James winced as he tugged at the tight the collar and undid the top button. He knotted the tie, although he made sure it was loose as well. Despite the formal pair of black trousers, shirt, and tie, James thought he looked a little too casual (his hair did nothing to help). It wasn't that he thought he didn't look good - he actually thought it suited him - but Lily had said the restaurant they were going to was a bit fancy and that her sister and her sister's fiance would care about how 'proper' he looked.
Despite his doubts, James decided to trust the judgement of muggle shop's assistant he and Sirius had ventured into. After all, the lady had said this would do for the occasion. He might've taken Muggle studies at Hogwarts but he was by no means an expert.
"Ready, are you?" Sirius drawled from the doorway.
James looked around and grinned. "I suppose. I'm not exactly sure what I'm getting ready for over here."
Lily had warned him about what her sister and her sister's fiance were like and their opinions on the Wizarding World. Something told James that there was only so much a first impression based on clothes could do for him in this situation. He was sure that the best he could hope for was to keep it civil and get through it as quickly as possible.
Honestly, he wasn't very excited to meet Petunia Evans; but Lily cared about her sister and James wanted to do this for her.
"Are you going to do it tonight then?" asked Sirius curiously.
James' eyes wandered over to the small velvet box sitting on top of the bureau and suddenly he felt a nervousness that had nothing to do with the dinner tonight.
He hadn't really intended to buy it; he hadn't even thought about marriage at all. All he thought, as he walked past the jewellery store, was that Lily would like the pair of earrings on the display. He had walked into the store to buy them but had walked out with a simple yet elegant engagement ring. Once they were out the store's door, Sirius had voiced out the very thought James had been thinking. You're mad.
They had finished their seventh year only a month prior after all, and he and Lily had been together only for a few months. It was very likely that it was too soon for this. The only thing that James thought justified the idea was that he loved Lily. He didn't doubt it one bit and that, to him, was the only reason he needed. The only question was if Lily felt the same.
"Not tonight," said James, turning back and running a hand through his hair nervously. "I haven't told Mum and Dad yet and I want to tell Lily's parents before I ask her. And she's very nervous about tonight. It's best left till later. I think I might take her out for dinner or something next week," he added, deciding that on the spot.
"If you're sure," said Sirius, clapping his shoulder as James walked past.
"Yeah, I am," said James, suddenly grinning like a loon.
"I still think you're mad," said Sirius, looking mildly concerned at his best friend's expression.
"I think I'm mad too," said James, grinning even more. "But for now, I think I'll just get through this thing. I need to be there in a minute."
"All the very best to you, mate," said Sirius, smirking. "I'm glad it's not me."
James gave him the finger, and as Sirius laughed, he turned on the spot and disappeared into the darkness.
James quickly walked out of the alley and onto the main road looking, over the heads, as he walked down the pavement, for his girlfriend. He found her waiting outside the glass doors leading to the restaurant, checking her watch anxiously. A smile made its way on his face automatically.
She looked absolutely gorgeous in the stylish black dress that fell just below her knees. His eyes lingered on her bare, high heeled legs as he approached her.
"Stop looking at my legs, Potter, we're going to be late if we don't go inside now," he heard her say irritably as he reached her.
"I'm sorry, but I can't help myself," he said seriously, looking down at her. "They're very nice looking."
The glare she gave him was ruined by the slightest twitch of her lips as she blushed. James took advantage of that and swooped down to kiss her.
"We're getting late," he announced, taking a step back, laughing as she glared at him again and swatted his arm. Nevertheless, she took his hand and they went in, eventually finding the table Petunia Evans and Vernon Dursley were seated at.
Petunia Evans looked nothing like her sister: she was a thin, tall, blonde woman with a horse like face that had a barely suppressed look of disdain and curiosity as Lily and James took their seats opposite to the couple. Vernon Dursley, on the other hand, was a large, dark haired man, who looked like he was born without a neck.
"You're nearly late," said Petunia, in a clipped voice. "We've been here for fifteen minutes already."
Lily said nothing, and James decided to take his cue from her. She turned to her future brother-in-law and gave him a small smile.
"It's nice to finally meet you," she said.
"And you," Dursley grunted, sounding as though he thought the opposite. James bristled a little at that. Lily squeezed his hand.
"This is my boyfriend James," said Lily. "We met at school."
Petunia pursed her lips at the word 'school' and Vernon made a noise that was a cross between a snort and a grunt; he ended up sounding incredibly like a pig and James had to swallow a laugh.
"Shall we order then?" Lily said hastily.
The four of them sat in awkward silence once the waiter took their order. James looked around the restaurant, taking in the muggle things he came across making a mental note to ask Lily what they were. He did recognise some things, though, like the air conditioner.
He felt Lily's foot nudge his leg and he realised he had been drumming the table with his fingers. Petunia's look of disdain came back with full force and Dursley was eyeing his collar, which James realised was slightly upturned. Resisting the urge to smirk, he decided to leave the collar as it was, wondering what they would do about it.
"So, Tuney," said Lily brightly, "how are the wedding preparations going?"
"It's all going as planned," said Petunia, in a smug voice. "I had my dress fitted yesterday - mother simply loved it. She thought I looked absolutely lovely."
James vaguely wondered if that was likely. Suddenly, he had an image of Lily in a wedding dress and had to stop himself from smiling like an idiot. He resisted the urge to groan and bang his head against the table. Merlin, Sirius and Remus were right - he really did have it bad.
