In a matter of days, the entire Evans/Snape affair had been moved to France. And Rafe, Sirius, Remus, James, Peter, Ronan and Munguldus were hot on their trail.
"Okay, Sirius. Know any French?" James asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets. They had spent a whole lot of their money on just getting to Paris, and there they stood, facing the Eiffel Tower, almost broke and owning only the clothes on their backs.
"He knows one phrase." Remus said with a groan.
"Voulez vous se couche avec moi, c'est soir.." James and Rafe murmured at the same time. Sirius nodded exuberantly.
"Thank you, Patti LaBelle!!!" He said at the top of his lungs. Munguldus groaned.
"How exactly is that going to help us?" Ronan asked. Sirius looked at him like he was from Jupiter.
"How exactly is that going to help us?!? Ronan, my friend, that is the absolutely best thing the French ever thought of!" Sirius exclaimed. "All except for letting Veelas in.."
Sirius trailed off as he saw this pretty brunette pass by. He snapped back into reality, murmuring something like 'Jackie' and they continued to walk across the lawn.
On the other side of the Eiffel Tower, an unhappy redhead was preparing for her big decision.
"Well, dear. Purple dress, yellow dress, lime green dress, white dress, orange dress, sky blue dress, leopard print dress or light green dress?" Claire asked as unmotherly as possible. Lily grunted.
"That means, Madame Aevans, that she wants the lime green dress." Arabella added as she prompted Lily to sit up.
"Lime green? That color is sooo wrong for you, sweetie. We'll give you the sky blue dress." Claire said. Lily sat up with a huff as Jackie began to work on her hair. Arabella tried to put the locket around her neck, but the clasp wasn't working. Arabella tried to open it as well, but the locket was stuck shut.
"I am going over to Cartier's to get this locket fixed, Madame Aevans." Arabella said.
"Lily, darling, put this on. Your bridesmaids will be here soon." Claire said as she carelessly tossed the sky blue Coco Chanel dress to Lily.
"Who are my bridesmaids if I'm not a bride?" Lily wondered aloud, still very grumpy. Jackie pulled the dress over Lily's head, adjusting the boatneck collar, and smoothing out the full skirt.
"Why, dear, of course they'd be your good friends Sue-Ann and Mary-Pickens." Claire said with a false laugh. "Put these on."
Jackie pulled the short little white kid gloves onto Lily's delicate hands. She admired the pattern on the silk sky blue dress. It had medium-sized white dots all over it, and the top of the dress looked like a boatneck blouse tucked in elegantly into the full skirt.
"Sue-Ann and Mary-Pickens? Those ditzy debs?" Lily protested as Claire handed Jackie a wide-brimmed white straw hat with a wide bolt of silk tied around it with a big bow, matching Lily's dress.
"Those ditzy debs happen to be the daughters of my close friends. Or rather, their stepdaughters. Be polite." Claire said cheerily. "You're going to be married by the end of the school year and you'll never have to have your nose stuck in a book again!"
"For your information, Claire," Lily began, raising her voice just a bit as she put on some light-shiny-pinkish pantyhose, "I happen to love schooling."
"See what we have to teach her, Jackie-Lyn?" Claire said with a giggle. Jackie grunted, her mouth full of pins. "My darling stepdaughter, you'll love being married."
Lily groaned as Jackie tried to put the white shiny pumps on Lily's feet, but Lily refused to let her do it. "I am not a baby, you know!"
Claire giggled again and handed her a little silk handbag matching her dress. As she left the room, Claire said this with the slam of the door. "Knock 'em dead, sweetheart!"
"I AM NOT YOUR SWEETHEART!" Lily yelled after her, but was quickly silenced with a cookie.
"Mind you, that's the last snack you're to have in-between meals." Jackie snapped. Lily understood that Claire was getting under her skin, but she was the one who came on her own terms, wasn't she?
"Lillian, darling, you have a visitor." Claire called through the door. "A Sarah Barnes, I might add."
Lily groaned. This was just what she needed, looking like a high society airhead when her greatest school rival was visiting.
The blonde came in crying, her magnificent head shaking. "I am so glad you don't love James, I thought I'd have to hate you more. Severus is such a dear. He has prevented you from having a broken heart. James would have hurt you so, I am glad he didn't pull through with the plan, in a way. It would do me no good if my greatest rival was ruined, no good at all. I should have told him. No, James, you can't break Lily's heart. You can't confide in me. I am so glad he can't pull through with it, Lily. Ever so glad." The blonde girl said, leaving Lily speechless and Jackie comforting her.
