A/N: This is a really great chapter. It's got a lot of information and is really important. It's got some fun to. It's basically leading up to the wedding and the rest of Christmas Break.
Chapter 9: Meeting Jake
The Christmas holidays were approaching rather quickly. In fact, Lily was currently in a compartment with James, Joady, Jazz, Sirius, and Remus, and Peter on the Hogwarts Express. Lily couldn't wait to get home. This vacation would not only play host to the traditional "x-mas traditions" but also to her sisters wedding. Lily had been excitedly awaited this all year, no matter how much she despised Vernon. She had even told James about her dress, something he surprisingly enjoyed. Maybe it was because he was still shocked she was talking to him, she wasn't sure.
And so their they were, on the train talking about whatever came to mind. By the time the others had realized the train was stopped Lily had already grabbed her trunk and opened the compartment door. When outside, Lily scanned for her mum, however Jazz's mom and brother had found her first. "
"Hey Lily, its been a while." Jazz's mom said.
"Oh I know. I miss your house. Maybe after the wedding I can come and visit." Lily smiled.
"Hey Lemon." Jazz's brother Chris smiled. Lily dropped her head in embarrassment and giggled. When she looked up her checks were slightly red. The boys found this very odd, Lily didn't blush or giggle, but Jody just rolled her eyes. Then Lily spotted her mom, no one could miss the Evans flaming hair. Lily waved to Jazz's mom and hugged Chris. Then she turned around to her friends and gave Joady and Jazz a hug, and said "See you at the wedding." She then shook both Sirius' and Remus' hands. She paused on James. As she hugged him farewell he whispered, "Owl me if you need anything," in her ear. Lily smiled and skipped off to her mum, her trunk levitated and following her.
"Lily's home!" Lily's mum shouted out when they arrived home.
Lily's dad came rushing out and gave her a great "bear" hug. Petunia was next, wheeling Jake out. Lily ran up and gave Jake a hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Hey Ibis!" She smiled and hugged him again tighter. He didn't look to well and it scared Lily a bit.
"Hey Sis." Lily hugged Petunia. "Best Wishes until the wedding"
"Thanks Sweets." Petunia said. "Lets go fit your dress. The wedding is in a few days you know."
"Hey Boys!" Mr. Potter called to James and Sirius. "Who was that"
"Lilllllllly." Sirius nudged James, who smiled big.
"Oh, so that was Lily. She's pretty." Mrs. Potter spoke up.
"Well, lets go. We want to give you presents before we leave." Mr. Potter said stiffly.
"Do you guys really have to go at Christmas?" Sirius asked sadly.
"Yeah," James sighed. He was used to being without them on Christmas by now. At least his friends would be with him this year. "Lets go."
The Next Day at the Evans-
'Ring. Ring.' Petunia rushed to the phone. Lily and her mum listened in on what they could make of the conversation:
"Oh. That's horrible. Is he okay?" Petunia asked.
"But... but..." Petunia seemed a loss for words.
"Okay, sure." Petunia sighed.
"Who was that Honey?" Mrs. Evans asked. "Jim is sick, he got food poisoning. He can't make the wedding." Petunia said, clearly overwhelmed.
"There's no one on Vernon's side available. And no one on ours if you think about it. This is a disaster." Petunia shrieked"Well how about...?" Mrs. Evans tried.
"We have no one either Mum!" Petunia whined. "What about a friend? You guys have friends. Wouldn't that work?" Lily offered despite to help. She didn't want her sisters wedding ruined.
"No, that just won't work Sweets." Petunia cried out in defeat.
But Mrs. Evans was smiling. "That's perfect Lils." "Huh?" Lily and Petunia looked at each other.
"What about one of those nice boys you were saying good bye to when I picked you up. That would work. And you don't have a date. It would be perfect." Mrs. Evans' eyes lit up.
"Yes." Petunia screamed. "Get him. He can be in the wedding. It'll work. This will be perfect. Get a hold of him Sweets, now"
"But.. they'll... It'll... prank." Lily tried to warn them.
"Lily, please. For me!" Petunia whined.
Lily sighed and nodded. "What have I done?" She whimpered as she went up to her room to contact the Marauders.
Dear Remus-
Are you busy this Christmas? I hope not. I could use your help if you don't mind. My sister's wedding is in two days and we need a fill in. We don't have many options left and I was wondering If you could come?
Your Friend- Lily
Lily-
I wish with I could help you, really I do. But I have fallen ill. I?m sorry. I hope your sisters wedding goes well. Try Sirius, or James, I?m sure they'd love to help.
- Remus!
Lily took a swift intake of breath. Remus was the only safe person. She did wish to invite James, but he was a trouble maker at heart. Could she risk it? She had no choice. She dipped her quill in the ink and set to work.
Dear James-
She scribbled it out. She didn't want to sound desperate.
Dear Potter-
She scribbled that out to. It was rude, and she was asking him to give up his vacation for her.
James-
Perfect!
