Disclaimers in Chapter 1
A/N: THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!
~*~
"Mummy!" Lily said as her mother answered the door.
"Lily, dear!" her mother returned the hug. "I knew Petunia would invite you! But, she didn't tell us."
"Uhh, mum. Petunia didn't invite me. But, I thought I'd just, stop by for Christmas," Lily told her.
"Oh, of course, darling. Come on, come in. It's freezing outside," her mother ushered Lily and James, who she had just noticed, inside.
"Robert, look who it is!" Lily's mother called into the house. James observed the house full of pictures of Lily and another girl. An older girl. James decided she must be Petunia.
"Lily, pumpkin!" Robert Evans embraced his daughter in a big hug. Jame stayed quiet and his eyes wandered. The house was big; two stories, and James had never seen anything like it. It was a Muggle-house. But it was so fascinating.
"Mummy, Daddy, this is James Potter," Lily introduced. James snapped back to Lily's parents when he heard his name. Staking out his hand, James said, "It's nice to meet you,"
"You too, dear," Lily's mother breathed. "I'm Rose Evans. And this is my husband, Robert," she said introducing her husband, who stuck his hand out to shake James.
"So, are you our angel's boyfriend?" Robert cut to the chase.
"No, sir. I'm just a friend of your daughter's," James told him.
"Oh, ok then. Welcome to London," he said warmly. James glanced over at Lily, who smiled at him.
"Lily, why don't you give James the tour? James, you can stay in the guest room," Robert told him.
"Thank you, sir," James said as he followed Lily up the stairs. There were more pictures on the wall. If Lily hadn't told him the problems of the relationship between sister and sister, he wouldve guessed that the Evans were a very happy family.
"Hey, Lily, is this you?" James stopped at a picture of a little girl with piercing green eyes.
"Yes, that's me," Lily stopped to look at the picture.
"Hey, who did you inherit your green eyes from? You mom and dad both have brown eyes," James asked.
"I know. Petunia has brown eyes too," Lily said. James looked at Lily. Had he upset her?
"I don't know, James. They thought that it would change colors...lots of babies eyes colors change as they grow up. But mine didn't; they just figured that my eyes were special. And with me being a witch and all, I was special." Lily shrugged as she disappeared into a bedroom.
"So, this is your bedroom," James said as he marveled at the flowered wallpaper, ballet pictures, and purple bedspread.
"I was 11 when I last lived here, James. Don't get any ideas," Lily laughed. It felt good to James to hear her laugh.
"But what about your summer vacations?" James asked again.
"Well, summer vacations were summer vacations." Lily smiled again, which made James heart melt. "Hogwarts was my home...I didn't feel like I needed to decorate my room, which I wouldn't even me living in,"
"Good reason," James said nodding with approval. The bedroom had seemed childish; butterflies and little pink hearts hung from the tall ceiling. But it represented Lily as a 11 year old girl. And for that, James found himself liking the room very much.
"I haven't even shown you your bedroom yet," Lily said amused. James looked at her and saw a grin coming on. "It's not that bad, is it?" James asked.
"It's well, it's plain," Lily said. She walked out of her bedroom and motioned for James to do the same. James followed her to a bedroom down the hall. Stepping inside, James saw that it was blue. Very blue. The paint on the walls was blue, the bedspread was blue, the carpet was blue.
"My dad likes blue," Lily said catching the expression of "blue" on James's face. James walked over to the bathroom. The vanity table was blue, the toilet was blue, hell, even the faucets were blue!
"No, Lily, your dad is obsessed with blue," James said, looking up at the ceiling, which of course, was blue.
Lily laughed and smiled at James. "Well, nothing I can do about it,"
"Lily! Dinner!" Rose called from downstairs.
"Come on, we'd better get downstairs. I hope you don't expect too much. My mom's not that great of a cook...and this is Muggle food," Lily said.
"That's fine. You know, I've had muggle food before," James told her reaching the bottom of the stairs.
"Sure, James. Sure," Lily said with a look of disbelief.
Lily and James reached the dining room and Lily took her seat. James looked around at the 6 seats set and wondered where he should it.
"You can sit next to me, James," Lily said, pulling out the chair and patting the cushion. James smiled at her and took his seat.
