Authors Note: Hey all, this chapter is not one of my best, but I suppose it's a fun little filler…haha anyway, R&R and then we can move on to the better stuff…yay! Oh, ps, what do you think of the Potters? You like? Dislike? Hate with a burning passion? Anything? Indifferent? Whatever, you tell me. I think I like them, I liked that Anne started out all Stepford Wifey and then you found out that she was writing a thesis on muggle relations…haha. Was there too much winking going on?

Chapter 5

A Little Competition

She met him in the hall as she walked out to the entrance way.

"Dad, this is Lily." James said by way of an introduction.

"Lily, how nice to finally meet you after all we've heard about you." He said, holding out his hand. Lily could see James's ears turning pink with embarrassment. She was almost sure she heard him mutter 'Dad' under his breath. Mr. Potter chuckled at his son.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Potter. Thank you so much for letting me stay here." Lily replied, stretching out her own hand and shaking his. He had a very firm grip.

Mr. Potter looked young, but a few years older that his young wife. He had thick black hair, although Lily did notice more than one gray strand. He had the same facial features as James, and was, if possible, a few inches taller than his son.

"Oh it would be a crime not to, what with all the good things James has told us about you," Mr. Potter said. Then, to Lily's amazement, he winked. He too had the same wink as his wife and son. Now it was all becoming clear where James got his playful charm and winking habits from.

"Dad!" James said, not bothering to be subtle this time. Mr. Potter threw his head back and laughed heartily. It was obvious how glad he was to have his son back. He slapped James on the back, chuckling still.

"Never fear my boy, the ladies love to me complimented, aren't I right Lily dear?" He said, nudging her in the side.

"Of course, Mr. Potter." Lily said, also laughing a little. She was a tad bit intimidated by the loud and big personalities of all the Potter's, but they were so welcoming that it was hard not to feel at home.

"Come on Lily, I'll show you your room." James said, rolling his eyes and starting to lead the way up the stairs. "That is assuming that you don't want to sleep in my room." James suggested.

"I thought we agreed, James, no more bed jokes." Lily said angrily.

"I'm sorry about my parents." James said apologetically, casting a dirty look over his shoulder in the direction of the kitchen, where his father had gone to talk to Anne.

"Why? I think they're great!" Lily said enthusiastically.

"Really?" James asked.

"James, buddy, everyone loves your parents. You have no idea how good you have it. Honestly, you'd think you'd have realized this after years of people telling you." Sirius said, leaning against the frame of a doorway at the end of the hall and to the right.

"Sirius!" Lily said, hugging him.

"Lily!" Sirius mimicked, hugging her back. "So, you've finally decided to take James up on his offer of-"

"Seriously, you two have got to stop or I will turn right around and go back home." Lily threatened, waving her finger under Sirius's nose.

"All right, I was only teasing." Sirius said, throwing his hands up to show that he was unarmed.

Lily looked around, taking in her surroundings. There was a queen sized bed, and a white dresser. There was a photo of James o n the dresser waving at her happily. He appeared to be about 11 or 12, and was standing on a beach somewhere. One of the seagulls in the picture was making a scene about some french-fries it had found in the sand. There were white walls and white curtains at the window. There was a blue armchair in a corner next to some bookshelves that were full to bursting. Looking at the bookshelves regretfully, James sighed.

"I sure am going to miss that television set." He said regretfully. Lily flopped down on the bed. It was very comfortable.

"Is there somewhere I can take a shower?" Lily asked, she felt dirty from an afternoon of traveling. Not to mention the Knight Bus experience.

"Sure. There's a bathroom right through those doors." Sirius said, gesturing towards a corner.

"No, Lily don't go in there!" James said, hurrying to block the way.

"Why ever not?" Lily asked, taking a step back quickly.

"Yes James, why ever not?" Sirius said in a whiny voice.

"Trust me Lily, you do not want to go in there, okay? Just don't." James said protectively, turning her around and steering her to another door on the other side of the room.

"Oh, come on James. It would've been awful funny." Sirius complained. "She could have just taken a peek." Sirius said. James gave him a disapproving look, and then turned back to Lily.

"Towels, soap, and shampoo are all in there. Take as long as you want. I'll come back when dinner's ready." James offered.

"Thanks James." Lily said, closing the door behind her. A moment later, she emerged, shaking her head.

"James," she called, opening the door and peering out into the hall.

"Yes?" James said, opening the door across the hallway. Lily was startled to see him standing the close.

"Oh, well, I know I'm stupid, but how do you turn the water on?" Lily asked.

"Sorry about that, sometimes it acts up. Just turn it this way to change the heat, and then over here to turn it off." James explained, coming into the bathroom and showing her how to work it. Once the water was going he left her again, although he was much wetter now than when he had entered.

She took a long, relaxing shower, washing her hair thoroughly. When she emerged she felt good and clean. Showers always made her feel relaxed and calm. She, temporarily, had managed to put her fears and sadness aside.

She opened her trunk to get out some clean clothes, and pulled on jeans and a pink short sleeved crew cut shirt. She then wrapped the towel around her wet hair so that she would not drip all over the floor.

There was a white carpet on the floor, and she played with the softness between her toes. Looking at her watch, she saw with surprise that it was almost six o'clock. She opened her door and looked into the hallway.

"James?" She called tentatively. There was no response. She closed her door and went back inside. If she was going to go look for James, than she would need to get rid of this towel. If she ran into Anne or Mr. Potter wearing a towel around her hair, she felt that that would somehow be disrespectful.

