Book Two: Snape's Memories

Chapter Sixteen

"LILLY! JUST GET OUT. I HATE YOU. LEAVE ME ALONE!" Tim's voice rang out with the loudest volume they'd yet heard him use, from upstairs.

Harry and Ginny paused in their conversation, to stare at each other. Tim had never yelled at Lily. Tim had never yelled at all.

"I'll go." said Harry, bounding up the stairs.

Kreacher was standing there on the landing outside the bedrooms, wringing his hands. He was always upset when the family fought. Usually it was the children, although every so often it was Harry and Ginny.

Wizards fighting frightened the poor old elf. Apparently with good reason. After the first loud fight Harry and Ginny had, Kreacher had been going mad with anxiety. It was then Harry dicovered that Sirius' family, the Blacks, who had owned Grimmauld place forever, often used their wands on one another, in anger.

With a quick jerk of his head, Harry sent Kreacher away, "It's fine, Kreacher." he told him, "I'll take care of it." Kreacher disappeared with a pop.

"Tim, I don't understand..." Lilly's voice was rising towards tears.

"GET OUT. YOU'LL ONLY LEAVE ME AGAIN! SO GET. OUT. NOW." the boy's voice was choked with tears, as well. Unmistakably, Harry felt the pressure of magic building up, like the air before a thunderstorm.

"But...I..." Lily was going to reply when, what had to be Tim's magic bursting forth again, shoved her out of the room and slammed the door.

"TIM! STOP IT!" yelled Lily, angrily. She realized Harry was right there, she turned quickly to him, her face red, "Dad! I came to check on Tim and he..." she rubbed at her streaming eyes, "He said he HATES me...and...and...He said I was..." she started sobbing in earnest.

Harry quickly picked her up and she buried her face in his shoulder like she had when she was younger, "I just wanted to help...why does he hate me?" she bawled.

"Lily-pet! Are you all right?" asked Harry worriedly. Her hair, skin and eyes were the proper color and there wasn't any evidence that she'd been a victim of an unintentional jinx (Albus, in a fit of temper had once given James cat ears).

Her crying subsiding a bit, she shook her head, "No, he just pushed me and I slid," she replied sniffing loudly and wiping her eyes some more. Harry pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket for her. He was relieved that Lily hadn't been hurt. It revealed a lot about Tim, that even in a fit of grief-fueled anger, his uncontrolled magic had not harmed Lily. It had looked to Harry as though Lily's feet had temporarily lost their friction so that she could be gently pushed, rather than thrown out of the room.

Calming draft all the way around, this evening, apparently.

Harry carried Lily back down to the kitchen where he and Ginny had been talking over the arrangements for Mary's funeral.

Hermione had been by with more forms. They sat stacked on the table, awaiting signatures. Since Mary's death, the adoption process could be hurried along a bit. With no need to leave a period of time for appeal, they could be named permanent guardians now. The adoption could take place in six months rather than a year, given that Mary was deceased and had named no father on Tim's birth certificate.

Before leaving, Hermione had asked them again, very seriously, if they felt they could handle Tim's "special needs".

Ginny and Harry hadn't even considered another arrangement.

"Lily-pet. It's all right. When people lose someone, they get angry, sometimes. And they take it out on the nearest people." Ginny said, hearing the last bit. To Harry, she said, "Do you want me to go?" meaning to check on Tim.