The beloved tale of an uptown girl and streetwise boy.
"What do we have here?" Sirius slid along the sidewalk smoothly, grey eyes cunning, "Snob Hill?"
"I think we took a wrong turn." James replied as they walked along white picket fence lined streets.
"God, this place hasn't changed," Sirius snorted.
Houses rose up around them and they looked a fair sight better than the other side of the town. Light, fluffy clouds floated overhead and trees shaded the sidewalk the boys had found themselves on. It was clear neither of the boys belonged on the street, James especially. Unlike Sirius, James was all black hair, dark hazel eyes, and dark skin. James' eyes surveyed their territory with overconfidence unbefitting his family reputation in the area.
James offered, "You know mum Potter doesn't like us over here, especially since your parents fired her."
"Let's see what the rich do for excitement in these parts these days." Sirius suggested. "Stir up some trouble."
"You used to live here," James moaned as they walked down the spotless street, "You know what they do."
"Yeah," Sirius laughed with a wink, "Nothing much but it's still hilarious to make fun of 'em."
When he was fifteen, Sirius ran away to James' house as soon as he possibly could but Sirius had grown up on the white picket street; he and James used to play in the park together. James' mother worked as Sirius' family cook because Sirius' biological father had a taste for James' mother's authentic cooking. Of course, when mum Potter spotted Sirius' father hitting Sirius she immediately stuck up for James' friend and was fired. What extra income they had from mum Potter's cooking disappeared and the Potter's were living paycheck to paycheck again.
James pushed his glasses farther up his nose and his eyes landed on a old park in the middle of the square. There were a bunch of girls in pretty dresses playing on a swing set, taking turns with a bright red shade of lipstick. James smirked at Sirius and they rolled their eyes simultaneously.
James inched his way over to the park as Sirius examined a game of checkers left on the sidewalk next to some chalk. As James got closer, he saw a woman a little ways off from the others, swinging on the swings. Her red hair flowed behind her as she leaned back, kicking her legs high in the hair and laughing gaily as if she had not a care in the world. Her long black skirt fluttered about her knees as the swing rocked her high into the air and then back down towards the ground.
She looked like she was flying as fast as James' heart was racing.
A girl with blond hair looked up and noticed the red haired girl getting higher and higher in the air. A bubble of laughter erupted from the swinger as she jumped, skirts flying out, and then she landed on the sand in front of her mates, giggling like someone had just told her the most ridiculous story. James' stomach lurched as the woman shook her red hair out of her eyes while the other girls chastised her.
The skinny blonde snapped, "Mummy won't be happy if you soil your dress!"
James smirked and leaned against he tree as the red haired woman stood up, shaking sand from her skirts.
"Live a little, Pet!" the girl announced, throwing her arms out wide and twirling in place.
A brunette in a blue dress grabbed the swinger's hand, stopping her juvenile twirls. The two friends grinned widely at each other when the swinging girl stuck her tongue out but the blonde cut into their roguish looks with a motherly glare.
"Put your gloves back on and act like a…"
"Lady!" all the girls on the playground shouted unanimously at the swinger.
"I am, I am," the swinger grumbled, rolling her eyes and pretending to fiddle with her gloves.
"Come on, Lady," the brunette teased, "you don't want to ruin your hands."
"You sound like my mother, Andromeda." Lady said with disdain on her tone.
"Someone's has to act like your mother," the blonde retorted smartly, "or you'd probably run around this park with only your corset on."
All at once, the well-dressed girls broke down in laughter as Lady pouted. James appreciated how Lady tucked her gloves into her sash and looked around the park for something else to do. Her eyes finally landed on James and Sirius walking down the path. James licked his lips and pushed back his hair, winking at her. Lady's cheeks went red and she tucked her auburn hair over her shoulder.
"Shall we go?" Sirius asked, clearly wanting to avoid the girls.
James nodded but his eyes hadn't left the red haired girl and her own eyes hadn't moved from his face. Sirius nudged him. James tore his eyes away from the girl and followed Sirius back down the sidewalk, heading downtown.
