Chapter 27 The Mad Tea Party
For a full minute, Lily stood frozen at the top of the stairs as doom descended upon her. Oh bloody, bloody hell.
By this time, Vernon had ended his latest tirade and had noticed Lily. "Oh it's you, is it?" he eyed Lily with distaste.
Indignation shaking her out of her shock, Lily shot her future brother in law a fulminating glare and was pleased when Vernon stepped back a bit, intimidated. Ever since he had found out the truth about Lily, Vernon had lived in fear that she would turn him into a toad and Lily didn't disabuse him of the idea in case she ever did it, accidentally or otherwise.
Petunia was surveying the sitting room through narrowed eyes, taking in every detail of the table set with Mrs. Evans' favorite china, the fresh flowers, the fire burning in the fireplace.
"Mum, why is the smart china out?" Petunia demanded sharply. "Who's coming to tea?"
"Lily's having a guest to tea today, darling. Had you forgotten?" Mrs. Evans used in the smooth, calm voice that Lily recognized as the one she used whenever she was "handling" Petunia.
Petunia went pale and looked from one parent to the other for confirmation. Both Mr. and Mrs. Evans returned her gaze tranquilly. "You mean to tell me that not only are you allowing Lily to BE a freak but now you're exposing us all to contact with OTHER freaks?" Petunia hissed, spraying spit everywhere in her outrage.
"Petunia," Mr. Evans reproved in a deceptively pleasant tone. "I believe we've discussed your using that word in context with your sister."
"You mean to say one of HER kind is coming here?" Vernon asked in scandalized tones. Lily seriously considered realizing Vernon's worst fears and trying her hand at Transfiguring him into a toad. It might actually be kinder than allowing James to have at him.
At Mrs. Evans' serene nod, Vernon's indignation grew. "Well," he spluttered, puffing his chest out. "There is nothing I can do about the choices you've made with this deeply misguided girl," he indicated a glowering Lily, "but I WILL NOT allow you to subject MY fiancée to such riff-raff. Come along, Petunia," Vernon offered her his arm. "We needn't stay here any longer."
Petunia was tempted, Lily could see it in her eyes. But it was equally plain that Mr. and Mrs. Evans weren't going to stand for it. Lily wasn't sure exactly what her parents had threatened Petunia with, but whatever it was, it seemed to be quite effective. Knowing her sister, Lily speculated that they had threatened her with disinheritance, refusing to attend her wedding, or refusing to pay for it. Or very possibly all of the above, considering how deep Petunia's hatred of Lily went.
"I'd better stay," Petunia said eventually and extremely grudgingly. Vernon, completely unprepared for this, was very obviously thrown by this and stopped in the middle of his dramatic exit, looking a bit comical in the process.
"Er- I - that is - WHAT did you say Petunia?" Vernon wasn't ever in tune with subtleties.
"I. Think. I'd. Better. Stay," Petunia ground out through gritted teeth.
"Then I'll stay with you," Vernon declared in the tones of one making a great sacrifice. "No telling WHAT this 'friend' will be like, and I won't allow you to go through this alone." Lily glanced away, thoroughly fed up, and found her father frowning at Vernon rather disgustedly while her mother bit her lip in annoyance. Lily wondered how often they had to put up with these declarations.
The chime of the doorbell broke the silence and Lily raced for the foyer, the only thought in her head to warn James. She wouldn't let her worst enemy walk into Petunia and Vernon without fair warning, let alone her boyfriend.
* * *
James stood on the Evans' doorstep taking deep, calming breaths and trying to remember everything he had read over the past few weeks. He had NEVER been so nervous in his life and it had never been so important to not cock something up.
Ok Potter, he told himself, still inhaling deeply, it's all going to be fine if you just remember what you read and be polite. They're only people after all, only people like everyone else. Feeling a bit better, James rang the bell with a still-shaking hand.
The sound of running footsteps in the hall was distinctive and within what seemed like thirty seconds, the door was flung open by an out of breath and rather panicked-looking Lily.
James' face immediately broke into a wide grin; no matter how nervous he was, just seeing Lily made him happy. He wondered how bad it would be for him if he and Lily snogged on the front porch for a bit instead of going right in.
"Hi!" he greeted Lily delightedly. "Quick, tell me: do I look all right? Enough like a Muggle? I know you told me my Muggle clothes would be fine but is this what you had in mind because I - "
"Shh!" Lily hissed, cutting James off, her expression completely frantic. "James, you have to listen to me. My sister and her fiancé are here - "
"Lily!" a voice behind them said, and Lily whirled around to see Nora, her family's housekeeper, beaming at them. "So this is your young man," Nora inspected James, her smile widening. "It's very nice to meet you!" she extended a hand to James, who grinned at Nora and sent Lily a questioning glance.
"This is Nora," Lily said weakly. "She takes care of us." James looked thoroughly puzzled by this but didn't say anything, thankfully, as Nora drew them both toward the sitting room.
"Chin up, darling, and good luck," Nora whispered to Lily with a wink before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Who was that, exactly?" James asked, watching Nora go. "She seemed nice."
