Potter Manor- A new James
Lily was quite flustered upon her arrival at Potter Manor. The first surprise was the manor itself which was expansive and looming. It had to have been the most expensive, grand house Lily had ever seen. She swallowed in awe and was only brought out of her short reverie by a nudge from Marlene. "Do you like it?" Charlus glanced down at her with amusement and she blushed to the roots of her dark red hair.
"It's very nice." she murmured and Marlene chortled, earning a glare from Lily that quickly shut her up.
"Well, I suppose we should start walking. Everyone is waiting for your arrival." Charlus said and he and Marlene shared a glance that puzzled Lily. Of course, she didn't have much time to dote on it because they were walking quickly towards the manor. Marlene soon fell into pace with Lily and the redhead took this time to ask her how her parents were.
"They're fine." Marlene said quickly, reassuring her concerned friend. "Honestly, you should be more worried about my grandmum. Having the twins and Marcus?" Marlene let out a silky laugh, tossing her head back, "She'll be wishing for death before you can say chaos." Lily laughed along with her friend and the uneasiness slowly trickled away.
"We're here!" Charlus announced in a manner that reminded Lily of James. He winked at Lily and threw open the door. Unsurprisingly she was immediately tackled by a boy who resembled an eager puppy dog. She laughed but quickly stopped when he made no move to get up off of her.
"FLOWER!" Sirius yelled into her ear and she winced.
"Geroff me you big git!" Lily yelled but her lips twitched slightly.
"Never!" Sirius announced mightily, wrapping his arms around her. Her lips parted slightly in a surprised 'o' before she tried to shove him away.
"Sirius, dear, don't kill her." a warm, soothing voice made Sirius leap off of her and help her up. He threw Lily a smirk and she returned the gesture by sticking out her tongue childishly. Lily then turned her attention to a very attractive older woman. Her hair was darker than Lily's and a bit more brown but auburn all the same. Her hazel eyes twinkled as she surveyed Sirius, her adopted son.
"Thank you." Lily said graciously and the woman turned an appraising eye on her.
"Oh you're welcome, dear. I decided I'd like to meet you before he goes and suffocates you." the woman brought Lily into a comforting hug.
"Er, yes. I'm Lily Evans." Lily smiled becomingly and the woman beamed.
"Yes, I've heard a lot about you." she and Sirius exchanged a look before she turned back to Lily, "I'm Dorea Potter."
"Nice to meet you." Lily said shyly, "It's so kind of you to let me stay here. I see you already have your hands full." Lily slowly glanced around the room and was shocked but pleased to find all of her friends grinning at her.
"You're such a dear," Dorea smirked and Lily was astonished to see that James had gotten his trademark smirk from his mother and not his look-alike father, "And anyway, the more children the merrier. James is my only child unfortunately." an indignant sound of protest came from the stairs and Lily dragged her eyes up to see the boy himself leaning casually against the railing.
"You make it sound like I'm a disappointment." James scoffed and Dorea simply smiled.
"Well, we'll wait and see if you get Quidditch captain at least. Then I guess I'll decide." Dorea wrapped Lily in an embrace again and her mouth found her ear before she pulled away, "Don't let him fool you. He may seem like a right prat at first but he's a real charmer. Heart as good as gold and from what I've heard he's quite taken with you as well." Dorea whispered before releasing a shocked Lily. "Just don't make assumptions about him quite yet, there's a lot that doesn't meet the eye, love. Anyway, I'm sure you have catching up to do." Dorea said, gesturing to Lily's friends, and walked over to her husband who had been watching the pair.
"Well, Mrs. Prongs, I sure have missed you." Sirius smirked, approaching her, and Lily snorted in irritation.
"What did you just call me?"
"What!" Sirius widened his eyes in innocence, "Don't like it? Fine. I'm okay with calling you flower." the smirk returned and Lily rolled her emerald eyes and began counting to ten. Sirius realized that right then she bore an uncanny resemblance to Professor McGonagall. It scared him. "Oi!" he cried, "Don't do that. You look too much like McGonagall."
"Then don't call me flower! What have I said about that?" she huffed.
"That you love it almost as much as you love me?"
"In your dreams, Black." Lily moved onto her friends who all welcomed her with hugs and squeals so high-pitched the boys could almost hear the glass breaking.
"So, are you going to try your luck with her this year, mate?" Frank Longbottom asked James who had descended from the staircase to join the boys and was currently watching Lily.
"Hmm? Oh," James frowned, "Nah." Frank's eyes shot up into his dense mass of curly dark brown hair.
"What?" he said in surprise.
"I don't think so." James straightened his glasses, "I was talking to Moony- er- Remus, and I'm gonna try the whole friend approach." he smiled.
"You mean what I did with Alice?" Frank returned the smile and James chuckled.
"Yes, well, in a way. It worked for you didn't it?" James' eyes twinkled as he saw Frank shoot Alice a wink and her promptly blush in return.
