The Prince and the Pauper
(A Marauder Story)
Chapter 6: Auntie Isabella and an EXTREMELY mad James
*There are 2 words that aren't great for young children. You've been warned…*
Lily spent the rest of the summer reading her books…well, when no one else was in her room, as no one was supposed to know that she was a witch. At one point she thought of calling up Mr. Potter just so she could visit him and study in peace. But she never did, as she knew he'd just tell her to be patient. However, she was delighted to find a letter written to her from Cassie and Bella left in her mailbox (Each orphan had a mailbox).
Dear Lily,
How are you? This is Bella and Cassie! Yes, and Cassie. We're currently guests at the Potter residence Oh stop bothering her with your perfect English. We're staying at James's house for the rest of the summer! We wanted to know if you could stay at James's the night before school starts. We could have a semi-sleepover, James said he didn't mind as long as we keep to ourselves, typical boy. Supposedly he's "busy" but we're not too sure…Gimme the quill back! Sorry, but my twin's being impracticable which means impossible, by the way Lil, if you don't know Bella-talk. Do shut up, Cass. Anyway, do tell us if you can attend-alright, alright, as Cassidy is trying to hit me, tell us if you can come, by letter-I'm sure your infamous "Madame Doufahn" knows the Potters' address. That's a riot about her and Eddie, by the way. He'd never fall for someone like her. James told us all about her…you poor thing! Yes, we're feeling very sorry for you! But we have to go because Charles is ringing the dinner bell…ta ta! Hope to see you August 31st!
Arabella Figg and Cass!
Lily laughed as she read the letter. She felt like she had known the twins for years. Now there was only one problem-should she stay with the twins, or with Sari the last night before Hogwarts started? She knew Sari would be mad if she went to James's house, but she really wanted to. After all, she'd be spending a lot of her time at school with James, Cassie, and Bella. She had the right to get to know them, didn't she.
She groaned. Why was everything happening to her? She couldn't have a peaceful life, oh no. Now Sari was mad at her, the twins were counting on her coming, the other orphans were practically crying over her leaving, and she couldn't make up her mind who to go to.
"Oh well, better do this the logical way," she said.
She dug into her pockets for one of the coins Mr. Potter had given her. What was it called? A galein? A gallon? A galleon? Yes, that was it! A galleon. She took it into her hand.
"Ok, if you land this side I'll call it "heads", and I'll go to James's house. If it's the other side, "tails" I'll stay here."
She took a deep breath and threw the coin up into the air. It flipped over and over and over until…it landed.
"Heads up."
"Yes!" Lily cried in delight. She was going to Mr. Potter's! Which had almost become her home away from home, she'd been there quite a few times now. And James had been there, helping her learn things about the magic world. It was really quite sweet of him, actually. He knew everything, he could have a good time, but instead he helped her. She should do something for him…but no time for that now. She had to ask Ms. Doufahn for Mr. Potter's address.
~*^*~*^*~*^*~August 31~*^*~*^*~*^*~
Lily was walking over to Mr. Potter's house. She really didn't feel like having Charles come fetch her in a limo. She really couldn't believe that tomorrow…well, she'd be going to a new school and learning magic. It was like a joke. I mean, come on, there's no such thing as magic…but then, she'd seen it, she went to Diagon Alley, watched Mr. Potter at his house. It was like a dream to her, the past month. Her birthday, Mr. Potter, James, Cassie, Bella, Diagon Alley, magic…it was practically a blur. Was she doing the right thing? She could still remember the crushed look on Sari's face when she told her about James and the twins. Almost like she thought that she was being betrayed, or replaced.
"Well, she's going to have to get used to the idea that I'm leaving," Lily said at loud.
"Who ya talkin' to?" a voice said loudly right next to her ear.
"Ah! Oh, it's you."
"Is that all the greeting I get?" Sirius Black grinned, pretending to be wounded.
"I wasn't talking to anyone, Mr. Color," Lily snapped, her temper kicking in.
"So you were talking to yourself," Sirius nodded understandingly.
"Oh, so you do it too?" Lily asked.
"All the time!" he stated proudly.
"Where are you going?" he asked her after a minute.
"To stay with James. You?"
