html A/N: YAY! I got about 15 reviews from the last chapter!! Thank
you to all you angelic reviewers! I'm loving you soooooo much right now!
I'm kind of stuck right now. I know what I want to happen, but the plot
just wants to go off and frolic in the other direction. Well, let's just
read (or write in my case) this and see what happens.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is Harry Potter related. If I owned any of it, do you really think that I would waste my time writing for free!?
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Lily Evans was currently shopping for a new pair of robes for the upcoming season of spring. She was in Suzette's Styles on Bellemont Hill. It was more expensive than Madam Malkin's, but it was also much more fashionable. To shop there, an invitation must be sent from Suzette herself. She took the time to personally fit and advise all her clients.
Bellemont Hill itself was a very selective shopping area. Only people with considerably sizeable Gringotts accounts could afford to shop there. Suzette was currently informing Lily about what colors would be both fashionable and flattering to her.
"There iz no question about pink," she sad with just a trace of a French accent. "You seemply should not wear it!"
Lily had no questions about this; she knew from countless fashion experts, as well as her own eyes, that pink clashed something awful with her auburn hair.
"I 'ave it!" Suzette exclaimed. "You wear bright shades of orange, red, blue and purrple. Then the best pastels of blue, purrple and some stripes." She put emphasis on the R's in purple, so that they were dragged out. (A/N: I know some of this stuff would probably look awful normally, but Suzette is so talented that she makes everything beautiful and stylish.)
"That's a wonderful idea, Suzette," Lily praised.
"I know, I know. Let's go find that material, then we can pay for it. Hmmm? Good."
Lily followed Suzette into the backroom. She was used to Suzette's methods by now for she had been a client here since her Hogwart's graduation. Diana and Hellen came here as well, but did not frequent it as often as Lily.
Lily quickly chose the right fabric for her new robes and paid for them.
"I'll have Claudine drop zese off at your home sometime, later zis week." Suzette informed Lily.
"Okay, Suzette. I'll be expecting them soon."
The women said goodbye to each other and Lily left the store.
Lily walked out of the store to be greeted by a gust of cold, March air. She pulled her cloak closer to her body and quickly pulled out her wand. It had been nine months since she had graduated Hogwarts. Her remaining months as a student improved slightly since the fling between her and James. She ignored him, but remained friendly towards his friends. Hellen and Dean Appleton were still an item, which was no surprise because Hellen had come back from her first date with him positively bursting with joy.
Diana, Hellen and Lily were still as close as ever. Diana was dating on and off with a different man each time. The three were currently living on one of Lily's father's less-used estates in London. Hellen was currently working as an editor for the Daily Prophet, Diana was becoming a tour guide and Lily had not yet decided what she wanted to do. She didn't really need to work- her inheritance was enough for her to live comfortably for the rest of her life. She just assumed she would get married some day and spend all day organizing charity events and such. She was volunteering to give counseling to people whose lives had been torn asunder by Voldemort. The job didn't pay much, but it gave Lily a sense of fulfillment.
Lily had not talked to James since her graduation. She had only made polite conversation there, anyways. She was content if she never saw him again. He had been trying to win her favor since she had stormed out on him almost one year ago. She would have none of it. Throughout the graduation banquet, James had tried to talk to Lily. Had Dumbledore not been there, Lily would have slapped James for trying to talk to her, or she would have completely ignored him. Since the headmaster was dining at the same table as Lily and James, she had to bear making small talk with various professors, but she only talked to James when he spoke first to her.
Lily had managed to avoid James ever since graduation. She had seen his friends while shopping or at parties. They had told Lily, even though she had expressed no interest, that James was off touring Europe. Lily knew James would be returning soon, but she didn't know the exact date.
Lily finished up her shopping and apparated home. Hellen and Diana were out, doing something other than shopping. Hellen was probably at work, and Diana was most likely out to a late lunch with one of her numerous boyfriends.
Lily welcomed the silence in her home and walked up to her suite, where she thumbed through a recent edition of Witch Weekly.
After finding nothing of interest, Lily decided to read a book, in front of the fireplace, as she awaited Diana's return. Hellen would work until five o' clock, then Dean would take her out to dinner because it was a Friday. On Friday's if both Lily and Diana were home, they would either host a small party or go out to a wizarding dance club called Qiterest37.
Qiterest37 was the place where anybody who was anybody went to have fun. There was a weekly guest list. The owner of the club had to decide whether or not you were vogue enough to come there. There was an average of about eighty people there each night; many people were left uninvited. Needless to say, Lily and her friends were always on the "in list".
Lily was five pages into her book, Montague and Rhea: A Love Story, which thoroughly bored Lily- no love was like this book, if it was, there would either be a million marriages of suicides each day- when she Diana finally arrived. She gave Lily her usual greeting, and the two decided to go clubbing that night. They allowed two hours to prepare, and two more hours to eat supper out.
When Lily was finally dressed in her black dance robes and Diana was donned in her pale orange dance robes, and all the make-up was applied, the two left to eat at Dragons and Dishes. Dragons and Dishes was a magical type of diner. It wasn't very fancy, but it was nicer than Muggle fast food, and the younger generations liked it.
After eating an evening meal of pizza and French fries, Lily and Diana were ready to go to Qiterest37. On the way out Lily noticed that there was something missing to her dance robes. Dance robes were kind of like dress robes, but they were shorter, for girls, and allowed the wearer to be able to perform quicker dances. Dress robes were too long for any sort of popular dancing. The plain black of Lily's robe was far too boring for her.
