Tea and Biscuits
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the rights to the Harry Potter universe, including characters and any other information you recognise.
Dedication: To the reviewers of 'Tea and Biscuits' and 'Of Potter and Evans', you guys are truly, truly amazing. Sorry if I haven't gotten back to any of you personally, it was my full intention to however, I got very busy with studies. But I still appreciate the time you took to read and review, they all made my day. Each review inspired me to continue, so give yourself a pat on the back and a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream.
NOTE!
NEW CHAPTER!
I hope you all enjoy it.
"Lily!"
The redhead rolled over and groaned loudly, her eyes not even daring to open.
The door opened and the familiar sound of her mother's footsteps shuffled across the floor.
"Sweetheart, Sirius is here to see you," she said sitting on the side of her bed and feeling her forehead gently.
"What day is it?" was the mumbled response and Mrs. Evans chuckled.
"It's Sunday," she answered and Lily's eyes opened a crack.
"Still?"
Her mother shook her head and stood up, a smile evident on her face, and flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"It's only been five hours," she explained and Lily sighed loudly. "How's your head?"
Lily pushed herself up carefully and leaned her back against the wall.
"Better, much better. A sleep was exactly what I needed," she said with an attempt at a smile.
Mrs. Evans nodded and walked over to the door.
"I'm glad. Don't be too long dear, Sirius is waiting for you downstairs," she said and slipped out of the room leaving Lily by herself.
She rubbed her eyes wearily and swung her legs over the side of her bed, pushing her feet into a pair of dark blue slippers and straightened up.
"Why on earth did I ever agree to go drinking with Sirius Black?" she asked, checking her appearance in the mirror. She winced at her frizzy hair that she hadn't bothered drying and picked up her wand from the vanity. She pointed it at her head and smiled as it went flat and loose curls hung past her shoulders. Much better, she thought before pulling a purple hooded jumper over her head and making her way downstairs.
"Black!" she greeted as she stumbled into the kitchen and sat in the chair opposite him and beside her father. She smiled sweetly and said, "Afternoon, Daddy."
Mr. Evans grinned. "Nice of you to join us, dear. Sirius here has been telling me all about school."
She raised suspicious eyes to the boy in question who only winked.
"Nothing Lily isn't aware of, I'm sure," he said with a smirk and her father chuckled.
"He tells me that you're quite the student, Lils. Not that I didn't already know of course, but you are mighty modest," he said patting her shoulder and she blushed a deep shade of red.
"Dad, it's nothing to make a big deal about. I'm not all that important, really," she replied averting her eyes.
Sirius snorted. "You're only the brightest student of our year, no, no, absolutely no need to make a big deal out of it," he said sarcastically and she rolled her eyes at him.
"Shush, or I won't give you any biscuits," she threatened and Sirius mimed locking his lips and throwing away an imaginary key.
"How do you take your tea, Sirius?" Mrs. Evans asked from over at the sink and he turned in his seat to face her.
"White with three sugars, please."
Mr. Evans made a sound of astonishment. "Mark my words; you'll wind up with heart failure if you keep that up, boy!"
Lily sniggered and Sirius just shrugged.
"I don't plan on growing old anyways," he said as Mrs. Evans placed the cup on the coaster in front of him. "Thank you," he added with a nod.
"Sirius!" Lily chastised and he shrugged, glancing up at her.
"Well I don't! Besides, could you imagine me as an old bugger, Evans?"
She frowned, tilting her head sideways and shaking her head after a moment's thought.
"No, not really," she said in a miserable tone and Sirius winked yet again.
"Don't worry, Lily, you're sure to end up with about three children, six if James can help it, and living in one of the Potter's many mansions," he said sipping his tea.
Mr. Evans raised his eyebrows curiously.
"Potter? As in James Potter? The boy you're always complaining about?" he asked turning to his daughter who coloured in the face. Sirius smirked into his drink and she aimed a kick at him under the table.
She wore a satisfied smile when he winced.
"Yes, the same boy," she said turning back to her father. "And no, I'm not having children with James Potter," she added to Sirius who shrugged.
"I've seen him at the train station, Lily," her mother said and Lily sighed. "He's quite good looking isn't he?"