Jackie escorted the blonde Ravenclaw out of the room and left Lily to get the angriest she had ever been. It did not matter that she had planned the same fatality to James as well, all that mattered is that he would dare to ever think of breaking Lily Evans's heart.
"Lillian, darling, we have a garden party to attend!!" Claire's voice rang through Lily's boudoir. Lily groaned again and picked up the little handbag. "Jackie-Lyn, you will send her visitors over to the nice little cafe on the lawn of the Eiffel Tower, mind. And only give them the location if they look the suitable sort."
"Lillian! We haven't seen you in ever so long! Last summer I believe, before you went off to that British charm school?" Sue-Ann asked as she sat down. Both Sue-Ann and Mary-Pickens had shrill Southern accents. Their stepmothers were the gold digger type, living out on huge plantations in the south of the U.S somewhere, like Shadow Grove, Louisiana.
Lily gritted her teeth. Charm school? Hah. She had aced that course many years ago. "Yes, I am to return after Christmas holiday."
"Engaged, we hope." Mary-Pickens said with a shrill giggle. Sue-Ann joined in and Claire left one of the chaperones with the girls as she and her friends went off to shop.
"Yes, yes, I am going to the chapel of love hopefully." Lily said icily, sipping her tea. The girls didn't hear the sarcasm dripping from her voice.
"What's his name, anyway. Not that it matters. We just want to know who to add the Mrs to." Sue-Ann began, stuffing a tea cake in her mouth. Now that Lily noticed, Sue-Ann was only going to get a husband on her dowry and a prenuptial agreement. She had these thin, mud brown curls that stuck to the sides of her face, and she was chunky, annoying, and covered in hives. "Mrs. sounds like a lovely title."
"His name is Severus Snape. He attends the boys' military school near our grounds. Very prominent and rich, but his family keeps a low profile. A very low profile." Lily lied as she nibbled quietly at the last tea cake.
"Mrs. Severus Snape.." Mary-Pickens began dreamily. Lily flinched unnoticeably. "Sounds like a dream title. Does he have a brother?"
Lily thought about it a moment. She didn't really know, but Mary-Pickens was another one counting on her dowry and a prenuptial agreement. She, in contrast to Sue-Ann, was a blonde, skinny as a toothpick and not nearly as curved as Sue-Ann. Her face was wide, her nose sharp, and her eyes beady. She had this little mouth that could use a single tube of lipstick in seven years, if applied three times daily. Her hair was failing to look like the beehive she had it in, looking more like a limp, soggy piece of cabbage that had turned yellow.
"I don't believe so. But, you'll probably be able to find out at the wedding. He has a bunch of friends that are much, much richer." Lily said, making her voice hopeful. Maybe she would at least torture Avery with the possibility of him having to marry either Sue-Ann or Mary-Pickens.
"My dear Lillian, how are you this fine morning? Why on earth would you be in Paris? I thought you were still in London, enjoying Buckingham Palace!" Exclaimed an overly posh British voice. Rafe stood five feet away, with his entourage of boys behind him, this time including Peter.
"Rafael!" Lily exclaimed. "I thought you were still at Eton, on that Spanish scholarship.. I believe your phrase of the week is Ustedes es Muggles!"
Rafe caught on quickly as Lily pointedly looked at Sue-Ann and Mary-Pickens. "No, no, no.. There is some big betrothal banquet in town that my mother is forcing me to attend, so we are here, at least enjoying Paris until tonight. Lovely seeing you again, my dear."
The boys walked over to another table and Sue-Ann led Mary-Pickens in giggles.
"Lillian, darling.. Is that an old, uh.." Sue-Ann began to giggle again. "Beau of yours?"
"No, not at all, Sue-Ann! He was among the group that sat with me at this banquet our schools attended, with the Queen of Gryffindor, this foreign rich country, as the guest of honor. One of them is His Excellency her nephew, a junior ambassador, born to Britain." Lily said in a very grand voice, knowing all the names she dropped would be enough for the tabloids of debs to be raving for weeks. She sipped her tea again. "Pass the petit fours, will you?"
Rafe stood nervously, crossing his fingers behind his back. Sue-Ann would be rushing out any moment to tell him Lily's verdict. She had looked wonderful tonight, in a fine creation of blue gauze and chiffon. She wasn't wearing James's locket, though.. Arabella said it was being fixed.
"Oh, Rafael! Congratulate me! I am going to be a bridesmaid!!!" Sue-Ann rang happily. Rafe and the guys hidden in the shadows dropped their jaws. And James Potter's heart broke into pieces.