"Diana, I feel as if my robes are as boring as that book I was reading earlier."
"Hmmm. I know! I found this charm a few months ago that will continually change the color of your robes to whatever will look best. Now, let's see where I put it." Diana rummaged through her pocketbook. "Ahhh. Here it is! Look." Diana held up a scrap of paper with a few words written on it.
"Oh, that's perfect!" Lily exclaimed. "I take it you'll use it too?"
"How could I not? The charm is Cambiare Colori."
The charm pleased them, and the two apparated to the entrance of Qiterest37. Many people were lined up outside the entrance, hoping for a change to get in. Lily and Diana were quickly asked to dance by different men. They agreed and made their entrance on the dance floor. After dancing to one slow song and four faster songs, each with a different partner, Lily and Diana went to the drink bar to get something to drink.
"What will you ladies have?" asked the bartender.
"They'll have a Popping Pluzz and a Weird Wench, Louie," answered another voice from behind.
Lily turned around to be greeted by the smirking face of Sirius Black.
"Why, Sirius Black, what are you doing here? And why are you ordering Diana and me drinks?" asked Lily in a mock, drawling accent.
"My dears," he began, "I hadn't seen either of you since Hogwarts," (he was interrupted by a "We just saw you last month!" from Lily) "so when I saw you here, I had to come up here and say something. I would simply feel dreadful if I didn't." Sirius was saying this as if he had just relived himself of a great burden. Lily and Diana knew that he was just funning with them, however.
"Sirius, where have you been hiding yourself? I haven't seen you for a full month!" said Diana, pouting.
"Oh, I've been around." he said vaguely. "But why I really came over here was to ask you two to come to a little get-together at my house. It's next Saturday." Seeing Lily's mouth begin to open in protest, he said, "Don't tell me you have other plans, because I know for a fact that you were just going to hang around the house then."
The reason Lily had tried to protest was because she knew that there was always a chance James might be at one of Sirius's parties. She didn't live in constant paranoia of seeing James, but she never looked forward to it being possible for them to see each other.
"A Weird Wench?" asked Louie, the bartender.
"Me," said Diana while licking her lips.
"Then you would be the Popping Pluzz?" asked Louie.
"Yeah," Lily halfheartedly said.
Something struck Lily as odd. "Sirius," she began, "why aren't any of your other friends here?"
"Oh, erm that. Well you see. Remus isn't too fond of the club scene and Peter is off with some girl he met in the Leaky Cauldron. You know about James- he's still in Europe. Coming here is better than sitting at home all alone so I came alone. Plus, I'm never really alone. See I'm with you two now. Now then, if you'll excuse me, I see a rather lonely young lady over there." Sirius swaggered over in the direction of the aforementioned girl.
Once Sirius was out of earshot, Diana said, "Can you believe him? He comes over here, buys us drinks and doesn't even stay very long to chat! What do you think about that party?"
"It sounds better than a night at home with nothing to do. Let's tell Hellen and Dean to come. It feels like we never do anything with her anymore.
"I'm sure she'd love to come. We can ask her tomorrow. She'll be asleep when we get home, and she'll never go if she's half asleep and grouchy when she hears about it."
"Excuse me, miss, but I would like to ask you to dance." a tall man with brown hair asked Lily.
"It would be a pleasure," she accepted. In truth, she had no desire to dance with this man. He seemed too militant. She would dance one time with him, then find another partner.
The song was a short one and Lily soon found herself and the man parting.
"It was a delight to meet you."
"Quincy," he supplied. 'Ugh,' thought Lily, 'Even his name is unexciting.'
"Yes, well, I must be off now. Goodbye." Lily said uninterestedly.
Lily quickly escaped Quincy and met up with Diana. She was sympathetic towards Lily because she had danced with Quincy's friend, Pip. Pip was about the same as Quincy- as boring as an old Hogwarts class, History of Magic.
Lily and Diana danced with several other different people, including a dance with Sirius, each. None of the partners were even half as bad as Quincy and Pip. Before either of them would have liked, Qiterest37 was closing and they were too tired to do anything but return home to their warm beds.
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Lily passed through the next week with the feeling of impending doom hovering over her shoulder. She couldn't escape Sirius's party now. She had been hoping Hellen wouldn't want to go; so that Lily could also say she wouldn't go. The response had been quite the opposite, however. Hellen was actually very excited about the party.
When they told Hellen about the party, she had been ecstatic.
"Oh, that's a wonderful idea! Dean would just love to go. I'll ask him if he has any friends for you two. I think I'll run over there now."
Normally, Lily would have objected to the idea of being set up. Now, she was grateful that she wouldn't be going alone. If James was there, she would feel foolish by herself.
Lily decided to wear her pastel purple dress robes on Saturday. She went for a manicure on Thursday, and afterwards, decided to pick up some food at the wizarding grocery store. She needed some milk in the house, and she would also buy some various fruit.
Lily obtained the milk with no problem and headed towards the produce isle. As she was observing the oranges, a familiar voice said, behind her, "Those are no good. If you want oranges, the ones on the left are best."
Lily spun around to find James Potter standing inches away from her. She had been able to feel his warm breath on her neck earlier. James obviously did not recognize Lily. He would know better than to flirt with her. Lily was thankful she had also gotten her hair styled. It was in a fancy up-do, something she had never worn at Hogwarts. Her figure was fuller and her eyes were fringed in long, yet fake, eyelashes. She opted not to tell James who she really was. He would be easier to deal with that way.