Sirius tilted his head sideways and raised his eyebrows at her.
She rolled her eyes.
"He's alright, I suppose."
Sirius laughed, causing her father to spill some of his tea in surprise at the booming sound.
"Say that to his fan club, Evans and they'll come after you with every fibre in their being," he warned her.
"Oh, please. They'd be too busy following his every move to even care," she retorted.
Mrs. Evans sighed.
"All I'm saying, Lily, is that a man who looks that good shouldn't be ignored."
She shrugged.
"I don't ignore him."
"She shouts at him, hexes him, hits him-"
Sirius broke off after another well-aimed kick got him on the shin and he rubbed it gingerly.
"You know very well that we haven't argued in months!"
"What about on the train ride home?"
"There was no violence involved!"
Mrs. Evans gasped.
"Lily! You don't actually hurt this poor boy, do you?"
Lily turned to face her mother and shook her head.
"Of course not," she lied, glaring daggers at Sirius.
"Well I should hope not," Mrs. Evans said as she sipped her tea.
Lily glanced at Sirius and inclined her head at the door to the kitchen. He shrugged in reply.
Mr. Evans watched them with amusement dancing in his eyes.
"Well, Mum, Dad," she said looking at each of them in turn, "as splendid as this is, Sirius and I are going to take our tea out to the porch swing," she added standing from the table and Sirius followed suit. She poured some biscuits onto a plate and carried it outside with Sirius following her, tipping an imaginary hat to her mother as he passed.
"I told you!" Lily exclaimed loudly, almost upending her tea in excitement. Sirius frowned and moved the biscuits from the swing to the wooden table beside him.
"Calm your hippogriffs, I told him no," he replied and Lily's smile fell almost instantly.
"What?"
Sirius sighed, running his hand through his hair so that it wasn't hanging in his eyes.
"I told him that we can't, there's too much at risk," he said and she rolled her eyes indignantly.
"Sirius, he told you he wants to be friends again, why would you pass that up? Isn't that what you want?"
He averted his gaze and watched some children walk past the house, bouncing an orange ball and laughing as they went.
"Remus and James aren't ready to forgive me just yet, and Peter wants the Marauders back together. Of course that's what I want, Lily, but if they aren't ready for that then I don't want Peter ending up having a fight with them over it. I'm not worth it," he said quietly.
She leaned over and patted his hand gently.
"They will come around, Peter did."
He shrugged, meeting her eyes slowly.
"And if they don't?"
She smirked.
"We can always conjure up some bunk beds in the common room," she suggested and he laughed.
"Why not?"
She nodded, leaning her side into the swing and watching him carefully.
"We can have our own sleepovers and they can't join in unless they're ready to forgive," she promised and he too leaned his back into the cushions.
"Back in first year, did you ever imagine we'd end up right where we are now?" he asked and she sighed loudly.
"To be honest, I thought I would marry the grandson of Newt Scamander and we'd have four children, three boys and a girl. And Severus was the Godfather of all of them."
Sirius snorted loudly, picking up another biscuit and biting into it.
"You're weird," he told her with a shake of his head.
She leaned forward.
"Well go on then, where did you think you'd end up?"
He shrugged his shoulders, swallowing a mouthful of biscuit.
"I thought I would have been in Slytherin, for starters. And married to a Muggle or Muggleborn, just to piss off my parents. And you know, I'd care about her too," he added, noticing Lily's scandalous look on her face.
He ate the rest of the biscuit and she leaned back, shrugging.
"Do you still want to get married?"
He shook his head.
"Not really, I don't believe in it all that much. It's just a label, really. A signed piece of paper that determines the one and only person you get to sleep with for the rest of your miserable life."
Lily raised an eyebrow at him.
"But you used to believe in it?"
He turned to look at her.
"My parents are married, and look at them. They're not all that affectionate towards each other. My mother had the right social circle and my father had a lot of money, my grandparents made them marry, of course."
Lily crossed her arms.
"My parents are married," she told him matter-of-factly and he grinned.
"And I can see that they're in love, as are Mr. and Mrs. Potter. I suppose if I met the right person who changed my mind, I might. But they'd better be quick, with the war fast approaching I doubt I'll live long enough to be convinced," he said and Lily closed her eyes momentarily.
