Standing There By You
Ch. 28- A Muddled Up Stew of Events
Disclaimer: Let it be known... I hereby declare that by legal binding matters, any recognizable material belongs to the famous J.K.Rowling. (I don't own dear ol' Bette either)
A/N: Not too much teasing and taunting, more in later chapters, I promise : )
:Ahem: Special message to beta at the bottom.
James grinned.
He was a grinning thirteen year old boy for many reasons.
One of these reasons being, he was only going to be a grinning thirteen year old boy for another fifteen hours, twenty-two minutes, and thirty-eight seconds... Approximately.
The other reason was his fellow Marauders were arriving the next morning to spend the day in Godric's Hollow to celebrate this occasion.
That is why James grinned. Until...
"James!" his mother's voice rang up the stair-case. The boy set aside the letter Sirius had sent him informing him he could come, and started down the hallway.
James paused to think as he lingered above the stairs. His mother sounded very hurried to him, very hurried indeed. "James?" Mrs. Potter's called again. Giving an affirmative nod, he decided desperate times called for desperate measures, and positioned himself on the ornate wooden fixture.
Mrs. Potter frowned as her son came gliding down their large and ancient banister, only to land on the floor with a graceful thud.
Her frown increased when her husband started laughing.
"You're going to get hurt one of these days," she scolded, shooting her husband a death glare in the process. The glare, although quite frightening, didn't phase him.
"I seem to remember you sliding down that very same banister when we first moved in," Mr. Potter said, smiling reminiscently. His smile changed into a miraculous cough, however, as his wife reached up a hand and pinched the top of his ear. "Never mind," he coughed, "no banister sliding, none at all."
James laughed at his father's expression and took a seat on the stair-case. "You called?"
Mrs. Potter's face softened as she looked over at her son. "Well, sweetie..." She paused and looked over at her husband, nudging his shoulder. "You tell him," she whispered.
Mr. Potter looked over at her with wide eyes. "I'm not gonna tell him," he said, leaning in towards his wife. "It's your client."
"It's not a client," she hissed, but her husband held up his hands nevertheless.
"Who's not a client?" James asked, lazily playing with the band of his sock.
Mrs. Potter sighed. "There's been an emergency dear, at work, and someone needs to be there."
James frowned. "But you haven't worked for ages."
"Yes I have," she said, "I work several times a week while you're away at school, but now there's this very important person-"
"Client," James put in dryly.
"Client," Mrs. Potter corrected herself, but not before looking over at her husband and scowling. "Well I'm sorry sweetie but since your father won't be home either, you're just going to have to reschedule your little get-together."
James's mouth dropped open. "But- but, Sirius, you know Sirius has a hard time getting his parents to let him come, and Remus, he can only come... certain times, and-"
"Well I know that, but we promise we'll make it up to you, any other day..."
James looked sullen for a few moments, but then his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Uh-oh," Mr. Potter muttered silently. He knew that glint.
"Well they can still come over," James said anxiously, "we don't need you here mum, I'll be fourteen, you know."
Mrs. Potter's eyes widened. "Oh I don't know... four of you boys in the house without any supervision..." she gulped, and the never-ending horrific scenes that indisputably flashed though her mind were practically visible.
"Well, I don't see why not," his father said, smiling at James.
"David," she said sharply, looking at Mr. Potter meaningfully, "I don't think-"
"Mum," James said, putting on wide, innocent eyes and a slight tremble of the lips. "It's my birthday."
If humans could melt, Mrs. Potter would've been a hopeless puddle on the hard wood floor. She let out a deep sigh and ruffled her son's hair endearingly. "Well, I suppose it'll be alright," she said, looking as if she'd regret her words later.
"Great!" James said, practically jumping up the stair-case. "This is excellent; I can't wait to tell Sirius."
Mrs. Potter let out a slight whimper as she stared after her overjoyed son. "What have I done..."
"What do you want?"
