Dinner Guests 2

Chapter 2: Preparing for Hell on Earth

Yes, of course it will seem like hell for Lily! Look what happened to her before; she's not exactly excited, is she? Besides, she doesn't know how to deal with James after kissing him, and she's not really one to jump out and meet life as it comes. But anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter; I know that Lily didn't. :D

The déjà vu was just maddeningly familiar.

When I had found that I would have to let James Potter into my house – my natural environment – I had not been sure what to wear or anything. Now, I was faced with the same problem; what was I supposed to do when I had to prepare to go to his house? I rushed to my bathroom and looked critically in the mirror, trying to settle on what I should do.

Thankfully, my legs were shaved this time and my hair was clean; now it was just a matter of what I would do with the rest of me. Should I wear a dress or a skirt again? Would pants look too casual? How much leg was I allowed to show? I don't have any friends that are boys, so getting to ready to go to one's house was a completely new experience for me; I didn't really like it so far though.

I had curled my hair last time, so I couldn't do that again; I tied it up into a high ponytail. I looked at the effect and took it out at once; it was far too severe looking. I tied it again in a lower ponytail, but that didn't look right either; it was too flirty. I had used the style on the Quidditch field during the days I had liked their Keeper, and I knew that James would remember it; he would get the wrong idea, and I would be utterly humiliated, so that was ruled out as well.

Doing my hair was too much trouble, I figured then; I would pick my clothes first. Now I was back to the dilemma of a skirt, a dress, or pants. Joy. I crossed pants off my list for looking too laid-back and went to the more girly side of my closet; I didn't venture out into that section often. My mother had recently bought me a new skirt that was "absolutely darling," but I didn't want to look like a cute little schoolgirl; I wanted to be…pretty, but not over done. That skirt, therefore, would never work; I tossed it onto my bed so that I would remember not to wear it.

At the end of a half an hour, I was still nowhere with my outfit; all I had was a rejected pile of clothing stacked up on my bed. Did I not have any decent clothes? I moved to dresses next; maybe one of those would work. It turned out that they didn't; I had a beige and brown one that made me look like a coffee cake, a sunny yellow one that made me look like a lemon popsicle, a pastel pink one that made me look like a bar of cotton candy, and a red one that clashed hideously with my hair. I would need to remember to go shopping some time soon; I had no acceptable garments to wear in public.

Grudgingly, I went back to my skirts. One of them was made of denim, and went mid-thigh, but it was too closely related to the white one I had worn the preceding time; the very last thing I wanted was to look like I had repeated my outfit, so I threw it on the ground. I remembered that I had a really cute periwinkle one, but I realized that I had worn it the other day to go to a party; how convenient. I sighed, frustrated, and began to analyze the effect of my baby-blue skirt. It was probably the best skirt I had – simply designed, adorable, and reaching nearly to my knees – so I decided to go with it. I was rather pleased; one half of my outfit had been selected.

Shirts; this was where it got fiddly. Should I wear one with a low neck, or keep it modest? Did I want to wear my new, fairly-revealing tank top, or would it make me look too…stripped? I didn't want to wear a something with a collar, but at the same time, I had a beautiful collared shirt that looked nice with the skirt I had picked. I ended up with a blue tank top the color of my skirt that bared a considerable amount of my stomach, and over it, I wore a fairly see-through white lace t-shirt with a moderate neckline; it looked ideal together.

I then took a victory leap around my room; I deserved it, because I had now settled on acceptable attire for the evening! It had been painful, but I was thrilled with the results. My fun was cut short, however, by the memory of my hair, which still needed to be styled somehow. I trudged over to my mirror again; this was starting to feel like a thankless, never-ending process.

First, I put it into two loose braids, but I pulled them out right away; I looked like a farm hand! I tried two pigtails behind my ears and over my shoulders, but it didn't seem to work well with my outfit. It looked nice left open, but I knew my hair well enough to know that the moment I walked into the Potter's house, it would look like a mop of spaghetti again; that wouldn't do. I put a headband in it, but it probably wouldn't hold out for the whole evening. What was I supposed to do?!

Eventually, I settled on over-curling my hair and putting it up in a messy ponytail; the curls looked nice when they were disheveled, for some reason. I left a curly strand hanging over the right side of my face as well; it was just the right length to make the style work. Delighted, I pulled on my clothes and put a careful amount of make-up on my face; when I was finished, I stepped back to admire my work. I actually looked quite nice (I guess the job isn't so thankless after all), and with my new white high-heels, James would be drooling rivers, which was the intent.

It was a relief that I wouldn't have to clean my room this time around; I had wasted enough time getting dressed. I laughed to myself as I walked downstairs, feeling like a supermodel, and showed myself off to my mother.

"Lily, you look absolutely wonderful," she cooed. "James will love it!" How was it that mothers knew everything? It was really irritating.

"I didn't do it for James," I said, my statement only partially true. "I did it because I didn't want to look too exaggerated, but I didn't want to look too relaxed either."

"All right," Mum agreed, smiling in her knowing way. "Do you know where Petunia went? I can't seem to find her…"

"She's at Patricia's," I said. "She said, and I quote, 'I have no wish to be going to the freak circus tonight, and I really want to be left here at Patricia's.'"

My mother pursed her lips. "She's going tonight, no matter what. And while you're on a roll, do you know where my bronze dress is? I can't seem to find it, and I wanted to wear it."

"You gave it to the launders last week; you were supposed to pick it up yesterday," I said. "I do recall telling you that."

"Yes, you did," she said. "Damn it; should I go pick it up now then?"

"I would say yes, because it would look good for their dinner." I was telling the full truth this time; it was the perfect dress for such an occasion.

"All right…I'll be right back." She grabbed her purse and scuttled out to the car, driving off as quickly as she could. I snickered just a little; it was kind of funny to watch my mother run away at the very last second and even though I was able to watch her do this often, the novelty never really wore off.

She was back within ten minutes, dress in hand, and looking flustered. In another fifteen, she rushed back downstairs wearing it, make-up, hair, and shoes already taken care of. We had to fetch Petunia as well, so time was a little on the shorter side. Mum and I hopped into the car to drive to Patricia's, where I went in and came right back out, my sister being dragged along behind me. My mother had purposely ensured that she wore adequate clothes before leaving the house in the morning; that meant that we were on our way straight off, and making very good time at that.

Despite the fact that Petunia and Mum were bickering about why Petunia had to come along with us the entire way, I wasn't worried. They would have to behave themselves once in the company of the Potters like they had the last time. I did miss my father, however; he was still stuck in Spain doing business, and hadn't been able to come back in time to go to the Potter's house with us. Having him along would have made things better for me; he would have kept Mum and Petunia civil. I amused myself for a few minutes, imagining what he would have said in the current situation.

As we continued to drive and get closer to the place though, I couldn't help but sigh deeply; every mile we advanced now was another mile closer to my personal hell on earth.

No matter what I tried to tell myself, I knew that tonight was going to get a bit ugly.

Don't you just love cliffies? xD I know I do. I also enjoyed Lily freaking out over her clothes…that would definitely be me if I was on my way to James Potter's house. X3 Anyway, I hope you read the next chapter, where they actually reach the Potter's place. :D Review me please!

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine, of course; they are the creation of J. K. Rowling, and no one else.