Chapter Fourteen:

A/N: Sorry this took a while! School keeps me busy. . .lol R&R please!

After everyone had finally had enough, or in some cases more than enough, to eat, the families began to crowd out of the Great Hall, forming a massive mob in the corridor.  Lily led her parents to the Head common room, where she and James had already decided to meet after dinner.  Petunia, who couldn't be bothered to meet the dumb bloke her sister was seeing, went straight upstairs to the visitor wing.  Lily paced up and down the common room nervously, glancing at the clock every two seconds.

            "He's late." Mr. Evans pointed out bitterly. 

            "Oh stop it!  You always have a problem with whomever Lily's seeing!" Mrs. Evans said sternly. 

            "Well the bugger IS late!" Mr. Evans said stubbornly.  Lily was just starting to wish that there had been no family visiting week, when the portrait hole suddenly swung open, and James stepped inside.  Lily sighed in relief, and walked towards him.

            "Sorry I'm late, Lils.  My parents will be here soon.  They just ran into some of their old school friends on the way here." James said with an apologetic smile.

            "It's okay." Lily could feel her parents' eyes boring into the back of her head.  She turned to face them.  "Um," she began nervously, "this. . .this is James.  James Potter."  Mrs. Evans knitted her eyebrows together in confusion.

            "James Potter?  Wait a minute. . .oh, he's the one from the train station!  The stupidest, thickest git in school, I believe?" she said.  James looked at Lily in amusement.

            "Yes, that's me," he laughed.

            "Except he's changed," Lily smiled.  James extended his hand politely.  Mr. Evans merely looked at it, while Mrs. Evans shrieked and kissed his cheeks.

            "It's so nice to meet you, James!  Oh, you're such a handsome boy!  Isn't he just, DARLING, Charles?" Mrs. Evans cried, looking as if she might kiss James again.  James smiled in embarrassment, and turned to face Lily's father.

            "Hello, Mr. Evans," he said politely.

            "Mr. Potter," Mr. Evans nodded less than warmly. 

            Suddenly the portrait hole swung open, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter walked in.  Mrs. Potter's cheeks were very rosy, as if she had just had a laughing fit.  She quickly strode towards James and Lily, her smile growing wider with every step.

            "Mum, this is. . ."

            "She's positively GORGEOUS!" Mrs. Potter beamed.  She pushed James out of the way, and threw her arms around Lily.  James and his father glanced at each other in embarrassment.  It was a while before Mrs. Potter finally released Lily, and moved on to fussing over James' tie.

            "Hello Lily.  It's nice to meet you," Mr. Potter said warmly.

            "It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Potter." Lily replied, her face flushed from Mrs. Potter's extremely warm greeting.  Mrs. Potter, suddenly spotting Lily's parents, rushed over to Mrs. Evans' side, and introduced herself.  The two mothers began chatting animatedly at once, while the two fathers stood awkwardly.

            "Your daughter is such a beautiful little angel!"' Mrs. Potter gushed.

            "And look at your son!  He must be the most charming boy in all of England!" Mrs. Evans beamed.  Lily, red with embarrassment, led James to the far corner of the room.

            "Your father doesn't like me." James said quietly.

            "He never likes any boy that shows even the most remote amount of interest in me.  But don't worry, once he gets to know you, Daddy will love you!" Lily assured him.  James glanced at Mr. Evans uncertainly.  Then he looked at his mother, who was now showing Mrs. Evans a small photo album of James' baby pictures.

            "I told you my mum was mad!" he groaned.

            "I like her!" Lily grinned, wrapping her arms around James' waist.  James immediately disentangled himself.

            "Lils, your father is watching!" he whispered, glancing at Mr. Evans again. 

            "No he's not!  He's talking to your dad.  Well, at least he's trying to!" Lily giggled.  Mr. Evans looked as if he was struggling very hard to understand what Mr. Potter was talking about.  "Besides," Lily continued, "you'll get a chance to impress my father tomorrow during the Quidditch match!"

            James smiled at her, his stomach suddenly fluttering with the excitement of tomorrow's match.  He leaned forward and gave Lily a quick kiss, not seeing the horrified look on Mr. Evans' face.

***

            Nearly two hours later, the Potters and Evans had finally decided to head upstairs to the visitor wing, Mrs. Potter and Mrs. Evans especially tired after talking excitedly for so long.  Lily's parents, who had received quite a large shock when the staircases started moving, insisted that she assist them upstairs.  So now James found himself doing both his and Lily's share of patrolling the corridors – one of the many duties of the Head Boy and Girl.

            James strolled down the corridor, smiling at how well the evening had gone.  Now the only thing he had to do was somehow make Mr. Evans like him.  James was about to head back to the Gryffindor common room, when a dim light from one of the classrooms at the end of the corridor caught his eye.  He walked toward it and stopped at the doorway when he heard familiar hushed voices.  Peeking into the classroom, he saw Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy sitting at a table, hunched over a roll of parchment.  James frowned and strode into the classroom.

            "What are you two doing here this late?" he barked.  Snape's head shot up, while Malfoy quickly rolled up the parchment. 

            "Studying, Potter," Malfoy sneered, "is that against the school rules?"

            James glared at him, aching to demand to see the roll of parchment.  He knew they were not studying. . .he knew they were up to no good.  A rush of hatred towards the Dark Arts filled James with anger.  Snape and Malfoy staggered towards the door, where James still stood blocking the entrance.

            "Do you mind, Potter?" Malfoy said coldly.  James glanced at the roll of parchment held tightly in Snape's hand.  He had quick reflexes. . .he could grab the parchment right out of Snape's hand. . . or he could order them to go straight to Dumbledore this very instant. . .he had the authority to do that.  James was beginning to run through all the possibilities in his mind, when suddenly he remembered the meeting he had attended with Dumbledore and all the teachers.  Dumbledore had looked directly at him and said not to point any fingers based merely on past conflictions or biased judgments.  James closed his eyes in frustration.  He knew this was not a time for stupid old grudges.  For all he knew, Snape and Malfoy could've been studying after all. 

            "It's nearly after hours.  Go study in your own common room." James said harshly, eyeing the two boys with contempt.  Snape smirked at him, before following Malfoy into the empty corridor.  James watched them trudge down the corridor until they were out of sight.  Then he stood in the doorway for a long time, his suspicions growing, wondering if he had done the right thing.

A/N: Sorry this chapter is kinda short and not all that interesting.  But the next one will be better. . . hopefully!  I'll try to post it soon! -Bananas