Grace and Julie took a step away from the crude welcoming girl. "Er... sorry," Grace said, readjusting her hold on her luggage as she stepped away from the house, "we thought this was the Evans'."
"Who are you?" the girl asked, crossing her arms.
"Um..." the two girls looked at one another wearily, before turning back to the girl. Julie shook her head. "Wrong house, sorry."
The girl stared at them through narrowed eyes, watching them walk off with a scowl.
"Petunia you're absolutely horrible." Grace and Julie turned around quickly, grateful to hear a familiar voice.
"Lily!" Grace called, as she and Julie hurried back up the walk. The angry girl at the doorway gave one last scowl before disappearing back into the house.
"Hello," she greeted happily, smiling as she helped carry their things. They trooped into her house and upstairs to Lily's room, after a quick introduction of her parents.
"Wait..." Grace said, turning around to look at Lily incredulously, once they had reached the warm and comfortable room. "Was that girl-"
"Dear old Petunia," Lily said spitefully. Grace and Julie glanced at her sympathetically.
"She's worse than I imagined," Julie said sadly.
"You haven't seen anything," Lily said, plopping onto her plush blue comforter. A small smile crept onto her face. "Want to learn more about her? Read this."
She retrieved a small red book from behind her pillow, and tossed it to her friends. Winking at Julie, she asked, "Remember this?"
Julie smiled back, and looked over the book with interest. She and Grace were soon in hysterics, as they flipped through the pages of threats and empty promises.
"I can't believe Petunia actually believed this," Grace mused, as she read a particularly humorous entry.
"I know, she..." Lily's eyes widened and she cut off mid-sentence.
Grace and Julie turned around to see what she was staring at, and found her sister standing at the doorway.
"What do you want, Petunia?" Lily asked, quickly shoving the book behind her.
"Mum says dinner's ready... what are you doing?"
Lily turned to look at Julie and Grace in what she hoped was an innocent fashion. "Nothing," she said, "just catching up."
"I heard my name," Petunia scoffed, taking a step inside the room. "What were you talking about?"
"Flowers," Julie said quickly. "Our favorite types of flowers."
Petunia narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Sure you were," she said sarcastically. In an instant her suspicious face turned to that of nonchalant. "Whatever. Mum and dad are waiting."
Lily let out a sigh of relief and looked at Grace and Julie with a small smile. "Well, c'mon then," she said, heading towards the hallway, her friends following close behind. Just as they got out the door, however, Petunia swiftly twisted around and raced back in.
"No!" Lily shouted, as Petunia dove for the red book.
Petunia, being older and much taller than Lily, held the book out of her reach as she opened to the first page.
Lily watched in horror as her sister's face became increasingly shocked upon reading each entry, until finally she threw the book down in an outrage. "You can't do magic!" she exclaimed, her pointed noise flaring with anger. "You've been making a fool of me this entire time?
"Oh goodness," Julie said softly, as Petunia loomed dangerously over Lily.
"Well not anymore," she proclaimed. "You're going to be so miserable you won't even know..."
"What do we do?" Julie asked Grace anxiously. "She's going to kill her!"
Grace shrugged. "We're witches. What else would we do?"
"Now Petunia," Lily said, backing away from her fuming sister. "Please don't be mad... I was only-"
"You were only what?" Petunia snapped, taking a step closer to her. "You were only-" She froze abruptly, her eyes widening. "Y-you can't... you can't do m-magic here..."
"No fireworks."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
"No quidditch in the house."
"Didn't even cross my mind."
"No pranking and/or pranking materials of any sort."
"Pranks? Me? Mum, you must be joking."
Mrs. Potter heaved a sigh as she stood before her much-too-innocent son. "What time are the boys coming?" she asked, turning to gather her cloak.
"Should be here any minute," James said gleefully, hopping onto the counter.
Mrs. Potter crossed her arms. "Well, just make sure-"
"Happy Birthday!"