"I'll explain later," Lily whispered frantically. "James, listen - "
"There you are, darling!" Lily winced as she heard her mother's voice behind her. "Won't you both come in?"
"James, I'm sorry," Lily whispered as they moved forward into the sitting room, grasping James' hand tightly in hers. "I'm sorry for Petunia, and Vernon - there just isn't any excuse for him -"
James glanced at Lily, puzzled and a bit hurt. She didn't honestly believe he'd be horrible to her sister, did she? Who did she think he was, Rodolphus Lestrange?
Lily came to a stop in front of two people James assumed to be her parents. James studied them with great interest as Lily made the introductions. According to the chart he had seen in Muggles: Behind the Myth, Mr. and Mrs. Evans' clothes indicated that they were well off and educated.
"James," Mrs. Evans smiled at him warmly and extended her hand. "I'm so pleased to meet you at last." James smiled back, feeling as though he already knew her. Lily had gotten her green eyes from Mrs. Evans, and her smile, and Mrs. Evans radiated the same kindness.
"Very pleased to meet you as well," James smiled back at Mrs. Evans, a grin Lily recognized as one he used when he wanted especially badly to charm someone, before turning to meet Mr. Evans.
Lily's father was equally pleasant, James noted with relief. Lily didn't look much like her dad, but James was almost sure that Lily shared his sense of humor; he had that same amused spark in his eyes that Lily had when she was amused. On the whole he seemed a bit quieter than Mrs. Evans, like Lily herself, and gave the impression of great intelligence, another quality his daughter had inherited. James wondered who Lily had gotten that red hair he loved so much from.
"And this is our elder daughter, Petunia, and her fiancé Vernon Dursley," Mrs. Evans went on, and James was brought up short. He'd heard Lily mention a sister in passing and had assumed that she'd be similar to Lily. But no one could have been more different from Lily than this person standing in front of him.
Clearly Lily had gotten the beauty in the family, and James was willing to bet the brains as well. Petunia resembled her father more than Lily did, but Mr. Evans' rather long face was not flattering on his daughter; it made Petunia bear a strong resemblance to a horse. And the prominent teeth didn't help, either; thank Merlin THAT was apparently a recessive gene.
But the most striking dissimilarity was that Petunia lacked any of the warmth and kindness James saw in Lily and her parents. Instead, Petunia's face had a mean, pinched look to it and she was wearing a highly distrustful, somewhat vicious expression on her face at the moment. James racked his brains for any information he might have heard about Lily's sister but couldn't come up with any. That should have told him something right there, he cursed inwardly. Clearly the relationship wasn't good.
Nevertheless, James extended his hand to Petunia. "Hello," he said, offering her a winning smile. Petunia recoiled slightly from him and Vernon moved forward a bit, his expression menacing. Feeling safe, Petunia shot Lily a look of deepest loathing that startled James a little.
"So," Vernon began accusingly, his dull, beady little eyes vicious, "You go to THAT SCHOOL with Lily, do you, Potter?"
"Er - yeah -" James replied hesitantly, taken aback.
"Magic," Vernon snorted derisively. "If you ask me, the lot of you are all just nutters and criminals who BELONG IN JAIL! Get some sense knocked into you then, wouldn't you Potter? Or have you already BEEN to jail? Your face seems a bit familiar; been on any wanted posters lately, Potter?"
"Er -" James really had no idea what to say to this mad, annoying, fat man. Vernon stood back triumphantly as though this had proven his point.
"Really, Vernon," Mrs. Evans said disapprovingly. She, Mr. Evans, and Lily all seemed thoroughly embarrassed by this outburst and quite disgusted as well.
By the time they sat down to tea, James understood all too well why Lily had been so frantic when she had answered the door. And there really was no excuse for Vernon. He dominated the conversation with his bellowing monologues about current affairs that were ridiculous even to James, who knew nothing about them, and would occasionally fire a question about prison or criminal records at James, hoping to catch him off guard. James was finding it increasingly difficult to be polite when all he really wanted to do was blast Vernon with a Silencing Charm and then charm off certain parts of his anatomy to ensure that this stupid prick couldn't contribute to the gene pool.
"So," Mrs. Evans began once they were all seated. "James, our way of living must seem quite odd to you. Tell me, is the way you live at home very different?"
"Er, yeah, a bit," James admitted.
"How exactly?" Mr. Evans asked as he passed round a plate of sandwiches.
"Well - " James' mind had gone inexplicably blank. "Er - We don't have electricity, for one thing. Most things like that are run off magic."
"Really?" Mr. Evans asked keenly, and he and Mrs. Evans began asking James a thousand questions and James, warming to the subject, asked quite a few himself and Lily occasionally joined in, explaining the finer points of a few things.
Vernon and Petunia remained silent through most of this, Vernon slowly turning a mottled shade of purple and Petunia looking more and more as though she had something particularly bitter in her mouth. Both of them were watching the interaction between James and Mr. and Mrs. Evans with growing horror and disbelief.
