Disclaimer: These things get boring after a while so I'm just going to
say, if you don't recognize it, then it's mine.
Promise to be Bad
Chapter one.
Funeral.
********************
"That pretty girl right there? Responsible for her twin's death you say? Surely not, she looks so innocent." A woman asked wearing a black funeral garb and drinking tea with her older companion.
"It's always the innocent ones, dear." Her companion, a very fat woman with silvery curls and a really red face, said. She too was decked out in a black dress and veil. "It's all an act. Yes, it was a cheerfully sunny day, they were twelve as I recall. Young petunia saw everything. Said she saw Lily push Harry down in the middle of the road and then the car came. She jumped out of the way but Harry didn't, he was still on the ground you see." (A/N: I got tired of all the fics with Harry's name sake as the father who dies or James's middle name, so I thought I'd try something new by making him her twin. Hope you like. Read on.)
"No! He was twelve? Such a young age, that terrible."
"I agree. He'd be almost seventeen now were he still here. Such a pity now that the parents are dead as well. Petunia has to look out for Lily until she reaches adult age, though they always send her away during the year, somewhere up north. I never knew why. My guess is that they didn't want her to do anything to Petunia."
"Shh! She coming over here."
The pretty girl, a young lady of about seventeen, holding a tray of sandwich squares. She smiled as much as one should at their parents funeral. "Hello, Aunt Mildred." Lily said. She wore a knee length black dress, her face was red and splotchy from crying, her emerald eyes filled with sadness, loneliness, and anger. Her auburn red hair was done up in a French braid that hung to mid-back.
"Lily dear, you must be devastated." Aunt Mildred said taking Lily's cold hand in hers. Mildred's companion, Jane, sat quietly listening to their conversation with mild curiosity.
She watched Mildred who just a minute age had discussed her niece with such loathing that it was surprising that she could be so kind and understanding towards her now.
Casually, Jane leaned in and said to Lily, "We were just discussing the day your twin, Harry died"
Lily paled considerably and froze. "You were?" She asked faintly.
"Lily dear, tell Jane what happened, She's curious."
Tears slipped down her cheeks unchecked. "It's was an accident. All an accident."
"Of course it was dear. Tell us what happened."
"All right. We were playing basketball, he fell and skinned his knee. I went to help him, he was cut pretty bad; his whole knee was bloody. When the car came..." She choked on a sob. Jane grabbed her hand and rubbed it sympathetically.
"When the car came, I jumped out of the way but harry didn't, he was still sitting there. It was an accident, but it was my fault, I should have grabbed him. I should have grabbed him and pulled to safety. But I didn't and now he's dead. My twin is dead, the only person who didn't treat me different for being what I am. My best friend is gone and I'm still here." She jumped up and ran into the house leaving the tray of sandwiches on the chair beside the old women.
Jane looked at Mildred." Well..." Mildred exhaled loudly. " You said she pushed him."
"No I didn't. I said he tripped on a shoelace."
************************
Later that night, as the two sisters cleaned up after the funeral reception. Lily did the dishes and Petunia, a disgustingly skinny twenty- three year old with strawberry blond hair, a large, slightly upturned nose and rather big front teeth, picked up the trash and vacuumed.
Lily dressed now in green tank top and a pair of short shorts, was thinking of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dumbledore had given her a few days off to attend her parents funeral he had said, "Can't give you anymore though, as Head Girl you have an important job to do. I expect you back in a week or two."
In her first year at Hogwarts she had been as avid in pranks and rule breaking as the infamous Marauders, but then that summer Harry died everything changed. Her parents shunned her and blamed her for all their mishaps.
So in a sort of quest to prove herself as a good person to her parents, Lily had given up everything, her friends, her pranks and detentions everything that meant something to her. Instead she concentrated on her marks and never lost another point for her house, Gryffindor.
In turn, people at school began hate her. They hated that she was in a way, perfect. She was beautiful, though she tried to hide it behind thick rimmed glasses and old shabby clothing. She was soon highest markster in her year not counting James Potter. Even the meanest teachers adored her. And in her fifth year, when she became a prefect, people avoided her because she lived by the rule book.
