I think everyone's going crazy waiting for James to turn up, aren't they? Don't worry, he turns up in chapter 11 (I think). This story will have around 20 chapters by the time its finished so you will still have lots of opportunity to see him in action, don't panic!
I apologise (and maybe I should have done it from the start) for the common mistakes you will find in my writing. Words like he/she are often mixed up as are your/you're and probably things like to/too/two and their/there/they're as well. I know perfectly well how to differentiate between them and I know how annoying it is to read these silly mistakes in a story but these are things that my spell checker will not pick up just because I typed them in without thinking. I read over my work before I post it to check for errors like this, but I suppose because I am too familiar with the text I often skim over the mistakes without noticing them. I do not have a beta. Sorry again, I hope it does not disrupt your reading too much.
Lily had flirted shamelessly during the entire journey, much to Evan's displeasure. She could see him watching her with John in the rear-view mirror; a deep crevice forming between his eyebrows. He was not happy. The idea of course was to get closer to John, not piss off the assistant, so she had to be careful too. Evans could quite easily blow her cover if he dug deep enough or went snooping – which she didn't doubt he would do at some point during their visit. She had padlocked her suitcase just to be safe. He certainly wouldn't have second thoughts about turning John against her with some incriminating evidence.
She also had to be sure she didn't come on too strongly as far as John was concerned either. She had abandoned all hope of forming any real relationship with him – he was now, quite simply, a way of getting what she wanted. But she didn't want to land herself in a sticky situation where John took her incessant flirting as a hint that she wanted to move to the next level of their 'relationship'. Thank goodness he was a gentleman – it would get her through the week at least – and hopefully that was all she needed.
"How do you like it?" John asked, opening her door and allowing her to step out onto the gravel driveway.
She looked up at the quaint country house he had brought her to. "This is yours?"
He laughed, closing the door behind her and extending his arm for her to take. "No, no," he said. "It is a – a guest house – rented for one week. The bags, Evans," he added over his shoulder, leading Lily to the door.
The thought of leaving Evans with her case was not appealing but she hardly had any grounds on which to object, and so followed John into the hallway as he opened the door. Now this is what she had expected John's house to look like, she thought, seeing the ancient looking furniture, the smell of dust in the air. Stupid man should have taken this house from the beginning if he was serious about this 'antique dealer' masquerade.
Evans appeared in the doorway soon after and John ushered him upstairs with the luggage while he and Lily explored the living room. "You must be in your element," she smiled, eyeing all the little trinkets cluttering the shelves.
"Quite," he replied and she turned to see him admiring a piano at the far end of the room. "Isn't it magnificent?" he asked.
She stepped toward him, watching as he lifted the cover, displaying the ivory keys beneath. "Do you play?"
"Unfortunately not," he sighed. "Yourself?"
"Very little," she replied honestly.
He gave a sigh before closing the lid. "That is too bad. Evans plays I believe, perhaps he will provide some entertainment for us."
Lily forced a smile. "I can hardly wait."
They continued to walk around the house, John commenting on the odd bit of furniture until they reached the hall again and started upstairs. At the top of the landing there were, to Lily's surprise, only three doors. One was clearly a bathroom as it stood ajar and she presumed the remaining two to be bedrooms. Only two bedrooms. They were sharing? Oh dear…
Evans could be heard moving around in one of the rooms. John however, ushered her toward the nearest one. Her case stood beside the bed.
"I see Evans has allocated you this one," John observed. "I do hope floral is to your taste," he added warily eyeing the décor. It was a little extravagant she admitted, but she was more concerned with the discovery that they had separate rooms for the stay – he was clearly sharing with Evans – the vile man would be insufferable after this but thank God anyway.
"Shall I unpack for you, Sir?"
Lily and John turned to see Evans standing in the doorway. John waved a hand in the affirmative.
"I should offer the same service to Miss Winchester but it seems she has something she wishes to keep safeguarded," he added with a slight smirk at the case. His eyes flicked up to smile at her innocently. Bastard. John glanced at her in confusion.