"It's really happening, isn't it?" she asked, re-opening her eyes and Sirius nodded solemnly.
"It's getting worse by the day, Evans. They don't put much of it in The Prophet because the Ministry is trying to pretend they've got control of the situation, but they don't. The truth is, the war is out of their hands now, and it's up to people like Dumbledore to fight against it."
"And you? Will you fight?"
He nodded.
"Until death," he said and she took hold of his hand.
"Unless I've got something to say about it," she murmured and he grinned.
"I reckon we'd make an alright pair, you and I. Black and Evans, fighting for the justice of all humankind."
"And creatures," she added and he rolled his eyes.
"And creatures," he repeated with a lazy smile.
Lily lifted her almost empty cup of tea in toast and Sirius sighed, leaning forward to grab another biscuit.
"To Black and Evans," she announced and he smirked.
"Black and Evans," he said tapping his biscuit against her cup and she drained the rest of her tea. Sirius chewed on his biscuit thoughtfully when Mrs. Evans poked her head around the door and smiled brightly at them.
"Stay for tea, won't you Sirius?" she asked and he smiled at her.
"There's no need to feel obliged, Mrs. Evans. I'll leave soon anyway," he said and Lily and her mother shook their heads.
"Nonsense! I'll set a place for you," she said as she turned and walked back inside, closing the door gently behind her.
Sirius turned to Lily who was watching him happily.
"It's not as though you have a fancy roast to go home to, is it?" she asked with a cheeky grin and he shrugged.
"Not really, I just didn't want to impose," he said and she waved her hand at him.
"Rubbish."
"Although, I now feel inclined to prove you wrong one night and cook you the best roast you've ever had," he told her, nodding his head in the direction of the road.
"Are you hitting on me, Black?" she asked and he only grinned.
"Only in your dreams, Evans."
Sirius hadn't met Lily's sister before, but he had seen her a few times at the train station when she dropped her off with her family. She didn't look much different; really, her face still appeared rather horsey, although she was older and bonier. And she still narrowed her eyes whenever she made contact with Sirius in anyway, as he had accidentally bumped into her at the end of second year.
"Pass the gravy, will you Lily?" Petunia asked and everyone on the table glanced at the jug that was sitting directly in front of Sirius.
Lily glanced at him apologetically but Sirius smiled and grasped the jug handle and placed it in front of Petunia's plate. She didn't say anything, only looked at the jug with a disgusted look on her face.
"Petunia," Mr. Evans warned and she merely glanced at Sirius for a second and gave a stiff, "Thanks," before lifting the jug and pouring it over her meat.
"So, Lily tells us that you're into sports," Mrs. Evans said to Sirius who shrugged.
"I like Quidditch, but I'm not much of a fan of any Muggle sports," he answered honestly and Petunia flinched at the words and Lily rolled her eyes.
"Oh, for goodness sake, Petunia," she snapped and Sirius shot her warning glance.
"It's fine, Lily," he said with an encouraging smile and she sipped from her glass of wine.
On special nights her parents would let her have one glass of wine, and as Sirius wasn't usually at the Evans' house for dinner, they treated it as a special occasion. Lily was close to throwing hers in her sister's face. How dare she be so rude to a guest, she thought angrily as she lowered her glass to the table with a venomous scowl at her sister.
"Do your family also like sports?" Mr. Evans asked and Sirius cleared his throat awkwardly.
"They don't really involve themselves in it, but they bought my brother and I expensive racing brooms to show off to all of their high class associates. And they often boast about my brother being on his house team," he replied and Mrs. Evans frowned.
"Lily told us you were on your house team, also?"
Sirius nodded.
"I was, not any more though. And I don't really get on with my family nowadays, so they wouldn't be caught dead speaking about me."
There was silence around the table, and Sirius shrugged.
"It's okay, I'm better off without them, believe me. They're very uptight, and we clashed over our different views too often and it just got to the point where it was unbearable, so I left when I was sixteen."
Mr. Evans grimaced.
"Elizabeth doesn't get along with her parents either," he said nodding at his wife and she patted Sirius on the shoulder comfortingly.
