A/N: I'm back! Here's the highly anticipated (I'm getting quite an ego,
eh?) chapter ten. Sorry it's been so long. I've been on vacation and I
haven't felt very motivated lately. Just be happy I don't continue to
write when I don't put any effort into it. Yep… so here we go…
Well I wrote the above statement about a month ago. Sorry. I've just been really busy. I have a ton of activities going on right now, homework has dramatically increased, and I have about one hour to my self each day. I love writing; it's fun and all, but I can't do it as my only activity. Oh and I've had a case of writer's block. Anyways, I'm sorry. I know it's been over a month since the last chapter, and I only hope that this chapter is to your satisfaction.
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1
2 In the Dictionary
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Chapter Ten: Not Realizing
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Lily took one last look in the mirror before picking up her wand to perform the apparating spell. It took her a few moments to realize that there was no spell for apparating. It only required thinking very hard on where you would like to appear at, like how animagi concentrated on their human and animal forms.
"Smart move, Lily," she mumbled sarcastically to herself. "You'll change the world with that wit, you will. Oxford is just going to be you to be one of their scholars," Lily paused a moment. "Oh, and now I'm talking to myself. It's a wonder I haven't been falling down more often."
Lily normally wasn't in such a foul mood, but her nerves were wearing very thin. She was about to make a trip to the grocery store, even though Hellen had already gone shopping and supplied the household with all the food they could want for the week.
Lily was going to the market today because she had a meeting with James to keep. Even if they didn't get along at the party, she would never desert him, for it would be a cowardly thing to do.
Lily apparated to the market and she was not there two minutes before James appeared. He obviously detested cowardly acts.
"James I honestly have nothing to say," she declared.
"Then why ever did you come?" he countered.
"You may think that I am many things, but you cannot truthfully say that I am a coward."
"I see…" James appeared a bit awkward. "Why don't we take a walk? Catch up on the times?"
Lily conceded and they were soon on what turned out to be a very long walk. Lily was amazed to find talking to James was incredibly easy. She was almost forgetting how much he currently irked her. Lily was saddened to discover that it was now five o' clock and time that she hurried home to meet Diana and Hellen. Lily didn't bother to arrange another meeting with James for she knew that they would run into each other in the very near future.
About a week later, Diana's cousin had invited Lily, Diana and Hellen to her engagement party. Margaret, Diana's cousin, would be married exactly a month after the party. Margaret had grown up in South Africa, but had always liked and welcomed Diana and her friends whenever they met.
"Margaret, I don't believe that you have introduced us to your fiancé," commented Diana after they had exchanged their greetings.
The eighteen year-old bride-to-be smiled and led the friends over to a very tall black-haired man. He had gray eyes and an astonishing charming face.
"Mitchell, I'd like you to meet my cousin, Diana," she gestured towards Diana, "and her friends Hellen," indicating the Hellen, "and Lily." Mitchell warmly welcomed each girl to his engagement party.
Even though she had seen them together for only a moment, Lily could instantly tell that Margaret and Mitchell were made for each other. Margaret would do anything for him and Mitchell would stop at nothing to see her happy.
Despite her liking of them both, she felt a tiny pang of jealously towards Margaret. They were the same age, yet Margaret had found the truest love possible. Here Lily was, and she hadn't yet found someone she could bear for more than a month or two.
Lily mentally slapped herself. She shouldn't feel jealous. She was only eighteen, after all. Most Muggles weren't even out of school yet. Lily felt like a fool; she was depressing herself over true love and such. She was beginning to sound like a five year-old, engrossed with her dreams of a handsome prince. There would be no handsome prince who would slay Lord Voldemort and sweep her off of her feet. She shook these thoughts from her head and resolved to have a good time at the party.
Margaret, being the amiable hostess that she was, took Lily and the others around to introduce them to everyone. Once they ran into Mitchell again, he was with a friend. When his friend turned around to face Lily, her heart almost stopped. This man was one of the best-looking people she had ever laid eyes upon. He had wavy chestnut hair and amber-colored eyes. He looked Lily over and, finding everything to his satisfaction, gave her the most charming smile.
While Margaret was introducing them, Mitchell's friend, whose name was Andrew, held onto Lily's hand for the longest amount of time while shaking hands.
Diana and Hellen both went off in divergent directions to mingle with the party guests while Lily stayed behind so that she could talk to Andrew. Now that they were alone, he lost his suave demeanor and picked up one of a sweet country-boy whom the corruptions of the world had not reached.
"I take it you and Mitchell are close?" she asked.
