Chapter 54
Gail stared at James and Lily from outside of the sitting room for a few minutes. It would have been way too awkward to walk in right then. Lily seemed to have her arms around James, who was blubbering. Well, he really did have a reason, in any case, and the redhead was great at getting people to cry. But what did it mean? Had they set aside their past differences in order to coexist? That was just too weird for Gail, but she was still unable to interrupt them.
"Ah, excuse me?" A deep voice floated over to Gail, almost causing her to jump out of her skin. She hadn't even noticed the presence of the distinguished looking blonde man.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Mr. Evans," Gail squeaked bashfully, loud enough to interrupt James and Lily. The redhead leapt up and almost ran to the door.
"Oh, father! You're up," Lily stared at her father for a moment. He stared back, at her before a slow smile formed on his face. Lily pulled her father and Gail back into the sitting room. Gail was relieved to note that James had wiped his face by the time Mr. Evans' had appeared.
"You two must be friends of Lily's, from school, right?" Mr. Evans beamed at them both, as if they were cooler than sliced bread.
"Yes, sir," Gail agreed, shaking hands with Lily's father amiably. It was simply a fact that parents found Gail to be outgoing when she turned her charm on, "my name is Gail Forester, and this fellow is my mate, James Potter."
"Ah, the troublemaker that our Lily has often complained about in her letters," Mr. Evans shook James' hand too, though the boy was too nervous to say anything to refute the claim against his demeanour, "we won't be having any of that in our house, understand?"
"Yes, sir," James nodded sullenly, almost wilting under Mr. Evans' golden stare.
"Well, now that everything is settled, I'll be making breakfast. It should be ready in about thirty minutes... I do hope that everything will be pleasant when Petunia and her husband arrive for dinner," Mr. Evans deliberately cast a look towards James again before leaving the room.
"It looks like we've intruded. I'm sorry, Lily," Gail piped up, only slightly worried that James was allowing others to poke at him without any recourse.
"It's fine," Lily commented dryly, "you can't possibly make things worse with Petunia. In fact, your presence might make hers a lot more bearable."
James wasn't impressed.
To say that he wasn't impressed wasn't quite enough, either. He felt the pangs of disappointment when he laid his eyes on Lily's older sister, Petunia. She looked like a feather-less, blonde vulture with an extremely long neck. There was no way she could have been related to the voluptuous redhead. In fact, James was quite sure, after meeting Lily's mother, that the beauty had been adopted from a wizarding family. But then again, there was a chance that he could have been wrong, so he kept these thoughts to himself.
But he did snicker when he noticed Petunia's husband. The large man looked rather like Mulciber, except with a thicker, shorter neck and a few extra pounds. Vernon Dursley happened to look like one of the muggles that James had seen on the telly. Remus had called them "news rankers," or something like that.
"Petunia, dear, I'm so glad you could make it!" Mrs. Evans greeted the Dursleys, warmly ushering the couple into the house. Lily's mother graciously helped the couple by taking their coats. Petunia seemed to be expecting Lily to appear, but the redhead had stowed herself away in the bathroom. Gail was attempting to coax her out.
Petunia stopped short when she noticed James staring at her. The vulture's eyes ran over him before sharpening into a look that James recognized. She was glaring at him without really knowing him.
"Ah, Petunia, this is James Potter- one of Lily's friends," Mrs. Evans bubbly mood wouldn't be diminished, even when she introduced the two of them.
"I figured," Petunia snapped, stalking past without another word. The male Dursley followed Petunia without a word, staring at James as if he were a peculiarity.
James made a face behind their backs. He really didn't enjoy being treated rudely and was starting to understand just why Lily had confined herself to the bathroom.
"Who was at the door?" Gail's voice drifted over his shoulder. The tawny haired girl had planted herself in between James and Mrs. Evans.
"Oh, Gail dear!" Mrs. Evans took the girl by the arm and dragged her to away, "you simply must meet Lily's sister. I'm sure Petunia will just love you- you're like our Lily, aren't you? Your parent's couldn't do magic?"
"Er- yes, neither of my parents could do magic," Gail smiled faintly at James' incredulous look.
