A/N: Because this next chapter is very long I decided to do the same thing
I did with Chapter 8 and divide it into parts. Hope you all enjoy it.
Disclaimer: I do not own HP, only the plot and secondary characters of this specific story.
Chapter 14 ~ The House Party
The Gryffindor common room was busy on the morning of the twentieth of December, students were packing last minute things and others kept returning to their dorms because they thought they had forgotten something. Some were all done and were waiting in the common room for their friends to return. The Marauders were sitting in their customary place waiting for the girls.
"What is keeping them? We have to be at Hogsmeade Station in forty five minutes." Said Peter in an exasperated tone.
"We'll be on time don't worry, girls just like to take their time packing." Said Sirius lying on one of the couches with his eyes closed.
"What is so difficult in packing?" Peter wanted to know.
"It's just that they like to make sure that they have everything they need, and whenever they think that they are ready something else comes to mind and they simply can't leave without it." Said Remus.
The others laughed at this, they had enough experience with girls to know that what Remus had said was very true.
"What are you guys laughing at?" Asked Lily as the girls approached the boys.
"Yeah, why don't you share the joke?" Urged Katie.
"You girls wouldn't like it." Quickly replied Sirius. The girls looked at them with a suspicious glance but decided not to argue about it.
"We should be going to the station now, I'm sure that the carriages are waiting up front." Said Emma.
"Are these all the luggage you are taking?" Asked Remus as he took notice of the trunks and hand-boxes the girls carried.
"Yes, Katie couldn't find her journal so we had to unpack everything until we found it, that's why we took so long." Explained Lily.
"I didn't know you kept a journal Katie. Dare I hope to one day have the privilege of reading some of it?" Said Sirius as he put his arm around her and started leading the group to the portrait hole.
"Don't hold you breath, you are not getting your hands on my journal even if we married." Responded Katie.
The others laughed at the expression of shock that passed through Sirius face.
Students enjoyed their few hours of freedom as the train traveled toward London. The Marauders and the Sirens shared a compartment, each couple enjoying the time they had left together.
"I'm going to miss you." Said Lily in a small voice as she settled into James arms. She had her back to him, pressed against his chest, and his arms around her waist.
"I'm going to miss you too. I'll owl you everyday." He whispered in her ear and giving her a quick kiss on her cheek.
"I'll look forward to them. I promise to answer them as soon as I get them. Iocasta will love to fly more often." Lily replied.
"I will be expecting her every day." James said.
On another corner of the compartment Sirius was sitting with Katie on his lap. Laughter and giggles could be heard from their corner but the others were too occupied to pay much attention to them. Remus and Emma were sitting in front of Lily and James. They were whispering to each other and making plans to meet sometime during their break.
"I'm sure that Diagon Alley will be very festive this time of year, and I would really like to take you to dinner there." Said Remus.
"I would love it, I'll owl you the moment I know what my family's plans are and we could fix on a day." Emma replied.
"I'll be looking forward to it." And he leaned to her and kissed her swiftly.
Peter was the only unattached person in the compartment but he didn't seem to mind, he just kept his mind on several pieces of parchment that his parents had sent him and were expecting him to know by heart when he arrived.
The trip eventually ended and the group kissed and hugged as they said goodbye to each other before splitting up and going their own way.
Lily saw her parents waiting for her at the barrier.
"Hello Princess! You don't know how much I missed you." Said Mr. Evans as he hugged his daughter.
"Hello daddy! Hi mum!"
"Hi dear. Do you have all your things? I don't want to come back later because you've forgotten something."
"I'm all set, didn't forget anything."
"Let's go then, I hope to be there before dark." Said Mr. Evans as he led his ladies to the car.
"Daddy, what is this luggage doing here?" Said Lily as she saw several pieces of luggage packed in the trunk and the backseat, there was barely room for her own luggage and herself.
"I'm sorry Hun, I forgot to tell you that we're going to a house party this Christmas. Don't worry," said Mrs. Evans when she saw the confused look Lily had on her face, "I packed the necessary clothes for you, I also bought some things that I think you would like."
"Thanks mum, but, where is this house party?"
"It's in the cottage of family friends in a small town in the outskirts of London, it will take us a while to get there because it is hidden to the common eye and we have to look very careful to make sure we don't miss it." Said Mr. Evans as the car pulled out of the parking lot.
"Which friends are these?" Asked a curious Lily.
"I don't think you've met them dear, although maybe you've heard of them. They're very influential people in their circle after all and I've heard their son is very popular with the girls." Said Mrs. Evans.
"A son, and I'm guessing he's single." Said a suspicious Lily. She hadn't told her parents about her relationship with James she was too afraid of what her mother would do if she knew that Lily had a boyfriend.
"Well of course he's single dear, he is rather young, I think he's about the same age as you are."
"Now mum, you're not going to start matchmaking are you?"
"Now dear, why would you say that?"
"Never mind mum, I don't want to arrive at this party in a bad mood. Where's Petunia, is she meeting us there?"
"Petunia isn't coming dear, she decided to spend the holidays with her fiancé and his family. I really think it won't be long before they tell us about that they had finally set on a wedding date."
"They haven't decided yet? I just hope that this means that Vernon is having second thoughts." Said Lily.
"Now Lily, your sister is good looking and outgoing, it isn't a surprise that she met a boy she wants to spend the rest of her life with-"
"If you say so mum." Muttered Lily.
"- and after all, she's 20, it was about time for her to think of having a family and leave us. In fact, that's something you have to start thinking of now that you're almost done with school." Continued Mrs. Evans as if Lily hadn't spoken.
"Speaking of school," interrupted Mr. Evans noticing the expression on Lily, "how has been your year so far Lily?"
"Oh, it's been great dad. The Festival we planned for Halloween was a great success. But then something happened to James and he had to be kept in the infirmary for quite some time."
"James? Is that the boy you told us about before Lily, the one that was named Head Boy?" Asked Mrs. Evans.
"Yes."
"I would like to meet him dear he sounds like a nice young man." Said Mrs. Evans.
"How long will it take us to get there?" Lily asked trying to change the subject she didn't think she was ready to tell her parents about James yet.
"Let me see, Aliaster said that we needed to take this street and follow it for 60 miles, then turn right on the road to Sussex and continue for 100 miles until we find a small country road, Godric's Lane I think he called it and that will take us to the town of Godric's Hollow. From there we just need to follow the lane that leads to the lake, Aliaster said that if we have any problems finding our way, people in that area can give us directions." Said Mr. Evans, who looked very proud of himself that he remembered the directions without reading the piece of paper in front of him.
"Godric's Hollow? I've never heard of it." Said Lily.
"Neither had I until they invited us to attend." Said Mrs. Evans as she saw the shops and houses pass by.
"You should've told me we were going somewhere else for Christmas, I didn't do any shopping for anybody other than family and close friends, it seems kind of rude to go to a House Party and not having anything for those who will attend." Said a disgruntled Lily.
"Don't worry about that dear, I was told that the Town Square has a huge variety of shops where last minute shopping could be done." Soothed Mrs. Evans.
"Well that's good, I wouldn't want to give our hosts a bad impression."
"You could never give a bad impression Princess, you're perfect."
"Daddy!"
"Hey James, who's supposed to come for us? Because it seems that they have forgotten us." Said Sirius as they waited in front of the station to be picked up.
"Mum said they might be a little late. And it's your mum the one who's picking us up."
"Should've known, she's probably looking for us in some other part of the station, she always looses her way."
"She's coming in a Ministry car, father said it would be faster."
"Hope so because I'm getting hungry."
"How can you be hungry? We just ate in the train."
"But that wasn't food, it was candy, that's not enough for a big man like me."
"Oh please."
At that moment a black car stopped just in front of them and the head of a woman with shiny brown hair and sparkling gray eyes appeared on the window.
"There you are dears, I was looking for you at the other side of the station, I swear, my memory gets worse every year."
"Hi mum, you know your memory has always been bad, but that doesn't mean that your beauty has diminished from the time you were 15." Said Sirius, kissing his mother's cheek.
"You flatterer, but I love you just the same." Said a giggling Mrs. Black.
"Hello Mrs. Black, I hope you will enjoy the holidays with us." Said James as he settled in the car.
"Hello James dear, I was so happy when your mother invited us to spend Christmas with you, I haven't been in the country for the holidays in quite a while and I always thought that Christmas in a country house would be just perfect."
"Who else is going to be there mum?" Asked Sirius as he settled into his seat.