"Oh yes, we grew up in the same neighborhood and we have stayed in the same wizarding community in South Africa all our lives. It's hard to imagine Mitchell as married," he answered. Sensing that he had said too much in his last statement, he raked his elegant fingers through his lustrous coffee- colored hair nervously.
Lily changed the subject in an effort to calm Andrew. "Eighteen is just too young for marriage for me. I can't really even see myself married before I'm thirty."
"I used to think that too, but then I saw how happy Mitchell is when someone mentions his marriage to Margaret."
For a moment, there was silence. Not an awkward silence, just a break in the conversation. "Mitchell and Margaret…Margaret and Mitchell…It reminds me of that author who wrote Gone with the Wind. I tried to tease Mitchell about this, but he has no understanding for Muggle literature."
This took Lily aback. Not too many wizards knew any titles of Muggle literature, much less the authors. Lily didn't know how wise it was to express affection for anything Muggle, when for all he knew, Lily could be a Death Eater.
"I suppose you wonder why I would even attempt talking about anything Muggle with you. Just one look in your startling green eyes told me that you came from Muggle parentage. They have not yet lost that look of wonderment at the fact that you are a witch. They never will, for you will always stay that way. Most Muggle-borns are."
Lily searched his face for any trace of untruth. Finding none in his expression, she looked into his eyes, for after all, eyes were the windows to the soul. In those sapphire-blue orbs she found a deep affection reflecting back at her. Surprisingly, she found that she didn't mind at all.
All too soon, the party came to an end and Lily found herself saying goodbye to Andrew. In the past few hours she had grown quite fond of him. They made promises to owl each other in the near future. Lily hadn't been this excited over a man since James; but now was not a time to think of disappointing things.
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About two weeks after the engagement party, Diana, Hellen and Lily were sitting in the living room, at a loss for what to do on that Friday night.
It was Hellen who came up with the perfect idea. "I know!" she exclaimed. "We can all go dancng. I'll owl Dean and you can owl Andrew, Lily." Lily flushed a bit at the mention of Andrew's name. She still hadn't figured out how her two friends had discovered her liking for him. They told her that it was because she was walking around like some lovesick puppy and the only word she would coherently say was "Andrew."
"What about me?" asked Diana indignantly. "Who can I take? I'm not going alone. Not when you both have dates."
"Call whoever you want," answered Lily.
"Ohhhh! I think I'll call Sirius and James. While you two are stuck with only one escort, I'll have two. Two of them…to fetch me drinks and dote on me…"
"Since when have either of them showed anything but friendship towards you?"
"Well they can start tonight," she snapped playfully.
The three then went off to call their dates and dress for a night of dancing. They came down two hours later when the men arrived for them. The seven of them apparated to a dance hall, which Lily didn't get the name of.
The group sat down at a round table and ordered drinks from a portly waitress. Hellen and Dean set right out on the dance floor, Diana followed Sirius to the bar to pick up the drinks and Andrew, being the helpful soul that he was, went along to help them. Lily and James were now alone at the table.
"I see you've found yourself a gentleman, Lily," James teased menacingly.
"Well I would turn into an old maid if I waited for you," she mocked.
This seemed to hit a sore spot for James. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Who said you had to wait?"
"James, you are impossible!" Lily burst out as she stood up, but was stopped from further yelling and standing by a simple comment from James.
"Don't make a fool out of yourself. Your gentleman may not like it. Anyways you like to pretend that everything is just peachy between us…making a spectacle of yourself would make that difficult."
To her displease, Lily sat down. "What is wrong with you? I think that you only want me because I'm someone else's. Maybe you should get over your playground antics soon. This world is not a place for a child in a grown man's body…"
Lily would have continued, but was stopped when James grabbed her arm and held it in a tight, almost painful, grip. "Don't tell me I am immature, Lily Evans. I'm not the one who starts the game and then gets frustrated when she loses."
Lily was about to say something just as malicious, but then the others came back with the drinks and Lily was forced to hold her tongue.
"Care to dance, Lily," Andrew asked.
"I'd love to," she agreed, but not without one more scathing glare at James.
Andrew turned out to be an excellent dancer and Lily found herself enjoying herself more than she had for quite some time. For the first dance, she didn't even notice James scowling at her. Once the song was over, however, she saw James and offered a weak excuse to Andrew about being incredibly thirsty and wanting a drink. Andrew seemed to believe this and went off to get her a fresh Swimming Sally.
"What is your problem?" she hissed to James.
"My problem? I have no problem. It's you who has the problem."
