A.N. / Hey everyone! These chapters have been sad, but yet it is what has to happen to with my plot! Read, Review, and Enjoy!
Chapter 29
Lily and Tyler had already went to Gringotts to cash in some muggle money for galleons, sickels, and knuts. It was some muggle money she had left over from her birthday this summer that she never cashed in or put in her bank account at Gringotts. Plus Lily's father had given a bit more money, he'd said just in case she needed it.
Lily loved her father dearly, he at least realized that she was growing up and that she couldn't be treated like a baby.
"Lily?" Tyler's voice brought her back from her memories.
"Huh…oh yeah? Hey what's up?" Lily asked bouncing around.
"How about that store?"
"Suzie's Formal Gallery, sound like a good enough store for us to get ourselves all strapped up for the Potter's New Years Eve Ball?"
Lily smiled and put on her best impression of Paris Waters, "Like oh Merlin! It's only like the most social event of the season!" Then Lily broke out in fits of laughter and Tyler had to catch her from falling.
"That jealous of her?"
Lily turned around and looked Tyler straight in his eyes, "What? Are you kidding me?! My friends and I always make fun of her because she's an absolute monster towards me."
"I know how horrible she is and I have been informed of how much she hates you. But she'll probably hate you even more on New Years Eve." Tyler said pushing the door open for Lily to Suzie's Formal Gallery.
"And why do you say that."
"Because no matter who Miss Waters has on her arm, I know you'll be the most beautiful thing to step into that ballroom." Lily blushed and Tyler went on, "I know I wasn't suppose to judge my students. But Lily you beat her so badly in looks and in personality. Your gorgeous and have gotten a wonderful personality."
"Oh really?" Came a snot nose debutant stepping out of a dressing room…yes it was none other than Paris Waters. "Ah I see! Lily runs to her second best choice, our stand in teacher for Muggle Studies, Tyler Smith. And to make Lily better she falls on you as a rebound and you pick her up and try and make her feel better because I have James now and she's still gaga over him."
Lily didn't like insults but today was just a bad day to mess with this redhead, "If your so confident with my ex-boyfriend then why isn't he here with you watching you squeeze your fat arse in dress that make you look horribly fat."
Paris rolled her eyes at Lily, "He's going buy me a present."
"Lily why don't we go pick you out a dress? And use the dressing rooms across the store…we want to get away from this horrid smell."
Lily and Tyler went through rack after rack looking for the perfect dress for her…and there it was. Lily gasped and stared at it in awe. Tyler looked around and then finally spotted where Lily's eyes had stopped, and he could see why she'd gasped this gown really was gorgeous.
"Try it on."
Lily nodded and grabbed it off the rack and went into a dressing room. A few minutes later he heard her voice through the dressing room door, "It's a little too big."
Then a woman popped out of nowhere beside Tyler, "Honey that's no matter I can get it to fit you perfectly!"
Lily frowned wondering who this woman was and she walked out of the room and the woman gasped and Tyler was floored.
"Yes that dress is perfect for you dear," the old woman said smiling. "Step up on this stool. I need to pin the dress to where it'll fit you and then say a few spells and you can take it home with you."
"Do you have any accessories to go with the gowns?"
The old woman nodded, "And handbags and shoes…and almost everything you can think about."
"Alright," Lily smiled and stepped up on the stool.
"I'll need you to pull back your hair dear."
Lily nodded and pulled her hair into a messy ballerina bun, but in a way it kind of looked classy with her dress.
Somewhere in the store a bell rang to tell the store keeper that someone had entered. The old woman, Lily, nor Tyler looked up; they were too busy watching the lady fix up Lily's dress.
Across the room when Paris was trying on more and more gowns; Sirius and James sat outside of those dressing rooms bored.
"Why do we have to be here?!" Sirius whined.
"Because she needs a dress for the ball and I have to match her."
"So why am I here?"
"I don't know you followed me…didn't you say Cassidy was meeting you up here."
"Oh yeah!" Sirius said smiling.
James stood up to stretch out his back from sitting down for so long, and he about passed out.
"Prongs! Are you alright?" Sirius asked standing up trying to catch his off balance friend.
"W…who is that?"