The girl stood her ground by the swings and as James and Sirius got closer, James admired her eyes. They were as green as the leaves on the trees above their heads. She leaned on her tiptoes in the sand pit, her eyes locked on him. She had leaves in her hair and she looked like what James imagined a fairy out of Peter Pan would look like.
"G'day, Lady." He tucked an imaginary hat in her direction and the girl fiddled with a golden charm on her neck, biting her painted red lip.
The blonde woman looked as though she had smelled horse dung the minute her eyes landed on James. The other girls stared between James and Sirius, not sure which one to look at. Sirius looked relatively bored with it all.
"Get lost, tramp." The blonde snarled at James, pulling the red haired girl behind her in defense.
"Come on, James." Sirius muttered, yanking James past the woman.
It was her soft, playful tone that made him turn one last time, "Good day, Tramp."
James almost got whiplash from swinging his neck around to spot her shy wave goodbye. He felt Sirius shove his shoulder as they continued on but James ignored Sirius' implied look. Sirius looked as if he regretted walking through the tall Victorian houses very, very much. Especially when James kept quiet the rest of the day, thinking about the pretty red haired woman that jumped off swings for fun.
The next day James walked back to the park, this time alone. Sirius told James to be careful, the rich folks got awful defensive about the likes of James walking alone in the neighborhood, but James couldn't have cared less. James spotted two of the girls from the park sitting at a bench near an old oak tree. They both looked up at him in surprise before going back to their conversation. They were chatting on about a governess getting married, pretending he didn't exist.
"Excuse me," he cleared his throat and politely took a step towards the pair, earning looks from both of them.
"She's not here." The brunette with short hair said with a knowing grin, "She's got classes in the mornings."
"Classes?" James tilted his head at the woman.
"She takes extra lessons on weekends."
"Oh." James was way out of his league and bloody knew it but he still wanted to see her again.
The other girl with blonde hair saw his confidence falter, "Get lost, Tramp…"
"Pet," the brunette placed a hand on Pet's hand, "be kind."
James had to hand it to the snobs that raised the brunette; she at least acted kind. James took a step away from the girls and shoved his hands in his pockets. The brunette glared at him.
"Sirius didn't want to drop by for a family reunion?"
James stared at the girl. "What?"
"I'm his cousin Andromeda," the girl replied coolly. "I'm surprised he didn't tell you."
James replied evenly, "He's likes to pretend he doesn't know anyone from the Black family."
"Can't run from fate forever," Andromeda said sensitively. "He's going to have to face his parents sooner or later if he wants his inheritance or a good wife."
"Not many wives of his type around these tracks." James stuck up for Sirius, who had moved in with James's family to escape his own.
With a cool chuckle the brunette purred softly, "And our Lady isn't quite your type either."
The girls got up and left him alone in the park. Andromeda only glanced back once but she seemed done with him, especially after she'd reminded James of the caste that greatly separated him from everyone who lived on snob hill.
James grew up with loving parents who worked hard to provide what they could for James. Neither of his parents could work anymore though. They were both elderly; James had come as a bit of surprise late in life. James floated from job to job, dreaming of a day he could go to University and make something of himself for his parents. Of course, no matter how good his work ethic was or how much he struggled to impress people, James was seen for the color of his skin—not the intelligence of his mind and warmth of heart.
On Tuesdays he rode his bike around town delivering news to all those who had paid for a subscription to The Cokeworths Times. James lucked out because the red haired girl was sitting alone on the stoop of a blue Victorian house, lightly kicking her legs back and forth on the steps. It was a nice summer morning and her face was tilted towards the sun, like she was soaking it in.
"G'day, Lady."
Her neck snapped down and her almond shaped eyes zeroed in on him. An attentive smirk lifted the corners of her red lips.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, standing up off the steps and tucking her hands behind her back to hide that they were, once again, gloveless.
"Delivering the paper," he held up one of the thick wads of newspaper.
"Anything interesting?" she asked.
"Apparently they filmed Mary Shelley's Frankenstein." James noted the news on the first page, "Interesting thing, really, since it's a boring book."
