Disclaimer: Harry Potter does not belong to me. If it did, why would I kill Dobby? Harry Potter belongs to the great Joanne Kathleen Rowling. It DOESN'T belong to me?
Author's Note: Okay, so this was a random one...
A Night to Remember
Lily Evans nervously stood next to her boyfriend, James Potter, scanning for a red Austin Maxi to come. But she couldn't find any such car. She could see Rolls Royce, Motorbikes, and Cycles, Police cars, a Ford Anglia, trucks and what not! But no Austin Maxi arrived.
"I thought your sister had told us to wait here in that letter of hers." James said, a little bit annoyed. Lily couldn't blame him. After all, they had been standing for approximately one hour, twenty five minutes and five seconds. Even Lily was feeling rather peeved. But, Tuney had told her to wait here, on a street in London. So, Lily being the dutiful little sister, had decided to wait for her horse-like elder sister.
The reason for waiting for Petunia Evans was because Petunia wanted to introduce her fiancé, a man called Vernon Dursley to her 'freak sister'. Lily, who knew too well that after this introduction, the night would go real boring. This was the reason why she had decided to bring her boyfriend as a date to the 'dinner' they would have that night. It won't be much of a dinner to Lily and James because Vernon (Pictures of whom, Lily had seen in Petunia's letter) would hog all the courses.
Lily pushed aside all these thoughts and replied, "Oh, I don't know. Tuney is awfully busy with her work, James. She's a typist –"
"Who lives in a huge flat in London, and recently got engaged to a human whale in his mother's sitting room." James finished the whole Petunia line for Lily.
"How do you -?" Lily began but James cut her off again.
"I know it 'cause you've been talking of nothing else." James said. Lily sighed. What could she do? Petunia had finally decided to write a letter to Lily. Of course, it had been unbelievingly short, but still, it was a letter, right?
"Come on, she's my sister!" Lily snapped. "She's never written a letter to me until now!"
"She wrote a letter to you because Lil, she wants to show her pet whale her weird little sister." James retorted.
"Tuney doesn't want to do that! Tuney wants my approval, James! She wants me to see whether she has chosen the right person –" Lily said, reassuring herself at the same time. Of course, she too, doubted that Petunia wanted her opinion. Petunia never listened to Lily that the hats Queen Elizabeth wore did not suit her face. Why would she listen to Lily's strictures on Vernon Dursley?
"Speaking of Tuney, I see an Austin Maxi. Isn't that the car your dear horsy sister's whale has?" James asked Lily, pointing towards a red car that had stopped in front of them. The front doors of the car opened and two people stepped out of the car.
One of them was a large beefy man who had hardly any neck while the other person was a slender, horse of a young woman with twice the amount of the neck. The beefy man had a fake smile on his ugly face while the horsy young woman looked rather cold.
Lily smiled at both of them and held out her hand towards the beefy man. The beefy man swallowed her beautiful hand with his meaty paw and shook it vigorously. Lily's smile wavered a bit, but she faced the vigorous shake of her hand bravely.
"Hello there, you must be my Petunia's little sister." The beef of a man said in a sickly sweet voice. Lily winced a bit when he said, 'My Petunia'. That was rather un-feminist you know. Even though Petunia never talked to Lily after she got her Hogwarts letter, Lily knew that Tuney was a young woman who did not believe in letting men 'possess' her and 'claim' her as if she were their 'property'. But presently, Tuney had not objected. She must really like this bloke, Lily thought.
"Good Evening, Mr. Dursley, Petunia's told me a lot about you!" Lily smiled at Vernon who had now turned to 'inspect' James.
"And you... are?" The whale fiancé asked. James rolled his eyes and said:
"James Potter at your service, Mr. Dursley." James said charmingly. This charming tone could bring any girl's knees go weak. But, it had no effect on Vernon Dursley. Nor did it have any impact on Petunia's impassive face.
"So, shall we, er... leave for the restaurant?" Vernon asked everyone. Petunia glared at Lily and James as though they were some piece of dirt. James was not resisting her glare either. He was openly sticking out his tongue at Petunia while Lily, looking at her sister and boyfriend acting rather oddly, shifted uneasily.
Vernon seemed a bit discouraged so he went inside his car. Petunia followed suit, sitting on the front seat, slamming the door shut. James looked at Lily as though it was her fault that Petunia and Vernon were crazy.
Lily just sighed and slid in the backseat of the car, James following her. Vernon looked at them and then shot a rather pitying look at Petunia and started driving.
