Chapter Eleven: My idea
James sat at the Evans' table chewing slowly on a piece of bacon. Across the table from him, Vernon was glaring daggers and stabbing at his own food. A scummy bit of fried egg was stuck in his bushy moustache and wobbling grotesquely as he swallowed. James bit back a grin.
"More bacon James?" Lily's mother, Alison, allowed two more slices to slide onto his plate without waiting for his answer. She seemed to have taken a liking to her youngest daughter's choice of boyfriend, though James was sure that if he hadn't been on his best ever behaviour then it'd be a different story.
"Thanks Alison," he grinned, ploughing back into his food. The older woman chuckled.
"You seem to be getting through it pretty quickly anyway."
"It's been a while since I had such a good breakfast." This was true. Breakfast at the flat mainly consisted of scraping together whatever edible leftovers could be found from last night and forcing them down with a glass of water.
Alison smiled and turned to Vernon. "What about you Vernon? More egg?"
James snorted into his food, and Vernon looked suspiciously across at him. "No thank you Mrs Evans."
At that moment Lily came into the kitchen, yawning and still wearing her lilac pyjamas. "Morning everyone."
James smiled at her through his food, and she pulled a face. "Urgh. It's way too early for that kind of sight."
"What? My face? Thanks."
Alison laughed as Lily sat down and accepted her own breakfast. As she did so, James finished off his last piece of bacon and sat back with a sigh, hands on his abdomen. "Ugh. Seriously, do you guys eat like this everyday? 'Cos I might just have to move in."
The breakfast continued in a comfortable silence, broken only by the sound of chewing and cutlery on china. And some time later James and Lily were packing up their things, getting ready to go.
"Did you see Vernon had egg on his moustache?" crowed James, and Lily looked up at him.
"You're a bit harsh on him, you know that?"
"I've been nothing," he declared, "but sweetness to that man. It's not my fault that he sucks joy out of everything. He's like dementor on drugs." He threw his wash bag into the case and looked up into Lily's confused face. James rolled his eyes. "Dementors? They guard the prison? Azkaban?"
"They do?"
"Yep," James grinned up at her. "But of course, you knew that."
"Of course," said Lily. She looked up at James from folding her clothes, a small smile on her lips.
Just then Petunia came through the door, carrying a few books James supposed belonged to Lily. He also got the impression, from the way her lips were pressed tightly together, that she'd been listening to their conversation.
"These are yours," she said shortly, passing the books to her sister. She then cast James a suspicious look before vanishing out of the room.
James sighed. "I can already tell that she and I are going to be the best of friends..."
"Yeah," agreed Lily, somewhat sadly, "Sirius better watch his back."
"Well James, it's been lovely having you here," smiled Alison. James grinned charmingly back at her.
"The pleasure," he smiled, "was all mine." He then gave her an elaborate bow and a kiss on the back of the hand. Lily rolled her eyes at her blushing mother and flirtatious boyfriend, and turned to her father.
"Bye Dad, I'll see you at Christmas." She cast a look back at the closed kitchen door. "Say goodbye to Petunia."
"Will do," replied her father, pulling her into a deep hug before shaking James' hand firmly. "Look after Lily for me, alright James?"
"Of course - though she'll probably be looking after me!"
Suddenly, there was a bellow from inside the kitchen that was so loud it drowned out Michael Evans' belly laugh. It sounded like a cross between a rhino about to charge and a giant giving birth, and both Lily and her parents spun round to gawk at the closed door. James, on the other hand, grabbed Lily's wrist and smiled broadly at them all. "Well, it was nice to see you…"
Another yell from the depths of the house – this time a high-pitched shriek. James' grin brightened. "Best be off!"
He dragged his protesting girlfriend from her home, and the two of them climbed into the waiting taxi. James leaned forward to speak to the heavily bearded young driver. "Step on in Mike."
"My name's not-"
"I said… step on it Mike."
That was when Vernon appeared at the door. He was scrabbling at his face, which seemed… odd somehow. Lily twisted in her seat as the taxi drew away, peering out of the back window. That was when she realised. Vernon Dursley seemed to be missing his nose.
And, from the way her mother and sister were staring at the back of his head, she had a pretty good idea where it was.
Lily turned and fixed James, who was humming casually under his breath while looking determinedly out the window, with a cold glare. James seemed to tense, and slowly turned round. He looked casually back for a second before giving a faint sigh. "What'd I do now?"
"Stop the car Mike."
"I'm not called –" protested the driver. Then he caught sight of Lily's furious green eyes in his wing mirror and gulped.