Before either of them could say anything, however, Lily's owl Artemis swooped into the living room, a letter clutched in her beak. She circled the room, preparing to deliver the letter to Lily.
As soon as she saw the bird, Petunia emitted an ear-splitting shriek, which startled Artemis, causing her to fly faster.
"Eeeeeeek! That THING is back!" Petunia wailed, cowering in her chair.
"GET THAT RUDDY BIRD OUT OF HERE!" Vernon roared, shielding Petunia.
"Artemis! Come here!" Lily attempted to placate her frightened owl. Artemis hooted loudly and made her way toward Lily, but veered off course as an object missed her by less than a meter.
Vernon, attempting to protect Petunia from the bird, had thrown a scone at Artemis and held more ammunition in his hands.
"Vernon! Stop it!" Lily shrieked as several more missiles flew toward her pet. Anxiously she moved to the center of the room, crouching on her knees to avoid being hit, and attempted to persuade the owl to calm down, but it wasn't working, which was quite understandable as Artemis was in very real danger of being struck by assorted hors d-oeuvres and cutlery.
"Vernon! Leave the bird alone!" Mr. Evans called from where he and Mrs. Evans had taken cover under the table to avoid Vernon's projectiles. In her chair, Petunia continued to wail in fright. Mr. Evans began to make his way round the table, ducking periodically.
"Look, mate," James said in what he hoped was a reasonable tone, making his way over to Vernon, "You've got to stop it. Can't you see what a mess you're making?" Vernon's only response was to hurl a sandwich James' way. Mildly outraged, James thought briefly of retaliating but decided against it. This thing was bad enough without him getting into it, not to mention it probably wouldn't be the best way to leave Mr. and Mrs. Evans with a positive impression of him. Besides, James had had too much food thrown his way by Sirius to take any real offense.
"Leave her alone!" Lily shouted furiously to Vernon and began to make her way toward him. Vernon, whose fear of being turned into a toad was very real despite all of his protestations that he didn't believe in this magic rubbish, panicked and began to hurl objects at Lily instead.
"Lily!" James exclaimed as a fork narrowly missed her eye, and jumped up, livid. How dare that fat, pompous arse throw silverware at Lily? The very thought of it made James' blood boil. Pulling out his wand, James wasted no time. "Stupefy!" he bellowed, pointing his wand at Vernon.
Instantly Vernon went stiff and crashed to the floor with a thud worthy of a felled elephant, his piggy little eyes bulging, staring at nothing.
"You've killed him!" Petunia shrieked, her voice high enough to shatter glass. She flung herself on the floor next to Vernon's still form, sobbing. "Murderer!"
"He's not dead, Petunia, James only Stunned him," Lily reassured her sister, wiping some jam from her forehead. Artemis left her shelter atop the china cabinet and flew out of the room, plainly terrified.
Petunia rounded on Lily. "You were brought up in a good home by good people with a loving, respectable older sister to guide you and look how you turned out! You're subjecting your family to your insanity! Now Vernon is hurt, our house is in shambles, and it's all your fault! You've even managed to make Mum and Dad PROUD of your abnormality! And that's all it is! An abnormality! WHY can't you just be NORMAL?"
"Petunia!" Mr. Evans thundered. Petunia lapsed into silence but she wore a viciously triumphant expression on her face, glad to have said her piece.
Lily wore the same stoic expression James saw on her face whenever someone called Lily a Mudblood at school. Her chin high, her spine straight, Lily refused to let anyone see how the words affected her.
It was just the same, James realized with a jolt. The way Muggles and wizards treated people like Lily was just the same. Both worlds scorned her as abnormal and therefore not worthy of belonging. In both places, people Lily and people like her were rejected and hated by small-minded people. And Lily had grown up like this, between two worlds, never really belonging to either. James had always just assumed that she was accepted by Muggles, maybe even envied and admired. Vernon and Petunia had opened his eyes. James didn't know how Lily lived like this every day, really he didn't. But Lily did it, and she never let on how bad it was for her and James had never admired anyone's courage more.
And in that moment, James knew that he loved Lily, he truly, deeply, seriously, permanently loved her. He almost blurted it out but just managed to stop himself. Nonetheless, James was filled with an overwhelming joy, his stomach turning over, his pulse racing. Involuntarily a grin spread across his face. It seemed so obvious to him now. Of course he loved her, he had always loved her, or at least the idea of her. But now he loved Lily as she actually was, with all of her imperfections and virtues and crosses to bear and in spite of her horrifying sister.
"Oh dear." Nora the housekeeper had entered the room and was now staring aghast at the splattered food, shattered china, and prostrate body of Vernon Dursley, whom Mr. Evans was half-heartedly attempting to revive.
"Don't worry about all of this, Nora," Mrs. Evans said firmly. "Petunia and Vernon will clear it up. "But I think Petunia could use a strong cup of tea," Mrs. Evans added wearily, indicating her hysterical daughter.
"All - all right, Mrs. Evans," Nora agreed weakly. "I'll bring it straight away." She disappeared back into the kitchen.
