AN: Happy Sunday and Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you enjoy this fluffy chapter of James' family embarrassing him!
It shouldn't have seemed completely normal to just assume that they would spend the rest of the day together, but when James pulled into his driveway and asked which movie she wanted to watch, she wasn't surprised.
And then she just followed him into the house like she'd been there a million times.
"Mum's at the salon getting her hair done for the rehearsal dinner tonight,"
"The McKinnon's are your cousins, right?"
"Not really," James shrugged. "Mum is one of Ms. McKinnon's best friends, and she's Marlene's Godmother, but we're not actually related. S'why I wasn't invited tonight."
"Are you going to the wedding tomorrow?"
James nodded his head. "I'll have to make an appearance. Why? You looking for a way in?"
"James? Is that you?"
"I would hope so, dad!" James called out, ruffling his hair as he walked toward his father's voice.
Monty was sitting at the kitchen counter, his glasses resting on the tip of his nose, crouched over a small flower arrangement.
"Is that for mum?" James asked, walking over to look at the flowers over his dad's shoulder.
"Yes, but when I took it out of the box, the ribbon fell off and I can't get it to look nice." Monty sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose. He sat upright and looked at James, but he noticed Lily standing on the other side of the counter. "Please excuse my manners, Lily. I assumed James was talking to Sirius when he came in."
"Fair assumption," James shrugged, pulling the corsage toward himself as he took the seat next to his father.
Lily nodded in agreement. "Hullo, Mr. Potter."
"Hullo, Lily. You're doing well, yes?"
"You asking her that because she's been hanging round with me?" James asked, still focused on the ribbon."
"It's a fair question," Monty grinned at Lily.
"I am well, as far as I know."
"Don't crush the petals, James," Monty cautioned.
"I won't," James was squinting at the ribbon now and it was pulling too tight on the stems.
"Here, let me," Lily said, reaching for the corsage before either of them could protest. She quickly undid the damage that James had caused and re-tied the bow. "My sister put me in charge of bows at her wedding. Bows on the gift bags, bows on the end of the pews, bows on the bouquets and in the flower girl's hair and anywhere else she could put one. I'm something of an expert now." It was a small ribbon, which gave her some trouble, but it still turned out quite well, and when she spun it around to show Monty, he looked impressed.
"There were quite a few bows at her wedding," Monty picked up the arrangement and put it back in the box. "How are Petunia and Vernon? Little Dudley?"
"They are well," Lily shrugged. She hadn't talked to her sister in a few months, but she saw plenty of pictures of her nephew on social media to know that he was thriving and spoiled. "Every time I see Dudley, he's bigger."
Monty chuckled as he walked over to the fridge to put the flower away. "Kids have a way of growing up too fast. I mean, look at the two of you! How is it possible that you're both twenty-two? It seems like it was only yesterday that you were running about in the sprinkler and drawing with chalk on the driveway."
James laughed and ran his hand through his hair. "You still think of me as a six-year-old?"
Monty shrugged and reached out to nudge James. "I suppose you're a bit more grown up than six. What are you two up to this afternoon?"
"A movie." James answered. "I told you that we got in late last night, so we're just going to laze about. I'll try and convince Lily to accompany me to the wedding tomorrow and, that's about all I think."
Lily nodded. "You want to call Ms. McKinnon the day before her son's wedding and ask for an additional place setting?"
Monty laughed as James flinched. "Well when you put it that way,"
"I certainly wouldn't want to mess with her today," Monty agreed. "I'm heading out to pick up my tux and your mother," He picked up his keys from the counter. "I'll see you both in a little while."
Lily waved as he walked toward the door and then turned to James. "What are we going to watch?"
"Let's head upstairs and figure it out." James pushed off the counter and grabbed her hand as he walked past her, leading her toward the stairs. She let herself be led through the Potter's house.
Some things looked familiar; the large blue couch that she'd fallen asleep on while waiting for her mum and dad to get back from the doctor's after Petunia broke her leg, the braided, colorful rug at the bottom of the stairs. The family portrait hanging over the television, with five-year-old James grinning without his front teeth.
She'd only been in the Potter's house a handful of times, but it still felt comfortably familiar. It smelled like James here.
"How did your family end up in this neighborhood?" Lily asked.
"Whatever do you mean?" James grinned, looking over his shoulder at her as they walked up the stairs. "My father's company headquarters are in London, his family all live in Scotland, my mum's family lives in, well actually they're pretty spread out. Why wouldn't we end up in Cokeworth?"
