Author: Thank you for the kind words, and Quack Quack 88 for the tip. (I'll keep that in mind next time) Also feel free to correct me if you see something that I messed up in the books, because I love searching for evidence and stuff, and if you leave and email I will do my best to find it for you! ^.^ Oh, and I have multiple siblings and can tell you, this is how it is.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, and even the characters that I made up could be hers to if she really wanted them! (Wow would that be cool!)

Chapter Two: Home for dinner

Thursday afternoon, Lily nervously paced the house, waiting for James. He said he was going to apparate, since he had taken the test the day after he turned seventeen a few months ago he was very eager to try it out. Her mother was already in the kitchen with her father, and Petunia was upstairs.

"Petunia!" Lily called for her sister, who poked her head out of her bedroom and looked down the stairs at her.

"What?" Petunia demanded.

"We need to talk, can you come down?"

"No. Come up here if you have to see me!" she retreated back into her room and slammed the door.

After a deep breath, Lily climbed the stairs and stepped into Petunia's room. It was very neat and clean, besides a pile of dresses on her bed and the make up on the dresser, everything was stacked and organized. Lily thought ruefully of her own room, which seemed to produce more and more mess the more days she was home.

"You know James is coming tonight." She said. Petunia nodded, holding up a particularly tight looking blue dress and surveying herself in the mirror.

"I'm going out though, I can't meet him."

"What?! The whole point is for him to meet you and mum and dad! Besides, where have you got to go?"

Petunia seethed. "I have a life here you know, and a boyfriend! If you even bothered to ask you would know that he and I are engaged!"

Lily was stunned and stood silently in awe of her sister.

"You- You - you never wrote to tell me you were engaged." She said finally.

"As if you even care!" Petunia let the blue dress fall to the floor and faced Lily angrily.

"Of course I care! You're my sister! How dare you agree to marry someone I never met! And how dare you purposely make a date the night my boyfriend is coming over!"

"If you bothered to give us an address to reach you at maybe I would have written! If you hadn't gone away maybe you would have met him! Can't you be happy for me?!"

"I tried to but you're so stuck up!"

"I hate you!"

"I hate you more!"

Lily turned and left, slamming the door behind her in a fit of rage.

"You watch it Petunia because come my birthday I can legally use magic on you!" she yelled through the door.

"Girls! No fighting!" Ms. Evans called from the kitchen.

Lily ignored her and went to her room.

Imagine the nerve of her sister! It wasn't like she had chosen to go away to school. It wasn't as if she was the one scared to use owl post. She wasn't the one who was engaged without telling her own sister! Lily sank onto her bed, tears in her eyes.

What had she done to deserve her sister's anger? She punched her pillow, then threw it across the room, where there was a loud crack, then an "Oof!" as the pillow his something solid.

"James!" Lily exclaimed, jumping to her feet and wiping her eyes. James rubbed his stomach and glanced around the room.

"Is this right? Oh! Lily Evans, imagine meeting you here!" He said. One hand rubbed his messy black hair and the other fixed his glasses properly to his face, and he smiled broadly.

"James you made it!" Lily said happily, hugging him. He was wearing his black school robes, and looked fantastic. Petunia would be furious! Toad? Ha!

"Come on, you have to see my parents." She said. She grabbed his hand and led him out her bedroom door and down to the kitchen. Petunia's door was still closed, and Lily assumed she was moping. Oh well, she'd be out of the way anyway.

"Mum! Dad! James is here!" Lily called. James was met with scrutinizing gazes from both parents, but Lily seemed oblivious. "He's just apparated, which is like teleporting you know, and very complicated. Here, sit." She ushered him to a chair where he smiled friendlily at the Evans. Lily kept babbling.

"This is my mum, Ms. Evans, and my dad, Mr. Evans," each took their turn shaking James's hand, openly welcoming him to their home.

"Potter is it?" Mr. Evans asked, and James nodded.

"James Harold Potter." He said, beaming.

"I hear you're quite a guy," Mr. Evans continued, but was interrupted by Lily.

"Dad, Petunia says she's going out tonight, is that right? I told you last week James was coming." James looked from one to the other cluelessly. Lily seemed frustrated. They would have to talk later.

"Well its her right, seeing as today's her birthday. Her fiancé is coming to pick her up in an hour."

Lily's face drained of color and she clutched at the table.

"Its her birthday?" she asked.

"Yes, " said Ms. Evans, "We were going to bake a cake but she said she would rather go out with just Vernon tonight."

Lily groaned and looked near tears. James watched helplessly.

"I forgot! Oh that was why she was so mad! Oh.." Lily buried her face in her arms miserably, receiving a pat on the back from her father comfortingly.

