Author's Note/Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I bow down to J.K. Rowling for her ingenious writing. They're the only thing that sustains my life right now besides colorguard.







Introductions Part 1: The announcement

"Where the hell is that little freak?!" Petunia Evans sneered.

"Petunia, dear, language," Lydia Evans replied. "Lily will be here any time now. You know she has friends to say good-bye to, since she probably won't see many of them again."

Petunia snorted in contempt. She had better things to do with her time than wait for her freak of a little sister to come home from her freak of a school.

Ryan Evans smiled at his eldest daughter. "Petunia, dear, give Lily a break for awhile."

Suddenly, Lily Evans appeared in front of the platform barrier between platforms nine and ten. And, much to Petunia's amazement, Lily was with someone. A male someone. And extremely tall and handsome male someone. From where they were standing, Petunia and her mother and father saw Lily and her dark-haired friend embrace in a, from what they could tell, more than friendly hug. As they parted, the three members of the Evans family saw Lily smile softly up at her friend, then turn away. Spotting them, her smile brightened and she ran forward, pulling her trunk behind her. She hugged her mother tightly, then her father.

"Hi!" Lily exclaimed. She turned to Petunia, her smile falling a little. "Hello."

"Lily!" Mrs. Evans squealed. "How was your school year?!"

Lily smiled brightly. "Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!" She then proceeded to animatedly tell her family the hightlights of her school year. She sighed when she was done. "I'm gonna miss that school."

Petunia smirked. "Well, your news certainly has nothing over mine," she said haughtily. Seeing Lily's confused, and slightly hurt, gaze, she continued, "I'm engaged!" And she snapped her left hand near Lily, almost hitting her in the process. When she saw Lily's wide eyes, she said airily, "His name is Vernon, and he's the most wonderful guy you'll ever meet!" She lifted her head, nose in the air.

"Congratulations," Lily said softly, looking at Petunia with a guarded gaze.

"Wait until you see the dress I've picked out," was her sister's reply.

~~~

As soon as she and her family arrived home, Lily instantly took her trunk and owl from the car and raced upstairs to her room. She felt nauseous with disgust. If she had to listen to Petunia babble on about her "wonderful fiancée," she was going to vomit. As she lay on her bed, she thought over her life, and the events that had happened to her in the last seven years. They had been the best years of her life, and she was never going to forget them. She smiled happily as she thought of the news she'd brought home with her. She sighed as she thought of the best time to break it to her parents and Petunia. She sighed again as she decided that dinner would be the best time. Sometime near the end, when she was done eating. Yes. that would definitely be the best time to break the news to her parents. She sighed once more, then got up and started unpacking her clothes and toiletries. She wanted to leave her Hogwarts things in her trunk, and leave her trunk at the foot of her bed. Just as she finished, however, Petunia flounced into her bedroom, unannounced, and started babbling about Vernon again. Lily rolled her eyes heavenward, and tried her best to block out her sister's useless chatter. She wished that just this once she could use her wand, but knew that it was forbidden to use magic in the Muggle world, and resigned herself to doing things the Muggle way: ignore what you don't want to hear.

~~~

"Oh, Lily, dear, the Evans family reunion is next Saturday," Mrs. Evans informed at dinner, smiling at her daughter.

"Next Saturday? Already?" Lily asked, her eyes wide.

Mr. Evans nodded. "Yes, is that a problem?"

Lily shook her head. "No, of course not. I just didn't think it would be so soon."

Mrs. Evans smiled. "Well, you know the Evans, dear, they like to do things. unexpectedly." She looked sideways at her husband, who had just started on his dessert.

Mr. Evans turned a bit red. "Well."

Lily smiled at her parents' light bickering, and took a deep breath. It was now or never. She closed her eyes and blurted out, "Mum, Dad, I'm getting married."

Immediate silence is what followed her statement. When she opened her eyes, she saw her parents looking at her with wide eyes, surprise evident in their gazes, and she saw Petunia looking at her in horror.