"I'm terribly sorry it all went this way, James," Mrs. Evans said "we were so looking forward to meeting you."
"You've got nothing to apologize for, Mrs. Evans," James replied, surprised. "But I'm sorry I Stunned your - er - son in law. It's just that he could have hurt Lily and -"
"There's no need for you to explain," Mrs. Evans said kindly, at which Petunia looked up sharply at her mother, her face disapproving. "Anyone would've done the same for someone they care about, and it's clear that you care for my daughter a great deal."
"I do," James said, meaning it, and grinned at Mrs. Evans, who smiled back warmly. Lily, who was standing beside James, took his hand, and the two of them smiled at each other. Mrs. Evans watched them carefully; she had been fairly certain that her daughter and this boy felt very strongly about each other, and seeing them together like this confirmed it. Rose Evans could tell that it wouldn't be much longer before they had another wedding in the family.
Nora's entrance with Petunia's tea put an end to the moment. Mrs. Evans turned to see to her elder daughter, whose complaining over everything from the state of the house just before her wedding to her "shocked nerves" to her unconscious groom drew Lily and James' attention away from each other.
"I think it's best that I leave now," James said a bit sheepishly.
"We so enjoyed meeting you, in spite of everything," Mr. Evans offered.
"Me too," James smiled. Lily's parents were nice, at any rate.
'By the way, you wouldn't happen to know how to revive Vernon here, would you?" Mr. Evans asked, lips twitching.
"Er - right. I forgot," James was shamefaced as he waved his wand at Vernon and said "Ennervate" and a blustering Vernon sat up and demanded to know what was going on over Petunia's cries of joy.
Quietly, James moved toward the door, pausing briefly in front of the sofa. "I'll walk you out," Lily said quickly as Vernon's glowering gaze fell on her and James. The two hurried out of the room as Vernon bellowed "He did WHAT?!"
"I'm so very, very sorry," Lily said, letting them outside.
"Why are YOU sorry?" James asked as he put on his jacket. "You've got nothing to be sorry for."
"I'm sorry for Vernon and - and - for my sister," Lily flushed a bit as she said the last part. "Basically I'm sorry for being enough of a git to let you walk into this situation without fair warning. I thought they'd still be out of town, but they turned up early and - "
"Lily," James interrupted. "You will never be a git as long as you have Petunia and Vernon for competition. And you've got nothing to be sorry for. If anyone should be sorry, it's your sister. And she will be, once the stuff I put in her tea takes effect," James added with a good deal of satisfaction.
"James!" Lily tried her best to look horrified but was unable to keep her lips from twitching despite her best efforts. "What did you do?"
"Let's just say your sister might be wearing her veil over her face a bit longer than she planned at her wedding," James smirked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily demanded, still trying to muster up her Prefect Look of Death.
"You'll see," James winked, looking every inch the Marauder.
"You're impossible," Lily said, rather more adoringly than she'd intended to.
"Petunia said some pretty awful things to you," James said seriously. "I can't let her get away with that."
"She's been saying them to me since I was eleven years old," Lily's shrug didn't quite come off. "I'm used to it by now."
"It's not something anyone should have to get used to," James said heatedly. "I had no idea you had to deal with her plus those wankers at school. It isn't right."
Lily suddenly felt teary-eyed. "It's the way things are," she managed to get out round the lump in her throat, trying to sound matter-of- fact. "But I don't ever want you to feel sorry for me because I sure as bloody hell don't," she added more firmly.
"I don't feel sorry for you," James protested. "I - " he nearly told her but just managed to prevent himself. Later, when the timing was better. He was going to get the timing right for a change. "I - think you're really brave," he finished.
"Thanks." Lily's smile was brilliant. Suddenly uncomfortable, she busied herself hailing a passing cab for James.
"I guess I'll see you on the thirty-first then," James ventured.
"Definitely," Lily confirmed
James leaned closer. "Thanks for letting me meet your parents' Lily," he said softly. Lily thought she just might cry, so instead, she leaned over and kissed James.
When they finally broke apart, both of them were wearing rather bemused grins and were thinking about just how far away New Year's Eve was.
"I'll write to you," Lily whispered, kissing James' cheek. Somehow it all felt different after this latest disaster. She couldn't even seem to hear Vernon's trumpeting or Petunia's shrieking, though it was certain that the neighbors could.
"Yeah," James replied slowly, a slightly silly expression on his face. "See you soon."
"See you soon," Lily echoed. She waited till James' cab rounded a corner, then turned and went back to the house, Vernon's bellows audible once more.
Author's Note:
Told you I'd have the new chapter up soon! I'm quite proud of myself, actually. This will probably be the last update before Christmas (I have shopping to finish, I admit it)
Thanks to everyone for their reviews, especially witch @ heart, da drama queen, LogicalRaven, Tessa1, Squirrel Maiden of Green, gruftschnitte, Em Starcatcher, Incognito 00, charmed-ireland, a person, and earendil.
Snape will return next chapter, and Morwenna's New Year's party is coming very soon. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and thanks for reading and reviewing!
