Catch Me If You Can
Chapter Twelve ll Being Nice To Demons
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"...and there are heaps of ghosts. You know what? I think I've been cured of me being afraid of the dark. 'Cos I was only scared of it because I thought ghosts would come out and try to hurt me. But over at Hogwarts, the ghosts are really nice. Well, Peeves can be a bit dangerous, but he's a poltergeist. Gryffindor's ghost is Nearly Headless Nick, and he's almost decapitated, but the axe that tried to chop his head off wasn't sharp enough. I reckon it'd be cool to have your head hang on with just a strip of skin, but Nick acts like he'd rather be completely headless instead of ninety-nine percent headless."
Rose and William exchanged odd glances over the daily newspaper. Lily didn't notice; she was busy eating her waffles that her mother had specially prepared for her. She had just been giving a full account of the wonders of Hogwarts to her parents.
Petunia wasn't at the breakfast table; she still had yet to return, having spent a slumber party at Rinatta's house the night before. Lily missed her, but Rose had informed her that she would be back late morning, in time for their grocery shopping adventure.
"That sounds very interesting," William commented slowly, rustling his newspaper. He hid a smile as Rose set a bowl of strawberries and cantaloupe on the table.
"It's almost nine-thirty, shouldn't you be getting ready for work?" Rose asked her husband, as she finally sat down for her morning meal.
"Yeah, I should," William said comfortably, getting up. He gave Rose a quick peck on the lips, ruffled Lily's head and walked out of the kitchen, still carrying his cup of coffee.
"Soo..." Rose smiled at her daughter as she popped a small piece of rockmelon into her mouth, "How's James?"
Lily almost choked at this random conversation, "Err... he's well. Why?"
"No real reason... I just wanted to see how he was," Rose hid a smile.
"Mum, you're really pushing it..."
"I know dear..."
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It was almost eleven o'clock when Petunia finally came home. She and Lily screamed when they saw each other, and hugged tightly for several minutes.
"I can't believe you're back!" Petunia squealed, dumping her overnight bag in her bedroom, "So, how was it?"
"It was great," Lily flashed a happy grin, "Everything was so cool."
"Well, if I had known you were coming back today, I wouldn't have spent the night with Rinatta. But I had no idea, so I took up on the offer. You know Troy?" Petunia's voice had gone hushed.
"Yeah?" Lily leant in; Troy was one of the 'yummy' guys.
"He fancies Rinatta!"
"Oh my gosh!" Lily squealed, giggling.
An hour later, Rose took the two girls to the mall, where they went to do their grocery shopping.
Lily felt great, she hadn't been grocery shopping with her mother and her older sister in ages. She could remember going every week when she was little, but recently, things had changed.
She pushed the trolley down the freezer section, while Rose dawdled behind, checking the prices marked on the boxes of frozen pizza. Petunia was standing beside Lily, talking nineteen to a dozen.
The redhead couldn't help but notice that she had turned into a bit of a Gossip Queen.
In fact, she tuned out a bit as Petunia blabbed on about a boy at her school that was really annoying. Lily thought about her own friends at her own school, and realised she missed them already.
"Lily -- watch out!"
"AHHHH!" she swerved the trolley away from another trolley, but it was too late. She lost control and her trolley collided with the other one. Lily had been trying to steer it away, and she bashed into the pole of it painfully. The result was that she was squished between the heavy metal trolley and the freezer.
She moaned and slid onto the floor, rubbing her ribs. She was sure she had broken a few.
Petunia kneeled down instantly, "Are you alright?"
Lily moaned again, "Urghh... I don't think so."
Petunia smiled shyly, "You better apologise to the gentlemen you smashed into, he's quite a feast to look at."
"Pet!" she swiped at her older sister, and groggily got up. Her eyes fell on an incredibly cute boy about her age. She recognised him instantly, but didn't think it was possible...
"Potter?!"
"Red Fire," James acknowledged with a nod. He grinned at her.
She groaned, "This is a horrible day..."
Petunia stepped in, looking confused, "You two know each other?"
"No," Lily said at once, grabbing hold of her trolley and turning away.
"Yes," James answered.
She spun around, glaring at him, "No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No--"
"Knock it off!" Petunia finally said, "Alright, whoever you are Mister, I'm Petunia. Lily's older sister. I don't know why she doesn't seem to acknowledge your presence very well, but she'll have her own reasons. So clear off."
James didn't seem the least bit offended. He smiled.
"I can see why you're sisters. Feisty."
"Potter, SOD OFF!"
"No, it's my supermarket too."
Poor Lily was confused, "What?"
Rose returned before James could reply.
"James, dear! Fancy seeing you here!" she exclaimed heartily, smiling warmly at the boy. She dropped a bag of frozen peas into Lily's trolley, "Is your mother around?"
"Hi Mrs Evans," James said charmingly, and Lily snorted, "She's just--"
Cheryl Potter emerged with two cans in her hands.
"James, do you prefer canned peaches in syrup or canned peaches in jui--? Why, hello!" she blinked and looked at Lily, then Petunia, then at Rose.
"Hi, Mrs Potter," Lily said sweetly, shooting a defiant look at James.
"Hello," Petunia said cautiously, but politely.
"Hello, hello," Cheryl said, smiling at them, "Lily and, I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your name, dear?"
"Petunia."
"Hello Petunia."
James looked bored.
"Juice, mum."
Cheryl didn't notice her son's request, and turned to Rose, "Good morning Rose!"
"Hello Cheryl, picking up your groceries?" Rose said with a motherly smile.
"Of course! We're going to move around here. A new house, a new location. Better get acquainted with the folks!" Cheryl laughed merrily.
"Juice, mum."
"What was that, dear?"
"I prefer canned peaches in juice," James said slowly and clearly.
"Oh--" Cheryl tossed both cans into the trolley absently.
The two mothers began to shop together, which left the three teenagers to get acquainted with each other. Petunia soon took a liking to James, and vice versa. Lily could not believe nor understand her older sister.
When Petunia had moved forward to help Rose with getting a can of spaghetti on a high shelf, Lily murmured to James, "I'm throwing you in jail. You've got both my mother and sister brainwashed. Can't they see you're a demon?!"
James chuckled, "I'm not a demon. You just fail to see all the goodness in me."
"As if!"
"My dear Red Fire, I'm just a demon to you."
"You're so mean."
"I know I am..."
Five minutes later, they were back on the topic of Lily's sister. To her agony, Petunia seemed to have left the two alone. And she seemed to be aware of the torture she was putting her younger sister through. Not only that, she seemed to enjoy it.
"Why can't you be like your sister? She's so nice," James said evilly.
Lily feigned shock, as they went to the check-up counters, "I'm not nice?"
"Not as nice as Petunia."
"Listen Mister, I am nice, just not to DEMONS like YOU!'
James chuckled, "And guess what? I'm just a demon to you."
"So what are you saying? I'm 'not nice' to you because you're a demon. But you're only a demon to me. Why?"
"Because you aren't nice to me," he began to laugh.
"So basically, if I was nice to you, you wouldn't be a demon to me?" Lily said, trying not to smile.
"Pretty much," James said comfortably.
"But I'm not being nice to you, because you're being a demon to me."
"It's like the water cycle."
"Exactly. A cycle that'll never break. You mark my words, Potter."
"Pleasure's all mine, Red Fire."
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---->A/N: Red fire! Yellow fire! ORANGE FIRE! Blue fire! Rainbow fire! --MSQ.