"No."

The next day had come in a hassle of packing and goodbyes. Lily was subdued all morning, gazing around the castle as if trying to imprint it into her memory. The train ride back to King's Cross was a bit quieter than usual; in the end, Sirius had turned Alli's hair purple in an attempt to cheer everyone up. The mood did lighten after that, though perhaps because Alli had set his pants on fire in retaliation.

Now, however, they were getting off the train, and Lily had suggested that James come with her to meet her brother.

"Oh, Come on, James, he'll love you." Lily was absentmindedly changing out of her school clothes and didn't see the look of absolute horror on James's face.

"No he won't," snorted Alli. "Lily, you're his baby sister. Joe would take one look at James and rip his heart out."

Lily scowled at her while James made a small squeaking sound.

"Maybe another time, like after our wedding. I'd like to keep my legs long enough to make it down the aisle," James said in a would-be convincing tone. Lily had barely noticed; her eyes had gone dreamy at the words 'our wedding'. Now she was humming softly and dragging her trunk out the door. James looked at Alli for support.

"It'll be ok," Alli said, frowning. "Just don't touch Lily, or stare at her too hard, or anything. Act like Remus." And with that, Alli bounced out too, leaving James with no choice but to follow them.

His first view of Joe Evans was Lily, a streak of red, flying into his arms and being lifted off of her feet as her brother spun her around. He then picked up Alli and did the same to her. James hovered uncomfortably in the backround.

Usually, James Potter could charm anyone; all he had to do was mention Quidditch, or, in an act of desperation, his family, who was very well known throughout the wizarding world. But now he was facing a muggle, and the older brother of his fiancé on top of that. From what he had heard, Lily was extremely close to her brother. And from what he could see, her brother's arms looked like they could smash him effortlessly into a small Snitch.

"Joey," Lily said finally, "This is James." Lily was beaming at James, but her brother was not. Indeed, James looked as though he was trying to smile but couldn't quite pull it off, so his face was arranged into a sort of grimace.

"Hello," James said, offering his winning smile and holding out his hand. "It's really great to meet you, Lily talks about you constantly, and I guess we're going to be seeing quite a lot of each other, huh?" He inwardly frowned. What the hell was he talking about?

"'Lo," Joe said with a nod of his head, not accepting James's hand. He had dark brown hair and a friendly face in general, that is to say, when he looked anywhere but at James. His eyes were the same emerald green as Lily's. He turned back to his sister. "C'mon, squirt, my car's in the front."

"Hold on," Lily said, turning back to James. "I'll see you tomorrow night, ok?" She stood on her toes to kiss him, but James cut the kiss off rather quickly. He was rather aware that her brother was still watching them.

"Sure," he said. "I'll be over at six?"

As he watched Lily and Alli walk away, chatting animatedly with Lily's brother, he realized that the whole 'meet the parents' thing would not be as easy for him as it had been for Lily when she had met his parents.

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If James had thought Joe would be tough to win over it was nothing compared Lily's sister, Petunia. Petunia had shaken his hand solemnly when introduced and them disappeared into another room. Lily's mother looked amazingly like an older version of her daughter, though with blue eyes and an air of weakness. James remembered Lily telling him her mother had never quite been the same since her father left.

"Ah, James," The frail woman had said, reaching for his hand and giving him a warm smile. "Finally I get to meet the boy who's stolen my daughter's heart." This earned a grunt from Joe and a grin from Lily, who nodded encouragingly as Merci, her mother, led James into the dining room.

"Hullo, Mrs. Evans," James said with his charming grin. "I'm glad to finally be meeting you, your home is lovely." And so it was. Lily's house was nothing like the Potter Manor. It was tiny and cozy, with thick carpets and pillows thrown everywhere, candles twinkling, and the smell of something wonderful baking. There was none of the creaky hardwood floors and stiff-backed sofas that graced James's house.

James, Lily, Joe, and Merci sat around the dining room table while Lily's sister sat on a cushioned window seat, scowling. The table was covered in enough food to feed the whole of Gryffindor house. James grinned; he was going to like having dinner with this family.

"So," Mrs. Evans said amicably, "Lily tells us you were Head Boy."

