Summary: It's Lily's family trip back to Mexico, although it's not much of a family trip anymore. Lily's mum died the year before of breast cancer and Lily's main focus is to get through the 3 weeks with as little drama as possible. She certainly did not expect to be falling in love with the arrogant, self-absorbed quiditch player that is James Potter.
"Are you ready Lil?" my dad asked poking his head round the door
I sound really ungrateful; I know most people would give their right arm to have their own beach hut just off the coast of Mexico. Don't get me wrong I love going it's amazing. It's just… well… it's a family trip, and we're not exactly a family… anymore.
At the end of last summer my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer, a few months later she died. I know my dad blames himself, he says if he'd only have done something sooner. I didn't see him after mum died, and Petunia refused to write me. My auntie Clara told me he was in an awful state he wouldn't talk to anyone for weeks. But can you really blame him?
I don't blame myself for how my dad reacted, but I just wish I could have been there, to help him. Or support him; I think I needed some support to. It was a rough few months, there was talk of sending me home. The professors thought I needed to spend some time with my family, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't go back into the kitchen knowing I'd never see my mum frosting cupcakes again. I couldn't go back to the grocery store knowing she would never make my get the beans off the top shelf because she was too tall to reach.
I went back for the funeral and that's what made me certain I couldn't stay, seeing everyone's distraught faces, I tried to keep it hushed at school, I didn't want the fuss, and also I found that when people knew they would treat me differently. It was like they danced around me in case they said anything wrong. I used my studies to distract me, I know I did. That was wrong of me, I should have faced the problem front on, instead of hiding behind work. Because eventually work runs out, and then you've nothing to hide behind anymore.
"Yeh I'm ready dad" I say and follow him out the front door, taking my trunk behind me.
I try to sleep on the plane, but give up after the air hostess asks for the 5th time if I want any snacks –all of which times I've said no- Petunias asleep, dads awake. Now and again he looks over at me and says something like "This is going to be fun" or "maybe we can go surfing this year, I've always wanted to surf." I agree to the surfing because honestly he's trying his very hardest rejecting him would not make it easier.
We pull up to the house, it really is stunning, and it's only metres away from the beach. One time Petunia and I decided to camp on the beach, we had tea on there and slept in a tent under the starts. The beach hut is white, I remember my mum painting it white, she spent days doing it and would get really angry at us for trying to help because we would paint it wrong and it looked a mess.
I clamber out of the car and walk up the steps to the porch, it's like nothing has changed from when I was 11 and I first stepped on here, there's a light dusting of sand covering the floor and my mum used to get really frustrated whenever we traipsed sand into the house.
There's a hammock on the porch, I love reading in the hammock I would read for hours on it. Then my dad would come and find me and tell me I needed to go to bed because it was too late to be reading "but I've only just come out" I would say "Lily you've been out here for hours" he would say and then laugh to himself.
"Home sweet holiday" my dad shouts and comes running up the steps and into the house
My sister follows him into the house without even acknowledging me.
I can't go into the house, not yet. It's too early. I turn on my heels and face the ocean, the ocean is beautiful. I wonder what it would be like to be a fish. Fish have no worries, there mums don't spend 16 years with you and then all of a sudden vanish.
"Lily?" I look around for the source of the voice; it's a man's voice, not my dad's though. "Lily?" I turn my head to the right and stood on the porch across from me is James Potter. Oh great if this trip wasn't depressing enough now I'd have to deal with the pricks stupid remarks all summer.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT IS THAT- NO THAT CAN'T BE
IT ISN'T
I'M JUST GOING BLIND
BECAUSE THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL THAT THAT'S-
"James Potter!?" I ask/shout. The shock in my voice was astounding, but how often do you see the prat you go to school with stood on the porch opposite you whilst you're on your annual family trip - I'm going to have to think of a new name for that.
James and I never really got along, in fact I hated him. I'm not exactly his best mate anymore either, but I have to tolerate him I guess because my best friend Maysie is and has been in a relationship with Sirius Black (James's best friend.) I don't really devote my time to him and have only actually had a few decent conversations with him overall.
I used to hate him though and when I say hate, I mean really hate. He and his friends seemed to take great pleasure in annoying the hell out of me. Do you want to know what the first thing he said to me was "Hey, excuse me your blocking my view of that girl over there." Yeh I know it doesn't exactly seem like a hate worthy remark, but it kind of set the tone for the entire relationship. From then on I received numerous pranks such as stink bombs in my bag, potions sabotaged. But the most annoying one of all was when he asked me out every other day! The first time it was hysterical, and the second time was a little funny but after the 12th time I begun to get more than a little annoyed. Only this only made him want to ask me out more.
