Letters From A Stranger || James and Lily ||

Harry

Disclaimer: JKR is the queen. Everything belongs to her. I'm just messing with the story.

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Chapter 2

The next day, when Lily came down for breakfast, Petunia was already in the kitchen. She was eating a new type of salad which was apparently a part of her diet.

Lily was releasing the frustration of having to meet her sister's boyfriend by tearing a paper napkin into small pieces, when the bell rang.

"Is it Vernon, Tuney?" her mum asked.

"No. It can't be him. He won't be here until noon."

Lily's mum walked out of the kitchen to answer the door and Lily went back to tearing the napkin into teeny tiny pieces.

"It's the postman." Mrs. Evans announced.
Even her favorite breakfast, that is waffles couldn't lift Lily's mood.

"Are you sure you came to the right address?" Mrs. Evans could be heard asking the postman.

"Yes, ma'am." the postman replied.

"Lizzy? Are you sure that's the name?"

Lily's head snapped up at the name. She got up and sprinted out of the kitchen. Petunia gave her a weird look, but that was Lily's least concern right then.

"Mum" Lily gasped, "the letter's for me."

Mrs. Evans gave her the same weird look Petunia had given her earlier. After the postman left, she turned to Lily, eyebrows raised. Lily sighed and explained to her about the letter and why she had changed her name.

Lily finished her breakfast hastily and retreated to her room to read the letter. It was in a plain white envelope. She carefully tore the envelope and took the letter out.
It read :

Miss Evans,
We are pleased to inform you that you are now a part of our program. Your pen friend has been selected and you will receive your first letter soon. Please send your reply to this address, from where it will be sent to your friend. Your address or details will not be disclosed.

Your pen friend is:
Harry

She read the name once more.
Harry.
Her new friend was Harry. There was no other detail other than the name. Lily assumed that only her first name was told to Harry too.

~~~~~

The dinner with Vernon Dursley was, as expected, boring. Vernon talked to Lily's dad about his new job and Lily tuned out the entire conversation.
Instead, she decided to name the strawberries in the fruit tray. She came up with a variety of names, which included Regina, Arnold and Otis. She named the last strawberry Severus.

After dinner, she took her fork and stabbed Severus Strawberry. She brought the strawberry to eye level and glared at it.
You called me a Mudblood, she accused the strawberry.
The strawberry didn't reply. Which was a good thing because it would have looked awkward if a strawberry talked.
Lily's attention then turned to the fork. She was wondering whether the distance between the prongs of all the forks in the world is same, when Vernon decided to talk to her. She wondered why. Maybe because she looked lonely, staring at a fork.

What does Tuney even see in him?, Lily wondered not for the first time that day.

"So, Lily, you go to a boarding school?" he asked. He sat down on the chair across Lily and rubbed his non-existent neck awkwardly.