Disclaimer: I am disclaiming everything. Please don't sue me. Thanks!
A/N: Hello! The REVIEW RESPONSES will be posted TOMORROW MORNING on my LIVEJOURNAL. I'm too tired to do them tonight, sorry!
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Chapter Four-Carol's Friends and Hug Misunderstandings
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Lily fingered her necklace dully while her mother chatted with one of her recipe friends next to her in the living room.
Carol had many, many friends.
She had tupperware friends (we've already found out what they talk and swap about), recipe friends (they'd talk and swap recipes at parties every so often), salon friends (they'd talk and swap hair tips (not to mention gossip) at their hair appointments), grocery store friends (they'd talk and swap gossip about the best prices for apples or the best toilet bowl cleaner (among other things)).
Along with those friends Carol also had neighborhood friends (which were sometimes grocery store friends, recipe friends, tupperware friends, or salon friends), then there was family friends, George's friends' wife's friends, some of Lily's friends from the magical world friends, Petunia's friends friends, cafe down the street friends, clothes department store friends, etc.
Petunia also had a similar list.
It was Saturday afternoon in the Evans household. Her friend Claire had dropped by rather abruptly and had been chatting for an hour now. Lily and George were quite bored and becoming restless.
They were all sitting in the living room with tea. Lily had had a magazine in her hand for about 15 minutes but couldn't concentrate with Claire asking her about her wedding every five seconds. She then, instead, found interest in her gold necklace she found lying on her dresser last night.
Lily decided to block out her mother's friend and think about something interesting. . .hmmm. . .what could she think of? What was interesting?. . .Or at least that could keep her mind from Claire? The bridal magazine her mother insisted on buying that morning at the grocery store (They'd run out of sugar and flour, by the way. When Peter dumped half the sugar bag in his tea cup the other day, he dumped the rest on the floor, it seemed).
It had a picture of a bride standing in front of a tree with a bouquet of flowers on the front cover. She seemed to be scowling at the camera. When Lily commented on this to her mother she said that the bride was posing for the camera, to make it more professional or something (Lily wasn't paying that much attention, her mind seemed to wander a lot these days. . .).
Lily wondered why the bride wasn't smiling. She thought it was odd that she would scowl and frown on her wedding day. Did something go wrong? Did the wedding dress rip in the back (she only saw the front)? Did the groom run off in fear of commitment? Did the cake get mixed up at the caterer, saying, instead 'Congrats on Your Retirement' (Lily once had a birthday cake from a nearby cake store that accidently read 'Best Wishes to the New Manager of Dairy-Mart')?
Or maybe that was just her way of smiling. . .
"Oh, you add two teaspoons of sugar to your cookies? I only add one." Carol said to Claire,her recipe friend, who was sometimes her salon friend, cafe down the street friend, and occasionally her clothes department store friend. Claire was never her grocery store friend because she shopped at some other "way over priced" (in Carol's opinion) grocery store.
"Oh, good Heavens, yes! It gives it more flavor, you know." Claire responded, laughing loudly.
The Evans family winced furtively at her laughter. It was quite-well, quite annoying.
Claire was also Carol's competive friend. They were always comparing their family, daughters, husbands, foods (half and half milk to two percent milk), hair products (Hersha's Gray Reducer to Get Rid of Gray's FOREVER!), clothes, etc.
"Well, I'll have to try adding an extra teaspoon sometime-. . ."
Lily sighed, thinking about James and his friends now.
Thinking about James, eh?
She rolled her eyes in annoyance. The bloody wedding dress! "Stuff it." Lily whispered to herself.
"-and then you roll the dough into-What was that, Lily?" Claire asked curiously.
"Oh, er, nothing." She replied awkwardly.
The adults watched her for a moment before going back to sugar cookie tips (George went back to his newspaper article about a new cafe opening a bit from their house)
It seemed while Carol and Claire were discussing cookies, George had found himself another shelter during tupperware parties.
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"James' little friends haven't been by today, have they, Lily?" Carol asked.
Lily turned a page in her book at the kitchen table,"No, why?"
"Oh. . .no reason." She responded innocently. Claire had left a while ago and the Evans family had just finished lunch. They were all in the kitchen.
"Don't even think of trying to set those boys up with one of your blonde bimbo's, Carol." George interrupted without looking up from his crossword puzzle.
