"Lily dear, letter," said Mrs. Evans. Lily ran
down the stairs.
"Who's it from?" asked Lily. Mrs. Evans turned
over the envelope.
"Your Uncle Ted," said Mrs. Evans. Lily smiled. She
had just graduated from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and her
Uncle Ted was, aside from her parents, the person she loved most in her entire
family, but he had moved to America eight years ago with his wife, who was American.
Lily took the letter from her mother and opened it.
Dear Lily,
How's
my favorite niece doing? I am having the best time in America, and I really enjoyed your last letter. Still with that James fellow? Tell him that if he's not treating
you right, he has me to answer to. As I informed you a few months ago, we just
bought a cottage on the coast of Maine, so we could get away from the dreary city
life. It's lovely, and Sarah wants to know if you wanted to come visit us for
two weeks, in Maine. We've got a nice cottage on the water and
we've bought a boat. Remember when you and I would go sailing? Do you still
remember how? Anyway, we'd love to have you and a friend if you'd like. Write
back as soon as you can.
Love and kisses,
Uncle
Ted
Lily looked up with a grin on her face.
"What does it say, dear?" asked Mrs. Evans.
"Uncle Ted wants to know if a friend and I want
to visit him in Maine for two weeks," said Lily.
"I don't see why not," said Mrs. Evans. "I'll
mention it to your father. Who would you bring?"
"I might bring James," said Lily. "I don't think
he's ever been to America before, and it might do him good to go without
magic for a while."
The next morning, after going to America had been Okayed by both Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Lily
sat down and wrote to James.
James,
My uncle invited me to America for
two weeks to stay with him, specifically Maine. He
told me it was okay to bring a friend, and so I thought you might like to go.
The only drawback is that he moved before I went to Hogwarts, so he doesn't
know I'm a witch, and that means it's a magic free vacation. You'd have to
leave your wand, owl and robes at home, and buy Muggle clothing and bring some
Muggle money. Write me back with an answer soon. I miss you.
Lily
Lily sent that off with her owl, Bunny, and
started another letter to her uncle.
Dear
Uncle Ted,
I'd LOVE to go to America to
visit you. I haven't seen you in ages. I'm waiting on a reply from my friend,
James (yes the very one I'm dating, but we are very well behaved around each
other), but I'm sure he'll be able to go. Phone me and we'll figure out the
final arrangements. I'll see you soon. I can't wait.
Much Love and Many Kisses,
Lily
Lily rooted through her desk and found a stamp
and mailed her letter to her uncle.
That night, as Lily was getting ready for bed,
Bunny came in through her window with a reply from James.
Lily,
I'd
absolutely love to go to America with you. I won't mind living as a
Muggle for a month, it'll be fun. I'm just glad that I took Muggle Studies
instead of Ancient Runes because otherwise this could be a complete disaster.
I'll meet you in London in The Leaky Cauldron for a bite to eat
and then we'll get some money and go shopping on the 31st. See you
there. I miss you.
James
Lily smiled as she read the letter, but quickly
went to bed because she was tired.
The 31st was a Saturday, so Lily had
no trouble getting a ride into London. She met James in The Leaky Cauldron and gave
him a big kiss before they sat down for lunch.
"How's life, James?" asked Lily.
"Good," said James. "Life on my own is a bit
rough, but it's fun because it's me, Remus and Sirius sharing an apartment.
It's a madhouse, because none of us cook, except for Remus, who can only cook
three things that his mother taught him, and Sirius is bringing in a different
girl every few weeks, some that he's been with before. America is going to be a nice break from all of it."
"What about Peter?" asked Lily. "I always had a
soft spot for the little fellow, where is he now?"
"He's staying with his mother," said James, with
a slight smile. "He always was a mama's boy, but he was great for alibis, and
never held a grudge against anyone; when we would try out new pranks on him,
he'd just laugh."
"You three were always so awful to him, I felt so
bad," said Lily. "I got mad at you on more then one occasion for picking on
him."
"He's a friend, Lily," said James. "It was always
friendly joking. But how about you? How have you
been?"
"I've been okay," said Lily. "Uncle Ted called
last night. We're leaving for America in three days, where we fly to New York, and then we fly to Portland, in Maine where my uncle will meet us and drive us to the
middle of nowhere, costal Maine."
"That's nice, but don't I need a passport?" asked
James.