Mrs. Potter was cut off as a celebrating Sirius came bounding from the living room, covered from head to toe in soot.
"Hello Sirius," Mrs. Potter greeted, as she wearily watched the two boys greet; each donned matching grins.
"Well, have fun at work mum," James said, practically pushing his mother out the door.
"Oh no, no we still have to go over the rules with Sirius and-"
"I'll tell him, don't worry," James assured her. "Now, you're going to be late, go on, bye!"
Mrs. Potter looked at the grinning boys (the grins now looked foreboding rather than innocent) and emitted a meek sound. "Okay, well... behave..."
James and Sirius waved jubilantly as the shut the door with a snap.
Sirius shook his head. "It's as if she doesn't trust us, or something."
"Obliviate," Grace shouted lazily, her wand pointed directly at Petunia's head. She smiled as a hazy and confused look came over the elder girl. "There. That's taken care of."
"Grace!" Lily shrieked, clutching the girl's wand and throwing it onto her bed. She quickly shoved her bewildered sister out of the room and slammed the door. Turning back to Grace, she shouted, "You're going to be expelled! We're going to be expelled! We're going to go to Azkaban!"
"No we're not," Grace said carelessly, sinking comfortably onto Lily's bed. "Relax."
Julie gave her a dubious look as she sat down next to her. "How do you know? I thought it was illegal."
"Oh my gosh... Oh my gosh... Oh my gosh..." Lily said repeatedly, pacing her room in hysterics.
"Nah," Grace shook her head. "My aunt works for the Ministry. I've asked her, and she's said- Lily, calm down!"
"No, no I cannot calm down," she said frantically, as she tread her room in circles, "we're going to go to Azkaban forever and ever and ever and ever-"
"If anyone'd go to Azkaban it'd be me," Grace said logically. "I mean, you didn't even touch a wand."
"Ever heard of guilty by association?" she asked, practically pulling her red locks out from frustration. She turned away from Grace and turned to continue her pace. "Oh my gosh... Oh my gosh... Oh my gosh..."
"Lily, trust me," Grace said, trying to comfort the hysterical girl. "My aunt said that even though it's not allowed, the very most you'll receive when doing magic out of school- for the first time- is a w-"
"Do you see something?" Lily said, scrambling towards the window. "Do you guys see that? It's an owl! It's an owl! Do you know what owls do!"
"No," Julie answered with mock seriousness.
"They deliver letters! Oh, they've already found out," she said, biting hard on her lip, "and now we're all going to get in so much trouble."
"Argh, Lily!" Grace said, grabbing the girl by her shoulders. "Listen to me. Nothing-"
"Oh I can't look," Lily said somberly, cradling her head with her hands as the owl approached her open window. "Someone else look for me."
Grace sighed and reached for the letter; she gave Lily an exasperated look before opening the small scroll.
A very sudden change in expression came over the girl, as she read over the letter. Her face paled considerably, as she clapped a hand to her mouth and made a strangled gasping noise.
"Oh my gosh," she breathed, tearing her eyes away from the letter and looking up at Lily. "I can't believe this..."
"Oh no," Lily said, expected devastation etched into her features. "W-what's it say?"
Grace gave a trembling gulp before roughly clearing her throat and reading aloud the letter.
"Decree of 1875... Paragraph C... Expulsion is a-"
A loud thump was heard and Grace and Julie turned to see a limp Lily.
"Uh oh..." Grace said, trying to hide a smile, "she's going to kill me when she finds out it was just a warning."
Over at the Potter Manor, four creatures of the wild roamed heedlessly throughout the house, leaving terror and trouble in their wake.
"Muhahahaha!"
"Don't do that Sirius, it's creepy."
Sirius cleared his throat and nodded to James. "Sorry mate. So what do you wanna do?"
"I dunno," said James, "but I'm hungry. You lot want to get some lunch?"
Remus and Peter looked up from their game of exploding snap and nodded, and the four boys trooped into the kitchen.
