Chapter Four: Petunia Snubbed
"Evans!" James Potter exclaimed, clearly delighted. A huge grin developed on his face, "Fancy meeting you here!"
Lily groaned loudly, but recovered herself quickly when she saw James' father. He was glancing back and forth between James and Lily, looking very confused.
"Oh, I'm sorry sir. Come on in, you must be Henry. My dad's business partner?" Lily said questioningly, opening the door to allow them into the entryway. "I'm Lily Evans." 'WHY is HE here?' she was screaming in her mind, but Lily still wanted to be a polite hostess.
"Henry Potter. Lovely to meet you Lily," the older man said. He had a rich, deep voice that made Lily like him immediately. Upon inspection, Lily noticed that James bore a striking resemblance to his father, although Henry Potter seemed much less conceited than his son. He shook Lily's hand and gave her a pleasant smile. "I see that you two have already met. How do-"
His question was cut off by Harold Evans, who had just arrived in the entryway.
"Ahh. Henry! Good to see you again!" he said, shaking Henry's hand.
"Harold," James' father nodded. "It seems our children are already acquainted."
Both men looked at their children with interested faces. Lily was too horrified to speak, so James spoke up.
"Yes, Father. We go to school together."
As both fathers realized the significance of that statement, they began to laugh.
"Well, it seems we have more in common than we were willing to admit, Harold," James' father said.
"I guess so," Harold responded happily. "Well, Lily Flower, we'll leave you two to catch up."
With that he led Henry into the living room, leaving Lily and James standing awkwardly in the entry. Lily shot James a look of pure loathing and saw that he was admiring her with a surprisingly vacant expression. She couldn't help but notice that he looked very toned in the tight blue shirt he was wearing, and that he was as attractive as ever. But then she reminded herself of all the humiliating experiences he had caused her over the years and suddenly she was angry again.
"So Evans, have a good summer so far?" James asked in a surprisingly humble tone after a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence.
"What do you care, Potter?" she responded coldly.
"Hey, don't get your knickers in a twist. I was just trying to be friendly, Evans," he said, holding both hands in the air in a gesture of innocence. His hazel eyes were sparkling, and he had an annoyingly huge grin plastered across his face.
"Did you know about this?" Lily heard herself ask, eyes narrowing.
"Nope," he said honestly. "I definitely would have taken advantage of it before this if I had known."
"Funny, Potter. Look, I don't see any reason why we need to talk to each other. I mean, our dads will do most of the talking. So you just leave me alone, I'll just leave you alone, and when you leave, we can pretend that this whole disaster never happened," she said, avoiding his gaze.
James looked a little hurt, but said, "Fine Evans, whatever you want."
Lily was very surprised that he didn't try to argue with her. That was very unlike Potter. She didn't have time to dwell on it however, because at that moment Petunia came shuffling down the stairs wearing a ridiculously frilly pink cocktail dress.
"Well, well. Who's this?" she asked, eyeing James with interest. "He looks a little out of your league, freak."
James looked shocked, but Lily shook her head slightly, silently begging him to ignore Petunia's comments. "He's not here for me - this is dad's business partner's son, James Potter. Potter, this is my sister Petunia." Lily tried to keep the venom in her voice to a minimum when she said the word 'sister.'
James smiled at Petunia, inwardly smirking as he noticed that Lily definitely had all the looks in the family. Petunia's eyes lit up, and she immediately shifted into what Lily liked to call "flirt mode." She patted her hair, pushed out her chest, and gave James what she clearly assumed was a seductive smile. Petunia might be engaged, but that certainly wouldn't stop her from having a little fun with an attractive chap like James Potter.
Lily laughed as Petunia linked her arm through James' and led him into the living room. She wondered what Petunia would do when she found out that James is just as much a "freak" as Lily. She considered bringing up Hogwarts, just to see Petunia's reaction, but decided against it. At least this way, Potter wouldn't have the opportunity to harass her. Lily was very confused, however, as to why Potter was here at all. He came from a pureblood wizard family. Why was his father in business with a muggle? Why didn't anyone figure out the connection between their families? Lily suppressed another groan of frustration and pushed these thoughts out of her mind. 'Just focus on damage control, Evans,' she told herself.