"Right." Lily nodded.
"They used to live in the city, but when they had me, they wanted somewhere a bit slower paced, somewhere I could run around and not get hit by a bus. Why here exactly? I guess it was just luck." He squeezed her hand.
Lily looked at the family pictures that were hanging on the walls, dozens and dozens of them, half of them including Sirius, Remus and Peter.
"Alright, are you ready?" James asked, pushing his door open.
Stepping into his room was just as weird as seeing him standing in her room had been. Surreal and dreamlike. "It's backwards." She said, looking around. His room was bigger than hers, longer. His bed was to the right, and to the left was a small couch and a tv. His walls, of course, were decorated with football posters and jerseys. The two jerseys that she could see from her window were to her left and she reached out and ran her fingers over the canons jersey.
"I should have told everyone that I saw you snogging this after you started that rumor about my NSYNC poster." She said as she started toward the couch.
"Sirius would have backed up the rumor, so thank you for not doing that."
Lily grinned at him as she took a seat on the couch. She pulled a fluffy blanket that had been tossed on the back of the couch over her as she did, and then spotted a large stack of books next to the tv stand.
"Hey, James?"
"Yes?"
"Why do you have all those books on the floor?"
James looked at her and then at the books. He blinked once.
The corner of his mouth tugged upward and he looked back at her. "I probably should have put those somewhere else."
"You told me that you weren't using that bookshelf."
"I mean, I was hardly using it. That was all that was on it. And stacks of books on the floor don't bother me." He shrugged, picked the remote up from the coffee table and then sat down next to her.
She could hear what he wasn't saying, and she debated whether or not to say it for him. It would reignite the conversation they hadn't finished at the cafe.
Which wouldn't be a bad thing.
But she found the words didn't really want to come out.
He gave her the bookshelf because he was moving in a week and wouldn't need it.
She leaned against his shoulder and pulled the blanket up to her chin. "Thank you."
He turned and kissed the top of her head, shifting to put his arm around her, as though they did this all the time.
She wanted to.
Just like when they had been dancing in the pub, she felt near euphoric with his arm around her.
"I might fall asleep." She said, trying to quiet her mind.
"I might also fall asleep,"
They were quiet as James flipped through a selection of movies.
"It hasn't only been five days, you know."
"What?" Lily squeezed the blanket.
"We've known each other our entire lives. Things are different now, but it hasn't only been five days."
"Over twenty years." She agreed. "And this is the first time I've ever been in your room. Or used you as a pillow."
"Earlier though, that wasn't the first time you told Camilla off for me."
"I didn't tell her off," Lily scoffed.
"Your tone though- and you lied for me! Twice."
Lily clicked her tongue. "I lie all the time. You're not special."
James laughed. "Can you help me pick a movie?"
"No." Lily shook her head.
James scoffed and tightened his arm around her. "Careful, or I might just put on a football movie."
"I already told you that I was going to fall asleep, so that threat falls a bit flat."
His thumb brushed up and down her arm and despite the blanket covering her arm, goosebumps erupted. She very nearly rolled her eyes at her own reaction.
But James had a point. It hadn't only been five days. The way that she had fancied James while in secondary was far different than the way that she was growing to fancy him now, they still had a whole host of history between the two of them. And while she'd been focusing on the negative side of things a little too much, there had been a lot of good moments between the two of them as well.
Like what Monty had brought up. The two of them had played in the sprinkler together when they were kids.
James started Balto, which Lily couldn't argue against of course, but it did feel a little out of season.
And then she remembered that this was the movie that his mum had taken her, James and Petunia to see. It was the only time she'd gone to the movie theater and gotten more than popcorn. Mia had bought them pretzel bites and they each had their own drink and box of candy. It had seemed extra special.
"You're kind of a swat, you know that?"
"You can call me all the names you want. You're using me as a pillow."
Lily snorted. "I told you earlier that I fancy you. Why haven't you thrown that back in my face yet?"
"Why would I throw that in your face? I'm holding that one close to my chest. I'm not throwing it anywhere."
Lily shifted so she could look up at him. "And now you're gonna be a sap? Ridiculous." She fell back against his shoulder and shifted her legs, tucking her toes into the couch cushions.
"I just wanted to watch Balto. You're the one that turned it into something."
"I was already thinking about the non-terrible memories of you that I have. You didn't need to put on Balto. This is not the kind of movie that should be used deceptively. Also, Muk and Luk are my favorite."