James looked through the cupboards and found the lunch his mother had left for him. "Turkey sandwiches," he informed them.
Sirius looked over at the lunch. "Hmm... seems a little drab to me, don't you think?"
James nodded in agreement. "Very drab."
"Well, let's make something more creative then!"
Remus looked up at Sirius. "Have you ever cooked anything?"
"Well sure," Sirius said, tapping his finger on the counter. "Erm... Well I dunno, there was probably a piece of toast along the way or something. Now c'mon, I'm sure it'll be easy."
"Probably," Remus nodded. "Well, what are we going to make?"
"I personally like stew," Peter put in hungrily.
"Well," James said, clambering and clanking his way through the pot pantry, "here's one."
Sirius looked over the pot and frowned. "Too small."
James nodded and disappeared back into the cupboard. He stood up a little while later, empty handed. "We don't have any pots that'll be big enough," he informed them.
"Well," Sirius said, tapping his chin. "How about a cauldron?"
"Oh of course," James said, and scrambled to another cabinet. "Here we go."
"Perfect!" Sirius exclaimed. "Now, anybody know what goes in stew?"
The boys were silent for a moment, until Peter spoke up. "My mum usually puts in a bunch of different things..."
James shrugged. "Well, we've got some leftover gravy."
"That sounds good," Sirius nodded, as James poured the thick substance in. "What else have you got?"
"Hmm..." James said, rifling though the pantry. "Lasagna?"
The three boys looked at one another, then nodded. "Lasagna's good."
"Shrimp!" Sirius yelled, pouring a bowl of the tiny pink fish into the cauldron.
Remus grinned and opened up a container. "Olives, green and black.
"Cheese," Peter said, sorting through the cupboards. "Do you have any cheese?"
"Mmm... ice cream," James said, scooping large amounts into the pot.
"Well then you've got to have chocolate syrup," Sirius said, unscrewing the bottle and squeezing it in.
"And nuts," Remus put in, sprinkling in a variety of peanuts.
"Flour," James said, showering the white powder into the pot. "Everything mum makes has flour in it."
"Don't forget the pineapples!"
"Okay," Sirius said, looking into the cauldron. "Think that's enough?"
"Looks a bit dry," James said. "Here, pour some butterbeer in."
Sirius did so, shaking out the last drop with flourish. "Finished!"
Remus looked over at the 'stew' and wrinkled his nose. "Is it supposed to smell like that?"
"What?" Sirius asked, cocking his head. "You think we should add some Nector Nooks?"
Remus scoffed, backing away from the brew as a faint pink appeared on his cheeks. "No, no, it's good."
"Okay, now all we've got to do is cook it," Sirius said, looking over at James, and then back at the large cauldron. "Er... it's not going to fit in the oven, is it?"
James shook his head. "But it's pretty warm outside," he said, "the sun will probably bake it."
His friends nodded and each grabbed a part of the cauldron. They heaved it out the door and onto a bright patch of grass, setting it down abruptly, and causing the insides to slosh around.
"Fantastic," Sirius said, wiping his hands on his pants. "Now all we've got to do is wait."
The boys stretched out on the warm grass, lazily looking up at the clouds as they waited for their stew to simmer.
"So Remus, I was thinking," Sirius said, rolling over on his side to face the sandy-haired boy, "and I personally think it'd be best if you thought out your whole pick-up operation thoroughly before actually diving into it."
Remus waited a few seconds before turning to face Sirius and scrunching up his face. "What?"
"You know, when you go to ask out Grace."
"I'm not-"
"Sure you are, mate," Sirius said, rolling back into his former position. "But I'm having a bit of a problem. What do you think James, the angel line or Tennessee?"
"No, you're not listening to me-"
"Definitely the former," James supplied his opinion from the other side of Remus. "Tennessee isn't quite right for the occasion."
Seeing he wasn't going to get anywhere with protests alone, Remus decided upon another route. "I think the stew's done!"
