Chapter two.
Never, never. She would definitely never live it down. James's smirk, after winning the match, would haunt her dreams forever. They had tied for most of the match, but, just at the end, her family had lost. It had been James's turn to throw. Stupid Petunia got distracted by Vernon, who had been winking at her. Lily knew that he had done that to sabotage the game, and immediately complained, at which James' smirk grew wider.
"Aw... come on Lily, you're not going to act like a bad loser now, are you?" James said. He was calling her 'Lily' because right now there were four Evans, and he didn't want to insult the wrong one.
"You CHEATED!" Lily shouted, her usual temper getting the better of her.
"No, we didn't. Can't you accept, for once, that you were defeated?" James answered calmly. He knew that it irritated her, being so calm...
It did. She hated how calm and collected he could be. She knew that it gave him the upper hand in all of their fights.
"Argh! You KNOW you cheated!!!!!!! What? Isn't winning every Quidditch match for you enough? Need more glory to feel more important?" Lily said, not anticipating the consequences of her words.
Mr and Mrs Potter both smiled. "James, why didn't you tell us you knew her before!" Mrs Potter asked her son.
"Do you go to Hogwarts, Lily?" Mr Potter asked her, delighted to find another witch in the place.
Vernon glared at his mother's husband. He had told them a thousand times not to talk about magic. He hated it and everything connected to. You may wonder why was this, seeing as his very own mother was a witch....
Well, that was the problem. Catherine (his mother) had waited until a few years after Vernon was born to tell her husband that she was a witch. Catherine had hoped that once the man married her, and saw their child grow, he would understand her. It was a big mistake. The instant the words left her mouth, the man freaked out. Fear turned rapidly into anger.
He had moved out immediately. It had caused Vernon's world to fall apart. He had been very close to his father, he admired him, and looked up to him, he thought he wasn't any short of being a hero... normal things five-year-old children think about their parents. It had taken all of her mother's strength to make him understand why his father, his best friend in the whole wide world, had abandoned him.
But there was more. Vernon had been truly depressed when his very own hero-like-father had told him he was a disgrace to his name. He told Vernon that he was infested with freak blood and because of this, the man had said he didn't want to see his son again. Try explaining that to a child.
Ever since, Vernon Dursely had hated his mother. He swore every night that he would make his father proud of him, not relating, by any means, to anything magical. Maybe then his father would talk to him... ah, sweet childhood innocence.…
Imagine the shock Vernon got when his mother married one of her own kind. Much worse was his reaction when they moved to a wizarding neighbourhood. And, when his younger brother showed his first signs of magic? His psychologist had told Catherine that Vernon's hostile behaviour was because he was feeling like an outsider. That was when her husband, for his wife's sake, had decided to spend every holiday around muggles. Mr Potter couldn't deny that he missed his own kind, though, which was why he was so thrilled to find out that there was someone else with magical abilities on the island.
"Yes, dad, she goes to Hogwarts too." James answered for Lily.
"Oh! And… which house are you in?" Mr Potter asked her.
"Gryffindor." Lily answered, and, before he could continue interrogating her, she added "sixth year."
"Oh, just like James!" Mrs Potter exclaimed happily.
"How do you like Hogwarts Lily? What are you going to do after it? What are your favourite subjects?" this and many more questions were asked by the Potters to Lily. The Potters, excluding Vernon and James. James was only too happy to have her forget about the cheating thing. And so, the Potters won the match.
After the interrogation, Lily felt like having a walk around the island. She found herself going to the beach, where the sun was setting. She walked some more and found a fallen palm tree nearing the place when the beach turned into forest. She went to sit down there.
Enjoying the wind playing with her hair, Lily was mesmerised with the dawn's beauty. She was so far-off she didn't notice someone walking up to her from behind.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" A male voice asked her.
"Very." She answered, turning around.
A boy around her age met her eyes. He was blond, tall, and had a beautiful tan.
"I'm Nicolas," he said, extending a hand, "or Nico for short."
"Lily," she flashed a smile and shook his hand. "You can sit down here if you like, I could use some company," Lily continued.
"Okay, thanks. Hey, I saw your match and, I have to say, I agree with you. That guy cheated," He told her.
She had a feeling he would be easy to befriend. Offering him another of her smiles, she said, " I know! I go to school with him, and, believe me, he's always like that! Such a liar!" Lily said disgustedly.
"Oh, I pity you. Well, how about a happier subject?"
"Okay. Are you going on the snorkelling expedition tomorrow?" Lily asked him.
"Yeah! Wouldn't miss it for anything! Did you know that there are over five hundred different spices of fish here?" he asked her. They chatted happily until they decided to call it a night.
"See ya tomorrow Lily" Nico said.
"See ya!" Lily answered, before heading back towards her cottage.