"You read?" Lady seemed pleasantly surprised.
James told her, "My father worked for the library back in the day and used to bring home books for my Mum to read me at night."
"If you didn't like Frankenstein," she commented softly, "what is your favorite?"
"Treasure Island," James said, without even thinking. "Hands down."
"I've always been partial to Pride and Prejudice." Her green eyes twinkled intelligently, "Call me a hopeless romantic."
"My mum loves that one too." He passed the newspaper to her and their hands brushed as she took the black and white pages, "But adventures are my thing, not romance."
Lady clutched the paper to her chest and stood up, her face red. "I'm always up for an adventure," she replied smoothly, "Especially if pirates are promised."
"What do you know about pirates?" James asked cheekily as she turned to walk back up her steps.
Lady turned her green eyes on him with laughter dancing on her tongue, "Tramps, pirates…give me the whole marauding crew…I'll want to be the captain of the entire ship."
James wished that the door to her stoop didn't open at that moment. He wished Lady's father hadn't come out and taken the paper from her before tossing James an off-handed look. James felt the unwelcoming glance like a shot to the heart. His eyes drifted back over to Lady and saw she was staring at him with pursed lips, as if memorizing him.
James tilted an invisible hat in her direction, "G'day Lady."
"Good day, Tramp."
Her smile was wide as she followed her father into the old house.
She was there the next Tuesday, waiting for him with a cup of tea.
"Lady…"
"It's Lily."
"Pardon?"
The girl smirked and pushed up the sleeves on her dress, "My parents have a thing for nicknames. I'm their little Lady and my sister is their Pet."
James frowned, "Sister?"
"You're best off not meeting her again." Lily said sourly, "She thinks small."
Lily was way out of his league. He didn't know what he'd been thinking. Opening his trap to spit out a jumbled story to make him seem less pathetic, his eyes caught hers and he saw she was smiling widely at him like they were friends.
She really was too good to be true.
"It's James." He offered his hand.
The girl took off her dainty white gloves and shook his hand warmly. They stared at each other for quite some time before Lily pulled her hand away and glanced back at her house with the freshly painted blue trim. She breathed in deeply and then turned back to James with a beaming expression.
"Shall we take a stroll through the park?" she offered him her arm suggestively.
"Lady," he mock bowed and accepted her arm, "You don't stroll through the park…honestly what kind of park have you been going too?"
She lectured, "I don't fancy explaining to my mum that I ruined another dress."
James sighed and looked down at Lily, "I don't think your mum would fancy a lady like you taking a stroll with the likes of me."
"Obviously, I'm not a proper lady." She winked at him and just like that, the lady was friends with a tramp.
Lily waited for James on the steps every Tuesday.
They always exchanged books and thoughts and news. Lily even brought James a few school things she thought he should read. He started going on his route earlier, getting to her quickly, so he could spend more time with her. Lady had a whole slew of books at her disposal. She tutored him in some math while her family traveled into town in the afternoons without her and he caught on quickly, writing the times tables on the newspaper with ease.
Lily watched James breeze through problems with impressed eyes, "You ought to enroll in classes," she whispered. "You catch on quick."
James looked up at her in surprise and when their eyes met he realized how close they were, how her nose was almost touching his under the eves of her stoop. Her green eyes were tantalizing as they stared at each other, words lost in translation. She took a deep breath in before ducking her chin and staring at the words on the parchment in front of them.
"What do you want most in life?" he asked her, the wind barely carrying his words.
Her eyes shot back up to his and she replied through thickly marled words, "I want to go to college."
"You can't?' James asked, confused, "Your family certainly has enough money to send you."
"All the money in the world cannot buy you a progressive family," Lily replied sullenly. "A woman's place is in the kitchen," she mocked.
James nodded understandingly, "Oh."
Lily tucked her hair behind her ear. "What about you?" she asked kindly. "What do you want most?"
James considered those words and then he replied, "I want to make my parents proud." He told her sincerely, "I want the world to look at me and not the color of my skin. I want to make a difference for the kids like me. I want to learn everything. I want to be strong and happy and…there are a million things that I want to do."