The boys hastily scrambled up and stood over the mass of food. James frowned. "How are we supposed to know it's done?"
"Well," Sirius said, tilting his head, "that part seems to be gurgling, or something. I think that means it's ready."
The three other boys nodded in agreement and after quickly retrieving spoons for the kitchen, they all dived in at once. Each scooped up a large amount onto their spoons, and took a large bite.
The large bites were strewn back into the cauldron immediately after entering their mouths.
The four boys looked into the cauldron with equal expressions of appalling disgust, before James finally spoke up.
"Turkey sandwiches, then?"
A/N: Thanks for reading! And an even bigger thanks to these incredible people...
Purplereader- hehe, first off, love the name ; ) Remus has a... what? Sorry, it wasn't quite clear.
Ninde Annare- Thanks, I'm glad you liked the sweet scene ; )
Windowseat Wonderer- I hope you have fun on vacation! I'm going in a week, so I'll comply with as many chaps as possible, and you will with reviews, right? ; ) Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked the ending!
EW4eva- You should know by now that I don't answer your questions... thanks for the review!
Luna Gypsy- I don't care if you've said it once, said it twice, it's always nice to hear! Thanks bunches : )
Vanima Failiss- Lol, I'm glad you liked it, thanks mucho ; )
Romulan Empress- Ah Star Trek, I know nothing of that but it sounds interesting nonetheless. Sorry you don't like the Remus/Grace thing, but hopefully you'll adapt ; ) Thanks for the review!
Hermione1989- Glad you liked it, thanks for the review!
Espergirl04- Yup, you were right.. hope you have fun on your vacation!
Nicole- I'm very glad ; )
Molly- Thanks as always, and as I've already informed you, hehe, it's taken care of : ) thanks for the review!
Jess- I don't know... what is going to happen? Thanks for the review!
Lanette- They're bickering until at least fifth year (according to OotP) so they're not going to settle down for quite awhile ; ) I'm glad you liked it, thanks for the review!
MelissaMoony- Hehe, glad you liked it! Phew... you still love me ; )
Jounin-Elite- I'm sorry you're said, here's another chapter! (Nerds rock)
Ieyre- Oh I know... poor Lily. And yes, yes he does ; )
Krissygurl- I'm glad you think that! Thanks a lot, and thanks for the review!
tknp-gal4- I know, I'm still in denial ; ) I'm glad you liked it, and no worries, I will definitely be finishing it.
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Gaby-Malfoy- Hola! Well I'm happy you're not mad.. and perhaps I can persway you that things will work out better this way : ) We'll just have to wait and find out, now won't we... thanks for the review!
MilesFromNormal- Lol, I'm glad you liked it! Thanks mucho for the review ; )
Aerandir- I'm trying to update as much as possible, thanks for the review!
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Imperishable Stars- Hehe, glad you liked it, poor, poor Lily... : ) (that was an evil grin)
FreckledIrishMaiden- Hormones? You'd better believe it... : ) Thanks for the review!
MidnightPrincess- Lol, well, at least you're honest : ) Thanks for the review!
Misty Cherry- Yay, what a lucky number ; ) Thanks muchos for the long review!
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Charmed4ever- Oh my gosh. I feel like the biggest dolt in the world... I contemplated telling you I had that disclaimer written before JKR became famous, but somehow I doubted you'd believe that. Lol, well anyway, thanks for the really fantastic review, it made my day wonderful! (I changed the disclaimer. It's more accurate now, I think.)
FadingSlowly- Thanks for the fantastic review! Hehe.. you're not the only one that can't wait for James to fall for Lily ; )
Suji- Padfoot. Definitely. Tease him? Never. : ) Thanks for the review!
Alwaysremember- I'm glad you liked it... I was just afraid because some people were hoping for Sirius/Grace. Thanks for the review!
May- It's alright you didn't review, thanks for this one, though!
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Luv ya Beta!