A/N: Well, I already made a whole chapter on James meeting Lily's family and to make a whole other chapter on Lily meeting James's family would probably bore you all, so I'll make it short and get this chapter rolling.  Thanks to all that reviewed! You all ROCK! Luv ya all!

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THE LIE –

James paced back and forth eagerly, deep in thought, until a small rumbling noise broke his concentration. Startled, he looked toward the fireplace, only to have a rush of soot blast out at him, and a black-haired boy coughing and looking at him with a sheepish smile.

"Sirius! What are you doing here!" James shouted in surprise.

"What are you doing here?" played Sirius jokingly.

"Cut it out, Padfoot." Said James, helping his friend to his feet. "Really now, why are you here?"

"What?" muttered Sirius, "I'm not allowed to check up on my best friend once in awhile?"

James sensed the hesitance in his voice. Sirius wasn't meeting his eye but playing with a candlestick on the mantle.

"I'm serious." James said sternly.

"No, I'm Sirius!" exclaimed Padfoot, grinning at James.

James looked at him firmly. Understanding that James really was concerned, Sirius looked away again and managed to mutter, "I-I ran away from home again."

"Ran away? But you're graduated now, you don't have to live at home!" Said James with a warm smile.

"I know." Muttered Sirius thickly, "I'm staying with Moony until I find a place of my own, but tonight's a full moon so I had to leave and go somewhere. I know you had plans for just you and Lily tonight, so I was planning to stay at my house for the time being, but the moment I walked into the door, my nutter mum started screaming at me to leave… She doesn't want me there…" He ran rather quiet on those last words. James knew Sirius didn't like talking about his home-life. Sirius hated staying there, as much his mother wanted him gone. He really didn't like it. And his family really didn't like him, sad to say. Sirius had run away in the past and had come to live with James, but it was time for them to go out on their own, as much as James hated to think it. He normally wouldn't have minded for Sirius to stay the night, but he was supposed to be meeting Lily.

Sirius looked at James with those big, dog-like eyes. And James really did pity him. He was his best friend after all, they were practically brothers.

"You can stay, Padfoot," said James, giving in. He watched Sirius's eyes light up merrily, "but you have to stay in the living room until Lily leaves, not that she wouldn't love to see you." Added James hastily as Sirius's expression dimmed a bit, "But, it's a date and I finally managed to get my parents out of the house. Do we have a deal then, Pad?"

Sirius was grinning broadly, "Absolutely, Prongs! I'll be so quiet, you won't even know I'm here!" He hopped over the back of the couch, and sunk into the cushions and pulled open a 'witch weekly' magazine that had been on the Potter's coffee table. James wondered with a smile if he'd ever see an end to Sirius's 'little-boy' side.

Just as James was walking from the room, he looked over his shoulder, "Oh, and Padfoot, no easing-dropping."

"Me? Ease drop?" Sirius laughed heartily, "Wouldn't dream of it!"

James smiled, unsure whether he could really take that as a heat filled answer.

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Later that night, James and Lily sat at the table after having just finished dinner made my James (or, magic, was more like it). They talked and laughed at old memories, which at the time, had been very serious, but now, they were nothing more than funny.

"…That wasn't half as bad as when you got so mad at me, that you melted my shoes to the corridor floor so that I couldn't follow you anymore." James said laughing. Lily tried to suppress a proud giggle.

"Yes, well, you were the one who used magical paint form Zonko's to write a love message to me, I had to react somehow. And that's not to mention all the times you tried to make it up the stairs to the girls dormitories," Lily laughed, "I can't even begin to count the number of times I saw you make it half-way up the stone steps, but you always ended up having to slide down it when the slide formed. I thought you would have learned your lesson the first time."

"Yes, well, I don't believe in giving up. If I did, I wouldn't be eating dinner with you." James smiled.

Lily blushed furiously, in attempt to hide it; she took a drink, but couldn't help smiling into her glass.

"James," Lily said, "I'm serious-"

"What!" called a Sirius in the next room as he thought he had heard his name. James had completely forgotten he was there.

"Who said that?" Asked Lily questioningly.

"Uh, my-my dad."

"I thought you said they were gone?" Said Lily, raising an eyebrow.

"They were. My dad probably came back to get something. He's very forgetful." James said, and then began to gulp his drink so he didn't have to meet eyes with her.

Lily nodded with a smile, "My dad's like that to! What is it with parents?"