"Hello, Lily. I got you your drink," informed Andrew.
"I'm not feeling to well. I think I'd better go home. It was nice meeting you Andrew. Say goodbye to everyone for me will you, Lily?"
Lily nodded her head to show her consent and Andrew shook James's hand. With a final bow of his head towards Lily, he exited the club.
Whatever was bothering James remained in the back of her mind, nagging at hr until she was alone in her bedroom. He was one of the most fickle people Lily knew. She would talk about it in the morning with him. She didn't really think that James was jealous of Andrew, but something had aggravated him to no end that night. When she finally fell asleep, it was only to be awoken early in the mourning by an owl at her window.
To her utter annoyance, the owl was meant for the wizards across the street from Lily. Grumbling, she discovered that she would not fall asleep. Now she would barge into James's house and give him a piece of her mind. Luckily, he had his own floo network grate, so she wouldn't have to involve Sirius.
She stepped out of the grate to find a very sleep-deprived James falling asleep over his bowl of Cornflakes. Apparently he hadn't fallen asleep until hours after he had arrived home. He looked mildly surprised to see Lily in his kitchen that early in the morning. He smiled as though to show that he had expected her all along.
"Cornflakes?" he offered.
"No," Lily snapped quickly. "What was wrong with you last night?"
He looked perplexed at first. "Oh that," he said with a trace of recognition. "Sorry about my temper, but I was not happy at being chosen as Diana's drink-getter, not happy at all."
"Well don't do it again. I can just imagine what poor Andrew was thinking about you." James's eyes narrowed at the mention of Andrew, but he quickly looked down into his bowl of Cornflakes.
James's disinterest only stirred Lily's subsided temper. "James I don't know what happened to you during your travels, but it needs to be fixed. Just because you are friends with some of my friends doesn't mean that you have any right to be involved with my life. You almost ruined my time last night. You were throwing me so many disapproving glances that I felt like I was doing something wrong."
"Who says you weren't doing something wrong? You know barely anything about that Andrew fellow. He could be a undercover Death Eater. You should know that you are in danger, being Muggle-born and all."
"So now you want to me my protector?" she mocked. "Well why don't you just beat off everyone with your wand. That way I can just wait around for you forever. That's what you want isn't it?" James was about to respond when Lily cut him off, "You don't need to answer, I already know and I don't have time to listen to you deny everything when I have things to do. Goodbye James. If we have to see each other soon, keep your distance from me."
With that, Lily left the house and returned to her own room. She felt much better after her visit with James. At least now he would do his best to keep out of her business.
Two weeks passed with Lily continuing to see Andrew. She found that she was becoming more and more fond of him each day. It wasn't love, but it was intense like. Andrew was the ever gentleman and always had some outing planned for the two of them.
Diana was not too pleased about Lily's new relationship. Andrew was always taking her to different places. Diana was now the only one without a serious boyfriend. The fact that Andrew was a foreigner didn't help at all. Diana knew that Andrew would either go back to South Africa after the wedding or he would move to England and force Lily into a serious relationship.
It was now three days until Margaret and Mitchell's wedding. Lily and Andrew had made plans to go together, Hellen and Dean were, as expected, going with one another also. This left Diana as the only one who didn't have a date.
Margaret looked stunning in her wedding gown. The diamond and sapphire jewelry brought out her eyes perfectly. Her hair had been curled and was pinned up with golden tendrils hanging loose. She looked like a porcelain doll and Mitchell was dressed just as nicely. His dress robes were tailored to perfection and not a strand of his charcoal black hair was out of place.
The ceremony was just as beautiful as the bride and groom. The bridesmaids wore simple yet elegant peach frocks and the whole reception hall was filled with peach roses and accents.
Once he could slip away, Andrew went over to Lily.
"Enjoying yourself dear?" he asked
"Oh this is simply beautiful,"
"Indeed, it is. Why don't we go out for a breath of fresh air?" Lily nodded her consent and they were soon in a beautiful garden with fountains everywhere. Peach, glowing fairies were scattered around the plant life and hovering over the fountains. The highlight of the scenery was a massive ice sculpture of the bride and groom.
"as you may have noticed," he began, "I'm scheduled to return home tomorrow." He paused, waiting for Lily's reaction. Only finding her expression of rapt attention, he contined, "Well, last night I was thinking. And I realized that you have become a significant part of my life. I don't want to go back and wonder what could have happened between us. So I'm staying here indefinitely. You don't mind do you?"
His question was answered with a joyus scream from Lily. "That's wonderful! Really it is. Oh I'm so happy now I could burst."