"I'm not sure dear, I think some neighboring families were invited for a dinner and dance, and perhaps other close friends. But you'll see when we get there. Your mother, James, made sure we had this car, because she wants you there when the guests start to arrive."
"I bet, she just wants me to be ready when her friends with daughters arrive."
"Oh no dear, I'm sure she missed you and just wants to spend some time with you before people arrive."
"No she wants him to get a girlfriend." Said Sirius.
"And what's wrong with a mother wanting her child to think of the future? You both are almost 18, and just 6 more months until you're done with school. By this time next year you will, hopefully, have a job and new responsibilities so you have to start thinking of what are you going to do. And a family it's an important part in everybody's life."
"Mum, we're not 18 yet, we're not done with school, and we don't have a job. I would think that you would want me to be able to take care of myself before I can even start thinking of a wife."
"But you have to think seriously about this, I don't want to see get trapped by a hussy just because you weren't ready."
"Mum, a hussy? Really, I'm not an idiot mum."
"Sirius, such language, I didn't raise you like that."
"Sorry."
Silence settled among the passengers, each lost in their own thoughts that they didn't notice when the car stopped in front of a large house. The house was built in the Elizabethan style. The house was constructed with marble, big white columns adorned the entrance where two doors were open, with a woman standing beneath them waiting to greet the newcomers.
"There you are, I was getting worried you might've gotten lost."
"Hello mum, I've been told we're going to have guests this Christmas." Said James as he approached his mother and kissed her cheek.
"Yes, I thought that if you were inviting some of your friends I might as well invite some of mine and have a small house party. We can also make it a celebration for your last year in school, this is going to be fun, don't you think?"
"I hope so mum. Who did you invite?"
"Let me see, the Blacks, the Lupins, the Petegrews couldn't come they already had plans; The Holmes, the Sinclairs, the Bennets, The Robinsons, the Hortons, the Mulliens, the Averys, the-"
"I thought you said it was a small house party?" Complained James.
"It is a small party compared to others we've had." Said Mrs. Potter.
"You know with the Sinclairs and the Hortons here you're going to have to tell the house elves to stay in the kitchen, we don't want to scare any muggles while they're here."
"That's already taken care of dear, that's why we have our muggle servants."
"I know mum, who else is coming?"
"Let me see, I think that was all.no, I'm missing someone.hmm.oh here they are." She said as a car pulled over in front of the house.
James saw a couple, a red haired lady and a brown haired man getting our of the car, servants run to help with their luggage and couldn't see the third person who got out of it. James got distracted by Sirius, who came to stand by him, while his mother greeted her friends.
"James dear I don't think you know Rose and Edward. And here is Lily, so nice to see you again my dear, I hope James didn't make a nuisance of himself after we left."
Surprise was seen in every expression standing on the stairs, the only one who wasn't surprised was Mrs. Potter but James knew that she had a reason not to be surprised.
"You know each other?" Asked Lily, James, Sirius and the Evans at the same time.
"Oh dear, didn't I tell you?" Innocently asked Mrs. Potter.
"No mum, you didn't say anything about meeting Lily's parents." Said James frowning at her.
"Oh, I thought that I had." She said.
"Mum, how come you never mentioned that we were going to the Potter's?" Lily asked. "And that you had met them."
"I thought you wouldn't like it. Why didn't you say that you had met them?" Rose Evans asked.
"Because it was no big deal." She said.
"Would you mind if we take this inside? I'm hungry." Said Sirius.
"Shut up Sirius!" Snapped Lily and James.
"Lily!"
"James!"
"Sorry mum." They said in unison.
"It's that young man you should be apologizing to, I'm ashamed Lily, I didn't raise my daughter to be rude. I'm starting to think that this school of yours is having a bad effect on you." Scolded Mrs. Evans.
"Rose is right, the same goes to you James. And Sirius is right, we should take this to the sitting room is rude to keep our guests standing on the door." Said Mrs. Potter. "Why don't you young people go to the kitchens and grab something to eat, we won't have meal set out until everybody is here. You can show Lily her room after you have eaten James."
"Yes mum."
The group went toward a door in the right of the front door. A footman opened the door for them. A nice sitting room with antique looking furniture and colorful rugs graced the room. Wall length windows stood covered two sides of the room and showed a gorgeous countryside view.
"Will you require something Madam." The footman asked after the adults had sat. The young people stood by the door making sure that their parents didn't need them anymore.
"Just bring some tea and biscuits Eric, thank you." The footman bowed and closed the door.
"We are going to the kitchen mum." Said James.
"Behave yourselves." Mrs. Potter said.
James, Lily and Sirius left their parents and walked down a wide corridor to the kitchen.
"What was that all about?" Asked Sirius.
"I don't know but I bet my mother instigated it. I can't believe she didn't tell me about meeting your parents." Exclaimed James turning to look at Lily.
"I can't believe mine didn't tell me either. I hope they didn't have matchmaking schemes in mind." Replied Lily.
"That's probably what they were thinking of when they planned this house party." Smiled Sirius.
"Oh dear." Lily maoned.
"Well at least now I get to spend time with you." Said James putting his arm around Lily.
"I am so glad. We've got to tell our parents." Said Lily putting her head on his shoulder.
"Do we have to?" He asked kissing her on the top on her head.
"Yes we do." She said turning up to look at him and kissing his chin.
"Can I get an analgesic, I think I'm going to be sick." Sirius feigned a groan.
"Shut up Sirius. Let's see how you react when Katie comes.
"She is coming?" Lily and Sirius asked.
"Yes, mother told me just before you came in Lily."
"Yay!" Exclaimed Sirius.
Lily and James laughed. The trio had arrived at a set of doors; James quickly opened it and they were instantly engulfed by the culinary aromas permeating the air.
"Welcome home Master James, can we bring you something Master James." A squeaky voice asked from behind them.
The trio turned to look at a chubby looking elf, he was obviously the cook for the family as he was wearing a tea towel as if it was an apron. He was just finishing putting a tray together with tea and biscuits which Eric, the footman, was waiting for to take to the sitting room.
"Hello Otty, I see you still reign over the kingdom of the kitchens." Teased James. The elf didn't seem to be offended by this, on the contrary he seemed very happy by James comment.
"Oh, Master James was missed, sir. Kingdom of the kitchens indeed." Chuckled the elf. He magically cleaned a table by the corner and piled it with food, he pulled out the chairs and motioned to the three young people to sit. "Here is your food Master James. Please tell Otty if sir needs more." The elf quickly turned to direct the other elves working in the kitchen.
"Nice elf." Said Sirius as he piled his plate with food.
"He has always been my favorite, he knows exactly what I like." Said James as he pulled out a chair for Lily and then sat beside her.
"I can see that he is, you even named him ruler of his own kingdom." Laughed Lily.
"What can I say? I know how to flatter those I need something from." Replied James with a sly smile.
The others laughed. The trio spent the next hour eating and talking as the elves around them worked on a banquet fit for a king.
In the living room, the adults took their tea and talked about their children.
"We instantly went to Hogwarts after receiving the note of course, you can imagine how scared I was." Said Mrs. Potter.
"Oh I can well imagine, I would have been scared as well if the note was about Lily. Of course you had to go. We wouldn't have been able to do so." Sighed Mrs. Evans.
"Why not? I'm sure that you would like to see Hogwarts." Susan Potter responded with surprise.
"But we aren't magical Susan, we wouldn't be able to see it even if we stood on the doorstep. Lily explained to us how Hogwarts was hidden to the, what is the word my dear?" Mr. Evans asked turning to his wife.
"Muggle." She answered.
"Yes that's it, Hogwarts was hidden to the Muggle eye." Mr. Evans finished.
"Oh yes, I had forgotten that, but I'm sure that Dumbledore would make an exemption under especial circumstances." Mrs. Potter said.
"You met Lily then while you were there?" Asked Mrs. Evans.
"Oh yes. You have a wonderful daughter, I hired her you see, to tutor James while he was in the infirmary." Exclaimed Mrs. Potter.
"Oh, she probably liked that. She likes teaching, I have a feeling that she will become a teacher after leaving Hogwarts." Responded Mrs. Evans.
"I sure that she would be a great teacher, my dear." Mr. Evans said as he finished sipping his tea.
They heard a car stop in front of the house. They turned to look out the windows and found that a car had indeed stopped and the passengers were just getting out.
"Our guests are finally starting to arrive. Eric, can you please ask Mrs. Nichols to come here please." The footman bowed and left the room. He had been standing by the door the whole time in case his employer needed something. "Mrs. Nichols is our housekeeper." Mrs. Potter explained to the Evans after Eric had left. "She will show you the rooms that we had prepared for you. We will all meet here at 7:00 for dinner."
