Lily had been waiting for the right moment to talk to James, and with only about two days before the Christmas holidays, she had decided to just go for it. Ahead of her, she saw him sitting with his friends. 'Of course he is,' she thought, not expecting anything different. Well, no time like the present. Lily walked up to them, making her presence known before she got there. "Hey James, can I talk to you?"
"Hey Head Girl, yeah we can talk," said James, making no indication to leave, or to send the others away.
"I meant in private," said Lily, starting to feel herself get a little flustered.
"It's okay, whatever Head Boy/Girl things you need to discuss you can say in front of us," said Peter. "James tells us that stuff anyway."
Remus, on the other hand, had picked up on what was going on. "No, I think this meeting is supposed to be private," he said, nudging Sirius gently.
"Oh yeah, we better give you two a chance to talk alone," said Sirius, grabbing his stuff to leave.
"Wait, you know what they're going to talk about?" asked Peter. "Why didn't you guys tell me?"
"Come on, Peter," said Sirius, dragging Peter away by his ear.
"OwowowowOW," said Peter, as he was pulled to a far corner of the Great Hall.
"Okay, they're gone," said James. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Well, uh…" started Lily, hoping she could get the words out as quickly as possible. "So, uh, my sister's getting married, and uh…I was wondering if you would…you know…like to be my…uh…guest, for when they…umm…get married?"
James stared at her in surprise for a moment. "Wh…what?" he asked, sure he'd heard her wrong.
"I…want you…to go to my sister's wedding with me," said Lily, hardly able to look him in the eyes at this point, concerned he might say no after so many years of ignoring him.
James was in stunned silence, his mind racing at a million miles per hour. 'She asked you out. SHE asked YOU out.' 'This is a trick, there's some ulterior motive behind it.' 'Did Severus put her up to it?' 'Surely not even he's that much of a prick.' 'Hey, did you just hear your name?' 'How long have we been quiet now?'
"James? James? Are you okay?" asked Lily, getting worried at the fact that he hadn't said a word for the last minute and a half.
"Wha…huh…did…did you just ask me out?" asked James.
"I…guess I did," said Lily. "You also didn't answer my question."
"Oh, right," said James. "Yes, yes of course I'll do that. I forgot what you said we'd be doing, but yes."
"A wedding," said Lily.
"Already? Shouldn't we date a bit first?" asked James.
Lily giggled a little before responding. "No, my sister's wedding," said Lily.
"Oh, right," said James. "I guess it wouldn't be too bad to go to a wedding with a bridesmaid."
"Umm…" said Lily, looking a bit awkward. "I'm…not actually a bridesmaid."
"What? Really?" asked James, looking surprised. "At your own sister's wedding?"
"Yeah," said Lily, clearly upset. "You see, my sister has this…thing, where she hates that I have magic, and…I don't know, I think she thinks that mum and dad like me more than her. They don't, I know they don't, but Petunia is sure that because of my magic, I get some kind of special treatment."
"Huh," said James, unsure how to respond to that. "How about her husband-to-be? What does this guy seem to think about magic?"
"I…I think he's freaked out by it too," said Lily. "I'm not entirely sure though, I haven't really spoken to this Vernon guy, Petunia just said she's told him about it. And if she's agreed to marry him, he must be against it too. There's no way she'd marry someone who wasn't what she considers 'normal'."
"That's…kinda messed up," said James. "I mean, magic's pretty normal. Maybe I can make them see…"
"No. Whatever you're planning, don't," said Lily in a hurry. "Please James, what I'm hoping is that you can show them that just because someone's magical, doesn't mean they're weird. I want them to accept magic if at all possible."
"Okay…" said James. "I know a bit about muggles, I suppose I can try to fit in. Though I have grown up with magic as the norm, so…this could be interesting."
"Great," said Lily. "So, we're having a dinner together before the event on the December 28th. Do you think you can make it to that, before the event itself in June? I'm sure my parents would love to meet you."
"Yes ma'am," said James, getting very enthusiastic about the idea.
"Great, I'll get the restaurant and venue addresses as soon as possible," said Lily. "See you soon James." Lily smiled widely, before walking off towards the dormitory.
James stayed where he was, still a bit shocked and what just happened, as his friends came back to him. "So, James, it looks like you just asked her out," said Sirius, nudging his friend's arm suggestively.
"Actually, she asked me out," said James. "Did not see that coming."
"Told you that's what would happen," said Remus. "Pay up."
"Damn it," said Sirius, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two galleons.
"Wait, what's this about?" asked James.
"Yeah, a while back me and Sirius had a bet about whether you would ask Lily out or vice versa," said Remus, taking Sirius's money. "Looks like I won."
"You guys suck," said James, as the group started heading back to the dormitory to get packed up for the winter holidays.
"Thanks for this mum," said James. "But you really didn't have to drive here. We could have just, you know, apparated or something."
"Nonsense," said Euphemia. "I wanted to make a good impression on the muggles, show that we're not so different. Especially after what you told us this guy Lily's sister is marrying."
"I guess," said James. "Hopefully this goes okay."
"You'll be fine James," said Euphemia. "Just remember, you only get to make one first impression, so try and make it a good one. If he doesn't respect you even then…well, there's just no helping some muggles."
"Thanks mum," said James, as they pulled into the carpark of the restaurant. "There they are. Okay, here goes." James got out of the car and headed towards the group.