"You know, I should ask my mum whether she needs help or not," Lily said excusing herself, leaving James by himself.
~*~
James sat and stared at the picture of the Evans family in the dining room. James guessed it had been taken not too long ago; perhaps when Lily was 16. Petunia looked like a rag compared to Lily, whose red hair had been up in a braid and her green eyes sparkling. James knew he was in too deep; if this wasn't love, he didn't know what was. But what about Lily? Was she in love with him? She hadn't made any direct movement or anything...except that night they held hands.
"They told me you were here, but I didn't believe them," a voice said loudly in the kitchen where Lily had disappeared off to.
"Well, they were right," a voice that sounded like Lily's said in response. "Congratulations for the big day," Lily said.
"You're a witch?" A new voice asked coldly.
"Yes, I am. I'm sure Petunia hasn't told you,"
"Oh, she's told me all right. You're so selfish; you become a witch, and cause a burden for your loving sister, your parents..." the male voice told her.
"I'm selfish? And I'll have you know that my parents were very pleased when I got my acceptance letter," Lily said getting angry.
"What's going on here? Petunia, did you say hi to your sister? Have you introduced Vernon?"
"Oh, we've met Dad," Lily said sounding hurt.
James wondered if he should go in. But he stayed put.
"Dinner, is ready," James heard a voice he recognized as Rose's announce.
Lily walked in, her face flushed with anger, followed by another woman, whom James presumed as Lily's sister Petunia. A beefy man walked in next. James decided that he must be Vernon, Petunia's fiancee. Finally, Robert walked in, followed by his wife who brought in bread and salad.
"Petunia, this is James Potter. He's Lily's friend from school," Rose introduced as she sat down.
"He's a friend," Robert said happily, and Lily rolled her eyes.
"Your a wizard?" Petunia asked rudely.
"Petunia! Honestly, I did not raise you like that!" Rose cried.
"How can you be my mother? Don't you see the ways wizards and witches and people of the magic world are ruining us?!" Petunia cried. "They're trying to take over the world! They think they're so special..."
"Shut up!" Lily shouted.
"Why don't you? Why don't you do one of your magic tricks? WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? BECAUSE YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT!" Petunia yelled. It seemed like she had wanted to say this for a long time.
"PETUNIA! BE QUIET THIS INSTANT!" Robert roared. The dinner table shook and was followed by a long silence.
"It's my wedding daddy. I don't want her here! I don't want..."
"She's not here for your wedding! She's here because it's her home! And we're her parents! And even though you don't want to believe it, she's still your sister!" Rose cried.
Another period of silence. Finally, Lily stood up and ran outside into the backyard.
Robert and Rose watched her go, but neither left their seats.
"I'll go get her," James told them.
"Remember...friend," Robert reminded him. James nodded and walked outside to the backyard.
~*~
As James stepped outside, he saw grass. Green grass. Very green grass. And, something blue. It was big...it was, water. A ton of water. But what was it's purpose?
Finally, tearing his eyes away from the big blue thing, James caught a sight of Lily's red hair under the gazebo.
"Hey," James said as he stepped onto the steps of the gazebo.
Lily's eyes met his. "Oh James. I'm so sorry, it's just...my sister is a bit, hesitant, when it comes to magic. I hope she didn't offend you,"
"Oh, no. It's fine. I wasn't offended. I hope you weren't,"
"I'm always offended at anything Petunia says. She was never like this you know. I remember, when I was 5, and she was 9. My ice cream had fallen. I was bawling like a baby. And Petunia gave me hers. Then, when I went off to Hogwarts, everything changed. She became...different."
James took a seat next to her on the striped cushions and put his arm around her.
"It's typical for muggles not to accept us," James whispered.
"She's not just a muggle. She's my sister," Lily insisted.
"Sister or not, she surely doesn't treat you like a sister," James told her.
Lily looked at James. Their faces were so close that it wouldn't be right if they didn't kiss. Lily broke away from him violently and started pacing around the gazeo.
"James, this can't work," Lily said.
"What can't work? What are you talking about?"
"James...we can only be friends. I mean, I only want to be friends," Lily told him looking into his eyes.
James finally understood what she meant, although he had suspected it for a long time.
"What is it? Am I not cute enough? Smart enough?" James asked.