For a full minute, Lily stood frozen at the top of the stairs as doom descended upon her. Oh bloody, bloody hell.
By this time, Vernon had ended his latest tirade and had noticed Lily. "Oh it's you, is it?" he eyed Lily with distaste.
Indignation shaking her out of her shock, Lily shot her future brother in law a fulminating glare and was pleased when Vernon stepped back a bit, intimidated. Ever since he had found out the truth about Lily, Vernon had lived in fear that she would turn him into a toad and Lily didn't disabuse him of the idea in case she ever did it, accidentally or otherwise.
Petunia was surveying the sitting room through narrowed eyes, taking in every detail of the table set with Mrs. Evans' favorite china, the fresh flowers, the fire burning in the fireplace.
"Mum, why is the smart china out?" Petunia demanded sharply. "Who's coming to tea?"
"Lily's having a guest to tea today, darling. Had you forgotten?" Mrs. Evans used in the smooth, calm voice that Lily recognized as the one she used whenever she was "handling" Petunia.
Petunia went pale and looked from one parent to the other for confirmation. Both Mr. and Mrs. Evans returned her gaze tranquilly. "You mean to tell me that not only are you allowing Lily to BE a freak but now you're exposing us all to contact with OTHER freaks?" Petunia hissed, spraying spit everywhere in her outrage.
"Petunia," Mr. Evans reproved in a deceptively pleasant tone. "I believe we've discussed your using that word in context with your sister."
"You mean to say one of HER kind is coming here?" Vernon asked in scandalized tones. Lily seriously considered realizing Vernon's worst fears and trying her hand at Transfiguring him into a toad. It might actually be kinder than allowing James to have at him.
At Mrs. Evans' serene nod, Vernon's indignation grew. "Well," he spluttered, puffing his chest out. "There is nothing I can do about the choices you've made with this deeply misguided girl," he indicated a glowering Lily, "but I WILL NOT allow you to subject MY fiancée to such riff-raff. Come along, Petunia," Vernon offered her his arm. "We needn't stay here any longer."
Petunia was tempted, Lily could see it in her eyes. But it was equally plain that Mr. and Mrs. Evans weren't going to stand for it. Lily wasn't sure exactly what her parents had threatened Petunia with, but whatever it was, it seemed to be quite effective. Knowing her sister, Lily speculated that they had threatened her with disinheritance, refusing to attend her wedding, or refusing to pay for it. Or very possibly all of the above, considering how deep Petunia's hatred of Lily went.
"I'd better stay," Petunia said eventually and extremely grudgingly. Vernon, completely unprepared for this, was very obviously thrown by this and stopped in the middle of his dramatic exit, looking a bit comical in the process.
"Er- I - that is - WHAT did you say Petunia?" Vernon wasn't ever in tune with subtleties.
"I. Think. I'd. Better. Stay," Petunia ground out through gritted teeth.
"Then I'll stay with you," Vernon declared in the tones of one making a great sacrifice. "No telling WHAT this 'friend' will be like, and I won't allow you to go through this alone." Lily glanced away, thoroughly fed up, and found her father frowning at Vernon rather disgustedly while her mother bit her lip in annoyance. Lily wondered how often they had to put up with these declarations.
The chime of the doorbell broke the silence and Lily raced for the foyer, the only thought in her head to warn James. She wouldn't let her worst enemy walk into Petunia and Vernon without fair warning, let alone her boyfriend.
* * *
James stood on the Evans' doorstep taking deep, calming breaths and trying to remember everything he had read over the past few weeks. He had NEVER been so nervous in his life and it had never been so important to not cock something up.
Ok Potter, he told himself, still inhaling deeply, it's all going to be fine if you just remember what you read and be polite. They're only people after all, only people like everyone else. Feeling a bit better, James rang the bell with a still-shaking hand.
The sound of running footsteps in the hall was distinctive and within what seemed like thirty seconds, the door was flung open by an out of breath and rather panicked-looking Lily.
James' face immediately broke into a wide grin; no matter how nervous he was, just seeing Lily made him happy. He wondered how bad it would be for him if he and Lily snogged on the front porch for a bit instead of going right in.
"Hi!" he greeted Lily delightedly. "Quick, tell me: do I look all right? Enough like a Muggle? I know you told me my Muggle clothes would be fine but is this what you had in mind because I - "
"Shh!" Lily hissed, cutting James off, her expression completely frantic. "James, you have to listen to me. My sister and her fiancé are here - "
"Lily!" a voice behind them said, and Lily whirled around to see Nora, her family's housekeeper, beaming at them. "So this is your young man," Nora inspected James, her smile widening. "It's very nice to meet you!" she extended a hand to James, who grinned at Nora and sent Lily a questioning glance.
"This is Nora," Lily said weakly. "She takes care of us." James looked thoroughly puzzled by this but didn't say anything, thankfully, as Nora drew them both toward the sitting room.
"Chin up, darling, and good luck," Nora whispered to Lily with a wink before disappearing into the kitchen.
"Who was that, exactly?" James asked, watching Nora go. "She seemed nice."
