Sorry for the late chapter! It completely slipped my mind with the assignment due dates rolling in! This was one of my most favorite chapters to right, so I hope you enjoy! Remember to leave a review!

Chaperone Expectations

"Are you sure I don't need to bring a chaperone for us?" James frowned, his brows drew together, the picture of indecision etched across his features. He felt Lily's small hands pushing lightly against his jaw and he tilted his head backwards obediently but not before catching an exasperated eye roll from Lily.

"I've told you, James. That tradition is about a hundred years old. No one has chaperones in the twentieth century" Lily said dismissively as she focused on successfully knotting James' tie. "There" she finished brightly, folding his white collar down before she stood back to admire her handiwork. James stood dressed in a white dress shirt and black slacks. His pale gold belt buckle glimmered in the light and his perfectly knotted tie—courtesy of her— pulled up to rest against his neck. "Very dashing" she grinned up at him but James seemed preoccupied with their previous, non-existent predicament.

James pressed his lips together as his hand reached up to tug absently at his tie, loosening it just enough for Lily to see the folds of his collar. "What if your father is a traditional man? Or perhaps your mother? I'm not going to win them over by arriving unprepared."

Lily blinked, surprised "You really are bothered by this, aren't you?" she asked incredulously.

His hazel eyes snapped her to hers almost irritably. "What gave it away?" his tone dripped with sarcasm.

"Honestly, love. You haven't anything to worry about. You've already met my mother, did she seem like a traditional person to you?" she asked him.

"No" James answered immediately but then backtracked "But she could be."

Lily bit back a smile "They'll love you because I do." she grasped his hand tightly "And if they don't?" he stiffened but Lily pressed on "Would you stop loving me because your parents don't like me?"

"Of course not." James snorted, mocked by the very thought.

Lily beamed "The same goes for me. Besides, even if we were in nineteenth century, we wouldn't need a chaperone because we're not going to be alone, we're having dinner with my sister and her fiancé." Lily pulled away and disappeared with a crack. James blinked as he watched Lily reappear just ten feet away from where disappeared, pulling open his side drawer. He rolled his eyes at her over enthusiasm after finally attaining her Apparating license.

It was a week into the Christmas holidays and earlier that very week, James had finally managed to convince Lily to take the next Apparition test and ever since she passed, Lily had been in and out of his room throughout the week. Sometimes with a purpose and other times without. It did great things to James to know that Lily sought his presence just as much he did with her.

His parents had already made plans to go to Albania during Christmas when James sent them an owl to inform them that he would be coming home. They were surprised because Sirius had sent them their Christmas gifts as per usual, which meant he would be staying in Hogwarts and the two of them was never often found without the other. However, James was not too happy with his best friend at the moment, but he hadn't mentioned that to his parents when he explained that he'd been invited to dinner by a friend.

He didn't elaborate on who that friend was, because he knew they'd never leave him alone if he mentioned bringing his girlfriend home. Although, they had offered to cancel their trip to spend the holiday with him but James insisted against it. Mainly because he wasn't planning on remaining home much during his stay in the first place, but what he didn't foresee was Lily's abuse of her newly attained license to appear in and out of his room as she pleased.

Because of that, they spent countless idle hours doing absolutely nothing but relish in each other's presence and then some. And now, less than an hour away from their meeting time, Lily was in his room with her hair tamed and her eyes lined, she had yet to change but already looked picture perfect in his eyes.

"Remember, don't apparate to the doorstep. Stop just down the street, walk to the front door and ring the doorbell." This was the third time she's reminded him in the hour and he couldn't help but feel there was something more to be known about Lily's family.

"Are you going to tell me why?" James prodded, his curiosity piqued.

Lily paused for a moment before closing the drawer softly. "Petunia, my sister, she's not very fond of magic." she turned to face him, looking downtrodden.

"That's ridiculous, how can she not? It's magic!" he offered as if the word itself was self-explanatory.