"Right you are Miss." And the taxi drew to a shuddering halt on the corner of St George's Street.
That afternoon James had bid a cheery goodbye to a still fuming Lily and was bouncing happily along a busy urban street. Sure, it had taken Lily fifteen of her valuable minutes (as she had put it) to return Vernon's face back to its previous arrangement, but there was something about seeing a grown man splutter with rage that was just… uplifting. James smiled to himself as he weaved in and out of the tired commuters and tourists alternatively, gaining him a few odd looks in the process. Then something made him jump.
"James!"
James whirled round to see Remus, Peter and Sirius on the other side of the road. Sirius had his hands clapped round his mouth and was shouting so loudly that the people passing were jumping and looking pained in equal amounts. James grinned across at them and shouted back. "Yeah?"
"When did you get back?"
"About half an hour ago!"
"Awesome! Good time at the Evans'?"
Remus, ever the voice of reason, decided it was his turn to bellow across the crowded London street. "Why are we shouting at each other?"
"Because there's too many people to cross the road!" yelled Sirius to Remus, who winced and clapped his hands over his ears.
"Pads! Dude! I'm right next to you!"
"Meh…"
Meanwhile, James scuttled across the road (ignoring the blaring horns of the red London buses) and fell into step beside them. "I met Lily's sister."
"Ah. I hear good things about her," said Sirius gravely.
"She looks like her horse."
"Right."
"And her fiancé. He's a walrus. Seriously, it's like a zoo in that house."
"Well I guess that explains why you felt so at home there, eh James?" grinned Sirius, before hooting with laughter. The others treated him to blank expressions as he calmed down and shook his head. "Man, I am on fire today! Tell him Wormtail."
"Yes," Peter leaned over Sirius to look gravely at James. "Apparently he is on fire today. Not that we've noticed…"
"And not literally either. Though it's getting more and more likely," added Remus from James' other side, glaring at Sirius, who shrugged.
"You two are lucky I recognise your slightly abusive sense of humour," he said haughtily, "Anyone else would have been insulted."
"Who's joking?"
"Anyway," cut in James. "As much as I enjoy slagging off Sirius… and I do, believe me. But where are you guys off to?"
"The pub, I'm guessing." Remus shrugged, "we didn't actually have a specific place in mind."
A woman carrying her body weight in bags attempted to get past the quartet and shoved them to opposite sides of the pavement. Blinking, they watched her lumber past, before joining up again. James gave Peter a friendly punch on the arm. "Well, enjoy that guys. I'm going back to the flat."
"You meeting Lily there?"
"Yep."
"Right…" Sirius glanced at Peter, who pulled a face. "Well, don't expect us home this evening then. Or ever, most likely."
"Yeah," agreed Peter, "I do plan to eat sometime today."
The three laughed while James rolled his eyes and wondered whether or not he should beat one of them up. Eventually, after seeing a helmeted policeman on the corner, he decided against it. "So… I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Tomorrow! Oh how I await the day, my dear Prongs!" cried Sirius after James' retreating back, "Huzzah!" He gave an enthusiastic bow which nearly knocked a hassled looking businessman underneath a moving taxi. Ignoring the waves of abuse being shouted at him, and Sirius straightened up. "Missing you already!"
Remus groaned and grabbed hold of Sirius' collar, pulling him away from the violent looking crowd gathering.
"Thanks for that Prongs," he called, "We just got him to shut up."
James grinned and tipped an imaginary hat at his friends, "I do what I can." And with that he was swallowed up by the jostling crowd.
"So…" James took out his key and unlocked the door to the flat, "are you still mad at me?"
Lily sighed, "I should be…"
"But? You're not? I mean, let's be honest here. You don't like Vernon either."
Lily laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"But look! I'm gonna make it up to you! Look," James pushed open the front door and gestured inside, "an empty flat…"
Lily looked suspicious, and took a step inside. "Is it actually empty? Or empty 'like it was the other day' empty?"
"Actually empty. The others are out at the pub." James gestured her inside. He quickly disappeared into the kitchen and the sound of glasses chinking together soon drifted through. Lily sighed and pulled off her long coat, laying it carefully on the only part of the sofa that seemed clean. It was crumpled and Lily reached down to straighten it. However, as her fingertips touched the dark material, something beneath it quivered, and her hand snapped backwards. Lily stared and then, ever so slowly, picked up a corner of the coat to peer beneath it. Something licked her wrist.
Lily gave an ear splitting scream – more from shock than anything – and threw the coat on the floor. Before it had even settled properly she was in the kitchen, panting and pointing back at the living room. "James… James! It… something licked me!"