"No, no." Lily immediately fell by his side on the cushions. "It's none of that. You're perfect, it's just...I want to wait," Lily told him.
"But maybe I don't want to wait. Lily, I've been in love with you since, since the 6th year. And I thought we had something good going...but, I guess we don't,"
"James...it's so complicated," Lily said sounding lost.
"Well, try explaining it to me," James requested.
"I don't want to, all right? Let's just leave it at that...think of it this way, we'll be the best of friends. Isn't that a step up from the worst of enemies?" Lily tried to sound cheerful.
"Yea, right," James said trying to sound a bit more happy. But he couldn't bring himself to do that. Lily looked at him sadly.
"Come on," she tugged on his shirt, "Let's have some dinner,"
~*~
"I remember when your father got back, he was crushed. All the laughter and happiness had disappeared from his face. He insisted he was fine, but we knew he wasn't" Lupin told Harry, as they stopped again.
When Harry didn't say anything, Lupin continued. "He never did tell us that he was so deeply in love with your mother until, until they finally started dating. Which was, near Valentine's Day,"
~*~
For the next couple of weeks, James avoided Lily. Except during their meetings with the prefects and their classes, James and Lily were never seen together. James poked his head in the library, trying to see if Lily was in there. She wasn't, and James breathed a sigh of relief and headed in.
As James found a table to himself, he opened his Transfiguration book and started to complete his homework.
"Hi," Lily plopped herself down in the seat next to James at the same table.
"Hi, Evans," James said trying to sound casual.
"Oh, are we on last name basis again?" Lily mocked. Then she smiled.
"Are you working on transfiguration?" Lily asked peeping over at his paper.
"Yea, but I just finished. Bye Evans," James said as he shoved his parchment and quills into his bag and tried to leave the library as quickly as possible.
"What's wrong, Potter? We never talk anymore...I have the feeling your trying to avoid me," Lily frowned.
James took a deep breath. "I'm not trying to avoid you, Lily. I'm simply trying to get over you...and you're making it extremely hard." James said before leaving the library.
~*~
A/N: The "blue thing" James had seen was a pool. ~tv-fan-06
A/N: THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!
~*~
"Mummy!" Lily said as her mother answered the door.
"Lily, dear!" her mother returned the hug. "I knew Petunia would invite you! But, she didn't tell us."
"Uhh, mum. Petunia didn't invite me. But, I thought I'd just, stop by for Christmas," Lily told her.
"Oh, of course, darling. Come on, come in. It's freezing outside," her mother ushered Lily and James, who she had just noticed, inside.
"Robert, look who it is!" Lily's mother called into the house. James observed the house full of pictures of Lily and another girl. An older girl. James decided she must be Petunia.
"Lily, pumpkin!" Robert Evans embraced his daughter in a big hug. Jame stayed quiet and his eyes wandered. The house was big; two stories, and James had never seen anything like it. It was a Muggle-house. But it was so fascinating.
"Mummy, Daddy, this is James Potter," Lily introduced. James snapped back to Lily's parents when he heard his name. Staking out his hand, James said, "It's nice to meet you,"
"You too, dear," Lily's mother breathed. "I'm Rose Evans. And this is my husband, Robert," she said introducing her husband, who stuck his hand out to shake James.
"So, are you our angel's boyfriend?" Robert cut to the chase.
"No, sir. I'm just a friend of your daughter's," James told him.
"Oh, ok then. Welcome to London," he said warmly. James glanced over at Lily, who smiled at him.
"Lily, why don't you give James the tour? James, you can stay in the guest room," Robert told him.
"Thank you, sir," James said as he followed Lily up the stairs. There were more pictures on the wall. If Lily hadn't told him the problems of the relationship between sister and sister, he wouldve guessed that the Evans were a very happy family.
"Hey, Lily, is this you?" James stopped at a picture of a little girl with piercing green eyes.
"Yes, that's me," Lily stopped to look at the picture.
"Hey, who did you inherit your green eyes from? You mom and dad both have brown eyes," James asked.
"I know. Petunia has brown eyes too," Lily said. James looked at Lily. Had he upset her?
"I don't know, James. They thought that it would change colors...lots of babies eyes colors change as they grow up. But mine didn't; they just figured that my eyes were special. And with me being a witch and all, I was special." Lily shrugged as she disappeared into a bedroom.