"The zip is faulty," she told him offhandedly. "I used a padlock to keep it closed. I will unpack myself, you needn't worry yourself Mr Evans," she added with a pointed look.
The man narrowed his eyes in clear suspicion and opened his mouth as though to question her on it further but Lily cut him off.
"Shall we explore the garden?" she asked suddenly, turning to John.
"I think it's more of a forest," John chortled, looking past her and out of the window. "Would we find our way out of it before the end of the month do you think?"
"You're right," she sighed in mock distress. "We could get lost, for hours, with only each other for company."
John raised an eyebrow, grinning like a schoolboy once more. And for the smallest of moments she thought she saw something else; something that was anything but the gentleman she knew him to be. Like the way a long time lover might look at his partner – like the way James used to look at her sometimes – like he knew he was going to get some because she was his and that was just what they did.
"Mr Smith," Evans cut in sharply. "We really should go over the schedule for the-"
And then it was gone. "Not now," John cut him off, suddenly irritable. He startled Lily with his quick temper and for a fleeting moment she even felt sorry Evans who looked embarrassed to be 'told off' so publicly. How sad that he should be in love with this man who clearly held no regard for him other than as his assistant.
"We can see the gardens later," Lily suggested, tentatively touching John's arm.
"Yes, yes," John replied looking awkward about his outburst. He looked apologetically toward Evans but only for a second. "Excuse me, I – I might take a rest; the car journey has tired me. We shall begin tomorrow," he said directly to Evans who now looked as sour and as serious as ever. "Would you mind terribly, Abigail if we parted until dinner?" he added, now looking at Lily.
"Not at all."
& & &
There
was not a lot of daylight left but Lily could not bring herself to
sit and talk to Evans while John napped upstairs. She unpacked her
heavy coat from her case (padlocking it securely afterwards) with the
intention of walking down to the village they had passed through on
their way here. Evans, unsurprisingly, had no objections. On the way
she transfigured her hair and eyes back to their normal state. She
had never been Abigail Winchester for such a long period of time
before – it was nice to be herself for a change.
The village was very small; one main street with shops and houses and a few side roads leading to various farms (so she imagined from the amount of paddocks they had driven by). The church marked the head of one end and she thought it ironic that the pub should mark the other. The shops were closed and the only light emitted from a few lamps in house windows and of course the pub.
It was busier than she had expected considering the size of the town and speaking to a few people at the bar she soon discovered there was a wedding coming up and many of the guests had arrived from England. The bride herself she discovered quite by accident as they both waited to use the loo.
"Congratulations," Lily told her, spying the enormous engagement ring of her left hand.
"Thanks," she replied. "Are you on Anthony's side?"
Lily laughed lightly. "Oh no, I'm here with… friends."
"Sorry," the bride smiled. "I heard an English accent. You're on holiday then?"
She nodded. "We're staying in the guest-house on the hill."
"Oh it's lovely, isn't it?" the bride cooed. "I wanted it for the reception but it turns out Anthony had more relatives than I realised; we're having it here," she added with the slightest grimace. "He was born in this village – his parents still live here. I wanted it in London but they insisted he be married in the church down the street."
"I don't suppose I would really care where I was married," Lily said thoughtfully. "As long as all my friends and family turned up."
The bride nodded and turned back to the occupied toilet in silence. Lily couldn't help but feel as though she had stuck a nerve somewhere.
"I'm sorry, did I say something?"
The bride looked back at her pitifully. "My parents are… no longer with us," she said quietly.
"Oh I'm sorry," Lily apologised. "I didn't realise." She hesitated for a moment. "Though if it helps, I know how you must be feeling."
The bride gave her a doubtful look.
"My folks passed when I was in school," Lily explained.
The bride nodded before extending Lily a hand. "Martha," she said with a soft smile.
"Lily," she returned.
The toilet flushed and a woman emerged, allowing Martha to go next. "This may sound odd," she said, before closing the cubicle door behind her. "But would you like to come on Sunday? The numbers on my side are tragically low."
Lily smiled. "I'd love to."
