Chapter Thirteen:
A/N: Sorry we haven't updated in so long! First it was summer vacation, then the beginning of school. . . but I hope u like the chapter, and please R&R! -Bananas
Early next morning, James and Lily, being the Head students, stood at the front of the school with Professor Dumbledore, waiting to greet the arriving families. A mass of students scrambled towards the many Knight Buses to welcome their families and help with the luggage. Melissa Janson, whose parents were Muggles, hurried forward to help her rather pale mother, who was rather shaken by the less than pleasant ride on the Knight Bus. The grounds were soon filled with hugging and kissing, and excited voices.
"Hello, I'm James Potter. Welcome to Hogwarts!" James greeted a pair of beaming parents.
"Oh look, Warren! It's James Potter! Oh, you KNOW, Marian's James!" Mrs. Keltley exclaimed, nudging her clueless husband. James looked at her in half determined politeness and half confusion.
"Oh, it's my daughter, Marian. She talks about you ALL the time! She has quite the crush on you, you know!" Mrs. Keltley winked.
"MUM!" Marian hissed in embarrassment, looking as if she could die right then and there. James smiled uncomfortably and glanced at Lily, who was raising her eyebrows at him and smirking. James shrugged innocently, before turning to greet another pair of parents.
Lily scanned the crowd eagerly, her eyes finally settling upon her mother shakily walking off the Knight Bus. Mrs. Evans was clutching her husband's arm, her eyes wide and face white. Lily smiled and ran towards them.
"Mummy!" she cried, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck. Mrs. Evans hugged her tightly, feeling slightly better after seeing her daughter.
"Oh, Lily! How are you, dear? We've missed you so much!" Mrs. Evans sobbed, stroking Lily's flaming red hair. Mr. Evans looked around in embarrassment, very aware that his wife was definitely one of the most emotional mothers there.
"Daddy!" Lily hugged her father, as soon as her mother had finally released her. Mr. Evans smiled and kissed her forehead. Lily looked at her sister, who was searching around frantically, in surprise.
"Petunia! I didn't think you would come," Lily admitted. Petunia looked at Lily with a blank face.
"What?" she asked dazedly, continuing to look around again. She barely heard her sister's words as she scanned the grounds, looking for a sign of that jet-black hair.
"Petunia? Petunia. . ."
Suddenly everything around her seemed to go mute, and Petunia's heart started skipping beats. There he was. . . standing next to some ancient looking man, and talking to some boy. His dark hair was wild and untamed, and his smile reached all the way to his shining eyes.
"James Potter," Petunia murmured dreamily under her breath. She was filled with a sudden warmth, and was sure her heart was about to melt.
At that moment, her sister happened to be staring at the exact same thing. Lily watched James chatting animatedly with Kailyn's older brother, who played Quidditch for Puddlemere United. She decided it was best not to say anything about James to her parents yet. After all, there was no hurry. If she told them now, her mother would insist on meeting James, and then her father would drill him with a thousand questions and "if you ever hurt my daughter. . ." speeches. Besides, James was busy greeting the parents, and would probably be meeting his own family soon.
"Well, shall we go inside, then?" Lily said, taking her mother's bag. Mr. and Mrs. Evans followed her towards the castle. Petunia took one last glance back at James, mesmerized by his every move, before stepping through the big wooden doors.
In the meantime, James was listening eagerly to Kailyn's brother explain the tactics of a new type of dive.
"Come on Grant, Mum and Dad have already gone inside!" Kailyn said exasperatedly, tugging on her brother's sleeve.
"So by rolling over, you'll be increasing your speed AND your stability at the same time!" Grant rambled on, ignoring his little sister. Sirius smiled at Kailyn sympathetically, and motioned for her to come closer to him. They spoke in soft voices, laughing quietly every few seconds. Grant abruptly stopped talking, his eyes narrowing as his sister giggled and pressed her hand against Sirius' chest.
"I'll see you later, James," Grant said solemnly. He grabbed Kailyn's arm and dragged her towards the castle. James laughed and clapped his best friend on the shoulder.
"I guess Grant still remembers your dating goals," James joked, before turning to greet another family.
"IT'S THE MARAUDER-ENTS!" Sirius suddenly shouted, pointing to a group of parents getting off one of the Knight Buses. James immediately turned and ran towards them, closely followed by Sirius, Remus, and Peter.
"Mum!" James exclaimed, going forward to give his mother a hug.
"James!" Mrs. Potter cried, engulfing James into a hug, and smothering him with kisses.
"Mum, get a hold of yourself!" James muttered, turning red in embarrassment.
"Mum!" Sirius grinned, approaching Mrs. Potter. Mrs. Potter let go of James and beamed at Sirius.
"Sirius! How are you, dear?" she exclaimed, wrenching him into a hug as well.
"Hello, son!" Mr. Potter said warmly, ruffling his son's hair proudly. He gave James a brief hug, and then turned to Sirius.
"All right, Sirius?" he asked kindly.
"Couldn't be better, Mr. Potter!" Sirius grinned.
"Now! Where is this girl that has stolen my son's heart?" Mrs. Potter demanded. James peered through the crowds towards where Lily had been standing. She was no where in sight.