James laughed.

Lily laughed too, "I'm serious!"

"WHAT!" yelled Sirius even louder in the next room, thinking they had said his name again.

James glanced at Lily with an awkward smile as Lily got up and walked toward the kitchen door. She swung it open to reveal Sirius sitting on the couch, now eating chips.

"Hi, Lils! Were you the one calling me?" Sirius asked thoughtfully.

Lily looked around at James, "Well, James, I don't remember your dad looking like that."

There was a silence before James burst out laughing. Lily tried to conceal her smile by pursing her lips, only to fail and begin laughing as well. Leaving a very confused Sirius sitting on the couch.

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Two days later, James walked up to the Evan's doorstep. He rang the bell. Petunia's irritated face appeared.

"Can I help you?" She asked in a rather bored tone.

"Uh, yes, is Lily home?"

"Lily? Oh, no, she's about to leave with her fiancée, to plan for their wedding…" Petunia answered, examining her nails.

James stared at her for a moment, and then regained his normal composure. She must be pulling his leg.

"Really. Where is she?" James asked, trying to look past her.

"I told you." She said in irritation, "She's with her fiancée." Petunia pointed past him toward his right.

James slowly looked over to his right where Lily and a buff man stood in their garden. At first James didn't believe his eyes. And then, Lily hugged the man tightly and kissed him on the cheek.

James shook his head in disbelievement and confusion. He didn't even notice as the white rose he had bought for Lily slipped form the slack grip of his hand. He felt numb. Sorrow and anger was overwhelming him to the point where he could barely think. He couldn't stand it. He numbly turned and walked away. Unsure what to do or say. Let alone think.

Petunia smiled smugly to herself.

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"Listen, I'm sorry. I wasn't able to ever get a hold of you with you gone on your ministry trip. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before." Lily said apologetically.

She was standing in the garden with a man named Bryce, her old boyfriend, whom she had, well, accidentally forgotten to break up with. They never had really been close and she honestly didn't care for him, and with all the excitement roaming about, she hadn't even thought about him.

Bryce hung his head despairingly at the sound of Lily's engagement, especially since he had just proposed to her. Feeling extremely awful about rejecting him and not telling him about her and James, she gave him a tight comforting hug, which he seemed to accept, and then a long, friendly kiss on the cheek. A very sad Bryce departed and Lily began walking back toward her house. She thought she had seen someone walking away from the house. Assuming it was only her father, Lily thought nothing of it. She walked to her front door and stopped to pick up a white rose on the doorstep. She smiled to herself, it must be from James. She walked inside and saw Petunia sitting on the couch, reading a muggle magazine.

"Did James stop by for me?" asked Lily in wonder, still smiling at the rose.

Petunia tried to conceal a smile as she answered, "Yes. In fact, he told me to give you this note…" She reached in her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

Lily grabbed it excitedly and ran upstairs, leaving a very happy looking sister behind.

Lily hopped on her bed and opened the note. But by the time she had even read the first line, she was back on her feet again and no longer smiling.

Dear Lily,

The wedding is off. There's not much to say, except that I have found myself in love with another woman. We had our relationship going on before you and I were even engaged. And though I had planned to breakup with her, I find I am still devoted. My deepest apologies.

-James

Lily closed her eyes. She was in shock. This couldn't be happening! It didn't sound like something James would write. And so she began to think it was a gig, that it was a joke. That someone like Sirius was pulling her leg. So as the days went by she waited for some kind of sign or explanation, but James never wrote. She tried to floo there a few times, but he had blocked his fireplace as to not let her through. It was then she realized it was no joke. And by the end of the week, Lily found herself in sleepless fits and sobbing into her pillow almost daily. She had officially decided that James was nothing more than a cheat and a liar, and she hated him. Feeling her every nerve prick at the thought of James, she decided she would marry Bryce. She didn't love him, but perhaps he would grow on her, Lily thought sadly as she finished telling her family the wedding was off. Then she went back into her room and cried, letting her broken heart pour sorrow out from within her.

Petunia, at the sound of the news, left the room with a bounce to her step. At first she had been sure that Lily had caught on that she, Petunia, had written the letter. But with this joyous news, she felt pride that she had succeeded. She laughed at the thought that Lily had actually believed it! And since James would no longer talk to her after seeing Lily with Bryce, Petunia felt things couldn't get any better. Her plan was working…