Chapter 37: Tea Party

January 5, 1994

"That is not how you wear your tie, Harry," chided Lily, peeking into Harry's room. "And… Holy Merlin, why are you wearing a hot pink suit?"

"So the Malfoys think we're lunatics."

"Harry, please, just try to act polite."

"But Mum, you've seen what Draco does to me at school!"

Lily sighed. "Just try. If he starts a fight, I'll take care of him, but his parents will be here, all right? Nothing can happen."

"With Malfoy, everything can happen."

Hey Hermione!

How's your winter break coming along? The party yesterday was pretty fun, don't you think? Their cake was amazing…

Okay, let's cut to the point. I don't know what the goblin did to the council in 1432. PLEASEEEEE lend me your notes? I completely forgot! I'll pay you… I don't know, whatever you want. But mom's on my case to get better grades, and she's banned anyone in the family from helping me out. I'm in the attic right now - I'm not supposed to be asking you for help either.

I'll see you round!

Ron

Hermione shook her head. He really needed to get better at this stuff. A twinge of sadness streaked at her insides when she realized that he was only contacting her for homework. Talk between them was easy, light and chatty, but it kind of felt like she was only used for homework.

Sometimes.

Ron,

GET ON YOUR CASE! I can't help you once we get to fifth-year and stuff, Ron, no! You have to be on your game. If you're really good at all the homework and essays but flunk your exams, then of COURSE they'll figure out you're cheating. And they'll come directly to ME!

No, I am definitely not sharing my notes with you. Ron, you need to handle stuff on your own. But I'll wrap it up: the goblins were annoyed at the settlement of the wizards so they went to the council and argued for their case. He tweaked the fourteenth law, though, so his case was denied. He got annoyed and started cursing the judge and everything. The goblin's name was Arnuk. They never did like the wizards, anyway.

Your mom's right. You should be getting better grades - no, close your mouth, I'm not done - WITHOUT me having to help you.

My winter break is going fine, thanks. Definitely cold in here, and I miss using magic. Good thing we have an air conditioner - oh wait, you don't know what that is. Ha.

Bye,

Hermione

She tucked it in her bag. She'd have to send it by Muggle post later. Her parents would probably freak if there was an owl in the house.

Until then, she'd just have to finish her homework. She'd finished all her homework for the break, so she was just studying ahead. It was how she got her grades.

Unlike Ron.

"Do we have to do this?" Lucius whispered in a hushed tone.

"Yes, Lucius. Liana seems to be a good friend to Draco," Narcissa whispered back, looking around quickly to make sure Draco wasn't listening.

Lucius looked livid. "But she's a Potter. I don't care whether she says she likes them or not, she-"

"Shh," Narcissa whispered frantically. "He shouldn't hear you."

"We're not going!" he snapped hoarsely. "That's final!"

Narcissa sighed, running a hand through her curly blonde hair. "Lucius. Please." She put a hand on his shoulder. "For Draco. He's so happy. Liana even fights with Harry, I heard they've played pranks on him together. I truly think she's fine."

"She's not!" Lucius argued. "We're not going. End of story. If anyone's a bad influence for my son, it's the Potters, and-"

"Lucius. Don't be silly."

"Fine. But he'll be in a house with Harry!" he croaked. "This can't happen. Harry is a jerk."

"Lucius," repeated Narcissa. "We already said we'd go! Imagine how bad this would look on our reputation."

Lucius didn't say anything, but Narcissa knew he was rethinking it. The Malfoys cared about their reputation a lot.

"Fine," he muttered. "But if one thing goes wrong, I will kill them."

"Deal."

Narcissa walked over to Draco's room and knocked on his door gently. "Draco?" she called.

"Hey, mum." Draco appeared out of the room, wearing a dark grey shirt and skinny, dark blue jeans. His hair was combed back, his blonde hair silky, his grey eyes light and fresh. The happy look on his face was the one thing that stopped Narcissa from refusing point-blank to go to the Potters' house for tea.

"You look great," she said warmly, caressing his hair. "You all ready?"

Draco shrugged his shoulders. "Let's go."

"Hey."

Remus spun around. It was Tonks, as expected, wearing a lavender sweater with slits at the shoulder and light, faded blue jeans. Her hair was a light purple to match with the sweater.

"Hi," he greeted warmly, holding his arms out as she ran into them. He wrapped her in a warm hug, burying his face in her hair, which had a sweet, natural, flowery scent.

He could feel her smile as she returned the hug.

"Missed me?" she asked.

"A lot," murmured Remus, letting his hands wander up and down her back. He heard her crystal clear laugh as she pulled away, smiling widely like a child on Christmas day. He felt so happy that he could make someone smile like that.

"You look great," she commented, still smiling.

"So do you," he returned, reaching out to ruffle her hair.

"Thanks. What do you want to do?"

"Whatever you want," he said warmly.

She shrugged. "I dunno. Can I come inside?

Remus's eyes glinted. "Of course."

His warm hand enveloped her cold ones, and he led her into the house as they both sat down onto the couch.

"The party was fun, wasn't it?" Tonks started.

"Yeah, it was," Remus agreed, stroking her soft hair. "You looked like a goddess."

