Resurrect me

Chapter seven

Lily Evans stood for a minute and breathed in the smell of the sea, of the honeysuckle and the roses. She listened to the buzz of the bees and the crash of the surf and then she opened her eyes.
The garden was overgrown but the house had remained intact in the 13 years they'd been gone. She'd decided she liked that word better than dead. Dead was weird, her heart had stopped beating, her body had been buried and yet she was here. Alive.
Gone was better.

James grinned at her, clasping her hand as they pushed past the protection spells using what Dumbledore had given them.
Her mouth ached from smiling after her conversation with Harry. About his patronus and his friends and school. Normal conversations, embarrassing  mum conversations about girls and the Yule ball and don't listen to your father when it comes to dating advice.

She glanced over to where Anya stood, her lips parted as she stared at the house. They'd have to do something for her hair, buy the right products and style it so it wasn't the frizzy mess that it was.
Not that it made her any less beautiful, Lily hadn't been surprised when Harry had described the people who had asked her to the Yule ball last Christmas and delighted when Harry's said she turned them all down and appeared at the ball with a shy Durmstrang girl, who had been the only one able to coax Anya into talking after the graveyard, where she'd sat in the hospital wing, silent, unmoving and refusing to eat and drink. Not even Ginny, Harry or McGonagall, who seemed to be an important figure in Anya's life, had been able to get her to do anything.

It turned out that despite the praises and the way Anya talked about Ginny, bringing her up in the conversation as easily as James did Sirius, Anya had not replied to any of Ginny's letters or even spoken to her since the graveyard.
Her daughter had nearly completely isolated herself from the wizarding world, ignoring her concerned friends, teachers and even any jab the Dursleys had made towards Hogwarts.
And it terrified her.
But Lily also knew that there was time enough to address the obvious problems tomorrow, the dark circles underneath her eyes, the hollow cheekbones and the boys that she'd been kissing. Like Sirius had when he'd been trying to find comfort in the warmth of all those girls, away from the horrors he'd experienced in his family.
Lily understood the comfort of physical touch, since she'd woken in Godrics Hollow she had her arms permanently around her, seeking the warmth of life after thirteen years of death. But Anya's behaviour was self-destructive. A lot different from Mary dating a lot of people because she could.

God Mary.

"Remus, Remus!" She hurried towards him, a spark of hope suddenly lit up. "What about Mary, no one mentioned Mary."

He blinked. "Yeah, she's alright. She's been living in Cornwall, married some guy."
Lily stood frozen for a second, a grin on her face. Mary, beautiful, happy Mary. The person who'd taught Lily to be comfortable with her body and cut her the latest muggle hairstyle when they lay tipsy on a bottle that Marlene had found when it had just been the three of them for Christmas holidays. Mary, the one who'd braided her hair and kissed her on the cheek and danced with her at her wedding.
Beautiful Mary. Anya's godmother.

"How is she?"

"She's fine. Happy enough, she has three children now, rarely uses magic but she still misses you. We both missed all of you, every person we lost."
There was a heavy silence and Lily blinked away tears in the dark.

"I'm going to see her, even if Dumbledore says I can't. I- I will." Her voice broke as she realised they'd been the only ones left. Remus and Mary. The only ones left for the funeral, the only ones left with the memories of all their secrets and things they'd laughed about and things they'd cried about.
All the girls Marlene had dated and the way she'd spoken about Dorcas, which made Lily hope Dorcas had known how much Marlene had loved her.

"Listen," James clasped her hands in his and led her towards the front door, "we can think about this tomorrow." And he slid the key into the lock, giving it a shove as it fell into the dim hallway in front of them.
Dust coated every surface, cobwebs hung from the ceiling but looking round, Lily could tell that the house wasn't in any danger of collapsing around them, in fact the only problem was the need of cleaning.
She smiled grimly, waving her borrowed wand so the dust disappeared from the surface and the chandelier flickered to life, illuminating the thickly carpeted staircase and the kitchen that had once been filled with the laughter of all of them. Right before they'd had to go into hiding. Right before Marlene had died and then Dorcas. Right before the all out hell had started.

"Bloody hell." She heard Sirius mutter.
James glanced at her, squeezing her hand as she waved her wand again and again, watching the dust uncover memory after memory.
Moving pictures of three year old James grinning his lopsided grin. Sirius and James in first year on broomsticks in the orchard. Lily and him laughing as they ate ice cream. Their wedding day.
Peter. Peter in nearly every single one. 1st year Peter and James about to go to Hogwarts. Peter with Remus, Sirius and James stood proudly on the beach. Peter. Peter. Peter.
Her chest ached.

She startled as James caught her eye, leading her into the living room where they settled into the cushions. She gazed around at her family. They were all alright. For now at least.

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