Lily never did like the rule book, or covering herself in ugly things to avoid looks from admirers. She wanted her old life back where she could be carefree. Even though a part of her felt like she didn't have the knack or gall to do anything outrageous with wondering what people would think of her.
If she could go back to herself, the first thing she would do would be to dye Filch's cat Mrs. Norris a mortifying shade of green that actually glowed in the dark.
She smiled at the thought. Second, she would charm Serveus Snape's robes to be normal to him and transparent to others. The thought made her cringe. Who wanted to see his bony white body. And what if he didn't wear underwear? Yuck. Never would she pull that prank on him.
Out in the dining room, Petunia shut off the vacuums and came into the kitchen. She grabbed a dish towel and started drying dishes. Lily raised an eyebrow, usually Petunia hated being in the same room with her so to actually help her with something meant that something was nagging at her.
Petunia took a deep breath and said in a rush, "Listen Lily, you know that Mom and Dad left me the owner of this house and I was thinking..." She hesitated as if not sure if she should go on. Lily had a pretty good idea what she was going say.
"Well?" Lily asked. "What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking... Well, you're seventeen, the legal age to be on your own in your... world." She paused and looked into one of the coffee mugs and then slipped it back into the sink full of soapy water. "Not clean." She said by explanation. "Anyway, When I get married in July, Michael wants to move in here. So we don't have to buy a house right away. We were--I was thinking that you should move out. I think it'd be better if you just got a place of your own."
"What?! But I've lived here all my life."
"I know. It's just you and Michael don't get along very well and we're going sell it anyway if you don't leave and use the money for a better place. But I love it here and I was kind of hoping you'd agree because I don't really want to sell it." She watched Lily's reaction without saying a word.
Lily frowned. She didn't want to leave but she also didn't want them to sell the place either. Michael came from a very rich family. Him and Petunia had been high school sweethearts and were now engaged to be married on August fourth. It was also true that he didn't much approve of Lily because she was a witch but he had to put up with her because he loved her sister.
Petunia must have seen her reluctant expression because she said next, "You can take anything you want to. Furniture, pictures, money, anything you want it's yours. Just..." I looked at her and realized that as much as she hated me it was really hurting her to ask this of me. "Just leave. Please leave."
Lily closed her eyes, felt the pain. Being asked to leave this way was worse than being forced to leave without a choice and nothing to her name. She sighed and opened her eyes. "Yes, Petunia. I will leave for you."
Petunia squealed and hugged her sister. She was actually pretty when she smiled instead of the usual sneer. Then as if realizing she was hugging the person she disliked most in her life she quickly dropped her arms and finished drying the dishes with a smile on her face.
Lily was happy that her sister was happy. It was nice having someone like her. At least for the moment.
"Hey Lil' I know I'm probably going a little far, but do you think you could find a place right away? And maybe be out before July twentieth? I could help you find a flat or a house if you want."
Lily felt in herself that it was best if she was gone as soon as possible but with school and everything, she wouldn't have any time.
"Tell you what? If you can find me a flat or a small house by the ocean (you'll have to owl me the details and pictures of course) if you can do that then I can probably be out of here by as early as Easter."
Petunia's eyes lit up and she grinned. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."
"If it has any thing to do with this house, I have an idea of how much" Lily said and smiled, thinking of all the silly things she had done with her brother when she was younger.
Petunia frowned. "If you don't want to..."
"Petunia. I really want to do this, okay? And I can see that it means a lot to you, so just shut up and dry those dishes."
Petunia laughed, "You know Lils', you're not so bad." She said affectionately.
"I never was. You just never gave me a chance."
They finished the dishes in silence and then went to bed.
The next morning, Lily was laying on the couch watching the TV and debating when she wanted to go back to school, when Petunia came home from work. She flopped into a chair with a grunt and closed her eyes.
"Bad day?" Lily asked not taking her eyes off the television where two guys where a woman was screaming in Portuguese at her husband about something.