Carol sent a chilly glare at George,"For your information," She paused for a moment,"they're not all blonde."
"Oh, well, excuse me. Don't even think of trying to set those boys up with one of your blonde, black, brunette, red, etc. haircolored bimbo's."
"And also, I was not trying to set them up. . .I was just going to mention that I know some lovely girls at the cafe-"
Ding! Dong!
Lily got up hastily and opened the front door.
"What are you doing here?" Was her first words.
James raised an eyebrow in amusement."Something wrong?"
Lily shook her head,"Oh, no. I just didn't expect to see you today." And she didn't. Honestly, he came over everyday. Didn't he have a job? Or another social habitat he could hang out at? Sure he was her fiance and they were getting married in less than three weeks (Or so everyone thought, Lily knew better), but still. She really couldn't see him this much.
Did he have a job? She suspected he didn't. If he did, it was never mentioned. If she had a job, it was never mentioned.
"I'm Mr.Unpredictable, what can I say?"
"Your Mr.Potter, not Mr.Unpredictable."
"You'll be Mrs.Unpredictable with me." James went on, ignoring her.
"Mrs.Potter." If she was actually marrying him, which she wasn't.
"Mrs.Unpredictable. Good name, yeah?"
"Terrible."
"What would you prefer?"
"One that wasn't weird." Or Potter. Either way's fine.
"What about Predictable?"
"Still weird."
"Samson."
"Where do you come with Samson?" Lily asked in exasperation, letting him in through the door.
"Williams, then." James said, as Lily closed the front door and began back to the kitchen.
"Boring."
"Chambers?"
"Yawn."
"Beverly?"
"That's a first name, not a last." Lily stated sitting down at the kitchen table, James across from her.
"It can be a last name too. My name could be a last name."
"Beverly doesn't sound very last nameish to me."
"Sure it does. Hello, Mr. Evans. Mrs. Evans."
"Hi, James dear." Mrs. Evans said sitting down as well, Scowling Bride magazine clutched tightly in her hand.
"Hello, James." Mr. Evans said cheerfully look up from his crossword then back down again.
"No, it doesn't." Lily said, temper starting to rise. How her temper could rise from such a stupid, pointless argument (a banter to James and her parents), she didn't know. Maybe it was because of the person she was arguing with. Although, she had to admit, it was rather. . .funny what they were arguing about.
"Sure it does. Oh, Mrs. Evans, Sirius was wondering if you would be making any cookies for the wedding-"
"Well, of course, I will. As well as the wedding cake, punch, vegetable tray, celery sticks with peanut butter or cheese in them, meatballs, and everything else in the wedding." She sighed. "So much to do."
Lily gave up on the arguement. It looked like the only reply she'd get out of James was "Sure it does".
There was a pause.
"James dear, you wouldn't happen to know if Remus or Sirius or even Peter were looking for lady friends for the wedding, do you?" Carol asked , pouring some tea.
George rolled his eyes and Lily could have swore she saw a smirk run along his face for moment.
James grinned and caught Lily's eye,"Oh, I don't really know. I'll ask the next time I see them."
"Good, good." Carol replied.
There was silence once again.
Lily didn't know why, but the silence seemed a bit. . .a bit tense.
"So. . ." She trailed off.
Ring, Ring!
"I'll get it!" Carol exclaimed instantly, jumping up and running to the phone in the front hall in a flash.
Since Carol loved to socialize, talking on the phone was one of her most important rituals during the day. Let's just say the Evans' had a very high phone bill (and not because of their teenage daughter, like most would think, if they didn't know Carol).
Of course, Lily was a witch, therefore, she rarely ever used the phone, have hardly anyone to contact. Petunia, on the other hand, was actually one of the reasons the Evans' had high phone bills when she lived there. Petunia competed very well with her mother.
James looked a bit startled at Carol's outburst, unlike Lily and her father, who had, had quite a few years experience with her outbursts. Also, he wasn't quite used to a telephone or it's sudden ringing noises, being a pureblood and hardly every being around telephones or any kind of muggle contraptions actually.
James sat back in his chair while tapping a finger on the table slowly, looking at a (muggle) photograph of Lily's aunt and uncle.
George remained the same as he almost always was (and rarely wasn't): Calm, cool, and collected (while reading the newspaper).
