Summary: Soon-to-be seventh yearHogwarts student Lily Evans finds herself an orphan living with her best friend, Alice Fortescue. When fellow Gryffindor Frank Longbottom's parents buy Netherfield, a well-to-do house just up the street from the Fortescue's home of Longbourn, Lily finds herself caught between an overenthusiastic match-maker of a guardian, the unwanted attentions of her best friend's cousin, and Frank's snooty friend James Potter. Can Lily manage to navigate the treacherous waters of the upper-class wizarding world without making too much extra trouble for herself?
Chapter One
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
"Lily!" Alice dropped onto the couch beside her best friend, Lily Evans who had been so engrossed in her book that she startled quite severely. "She is at it again. This is going to be a miserable trip home. Two months I have to listen to her gush about it."
"Sorry? Listen to who gush about what, exactly?" Lily asked, carefully marking her spot with her finger and closing the book so as to pay attention to what her friend was telling her.
"Mum! Mum is going on and on about how the house around the corner has just been let by a new family. And it's a wizarding family. She just doesn't know whose yet, though believe me, it isn't for lack of trying." Alice sighed. "I can ignore her novels on the subject here at Hogwarts coming in the form of letters, but that's going to get a little more difficult tomorrow when she goes on and on about it for two months straight in person. I expect it'll start the second she picks us up from the train."
"Us?" Lily actually put a bookmark in her spot and set her book aside at this statement. "She's said I could come, then?"
"It was the only thing in her letter not about the mysterious wizarding family." Alice smiled. "You'll stay with us all summer, and not have to deal with your wretched sister, Petunia."
"Brilliant!"
"Maybe." Alice said, letting out a sigh. "At least you'll have to hear her natter on and on about it all summer as well. Maybe she'll calm down after she meets the family?"
"Maybe." Lily said gamely, trying to sound convincing for her friend. They both knew Mrs. Fortescue would do no such thing. The new neighbors were a rich, pureblood family with an unmarried son, and thus he was a perfect match for the interminably single Alice. It didn't much matter if he were awful, not when Mrs. Fortescue had been raised to believe her only duty as the mother of a pureblood daughter was to get that daughter married off to a respectable pureblood family.
It turned out that Alice was right in her predictions. Mrs. Fortescue spent the entire time on the platform craning her neck and peering around, wondering if any of the surrounding people belonged to the mysterious family. She spent the entirety of the time waiting in the queue to floo home lamenting the fact that Mr. Fortescue had not introduced himself to the family and refused to do so, even for Alice and Lily's sakes.
"How did I manage to get myself dragged into this?" Lily whispered under her breath to Alice as they neared the fireplace. "Marrying me off is not her responsibility."
"Oh yes it is!" Mrs. Fortescue said. All the years of listening closely to conversations around her for possible gossip had given her exceptionally sharp hearing. "You are living with us, so your behavior will reflect on our family."
"Sorry." Alice said half-heartedly as her mother disappeared into the fireplace. She was secretly enjoying the fact that she was no longer the sole focus of her mother's machinations.
"Two months, you say?" Lily linked arms with her best friend and gestured towards the fireplace. "Shall we get started then?"
Mr. Fortescue never had any intentions of not paying a visit to the new family. He just intended to keep it a secret from his wife until he was through doing it, in order to keep the nagging over his manner during the grand event to a bare minimum. And so, it wasn't until he unceremoniously announced it over dinner that evening that any of the women in the house even knew he'd paid a visit.
"I do wonder if young Mr. Longbottom prefers blondes or redheads." Mr. Fortescue remarked during a lull in the conversation.
"I assume you mean you have heard the name of the family who has let the Netherfield house. If you aim to soothe me because you have yet to pay them a visit, I assure you it will not work. I've already heard the news from Wonky who met their House Elf at the market." Mrs. Fortescue sniffed.
Lily glanced at Alice, whose blue eyes were wide with surprise. Alice caught Lily's look and quickly turned her attention to her dinner. "Longbottom?" Lily ventured carefully. "Do you happen to mean Frank Longbottom's family has moved into the house down the street?"
"That's the chap." Mr. Fortescue said enthusiastically. "Though I didn't get to meet him, as he was on his way home from Hogwarts."
"Didn't get to meet him?" Mrs. Fortescue went through a rather impressive hue of colors from her normal skin tone to a startling shade of purple. "Do you mean to tell me, Mr. Fortescue, that you paid a visit to the Longbottoms and you never informed me that you were going?"
"I am telling you now, dear."
