Disclaimer: I only wish I owned Harry Potter.
AN: I know I said I'd update sooner if I got a lot of reviews, and I did get a bunch of them, but I'm still updating a little late, so, hem, sorry. Also, there's still no Hogswart in this one because I want a couple things to happen before that, and some things to be explained. Oh, and I got a new penname in case you hadn't noticed. I'm still me though:). Anyways, thanks to...
DreamMeDelirious
EternalWords
Alaskan Chick
Holy Cross Baby
iluvreading
thestoicwarrior: They'll be going into seventh year. I know that they're both supposed to be Heads, but this is an AU fic. Plus, I think I've got a few ideas about that.
Barnabus II
simply infatuated: Haha, oh yeah. I mean, painter and gym class teacher, FBI agents...same thing:).
firewalker32
BrazilianPrincess
potterlady4691
sncaggie
xxxHPxxx
Unseen Moon
LazyBoyGilmore
Miharu Fujiwara
TheNewKid25
SparklingEyesWithACrazyMind
eternal-charmer
EmeraldLily06
Yay, I love them! Thanks for the reviews from all of you, and keep it up!
Lily frantically searched her bedroom for her purse. Honestly, she had no idea where it had gotten to, she'd had it just a moment ago. And she really needed it because it had all her money and her makeup and–oh, God–it had her wand. She had it just five minutes ago, and now it was gone. All she had done was go to the bathroom! Letting out a frustrated high-pitched growl, she started tearing apart her unmade bed. Hadn't she thrown it there before she'd gone to the bathroom? Maybe? If she was lucky?
Her comforter was making it hard to find, and she was going to be late if she didn't find it in–she checked her watch–negative three minutes.
Oh, well this was nice.
After the realization that something was going on with her family that Lily didn't know about, she had decided that she was going to get a summer job and help–even if they didn't want her to. Petunia had gone off to college in America again, and Will–well, Will was almost constantly busy, mostly with Tracy.
She remembered fondly when she had come home last week from the hospital and seen her older brother lounging around watching the TV. She had remembered almost instantly what Tracy had said, and her temper flared immediately.
She had marched over to the couch where he was sprawled, and gave him a good push, which resulted in him falling onto the hard wood floors.
"Ow!" he had yelled.
"Your girlfriend Tracy is a–" Well, maybe I shouldn't really say what Lily had said about Tracy. She had made sure to use lots of foul language, cursing like a sailor, and by the way Will's eyebrows had shot up, she assumed he hadn't heard a quarter of the words she threw his way. After that, she stuck her nose up in the air, and marched her way to her room.
Lily gave a soft smirk in remembrance. Good times.
Her hand hit a buckle under her covers, and she made a grab for it, revealing her purse under the plush of her comforter. She gave a happy squeal, swung it over her shoulder, and made her way downstairs, grabbing an orange as she went.
"Mom!" she called. "I'm going to work!"
"Work?" her mother asked, sticking her head out of the dining room to see her daughter standing at the door.
"Yeah. Work."
"When did you get a job?"
"I told you. Last week. It's my first day today."
"Where do you work?"
"At a café on main street."
"Oh, okay," her mother said, relaxing. "Have fun."
Nodding, Lily left the house, saying good-bye over her shoulder, and peeling her orange. She knew that her fingers were going to smell like orange all day, but it didn't bother her much. It was fruity and tangy, and mixed with the smell of the outdoors and the faint smell of the water just a couple blocks away, it added an extra bounce in Lily's step.
She got to the café in a little under five minutes as the walk was not very long, and took a moment to look at it. Café, it said in one of the windows next to the door.
How original, Lily though wryly.
The café was small, with windows on either side of the door and the building in between a market and a convenience store. The door was propped open with a rubber stopper, and stools and high tables could be seen through the window, as well as the counter in the back of the store where you ordered, coffee machines behind it and a door to the backroom. It was probably only a little bigger than Lily's bedroom.
She walked in slowly, her hands dug into her pockets. A boy who looked to be around her age was standing at the cash register, trying to get it to open. After a second or two, he made a noise of anger, and pushed all the buttons as fast as he could. There was a ching! and the cash register opened. He rolled his eyes and started putting quarters in their designated spot.
Lily took a second to survey him. He looked to be a different nationality, with dark tan skin and brown, sparkling eyes. He had short brown hair and was about six foot. He was dressed casually with an apron on over his clothes, and a ring on his pinky. It struck her then that this little English town was hogging all the hotties.
"Um," Lily said, "Excuse me." He looked up at her with a quizzical expression, and she continued. "I was just hired and it's my first day, so I don't really know what to do..." she trailed off and looked at him uncertainly.
His face spread into a smile, and his teeth was bright against his skin–brighter that the blue-eyed girl in the picture with James. "Hey, Gee!" he yelled over his shoulder towards to the door to the backroom. "New girl's here!"
A bang echoed off the walls coming from the backroom, followed by a short woman. She seemed to be in her twenties, maybe thirties if she aged well, and had to be shorter than five feet. She had pale blue eyes and light brown hair that was pulled into a bun. She gave off a distinct motherly vibe, but at the same time a best friend vibe. She came rushing up, flour evident on her face, and her blue apron dirty, and her cheeks were flushed, but a smile was in place.
She came up to Lily and smiled even wider. "Hello," she greeted, "I see you've already met Paris." The boy behind the counter gave a wave, and the ring on his pinky seemed to have a charm on it, for it gave a very quiet jingle. It was girly...but at the same time incredibly cute?
"My name's Georgia. But everyone just calls me Gee."
Lily smiled back at the woman. "I'm Lily."
"Oh, another flower!" Gee said pleasantly.
"What?" Lily asked, confused.
"My daughter's name is Delilah, she also works here. She should have been here by now, but it seems she's late..."