"I'll explain later," Lily whispered frantically. "James, listen - "
"There you are, darling!" Lily winced as she heard her mother's voice behind her. "Won't you both come in?"
"James, I'm sorry," Lily whispered as they moved forward into the sitting room, grasping James' hand tightly in hers. "I'm sorry for Petunia, and Vernon - there just isn't any excuse for him -"
James glanced at Lily, puzzled and a bit hurt. She didn't honestly believe he'd be horrible to her sister, did she? Who did she think he was, Rodolphus Lestrange?
Lily came to a stop in front of two people James assumed to be her parents. James studied them with great interest as Lily made the introductions. According to the chart he had seen in Muggles: Behind the Myth, Mr. and Mrs. Evans' clothes indicated that they were well off and educated.
"James," Mrs. Evans smiled at him warmly and extended her hand. "I'm so pleased to meet you at last." James smiled back, feeling as though he already knew her. Lily had gotten her green eyes from Mrs. Evans, and her smile, and Mrs. Evans radiated the same kindness.
"Very pleased to meet you as well," James smiled back at Mrs. Evans, a grin Lily recognized as one he used when he wanted especially badly to charm someone, before turning to meet Mr. Evans.
Lily's father was equally pleasant, James noted with relief. Lily didn't look much like her dad, but James was almost sure that Lily shared his sense of humor; he had that same amused spark in his eyes that Lily had when she was amused. On the whole he seemed a bit quieter than Mrs. Evans, like Lily herself, and gave the impression of great intelligence, another quality his daughter had inherited. James wondered who Lily had gotten that red hair he loved so much from.
"And this is our elder daughter, Petunia, and her fiancé Vernon Dursley," Mrs. Evans went on, and James was brought up short. He'd heard Lily mention a sister in passing and had assumed that she'd be similar to Lily. But no one could have been more different from Lily than this person standing in front of him.
Clearly Lily had gotten the beauty in the family, and James was willing to bet the brains as well. Petunia resembled her father more than Lily did, but Mr. Evans' rather long face was not flattering on his daughter; it made Petunia bear a strong resemblance to a horse. And the prominent teeth didn't help, either; thank Merlin THAT was apparently a recessive gene.
But the most striking dissimilarity was that Petunia lacked any of the warmth and kindness James saw in Lily and her parents. Instead, Petunia's face had a mean, pinched look to it and she was wearing a highly distrustful, somewhat vicious expression on her face at the moment. James racked his brains for any information he might have heard about Lily's sister but couldn't come up with any. That should have told him something right there, he cursed inwardly. Clearly the relationship wasn't good.
Nevertheless, James extended his hand to Petunia. "Hello," he said, offering her a winning smile. Petunia recoiled slightly from him and Vernon moved forward a bit, his expression menacing. Feeling safe, Petunia shot Lily a look of deepest loathing that startled James a little.
"So," Vernon began accusingly, his dull, beady little eyes vicious, "You go to THAT SCHOOL with Lily, do you, Potter?"
"Er - yeah -" James replied hesitantly, taken aback.
"Magic," Vernon snorted derisively. "If you ask me, the lot of you are all just nutters and criminals who BELONG IN JAIL! Get some sense knocked into you then, wouldn't you Potter? Or have you already BEEN to jail? Your face seems a bit familiar; been on any wanted posters lately, Potter?"
"Er -" James really had no idea what to say to this mad, annoying, fat man. Vernon stood back triumphantly as though this had proven his point.
"Really, Vernon," Mrs. Evans said disapprovingly. She, Mr. Evans, and Lily all seemed thoroughly embarrassed by this outburst and quite disgusted as well.
By the time they sat down to tea, James understood all too well why Lily had been so frantic when she had answered the door. And there really was no excuse for Vernon. He dominated the conversation with his bellowing monologues about current affairs that were ridiculous even to James, who knew nothing about them, and would occasionally fire a question about prison or criminal records at James, hoping to catch him off guard. James was finding it increasingly difficult to be polite when all he really wanted to do was blast Vernon with a Silencing Charm and then charm off certain parts of his anatomy to ensure that this stupid prick couldn't contribute to the gene pool.
"So," Mrs. Evans began once they were all seated. "James, our way of living must seem quite odd to you. Tell me, is the way you live at home very different?"
"Er, yeah, a bit," James admitted.
"How exactly?" Mr. Evans asked as he passed round a plate of sandwiches.
"Well - " James' mind had gone inexplicably blank. "Er - We don't have electricity, for one thing. Most things like that are run off magic."
"Really?" Mr. Evans asked keenly, and he and Mrs. Evans began asking James a thousand questions and James, warming to the subject, asked quite a few himself and Lily occasionally joined in, explaining the finer points of a few things.
Vernon and Petunia remained silent through most of this, Vernon slowly turning a mottled shade of purple and Petunia looking more and more as though she had something particularly bitter in her mouth. Both of them were watching the interaction between James and Mr. and Mrs. Evans with growing horror and disbelief.