"Yes," said Lily. "I suggest you talk to the
Ministry about it, maybe they can help you out." After lunch, Lily and James
went to James's Gingott's vault to get some money and exchange it for pounds
instead of galleons. They left Diagon Alley and Lily steered James into a
store, where she picked out shorts, pants and shirts for him and he tried
everything on to make sure it fit. James paid for his purchases and he bought
ice cream cones for himself and Lily and the sat on a park bench.
"I had fun today, James," said Lily.
"Me, too," said James.
"Remember, our flight is at seven forty-five at gate thirty," said Lily. "I'll meet you in
front of the airport at five o'clock." A car stopped a few yards away from where they
were sitting. "That's my dad. I'll see you in three days." Lily kissed James
quickly and left.
The next two days dragged by. Lily tried not to
think about going to America, but she couldn't help it, she was too excited.
The night before Lily was going to leave, she made sure she had everything, and
went to sleep soon after dinner. Lily's alarm clock went off just as it was
starting to get lighter. She shut it off and brought her suitcase downstairs,
where her father was making scrambled eggs, the only thing he couldn't mess up.
"Good morning, Dad," said Lily.
"Good morning, Lily, dear," said Mr. Evans. "Are
you all ready? We're going to leave in twenty minutes."
"I'm all packed," said Lily. "Is the water still
hot?"
"Yes," said Mr. Evans. Lily made herself some
tea. "Do you want an egg?"
"Yes, please," said Lily. Lily ate a hurried
breakfast with her father and they left for the airport. They got to the
airport at five on the dot and Lily searched for James. A large crowd passed in
front of her, making Lily quite aggravated as she was looking for James. When
the crowd passed, there was James.
"Morning, Lily," said James, giving her a peck on
the cheek. "Been here long?"
"No, we just got here," said Lily. "But I told
you no wand, you apparated; you need a wand to apparate."
"Ah, but you're wrong," said James. "I didn't
apparate. I just got out of a cab as the crowd was passing."
"This is where I leave you two on your own," said
Mr. Evans, with a clueless look on his face. "Bye, sweetheart, have fun."
"I will, Dad," said Lily.
"See you in two weeks," said Mr. Evans, and he
got back into his car and drove off.
"Did you get a passport?" asked Lily.
"Yeah," said James. They checked their bags and
waited at gate thirty for their plane to be called.
"Flight eight four two to JFK is now boarding first
class and those in need of assistance," said a stewardess. Ten minutes later,
"Flight eight four two to JFK is now boarding rows one through fifteen." Ten
minutes later, "Flight eight four two to JFK is now boarding rows sixteen
through thirty."
"That's us," said Lily. "I call window seat."
They boarded the plane and took off. Once they were leveled, Lily put her seat
back and took a nap.
Lily and James passed through customs, no
problem. They caught their connecting flight to Portland and met Lily's Uncle Ted.
"Uncle Ted!" shouted Lily, as she ran off the
ramp. She ran over to a man with dark hair and bright green eyes, about forty.
"Hi Lil," said Uncle Ted. "You must be James.
Nice to meet you, I'm Ted Evans."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Evans," said James. "I'm
James Potter."
"Call me Ted," said Uncle Ted.
"How's Aunt Sarah?" asked Lily.
"She's good," said Uncle Ted. "She's waiting for
us, though, so we'd better get your luggage and go. You two must be jet lagged
as it is."
"Yeah," said Lily. "What time is it?"
"It's about five fifteen," said Uncle Ted. "We'll
get to our house in about two hours, we'll have dinner and then you can sleep."
Lily and James got their bags and went to the parking lot with Lily's uncle.
They got into his car and drove. Finally they reached the house. It was a gray
shingled two floor house with a blue door.
"Sarah, we're home," said Uncle Ted. A young
woman, about thirty, with brown hair and blue eyes came out of the house
wearing a short sleeved, cotton dress that went down to her ankles and
Birkenstocks.
"Lily," she said, kissing her. "How are you,
dear?"
"I'm great," said Lily. "The house is so lovely."
"It's wonderful," said Aunt Sarah.
"Aunt Sarah, this is James Potter," said Lily,
indicating James.
"How do you do, James?" asked Aunt Sarah. "It's
nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Evans," said James.
"Sarah," said Aunt Sarah. "Come in, dinner is
just about ready." Lily and James followed her into the house where they set
their bags down in the entrance hall.
"Do you want us to set the table?" asked Lily.