Lily returned to the house after dark, having spent the past hour being introduced to the entire wedding party as 'Martha's friend from England'. It seemed the poor girl had less friends and family than Lily had first imagined and was very keen to show Lily off. Lily did not mind though. She thought about her own wedding and how many family members she would have to invite herself – one, if Petunia would even show up.
The house smelt of food as she entered and glancing through the house she could see Evans in the kitchen with a saucepan in hand. She caught his eye momentarily and he scowled at her freely before turning away. What was that about?
"Abigail," came John's cry as he quickly descended the stairs. His face looked pale and his eyes wide in alarm. "Where have you been?" He took her roughly by the forearms, dragging her into a very strong embrace. He had never shown so much affection before – it startled her.
"I went for a walk," she replied simply, struggling out of his grasp. "Didn't Evans tell you?"
"He did," John replied coldly, with a glance toward the kitchen. Oh dear, it seemed someone was in trouble again. Lily tried hard not to smile after he had had scowled at her so nastily moments before. "And he should have offered to accompany you. You should not have gone alone in the dark," John began to reprimand her now. "I was worried. I had Evans drive me into the village but I could not see you."
He was in a rush to find her but he still called upon the assistant to drive him? Most Muggles at least knew how to drive even if they didn't have a licence.
"I was in the pub," Lily explained calmly. "Perhaps you missed me."
"Do not treat the matter so lightly," he pressed. "I was going to call the local law enforcement agency."
A Muggle would have simply said 'police'.
"I can assure you there was no need," Lily replied coolly, shrugging off her coat and hanging it over the banister. "I'm still in one piece, aren't I?" she added with a smile.
His expression finally softened and he ran a hand across his brow. "Next time you wish to go out after dark I would prefer it if you went in the company of myself or Evans."
She had no intention of doing either but she nodded obediently. "So, what's for dinner?" she asked, tactfully changing the subject. "Something smells nice." She turned on her heel and strode into the kitchen. Evans gave her a subtle glare before John emerged behind her and crossed to the stove. "I do admire a man that can cook," she attempted to sweeten him, but to no avail.
"If you'd care to make your way to the dining room," he replied tonelessly, roughly shoving a bottle of red into her arms. "I hear you're a great drinker; I hope this will suffice."
Lily ignored the stab, taking the bottle as forcefully as it was passed to her. "Thank you, Mr Evans," she bit out. If only John wasn't lingering over the stove, she thought bitterly. She'd like to smack that scowl right off his ugly face. Instead she went upstairs and changed into the skimpiest frock Ignis had leant her; the one that would have John's eyes flitting to her chest all night. There, that would show him.
& & &
The next morning Lily overslept, which was rather unusual because she'd always been a morning person, but she had to admit it was nice to wake up after the sun for a change and she lay there for a full thirty minutes in a contented daze before getting out of bed. The house seemed rather quiet but she did not dare go investigate until she was showered and dressed and not looking like she had been dragged through a hedge backwards.
She soon discovered that Evans and John were not at home. There was a note from John in the kitchen explaining that they had left on their 'business', whatever that may be, and he did not have the heart to wake her. Glancing at the clock on the wall she discovered it was already mid-day. Christ, how long had she slept for? She cursed herself for having set herself back an entire day – she had wanted to follow them.
The men returned home early in the afternoon and she was pleased when John informed Evans not to bother him for the rest of the day as he wished to spend some time with Abigail. They took a turn around the gardens and he held her hand the entire time. She asked about his morning – had it been successful? But he dismissed the subject quickly, saying that he had had enough of business for one day and with a laugh, that she was almost as bad as Evans.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would not slip up again.
But for a second time Lily awoke around noon. The alarm clock she had dug out from a cupboard yesterday was beeping incessantly, but she hadn't heard it. This was getting ridiculous, she decided as she descended the stairs to once again find an empty house. Another note sat by the kettle. She took the opportunity to see if she could find any papers or evidence of what they had been up to yesterday. All she found was a receipt from the café in the village where they must have stopped for lunch.