She continued:
James-
My sisters wedding is in a few days, as you know. She is real excited about it, but we have a small problem. One of the ushers is sick. I don't wish to ruin your holidays with your family, but if you'd like to come and fill in It'd be appreciated.
-Lily
Lily read it over twice. It'll do, she thought . She folded it and stuffed it into an envelope. She whistled for Elly, her owl and handed her the note. Lily closed her eyes and fell back on her bed, wondering if she did the right thing. James? words popped into her head, 'Owl me if you need anything.' She smiled and drifted of to sleep.
At the Potter's Manner: In James and Sirius' Room:
"Yeah, Mooney. It'll be a great full moon! You'll have a-" Sirius was cut of by a tapping on the window. "Hey, It's Elly. Lily's owl." James said turning his gaze to the window. Peter ran up to the window and grabbed the letter.
"It's for... Mooney?" Peter said, handing to letter to Remus. Remus opened up the letter and let read the letter with a frown.
"What is it?" James asked.
"Oh. Lily needs help, but I can't. I mean it's a full moon and all. She wouldn't want a warewolf at her sisters wedding. Maybe you could go, James." Remus said sadly.
"But I can't just leave you alone." James protested.
"He won't be alone," Sirius said standing up. "Me and Wormtail will be with him. It'll be fine. Go to her." Sirius said.
"Well, only if she asks." James smiled softly. "But if you need anything"
"We wont!" Peter squeaked.
The Evans'
The family dog, Kirt, jumped on Lily and barked madly. She stroked his glossy fur. She yawned, but kept her eyes firmly shut until she notice something was wrong. Kirt never barked unless he felt threatened. Lily summarily lifted and let her covers fall. Her eyes grew wide and she gasped and grabbed her sheet in a desperate and failed attempt to cover herself up.
"What are you doing here?" she questioned her guest.
Hey Lils" James laughed at her. She was in a light yellow camisole and matching yellow pajama shorts with flowers on them. Lily was trying to cover herself with a thin sheet he could easily see through. "You invited me, remember? The wedding"
"Wedding?" Lily thought aloud. She scared herself for a moment when a picture of her and James atop a wedding cake popped into her mind. "Oh yes. Petunia's. But what are you doing here?" Lily lifted her arms and wisped them around indicating her room.
"Oh. Your mom recognized me and told me to head on up"
"Great. I'll have to talk to her about that." Lily muttered to herself. "Do you mind if I change?" Lily asked as she stood up, out of bed.
"Not at all!" James replied enthusiastically and set down on Lily's desk.
"That's not what I meant James!" Lily blushed.
"Fine." James said in fake disappointment.
Lily came out a few minutes later in very short jean shorts a pair of white tennis shoes and a white tank top. Her hair had been thrown up into a cute, messy ponytail and she had on black eyeliner and clear lip gloss. James thought she was the most beautiful person ever.
"You do know it's snowing outside, right?" James smiled.
"Yes. But this is Jake's favorite outfit. Wanna visit him with me?" Lily asked.
"Um ...sure." James said unsure what to do. "Okay, c'mon." Lily grabbed James' wrist, much to his comfort, and led him down the hall to an black door. She knocked in a rhythm James had heard her hum before and then opened the door and walked in.
The room had clearly been lightened up by the family. Posters and magazines and bight colors filled the room. But nevertheless the room had a sense of death in it. It was depressing and scary. It made James feel like he was going to be sick. He felt so sorry for Jake, Lily, and the rest of her family.
"Hey lil' bro. This is James. He's going to stand in for Jim in Petunia's wedding." Lily smiled at the fragile creature.
"Hi James," Jake waved weakly. "Lily talks about you all the time." He said in fake innocence. James smiled.
"Don't you go lying to him like that." Lily tried to cover up. "You want to go skating with me"
"Can't. Doctor Kim says I'm to weak to get in the chair for a while. You can go though." Jake smiled.
"Sure I can. Still won't be as fun without you. Are you sure?" Lily asked.
"Yes. Skating is you're favorite. Go. I'll be fine." Jake choked out.
"Okay." Lily got up and nodded her head at James gesturing him out the door. He left and Lily followed him after a second glance at Jake.
"Flower!" Jake cried out.
"Yes." Lily rushed back to his side"Never mind." he said weakly.
"You sure?" Lily asked. Jake nodded and she walked slowly to the door. "Love you Ibis!" She whispered and shut the door, a tear in her eye.
Lily found James standing outside the door waiting for her.
"You okay Lil?" James asked wiping a tear from her cheek.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Lily said, sniffing back her tears, and swiping his hand away. "I need to go tell my mum I'm going skating. You're coming right? I don't want to go alone." "Sure! I'd love to." James said. This was a good idea, coming to see Lily. "But what is 'skating"
"Well someone doesn't pay attention in Muggle Studies. It's well- er?" Lily tried to explain. "You'll see. I'm sure you'll love it. I just need to tell mum I'm going and change. I'll get you some skates. Be back in a minute." She smiled.