"Same," he said, and Lily groaned.
"He had to be friends with you, any other person, just not you!" she complained.
"Aw, come on, Lil. You know you love me!" Sirius boasted.
"As if. So, how come you're walking to James's? Doesn't Charles come pick you up?" Lily asked.
"Me? I come by Floo," Sirius said.
"Floo? You mean shoe? Like walking with shoes?" Lily asked, confused.
"No!" Sirius started cracking up.
"Ok, so you're just being…odd…" Lily finished helplessly, and started to laugh along.
The two of them walked together, laughing about various things, all the way to the Potters' house.
"So, you like Jamsie-boy Lils?" he asked casually.
"NO! Come on, Sirius, be real. He's my friend, and a good one at that."
"I'm serious!" he protested.
"I know you are," Lily said.
"Ok, that's getting really old," he answered.
"Yet I seem to remember you using that pun just a few weeks ago," Lily said with her eyes raised.
"Yes, well…I'm allowed!" He explained.
"Really now?" Lily asked.
"Uh huh. I can because of my rights from…er…the UCCEON club!" he recovered quickly.
"Ucceon?" Lily asked.
"Yup! The Unfortunate Children Cursed with Extremely Odd Names club!" Sirius babbled.
"You are the oddest person I've ever met," Lily laughed.
"Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment!" Sirius bowed.
"I'm sure you will," Lily said.
"You bet ya!" He said.
The two of them were still cracking up when they arrived at The Garden.
"What the hell are you two laughing about?" James asked, looking extremely pissed off.
"What's wrong with you?" Sirius asked, stopping his laughter at once. He was one of the few select people who had ever seen James Potter this mad. James had always been good with putting on a facade. He never showed how he was feeling, unless around family or friends. Sirius supposed it had to do with him always being around aurors and M.O.M. officials.
"You'll never guess who decided to just show up today," James said to Sirius, practically ignoring Lily.
"Who?" Sirius asked curiously.
"Auntie Isabella! The nerve of her! Just appearing out of nowhere! Takes one look at me and says, "Such a shame your mother died, now you have to live with the ugly brute. Sadly you look like him, poor child. I'm guessing you've not changed a bit since the last I saw of you," James said in a mimicking voice.
(A/N: Picture a woman around 45-50 who talks like: Shame ya mutha died. Ya fatha coulden rayse ya prop'ly dahlin.)
"Auntie Isabella? The one who said I resembled my namesake and that you could keep better company and…" Sirius began furiously.
"Yes! Oh, hi Lily. Bella and Cass are upstairs. C'mon Sirius, we've got to go…I don't know…hide!" James muttered in a panicky voice.
"Yeah! C'mon, we gotta hide, not much time!" Sirius replied and the boys both ran out of the hall and into a long, dark hallway, still muttering about "hiding" somewhere.
Lily laughed and headed up the main stairs. Hearing some raised voices, she crept towards them, hoping to find the twins. But as she got closer, she heard Mr. Potter and a woman arguing.
"I know my sista wouldn't want James brought up this way. That child is the rudest thing! I greet him and what's he do? Runs away! I was amazed at his behavior, but then I realized with that Black child and you raising him, he'd probably turn out that way."
"Why does he run away? Well that's a good question Isabella! He doesn't want to be in the same room as someone like you! You go around putting down his best friend, and his father, and you expect him to love you? Marianne would be proud of him for standing up for his best friend and his family!" Lily heard Mr. Potter shout, sounding furious.
She tried to creep away quietly, but suddenly the door opened and Mr. Potter and a woman dressed in what looked like a satin dress robe and a fur coat. And since it was summer, she looked quite ridiculous! But if you looked pass the fur, she really was quite the sight. She looked like a rich and famous kinda woman. (A/N: Ok, for some reason I'm all of a sudden picturing Tattie from State of Grace, so picture her, 'k?)
"Ah, Lily!" Mr. Potter said, his frown fading away when he saw her.
"Hello, Mr. Potter. I just got here and was looking for Cassidy and Arabella, and I heard voices, so I came over here, I didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything," explained a frantic Lily.
