Chapter Seven
Violet's Gift
It was around midnight. A cool night breeze circled above the small dark town. It drifted through the trees causing a soft rustling among them and then it entered through the open windows into the bedrooms of the people who were sleeping soundly, well into their dreams. Most shivered nonchalantly and rolled over in their sleep, but one particular girl was shivering in her sleep for another reason.
She was having a strange dream.
Violet sat peering over the edge of something looking down on the world below. She could see her parents, some of her relatives and a few friends. She looked closer and found Petunia and Lily. Petunia was standing with that Dursley boy and a few of her other prissy stuck up friends. Lily on the other hand was standing with a group of kids that she didn’t recognize. Except for two kids, a familiar little girl and a boy about Lily’s age whom Violet remembered seeing somewhere; the kids were unfamiliar to Violet.
Everyone was laughing and talking. They all seemed to be going about their everyday lives unaware of Violet watching from above. Lily had friends and seemed to be enjoying herself, while Petunia was acting like a complete idiot, her usual self. Violet laughed when she saw that Petunia was wearing more make-up then she did now, she had thought it as not possible. But apparently it was true that Petunia could get even uglier.
Violet couldn’t understand why she felt so uneasy. Everyone seemed so happy but she had a bad feeling that she should warn them of something. Suddenly there it was.
A huge shadow loomed in the distance. Violet tried to yell but no one heard her as the shadow covered the people that she loved below her. Though the shadow did not affect Violet, she couldn’t see Lily or anyone else any more. The dark shadow blocked them from her vision like a huge cloud blocking the sun.
Violet desperately tried to get rid of the shadow.
“No!”
“Go away!”
She tried again and again to banish the shadow with no success. She had to get rid of that shadow, she just had too.
“No!”
Violet suddenly woke up. Her eyes flew open just to see shadows and darkness. Violet nearly screamed again thinking that she was still in the terrible dream. But her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness as she scrambled to sit up breathing heavily.
Violet switched on the light just to make sure. What she saw made her sigh in relief.
Lily was sleeping soundly in the bed on the other side of the room. She was curled up into a ball facing the wall. Her head was buried in the pillows so that only a little of her red hair was visible. Only when Violet strained her ears could she hear the very quiet snores of her younger sister.
Violet smiled.
She was back in her own room. Violet glanced around the familiar room that she and Lily had shared ever since Lily was born. She could still remember sitting in the room by herself. A small three-year-old wishing for a friend, that wasn’t like Petunia. And then they had brought home little Lily. Violet had climbed onto her father’s lap while Petunia sobbed for attention and looked at the little baby with the green eyes exactly like hers. She had known from that moment on that her wish had come true.
She reached over and switched the light off. Then she leaned back against the pillows and attempted to go back to sleep. For some reason though she couldn’t.
The dream had freaked her out. The shadow had just covered them as if suffocating them in darkness. It wasn’t like Violet to think of darkness as suffocating. Numerous times Lily and her had headed out in the dead of night and clambered up onto the roof. In pitch-blackness they had sat up there, sometimes by themselves, with not one thought of fear. But the stuff in her dream had been horrible. Violet could only come up with one conclusion. The stuff in her dream hadn’t been the kind of darkness that came naturally with each night.
Violet gave up on sleep.
It was nearly one in the morning but Violet was far from tired. Her thoughts were still of the dream and the night breeze beckoned to her as it always did to her favorite spot. How could she refuse an offer like that?
She got out of bed and tip toed over to the open window. She opened it more causing it to squeak with age. Lily stirred and Violet saw that she sat up half-awake.
“Go back to bed.” Violet hissed.
Lily ignored Violet’s hissing and got out of bed. Still rubbing the sleep from her eyes she sleepily walked over to join her sister at the window.
Violet shook her head knowing that she couldn’t convince her tired sister to go back to sleep. Besides she liked having her company. She silently leapt onto the sill and then climbed out onto the roof with out making so much as a peep.
Lily climbed onto the sill and perched there, cat like, watching Violet climb noiselessly. Though Lily had discovered the roof, Violet had taught her how to climb it and move making as little noise as possible. After much practice and several trips to the roof over the years Lily found that she was nearly as silent as her sister, to whom silence came naturally. Violet had disappeared from her vision, having reached the top. Lily then followed.
Violet settled herself.
It was a beautiful night. Summer nights were always the best in her opinion. You just couldn’t beat a full moon on a warm starry summer night. There was always a faint night breeze that brought just the right amount of chill so that it was set to the perfect temperature.
Violet took a deep breath closing her eyes. She felt the night air rush through her veins. She became part of the night. Violet opened them and examined the sky. The name of the most notable constellations coming to her mind as she waited for Lily.
