Chapter Twenty: Definitely a Seductress

Though he didn't show it, James was more nervous than he looked. Although he was with the girl of his dreams, he would not only have to meet her bitchy sister and her piggish fiancé, but her bratty cousin and… (gulp) her father.

Andrew Evans wasn't an intimidating man or anything, to be honest, but James didn't know this.

"Daddy!" Lily squealed, letting go of James's hand and running into her father's arms. It was quite obvious the two were close.

"Lily Flower," he smiled affectionately at his favorite daughter. "You don't know how great it is to have you home… and your mother says you brought a guest as well."

"Oh!" Lily said, leading him to where James was standing nervously. "Daddy, this is my… um… my boyfriend. James Potter."

James managed a nervous grin on his face. "Pleasure to meet you, sir," he said, shaking her father's hand.

Her father put on a courteous smile but then frowned. "Aren't you the boy who dyed Lily's hair green one year?"

James flushed, mumbling, "Yes, sir."

"Well." Andrew Evans said, at an apparent loss for words. "Seems things have changed since then," he raised an eyebrow at Lily, who turned pink.

"Lily," he turned to his daughter, "why don't you go say hello to your relatives? They're in the sitting room. I'll help James with the luggage."

Lily smiled, seemingly oblivious to what James knew what was about to happen. "All right, Daddy," remembering her part as James's "girlfriend" she kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry about Daddy," she whispered quickly. "He's harmless, really." And with that, she went about her merry way.

James swallowed nervously before grabbing the handle of his trunk. He assumed that only Lily's immediate family knew she was a witch, so he was careful not to pack anything (besides his wand) that would give away he was a wizard.

"You seem like a smart boy, James," Mr. Evans said as the two trudged up the stairs, James following. "So I won't go the stereotypical 'menacing father' route," Once they reached the top of the stairs, he gave James a look. "but you do realize what would happen if you ever hurt my little girl?"

James nodded. "I promise I'll never deliberately hurt her, sir," he replied honestly. "She means too much to me."

Sensing the boy's sincerity, Andrew Evans grinned. "Then I have the feeling we'll get along just fine, James."

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Thinking that the worst was over, James came back down the stairs with a grin on his face.

… That is, until he met the rest of Lily's family.

The elderly members, especially the women, took delight in teasing Lily about how "handsome her man was" and "my, but didn't she 'catch' a good one!" It had both of them flushing in minutes.

And then they heard Petunia. "Lily," Lily turned around at the sound of her sister's icy voice.

"Petunia," Lily put on a small smile. "Good to see you."

Petunia merely nodded. "Um, this is James." James put out his hand but Petunia looked at it disdainfully.

"And I suppose James goes to the same school you do?" Petunia sneered.

"Yes," Lily answered, glaring. "Does it matter?"

Petunia didn't answer, other than nastily muttering, "Freak" and fleeing elsewhere.

Lily turned to James, traces of hurt visible in her eyes. "Don't mind Petunia," she said. "She treats everyone of our… kind, that way."

"You mind though," James said softly.

"I've… gotten used to it," Lily smiled sadly. "Don't worry—around Mum and Daddy she's… civil. So we don't have to fret much."

James knew Lily was just reassuring herself, so he smiled at her, slipping his hand into hers and squeezing softly.

Yes, Lily was quite glad she had brought James along.

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A few minutes later, the two were sitting on the porch swing, idly holding hands and just talking about classes and friends and everything in between.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" James asked.

"The rehearsal dinner is tonight," Lily answered. "We'll probably leave the house around five to go to the church. Then to Vernon's—Petunia's fiancé —parent's house. And tomorrow," Lily groaned. "Is the wedding."

She looked at him, remembering something. "Do you have a suit, James?"

James shook his head. "Er…. Just some muggle dress clothes. Not quite sure if they're appropriate, really. They're Remus's."

Lily sighed. "I'll help you get ready tomorrow, then, and we'll see if we need to transfigure anything."

"You mean if I'll have to transfigure anything," James smirked at her.

"Oh, yes, how could I forget that you're the King of Transfiguration?" Lily laughed.

"Ah yes. And I do need a queen… and since you're the Queen of Charms," he trailed off, raising an eyebrow playfully and suggestively.