"Oh, think nothing of it Lily. This," Mr. Potter threw a dirty look at the woman, "Is James's mother's sister, Isabella Watson. Isabella, this is Miss Lily Evans, James's friend. She'll be starting at Hogwarts this year as well."
"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Lily curtsied. After hearing this woman talk, she figured a little sucking up wouldn't do any harm.
"Oh, look at this girl. Isn't she just the cutest politest thing?" Isabella cooed, emphasizing the politest.
"Yes, Lily is a wonderful girl. I'm sure she'll make a magnificent witch. Oh, and go through this door, there's another hallway, open the first door on the left, take a left turn threw that hallway, and there will be three doors in front of you. That's the guest quarters. Isabella is staying in the one on the left, and Arabella and Cassidy will be staying in the one on the right. You may either use the last room, or stay with them," said Mr. Potter.
"What about Sirius?" Lily asked.
"Oh, he has his own room. It's right near James's room. Cassidy and Arabella had the option of their own rooms, as we've known them a long time, but they insisted that they stay in the guest rooms. I've always wondered why, so if you find out let me know. Now go on!" replied Mr. Potter.
"Ok, Mr. Potter. Nice meeting you, Madame Watson."
Mr. Potter hid a smile at that. He knew what she was doing, and thought it was quite funny.
Lily followed his directions, and found the twins in the middle of doing…something. She wasn't sure what.
"Hello Cass, Bella. It's nice to see you again! Thanks so much for the letter!"
"Lily! Come here, girl!" Cass cried and gave Lily a big hug.
"Just the person we were looking for. James told us about his predicament-"
"Which means problem. Honestly, Bella, can't you just speak normal-person-ese?" Cass asked moodily.
"Don't mind Cass, she's just upset because "Auntie Isabella" told her she had the grace of a 500 pound elephant," Bella explained.
"Well, it's not my fault that Charles polishes the floors so much! They were very slippery!"
Lily laughed. "So, what're we doing for revenge?" she asked, eyes sparkling.
"Oh, we are definitely going to get along…" Cassie smiled.
"Here's the plan…" Bella grinned evilly.
~*^*~*^*~*^*~Later that Evening~*^*~*^*~*^*~
It was 6:00, and Charles had just rung the dinner bell. The three girls came into the room, Lily putting her lady-like act on, Bella smiling charmingly, and Cassie…trying not to trip while walking across the floor.
"Good evening, Mr. Potter, Madame Watson," Lily said.
"Good evening, Lily. Really, Edward, I think Lily will be a good influence on James. And speaking of which, where is he and that friend of his?" Isabella asked.
"Right here, Auntie Isabella," James called. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
"Nice to see you again," Sirius said.
"Pleasure's mine. Now James, isn't Miss Evans here quite the lady? You could learn a few things from her," said Isabella.
Mr. Potter snorted into his wine. Cassie and Bella looked away before they could start laughing, and Sirius quickly turned his laughter into a hacking cough. James and Lily had both turned bright red, and were avoiding eye contact with anyone in the room, including each other.
Charles, being the savior he was, walked into the room at that second, his eyes twinkling.
"Here is the soup, Mr. P. It's clam chowder, I believe. Margo's specialty."
He started to hand them their bowls of soup. When he got to Isabella's, he winked at the girls. James and Sirius, being the master pranksters they were, noticed this immediately. James gave Lily a questioning glance, but she mouthed, "You'll see," and smiled mischievously.
Everyone started on their soup.
"Well, at least you hired good chefs, Edward, though I'd expect less from you," she said nastily.
All at once it happened: Lily started to cough dramatically and fainted. Mr. Potter, Isabella, Charles, and the boys rushed over to her. The twins, meanwhile, put in hotroot, pepper, and some other spices. They then rushed over to Lily and put some cold water over her. She got up, and insisted it was nothing.
"Please, I just need to sit, and eat. I'll be fine."
"Well, alright," Mr. Potter said uncertainly.
Isabella took a sip of her soup.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she cried.
"What is it, Isabella?" Mr. Potter asked.
"Hot!!!!!!! Hot, hot, hot!!!!!!!!!" Isabella screeched.
"What do you mean?" Lily asked innocently.
"The soup it's hot!!!!!"