Lily busied herself in the kitchen with last minute preparations for dinner while Petunia, James and both adults sat in the living room talking quietly. Lily could hear Petunia chattering away happily to James, despite the fact that he didn't seem to be paying her the slightest attention. In fact, Lily could feel his eyes following her around as she brought everyone drinks, and even his father noticed his indifferent responses to Petunia's questions.
"James, are you okay?" he asked in a concerned voice.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm okay," James said quietly, his eyes drifting to Lily, who had just brought his father a drink. Henry Potter smiled knowingly, following his son's gaze.
Petunia observed this exchange grimly. James' indifference to her, and obvious adoration of Lily had not gone unnoticed by Petunia. She decided it was time to bring up a topic that would gain the attention of this Potter boy. Suddenly, Petunia asked James, "So, where's your mom?"
Lily gasped as she whirled around and snarled, "Petunia!" She might not like Potter very much, but she was appalled by her sister's serious lack of manners. Petunia looked up at Lily with feigned innocence pouring out of her murky brown eyes.
"Yes, freak? What is it?" she replied quietly, so her father wouldn't hear. When Lily didn't answer, she turned on the couch to face James better.
"Lily? Petunia? Is everything alright?" Harold asked from the corner where he was talking with Henry. They had both looked over when they heard Lily gasp.
"Oh, um, it's nothing Dad. Dinner will be ready in a minute," Lily said, slowly looking at James, who was looking pale and grim. As they made eye contact, she could see the anguish in his eyes, and quickly added, "Potter, why don't you come help me?"
James gave her a grateful smile and whispered, "Thanks," as he followed her into the kitchen.
:::::::::::::::
As James followed Lily into the kitchen, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. He was definitely not expecting anyone to ask about his mother and he had discovered that he was not ready to answer questions about her death. He had barely been able to talk to the other Marauders about it. James was quite surprised with the audacity of Lily's sister.
He pushed thoughts of Eleanor Potter out of his mind and instead focused on helping Lily. He couldn't believe his luck! His heart had almost stopped when she had opened the door, looking even more beautiful than he remembered. It had been a long summer for James, and he had found himself thinking of Lily more and more. Thinking of Lily always made him feel better; after his mother died, she was the only thought that could make him smile and release the vice grip that constantly restricted his breathing. Not that James had any intention of telling Lily about his thoughts. She was already disgusted by all of his advances, and telling her that he thought he was in lo... that he liked her certainly wouldn't help the situation. Their seventh year at Hogwarts was approaching, and James was determined that this year, he would work tirelessly to win her affection before she was gone from his life forever. And now the perfect opportunity had presented itself!
When everything was ready and the group was sitting down to dinner, Petunia pulled a chair up next to her at the table and gave James a sickening smile.
"You can sit here, next to me, James."
James glanced at Lily, pleading with her to intervene, but Lily just gave him a wicked smile and sat down across the table. James was disappointed, but quietly took his place next to Petunia.
James let his mind wander as the two men discussed their business and the girls ate silently. He found himself gazing across the table at Lily, watching her eat. He knew that he was staring, but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from her. It wasn't just that she was beautiful. There was something else about Lily that James couldn't explain. Lily always exuded gentleness, intelligence, integrity, and loyalty. Just being around her made James want to change; to be better somehow.
Suddenly, James was dragged back to reality by Petunia's hand, which she had planted on his thigh beneath the table. James gasped and jerked away, drawing the attention of everyone at the table.
"James?" his father questioned.
"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking," James muttered, turning very red. He saw Lily smirk across the table. He suspected that she knew why he had jumped. When the conversation had resumed, he brushed Petunia's hand off his leg without looking at her and subtly scooted his chair away from her. James took a deep breath, hoping to reduce the redness of his face, and focused back in on the conversation.
"Lily, you are an excellent cook," his dad was saying. "It's been a long time since James and I have had a home cooked meal." Lily smiled at his father, although James noticed she looked a little embarrassed.
"Yeah, Evans! Where did you learn to cook like this? They certainly don't teach this at Hogwarts," James added.
