Author's note: Sorry this took forever to type up!!! And this is one of the
shortest chapters I've ever written. I give my thanks for QueenOfTheQueer,
Hazelmist, and my friends who reviewed my story. Thanks very much!!!! As
usual, read and review!
Disclaimer: Nobody and nothing belongs to me in this chapter except the O'Connor family. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling.
Chapter 3
The Evans left the house at house at 12:30 so they could drop off Jillian at her home. 'Owl me when you find out what your mum and dad are planning for you, okay" Jillian whispered to Lily as the Evans pulled up on Jillian's driveway. Lily nodded and gave her a hug. The two girls hadn't been able to come up with many ideas of what Lily's parents were planning for her. They did know that they, her mom mostly, was starting to become touchy about Lily's appearance, so perhaps they were trying to put her in a competition or enroll her into a theater group or something like that.
Jillian then hopped out of the car and retrieved her luggage. "Thank you so much for letting me stay overnight, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, I had a wonderful time!" Lily grinned. "You'll have to come by again some other time before fifth year begins." Petunia then just snorted at the mention of 'fifth year' and Lily glared at her. "Bye!" Jillian happily yelled from her front doorstep. Seeing that Jillian got in safely, Mr. Evans pulled out of the driveway. Mrs. Evans was jumping in her seat, well, almost.
"We get to meet Sarah O'Connor again, oh finally! Aren't you excited too, Philip?" Mrs. Evans directed at her husband. "Well of course I am," he answered. "But if I get all jumpy as you are, we'll lose control of the car, get into an accident and then never get to the party. That is why I can't get excited. I must stay calm." He had said that very dignified and stately, thus sending everyone else into laughter. "Mum,
Petunia said, looking at Lily, " do tell us all about Mrs. O' Connor." Petunia said it all with an air of superiority, like she was in on their mother and father's plan. 'What do they know that I don't? I want to know now!' Lily thought to herself.
Mrs. Evans launched into a long story, something she was extremely talented in doing. "Sarah and I were neighbors since life began. Our families got along extremely well and did something special together every Sunday. Sarah and I were 'secret sisters' by the time we had turned nine years old. It wasn't much of a secret though. When it came time for secondary school, her father was transferred by his job out to the United States. The whole family had to move with him, but that didn't stop us from being 'sisters'!" Mrs. Evans beamed internally at that for a while, and then continued on. "We wrote letters to each other almost everyday for a few years. It got too expensive to mail the letters out but before we stopped our letters to each other, we promised to be friends no matter what and get together again in the future. Well, who knows many years later, she's moved back here, happily married… and has a fifteen year old son."
Mrs. Evans winked at Lily merrily. Lily smiled. "A fifteen year old son? Sounds interesting to me!" she told her mother. However, she was really thinking, " Mum's trying to set me up with someone I've never met??? Now I've experienced everything life has to offer, except the married life and death. I can't believe she's doing this to me!!!!!" Petunia smiled at Lily as they pulled into the O'Connor driveway. Petunia wasn't entirely dumb and knew what Lily was thinking when she answered to their mum. The O'Connors lived out in the countryside, which was clear. Lily hadn't noticed that they had even left the suburbs. It was like on of those plantation homes Lily had seen in American history books except the O'Connor home was also modernized so the home didn't have an old feeling to it. As Lily got out of the car and closed the door behind her, she noted how quiet it was. "Mum, didn't you say there was supposed to be a party?" Mrs. Evans closed her door. "Oh no, darling… this is a reunion party between the Evans and the O'Connor's. Lily… please fix that ponytail of yours. It looks positively dreadful." Mrs. Evans had originally wanted Lily to wear her hear down, saying it was becoming on her, but Lily wasn't one for looking special, considering the school uniform at Hogwarts.
