Disclaimer: I don't own HP, that belongs to J.K. Rowling.

School's a drag. I like all my classes so far, but I don't have enough time for the things I really like to do. And CG is beginning to take it's toll on me, I think.





Introductions Part 3: A Confrontation

Petunia Evans was green with envy. Not only was James Potter good- looking, the handsome young man was brilliant, and very witty. O! how she wished she were Lily at the moment. Minus the freak-show part, of course. If James Potter hadn't been a freak, she would have stolen him from her sister immediately. However, James Potter was a freak, and she was perfectly content with Vernon, who was perfectly normal and everything she wanted him a man.

Vernon Dursley sneered as he listened to James Potter prattle on about the jokes and pranks he'd played at this - school he and Lily went to. His lip curled in disgust as the boy sent Mr. and Mrs. Evans into another bout of laughter. He silently snorted. Jokes and pranks. What was so interesting about jokes and pranks? Drills were far more intriguing.

James Potter smiled as Lily's parents tried to recover from their laughing fit. He looked over to Lily and found her smiling at him, her green orbs brimming with happiness. However, James still felt wary. And it wasn't because of Lily or her parents. Oh no, that wasn't it at all! Mrs. Evans was a sweet woman, and loved to please people. He liked her fine. Mr. Evans was a great man when he wasn't pounding him with questions, and had a great sense of humor. He loved both of them already. It was of Petunia Evans, Lily's hag of a sister, and Vernon Dursley, Petunia's cow of a fiancée that he was wary. Petunia kept staring at him oddly, and Vernon was. James softly groaned. Vernon was glaring at him. Lily looked at him, her eyes questioning. He looked down the table and nodded almost imperceptibly. Lily, following his gaze, caught on.

Lily Evans let out a frustrated sigh. She was so sick of Petunia's attitude. Her parents, having finally calmed down from laughing so hard, were talking with James about his future plans to become an Auror. She could tell they didn't understand what an Auror was or did, but she could see they understood that it was important and was a good job. She smiled, glad they and James were getting along.

"So Lily," a voice sneered from her left. "What are you going to do for a living?"

Lily looked to her left, and found Petunia and Vernon sneering at her, mocking her, almost. She inwardly sighed, and put on a cheerful, happy smile, determined not to let her sister get to her. "Well, I already told you I would get a job at the Ministry. I plan on doing either that, or getting a job at the Daily Prophet." As she finished, Lily noticed James and her mother and father were listening to her plans. She smiled at the five of them. "Don't worry about me, I'll find a job."

James smiled at put an arm around Lily. "There's no way Lily wouldn't get a job. She's too good a w - woman not to." He let out a breath. 'Oops, almost let that slip,' he thought, referring to the fact that he'd almost said 'witch.'

Lily smiled and leaned into him, blushing. "Thanks, James, but I'm not that great," she said humbly. She laughed when James snorted in disbelief, and heard him mutter, "Yeah right."

Mr. Evans stood up. "Well, James, I think I'd like to finish our conversation."

James stood up as well. "Yes, sir." He warily followed Lily's father back to their earlier spot.

Mr. Evans took up his place against the tree again, staring at James, who stood to the side a little, staring straight back. "I've heard stories about you, James Potter."

James' eyes widened. He'd been expecting more questions about him and his life-style, or his friends, but not that. "Stories, sir?"

Mr. Evans nodded. "Yes, stories. Stories of all the pranks you'd played on my daughter." He noticed James cringe. "Do you know how many times Lily came home in tears, and told us of all the horrible pranks you'd played on her?" Again, James cringed, this time, much more noticeable than the first. Mr. Evans sighed again, and looked out towards the park lake. "But Lily's strong. After she told us of the pranks and jokes, she'd quit crying, and go upstairs to her bedroom to do her homework. We never heard anything of you the rest of the summer." Mr. Evans paused, and closed his eyes.

James just continued to look at him, regret and pain in his eyes, remembering all the stuff he and the other Marauders had done to Lily.

Mr. Evans opened his eyes, and stared at the lake again. "When she told me she was going to marry you, I exploded," he said after a time. "I remembered all the times she'd come home, crying because of you, and was angry that she'd even think to marry you. Later that night, I remembered something. A year or two ago, Lily didn't come home in tears or anger anymore. She came home happy, and cheerful, and always smiling. It confused Lydia and I, but we never pushed the subject. We figured she'd tell us on her own. Now I realize the reason." He turned to James, now. "I didn't know what to expect from you, son, when you came here this morning. When I asked you about playing pranks on Lily, I expected you to lie straight out, saying you'd never do something like that to her. I expected to be distrustful of you. The fact that you came out and admitted to playing pranks on her made me realize how much you love my daughter, and I realized what she saw in you." Here, Mr. Evans had to look away, for his eyes were tearing up. "I - I give you my blessings to marry my daughter. Just, do me a favor and take care of her." Mr. Evans stood away from the tree and headed to the restroom facility, not wanting James to see his tears.