"Oh, honey, that's wonderful!!" her mother exclaimed, genuinely happy for Lily, although a bit surprised at the sudden announcement.

Her father, however, was not too happy about this bit of news. "Lily, how long have you known this man? How can you even think of marriage, when you've just graduated from school? How can you even think of marrying at such a young age?!"

Lily looked at her father timidly. "Dad, I've known him for seven years. He went to Hogwarts with me, and he was Head Boy. And, as for the marriage at so young, well, we both love each other, and want to spend the rest of our lives together. Besides, James'll be going to Auror training for awhile, to become an Auror, and I'll get a job at the Ministry of Magic. We've already talked about this, and have come to some agreements. And, I want you to meet him. He's very nice, and." she paused a bit, smiling a bit in amusement, "charming. I think you'll like him, and I know Mum will."

"No!!!" Petunia screeched. Her face had a continued look of horror on it. "You can't be getting married!! I am!!! I won't allow this!! I won't let you and freak of a boyfriend ruin my happiness!!" Her face was red with anger.

At this, Lily stood up quickly from her chair, knocking it over in the process, her anger boiling. "Don't you dare talk about James, or anyone else, for that matter, that way!!" Her green eyes were flaming with anger.

"I'll be damned if you get married to that freak, and ruin all my hopes of us being considered normal!!!!" Petunia screeched.

"As far as I'm concerned, Petunia," Lily snarled, her face so red from anger, it almost matched her hair, "you're the abnormal one!! As far as I'm concerned, it's you who's considered a freak!! And I'll be damned if you ruin my happiness because of your own damn selfishness!!"

"Lily!!" Mrs. Evans cried in horror.

"It's true, Mum!!" Lily snarled back.

"That is enough!!" Mr. Evans yelled, finally losing his temper. "Petunia, Lily, I want the two of you to apologize to each other immediately." He glared at them.

Petunia turned her head away, nose up in the air. "I'll never apologize to a freak." And with that, she stomped upstairs to her bedroom, slamming her door shut.

Mr. Evans sighed, and turned to Lily. "I want to meet this boy," he said shortly, and retired to his study.

Lily sighed, and started helping her mother with the dishes. "Yes, father," she said softly, though he wasn't there.

"You know, dear, it wasn't very nice to say what you did to Petunia," Mrs. Evans said from her position at the sink, cleaning the dishes.

Lily blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. "Yeah, well, I've had enough of her rudeness and snooty remarks about my kind." She brought the dishes over to her mother, then started drying.

"How about bringing this boy, James, was it, to the family reunion?"

Lily smiled in amusement. "That would be interesting."

Mrs. Evans smiled, too. "I think it would be lovely, however, I don't believe magic would be quite. appropriate."

Lily giggled. "Of course not! Don't worry. I'll owl him, and give him the information. The two of us will work something out."

Mrs. Evans looked at her daughter, and noticed she had matured far beyond what she had thought. She suddenly hugged her daughter to her, wet hands and all, and whispered, "Your father and I are very proud of you, just so you know. We just don't want you to make the mistake of marrying someone when you're not ready. We want you to live life to the fullest, and be what you want to be, not what someone else wants you to be."

Lily smiled. "Mum, please don't worry about it. I know what I'm doing. I want to marry James. I know we're ready to do this, and we can make it work. I know we can. And I know how much you and Dad care for me, which is why I told you first, before going off and getting married. I want your blessings, and I want you to be there for my wedding."

Mrs. Evans let go of her daughter and, nodding, returned to doing the dishes. She glanced sideways at her daughter, noticing her faraway, dreamy look. She smiled slightly, and said, "So, how did his parents react? Do they know?"

Lily jumped slightly, and blushed. "I'm not sure how the reacted. James was supposed to tell them, but I'm not sure how or when he's going to do it." As she finished drying the last of the dishes, she kissed her mother's cheek. "I'm going to send him an owl now. Good night."

Mrs. Evans smiled in amusement. This family reunion was definitely going to be interesting.



Ok, so there's the first chap of my fic. Please leave a review telling me how it was.