Her Name Was Lily

Summer - Chapter 8

When I walked in, her face lit up and she smiled so wide I'd almost forgotten why we were here. She was in a hospital gown and had an IV in her right arm, but her big smile made it undeniable that she didn't care.

I ran to her and gave a gentle hug, trying not to mess up the IV and other wires surrounding her. "I missed you. How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing fine but mom and dad are always sad and it's starting to kill my mood. But you're here so it's going to be great. Look, I asked the nurse to hang my pictures here." She pointed to the wall next to her and I saw all the missing photos from her room. I turned around to see my dad waking up in a small chair across from Caitlin.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked as he gave me a warm hug.

"I'm good. Tired, but good." His eyes looked red from crying and sleep-deprivation.

"Where's Aunt Maya?"

"She's probably in the cafeteria or talking to a doctor. I'll go find her," My mother walked out of the room.

Although it might seem weird, I was happy to be here. Obviously not her, in the hospital, but here with my family. And seeing Caitlin so happy made me feel less devastated about the whole situation.

I stayed home for the rest of the school year. I spent Thanksgiving, Cailin's 9th birthday, and Christmas with my family. When August came around, I didn't want to go back to school. I wanted to stay home with my family and stay with Caitlin but they all eventually convinced me to go back and visit again in December. Knowing that Caitlin was improving gave me a little bit of peace about leaving.

I received a letter from Ron telling me to meet them at the Leaky Cauldron in London where my books would be waiting for me and we would go to school together. Since I still had quite a bit of floo powder from last year, I used that to get to the Leaky Cauldron even though I didn't necessarily enjoy traveling that way.

When I arrived, I was greeted by the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione. They all grew so much since I'd last seen them and Harry seemed to have gotten a bit more attractive. Did I have a crush on Harry Potter?

"Hey Lily," he greeted kindly. "I-uhh- We missed you so much! Why did you leave?"

"Oh, I had some family stuff, I don't really want to talk about it. But I missed you guys so much and you all look so much older."

"Us?" Hermione interjected. "Look at you! Your hair got darker, you've obviously gotten taller, and you don't look like a little kid anymore."

"Yeah, I guess we've all grown a lot since we last saw each other." I was so busy with my family and Caitlin, I didn't even notice that I actually did change a lot. I was a least 3 inches taller, my hair had gotten noticeably darker, and I didn't have a child-ish face anymore.

"Oi, Madison!" I heard two voices call from behind me. I turned to see two identical red heads towering in front of me. They definitely grew the most since last year. I could also tell the difference between them now.

"Oh, hey guys!"

"Where'd you sneak off to last year, hmm?" Fred questioned dramatically. "Just wanted to skip school, I bet."

"Actually, Fred, I brought all my books home and practiced a few things."

"Oh yeah?" George piped in. "Like what?"

"Well-" Before I could tell them what I'd practiced while I was home, Molly Weasley came up from behind me and practically tackled me with a warm mother-like hug.

"Calm down, Mum." George joked. "You'll suffocate her."

"Oh hush," She retorted, letting me out of her grasp. "Lily, Harry?"

I grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him to where Molly and I were standing. "Yes?" We both answered.

"Do you both have all your textbooks?" We nodded. "And all your belongings?" We nodded again. "And uhh- Harry, did Aurther speak to you already?"

"Yes, he did." Harry answered. He looked at me and flashed a smile that made my cheeks go slightly pink.

"Alright," Mrs. Weasley began, gathering everyone around. "Let's get to the train. Don't want to be late, now do we?"

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I entered the train and sat in one of the compartments. This one in particular had a teacher already sitting and sleeping.

Then, out of nowhere, Ron began screaming. "Oh no, oh no, oh no." He started searching through his bag and around the seat.

"What's he on about?" Hermione whispered to me, eyeing Ron with concern.

"I don't know." I answer. "Hey Ron, what are you looking for?"

"Sc-Scabbers. He's gone." Then we heard a woman yelling "Ron!" from outside the open window.

It was Ron's mother holding Scabbers. She ran up to the train and handed Ron the rat. "Don't lose him!" She yelled as the train began pulling out.

"You should pay more attention to your pets, Ronald." Hermione said, petting her cat named Crookshanks. He crawled from her lap to mine and fell asleep.

The ride only lasted about 20 minutes before stopping. "Why have we stopped?" Hermione asked. "We can't be there already."

Ron and I looked out the window to see dark figures moving and the closer they got, the colder the windows felt until they were frozen. Then the train went dark and we heard scraping on the door.

The door magically opened and a floating, hooded figure entered the room and began moving towards Harry. It looked like it was sucking out his soul when the teacher that was sleeping, woke up and pulled out his wand.

From the wand, came a bright light that drove the creature away. I looked back to Harry as he fainted onto the seat.

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