Lily's face shone brightly, "What are you waiting for?"
"The world hasn't quite caught up to the ideal that all men are created equal."
Lily placed her head in her hands and huffed. "Yes, well," she muttered unhappily, "women weren't included in that sentiment either."
"The world underestimates woman like you."
"Yeah?" Lily's eyebrows knitted together. "James, the world needs more people like you."
James swallowed thickly, "You can do anything."
She smiled at his words and nudged him with her toes. He couldn't speak or breathe really, she was so close. James felt like he was drowning under her stare.
He was in love with a woman he could never have.
"Lily!" a voice said, aghast, breaking Lily and James up from their secret stares.
James turned and his heart dropped. Lily's mother and father had strolled up the drive, back early from their afternoon tea. Lily stood up immediately; James noted she pulled her gloves on as she did so. Lily's father, a balding man with a nasty glare, stared at James like he was gum on the bottom of his shoe.
Lily father huffed, "What are you doing with this vagrant?"
Lily stood in front of James protectively, "We were going over maths."
"Maths." Her mother surmised, eyes fluttering between James and Lily.
James was red in the face as he skirted around Lily and tiptoed past the table laden with their work, "My apologies, I was only—"
"Drop off the paper and leave, boy," Lily's father snarled as James stood there, frozen in fear. "That's your job."
"Leave him alone." Lily stomped her foot. "Father, I asked him for his company."
"Now why would you do a silly thing like that?" her father's tone was scathing and filled with remorse as he glanced at his young daughter.
Lily's chest rose and fell as she struggled to find the words to explain why she'd done what she'd done. James' hand reached up for his black hair, ruffling it nervously as he stepped around Lily's parents on the stoop and raced for his bike and papers.
"Stay away from her, boy! Or I'll call the police!"
Lily's father's voice chased James down the streets and back over the railroad tracks.
He didn't want to stay away from Lily but for both of their sakes…and their families…he had to.
Sirius struggled to convince James that he was better off not thinking about her, that he was better off not remembering the way she looked at him when they were alone. Sirius had grown up around Lily's family and told James that her parents rarely let their girls out of their sights. Lily had always been kind to anyone she deemed worthy and her kindness was simply that…pity.
James didn't believe she only asked for his company out of pity, he didn't believe it for a second.
Sirius didn't see the way she'd looked at him.
"She gets me, Sirius," James told him. "She wants the same things that I do."
"Don't get tangled up in politics and family drama, James."
"I think I love her."
Sirius compelled him again and again, "Her reputation precedes you."
"I don't think she cares."
James missed her, despite knowing he shouldn't.
He got a job at a small factory on his side of the tracks. He tried to drown himself in his work, to forget about the green eyes that haunted him in his sleep. He was walking through downtown one autumn day after working at the factory, lost in his thoughts when his name was replayed like a fine memory on her lips.
"Good day, tramp."
It was like music to his ears.
He could've melted right into the sidewalk. She was dressed in a pretty flowered dress, her hands clasped around a hot chocolate. She wore no gloves and her hair was curled around her green eyes with an enchanted air. His heart stopped when his eyes traced the curve of her red painted lips. The girls she was with eyed his factory uniform with disdain; Lily saw right through it, eyes only for James.
He opened his mouth, started to speak, when he recalled her father's threats. Here was a reason he was staying far away from her influencing eyes and smiles. He turned his shoulder, catching his breath as he second guessed why he'd stopped at the sound of her voice in the first place…and then she grabbed his shoulder.
People stared as he shrugged off her touch, red in the face.
"Why won't you look at me?" Her voice was hurt and it took all his willpower to not look at her. "James?"
His voice was stone cold. "Go home, Lily."
"No."
She was stubborn, he'd stupidly forgotten.
"Lily..." he sighed desperately, "We can't—you heard your father."
"Is that why you stopped coming to my house?" She walked around his frozen form and crossed her arms in his direction. "My father is all talk, James," she said furiously. "Besides, you didn't seem like the type of bloke to care about stuff like that."