James went to the room Lily's mum had pointed out to him. It was were he was going to stay. Only the doubled sided bathroom separated his and Lily's room. He feel back on the bed and stared at the white ceiling, thinking. Lily was an extraordinary girl, this he had always known. But she was always happy, always smiling. He had never seen her cry, just yell. She hid her emotions well. And now that James thought about it, that was probably a bad thing. With all she had to deal with, James didn't understand how she could be so calm about Jake. Just standing in the room with him was so depressing. The boy was crippled and looked like a prune he was so wrinkly. His head was slightly large and he was very pink.
Just then Lily came in. She had on a pair of low riser black pants and a powder blue sweater and matching scarf. Her hair was wavy and down, curling around her ears and neck. She had on blue striped socks, but no shoes. She had a black duffle bag and something that looked to James, like big, ugly, shoes with wheels on them.
"These are skates, James." Lily said. "I'm going to rollerblade over to the ice rink. I think you can fly if you'd allow me to transfigure the look of your broom to a bike." Lily said digging through the duffle.
"It wont harm it, right?" James asked.
"No, and I can change it back in no time. Just don't fly so fast, okay?" Lily replied rolling her eyes. "Let's go down"
Lily and James walked down stairs and Lily threw on the skates. James was fascinated by the way she rolled down the street. He thought it looked so easy though. He wondered how it worked. They had reached a cabin and Lily chained up James' broom.
"Come on, James. We need to rent you ice skates." Lily said. She started to explain, he looked very confused. "They have blades. You do this," Lily skated a bit as example, "but on the ice." She pointed to the ice rink.
"Okay, I can do that." James said, sure he could something a muggle could.
Lily roller bladed her way up to the counter and brought back James some skates. They were tattered, and worn, but fit perfectly. She then took off her blades and set them in the duffle. She took out her own ice skates. They were flawless, bright, glittering white with silk laces.
"Why do mine look like this, and yours look like that?" James asked jealously.
"I bought these, only I wear them. When you barrow them other people have used them. Just like brooms back at school." Lily explain. She thought James had more common sense than this.
Lily and James slowly made their way out to the ice. Lily tossed off the blade protector and James fallowed suit. She stepped on the ice and glided out a bit. James tried the same, thinking this would be easy. He was wrong. The ice was slippery and his legs fell out in front of him. He had to grab onto the separating rail to keep balance. Lily giggled. "You think it's easy?" James asked. He hadn't seen her skate at all. She had glided back to the edge to see if he needed help.
"Well, yes I do." Lily giggled as James' legs slid out again.
"Let's see then." James said smugly.
"Fine." Lily sighed as if she had been challenged this same thing every day of her life.
As she glided out to the middle of the rink a boy that worked at the rink and stood by James.
"Is that Lily Evans?" The boy asked.
"Er... yeah, it is." James responded.
"I wouldn't have done that if I were you." The boy smiled.
"And why is that?" James questioned uncomprehendingly.
"Just watch." the boy pointed to the middle of the rink where Lily now stood. She waved to James then started to spin slowly, then quickly gaining speed. She lifted her left leg and spiraled down, faster and faster. Then slowly she spun upwards, bringing her leg back into position and gracefully arched backwards and slid in a circle, then a figure eight. She then resumed form, skated around until she felt comfortable and preformed a dainty and perfectly small axel. She then went racer and sped all the way back to James and braked quickly, causing ice to fly onto him.
James wiped the ice off and blinked, "Wow!" he mouthed.
"Your turn." Lily smiled.
Lily spent over half the day teaching James; first to stand, then to glide, then to skate. He was a fast learner, but it was fun to see something he wasn't perfect at, something she was better at, and she liked that.
"I'm going to get something to eat. You can sit down if you want." Lily told James a few hours after trying to teach James some skating.
James looked at the tables and saw the boy that told him not to challenge Lily. He sat down, "hey".
"Oh hi, I'm Ned." the boy looked up. "You're the boy with Lily."
"Yeah, James..." James smiled. "About that. How do you know Lily?"
"Everyone around the rink knows Lily. She would come here everyday, even in the summer. We thought she would go all the way. Professional skating and everything. She did a few mini competitions and was on her way to something a lot bigger when she got accepted to some boarding school. She left and so did her dreams of skating." Ned said.
"Oh." James' head was spinning. Lily wasn't just good, but she was Nationals and Olympics good. All this stuff he had learned about in Muggle Studies.
"Well Lily is over there." He pointed. "So I should go, but It was great meeting you." James smiled.
"Same to you." Ned said.
James greeted Lily and set down to eat, his mind spinning with what he had just learned. Lily had a gift, and she was stuck at Hogwarts.
A/N: This was a fun chapter to write. I hope you enjoyed it... oh I know, you can let me know. lol, please REVIEW!!!!!! Until next chapter...
xoxo - RiriRavenclaw