"'Course this is my friend, Duncan's car. My car has been taken by my elder sister, Margie. She's breeds dogs, you see." Vernon chattered away. Lily wanted to yawn but for Tuney's sake, she refrained from doing such things.
"Oh, does she?" James asked, rather alarmed that he and Vernon Dursley had something common to speak on. "My friend Sirius has a beautiful black dog."
"Is it a stray like you are?" Vernon enquired innocently, as he drove towards the right. James was about to say something offensive (By the looks of him) when Lily asked:
"Mr. Dursley, why don't you tell us about your car?" She asked, stopping an impending argument.
"Ah, it's a beautiful car, actually. It's this Rolls Royce. It has incredible speed –" Vernon began but as soon as James heard the word, 'speed' he started on his own racing broom.
"Oh, and I have a Nimbus 1997 broom. It's amazing. It moves with the lightest touch. It's pretty comfortable too. You can have a swell time sitting on it. Sometimes, you can even take girls on date. Hey Lil, remember the time when we escaped our Head duties and rode around the castle finally being caught by Hagrid? Merlin's beard, it was a great time." James turned to look at Vernon and said, "Lily's old friend Snivellus had taunted her –"
"Snivellus? Is it that Snape boy, Lily? The freak you hung around with?" Petunia asked, for the first time in her life, the tone was normal. Lily wished that Petunia hadn't started that topic now. It was too –
"You know Snivellus?" James asked Petunia. Obviously, he knew that Snape was Lily's friend. But he didn't know the depths of their friendship. Lily had never really told –
"Severus Snape, ugh, don't get me started." Petunia groaned. James was about to ask how Snape was like in his childhood when Vernon interrupted.
"You are unemployed?" Vernon enquired, a little bit of distaste in his voice. James turned to him and replied with all the pure-blood swag he could muster (Unfortunately, it wasn't much).
"Mate, I'm still in school. Lily and I are in our last year in Hog –" James began but Lily cut him off.
"Oh James, look at that shop!" She pointed to a shop that had a beautiful Christmas tree. James was about to glance when Vernon asked.
"You are still in school?" Vernon asked, chuckling. "Little boy. How did your parents even allow you to come all the way to London?" Petunia gave a horse-like laugh. Lily shifted uneasily. Oh no, this was going to be bad. Really bad –
"I'll show you who's little once I draw out my wand, Dursley." James muttered. Vernon grunted, as if to ask James what he was muttering about. But fortunately, they reached the restaurant in which they'd dine.
The restaurant in which Lily, Petunia, James and Vernon would have their dinner was called the White Lotus, a four-star restaurant. This restaurant had beautiful tables. The waiters were well-mannered and cooperative. The plates were porcelain. On the top of each table was a fake lotus of white colour. The whole restaurant was air-conditioned. In short, it had all the properties of a basic four-star restaurant.
Lily didn't find the restaurant that attractive. There was nothing real about it. She admitted that white was her favourite colour, but too much of white hurt her eyes. Yet, she still suffered for Tuney who had refused to speak anything. Vernon on the other hand, was boasting about his wealth. Surprisingly, James seemed to resist this set of boasts. When they were in Hogwarts, James would've punched anyone who claimed that he was richer than James was. Of course, this attitude had reduced. But Lily still suspected that James would finally lose his cool. His lips seemed to be pressing together; this showed that he would burst in anger quite soon.
So they were seated on a table for four, skimming through the menu card. Lily noticed James scowling at Vernon who was going on about his wealth while Petunia was shooting glares at Lily and James. Lily still couldn't feel that great. The tension was running high. Maybe...
"Mr. Dursley, who told you about this restaurant?" Lily enquired, breaking the tension (Not on Vernon's part. He seemed to be talking to himself about his money). Vernon looked at her, as though she was a nasty insect. Petunia answered the question for him.
"Vernon's mother recommended this. Her friend's son owns this restaurant." She said, snottily.
"Oh, I see." Lily said, feeling failure in her voice. Obviously, at present, she wondered why she was a Gryffindor. Gryffindors were supposed to be brave. And presently, she felt anything but that.
"Anyway, Potter, tell me what money do you have?" Vernon asked, clearing his throat and looking up from the menu at the same time. James, who was checking out the Dessert section, looked up and glared at him.
"Galleons, Knuts, Sickles, I have got it all in my vault in Gringotts." James replied in a superior tone.
"Sorry?" Vernon coughed.
"I have gold, G-O-L-D in my vault. I inherited it from my parents." James repeated. "I take it your little brain can handle that much information?"