Lily laughed again, liking this time with James. She felt comfortable and at peace and everything just seemed so… right.

James felt the same way. He felt no need to be charming or witty or dashing as he did with other girls. With Lily, he could just be… himself. Which, he discovered, was something he should've done long before.

However, their perfect ending came to an end when Lily was being called by a relative to help them with something. "You can stay out here if you want, I shouldn't be longer than a moment," Lily told James.

He shook his head. "I'll come inside with you," he said, then a mischievous grin flittered to his face. "Besides, I know that there are some school photos of you from your younger years that I'm just dying to see."

Lily looked mortified. "Who told you about them? Aunty Marigold? Uncle Riley?"

"Nope," James shook his head. "They're in your front room. Thought I'd have to take a peek at them."

Lily groaned. "If you insist," and the two went in, Lily leaving James in the dreaded front room.

While Lily was off doing something or other, James looked at all of the photos. He recognized pictures of the horse-faced Petunia, who had her father's blonde hair and brown eyes, and pictures of bright-eyed Lily, who obviously took after her mother. But there was another girl whose picture showed up frequently. She looked quite a bit older than the other two girls, but James could see they were definitely related, with Petunia's blonde hair and Lily's green eyes. Question was: who was she?

Before James could figure this out, he was startled by a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw an attractive girl with blonde hair and brown eyes and sunglasses perched upon her head. She was dressed quite scantily with what he assumed was the latest fashion.

"May I help you?" James asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm Shannon Evans," the girl stuck out her right hand that was meant for James to kiss. He shook it lightly instead (and quickly dropped it). "Cousin of the bride. And who are you? Surely we're not related. Family friend, perhaps?" She purred.

"Err, sort of." James said. "I'm James Potter, b ---" before he could finish that sentence (let alone word) he heard Lily say from behind him,

"Shannon?"

"Lily, dear!" Shannon put on a false smile. "Oh… you haven't changed a bit. I do believe the last time I saw you you were in that outfit."

Lily and her cousin hugged quickly without warmth. "Ah, that's… interesting," Lily forced a smile. "I see you've met James?"

"Ah, yes! He's been such the gentleman."

Lily discreetly gave James a look that clearly said "You have?"

"He was just about to tell me who he knows here."

"He knows me," Lily said, and James grabbed hold of her hand. "He's my boyfriend."

"Really?" Shannon looked genuinely surprised, looking James up and down. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend." Lily could almost hear Shannon add on, and such a scrummy one at that.

"Well, I do," Lily said lightly. "And I thought you had one, as well. Is he out getting your luggage?"

Shannon trilled (neither James or Lily could call it a laugh). "Oh, heavens, I'm not staying here! I'm staying at a posh hotel, of course!"

"Oh," Was all Lily could say.

"As for boyfriends," Shannon sighed, as if exasperated, "I am currently trying to decide between two—so I'm taking one to the rehearsal dinner and the other to the wedding. I tell you, Lily, it is so hard trying to choose between such perfect men." She looked at her cousin and smiled sweetly. "But I suppose you wouldn't know about that, would you?"

It was all Lily could do to not hex her cousin right then and there. She glanced over and saw that James looked a bit disgusted at the girl's pettiness.

"Well, I had better go say hello to everyone—ta-ta Lily," her gaze fell on James again, "and it was so nice to meet you, James," she said, just a tad seductively and she swished away.

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"Well," James said after a few moments of silence. "So that's Shannon."

Lily sighed. "That's her."

James shook his head. "I'd hate for her and Cheri to be in the same room."

Laughing, Lily said, "That would be an interesting catfight if there ever was one." She then sobered, asking sympathetically, "Was she flirting with you?"

James nodded, repulsed. "Does she do that to all of your boyfriends?"

Looking away, Lily mumbled, "No…. You're the only boy I've ever brought home."

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Well, this was certainly an interesting turn of events, Shannon mused as she sashayed down the hall. Little Lily actually had a boyfriend! And my, was he a looker as well… He gave her current boy toys, Ben and Barry, a run for their money in the looks department.