Sirius looked up and saw an absolute beauty in front of them across the store. Then Sirius shook his head when he recognized the hair color and hunter green. It was Lily Evans's auburn hair and in a hunter green ball gown on. Next to her was Tyler Smith, it was obvious she was shopping for her gown and Tyler was along so he could match her.
James turned to his best friend, "Who is that babe?!"
Sirius began to laugh.
"What?"
"Prongs that's Lily."
"Lily?"
Sirius rolled his eyes, "Your ex-girlfriend…you know…you call her 'red.'"
James's eyes popped out of his head, "That's red?! She's hot!"
"Glad your remembering something."
"Who's that guy? Her boyfriend?"
"Not that I know of, but they have been getting kind of cozy lately."
"Jamie!" Paris squealed and the boys turned around, "I'm coming out and tell me what you think."
Paris walked out in a pale pink gown. It was strapless and you could see lots of cleavage, then the stomach was cut out of the dress and you could see most of her stomach. Then the dress was really low cut and it flared out at her hips to make her butt look bigger than it was."
"Wow!" James gasped as he saw a piece of meat in front of him.
Sirius rolled his eyes, she looked exactly what she was…a slut. Sirius walked off as the two of them had a snog fest and another lady came to help Paris with her dress. Sirius walked out of the store and went to the Leaky Cauldron to go meet Cassidy.
Towards the back of the store the lady had finished all the pinning.
"Could you make it strapless, and it laces up in the back?" Lily asked and the old lady nodded.
"How about lots of rhinestones at the top and then there's less and less towards the end and at the hem of the dress it's full with rhinestones again?"
Lily gasped, "Sounds perfect!"
"Okay ready?" Lily nodded, "One, two, three…clantionus!"
Lily looked in the mirror in front of her and she was in awe of herself…and Tyler behind her was just amazed. The dress was strapless and it had the rhinestones like the lady promised, and as Lily turned around to see it had the laces to match her dress in the back. The dress fell just a bit below her feet. Lily turned to the lady, but she answered Lily's question immediately.
"Let's pick out your shoes and we'll fix the length to where it'll sit just above your shoes, alright?" Lily nodded and followed the lady.
By the end of the day all the shopping was done! Lily got some baby doll shoes to match the dress perfectly, Lily never really liked heels and she wanted to be comfortable…so baby doll shoes was the only way to go. Lily got a necklace that was silver and had a single small emerald right before her dress started. Lily had earrings and a silver ring to match it. Lily also bought a purse to match her dress and shoes. When Lily was done shopping, she'd made her coin purse a lot lighter then it was when they walked in.
Tyler rented a black tux, it would be a white shirt, a green bow tie, and vest to match Lily's dress. Tyler didn't spend as much money as Lily had.
Then Lily went Christmas Shopping and Tyler tagged along with her. By the end of the day they stopped in the Leaky Cauldron to rest their feet and to have a nice butterbeer.
Lily ended up getting Cassidy a Wizarding radio to catch the WWN. Gabriella would get some flashy jewelry, the kind of jewelry that was similar that she always wore. Alice would get a gift certificate to her favorite shoe store, since of course Alice was the shoe queen. Lily had gotten Sirius and Remus each a gift certificate to Zonko's. Sarah would get a silver locket from Lily that Lily had seen on sale in a jewelry store.
Lily had gotten her mother a book from her favorite author, her father would get another book on law…like he asked Lily for every year. Lily was going to give Petunia a 10 pound gift certificate to her salon and Vernon an ant farm. Lily liked the last two gifts for her the two horrible people that were in her family…or about to be.
Lily hadn't been able to get Tyler anything because he was with her, but Lily was going to sneak over to Diagon Alley by herself tomorrow morning and buy him a present while he wasn't around.
Lily and Tyler got on the bus that would bring them two blocks away from her house, "Today was really fun Lily." He said looking at all the packages that Lily had around them, and Lily's dress was hanging up on one of the racks in a garment bag and Tyler's rented tux was next to her gown.
Lily and Tyler arrived at the Evans's doorstep at almost six thirty. "Well I guess I should be going," Tyler said handing Lily her packages.
"Why don't you come in for dinner?"
"I don't think your mum would like me staying over for dinner."
"I don't care." Lily said shrugging her shoulders, "She knows you're my friend and I'm sure my dad would like to meet you. Once my mum really gets to know you she'll see you're a great guy."