"The worst." She worked at a fashion boutique in downtown London where she helped supervise the models' makeup and clothing. "The boss had me and Myles run around all day to put together a dress for a very snobby model who wanted green but looked hideous in it." She opened her eyes and looked at Lily who was still plastered to her drama show.
"What are you watching?"
Lily shrugged. "Don't know. All the good cartoons are over. It was either this or home shopping network."
Petunia rolled her eyes. "Let's go do something." She said when a commercial came on.
Lily crossed her legs and sat up. "Like what." Her and her sister had never really done anything together before.
"Well, I've seen your wardrobe and...do you realize that you have a sweater that we sent you for Christmas two years ago?"
"That sweater happens to be one of my favorites, I'll have you know." She said indignantly.
"I kind of wanted to take you shopping. You know, as a kind of gift for my appreciation."
Lily narrowed her eyes. "Is that really the reason?"
Petunia laughed. "No." She shook her head. "I have to get a dress for the dinner with Michael's family next Friday. So I thought maybe it's be fun if you went with me and got a few things on the side."
Lily stood up and stretched her arms high above her head. "Okay, lets go. But only a few things."
*************************
"Petunia, darling!" Petunia flinched and the two sisters turned to see a short bald man wearing black pants and a yellow cashmere sweater vest over a blue silk shirt, waving ecstatically and running up to them.
"What are you doing here?" He asked in a thick French accent. "And who is this lovely girl?" Petunia rolled her eyes.
"This is Myles, my partner. Very American so don't be fooled by the accent."
Myles turned to Petunia, angry. "Now, why'd you have to go do that? You know that my accent is what brings in the customers." He said, the French accent replaced by an American one.
"No, your accent scares the customers away. Myles, this is my little sister. Seventeen and much too young for you. I'm taking her shopping today."
"Hey Lil', nice to meet you." He shook her hand. "What do you want done with her?"
"Okay, she needs a whole new wardrobe and a make over. I don't want anyone to be able to recognize her." Petunia grinned at Lily's astounded face.
Myles turned to her and sized her up.
"Wait a second! You said a few things, not a whole brand new me." She said and backed away from them.
But before she could dive back into the car, Myles and Petunia swept her away into the building.
*************************
"Good-bye, Lily. I hope you like your new do. You'll have guys lining up around the block for you." Myles beamed at his handy work.
Lily snorted, that was not likely. Especially with her history.
She walked with Petunia back to the car, followed by people carrying boxes and bags full of new things.
"Let's go home, I'm dead tired."
"Finally."
"Oh, don't give me that, you enjoyed your self, admit it."
Lily groaned.
"Don't lie."
"Fine, I had fun." She admitted grudgingly.
"Good, because I'm not going to do it again, it cost me a fortune."
"How much?"
"Now don't you worry about it. Consider it my gift for the past seven years."
"Thanks, Petty." She said and turned to the window and watched the scenery fly by.
"You haven't called me 'Petty' in a long time."
"If you don't want me to, I won't. I just thought..."
"I like it." She said reassuringly and patted her knee not taking her eyes off the road.
Lily smiled and closed her eyes and fell asleep.
The next morning, Lily announced over breakfast that she wanted to go back to school the next day.
Petunia agreed and helped her pack after work.
**************
"Goodbye, Petty." Lily hugged her sister on the outside of the platform.
"Despite the funeral and everything, this week has been really nice for me." Lily said.
"Of course it has, I got my little sister back." Petunia replied and tweaked her nose gently.
"I have to go or I'll miss the train."
"I know. You'll write won't you?"
"Only if you promise you won't freak out with Magnus." Magnus the owl she had received on the year she was excepted into Hogwarts.
"I promise."
With one last hug, Lily passed through the compartment and was soon on the train home.
******************
TBC
Hope you liked because this damn chapter I've rewritten too many times due to computer errors. I don't like the part with Myles because it was corny but I had to get Lily some new clothes. Because in my fic, she doesn't like to stand out and the next part she has to start.
Please review and as soon as I have at least ten reviews or more I'll go on.
