Love Will Guide Us
Chapter 7
Parents and Friends
"How'd it go?" Sirius asked, looking worried. He was standing at the front of the house waiting for James to come home.
James favoured him with a cocky grin. "Well," he said.
"Did you…?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows.
"No," James said, "but we will soon."
Sirius sighed, wondering if it was worth arguing with him again. "Prongs…" he started.
"What?" James cut him off. "Calm down."
"Calm down?! You're ruining everything!" he snapped.
"How?" James said and then laughed. "This is why I am dating her, Padfoot."
"To treat her like a slut?" the younger boy groaned.
"No! Padfoot! It's none of your business!" James exclaimed. "Don't you get it? It's nothing to do with you! We're not discussing this anymore."
"Because you know I am right!" Sirius retorted.
"Piss off!" James growled.
"Bachgen? Pam ydy ti'n gweiddi? (Boys? why are you shouting?)" Mrs Potter asked, coming into the front garden.
"No reason," Sirius replied quickly.
She obviously didn't believe him, for she raised an eyebrow at her oldest son as if to transfer the question to him. He looked at her emotionlessly and she gave up.
"Dydd dda? (Good day?)," she asked.
"Ydw (yes)," James replied, inspecting his shoes.
"Ydy dy ffrind yn dda? (Was your friend good?)" she asked, referring to James telling her he was going to see a friend. He didn't want to involve her with a girl, she would make it too serious… want to meet her and things like that. James couldn't let that happen; he didn't want to entertain any beliefs of Lily's that they might be a serious couple.
"Ffrind? (Friend?)" Sirius exclaimed, "Aeth James i gweld ei cariad newydd. (James went to see his new girlfriend.)" He had not heard James' story and he was not beginning to play along now.
"Cariad? Dwi ddim yn gwybod rydy ti'n cael cariad, James, (Girlfriend? I didn't know you had a girlfriend, James)."
"Dwi ddim yn cael cariad, mam, (I don't have a girlfriend, mum)." He turned and hissed into his brother's ear, as their mother began to walk away, "tawellwch! (Quiet!)"
Sirius snickered. "Promise me you won't touch her," he said seriously. "And I'll stop."
"You can't make me promise not to touch my own girlfriend! Who do you think you are?!" he tried to hide his look of outrage as his mother turned around to look at them.
"Bachgen, mae te yn barod, dewch tu mewn, (boys, tea is ready, come inside)," Mrs Potter called.
"Iawn, diolch, mam, (ok, thanks, mum)," Sirius said. "We'll talk about this later," he said to his brother.
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"How was your date, Lily?" Mrs Evans asked, as their maid served up the dessert.
"Lovely," Lily said softly. The first half had been lovely, of course; but then James had scared her by touching her and then asking her to shag him. He'd said he was joking, but had he meant it? But she couldn't tell her parents this. Her father would skin him alive.
"I'm glad," her mother continued. "I'm sorry we couldn't meet him. I would have loved to."
"It's okay, Mum," Lily said, chewing a profiterole, "there'll be other times."
"Of course," she smiled. "What was Cardiff like?"
"Da."
Her parents looked confused.
"It means good in Welsh, James taught me," she took a sip of diet coke, "his Mum taught him ever since he was a baby."
"Where does he go to school?" her father asked suddenly.
"He doesn't-" Lily started.
"Is he older than you then, Lily?" he interrupted.
"No, his mother tutors him and his twin brother," she laughed. "He doesn't slack off or anything, Dad. He's actually very smart."
"I see," David Evans replied. "And his brother?"
"I've only met him once; James seems to be the more serious of the two. Though his brother is called Sirius," she smirked.
"Perhaps he could come to dinner some time, honey? Or you could bring him to the staff ball at the hotel?" her mother suggested.
"That's a good idea," Lily beamed. "Oh, Mum, you'll love him!" she exclaimed, having completely forgotten what had happened earlier. Surely he had just been testing her boundaries. That was perfectly natural for boys in new relationships.
"I invited him over during the holidays, is that okay?" she asked, excitement evident on her pretty features.
Her father looked at her sternly. "Is that a good idea?" he asked.
"Of course it is, David," Mrs Evans answered. "It'll be a nice time for them to spend some time together. Besides, Lily is a good girl. She wouldn't do anything stupid. Right, honey?"
"Of course, Mum," Lily agreed, brushing her hair out of her eyes.
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Annwyl Lily,
See, I am trying to teach you Welsh. 'Annwyl' means 'to'. I hope you had a good time today, I certainly did. What did you think of Cardiff? That old couple in Thornton's looked like they were going to scream when I kissed your cheek. That was quite amusing. They were disgusted.
I wanted to invite you over mine or something. Do you have a suitable time to come? Or perhaps I could go to yours, whatever you like.
What are you doing for Christmas? What do you want? Could I pop round to see you on Christmas day to give you your present?
My aunt, uncle and cousin normally visit on Christmas day. Angela, my cousin, is bringing her new boyfriend for us to meet. I'm not looking forward to it because Ange is like my sister and I don't want to meet him. He's probably horrid.
Anyway, I have to go,
Speak to you soon,
Love James xxxxxxx
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Lily lay on her bed, reading over her boyfriend's letter. She sniggered at the memory of what had happened in the chocolate shop, as mentioned. She'd brought a chocolate princess for Petunia.
She rolled onto her back and gazed at the ceiling. There was a knock at the door.
"Come in," Lily called.
The door opened and in came Alice, Charlotte and Megan. Lily was surprised Frank was not with them. Alice had obviously torn herself away from her love for the visit. Lily smiled; it felt good to be favoured over her best friend's boyfriend.
"Hi," she greeted, as the girls bent to hug her. "This is a nice surprise."
"We wanted to know what happened in Cardiff," Megan grinned, ruffling her dark curls.
"So you didn't just fancy seeing me?" Lily asked good-naturedly. "I promised I'd write to you. I was going to as soon as I'd replied to James."
"But we can tease you a lot more if we're here in person," Alice said.
"Nice to know," Lily said dryly.
"How was it?" Charlotte asked, lying on Lily's double bed.
"Great, we went shopping and then we went to a café, lovely place," Lily started sitting next to them all on the bed. "But when we were in the café, he kind of touched me…"
"Where?" Alice asked.
"My boob," Lily blushed.
The girls raised their eyebrows at Lily.
"That's quick," Megan said.
"And when I pushed him away…"
"Oh no," Charlotte interrupted.
"He suggested we go into the toilet." Lily bit her lip. "I'm scared we're moving too quickly."
"You mean he suggested you go into a toilet and shag?" Alice clarified.
"Exactly, that," Lily said, looking worried.
"Perhaps it will do you some good to sleep with someone, Lils," Alice thought.
"I'm not ready…" she reasoned.
"Okay, well I'll try and find out what I can from him, perhaps one of us could talk to Sirius. I'll send him a letter. You enjoy your time with James, Lily," Alice commanded.