Lily frowned, her eyes still on the ground "Well, she's just not! So please don't use magic in front of her." finally, she lifted her eyes to meet his and James couldn't help but think she looked too miserable to be talking about her sister.

"I won't" he promised, taking a step toward her with his arms open, beckoning her to walk into him. Lily shook her head with a small smile.

"My makeup's going to get on your shirt"

"I don't mind" he pulled her into him and leaned his cheek onto her head while her breaths warmed his neck. He could feel her relenting as she relaxed against him, her soft body melding perfectly with his. A contented sigh escaped him.

"James?" her voice small and meek.

"Hm?"

"About my sister" Lily began, wriggling so she could look up at his face. Her brilliant green eyes wide and unsure. "She-" Lily frowned and averted her eyes for a moment before looking back "Don't hold anything against her after tonight, all right?" her eyes pleading. It's not her fault.

James was tempted to snort "Lily, I promised I'll be on my best behavior. Don't worry." He gave her body a little squeeze.

"It's not your behavior I'm worried about." Lily mumbled "Petunia, she—she can be a bit… callous with her words" she forced a smile to lighten the mood but James was thoroughly confused now.

Lily stood on her toes to kiss him chastely on the lips and James instinctively lowered himself to meet her. "Don't forget your jacket. I love you." she breathed shyly and before he could have the chance to return her affection, she was gone just as quickly as the flush of her cheeks came.

…

Careful to follow Lily's instructions, James appeared just down the street of his intended location and made his way down to the Evans home but not before he spared a glance around for any muggle witnesses. Along the way, he noticed that there was a silver car parked along the sidewalk just outside of Lily's home. He didn't think too much into it, and just like he'd been told to, he rang the doorbell, rolling his eyes. He didn't see how it was such a big deal, this wasn't the first time he'd been to her home.

He'd expected Lily to answer the door but instead, a woman he'd never seen before came to the door. She was blonde and looked rather lanky in her floral print, long sleeved dress. James was momentarily reminded of a horse. Nonetheless, he flashed her his most charming grin and she blinked, surprised. Easy, I didn't even need to use my wand, he thought, triumphantly. "Hello, is Lily home?"

Immediately, the expression on the woman's face turned sour and she stormed back into the house, leaving the door open for him whilst she shouted up at the stairs. "LILY! HURRY UP!" then turned to scowl reproachfully at him. He blinked, surprised and mildly amused at her reaction. Before he could attempt to start a conversation, the lady whipped her head around and then strutted back into where he remembered the kitchen being.

"Was that James at the door?" a gentle and more familiar voice drifted into the living room where James stood awkwardly with his rapidly sweating hands. Relief washed over him at the sound.

"Yes, Mrs. Evans" he called back curtly.

Her head poked out of her door before the rest of her body and she was more cheerful than he remembered. "Oh, look at you! Aren't you dashing! Wait until Lily sees you." She already has. A gruff grunt broke through the air and the both turned to address the noise. There, stood in the doorway of the dining room was the most whale-ish looking man James had ever seen. His pale head full of brown hair seemed too small for his body—or was it just that his body was too big for his head. His skin glowed pink under the light and he wasn't entirely sure that was from the alcohol.

The man took up the whole doorway just standing there with a champagne flute in one hand and the other shoved in a pocket. Wherever that was. "You must be the disturbed sister's boyfriend, Potty."

James frowned. Disturbed sister?

"Vernon!" Mrs. Evans chastised.

"Oh, forgive me, Rosie. Gifted little Lily's boyfriend" he corrected mockingly as he took another sip of his champagne.

James didn't like his tone but he'd promised Lily he'd be on his best behavior. He knew how much this dinner meant to her. So he smiled and addressed him curtly as he approached the whale. The man had lowered his drink to stare cautiously at him. James held out his hand as he corrected the man, "It's Potter. But James will do."

Vernon, as Mrs. Evans had called him, pulled his hand from his pocket under his belly to shake James' hand, no doubt with a begrudging look on his face as he introduced himself "Vernon Dursley."