"Lily what are you doing here?" he asks
"This is my beach hut" I manage to force out, still trying to process the fact that James Potter is stood on the porch across from me and will be living next door to me for the next however any weeks. Hell.
"James? Are you coming for a swim?" A perky blonde runs up the stairs in front of him. She's in a pink bikini two sizes too small for her and she flashes her gleaming white teeth at him when she speaks.
"Ugh yeah Jessica, I'll be down in a second" he says to her and ruffles the back of his hair. They both turn to face me and suddenly I feel very uncomfortable and slightly insecure. I've never been all that bothered about the way I look before, but somehow with this stunning, skinny, blondy, booby girl I am faced with I start to feel shaky and like I need to go and apply a thick layer of makeup and maybe some bikini padding. I'm sure Petunia will have some.
"Bye" I tell them both and enter our house –not to get boob padding- I hear her squeal excitedly as I leave and then watch them take off down the beach together. Bastard.
My mum used to tell me that when boys do mean things to girls it means they like them, but I can hardly see how James Potter would ever like me. Not when he has –and I'm not exaggerating when I say hundreds- of stunning girls just like Jessica lined up to be his girlfriend.
"What do you think Lil?" my dad asks as I plonk myself down on the sofa
"About what?" I ask him
"About going whale watching. Your sister says it's a bad idea. What do you think?" he asks hopefully
I shoot my sister a really-that-is-not-helping stare and answer in what I hope was an enthusiastic tone "yeh that sounds like fun"
He smiles and kisses me on the forehead "Thanks Lil"
Even if I hadn't woken up to find my sister shaking me vigorously with her bony hands I could tell instantly by what she was wearing (old t-shirt, fancy white skirt and hair in rollers, clutching the hair dryer) that she had a major problem, no doubt regarding tonight's event and it was clearly require my immediate attention.
"Lily, wake up" I roll over and snuggle further into the covers, sometimes Petunias loud squawking voice is too much for a Sunday morning/afternoon I'm not really sure which one, but morning or afternoon, living with Petunia is a full time job. My dad must really be a miracle worker.
Thank Merlin I have Hogwarts to escape to for most of the year, otherwise I'd be going out of my mind with hair this, hair that, pink this, pink that and the dreaded words she uses at least once a week "shopping spree."
"Lily I need to borrow a top for my date" she says urgently
I point to my trunk and hear her scurry a long then flip open the lid.
"Ugh, does no-one in this ruddy house have any decent clothes" she shouts.
Okay, so I need to get rid of her "Well I could always magic some up for-"
"No" she storms out back into her room, but returns only seconds later to grab her beloved hair dryer. I don't know why but Petunia hates magic, all year while I'm at Hogwarts she refuses to write and then for the first few weeks of the holidays she's always really iffy with me, like I'm going to whip out my wand and turn her into a frog.
I'm not really supposed to use magic in the summer. Not because of the school or anything no, after you turn 17 it's okay to use it while away from Hogwarts, but my parents. Even though they are completely accepting of magic and love me using it. It only causes a big family spat between me and my sister so I've been told to avoid doing it when she's not around.
"She just misses you when you're away, and needs reminding that you're still the same Lily" my mum would tell me. Well sorry mum but I'm not the same Lily. I don't obsess over Petunia and my hair like I used to, because being at Hogwarts made me realise there's more to life than playing dress up all day.
Then it hit me Petunia has a date? Who the hell could Petunia have a date with? I mean we haven't even been here for a day and she already has a date. Can you say desperate and pathetic?
"Who do you have a date with?" I ask her, she is stood in front of the mirror, curlers in hand. There are so many clothes sprawled across her bedroom I can't even see her spotty pink bed sheets.
Halfway through my inspection my gaze is stopped by her bony figure "I hardly see how that's any of your business" her arms are folded across her chest and she's speaking to me as if she's scored a date with Brendon Krum (A very famous and attractive quiditch player for the Bulgarian national quiditch team –and the extent of my quiditch knowledge doesn't go much further than who the hottest players are- and I don't think Petunia would get a date with him as he is not only way to good looking for her, but also from the wizarding world, so as soon as my sister found out she would most likely run in fear and hide in the nearest cave.
"Why?" I ask her, a little hurt she won't share her dating information with me
"Because you're my freak sister and I don't want you anywhere near people I like" she says and slams the door right in my face, causing me to take a jump back to avoid being hit in the face.