Everyone cautiously tried their own soup.
"What on Earth do you mean? It's not hot at all. Are you going crazy, Isabella?" Mr. Potter asked, looking very amused.
"Does my mouth look like it's crazy?" She asked, and opened her mouth. Steam came flying out, and Sirius exclaimed, "She looks like a dragon!" Of course, everyone (besides Isabella herself, of course) found it so amusing that they decided to call her Auntie Dragon-Bella instead of Isabella.
"I'm leaving!" She shouted, her face bright red.
"Good!" everyone chorused.
"Hrmph!" She snorted-yes, snorted-and stomped out of the house angrily.
"Now, girls, that wasn't very nice…" Mr. Potter started.
"Yes, but Father, it got rid of her for us!" James exclaimed happily.
"Hey, I only said it wasn't very nice. Brilliant, yes. Ingenious, yes. Nice, no."
Everyone laughed.
"Thanks Lils! Thanks Cass! Thanks Bella!" James gave each of the girls a hug and grabbed Sirius arm and started to pull him, literally, down the stairs. Which could hurt someone if you don't know how, but Lily guessed that the two of them had been through that whole routine before.
The girls hung out the rest of the night, chatting about various things. Lily told them some things that muggle teenagers do ("Why would you want to watch pictures on a big sheet?") and the twins taught Lily some magical things, like the whole concept of Floo powder ("So that's what Sirius was talking about!").
Before Lily knew it, it was time for bed. She couldn't believe that this time tomorrow she'd be sleeping in a Hogwarts bed in her new room with new classmates, and roommates of course. She still couldn't believe that magic existed, and that she was a witch. She couldn't believe she was actually leaving the orphanage. Or that she all ready had some great friends. But she could finally believe that she was happy with her life, and for once was able to fall asleep happily.
~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~
Author's Note: I actually read a review where someone said "L/J authors have rights to long Author Notes." Whoever wrote that-it's true, because I always have so much to say. I didn't get a lot of reviews this time, and I have a feeling its because I posted late at night and the next day brought a HUGE bunch of new fics, so no one really noticed it. So I think I only have 5 or 6 reviewers to thank this time. :( Oh well, better luck this time, eh? Well people, I saw the movie the other day! It was great, but soooooo different from the books! Anyone else agree with me? They changed and took out sooo much!!! It was still cool though, the actors/actresses were great. Anyway, on with information on my fic. This is the longest chapter yet, I think. So to all those people who asked for it, longer chapters are here! And it only took like, what? 5 days, so that's not too bad, is it? I don't think so…anyway, I'm still not sure how long this'll get, it depends on your reviews! So tell me what you want! As for love/hate…I honestly don't think it'll happen in this fic, maybe my next one. Thanks guys! Hope you luved this chapter!!! :)
Hi *^* Yes, I'd agree with the "asking too much" I'm not that good!!! I wish I was, but I will try my best, I promise! Hope you liked this chapter as well!
Fizzy *^* You're the best! You've reviewed all five chapters so far! And I'm getting longer reviews from you each time! I guess that means you're liking it?
Pampered Tigress *^* I honestly try my best with my writing, and I'm glad you like it! I'm telling you after all this writing, I better get a good grade in English! Lol. I'm glad no one has been killing me about the Americanese, but hey, as long as it's a good story, right?
Trixie_the_Witch *^* That's a great suggestion, about the 7 yrs, and I'll definitely consider it! As long as people like the story it'll go on! So keep reviewing, I love hearing what you think! I agree about the love/hate, for this story anyway, and this chapter is even longer so you'll be happy! I'm on 6 pgs. right now.
Thanks sooo much for reviewing!
Destiny Phoenix *^* 7 times…7 times, eh? You crack me up! I luv you! I can't believe anyone could like this so much! Hehe…still laughing. I actually just read and reviewed one of your fics, it was great! Don't worry, I don't think you're cruel, I agree about the parents. I'm gonna have to somehow work Petunia into this somehow if I make this go into all of Lily's life though. :( How sad…thank you so much for the fantastic review!!!
Now, take a leaf out've the above people's books and REVIEW!!!!!!!!! Please???? Thanks!
*Britz*