"My mother taught me," Lily said quietly, looking down at her plate. As she said this, James heard Petunia draw in her breath sharply and huff loudly.
"You know about that - that school?" Petunia asked, pulling on James' arm, forcing him to face her.
"Well, of course I do, I go to school with your sister," James said, looking baffled.
Petunia jerked her hand off James' arm, a look of absolute revulsion on her bony crimson face. She didn't say anything else, but James saw her glare at Lily across the table.
"I can't believe that our children have gone to school together all these years, and we have never realized it," Henry Potter was saying with a little chuckle. "Why didn't you ever mention it?"
"Well, we are all muggles, except Lily, of course. I don't really talk about it because most people think I'm crazy," Harold answered, laughing. "What about you? How in the world did I miss the fact that you are a wizard?"
Henry shifted uncomfortably and James stared intently at his father, waiting to see what his response would be. Would he tell the Evans' his real reason for keeping his powers secret?
"Uh, well, you know, we can't really go around telling muggles about wizards and things. I don't really discuss it at work."
James could tell by the look on Lily's face that she was suspicious of this excuse. She would know that the Potters, as a pureblood wizarding family, would have enough connections to easily find out that the Evans family had produced a muggleborn wizard. Their fathers had been working together long enough, and the wizarding world is small enough that someone should have made this connection long ago.
Harold Evans noticed that this line of questioning was making both his guests uncomfortable, so he prudently decided to drop the subject.
"Well, at least we know that we are both able to keep a secret," Harold said, laughing. "Lily just received news last week that she will be the next Head Girl at Hogwarts," he continued, grinning proudly at Lily, who was again turning scarlet. James noticed that even with a face the same color as her hair she looked stunning.
"Oh, wonderful! Congratulations, Evans. I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other this year," James said cheerfully. He was quite pleased with this situation and made a mental note to thank Dumbledore profusely upon his return to Hogwarts.
"What do you mean, Potter?" Lily asked apprehensively.
"Well, Evans, I also received a letter last week informing me of my new position as Head Boy," James answered smugly. He was grinning, though not for the reason that Lily would assume.
"But you weren't a prefect," Lily protested. "Why would Dumbledore choose a Head Boy that wasn't even a prefect?"
"I'm hurt, Evans. Didn't it occur to you that maybe he chose me because I am qualified, and the most skilled wizard in the class? More likely, Ms. I'm-A-Prefect-And-Top-Of-Every-Class, Dumbledore chose me to keep you from ruining all the fun all year. I mean, now you'll be working with someone tough enough to keep you from declaring every Saturday an official day of study," James responded.
"Thanks for clearing that up, Potter. I just can't wait to work around that big head of yours all year," Lily said frostily, falling into old habits and forgetting the others in the room. James laughed aloud when Lily turned away and covered her face after noticing the other shocked faces sitting around the table.
"Lily! That was totally uncalled for," her father said, in a shocked voice. Clearly he had never seen this side of his daughter.
"Oh, no. I'm sorry Mr. Evans, it was my fault. Your daughter and I were just continuing the ...friendly relationship we have at school," James said, hesitating as he looked for words to describe his relationship with Lily Evans. He had to say something quickly though because Lily would never forgive him if he got her in trouble with her father; they were very close.
Lily gave a snort. "Did I miss the friendly part of our relationship, Potter?" she grumbled.
"Ms. Evans, I can see that my son gets quite a kick out of upsetting you. I hope that he and his friends don't give you too much trouble at Hogwarts," Mr. Potter said kindly, but with a very stern look at James. James winced. He thought of all the pranks the Marauders had pulled on Lily throughout the years. 'This conversation could go very badly,' he thought.
"Of course not, Father. The Marauders make a special effort to take good care of Evans. After all, she's a Gryffindor," James answered quickly, before Lily had the opportunity to incriminate him.
Lily laughed and gave James and appraising look, but did not respond to Henry Potter. Instead she stood and said, "I'll bring out dessert."