Shannon grinned evilly as she gave perfunctory kisses to many wrinkly relatives. She'd have to find out more about this James Potter—and if he proved worthy of her attentions… well, then she'd have to give him an offer he couldn't refuse…

0 0 0 0 0

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come in!" a voice called. James went in, and spotted Lily in front of a mirror, sporting a robe, performing a straightening spell on her hair.

"What do you think?" James asked nervously. He had no clue what to wear to a muggle wedding rehearsal… goodness, wizarding ones were so much easier. He could've gotten away with wearing jeans and a t-shirt under some nice black robes.

Lily turned to face him. She looked at him for a moment and smiled. "Very nice, Mr. Potter," she said playfully as she stepped towards him.

James reminded her awfully of Will when he went on their date. He was wearing a gold colored turtleneck jumper that emphasized his wiry body and brought out the gold in his eyes, just like Lily thought it would, along with a nice pair of dark blue jeans. He looked very handsome.

James flushed a bit. "Are you sure? What about you, what are you wearing?"

Lily undid the robe. Underneath there she was wearing a deep red V-neck circle dress with matching strappy heels. Her necklace was a subtle hint she was a Gryffindor, for it was gold with a small ruby pendant.

"Wow," James breathed before he could help himself.

Lily looked down, pleased and embarrassed. "Do you like it?"

James nodded, unable to say anything.

Lily giggled, trying to relieve some tension. "Come on, we're going to be late," she said, taking his hand and leading him to the stairs.

Downstairs, they found Petunia in some god-awful gown, and Vernon, big and pig looking. Lily guessed that Vernon knew that she was a witch and James a wizard, for he could barely bring himself to look at the two when they were introduced.

"We're here!" An obviously practiced, throaty voice announced. Low and behold, there was Shannon with her date, Ben.

Wearing a pink dress that had Lily envious from the start (not the dress itself, but Lily, being a redhead, never could wear pink), it was a "babydoll" dress: frilly and low-cut. Her matching pink heels were quite high, and Lily knew that she herself would probably break her ankles if she wore those.

"Hello, James," Shannon cooed.

"Hi, Shannon," James replied awkwardly.

"Who's your date, Shannon?" Lily asked, slightly annoyed.

"This is Ben," Shannon answered.

"Hi," said Ben.

"Lily," Shannon asked, eyebrows raised, "that's an… interesting dress."

Lily gritted her teeth, but was startled when a warm pair of arms engulfed her from behind and lips grazed her neck.

"She does look gorgeous, doesn't she Shannon?" Lily heard James say from behind her, his breath tickling her ear before he kissed the small part of her bare shoulder.

Lily repressed a shiver before looking over at Shannon's surprised face.

"Well, we better go say hi to the oldies," Shannon said airily, before tugging Ben off.

Lily turned to face James, his arms still around her. "Thank you," she said.

"No problem," James grinned. "I could tell that riled her feathers up quite a bit."

Lily laughed. "Oh yeah; especially since she was waiting for you to compliment her."

James made a face. "She looked like a freakin' flower. As opposed to you," he leaned down boldly and kissed her neck again. "You're a bloody seductress in red."

"Hmmm," Lily's voice was throatier, "I've never been called a seductress before."

James chuckled. "Really? We'll have to remedy that."

"Lily, James, we have to go!" Lily's mom called.

"Be right there, Mum!" Lily called back and waited for James to release her.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked, but wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Just savoring the moment," he responded, realizing that was exactly what he said in his dream.

It was like déjà vu all over again (chapter fifteen dream sequence) for James and it was all he could do not to kiss her again.

But before it could go any further, she slipped out of his arms. "Come on!" Lily said playfully. Then, seeing him just standing there, as if in a daze, took him by the hand.

"Don't worry," she said, grinning slyly, "we can have another moment for you to savor later."

James raised an eyebrow, grinning widely. Definitely a seductress.

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A/N: …And the sexual tension returns! (Not that it ever went anywhere… lol)

My favorite scene will be in the next chapter (sorry again) but this chapter was longer than I expected and I wanted my special scene to have a chapter all of its own!

It should be up late July 5th, I believe.

The descriptions of Lily and Shannon's dresses may be confusing, but if you want to check them out, I have the sites on my homepage or whatever it's called. ( any American, have a great fourth of July! To everyone else, hope you're having a great summer!