Up close, James could see that he was trying to grow a mustache, unsuccessfully as it seemed; somehow it ended up as a blotchy splatter of hair above his upper lip. This time, he couldn't help himself, a small snicker escaped him and Vernon pulled his hand back.

"Laughing about something?" his beady eyes squinted suspiciously at him, eying James up and down as if he were some sort of homeless person.

"Forgive me. Just a funny thought." James assured him, trying his best to reign in his chortle. He cleared his throat as Vernon turned his attention away huffily as Petunia called him from the kitchen; something about a corsage? Muggle things. James moved completely out of the way to allow him into the kitchen and when he turned back to the dining room, there was another man seated at the table. He felt a hand on his shoulder and as he turned his attention towards the gesture, Mrs. Evans swept past him with a gentle smile and toward the man at the table.

"Dear, this is Lily's boyfriend, James Potter."

At once, James was at attention. This was Lily's father. He should've known from the tantalizing shade of green in his eyes. Mrs. Evans was a kind looking man leaning toward the thin side. His features were meek and his expression was gentle but the intense look in his green eyes were just like his daughters.

"Good Evening, sir." James approached him with careful steps as Mr. Evans stood from the table to grasp his hand in a firm handshake.

"Lily speaks very fondly of you." he said but James could feel from the firmness of his grip that there was an underlying threat in there somewhere. Don't let her down.

"I try, sir."

"Lily's taking her time, isn't she?" he chuckled and gestured toward the chairs "Please have a seat."

"I'll go check on her." Mrs. Evans strode out the door.

James knew where this was going to go. They were going to talk and Mr. Evans would want to know about his and Lily's relationship and he wasn't quite sure how much he could lie to make himself sound like the perfect son-in-law. For one, they shared living quarters and they're in love—which can't be a very good combination. He settled in the chair anyway, his palms sweatier than ever.

"So tell me, what is your family like? Any siblings?" Mr. Evans began.

"I'm an only child, but I live with a friend who's much like a brother to me. We're very close."

"I see, your parents are wizards, I presume?" the older man seemed genuinely interested now.

"Yes, they both are." James confirmed.

"And how does your household differ from us muggles." He chuckled at the word, seemingly proud of himself for using it and James found Mr. Evans rather easy to talk to. "I understand you don't use telephones?"

"Yes, well, things that run on electricity don't function near magical objects." James explained "We communication by sending owls."

"Oh yes, the birds. Gave me quite a fright the first time Lily mailed home." he laughed.

James found himself chuckling along with him until a new voice entered.

"Daddy? James?" A voice he recognized all too well. James was on his feet before she had the chance to appear at the doorway and he began to regret his decision to do so because he felt lightheaded at the sight of her.

Lily was dressed in a pale green dress that clung closely to the upper half of her body and eased up around her hips. Her lips had been colored a shade of red just darker than her hair. The tamed waves in her hair earlier were gone, now replaced with full curls that cascaded around her shoulders and back. She looked beyond her years, matured like fine wine, and she was so, so breathtakingly lovely.

Her cheeks flushed red under the intensity of his gaze and James was forced to avert his eyes. "You look lovely, Lily." he said, sounding a little winded, breathless from the sight of her. James glanced quickly at the man beside him, a knee-jerk reaction for some sort of approval.

But Mr. Evans was not paying attention to him, he merely smiled and stood, making his way towards Lily. "Where is Petunia? We must take a photo." he said cheerfully as he made his way out of the dining room "Rosie? Have you seen the camera, my dear?" his voice sounded faded as he stepped out. Mrs. Evans grumbled something about the camera being ghastly old but James couldn't focus on anything but his date for the night.

"Stop staring." she whispered urgently, tucking a curly lock behind her ear and averting her eyes. "I'm already quite self-conscious as I am."

"Oh, I assure you, you needn't be." James sighed almost dreamily.