Petunia, who had been silent throughout this conversation, jumped up hastily and said, "I'll help you, sister." James saw the nervous look that crossed Lily's face, and stood up to join the sisters in the kitchen. There was something about Petunia's manner that made him suspicious. By the time he entered the kitchen, the girls were standing by the counter, their backs to him, putting garnish on the custards. He stopped to listen when he heard Petunia's furious whispers and saw Lily standing rigidly straight, head held high.
"We all knew you were a freak, but how did you find these other freaky people and get them involved with our father? I can't believe you have the nerve to bring others...like you... to our house. You make me sick, in there insulting that filthy boy, bringing shame on our family. If this ever gets out... good heavens, what if Vernon finds out! Why don't you just go home with his family and NEVER come back here!"
All this was whispered venomously through her teeth while Petunia stared at Lily, her eyes bulging. As she finished, James, who had been too shocked to do or say anything, finally found his voice.
"Don't you talk to her that way," he growled, glaring fiercely at Petunia. She turned to stare angrily back at him. James knew he shouldn't be criticizing Petunia, after all, he was a guest in the Evans' house, but he just couldn't stand by and watch someone hurt Lily.
"Mind your own business, nut-case," Petunia spat as she walked out of the kitchen, carrying two custards.
"Lily," James said, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder. He couldn't see her face, but he felt her shake slightly for a second, then stiffen.
"Just stay out of family business, Potter," she said quietly as she left the kitchen, avoiding eye contact.
After a few seconds, James turned and quietly returned to the dining room. Lily was already seated, but Petunia was standing stuffily near her father.
"May I please be excused? I have to go meet Vernon."
"Already, Petunia?" Harold questioned. Seeing Petunia's obvious anger, however, he continued reluctantly, "Alright, go ahead."
Petunia's pink dress was swishing around the corner before he had even finished speaking. James watched Lily sit with her hands in the lap of her green dress for a few seconds before she also asked to be excused.
"I'm feeling a little sick, Dad. Could I be excused for a few minutes, just to freshen up?" she asked. Harold Evans nodded, looking concerned. James watched Lily as she left the room, then quickly stood and followed her without a word to either of the men.
"Well, looks like we've been left quite alone," Henry Potter said, smiling.
"Evans!" James Potter exclaimed, clearly delighted. A huge grin developed on his face, "Fancy meeting you here!"
Lily groaned loudly, but recovered herself quickly when she saw James' father. He was glancing back and forth between James and Lily, looking very confused.
"Oh, I'm sorry sir. Come on in, you must be Henry. My dad's business partner?" Lily said questioningly, opening the door to allow them into the entryway. "I'm Lily Evans." 'WHY is HE here?' she was screaming in her mind, but Lily still wanted to be a polite hostess.
"Henry Potter. Lovely to meet you Lily," the older man said. He had a rich, deep voice that made Lily like him immediately. Upon inspection, Lily noticed that James bore a striking resemblance to his father, although Henry Potter seemed much less conceited than his son. He shook Lily's hand and gave her a pleasant smile. "I see that you two have already met. How do-"
His question was cut off by Harold Evans, who had just arrived in the entryway.
"Ahh. Henry! Good to see you again!" he said, shaking Henry's hand.
"Harold," James' father nodded. "It seems our children are already acquainted."
Both men looked at their children with interested faces. Lily was too horrified to speak, so James spoke up.
"Yes, Father. We go to school together."
As both fathers realized the significance of that statement, they began to laugh.
"Well, it seems we have more in common than we were willing to admit, Harold," James' father said.
"I guess so," Harold responded happily. "Well, Lily Flower, we'll leave you two to catch up."
With that he led Henry into the living room, leaving Lily and James standing awkwardly in the entry. Lily shot James a look of pure loathing and saw that he was admiring her with a surprisingly vacant expression. She couldn't help but notice that he looked very toned in the tight blue shirt he was wearing, and that he was as attractive as ever. But then she reminded herself of all the humiliating experiences he had caused her over the years and suddenly she was angry again.
"So Evans, have a good summer so far?" James asked in a surprisingly humble tone after a few more seconds of uncomfortable silence.
"What do you care, Potter?" she responded coldly.