Thanks
~ctina
Promise to be Bad
Chapter one.
Funeral.
********************
"That pretty girl right there? Responsible for her twin's death you say? Surely not, she looks so innocent." A woman asked wearing a black funeral garb and drinking tea with her older companion.
"It's always the innocent ones, dear." Her companion, a very fat woman with silvery curls and a really red face, said. She too was decked out in a black dress and veil. "It's all an act. Yes, it was a cheerfully sunny day, they were twelve as I recall. Young petunia saw everything. Said she saw Lily push Harry down in the middle of the road and then the car came. She jumped out of the way but Harry didn't, he was still on the ground you see." (A/N: I got tired of all the fics with Harry's name sake as the father who dies or James's middle name, so I thought I'd try something new by making him her twin. Hope you like. Read on.)
"No! He was twelve? Such a young age, that terrible."
"I agree. He'd be almost seventeen now were he still here. Such a pity now that the parents are dead as well. Petunia has to look out for Lily until she reaches adult age, though they always send her away during the year, somewhere up north. I never knew why. My guess is that they didn't want her to do anything to Petunia."
"Shh! She coming over here."
The pretty girl, a young lady of about seventeen, holding a tray of sandwich squares. She smiled as much as one should at their parents funeral. "Hello, Aunt Mildred." Lily said. She wore a knee length black dress, her face was red and splotchy from crying, her emerald eyes filled with sadness, loneliness, and anger. Her auburn red hair was done up in a French braid that hung to mid-back.
"Lily dear, you must be devastated." Aunt Mildred said taking Lily's cold hand in hers. Mildred's companion, Jane, sat quietly listening to their conversation with mild curiosity.
She watched Mildred who just a minute age had discussed her niece with such loathing that it was surprising that she could be so kind and understanding towards her now.
Casually, Jane leaned in and said to Lily, "We were just discussing the day your twin, Harry died"
Lily paled considerably and froze. "You were?" She asked faintly.
"Lily dear, tell Jane what happened, She's curious."
Tears slipped down her cheeks unchecked. "It's was an accident. All an accident."
"Of course it was dear. Tell us what happened."
"All right. We were playing basketball, he fell and skinned his knee. I went to help him, he was cut pretty bad; his whole knee was bloody. When the car came..." She choked on a sob. Jane grabbed her hand and rubbed it sympathetically.
"When the car came, I jumped out of the way but harry didn't, he was still sitting there. It was an accident, but it was my fault, I should have grabbed him. I should have grabbed him and pulled to safety. But I didn't and now he's dead. My twin is dead, the only person who didn't treat me different for being what I am. My best friend is gone and I'm still here." She jumped up and ran into the house leaving the tray of sandwiches on the chair beside the old women.
Jane looked at Mildred." Well..." Mildred exhaled loudly. " You said she pushed him."
"No I didn't. I said he tripped on a shoelace."
************************
Later that night, as the two sisters cleaned up after the funeral reception. Lily did the dishes and Petunia, a disgustingly skinny twenty- three year old with strawberry blond hair, a large, slightly upturned nose and rather big front teeth, picked up the trash and vacuumed.
Lily dressed now in green tank top and a pair of short shorts, was thinking of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dumbledore had given her a few days off to attend her parents funeral he had said, "Can't give you anymore though, as Head Girl you have an important job to do. I expect you back in a week or two."
In her first year at Hogwarts she had been as avid in pranks and rule breaking as the infamous Marauders, but then that summer Harry died everything changed. Her parents shunned her and blamed her for all their mishaps.
So in a sort of quest to prove herself as a good person to her parents, Lily had given up everything, her friends, her pranks and detentions everything that meant something to her. Instead she concentrated on her marks and never lost another point for her house, Gryffindor.
In turn, people at school began hate her. They hated that she was in a way, perfect. She was beautiful, though she tried to hide it behind thick rimmed glasses and old shabby clothing. She was soon highest markster in her year not counting James Potter. Even the meanest teachers adored her. And in her fifth year, when she became a prefect, people avoided her because she lived by the rule book.