Lily had only managed the faintest of smiles before their moment was interrupted by an abrupt harrumph just outside the dining room doorway where Lily stood. Startled, Lily turned and backed into the room where James joined her swiftly, his hand magnetized instantly to the small of her back. Vernon squinted his beady eyes at them, his face pinker than before. "Well, aren't we looking—groomed tonight." he grinned.

"I'm sorry to keep you all waiting." Lily said in a small and overly polite voice, James noticed her eyes flickering to her sister, who stood dutifully by her whale of a fiancé.

"Let's get going then, we're already late for our reservation." Vernon grumped the word with emphasis and Lily flushed in embarrassment. With a light squeeze of her hip, James hoped to reassure her. Petunia strode along behind Vernon, her movements proud and rather snooty. Although they were obviously trying to be rude, James couldn't find it in him to be cross with them. After all, there was much to be learned about muggles.

…

The restaurant was neat, was his first thought when James stepped into the elaborate building and though quite exaggerated it was on the outside, it wasn't nearly as impressive as it was on the inside. James was once again disappointed and surprised to find the vast room was the same size as the building.

Once they were seated, he looked up at the ceiling to find a great amount of empty space above them. He wondered if that had been deliberate, though he couldn't see why there was a need for a waste of space. His home always had decorations, antiques and ornaments charmed with a levitation spell to float about the high ceilings. Perhaps muggles did not know how to properly utilize space.

"What is he doing?" Vernon's sharp tone snapped James out of his thoughts and he realized he must've looked odd staring upwards like that.

"Sorry, I was just curious." he smiled curtly.

Vernon grinned as if he had remembered an inside joke. "Don't see much of the finer parts of England, do we?" he chuckled.

Lily's hand tightened around his and he squeezed back. "Perhaps not." he could feel Lily's body relaxing at his response and it was a small victory on his end.

James scanned the menu and he vaguely wondered if there were more to the dishes than what they seem. It all seemed suspiciously mundane—Grilled scallops with white asparagus and hollandaise sauce—Oysters and caviar—Buttered lobster salad with white wine dressing.

The servers came by, asking if they had made up their mind. Vernon was first to place his order then Petunia and Lily but James had yet to make up his mind. Lily leaned over to him "Would you like me to order for you?" she whispered.

He flashed her meek grin and handed his menu obediently to her "Please."

Lily turned to order for him as she handed the menu back to the server, over the table, he caught Vernon's disapproving glare. He shot back a questioning gaze.

"You let your woman order for you?" Vernon spat and James frowned, he could already hear Lily retort in his head, calling him a chauvinistic pig but when he glanced at her, Lily stared down at her empty place with hard eyes.

Right. Best behavior.

"It's all right." he replied but his eyes were on Lily, when she didn't return his gaze, he lifted her hand to his lips "I trust her."

Lily caught the underlying meaning in his tone and caught his eyes in her softer gaze. There was a scoff and they looked across the table to see Petunia sipping furiously at her wine and Vernon looking none too pleased.

Not much went on after that exchange, they ate in comfortable silence—at least that was what James assumed the quiet was— until Vernon spoke up again. "So Jim-"

"James" he corrected patiently. He also noticed that Vernon's questions all seemed to be directed at him and he'd paid scarcely any attention to Lily at all. Petunia had yet to say anything to anyone besides whispering shyly in Vernon's ear. Perhaps it was because they already knew about Lily, although something he had said before bothered James. 'Disturbed little sister's boyfriend.'

"Do you like cars? What do you think of my Ford? It's firsthand, you know" he proclaimed, proudly puffing up his already rounded chest to exert himself.

James paused mid-chew to think. They had all taken a ride in Vernon's car, it was a little slow for his taste and they stopped too often but he didn't complain. He had ridden in the ministry cars a few times with his father and there had always been enchantments that allowed them to go at a smoother and quicker pace without being seen by muggles. The change of pace had been oddly pleasant, very—for lack of a better word— muggle.

