Lily sat ruffling James' hair until he got annoyed with it. They were trying to get the last of their homework done, but they didn't seem to be getting anywhere. James sighed and let his books slam shut. Lily grinned at him.
"Finally."
"What shall we do then?"
"Take a walk."
It hadn't snowed that winter, but it was still freezing cold outside. James noticed that Lily already had her cloak on and was wrapping a Gryffindor scarf around her neck to keep out the bitter cold. He dragged on his own cloak and they set off into the darkness of the evening. They walked around the lake, which was close to freezing over, and eventually sat down on a frosty bench near the edge.
"Lily?" James asked tentatively. He wasn't sure whether to bring up the subject of her parents or not; he hoped that she didn't get upset again.
"Yeah?"
"Have you thought about talking to your parents yet?"
Lily frowned. "Course I have. I'm just not sure when I'll be ready to do it, or if they're ready. It's awkward."
"Maybe you should do it sooner rather than later – you don't really want to have to worry about anything else when you're doing your NEWTs."
"I don't know James."
They were silent for a while.
"I'll come with you if you like."
Lily's eyes fixed on his. "I would like."
She rested her head on his shoulder and he felt her shivering.
"Here." He moved forward carefully and took off his cloak. "Put this on."
Lily gave him a you're-an-idiot look. "Don't be stupid James, you'll freeze."
"I was freezing anyway. Just take it."
Lily shook her head at him, but wrapped his cloak around her anyway. She moved as close to him as she possibly could in order to share her body heat with him.
"Tomorrow. We'll do it tomorrow."
"Do it? Are you sure you it isn't a bit soon for that?"
Lily pulled away slightly and gave him a light punch. "You dirty git! You know I didn't mean it like that."
"Ah, well. I knew it was too good to be true."
Lily grinned. "What are you on about anyway? How can it be too soon if we love each other?"
"You're right. Tomorrow it is then."
Lily gave him a light whack. "Do you really want to do it at Hogwarts?"
James pondered for a few minutes. "No. Anyone could walk in on us."
Lily pulled a face. "What's that smell?"
James screwed up his face. "Yuck." He turned around and looked behind the bench to find a huge black dog grinning at him.
Lily had turned around too. "It that a Grim?" She inquired with a puzzled look on her face.
"No." The dog looked strangely like it was grinning at them. "Get lost."
The dog just sat there.
"I'll say your name." James threatened. Lily was completely bewildered. The dog still didn't move, but it's expression changed to a yeah-right-you're-a-liar face.
James gave it once last chance. "I mean it." The dog didn't move. "She'll be mad." The dog still didn't move. "I'll help her curse you into oblivion." The dog wouldn't move.
"James, it's only a dog – leave it alone."
"Padfoot." The dog's eyebrows (or where it's eyebrows would've been) seemed to rise.
"Padfoot?" Lily asked. "Isn't that Sirius' nickname?"
"Yup. Now's the time to run Padfoot."
"He's an animagus?"
Padfoot started to run.
Lily and James entered the Gryffindor common room and calmly walked over to Remus.
"Have you seen Sirius?"
Remus grinned. "Not since he came running in mumbling about shit about quarter of an hour ago."
"Lily knows about Padfoot."
Remus' eyes danced with amusement. "Well, she already knew about me anyway. What did he do?"
"Listened in on our conversation. I gave him fair warning to get lost before I said his name."
"Good luck."
"Thanks mate."
Sirius pulled Lily and James to one side just before they entered the Great Hall for breakfast the next day.
"How long will this last?" His voice was an urgent whisper.
Lily grinned mischievously. "Well, we're not sure how long your face will be puke coloured for – it could be ages before it goes back to normal."
James laughed at the desperate look on Sirius' face. "Your hair will reappear when you face changes back."
"You know I hate you guys, right?"
Nearly the whole school had seen Sirius' face that morning. Lily and James hadn't made the spell to last for very long – he was their friend. The spell would wear off any second now, but they weren't about to tell him that.
"We'll bear that in mind in the future."
Sirius tried to hide his head throughout breakfast because he didn't realise that it had changed back to its normal state. Lily and James couldn't help but laugh and people who had seen him earlier that morning (pretty much everyone) were sniggering into their food. Ari tried to tell him that it had changed back, but Sirius refused to trust her until she produced a mirror.
"Are you sure about this?"
Lily scowled at James and answered his question for about the tenth time that day.
"There's still time to back out."
Lily glared at James and determinedly rang the doorbell.
Petunia answered the door with a huge grin on her face – she was expecting Vernon. Lily swatted James lightly as he tried to keep in his laughter at Petunia's less than conservative appearance, but didn't quite manage it.
"Why are you here, freak?"
Lily kept her face emotionless. "I don't know. I must've got the wrong house - I was unaware that a prostitute lived here." James desperately tried not to laugh.
"You're just jealous of my looks." Petunia took on an even more elaborate pose in the doorway.
"Yeah, I've always wanted to look like a horse."
James tried to disguise his laughter as a cough.
Lily's father appeared in the doorway before Petunia could think of a half decent comeback. A car horn blared and Petunia trotted off down the path, feeling a million pounds – looking less than a penny.
James and Lily sat on a sofa, while her parents sat on one opposite to them.
"Lily, I'm really sorry about what blaming you before. I know that it wasn't your fault; I'm sorry I didn't listen to what you were trying to tell me."
James tried to gauge how Lily was feeling. Her parents had invited them into the house – they were so anxious to talk to Lily that they didn't even ask who James was.
"I was just so upset about Jack. I was angry and stupid Lily; please forgive me. I can't lose two of you."
Lily seemed to be thinking things over. James gently squeezed her hand, which was interlocked with his, to let her know that she wasn't alone. She looked at her father's sorrowful eyes and felt his confusion and regret towards his own actions. Though he had been hurtful towards her, he had been hurting himself and she could see how ashamed he was of his actions. Lily reached a decision.
"Okay." Her father's face broke into a grin as he reached across and pulled Lily into a hug. They broke apart so that Lily's mother could hug her.
"So," Lily's mum said, with a smile on her face, "Who is this fine young man?"
James' face looked as though someone had poured boiling water over it. He'd kept saying to Lily about backing out because he was nervous about meeting her parents; what if they didn't like him?
"Mum, Dad – this is James-"
Before Lily could finish her sentence, her father cut in. "Potter?" He seemed to find something amusing.
"Dad, don't-"
"The one who hassled you each year? How come you said yes?"
Lily grinned. "I didn't. I was the one asking the question. James – this is my Mum."
"Daisy." They shook hands and Lily proceeded to introduce her Dad.
"And this is my Dad."
"Brian."
Brian Evans insisted on giving James the Spanish inquisition, telling him how to treat his daughter and what would happen to him if he ever hurt Lily in any way. Lily sat cringing as her father's endless list of questions, advise and threats dragged on. Brian seemed to be happy with James' answers and seemed to like his character.
They bid farewell to Lily's parents before dinnertime, so that nobody would be suspicious as to their whereabouts and absence from the Hogwarts grounds.
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
Jessie xxx child-of-scorpio kiko-love-kurama Padfootlet KrisKG Andie Potter YamiClara ! Irish!QT! (neither am I!) Karen RhiaCat AtwistedAngel13 Lizzabeth Turner