"Oh really," she began, "what makes you such an expert on oranges?"
James had improved since Hogwarts. Touring Europe had given him a healthy tan and a sophisticated demeanor.
He shrugged, "I'm no expert, I just heard that old dear over there complaining about them. I figured I would come over here and tell you."
Lily was very amused at James's actions. James Potter was hitting on her in the produce section of the market. What was even funnier, James didn't even know who she really was. He thought she was just some random girl who was doing her shopping. She decided to have some fun with him, just as long as he didn't know who she really was.
Lily smiled flirtatiously, "Oh I see. There is no other reason you came over here?"
"My dear," he began in mock offense, "I have no idea what you could mean! I was simply doing you a service by notifying you of the better oranges." He paused, and then smiled just as flirtatiously at Lily. "Well, maybe I was egged on by the promise of talking to such a pretty lady."
Lily giggled at this remark. What he said wasn't funny; it was James's manner. She had never known he would be this forward with women.
"I bet you say this to all the girls who are grocery shopping," Lily teased.
"But you are the first one who has ever meant anything," he retorted.
They both laughed mildly at this and continued their pointless banter until James said something that took Lily off guard.
"Tell me, what is such as lovely girl as yourself doing this Saturday night?"
"One never knows. My girlfriend has set me up with somebody," Lily wouldn't tell him that she would be at Sirius's party- she would just surprise him that night.
"Ahhh, what a pity. I was going to invite you to a little shindig that my friend was throwing. Seeing as how you have other plans, why don't you give me your floo address?" His eyes implored Lily to fulfill his request.
Lily was undecided. She did want to see James again, even if this contradicted everything she had felt since she had walked in on James and that Hufflepuff. But, she knew that flirting in the produce isle was different than having James be able to stop by anytime he liked.
"Tell you what. I you tell me your name, and I meet you here next week at about two. We'll take it from there. But now, I must be going. See you."
"James," James supplied.
Lily turned and left the store. It wasn't until she was halfway out the door that James realized something.
"Hey!" he yelled. "You never told me your name."
Lily pretended not to hear and continued to exit. She would have a lot of fun with James.
Lily prepared for Sirius's party with just a touch of anxiety. She would be seeing James that night. Handling him at the grocery store was all well and good, but this time he would discover who she really was. How should she act? Should she act like the Lily in the grocery store, or should she be the Lily who avoided James at all costs?
Lily was extremely grateful that Hellen had gotten Lily a date- not that Lily couldn't obtain one for herself. The man's name was Michael and he was one of Dean's best and oldest friends. Diana was being escorted by another one of Dean's friends by the name of Edwin Rolful. Lily didn't know Michael's surname yet, but she knew that he worked for the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Magical Literature.
Only Marie Antoinette could have dressed with more care than Lily that night. She started to get ready five hours in advance, and still did not have a minute to spare. She dressed in her new lavender robes with great care, as not to crease them. She spent hours on her lips and eyes; even more time was spent styling Lily's hair. Her curly, auburn hair was in a French twist, with stray curls hanging out. Hellen began to complain that she was taking too long to get ready. It wasn't long before Diana joined in on the complaints. But when Lily stepped out of her room, both friends were speechless. Lily expected no less; she knew she looked stunning; one glance in the mirror could tell her that.
Lily smiled sweetly and said, "Shall we go downstairs now? What time is Dean and his friends arriving? The party starts at eight, so let's hope they will be here soon."
This snapped Diana and Hellen out of their stupor.
"Dean said he'd be here at about seven thirty. That way we can all get to know each other. It's twenty after seven now, so we can be expecting them any moment." informed Hellen.
The girls sat and talked until, ten minutes later, Dean, Michael and Edwin arrived. They rang the doorbell, which Hellen rushed to answer. Twenty seconds later, she was back, but this time, she was accompanied by three young men. Lily recognized the one with the sea-green eyes as Dean, but the other two were new faces to her. One had dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes and the other had dark brown hair and gray eyes.
Hellen introduced the one with the dirty blonde hair first. "May I introduce Michael Cunningham and Edwin Rolful," she added indicating the one with dark hair. "This," she continued, "is Lily Evans," gesturing towards Lily. "And this," she directed towards Diana, "is Diana Atterson."
The group exchanged their "How do you do's" and then set off for the party. They were apparating there, but there was a bit of a wait to enter the house. So many people were arriving and congesting the doorway. Lily used this as an opportunity to sum up Michael. He had some of the looks movie stars would love to have, but his coloring looked wrong with Lily's. He had an authoritive air about him and he seemed rather no-nonsense.
"So Michael," she began, "what exactly do you do in the Department of Magical Literature?" If any question was a bad idea to ask this man that was it. He launched into a whole description of his department. The amazing thing was, he knew so much and could talk for so long about his job, but he had no enthusiasm for it. As it seemed, all he did was edit magical books. He wasn't even able to edit anything more important than a beginner's cookbook yet.
Finally, Lily and her companions were let through the door. Michael dragged her over to some of his other friends. Thankfully, Michael's friends were not as boring as Michael himself. She made polite small talk with them until she saw Molly Popple, an old classmate from Hogwarts. (A/N: This Molly is not the same as Molly Weasley. Molly is a common name and this is not she.)