"I think we'd better head back; they should be just about ready to cut the cake."
Three days later, Lily awoke to find herself in strange surroundings.
"Morning, Love," greeted an all-too-familiar voice.
Now who was that? Oh yes…James. James? Now what was his voice doing near her this early? Lily's mind had not yet woken up. Why was she lying on a navy blue upholstered sofa? Why was she still in the clothes that she had worn the day before? All this made her so perplexed that she let out a small, confused sound.
"You seem a bit confused. Well first of all I had no part in you being here. You are on my couch because Hellen locked both you and Diana out of your home. I have no idea why; you'll have to ask her that yourself. Diana is in the next room. Beats me if I know why you don't already know this, but I have tried my hardest to stay out of your affairs-as you undoubtedly wish, I'm sure."
"Stuff it James. I happen to not be the sharpest pencil when I'm waking up. Diana brought me here. It was two o' clock in the morning and I was too tired to object. If I had known what was happening I would have refused to come here." Lily stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going home."
"Good-day, love. I hope you have a nice chat with your friend."
"What in the world possessed you to lock us out?" was the first thing Lily said to Hellen.
"I'm dreadfully sorry, Lily. I thought that you were staying somewhere for the night when you didn't come home. And I didn't want to leave the door unlocked." Something in Hellen's face made Lily's anger melt away.
"Well, just don't ever do that again. I need to shower now. There's no telling what might be on me after sleeping on that couch…"
"Sorry about that, Lily. We thought James was out for the night or else we would never have put you in his section of the house," appoligized Diana.
"All's forgiven, Diana. Now if you'll just let me get to the bath, I'll be eternally grateful." Diana laughed and let Lily by.
Hours later, Andrew came to pick Lily up for dinner. Dinner was splendid- except for one thing, that is. James. He wasn't an apparent problem, but he tortured Lily's mind. She wondered what Andrew would do if he found out where she spent the previous night. It didn't help matters when she spotted James with a pretty girl with apricot-colored hair. After seeing that, it was very difficult for Lily to enjoy herself that night.
As the weeks passed, Lily became even closer to Andrew. She avoided thinking about his nearing departure and cherished every moment spent with him. One night, when she was sure that he was going to tell her he could no longer remain in England, he showed up at her doorstep in very elegant attire.
He was taking her to supper that turned out to be at a restaurant near his hotel. The meal of Chicken Parmesan was exquisite.
Then, he took her to the opera. During intermission he pulled a small box out of his pocket. Lily dreaded what was in there. Sure, he had given her jewelry before, but it had been necklaces and bracelets that were held in larger boxes. Deciding that the box contained a pair of earrings, she gave him a sweet smile.
"Lily, you are the highlight of my life. Please, come to South Africa with me and be my wife."
Not realizing she would move many miles away; not realizing she would leave all that was familiar behind; not realizing she knew this man for only a short amount of time; not realizing how her life would change; not realizing what his proposal entailed, she whispered a soft, "Yes."
A/N: That's it. I know I am evil and that not too many people do this sort of stuff, but hey! I do! So deal!
I've been meaning to list all my reviewers. I have some time and I feel really bad about not posting sooner.
Mandy, nats56, BabBlGrl, FireMaster, Nettey Potter, Calistal, JunJun, Mrs. Ronald Weasley, Lily Evans, Rachelle Eva, Draco's Silver tabby cat girl, The-Fifth-Marauder, Parselmouth Majere, Ladian, MmmMmmGood, The Mad Monkey with the Magnifying Glass CHANGING TO Merlin's Quill, Christy Corr, Le Chat Qui Garde La Lune, Amberblaze, LillyDee, mereschino, Cassondra, Satans Little Princess, SweetSinger, JoyofPotter, KatyBlack, Zippygriffi, Little Witch, pore lil tall girl
I only listed the signed reviews, so thanks to all the annynomous reviewers too!
Ok well I am a lazy bum so I just copied and pasted all the reviewers' names so if it turns out all crazy that's why.
Since no one reads these anyways, I'm just going to share some of my feelings about this fic. I have messed it up more than you can imagine. James was supposed to be unpopular and that was a major part. I guess I decided I didn't like this too much so I speeded everything up. Poor James. Now he can't be as dramatic as I wanted him to be. Sigh. I haven't properly developed all the characters as fully as I want them to be, so while I want to get to the meat of the fic, I'm still stuck with all the details.
That little button is right there. Please review and tell me your impression of each character. Or just review. Or don't. Do what you want, but I warn you. If you have an ounce on a conscience, you will review or else it will eat at you for the next week!