"Same. Also Boris. Which memories were you thinking about?"
"Roof memories." Lily admitted. "Also the sprinkler memories that your dad brought up."
"I always felt like we never actually talked on the roof. Like it was something my brain just created during a malfunction." James grinned. "I mean, I know that it happened, but it kind of still feels like it was actually a dream."
"I felt that way too. Especially when you would, you know, run to the bus ahead of me the next day and pretend that I didn't exist."
"I didn't always do that." Lily looked up at him, and his eyes stayed on the tv screen. "Sometimes I waited to leave my house until after you'd made it to the bus stop."
"Right, that's much better. You know that made me feel like you thought we could only be friends when no one could see us, right?"
"Well now I do." James huffed. "But you know that that's not what I was thinking."
"Yeah. I mean, I do think it was wise of you to alter your current plan on that front."
"Yes, I gave ignoring you in public a lot of thought, but quickly realized that it would have made our trip to London awfully dull."
"I probably still would have gotten chocolate from that trip, but sure. It wouldn't have been as interesting if you had only spoken to me in the car."
"If I just start bringing you chocolate every day, will that work better than what I'm doing now?"
"No." Lily shook her head. "I mean, it wouldn't hurt anything, but no."
"So you're saying I'm doing a really good job then?"
"You know that you are, so don't start asking for pats on the back."
He squeezed her closer to him and kissed the top of her head again. And the real kicker, was the realization that she didn't mind his being smug. That it felt kind of really good to have him feel so good about himself just because she liked him. Because she had admitted that she liked him.
She took a deep breath and tried not to think about how far gone she was.
"I'm going to have to take your roller skating now. Don't want to turn you into a liar-"
"I've already admitted to being a liar. And if you try and make me go roller skating then I'll invite Sirius so he'll check you into the wall the whole time."
"He did that when we were fifteen, why do you think he would-" He stopped talking. "What did Camilla even think she was going to accomplish today?"
"That is a better question than your first one," Lily teased. "And I don't know. Perhaps she realized that she made a mistake when she saw you sitting there." It was a generic answer, but they were picking the sled team that would go and get Rosie's medicine, and Lily was getting sucked in.
"I kind of think she saw you sitting with me before she came over."
Balto was winning the race. "Yeah?"
"Yeah," She felt him take a deep breath, but Balto had just crossed the finish line and she knew what was about to happen. "Yeah. I guess she could have just been waiting for you to leave. She wanted to come talk to me now that I'm… well, you know."
"Right," Lily nodded, glaring at Steele as he tricked Balto into scaring people so that he couldn't help Rosie. "No one knows why she does what she does."
"I mean, clout would fit with what I know about her. She only went out with me in the first place after she found out that my dad invented that stupid hair cream."
Lily shook her head, "Wait, what are we talking about?"
"Camilla wanting to date me again because I'm famous."
Lily blinked rapidly and leaned away from him so she could look at his face. "I paid attention to the movie for two minutes and now you're famous?"
"Well no," James said, the corner of his mouth tugged up, letting her know that he was about to give her a hard time. "I was famous before two minutes ago."
Lily blinked at him, unamused with that joke.
"Not globally," He shrugged, still grinning at her. "But yes, I think I'm considered famous. At least among people who watch football."
"And you think that's why Camilla came over?"
"I don't know any other reason she would have come over. And you suggested it in the first place!"
"You can't think of any other reason?" James raised his brow, daring her to offer one up. She smacked him on the arm, "Don't look at me like that! You don't walk around this world looking like you do and then think the only reason that a girl, who was an absolute cow to you, would want to talk to you is because you're good at kicking a ball around." James started laughing so she smacked him on the arm again.
"She wasn't a cow." James was still laughing, and he caught her hand in his. "I mean, I've met many cows and they have been nothing but sweet and lovely."
Lily snorted, "I'm sorry my choice of insult wasn't good enough for you."
James ran his thumb over her knuckles and laughed, "Walk around this world looking like you do,'" He ran a hand through his hair and cocked his head before he looked at her. "What are you trying to say?"
All Lily had time to do was roll her eyes before the faint click of the front door opening preceded Mia Potter shouting up the stairs, "We're home! I'm going to whip something together for you two before we leave! James, I need you to go to the garage and get the peaches from the freezer!"
"Ma, you don't need to do that!" James shook his head and looked at his door.
"I know, but I want to!" She called back. "Now go and fetch them for me please!"