Sirius's house was so crowded, that Lily and Molly had to converse on the stairs, since there was no room elsewhere.
"What have you been up to, Molly?"
"I've been designing robes for Madam Malkin. It's pleasant enough. What about you? What have you been doing? I haven't seen you since Hogwarts."
"To tell you the truth, I haven't done a single worthwhile thing yet. I might consider counseling. But I haven't decided."
Molly's gave shifted over to the doorway into the living room. "Ohh, Lily. Look! It's James Potter. I haven't talked to him for ages. Let's go talk to him." Sensing Lily's hesitation, she said, "Come on. I'll do all the talking anyways."
Lily reluctantly followed Molly over to where James was talking to a man whom Lily did not recognize. He excused himself and walked over to Lily and Molly.
"Ahh, Miss Molly Popple, It's been ages. How have you been?"
"Fairly good," answered Molly. It was obvious to Lily that she still had a tiny bit of a crush on him.
The next thing James took Lily entirely by surprise. "And Miss Lily Evans. Tell me, why did you walk out of the grocery without buying anything. Not even those wonderful oranges." Lily's eyes widened in shock- he had known who she really was all along! James would not have had the chance to ask anyone about her, since no one knew she went to the market, and it appeared that he had just arrived at the party, so he couldn't have asked anyone there.
"I simply wasn't hungry," she responded coldly. Now that she was over the initial shock, she was filled with rage. James had known all along, yet he let her believe that she held the upper hand. "Listen Molly, I have to go spend some time with Michael, but I'll be sure to see you before I leave. Oh and Goodbye James," she said the last part with an air of finality.
Lily walked away, but had no intention of seeing Michael. She decided to look for either Diana or Hellen. She would tell them that Michael was boring and they would do their best to cheer her up. Lily couldn't find them in any of the downstairs rooms, so she began to search the second floor. Some doors were locked, but Lily was sure to search all the ones that weren't.
Lily entered one particular guest room to find a cache of spell books. Lily couldn't resist, so she crept over to them and began reading. She was relieved to find that none of them contained dark magic. Most of them were new spells to Lily. There were charms for turning things into chocolate, making things tartan plaid and laughter and hexes like turning someone's voice into a horrible scratchy sound. She was so absorbed in reading that she didn't hear the door open and someone walk into the room.
"Something wrong, Lily?"
Lily jumped what she thought must have been five feet in the air. She had thought she was alone. She spun her head around to have her eyes be met with brown ones. That shade of brown only belonged to the eyes of one person that she knew of- James Potter.
"Don't you have better things to do than follow me?" asked Lily, not hiding her annoyance at being followed.
"I wasn't following you. I was looking for Sirius. I was going to ask him how late this party would go on," responded James, matching Lily's callousness.
"Well he's not here, so feel free to leave."
James attempted to turn the doorknob and leave the room and Lily, but to his distress, and soon Lily's, found that the door had locked itself.
Lily, sensing that something was wrong, said, "Something wrong, James?"
James chose to ignore Lily's sarcasm. "The door locked. I can't get it open."
"Blimey, James, did you snap your wand in half while you were in Europe. One would think so. Alohomora!" Lily used her wand to unlock the door, leaving James feeling very stupid. He left, mumbling something about not having his wand with him.
Lily smiled a satisfied smile and followed James out of the room. She didn't want to waste her time reading in a room while the party of the year was going on all around her.
She descended the stairs and mingled with most of the witches and wizards. Some, she hadn't seen since her Hogwarts days. The party went on well into the early morning. As Michael was escorting Lily home, she began to contemplate her relationships. Hellen. Hellen was one of her best friends, but slowly, slowly she was drifting away. She was drifting away from Lily and Diana and more towards Dean.
Diana was still the same girl that attended Hogwarts with Lily, and she would always be Lily's best friend. Sirius was an enigma for Lily. Sometimes he seemed to know exactly what was going through her mind, and other times he seemed as if he was on his own planet. Lily hadn't seen too much of Remus or Peter since Hogwarts, so she had made a point to talk to the two of them at the party.
Michael was her newest relationship. He would most likely be her shortest one too; he bored the pants off of Lily. Even if he dyed his hair bright purple, wore a tube top and mini skirt, and ran around singing nursery rhymes at the top of his lungs, he would still be more boring than a cardboard wall.
She couldn't think of Michael without thinking of James. Funny, how anger can blind people. Lily had been quite calm and not angry with James at the market, but when she had seen him at the party, she was mad and would only concentrate on James's faults. Lily realized that they could have had a beautiful romance, had they both not spoiled it for each other. Lily was finally mature enough to accept some responsibility for what had happened one year ago. She could have been understanding, but he also could have been more trusting.
Lily came to the opinion that she would rather be arguing with James than spending time with the ever-boring Michael. Lily felt a bit ashamed to admit it, but she liked fighting with James. He wouldn't back down on his beliefs, and Lily admired that. Plus, fighting was better than not being near each other.
bA/N: b Finally! I got this chapter out! It's been really hard to write, so sorry if there's a lot of pointless stuff in it. Ummmmm. Thanks to all you reviewers. I love you all.
New Poll:
Which surname is best?
A) Posterson
B) Kaster
C) Muller
D) Pitington
Which is a better gift?
A) Flowers
B) Candy
C) Jewelry
D) Poems
Now, you can cast your vote in a nice little review. Enjoy my babies.
