James and the Baby-Sitter
Summary: When Lily has to baby-sit for the Potters she never expects to meet and fall for their eldest son. But can she show James that looks and money can't buy you love?
Disclaimer: Obviously I'm not JK Rowling because I'm LilyHeartsJames. Therefore I don't own Harry Potter… sadly :(
Notes: Okay so this idea has popped into my head a couple of times but I dismissed it. But now I'm deciding to go along with it and see where it goes. Oh, and don't worry. I haven't forgotten about AVON, this is just something new.
On to chapter one:
A girl with long wavy red hair was sitting at a café reading an unusual newspaper. It had moving pictures and words, and of course in the Muggle world that wasn't considered as 'normal'. Then again, she wasn't considered normal in the Muggle world either.
If you looked at her, you'd say she was normal.
But she wasn't.
No, this girl was a witch. And not one of those ones you'd read about in fairy-tales. She didn't have warts all over her body, or a long warty nose. She didn't have green skin either.
But she could produce magic.
Her emerald almond shaped eyes skimmed the highly unusual newspaper that was dubbed; 'The Daily Prophet' and paused at the section which was labeled; 'Jobs Galore'.
She looked down the aisle of jobs, going over them in her mind.
House cleaning. No she didn't fancy that.
Healer trainee? No, she'd have to be out of school for that.
Grocery Store, shelf packing. No, definitely not.
She sighed.
There probably aren't any jobs good enough, she thought sadly.
But she owed it to her father and her sister to look for a job, whether they were good enough or not.
She continued scanning it, hoping to find the right job.
And that's when she did.
Baby-sitting. 9 am to 8:30 pm.
Lily looked up and smiled.
She had found the perfect job.
"Hello, this is Lily Evans. I was just calling about the-"
"Baby-sitting job?" a woman's voice answered, sounding hopeful and Lily smiled. That was generally a good thing.
"Yes, I am" Lily replied and she heard the woman sigh with relief.
"Oh thank god! I put that add up a week ago and no one had rung up about it"
"I was just wondering how many children do you have?"
"I have three. But my eldest son is seventeen and he shouldn't be around too much. I would have him baby-sit but he doesn't exactly think it's the best way for him to spend his summer. And I have a ten year old son and a five year old daughter"
"Okay. They don't seem like too much trouble" Lily said and the woman coughed.
"Yes. I was just wondering, do you have any experience?"
Lily couldn't help but smile.
"I used to baby-sit my cousins. They were six and four. And I also baby-sat for my neighbors but they moved away a few years ago"
"Alright. If you don't mind me asking; how old are you?"
"I'm seventeen"
The woman paused for a moment.
"Okay, well if you're willing, the jobs there for you"
Lily didn't even hesitate.
"I'll take it"
There was yet another pause.
"May I ask why you need this job?"
Lily really did hesitate this time.
"My… father isn't working at the moment and we need the money"
"Oh, I'm sorry. But thank you. I'll call with details tomorrow morning and set everything up, alright?"
Lily told her it was fine and they said goodbye and hung up.
She got off the chair she was sitting on beside the phone and walked into the kitchen.
"Petunia?"
Her eldest sister looked up from filing her nails on the counter.
"What?"
"I got a job. I'll be baby-sitting"
Petunia sighed with relief.
"Thank god! At least I'll have money to get a manicure" she said holding up her hands for inspection.
"Petunia the money isn't for your nails; it's for us to eat"
Petunia shook her long blonde hair and bared her horsey teeth.
"Lily, I'm the oldest so what I say goes"
Lily glared at her.
"You're not in charge, Petunia. Dad is"
"Well do you see him around? No. He's upstairs crying over mum"
Lily's fists curled up and her nails dug into her flesh.
"If mum hadn't left then he wouldn't be! He's heart broken Petunia!"
"Yeah well I don't blame mum for leaving"
Lily closed her eyes.
"Then why are you still here?"
Petunia opened her mouth and closed it.
"Because no matter what, you're my family"
Petunia turned and walked out of the kitchen and into her room and slammed her door.
Lily sighed and walked over to the back door and opened it and went outside to her wooden swing that was attached to the big willow tree and sat on it and started swinging slowly, wondering whether everything would turn out okay, because at the rate things were going she wasn't sure how well she could cope.