I'm just kidding. I have had a great load of sugar and I think that it is showing right now.
Well I wrote the above statement about a month ago. Sorry. I've just been really busy. I have a ton of activities going on right now, homework has dramatically increased, and I have about one hour to my self each day. I love writing; it's fun and all, but I can't do it as my only activity. Oh and I've had a case of writer's block. Anyways, I'm sorry. I know it's been over a month since the last chapter, and I only hope that this chapter is to your satisfaction.
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1
2 In the Dictionary
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Chapter Ten: Not Realizing
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Lily took one last look in the mirror before picking up her wand to perform the apparating spell. It took her a few moments to realize that there was no spell for apparating. It only required thinking very hard on where you would like to appear at, like how animagi concentrated on their human and animal forms.
"Smart move, Lily," she mumbled sarcastically to herself. "You'll change the world with that wit, you will. Oxford is just going to be you to be one of their scholars," Lily paused a moment. "Oh, and now I'm talking to myself. It's a wonder I haven't been falling down more often."
Lily normally wasn't in such a foul mood, but her nerves were wearing very thin. She was about to make a trip to the grocery store, even though Hellen had already gone shopping and supplied the household with all the food they could want for the week.
Lily was going to the market today because she had a meeting with James to keep. Even if they didn't get along at the party, she would never desert him, for it would be a cowardly thing to do.
Lily apparated to the market and she was not there two minutes before James appeared. He obviously detested cowardly acts.
"James I honestly have nothing to say," she declared.
"Then why ever did you come?" he countered.
"You may think that I am many things, but you cannot truthfully say that I am a coward."
"I see…" James appeared a bit awkward. "Why don't we take a walk? Catch up on the times?"
Lily conceded and they were soon on what turned out to be a very long walk. Lily was amazed to find talking to James was incredibly easy. She was almost forgetting how much he currently irked her. Lily was saddened to discover that it was now five o' clock and time that she hurried home to meet Diana and Hellen. Lily didn't bother to arrange another meeting with James for she knew that they would run into each other in the very near future.
About a week later, Diana's cousin had invited Lily, Diana and Hellen to her engagement party. Margaret, Diana's cousin, would be married exactly a month after the party. Margaret had grown up in South Africa, but had always liked and welcomed Diana and her friends whenever they met.
"Margaret, I don't believe that you have introduced us to your fiancé," commented Diana after they had exchanged their greetings.
The eighteen year-old bride-to-be smiled and led the friends over to a very tall black-haired man. He had gray eyes and an astonishing charming face.
"Mitchell, I'd like you to meet my cousin, Diana," she gestured towards Diana, "and her friends Hellen," indicating the Hellen, "and Lily." Mitchell warmly welcomed each girl to his engagement party.
Even though she had seen them together for only a moment, Lily could instantly tell that Margaret and Mitchell were made for each other. Margaret would do anything for him and Mitchell would stop at nothing to see her happy.
Despite her liking of them both, she felt a tiny pang of jealously towards Margaret. They were the same age, yet Margaret had found the truest love possible. Here Lily was, and she hadn't yet found someone she could bear for more than a month or two.
Lily mentally slapped herself. She shouldn't feel jealous. She was only eighteen, after all. Most Muggles weren't even out of school yet. Lily felt like a fool; she was depressing herself over true love and such. She was beginning to sound like a five year-old, engrossed with her dreams of a handsome prince. There would be no handsome prince who would slay Lord Voldemort and sweep her off of her feet. She shook these thoughts from her head and resolved to have a good time at the party.
Margaret, being the amiable hostess that she was, took Lily and the others around to introduce them to everyone. Once they ran into Mitchell again, he was with a friend. When his friend turned around to face Lily, her heart almost stopped. This man was one of the best-looking people she had ever laid eyes upon. He had wavy chestnut hair and amber-colored eyes. He looked Lily over and, finding everything to his satisfaction, gave her the most charming smile.
While Margaret was introducing them, Mitchell's friend, whose name was Andrew, held onto Lily's hand for the longest amount of time while shaking hands.
Diana and Hellen both went off in divergent directions to mingle with the party guests while Lily stayed behind so that she could talk to Andrew. Now that they were alone, he lost his suave demeanor and picked up one of a sweet country-boy whom the corruptions of the world had not reached.
"I take it you and Mitchell are close?" she asked.
"Oh yes, we grew up in the same neighborhood and we have stayed in the same wizarding community in South Africa all our lives. It's hard to imagine Mitchell as married," he answered. Sensing that he had said too much in his last statement, he raked his elegant fingers through his lustrous coffee- colored hair nervously.
