Summer Kids

1977: Corner Store, Cokeworth

"'Tunia? A little help?" Lily staggered in the middle of a narrow aisle, pushing her hands against shelves full of teetering jars of preserves on either side. All she had done was bump into a corner, and now the glass-bottled wares on both sides of the aisle wobbled dangerously before her eyes.

It had been a long day at Flourish & Blotts. Lily was already seeing double from a weary workday waiting on customers and a long, late night spent writing book reviews. She was only running errands with her sister for their parents – left to her own devices, Lily would have flopped onto her bed and stayed there all through the weekend. Her mom and dad had been worried about Petunia going out alone to get groceries, though. She knew her parents had subtly subscribed to the Daily Prophet when Petunia wasn't looking, and knew all too well that Muggles were becoming regular targets of the Death Eaters. Lily was just a few months away from being seventeen, and she believed that everyone in the house (hardheaded Petunia included) would be safer once they had a wand-wielding witch in their midst. Just in case. Lily had no idea why anyone would come after her parents, but she hated the idea that because she was a Muggle-born witch, there was nearly three times the chance that whatever danger could happen could happen to her family. Even if she couldn't legally do anything now, she had acquiesced to follow Petunia to the store to give her the safety of girls in numbers, if nothing else.

And nothing else was pretty much was what Lily was currently getting back from her sister.

Standing shaking between the two tilting shelves, Lily groaned aloud. She didn't have the energy to deal with the mess – not to mention the cost – of dozens of jams, applesauces, and pickled vegetables shattering because her tired feet didn't want to walk straight anymore. So Lily called ahead to her sister, the young woman who was so skinny and sharp that her bell-like summer dress made her look like the hook and handle standing up within an umbrella, and dared to think for a moment that she could get some help. "'Tunia!" Lily tried again. It was her personal compromise between Petunia, her elder sister's given name, and "Tuney," the name she had used to call her when they were best friends. It had been a long time since those days, but Lily couldn't bear to let go of the last remnant of how close they had been as little girls. Petunia had been her first friend, her role model, and her other half for most of their childhood.

A reminder of why they were no longer close came flying back in her face as Petunia tilted her head delicately towards her shoulder and quietly sneered, "After six years at that school, I would have thought you could easily handle something like this."

Lily's temper rose. She knew Petunia knew all about Hogwarts – there had been a time, too, when "Tuney" had dreamed of going to the same magical academy as her little sister. As a Muggle, of course, there was no chance that she could, and that had been that. Lily didn't know if it was that rejection, or jealousy, or just something else that made Petunia turn so bitter against her – but she did know that Petunia was fully aware of the fact that, until she turned seventeen, Lily was as powerless to stop falling jars as any nonmagical girl. 

So Petunia just wasn't going to help her. She was just being mean.

The boiling frustration, anger, and hurt in Lily's chest gave her just enough energy to shove both her arms out at the same time and smoothly settle the aisle shelves back to rest, saving the jars and her pocketbook. Stomping after Petunia, Lily straightened her jade velvet vest and ruffled back her straight auburn hair with a scowl, blowing straight past her sister to the standing crates of fresh fruits near the front of the small store. "I suppose I won't ask you to get a basket for us, then," Lily shot back. "It doesn't matter anyway. Just find the cheese so Mum can make her casserole."