James let out a sigh, and then pushed himself off the couch. "You are most welcome to stay up here and avoid her."
"I'm not going to be rude, James."
"Please be rude, and stay up here."
Lily clicked her tongue and pushed herself off the couch. "I'm not afraid of her."
"I am," He scratched the base of his neck. "But fine, don't hide from my mother."
He said it like she was the one being unreasonable, but when he held his hand out to her, she took it with a smile.
"Are you going to tell her how handsome you think I am?"
Lily stuck him with a look. "What would you do if I did?"
"Please don't." All traces of glibness died immediately.
"Careful, Potter. I'm not the one who is easily embarrassed."
"Yes, well, I mis-stepped." James started them toward the stairs.
"James!"
"Coming, Ma!"
"Yes, go and fetch the peaches, peaches." Lily reached over to pinch his cheek and he pushed her hand away.
"What is it with you and Sirius?"
"Why are you grouping me in with him?"
"The nicknames."
"Ridiculous," Lily shook her head and let go of his hand as he turned to head to the garage, and she went to the kitchen. "Afternoon, Ms. Potter." James' mum was raiding the pantry, piling things on the counter. "How can I help?"
"Oh pish," Mia's face came into view as she closed the pantry door and she smiled at Lily. "I don't need you to do anything, dear. It's just so good to see you! It's been far too long."
"It has been a while," Lily agreed.
"Yes, tell me what you've been up to! You just graduated with an English Lit degree, yes?"
Lily knew that her mother and Ms. Potter talked quite frequently, and Mia knew that Lily knew this, but Lily still smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm looking for a job in publishing now, but I've had a slow go of things. Actually, I got offered an interview with The Hollows publishing company, just today!"
"That is so exciting!"
"I hope everything goes well, because I love The Hollows. They have a really great outreach program where they help bring books to underfunded schools in different countries around the world. They also set up writers workshops for young teens in public libraries. And also, they've published like, six of my favorite books."
Mia laughed as she pulled her mixing bowl forward. "I also have a plethora of favorite books."
"Who can pick just one?" Lily grinned, taking a seat at the counter.
James walked back in with a freezer bag full of peaches. "What are you making exactly?" He asked, setting the bag next to the mixer.
"Jam, but I'm making that on Sunday. I just need the peaches out so they can thaw before then. Put them in the fridge please."
James raised his brow and gave Lily a look.
Mia fluttered around the kitchen, pulling pots and plates and spices out of the cabinets and Lily started to get excited as she watched the prep begin.
It was common knowledge around the neighborhood that Mia Potter was a phenomenal cook.
"I'm so glad that the two of you have been spending time together," Mia sighed, emptying a can of something into one of the pots on the stove. "Did you have a good time last night at the pub?"
"Yes," Lily answered as James sat down next to her. "Marlene and I bested everyone at billiards and then put on a concert for everyone in the pub. We had a really good time." Mia laughed and it sounded like bells.
"Oh, I wish I could have seen that. James can be such a sore loser though, did he behave himself?"
"Yes," Lily nodded, "He was actually pretty quiet last night, though I might just think that because I was extra loud," She looked over and saw James nodding.
"You did spend a good ten minutes arguing with a stranger over what the lyrics to Piano Man are."
"Did I win that argument?" Lily asked.
"Of course, you did." James nodded. "And Marlene had your back the entire time."
"It was really nice to see her again. I miss getting to see her every weekend." Lily rested her chin on her fist. "I'll have to make sure to see her again on Sunday before she leaves."
"Too bad that Mary can't get down here by Sunday."
"Yes, it is terrible that she decided to go and live in a different country." Lily agreed.
"Where is Mary?" Mia asked, wearing a smile like she thought she might just be reminding Lily that she was still in the kitchen. But Lily's mum had already told her that she and Mia had been gossiping about her and James since they were young so she already knew what Mia was thinking before she came into the kitchen.
"Ireland. She's staying in her grandad's old house while working at a local news station. It's not where she wants to be, or even what she wants to be doing, but she's gotta start somewhere."
"She wants to get into writing, yes?"
"Yes," Lily nodded. "She's brilliant too, her humor is wicked smart, but she still needs to build up her contacts so she can show her pilots to the right people."
"I'm so proud of all you kids," Mia grinned and shook her head as she started stirring a pot of something on the stove. Lily had already lost track of what she'd put in there and was no longer trying to guess what she was making for them. "You've all got such big dreams and you're just going for it."