Oh and By the way, a new chapter probably won't be out until after the new year. I have tons of things to do this holiday season. But... my nice little absence will allow you guys to put in more reviews!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that is Harry Potter related. If I owned any of it, do you really think that I would waste my time writing for free!?
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Lily Evans was currently shopping for a new pair of robes for the upcoming season of spring. She was in Suzette's Styles on Bellemont Hill. It was more expensive than Madam Malkin's, but it was also much more fashionable. To shop there, an invitation must be sent from Suzette herself. She took the time to personally fit and advise all her clients.
Bellemont Hill itself was a very selective shopping area. Only people with considerably sizeable Gringotts accounts could afford to shop there. Suzette was currently informing Lily about what colors would be both fashionable and flattering to her.
"There iz no question about pink," she sad with just a trace of a French accent. "You seemply should not wear it!"
Lily had no questions about this; she knew from countless fashion experts, as well as her own eyes, that pink clashed something awful with her auburn hair.
"I 'ave it!" Suzette exclaimed. "You wear bright shades of orange, red, blue and purrple. Then the best pastels of blue, purrple and some stripes." She put emphasis on the R's in purple, so that they were dragged out. (A/N: I know some of this stuff would probably look awful normally, but Suzette is so talented that she makes everything beautiful and stylish.)
"That's a wonderful idea, Suzette," Lily praised.
"I know, I know. Let's go find that material, then we can pay for it. Hmmm? Good."
Lily followed Suzette into the backroom. She was used to Suzette's methods by now for she had been a client here since her Hogwart's graduation. Diana and Hellen came here as well, but did not frequent it as often as Lily.
Lily quickly chose the right fabric for her new robes and paid for them.
"I'll have Claudine drop zese off at your home sometime, later zis week." Suzette informed Lily.
"Okay, Suzette. I'll be expecting them soon."
The women said goodbye to each other and Lily left the store.
Lily walked out of the store to be greeted by a gust of cold, March air. She pulled her cloak closer to her body and quickly pulled out her wand. It had been nine months since she had graduated Hogwarts. Her remaining months as a student improved slightly since the fling between her and James. She ignored him, but remained friendly towards his friends. Hellen and Dean Appleton were still an item, which was no surprise because Hellen had come back from her first date with him positively bursting with joy.
Diana, Hellen and Lily were still as close as ever. Diana was dating on and off with a different man each time. The three were currently living on one of Lily's father's less-used estates in London. Hellen was currently working as an editor for the Daily Prophet, Diana was becoming a tour guide and Lily had not yet decided what she wanted to do. She didn't really need to work- her inheritance was enough for her to live comfortably for the rest of her life. She just assumed she would get married some day and spend all day organizing charity events and such. She was volunteering to give counseling to people whose lives had been torn asunder by Voldemort. The job didn't pay much, but it gave Lily a sense of fulfillment.
Lily had not talked to James since her graduation. She had only made polite conversation there, anyways. She was content if she never saw him again. He had been trying to win her favor since she had stormed out on him almost one year ago. She would have none of it. Throughout the graduation banquet, James had tried to talk to Lily. Had Dumbledore not been there, Lily would have slapped James for trying to talk to her, or she would have completely ignored him. Since the headmaster was dining at the same table as Lily and James, she had to bear making small talk with various professors, but she only talked to James when he spoke first to her.
Lily had managed to avoid James ever since graduation. She had seen his friends while shopping or at parties. They had told Lily, even though she had expressed no interest, that James was off touring Europe. Lily knew James would be returning soon, but she didn't know the exact date.
Lily finished up her shopping and apparated home. Hellen and Diana were out, doing something other than shopping. Hellen was probably at work, and Diana was most likely out to a late lunch with one of her numerous boyfriends.
Lily welcomed the silence in her home and walked up to her suite, where she thumbed through a recent edition of Witch Weekly.
After finding nothing of interest, Lily decided to read a book, in front of the fireplace, as she awaited Diana's return. Hellen would work until five o' clock, then Dean would take her out to dinner because it was a Friday. On Friday's if both Lily and Diana were home, they would either host a small party or go out to a wizarding dance club called Qiterest37.
Qiterest37 was the place where anybody who was anybody went to have fun. There was a weekly guest list. The owner of the club had to decide whether or not you were vogue enough to come there. There was an average of about eighty people there each night; many people were left uninvited. Needless to say, Lily and her friends were always on the "in list".
Lily was five pages into her book, Montague and Rhea: A Love Story, which thoroughly bored Lily- no love was like this book, if it was, there would either be a million marriages of suicides each day- when she Diana finally arrived. She gave Lily her usual greeting, and the two decided to go clubbing that night. They allowed two hours to prepare, and two more hours to eat supper out.
When Lily was finally dressed in her black dance robes and Diana was donned in her pale orange dance robes, and all the make-up was applied, the two left to eat at Dragons and Dishes. Dragons and Dishes was a magical type of diner. It wasn't very fancy, but it was nicer than Muggle fast food, and the younger generations liked it.
After eating an evening meal of pizza and French fries, Lily and Diana were ready to go to Qiterest37. On the way out Lily noticed that there was something missing to her dance robes. Dance robes were kind of like dress robes, but they were shorter, for girls, and allowed the wearer to be able to perform quicker dances. Dress robes were too long for any sort of popular dancing. The plain black of Lily's robe was far too boring for her.