"What?" James put down the bottle and picked up two glasses, frowning. Lily took a deep, claming breath.
"Something licked me, James."
"Oh, don't mind that," said James, handing her a glass of wine. "It's just Albus." He noticed her questioning look. "The puffskein"
Lily stared, fighting between amused and disgusted. "You named the puffskein Albus? After our headmaster?"
"Yep."
"Well… it was the obvious choice," said Lily sarcastically. Then she shook her head, looking around her nervously. "Couldn't you make him visible?"
"We would, but we can't catch him…" He shook his head, "He's a smart little bugger… just like the real Albus."
Lily didn't know why he suddenly had an Irish accent.
"Anyway," James dropped the voice and put down his glass. "Come with me. I want to talk to you."
Lily put down her own glass on the side, the dark red liquid glinting, and followed James into the living room. She was more than a bit surprised when he opened the window, climbed onto the sill, and pulled himself up onto the roof. He had completely disappeared from view, being replaced with a stiff, cold breeze from outside, when she recovered herself and glanced upwards. Was it her imagination, or could she hear him scrabbling around above her?
Lily swallowed and approached the window, where the curtains were blowing back into the flat like a pair of blue ghosts. "James?" She said, "Why are we…"
She peered out of the window, her gaze automatically zoning into the pavement so far below.
"James? I don't think…"
James' hand appeared, dangling in front of her. She ignored it for a second, determined to get up herself. But after a second the fingers wiggled, almost teasingly. Lily glared at the hand but grabbed hold of it. For a second she examined the way their fingers knotted automatically together, at the contrast between his callused, knobbly knuckles and her own, so much paler and smoother. Then, without warning, he pulled hard, causing her shoulder to almost pop out of its socket.
"James!"
"Sorry!"
Lily sighed and, ever so carefully, climbed out of the window. She braced herself on the thick windowsill, still clutching onto James' hand with all her strength. James pulled again and she pushed upwards with her legs, so she was balanced precariously feet above the pavement.
"Oh god…" she muttered, before turning and hauling herself upwards onto the roof. As she flailed helplessly with her stomach on the cold tiles and legs dangling in mid air, she was suddenly very grateful she's decided against wearing a skirt.
"Hang on!" called James, sliding down next to her and grabbing her under the arms. She shouted out in pain as he attempted to drag her fully onto the roof, and he stopped for a second. Lily, still half on, half off the roof, huffed angrily.
"Well this is romantic," she muttered, and James grinned sheepishly at her.
"Sorry. Come on, just brace your arms." He watched Lily struggle for a minute, "You know, if you played Quidditch we wouldn't be having this problem."
Seconds later and Lily was crouched on the tiles, giving James an angry look. "You were saying?"
James leaned over and kissed her gently. "Nothing important." He settled back on the roof, patting the space beside him until Lily slided into it. "Unlike now. Now I have something to say that is very important. Well, not important as in 'the sun's going to explode' important but important in the same way that 'I think I hate –"
He was nervous. Lily could tell from the way he was babbling. Not that James didn't babble normally, but he was doing so a lot more at the moment. She placed a hand on his, and he turned to look at her.
"James. Shut up and say whatever you're trying to say."
"Oh… sorry. Okay. Well, you know I love you? And you love me, right?"
"Yes, of course… Wait," Lily's eyes widened, "You're not asking me to marry you are you?"
James' eyes widened in terror. "No!" He stared at her. "You don't want me to, do you?"
"No! Well, not right now…" Lily trailed off, embarrassed.
"Oh thank Merlin. 'Cos I don't have a ring or anything." Lily couldn't understand how he could be so brazen about something like this. He shook his head, black hair flopping into his face. "Anyway, I had an idea."
Lily leant back, relaxing onto her elbows. "Which was?"
"My idea," said James, biting his lip slightly anxiously, "is that you, and me, obviously, or it wouldn't work. You could try to on your own but –"
"James. You're doing it again."
"Oh… sorry. Well –" he sat up to look properly. "How about if we move in together?"
Lily was quiet for one long moment, her green eyes staring into the London skyline. The sun was beginning to go down and there was a strip of orange and red across the horizon. Buildings were silhouetted against it, painted a deep black while a single plane powered along behind them, leaving a white trail across the sky.
Lily bit her lip, eyebrows pulled down. "Move in together?" James didn't answer and Lily turned to him. "I mean - are you sure?"
"Definitely."
Lily nodded slightly, examining the tiles and picking at the moss growing between the gaps. Then, what seemed like a lifetime later, she looked back up at him. "Okay. Why not?"