Immediately after he said that, there was an instantaneous reaction in the table. Vernon's face started to turn purple while Lily and Petunia gasped. Soon, a waiter rushed to their table and asked for help. Vernon shooed him off with a meaty hand. The waiter left, looking resentfully at their table.
"What did you say, Potter?" Vernon finally spluttered, after drinking water.
"I called you stupid, Dursley." James retorted. Lily tried to kick him but...
"Ouch, Lily, do you not have any manners? Oh wait... you were spending too much time with Snivellus than learning manners from Mother!" Petunia snarled. Lily gave a gasp that was louder than the first.
"Tuney, I meant to –" Lily started but Vernon interrupted.
"Petunia darling, your sister's a bad egg –"
"DON'T CALL LILY A BAD EGG, DURSLEY!" James stood up, his hand entering in his pocket.
"What will you do to me, huh, little boy? What will you do to me?" Vernon demanded. He too got up from his chair, his face turning purple.
"I'll hex you into oblivation, how would that suit you, eh? You son of a whale," James snarled.
"Do not call my parents whales!" Vernon snapped. "And as for you, I think that you are a good-for-nothing chap and you are just influencing my future wife's sister to be the same as you – a liability to our family!"
"Yes." Petunia agreed with him. She too got up from her chair and hissed to Lily, "I thought that you had secured someone better, sister. But I guess you just did the opposite to what I tell you. As usual."
"Tuney, no, James is really nice once you get to know him –" Lily started but Petunia just raised her hand.
"Oh, we got to know him all right. And we also got to know how nice he is!" Petunia snarled and pointed towards James. James was about to do something embarrassing when Lily stopped him.
Petunia turned to Vernon and said, "Let's leave darling. It is a beautiful evening and we mustn't spoil it with the present company." She pointed at Lily and James. Lily's head was as red as her hair while James was looking at Vernon as if he were Severus Snape.
Vernon nodded towards Petunia and both of them turned their backs towards Lily and James and started marching off the restaurant. Lily eyes – that were filled with water from the moment the argument had started – now started pouring tears. Yes, she was crying.
"Tuney, don't go! Please, please! I am sorry! I am so, so, so sorry!" Lily said in between her crying jag. "No, Mr. Dursley, Petunia, please, I am sorry if we hurt you! Please, please." Lily got up from her chair and caught up with Petunia. She touched her arm but Petunia shook it away with a distasteful look on her face.
"Don't touch my hand, you filth of a sister." Petunia spat. "You know, because of freaks like Severus and now, that Potter boy –" She pointed to James who had a sad look on his face and was staring at their direction. "I lost a sister."
"Tuney, no, no, I am sorry! It's not my fault that I'm abnormal and you're not." Lily beseeched.
"Oh, so you finally admit that you're not normal." Petunia said in a high, shrill voice. "Wow, I'm so happy."
"Petunia, please, what should I do? You are taking this jealousy thing too far!" Lily cried. Petunia was about to reply snottily when Vernon appeared.
"Now, now, Miss Evans, please let us leave. My poor flower is unbelievably flustered because of this evening. Now, if you will at least show some sort of kindness that is holed up deep, deep, deep in you, please." Vernon said, nastily. Before Lily could apologise once again, Vernon Dursley took Petunia's arm and they exited the restaurant.
Tears welled up her eyes again, and this time, Lily knew that she wouldn't stop crying for ages. She dropped to the floor, wailing for a sister who had left her to be with a nasty whale. She cried and cried, not caring one bit that fancy people were looking at her, a girl who was crying on such a un-high-class-like manner. She cried for Tuney, who had heartlessly left her, insulting her at the same time. Did sisters insult each other that horribly? Lily was trying to be a good sister. But would Petunia ever look from that deep curtain in her eyes that Lily cared about her? That Lily was just trying to compensate for being a witch? That Lily was –
"Lily, I'm really sorry dear, I really am." James's voice said. Lily removed her hands and saw James kneeling next to her. His hazel eyes were filled with sorrow and his thin face was no better.
The next thing Lily knew was that she was crying in his arms. She cried for Tuney while James comforted her.
It sure was a night to remember.
Author's Second Note: This is based on the information Pottermore had given on the Dursleys. I am not in Pottermore, but I read it in the HP Wiki, which reveals as much information as Pottermore does. :-) Anyway, I hope you like it. I had a serious debate about the genre I had to put, but finally, I fixed it as a Romance/Hurt/Comfort one.
Anyway, please do not favourite it unless you review! :) I need good, proper reviews. I want your feedback! It pleases me a lot!
So pwease pwess the review button for Lily. At least she'd be happy about something :-)