A tall woman with flowing brown hair then graced through the front door. Mrs. Evans spotted her. "Sarah!" "Felicia!" The two women embraced each other. Drawing apart, Sarah said, "Felicia! TWO daughters?????" Mrs. Evans laughed. 'Yes, this one here is Petunia, my elder one and this is Lily." Sarah looked the girls over. "Well, this is a lovely surprise! Hello Mr. Evans…" "Call me Philip," Mr. Evans said. "Oh, do forgive me Come in everybody, come in! " she said to the Evans family as they entered the front door. Sarah helped the Evans put away their light jackets. "My husband isn't here at the moment. I hope you don't mind and Alex was just taking a bike ride…"
Just then, a boy burst through the front door looking as if he had the time of his life. His hair was a bit messed up from the helmet, but otherwise, Lily's first impression was that Alex was extremely attractive. No, not extremely attractive, but HOT!!!!!!!!! Sarah beamed. "This is my one and only son, Alexander O'Connor. Alex, this is my dear friend Felicia, her husband Philip and their two lovely daughters: Petunia and Lily." Alex grinned widely at his guests. 'His smile looks so familiar, I just can't remember from who…. (A/N: cough*James*cough) Lily thought." "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Petunia and Lily. It's good to finally meet you all. Mom's been looking forward to this day for such a long time and I can see why."
Alex looked at Lily for a second again then turned back. Lily resolved that Alex wasn't the most perfect guy in the world, but there was something about him that made her heart leap when they first made eye contact. His brown eyes shone in the sunlight and brown then actually did look pretty. It was with his brown hair and he clearly had somewhat of an athletic build. Lily followed everyone out of the entry hall into the living room, which was very simple and had a relaxing atmosphere. They all sat down on the sofa. Sarah went into the kitchen and came out a minute later with snacks and drinks. 'Sarah, tell us, when was this house built? It most certainly looks old," Lily's mother commented. "Oh yes, this house was built in the 1800's, quite old indeed. I lived in a house like this at one point in the United States. I'm so eager to show you the rest of this house; it's just full of surprises. Oh… how about this. Alex, you show Lily around and I'll show everyone else, Sounds good?" Alex nodded agreeably.
"Lily, just give me a minute or two then we'll start the tour, okay?" 'Fine with me," Lily answered, as she took a chocolate chip cookie off a plate. "Mum," Petunia whined, "Why can't I go with Alex and Lily?" "Petunia, darling, you're 18 years old, nearly 19. It's about time you spent time with the adults." Five minutes later, Alex was showing Lily around his home. 'This is the kitchen, naturally. Big, isn't it?" Going out the door, "this is the dining room, over there is dad's study room, a little library… d'you want to go upstairs to see the bedrooms? Highlight of the grand tour!" "Sure," Lily exclaimed, absolutely enchanted by everything she saw and Alex. Grabbing her arm and pulling her up the stairs, 'There are secret passages and rooms all over upstairs, it's so cool." Once at the top, Alex and Lily went into the bedroom straight ahead. "This is mom and dad's room, the biggest and most spacious room I've ever seen. That's because of the secret rooms. There's one behind their closet. Have you ever seen a secret passage before?" Lily shook her head. "Aren't they generally impossible to find?" she questioned. "It's hard… but I actually don't know how I found them. I was just nosing around the house one day when I had nothing to do and I found these. Um, let's go to my room next."
Once they entered it, Lily was too occupied to see Alex silently lock the door behind him. 'I kind of expected more from you in the decoration of your room, but it's nice," Lily truthfully said. Alex coughed. "Lily, do you know why your mom's been fussing over you?" "Of course I know why, I'm no idiot, our mums are trying to pair us up." Lily grinned at a serious Alex. "It's a good thing your mum fusses over you," he said, stepping up to Lily. He tried to give Lily a kiss, but she backed away. "Alex, um… I'll be down in the living room if you go looking for me." Lily then closed the door behind an open-mouthed Alex.
She went downstairs to an empty living room. Mrs. O' Connor was likely giving her tour of the house. Alex then came running down the stairs. "Oh, hey, nobody's here…" Alex smiled mischievously and Lily involuntarily took a step back and sat on the couch. "So, Alex, how long have you exactly been living here?" "Probably a month and a half. I'm going to some boarding school in September and mom's not telling me anything about the school I'm going to. How about you?" "I go to a boarding school up north, not even sure where it is on the map, to be honest. I love it there." "Co-ed?" "Yeah…" "Let me tell you now that I love playing pranks… I won't do any on you though, I promised mom… but tell me, are there any really good pranksters up there?"