"Diana, I feel as if my robes are as boring as that book I was reading earlier."
"Hmmm. I know! I found this charm a few months ago that will continually change the color of your robes to whatever will look best. Now, let's see where I put it." Diana rummaged through her pocketbook. "Ahhh. Here it is! Look." Diana held up a scrap of paper with a few words written on it.
"Oh, that's perfect!" Lily exclaimed. "I take it you'll use it too?"
"How could I not? The charm is Cambiare Colori."
The charm pleased them, and the two apparated to the entrance of Qiterest37. Many people were lined up outside the entrance, hoping for a change to get in. Lily and Diana were quickly asked to dance by different men. They agreed and made their entrance on the dance floor. After dancing to one slow song and four faster songs, each with a different partner, Lily and Diana went to the drink bar to get something to drink.
"What will you ladies have?" asked the bartender.
"They'll have a Popping Pluzz and a Weird Wench, Louie," answered another voice from behind.
Lily turned around to be greeted by the smirking face of Sirius Black.
"Why, Sirius Black, what are you doing here? And why are you ordering Diana and me drinks?" asked Lily in a mock, drawling accent.
"My dears," he began, "I hadn't seen either of you since Hogwarts," (he was interrupted by a "We just saw you last month!" from Lily) "so when I saw you here, I had to come up here and say something. I would simply feel dreadful if I didn't." Sirius was saying this as if he had just relived himself of a great burden. Lily and Diana knew that he was just funning with them, however.
"Sirius, where have you been hiding yourself? I haven't seen you for a full month!" said Diana, pouting.
"Oh, I've been around." he said vaguely. "But why I really came over here was to ask you two to come to a little get-together at my house. It's next Saturday." Seeing Lily's mouth begin to open in protest, he said, "Don't tell me you have other plans, because I know for a fact that you were just going to hang around the house then."
The reason Lily had tried to protest was because she knew that there was always a chance James might be at one of Sirius's parties. She didn't live in constant paranoia of seeing James, but she never looked forward to it being possible for them to see each other.
"A Weird Wench?" asked Louie, the bartender.
"Me," said Diana while licking her lips.
"Then you would be the Popping Pluzz?" asked Louie.
"Yeah," Lily halfheartedly said.
Something struck Lily as odd. "Sirius," she began, "why aren't any of your other friends here?"
"Oh, erm that. Well you see. Remus isn't too fond of the club scene and Peter is off with some girl he met in the Leaky Cauldron. You know about James- he's still in Europe. Coming here is better than sitting at home all alone so I came alone. Plus, I'm never really alone. See I'm with you two now. Now then, if you'll excuse me, I see a rather lonely young lady over there." Sirius swaggered over in the direction of the aforementioned girl.
Once Sirius was out of earshot, Diana said, "Can you believe him? He comes over here, buys us drinks and doesn't even stay very long to chat! What do you think about that party?"
"It sounds better than a night at home with nothing to do. Let's tell Hellen and Dean to come. It feels like we never do anything with her anymore.
"I'm sure she'd love to come. We can ask her tomorrow. She'll be asleep when we get home, and she'll never go if she's half asleep and grouchy when she hears about it."
"Excuse me, miss, but I would like to ask you to dance." a tall man with brown hair asked Lily.
"It would be a pleasure," she accepted. In truth, she had no desire to dance with this man. He seemed too militant. She would dance one time with him, then find another partner.
The song was a short one and Lily soon found herself and the man parting.
"It was a delight to meet you."
"Quincy," he supplied. 'Ugh,' thought Lily, 'Even his name is unexciting.'
"Yes, well, I must be off now. Goodbye." Lily said uninterestedly.
Lily quickly escaped Quincy and met up with Diana. She was sympathetic towards Lily because she had danced with Quincy's friend, Pip. Pip was about the same as Quincy- as boring as an old Hogwarts class, History of Magic.
Lily and Diana danced with several other different people, including a dance with Sirius, each. None of the partners were even half as bad as Quincy and Pip. Before either of them would have liked, Qiterest37 was closing and they were too tired to do anything but return home to their warm beds.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~
Lily passed through the next week with the feeling of impending doom hovering over her shoulder. She couldn't escape Sirius's party now. She had been hoping Hellen wouldn't want to go; so that Lily could also say she wouldn't go. The response had been quite the opposite, however. Hellen was actually very excited about the party.
When they told Hellen about the party, she had been ecstatic.
"Oh, that's a wonderful idea! Dean would just love to go. I'll ask him if he has any friends for you two. I think I'll run over there now."
Normally, Lily would have objected to the idea of being set up. Now, she was grateful that she wouldn't be going alone. If James was there, she would feel foolish by herself.
Lily decided to wear her pastel purple dress robes on Saturday. She went for a manicure on Thursday, and afterwards, decided to pick up some food at the wizarding grocery store. She needed some milk in the house, and she would also buy some various fruit.
Lily obtained the milk with no problem and headed towards the produce isle. As she was observing the oranges, a familiar voice said, behind her, "Those are no good. If you want oranges, the ones on the left are best."
Lily spun around to find James Potter standing inches away from her. She had been able to feel his warm breath on her neck earlier. James obviously did not recognize Lily. He would know better than to flirt with her. Lily was thankful she had also gotten her hair styled. It was in a fancy up-do, something she had never worn at Hogwarts. Her figure was fuller and her eyes were fringed in long, yet fake, eyelashes. She opted not to tell James who she really was. He would be easier to deal with that way.