"Hello?"
"Ignis, it's Lily."
"Hey, what's going on? You okay?"
"I'm fine," Lily sighed. "Sorry I didn't call yesterday; I didn't have much to report."
"That's okay, though if you didn't call today I was going to come up there myself."
Lily laughed.
"So, found out anything interesting?"
"Unfortunately no," Lily replied irritably. "I keep – I keep missing them. I keep sleeping in."
Ignis snorted. "Some detective you make. Get an alarm or something, nitwit."
"I did," Lily replied, affronted by Ignis' remark. "But it's useless. It's so weird, Ignis. Something funny's going on. I don't feel tired, but I'm getting over twelve hours a night. I get up and they've already gone and when they get home John isn't in the mood for sharing. I've already lost two days."
"Hmm," Ignis said thoughtfully. "It is unusual for you, sleeping in, but nothing to stress over. I tell you one good thing though."
"What's that?"
"If he's there then there's no one at his apartment."
Lily smiled into the receiver. "Meet you there?"
"Way ahead of you, sister."
Pop.
Lily arrived out the front of the building with a slight frown which quickly changed to an expression of alarm as she realised she had just apparated into a busy Muggle street. Somehow nobody seemed to notice as a telephone box blocked her from view, but she let out a slight squeal as someone in the telephone box knocked briskly on the glass. Thankfully it was only Ignis. She looked equally bemused.
"Well," she said, eyeing the telephone box up and down as she emerged from it. "It's not quite as impressive as I expected."
Lily smiled, looking up at the building. "He's got a shield up; we can't apparate inside."
"Definitely a wizard then."
"Oh yes."
The two women entered through the main doors, pressing the button for the elevator. The rode it to the top floor and it didn't surprise Lily that it did not automatically open for them at the top. One of the more advanced unlocking charms did the trick and they entered the apartment.
"You weren't kidding," Ignis snorted, gazing around. "This place is the IKEA showroom."
"Told you," Lily said, making her way to the bedroom. "I want a look in that trunk; I bet it's full of all his magical stuff," she added, indicating for Ignis to follow.
It was not as heavy as she had expected as she pulled it out from beneath the bed. There was no lock and she flipped the catches up, lifting the lid. She had expected moving photographs and potion ingredients. What she found was-
"Clothes?"
"Not just any clothes," Ignis added, dropping to her knees beside Lily. "Women's clothes." She pulled out an elegant looking evening dress. "I reckon John could fit into this, you know," she said honestly.
Lily frowned. "He's a cross dresser?" She began to rummage through the rest of the items, pulling out several pairs of heeled shoes and even some frilly underwear. "You've got to be kidding me." She cringed, dropping a pink bra back into the trunk. "This is – this is not what I expected."
"Weird transvestite theories aside," Ignis said with a slight smirk. "If it's not here, where's he hiding all his magical stuff? Maybe this is his big secret," she added, watching as Lily got to her feet, crossing into the bathroom. "Maybe he's not a wizard at all."
"Memory of a goldfish," Lily muttered under her breath, sliding open the bathroom cabinet, displaying its empty shelves. "Security shield, Ignis."
"Oh yeah," Ignis replied sheepishly, following Lily into the bathroom. "So…any ideas?"
Lily hummed thoughtfully before pulling her wand from her back pocket. "I wonder…" She tapped one of the shelves with her wand. A row of familiar looking wizarding products materialised before their eyes.
"Nice work," Ignis grinned, stepping forward and examining a bottle of Sleek-Easy.
Lily smiled smugly. "Well that satisfies my curiosity but we should get out of here." She took the bottle from Ignis's hand to replace on the shelf. "There's a chance we've triggered an alarm, best not to hang about." But just as she was about to close the cabinet another pot caught her eye. Sleeping potion. She turned to Ignis slowly. "Evans always has a bottle of wine at dinner. He makes fun of my drinking habits; pouring me extra glasses."
"How rude!" Ignis exclaimed. "I hope you-"
"Ignis," Lily cut her off. "That bastard has been drugging me!"