Before either of them could say anything, however, Lily's owl Artemis swooped into the living room, a letter clutched in her beak. She circled the room, preparing to deliver the letter to Lily.
As soon as she saw the bird, Petunia emitted an ear-splitting shriek, which startled Artemis, causing her to fly faster.
"Eeeeeeek! That THING is back!" Petunia wailed, cowering in her chair.
"GET THAT RUDDY BIRD OUT OF HERE!" Vernon roared, shielding Petunia.
"Artemis! Come here!" Lily attempted to placate her frightened owl. Artemis hooted loudly and made her way toward Lily, but veered off course as an object missed her by less than a meter.
Vernon, attempting to protect Petunia from the bird, had thrown a scone at Artemis and held more ammunition in his hands.
"Vernon! Stop it!" Lily shrieked as several more missiles flew toward her pet. Anxiously she moved to the center of the room, crouching on her knees to avoid being hit, and attempted to persuade the owl to calm down, but it wasn't working, which was quite understandable as Artemis was in very real danger of being struck by assorted hors d-oeuvres and cutlery.
"Vernon! Leave the bird alone!" Mr. Evans called from where he and Mrs. Evans had taken cover under the table to avoid Vernon's projectiles. In her chair, Petunia continued to wail in fright. Mr. Evans began to make his way round the table, ducking periodically.
"Look, mate," James said in what he hoped was a reasonable tone, making his way over to Vernon, "You've got to stop it. Can't you see what a mess you're making?" Vernon's only response was to hurl a sandwich James' way. Mildly outraged, James thought briefly of retaliating but decided against it. This thing was bad enough without him getting into it, not to mention it probably wouldn't be the best way to leave Mr. and Mrs. Evans with a positive impression of him. Besides, James had had too much food thrown his way by Sirius to take any real offense.
"Leave her alone!" Lily shouted furiously to Vernon and began to make her way toward him. Vernon, whose fear of being turned into a toad was very real despite all of his protestations that he didn't believe in this magic rubbish, panicked and began to hurl objects at Lily instead.
"Lily!" James exclaimed as a fork narrowly missed her eye, and jumped up, livid. How dare that fat, pompous arse throw silverware at Lily? The very thought of it made James' blood boil. Pulling out his wand, James wasted no time. "Stupefy!" he bellowed, pointing his wand at Vernon.
Instantly Vernon went stiff and crashed to the floor with a thud worthy of a felled elephant, his piggy little eyes bulging, staring at nothing.
"You've killed him!" Petunia shrieked, her voice high enough to shatter glass. She flung herself on the floor next to Vernon's still form, sobbing. "Murderer!"
"He's not dead, Petunia, James only Stunned him," Lily reassured her sister, wiping some jam from her forehead. Artemis left her shelter atop the china cabinet and flew out of the room, plainly terrified.
Petunia rounded on Lily. "You were brought up in a good home by good people with a loving, respectable older sister to guide you and look how you turned out! You're subjecting your family to your insanity! Now Vernon is hurt, our house is in shambles, and it's all your fault! You've even managed to make Mum and Dad PROUD of your abnormality! And that's all it is! An abnormality! WHY can't you just be NORMAL?"
"Petunia!" Mr. Evans thundered. Petunia lapsed into silence but she wore a viciously triumphant expression on her face, glad to have said her piece.
Lily wore the same stoic expression James saw on her face whenever someone called Lily a Mudblood at school. Her chin high, her spine straight, Lily refused to let anyone see how the words affected her.
It was just the same, James realized with a jolt. The way Muggles and wizards treated people like Lily was just the same. Both worlds scorned her as abnormal and therefore not worthy of belonging. In both places, people Lily and people like her were rejected and hated by small-minded people. And Lily had grown up like this, between two worlds, never really belonging to either. James had always just assumed that she was accepted by Muggles, maybe even envied and admired. Vernon and Petunia had opened his eyes. James didn't know how Lily lived like this every day, really he didn't. But Lily did it, and she never let on how bad it was for her and James had never admired anyone's courage more.
And in that moment, James knew that he loved Lily, he truly, deeply, seriously, permanently loved her. He almost blurted it out but just managed to stop himself. Nonetheless, James was filled with an overwhelming joy, his stomach turning over, his pulse racing. Involuntarily a grin spread across his face. It seemed so obvious to him now. Of course he loved her, he had always loved her, or at least the idea of her. But now he loved Lily as she actually was, with all of her imperfections and virtues and crosses to bear and in spite of her horrifying sister.
"Oh dear." Nora the housekeeper had entered the room and was now staring aghast at the splattered food, shattered china, and prostrate body of Vernon Dursley, whom Mr. Evans was half-heartedly attempting to revive.
"Don't worry about all of this, Nora," Mrs. Evans said firmly. "Petunia and Vernon will clear it up. "But I think Petunia could use a strong cup of tea," Mrs. Evans added wearily, indicating her hysterical daughter.
"All - all right, Mrs. Evans," Nora agreed weakly. "I'll bring it straight away." She disappeared back into the kitchen.