Paris snorted. "She's always late."
Gee huffed. "Yes, well, whatever. Anyway, that's everyone."
"Everyone?"
Gee smiled. "Yes. This is a rather small café. And I'm the cook as well as the owner. Paris–my nephew–and Delilah have always come in and helped me with the café. We needed a little extra help, though, what with them becoming independent and whatnot! They didn't want to come in as much. That's where you come in."
"Oh." Lily couldn't really think of much else that could have been said.
"Anyway," Gee continued, "here's your apron, and I suppose you can help Paris try to fix that cash register for now. He'll show you around and show you how to deal with customers." Gee walked back into the backroom.
"If we ever get any," Paris mumbled.
Lily smiled as she pulled her apron on over her head and reached behind her to tie it.
"So what brings you to the Café?" he asked.
"Money," she said honestly, smiling again.
"Good reason."
"I think so." Finally finishing tying her apron, she went behind the counter to stand next to Paris and the cash register. She was met with the sweet and musky smell of his cologne, and had he not been standing right there, she was sure she would have swooned.
After all, it wasn't as if her and James were an actual item...
Immediately after that thought came into her mind, she mentally smacked herself. She was right–no, her and James were not an item, but they had been sneaking kisses and holding hands and talking on rooftops until the wee hours of the morning. It didn't much matter if she called him her boyfriend, it was simply the fact that he was in every essence just that, and whether or not she had a title for him would not change it.
"Did you hear anything I just said?"
Lily snapped her head up to Paris' dark brown eyes. "What?"
"I was talking to you about the donuts," he said, smiling, and pointed to the covered donuts that were on the counter.
"Oh. Sorry I missed it?"
"Mhm, you should be." He was nodding along with everything he said. "I mean, the way they're made...it keeps me up for hours at night just thinking about them."
She bit back a laugh. "Really?" He nodded. "I'm more of a bear-claw person myself..."
"You should be disowned," he said lazily, examining his fingernails, the charm on his ring shining in the light. It caught Lily's eye and she stared at it for a second. She couldn't really figure out what it was–for a second she thought it was a butterfly, but the thought was immediately discarded.
He must of caught her staring, for he smirked and shook his hand in front of her face. "Wondering what it is?"
"Um, yes."
"It's a butterfly."
Oh.
So she had been right.
Well...that was...odd. Then again, he could just very much like butterflies. Oh, or maybe he found it and was saving it for someone!
"I'm gay," he confirmed.
Damn it! Lily thought, and she looked up into his eyes and tried to not show how disappointed she was at that fact and shrugged. "Cool."
A cell phone ringtone was heard from the front door of the café, and Paris and Lily turned as one to the source. In the doorway stood a girl who looked a year or two younger than Lily at the short stance of around five foot three, with celery green eyes and brown hair with natural dirty blonde highlights running throughout it. She had on shorts, flip-flops, and a yellow tank top, and she stumbled in, fishing through her pocket for her cell phone.
"Hey Delilah," Paris greeted, and she looked up from her searching.
"Hi Paris." Her eyes traveled to Lily, "And...?"
"New girl," Paris answered.
"She got a name?" They continued to talk like she wasn't standing awkwardly right next to them.
"Lily."
Delilah nodded, and said hello to Lily. The ringtone cut off, and Delilah cursed, once again trying to get her cell phone out of her pocket.
"Why don't you just wear pants that fit you?" Paris asked, leaning against the counter with his arms crossed.
Delilah looked up at him and glared. "These are my favorite pair."
Paris snorted–he seemed to do that far too much. "They're too small to count."
Delilah rolled her eyes. "You're supposed to understand fashion, Paris, you're gay."
He shrugged. "Whatever."
Lily continued to stand awkwardly at the side, letting the conversation flow past her. This café was made up of family–and her. She had a feeling that most of the conversations that were going to happen were going to go over her head and she wouldn't understand half of it. That and they were Muggles.
"Who was it?"
"Sirius."
Lily's ears perked up and Paris groaned. "Must you hang out with the guys from my school? They're too old for you anyways."
"Sirius?" Lily asked.
Two sets of eyes snapped to her, and Delilah looked at her oddly. "Yeah."
"He lives next door to me."
"Not you too," Paris sighed.
Delilah adopted a dreamy smile. "Isn't he hot?"
"Um," Lily said, feeling it awkward to be talking about Sirius that way–he was James' best friend. He was also very hot, though... "Yeah," Lily continued.
"Same with James," Delilah said, not paying attention to Lily at all, "But he–hey wait." Her eyes snapped up to Lily's, and the two different shades of green connected. "You're James' girl-next-door?"
Lily nodded.
"So you're the one he's always talking about." Delilah's eyebrows danced.
Lily smiled and gave a small blush. "I suppose so."
The rest of the day passed in a similar manner, and most of the conversation was centered around James and Sirius. Delilah had mentioned Remus, but Lily had not met him and therefore couldn't contribute her input. Paris remained quiet most of the time, but his gay tendencies forced him to make comments once and a while about either boy.
They talked about other things as well, and Lily had learned that Delilah had just turned sixteen, and Paris had been seventeen for a while now. They were cousins, but Paris had lived with Gee and Delilah since he was four when his mother had overdosed and passed away and his father had left when Paris came into the picture. Paris and Delilah acted like brother and sister because of this, and Gee was definitely Paris' mother, even if she was technically his aunt.
But by the end of the day, Lily was sure that she had more smile lines than she had when she had woken up that morning, and she was now more comfortable in her new small town home.
Even if Paris was hot and gay.
AN: Okay, now that my hands hurt from typing this and all the html, review and tell me if you liked it! I'm thinking...at least twenty five reviews? And more would be absolutely wonderful. Thanks for reading:).