"Hey, don't get your knickers in a twist. I was just trying to be friendly, Evans," he said, holding both hands in the air in a gesture of innocence. His hazel eyes were sparkling, and he had an annoyingly huge grin plastered across his face.
"Did you know about this?" Lily heard herself ask, eyes narrowing.
"Nope," he said honestly. "I definitely would have taken advantage of it before this if I had known."
"Funny, Potter. Look, I don't see any reason why we need to talk to each other. I mean, our dads will do most of the talking. So you just leave me alone, I'll just leave you alone, and when you leave, we can pretend that this whole disaster never happened," she said, avoiding his gaze.
James looked a little hurt, but said, "Fine Evans, whatever you want."
Lily was very surprised that he didn't try to argue with her. That was very unlike Potter. She didn't have time to dwell on it however, because at that moment Petunia came shuffling down the stairs wearing a ridiculously frilly pink cocktail dress.
"Well, well. Who's this?" she asked, eyeing James with interest. "He looks a little out of your league, freak."
James looked shocked, but Lily shook her head slightly, silently begging him to ignore Petunia's comments. "He's not here for me - this is dad's business partner's son, James Potter. Potter, this is my sister Petunia." Lily tried to keep the venom in her voice to a minimum when she said the word 'sister.'
James smiled at Petunia, inwardly smirking as he noticed that Lily definitely had all the looks in the family. Petunia's eyes lit up, and she immediately shifted into what Lily liked to call "flirt mode." She patted her hair, pushed out her chest, and gave James what she clearly assumed was a seductive smile. Petunia might be engaged, but that certainly wouldn't stop her from having a little fun with an attractive chap like James Potter.
Lily laughed as Petunia linked her arm through James' and led him into the living room. She wondered what Petunia would do when she found out that James is just as much a "freak" as Lily. She considered bringing up Hogwarts, just to see Petunia's reaction, but decided against it. At least this way, Potter wouldn't have the opportunity to harass her. Lily was very confused, however, as to why Potter was here at all. He came from a pureblood wizard family. Why was his father in business with a muggle? Why didn't anyone figure out the connection between their families? Lily suppressed another groan of frustration and pushed these thoughts out of her mind. 'Just focus on damage control, Evans,' she told herself.
Lily busied herself in the kitchen with last minute preparations for dinner while Petunia, James and both adults sat in the living room talking quietly. Lily could hear Petunia chattering away happily to James, despite the fact that he didn't seem to be paying her the slightest attention. In fact, Lily could feel his eyes following her around as she brought everyone drinks, and even his father noticed his indifferent responses to Petunia's questions.
"James, are you okay?" he asked in a concerned voice.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm okay," James said quietly, his eyes drifting to Lily, who had just brought his father a drink. Henry Potter smiled knowingly, following his son's gaze.
Petunia observed this exchange grimly. James' indifference to her, and obvious adoration of Lily had not gone unnoticed by Petunia. She decided it was time to bring up a topic that would gain the attention of this Potter boy. Suddenly, Petunia asked James, "So, where's your mom?"
Lily gasped as she whirled around and snarled, "Petunia!" She might not like Potter very much, but she was appalled by her sister's serious lack of manners. Petunia looked up at Lily with feigned innocence pouring out of her murky brown eyes.
"Yes, freak? What is it?" she replied quietly, so her father wouldn't hear. When Lily didn't answer, she turned on the couch to face James better.
"Lily? Petunia? Is everything alright?" Harold asked from the corner where he was talking with Henry. They had both looked over when they heard Lily gasp.
"Oh, um, it's nothing Dad. Dinner will be ready in a minute," Lily said, slowly looking at James, who was looking pale and grim. As they made eye contact, she could see the anguish in his eyes, and quickly added, "Potter, why don't you come help me?"
James gave her a grateful smile and whispered, "Thanks," as he followed her into the kitchen.
:::::::::::::::
As James followed Lily into the kitchen, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. He was definitely not expecting anyone to ask about his mother and he had discovered that he was not ready to answer questions about her death. He had barely been able to talk to the other Marauders about it. James was quite surprised with the audacity of Lily's sister.
