New chap! I'm sorry it took so long… Really, I am. But it was actually only six days, even though it felt like months to me. I've been really busy with exams and stuff, so forgive me. But don't think it'll change. Until the summer comes, I won't be able to update as often as I did. I'm sorry for any inconvenience, but you have to bear with me.
Disclaimer: I do not in any way own the characters in this story, or the universe.
Claimer: But I do own my OC's Vilde, Julie, Izzy, Diana, Ann(e) [don't remember, no time to check], Daniel, Johnny, the names Charles and Eleanor and something Pickle.
To my lovely reviewers!:
DiamondSunshine: Yeah, imagine him in the outfit… Weird, really… (About Vernon and soccer)
slytherinslut13: I've decided to make sure Petunia does marry Vernon, actually. But I'll make sure he's not some kind of prima donna that thinks he can rule everything until Dudley comes along.
TwinzLover: Vernon is gonna be nice. And he's gonna stay nice. Depend on it ^^
ENJOY THE CHAPTER!
Chapter 21: Acceptance from many parties
When Vilde woke up the next morning, she wasn't happy anymore. She woke up at six a.m.! And the bad thing was she couldn't sleep. In the end, she walked down to the kitchen and found Petunia sitting by the bench.
"Hey, Tuney," Vilde said drowsily.
Petunia turned quickly, holding a hand over her chest. "You scared the jeez out of me!" she exclaimed.
"I'm sorry," Vilde said and walked over to her, sitting down on the bench next to the black-haired girl.
"Why are you up?" Vilde asked.
"I couldn't sleep," Petunia said simply.
"Any reason?" Vilde asked.
"I never … Nothing," Petunia said.
"Oh, come on. Just tell me. I can't judge you," Vilde said.
"Fine. I never treated Lily as a sister after she started Hogwarts. When we learned that she was a witch and all. I just couldn't accept it, because…" Petunia stopped.
"Because it made you feel left out," Vilde added for her.
She knew this. The memories of Snape had been more than just about his love for Lily.
"How did you know?" Petunia asked, not really shocked.
"I'm good at reading people and their emotions?" Vilde more asked than stated.
"Yeah, probably," Petunia said with a weak smile.
"But you know, Lily is always gonna be there for you, if you should start treating her like a sister," Vilde said with a comforting smile.
"You don't hate me for looking down on you and your kind?" Petunia asked.
"Nope. It's completely understandable. People don't like what they don't understand," Vilde said simply.
"True," Petunia agreed.
They sat in silence for a while, during which Vilde walked over to the fridge to get something to drink.
As she sat down again, Petunia asked: "Do you really think she'll forgive me?"
"Eh, duh! She's your sister, for crying out loud. She's gonna forgive you. If not, I and Julie will have to take away her C-name," Vilde said like it was a big deal, and a hard thing to say.
Petunia snickered. "You girls are so random," she laughed.
Vilde smiled and took a zip from her coke. "Too true," she agreed.
The two girls sat there, talking about a lot of things like boys and school and normal stuff. Well, except the magic part, of course. Then the clock turned ten, and Charles and Eleanor came walking into the kitchen.
"Oh, you're up already?" Charles asked confused.
"Tuney, are you a sleep-in as well?" Vilde asked.
"Yup," Petunia said.
"Awesome! We will be those friends that actually can sleepover without being waked up as early as the sun!" Vilde said randomly. The three persons in the room sweat-dropped.
"Well, merry Christmas," Eleanor suddenly said, and Vilde found herself in a big, massive, huge, exploding, tight group-hug.
"Oh! That's something you don't see every day!" Julie's voice said from the kitchen door.
"Help … me!" Vilde mouthed desperately.
"Hey, guys. Vilde is getting claustrophobic," Lily said.
Said girl's parents let go of the redhead and looked confused at her.
"I'm hypersensitive, so I hate physical contact," Vilde explained.
"Oh my! Why didn't you say so, love?" Eleanor asked.
"No reason," Vilde said with a frown.
The grown-ups chuckled a bit. Petunia smiled and walked over to Lily, wrapping her arms around her. Lily's eyes opened wide in shock.
"Merry Christmas, little-sis," Petunia said.
Lily wrapped her arms around her sister. "Only by two minutes," she said and added: "But merry Christmas to you too."
Julie and Vilde awed at the two and then exchanged a look.
"Mental hug?" Julie asked.
Vilde shook her head. "If you hurry it up, you might get a real one," she said.
"Whoopie!" Julie exclaimed and ran over to Vilde.
Said girl raised one arm and two fingers poked Julie on the forehead.
"Naw, poor girl. You were too late," Vilde said with a wicked grin.
Julie narrowed her eyes. "Idiot," she muttered.
"Moron," Vilde said back.
"Whatever," they both said.
The doorbell rung, and Eleanor smiled kindly. "I'll take that, you just go sit in the living-room," she said and the girls plus Charles and Johnny, who had unnoticeably walked into the kitchen, nodded.
As they all sat down, Eleanor's voice said: "Come on in, be careful with the last step. The plank is a bit loose."