"So, this is your bedroom," James said as he marveled at the flowered wallpaper, ballet pictures, and purple bedspread.
"I was 11 when I last lived here, James. Don't get any ideas," Lily laughed. It felt good to James to hear her laugh.
"But what about your summer vacations?" James asked again.
"Well, summer vacations were summer vacations." Lily smiled again, which made James heart melt. "Hogwarts was my home...I didn't feel like I needed to decorate my room, which I wouldn't even me living in,"
"Good reason," James said nodding with approval. The bedroom had seemed childish; butterflies and little pink hearts hung from the tall ceiling. But it represented Lily as a 11 year old girl. And for that, James found himself liking the room very much.
"I haven't even shown you your bedroom yet," Lily said amused. James looked at her and saw a grin coming on. "It's not that bad, is it?" James asked.
"It's well, it's plain," Lily said. She walked out of her bedroom and motioned for James to do the same. James followed her to a bedroom down the hall. Stepping inside, James saw that it was blue. Very blue. The paint on the walls was blue, the bedspread was blue, the carpet was blue.
"My dad likes blue," Lily said catching the expression of "blue" on James's face. James walked over to the bathroom. The vanity table was blue, the toilet was blue, hell, even the faucets were blue!
"No, Lily, your dad is obsessed with blue," James said, looking up at the ceiling, which of course, was blue.
Lily laughed and smiled at James. "Well, nothing I can do about it,"
"Lily! Dinner!" Rose called from downstairs.
"Come on, we'd better get downstairs. I hope you don't expect too much. My mom's not that great of a cook...and this is Muggle food," Lily said.
"That's fine. You know, I've had muggle food before," James told her reaching the bottom of the stairs.
"Sure, James. Sure," Lily said with a look of disbelief.
Lily and James reached the dining room and Lily took her seat. James looked around at the 6 seats set and wondered where he should it.
"You can sit next to me, James," Lily said, pulling out the chair and patting the cushion. James smiled at her and took his seat.
"You know, I should ask my mum whether she needs help or not," Lily said excusing herself, leaving James by himself.
~*~
James sat and stared at the picture of the Evans family in the dining room. James guessed it had been taken not too long ago; perhaps when Lily was 16. Petunia looked like a rag compared to Lily, whose red hair had been up in a braid and her green eyes sparkling. James knew he was in too deep; if this wasn't love, he didn't know what was. But what about Lily? Was she in love with him? She hadn't made any direct movement or anything...except that night they held hands.
"They told me you were here, but I didn't believe them," a voice said loudly in the kitchen where Lily had disappeared off to.
"Well, they were right," a voice that sounded like Lily's said in response. "Congratulations for the big day," Lily said.
"You're a witch?" A new voice asked coldly.
"Yes, I am. I'm sure Petunia hasn't told you,"
"Oh, she's told me all right. You're so selfish; you become a witch, and cause a burden for your loving sister, your parents..." the male voice told her.
"I'm selfish? And I'll have you know that my parents were very pleased when I got my acceptance letter," Lily said getting angry.
"What's going on here? Petunia, did you say hi to your sister? Have you introduced Vernon?"
"Oh, we've met Dad," Lily said sounding hurt.
James wondered if he should go in. But he stayed put.
"Dinner, is ready," James heard a voice he recognized as Rose's announce.
Lily walked in, her face flushed with anger, followed by another woman, whom James presumed as Lily's sister Petunia. A beefy man walked in next. James decided that he must be Vernon, Petunia's fiancee. Finally, Robert walked in, followed by his wife who brought in bread and salad.
"Petunia, this is James Potter. He's Lily's friend from school," Rose introduced as she sat down.
"He's a friend," Robert said happily, and Lily rolled her eyes.
"Your a wizard?" Petunia asked rudely.
"Petunia! Honestly, I did not raise you like that!" Rose cried.
"How can you be my mother? Don't you see the ways wizards and witches and people of the magic world are ruining us?!" Petunia cried. "They're trying to take over the world! They think they're so special..."
"Shut up!" Lily shouted.