He pushed thoughts of Eleanor Potter out of his mind and instead focused on helping Lily. He couldn't believe his luck! His heart had almost stopped when she had opened the door, looking even more beautiful than he remembered. It had been a long summer for James, and he had found himself thinking of Lily more and more. Thinking of Lily always made him feel better; after his mother died, she was the only thought that could make him smile and release the vice grip that constantly restricted his breathing. Not that James had any intention of telling Lily about his thoughts. She was already disgusted by all of his advances, and telling her that he thought he was in lo... that he liked her certainly wouldn't help the situation. Their seventh year at Hogwarts was approaching, and James was determined that this year, he would work tirelessly to win her affection before she was gone from his life forever. And now the perfect opportunity had presented itself!
When everything was ready and the group was sitting down to dinner, Petunia pulled a chair up next to her at the table and gave James a sickening smile.
"You can sit here, next to me, James."
James glanced at Lily, pleading with her to intervene, but Lily just gave him a wicked smile and sat down across the table. James was disappointed, but quietly took his place next to Petunia.
James let his mind wander as the two men discussed their business and the girls ate silently. He found himself gazing across the table at Lily, watching her eat. He knew that he was staring, but he couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from her. It wasn't just that she was beautiful. There was something else about Lily that James couldn't explain. Lily always exuded gentleness, intelligence, integrity, and loyalty. Just being around her made James want to change; to be better somehow.
Suddenly, James was dragged back to reality by Petunia's hand, which she had planted on his thigh beneath the table. James gasped and jerked away, drawing the attention of everyone at the table.
"James?" his father questioned.
"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking," James muttered, turning very red. He saw Lily smirk across the table. He suspected that she knew why he had jumped. When the conversation had resumed, he brushed Petunia's hand off his leg without looking at her and subtly scooted his chair away from her. James took a deep breath, hoping to reduce the redness of his face, and focused back in on the conversation.
"Lily, you are an excellent cook," his dad was saying. "It's been a long time since James and I have had a home cooked meal." Lily smiled at his father, although James noticed she looked a little embarrassed.
"Yeah, Evans! Where did you learn to cook like this? They certainly don't teach this at Hogwarts," James added.
"My mother taught me," Lily said quietly, looking down at her plate. As she said this, James heard Petunia draw in her breath sharply and huff loudly.
"You know about that - that school?" Petunia asked, pulling on James' arm, forcing him to face her.
"Well, of course I do, I go to school with your sister," James said, looking baffled.
Petunia jerked her hand off James' arm, a look of absolute revulsion on her bony crimson face. She didn't say anything else, but James saw her glare at Lily across the table.
"I can't believe that our children have gone to school together all these years, and we have never realized it," Henry Potter was saying with a little chuckle. "Why didn't you ever mention it?"
"Well, we are all muggles, except Lily, of course. I don't really talk about it because most people think I'm crazy," Harold answered, laughing. "What about you? How in the world did I miss the fact that you are a wizard?"
Henry shifted uncomfortably and James stared intently at his father, waiting to see what his response would be. Would he tell the Evans' his real reason for keeping his powers secret?
"Uh, well, you know, we can't really go around telling muggles about wizards and things. I don't really discuss it at work."
James could tell by the look on Lily's face that she was suspicious of this excuse. She would know that the Potters, as a pureblood wizarding family, would have enough connections to easily find out that the Evans family had produced a muggleborn wizard. Their fathers had been working together long enough, and the wizarding world is small enough that someone should have made this connection long ago.
Harold Evans noticed that this line of questioning was making both his guests uncomfortable, so he prudently decided to drop the subject.
"Well, at least we know that we are both able to keep a secret," Harold said, laughing. "Lily just received news last week that she will be the next Head Girl at Hogwarts," he continued, grinning proudly at Lily, who was again turning scarlet. James noticed that even with a face the same color as her hair she looked stunning.
"Oh, wonderful! Congratulations, Evans. I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of each other this year," James said cheerfully. He was quite pleased with this situation and made a mental note to thank Dumbledore profusely upon his return to Hogwarts.
"What do you mean, Potter?" Lily asked apprehensively.
"Well, Evans, I also received a letter last week informing me of my new position as Head Boy," James answered smugly. He was grinning, though not for the reason that Lily would assume.