Tyler shrugged his shoulders, "Alright…but if your mum comes after me with a pitchfork I'm running."
Lily giggled, "Alright."
Dinner went really well and Abigail was actually nice to Tyler. Blake absolutely loved Tyler, thought he was a nice boy…and that was a direct quote. Of course Petunia and Vernon were pleasant so they wouldn't be thought of as 'snotty', but they were defiantly trying to have as little contact with Tyler and Lily as possible because of the fact that of course Lily was a Witch and Tyler was a Wizard.
At about nine that night Tyler was finally saying goodbye to the Evans family. "Well I should be going Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Petunia, Vernon, and of course Lily."
"Don't be a stranger around here," Blake said getting up to shake Tyler's hand. "You understand me? A friend of Lily's is always welcome here. I'm glad to hear that she decided to still go to that banquet thing that the Potter's hold, even with her break up with James…and that you offered to be her date."
"Hey, I'm the lucky one." Tyler smiled and looked over to Lily, "To have that pretty little number ask me to attend with her…well I'll be the luckiest man in the room."
"That's very sweet of you to say Tyler," Abigail said with a smile, but Lily knew her mother a bit too well. Her mother was starting to cave in to Tyler's natural charm…but Abigail being the kind of person that didn't trust one too fast was still holding back a little.
"Nice to meet you Petunia, Vernon." Tyler said.
"Yeah," Petunia shrugged.
"You too," Vernon said with a sneer apparent on his face.
"I'm going to walk him to the door. Alright mum, dad?"
They nodded and Lily went with Tyler to the door. They got to the door and excited to stand on the front porch. Lily smiled at Tyler and began to talk to him, "You know I had a great time today, you know with the shopping and you coming to eat dinner with my family and I."
Tyler smiled at her, "Lily. I had a great time today too. Then eating dinner and getting to know your family. What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Let's see…tomorrow is Christmas Eve, right?" Lily asked and Tyler nodded, "Well we're probably going by the gravesite to visit my grandmother's grave and say hello to her."
"Are you going to be busy for dinner?"
Lily bit her lip, "I'm not sure…why?"
"I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with my family and I?"
"Is Professor Dumbledore going to bet there?"
Tyler chuckled at her, "Of course as he is my grandfather."
"It's going to be a little weird."
"So that's a no?"
"No, it's a yes." Lily said smiling at him.
"You sure?"
Lily smiled, "Positive."
Tyler smiled at Lily, "That's great! The dinner starts at seven o'clock, would you be able to be ready by six thirty?"
Lily bit her lip, "Yes most likely. I think we're going to the grave at noon and we'll be there for a while. Then I'll be all pretty and fixed up by six thirty."
"Alright then I'll see you tomorrow?"
Lily nodded and surprised both herself and Tyler when she kissed him on the cheek, "See you tomorrow."
Lily came into the house and Vernon and Petunia were leaving. "Leaving so soon?" Lily asked.
Petunia rolled her eyes at her little sister, "We were only here to eat dinner with mum and dad. We didn't expect you and that other freak to be here."
"But you were nice?" Lily asked surprised, "I don't understand why you were nice."
"We can't make a horrible first impression always."
"You did with James."
"Stuff it Lily." Petunia said looking at her sister in disgust, "Come on Vernon."
"Where are you going?" Lily asked looking at her sister oddly, "You live here."
Petunia chuckled at her little sister, "Did mum not tell you? I don't live here anymore, Vernon and I share a flat."
"What?! And they actually let you do that?!"
"Lily I'm not a child and it's none of your business so get lost." With that Petunia and Vernon left while snubbing Lily off.
Lily didn't care but she went into the Living Room to find her mum and dad drinking tea and watching the television. "What are we doing tomorrow?" Lily asked pouring herself some tea in the extra cup.
Abigail looked at Lily oddly, "You know what we're doing tomorrow. Dad, Petunia, Vernon, you, and myself are all going to go visit Grandma Rose's grave to pay our respect to her."
"Well I knew that, but what are we doing after that?"
Abigail shrugged her shoulders, "Vernon and Petunia are going back to their flat and I guess the three of us are coming back to drink hot chocolate and watch some Christmas specials on the television. Why do you ask?"
"Tyler invited me to have Christmas dinner with his family."