Lily changed the subject in an effort to calm Andrew. "Eighteen is just too young for marriage for me. I can't really even see myself married before I'm thirty."
"I used to think that too, but then I saw how happy Mitchell is when someone mentions his marriage to Margaret."
For a moment, there was silence. Not an awkward silence, just a break in the conversation. "Mitchell and Margaret…Margaret and Mitchell…It reminds me of that author who wrote Gone with the Wind. I tried to tease Mitchell about this, but he has no understanding for Muggle literature."
This took Lily aback. Not too many wizards knew any titles of Muggle literature, much less the authors. Lily didn't know how wise it was to express affection for anything Muggle, when for all he knew, Lily could be a Death Eater.
"I suppose you wonder why I would even attempt talking about anything Muggle with you. Just one look in your startling green eyes told me that you came from Muggle parentage. They have not yet lost that look of wonderment at the fact that you are a witch. They never will, for you will always stay that way. Most Muggle-borns are."
Lily searched his face for any trace of untruth. Finding none in his expression, she looked into his eyes, for after all, eyes were the windows to the soul. In those sapphire-blue orbs she found a deep affection reflecting back at her. Surprisingly, she found that she didn't mind at all.
All too soon, the party came to an end and Lily found herself saying goodbye to Andrew. In the past few hours she had grown quite fond of him. They made promises to owl each other in the near future. Lily hadn't been this excited over a man since James; but now was not a time to think of disappointing things.
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About two weeks after the engagement party, Diana, Hellen and Lily were sitting in the living room, at a loss for what to do on that Friday night.
It was Hellen who came up with the perfect idea. "I know!" she exclaimed. "We can all go dancng. I'll owl Dean and you can owl Andrew, Lily." Lily flushed a bit at the mention of Andrew's name. She still hadn't figured out how her two friends had discovered her liking for him. They told her that it was because she was walking around like some lovesick puppy and the only word she would coherently say was "Andrew."
"What about me?" asked Diana indignantly. "Who can I take? I'm not going alone. Not when you both have dates."
"Call whoever you want," answered Lily.
"Ohhhh! I think I'll call Sirius and James. While you two are stuck with only one escort, I'll have two. Two of them…to fetch me drinks and dote on me…"
"Since when have either of them showed anything but friendship towards you?"
"Well they can start tonight," she snapped playfully.
The three then went off to call their dates and dress for a night of dancing. They came down two hours later when the men arrived for them. The seven of them apparated to a dance hall, which Lily didn't get the name of.
The group sat down at a round table and ordered drinks from a portly waitress. Hellen and Dean set right out on the dance floor, Diana followed Sirius to the bar to pick up the drinks and Andrew, being the helpful soul that he was, went along to help them. Lily and James were now alone at the table.
"I see you've found yourself a gentleman, Lily," James teased menacingly.
"Well I would turn into an old maid if I waited for you," she mocked.
This seemed to hit a sore spot for James. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Who said you had to wait?"
"James, you are impossible!" Lily burst out as she stood up, but was stopped from further yelling and standing by a simple comment from James.
"Don't make a fool out of yourself. Your gentleman may not like it. Anyways you like to pretend that everything is just peachy between us…making a spectacle of yourself would make that difficult."
To her displease, Lily sat down. "What is wrong with you? I think that you only want me because I'm someone else's. Maybe you should get over your playground antics soon. This world is not a place for a child in a grown man's body…"
Lily would have continued, but was stopped when James grabbed her arm and held it in a tight, almost painful, grip. "Don't tell me I am immature, Lily Evans. I'm not the one who starts the game and then gets frustrated when she loses."
Lily was about to say something just as malicious, but then the others came back with the drinks and Lily was forced to hold her tongue.
"Care to dance, Lily," Andrew asked.
"I'd love to," she agreed, but not without one more scathing glare at James.
Andrew turned out to be an excellent dancer and Lily found herself enjoying herself more than she had for quite some time. For the first dance, she didn't even notice James scowling at her. Once the song was over, however, she saw James and offered a weak excuse to Andrew about being incredibly thirsty and wanting a drink. Andrew seemed to believe this and went off to get her a fresh Swimming Sally.
"What is your problem?" she hissed to James.
"My problem? I have no problem. It's you who has the problem."
"Hello, Lily. I got you your drink," informed Andrew.
"I'm not feeling to well. I think I'd better go home. It was nice meeting you Andrew. Say goodbye to everyone for me will you, Lily?"