Lily knew the answer to that right away. "No doubt about that! Four boys who call themselves the Marauders. They're very good at it, too." "Have they played pranks on you before?" "Only once, they paid the consequence for doing so they very same night. I'm on really good terms with them now." The boys had actually played the prank without magic in their first year. They had messaged up Lily's alarm clock, hid her school robes and hid her wand and homework in their own dormitory, embarrassing Lily in front of all the Gryffindors. Lily returned the favor later on that night by sneaking into their dormitory, took all their personal items (the ones that at least didn't belong to Hogwarts) and managed to sneak them to her friends in Ravenclaw. They went through worse sufferings than Lily did, making Lily feel extremely triumphant. The Marauders were cautious around Lily for a while after that incident but then accepted her as a friend when they got to know her better.
Alex and Lily continued talking for about an hour until Mrs. O' Connor and Lily's family returned to the living room. 'Alex, dear, you r father just called. We're all meeting at a restaurant in London 45 minutes from now, so change out of your dirty clothes and get some new ones on," Mrs. O' Connor addressed to Alex. "Hope we're going to an Italian restaurant. I'll go up now." Alex then walked back upstairs and out of sight. Mrs. Evans sat down beside Lily. "Chinese restaurant, actually. Isn't this house fantastic? Sarah here is wealthier than any of us will ever be at the beginning of retirement, so I mean, you wouldn't mind being betrothed to Alex, would you?"
Lily stared at her mother. "Mum, I hope that hasn't been set in stone because even though we're hitting it off to a fairly good start, things could go wrong and if the betrothal were official, the marriage would be a disaster. And besides, this is only my first day knowing Alex. We're only friends as of right now, and there's no need for rush. I hope you understand, mum." Mrs. Evans thought for a moment. "You're right, Lily. We won't rush you then." Alex then returned from changing up. 'Come on now, everybody,' Mrs. O' Connor said. "We can't afford to run into traffic, we're having a reservation at the best Chinese restaurant in London." Alex, who didn't have a liking to Chinese food, yelled, "WHAT??????????????????????"
Disclaimer: Nobody and nothing belongs to me in this chapter except the O'Connor family. Everything else belongs to JK Rowling.
Chapter 3
The Evans left the house at house at 12:30 so they could drop off Jillian at her home. 'Owl me when you find out what your mum and dad are planning for you, okay" Jillian whispered to Lily as the Evans pulled up on Jillian's driveway. Lily nodded and gave her a hug. The two girls hadn't been able to come up with many ideas of what Lily's parents were planning for her. They did know that they, her mom mostly, was starting to become touchy about Lily's appearance, so perhaps they were trying to put her in a competition or enroll her into a theater group or something like that.
Jillian then hopped out of the car and retrieved her luggage. "Thank you so much for letting me stay overnight, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, I had a wonderful time!" Lily grinned. "You'll have to come by again some other time before fifth year begins." Petunia then just snorted at the mention of 'fifth year' and Lily glared at her. "Bye!" Jillian happily yelled from her front doorstep. Seeing that Jillian got in safely, Mr. Evans pulled out of the driveway. Mrs. Evans was jumping in her seat, well, almost.
"We get to meet Sarah O'Connor again, oh finally! Aren't you excited too, Philip?" Mrs. Evans directed at her husband. "Well of course I am," he answered. "But if I get all jumpy as you are, we'll lose control of the car, get into an accident and then never get to the party. That is why I can't get excited. I must stay calm." He had said that very dignified and stately, thus sending everyone else into laughter. "Mum,
Petunia said, looking at Lily, " do tell us all about Mrs. O' Connor." Petunia said it all with an air of superiority, like she was in on their mother and father's plan. 'What do they know that I don't? I want to know now!' Lily thought to herself.
