Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and places are property of the awesome J.K Rowling and I definitely do not own them! J.K Rowling is brilliant, and all Harry Potter characters and settings mentioned are hers!
Chapter 4- Pillsbury DoughBoy Fascinations
Lily trudged down to breakfast the next morning in a surreal state. She had wracked her brain all night trying to think of sufficient excuses for her behaviour and couldn't help but worry about possibly seeing James Potter at the Ministry.
Lily plunked herself down on one the kitchen's rickety old chairs and helped herself to eggs and bacon. The spell of breakfast wafted in the kitchen pleasantly.
Lily's mother looked quite stressed and kept sending Lily worried glances. Petunia, however, was now the one wearing the smug look, seeming quite pleased with herself. Lily tried to ignore her; after all, it was HER fault she transfigured those boots. If Petunia had just left Lily alone for once, she wouldn't have hit boiling point and done something so stupid.
"If you don't wipe that ridiculous look off your face, Petunia, I will do it for you. Keep in mind that caiman hasn't been feed for a few days now." Lily whispered darkly.
Petunia scowled and looked away.
Lily's father badgered her with questions she couldn't answer throughout breakfast, eventually causing Lily to lose her appetite. She returned to her room to prepare for the hearing, and after getting dressed, looked in her door length mirror to inspect her looks.
Lily was quite a tall girl, maybe around 5'7. She enjoyed being tall because it made her look slim and her legs look long. She had brilliant, red-coloured hair that flowed past her shoulders and down her back. Lily liked having red hair because it made her stand out in a crowd, made her unique; after all, she lived on a street where no one wanted to stand out and every dressed like Stepford-wife robots. She felt the need to be different.
Out of all her attributes, she loved her eyes. They were a very peculiar emerald green colour, and she had yet to find someone with the same eye colour as herself, other than her mother. Lily was a very pretty girl—though certainly not the prettiest in Hogwarts—and had a few guys pining for her attention at school. She happened to despise one of those guys, but she didn't care to think about that.
Lily was wearing a stylish black suit with a bottle-green shirt underneath to accent her eyes. She was quite pleased with this suit and was actually glad to have an event to wear it to. Lily was obsessed with clothing and designers, but always chose a more laid back look at Hogwarts, knowing most witches at Hogwarts didn't know about Muggle designers anyway.
Lily was adding an jewelled hairpiece to her hair, which had been brought fixed into a fancy bun, when the doorbell rang. Lily was startled; she had assumed Dumbledore would be traveling by floo powder. She had even asked her father to tidy up the fireplace for when the Headmaster arrived.
As Lily made her way to down the staircase, her stomach became knotted. Instead of a man with a long, silver beard and half moon spectacles standing in her doorframe, a tall, handsome boy with messy black hair and round, wire glasses was there.
To be frank, James Potter looked quite uncomfortable. He was leaning on the doorframe elegantly, listening to Petunia Evans blabber on about something he seemed to deem unusual (Lily guessed an episode of Martha Stuart). However, as soon as Lily came to stand beside Petunia, arms crossed and a determined look upon her face, James literally lit up.
"Bug off, Petunia. Go read a Home Decor magazine or something." Lily said, quite irritated that Petunia was so keen to talk to James. Then again, annoying people probably attract one another.
Petunia fluttered her eyelashes and waved goodbye to James, "It was a pleasure meeting you, James!"
"Er…bye." James replied awkwardly, secretly glad to be rid of the strange muggle. He turned to Lily and smirked, "Your sister is quite charming, Lily...although, you are still my favourite Evans."
"Shut up," Lily practically growled, her eyes tightening dangerously, "and tell me what you're doing here."
"Oh, didn't you remember our date, Lillykins? I mean, you have been begging me all these years to go out with you! Well, I've decided I'll give you a chance!" James announced comically, pulling Lily into a fierce hug.
"Geroff me!" Lily ordered, her voice muffled because her head was buried in his chest. Lily shoved James off of her and glared up into his amused face, "Let's get a few things straight, Potter. I would NEVER make a date with you, I would NEVER beg you to go out with me, and I would NEVER go out with you in the first place!"
"Never say never, love," said James, quite happy he had gotten the reaction he wanted, "You know, Lily, you really need to relax. I'll put a cheering charm on you, shall I?
"You and I both know charms is not your best subject, and if you ever try and attempt that charm, I shall transfigure you into an octopus." Lily warned him sternly.
"OK, more arms to hold you with, Lils! I won't mind that at all." James said, adding a suggestive wink.
Lily sputtered angrily, seemingly struggling with what insult to hurl his way first.
