Part Two: Late Afternoon

The alleyway turned and widened. Lily slowed down and halted her step, clutching her parcels tightly. Cobbled stones clattered softly underneath her shoes as she walked slowly.

A dingy old street sign told her this was Knockturn Alley; Lily gave an involuntary shudder at some of the gruesome shop fronts. She passed by a display of shrunken heads in one shop that just screamed "DARK ARTS!" The only people around seemed to watch her distrustfully, they were all shabby-looking, dressed in robes or cloaks that concealed their faces regardless of the summer heat.

Suddenly Lily was very aware of her faded blue jeans and T-shirt. The fierce stares she was receiving did not ease her nerves at all.

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James looked at his watch; his stomach growled loudly. "We've been here for hours, Dad. Can we get something to eat?"

His father gave him an amused look. "Well, let's give it another half hour." He glanced the pub again.

"Dad, everyone is wearing long black cloaks. Any one of them could be Death Eaters." James groaned, patting his empty stomach.

"After years of being an Auror, son, you'll know when you see a Death Eater. It's the way they talk, the way they move. You can smell it."

James could smell some of the food they were serving at the pub. His daydream of a large sandwich was interrupted by a poke.

"There. Right over there. Those two by the door."

James glanced over at the two men; one was taller, and they were carrying a whispered conversation.

"Here. Put this on." His father handed him a large black cloak with a hood. James looked at it with an expression of distaste. It looked like the type of thing Snape always wore. "Put it on!" his father urged, donning a similar cloak.

James frowned and pulled it over his head, while trying to keep the Invisibility Cloak in place. His father with the hood pulled over his head was barely recognizable. "Okay, son. Give me the Invisibility Cloak."

James handed it over as his father placed it inside his robes. None of the other patrons seemed to notice the pair in the corner suddenly appear.

Alexander Potter fingered a clumsily mended tear. "What have you been doing with my old cloak, anyways?"

James grinned underneath the hood, remembering a certain incident in Potions…

"Forget I asked." His father gripped his arm tightly. "Don't speak, and if you do, do it quietly. If anyone asks, you and I are Geoffrey Wilson and his son, Arnold."

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Lily decided she didn't like Knockturn Alley at all. She especially didn't like the accusing glares that were being thrown her way. Gotta get out of here, she thought. This place gives me the creeps.

An aged witch with an extremely grotesque wart on her face gave Lily a searching look. "Lost, dear?"

Lily was strongly reminded of the Muggle depiction of a witch; old, ugly, warty, and just plain disturbing. "Do you know how to get back to Diagon Alley?" she asked carefully.

The witch reached into her pocket and drew out an apple. "Hungry?"

Lily shook her head.

The witch bit into the apple, and the juices ran down her chin, while Lily tried her hardest to keep a disgusted look off her face. "Diagon Alley. Do you know the way?" she repeated.

The witch munched on her apple thoughtfully. "Keep going until you reach the Headless Centaur, then turn right, take a left turn at the crooked tree, turn right, and walk counter-clockwise three times at the rusted gate."

"Thanks," said Lily, and she sped off.

"No problem," the witch cackled, her voice breaking a bit. "No problem at all."

Lily was practically running down the street, eager to get back to Diagon Alley. She checked her watch—it was ten minutes to two o'clock. "You better wait for me, Pet," she muttered.

The alleyway seemed to lengthen, and none of the drab shops she passed looked like the Headless Centaur. Lily slowed down, catching her breath. How long was Knockturn alley, anyways? She narrowed her eyes, looking ahead. It didn't seem to end.

"Headless Centaur, turn right, left at the tree, right at the gate? Or was that left at the gate? Then clockwise three times at a crooked tree…damn." Lily blearily wished that she had written the instructions down.

She was tired, and hungry. Lily had planned to eat lunch at the Leaky Cauldron before Petunia picked her up, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. She glanced at her watch again. Four minutes past two.

How long would Petunia wait? Lily fervently hoped Pet would stay, but it wasn't likely.

Lily glanced at the shops around her. One of them seemed to be slightly larger than the rest. She gazed through the grimy window. It looked like a restaurant of some sort. Lily fingered the remaining coins in her pocket and decided to go in. Someone inside would have to know how to get to Diagon Alley.

A grubby painted headless centaur sign clanked against the door as it shut behind her.

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His father led him into the center of the crowded pub, blending in with the other robed witches and wizards. They sat at a table close by to the two men at the door; close enough to hear their subdued conversation.

James sat quietly, his stomach growling loudly. He gave his father an apologetic look that could barely be seen underneath the shadow of the hood.

A few minutes later, a plate of steaming food was brought under James' nose. He dug in hungrily as his father paid the waiter.

"So, Arnold," said his father, "How's school?"

James stopped chewing the mouthful of mystery meat. "Er, great, Dad." His father beckoned for him to go on while he was doing something to his wand. James couldn't tell what. "Yeah, me and my Slytherin friends are having a great time," he said loudly. "We finally got Sniv—Snape to wash his hair before term ended."

"Really," his father said interested. "So do you have a girlfriend yet?"

James swallowed. "Er. No."

"Anyone you have in mind?"

James poked the rest of the meat, suddenly forgetting about his hunger. "Yeah, there's this one girl in my year. She's amazing. She's pretty, smart, funny, and everyone likes her."

His father stopped fiddling with his wand. "Really? What does she think about you?"

James frowned. "She hates me. I've asked her out a couple million times, but she always says no. Or that she'd rather date the giant squid."

"I'm sure she doesn't hate you."

"I hate you! Don't you ever dare ask me out again, or I'll hex you!" James mimicked.

"She said that?"

"Something along those lines. I wouldn't fancy being on the wrong end of that hex, either. One time she fixed me and Si—Simon so we couldn't talk for a day." James twiddled the fork and sighed.

"Any clue to why she doesn't like you?"

James shrugged. "I'm a massive git, a prick, and I have an extremely large head. Hypothetically."

He could tell his father was grinning from underneath the large hood. "Perhaps you should…"

James gaped at the door.

Lily Evans had just walked in.

Author's notes: Thanks for the reviews! Raymond, jasmine1314, jade eyes, Nuklear Firefly, Fairy of Obsession, Shinning Crystal, snowflakey, Trinity Day, and Tadariada.

Fairy of Obsession: The title will make sense soon. I promise.

Shinning Crystal: YAY! I was called evil! Hehe. I'm not Voldemort though. He's ugly. XD

Snowflakey: Didn't make sense? Hmm…dunno. It seemed okay. I use the word 'squarely' quite a bit though.

Trinity: I tried to do it all in one piece, but I got mind blocked, so it's going to be in little segments.

Tad: Yup, agree with you on most of the aspects and am going to keep it in mind.

Anyways, I'm not sure how much longer this will be. A couple chapters. This is my take on how Lily's opinion of James changes before seventh year, so expect that…review, please! Purple button. Click. Yes.