James, not wanting to spend any amount of time with Petunia and her husband, wandered down the hallway. He thought he heard some noises coming from behind the little blue door of the bathroom. James continued down the hall and peaked into each room. He eventually came across a lovely green room decorated in several posters and things.
"What do you think you're doing, Potter?"
James straightened, and swung around. He could feel his face burning as Lily was glowering at him.
"Thought you were in there," James fibbed coolly, "not going down to see your sister?"
"Don't test me, Potter," Lily pushed passed him and into her room. James couldn't help but noticed that she was slightly pale and had red splotches under her eyes from crying, "I'll go down when I'm ready."
"I don't envy you for being related to those two," James consoled Lily with a hint of grimace hanging on his face, "didn't seem very pleasant to me."
"Ah, you met them?" Lily laughed sarcastically, "Petunia is still mad at me, I guess."
"Fine friend you are," James snorted rudely after a momentary pause, giving Lily a disappointed look, "leaving Gail to be fed to two people who don't like you."
"What?" Lily looked shocked, "Gail went- without me? This is no good... I can't go down there. Tuney doesn't want to see me."
"Come on, Evans," James coaxed her gently, "I'll go down with you and draw their attention away- just like on the train, okay?"
"I don't know," Lily wouldn't meet his eyes, but surprisingly enough, she was shuffling herself towards the door.
"Don't worry about it," James soothed, leading the way down the hall as he spoke.
"Petunia, let me introduce you to Lily's other friend. This is Gail, another student from Hogwarts."
Gail was staring at a remarkably unattractive, plain woman. At the mention of Hogwarts, one of Petunia's eyes twitched. Somehow, she seemed to dislike the magic school. Gail exteneded a hand, only to have it shaken by Petunia extremely briefly, like Gail had some contagious disease.
"Gail, this is Lily's older sister, Petunia, and her husband, Vernon," Mrs. Evans continued to chatter as Gail offered her hand to Vernon. He was a human-shaped walrus and somehow reminded Gail of Peter, with the exception of being a few pounds heavier. His huge paw encircled Gail's hand momentarily. He dropped her hand as briskly as his wife had.
"It's nice to meet both of you," Gail greeted them with a smile, hoping that the smile wasn't as painful looking as it felt. She really would have rather not met the Dursleys.
Gail stared at Petunia.
Petunia glared at Gail.
Vernon stared absently at both women.
"Ah, James dear! I see you've retrieved Lily," Mrs. Evans exclaimed happily, "just in time for dinner. Everyone, please move to the dining room."
Gail had never been so happy to see James and Lily together, even when the later had a mischeivious look in his eyes. James was planning something in his head. James' scheming wasn't as obvious as Sirius', but it was still evident to Gail. She just didn't know what he was planning. Lily looked slightly annoyed, but she wouldn't meet anyone's gaze.
Dinner was composed of warm ham sandwiches. Like all other meals that Gail had shared with James, it started off peacefully enough. After a few minutes, James charmed some plates to dance on legs made out of butterknives. Mr. Evans roared with laughter and clapped James on the back, praising the boy for being talented. Mrs. Evans did a double take before laughing cheerfully alongside her husband. Lily smiled faintly, as if worrying about whether or not to laugh at James' dancing plate. Gail couldn't help but laugh at the look of terror on the two Dursleys' faces. James didn't stop with normal dancing. The plates started to do the cancan right in front of Petunia, who was becoming more and more pale every second. She eventually fell backwards, out of her chair.
"Petunia!" Vernon huffed, lunging to catch his wife by the collar.
James smiled at his own abilities, but it was lacking in some of the humor he would normally show. Before Vernon could explode in anger, James delibrately made the plate return to its place on the table and become completely stationary.
"Dear James!" Mrs. Evans finally stopped laughing, "you certainly are as talented as our Lily. How delightful."
Gail could tell that James was enjoying the lavish attention from those that were still concious at the table. She hadn't seen the "show off" side of him in a while, and it made her feel somewhat relieved. James seemed to exercise a bit more restraint, though, showing as little of his ego as possible. He almost seemed humble as Mr. Evans clapped him on the back a second time. After a moment, Mrs. Evans turned to Gail expectantly.
"What about you, dear?" Mrs. Evans asked sweetly, "would you do a trick for us, too?"