He didn't care about rules but he certainly cared for her.
"James," she said, "look at me."
James' eyes shot up at her statement, mouth slightly open in shock from her forwardness. People along the sidewalk were staring now. Their town was small and people couldn't resist drama. James pulled at his jumper nervously, wishing she'd stop staring at him so intimately because he could easily drown in her eyes.
"Stop by on Tuesday?" she pleaded. "Like old times?"
"Okay," he found himself saying, despite his better judgment.
He rode right up to her door just as the sun was rising over the trees. She was sitting on the stoop in a pretty white dress. Her gloves rested on the pavement beside her. James admired the way her hair was pressed up into a fantastic bun, setting her face open to the rare morning sunlight. She bit her lip as he dismounted his bike and walked slowly over to where she sat.
They stared at each other, both struggling to find the words they wanted to say.
"Lily..." He had prepared a speech, one that would tell her he couldn't see her again but she had other ideas.
James stopped talking a soon as she rose to her feet, her white skirts trailing the ground as she took a few steps closer to him. He wished for nothing more than the ability to caress her face, to turn her frown upside down. He missed her smile, always wide and always aimed at him.
Now, though, she looked somber. "You asked me once," she whispered, "what I wanted most in life and I said I wanted to go to college..."
"Yeah?" He struggled to get words to form coherent sentences.
"My parents want to send me to the woman's college in Portsmouth," Lily said.
James cleared his throat. "Did you ask me here to tell me goodbye?"
James swallowed as she took a clever step towards him. She looked like a doll, covered in her white dress complete with embroidered flowers. He felt like begging her to stay. He felt like putting his hands at her waist and twirling her until she could no longer look sad or consider leaving him. James knew, however, that she wanted to go to college more than anything.
Lily swallowed, her fingers gripping her dress with trepidation. "I don't want to go to college anymore."
"What?" he couldn't believe the words that came out of her mouth, "You don't?"
"If I go all the way to Portsmouth, I can't see you..." she said slowly. "And I can't go another three months without you."
James felt the world collapsing on his shoulders as she stared at him affectionately. Her green eyes searched his face for his reply. He couldn't give her any, he was halfway between jumping for joy and wondering what on earth had come over her.
"Come with me," she begged, reaching her hand out.
"Lily, I can't just leave my parents here in Cokeworths," he said sadly, "no matter how tempting the offer."
"But you do want to come with me?" A hopeful glint sparked in her eyes.
"Of course," he bemoaned, ruffling his black hair. "But—"
Her tactics had switched immediately, her green eyes narrowed in a calculating manner. "James Potter don't you dare make me sit alone in Portsmouth wondering what other ladies you could be reading adventure novels with."
James took a breath, his lungs rattling as a laugh escaped. "You're the only lady I read adventure novels with—"
"And romance novels?"
Lily licked her lips and James froze as she got close enough to touch her hands in his. James glanced down at their enclosed fingers. Her palms were soft against his, her nails digging into his skin intimately. She loves him, despite how he could ruin her reputation the minute she set foot in public with him. James remembered how his parents met, when his father had gone off to study abroad and came across the young cook called Mia in the alleys of the bustling market. He remembered his mother saying she couldn't resist his father, no matter what her family thought of her for running away with him. History was repeating itself when Lily took her other hand and cupped his face, leaning bravely on her toes to brush her nose against James' nose.
"I told you," he whispered, "I don't do romance."
"Come on," she temptingly whispered, "I'm in no mood to be a Lady."
He chuckled at that. "When are you ever?"
He closed his eyes and made the last move, placing his lips against hers softly. He waited for her father to come crashing through the door. He waited for the sirens to go off in her head. He waited for her to pull away, to run, but she didn't. Instead she leaned into his lips, a smile spreading into her kiss as her fingers unwound from his hands to wind up in the hair at the nape of his neck.
"Come with me to Portsmouth," she pleaded when he broke away, "You can get a new job there...we can be together..."
