D/C: I don't own Harry Potter.
Hello!! I'm back with my sixth chapter!! First of all, I want to say how grateful I am for all the reviews you've sent me, and second of all...hmm, well, enjoy reading the chapter!!
Chapter 6:
'How does it look in there?'
Lily leaned over James so that she could have a peek through the door. Both her parents and James's parents were sitting in the living room, and so far, there hadn't been any problems. In fact, their parents were hardly saying anything for problems to start in the first place! Lily bit down anxiously on her bottom lip, before grabbing James by the collar and dragging him back into the kitchen. She folded her arms against her chest and breathed in deeply. James just looked at her with polite puzzlement.
'Er...Lily?' he said uncertainly.
Lily threw up her arms in frustration. 'I know, I know that I'm being too paranoid, but I can't help it!' she cried out. She gestured impatiently at the door which led to the living room. 'I mean, look at them!! They're barely said anything to each other!!'
They paused when they heard a sound coming from the living room, and they both strained their ears to hear any other possible sounds, before they finally realized that someone had coughed and the rest were saying, "Bless you".
'God!! It can't be any worse than this, can it?' she said, apparently exasperated.
James chuckled. 'Of course it can; Petunia could've been here!' he teased her. But when Lily continued to look upset, he reached out and pulled her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head as she leaned against him. 'Lily, sweetheart; it's alright. Don't worry; everything will turn out okay.'
'I really hope so,' she said unhappily. She pulled away from him and looked around at the kitchen; where all the different dishes Mrs. Potter had prepared for dinner were lying about. She took out her wand and waved it at the plate bearing the meat loaf, and it flew up and hovered in mid-air. 'Well, I guess we should start setting up the table.'
James followed suite, and waved his wand around three different dishes, and started juggling them all in mid-air. Lily rolled her eyes before guiding her hovering plate to the dining room, through the living room, with James close at her heels. Lily's parents looked slightly alarmed when they saw all the dishes flying in the air, and recoiled in their seats. But the Potters' merely smiled, and Mr. Potter started assuring their guests that it was perfectly normal.
'James, dear, don't play with the food,' Mrs. Potter scolded him gently.
'Sorry, mum!' he replied. He followed Lily into the dining room and landed all three dishes safely on the table. He looked up and saw Lily scowling at him. 'What? Oh, for God's sake, I was just fooling around! You can't tell me your parents were scared because of me; you were using a Hover Charm, too!'
Lily rolled her eyes. She raised her wand again. 'Accio plates!' she called out, and a set of plates zoomed into her arms (they heard a soft cry from the living room), and she started laying them around the table. 'Accio spoons! Accio forks! Accio...!'
James quickly cut her off and raised a wooden tray that had been lying on the table to block off the spoons and forks which were heading right at them, and the whole bunch fell to the floor with a clatter. He bent down, picked them up and handed them to her. 'Okay, so we now who the better wizard is here,' he said, an eyebrow raised quizzically at her. 'But I'd rather I got the knives the old-fashioned way, alright? And besides, I think you've almost given your mother a heart attack.'
Lily sighed again. 'I'm sorry; I'm just too nervous,' she mumbled, as she started to set the spoons and forks next to the plates. 'I'm worried this might turn out to be as horrible as the dinner with the Dursleys! Petunia will be gloating like anything!'
James squeezed her shoulders gently. 'Don't worry; it won't,' he said. He kissed her on the cheek. 'I'll go get the knives, shall I?'
He got the knives, and after they made sure the table was set perfectly (Lily double-checked everything), they called their parents in. Her parents smiled nervously at her, and they gingerly sat down on the chairs that James drew out for them, as if afraid the chairs might start flying or something. James's parents sat across from them, and Lily and James took a seat at the heads of the table. James smiled encouragingly at her and started to ladle food onto the plates.
'Well, this is nice,' he said pleasantly, once he'd settled back on his chair. He gestured around at the table. 'All of us, sitting at the same table, having dinner together. By the way, the meat loaf is excellent, as usual, mother, did I tell you that? Don't you think so, Mrs. Evans?'
Mrs. Evans was caught by surprise, and she quickly dabbed at her mouth with her handkerchief. 'The meat loaf? Oh, yes! It's really delicious, Jane. You must give me the recipe, if that's okay with you,' she said, smiling.
Mrs. Potter looked flattered. 'Why, thank you, Carol; how very nice of you to say!' she exclaimed. 'Of course, the recipe is the family's secret, but...seeing as we're all going to become one family, I, of course, wouldn't mind sharing.'
'Oh, and maybe Mrs. Evans could teach you how to make treacle tart, mother,' James suggested. 'It's really amazing.'
Lily smiled gratefully at James, and decided to take a step, herself. She laid her hand over her father's. 'Dad, did I tell you that Mr. Potter also collects currencies?' she said conversationally. 'Of course, he collects wizarding money, so you might find it really interesting.'
'Wizarding money, eh?' her father said. 'That does sound interesting. You wouldn't mind showing me your collection, now would you, Andrew?'
Mr. Potter ignored Mr. Evans, who looked rather offended. Lily suddenly remembered that her father-in-law's hearing ability wasn't that good. She tugged at her father's arm. 'Erm, dad? I think you might want to raise your voice a bit,' she said, feeling slightly apprehensive.
Her father frowned slightly. 'Oh, alright. Oy, Andrew!' he said loudly, and the latter looked up, smiling politely at him. 'Lily here was telling me about your coins' collection. You wouldn't mind showing them to me, would you?'
'My loin?' Mr. Potter said, puzzled, and raised up the piece of loin he was eating.
'No! No! Your coins!' Mr. Evans said, bewildered.