"Lily tomorrow isn't Christmas," Blake said frowning at his daughter. "And you know we spend all of Christmas day together."
"I know that, but his family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. Is it alright if I go."
"I don't know Lily," Abigail said looking at her daughter in all honesty. "You seem to be getting close to this boy…"
"You won't let me have Christmas dinner with a friend of mine on Christmas Eve, but you just look away way when Petunia moves into a flat with her fiancée? You know their having sex, don't you? Their not going to just live with one another and not have sex…hell they've been having sex forever!"
"Lily!" Abigail hissed, "Just go to your room."
"I'm going tomorrow."
"Going where?"
"With Tyler."
"But…"
"I don't care what you say." Lily said with her voice shaking, "You let her move in with her fiancée, I'm going have dinner with Tyler and that's it." Lily then stormed upstairs to her bedroom.
"Lily!" Abigail yelled from downstairs on Christmas Eve at two minutes to six thirty. "Tyler's here."
"Tell him I'll be down in a moment!" Lily yelled back. She looked into the mirror and smiled…she looked gorgeous. Lily had on a black velvet dress, it was long sleeved, v-cut where it showed just a little bit of cleavage, it fell down just a bit below her knees, and Lily had on black baby doll shoes to match. Lily had on a silver necklace with a heart charm on it, a silver charm bracelet, and a silver anklet. Lily had on light makeup, light blush, green eye shadow to match her eyes exactly, black eyeliner, black mascara, and clear lip gloss. Lily's hair was it's natural straight self and she had half of it pulled back into a silver clip and two pieces of hair by her face were curled. Lily had to admit, she didn't look bad at all. Lily smiled one last time in the mirror and then picked up a small black purse she had. Lily then put in her powder, and lip gloss in the purse with the other things that were in her purse. Lily patted her hair down and opened her bedroom door ready to meet Tyler in the Living Room and go to his family dinner with him.
Lily arrived in the Living Room and Tyler was floored. Lily looked fantastic and that black velvet she had on didn't look bad at all on her. "You look fantastic Lily."
Lily blushed a little bit, "Thank you. You don't look bad yourself."
"Thanks."
"She's right," Abigail said stunning Blake, Tyler, and Lily. "You clean up very well Tyler." Tyler had on a pair of black dress pants, a white collared shirt on, and a red tie on.
"Thank you Mrs. Evans."
"No problem. You just take care of our Lily and have her in by 10."
"Mum," Lily moaned looking at her mother very irritated.
"Alright ten thirty."
"Mum!"
"Eleven."
Lily then turned to Blake, "Dad!"
"Midnight." Blake and Abigail said at the same time.
Lily smiled, "Deal. See you guys at midnight." Lily then turned to Tyler, "How do we get to your house?"
"Oh we're not going to my house."
"What?"
"The dinner is at my grandfather's house."
"Huh?" Lily said flabbergasted.
"Oh…I didn't tell you that last night? I thought I had…you don't have to come if you're going to feel uncomfortable."
"Why would she?" Abigail asked.
"My grandfather is her Headmaster."
"Dumbledore?" Blake asked this time.
Tyler nodded and then turned back to Lily. "Are you sure you still want come."
Lily nodded, "Yes I'm sure. Professor Dumbledore won't scare me enough to miss this night with you." Blake and Abigail shared a look that neither Lily nor Tyler seemed to catch. "So how are we getting to my Headmaster's home?"
"Floo Powder."
"We can't."
"Why not?"
Lily giggled at Tyler, "Remember my background? I'm Muggleborn…the Floo Network isn't hooked up to my house."
"But I remember you saying that the Floo Network was connected to your house last summer."
"I did, but that was because Cassidy and James were here back and forth because Cassidy was helping me out and around. It was only for the summer."
"So how can we get to the Floo Network?"
"We'll have to take the bus to the Leaky Cauldron."
"No," Abigail said.
"What?"
Blake handed Lily the keys to her mother's car outside, "Here take the keys for tonight. There's a parking garage a block away from the Leaky Cauldron."
"You're letting me take that car?!" Lily squealed.
"Just for tonight." Abigail stated.
"That's fine!" Lily said jumping up and down kissed both of her parents on the cheek, and dragged Tyler out of the house as fast as she could. The two were on their way to Tyler's family Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve at Albus Dumbledore's home.