"Why don't you? Why don't you do one of your magic tricks? WHY DON'T YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? BECAUSE YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT!" Petunia yelled. It seemed like she had wanted to say this for a long time.
"PETUNIA! BE QUIET THIS INSTANT!" Robert roared. The dinner table shook and was followed by a long silence.
"It's my wedding daddy. I don't want her here! I don't want..."
"She's not here for your wedding! She's here because it's her home! And we're her parents! And even though you don't want to believe it, she's still your sister!" Rose cried.
Another period of silence. Finally, Lily stood up and ran outside into the backyard.
Robert and Rose watched her go, but neither left their seats.
"I'll go get her," James told them.
"Remember...friend," Robert reminded him. James nodded and walked outside to the backyard.
~*~
As James stepped outside, he saw grass. Green grass. Very green grass. And, something blue. It was big...it was, water. A ton of water. But what was it's purpose?
Finally, tearing his eyes away from the big blue thing, James caught a sight of Lily's red hair under the gazebo.
"Hey," James said as he stepped onto the steps of the gazebo.
Lily's eyes met his. "Oh James. I'm so sorry, it's just...my sister is a bit, hesitant, when it comes to magic. I hope she didn't offend you,"
"Oh, no. It's fine. I wasn't offended. I hope you weren't,"
"I'm always offended at anything Petunia says. She was never like this you know. I remember, when I was 5, and she was 9. My ice cream had fallen. I was bawling like a baby. And Petunia gave me hers. Then, when I went off to Hogwarts, everything changed. She became...different."
James took a seat next to her on the striped cushions and put his arm around her.
"It's typical for muggles not to accept us," James whispered.
"She's not just a muggle. She's my sister," Lily insisted.
"Sister or not, she surely doesn't treat you like a sister," James told her.
Lily looked at James. Their faces were so close that it wouldn't be right if they didn't kiss. Lily broke away from him violently and started pacing around the gazeo.
"James, this can't work," Lily said.
"What can't work? What are you talking about?"
"James...we can only be friends. I mean, I only want to be friends," Lily told him looking into his eyes.
James finally understood what she meant, although he had suspected it for a long time.
"What is it? Am I not cute enough? Smart enough?" James asked.
"No, no." Lily immediately fell by his side on the cushions. "It's none of that. You're perfect, it's just...I want to wait," Lily told him.
"But maybe I don't want to wait. Lily, I've been in love with you since, since the 6th year. And I thought we had something good going...but, I guess we don't,"
"James...it's so complicated," Lily said sounding lost.
"Well, try explaining it to me," James requested.
"I don't want to, all right? Let's just leave it at that...think of it this way, we'll be the best of friends. Isn't that a step up from the worst of enemies?" Lily tried to sound cheerful.
"Yea, right," James said trying to sound a bit more happy. But he couldn't bring himself to do that. Lily looked at him sadly.
"Come on," she tugged on his shirt, "Let's have some dinner,"
~*~
"I remember when your father got back, he was crushed. All the laughter and happiness had disappeared from his face. He insisted he was fine, but we knew he wasn't" Lupin told Harry, as they stopped again.
When Harry didn't say anything, Lupin continued. "He never did tell us that he was so deeply in love with your mother until, until they finally started dating. Which was, near Valentine's Day,"
~*~
For the next couple of weeks, James avoided Lily. Except during their meetings with the prefects and their classes, James and Lily were never seen together. James poked his head in the library, trying to see if Lily was in there. She wasn't, and James breathed a sigh of relief and headed in.
As James found a table to himself, he opened his Transfiguration book and started to complete his homework.
"Hi," Lily plopped herself down in the seat next to James at the same table.
"Hi, Evans," James said trying to sound casual.
"Oh, are we on last name basis again?" Lily mocked. Then she smiled.
"Are you working on transfiguration?" Lily asked peeping over at his paper.
"Yea, but I just finished. Bye Evans," James said as he shoved his parchment and quills into his bag and tried to leave the library as quickly as possible.
"What's wrong, Potter? We never talk anymore...I have the feeling your trying to avoid me," Lily frowned.
James took a deep breath. "I'm not trying to avoid you, Lily. I'm simply trying to get over you...and you're making it extremely hard." James said before leaving the library.
~*~
A/N: The "blue thing" James had seen was a pool. ~tv-fan-06