"Would you?" asked Aunt Sarah. "That would be
great, if you could. The plates and glasses are in the cabinet closest to you,
and the flatware is in drawer under it. We're eating outside, on the deck, so
just go through that door and you'll see the sliding glass door." Lily and
James set the table and Aunt Sarah brought out a meal of steak on the grill,
caramelized onions and mashed potatoes.
"Sarah, this is fabulous," said James, stuffing
his face.
"It's nothing much," said Aunt Sarah.
"Don't be so modest," said Uncle Ted. "Sarah is
the best cook this side of the Mississippi." After everyone had licked their
plate, in James's case literally, Aunt Sarah went into the house and came out
with an apple pie and some vanilla ice cream.
"Aunt Sarah, you're too much," said Lily.
"I thought you two might want a large meal after
that plane food they serve," said Aunt Sarah. James nodded his head vigorously
and accepted a large piece of pie and a large scoop of ice cream, twice.
"Sarah, thank you for a wonderful dinner," said
James.
"You're welcome, James," said Aunt Sarah. "It's
the least I could do for you two."
"You two must want to go to sleep now," said
Uncle Ted. "I'll show you to your rooms." He led James and Lily upstairs where
he showed them the bathroom, and the rooms they would be in. He bade them
goodnight, and went downstairs. Lily gave James a kiss goodnight and went to
sleep right as she lay down.
The next morning, Lily was woken at eight by Aunt
Sarah.
"The best way to get over jetlag is to spend a
full day awake and in the sun," she said. Lily trudged down the stairs
sleepily, and was greeted with a good morning kiss from James. She smiled and
gratefully accepted a mug of tea from her uncle.
"How long have you been up?" asked Lily.
"I've been awake since seven," said James. "I
walked into town with Ted to get the paper and some milk."
"I admire you," said Lily. "What's the plan for today."
"Well, it's supposed to be quite hot today," said
Uncle Ted. "So I though we'd go swimming off the rocks and if
the wind picks up we'll go for a sail after lunch."
"What kind of boat did you get?" asked Lily.
"Twenty four foot sloop," said Uncle Ted. "It's
white. Her name is Tiger Lily, after you, Lil."
"Great name," said James, laughing.
"I take it you've run into her temper?" asked
Uncle Ted.
"A few times, yes," said James.
"James has never been sailing before," said Lily.
"Really?" asked Uncle Ted.
"Really," said James. At nine, Lily went upstairs
to change into her bathing suit, because it was already eighty degrees. She
came downstairs, and James stared.
"What?" asked Lily.
"Never seen a girl in a bikini before?"
"Actually," said James. "No." Lily laughed and
shook her head. She grabbed a towel and made her way down to the rocks. She
went to the edge of one of them and just jumped in.
"How is it?" asked Uncle Ted.
"Cold," said Lily. "It's fabulous." He jumped in
and made a huge splash with a cannon ball.
"Oh that's the stuff," he said. "Come on in,
James, the water is great." James put his foot into the water and quickly
withdrew it.
"That's freezing," said James.
"No, I think it's about sixty," said Uncle Ted.
Lily got out, and stood next to James.
"It's really nice," said Lily. "Go on in." She
pushed James, so that he had no choice but to jump, but not without bringing
Lily with him.
"You little," said Lily.
"You pushed me," said James. Around noon, Aunt Sarah came down and announced lunch. Lily
wrapped a towel around her waist and went up to the house. She and James set
the table and Aunt Sarah came out with a plate of BBQ chicken breasts, again
done on the grill. The wind had picked up, like Uncle Ted had wanted, and after
lunch they decided to go for a sail. Lily went upstairs and put on a blue and white
stripped oxford shirt and some khaki shorts. It was quite windy, so she grabbed
a sweatshirt.
Uncle Ted, Lily and James got into the car and
drove to the yacht club, where all the boats were kept. Uncle Ted greeted the
dock boy, William, who greeted him back, and they took the launch out to Tiger
Lily.
"Uncle Ted, she's beautiful," said Lily. They got
onto the boat, after James glared at William for helping Lily onto the boat.
"Lil, go down below, and get the cushions," said
Uncle Ted. "Put the running boards in that locker under the fore seat. James,
could you let down the centerboard?"
"Got it," said Lily.
"Sure," said James. "Where is it? What do I do?"
"It's this," said Lily, pointing to a rope around
a cleat. "Make it so that the rope goes once around."
"Lil, will you raise the main?" asked Uncle Ted,
putting the halyard on.
"Sure," said Lily. She raised the sail in no
time, and cleated the rope.
"Now the jib?" asked Uncle Ted.