"Do you know him?" Mrs. Fortescue asked, giving her husband a look that suggested she'd be reminding him of his slip up later and turning her attention to her daughter. Alice visibly wilted under the look, beginning to turn a peculiar shade of pink, which Lily suspected would soon bloom into a proper shade of red.
"You might say that. He's also a sixth year Gryffindor, well seventh now I suppose." Lily said, drawing Mrs. Fortescue's scrutiny. There was a long awkward pause, as Mrs. Fortescue was clearly waiting for Lily to elaborate on that statement, to which Lily finally added, "He plays Quidditch with Alice?"
Clearly this was an acceptable amount of information to add, because Mrs. Fortescue's face lit up. "A Quidditch player and a Gryffindor? Oh, Mr. Fortescue, can this get any better? If I can have Alice settled at the Netherfield House and Lily equally well married, I shall have nothing more to wish for."
Lily took another careful peek at her friend, but Alice had let her blonde hair swing forward to block her face. Lily had long suspected Alice had carried a sweet spot for teammate Frank Longbottom, but her friend was too shy to do anything about it. This summer was about to get a whole lot more interesting.
It was another week before Mrs. Fortescue could throw Alice in Frank Longbottom's direction. In fact, it was very little to do with Mrs. Fortescue's arrangements and very much to do with the fact that Mrs. Augusta Longbottom, Frank's mother, was throwing a party for all the wizarding families in the area in order to show off her new home. Mrs. Fortescue spent the entire day of the event alternating between nagging her husband about introducing Alice to Frank as early on as possible, and nagging the girls about everything from their appearance, to their manners, to what time was acceptable to head home.
"Finally," Lily said as she and Alice managed to slip away from Mrs. Fortescue at the party. "Did she make you promise to follow all of her twenty-one rules? She cornered me when you went to the restroom! It was so unfair. I was literally trying to zip up my dress, so I couldn't exactly dodge her."
"Lily, Mum made me sign a contract about those twenty-one rules on my eleventh birthday. You got off easy." Alice laughed.
"Alice, Lily, there you are!" Mr. Fortescue linked his arms through those of the two girls and changed the direction they were headed. "I've promised your mother that I would introduce you to Frank Longbottom Senior, and until I do so I will have no peace. Take pity on an old man and let me make some introductions?"
"Can we head to that delicious buffet right after?" Lily asked, craning her neck to look at the mouthwatering food as they were ushered unceremoniously past.
"You can leave after, for all I care." Mr. Fortescue replied, slowing his pace as they neared a receiving line. He stepped quickly in front of a man that looked remarkably like the Frank Longbottom that the girls attended school with, beside him was a stern, proper looking woman with the craziest hat either of them had ever seen. "Frank, Augusta, what a lovely turn out."
"Thank you, Aloysius." Frank Longbottom Senior stuck out his hand. "And who might these lovely young ladies be?"
"This is my daughter, Alice Fortescue, and her friend, Lily Evans." Mr. Fortescue paused as the girls shook hands with both Longbottoms. "Lily is staying with us for the summer. I understand your son Frank is their fellow Gryffindor."
"Really?" Mr. Longbottom smiled widely and waved his son over from across the room. "Always brilliant to meet the new generation of Gryffindors. Frankie, I'd like to introduce you to our neighbor, Aloysius Fortescue. And, I do believe you already know these lovely young ladies, his daughter Alice Fortescue, and Lily Evans."
"Hello, sir." Frank said, shaking Mr. Fortescue's hand. "Wonderful to meet you. Hello Lily, Alice."
"Hi Frank." Lily said with a smile, nudging Alice, who looked rather like a deer frozen in headlights. Alice managed a smile and nod, which Lily supposed would have to serve as a suitable start.
"Frankie, why don't you take the young ladies to enjoy the company of the other young people?" Mr. Longbottom suggested.
"Excellent idea, Dad." Frank gestured for Lily and Alice to follow him, which they did. "You'll recognize a few people, I think, but I'll be happy to introduce you around."
"Thanks, Frankie." Lily said, watching sadly as they passed the buffet for a second time. She hoped that Mrs. Longbottom was as brilliant of a party planner as she was rumored to be, because Lily really was hoping for a chance to try one of everything.
"Yeah, my dad's nickname for me. Mum is a little more formal." Frank said. "Here they are. I think you know Charlotte Thomas, her family lives here in town. Then we have Matilde and Mariah Greengrass, Laverne Norris, oh, and you know James Potter. These young ladies are Lily Evans and Alice Fortescue."
James Potter raised an eyebrow at seeing the two girls appear from behind Frank. He nodded a greeting. "Evans, Fortescue."