"Oh really," she began, "what makes you such an expert on oranges?"
James had improved since Hogwarts. Touring Europe had given him a healthy tan and a sophisticated demeanor.
He shrugged, "I'm no expert, I just heard that old dear over there complaining about them. I figured I would come over here and tell you."
Lily was very amused at James's actions. James Potter was hitting on her in the produce section of the market. What was even funnier, James didn't even know who she really was. He thought she was just some random girl who was doing her shopping. She decided to have some fun with him, just as long as he didn't know who she really was.
Lily smiled flirtatiously, "Oh I see. There is no other reason you came over here?"
"My dear," he began in mock offense, "I have no idea what you could mean! I was simply doing you a service by notifying you of the better oranges." He paused, and then smiled just as flirtatiously at Lily. "Well, maybe I was egged on by the promise of talking to such a pretty lady."
Lily giggled at this remark. What he said wasn't funny; it was James's manner. She had never known he would be this forward with women.
"I bet you say this to all the girls who are grocery shopping," Lily teased.
"But you are the first one who has ever meant anything," he retorted.
They both laughed mildly at this and continued their pointless banter until James said something that took Lily off guard.
"Tell me, what is such as lovely girl as yourself doing this Saturday night?"
"One never knows. My girlfriend has set me up with somebody," Lily wouldn't tell him that she would be at Sirius's party- she would just surprise him that night.
"Ahhh, what a pity. I was going to invite you to a little shindig that my friend was throwing. Seeing as how you have other plans, why don't you give me your floo address?" His eyes implored Lily to fulfill his request.
Lily was undecided. She did want to see James again, even if this contradicted everything she had felt since she had walked in on James and that Hufflepuff. But, she knew that flirting in the produce isle was different than having James be able to stop by anytime he liked.
"Tell you what. I you tell me your name, and I meet you here next week at about two. We'll take it from there. But now, I must be going. See you."
"James," James supplied.
Lily turned and left the store. It wasn't until she was halfway out the door that James realized something.
"Hey!" he yelled. "You never told me your name."
Lily pretended not to hear and continued to exit. She would have a lot of fun with James.
Lily prepared for Sirius's party with just a touch of anxiety. She would be seeing James that night. Handling him at the grocery store was all well and good, but this time he would discover who she really was. How should she act? Should she act like the Lily in the grocery store, or should she be the Lily who avoided James at all costs?
Lily was extremely grateful that Hellen had gotten Lily a date- not that Lily couldn't obtain one for herself. The man's name was Michael and he was one of Dean's best and oldest friends. Diana was being escorted by another one of Dean's friends by the name of Edwin Rolful. Lily didn't know Michael's surname yet, but she knew that he worked for the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Magical Literature.
Only Marie Antoinette could have dressed with more care than Lily that night. She started to get ready five hours in advance, and still did not have a minute to spare. She dressed in her new lavender robes with great care, as not to crease them. She spent hours on her lips and eyes; even more time was spent styling Lily's hair. Her curly, auburn hair was in a French twist, with stray curls hanging out. Hellen began to complain that she was taking too long to get ready. It wasn't long before Diana joined in on the complaints. But when Lily stepped out of her room, both friends were speechless. Lily expected no less; she knew she looked stunning; one glance in the mirror could tell her that.
Lily smiled sweetly and said, "Shall we go downstairs now? What time is Dean and his friends arriving? The party starts at eight, so let's hope they will be here soon."
This snapped Diana and Hellen out of their stupor.
"Dean said he'd be here at about seven thirty. That way we can all get to know each other. It's twenty after seven now, so we can be expecting them any moment." informed Hellen.
The girls sat and talked until, ten minutes later, Dean, Michael and Edwin arrived. They rang the doorbell, which Hellen rushed to answer. Twenty seconds later, she was back, but this time, she was accompanied by three young men. Lily recognized the one with the sea-green eyes as Dean, but the other two were new faces to her. One had dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes and the other had dark brown hair and gray eyes.
Hellen introduced the one with the dirty blonde hair first. "May I introduce Michael Cunningham and Edwin Rolful," she added indicating the one with dark hair. "This," she continued, "is Lily Evans," gesturing towards Lily. "And this," she directed towards Diana, "is Diana Atterson."
The group exchanged their "How do you do's" and then set off for the party. They were apparating there, but there was a bit of a wait to enter the house. So many people were arriving and congesting the doorway. Lily used this as an opportunity to sum up Michael. He had some of the looks movie stars would love to have, but his coloring looked wrong with Lily's. He had an authoritive air about him and he seemed rather no-nonsense.
"So Michael," she began, "what exactly do you do in the Department of Magical Literature?" If any question was a bad idea to ask this man that was it. He launched into a whole description of his department. The amazing thing was, he knew so much and could talk for so long about his job, but he had no enthusiasm for it. As it seemed, all he did was edit magical books. He wasn't even able to edit anything more important than a beginner's cookbook yet.
Finally, Lily and her companions were let through the door. Michael dragged her over to some of his other friends. Thankfully, Michael's friends were not as boring as Michael himself. She made polite small talk with them until she saw Molly Popple, an old classmate from Hogwarts. (A/N: This Molly is not the same as Molly Weasley. Molly is a common name and this is not she.)
Sirius's house was so crowded, that Lily and Molly had to converse on the stairs, since there was no room elsewhere.
"What have you been up to, Molly?"