Vilde, Lily, Julie, Johnny and Petunia leaned a bit towards the door, trying to get a peak on who it was.
When they did, Lily turned shocked to her father. "What the beep are the Marauders doing here?" she snapped silently.
Charles chuckled. "You just said 'beep'," he said childishly.
Lily narrowed her eyes and was about to say something else when: "Merry Christmas, Lily-flower!"
Lily closed her eyes and calmly drew a deep breath, turning towards James with a fake smile. "Hello, Potter," she said with a restrained calmness to her voice.
"Happy to see me?" James asked with a big smile.
"Ecstatic," Lily said in a voice laced with sarcasm.
Sirius dumped down between Julie and Vilde, who looked annoyed at him and jumped a bit away. Remus looked a bit insecure around the room until Vilde grabbed his arm and pushed him down into the couch next to her. Pettigrew sat down next to Petunia.
"So why are you here?" Vilde asked curiously.
"Well, I and Charles invited them. We thought it would be nice to have some guests on visit," Eleanor said and Vilde and Julie resisted the urge to scream something like 'nice to have some guests' with sarcasm.
The two C's looked over at Lily who was sitting next to James with no route of escaping.
"So, let's open our presents!" Julie shrieked and grabbed a random, black wrapped present from the box at her feet. "From Pettigrew!" she said and ripped the wrappings off. Inside was a box with a nice necklace with the name 'Cookie' on. Julie frowned and then smiled. "GAH! Crazy! I want to hug Peter!" she shrieked and then screamed: "GAH! Crazy! I just called Pettigrew Peter!"
"Just hug him," Vilde said and Julie jumped up and gave a curt hug to the rat. She sat back down after the hug.
Pettigrew smiled widely and Lily picked up her present from him. It was the same type of necklace with the name 'Charming' on. She gave him a warm smile and a longer hug than Julie had given him.
"I suppose mine is one with Crazy on, then?" Vilde asked with a wide grin as she opened hers. Inside was just what she had expected, the same silver as the other necklaces and the same name in the same gold. "Thanks Peter," Vilde said and he beamed at her, thankful that she used his first name.
Petunia looked into her box and found a package from him as well. She looked troubled at it.
"Don't worry. I know you haven't gotten anything for me or anyone else of us Marauders, but it was pretty cheap," Pettigrew said. Julie, Vilde and Lily raised their eyebrows. "I didn't mean it like that! I meant it as a lucky draw!" Pettigrew said quickly.
The three girls smiled and waved it away. Petunia opened the package with a small smile, and on the necklace she got was the name 'Cautious' on. The three C's smiled.
"You know what Peter? That's a brilliant name for her," Vilde said, smiling at him.
They all decided that it was a great name, and it was now her C-name.
"Here girls," James said and handed the three C's a package each.
Vilde got some candy along with a nice bracelet, and Julie got candy as well and a silver bow.
"Thanks, Prongs," Vilde and Julie said in choir, Julie giving him a hug.
Lily was sitting in the chair, tears in her eyes. James was smiling warmly at her. Julie and Vilde and the rest of the people looked curiously at what she was holding. It was a necklace in gold shaped as a heart. It could be opened and whatever was on the inside made Lily jump to her feet and give James a solid hug. He chuckled slightly and wrapped his arms around the sobbing girl.
"It's amazing. Thanks, James," Lily said through her sobs.
Julie snatched the pendant out of Lily's hands and pried it open, peeking inside. "Special in my heart," she read out loud and showed a picture of Lily and her dog, Socry, as a puppy.
Sirius smiled sweetly. "You truly outdid yourself, Prongs," he said and James smiled, patting Lily's back.
Vilde and Julie were smiling at the two lovebirds-to-be. Sirius gave a package to Julie, and she opened it, smiling as she saw the pendant with a blue crystal, probably sapphire, shaped as a heart.
"You know, you won't get that expensive gifts from me," Julie mumbled.
Sirius snickered. "I don't care as long as it's good," he said with a smile.
Vilde then got a package from Remus. Her fingers were almost shaking as she undid the wrappings, and her eyes widened as she saw the content...
Me: o.O Cliffhanger!
Sirius: You're starting to get annoying. Making a cliffhanger when you won't be able to update in the nearest future!
Me: Who said that?
Sirius: You.
Me: Crap! I busted myself?!
Julie: Now you did.
Lily: You're one weird person. And btw! THANK YOU JAMES! SO SWEET!
James: No problem, Lily-flower!
Remus: It wasn't very much like you. And how did you get the picture?
Charles: We might have been helping a bit…
Eleanor: Charles! We weren't supposed to say!
Peter: Not only did I get a hug, get called by my given name and decide a C-name, I'm called Peter in this chatbox.
Me: Yeah, I decided that since you haven't done anything wrong yet, and most likely won't, you deserved some kindness. So here it is. And the story will continue with your given name from now on.
Peter: YAY!
Me: Heh, you're a bit funny too…
So, anyways! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you did, tell me what you enjoyed. If you didn't, tell me what you didn't like. Flames are welcomed as well, as long as it doesn't involve a lot of cursing… ^^
You know you love me
XOXO
-Gaaras Devil