Lily sat with her hands in her lap, sipping or stirring her tea every once and a while. Her book was abandoned a few seconds after Carol left; Lily felt she'd never be able to concentrate on a book with Carol springing up every five seconds or trying to ignore James' glances towards her (honestly, couldn't he look somewhere else?).
Why wouldn't he look at you? He loves you, doesn't he?
Bloody dress. It doesn't know what it's talking about. She was going to just ignore it now. Yes, that would do well. Just ignore it.
Or maybe she could get some scissors and find it's mouth (if it had one, which was doubtful in Lily's mind) and cut it off. . .Maybe it was a bit much (not to mention the dress would be ruined). Also, not to mention, she would be a lunatic to do such a thing.
James was startled again as Carol's voice called into the kitchen,"Lily, your aunt Georgiana (the aunt James was looking at in the photograph) wants to know if there's anything she needs to help with at the engagement party. Can you think of anything?"
Lily, in the middle of putting the tea cup to her lips, about dropped the cup in suprise.
A what party?
Did she say an engagement party?
No-bloody-way.
Lily could already picture the disaster now. She'd slip up and everyone would find out she wasn't really her 18-year-old self, but instead her 15-year-old self. And then-then. . .then she couldn't even imagine what would happen next. She shuddered.
While she was shuddering and predicting what a disaster a engagement party would be, Lily did not realize how long she had spent pondering it all.
"Lily?" Carol called again for the third time, struggling to pull a too short, non-cordless phone to look at Lily from the front hall. The receiver landed on the floor. "Oh, my!" She said picking up the reciever, phone still to her ear,"Just a second, Georgiana."
Lily sat up, startled. She looked around realizing that not only was James looking at her, but also her parents. "Urgm-ahem, I mean, no. There's, er, nothing I can think-think of."
Carol nodded and turned her attention back to the phone, speaking 50 miles per hour.
Lily sighed inwardly as a few moments went by. Her father also went back to what he was doing (surpise! Reading the newspaper). James, to her suprise, actually turned his eyes to something other than her (the window).
She, herself, went back to her book; only reading five pages by the time Carol finished her phone conversation. And let's just say that, that wasn't much considering how long Carol can talk and also considering her love for socializing.
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When the clock in the living room chimed three o'clock, James stood up from the sofa.
They had moved from the kitchen to the backyard, to the front porch, to the living room. There had been several phone calls, including one from Petunia saying that she would come to the wedding (after much persuading from her mother, it seemed. Petunia didn't even talk to Lily on the phone, only Carol and a few greeting words to her father).
There had also been calls from the wedding photographer (muggle), one from the florist, the church (where the wedding would take place, obviously), and two wrong numbers, one trying to order a cheese pizza and one asking for "Betty Wright". Carol, who, (surpise, suprise), answered the phone, promptly said that they did not make pizza and that she did not know a "Betty Wright"-she knew a "Florence Wright", but not a "Betty Wright".
Then she promptly complained to anyone who was listening (no one) that they needed their number changed because that was the fifth pizza call they'd gotten that month. Their number was very similiar to the pizza place down the street.
"You ready?" He asked Lily.
Lily looked at him in bewilderment. Ready for what?
What else did she not know about? Was the engagement party today? What was going on?
"Ready for what?" She asked bluntly.
"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?" He answered back.
That didn't tell her much.
Lily looked towards her parents for some sort of explanation, only to find a hidden smile from Carol and a knowing wink from George.
She stood slowly. "Where are we going?"
"Bye, Mr.Evans, Mrs.Evans. We'll be back soon." James said cheerfully.
Lily was getting frustrated. She didn't like this whole Ignore-Lily thing. It was getting annoying. "Where are we going?"
"Lily, we'll have to apparate. Come on."
"Come where?" Lily asked, ignoring James' comment on apparating. She had paled considerablely. Learning to apparate in less than one minute would be a miracle. A miracle for anyone. She had about as much chance at learning it then and there as her mother did at not talking on the telephone at all for a day. "And how exactly can I apparate when I have no idea where I'm apparating to?" She asked.
James ignored her again and did something very unexpected, right there, in the middle of her living room, in front of her parents.
He hugged her.
Yes, he strode up to her and put his arms around her waist and hugged her. She didn't understand. Was he trying to tell her something? Or was this just another random act of James Potter-excuse her, James Unpredictable?