Mrs. Evans launched into a long story, something she was extremely talented in doing. "Sarah and I were neighbors since life began. Our families got along extremely well and did something special together every Sunday. Sarah and I were 'secret sisters' by the time we had turned nine years old. It wasn't much of a secret though. When it came time for secondary school, her father was transferred by his job out to the United States. The whole family had to move with him, but that didn't stop us from being 'sisters'!" Mrs. Evans beamed internally at that for a while, and then continued on. "We wrote letters to each other almost everyday for a few years. It got too expensive to mail the letters out but before we stopped our letters to each other, we promised to be friends no matter what and get together again in the future. Well, who knows many years later, she's moved back here, happily married… and has a fifteen year old son."
Mrs. Evans winked at Lily merrily. Lily smiled. "A fifteen year old son? Sounds interesting to me!" she told her mother. However, she was really thinking, " Mum's trying to set me up with someone I've never met??? Now I've experienced everything life has to offer, except the married life and death. I can't believe she's doing this to me!!!!!" Petunia smiled at Lily as they pulled into the O'Connor driveway. Petunia wasn't entirely dumb and knew what Lily was thinking when she answered to their mum. The O'Connors lived out in the countryside, which was clear. Lily hadn't noticed that they had even left the suburbs. It was like on of those plantation homes Lily had seen in American history books except the O'Connor home was also modernized so the home didn't have an old feeling to it. As Lily got out of the car and closed the door behind her, she noted how quiet it was. "Mum, didn't you say there was supposed to be a party?" Mrs. Evans closed her door. "Oh no, darling… this is a reunion party between the Evans and the O'Connor's. Lily… please fix that ponytail of yours. It looks positively dreadful." Mrs. Evans had originally wanted Lily to wear her hear down, saying it was becoming on her, but Lily wasn't one for looking special, considering the school uniform at Hogwarts.
A tall woman with flowing brown hair then graced through the front door. Mrs. Evans spotted her. "Sarah!" "Felicia!" The two women embraced each other. Drawing apart, Sarah said, "Felicia! TWO daughters?????" Mrs. Evans laughed. 'Yes, this one here is Petunia, my elder one and this is Lily." Sarah looked the girls over. "Well, this is a lovely surprise! Hello Mr. Evans…" "Call me Philip," Mr. Evans said. "Oh, do forgive me Come in everybody, come in! " she said to the Evans family as they entered the front door. Sarah helped the Evans put away their light jackets. "My husband isn't here at the moment. I hope you don't mind and Alex was just taking a bike ride…"
Just then, a boy burst through the front door looking as if he had the time of his life. His hair was a bit messed up from the helmet, but otherwise, Lily's first impression was that Alex was extremely attractive. No, not extremely attractive, but HOT!!!!!!!!! Sarah beamed. "This is my one and only son, Alexander O'Connor. Alex, this is my dear friend Felicia, her husband Philip and their two lovely daughters: Petunia and Lily." Alex grinned widely at his guests. 'His smile looks so familiar, I just can't remember from who…. (A/N: cough*James*cough) Lily thought." "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Petunia and Lily. It's good to finally meet you all. Mom's been looking forward to this day for such a long time and I can see why."
Alex looked at Lily for a second again then turned back. Lily resolved that Alex wasn't the most perfect guy in the world, but there was something about him that made her heart leap when they first made eye contact. His brown eyes shone in the sunlight and brown then actually did look pretty. It was with his brown hair and he clearly had somewhat of an athletic build. Lily followed everyone out of the entry hall into the living room, which was very simple and had a relaxing atmosphere. They all sat down on the sofa. Sarah went into the kitchen and came out a minute later with snacks and drinks. 'Sarah, tell us, when was this house built? It most certainly looks old," Lily's mother commented. "Oh yes, this house was built in the 1800's, quite old indeed. I lived in a house like this at one point in the United States. I'm so eager to show you the rest of this house; it's just full of surprises. Oh… how about this. Alex, you show Lily around and I'll show everyone else, Sounds good?" Alex nodded agreeably.
