Title: Heart – to – Heart

Author: Aurorstar18

Summary: Lily and her new mother-in-law (Or is it Monster-in-law?) have a little heart to heart talk. Secrets are revealed and humor ensues.

Authors' notes: Hi! It's me again! This fic was done for a challenge on Fictionalley posted by Priestess of Dan. I had fun with this but I don't think I meant for Lily to be so damn sarcastic with Mrs. Potter. I named James' mum after my favorite name. I needed something that sounded not too old fashioned but not too modern either! Hope you enjoy because I had fun writing it!

Lily leant against the kitchen bench.

She was at hers and James' house; all of both families were over for lunch, except Lily's sister Petunia and her family. Lily flicked her long red hair out of her eyes. She and James had been married for only three months and they'd only just gotten back from their honeymoon and James mother had called to tell them she was organizing a family lunch so both families could get to know each other.

"So, dear, how have you been?" Said her mother-in-law, Paige Potter said in a very fake cheerful tone. James was the spitting image of her. The messy brown hair (Paige's was streaked with grey and it was long, about down to her middle back.) and the adorable hazel eyes, they even wore the same glasses.

"Oh, you know… fine…" Lily replied. She was dreading telling Paige about her secret. She hadn't told James yet, but she wanted her mother and James' mother to be the first two people to know. Her mother already knew, and was ecstatic.

"You know I've wanted to talk to you for a while… Lily, you are awfully thin, are you getting enough to eat?" Lily rolled her eyes. Paige was always offering people food; she was a fantastic cook, but a large annoyance most of the time.

"I'm fine…"

"But you need to get all your vitamins and minerals and the like…"

"The good part is, I'm skinny with all my vitamins and minerals."

"That's impossible! You can't be getting all your necessary dietary…"

'Oh good lord woman… Don't make me hit you with a saucepan!' Lily thought to herself.

"Are you listening to me Lily?"

Lily had been staring out the window over Paige's shoulder. The man next door was getting changed with the curtains open.

"Our next-door neighbor isn't wearing a shirt. My virgin eyes!" Lily said monotonously, her every word dripping with sarcasm.

"Lily, don't sass me."

"I would never sass you… mother."

"Lily!"

"Look, I can think of two-hundred and fifty-seven things I'd prefer to be doing right now, and one of them is being alone in my home with your son. But I really don't like you trying to tell me I'm too thin, and I don't like you telling me how to run my home, and I hate you criticizing my cooking… so can we please make some kind of agreement?"

"An agreement?"

"Yes. I'll agree to take some… I said some… of your suggestions into consideration, if you get off my back about my weight and how I treat your son!"

"Yes honey, I think that could work." Paige held out her arms and lily walked into them and hugged her mother-in-law.

"Are you drunk?" Lily said, her voice muffled by Paige's shoulder.

"I'm never drunk. I'm just very, very, tipsy. But no, I haven't gotten into the cooking sherry again."

"What do you mean again?"

"Do my ears look good in this light?" Paige let go of Lily and walked over to the mirror on the back of the lounge door.

"What?"

"Do my ears-"

"I heard you! Now I know where James gets all his 'quirks' from."

"No, he got them from his father."

"I'm sure he did."

"Well this has been an enlightening conversation!"

"I have a feeling nothing will change…"

"Why's that sweetie?"

"I don't know… I guess I'm too short for enlightenment."

"Oh tosh! You're taller than I am."

"That's not difficult."

"Could you find a cookbook called 'Cooking by Stevie Lockhart' please?"

"Sure."

Lily went over to the shelf on the wall that housed Paige's mammoth collection of cooking and household books. She ran her finger along the spines, reading the titles. 'Cooking for the Busy Witch', '1000 recipes for Hippogriff'…

"How to Put the Magic Back on Your Table . . . kinky." Lily took the book out off the shelf and studied the cover. The picture on the front showed a muscular man wearing nothing but a red apron holding a saucepan flipping pancakes. Paige blushed and rushed over to snatch the book out of Lily's hands. She pushed in front of the young redhead and fetched the book she had been originally looking for.

Lily continued looking through the titles.

"'The world of scones'?" Lily said with a smirk, "I will conquer the world with scones! Watch out, World!" She said with a terrible superman voice.

"Oh, Lily, you have no idea how complex the art of scone making is! There are all different types, like pumpkin, and savory, and sweet. Oh I could teach you so much if you'd only let me!"

"Paige… t-that's really sweet, but… I don't like being instructed on how to cook."

"Oh, yes dear, of course you don't."

There was silence and Lily could hear her father amusing the other family with his cheesy jokes. She could hear only strains but she knew all the jokes so well she chuckled to herself.

"Then he said… he said I should be bonding with Dad. He can cook, unlike Mum."

There was a lot of laughter that followed and Lily stared pensively into space.

"Anything wrong dear?" Paige said, stirring something that smelled delightfully delicious that was bubbling in a saucepan on the stove.

"You've had a child, what's it like?"

"It's the most rewarding experience! Although there's a lot of discipline that has to follow!"

"Paige… I just want to know, is it worth it?"

"Oh, of course! Do you want some gingerbread?"

Lily took a piece off the tray Paige was offering.

"Why all this talk of children all of a sudden?"

Paige motioned for lily to sit down and sat next to her.

"So… are you planning?" Paige said.

Lily took a deep breath and looked down at her hands folded on her lap.

"We're a bit past the planning stage."

"You're… You're… Oh my goodness." Paige made to jump up but lily put a hand on her shoulder.

"Please keep it to yourself until I tell you that you can talk about it. I haven't even told James yet."

"Ohhh, I'm so happy for you!"

"I thought you'd be mad."

"Why?"

"Because I've never ever been good enough for James."

"No ones good enough for my James."

"Can I ask a favour… would you be able to be a little less suffocating?"

"I think my apron strings are too tight. It's probably why I'm suffocating you."

Lily laughed and went out to join the rest of the Potters and the Evanses.