That surprised Gail quite a bit. She hadn't been expecting to be asked to perform magic, as if it were a trick to amuse the adults. The way Mrs. Evans was looking at her was almost offensive; as if Gail were a muggle magician. In any event, it would have been rude to deny the Evans a small gift, because they were kind enough to allow both James and Gail to stay in their house for a while.
"Alright," Gail agreed grudgingly, pulling her wand out of her pocket slowly. With a flick of her wand, birds of several variations errupted from between the flowers in the vase that was sitting on the table. This didn't shock the Evans, Gail assumed because Lily was good at transfiguring objects into animals. But Lily wasn't as good at working with the animals as Gail was. On her signal, the birds manuvered in the air so that shapes could be formed over their heads. Mrs. Evans gasped and clapped frantically.
"Wonderful," Mr. Evans boomed, complimenting Gail's birds. Of course, that wasn't the end of the show. Gail stuck out her wand again, and forced the birds to fly into one spot. For a moment, the birds looked like they would colide and they did, causing an explosion of red and gold confetti to fall rain onto the table. Even James looked impressed.
"Well done, dear!" Mrs. Evans gasped, happily patting Gail on the shoulder.
"Show off," Lily muttered at Gail when she knew her parents weren't listening.
Dinner was over quickly enough. Vernon hauled his wife over to a couch and was glaring daggers at James. It was time for Gail and James to leave, before the female vulture could wake up.
"We'd better get back to my cottage to see if there's news," Gail spoke darkly to James and Lily.
"I don't know..." Lily hesitated with a look of worry in her emerald eyes.
"Padfoot and Moony will probably be back there now, and if they've found my Dad, I don't want him to worry," James explained, agreeing with Gail, "don't worry, I'll look after Gail."
The two of them stared at one another for a while, as if silently conducting an agreement. All the while, Gail couldn't decide whether or not to interrupt their meaningful moment. They seemed to reach an understanding and wordlessly nodded at one another. James turned and left the Evans' house through the back door first, leaving Gail to bid Lily farewell before jogging after him.
Once James was in the backyard, he spun on the spot. There was a sharp pop, signifying that James had apparated away.
"Too fast, James," Gail sighed to herself following his lead.
Gail landed a few feet away from her front steps. James had landed on the stoop easily. On further inspection, the boy had seemed to slump slightly, as if he had been barely holding himself together while he was around Lily and her family.
"Well done, James," Gail messed up his hair playfully, "I think her parents really like you."
The only response Gail received was a grunt. She didn't fail to notice James' cheeks turning a bright crimson color, at the fact. He seemed rather pleased that he had behaved himself more than usual. Smiling in fondness to herself, Gail sidled over and slid the door open.
"Hey Flink, we're back," Gail called to the house elf. In return, she was greeted quite warmly by a pair of lean arms and a body that smelt like new parchment, butterbeer and dried leaves.
"Took you two long enough," Sirius drawled, leaning a kitchen chair back on two legs and balancing as best he could. It seemed that he had been bored while waiting in the small cottage.
"Did you find my Dad?" The first words that came from James' mouth were addressed to Sirius. The haughty boy nodded and settled his chair back down as he leaned forward.
"He caught five other Death Eaters that were stalking around your house," Sirius explained blatantly, "and he'll be staying with Moony's parents for a few days. And he doesn't want us staying in seperate places, so he said it was alright that we stay here."
"I'm not sure there's enough room here for the three of you," Gail mumbled, still enfolded in Remus' arms, even though the other two marauders were giving them estranged looks.
"Don't worry about that," Sirius laughed sarcastically, "I looked up a few spells that will solve our problems."
"Hold on, Sirius. You're not going to adjust the cottage permanently or anything," Gail peeked over at him with a worried look, "I don't have permission to change anything."
"They should be glad we're increasing this shed's worth," Sirius shrugged nonchantly, "in any case, it's easy enough to remove the spells."
"Wait-" Gail protested, but Sirius had jumped up and started to unfurl his plans to James. The two boys stuck their heads together and had a jolly meeting about what spells to use on Gail's cottage. She couldn't help but feel worried while she was watching them.
"Don't worry about it so much. They're just being helpful," Remus soothed resting his cheek on her forhead. When he noticed that the two boys weren't paying attention to him, he continued to talk quietly, "I think Padfoot is just focused on keeping Prong's attention away from... things."