"Thank you Susan, I'm sure it will be lovely." Responded Mrs. Evans. At that moment the door opened and a thickset woman with a cheery disposition entered the room.
"Ah there you are Mrs. Nichols, can you show the Evans their room please." Said Mrs. Potter.
"Of course Ma'am, if you will follow me please." Mrs. Nichols led the Evans up the wide staircase that graced the entrance hall and branched into two wings. The East Wing where the family rooms and private rooms were and the West Wing were the guest rooms were located. Mrs. Potter returned to the sitting room and waited for her guests to be brought in.
James, Lily and Sirius had left the kitchen after eating as much as they could. In James and Sirius case, five times more than is humanly possible. This made the elves very happy and kept serving food as soon as the plates were emptied.
"I cannot believe that you two eat that much. I just get sick thinking about it." Said Lily as the trio took the servants stairs to the upper levels.
"I can only eat as much as I want when I'm at school or in the kitchen, mum would have a heart attack if I did so during her dinner parties." Complained James.
"And with good reason." Chided Lily.
"But Lil! We are growing boys, we need to eat as much as we can, our metabolism is at its peak you know." Said Sirius.
"Oh please Sirius, don't try to bamboozle me with your excuses. I know you better." Exclaimed Lily.
"Oh all right, but we can't help it, we get hungry." Pouted Sirius.
"Hmpf! It's a miracle that you two don't gain any weight, you would be the size of a baby whale by now." Responded Lily.
"A nice sight that would be." Laughed James. "We have to turn here, mum said that she had given you the floral room." James directed his friends down a corridor. Door after door, after door, the corridor seemed to be composed of an endless number of rooms, and Lily was sure that she could easily get lost.
"James, how will I know which is my room? There are so many here." Lily gasped.
"And Lily, this is only one corridor out of many in this wing." Said Sirius having fun at her expense.
"Don't worry Lily, you will know which room is yours. You have a good memory." Said James trying to soothe Lily.
"I'm going to get lost." She replied.
"Then I'll the same thing Ariadne did with Theseus and give you some string so you can find your way out." Said James with a smile. Lily giggled and Sirius laughed as he imagined Lily unrolling some string in the corridors.
James stopped in front of one of the doors. "This is your room Lily." He turned the knob and opened the door and motioned Lily to go in.
Lily gasped at the sight. The walls were covered with floral paper, it seemed as if the flowers were real and they even emitted floral perfume that permeated the air and gave the room a calm and welcoming atmosphere. In the center of the room stood a large canopy bed, the curtains were of a light lavender color and a bowl of fruit stood on a table by the door and the fireplace was lit giving some warmth to the room.
"Oh James, this is beautiful!" Exclaimed Lily.
"Mum choose good, this is perfect for you." Said James as they looked around the room.
"Are we all going to get fruit in our rooms?" Asked Sirius as he noticed the bowl and chose an apple from it.
"Honestly Sirius, can't you think of anything but food?" Said Lily.
"Yes, I can." He smiled.
"What do you think of besides food?" Asked James turning to look at his friend who was enjoying his apple.
"Why, of me of course." Said a voice from the door.
The trio turned to look who it was, Lily squealed with contentment, James smiled at Lily's excitement and Sirius whole expression lighted up.
"Katie, what are you doing here?" Asked Lily as she hugged her friend.
"The same thing you are I expect. Can you believe my parents, they didn't even bothered to tell me that we were coming here for the holidays." Said Katie as she kissed Sirius on his cheek and gave James a quick hug.
"I can believe it, my parents did the same thing; they didn't even bothered to tell me that they knew James' parents." Said Lily.
"I was wondering what you were doing here. But what have they said about you and James?" Katie asked.
"They haven't said anything yet because they don't know." Said Sirius.
"Aren't you going to tell them?" Said Katie with surprise.
"We are, just not yet." Said James.
"Why not?" Somebody said from the door.
"Remus!" The group exclaimed.
The next few minutes were spent in welcoming each other.
"Right! What were we speaking about?" Asked Sirius as everyone settled down and chose a couch to sit. The room contained a pair of small couches near the fireplace and it was here that the group settled to talk.
"I asked why not. Why aren't Lily and James going to tell their parents that they are a couple?" Remus responded.
Both Lily and James sighed as the others turned to look at them with questions in their eyes.
"I'm not going to tell mine because I want to know how they met Lily's parents and what is mother planning." Said James.
"What about you Lily?" Katie asked as minutes passed without Lily making a comment.
Lily sighed and said. "I'm worried about what my dad might say, he might not be too happy, I'm his Princess you see."
"Should I be worried?" Asked James who was now getting very nervous.
"I don't know, I just hope that he gets to know you and then he will be happy that we are together." Said Lily giving him a quick kiss on his lips.
"Oh I'm sure that he would love James he is perfect in everyone's eyes." Said a laughing voice from the door.
"Really James, I will require a different room it seems that this one is too accessible to others." Said Lily as the rest turned to welcome Emma.
"It would help if you closed the door." Emma replied as she turned to close the door shut.
"Who left the door open?" Asked James in mock anger to the others.
"We all did." Replied Sirius. "It was open when Katie came in because we were showing Lily her rooms, she left it open, then Remus left it open. Therefore, we all left it open."
"Thank you Sherlock Holmes for an outstanding conclusion to our mystery." Laughed Remus.
"Elementary my dear Lupin, elementary." Sirius said.
"Honestly, you boys are so childish sometimes." Exclaimed Katie.
"We are?" Exclaimed the three boys.
"Yes." Said the girls.
"Oh well, we just like to have fun that's all." Said Remus.
"Speaking of fun, where is Peter?" Asked Sirius.
"What does Peter have to do with fun?" Asked Katie.
"He is a Marauder." Said Sirius.
The girls rolled their eyes and shook their heads.
"He is not coming, his family had other plans." Said James.
"Oh well." Shrugged Remus.
"We can still have fun without him." Said Sirius as he walked to the basket of fruit to chose something else. This time he took an orange.
"Sirius, would you please stop eating my fruit? Why don't you ask for something from the kitchen?" Asked Lily.
"Because this is here and I don't want to wait for the servants to bring me something." Replied Sirius.
"Really Sirius! You have a basket in your own room, leave Lily's alone." Said James.
"But I'm not in my room now." Sirius responded.
"You could go and start getting ready. In fact, we all should go, Lily hasn't had the chance to unpack yet and we need to get ready for dinner." Said Emma.
"You are right Emma, we have been very inconsiderate. Sorry Lily." Apologized Katie as she started to pull the boys from the room.
"That's all right, but I would like to rest before going down to dinner." Said Lily.
"We are meeting in the front parlor at 7:00." Said James as the group started to leave the room. "I'll see you then." He gave her a quick kiss and softly closed the door behind him.
At 7: 00 the guests started to go down to the front parlor, there was a wide door on one side that opened to show the formal dinning room. James and his parents were first to arrive in order to welcome their guests.
"All our guests have arrived." Mrs. Potter reported. "The Robinsons were the last to come, but with Jack being so busy in the Ministry they couldn't come earlier."
"The Ministry has been in chaos during the last months." Said Aliaster Potter. "I'm not surprised that he couldn't get away."
"Mum, I thought you said this was going to be a small house party, I counted thirty one guests, not including us and Aunt Joy, cousin Mark, Uncle Norm and Aunt Agatha." Complained James. He was angry at his mother for inviting all these people, he didn't mind his friend and family, but why did she have to invite Jezebel and her friends? He knew that it was going to create some problems.
"It is a small party James, that is only thirty eight people at our table, we have had larger parties." Susan Potter replied.
"I suppose." James grunted, there was nothing for him to do but make the most of his time with his friends, especially Lily.
At that moment the guest started to come in, the Bennetts were first to arrive.
"Lyndon, Marie, I'm so glad to see you could make it. How is Hogwarts treating you Katie, I didn't have a chance to talk to you while I was there." Greeted Mrs. Potter.
"Hello Susan, we were so glad to get your invitation." Responded Marie Bennett. Mr. Bennett thanked Mrs. Potter for her invitation and turned to Aliaster Potter and they settled at one end of the room to talk about business.
"Hello Mrs. Potter, I understand that you couldn't speak with us, you had your hands full with James here." Said Katie as she nudge James in his arm.
"I let you know that I behaved myself." Said James with a dignified look. Katie laughed, the ladies smiled and James glowered.
Others were starting to enter the room and groups started to form.
