I'm sorry, baby. I know you just want your sister back. Maybe she'll come around as she gets older."

Lily just shrugged her shoulders. She knew that neither of them believed those words to be true.

Before James could apparate them away, Holly passed Lily a tupperware box. "I made treacle tart for dessert, darling, I know it's your favourite, so I made sure to save you a piece."

"Thanks, Mum," Lily murmured, taking the box. "I love you."

She hugged her parents. "I'll write."

Ian smiled, then looked at James. "Look after my baby girl."

"Of course, sir. I just want her to be happy."

The last thing Lily saw before James whisked them away, was Petunia at the doorway, a smug smirk on her face as she watched her sister disappear.

…

There was a knock on the bedroom door, and Lily barely managed to say, "come in," before it opened. James strolled into the room, sitting down on the bed beside her.

"You've been moping in here for three days. Time to get some sunshine," he ordered.

She shook her head. She didn't feel like moving, Petunia's words were still echoing in her mind.

"Petunia doesn't understand us, love, and she's a spiteful cow. There's nothing you can do about that, and if she wants to miss out on her sister's life, then that's all on her. She's the one that will have to deal with the consequences, one day. You did what you could and nothing was good enough for her. Don't let her beat you."

Lily frowned. "How is she beating me?"

"You're not exactly living, are you? You only get one life. It's actually your duty to live it as fully as possible. So, get up, get dressed and get downstairs. We're going flying."

"Oh, are we?" she asked, though she was smiling.

He grinned. "Yes. We are. Come on, Evans, where's that fighting spirit?"

"Oh, it's on Potter. The real question, is can you stand to be out-raced by a girl?"

James offered her his hand. "Let's find out."

Written for;

Ways To Say I love you - 9. "I saved a piece for you."

Library Lovers - Me Before You - "You only get one life. It's actually your duty to live it as fully as possible." / Trying to change someone's mind. / "Tell me something good."

Love in Motion - JamesLily

Serpent Week - 9. Emerald Tree Boa - JamesLily

Scavenger Hunt - 4. Marauders Era

Insane House Challenge - 40. Lily Evans

Writing Club;

Days Of The Month - Pink Day

Character Appreciation - 2. Rubber Duck

Lyric Alley - 27. There's no space

Disney - The Genie - Someone feeling trapped.

Book Club - Whitney Horgan - Challenging someone / Stand / Consequence

Showtime - 8. I'm Not That Girl - steal

Buttons - Toy / "Can you help me?"