Well then.
I walk grumpily into the kitchen to find my dad sipping away at his orange juice and reading the morning paper, not that he can actually read it –it's in Mexican- but he likes to guess what's going to so he has something to chat about with the locals when he goes into town.
"Morning" I say before going to give him a hug
"Morning" he says and kisses the top of my forehead "Honestly Lily I don't know how you lie in for so long" I glance at the clock on the wall 1:15, so maybe I went to bed a little late last night but I was reading and lost track of time, how can you fault reading? "Where's your sister?" he asks anyone who didn't know my dad as well as I do wouldn't have noticed the slight waver of panic in his voice as he spoke
"She's upstairs dad" I reassure him and glance at the stairs, if my dad noticed the disgust in my voice when I said that he sure didn't show it
"Oh right, well I'm going into town to get some food, I think there's orange juice and cereal left though" he says before dashing out the door
I decide that a shower is in order and plods up the stairs into the bathroom. The bathroom is stunning; it's completely white with blue towels and soaps that smell like lavender. I grab the mango scented shampoo from my room and step under the water.
Too cold, too cold, TOO COLD.
I quickly reach out for my wand and within a few seconds the water turns a more comfortable temperature.
After my shower –which was very relaxing- I throw on a pair of denim shorts and a white t-shirt, I flick my wand and not only does my hair dry automatically, but it also throws it into a satisfying ponytail. I search through my bag for a book and then make my way outside onto the hammock.
This really was how I intended to spend the rest of my day, maybe with a quick lunch break, but apart from that my plan was relax and read.
"Hello, you must be Lily" I look up from my book as a pretty Lady walks up the stairs, her long dark hair is falling loosely down her back and it must stretch to her bum. I sigh, I always wanted long hair, but every time I came close to getting it long there would always be nits or something going round and I was forced into getting a haircut.
Note to self: Search through books for a charm on hair growth
"Yes I am" I say, she looks slightly familiar but she must have suspected from the tone in my voice that I had no idea who the hell she was
"I'm Mrs Potter, from next door" she says brightly, oh well that explains that.
"Oh, you're James mum?" I say and stand up to greet her
"Yes, yes. But please call me Linda" she insists and waves her hand around. I look her up and down, so I see where James gets his bright eyes from. Her wand is sticking helplessly out of her cardigan pocket and she looks like one of those people who would be beautiful if they had just rolled out of bed at 4 o'clock in the morning after being kept up all night by the next door neighbour's dog.
"Okay" I say.
We stand there awkwardly for a few seconds until –thankfully- she breaks the silence "So how's Hogwarts going for you, it's getting tough now isn't it?" she says politely
"Yes, with all the exams coming up I don't know how I'm supposed to keep up"
"Linda? Linda are you bothering the neighbours again?" I look up at the tall man who has just ascended our stairs and now towers above me on the porch "I'm sorry dear, she can talk for hours" he kisses her on the forehead and she rolls her eyes. I can't help but smile at their little couple joke.
My parents used to have those, you know before. My dad always complained that my mum would drive really slowly and whenever a car overtook us he would say "Mind you don't get a speeding ticket love" she would laugh at his joke and answer with "Better safe than sorry."
"Tom, this is Lily. Lily Evans." She says and I furrow my eyebrows, something tells me that by the way she said Lily Evans I'm missing something.
"Oh so you're the brilliant Lily E-"He exclaims but stops himself when Mrs Pot- Linda elbows him hard in the ribs.
"yeh" I say then realise how incredibly rude they must think I'm being making them stand out on our porch in the blazing sun "I would invite you both in for a coffee but we don't exactly have any… my dad's gone out to the shop, he should be back any minute" I plead for my dad to come up the stairs and relieve me from this extremely awkward and depressingly boring conversation.
"Oh no that's okay love, we actually just wanted to invite you all round for tea tonight. Just so we can get to know you" Mrs Potter says cheerfully and although I wasn't sure on our plans for this evening (they probably included something like my dad burning dinner and calling for takeout, then the family watching a silly reality TV show about celebrities I have never seen before –Petunia knows them all of course and says maybe if I took my head out of those ruddy books and actually paid attention to the real world I'd know who they were, it never seemed to occur to her that maybe I didn't know who these people were because I was away at Hogwarts for 10/12 months a year.)
"Um, I'm not sure of our plans but I think we'll be okay for it" I say, not entirely sure how I'll get through an evening with their idiotic, arrogant son but she seemed so excited and I just couldn't turn her down.