Lily never did like the rule book, or covering herself in ugly things to avoid looks from admirers. She wanted her old life back where she could be carefree. Even though a part of her felt like she didn't have the knack or gall to do anything outrageous with wondering what people would think of her.
If she could go back to herself, the first thing she would do would be to dye Filch's cat Mrs. Norris a mortifying shade of green that actually glowed in the dark.
She smiled at the thought. Second, she would charm Serveus Snape's robes to be normal to him and transparent to others. The thought made her cringe. Who wanted to see his bony white body. And what if he didn't wear underwear? Yuck. Never would she pull that prank on him.
Out in the dining room, Petunia shut off the vacuums and came into the kitchen. She grabbed a dish towel and started drying dishes. Lily raised an eyebrow, usually Petunia hated being in the same room with her so to actually help her with something meant that something was nagging at her.
Petunia took a deep breath and said in a rush, "Listen Lily, you know that Mom and Dad left me the owner of this house and I was thinking..." She hesitated as if not sure if she should go on. Lily had a pretty good idea what she was going say.
"Well?" Lily asked. "What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking... Well, you're seventeen, the legal age to be on your own in your... world." She paused and looked into one of the coffee mugs and then slipped it back into the sink full of soapy water. "Not clean." She said by explanation. "Anyway, When I get married in July, Michael wants to move in here. So we don't have to buy a house right away. We were--I was thinking that you should move out. I think it'd be better if you just got a place of your own."
"What?! But I've lived here all my life."
"I know. It's just you and Michael don't get along very well and we're going sell it anyway if you don't leave and use the money for a better place. But I love it here and I was kind of hoping you'd agree because I don't really want to sell it." She watched Lily's reaction without saying a word.
Lily frowned. She didn't want to leave but she also didn't want them to sell the place either. Michael came from a very rich family. Him and Petunia had been high school sweethearts and were now engaged to be married on August fourth. It was also true that he didn't much approve of Lily because she was a witch but he had to put up with her because he loved her sister.
Petunia must have seen her reluctant expression because she said next, "You can take anything you want to. Furniture, pictures, money, anything you want it's yours. Just..." I looked at her and realized that as much as she hated me it was really hurting her to ask this of me. "Just leave. Please leave."
Lily closed her eyes, felt the pain. Being asked to leave this way was worse than being forced to leave without a choice and nothing to her name. She sighed and opened her eyes. "Yes, Petunia. I will leave for you."
Petunia squealed and hugged her sister. She was actually pretty when she smiled instead of the usual sneer. Then as if realizing she was hugging the person she disliked most in her life she quickly dropped her arms and finished drying the dishes with a smile on her face.
Lily was happy that her sister was happy. It was nice having someone like her. At least for the moment.
"Hey Lil' I know I'm probably going a little far, but do you think you could find a place right away? And maybe be out before July twentieth? I could help you find a flat or a house if you want."
Lily felt in herself that it was best if she was gone as soon as possible but with school and everything, she wouldn't have any time.
"Tell you what? If you can find me a flat or a small house by the ocean (you'll have to owl me the details and pictures of course) if you can do that then I can probably be out of here by as early as Easter."
Petunia's eyes lit up and she grinned. "Thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."
"If it has any thing to do with this house, I have an idea of how much" Lily said and smiled, thinking of all the silly things she had done with her brother when she was younger.
Petunia frowned. "If you don't want to..."
"Petunia. I really want to do this, okay? And I can see that it means a lot to you, so just shut up and dry those dishes."
Petunia laughed, "You know Lils', you're not so bad." She said affectionately.
"I never was. You just never gave me a chance."
They finished the dishes in silence and then went to bed.
The next morning, Lily was laying on the couch watching the TV and debating when she wanted to go back to school, when Petunia came home from work. She flopped into a chair with a grunt and closed her eyes.
"Bad day?" Lily asked not taking her eyes off the television where two guys where a woman was screaming in Portuguese at her husband about something.