"Marie, let me introduce you to Rose Evans, her daughter Lily goes to school with our children." Said Mrs. Potter as she greeted Mrs. Evans. "Rose, this is Marie Bennett, I'm sure Lily has mentioned Katie to you."
"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance Mrs. Bennett, Lily has talked endlessly about Katie." Responded Mrs. Evans with a smile. "You don't know how glad I am to finally meet my daughter's friends and their families.
"I can say the same, Katie has told me all about Lily, you must be very proud of her, there aren't many talented girls like her." Said Mrs. Bennett truly happy to finally meet the Evans.
"Marie, you remember Elizabeth Holmes, Elizabeth this is Rose Evans." Said Mrs. Potter introducing a newcomer to the group.
"Marie so glad to see you." Elizabeth Holmes greeted her friend with a kiss on her cheek and turned to greet the new member of the group. "Very pleased to meet you Mrs. Evans, are you by chance the mother of Lily Evans?"
"Why yes I am, I expect Emma is your daughter?" Said Mrs. Evans.
"Oh yes, I've heard a lot about Lily, but I suppose you have done the same about out daughters." Mrs. Holmes laughed.
"Our children do seem to get along very well." Laughed Mrs. Potter as she spied the group of young people forming not far from them.
Guests continued to arrive and introductions were done. The Ladies formed a group near the windows where large couches and several chairs were. The men stood by the fireplace talking about hunting, business, and politics. The young people were divided into several groups some mingled others stayed with their own personal friends. Footmen walked around the group with glasses of refreshments. The group talked and laughed as they waited for the butler to tell them that dinner was ready.
The door to the dinning room opened and a tall, thin, stately man appeared. He stood up straight and cleared his throat. The group fell silent and turned to look at him.
"Ma'am." He said. "Dinner is served."
"Thank you Roberts." The butler bowed and turned to open the doors wide.
Mrs. Potter stood and took the arm of Jack Robinson as Mr. Potter gave his arm to Lauren Robinson. The group behind them paired up and walked into the dinning room. Mrs. Potter directed her guests to their seats, small cards marked where each guest were placed. Once the group was sitting, the footmen came into the room carrying trays of food. The butler started to serve the guests as they chose from the trays. Conversation flowed and good spirits abounded.
"James, why did your mother invite them?" Asked Katie motioning to Jezebel and the others.
"Because of dad, Mr. Robinson and the others work in the Ministry and they meet often in social parties. Mr. Robinson is Head of the Potions Division of the Experimental Magic Department you know." Said James to his friends. They were sitting all together at one end of the table near Mrs. Potter. Jezebel and her friends were sitting on the other end of the table.
"I knew that he worked in the Ministry but never thought that he was the Head of the Potions Division. I've heard that they are working on some secret potions lately." Said Emma.
"Father says that their work is important and that it might change lives someday." Replied James.
"I suppose he didn't say what this work was about." Commented Remus.
"No, it's top secret work." James responded.
"Do you think it has something to do with what is going on, with all the disappearances and deaths I mean." Asked Katie.
"Could be. The Ministry is not looking good at the moment are they? These things started five years ago and they still haven't found anything of importance." Said Sirius.
"I think that they do know something, they just haven't made it public yet." Said Lily. "And with all the deaths and disappearances happening in the Muggle world they have to find out if they are related to what is happening in the Magical world."
"Things are definitely getting worse, I read in the Prophet that there are finally witnesses to one of these crimes. They described the group that committed them." Said Remus.
"But no one can be apprehended, these people were masked. They obviously knew that they were being watched. It seems that they are getting ready to show themselves and let people know what it is they want." Said James.
"Do you have any idea of who is behind all of this?" Asked Katie.
"I think Dumbledore knows, he knows everything that goes on in the world." Said Sirius.
"Don't let Professor Mysticity hear you say that, according to her she is all knowing and can see everything." Laughed James.
"She is just I joke, I wonder where Dumbledore found her." Said Remus.
"I wonder who is going to take her place. I heard she is planning to retire after this school year." Said Katie.
"I just hope that whoever it is will be better than her, I don't want my children to be taught by a fraud." Said James.
"I just want our children to inherit our map. I think James' first born should have it, because James came down with the idea. But he has to lend to our kids as well." Said Sirius.
"I cannot imagine you as a father Sirius. To be frank, you are not father material." Said Remus.
"And can you imagine how much trouble these kids will get into with their fathers cheering them on?" Asked Katie.
"Poor Dumbledore, he is getting rid of these four and they are already planning on a new set of Marauders to came after them. I hope Dumbledore retires before it's their turn to go to Hogwarts." Said Emma.
"Oh no, Dumbledore is young still, I bet he will be glad to see our children arrive at Hogwarts." Said Sirius.
"I bet he will. He will probably shake his head and instruct the teachers to keep a close eye on them." Said Lily.
"Poor children, to have to suffer the indignity of being labeled as troublemakers even before they are born." Laughed Emma.
The group smiled and continued with their dinner. On the other end of the table Jezebel sat with her friends and their partners.
"They look to be getting along quite well, no problems in paradise." Said Narcissa as they looked toward the lively group at the other end of the table.
"Do you think their parents know about their relationship?" Asked Maureen.
"I don't think so, James has been trying keep away from his mother's matchmaking schemes for so long I don't think he wants her to know about Lily." Said Jezebel.
"Are you going to mention it? That would cause some frictions among them." Said Narcissa.
"No, it would only make his mother happy and I don't know how Evans' would react. There are too many unknowns and I want to be able to keep control of the situation." Jezebel responded.
"Not to mention their friends. They would become an obstacle." Said Maureen.
"I can't do much in this house party, I would be calling attention to myself, and a lady never should do so. I'll let them enjoy their holidays but once we are back in Hogwarts it will be much easier to keep them apart." Said Jezebel.
The other two girls exchanged a knowing glance before turning their attention back to their food.
Dinner lasted a couple of hours, when it was done the group went back to the front parlor to talk and entertain themselves. They separated into groups once more as chatter and laughter filled the air.
"James." Mrs. Potter said above the noise after a while. "Do you have plans with your friends for tomorrow?" She asked.
"Not yet mum." Said James.
"Good, I thought that it would be nice for the young people to go skating. The lake in the back of the house has frozen and our groundskeeper has assured me that it is quite safe to have a skating party." Mrs. Potter said to all those assembled in the room.
All the young members of the assembly cheered and the adults smiled indulgently at their offspring's high spirits.
"We would enjoy that mum." Exclaimed James.
"I rather take offense Susan that you think that only our young guests would enjoy such a treat. I assure you that I would enjoy it as much as they will." Said Mr. Potter with mock anger.
His wife laughed and cheerily said. "I'm sure that you would enjoy it Aliaster, you are as childish as your own children, few people would believe that you are already a grandfather. But if that's how you feel, I'm sure that there are others who would like to join you. We can make it a family outing. I can ask the servants to build fires by the lake and we can serve hot chocolate and cider for those who prefer to watch instead of skating." Mrs. Potter replied.
The group assented to the plans for the next day, especially the young people who were really looking forward to showing off their skills.
The party broke off a few moments later and the members of the house party made their way to their respective rooms.
James and the others had stayed behind as the party had started to brake up. Sirius and Katie sat together at one end of a couch while James and Lily shared the other end and Remus and Katie shared a love seat beside the one the rest were sitting.
"If your mother has plans for us for every single day of our stay James, we will be too tired when we return to Hogwarts." Said Sirius.
"Mother does have her moments." Laughed James.
"I wonder what we should wear tomorrow. Why don't we go up and see if what we brought?" Katie said to her friends. The girls quickly left the room among whispers and giggles.
"We're in for it now, they are hatching something. And when they plan you know that we are the ones who will suffer for it." Said Sirius as he watched the girls disappearing from the room.
James and Remus laughed, they were remembering the last time the girls had decided to get even with them and they really didn't want to stand naked in front of their parents.
"We haven't done anything to them for them to hatch something against us, so I don't think we have anything to worry about." Replied Remus.
"Well I'm going to get some rest before facing them in the morning." Said Sirius trying to hold back a yawn.
"Yes, we have done quite a lot today haven't we? It seems like it has been quite a while since we left Hogwarts." Said James.
The boys got up from their seats and started to climb the staircase toward their rooms.
"Have a good night." Said Remus as they reached the landing that separated the family rooms from the guest rooms. "We'll see you tomorrow James."
"See you lot tomorrow, I'm finally going to have a night without hearing your snores." Teased James.
"You are the one that snores, I don't snore." Said Sirius.
The boys laughed as they split and made their way to their rooms.