"Hello James." Alice greeted him with a smile, and it was her turn to nudge Lily.
"Potter." Lily managed a smile, but it was very small. "I didn't realize you lived around here."
"I don't." James Potter said, and then resumed his conversation with Laverne Norris without any further elucidation.
"Okay." Lily looked at Charlotte Thomas. "Charlotte, it's been a long time since I saw you! Care to catch up over by that lovely looking buffet?"
"Yes!" Charlotte quickly extricated herself from the circle. "Oh, thank Merlin you two are here. None of these girls will even look at the food, and I haven't had a chance to eat since breakfast."
"Alice, would you like to dance?" Frank asked, just as Lily turned to ask her friend to come with her and Charlotte.
"Oh!" Alice's eyes widened with surprise. She glanced at Lily, who made shooing gestures. "Of course. Thank you."
"Brilliant," Lily said, linking arms with Charlotte. "Now I'm not sure if we should celebrate because Alice will be happy or if I wish she'd gotten on with some other bloke, because her mum won't shut up about it until we head back to school."
"So you are staying with them this summer. I was so sorry to hear about your parents."
"Thanks. You never see it coming, do you? But I suppose a car accident could happen to anyone in the Muggle world at any age. So are there any other young men worth meeting coming to this party?"
"Other than James Potter?" Charlotte laughed. "I think not. I am out of the loop though, since I've started at the Daily Prophet I don't get as much of the gossip from Mum as I used to do."
"You just save what you do get for the papers." Lily said with a smile. She loaded her plate with food and waited as Charlotte did the same before the two found a spot in a secluded corner. "So, tell me everything. Is life after Hogwarts fabulous? Have you been dating a lot?"
"Oh, Lily, you know I haven't." Charlotte laughed. "I've sent you stories about all two of my dates."
"Yes, but I haven't heard it in person yet." Lily popped a ladyfinger sandwich in her mouth and gestured for Charlotte to proceed. As the two witches caught up, Lily made sure to keep track of Alice's whereabouts. She danced several dances with Frank before she finally made her way over to Lily with a plate of food.
"Oh, hello Mrs. Longbottom." Lily joked. "At least, I'm fairly certain that's how I just heard your mother introduce you."
"Stop, someone will hear you!" Alice laughed, cheeks red, and not just from the dancing. "Did she really? Oh Merlin I hope you were joking."
"Relax, I'm only pulling your leg." Lily smiled at her friend. "Mrs. Fortescue is busy finding us both suitable husbands. As I now live with them, my actions reflect back on their family, which apparently means I have to be sold off to the highest respectable bidder as well. Though I get the impression I'm not expected to make as great of a match as Alice."
"We can't all be Fortescues." Alice said with a sympathetic smile to her friend. "Oh look, there's Frank and James coming this way."
Alice made to wave them over, but then the girls caught a snippet of their conversation and she decided she didn't want to be spotted at that moment after all. Charlotte raised her eyebrows and leaned a little closer, hoping to hear better while the boys didn't realize that they were there.
"I don't see why you don't just ask someone to dance." Frank was saying to James. "There are plenty of girls here."
"Yes, but you are dancing with the only suitable one in the room. There is nobody here I could dance with without it feeling like a punishment." James said, his face betraying his boredom. "I have to leave soon anyway. I promised Mum I'd be home at a decent hour."
"What about Lily Evans? Surely she's up to your impossible beauty standards." Frank said. "The girl is gorgeous."
"She's tolerable, nothing to get excited about." James grimaced. "Only then I might have to listen to her talk, and you know how we don't get on."
"Only because you stick your foot in your mouth." Frank mumbled so that Lily almost didn't hear him. "Fine, don't dance and leave early like the party pooper you are. I will see you tomorrow for practice. I still can't believe you talked everyone into practicing three times a week all summer."
"I can't let the Quidditch Cup slip through our fingers again!" James exclaimed, taking one last look around the room. His eyes caught Lily's and he quickly turned his attention back to Frank. "We have the whole team, might as well make the best use out of it. See you tomorrow."
James Potter strode off, nodding at the girls as he passed. Lily watched him go with a frown on her face, and then realized that her companions were watching her intently and waiting for her reaction. She smiled at them to reassure them that she was not going to let James Potter ruin her evening. "What a prat."
"He can be quite a prick." Alice agreed. "Remember that time after OWLs when you called him an arrogant toerag?"