Lily stepped away from him as calmly as possible, not to be suspiscious and sputtered,"What are you-? What are you doing?"
He shrugged,"You had a point. How can you apparate when you have no idea where or what it is."
"So you hug me, to. . .comfort me about not knowing where we're going?" Lily asked cluelessly.
During the hugging fest and sputtering fest, Carol and George sat on the couch at the sidelines, looking from one to the other.
James looked at Lily strangely,"No. . ." He trailed off slowly,"You were going to apparate along side me. When I apparated."
Lily stared for half a second, mouth open,"Oh." She said, understanding now. She'd read about apparation in her spare time.
Well, she really didn't have much spare time this year with O.W.L's, avoiding James Potter, prefects' duties, avoiding James Potter asking her out, homework, avoiding James Potter at Hogsmeade, tutoring, avoiding James Potter in the halls, Gryffindor quidditch matches, avoiding James Potter at the quidditch matches, eating, avoiding James Potter in class (rather hard), sleeping, avoiding James Potter at meals, club meetings, avoiding James Potter at club meetings, breathing, avoiding James Potter at all costs. . .
James Potter took up alot of Lily Evans scedule, believe it or not.
James meant to have her apparate along side him, not hug her. How embarressing! She turned red. "Right. Sorry. Had a temporary memory lose. You know, when your mind just goes completely blank? It happens to me all the time. Does it to you? It's not like I didn't know that you meant to have me apparate along side of you or anything. I just-just temporary forgot. No reason to get suspicious. . ." Lily trailed off suddenly. She realized James and her parents would get more suspicious with her babbling on and on about not getting supiscious, than accusing James of trying to hug her.
Lily did something that she'd never, ever do voluntarily.
She stepped forward hastily and put her arms around James' stomach.
Lily knew she'd never, ever do that hastily either.
James stood still, Lily could tell he was looking down at her, she could feel his grin.
"Bye, Mum. Bye, Dad." She said in a small voice, not at all like her own. Her face was burning with embarressment.
She, Lily Evans, was hugging James Potter!
Well, techinically, she was apparating alongside James Potter, but from an unknowing stranger, she was hugging him.
"Bye, Lily. Be back for dinner! We need to discuss the flowers arrangements at the church!" Carol called.
Lily, even though she was humiliated beyond belief, rolled her eyes at her mother's comment. She was going to have fun at dinner tonight. Yes, very much fun. . .
"Bye, Pumpkin. See you at dinner." That was a much better farewell from her father.
James put an arm around Lily's waist and before she knew it everything was black. She was no longer in her living room. It was pitch black. And before she could even get use to this strange situation, she suddenly felt everything pressing in on her. Lily couldn't breathe. Her lungs were shutting up, they were being pressed in. She sqeezed her eyes closed tightly-
"Ah, here we are."
And just as suddenly as the pitch black sensation came over her, it was gone. Lily still felt slightly that she was being compacted into a tiny space, but not as much. She didn't much like apparation anymore. Before, apparation seemed like the perfect trasportation. It was quick and fast. No broomsticks to grip onto for hours on end. But now, broomsticks were beginning to become her friends very nicely.
She shook her head and opened her eyes. The sun was starting to set she noticed. It was quiet. They were standing in front of a house. A moderately large house at that. It was white with dark blue shudders. The front door was dark blue too. It was two stories.
Other than the house, there wasn't much. Lots of trees and grass. Bushes and flowers too. Not much. She could see about half a dozen houses off at distance.
"Look familiar?" James asked, walking up to the house and peering into a window.
Lily would have liked to truthfully have said no, not at all. But that would have been the wrong answer. . .or would it? Had she ever seen or heard of this place? Was it suppose to be familiar? She didn't know what to say. Lily decided to just not say anything and wait for James to say something. She walked up to a bench that just so happened to be waiting for her in front of one of the windows.
"Just after graduation? Remember? We were looking for a house and you saw this one and wanted it. But it had just been sold." James started.
They were already lookng for a house just after graduation? From Hogwarts?
They was so-so young. Of course, they were only eighteen now. It was August now; graduation was a little over a month ago. Lily didn't see what the rush was for; they had their whole life ahead of them! She'd heard James and his friends talk about Voldermort some and what a threat he and his Death Eaters were, but that couldn't be why they were rushing to get married, could it?