A/N: This is the first part of this chapter, the rest will be posted soon. ; )
Disclaimer: I do not own HP, only the plot and secondary characters of this specific story.
Chapter 14 ~ The House Party
The Gryffindor common room was busy on the morning of the twentieth of December, students were packing last minute things and others kept returning to their dorms because they thought they had forgotten something. Some were all done and were waiting in the common room for their friends to return. The Marauders were sitting in their customary place waiting for the girls.
"What is keeping them? We have to be at Hogsmeade Station in forty five minutes." Said Peter in an exasperated tone.
"We'll be on time don't worry, girls just like to take their time packing." Said Sirius lying on one of the couches with his eyes closed.
"What is so difficult in packing?" Peter wanted to know.
"It's just that they like to make sure that they have everything they need, and whenever they think that they are ready something else comes to mind and they simply can't leave without it." Said Remus.
The others laughed at this, they had enough experience with girls to know that what Remus had said was very true.
"What are you guys laughing at?" Asked Lily as the girls approached the boys.
"Yeah, why don't you share the joke?" Urged Katie.
"You girls wouldn't like it." Quickly replied Sirius. The girls looked at them with a suspicious glance but decided not to argue about it.
"We should be going to the station now, I'm sure that the carriages are waiting up front." Said Emma.
"Are these all the luggage you are taking?" Asked Remus as he took notice of the trunks and hand-boxes the girls carried.
"Yes, Katie couldn't find her journal so we had to unpack everything until we found it, that's why we took so long." Explained Lily.
"I didn't know you kept a journal Katie. Dare I hope to one day have the privilege of reading some of it?" Said Sirius as he put his arm around her and started leading the group to the portrait hole.
"Don't hold you breath, you are not getting your hands on my journal even if we married." Responded Katie.
The others laughed at the expression of shock that passed through Sirius face.
Students enjoyed their few hours of freedom as the train traveled toward London. The Marauders and the Sirens shared a compartment, each couple enjoying the time they had left together.
"I'm going to miss you." Said Lily in a small voice as she settled into James arms. She had her back to him, pressed against his chest, and his arms around her waist.
"I'm going to miss you too. I'll owl you everyday." He whispered in her ear and giving her a quick kiss on her cheek.
"I'll look forward to them. I promise to answer them as soon as I get them. Iocasta will love to fly more often." Lily replied.
"I will be expecting her every day." James said.
On another corner of the compartment Sirius was sitting with Katie on his lap. Laughter and giggles could be heard from their corner but the others were too occupied to pay much attention to them. Remus and Emma were sitting in front of Lily and James. They were whispering to each other and making plans to meet sometime during their break.
"I'm sure that Diagon Alley will be very festive this time of year, and I would really like to take you to dinner there." Said Remus.
"I would love it, I'll owl you the moment I know what my family's plans are and we could fix on a day." Emma replied.
"I'll be looking forward to it." And he leaned to her and kissed her swiftly.
Peter was the only unattached person in the compartment but he didn't seem to mind, he just kept his mind on several pieces of parchment that his parents had sent him and were expecting him to know by heart when he arrived.
The trip eventually ended and the group kissed and hugged as they said goodbye to each other before splitting up and going their own way.
Lily saw her parents waiting for her at the barrier.
"Hello Princess! You don't know how much I missed you." Said Mr. Evans as he hugged his daughter.
"Hello daddy! Hi mum!"
"Hi dear. Do you have all your things? I don't want to come back later because you've forgotten something."
"I'm all set, didn't forget anything."
"Let's go then, I hope to be there before dark." Said Mr. Evans as he led his ladies to the car.
"Daddy, what is this luggage doing here?" Said Lily as she saw several pieces of luggage packed in the trunk and the backseat, there was barely room for her own luggage and herself.
"I'm sorry Hun, I forgot to tell you that we're going to a house party this Christmas. Don't worry," said Mrs. Evans when she saw the confused look Lily had on her face, "I packed the necessary clothes for you, I also bought some things that I think you would like."
"Thanks mum, but, where is this house party?"
"It's in the cottage of family friends in a small town in the outskirts of London, it will take us a while to get there because it is hidden to the common eye and we have to look very careful to make sure we don't miss it." Said Mr. Evans as the car pulled out of the parking lot.
"Which friends are these?" Asked a curious Lily.
"I don't think you've met them dear, although maybe you've heard of them. They're very influential people in their circle after all and I've heard their son is very popular with the girls." Said Mrs. Evans.
"A son, and I'm guessing he's single." Said a suspicious Lily. She hadn't told her parents about her relationship with James she was too afraid of what her mother would do if she knew that Lily had a boyfriend.
"Well of course he's single dear, he is rather young, I think he's about the same age as you are."
"Now mum, you're not going to start matchmaking are you?"
"Now dear, why would you say that?"
"Never mind mum, I don't want to arrive at this party in a bad mood. Where's Petunia, is she meeting us there?"
"Petunia isn't coming dear, she decided to spend the holidays with her fiancé and his family. I really think it won't be long before they tell us about that they had finally set on a wedding date."
"They haven't decided yet? I just hope that this means that Vernon is having second thoughts." Said Lily.
"Now Lily, your sister is good looking and outgoing, it isn't a surprise that she met a boy she wants to spend the rest of her life with-"
"If you say so mum." Muttered Lily.
"- and after all, she's 20, it was about time for her to think of having a family and leave us. In fact, that's something you have to start thinking of now that you're almost done with school." Continued Mrs. Evans as if Lily hadn't spoken.
"Speaking of school," interrupted Mr. Evans noticing the expression on Lily, "how has been your year so far Lily?"
"Oh, it's been great dad. The Festival we planned for Halloween was a great success. But then something happened to James and he had to be kept in the infirmary for quite some time."
"James? Is that the boy you told us about before Lily, the one that was named Head Boy?" Asked Mrs. Evans.
"Yes."
"I would like to meet him dear he sounds like a nice young man." Said Mrs. Evans.
"How long will it take us to get there?" Lily asked trying to change the subject she didn't think she was ready to tell her parents about James yet.
"Let me see, Aliaster said that we needed to take this street and follow it for 60 miles, then turn right on the road to Sussex and continue for 100 miles until we find a small country road, Godric's Lane I think he called it and that will take us to the town of Godric's Hollow. From there we just need to follow the lane that leads to the lake, Aliaster said that if we have any problems finding our way, people in that area can give us directions." Said Mr. Evans, who looked very proud of himself that he remembered the directions without reading the piece of paper in front of him.
"Godric's Hollow? I've never heard of it." Said Lily.
"Neither had I until they invited us to attend." Said Mrs. Evans as she saw the shops and houses pass by.
"You should've told me we were going somewhere else for Christmas, I didn't do any shopping for anybody other than family and close friends, it seems kind of rude to go to a House Party and not having anything for those who will attend." Said a disgruntled Lily.
"Don't worry about that dear, I was told that the Town Square has a huge variety of shops where last minute shopping could be done." Soothed Mrs. Evans.
"Well that's good, I wouldn't want to give our hosts a bad impression."
"You could never give a bad impression Princess, you're perfect."
"Daddy!"
"Hey James, who's supposed to come for us? Because it seems that they have forgotten us." Said Sirius as they waited in front of the station to be picked up.
"Mum said they might be a little late. And it's your mum the one who's picking us up."
"Should've known, she's probably looking for us in some other part of the station, she always looses her way."
"She's coming in a Ministry car, father said it would be faster."
"Hope so because I'm getting hungry."
"How can you be hungry? We just ate in the train."
"But that wasn't food, it was candy, that's not enough for a big man like me."
"Oh please."
At that moment a black car stopped just in front of them and the head of a woman with shiny brown hair and sparkling gray eyes appeared on the window.
"There you are dears, I was looking for you at the other side of the station, I swear, my memory gets worse every year."
"Hi mum, you know your memory has always been bad, but that doesn't mean that your beauty has diminished from the time you were 15." Said Sirius, kissing his mother's cheek.
"You flatterer, but I love you just the same." Said a giggling Mrs. Black.
"Hello Mrs. Black, I hope you will enjoy the holidays with us." Said James as he settled in the car.
"Hello James dear, I was so happy when your mother invited us to spend Christmas with you, I haven't been in the country for the holidays in quite a while and I always thought that Christmas in a country house would be just perfect."
"Who else is going to be there mum?" Asked Sirius as he settled into his seat.
"I'm not sure dear, I think some neighboring families were invited for a dinner and dance, and perhaps other close friends. But you'll see when we get there. Your mother, James, made sure we had this car, because she wants you there when the guests start to arrive."
