Dear Diary,
James just left. I cannot believe I am still breathing. I cannot believe my whole family is still breathing, for that matter.
Well, let me go back and explain everything in detail.
James arrived at the front door at exactly three o'clock this afternoon. Thankfully, there was no dragon parked on my front lawn or any magical evidence whatsoever. He even tried to dress like a muggle. He looked rather convincing, actually, in a pair of jeans and a polo shirt.
I opened the door to find him on the front stoop, pushing up his glasses and holding two bouquets of flowers. Lilies. I'm not kidding- the boy had lilies with him.
Great, now Mother will definitely believe we are not dating. Which we aren't . Not at all. James Potter knows how I feel about him; he is just a slimy git.
I took the flowers from him, with a rather forced smile. I should give myself credit for not mentioning anything rude. I definitely have more class than that, at least.
We walked past the sitting room, when James must have saw Petunia in there with Vernon. James halted slightly, and I had to turn around to see what was the matter with him.
"What is it?" I asked, looking at him suspiciously.
"You have a sister?" he questioned.
I nodded. "That's Petunia."
Without another word, he conjured up another bouquet of lilies and walked over to Petunia, delivering them to her with a smile, kissing her hand lightly.
Bad move. Without question, that was a definite bad move.
Vernon stood up, and let me tell you, whenever he moves, the whole house shakes. Petunia tells me that his weight is a good thing, that he is a boxing champion. That is a load of codswallop.
Vernon is just terrifyingly obese. His face was turning purple and this completely unattractive vein was popping out of his forehead. He looked livid, I swear.
"What did you just give my girlfriend?" he snarled, staring James in the eye.
James was remarkably brave. If I was in his position, I would have left the house and fled. "A housewarming gift, for allowing me to spend the afternoon to work on a project. I hope we don't make too much noise."
And with that, James walked away.
It was a tad disappointing. Vernon didn't sit on James, no magic was performed. But still, it was better than a normal afternoon of listening to Vernon and Petunia snog on the couch.
James followed me to the kitchen, where I put the flowers in vases. I was hoping that Mother wouldn't notice the flowers until it was too late, but she walked in just as I was filling the vases with water.
"Oh my, where did these come from?" she asked, nosily. Honestly, her footsteps doubled when she saw that James brought flowers. She crossed the room in a nanosecond.
"James brought them." I said, trying to sound completely disinterested.
"Well wasn't that sweet!" my mother replied, giving James a nice smile. "James, dear, do you like pot roast? What would you like to have for dinner? You are staying of course, right?"
James nodded. "Yes, pot roast would be fine. Thank you so much."
"We're going upstairs." I informed my mother, dragging James by the wrist.
When we were securely locked in my bedroom, far away from the rest of my family who thought James was a little angel, I faced him.
"What was that all about!" I spat at him.
"What was what all about? By the way, nice room, Evans." he responded, looking around my room.
Ugh, apparently Vernon is the only person who understands how awful this boy is.
"Fine, ignore the fact that you just brought me flowers." I told him.
"Oh, anything for you, Lily."
I wanted to choke. I wanted to just choke and die. Visions of Dorcas and I at the ice cream parlor reappeared in my mind's eye.
"Let's just work on this project, all right?" I suggested, pulling out my textbook.
James nodded.
The rest of the afternoon wasn't too bad. James seemed relatively normal, throwing out ideas and facts he was finding in his textbook while I scribbled them down. It was actually, although I hate to admit this, sort of fun.
James and I worked well together. The paper was probably going to be much better than anything I ever wrote with Marlene or Emmeline. Not that I had a good time or anything. I still wish I was in Majorca wearing a new pair of sunglasses, but still.
Then it was time for dinner.
James and I headed for the dining room. We hardly ever eat in the dining room. I mean, Vernon has stayed for dinner so many times, we don't even try to impress him anymore. He has eaten Chinese food at our tiny kitchen table.
This was all obviously for my boyfriend. James, who wasn't even my boyfriend. Mother had set the good china. James Potter did not deserve our good china. Great Aunt Gerta, maybe. But not James.
"I'll go get some things from the kitchen." I said, excusing myself from the scene.