A blush tip-toed up her face. "Thank you. You did, too. Well, you looked like a handsome model."

He laughed, pulling her head gently against his chest, kissing her hair.

"The food was good," she continued conversationally.

"Scrumptious," he agreed. "Lily's a good cook. And James has definitely gotten better."

Tonks smirked. "James never used to be all that great."

"Oh, definitely not." Remus could remember all the times James had tried to cook something for Peter. To put it mildly, Peter had ended up throwing the food at James and pushing him in the Great Lake. Peter had been a foodie like no other.

"Even Liana seemed to be good," she noted. "She wasn't as sarcastic as I would've thought." She traced her finger up and down his side absentmindedly.

"Er… yeah." He was a little distracted now.

She looked up. "What?"

He blinked a few times. "Just a little, er, distracted."

She grinned guiltily. "Sorry."

"Why on Earth are you sorry?" he asked. "I like it. It's just too… tempting."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why are you resisting the temptation?"

Remus bent down, grinning. "Good point."

Hogwarts had definitely outdone itself for Christmas.

Sia was looking at all the decorations, and they were splendid. The giant Christmas Tree was huge, ornaments decking it from top to bottom, and the food was amazing.

There weren't many people still here. Most people had gone home for the break to spend time with their families.

There was only one difference between them and Sia.

Spending time with Sia's family would never be happy.

James took a deep breath. "This isn't going to be fun," he growled, and then he closed his eyes. "Sorry. My temper got the better of me."

Lily rubbed his arm comfortingly. "It'll be fine. You're there, I'm there, Narcissa's there, Lucius's there."

"Some comfort."

Lily sighed. Did they have to go through this conversation fifty times? "James, it's alright. Narcissa will be there. Lucius will be there."

"He called you a you-know-what-blood!" James hissed.

"People can change!" Lily exploded. "You did too, James, you're not the only one who can go through that! You're not… like… special in any way that you're the only person who can grow into a better person!"

James blinked, at a loss for words. "I…" He jerked away from her soft touch and ducked out of the room.

Lily cursed. Why did this always happen? Why had she exploded at him? He hadn't done anything wrong. It was natural for him to be like that, to be concerned about Liana, to mistrust the Slytherins. Why did that have to ruin their relationship?

She raced after him and found him flopped against the bed, tracing designs on the pillow.

"James," she whispered, leaping onto the bed tentatively. "James, I…"

He looked up at her and spotted the single tear running down her face. "Don't cry," he murmured, holding her face in his hand and wiping away the tear. "I hate seeing you cry, Lily, please don't cry."

Her lips trembled. She didn't know what to say.

"Don't be afraid," he pleaded quietly. "Don't be scared of me. I won't hurt you."

Lily wanted to laugh. "How could you hurt me, James? You'd never hurt me. That's like saying my hair is green."

He grinned. "That would be a funny sight."

"James…"

"Remind me to dye your hair green one day, will you?"

"James!"

He laughed, ruffling her hair once before jumping off the bed. "We're gonna be late for the Malfoys." He made a face. "Don't want to make a bad impression, do we?"

Lily grimaced too. Here it was, the ultimate. "No. No, we don't."

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" yelled Ron.

The Weasleys were all engaged in a violent match of Snow Quidditch, where you basically trudged your broomstick through the piles and piles of snow. It involved snowball fights, and a competition to see who could knock Percy off his broom first.

"I'm not playing," Percy said adamantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Perce, don't be a spoilsport," Ginny grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Seriously."

"I'm a seventh-year now, I have to have some dignity," he continued proudly.

"This isn't Hogwarts," Bill reminded him.

"Yeah," Ron whined. "Plus, Bill barely comes over for Christmas. Why ruin one of the only years he comes?"

Bill smirked. "Drag me into this, will you?"

Percy huffed. "Fine, I'll play."

The Weasley children cheered.

The doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" cried Liana, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear and sweeping to the door. She was wearing a purple velvet dress and black tights, her hair half-tied. She'd wanted to wear her navy blue sweatshirt and jeans, but her mom insisted that it was a "fancy" meeting and that the Malfoys had to have a good impression of them.

"Stay calm," James was murmuring to himself. "We can do this."

"Dad, stop overreacting. I'm letting them in." Liana rolled her eyes and tugged open the door. "Hey!" she greeted.

Draco was the only one smiling out of the three Malfoys. He was wearing a dark shade of grey and jeans. Humph. How come he got to wear jeans but not her? "Hi."

The mom was wearing a dark black dress, and the dad was wearing robes, his eyes cautious and furious.

Lily walked up beside her, putting one arm on Liana's shoulder and outstretching another. "I don't think we've formally met. I'm Lily."

Lucius regarded her hand coldly, recoiling, but Narcissa shook it. "Hello," she greeted. "I'm Narcissa Malfoy. This is my husband, Lucius, and that's my son. Draco."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Potter," Draco said, shaking Lily's hand too.

Lily smiled. "How sweet. You have good manners." Liana rolled her eyes. "This is my husband James, and that's my son Harry."