She had vaguely heard about Voldermort during the year (5th year at Hogwarts, that is). He wasn't much talked about then, apparently though, he had become much more lately.
Lily decided to answer safe,"Sure."
Saaaaaaaaaaafffffeee annnnnnnnnswwer!
Oh, great. The dress was with her. Wonderful.
"Well," James said, grinning widely now, walking over to Lily and sitting down,"it was up for sale again."
"And?"
"And. . .and it's not for sale anymore." James said quickly.
"Oh?" Lily thought the short, quick replies were best.
"Yeah, someone bought it just yesterday. We know them." He continued standing up.
"We do? Who?"
James pulled out a key and walked to the front door."Us." He grinned at her and put the key in the key hole and slowly turned it. The door creaked open.
Now, it seemed, from what Lily had heard, that she had fallen in love or at least really liked this house before. Lily needed to have a very enthusiastic reply this time, no short quick ones.
"Oh, James! That's wonderful! I can't believe you'd do this! Thank you!" She said standing up and walking to the door and standing with James at the entrance.
"Well, I had to give you something as a wedding present, so what's better a present than a house?" He asked. "I knew you loved this place when we first came by, anyway." James said glancing furtively at Lily for a moment, then leaning back to a window on the second story.
Lily smiled widely and walked through the threshold. She did love this place. It was pretty outside and even prettier inside. Of course, it was empty inside, but it was still nice. It was strange to say it was pretty inside a house when there was nothing but the bare floor and walls, but somehow, Lily thought it was.
There was a doorway to a room that could probably be a large living room to her left. Another doorway to her right that had a counter, she presumed it was a kitchen. A door next to the kitchen. She later found it to be a coat closet. Then there was a staircase opposite the front door.
Lily began to climb up the stairs, James left standing in the kitchen. To her left, it was a dead end, just a wall. To her right, there was long hall with four doors. The first was a large room with a closet and bathroom, she presumed it was a bedroom. The next door was similiar to the first. The third room was small and didn't have a closet or bathroom, she supposed it could be used for whatever they wanted it for.
The last was also a bedroom. There was a window in it. Of course, every room in the house had windows, but this one was very large, Lily walked to it. It had a good view of the land around them for miles. She could see many more houses from this view, then from down in the yard.
Lily sighed. The house was wonderful. There was just the problem with guilt that came washing over her as soon as she stepped in the house.
James had bought a house, a house, mind you, for her. Why? Because he loved her?. . .It was becoming more believable, she supposed.
How could she tell him the engagement was over now? Why, oh why, didn't she just do that when he asked the first day she woke up eighteen?
Maybe she should just marry him anyways. Because he did all this for her. Because he bought a house for her. Because she didn't want to hurt him or make him live a lonely life in an empty house he bought for his fiancee. Because his parents were nice. Because her mother bought her a wedding dress. Because she promised Mrs.Potter she'd see a muggle wedding dress and ceremony soon. Because James' kisses were nice. Because the wedding was in two weeks. Because all the invitations were sent out and guests were probably buying or probably already bought a wedding present. Because he held her and said he loved her as if he meant.
But not because she loved him. No. . .
She had only loved three people in her life, truly. Her parents and her sister (even if it seemed that Petunia didn't love her). They were the only ones she ever said "I love you" to.
She didn't love James. And never could. So, she couldn't marry him. Not even if he bought her 20,000 mansions or gave her a million nice kisses. Lily couldn't marry someone she did not love. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair.
She wished this was all a nightmare she could wake up from soon.
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A/N: There it is. It got a bit more serious there at the end, don't you think? I kind of liked the ending.
I got the description of the apparation part from the Half-Blood Prince, if anyone noticed the familiarity. The wedding dress is back in this chappie too! And it will be here for the rest of the story, I'm sure.
If anyone's wondering about the where the house is, it isn't at Godric's Hollow. I liked to keep to the facts in my fic's as much as possible, so I did a little research on Mugglenet (great HP website, by the way!). It said that James and Lily moved to Godric's Hollow in 1981, with Harry, to hide from Voldermort. So, I think they didn't actually live there when they got married. I repeat, the house is NOT in Godric's Hollow. For now, the place where they will live is going to remain nameless.
Once again, the REVIEW RESPONSES will be posted TOMORROW MORNING on my LIVEJOURNAL.
Toodles!
Just Another Harry Potter Fan