James hastily swallowed the mouthful of roast chicken in his mouth. "Yes," he said honestly, "though I think my friend Remus might have been a bit better for the job. I mean, I have the grades and all, but Remus is... brilliant when it comes to rules."

Mrs. Evans laughed. "Modesty," she said.

Lily snorted into her pudding.

"Anyway," said Joe, speaking directly to James for the first time, "is that how you met my sister? Because you were both the Head students?"

Lily and James glanced at each other and burst out laughing.

"Actually," Lily said, "I used to hate James. He annoyed me to no end. Obviously that's changed. Yes, I guess you could say I got to know the real James from our Head duties."

The doorbell rang, then swung open without waiting to be answered, and Alli waltzed in with a tall blond woman who had to be her mother.

"Bonjour," the woman said, eloquently nodding her head and arranging her dress as she sat down next to Mrs. Evans.

"Yo," Alli said with a grin, crouching on a chair as if ready to jump up. She was wearing muggle jeans and a T-Shirt that proclaimed 'Fight the Man.' James had no idea who the man was, but for some reason it amused him; Alli was the exact opposite of her mother.

Lily and Alli's mothers began to converse in rapid french, and James dropped his fork in surprise when Alli and Lily joined in. Joe, the only one aware of James's shock, leaned over to fill him in.

"Mom and Aimee have been best friends for most of their lives, and in college Aimee taught mom french; they got a kick out of using it in front of people who didn't have a clue what they were saying. Alli of course learned it at home, and Lily spends as much time there as she does here, so she picked it up too." Perhaps James had still looked confused, because Joe continued after a pause. "The Landrys live three houses away, always have. If Alli's not here, Lily's there. Though Alli's here more often, as she has five brothers who drive her mad. We all grew up together, so I guess we're more one big family than two." Feeling that he'd said enough, he sat back and continued eating.

The rest of the dinner went just fine, with the women returning to English after a conversation that had turned them all rather giggly, all of them shooting James glances down the table; they were obviously talking about him. James entertained Joe by telling him all about Quidditch, and Joe in turn explained his favorite sports to James. They spoke of everything from school to the wizarding prison, Lily's sister staring at James from the window seat the whole time.

Lily and Alli got up to clear the table after the meal, and finally Petunia got up and followed them into the kitchen.

"Er, Joe," James leaned in to whisper. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Through the kitchen," Joe said as he stretched and got up.

As James entered the kitchen, he heard furious whispering.

"..can't believe you're bring more freaks here now. What must the neighbors be thinking? Wearing those freak clothes and all."

Then came Lily's voice, sounding exasperated and upset. "Petunia, get used to it, ok? I'm marrying him for Merlin's sake, and I'll invite a whole army of FREAKS here if I want."

"Ahem," James coughed lamely. Lily's sister gave him a dirty look and dashed out of the room.

Lily bit her lip. "Petunia isn't very open to magic," she explained. "We got along fine until I got my letter.. I'm not sure what it is with her. She's not the only one though, the neighbors just love whispering that there's something odd about the Evans girl." She stuck out her chin. "No matter, though," she said.

As Lily and Alli began to wash the dishes, James couldn't help but think that they had gotten a very raw deal indeed; They weren't accepted at home because of what they were, and they were discriminated against in the wizarding world because they were muggle born. Where did they feel they could belong?

The thing about Lily, though, was that she was a fighter. Alli, too. They had each other, and they were smart girls who stuck up for themselves. James knew he didn't need to worry about them.

As Lily got into a soap bubble fight with Alli, James realized something else; she had him, too, and that's where she belonged.

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A/N: hola my readers, if there are any left. Yes, I am still alive and writing. Rawr, sorry it's been so long; I had, for a while, decided to give up fanfic. But I missed this story, and as I've already written most of it, I decided to type it up. Here's the next chapter. Cheers.

I was thinking, and I realized something. All of my original characters are based off of somebody I know. Alli is one of my cousins, and Joe is a direct dedication to my own cousin Joe, who allows only his family to call him Joey. So if you're reading this, and you know me personally, look for people you know.

Anyway, review, because that is the only thing that motivates me to post my story here.

Love from Ria

PS: I didnt BETA this, so forgive any mistakes, please.