Chapter 10

"Sweetie, are you sure you don't want to come with your father and I tomorrow?" my mom asks, putting her hand over my father's.

"No!" I respond quickly, and then try to cover my tracks. "I-I mean, I'm sure it's been a while since you two went on a vacation without me."

"Are you sure you'll be okay? Won't you be bored and lonely? Why don't you have Lily sleepover? And then maybe you guys can invite Petunia over too. Rose is always saying how she rarely sees Petunia with any friends. She says her boyfriend – I think his name is Ferdinand or, or Vernon maybe – does take her out on dates, but other than that she rarely gets out of the house to have some fun. It'll be nice of you to invite her. Plus, Petunia is home from London for the holidays but Rose wants her to visit more often. That's why inviting her to do things and making friends with her is another good idea." She starts to clean the dinner table with Bonkys help.

"I'm having people stay over already, but I can see if Petunia wants to come." I say begrudgingly.

"Boys?" my dad asks me.

"Yesss, but Lily's going to be there too so you needn't worry."

"I don't know Aly, maybe we should stay home. Did you know that boys are coming?"

"I trust our daughter Phil, as should you."

My dad huffs and puff. I roll my eyes at the two of them and owl Lily to come over.

"Did you want anything to eat?" I ask her as I pour some hot tea into two floral glass cups.

"No thanks. I've barely eaten anything all day. Tomorrow is the first time I'm hanging out with James outside of school. I'm just anxious." Lily says.

"You've really never seen him outside of Hogwarts?" I ask in disbelief.

She shakes her head.

"In the past he's always owled me to come over to his house or go to Diagon Alley or something, but I usually just ignored those letters."

"Well not anymore." I grin at her. "My parents want me to invite Petunia to hang out with us tomorrow." Lily grimaces. "That was my reaction too. Do you think she'll come though?"

"I love Tuney and everything, but she hates having anything to do with magic. I'll still ask her though."

"I doubt we'll be using magic for anything anyways."

"That doesn't matter to Tuney; it's the association that bothers her. She and I used to be so close before I went off to Hogwarts and now she rarely talks to me because she fears she'll somehow be associated with magic."

"Maybe you could just not tell her that these boys are from school. Make up a story of how we met them and it should be fine. Maybe she could bring her boyfriend too!" I suggest.

"I'll try that. Thanks for trying to make her welcone." She smiles and looks around. "Did you finish all that school work the Professors gave to us? It's like they don't want us to do anything else over break! Usually I'm okay with that because I huddle up in my room and do the work and everything, but now I kind of have a life."

"I know. Thankfully though I got it done earlier this week. All I have left is a 2 foot Ancient Runes essay on the hieroglyphics found in some cave, transcribe the meaning, and relate it to some culture."

"You're further ahead than me! I haven't started anything. I've become such a slacker! I blame you – I've been hanging out with you too much." She teases.

"Well then!" I laugh. "So…want to help me clean for tomorrow?"

"Sure, the only other option for me is doing that crummy schoolwork."

The next 2 ½ hours Lily and I ensure that every nook and cranny is cleaned of cobwebs and dust. I invite her to stay the night and she agrees at first, but then decides that she should probably start her work for school. I wave goodbye to her as she hurries back through the cold, nippy air to her to warm home."