Before the party
I held my breath and stopped in front of the opened fridge. High-toned shrill laughter sounded through the appartement. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.
“Oh no, Verni, you’re making me laugh again!”, squeaked a very familiar voice. I heard a low grunt and a cold tingle went down my spine, making me shudder.
“My parents aren’t home, so we have the whole house to ourselves.”, the higher voice purred. I asked myself if I should make them notice me but it was just too funny to listen to Petunias pitiful attempts at flirting.
“Oh, how tempting.”, said “Verni”. I supressed the laughter that was trying to escape me. The next thing I heard was the sound of nauseatingly wet kissing and I decided to end this drama as fast as possible. I slammed the fridge door closed with a loud thud, without taking anything from it. I’ve really lost my appetite from all of this. I turned in the direction of the hallway and looked around the corner.
“Lily!”, hissed Petunia and glared at me. “What are you doing here?”. I smiled politely at her.
“I live here, if you haven’t noticed.” I purred nicely and fully ignored Vernon, who wiped the back of his hand over his mustache, probably to wipe off Petunias spit.
“Just go away!”, Petunia said shortly. I looked at her unresceptive.
“Why me? I could also tell you to perform your mating ritual somewhere else.”, I hissed at her. Petunia narrowed her eyes and glared at me while gripping Vernons wrist with her long, bony fingers. It looked quite funny, Petunia couldn’t even fully wrap her hand around his chubby wrist, let alone have enough strenght to drag him around. Vernon, however followed her quietly up the stairs. I tried to pay attention to who was making more noise; Petunia, who was angrily stomping on the stairs with her high heels or Vernon who, as always just marched up the stairs like an elephant would. I sighed annoyed. Only three more days in this hell with my sister and her hippo boyfriend the I’d go back to my beloved Hogwarts. I was already missing Mary, who had sent me an owl nearly every day, we had met a few times during the break but I still missed her. In school we were inseperable. Since the first day we’ve nearly spent our whole time together. If I could, I would instantly replace Petunia with her. Mary already is like a sister to me. With her, I always had something to laugh about. I was so bored, in this never ending summer break, that I was even thinking I might even miss the Marauders and their childish pranks a bit, but I knew that just one day at Hogwarts with them, would be enough for me to change my mind.
“Lily? Are you home?”, my mom called as she opened our front door.
“In the kitchen.”, I said while walking towards her voice. She was carrying a big bouquet of flowers in her arm and in the other hand a bottle of champagne.
“Oh, very good. We want to leave soon. My god, you’re still in your pyjamas! Have you been in bed until now?”, said my mom shocked and looked me over. I looked down onto my outfit, I was wearing shirt that was way too big for me, that belonged to my dad and had his company logo on it. It had been an advertising gift. Dad was working as a plumber for a small company. My mom had her flower shop at the end of our street.
She had opened the small shop about two years ago and worked hard on it until now. I had helped her often in the small shop. I liked to help her with the flowers and it always smelled nice in the shop.
“Lily?”, asked my mom louder and pulled me harshly out of my thoughts. She looked at me like I was going crazy.
“Hm, what?”, I said. My mom sighed.
“Go and change, we’re going to aunt Franny.”, said mom and put the bottle of champagne into the fridge.
“What?”, I moaned. “Why?”, mom shot a look at me.
“Because it’s your aunts birthday today, as you might remember.”, said my mom and looked at me reproachfully.
“We aren’t staying long, are we?”, I asked hopeful.
“Lily! Today is her seventieth birthday and we’ll stay the evening!”, my mom said snappy. Wow, a decadal birthday… That meant a major event. Aunt Franny was famous for her drunk-adults-over-fourty-parties. Every time there was even the smallest reason to celebrate, aunt Franny threw a big party. I moaned silently by the thought of all the extended family and strangers. I was about ninety-nine percent sure that aunt Franny was mixing something into the drinks to turn up the heat of the party.
I stomped unenthusiasticly into the bathroom and got into the shower. The water refreshed me and gave me new courage to tackle Frannys party. I left the bathroom wrapped in a towel and looked for something to wear. A big part of my wardrobe was Petunias hand-me-downs. Petunias taste in clothes was truly horrifying. Brightly coloured tops and short shorts, decorated with paillettes and bling bling stones everywhere. Luckily I spent over half of my year at hogwarts where a simple cloak was part of the shool uniform. I rummaged through all of it, searching for something wearable and found a floral dress with a small waistband. Mary had gifted it to me last christmas. It still fit me perfectly. I examined myself in the mirror, then attacked my hair. I dried my hair easily with a spell and let it fall over my shoulders in its natural state.
“Lily, your dad is here.”, called my mom from downstairs. “You coming?”
“Yes, just one minute, Mom.”, I answered and drew a quick eyeliner and applied mascara. I really don’t have a variety of shoes. I just had four pairs; my black sneakers, some ballerina flats, a pair of worn out boots from last winter and fluffy slippers. I decided to wear the sneakers and went downstairs quickly, where the others were already waiting for me. To my horror, Petunia had linked her skinny, with lace covered arm with Vernons. I surpressed a moan and looked at my mom with silent terror.
“Vernon is also coming with us. Franny said, the more the merrier.”, she answered my silent question. That sounded like Franny, the crazy Franny just can’t seem to not throw her parties.