"I bet, she just wants me to be ready when her friends with daughters arrive."
"Oh no dear, I'm sure she missed you and just wants to spend some time with you before people arrive."
"No she wants him to get a girlfriend." Said Sirius.
"And what's wrong with a mother wanting her child to think of the future? You both are almost 18, and just 6 more months until you're done with school. By this time next year you will, hopefully, have a job and new responsibilities so you have to start thinking of what are you going to do. And a family it's an important part in everybody's life."
"Mum, we're not 18 yet, we're not done with school, and we don't have a job. I would think that you would want me to be able to take care of myself before I can even start thinking of a wife."
"But you have to think seriously about this, I don't want to see get trapped by a hussy just because you weren't ready."
"Mum, a hussy? Really, I'm not an idiot mum."
"Sirius, such language, I didn't raise you like that."
"Sorry."
Silence settled among the passengers, each lost in their own thoughts that they didn't notice when the car stopped in front of a large house. The house was built in the Elizabethan style. The house was constructed with marble, big white columns adorned the entrance where two doors were open, with a woman standing beneath them waiting to greet the newcomers.
"There you are, I was getting worried you might've gotten lost."
"Hello mum, I've been told we're going to have guests this Christmas." Said James as he approached his mother and kissed her cheek.
"Yes, I thought that if you were inviting some of your friends I might as well invite some of mine and have a small house party. We can also make it a celebration for your last year in school, this is going to be fun, don't you think?"
"I hope so mum. Who did you invite?"
"Let me see, the Blacks, the Lupins, the Petegrews couldn't come they already had plans; The Holmes, the Sinclairs, the Bennets, The Robinsons, the Hortons, the Mulliens, the Averys, the-"
"I thought you said it was a small house party?" Complained James.
"It is a small party compared to others we've had." Said Mrs. Potter.
"You know with the Sinclairs and the Hortons here you're going to have to tell the house elves to stay in the kitchen, we don't want to scare any muggles while they're here."
"That's already taken care of dear, that's why we have our muggle servants."
"I know mum, who else is coming?"
"Let me see, I think that was all.no, I'm missing someone.hmm.oh here they are." She said as a car pulled over in front of the house.
James saw a couple, a red haired lady and a brown haired man getting our of the car, servants run to help with their luggage and couldn't see the third person who got out of it. James got distracted by Sirius, who came to stand by him, while his mother greeted her friends.
"James dear I don't think you know Rose and Edward. And here is Lily, so nice to see you again my dear, I hope James didn't make a nuisance of himself after we left."
Surprise was seen in every expression standing on the stairs, the only one who wasn't surprised was Mrs. Potter but James knew that she had a reason not to be surprised.
"You know each other?" Asked Lily, James, Sirius and the Evans at the same time.
"Oh dear, didn't I tell you?" Innocently asked Mrs. Potter.
"No mum, you didn't say anything about meeting Lily's parents." Said James frowning at her.
"Oh, I thought that I had." She said.
"Mum, how come you never mentioned that we were going to the Potter's?" Lily asked. "And that you had met them."
"I thought you wouldn't like it. Why didn't you say that you had met them?" Rose Evans asked.
"Because it was no big deal." She said.
"Would you mind if we take this inside? I'm hungry." Said Sirius.
"Shut up Sirius!" Snapped Lily and James.
"Lily!"
"James!"
"Sorry mum." They said in unison.
"It's that young man you should be apologizing to, I'm ashamed Lily, I didn't raise my daughter to be rude. I'm starting to think that this school of yours is having a bad effect on you." Scolded Mrs. Evans.
"Rose is right, the same goes to you James. And Sirius is right, we should take this to the sitting room is rude to keep our guests standing on the door." Said Mrs. Potter. "Why don't you young people go to the kitchens and grab something to eat, we won't have meal set out until everybody is here. You can show Lily her room after you have eaten James."
"Yes mum."
The group went toward a door in the right of the front door. A footman opened the door for them. A nice sitting room with antique looking furniture and colorful rugs graced the room. Wall length windows stood covered two sides of the room and showed a gorgeous countryside view.
"Will you require something Madam." The footman asked after the adults had sat. The young people stood by the door making sure that their parents didn't need them anymore.
"Just bring some tea and biscuits Eric, thank you." The footman bowed and closed the door.
"We are going to the kitchen mum." Said James.
"Behave yourselves." Mrs. Potter said.
James, Lily and Sirius left their parents and walked down a wide corridor to the kitchen.
"What was that all about?" Asked Sirius.
"I don't know but I bet my mother instigated it. I can't believe she didn't tell me about meeting your parents." Exclaimed James turning to look at Lily.
"I can't believe mine didn't tell me either. I hope they didn't have matchmaking schemes in mind." Replied Lily.
"That's probably what they were thinking of when they planned this house party." Smiled Sirius.
"Oh dear." Lily maoned.
"Well at least now I get to spend time with you." Said James putting his arm around Lily.
"I am so glad. We've got to tell our parents." Said Lily putting her head on his shoulder.
"Do we have to?" He asked kissing her on the top on her head.
"Yes we do." She said turning up to look at him and kissing his chin.
"Can I get an analgesic, I think I'm going to be sick." Sirius feigned a groan.
"Shut up Sirius. Let's see how you react when Katie comes.
"She is coming?" Lily and Sirius asked.
"Yes, mother told me just before you came in Lily."
"Yay!" Exclaimed Sirius.
Lily and James laughed. The trio had arrived at a set of doors; James quickly opened it and they were instantly engulfed by the culinary aromas permeating the air.
"Welcome home Master James, can we bring you something Master James." A squeaky voice asked from behind them.
The trio turned to look at a chubby looking elf, he was obviously the cook for the family as he was wearing a tea towel as if it was an apron. He was just finishing putting a tray together with tea and biscuits which Eric, the footman, was waiting for to take to the sitting room.
"Hello Otty, I see you still reign over the kingdom of the kitchens." Teased James. The elf didn't seem to be offended by this, on the contrary he seemed very happy by James comment.
"Oh, Master James was missed, sir. Kingdom of the kitchens indeed." Chuckled the elf. He magically cleaned a table by the corner and piled it with food, he pulled out the chairs and motioned to the three young people to sit. "Here is your food Master James. Please tell Otty if sir needs more." The elf quickly turned to direct the other elves working in the kitchen.
"Nice elf." Said Sirius as he piled his plate with food.
"He has always been my favorite, he knows exactly what I like." Said James as he pulled out a chair for Lily and then sat beside her.
"I can see that he is, you even named him ruler of his own kingdom." Laughed Lily.
"What can I say? I know how to flatter those I need something from." Replied James with a sly smile.
The others laughed. The trio spent the next hour eating and talking as the elves around them worked on a banquet fit for a king.
In the living room, the adults took their tea and talked about their children.
"We instantly went to Hogwarts after receiving the note of course, you can imagine how scared I was." Said Mrs. Potter.
"Oh I can well imagine, I would have been scared as well if the note was about Lily. Of course you had to go. We wouldn't have been able to do so." Sighed Mrs. Evans.
"Why not? I'm sure that you would like to see Hogwarts." Susan Potter responded with surprise.
"But we aren't magical Susan, we wouldn't be able to see it even if we stood on the doorstep. Lily explained to us how Hogwarts was hidden to the, what is the word my dear?" Mr. Evans asked turning to his wife.
"Muggle." She answered.
"Yes that's it, Hogwarts was hidden to the Muggle eye." Mr. Evans finished.
"Oh yes, I had forgotten that, but I'm sure that Dumbledore would make an exemption under especial circumstances." Mrs. Potter said.
"You met Lily then while you were there?" Asked Mrs. Evans.
"Oh yes. You have a wonderful daughter, I hired her you see, to tutor James while he was in the infirmary." Exclaimed Mrs. Potter.
"Oh, she probably liked that. She likes teaching, I have a feeling that she will become a teacher after leaving Hogwarts." Responded Mrs. Evans.
"I sure that she would be a great teacher, my dear." Mr. Evans said as he finished sipping his tea.
They heard a car stop in front of the house. They turned to look out the windows and found that a car had indeed stopped and the passengers were just getting out.
"Our guests are finally starting to arrive. Eric, can you please ask Mrs. Nichols to come here please." The footman bowed and left the room. He had been standing by the door the whole time in case his employer needed something. "Mrs. Nichols is our housekeeper." Mrs. Potter explained to the Evans after Eric had left. "She will show you the rooms that we had prepared for you. We will all meet here at 7:00 for dinner."