"Hello, may I please speak with Lily?"
Petunia rolled her eyes and set the phone down.
"Freak! Phone!" She turned and walked off and Lily hurried out of the kitchen, pushing the lose strands of hair behind her ears and getting flour on her face.
"Hello?"
"Hello Lily, its Mrs. Potter. I spoke with you yesterday about-"
"The baby-sitting job" Lily answered for her.
"Yes. I just wanted to give you directions to the house so you can get there"
"Okay Mrs. Potter. I'll just go and get a pen"
Lily turned and walked into the kitchen, and came back with her notebook and a pen.
She scribbled down the address and then she informed Mrs. Potter that she'd be there at nine and they hung up.
Lily sighed and then pinned the note on the fridge as a reminder and continued making the chocolate cake.
The next morning Lily got up at seven and began to get ready. She got dressed, (wearing a green t-shirt with a yellow smiley face and flared jeans with black dock martins) and then did her hair.
As she looked in the mirror, she decided to go with two braids.
She did that and left her fringe out (which fell just below her eyebrows) and then hurried down the stairs to find her father and Petunia already eating breakfast.
"Morning dad" Lily said kissing his cheek and gave Petunia a smile which wasn't returned and sat down at the table.
Silence went all around the table as Lily watched her father eat his cereal with a worried look until he looked up at her and said; "Lily, please stop worrying. I'm fine"
Lily sighed and looked away.
"What time do you need to go?"
Lily looked at her watch before answering.
"I have to be there a bit before nine and I'll be home at eight-thirty tonight, is that okay?"
Her father nodded in reply and silence fell upon them once more.
A few minutes passed and they heard the postman push the mail through the flap and Lily got up to go get it.
In the hall she went through the envelopes, wondering if she had any mail at all.
Bills, more bills… even more bills, postcard from her father's sister, a letter from her mother…
Lily froze as she stared at it.
It was addressed to her and she couldn't believe it.
She hastily ripped open the letter and slid down on to the ground and leaned against the wall to read it.
Dear Lily and Petunia,
I'm just writing to see how you are. I know I didn't say much of a goodbye, and I'm hoping you will forgive me for that.
I just moved to France, where Andrew and I have bought a house overlooking a fabulous restaurant.
We have made plans to go and eat there, I shall write to you soon and tell you about all the fantastic food they have.
I miss you girls a lot, and I'm sorry for leaving. I was young and was forced by my father to marry someone I barely knew, but I thought your father was a respectable man. Although our married life wasn't horrible, I found myself wanting more out of life and felt myself being held back.
This is a chance for me to find myself.
Anyway, I must dash.
We want to go and see a museum he hinted would be very interesting.
Love you both lots,
Mum
XXX
Lily looked up from the letter and crumpled it angrily.
So, her father, sister and herself had been holding her mother back from seeing museums and dining in 'fabulous' restaurants, and running off with a younger man without as much as an explanation, or even a goodbye.
Lily's hands shook as she stood up and stuffed the letter into her pocket and walked into the kitchen, trying her best to act as of everything was okay.
But they both saw through it immediately.
"Lily, what's wrong?" her father asked and she sighed.
"Nothing… I'm just nervous about this job, that's all. Actually I think I'll get going now"
She handed the mail to her father and turned to walk out.
"I'll see you when I get home" Lily said before grabbing her coat and closing the door.
She strode angrily down the footpath towards her destination, hot tears welling up in her eyes.
She wouldn't even think of replying to her mother. Her mother had chosen to leave them without saying goodbye.
And Lily and her family had held Marie Evans back from doing what she wanted with her life.
So why would she be writing to them when they had held her back?
Lily walked up the path towards the tall mansion and looked at it in awe.
It was very, very big and it was a pale white. The steps leading down to the front path were made of marble and it gleamed nicely in the morning sun.
"Wow" she whispered softly.
Swallowing the anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach, she leaned forwards and knocked three times on the door.
A/N: Hey guys! I edited this chapter a bit because it thought there wasn't something right about it but I went back and fixed a few things up, but nothing drastic so fear not.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you all review and tell me what you think so far, every review will be very much appreciated.
Love always, LilyHeartsJames