James stood up, ready to trail after me like he had all afternoon.
"No, sit down, sit down. You're a guest!" my father told him, in a jolly tone.
I shut my eyes tight as I headed into the kitchen. What was my father going to ask James about? They obviously couldn't discuss magic- Vernon was present. Petunia's boyfriend had no idea where I went to school or the fact that I was a witch. I grabbed a bowl filled with creamy, mashed potatoes and headed back into the dining room.
"I didn't know your boyfriend here was captain of the school team!" Daddy said as soon as I reentered the room.
I sighed, heavily. Loudly. I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. "He is NOT my boyfriend. Just my partner for this project."
Daddy chuckled and winked at James, who politely smiled back. This was a new side of James. He wasn't making snide comments that were slightly insulting. He hadn't cursed anybody, not even Vernon. If this was Hogwarts, Sirius Black and James would have been laughing and hexing Vernon left and right.
"So, James, how long have you and Lily been dating?" my mother asked James as soon as everyone had been served.
"Oh, well, I've been trying to get her to go out with me since the end of our third year." He responded.
"And we are still NOT dating." I cut in, sending dirty looks into my pot roast.
"Lily, do not use that tone at the table. It is not acceptable."
Great. I got lectured at the dinner table. That comment made me sound like I was six, not almost sixteen. James is going to have so much dirt on me when we go back to Hogwarts in September. He is going to tell everyone about the hunk of lard my sister is dating and the fact that my parents are so overprotective of me, and that I even have a stuffed unicorn sitting on my bed.
WHY IN THE WORLD DID I NOT THINK TO PUT THAT UNICORN IN THE CLOSET BEFORE JAMES CAME OVER!
"—Lily, are you listening to me?" Dad asked, looking over at me oddly.
I am such a spaz. I had stopped paying attention to dinner conversation.
"Um, what?" I asked.
"We were just saying how good of an idea it sounds for James to come over next week, also. I'm sure there is much work left to do on the project and James can go to the carnival with you that night."
"The carnival? Are you serious?" I responded.
Nobody my age goes to the carnival. The carnival is a dinky assortment of cotton candy stands and rides that the nearby grammar school sponsors every summer. By the time I was nine, I realized it wasn't too much fun.
"We are not going to the carnival."
Mother looked at me funny. "James just said he would love to go."
I sent James a look. A look that could have burned his eyes out. If magic was allowed outside of school, I would have hexed him nonverbally.
"Did you, then, James?"
He nodded, swallowed a mouthful of his pot roast and then said, "I think it sounds like fun. We should go, Lily."
"Fine, we'll go."
The rest of the meal was rather uneventful. I'm pretty sure Petunia and Vernon were playing footsie under the table, but that's actually become a mealtime staple at the Evans household.
After the meal, and dessert—my mother never makes dessert; another sign that she was going out of her way for James—the two of us were outside on the front stoop.
"What are you hanging around for? I'm walking you out. That means that you should be leaving, and I should be going outside and trying to repair the life that has now been ripped into shreds."
James snickered. "Oh, it wasn't that bad."
"My family thinks I am dating you. What could be worse?" I responded, looking him dead in the eyes.
"You could be dating Snape." He shot back.
"I believe I told you in our fifth year that I would rather date Snape."
James cast his eyes downward.
"I was just trying to be a good houseguest. If you want, I can finish the project alone and pretend I have sudden plans the week of the carnival."
My expression softened. "No, it's okay. We should go. I wouldn't want you to do all the work for this project anyways."
James looked up, gave a half-smile and then stood up from where he was sitting on my stoop.
"See you next Thursday." He told me.
I nodded, and before I could turn back to the house, James had pulled me close and given me a small kiss on the cheek.
James' lips touched my face. He kissed me. He didn't even try to grope me like I expected he would if we were back at school. Could it be that James Potter has an ounce of class? Maybe there is an entire side of James that I have never seen when he's not with his group of marauding friends?
The worst part of it is, though, that I didn't mind. I didn't slap him, didn't scream at him. I sort of just smiled and waved slightly as he walked down the street.
I'm probably still in shock or something. That has to be it.