James looked at Ryan Evans' retreating back, reeling from all that he'd said. Hearing footsteps from behind him, he turned, and saw Lily coming up the hill, no doubt to tell him it was time for dinner. He smiled at her and took her into his arms when she was close enough, crushing her body to his and burying his face in her neck. "We're getting married," he whispered in her ear. Lily sighed in relief, and smiled, tightening her grip on him, tears in her eyes.

~~~

Petunia glared at Lily as her sister and future brother-in-law walked down the hill, hand in hand. When they were close enough, she said, "I can't believe Dad gave you his blessings to be married." Her face was twisted into one of disgust, and she sat closer to Vernon.

Lily glared right back at her sister, thankful her mother wasn't around at the moment. "Yes, well, you don't have to come to the wedding if you don't want to, so don't say anything."

Petunia huffed, and looked away. "Yes, well, you're not even invited to our wedding, so don't even bother showing up," she sneered.

Lily's mouth dropped slightly, and her eyes widened. "Why?" she cried, hurt showing in her eyes.

Petunia looked back at her sister, glaring hatefully at her. "Because I don't want any freaks there to ruin it." She smiled evilly.

Vernon smirked at James, who glared back at him. "What are you looking at? A good-for-nothing, that's what you are. Don't even have a decent job." He sneered.

"We just got out of school," he replied hotly. "And for your information, since you obviously weren't listening at lunch, I'm in training to be an Auror."

Vernon sneered again, and was about to make a snide remark when Mr. and Mrs. Evans walked over.

Mrs. Evans hugged Lily, and then Petunia. "My babies are all grown up and getting married," she sniffed, tears running down her face.

Lily smiled, her foul mood immediately gone from her system. James smiled as well, staying close to Lily.

At dinner, as Mrs. Evans started talking animatedly about wedding plans with Petunia, and Mr. Evans spoke with Vernon, Lily and James were approached by one of Lily's relatives. "Lily? Is that you?"

Lily and James turned around to see a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl about their age standing in front of them. Lily smiled. "Yes, it's me, Vanessa." The two embraced.

"And who is this handsome man?" Vanessa asked, looking James up and down, desire evident in her eyes.

Lily took hold of James' hand. "This is James, my fiancée," she answered.

Vanessa's eyes widened, shock taking the place of desire. "Your fiancée?" she repeated. "Oh. Well, congratulations, then." She then turned and walked away.

"She didn't seem too happy about us," James commented. He'd caught the way she'd looked at him, and needless to say, he was slightly disgusted.

Lily nodded, slightly hurt. "We were playmates when we were little," she said quietly. "I thought she'd be happy for me. But then, she did look at you like you were a piece of meat." She laughed at James, who reddened slightly.

James, being James Potter, however, played it cool. "Yeah, well, what can I say? I'm good-looking, dashing, and extremely wonderful!" He smiled triumphantly.

Lily laughed and elbowed him in the side. "Come on," she said. "We'd better get going. It's getting late, and you might want to get home."

James feigned hurt. "You want to get rid of me already? I'm hurt."

Lily giggled. "No, of course not, it's just that things are going to be a little weird now."

James raised an eyebrow. "Weird?"

Lily laughed slightly. "Well, since we're officially engaged, everyone's going to talk to us and ask questions and, well, I don't want you to have to deal with that."

James raised an eyebrow.

Lily laughed. "Ok, I don't want to have to deal with that. I want to go home, away from here." She sighed, and leaned on his arm, eyes closed.

James let out a breath, and wrapped his arms around Lily. "You're right. We should probably head home."

Lily nodded, still enfolded in his arms.

~~~

After saying goodnight to her parents, James and Lily soon found themselves back at the junk yard.

"We'll get together soon to talk about the wedding," James said as he hugged Lily. She nodded, and they kissed.

"I love you, James Potter," Lily said sleepily.

James smiled softly. "I love you too, Lily Evans. Now, go home and go to bed. You look tired."

Lily smiled back and nodded. "G'night."

James nodded once and apparated out of sight.

Lily sighed, then turned and headed home, her thoughts filled of James and their wedding.





A/N: Whew!! I finished this chapter!!! Took me long enough. However, school and CG are taking up most of my time, nowadays. And of course, they matter to me a lot. I was looking back over my other two chapters, and realized that something screwed up, so the three little dots indicating trailing off are just periods, and that ticks me off. So, I'm going to have to go back and edit that sometime. Not now, though, I'm too tired, and don't have enough time. I realize that this chapter was probably a little rushed. This fic isn't going to be very long, as I plan of having a sort of prequel, telling the story of how James and Lily got together. So, that'll probably explain a few things. Also, just to warn you: next chapter, I will have skipped some time. I'm not sure how much at the moment, but it will probably be closer to the wedding. We'll see though. I apologize about this chapter, though. It's not very good, in my opinion, and a little weak at the end. Please tell me what you think of it, though. I thrive on reviews, and they make me feel warm inside when they're nice. Feel free to flame, though, if you think it's bad.