"Lily, just give me a minute or two then we'll start the tour, okay?" 'Fine with me," Lily answered, as she took a chocolate chip cookie off a plate. "Mum," Petunia whined, "Why can't I go with Alex and Lily?" "Petunia, darling, you're 18 years old, nearly 19. It's about time you spent time with the adults." Five minutes later, Alex was showing Lily around his home. 'This is the kitchen, naturally. Big, isn't it?" Going out the door, "this is the dining room, over there is dad's study room, a little library… d'you want to go upstairs to see the bedrooms? Highlight of the grand tour!" "Sure," Lily exclaimed, absolutely enchanted by everything she saw and Alex. Grabbing her arm and pulling her up the stairs, 'There are secret passages and rooms all over upstairs, it's so cool." Once at the top, Alex and Lily went into the bedroom straight ahead. "This is mom and dad's room, the biggest and most spacious room I've ever seen. That's because of the secret rooms. There's one behind their closet. Have you ever seen a secret passage before?" Lily shook her head. "Aren't they generally impossible to find?" she questioned. "It's hard… but I actually don't know how I found them. I was just nosing around the house one day when I had nothing to do and I found these. Um, let's go to my room next."
Once they entered it, Lily was too occupied to see Alex silently lock the door behind him. 'I kind of expected more from you in the decoration of your room, but it's nice," Lily truthfully said. Alex coughed. "Lily, do you know why your mom's been fussing over you?" "Of course I know why, I'm no idiot, our mums are trying to pair us up." Lily grinned at a serious Alex. "It's a good thing your mum fusses over you," he said, stepping up to Lily. He tried to give Lily a kiss, but she backed away. "Alex, um… I'll be down in the living room if you go looking for me." Lily then closed the door behind an open-mouthed Alex.
She went downstairs to an empty living room. Mrs. O' Connor was likely giving her tour of the house. Alex then came running down the stairs. "Oh, hey, nobody's here…" Alex smiled mischievously and Lily involuntarily took a step back and sat on the couch. "So, Alex, how long have you exactly been living here?" "Probably a month and a half. I'm going to some boarding school in September and mom's not telling me anything about the school I'm going to. How about you?" "I go to a boarding school up north, not even sure where it is on the map, to be honest. I love it there." "Co-ed?" "Yeah…" "Let me tell you now that I love playing pranks… I won't do any on you though, I promised mom… but tell me, are there any really good pranksters up there?"
Lily knew the answer to that right away. "No doubt about that! Four boys who call themselves the Marauders. They're very good at it, too." "Have they played pranks on you before?" "Only once, they paid the consequence for doing so they very same night. I'm on really good terms with them now." The boys had actually played the prank without magic in their first year. They had messaged up Lily's alarm clock, hid her school robes and hid her wand and homework in their own dormitory, embarrassing Lily in front of all the Gryffindors. Lily returned the favor later on that night by sneaking into their dormitory, took all their personal items (the ones that at least didn't belong to Hogwarts) and managed to sneak them to her friends in Ravenclaw. They went through worse sufferings than Lily did, making Lily feel extremely triumphant. The Marauders were cautious around Lily for a while after that incident but then accepted her as a friend when they got to know her better.
Alex and Lily continued talking for about an hour until Mrs. O' Connor and Lily's family returned to the living room. 'Alex, dear, you r father just called. We're all meeting at a restaurant in London 45 minutes from now, so change out of your dirty clothes and get some new ones on," Mrs. O' Connor addressed to Alex. "Hope we're going to an Italian restaurant. I'll go up now." Alex then walked back upstairs and out of sight. Mrs. Evans sat down beside Lily. "Chinese restaurant, actually. Isn't this house fantastic? Sarah here is wealthier than any of us will ever be at the beginning of retirement, so I mean, you wouldn't mind being betrothed to Alex, would you?"
Lily stared at her mother. "Mum, I hope that hasn't been set in stone because even though we're hitting it off to a fairly good start, things could go wrong and if the betrothal were official, the marriage would be a disaster. And besides, this is only my first day knowing Alex. We're only friends as of right now, and there's no need for rush. I hope you understand, mum." Mrs. Evans thought for a moment. "You're right, Lily. We won't rush you then." Alex then returned from changing up. 'Come on now, everybody,' Mrs. O' Connor said. "We can't afford to run into traffic, we're having a reservation at the best Chinese restaurant in London." Alex, who didn't have a liking to Chinese food, yelled, "WHAT??????????????????????"