"Enough of your antics, Potter. Why are you here, at my house? And how did you know about my hearing? And where the bloody hell is Dumbledore?" Lily demanded, completely confused and already tired of fighting with James.
"Well, Dumbledore said he had to run some errands before we go to the hearing. He thought it would be a good idea to drop me off at your house for an hour. Isn't that exciting?" James smiled, obviously enjoying Lily's exasperation, "And I know about your hearing because Dumbledore told me. You see Lily, I have a hearing to attend myself. You aren't the only one performing illegal magic outside of school! Did I mention how proud…"
"Save it, Potter. What spell did you perform?" Lily asked, trying to hide her intrigue.
"It was an accident, really. I ended up turning my parents and younger sister into walruses. I was screaming on top of my kitchen counter for Merlin knows how long. You see, they were quite mad, so they decided to try and gouge my eyes out with their tusks. Nasty buggers, walruses. I was quite glad when the house elves came to sort out the matter." James said, cracking up just thinking about the whole ordeal.
Lily looked quite unconvinced that it was an accident on James' part, but decided not to pursue the matter.
"I could have gone to the Ministry with my parents, but Dumbledore said he was taking you anyway, so I decided to hitch a ride with you guys!" James explained excitably.
"Well isn't it my lucky day? Trying to make my summer that much better, are you?" said Lily, holding sarcasm in her voice.
"Knew you would be pleased, Lillykins," said James, still smiling with his ever-charming lop-sided grin.
Lily quickly ushered James inside the house without another word, and shut the door behind him. James looked around the house with interest, for he had never been in a muggle household before.
They both entered the drawing room and sat on opposite couches facing each other. James still scanned the room wildly, bursting to ask Lily questions. Lily watched him, inwardly amused at his curiosity, but outwardly she held a neutral look.
"Oh, would you just ask me already!" Lily insisted irritably.
"What exactly is that shiny box?" James asked curiously, pointing to the television.
"That would be a television. You can watch pictures moving and talking on it. Let me show you."
Lily turned on the television with the remote. James recoiled slightly when she turned it on, and Lily chuckled at his reaction.
"WOW! How cool is that? Who are those people? Do you know them?" James asked, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.
Lily answered all his questions about the television and after awhile began reading a magazine, seeing as James had become fascinated with the commercials. He would shout out often, saying things like "Look at THAT, Lily!" and "Did you see that fat thing wearing the bakers hat? I SO want to poke him!"
Lily then started explaining the Pillsbury DoughBoy to James and other random characters like Toucan Sam and Tony the Tiger. They got into a little argument over whether the DoughBoy was actually an elf in disguise, which was James' theory, but Lily stopped the conversation with a piercing glare.
Lily's parents finally surfaced and were quite curious as to why a boy Lily's age was in their living room staring at the TV with excitable curiosity.
"Um…Lily, would you care to explain…him?" Mr. Evans said, evidently quite confused.
James quickly jumped up from his position and shook his hand, his facial expression growing serious.
"Pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm your daughter's boy—ouch, Lily!" James whined, glowering.
Lily had stomped on his foot so he could not finish his sentence.
"This is James Potter, Dad. He is going to a hearing as well and Dumbledore needed to get rid of him for an hour, so he dropped him off here." Lily explained, a hint of annoyance resounding in her tone.
"OK." said Mr. Evans with an uneasy chuckle, "Nice to meet you, James. Is there a reason you have a fascination with our television set?"
"I've never seen one before. I'm a wizard you know, my whole family is, and we don't have any muggle gadgets. But this...this television...I am definitely getting my parents to get me one!" James said enthusiastically, gasping every time the channel changed as he played with the remote.
"Lily, why don't you take your friend James up to your bedroom," James gave a suggestive wink; Lily looked appalled at the suggestion, "because Petunia is having her boyfriend Vernon and his parents over for tea, and your Mum needs to prepare the drawing room," said Mr. Evans, oblivious to Lily's horror.
Lily and James started ascending the stairs.
"Well, now that we have your father's permission, we can—ouch! Lily!" James whinged as he and Lily made their way up the stairs. Lily had tripped him on the way.
"Don't even think of finishing that sentence, Potter." said Lily, again glaring at James.
"Which room is yours?" he asked crossly, stopping to massage his foot.
"The door to the right." Lily said sweetly, an evil grin spreading over her face.
James opened the door, and with a boyish wail, slammed it closed again.
"Oops, sorry, did I say door on the right? I meant left." Lily said, now dissolving in giggles.
"Not funny…can't believe she still hasn't gotten rid of that reptile…" James muttered under his breath as he entered Lily's bedroom.
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