Lily smiled over at James who was smiling right back at her.
As down as she'd been feeling about where she was in her life just now, she couldn't help the bubbles of joy that came to the surface when Mia said that she was proud of her.
Fifteen minutes later, Lily had a plate full of the most delicious smelling pasta in front of her and Mia was rushing out of the kitchen to go and get dressed.
"Thank you!" Lily called after her, leaning over the plate to smell it even closer. "Gah, that didn't even take her very long!" Lily picked up her fork and scooped up a bite, remembering to blow on it first before she burnt her entire mouth. It would be worth it though.
"My mum is glad that we've been spending time together." James nudged her with his elbow.
"Didn't I already tell you that our mum's gossip about us all the time?"
He raised his brow. "You said that they talked about us when we went to London, you didn't say that it was a recurring thing."
"I didn't?" Lily shrugged. "They've been talking about us with one another since we were kids."
"Really?" James looked almost panic stricken and Lily laughed at him.
"Really," Monty said as he walked into the kitchen. "Your mum used to go next door after you two got on the bus and have tea with Rose so they could talk about everything they heard you two shouting at one another through your windows. There was a lot of excitement when we spotted the two of you up on the roof."
Lily started laughing, having to cover her mouth since it was full of pasta and she didn't want to spray it all over the Potter's kitchen.
"How are you laughing at that?" James asked, and when she looked at him, she saw that his face was almost entirely red, and that only made her laugh more.
"I mean, I already knew most of it, and it's funny! Also, your ears are so red and that is funny too," She laughed, reaching out and pinching his ear.
"What are you laughing at?" Mia asked, walking into the kitchen wearing a beautiful teal dress.
"James is just now finding out that you and Rose like to chat about the two of them." Monty answered, opening the fridge and pulling out the corsage.
"Of course we talk about the two of you! You're our children!"
"No, dear," Monty shook his head as he opened the plastic box and picked up the flower. "Lily knows how you two talk about them."
Mia narrowed her brow and looked at Lily. "Oh, does she?"
"Yes, mum told me."
"Yes, they seem to tell each other everything." James sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"And James has been so worried that I'm going to scare you off." Mia chuckled and then held out her hand so that Monty could put the corsage on her wrist.
"Can't imagine why, darling," Monty grinned, sliding the band over her hand. "We should head out now, or we'll be late."
"Yes, yes, we don't want to do anything to stress out Cora even more."
"James, when you get married, you can't get married here at the house." Monty said, raising his brows, in total agreement with his wife.
"No no," Mia shook her head. "You can, but you can only have twenty guests if you do. I don't know what Cora was thinking when she agreed to host everything. She's not going to be able to relax until all of this is over with!"
"Twenty doesn't seem so bad," Monty shrugged. "Though that would leave out a lot of people. Though I guess it just depends," He looked over at Lily for a moment and she raised her brows. What was he looking at her for? Was Monty a more active participant in Mia and Rose's teas than he'd led them to believe?
He shook his head and looked off before saying anything and Mia swatted him on the arm. None of this was very subtle and James' ears had gone red again.
"Yes, well, let's let Nicholas get married first and we'll worry about me later." James grinned and then stuffed a large bite of pasta into his mouth.
"Yes, we'll be off now. Have a good night," Mia grinned and then looped her arm through Monty's and started them both toward the garage.
"Thanks again for the pasta, Ms. Potter!" Lily called after them.
When the door was closed James turned to her and pushed his glasses up his nose. "How do you just sit there and act as though you're perfectly fine?"
"He didn't actually ask me anything." Lily shrugged. "Though, I probably would have been fine had he asked me. I don't have a lot of family and we have a lot of the same friends, we probably could get away with about twenty people."
James looked at her for a moment and then blinked and turned back to his dinner.
"It's only weird if you let it be weird." Lily shrugged.
"No, they're my parents and they are mortifying."
"They're wonderful. I'm quite certain that I like your mum more than I like you."
James scoffed. "You don't always have to be so honest."
"I know, but I told you that I never learned how to filter things. If you make me a plate of pasta like this, then you'll probably gain a lead, but until then," She tilted her head and then took another large bite.
James sighed. "I suppose that's fair."
"It's more than fair."
James grumbled something incoherent into his dish and then looked over at her. "I can't believe my dad almost just casually asked you how many guests you'd need- I mean, I'd expect that from my mum, but dad?" Lily laughed and patted James on the back.