"It's a little slow for me, honestly. But I did enjoy the ride. Thank you for that, by the way"

At this, Vernon looked like he had tasted something sour. "Oh? Then do you drive?" he asked, the question sounded patronizing with his tone.

He didn't have any plans to own a car, but he could think of something he owned that was similar to it. "Yes, you could say that" he answered after a swallow.

"Really?" Vernon's voice was lined with sarcasm. "What model?" he sniffed, obviously prepared to size James up.

"It's a Nimbus" James answered, eyes bright and excited.

Vernon frowned "Haven't heard of that one before." he clipped, unimpressed.

"It's great, I've been using it since first year." James explained but Vernon spluttered on his wine, shocked.

"First year?" he looked outraged.

James shrugged "Of course there are newer models nowadays but they haven't got the ease and classic nimble feel as my 1500. Although, I would love the reinforced braking charms the 1700 has."

"Braking charms? Is this some sort of joke?" Vernon's tone was venomous as he spoke in a harsh whisper. Petunia had dropped her fork and knife, looking pale and ill. Lily had looked up from her meal, her eyes wide and apologetic. James blinked, confused at the sudden change in atmosphere.

"I meant no offense, I was only describing my racing broom." James explained.

"A BROOM?" Vernon's booming voice startled the other customers and he looked scandalized. James thought quickly for something to say.

"Vernon, James doesn't drive a car. He rides a broom to play Quidditch, it's a sport in our world" Lily's voice was deceptively calm and complacent. "A broom to us is like a motorcycle to you."

Vernon didn't look any happier but he didn't push on the subjects any further, grumbling something along the lines of 'motorcycle in sports, mental ones.'

It was awhile before Lily spoke up. "How is the office, Petunia?" but it wasn't Petunia who answered, it was Vernon.

"She won't be needing to go to the office once we're married. In fact, she's already handed in her letter of resignation. No woman of mine should have to work for a living." his eyes were fond as they looked at the blonde. Petunia gushed and playfully patted Vernon on the shoulder.

"Oh, Vernon. You are too perfect for me." she swooned.

"Anything for you, my dear." His chubby hand closed around hers in a tight grip.

Somewhat amused by their exchanged, James made the mistake of snickering. Immediately their headed snapped away from each other to glare at him.

"Something funny, Potter?"

At least he got the name right.

"Not at all, you both are-" James cleared his throat "-very suited for each other"

Vernon's eyes were filled with distrust as he threw out another question. "So, what do your parents work as?" he asked.

"They're not working now but my father used to be a businessman."

"So they're unemployed." Vernon immediately concluded gleefully.

"Retired." James corrected innocently.

"Your family must have financial issues then." Vernon seemed to relish at the thought and it became rather clear to James that the older male was trying to patronize him. He knew that his family was nowhere near financial crisis—at least not for the next lifetime.

"Not exactly, we keep our galleons in Gringotts, although the vault is getting a bit small for our money." James explained, feeling quite proud of his family's fortune.

"Galleons?" Vernon wrinkled his nose.

"Yes, they're gold coins we use in the wizarding world. The goblins guard them in a bank. I haven't any with me to show you at the moment, I'm afraid." Now he wished he had snagged a small bag of coins with him, but he didn't think he'd need it in the muggle world.

However, much to his surprise, Vernon was turning an unhealthy shade of purple. His face contorted between fury and humiliation.

"Gold coins… wizarding world… GOBLINS!" he twitched. "What blasphemy!" his voice was deathly soft and his tone was harsh. "I will not sit through another minute of—of this… humiliation" He threw his napkin down on his empty plate.

By now, Lily had gone pale. "Vernon, please. We didn't mean to offend you." James warmed at her use of we, it made his place in his life feel rather secure. However, he frowned as it seemed like he couldn't say anything right that evening and Lily was taking responsibility of his shortcomings.

Vernon pointed his fat, sausage-like finger at Lily and snarled. "Do not speak for him, do not defend him—I won't have any of it!" he very nearly shouted the end of his sentence.