"Yup," said Lily. She raised the sail.
"Now around the winch," said Uncle Ted.
"Once, twice," said Lily. She pulled a bit more
and cleated that. Uncle Ted went back to the cockpit and started steering.
"Ready about?" he asked.
"Hard to lee," said Lily. She pulled on James so
he was sitting on the leeward side.
"Long sail today," said Uncle Ted. "First we're
going out to Newbury Neck, then over to Bartlett's Island, over
to the Falls, back out to Long
Island then home. With
a wind like this, we should be back by suppertime. James, trim the jib?"
"What?" he asked.
"Pull on the rope that's the most forward one,"
said Lily, trimming the main. "Uncle Ted, you're on the wrong side. Remember:
red right returning."
"We have plenty of water," said Uncle Ted. "This
baby can do four feet. If the centerboard line goes slack, we know to tack." As
soon as they got out into the bay, the wind picked up and they started heeling
over so far that they were burying the rail. James scrambled up to windward and
sat next to Lily.
"What's the matter, James?" asked Lily.
"We're going to turn over," said James.
"No we aren't," said Lily. "This is supposed to
happen." She moved to leeward.
"That's the best view," said Uncle Ted. "That bow
wave."
"It's perfect," said Lily. "James, you have to
see this."
"I'm alright where I am, thanks," said James.
"Uncle Ted, remember that one time we got green
water in the cockpit?" asked Lily.
"Yeah," said Uncle Ted. "We've got a wind like
that today."
"We're zipping along," said Lily. "This is great,
Uncle Ted."
"Ready about?" he asked.
"Hard to lee," said Lily. James switched sides
and sat next to her again. "What's the matter?"
"I don't really like being that close to the
water," said James.
"Come on," said Lily. She took his hand and sat
with him on the leeward side. They leveled out and slowed down considerable.
"What just happened?" asked James.
"Damn it!" shouted Uncle Ted. "We're dragging a
lobster pot."
"Is it on the prop?" asked Lily.
"I don't know," said Uncle Ted. "We're under
sail, so we shouldn't have snagged this. Hand me the boat hook."
"Where is it?" asked Lily.
"Aft locker, starboard side," said Uncle Ted,
leaning over the stern to get a look. Lily brought it out for him. He did
something, but brought it up again, it had broken. They were getting close to some
rocks, but didn't have enough speed to tack. "We have another one, aft locker,
port side." Lily got it out, and handed it to her uncle. He hooked the line on
it and brought it to the middle of the starboard side.
"Do you know what it's on yet?" asked Lily.
"No," said Uncle Ted. "It's the second buoy, too,
not the first. Lil, if I go overboard, throw me a cushion." He worked the line
for a while, and the rocks were getting closer.
"Lily, I love you," blurted out James. Lily
looked up at him and smiled.
"I love you, too, James, but I really don't think
this is the time to say it," she replied.
"Well, I thought, if we're going to die, I should
tell you," said James, looking slightly abashed. Lily laughed.
"We're not going to die, James," said Lily. "Don't
worry about it."
"There we go," said Uncle Ted. "We just need a
big puff to tack on."
"I see one," said Lily.
"Great," said Uncle Ted. "Lil, be a doll and tack
the boat."
"Ready about," said Lily.
"Hard to lee," said Uncle Ted, ducking. They
slowly tacked, but then picked up speed and heeled over again, free of the lobster
pot. "Nice work, Lil."
"I didn't do anything," said Lily.
"You tacked at the exact right time," said Uncle
Ted. He turned to James. "Now what's this I hear about you loving my favorite
niece?" James grinned sheepishly, and nodded. He turned back to Lily. "Hold on
to him, he's a keeper."
"I know," said Lily, and she gave James a kiss. "I
know."
A/N: What do you think? I like it because it has
sailing in it. That episode with the lobster pot actually happened to me and my
dad when we went sailing. Pretty exciting, except we weren't going to crash
immediately. I was going to write this they go sailing in England, but I've
never been to Europe, let alone sailing in England, so I decided for them to go
sailing someplace I did know about: Maine. Please review!
Disclaimer: The characters you recognize belong
to JKR, as well as the non-nautical terms and things. The places in London belong to the U.K. The places in Maine and JFK International
Airport belong to the U.S.A. Yes, the places they sail to are actual places. The
plot is mine, but the house belongs to my parents. Uncle Ted and Aunt Sarah
belong to my imagination (poor, sorry, overused and overworked thing).