He tried to compose himself. This really was not the time to think about that and he was glad when Dursley spoke up. "I'm sure you look beautiful, darling."
Petunia let out a shrill giggle.
James wanted to vomit, and he was sure Lily wanted to do the same as well; she had a straight face but her eyes were filled with mirth. He gave her a small smile and she returned it.
Then, within seconds the atmosphere turned awkward and stilted once more. Thankfully, their food arrived and they ate for a while in silence.
He felt a hand on his leg and looked at his girlfriend who looked at him pleadingly. James deflated a little and turned to Dursley, choosing to bring up a topic he knew would be safe territory.
"So what do you do, you know, for a living?"
Dursley, who'd been eyeing his unkempt collar and messy hair every few minutes, looked at him and his face looked less irritated.
"I'm a junior executive in Grunnings," said Dursley loudly, clearly intending everyone in the vicinity to hear him. James gathered that he was supposed to be impressed. Instead, he felt like laughing.
"I - I see," said James, trying to keep a straight face. He seemed to have failed given the reproachful look from Lily and the narrow eyed stares from Petunia and her fiance.
"You make drills, I believe,"said James, hastily, mentally thanking Lily for coaching him about the man's job.
"Oh, yes," said Dursley, taking a sip of his wine, in what he obviously thought was an impressive manner. James immediately regretted asking about it, for within minutes he was almost bored to death as Dursley droned about the virtues of drills. This, he decided, was even worse than trying to listen Binn's lecture about the international warlock conventions. Even Lily started to look bored after ten minutes. Petunia, on the other hand, was looking at her future husband with rapt, misty-eyed attention.
And then he felt a huge yawn come on that he couldn't hold back as much as he tried to.
"Sorry," he said, thinking quickly when Dursley and Petunia looked affronted. "I had some work last night and didn't get enough sleep."
They didn't seem mollified.
"What car do you drive anyway?" Dursley spoke abruptly. Then, in a patronising tone, he continued, "You do know what a car is, don't you? Petunia says that most of, er, your lot don't really have a lot about normal things."
James wished he could hex the man. But then, as he got an idea, his eyes gleamed.
"Oh, we have no need for a car," said James, leaning back against his chair and smirking. He got a slightly glazed look as he continued, "I have Nimbus 1700. It's a racing broom, you know, one of the best out there. It's the fastest model - goes from nought to 80 mph within fifteen seconds. But you do know what a broomstick is, don't you?" he added anxiously.
James enjoyed the furious shade of purple Dursley turned into. Lily looked ready to intervene but the beefy man spoke first.
"Petunia said you don't have a job," said Dursley, loudly. "I suppose that - " he looked around and leaned into whisper " - your lot can't find any real work, so you'll be living on unemployment benefits from the government?"
"I assure you, I have the grades to have any job I want," said James coolly and then he smirked. "There are other things that are worth my attention at the moment, however - but that's not really the point. I don't have to work you see, because my father's a retired businessman and my family has a fortune stored - " James lowered his voice and leaned in dramatically " - in solid gold in a bank run by goblins. Make what you will of that." He leaned back and grinned triumphantly.
Both Petunia and Dursley looked furious.
"Solid gold and goblins, indeed," Dursley said letting out an angry snort. "If even one word of that is true I'll resign from my own job. A right joker, aren't you, thinking it'll be funny to make up things like that. I know you're just trying to make me look stupid!"
James raised his eyebrows at him. "I have better work to do than waste my time just trying to make you look stupid. In any case, you do a fantastic job of that on your own."
Dursley stood up. "Come on Petunia," he snarled. "This isn't worth wasting our evening. And I'll pay only for my and Petunia's share of dinner. I'm sure you can pay for yourselves with your solid gold."
Dursley threw down some cash and without a second glance, both Petunia(with her nose in the air) and Dursley stormed away.
James looked after them furiously. He jumped slightly when the chair next to his scrapped against the floor loudly. Lily got up, sobbing as she ran out of the doors.
James swore, left his own share of muggle money (he was quite sure he payed more than what was necessary but he didn't really care) at the table and took after her.
"Lily," he called out, as he dodged people on the sidewalk. "Lily, wait."
He caught up with her and grabbed her arm. "Lily, stop please."
"L-let me go," she sobbed. "I just want to be alone right now."
He felt bad. He hadn't intended for it to go like this; he had known, after all, how much it would've meant to Lily if he could've gotten on well with her sister.
"I'm sorry," he said, pulling her into a hug as she cried into his chest. "I really didn't mean to let things go that far. I just… I lost my temper. I am very sorry." He added.
While he did think he could've done it all differently, he didn't think it was entirely his fault; he did think it was best if he didn't tell that to Lily.
However, she seemed to feel the same. She wiped her eyes and looked up at him. "I guess I can't blame you entirely. Vernon was out of line too." She looked frustrated. "I just really wanted it all to go well tonight. I hate that Tuney's barely spoken to me since our first year and now..." she wrung her hands about, trying to find the right words to describe the situation.
"I know," James said quietly. "And I promise I'll make it up to your sister and Dursley - to you - the first chance I get. Maybe at their wedding-"
"If we're still invited-"
"I'm sure Petunia still cares about you," said James, even if he didn't really think that was true. "She's not going to leave you out and when we do attend, I promise I will talk to them and I'll apologise, alright?"
She smiled at him and sniffed. "Thank you."
"I love you," he said, thinking about the velvet box he was hiding in Sirius' flat.
"I love you too," she said, and kissed him.