"The worst." She worked at a fashion boutique in downtown London where she helped supervise the models' makeup and clothing. "The boss had me and Myles run around all day to put together a dress for a very snobby model who wanted green but looked hideous in it." She opened her eyes and looked at Lily who was still plastered to her drama show.
"What are you watching?"
Lily shrugged. "Don't know. All the good cartoons are over. It was either this or home shopping network."
Petunia rolled her eyes. "Let's go do something." She said when a commercial came on.
Lily crossed her legs and sat up. "Like what." Her and her sister had never really done anything together before.
"Well, I've seen your wardrobe and...do you realize that you have a sweater that we sent you for Christmas two years ago?"
"That sweater happens to be one of my favorites, I'll have you know." She said indignantly.
"I kind of wanted to take you shopping. You know, as a kind of gift for my appreciation."
Lily narrowed her eyes. "Is that really the reason?"
Petunia laughed. "No." She shook her head. "I have to get a dress for the dinner with Michael's family next Friday. So I thought maybe it's be fun if you went with me and got a few things on the side."
Lily stood up and stretched her arms high above her head. "Okay, lets go. But only a few things."
*************************
"Petunia, darling!" Petunia flinched and the two sisters turned to see a short bald man wearing black pants and a yellow cashmere sweater vest over a blue silk shirt, waving ecstatically and running up to them.
"What are you doing here?" He asked in a thick French accent. "And who is this lovely girl?" Petunia rolled her eyes.
"This is Myles, my partner. Very American so don't be fooled by the accent."
Myles turned to Petunia, angry. "Now, why'd you have to go do that? You know that my accent is what brings in the customers." He said, the French accent replaced by an American one.
"No, your accent scares the customers away. Myles, this is my little sister. Seventeen and much too young for you. I'm taking her shopping today."
"Hey Lil', nice to meet you." He shook her hand. "What do you want done with her?"
"Okay, she needs a whole new wardrobe and a make over. I don't want anyone to be able to recognize her." Petunia grinned at Lily's astounded face.
Myles turned to her and sized her up.
"Wait a second! You said a few things, not a whole brand new me." She said and backed away from them.
But before she could dive back into the car, Myles and Petunia swept her away into the building.
*************************
"Good-bye, Lily. I hope you like your new do. You'll have guys lining up around the block for you." Myles beamed at his handy work.
Lily snorted, that was not likely. Especially with her history.
She walked with Petunia back to the car, followed by people carrying boxes and bags full of new things.
"Let's go home, I'm dead tired."
"Finally."
"Oh, don't give me that, you enjoyed your self, admit it."
Lily groaned.
"Don't lie."
"Fine, I had fun." She admitted grudgingly.
"Good, because I'm not going to do it again, it cost me a fortune."
"How much?"
"Now don't you worry about it. Consider it my gift for the past seven years."
"Thanks, Petty." She said and turned to the window and watched the scenery fly by.
"You haven't called me 'Petty' in a long time."
"If you don't want me to, I won't. I just thought..."
"I like it." She said reassuringly and patted her knee not taking her eyes off the road.
Lily smiled and closed her eyes and fell asleep.
The next morning, Lily announced over breakfast that she wanted to go back to school the next day.
Petunia agreed and helped her pack after work.
**************
"Goodbye, Petty." Lily hugged her sister on the outside of the platform.
"Despite the funeral and everything, this week has been really nice for me." Lily said.
"Of course it has, I got my little sister back." Petunia replied and tweaked her nose gently.
"I have to go or I'll miss the train."
"I know. You'll write won't you?"
"Only if you promise you won't freak out with Magnus." Magnus the owl she had received on the year she was excepted into Hogwarts.
"I promise."
With one last hug, Lily passed through the compartment and was soon on the train home.
******************
TBC
Hope you liked because this damn chapter I've rewritten too many times due to computer errors. I don't like the part with Myles because it was corny but I had to get Lily some new clothes. Because in my fic, she doesn't like to stand out and the next part she has to start.
Please review and as soon as I have at least ten reviews or more I'll go on.
Thanks
~ctina