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said honestly and she smiled sadly.
"Don't worry about it, Sirius, but it was lovely of you to say," she told him and turned back to her dinner.
"So, Petunia," Sirius said and the blonde haired woman froze while cutting her roast. "Lily tells me that you're engaged? How long until the wedding?" he asked and Lily smiled at him gratefully.
Petunia continued cutting her meat.
"Four months," she said shortly.
"Well, I suppose a 'Congratulations' is in order then," he added and she nodded her head in thanks.
There was another awkward silence.
"You all make me sound like such a gossip," Lily said. "It's always, 'Lily tells me this,' I feel like a bit of a prat," she said with a chuckle and Sirius grinned.
"You are a bit," he said and she poked her tongue out at him.
The rest of the meal passed by with more polite chatter, and Sirius didn't try to make any further conversation with Petunia, deciding that her discomfort wasn't all that enjoyable. It seemed like the more effort he made, the less friendly she became.
When Petunia pushed back her chair at the end of dessert, she declared that she was going to bed and bid her family goodnight and left with no parting words for Sirius, not that he minded.
"I apologise for her behaviour tonight," Mr. Evans said almost instantly. "She doesn't know how to act when around-"
"Really, Mr. Evans, there's no need to apologise. I'm sorry my presence made her uncomfortable. If I had known it would have turned out that way then I wouldn't have stayed for dinner," Sirius interrupted and Lily emptied her glass of wine.
"She should at least make an effort to be polite to my friends, as I've always done to hers," she said standing from the table and taking their plates over to the bench.
Mr. Evans smiled at Sirius and grabbed the wine glasses and carried them over to the sink.
"Leave the dishes, pumpkin. Your mother and I can handle them," he said with a smile and kissed the top of his daughter's head and she smiled and glanced in Sirius' direction.
"See me out?" he asked and she nodded.
"Thank you very much for dinner, it was lovely," he said, nodding at Mrs. Evans who grinned at him.
"You're welcome any time, Sirius. It was our pleasure," she told him and he gave them a wave before following Lily outside.
"I am so sorry," she said the moment the door was shut behind them. Sirius turned to her and shook his head.
"Don't be, Evans. Your sister was just uncomfortable by my presence, I get that. I actually find it kind of ironic really," he said and she raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"How so?"
"Well, my family can't stand anyone that isn't pureblood and who don't have magical tendencies and your sister can't stand anyone who possesses magic."
Lily nodded thoughtfully.
"I suppose it is rather ironic when you explain it," she replied and he grinned.
"Don't be angry with your sister, just… I don't know, move on from it. Clearly our friendship should only consist of tea and biscuits, and drunken escapades."
Lily smirked at this.
"Or dinner without my sister," she added.
He nodded.
"I had an interesting time, to say the least. And your parents are spectacular, I can see why you choose to come home for Christmas," he told her with a smile.
"Not this year, I'm staying at Hogwarts for the last one. Alice said that Christmas in the castle is incredible."
Sirius shoved his hands in his pockets.
"She's not lying, I assure you."
She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Can I ask you something?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"Shoot."
"If you and the Marauders hadn't broken up, would you still have come to visit me?"
He didn't answer straight away, instead he frowned thoughtfully.
"I'm full of surprises," was all he said and she nodded.
"Well for the record, I'm glad you did. Visit me that is, not the whole breakup thing," she replied and he rolled his eyes at her.
"I suppose I couldn't ruin this night with a cheesy, 'I'm glad too,' or anything," he said taking a step backwards.
"Come and visit me if you get lonely," Lily said and he winked before turning and walking down the footpath, raising a hand in farewell.
"Careful what you wish for, Evans."
She watched Sirius retreat into the darkness before turning and walking back inside, switching off the porch light as she did. She said goodnight to her parents and made her way into her bedroom, collapsing on top of her bed.
Her last thoughts, before she drifted off to sleep, were if James had received her letter, and what he might think of the unexpected invitation to lunch, as it wasn't every day that Lily Evans invited him to spend time alone with her.
A/N:
And here we have it, the latest chapter.
I hope it was all worth it!
And James will definitely be appearing next chapter.
Thanks so much for being so patient!
LilyHeartsJames