"She must have gone inside already," he said, feeling a little grateful. He knew his mother would go positively mad with delight upon meeting Lily, and would start kissing and embarrassing everyone.
"Angela! SO glad you could make it, my dear!" Sirius exclaimed, kissing Remus' sister's hand. Remus shook his head, but laughed along anyway.
"Where's Elizabeth?" James asked his father, suddenly realizing that his sister was missing.
"She, er, couldn't make it," Mr. Potter said dismissively, his eyes glaring. James frowned but did not say anything, not wanting to darken his father's mood so early in the visit.
"Come on, then! We don't want to miss dinner!" Sirius sang jovially, heading towards the castle, with Angela's arm looped through his.
***
The Great Hall was filled with even more excited chattering than usual, and the room was lit up everywhere with bright candles. The ceiling showed a clear night sky, with twinkling stars. Extra tables had been put in to make room for all the visitors. The Muggle families stared around the room and at the ceiling in shock and amazement.
"What a beautiful school!" Mrs. Evans praised, fascinated by everything she saw. Mr. Evans stared at the floating candles in bewilderment, as if contemplating the magic behind it all. Petunia had her arm propped on the table, her face cupped in her hand. She gazed at the other end of the long table where James was, wishing he had gotten here earlier. By the time he and his family had arrived, nearly all the seats at the table had been taken.
"Mum, you remember Kailyn and Annabelle from summer holidays," Lily said, as she introduced her mother to the people sitting around her.
"Of course!" Mrs. Evans beamed, "And hello, Bridget dear!" Bridget, whose parents were Muggles, lived very close to where the Evans lived.
Just then, Professor Dumbledore rose and clinked his spoon against his goblet. The chattering ceased, and everyone turned to look at him.
"It is my great honor to welcome all the families who have come to visit Hogwarts! It is a privilege to be around these fine students, and all the parents should be very proud indeed." Professor Dumbledore beamed at all the parents, "To ensure a comfortable and pleasant visit, we have arranged the visitor wing for all families to stay in. Tomorrow morning will start off with a very entertaining Quidditch match between Ravenclaw, led by captain Edward Chang, and Gryffindor, led by captain James Potter."
The room exploded with applause, especially in the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor sections. Petunia looked at James with pride. Her James was the captain! Professor Dumbledore clinked his spoon against his goblet, and the room was quiet again.
"And now dinner will be served. I know the Knight Bus is a shaky ride, so I encourage everyone to tuck in!"
Many gasps echoed around the room as an endless amount of platters suddenly appeared on the table. Wizard and witch parents laughed reminiscently and helped themselves to generous servings. Several students from the Slytherin table snickered at the shocked Muggle parents gaping at the food.
"Daddy, you're acting like you've never seen food before!" Lily exclaimed in alarm, watching her father gobble food into his mouth as if it would all disappear too soon.
"Well, your boyfriend's acting the same exact way! And HE'S been going to school here for seven years!" Annabelle laughed. Lily choked on her roll of bread, while her father's hand froze midway to the turkey platter. Annabelle clapped her hand over her mouth, suddenly realizing what she had just said.
"What boyfriend?" Mrs. Evans asked in surprise, turning to look at Lily. Mr. Evans merely stared at his daughter. Petunia sighed and went back to staring at James. She couldn't care less about who her sister was dating.
"I was going to tell you, Mum," Lily said, her face nearly as red as her hair.
"So it's true? Oh sweetheart, how wonderful! It's been a while since the last one, hasn't it?" Mrs. Evans cried, giving an extremely embarrassed Lily a hug. Mr. Evans continued to stare. He did not like the idea of his baby girl dating at all.
"Well, where is the bugger?" he demanded rudely.
"Charles!" Mrs. Evans scolded.
"Daddy!" Lily shrieked at the same time.
***
"So Sirius, show me this girl now!" Mrs. Potter whispered to Sirius, who was helping himself to his fifth serving of pudding. Sirius abandoned the pudding and grinned.
"WELL," he said loudly, "she's right over there at the other end of the table! See the girl with the red hair? That's Lily Evans!"
James stopped in the middle of his sentence, and glared at Sirius.
"Who are we talking about?" Mrs. Lupin asked interestedly.
"Oh, she's simply LOVELY!" Mrs. Potter cried.
"Who?" Mr. Potter demanded.
"The love of James' life!" Sirius grinned, completely ignoring James' deadly glares. All of the Marauder's parents leaned forward to see Lily.
"Oh, what a doll!"
"She's delightful!"
"Well of course my son has good taste!" Mr. Potter beamed.
"James, she's positively gorgeous!"
"What's the angel's name again?"
"AND," Sirius interrupted, "this one's special!"
James slumped down in his seat, his face red with embarrassment.
"Oh James! How sweet!"
"I still remember how James used to have all those little crushes!"
"Ah yes, nearly five at a time!"
"These boys are growing up so fast, aren't they?"
"Oh bless him, the poor boy is blushing!"
"Settling down, eh Jamesie?"
"Pretty soon even Sirius is going to stop chasing all these girls and stick to one!" Mrs. Potter exclaimed.
"Now that," Sirius laughed, "is the funniest thing I've heard all day!"
A/N: We'll try to post the next chapter soon! J