James moaned slightly and leaned his forehead into hers. "We come from two different worlds."
"We come from the same world, James. A world that underestimates you because of your parents and me because I'm a woman," Lily said firmly, her hands digging into his jacket. "But we don't underestimate each other...we can do anything we want. Come with me." She begged again. "We can make the world our own, together."
James believed her but he couldn't move all the way to Portsmouth. He didn't have the money or the ability to move his parents with him. Sirius wouldn't settle for having James farther than across the railroad tracks.
"I can't leave my family," James whispered. "They're all I have."
Lily swallowed thickly and stepped away from him, "of course," she seemed jaded, "How foolish of me to think—I just—"
"I'll visit."
Her eyes shot back up at him.
"Every day I'll work a little harder. I'll get a better job. I'll come visit you as soon as I have the funds, but I can't run away with you."
Lily sniffed and wiped her eyes. "But you'll visit?"
"Of course I will," he said. "I'm in love with you."
"I love you too." Her lips fell back into a watery smile. "I'll wait for you," she promised, fingers gathered up in her skirt, "I'll write you."
"How will you get those letters to me?" James chuckled at her determination.
Lily's cheeks flushed. "A lady never reveals her secrets."
She wasn't lying.
She sent him a letter a week once she'd arrived safely in Portsmouth. James read her letters religiously at the dinner table, especially when she'd send him poems she'd written in creative writing. She liked to write about two star-crossed lovers who were soul mates. She liked writing about him. She wrote about his eyes, his lips, and his hair. She wrote about how she missed his smile and how she struggled without his cleverness in maths.
James held on to every letter as she worked his way up in the factory, earning the respect of a kind bearded man who worked in the offices. Thanks to Lily's small maths studies over the summer, James caught onto systematic problems in the mechanical systems before they blew. He was offered a supervisory position by old man Dumbledore, who promised James a five cent raise. A raise that James used to buy the first ticket he could to Portsmouth.
His mum dressed him in his late father's best suit. James flushed greatly as Sirius passed James a clap on the back before he entered the train. He handed the ticket to the train conductor and couldn't calm his nerves as the scarlet train guided him past fields filled with sheep and towns filled with sleepy people. His eyes were trained on the skyline, imagining the look on her face when he appeared at her college.
Lily had always written her address on the envelopes in her precise cursive. James' fingers clamped around one of those envelopes as he walked towards a large red-bricked building in downtown Portsmouth. Oil lamps lit the street in a dreary sunset haze as he tapped on the door. It was opened by an older red haired woman who raised her eyebrow questioningly at him.
"This is a women's house, no men allowed." She pointed at a sign to James' right, nailed ino the brick.
"I'm here to see Lily Evans."
The woman's eyes flashed with interest, "Are you James?"
"Yes."
"Wait here."
James' heart leapt happily, enthused that Lily had spoken about him enough for the woman to know him. The woman disappeared and James stared through the doorway into a tiny dark hallway framed by stairs. Moments later, a woman began running down the steps with little in the way of gracefulness. She was jumping two steps at a time and her green eyes were aglow with love.
"James!"
She slammed into him with the largest hug and placed her lips over his unabashedly. He wasn't able to resist bringing her his mother's ring for her finger when James visited her two weeks later. Lily accepted his proposal wholeheartedly, giving him the world with her smile. Of course, her family wasn't approving of their relationship. Lily's father told her that the dowry was transferred to her sister and that didn't bother the Potter's in the slightest.
Lily used her quick wits to find her own way in the world. She took a small secretary job at James' factory after James introduced her to his boss. The entire factory fell in love with her laughter and James had no idea how he'd gotten so lucky. They took on the world together, like they'd always wanted to do. Lily got a degree in history and they traveled often, looking for adventures like the ones in the novels they read each other on rainy days.
People would often ask Lily and James how they met and even years later, James always relied on Lily to tell their story, the story of a girl called lady and a boy called tramp.
I love you all so much...as much as I love jily disney crossover fics. Thank you Beks for beta-ing and Mal for your cover art.
xxx
Petals