"I've been designing robes for Madam Malkin. It's pleasant enough. What about you? What have you been doing? I haven't seen you since Hogwarts."
"To tell you the truth, I haven't done a single worthwhile thing yet. I might consider counseling. But I haven't decided."
Molly's gave shifted over to the doorway into the living room. "Ohh, Lily. Look! It's James Potter. I haven't talked to him for ages. Let's go talk to him." Sensing Lily's hesitation, she said, "Come on. I'll do all the talking anyways."
Lily reluctantly followed Molly over to where James was talking to a man whom Lily did not recognize. He excused himself and walked over to Lily and Molly.
"Ahh, Miss Molly Popple, It's been ages. How have you been?"
"Fairly good," answered Molly. It was obvious to Lily that she still had a tiny bit of a crush on him.
The next thing James took Lily entirely by surprise. "And Miss Lily Evans. Tell me, why did you walk out of the grocery without buying anything. Not even those wonderful oranges." Lily's eyes widened in shock- he had known who she really was all along! James would not have had the chance to ask anyone about her, since no one knew she went to the market, and it appeared that he had just arrived at the party, so he couldn't have asked anyone there.
"I simply wasn't hungry," she responded coldly. Now that she was over the initial shock, she was filled with rage. James had known all along, yet he let her believe that she held the upper hand. "Listen Molly, I have to go spend some time with Michael, but I'll be sure to see you before I leave. Oh and Goodbye James," she said the last part with an air of finality.
Lily walked away, but had no intention of seeing Michael. She decided to look for either Diana or Hellen. She would tell them that Michael was boring and they would do their best to cheer her up. Lily couldn't find them in any of the downstairs rooms, so she began to search the second floor. Some doors were locked, but Lily was sure to search all the ones that weren't.
Lily entered one particular guest room to find a cache of spell books. Lily couldn't resist, so she crept over to them and began reading. She was relieved to find that none of them contained dark magic. Most of them were new spells to Lily. There were charms for turning things into chocolate, making things tartan plaid and laughter and hexes like turning someone's voice into a horrible scratchy sound. She was so absorbed in reading that she didn't hear the door open and someone walk into the room.
"Something wrong, Lily?"
Lily jumped what she thought must have been five feet in the air. She had thought she was alone. She spun her head around to have her eyes be met with brown ones. That shade of brown only belonged to the eyes of one person that she knew of- James Potter.
"Don't you have better things to do than follow me?" asked Lily, not hiding her annoyance at being followed.
"I wasn't following you. I was looking for Sirius. I was going to ask him how late this party would go on," responded James, matching Lily's callousness.
"Well he's not here, so feel free to leave."
James attempted to turn the doorknob and leave the room and Lily, but to his distress, and soon Lily's, found that the door had locked itself.
Lily, sensing that something was wrong, said, "Something wrong, James?"
James chose to ignore Lily's sarcasm. "The door locked. I can't get it open."
"Blimey, James, did you snap your wand in half while you were in Europe. One would think so. Alohomora!" Lily used her wand to unlock the door, leaving James feeling very stupid. He left, mumbling something about not having his wand with him.
Lily smiled a satisfied smile and followed James out of the room. She didn't want to waste her time reading in a room while the party of the year was going on all around her.
She descended the stairs and mingled with most of the witches and wizards. Some, she hadn't seen since her Hogwarts days. The party went on well into the early morning. As Michael was escorting Lily home, she began to contemplate her relationships. Hellen. Hellen was one of her best friends, but slowly, slowly she was drifting away. She was drifting away from Lily and Diana and more towards Dean.
Diana was still the same girl that attended Hogwarts with Lily, and she would always be Lily's best friend. Sirius was an enigma for Lily. Sometimes he seemed to know exactly what was going through her mind, and other times he seemed as if he was on his own planet. Lily hadn't seen too much of Remus or Peter since Hogwarts, so she had made a point to talk to the two of them at the party.
Michael was her newest relationship. He would most likely be her shortest one too; he bored the pants off of Lily. Even if he dyed his hair bright purple, wore a tube top and mini skirt, and ran around singing nursery rhymes at the top of his lungs, he would still be more boring than a cardboard wall.
She couldn't think of Michael without thinking of James. Funny, how anger can blind people. Lily had been quite calm and not angry with James at the market, but when she had seen him at the party, she was mad and would only concentrate on James's faults. Lily realized that they could have had a beautiful romance, had they both not spoiled it for each other. Lily was finally mature enough to accept some responsibility for what had happened one year ago. She could have been understanding, but he also could have been more trusting.
Lily came to the opinion that she would rather be arguing with James than spending time with the ever-boring Michael. Lily felt a bit ashamed to admit it, but she liked fighting with James. He wouldn't back down on his beliefs, and Lily admired that. Plus, fighting was better than not being near each other.
bA/N: b Finally! I got this chapter out! It's been really hard to write, so sorry if there's a lot of pointless stuff in it. Ummmmm. Thanks to all you reviewers. I love you all.
New Poll:
Which surname is best?
A) Posterson
B) Kaster
C) Muller
D) Pitington
Which is a better gift?
A) Flowers
B) Candy
C) Jewelry
D) Poems
Now, you can cast your vote in a nice little review. Enjoy my babies.
Oh and By the way, a new chapter probably won't be out until after the new year. I have tons of things to do this holiday season. But... my nice little absence will allow you guys to put in more reviews!