"Now little Lily, its ok, you've had lots going on lately, I'm sure you can apologize to her when she comes down."

"Little Lily?" James whispered at his girlfriend incredulously. "I'm gonna have to try that one."

"Oh shove it James!" Lily muttered. How could she forget Petunia's birthday?! Her own sister! It would be enough to make anyone mad. But not only that, she had scheduled for her own boyfriend to come over the very night they were supposed to celebrate for Petunia.

"James quick, you're old enough, can you transfigure something into a necklace or something?"

James blanked.

"What!? Here?" The pleading look in Lily's eyes made him rethink his statement. "Err.. if your parents don't mind.?" he asked.

The Evans's actually looked eager to see a bit of magic.

"I'd do it myself mum, but until next month I can't do magic outside of school. But James turned seventeen a few months ago, and he can." Lily explained.

"What shall I transfigure?" James asked. Lily scanned the kitchen.

"Can you make a fork into a ring?" Ms. Evans asked.

"I can try." James said. Lily looked a bit skeptical. James was very good at transfiguring things, after all, but if he messed up it would be her head. She gave him an encouraging smile and fetched a fork from a drawer.

James took out his wand and screwed up his face, trying to remember the exact way to make it melt and bend..

There was a slight pause, and then in place of the fork was a pretty, simple, silver ring, with a flower pattern like what was on the fork.

"Perfect!" Lily said, snatching it up and planting a sloppy kiss on James's cheek. He turned pink at the stares of her parents, but grinned at them sheepishly.

"Gotta love her." he said, watching the knowing smile of Ms. Evans and the disgruntled but approving look of Mr. Evans.

Lily ignored them and examined the ring, quickly taping some napkins together for wrapping.

Just as Lily was finishing, Petunia poked her blond head into the kitchen. She was wearing the tight blue dress she had examined in the mirror upstairs, and her hair was carefully curled.

"Mum, Vernon will be here any second-" she spotted James, robed and wand out, and frowned at him with contempt, then gave Lily an icy glare. James was taken aback for a moment, then jumped to his feet and stuck out a hand to shake, wide smile on his face.

"Pleased to meet you, you must be the lovely Petunia. I've heard lots about you." Petunia, bewildered and flustered, shook his hand but didn't smile. She eyed the wand in his hand warily.

"Yes.you must be."

"James Potter." He provided, bowing and winking. Petunia, still stunned, didn't return the friendly grin.

"Petunia, I've got something for your birthday!" Lily piped up, shattering the awkward silence expertly. She rushed over and held out the napkin-taped gift.

"Err.thank you Lily, I'll open later. With the cake." She tucked it into her purse, still refusing to meet Lily's eyes.

"I'm sorry about all that nonsense earlier, I don't hate you. I just dislike you with a very loud dedication."

"Lily!" Ms. Evans reprimanded, but Lily just rolled her eyes and seated herself at the table next to James.

The phone rang before she could continue, and Petunia picked it up, smiling and talking sweetly.

"Oh hello Vernon!" her voice was sickening with love. "You can't what. Oh. Oh I see. Why?" The sweetness was gone and she suddenly looked very pale. "A fever? Can I come over and help you? Oh she is. Ok. Yes. Promise to get better. Yes. I love you. Goodbye."

Petunia hung up the phone, her face sad and her hair limp.

"Vernon's got a fever, his sister is there helping him recover and making him soup, but she forbids him to go out," she said. There was bitter disappointment in her eyes.

"Oh sweetie!" Ms. Evans engulfed her in a hug and sat her down. "Let me make you some tea. You can eat dinner here with James and Lily and us, and I'll bake a cake, there is still time after all.you're birthday is only once a year." She bustled around making things ready for tea, and Mr. Evans nodded in agreement.

"There's no reason we can't have a nice family party for you!" he said.
Lily felt awful for her sister, but secretly was glad that she would be miserable. It was nice not to feel guilty for her sister's misery for a change. Suddenly James stood up, brandishing his wand.

"Well we might as well decorate for a party!" he said. "Dento petretrium." Pink streamers shot out of his wand and attached themselves to the walls of the kitchen. Balloons inflated themselves at the proper intervals, and a pink crown of flowers appeared on Petunia's head. Mr. and Ms. Evans applauded, but Lily and Petunia looked less than pleased.

"Show off," Lily muttered. Petunia looked aghast.

James smiled at his handiwork and sat back down, pleased.

"Lily dear, set the table please, the roast is about done!" Ms. Evans called. Lily complied, and Petunia sat half-heartedly at the table, still looking rather foolish in her tight blue dress.

***Author: Questions? Comments? Next chapter will be up tomorrow or the next day. ^^