Thursday, October 20th, 2016, 4:57 AM
"I'm not delicate!" a young lady's shrill, furious voice rings throughout a room consumed by darkness, the echoing of a foot stomping making it all the more ominous. "I can handle the truth!"
"Darling, this isn't a matter that should be concerning you," a voice, male this time, responds, and though the tone isn't unkind, it would be impossible to mistake as being patient.
"Yes, it is!" the girl stomps her foot again, louder this time, and the sound of furniture rattling reverberates throughout the room. "I'm not five years old anymore, I have the right to know!"
"Sweetheart," begins the smooth, dulcet sounds of a soothing female voice, "you have to understand that some matters are better handled by adults. We don't want to worry you."
"I don't care!" cries the teen, her voice beginning to crack like fragile china. "I don't care, just stop lying to me!"
"Lily, maybe we should go outside," suggests the tentative voice of another young lady entering the room, which remains bathed in the color of the moonless night sky.
"Tuney! Tell them they can't keep this from us! They'll listen to you!" insists the first girl, the younger one.
"Lily, let's just go outside," pleads the older of the two.
"I need answers!" demands the stubborn girl, fighting back a strangled, choked sob.
"Lilypad," the male interrupts the next words of the crying girl, "you're still a child, we'll tell you in a few years."
"I'm not a child!" bellows the girl. "I'm the same age Tuney was when this all started, so I should know!"
"This is different!" insists the man, pleading with his daughter. Had the room had any source of light, the tears glistening in the man's eyes would've been evident, yet the darkness smothered any emotion painted on his face.
"I hate you!" sobs the girl, her footsteps echoing as she sprints out the room.
The darkness consumes Lily, snippets of conversations and memories swirling around her, laughter ringing in one ear, shouts echoing in the other. The sweet smell of camellias in the spring fills her nostrils, she feels the tickling of grass beneath her feet, and the cool, crisp breeze of the summer air on her pale, freckled skin. Suddenly, she's helplessly falling and flailing through the darkness, sinking to the bottom of the ocean, air being sucked out of her lungs by the second until she can't breath.
"I hate you!" Her own words ring throughout her ears, growing louder and louder as it gets harder to breathe each time that it's shrieked.
Lily's eyes snap open to find herself tangled into a cocoon within her bedsheets, drenched in sweat and shaking uncontrollably. The same darkness from her dream holds her hostage as she strains her eyes, focusing on the pale strip of moonlight slipping through the curtains and illuminating her room.
She hates how she feels: frightened, alone, vulnerable, weak, selfish. It hadn't been until now that she realized the last words to leave her lips and meet the ears of her father were "I hate you".
It's so cliche, she thinks, but she can't change it. She can't reverse the effect of those words, she can't apologize, she can't go back in time, and she can't say "I love you" to him one last time. She can't even remember him clearly anymore.
Lily wraps her blanket around her body even tighter, almost suffocatingly tight, and trembles like a lost puppy abandoned on the side of the road. A bead of sweat rolls down her forehead and disappears into her pillowcase as she continues to lie curled up on her bed, willing for the euphoria of sleep to find her once again and release her from the cold, cruel clutches of reality.
Finally accepting defeat, she begins untangling herself from the intricate cocoon of blankets and bedsheets she finds herself woven between, sighing while she does so. Kicking her blanket to the side, she snakes her arm towards the nightstand and picks up her phone, squinting in the dark to make out the time displayed on the harsh light of the screen. 16 minutes past five in the morning, her phone reads, informing Lily of the fact that no matter what she did, she'd have to drag herself out of bed within the next forty minutes if she wanted to make it to school on time.
Groaning quietly in the dark, she rolls off her bed and lands on the carpeted floor with a muffled thump. Maybe I'll just lie here for a little while, she thinks, nodding her head. Yes, that seems like a good idea, nothing could be more comforting in that moment than the welcoming carpet.
Suddenly, she's wrenched from the relaxing silence of the night by her phone buzzing on her nightstand in the dark. Who the hell could be texting her at this hour? Continuing to lie sprawled on the floor, Lily reaches up towards the nightstand, blindly grasping for her phone. She turns it on, wincing and recoiling at the harsh light it emits, and furiously jabs her finger at the screen to lower the brightness.
J. Potter, seven messages, her phone reads. Since when did she have Potter's number on her phone, Lily asks herself, searching through her memory, seeking the answer. Finally, she remembers: Slughorn had partnered them up earlier that year in chemistry for a project, resulting in your typical exchanging of the phone numbers. She hadn't even bothered to put his full first name in, Lily realizes, reminding herself to change that after reading his texts.
J. Potter
Hi
Sorry for bothering you
I know you probably aren't awake yet
But can you meet me by the auditorium before school starts?
I need to tell you something
Some people are planning something
And it's not going to be good
Sure
I presume you mean Snape and his cronies when you say "some people"
Yeah
Wish I could tell you now but it's too long to type
Dw about it
See you at school
See you at school
Burying her face in the carpet, Lily allows her phone to rest beside her, inches away from her face, when it starts buzzing once more. This time, the screen reads the name of Remus Lupin.
Remus
Whatever you do don't show up to school today
It's Snape
Unsurprisingly
What the hell?
Who are you and what have you done with Remus?
I mean it Lily
It's not going to be pretty
As stressful as school is I'm still going
You're sadly mistaken if you think I'm going to allow an asshat like Snape to stop me from getting an education
Fine
Don't say I didn't warn you
And make sure Mary knows to meet us in the auditorium
I have a feeling she'll be involved in this
Okay
I'm sorry in advance for all this shit
Don't be
You need to stop apologizing for everything Rem
Don't take responsibility for some bastards that need some bloody lives
You're an angel you know
Believe what you want but I'm no angel
You have a heart of gold then
Whatever
I mean it
Thx
With that, Lily drags herself off the floor and forces herself to trudge to the bathroom, the nearly palpable scent of spring camellias still tickling her nose. She didn't know what was in store for her day, but she knew today wasn't going to end up being one of those picture perfect days from books and movies.
a/n: This is just a bit of a filler chapter, but the next is going to have a shit ton of drama in it, if you couldn't already tell.
Anyway I have a question for you all: What's your favorite type of flower?
Just curious lol
Bye, loves!
~Madeline
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