Lily came with a soft thump. She sat down beside her older sister. She looked more awake now. Her green eyes were reflecting the stars and causing them to shimmer and her red hair’s glow was strengthened in the moonlight that seemed to be drawn to her.
Violet ran a hand through her own blonde hair and saw that it too was bathed in the moonlight, glowing.
For a moment the two sisters just sat in silence adjusting to the night air and the view that never ceased to amaze them. Lily and Violet loved the view so much that they believed that the magical world had an even better view of the stars, and the sky was even lovelier. Lily was keeping this thought in her mind hoping that she would find it was still true when she arrived at Hogwarts.
“You couldn’t sleep?” Lily questioned.
Violet was wide-awake and it looked as if she had been awake for some time.
“Yeah.” She said casually. Then she hesitated. Should she tell Lily about her dream? She decided to tell her.
“I had a dream.” Violet said simply.
“Go on.” Lily said intrigued.
Good old Lily, always there to listen and lend a sympathetic ear. She reminded herself once more how lucky she was to have Lily as a sister.
“It was weird. I was looking down at the world. I saw Mom and Dad, some of our relatives, my friends, and you and Petunia. Everyone was going about their business just as if it were an ordinary day. Petunia was acting like a complete idiot, her usual self.”
Lily snorted.
“She was wearing even more make-up then I thought was possible. I didn’t think she could get any uglier but I guess she did.”
Lily giggled and Violet grinned noticing what she had said and dreamed about without even realizing it.
“And you had friends too. You were with that boy and his little sister. You were enjoying yourself and had lots of new friends that I didn’t recognize. And then all of a sudden this big shadow comes and covers you and everyone else. It was terrible. I tried to get rid of it because I couldn’t see you guys anymore. I don’t know it was just scary.” Violet finished and looked over at Lily.
“That’s strange. I wonder if it meant anything.” Lily said after a few moments of quiet. A minute or two of quiet followed as the two both thought over what had just been said. Violet hoped the dream didn’t mean anything. It was terrible.
Suddenly Lily looked up as if realizing something for the first time. Her green eyes were wide.
“Violet you said something about two kids.”
“Yeah. You know the boy that Petunia tried to rape and his little sister that were the relatives of Ms. Brandy.” Violet said trying to recall the day when she had sat down in the yard with the boy and Lily and his sister.
Violet remembered it now. She could see the boy and Lily once more. The little sister watching helplessly as Lily and James began to smile and chat. Violet grinned knowing what they didn’t know about each other. She shook her head knowing that that day would eventually come and she would say, “I knew it all along”
Lily didn’t laugh as she normally would at Violet’s sarcasm. She hardly even noticed. In fact Lily was silent as she slowly raised her head and looked at Violet, an odd look adorning her face. Her eyes were faraway and searching as if she was trying to remember something. Or maybe she was remembering something.
Violet of course didn’t know that Lily’s head was pounding once more. A flash of red light blinded her vision appearing in her mind. Lily’s hand suddenly flew to her forehead. She pressed it there trying to stop the endless pounding.
She was running, running from something that she needed to get away from. She hit the ground hard. Whatever she had been running from had caught up with her. Everything turned to blackness and Lily found herself in a losing battle as something precious drifted away from her. Then there was nothing.
“Lily!” Violet said loudly. She was waving a hand in front of her face saying, “earth to Lily” over and over again.
“What?” Lily asked rubbing her forehead. The pounding and the red light had ceased.
“I thought something was wrong with you!” Violet said breathing a sigh of relief.
“What are you talking about?” Lily asked.
“You fazed out and you were rubbing your head and your eyes were closed as if you were in pain.” Violet explained to her in a hurried voice. Obviously Violet had been worried about her.
“Oh.” Lily said.
Lily removed the hand from her forehead. Why did she always see that red light? And why did she constantly get a headache!
“Are you okay?” Violet asked.
“Yeah I’m fine.” Lily said quietly. Even though she knew that deep down inside she wasn’t.
She glanced over at her sister. This was her sister the one she could tell everything too. Violet was the one who had just told her about a dream that was bothering her and had asked her if she was okay when she fazed out. Her sister worried about her, was always there for her, and trusted Lily, telling her everything and in return keeping the secrets that she told Violet.
Lily wondered if she should tell Violet about what was happening to her. The red light that constantly flashed in her mind, the pounding headache that would suddenly appear out of nowhere and brought strange dream like scenes with them, should she tell her? Should she tell Violet about the voices in her head and the dream of the two voices telling her all about the magical world? What about the boy in Diagon Alley who had came up to Lily and seemed strangely familiar but yet Lily couldn’t remember him? All of these things she wished she could tell Violet. But she just couldn’t.