"Well we best be going" Her husband says and steers her down the stairs "It was nice meeting you" he calls as they walk back towards their house.
"You to" I call and sink back into the hammock
Only moments after a large owl swoops down and lands on my knee
"Livanna?" I ask her and unloop the parchment from around her neck, she gives my finger a small peck and then looks expectantly at me, I have known Livanna for long enough to know that look means, Lily-i-have-been-flying-for-ages-and-am-extremly-tired-now-feed-me, there's food in the kitchen I explain and she soars into the house
Dear Lily
I hope-
"AAAAAAHHHHH" Petunia bursts out of the house "Lily!" she says, her face has turned a bright red colour and if she strains them any more I think her eyes might pop out of her head.
"Yes Petunia dear, and might I say you're looking lovely today" I look at her new attire, she has a tight white strapless top on, which is tucked into a pink lacy skirt that falls just below her knobbly knees. Half her hair is tight curls and the other half lies dead on her shoulder like a ferret.
"Shut it freak" she spits "Can you please tell me why in god's name I was nearly run over in my own home by a GOD DAMNED OWL!"
"Livanna" I mutter
"Where's dad?" she demands looking around as if our dad is just going to jump out of the pansy bush covered in dirt and flowers.
"He's gone shopping" I explain
"Well when is he going to be back?" she asks as if it was implied in the first question
I shrug which seems only to infuriate her more "Ugh I HATE THIS STUPID FAMILY AND I HATE YOU MORE" she yells and storms off into the house
"Technically that makes no sense because I'm part of the family and so are you, meaning you hate yourself" I shout back then hear something that I make out to be "stupid freak" followed by her stomping up the stairs and the slamming of her bedroom door.
I attempt to read the letter again and open it up
Dear Lily
I hope the holiday is going well and that you're not too depressed. Try not to go to Lily on everyone because who knows, maybe you'll meet a hot Mexican boy and fall in love.
Also my mum says that I might be able to come and stay during the last week, if it's not too much trouble for your dad, fingers crossed. It's been torcher not seeing you every day, you are so lucky you only have sister to deal with Molly and Kiera are driving me to the brink of madness, I need a teenage girl chat before I lose my mind!
OH AND YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT! MY MUM TRIED TO HAVE 'THE TALK' WITH ME! YEH, I KNOW. I NEARLY DIED OF HUMILIATON. Apparently she's been wanting to talk to me about boys and their 'urges' ever since she saw Sirius and me goodbye snogging on platform 9 ¾. But can you blame him? I wasn't going to be seeing him for a whole summer (give or take a few weeks.)
Dying of embarrassment: Maysie
I laugh to myself as I recall the memory of my dad trying to have 'the talk' with me only a few months ago. It didn't go quite how he expected it to go, in actual fact I think he was more nervous about it than I was. He kept going on about how boy's minds work and how they feel towards women as teenagers. What dad didn't know was that I wasn't and hadn't been involved in a relationship since 5th year, when me and Marcus Lim were oh so madly in love.
I levitate my parchment and quill down to me –man do I love being a witch- and begin to write back to Maysie
Dear Maysie
Oh the horror of it, how on earth did you survive? I remember when my dad tried to have 'the talk' with me, don't worry the nightmares will eventually go away.
Also I would trade Petunia any day for Molly and Kiera! Seriously, like do you want to trade or something because that can be arranged?
And I would love for you to come and stay, my dad loves you especially when you explain quiditch to him, he says it's like having a son (not meant in an offensive term) so I'm pretty sure with the right amount of begging you'll be able to escape for a week.
AND HOLY SHIT YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHICH DUMB PRAT IS STAYING IN THE BEACH HUT NEXT DOOR TO ME!
James Potter, that's the dumb prat! I know I know. So I defiantly need saving!
Lily
P.s: if only I would meet a hot Mexican boy, but the only people I've seen so far haven't been over the age of 6 (unless you count James of course, WHICH WE DON'T!) true I haven't ventured further than our porch but still.
I watch Livanna as she soars off across the sea, my letter tied carefully around her neck.
5485.13, that's how many miles London is from Mexico. That's how far away my home is, that's how far away my mum is.
a/n: Firstly I'd like to apologise in case this is really bad, it's my first attempt at a fanfiction. The other chapters will be longer than this; it was just a gentle introduction to Lily and her family and what they're going through.
Emily
P.s: if you have any questions, do not be shy to ask. I'm all ears