"But you weren't a prefect," Lily protested. "Why would Dumbledore choose a Head Boy that wasn't even a prefect?"
"I'm hurt, Evans. Didn't it occur to you that maybe he chose me because I am qualified, and the most skilled wizard in the class? More likely, Ms. I'm-A-Prefect-And-Top-Of-Every-Class, Dumbledore chose me to keep you from ruining all the fun all year. I mean, now you'll be working with someone tough enough to keep you from declaring every Saturday an official day of study," James responded.
"Thanks for clearing that up, Potter. I just can't wait to work around that big head of yours all year," Lily said frostily, falling into old habits and forgetting the others in the room. James laughed aloud when Lily turned away and covered her face after noticing the other shocked faces sitting around the table.
"Lily! That was totally uncalled for," her father said, in a shocked voice. Clearly he had never seen this side of his daughter.
"Oh, no. I'm sorry Mr. Evans, it was my fault. Your daughter and I were just continuing the ...friendly relationship we have at school," James said, hesitating as he looked for words to describe his relationship with Lily Evans. He had to say something quickly though because Lily would never forgive him if he got her in trouble with her father; they were very close.
Lily gave a snort. "Did I miss the friendly part of our relationship, Potter?" she grumbled.
"Ms. Evans, I can see that my son gets quite a kick out of upsetting you. I hope that he and his friends don't give you too much trouble at Hogwarts," Mr. Potter said kindly, but with a very stern look at James. James winced. He thought of all the pranks the Marauders had pulled on Lily throughout the years. 'This conversation could go very badly,' he thought.
"Of course not, Father. The Marauders make a special effort to take good care of Evans. After all, she's a Gryffindor," James answered quickly, before Lily had the opportunity to incriminate him.
Lily laughed and gave James and appraising look, but did not respond to Henry Potter. Instead she stood and said, "I'll bring out dessert."
Petunia, who had been silent throughout this conversation, jumped up hastily and said, "I'll help you, sister." James saw the nervous look that crossed Lily's face, and stood up to join the sisters in the kitchen. There was something about Petunia's manner that made him suspicious. By the time he entered the kitchen, the girls were standing by the counter, their backs to him, putting garnish on the custards. He stopped to listen when he heard Petunia's furious whispers and saw Lily standing rigidly straight, head held high.
"We all knew you were a freak, but how did you find these other freaky people and get them involved with our father? I can't believe you have the nerve to bring others...like you... to our house. You make me sick, in there insulting that filthy boy, bringing shame on our family. If this ever gets out... good heavens, what if Vernon finds out! Why don't you just go home with his family and NEVER come back here!"
All this was whispered venomously through her teeth while Petunia stared at Lily, her eyes bulging. As she finished, James, who had been too shocked to do or say anything, finally found his voice.
"Don't you talk to her that way," he growled, glaring fiercely at Petunia. She turned to stare angrily back at him. James knew he shouldn't be criticizing Petunia, after all, he was a guest in the Evans' house, but he just couldn't stand by and watch someone hurt Lily.
"Mind your own business, nut-case," Petunia spat as she walked out of the kitchen, carrying two custards.
"Lily," James said, reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder. He couldn't see her face, but he felt her shake slightly for a second, then stiffen.
"Just stay out of family business, Potter," she said quietly as she left the kitchen, avoiding eye contact.
After a few seconds, James turned and quietly returned to the dining room. Lily was already seated, but Petunia was standing stuffily near her father.
"May I please be excused? I have to go meet Vernon."
"Already, Petunia?" Harold questioned. Seeing Petunia's obvious anger, however, he continued reluctantly, "Alright, go ahead."
Petunia's pink dress was swishing around the corner before he had even finished speaking. James watched Lily sit with her hands in the lap of her green dress for a few seconds before she also asked to be excused.
"I'm feeling a little sick, Dad. Could I be excused for a few minutes, just to freshen up?" she asked. Harold Evans nodded, looking concerned. James watched Lily as she left the room, then quickly stood and followed her without a word to either of the men.
"Well, looks like we've been left quite alone," Henry Potter said, smiling.