"Thank you Susan, I'm sure it will be lovely." Responded Mrs. Evans. At that moment the door opened and a thickset woman with a cheery disposition entered the room.
"Ah there you are Mrs. Nichols, can you show the Evans their room please." Said Mrs. Potter.
"Of course Ma'am, if you will follow me please." Mrs. Nichols led the Evans up the wide staircase that graced the entrance hall and branched into two wings. The East Wing where the family rooms and private rooms were and the West Wing were the guest rooms were located. Mrs. Potter returned to the sitting room and waited for her guests to be brought in.
James, Lily and Sirius had left the kitchen after eating as much as they could. In James and Sirius case, five times more than is humanly possible. This made the elves very happy and kept serving food as soon as the plates were emptied.
"I cannot believe that you two eat that much. I just get sick thinking about it." Said Lily as the trio took the servants stairs to the upper levels.
"I can only eat as much as I want when I'm at school or in the kitchen, mum would have a heart attack if I did so during her dinner parties." Complained James.
"And with good reason." Chided Lily.
"But Lil! We are growing boys, we need to eat as much as we can, our metabolism is at its peak you know." Said Sirius.
"Oh please Sirius, don't try to bamboozle me with your excuses. I know you better." Exclaimed Lily.
"Oh all right, but we can't help it, we get hungry." Pouted Sirius.
"Hmpf! It's a miracle that you two don't gain any weight, you would be the size of a baby whale by now." Responded Lily.
"A nice sight that would be." Laughed James. "We have to turn here, mum said that she had given you the floral room." James directed his friends down a corridor. Door after door, after door, the corridor seemed to be composed of an endless number of rooms, and Lily was sure that she could easily get lost.
"James, how will I know which is my room? There are so many here." Lily gasped.
"And Lily, this is only one corridor out of many in this wing." Said Sirius having fun at her expense.
"Don't worry Lily, you will know which room is yours. You have a good memory." Said James trying to soothe Lily.
"I'm going to get lost." She replied.
"Then I'll the same thing Ariadne did with Theseus and give you some string so you can find your way out." Said James with a smile. Lily giggled and Sirius laughed as he imagined Lily unrolling some string in the corridors.
James stopped in front of one of the doors. "This is your room Lily." He turned the knob and opened the door and motioned Lily to go in.
Lily gasped at the sight. The walls were covered with floral paper, it seemed as if the flowers were real and they even emitted floral perfume that permeated the air and gave the room a calm and welcoming atmosphere. In the center of the room stood a large canopy bed, the curtains were of a light lavender color and a bowl of fruit stood on a table by the door and the fireplace was lit giving some warmth to the room.
"Oh James, this is beautiful!" Exclaimed Lily.
"Mum choose good, this is perfect for you." Said James as they looked around the room.
"Are we all going to get fruit in our rooms?" Asked Sirius as he noticed the bowl and chose an apple from it.
"Honestly Sirius, can't you think of anything but food?" Said Lily.
"Yes, I can." He smiled.
"What do you think of besides food?" Asked James turning to look at his friend who was enjoying his apple.
"Why, of me of course." Said a voice from the door.
The trio turned to look who it was, Lily squealed with contentment, James smiled at Lily's excitement and Sirius whole expression lighted up.
"Katie, what are you doing here?" Asked Lily as she hugged her friend.
"The same thing you are I expect. Can you believe my parents, they didn't even bothered to tell me that we were coming here for the holidays." Said Katie as she kissed Sirius on his cheek and gave James a quick hug.
"I can believe it, my parents did the same thing; they didn't even bothered to tell me that they knew James' parents." Said Lily.
"I was wondering what you were doing here. But what have they said about you and James?" Katie asked.
"They haven't said anything yet because they don't know." Said Sirius.
"Aren't you going to tell them?" Said Katie with surprise.
"We are, just not yet." Said James.
"Why not?" Somebody said from the door.
"Remus!" The group exclaimed.
The next few minutes were spent in welcoming each other.
"Right! What were we speaking about?" Asked Sirius as everyone settled down and chose a couch to sit. The room contained a pair of small couches near the fireplace and it was here that the group settled to talk.
"I asked why not. Why aren't Lily and James going to tell their parents that they are a couple?" Remus responded.
Both Lily and James sighed as the others turned to look at them with questions in their eyes.
"I'm not going to tell mine because I want to know how they met Lily's parents and what is mother planning." Said James.
"What about you Lily?" Katie asked as minutes passed without Lily making a comment.
Lily sighed and said. "I'm worried about what my dad might say, he might not be too happy, I'm his Princess you see."
"Should I be worried?" Asked James who was now getting very nervous.
"I don't know, I just hope that he gets to know you and then he will be happy that we are together." Said Lily giving him a quick kiss on his lips.
"Oh I'm sure that he would love James he is perfect in everyone's eyes." Said a laughing voice from the door.
"Really James, I will require a different room it seems that this one is too accessible to others." Said Lily as the rest turned to welcome Emma.
"It would help if you closed the door." Emma replied as she turned to close the door shut.
"Who left the door open?" Asked James in mock anger to the others.
"We all did." Replied Sirius. "It was open when Katie came in because we were showing Lily her rooms, she left it open, then Remus left it open. Therefore, we all left it open."
"Thank you Sherlock Holmes for an outstanding conclusion to our mystery." Laughed Remus.
"Elementary my dear Lupin, elementary." Sirius said.
"Honestly, you boys are so childish sometimes." Exclaimed Katie.
"We are?" Exclaimed the three boys.
"Yes." Said the girls.
"Oh well, we just like to have fun that's all." Said Remus.
"Speaking of fun, where is Peter?" Asked Sirius.
"What does Peter have to do with fun?" Asked Katie.
"He is a Marauder." Said Sirius.
The girls rolled their eyes and shook their heads.
"He is not coming, his family had other plans." Said James.
"Oh well." Shrugged Remus.
"We can still have fun without him." Said Sirius as he walked to the basket of fruit to chose something else. This time he took an orange.
"Sirius, would you please stop eating my fruit? Why don't you ask for something from the kitchen?" Asked Lily.
"Because this is here and I don't want to wait for the servants to bring me something." Replied Sirius.
"Really Sirius! You have a basket in your own room, leave Lily's alone." Said James.
"But I'm not in my room now." Sirius responded.
"You could go and start getting ready. In fact, we all should go, Lily hasn't had the chance to unpack yet and we need to get ready for dinner." Said Emma.
"You are right Emma, we have been very inconsiderate. Sorry Lily." Apologized Katie as she started to pull the boys from the room.
"That's all right, but I would like to rest before going down to dinner." Said Lily.
"We are meeting in the front parlor at 7:00." Said James as the group started to leave the room. "I'll see you then." He gave her a quick kiss and softly closed the door behind him.
At 7: 00 the guests started to go down to the front parlor, there was a wide door on one side that opened to show the formal dinning room. James and his parents were first to arrive in order to welcome their guests.
"All our guests have arrived." Mrs. Potter reported. "The Robinsons were the last to come, but with Jack being so busy in the Ministry they couldn't come earlier."
"The Ministry has been in chaos during the last months." Said Aliaster Potter. "I'm not surprised that he couldn't get away."
"Mum, I thought you said this was going to be a small house party, I counted thirty one guests, not including us and Aunt Joy, cousin Mark, Uncle Norm and Aunt Agatha." Complained James. He was angry at his mother for inviting all these people, he didn't mind his friend and family, but why did she have to invite Jezebel and her friends? He knew that it was going to create some problems.
"It is a small party James, that is only thirty eight people at our table, we have had larger parties." Susan Potter replied.
"I suppose." James grunted, there was nothing for him to do but make the most of his time with his friends, especially Lily.
At that moment the guest started to come in, the Bennetts were first to arrive.
"Lyndon, Marie, I'm so glad to see you could make it. How is Hogwarts treating you Katie, I didn't have a chance to talk to you while I was there." Greeted Mrs. Potter.
"Hello Susan, we were so glad to get your invitation." Responded Marie Bennett. Mr. Bennett thanked Mrs. Potter for her invitation and turned to Aliaster Potter and they settled at one end of the room to talk about business.
"Hello Mrs. Potter, I understand that you couldn't speak with us, you had your hands full with James here." Said Katie as she nudge James in his arm.
"I let you know that I behaved myself." Said James with a dignified look. Katie laughed, the ladies smiled and James glowered.
Others were starting to enter the room and groups started to form.
"Marie, let me introduce you to Rose Evans, her daughter Lily goes to school with our children." Said Mrs. Potter as she greeted Mrs. Evans. "Rose, this is Marie Bennett, I'm sure Lily has mentioned Katie to you."
