A/N: This carries on from the previous drabble, where Daniel talked to James about his relationship with Lily. I didn't like the idea of James being the only one to have a tough time of it. Also, while I'm aware of the Pottermore release about James' parents, I see any information released outside of the books as being canon-optional, and the idea of James being Dorea and Charlus' son fit better with how I envisioned this interaction going.

Lily leaned over to smell one of the roses that hung from the gable of the spare bedroom. Its pollens filled her nose with their heady perfume, and she allowed herself to get lost in it. It was, after all, infinitely better than the conversation she was in the middle of having with Dorea Potter.

Less than an hour before, she had arrived at the sprawling Potter Manor with the band of grinning Marauders, all of whom had earnestly insisted that both of James' parents would instantly love her. Despite their reassurances, however, her gut had twisted like a wet towel at the sight of the magnificent property. Old-fashioned and expansive, it had instantly spoken of money and prestige and tradition so extensive that they would take years to learn. And, throughout all of that, she had been constantly aware of the fact that it housed James Potter's parents. The Marauders had told her a lot about them during the weeks leading up to the Easter holidays, so much so that she had felt like she'd known everything about both of them – kind, brave and more than a little doting – already. It had been with the memory of Remus' promise that they only wanted to see James happy and that they would therefore love Lily that the redhead had steeled herself for the initial meeting.

She hadn't known everything about them. And Dorea Potter certainly didn't seem to love Lily.

Their cat Tullia seemed to, though, so maybe that was a win?

But Tullia wasn't touring the gardens with the pair of them, and neither were the boys. Instead, she was alone with Dorea Potter. And, with steely grey eyes and wild black hair that tumbled down her back in a way that reminded Lily so very much of her boyfriend, she was easily the most intimidating witch Lily had ever met.

"It's no secret that my son has had his heart set on you for years," the woman was saying, "or that you publicly rebuked all of his advances. Why, given the history between the two of you, did you suddenly start liking him back this year? Some might say it seems rather peculiar."

Lily closed her eyes, determined to pretend that it was Professor Slughorn who stood beside her. The Potions professor had essentially taken her under his wing, training her to navigate the complicated world of pureblood politics. If she saw this as just another exercise in talking to uncooperative purebloods, it might make the whole thing less daunting.

And it would hopefully help her earn the respect of this particular uncooperative pureblood. When she had mentally prepared herself as much as she was able, she opened her eyes again and turned around to face the woman. "It wasn't sudden. There were always things that I admired about him. He's brilliant and passionate and charismatic, and I respected that. He just… did some things that I wasn't able to accept. I know Professor Slughorn told you about the OWL incident; that was the worst thing, but there were others as well. But then James just seemed to mature over the course of last year. And then, when we realised we were the Head students this year and would have to work together, we sat down to talk everything through and find a way to get along. We agreed to try being friends, and then, over time, I started to reciprocate other feelings as well."

"Horace has spoken rather extensively about you," the woman said vaguely. "It's obvious that you're his favourite student."

"I can't attest to that, but he's certainly my favourite professor."

"That's what I thought. After all, he is teaching you the ways of the wizarding world, is he not? He speaks of you as if you were his daughter, and he certainly wants you to excel as if you were. Of course," the witch said, pausing meaningfully, "as archaic as it may be, it would be much easier to do that if you were to marry an influential pureblood – like my son."

Lily's head jerked back as if she had been slapped in the face. She might as well have been. The witch hadn't raised a hand or wand to her, but she had insulted her honour, which was – to her – much worse than a simple physical strike. "You think I'm a gold-digger?"

"Not gold, precisely. But I am aware that you are a bright girl who would hate to be disadvantaged for something so trivial as her blood status but who has no hope of fighting the system unless she somehow gets within it."

The redhead bristled, her eyes flashing with barely contained fury. Had any of the Marauders been there, they would have recognised just how volatile her mood was in that moment. Dorea, however, could only watch and form her own uninformed opinions. "I know that arranged marriages still occur in the wizarding world today," she said, her voice low and dangerous, "but I've been raised to believe that you marry for love and for love alone. You're right that Professor Slughorn is more of a mentor to me than a professor. And, with his influence, I don't have to worry about finding somewhere that's willing to employ a Muggle-born. When he recommends someone, people listen. They might not respect me, but they'll respect the fact that he does. So I hardly need James for his influence or family name."

Dorea's expression was blank as she surveyed the teenager. Then, after a few moments, she simply said, "Good," before starting to walk again.

Good? Lily wondered. Had it c just been a test?

"One last question before we go back inside, then. What's your stance on the war?"

"I'm a Muggle-born," Lily said, shrugging almost flippantly, as she tried to wrap her head around the older witch's behaviour. "I obviously don't like it."

"But how involved are you planning on being? Some Muggle-borns want to hide. Some want to fight. Some want to side with Voldemort in exchange for their family's safety. Where do you fit?"

"I'm a fighter."

Dorea smirked. "I can tell. I am too."

"Actually," Lily said, relaxing a little after that sign of comradeship, "I think that's why James and I clashed for so long – and why we work so well now. I wasn't going to just back down and let him bully…" Pausing, Lily grimaced apologetically, but Dorea rolled her eyes and waved her on. "I wasn't going to let him bully people, but I wasn't going to give in and date him to make him stop, either. And he was the same. His pride wouldn't let him stop just because I asked him to, but he still refused to let go of his crush on me."

"He's as stubborn and subtle as a bull, that one. He gets it from his father," Dorea said, and, with those words, the last of the tension dissipated. "I'm sorry for coming on so strong, dear. Charlus thought we should trust Horace's judgement, but I reminded him that no one's opinion is infallible. I'm a Slytherin through and through and I just had to see for myself."

"I understand," Lily said. Still, she couldn't resist adding cheekily, "It must be hard to keep all of those gold-diggers away."

Dorea snorted. "You have no idea. I'm just glad James has his friends to help him work out who's genuine and who isn't. My friend Lucy's daughter – Velma Greengrass – is having a much harder time of it. Her friend doesn't see anything wrong with political marriages, so Velma is finding it hard to work out which boys she can trust on her own. That doesn't make it any easier when some pureblood ever-so-politely suggests we set up a meeting between our children, of course."

Lily listened on in amazement. Slughorn and her friends had all mentioned the issue to her, of course, but it sounded so much different coming out of an adult's mouth in a non-academic context.

"But at least I have you around to help me now," Dorea said, appearing to brighten up considerably at the idea.

"You're happy for me to stick around?"

"I like you. You can hold your own, which is important in a place like this. Besides, James cares about you, and Sirius has made it abundantly clear that the two of you are good friends, which he doesn't make often." Leaning in towards Lily, she admitted with an air of embarrassment, "I've never been able to deny James anything, let alone Sirius. Honestly, I suspected from the start that you would pass my test. I just wanted to see if you could handle the pressure."

"Sirius does have good puppy dog eyes," Lily allowed.

Dorea's gaze sharpened. "You know?"

"You know?"

The older witch laughed. "It's so cute that they think Charlus and I don't know what they get up to at school. Of course I know. They're wonderful sneaks, but I'm older and much better at it than them." With a s wink, she added, "But don't tell any of them that. It's never a good idea to reveal one's leverage if you don't have to. That's the first rule of surviving in pureblood society. The second is to be good at reading between the lines of what other people say, which you already seem to have under control."

Reading between the lines of her speech and realising what she meant, Lily beamed at her.