"Hmm," Gail agreed peacefully, burrowing her face in his shoulder. Just as she was settling into Remus' comforting embrace, a she noticed something interesting. By her estimates, Remus was still growing: his robes seemed smaller than ever. Sirius and James were taller than Remus, but all three were taller than her. It was rather unfair- and this train of thoughts lead Gail to believe that she should rub her sharp chin in the soft flesh in between Remus' shoulder and collarbone.
"Ouch- hey!" Remus pulled her head off of himself and stared down at her with feigned anger, "just what do you think you're doing, my little Vega?"
"Making you shrink," Gail remarked sarcastically and not laughing at her own joke, "aren't I nice?"
"Why would you think- Wait a second, Sirius, you're doing it wrong," with that, Remus joined his two friends in planning the 'great expansion'. The thought made Gail feel somewhat desolate. Instead of kicking up a fuss, she shuffled into the bedroom and decided that she would have a nap while the boys were playing. Remus would be able to make sure that the two others didn't do anything dangerous.
Or so she had been hoping to have a nap. She quickly became uneasy. What she found on her bed stunned her. Shocked, she inched towards the bed as if it could explode at any time. Laying on her pillow was a pink envelope with a delicate coral coloured ribon tied onto it. Undoubtedly pink- the kind that muggle women loved to receive on Valentines Day.
Gail was reasonably assured that the letter wouldn't detonate and had simply been left there by an owl. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anyone that would send her such a gaudy thing, so she would have to open it to find out. Pinching the envelope between her thumb and pointer finger, Gail gently removed the ribbon and tossed it aside. Gingerly, Gail opened the envelope to find a delicate peice of scented parchment within. The edges of the paper had been crimped to appear frilly. Soon, all Gail could smell was sandalwood and sprigs of mint. She held the note at arms length as she read it.
And read it again a few more times. It took a few minutes to sink in. She had never received a love letter before. Gail finally read it out loud to try and make the contents sink in.
My Beloved Gail,
The ocean has been sundered, as my heart. Never before have I seen a woman of such fine beauty with profound eyes and the hair of a pink sunrise. I feel the tender caress of your presence more and more each day, almost as much as I feel the iron gate of your absence. The distance between us is too great, I fear. I yearn to close the gap, my love! My sweet nightingale, bird of my joy. I want as the moon, to brush its lips against the crimson of the sun. I hope you will come to think of me, as well. I will serve you and your glory as no other can.
Please choose me, my love, my bird. For I love you more than any other.
Yours forevermore on your word,
Kyle Singe.
Gail couldn't help but laugh. It was a joke, surely. No boy in their right mind would send Gail such a self centered, sappy love note. Gail crumpled it up, as if it didn't exist to her, and tossed it over the side of her bed. Ignoring the pangs of anxiety and worry, she slid under the covers on her bed and was soon claimed by sleep.
Author Note:
Before you ask, dinner is lunch, the midday meal. Supper is the evening meal- as told by my intelligent, little Grammy.
Gail got a love letter from Kyle Singe, one of her coworkers. Seems pretty fishy to me...
Well, this chapter is a lot more upbeat. James is upset that Petunia doesn't look like her sister. The world needs more pretty girls, like Lily.
-Rue
Apocolips: Don't worry! This chapter is slightly more upbeat. I cried before I started writing chapter 53. I really didn't want to write it, and I still feel... Sad. Alas, the story must continue.
Krazykook: I had to do it! HAD TO! James will progress as a human being if I have to drag him around by his ear! I believe that James and Lily are quite the possibility now.
LaurenB16: Thank you. I'm glad I'm not hated. I'm a little bit sad that I didn't have time to include Mr. Potter in this chapter, but he's... wow, he's such a man, you know? If James is anything like his father.
Musik Drache: Ah, no worries. Take your time and enjoy.
XxGrimmy: Tissues, tissues! You won't need one for this chapter, I'm happy to admit. Now let's see. About Gail going back to the forest? Yes, she will eventually have to go back in order to get everything straightened out, but I'm not going to disclose when or how. Yes, I found it. Check your messages. Oh, Walburga. I pity her, she must have had a sleu of horrible nicknames as a kid.