Lily nodded her head to show her consent and Andrew shook James's hand. With a final bow of his head towards Lily, he exited the club.
Whatever was bothering James remained in the back of her mind, nagging at hr until she was alone in her bedroom. He was one of the most fickle people Lily knew. She would talk about it in the morning with him. She didn't really think that James was jealous of Andrew, but something had aggravated him to no end that night. When she finally fell asleep, it was only to be awoken early in the mourning by an owl at her window.
To her utter annoyance, the owl was meant for the wizards across the street from Lily. Grumbling, she discovered that she would not fall asleep. Now she would barge into James's house and give him a piece of her mind. Luckily, he had his own floo network grate, so she wouldn't have to involve Sirius.
She stepped out of the grate to find a very sleep-deprived James falling asleep over his bowl of Cornflakes. Apparently he hadn't fallen asleep until hours after he had arrived home. He looked mildly surprised to see Lily in his kitchen that early in the morning. He smiled as though to show that he had expected her all along.
"Cornflakes?" he offered.
"No," Lily snapped quickly. "What was wrong with you last night?"
He looked perplexed at first. "Oh that," he said with a trace of recognition. "Sorry about my temper, but I was not happy at being chosen as Diana's drink-getter, not happy at all."
"Well don't do it again. I can just imagine what poor Andrew was thinking about you." James's eyes narrowed at the mention of Andrew, but he quickly looked down into his bowl of Cornflakes.
James's disinterest only stirred Lily's subsided temper. "James I don't know what happened to you during your travels, but it needs to be fixed. Just because you are friends with some of my friends doesn't mean that you have any right to be involved with my life. You almost ruined my time last night. You were throwing me so many disapproving glances that I felt like I was doing something wrong."
"Who says you weren't doing something wrong? You know barely anything about that Andrew fellow. He could be a undercover Death Eater. You should know that you are in danger, being Muggle-born and all."
"So now you want to me my protector?" she mocked. "Well why don't you just beat off everyone with your wand. That way I can just wait around for you forever. That's what you want isn't it?" James was about to respond when Lily cut him off, "You don't need to answer, I already know and I don't have time to listen to you deny everything when I have things to do. Goodbye James. If we have to see each other soon, keep your distance from me."
With that, Lily left the house and returned to her own room. She felt much better after her visit with James. At least now he would do his best to keep out of her business.
Two weeks passed with Lily continuing to see Andrew. She found that she was becoming more and more fond of him each day. It wasn't love, but it was intense like. Andrew was the ever gentleman and always had some outing planned for the two of them.
Diana was not too pleased about Lily's new relationship. Andrew was always taking her to different places. Diana was now the only one without a serious boyfriend. The fact that Andrew was a foreigner didn't help at all. Diana knew that Andrew would either go back to South Africa after the wedding or he would move to England and force Lily into a serious relationship.
It was now three days until Margaret and Mitchell's wedding. Lily and Andrew had made plans to go together, Hellen and Dean were, as expected, going with one another also. This left Diana as the only one who didn't have a date.
Margaret looked stunning in her wedding gown. The diamond and sapphire jewelry brought out her eyes perfectly. Her hair had been curled and was pinned up with golden tendrils hanging loose. She looked like a porcelain doll and Mitchell was dressed just as nicely. His dress robes were tailored to perfection and not a strand of his charcoal black hair was out of place.
The ceremony was just as beautiful as the bride and groom. The bridesmaids wore simple yet elegant peach frocks and the whole reception hall was filled with peach roses and accents.
Once he could slip away, Andrew went over to Lily.
"Enjoying yourself dear?" he asked
"Oh this is simply beautiful,"
"Indeed, it is. Why don't we go out for a breath of fresh air?" Lily nodded her consent and they were soon in a beautiful garden with fountains everywhere. Peach, glowing fairies were scattered around the plant life and hovering over the fountains. The highlight of the scenery was a massive ice sculpture of the bride and groom.
"as you may have noticed," he began, "I'm scheduled to return home tomorrow." He paused, waiting for Lily's reaction. Only finding her expression of rapt attention, he contined, "Well, last night I was thinking. And I realized that you have become a significant part of my life. I don't want to go back and wonder what could have happened between us. So I'm staying here indefinitely. You don't mind do you?"
His question was answered with a joyus scream from Lily. "That's wonderful! Really it is. Oh I'm so happy now I could burst."
"I think we'd better head back; they should be just about ready to cut the cake."
Three days later, Lily awoke to find herself in strange surroundings.