She flipped her hair upside down and rubbed it with the towel until it was only damp. She then fished her brush out of her trunk and tore through her thick red strands. After a while, her hair was much dryer. It was very wavy, and more that a little frizzy, so to control it a little Lily pulled it into a ponytail at the base of her neck.

"James?" She called again, walking out into the hall. Again there was no response. Lily walked down the hallway in the direction she thought looked most promising. She peered into a few open doors, but saw nothing that looked lived in, and she knew she did not see James anywhere.

Down the hall and to her left she thought she heard voices, so she followed the noise. She turned down an adjoining corridor and heard the voices more clearly now.

"Don't be so mean, Sirius. You've got to stop pranking her, okay?" She heard James's voice say. She smiled, he was talking about her, no doubt. Lily entered the room. There was a pool table and some leather couches in the room. The carpeting here was even softer than that in her bedroom.

"Here you are." Lily said, knocking on the side of the door as she stood listening to Sirius's protests.

"Oh, hey Lily." Sirius said nonchalantly. "Good shower?" He asked. Lily eyed him suspiciously, wondering if there was a joke involved in this question. Was he maybe trying to trick her by asking this? Could that have some kind of sexual implication?

"Yes." She said, deciding that it was a harmless question. Sirius said nothing, although she could see the cogs turning in his brain. She had a pretty good idea in what direction this conversation would head if it were not redirected soon. "So, James, do I have to wear anything special to dinner? Do I have to be fancy or anything?"

"What you have on is fine. We're pretty laid back here." He replied.

"Great." Lily said, looking round again and then turning to leave, not having anything else to say. Sirius looked from James to Lily, and then sighed loudly.

"Want to join us Lily?" He conceded.

"Sure, is this like muggle pool?" She asked curiously, taking the stick in her hands.

"I guess. In muggle pool, what do you do?" James asked.

"You have to try and hit the balls into the pockets. Except each person either hits stripes or solids." Lily told him.

"Yeah, same thing. Only for us if you hit one of the other person's balls, then you get a penalty." Sirius informed her.

"Oh?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. We play strip pool here in the wizarding world." Sirius told her.

"Well then, I'll just watch you two play. I'd prefer to keep my dignity." Lily told him.

"He's making that up, Lily. We aren't playing strip pool." James told her, giving Sirius a reproachful look. "Here, I'll show you how you do it." James offered.

"Are you kidding? I could school in pool with my eyes closed." Lily informed him. Sirius snorted loudly and skeptically. "What? I could. Do you doubt it?" She challenged.

"You've never seen James play." Sirius told her, he had learned from experience that beating James was easier said than done. James had grown up with a pool table and two parents that doted on him. Of course he was amazing at pool.

"I don't need to have seen him play. I could whoop him, easy." Lily said haughtily.

"I'd like to take that challenge." James said, setting up the balls in the triangle.

"You break." Lily informed him. He eyed the ball, pulled back, and took his shot. The balls scattered to all ends of the table, but, fortunately for Lily, none went in.

Lily leveled the stick and prepared to shoot. She liked stripes. She took her shot and got one in. Sirius snorted again. She glared at him, and then prepared to take her second shot. This time, however, Sirius stood behind her and jerked the stick just as she was about to shoot.

"Not fair! Redo!" Lily cried. James shrugged, not really caring one way or the other.

"There are no redos! You've moved the balls now!" Sirius replied smugly. Lily growled a little, but stepped back, allowing James his turn at the balls. He got two in that turn before missing the hole by mere centimeters the next try.

"Come near me and you're dead." Lily informed Sirius menacingly as she prepared to take her shot. She closed one eye and looked at the balls. She shot and got one of her stripes in. She kept going. All but two of her balls had gone in where they were supposed to, and James still had only gotten a total of two in. Lily missed. She pounded her foot in frustration. James, cool as a cucumber, took his shot. And then another shot. And another. He never missed. Lily was just about to throw her hands in the air and admit defeat when his ball bounced out of the pocket. Lily looked at James. There was a fleeting look in his eyes that suggested to her that he had maybe missed on purpose.

"Corner pocket." Lily said, pointing to the far corner pocket. She had gotten both of her remaining balls in and was narrowing in on the eight ball. She leaned over the table. It was a hard shot, as she was a righty and was on the wrong side of the table. The pressure was on now. Sirius was chanting choke in the corner, crossing his fingers. Lily did not choke however. She won.

"Rematch, That was not fair." Sirius said, as soon as the ball had entered the hole.

"She won, fair and square. If anything I cheated. You cheated her out of that shot, otherwise she may very well have schooled me." James rebuked his overly competitive friend. Sirius mumbled something incoherent under his breath and sulked a little. He always took great pride in James's accomplishments. It was as if he saw them as his own accomplishments. So when James lost, it was as if he himself had lost. "Shall we go down to dinner?" James suggested, attempting to keep the peace between Lily and Sirius, who were both looking daggers at each other.

Lily, being hot tempered, would be quick to fly into a rage. And Sirius, being hard headed and competitive, would be quick to instigate a fight. That was the last thing James wanted to happen on Lily's first night here. His parents didn't like arguing.

Authors Note: I don't really want to tell you the title of the next chapter, because it might lead the dirtier minds among you to believe things that are not entirely true....but I will tell it to you with the assurance that it is not at all sexual. Sorry if this is a let down in any way....Its called A Night Time Visit.

Okay now review.