All three Malfoys flinched at the name. Harry walked up towards them, nodding once. He and Draco exchanged a look of utter fury. They truly had the definition of enmity.

"Come on in," Lily said warmly. Draco skipped inside, and the parents warily walked in behind him. "You can put your coats on the coat racks, right there." She nodded at the racks.

Nobody moved.

"Or… er… we can just have tea."

Liana smirked over at Draco, who grinned back.

"Malfoy." James nodded coldly at the man.

"Potter."

The tension was palpable as the two men glared at each other with similar distaste.

"Let's just eat," Lily suggested quickly.

"Sure," Narcissa agreed, putting an arm on Lucius's shoulder.

"Aren't we only here for tea?" Draco asked, appearing behind Liana. "You look… different in a dress, by the way."

"Thanks," she whispered, grinning. "You're only supposed to be here for tea, but my mom made snacks and… pretty much dinner."

Draco laughed. "Your mom seems pretty cool."

Liana made a face. "She's fine, I guess. Just too… much of a mom."

"What sort of a reason is that?" he asked.

"Draco, Liana, come eat," Lily said. "Er… Harry, you sit next to me. Draco can sit on the other side of the table."

Liana smirked. Her mom knew enough not to put Draco and Harry next to each other. Liana plopped down in the seat next to Draco, and Lucius sat down on the opposite side. Narcissa sat next to Liana, and James sat on the other side of Harry.

Lily waved her wand and the snacks and tea appeared on the table. No one spoke as the Malfoys gingerly took their tea. Harry looked equally as uncomfortable, glaring at Draco as if he wanted nothing more than to strangle him.

"So, cold weather, huh," Lily said in a feeble attempt to ease the tension. Liana glared at her.

"Er… yeah. Quite… cold." Narcissa blinked and Lily blushed.

"So, Draco, how's school going?" she asked.

"Good, thanks," Draco replied conversationally. "The tea is really good, by the way."

Lily burst out into a smile. She loved compliments. "Thank you, Draco."

Since Lily had been talking to Draco, expectedly, Narcissa tried to strike up conversation with Harry… failing miserably.

"Hello, Harry. How have you been since the Basilisk incident?" She was quivering, as though talking to Harry was the most difficult, disgusting thing she'd ever done.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You know, with the Weasley girl… how have you been since that incident? Anything interesting happen? I hear that Sirius Black is after you? How is that going?"

Harry blinked incredulously. "Is this what you're asking me?"

"Harry!" whispered Lily. "Be polite!"

"Mum, you know I don't like to be reminded of that stuff," he hissed back.

Lily closed her eyes, and James spoke. "That question is perfectly all right," he said to Narcissa. Liana arched an eyebrow. James would never… "While we're on the subject, I heard Lucius was involved in a scandal with the diary incident. How have you been since then? How many more people have you bribed?"

Lucius stiffened, murder flaming in his eyes. The look on Narcissa's face was precious.

"I didn't realize… I'm sorry," she mumbled, wincing at the words. Liana wondered if she'd ever apologized in her life. "That was out of order."

"It really was," agreed James venomously.

"Dad," moaned Liana. "Please, can we just…"

"Sure, sure," he said smugly. Liana rolled her eyes.

"Sorry," she mumbled to Draco, who was grinning.

"This is hilarious," he muttered back. "My mom doesn't know how to start conversation."

"My dad doesn't know how to react. And my mom is looking petrified," Liana added, looking at the horror-struck whiteness on Lily's face.

"She's cool."

"You've said." Liana grinned. "Your mom isn't all that bad, either." Then she frowned. "Why isn't your dad saying anything?"

"He didn't want to come in the first place," Draco explained quietly. "No offense."

Liana snorted. "Talk about offense. My dad was ready to kill you all. He didn't want you coming at all."

"Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside." Draco smirked.

"Yeah, well-"

"Hello, Draco." It was James.

Liana glared at him. They'd been here for fifteen minutes, and he decided to say hi now?

"Hey," Draco said.

"Why are you mistreating my son?"

"Dad," moaned Harry, nudging James. "Just forget it, we don't need to-"

"We do!" argued, James, shaking off Harry's arms. "No one should be bullying you at school, Harry, we can't allow it. We just can't."

Draco smirked. "I don't bully him."

"Sure you don't," Liana muttered.

"Yeah, Dad, he doesn't," lied Harry. Evidently, the last thing he wanted was for James to get into this. "Just forget it. We have to just…"

"Live in peace?" Liana offered.

Harry shot her a look. "Fine."

"James, stop," pleaded Lily, gently shaking his arm. "This is a peaceful get-together. We're only here for tea."

"And all the snacks," muttered Liana, shooting her mom a grin. Lily returned it.

Lucius looked beyond mad. "Are you accusing my son?"

"Maybe I am," James replied menacingly, cracking his knuckles ferociously.

"James," moaned Lily.

"Lucius," pleaded Narcissa.

"Dad," groaned Harry.

"Dad," Liana sighed.

Draco grinned.

"This is going to be fun."

A/N: Hope this was a fun intro to part 2! Something extremely exciting will be announced soon, so stay tuned for that! Until then, hasta la vista, our dear readers!