"Morning, Love," greeted an all-too-familiar voice.
Now who was that? Oh yes…James. James? Now what was his voice doing near her this early? Lily's mind had not yet woken up. Why was she lying on a navy blue upholstered sofa? Why was she still in the clothes that she had worn the day before? All this made her so perplexed that she let out a small, confused sound.
"You seem a bit confused. Well first of all I had no part in you being here. You are on my couch because Hellen locked both you and Diana out of your home. I have no idea why; you'll have to ask her that yourself. Diana is in the next room. Beats me if I know why you don't already know this, but I have tried my hardest to stay out of your affairs-as you undoubtedly wish, I'm sure."
"Stuff it James. I happen to not be the sharpest pencil when I'm waking up. Diana brought me here. It was two o' clock in the morning and I was too tired to object. If I had known what was happening I would have refused to come here." Lily stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going home."
"Good-day, love. I hope you have a nice chat with your friend."
"What in the world possessed you to lock us out?" was the first thing Lily said to Hellen.
"I'm dreadfully sorry, Lily. I thought that you were staying somewhere for the night when you didn't come home. And I didn't want to leave the door unlocked." Something in Hellen's face made Lily's anger melt away.
"Well, just don't ever do that again. I need to shower now. There's no telling what might be on me after sleeping on that couch…"
"Sorry about that, Lily. We thought James was out for the night or else we would never have put you in his section of the house," appoligized Diana.
"All's forgiven, Diana. Now if you'll just let me get to the bath, I'll be eternally grateful." Diana laughed and let Lily by.
Hours later, Andrew came to pick Lily up for dinner. Dinner was splendid- except for one thing, that is. James. He wasn't an apparent problem, but he tortured Lily's mind. She wondered what Andrew would do if he found out where she spent the previous night. It didn't help matters when she spotted James with a pretty girl with apricot-colored hair. After seeing that, it was very difficult for Lily to enjoy herself that night.
As the weeks passed, Lily became even closer to Andrew. She avoided thinking about his nearing departure and cherished every moment spent with him. One night, when she was sure that he was going to tell her he could no longer remain in England, he showed up at her doorstep in very elegant attire.
He was taking her to supper that turned out to be at a restaurant near his hotel. The meal of Chicken Parmesan was exquisite.
Then, he took her to the opera. During intermission he pulled a small box out of his pocket. Lily dreaded what was in there. Sure, he had given her jewelry before, but it had been necklaces and bracelets that were held in larger boxes. Deciding that the box contained a pair of earrings, she gave him a sweet smile.
"Lily, you are the highlight of my life. Please, come to South Africa with me and be my wife."
Not realizing she would move many miles away; not realizing she would leave all that was familiar behind; not realizing she knew this man for only a short amount of time; not realizing how her life would change; not realizing what his proposal entailed, she whispered a soft, "Yes."
A/N: That's it. I know I am evil and that not too many people do this sort of stuff, but hey! I do! So deal!
I've been meaning to list all my reviewers. I have some time and I feel really bad about not posting sooner.
Mandy, nats56, BabBlGrl, FireMaster, Nettey Potter, Calistal, JunJun, Mrs. Ronald Weasley, Lily Evans, Rachelle Eva, Draco's Silver tabby cat girl, The-Fifth-Marauder, Parselmouth Majere, Ladian, MmmMmmGood, The Mad Monkey with the Magnifying Glass CHANGING TO Merlin's Quill, Christy Corr, Le Chat Qui Garde La Lune, Amberblaze, LillyDee, mereschino, Cassondra, Satans Little Princess, SweetSinger, JoyofPotter, KatyBlack, Zippygriffi, Little Witch, pore lil tall girl
I only listed the signed reviews, so thanks to all the annynomous reviewers too!
Ok well I am a lazy bum so I just copied and pasted all the reviewers' names so if it turns out all crazy that's why.
Since no one reads these anyways, I'm just going to share some of my feelings about this fic. I have messed it up more than you can imagine. James was supposed to be unpopular and that was a major part. I guess I decided I didn't like this too much so I speeded everything up. Poor James. Now he can't be as dramatic as I wanted him to be. Sigh. I haven't properly developed all the characters as fully as I want them to be, so while I want to get to the meat of the fic, I'm still stuck with all the details.
That little button is right there. Please review and tell me your impression of each character. Or just review. Or don't. Do what you want, but I warn you. If you have an ounce on a conscience, you will review or else it will eat at you for the next week!
I'm just kidding. I have had a great load of sugar and I think that it is showing right now.