Annoyed by the rude way Vernon had addressed Lily, for the first time that evening, James' temper flared but before he could act on it, Vernon had stood up rather ungracefully, his belly bumped into the table and the wine sloshed about in the glass. "We're leaving, Petunia!" Vernon turned and left.

Petunia looked just as furious, but also equally embarrassed as she stared after her fiancé. "I-I'm sorry, Petunia." Lily murmured pleadingly. "We didn't mean-"

"Are you happy now? You always do this! You always ruin everything for me" her voice was barely over a whisper but the loathing behind her words were more than clear. "For one night, why can't you stop being such a—a freak!" her words were scathing and the Lily physically winced. James found himself at a loss for words, was that what Lily's sister thought of her? Her very own sister?

This was not supposed to happen. Lily was perfect—she was always so perfect. How could anyone think badly about her? And by her own sister? She should be proud of her, proud of the fact that she could do things no muggle could. He knew she was being prejudiced in the wizarding world for being a muggle-born but he had never expected her to be prejudiced in the muggle world for being who she was. All his life he thought she played the perfect person in her perfect little world and for the first time, he finally saw how wrong assumptions could be.

Lily stood up and pleaded with an uneven voice "Tuney, please, we didn't mean to offend anyone."

But Petunia had already stormed off, the sound of her sharp heels on the marble floor faded as Lily stared down at the table. Their little squabble had gained them quite an audience, a few tables around them had turned their nosy faces in their direction, looking around the backs of each other's heads to see what had happened.

Lily was very still for a moment and James just about drowned in his own guilt, feeling ashamed and concerned about Lily.

"Lily?" he called out softly to her, his own voice raspy with fault. Then very slowly, Lily sank back down to her chair. Her shoulders slumped and her hair falling over her eyes. The guilt clawed its way up James' throat and strangled him. "Lily, I'm sorry-"

Lily took a shuddering breath and it forced his throat to close again. "She's awful, isn't she?" her voice wavering as she spoke. "They both are." she sobbed. Something dripped from her face and onto her hands that were held together tightly in her lap. She was crying.

James hooked her chin with his finger, coaxing her to look at him. His heart shattered when he looked into her eyes, her brilliant emeralds that usually glowed so fiercely now reflected so much pain. The agitated redness around her dark-lined eyes made her seem so broken, her tears were dyed black by her makeup "I'm so sorry, Lily." He apologized brokenly, but feared the extent of the damage could not be undone.

She wiped at her tears, further smudging her makeup; her perfect mask was failing. Yet, James felt closer to her than ever. "It's not your fault." she shook her head. "She's hated me since the day I was accepted into Hogwarts." she let out a bitter laugh and more tears streamed down her face "She won't even let me be her bridesmaid." she pressed her lip to stop from sobbing and James was facing her fully now. "My own sister…" she lowered her head and sobbed.

A sudden irrational anger spread through James but the fire was quenched out by an overwhelming sense of sorrow for Lily. He found himself gathering her into his chest, kissing the top of her head as apologized over and over against, taking no mind in the stares they attracted. "I'll apologize to Vernon and Petunia. I'll make things right." he told her in a whisper. "Please don't cry, Lily—it's Christmas."

…

Within the confines of the school, a joyous feast took place. There would be sweets of all kind and roast turkey of the most impossible sizes. Happiness and serenity would make up the holiday mood, yet as the school celebrated with great cheer, Sirius found himself alone in the dark. The winter air seeped through the creaky walls of run down inn and smelled faintly of firewhiskey but Sirius barely felt the chill. His grey eyes gleamed silver in the darkness as he watched the man on the other side of the shadows.

"Just you tonight, Black?" the smooth voice sounded slimy to Sirius's ears but he merely stared back with indifference. "I thought I told you to pass him the message."

"Must've forgotten." his words were sarcastic but his tone was harsh.

Finally, the man stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight soaking through the cracked window—his face bemused.

"The Dark Lord wants you to join him."

TBC

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