This had to be, by far, the worst moment of her entire life.
Lily Evans watched the horrific scene with her eyes wide, her mouth open, and the bottle of butterbeer she had previously been sipping slowly draining all over her brand new sandals, forming a pool at her feet.
And she didn't care one bit.
Because this really was, the worst moment of her entire life.
20 minutes earlier...
"Happy birthday, Lily!"
"Thanks, Benjy!"
Lily beamed at the pile of presents forming by the front door, growing bigger and bigger with each new arrival to her eighteenth birthday party. If she had known she could get this many gifts out of her fellow students she would have had a birthday party like this years ago. Her smile only broadened as Benjy Fenwick added a very large box to the top of the pile.
"Butterbeer for the birthday girl?"
"Cheers," Lily continued to grin, taking the bottle from the dark haired girl beside her. Dorcas Meadows was Lily's best friend, and had been since the first day of term when they met on the Hogwarts express. It was Dorcas who had persuaded Lily to agree to this party, along with their fellow dorm mate, Emmeline Vance. Lily was glad they had succeed, she decided as she looked around the room, even if they had nagged the hell out of her for three days in the process.
The party was being held at Emmeline's house, as it was the Christmas holidays. The girls were very grateful to her parents for giving them free reign of the house and providing the food and drinks. Lily presumed they felt sorry for her for not having parents of her own to organise such an event. She hated being pitied, but perhaps it had been worth it just this once.
Emmeline's father's gramophone had been set up in the main room, blasting out a combination of Muggle and Wizarding party tunes. A lot of the guests had congregated around it for dancing and everyone seemed to be having a great time. They had invited all the seventh years, even the ones they didn't like, and a number of Lily's friends from the younger Gryffindor years. Everyone had RSVP'd, bar the odd Slytherin, which was a fantastic accomplishment considering it wasn't the summer holidays. It seemed everyone invited had been sure to go home for Christmas in order to celebrate the Head Girl's eighteenth in January. Lily couldn't be more flattered.
"Last ones to arrive as usual," Dorcas snorted, inclining her head in the direction of the doorway. Lily glanced up to see four jovial looking boys entering the party, instantly receiving a large number of greetings from people already in the room. The shortest of the four dropped a gift onto the pile, while the tallest of the four made a beeline for the refreshment table. The remaining two set themselves up by the fireplace, talking amongst themselves and looking around at the other party goers.
"It's called being fashionably late," Emmeline informed them as she approached, flipping her long hair and eyeing the tall boy as he made his way back to the group. "No body cool actually turns up on time to a party, you know."
Lily laughed. "We've been here all day."
"Oh." Emmeline's expression turned suddenly dismal.
"Let's go say hello," Dorcas said, linking her arm with Lily's. "You're the host after all. Emmeline can show Sirius her new dress."
"Oh shut up," Emmeline clucked, flipping her hair once more. "He'll come to me, just you see."
"Hmm, you're a poet," Lily smiled, before taking a sip of her butterbeer. The boy on the opposite side of the room - the one with glasses - mimicked her, giving her a short nod of acknowledgement as he lowered his bottle. She smiled briefly before detangling herself from Dorcas. "Maybe later. Have you seen John?" she asked, looking over the heads of the many people around the room. "He said he was going to the loo; he's been ages."