'My groin?' Mr. Potter repeated, looking shocked.
The whole table was looking appalled. 'Your coins!!' they all yelled.
Mr. Potter chuckled. 'Oh, my coins! Why didn't you say so, in the first place? Of course I would! It'd be a pleasure!' he said, and they all sighed in relief. He started on his loin again. 'You know, if you'd been saying groin...why, I'd have thrown you out of my house right this very instance!'
They all laughed, and as conversations broke out around the table, James threw Lily a secret wink, and she found herself grinning; he was right; she just only had to let things work out at its own pace, and it all came out perfectly at the end.
-
'I love you.'
James looked down in surprise at Lily, who was leaning against him. They were both sitting on the swinging chair on the front porch of his parents' house. Dinner was over and they'd had dessert, and they both thought it would be better to leave their parents on their own to their own discussions, especially since they'd both started talking about the things they did when they were young; at which Lily and James felt so uncomfortable and had to bail. 'Where did that come from?' he asked her curiously.
Lily smiled and snuggled closer to him. 'Can't a girl just appreciate her fiancé?' she asked.
'Of course she can...but why are you just telling me that you love me out of the blue?' he demanded.
Lily pouted at him. 'Why couldn't you just tell me that you loved me too and just be done with it?' she said accusingly. But when he continued to look baffled, she just laughed. 'I love you because you were simply amazing tonight. Seriously, I don't know what I've done without you; you got our parents talking to each other in no time!'
'Well...' James murmured, rubbing the back of his head. 'You looked at your wits' end, and I just wanted to try and help...'
Lily laughed. 'You're right; I was at my wits' end,' she admitted, and craned her neck up so she could give him a light kiss. 'But because of you, everything went really smoothly. Did I ever mention how lucky I am to have you for fiancé?'
James smiled. 'No, you didn't,' he replied, stroking her hair. 'Because I'm just as lucky to have an amazing girl like you as a fiancée. I love you, too.'
'Hey, I have an idea,' she said, suddenly. She pulled away from him and turned around on the swing, so she'd be facing him. 'How about we list the things we like about each other? It'll be fun! Let's do it!'
James looked hesitant. 'Oh, I don't know about that, sweetheart,' he replied.
'Why not?' she asked, and he just shrugged. She tugged impatiently at the sleeve of his shirt. 'Why are you so worried? Come on! I'll go first, alright? Okay, let me see...I like the way you look so cute and peaceful when you're sleeping.'
James sighed. 'Lily, this is...' he started, and she shot him a warning look. 'Alright, alright...I'll play along with you. I...I like the way your nose wrinkles up and your eyes twinkle when you laugh. It makes me want to smile.'
Lily looked really touched. 'Wow...erm, okay,' she murmured. 'Well, then...I like the way you sometimes try to explain things to me; it makes me feel so happy.'
James raised an eyebrow at her. 'Really? I thought you always said it made you feel stupid,' he said accusingly, and she laughed and shook her head. 'I like the way you get so worried and anxious about things...like tonight's dinner, for example.'
Lily blushed. 'That's over! Jeez!' she protested. 'Fine. I like the way you make me laugh. You always make me laugh.'
James smiled. 'Glad I could be of help,' he quipped. 'Okay, then...I like the way you sometimes pop into my house without any warning...except, of course, the times when I'm the one who wants to surprise you, and you end up in front of me and I yell and drop the very expensive bottle of champagne on the floor.'
Lily laughed. She remembered that incident all too well, what with the two of them standing in front of each other, dripping with champagne. Of course, what followed that had been really special. She reached out and started fingering the button of his shirt. 'Well, I like he way the you talk,' she told him, and he frowned at her. 'Yeah! I do!! You just have your own way of speaking...it's so smart and witty. Really catching.'
James puffed out his chest. 'Well...I do try,' he said modestly.
She gave him a playful shove. But, when James looked down seriously and intently at her, she felt a familiar shiver run up her spine. 'I...I also like it when you look at me like that,' she said in a voice which was barely audible.
James stroked her cheek. 'Lily, I like the way you smile, the way you talk, the way you walk, the way you cry, the way you jump up and down excitedly when you get a promotion, the way sometimes come to my working place with a bag of donuts in your arms, the way your hair flies about your face when it's windy outside, the way you look after you've been soaked wet in the rain, the way you daintily eat your meals...I also love the way you look at me, the way you touch me, the way you kiss me...the way you make me feel special,' he said softly. 'But what I love most about you is the fact that you're my wife. Mine alone.'
Lily stared at him wordlessly for a moment, and then her eyes leaked with tears. She placed her hands on both sides of his face. 'You know, James? That's gotta be the sweetest thing any one ever said to me,' she whispered. James opened his mouth to say something, but she just touched a finger to his lips. She leaned forward and kissed him...deeply. When she pulled away, she was smiling through her tears. 'I simply love you.'
James gave her nose a gentle tweak. 'I love you, too, silly,' he teased her, and she laughed, and hastily wiped her tears away with the back of her hands. 'But, I gotta tell you, Lily, that was one wet kiss...which I love! I really do!'
Lily laughed and started swinging back and forth. She suddenly frowned and looked up at him. 'Hey...I heard Sirius and Remus talking about a bachelor party the other day,' she told him. 'Do you have any idea what's that's about?'
A bachelor party? James shook his head.
-
A/N: Well, how was it? Y'know, while writing the last part I was listening to this really soft music, and I felt all so warm and fuzzy on the inside! Really, I love writing such chapters because they make me feel so happy!! Ah, well, anyway, please review, okie? I'll try to update as soon as possible!!
- S. N. B.