The thing was that Lily didn’t even understand it herself. She really didn’t know what was going on. She didn’t seem to understand what was happening. No she needed to wait until she knew more about these strange scenes or memories that seemed to plague her at the strangest moments. She would wait, she decided.
Violet gazed at her sister. Something was going on. It was partly due to the magic but there was something else, Lily seemed to forget stuff. She hadn’t remembered the two children and when she had come back to the house that day she had had a dazed expression and wasn’t acting at all like herself.
In fact Violet remembered Lily saying Happy Christmas to her twice. Violet had even caught her singing old childhood nursery songs and Christmas songs later on that evening. She hadn’t gone up on the roof with Violet but had instead sat there in her bed wide-awake throughout the night. It gave Violet the creeps. But her parents and Petunia just thought she wasn’t herself that day. Violet knew better.
Violet had been relieved when Lily was better the next day. She thought nothing of it. Until these little quirks happened like now, with the two children. The boy in particular, how could she forget him? Perhaps one day Violet would find out what was bothering her younger sister. Violet thought of bringing the two children up again but decided against it. She would just wait and see and eventually one day.
“Violet I just forgot something! I’ll be right back I just have to go get it.” Before Violet could protest Lily was out of sight climbing back toward the bedroom window.
Violet wondered what she had forgotten.
Lily climbed in through the open window and hurried toward her trunk that was placed right next to her bed. Inside were her schoolbooks, her wand and her other supplies that she would need for Hogwarts. Just touching them as she searched for that special item brought excited shivers down her spine as she remembered that it would only be a week until she arrived at Hogwarts and started her new life. But she needed none of them at the moment.
Lily grinned as she pulled the diary from beneath the many books. It had been carefully hidden there so that it would not be found until this moment. Lily could already picture her sister’s face when she received the diary. Inside Lily had enclosed a quill and a bottle of pretty green ink exactly like the kind she was taking to Hogwarts. Apparently wizard diaries always had a place for the quill and bottle so that the diary would amazingly close without a bulge like a normal diary would if you stuck a pen in there. Lily was fascinated and realized that Violet would never have to go looking for a pen to write with. The magical world was absolutely amazing. Lily couldn’t wait to discover more of the secrets that awaited her.
Gathering up the diary Lily climbed back up to the roof where Violet sat waiting. Lily climbed slowly with more care so that she wouldn’t drop the diary. When she finally reached the top Lily hid the object behind her back. Her sister was already looking curiously at her.
“Happy Birthday!” Lily exclaimed.
Violet thought Lily was going crazy again. Her birthday wasn’t for another two months. But then it hit her. Lily wasn’t going to be there for her birthday. Violet realized for the first time in those many weeks that Lily was leaving. They would hardly see each other at all until next summer. Violet now felt sadness creeping up on her.
“Here’s your present.” Lily said grinning. She looked pleased with herself.
Lily handed Violet what looked like a book. Violet took it in her hands and opened it up since there was nothing written on the front cover. Inside she realized that it wasn’t a book but a diary. She ran her fingers over the blank pages and then she saw the quill and the ink. In the wizarding world they wrote with quills and inkbottles like these. Violet had always thought this was neat and so old fashioned. She took the inkbottle out and realized that it was the same color as the one Lily had gotten. It was sparkly green, just like Lily’s, just like the eyes that they both had inherited. The customizing note caught her attention. She could make the cover look however she wanted it to look. A wizarding diary, a bottle of ink just like Lily’s, and the thought that had gone into the choosing this gift, it was too much for her.
Violet looked up at Lily with tears in her eyes and suddenly threw her arms around her holding the diary in her hand tightly. Lily was shocked. But she wrapped her arms around her older sister. She comforted her sobbing sister patting her back and telling her it was going to be okay. But Lily suddenly realized why Violet was crying. They were leaving, going their own separate ways. Her best friend, her sister, she wouldn’t see her until Christmas. It hit her like a ton of bricks. Lily bit her lip, but it was no use, she began to cry too.
The two sisters sat crying their own tears blending together as they realized the fate that awaited them. Neither one of them wanted to leave now. Already thoughts of sadness and loneliness filled their mind. How would they make new friends? Would they forget each other, come back changed? If the Goddric shooting star had appeared again the two sisters probably would’ve wished that they could both go to the magical world. But there was no shooting star, no hope, only the bleary future and tears.
“Violet I’m going to miss you.” Lily said as the tears streaked down her cheek.
“I’ll miss you too Lily.” Violet whispered as she broke into sobs once more.
“I won’t forget you.” Lily whispered back.
“We’ll always have each other.” Violet said quietly back.
Quiet sobs of two sisters, two best friends to the very end, were the only noises that dared disrupt the majestic night.
The two sisters discovered that night as so many others have how hard it is to say goodbye.
Chapter Eight