"I'm terribly sorry it all went this way, James," Mrs. Evans said "we were so looking forward to meeting you."
"You've got nothing to apologize for, Mrs. Evans," James replied, surprised. "But I'm sorry I Stunned your - er - son in law. It's just that he could have hurt Lily and -"
"There's no need for you to explain," Mrs. Evans said kindly, at which Petunia looked up sharply at her mother, her face disapproving. "Anyone would've done the same for someone they care about, and it's clear that you care for my daughter a great deal."
"I do," James said, meaning it, and grinned at Mrs. Evans, who smiled back warmly. Lily, who was standing beside James, took his hand, and the two of them smiled at each other. Mrs. Evans watched them carefully; she had been fairly certain that her daughter and this boy felt very strongly about each other, and seeing them together like this confirmed it. Rose Evans could tell that it wouldn't be much longer before they had another wedding in the family.
Nora's entrance with Petunia's tea put an end to the moment. Mrs. Evans turned to see to her elder daughter, whose complaining over everything from the state of the house just before her wedding to her "shocked nerves" to her unconscious groom drew Lily and James' attention away from each other.
"I think it's best that I leave now," James said a bit sheepishly.
"We so enjoyed meeting you, in spite of everything," Mr. Evans offered.
"Me too," James smiled. Lily's parents were nice, at any rate.
'By the way, you wouldn't happen to know how to revive Vernon here, would you?" Mr. Evans asked, lips twitching.
"Er - right. I forgot," James was shamefaced as he waved his wand at Vernon and said "Ennervate" and a blustering Vernon sat up and demanded to know what was going on over Petunia's cries of joy.
Quietly, James moved toward the door, pausing briefly in front of the sofa. "I'll walk you out," Lily said quickly as Vernon's glowering gaze fell on her and James. The two hurried out of the room as Vernon bellowed "He did WHAT?!"
"I'm so very, very sorry," Lily said, letting them outside.
"Why are YOU sorry?" James asked as he put on his jacket. "You've got nothing to be sorry for."
"I'm sorry for Vernon and - and - for my sister," Lily flushed a bit as she said the last part. "Basically I'm sorry for being enough of a git to let you walk into this situation without fair warning. I thought they'd still be out of town, but they turned up early and - "
"Lily," James interrupted. "You will never be a git as long as you have Petunia and Vernon for competition. And you've got nothing to be sorry for. If anyone should be sorry, it's your sister. And she will be, once the stuff I put in her tea takes effect," James added with a good deal of satisfaction.
"James!" Lily tried her best to look horrified but was unable to keep her lips from twitching despite her best efforts. "What did you do?"
"Let's just say your sister might be wearing her veil over her face a bit longer than she planned at her wedding," James smirked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily demanded, still trying to muster up her Prefect Look of Death.
"You'll see," James winked, looking every inch the Marauder.
"You're impossible," Lily said, rather more adoringly than she'd intended to.
"Petunia said some pretty awful things to you," James said seriously. "I can't let her get away with that."
"She's been saying them to me since I was eleven years old," Lily's shrug didn't quite come off. "I'm used to it by now."
"It's not something anyone should have to get used to," James said heatedly. "I had no idea you had to deal with her plus those wankers at school. It isn't right."
Lily suddenly felt teary-eyed. "It's the way things are," she managed to get out round the lump in her throat, trying to sound matter-of- fact. "But I don't ever want you to feel sorry for me because I sure as bloody hell don't," she added more firmly.
"I don't feel sorry for you," James protested. "I - " he nearly told her but just managed to prevent himself. Later, when the timing was better. He was going to get the timing right for a change. "I - think you're really brave," he finished.
"Thanks." Lily's smile was brilliant. Suddenly uncomfortable, she busied herself hailing a passing cab for James.
"I guess I'll see you on the thirty-first then," James ventured.
"Definitely," Lily confirmed
James leaned closer. "Thanks for letting me meet your parents' Lily," he said softly. Lily thought she just might cry, so instead, she leaned over and kissed James.
When they finally broke apart, both of them were wearing rather bemused grins and were thinking about just how far away New Year's Eve was.
"I'll write to you," Lily whispered, kissing James' cheek. Somehow it all felt different after this latest disaster. She couldn't even seem to hear Vernon's trumpeting or Petunia's shrieking, though it was certain that the neighbors could.
"Yeah," James replied slowly, a slightly silly expression on his face. "See you soon."
"See you soon," Lily echoed. She waited till James' cab rounded a corner, then turned and went back to the house, Vernon's bellows audible once more.
Author's Note:
Told you I'd have the new chapter up soon! I'm quite proud of myself, actually. This will probably be the last update before Christmas (I have shopping to finish, I admit it)
Thanks to everyone for their reviews, especially witch @ heart, da drama queen, LogicalRaven, Tessa1, Squirrel Maiden of Green, gruftschnitte, Em Starcatcher, Incognito 00, charmed-ireland, a person, and earendil.
Snape will return next chapter, and Morwenna's New Year's party is coming very soon. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and thanks for reading and reviewing!