"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance Mrs. Bennett, Lily has talked endlessly about Katie." Responded Mrs. Evans with a smile. "You don't know how glad I am to finally meet my daughter's friends and their families.
"I can say the same, Katie has told me all about Lily, you must be very proud of her, there aren't many talented girls like her." Said Mrs. Bennett truly happy to finally meet the Evans.
"Marie, you remember Elizabeth Holmes, Elizabeth this is Rose Evans." Said Mrs. Potter introducing a newcomer to the group.
"Marie so glad to see you." Elizabeth Holmes greeted her friend with a kiss on her cheek and turned to greet the new member of the group. "Very pleased to meet you Mrs. Evans, are you by chance the mother of Lily Evans?"
"Why yes I am, I expect Emma is your daughter?" Said Mrs. Evans.
"Oh yes, I've heard a lot about Lily, but I suppose you have done the same about out daughters." Mrs. Holmes laughed.
"Our children do seem to get along very well." Laughed Mrs. Potter as she spied the group of young people forming not far from them.
Guests continued to arrive and introductions were done. The Ladies formed a group near the windows where large couches and several chairs were. The men stood by the fireplace talking about hunting, business, and politics. The young people were divided into several groups some mingled others stayed with their own personal friends. Footmen walked around the group with glasses of refreshments. The group talked and laughed as they waited for the butler to tell them that dinner was ready.
The door to the dinning room opened and a tall, thin, stately man appeared. He stood up straight and cleared his throat. The group fell silent and turned to look at him.
"Ma'am." He said. "Dinner is served."
"Thank you Roberts." The butler bowed and turned to open the doors wide.
Mrs. Potter stood and took the arm of Jack Robinson as Mr. Potter gave his arm to Lauren Robinson. The group behind them paired up and walked into the dinning room. Mrs. Potter directed her guests to their seats, small cards marked where each guest were placed. Once the group was sitting, the footmen came into the room carrying trays of food. The butler started to serve the guests as they chose from the trays. Conversation flowed and good spirits abounded.
"James, why did your mother invite them?" Asked Katie motioning to Jezebel and the others.
"Because of dad, Mr. Robinson and the others work in the Ministry and they meet often in social parties. Mr. Robinson is Head of the Potions Division of the Experimental Magic Department you know." Said James to his friends. They were sitting all together at one end of the table near Mrs. Potter. Jezebel and her friends were sitting on the other end of the table.
"I knew that he worked in the Ministry but never thought that he was the Head of the Potions Division. I've heard that they are working on some secret potions lately." Said Emma.
"Father says that their work is important and that it might change lives someday." Replied James.
"I suppose he didn't say what this work was about." Commented Remus.
"No, it's top secret work." James responded.
"Do you think it has something to do with what is going on, with all the disappearances and deaths I mean." Asked Katie.
"Could be. The Ministry is not looking good at the moment are they? These things started five years ago and they still haven't found anything of importance." Said Sirius.
"I think that they do know something, they just haven't made it public yet." Said Lily. "And with all the deaths and disappearances happening in the Muggle world they have to find out if they are related to what is happening in the Magical world."
"Things are definitely getting worse, I read in the Prophet that there are finally witnesses to one of these crimes. They described the group that committed them." Said Remus.
"But no one can be apprehended, these people were masked. They obviously knew that they were being watched. It seems that they are getting ready to show themselves and let people know what it is they want." Said James.
"Do you have any idea of who is behind all of this?" Asked Katie.
"I think Dumbledore knows, he knows everything that goes on in the world." Said Sirius.
"Don't let Professor Mysticity hear you say that, according to her she is all knowing and can see everything." Laughed James.
"She is just I joke, I wonder where Dumbledore found her." Said Remus.
"I wonder who is going to take her place. I heard she is planning to retire after this school year." Said Katie.
"I just hope that whoever it is will be better than her, I don't want my children to be taught by a fraud." Said James.
"I just want our children to inherit our map. I think James' first born should have it, because James came down with the idea. But he has to lend to our kids as well." Said Sirius.
"I cannot imagine you as a father Sirius. To be frank, you are not father material." Said Remus.
"And can you imagine how much trouble these kids will get into with their fathers cheering them on?" Asked Katie.
"Poor Dumbledore, he is getting rid of these four and they are already planning on a new set of Marauders to came after them. I hope Dumbledore retires before it's their turn to go to Hogwarts." Said Emma.
"Oh no, Dumbledore is young still, I bet he will be glad to see our children arrive at Hogwarts." Said Sirius.
"I bet he will. He will probably shake his head and instruct the teachers to keep a close eye on them." Said Lily.
"Poor children, to have to suffer the indignity of being labeled as troublemakers even before they are born." Laughed Emma.
The group smiled and continued with their dinner. On the other end of the table Jezebel sat with her friends and their partners.
"They look to be getting along quite well, no problems in paradise." Said Narcissa as they looked toward the lively group at the other end of the table.
"Do you think their parents know about their relationship?" Asked Maureen.
"I don't think so, James has been trying keep away from his mother's matchmaking schemes for so long I don't think he wants her to know about Lily." Said Jezebel.
"Are you going to mention it? That would cause some frictions among them." Said Narcissa.
"No, it would only make his mother happy and I don't know how Evans' would react. There are too many unknowns and I want to be able to keep control of the situation." Jezebel responded.
"Not to mention their friends. They would become an obstacle." Said Maureen.
"I can't do much in this house party, I would be calling attention to myself, and a lady never should do so. I'll let them enjoy their holidays but once we are back in Hogwarts it will be much easier to keep them apart." Said Jezebel.
The other two girls exchanged a knowing glance before turning their attention back to their food.
Dinner lasted a couple of hours, when it was done the group went back to the front parlor to talk and entertain themselves. They separated into groups once more as chatter and laughter filled the air.
"James." Mrs. Potter said above the noise after a while. "Do you have plans with your friends for tomorrow?" She asked.
"Not yet mum." Said James.
"Good, I thought that it would be nice for the young people to go skating. The lake in the back of the house has frozen and our groundskeeper has assured me that it is quite safe to have a skating party." Mrs. Potter said to all those assembled in the room.
All the young members of the assembly cheered and the adults smiled indulgently at their offspring's high spirits.
"We would enjoy that mum." Exclaimed James.
"I rather take offense Susan that you think that only our young guests would enjoy such a treat. I assure you that I would enjoy it as much as they will." Said Mr. Potter with mock anger.
His wife laughed and cheerily said. "I'm sure that you would enjoy it Aliaster, you are as childish as your own children, few people would believe that you are already a grandfather. But if that's how you feel, I'm sure that there are others who would like to join you. We can make it a family outing. I can ask the servants to build fires by the lake and we can serve hot chocolate and cider for those who prefer to watch instead of skating." Mrs. Potter replied.
The group assented to the plans for the next day, especially the young people who were really looking forward to showing off their skills.
The party broke off a few moments later and the members of the house party made their way to their respective rooms.
James and the others had stayed behind as the party had started to brake up. Sirius and Katie sat together at one end of a couch while James and Lily shared the other end and Remus and Katie shared a love seat beside the one the rest were sitting.
"If your mother has plans for us for every single day of our stay James, we will be too tired when we return to Hogwarts." Said Sirius.
"Mother does have her moments." Laughed James.
"I wonder what we should wear tomorrow. Why don't we go up and see if what we brought?" Katie said to her friends. The girls quickly left the room among whispers and giggles.
"We're in for it now, they are hatching something. And when they plan you know that we are the ones who will suffer for it." Said Sirius as he watched the girls disappearing from the room.
James and Remus laughed, they were remembering the last time the girls had decided to get even with them and they really didn't want to stand naked in front of their parents.
"We haven't done anything to them for them to hatch something against us, so I don't think we have anything to worry about." Replied Remus.
"Well I'm going to get some rest before facing them in the morning." Said Sirius trying to hold back a yawn.
"Yes, we have done quite a lot today haven't we? It seems like it has been quite a while since we left Hogwarts." Said James.
The boys got up from their seats and started to climb the staircase toward their rooms.
"Have a good night." Said Remus as they reached the landing that separated the family rooms from the guest rooms. "We'll see you tomorrow James."
"See you lot tomorrow, I'm finally going to have a night without hearing your snores." Teased James.
"You are the one that snores, I don't snore." Said Sirius.
The boys laughed as they split and made their way to their rooms.
A/N: This is the first part of this chapter, the rest will be posted soon. ; )