"Ah, yes. The year when he refused to stop asking me out. Or the Whomping Willow Incident?" Lily said, referring to a prank that James had pulled on Severus Snape, which nearly resulted in Remus Lupin, a werewolf, mauling Snape during the full moon. Lily had been quite good friends with Snape at the time, and had all the details from him. Lily sighed, scanning the room to see what was going on and wondering if any of it was worth her time. "You didn't mention you had Quidditch practice three times a week."
"I've only just found out." Alice scowled, but a split second later her look brightened. "Oh look, here comes Frank!"
Frank whisked Alice off to dance again, much to the delight of Mrs. Fortescue, who relived every glorious moment for the next three days. She kept giving everyone the commentary as if they had not all been present until finally Mr. Fortescue was forced to take refuge in his study and refused to come out until it stopped. The only respite Alice and Lily found was when Mrs. Thomas came to gossip, and Mrs. Fortescue could dissect every second of every day with her instead of the girls. It was therefore only the second time that Alice had Quidditch practice that Lily found herself desperate to tag along.
"Oh please, please let me come in Frank." Lily begged. "I will help you put away the Quidditch balls, or polish all the brooms, or whatever you need. Just please don't send me home to sit with Alice's Mum. Monday she insisted on putting me through etiquette classes. She tied me to the chair with a scarf and wouldn't let me eat fish with a dessert fork."
"I did notice you eating your fish wrong at Mother's party, Lily." Frank teased. "Of course you can come in. Just try not to get into it with James?"
"I won't say a word to Potter." Lily promised, hurrying through the door. She plopped down on a chair by the pool and pulled out a book, sighing happily as nobody disturbed her as soon as she cracked it open.
"So, she's taken care of." Frank said, smiling at Alice, who smiled back shyly. "Ready for practice?"
"She better be ready." James Potter said, striding past carrying the big chest of Quidditch balls. He stopped briefly when he spotted Lily, frowned, and then kept going, saying nothing. Lily was so engrossed in her novel that she didn't even notice.
"My mum could drive anyone batty." Alice said by way of explanation when she noticed that James kept glancing over at Lily. He still didn't say a word, just took in her presence as he let the Bludgers go and tossed the Beaters their bats.
"Yes, I'd noticed." James said dryly. He pulled out the tiny Snitch and let it go, picking up the Quaffle. "Alright, let's start with our normal warm-up."
The Gryffindor Quidditch team mounted their brooms and kicked off the ground. Alice soared off to look for the Golden Snitch, hoping that it wasn't hiding in some odd place in the Longbottom's gardens. James, Katie Decker, and Maggie Belton passed the Quaffle back and forth and tried to score on Frank, while Connor Stoll and Rufus Munfincher took turns hitting the Bludgers at each other. After Alice had caught the Snitch a few times, they started running different drills. At one point, they all took turns dodging the Bludgers that Connor Stoll and Rufus Munfincher sent their way. Through the entire practice Lily Evans looked up from her book one time, and that was when James Potter declared the whole thing over.
"Brilliant. Need a hand?" Lily asked, scooping up the Quaffle and tucking it in its spot. She turned to Frank expectantly.
"You're welcome over here any time, Lily. You really don't need to help," Frank said with a smile.
"Let her put a Bludger up." James suggested dryly as he and Connor Stoll buckled one into its place.
Lily gave him a dirty look and pulled out her wand. She froze the Bludger that Rufus Munfincher had been struggling with, floated it over to the trunk, and locked it inside with one hand. She smiled tightly, "Need me to find the Snitch too?"
"Brilliant!" Rufus Munfincher clapped her on the back. "You can come back on Friday."
Alice waved goodbye to the rest of the team and took Lily by the arm. They walked around to the front of the Netherfield House and turned down the street towards Alice's house. It really was quite a pleasant walk in the cool summer evening.
"James Potter kept looking at you." Alice said slowly.
"Strange, as he's made his dislike of my appearance well known in the past." Lily's eyes flashed. "Perhaps he was trying to figure out what I was doing. I've never seen him crack a book open to read in his life."
"Lily!" Alice laughed. "Though it is technically true. Do you think Frank likes me?"
"Oh Alice, I don't see how he possibly could not like you!" Lily clapped her hands in excitement. It was the first time Alice had admitted her feelings out loud.
"He's rather excellent, isn't he?" Alice sighed, her eyes far away. "I'm so lucky to get to play Quidditch with him and see him three times a week all summer."
Lily and Alice spent the rest of the walk extolling the numerous virtues of Frank Longbottom, starting with his general gentlemanly attitude and ending with his acumen for strange Hebology facts. They had quite forgotten about James Potter by the time they reached the house.
