THE CRYSTAL CAVE

CHAPTER I - PART II

CHAPTER I - THE EVANS FAMILY
SECOND EPISODE

At that time Lily was nine and she had just finished her third year at girls' Gilwood's boarding School. Tunia was one year older than Lily. They lived in a modest house, with a large living room full of photos hanged to the wall, two little dark blue armchairs and a little box that contained the family's photos album, which their mum was very fond of. The kitchen was big and well equipped with a long wooden table and a nice window through which you could see a large road rimmed by high hollies. On the second floor there were two big rooms: the parents' bedroom, with a huge bed in the centre, a white hawthorn's wooden wardrobe and two bedside table where there were on two lamp and often two books. The other room was Lily and Petunia's bedroom and was a very comfortable room near the public Gilwood's park, a large lawn always full of children and teens. The house's entrance door opened onto a narrow stone path that finished with a little iron gate. At the path start there were two stone statues who represented a lion and a crow. The following Sunday Lily was looking forward to the moment when they would go to the park.
«Why are you so impatient?» asked Petunia after Lily told her to be faster nine times.«I’m doing homework!» she continued. 
«Come on Tunia! I finished them one hour ago! Move!» she repeated impatient. 
«Ha! I understand! You want meet that boy again!» she exclaimed, and her eyes began to sparkle. 
«No, I don't want… He isn't coming anyway, isn't he?» she lied.
«He is not coming?! And how do you now? You can’t say that! Of course, the last time I sent him away but… he could come back! And I tell you one thing more: If your intentions are to meet him, we won’t go to the park!» Petunia was furious.
«No, no… Tunia, please… I… I… I promise I won't talk him if he comes!» Lily pleaded.
«If you promise… » 
«Yes, of course! Finish yours Maths homeworks, I’m waiting for you!» and she ran out, sat on the steps in front of the door and waited for her sister. Her face was obviously sad and melancholy, because the crow, or at least the crow statue noticed it. He suddenly became animated and turned his head. Lily didn’t take long to noticed it, because a voice croaked behind her.
«Good afternoon, Lily, why are you so sad?»
Lily winced. She jumped up.
«How… who… w-who… who are you?» she asked fearfully. She rubbed her eyes, verifying that it wasn’t a dream. 
«I’m a stone crow, do not you see it?» he answered.
Of course it was the most obviously answer… 
«But… c-can… c-can… can y-you speak?» said she, more terrified that it wasn't a dream (she had just pinched herself twice on her cheeks). 
«Yes, I can speak. And I can fly, like all other birds. Do you want a demonstration?» he croaked, as if it was normal for a bird to speak. Lily didn’t know what to answer. If the crow took off, would it returned to its role as a statue? But the speaking crow didn't even give her time to say a stammering «N-no… T-thank you…» and took off as if his stone wings were made of paper. It was too much for Lily.  She ran to call her sister.
«Tunia! Tunia!» she cried out with all breath was in her throat. 
«I’m coming, I’m coming! I still have to make only one mathematical expression!» she shouted back.
«Tunia! Tunia! The stone crow took flight! Tunia!» she shouted, even more frightened, climbing the stairs two at a time in haste.
«What? How?» Petunia answered bewildered.
«There is no time for explanations! Come down, quick!» and run downstairs with her sister who, book and pencil in hand, didn’t understand what was happening. But the surprise and amazement that followed was nothing compared to the past ones: the crow was there, immobile as always, well welded to the rest of the statue, as always.
«I… I… » Lily stammered.
«What game are you playing, Lily?» she asked, looking at her contemptuously.
«I… I don’t understand… the crow had taken off and… I…» she tried to explain.
Petunia put a hand to Lily's forehead, intending to feel her temperature. 
«But you don’t have a fever» she said. 
«It must have all been a dream… yes… a daydream… a hallucination…  but… » 
«Come on, come on, I'll finish after the mathematical expression, you need some fresh air».
They quickly left the house. Lily looked back, before walking through the iron gate, and glanced at the crow. He moved, winked at her and returned to his usual position. Lily opened her eyes wide, looked ahead: her sister hadn't saw anything and kept walking. Lily looked at the crow. “I imagined it again" she told herself, running to her sister.
In the park there were many children like them. Lily and Petunia sat down on the soft grass and Lily started to picking the daisies. 
«Shall we make a flower necklace for mum?» she suggested.
«I do not feel like. I look at you».
Petunia looked around, as if sensing the presence of a teacher in the park. Lily observed her. She was trying to see if Severus was around, to protect her sister. So, Lily looked around, too. She peered into the half-light of the trees, she knew that if he had been there he would not have shown up, like last time. And there he was, a black figure looking at her. She looked at him better, he motioned her to shut up and say nothing to her sister. So, Lily didn’t said anything, and went on to make her flower necklace. Then she picked up a flower that she found in the midst of those multitudes of daisies, it was pink, with large fragrant petals. 
«Tunia! Look what a beautiful flower!»
Tunia turned her head. She made a horrified expression. 
«What’s up? You do not like it?» Lily asked, noticing her sister’s expression. 
«Lily… look… at you hand… t-the… the f-flower… »
Lily looked at the flower. She made the same expression as her sister. The flower was visibly growing in her hand. She put it down, afraid. 
«L-Lily… w-what does it m-mean?» sammered Tunia.
«I don’t know, I have no idea… I… »
She was confused. It was the third strange things that happened to her during that day. First: the stone crow takes flight, Lily enters the house and when she comes back the crow is still there. Second: the crow winked at her. Third: a flower grow in her hand, inexplicably. She raised her head to Severus. She thought he would have a scared expression, or he would run away from fear, and conversely… conversely he was smiling. 
«Let's go home Tunia… I need to sleep… ». 
It was actually like that, she felt that a good sleep would erase all that bad mood that tormented her and maybe she would wake up in her bed on a splendid Sunday in July, telling herself that it had been a good dream after all and running to have a breakfast where her sister would was waiting for her who would gave her a nice smile ignoring the dream where she too was involved. Yes, maybe that would have happened. 
On the way back, Tunia gave her some looks full of combined curiosity and fear.
«What are you thinking about?» asked Lily to Tunia, who was staring at her shoes and in the meantime slapping herself. 
«I’m thinking that it is all a horrible dream, my sister does not grow flowers on her hands and we will have a happy life away from dirty and dangerous individuals».
Lily thought that maybe it would be better this way.