"Sure did, mate. Are you going to be dating? Fooling around with other birds?" Frank asked, his eyes still on Alice who was quite obviously trying to ignore him.
"Come on Frank, it's me you're talking to." James snorted incredulously, "Obviously not. I can't even look at another girl without thinking Lily."
"Ah, well, you might just have her this time. Good luck." Frank said with a wink and he and James turned back to take part in Sirius' argument with Remus.
Meanwhile the girls were all staring at Lily. "Well?" Dorcas Meadowes finally asked. She was the tallest one of the group with gray eyes that were almost blue and wavy dark brown hair. She was looking at Lily expectantly.
"What?" Lily finally asked.
"James is looking mighty fine, isn't he?" Alice bit her lip, raising her eyebrows in suggestively.
"Potter?!" Lily groaned, "You can't be serious!"
"I'm just saying." Alice rolled her eyes and Lily threw her an exasperated look but couldn't hide her amusement.
"Aren't you taken?" she said, gesturing to Frank. He winked at Alice and she blushed, looking away from him.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean I can't look at the menu." her voice was a feeble squeak and the girls laughed.
"He has sort of… grown up." Mary murmured, staring at Lily intently with a quick glance at James.
"I know you all are matchmakers and are infatuated with the idea of James and I getting together but it's never going to happen." Lily was met with shocked looks. "What?!" Lily sighed, she was getting quite tired of feeling like she was missing out on something.
"You just called him James!" Dorcas squealed.
"It's happening! I can feel it! Oh my god! You guys are going to get married and have adorable Potter babies and-"
"What about my offspring?" Marlene was interrupted by a familiar voice that had grown just a bit richer over the summer. Lily turned bright red and whirled around to face James.
"What's it to you Ja- Potter?!" Lily had meant to have snapped it but it came out sounding quite flirty. Lily groaned and marched away from the group, face flaming with the realization James had walked in on their conversation when Marlene had been talking about their unborn children and then her nearly calling him James. Oh how could she be so daft? She groaned and realized she'd walked right into the boys' heated discussion.
"Hello Lily." Remus said good naturedly, "What's up?" he didn't seem to notice Sirius who was staring daggers at him.
"Er, Sirius are you alright?" Lily asked the boy whose gaze snapped to Lily.
"I am very well not alright. Moony here-"
"Oh shut it." Frank chuckled and Sirius turned to him indignant.
"I will not shut it, Bigbottom!" Sirius announced.
"It's Longbottom." Frank sighed annoyed.
"Oops." Sirius muttered darkly. Peter stepped in as the joking teetered dangerously to insulting.
"What is James doing?" he said instead and all five of them turned to look at the boy who was running a hand through his untidy black hair and waving his hands around all while talking animatedly.
"Oi! Prongs!" James froze and turned around to glare at Sirius for interrupting his speech, "What are you doing?" James' gaze flickered from Sirius to Lily who looked bemused by him and he flushed. Of course, Lily thought darkly, only a blush would look good on James. It really did. His golden tan from the summer just turned a shade darker and burned a rose pink. It was quite pretty, even Lily could (grudgingly) admit he was an attractive bloke.
"I- just-" he paused, frowned, and continued, "Talking to the girls. Is there a problem?" he said cheekily and Lily rolled her eyes. Mary noticed this and whispered it to Dorcas who then whispered it to Marlene who then elbowed James in the rib and hissed something at him. His face turned redder.
"Right, mate. Have fun then." Sirius responded and turned back to talk about quidditch. Lily, who did like quidditch and probably would've played it had it not been for her fear of heights, hardly listened as her thoughts were on a certain boy and her always plotting friends. She jumped when someone politely tapped her shoulder.
"Would you like me to show you to your room, Lily?" James asked her quietly and Lily frowned at her friends over his shoulder. His face fell. "I mean, if you don't want to see it now that's fine… I er, I'll be going then-" his hand ran through his hair again, flustered. Lily's gaze dropped to her toes guiltily.
"No! I mean yes." she inhaled a deep breath, "Lead the way." she said bluntly and she reprimanded herself on the inside. He didn't deserve her guilt! He was James Potter! But he looked so genuine… Any boy can look genuine if they want to get in your knickers! She argued with herself in frustration. He did offer her a house to stay in to be close to her friends for the rest of the summer, the other side said in a very persuasive voice. No Lily, damnit! No! Again, he could be trying to get in your knickers!
"Er, Lily?" James was giving her an odd look and she looked up at him. She blushed when she realized he wasn't the only one in the room giving her an odd stare.
"Oh, sorry. Lead the way." she repeated and he smiled. It was so surprising and genuine Lily went to do a double take only to find he had taken a hold of her wrist and was pulling her gently toward the stairs. When did that happen? She thought in alarm, and has he been calling me Lily this whole time? Merlin, what was going on?!
Quick update I know! These updates are crazy, two or three in one day then none in a week! Hmm, I'll work on it. This chapter kind of was all over the place, forgive me for that. It's a bit longer, too, but, well, I didn't want to split it in two so. Please review - I love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.