"Hi James," said Lily, coming over and giving him a hug. "I'm so glad you could make it. Come on, meet my family."
"Okay," said James, hardly being given a choice in the matter as Lily dragged him over to a group of people.
"These are my parents, Michael and Mary Evans," said Lily, indicating two people in their early-to-mid forties.
"Hello James, it's nice to meet you," said Mary.
"Lily's told us a lot about you," said Michael, shaking James's hand firmly.
"Hi, nice to meet you both too," said James, shaking Michael's hand back.
Lily smiled at seeing James seeming to get along with her parents, before steering James towards the other couple with them. "And this over here is my sister Petunia, and her fiancé Vernon Dursley."
James turned to see a stick-thin woman and an overweight man, the former seeming to glare at him, the latter looking at him with cautious concern. "Hi, nice to meet you both," said James, holding out his hand for Vernon.
"James, was it?" asked Vernon, grasping James's hand with what seemed to be an attempt to break every bone in his hand. "Lily and Petunia have told me about you."
"All good things, I assume," said James, hoping to lighten the mood.
Vernon paused for a moment. "Well, things, to be sure," said Vernon. "Not sure how much I believe, or if I can say I like the sound of them, but certainly things."
"Of course they're not good things," said Petunia, butting in. "Like I told you, he's like…her." Petunia gave a pointed glare at Lily at this.
Mary, seeing Petunia's response, immediately stepped between the two. "Hey, why don't we go inside?" she said, trying defuse the situation.
"I suppose," said Petunia, turning to enter the restaurant. Vernon just shrugged his shoulder, unsure of what to say, and followed his wife-to-be.
"Was it something I said?" asked James.
"Oh, don't stress about it, James," said Michael. "Petunia's always been a bit peeved that Lily has magic and she doesn't. She doesn't understand it's completely natural."
"If you say so," said James. "What about Vernon?"
"Oh, he's a nice enough man," said Michael. "Unfortunately, I think Petunia's bringing him around to her way of thinking about magic. I'm not saying she isn't entitled to her opinions, but I just wish she'd at least try and be more accepting of Lily's, and I guess yours too, world."
"Don't concern yourself if they're a bit brash," said Lily. "Just be yourself and you should be fine."
"Seems like bad advice, but okay," said James, walking with the others into the restaurant.
James tried to be as nice and charming as possible, but Petunia seemed to be determined to hate him no matter what. Lily's parents seemed to be endlessly entertained by his stories, and enthusiastically asking questions and for more details about the tale, sometimes trying to guess the ending. However, Petunia would keep silent, occasionally offering up a quiet 'hmpf'. It even got to the point where any time Vernon seemed interested in whatever James was saying, Petunia seemed determined to remind him whose side he was supposed to be on. James decided he'd try and take a different tactic.
"So, uh Vernon, what do you do?" asked James, thinking that if he showed a bit of interest in muggle life Petunia might lighten up a bit.
"Me?" asked Vernon. "Well, I'm an executive at Grunnings. I suppose you would have heard of it, largest drill manufacturer in England."
"Oh, uh, yeah, yeah, I know them," said James, only vaguely aware that a drill was some kind of tool muggles used, and had no idea what they actually did.
"Excellent, even in your own little world we're well known," said Vernon proudly, smirking a little. "Maybe I can tap into a new market."
"Don't bother Vernon," said Petunia. "They decided they want to be a part of their own little world because they think they're better than us."
"Now Petunia, there's no need for that," said Mary. "I'm sure magical folk don't believe they're any better than muggles."
"Of course they do," snapped Petunia. "They've got their special powers, and don't feel like sharing with the rest of the world…"
"Come on Petunia, you know the history behind that," said Michael. "The whole Salem witch trial thing made them retreat. I'm sure if they decided to go public now…"
"Then why don't they?" said Petunia. "If we're supposed to be so accepting of people these days, why don't they make themselves known? It's because they know they're freaks, that's why they insist on hiding. They can't function in a normal society."
"Now Petunia, that's not necessarily true," said Vernon gently. "After all, we saw James's mother drop him off in a car. Granted, it was an old Angelia, nothing compared to the Cortina I've got, but still reasonably respectable."
"Yeah, if it was up to me, I'd be on my new Nimbus 1500," said James.
This seemed to get Vernon's attention. "Oh? So you have some kind of sportscar somewhere?" he asked. "Can't say I know the model, though."
"It's not a car, it's a broom," said James, thinking he might have a way to at least win over Vernon.
Unfortunately, Vernon started giving him a funny look. "A…broom?" he asked. "Like…like the thing you sweep with?"
"…I mean, yeah, you could," said James, sensing he was losing the man. "But, uh, this one flies. Really fast too."
Vernon's expression shifted into a confused, disappointed look. "See what I mean," Petunia whispered in his ear, loud enough for the rest of the table to hear.
"Now Petunia, no need to be like…" started Michael.
"No," snapped Petunia, slamming her hands on the table. "I'm sick of this. I'm sick of being treated like I'm second best just because my little sister has magic."
"Petunia, you know that's not true," said Mary. "We have always done our best to love you both equally…"
"But she gets the special treatment because she's the little witch," said Petunia. "You have to pick her up from her school, you have to hide her secret, you have to help make sure she's okay, while I'm getting nothing."
"That's enough Petunia," said Michael firmly. "We've explained this to you time and again. Lily's Headmaster even explained what would happen if we didn't send Lily to his school to control her magic. Of course we had to make other arrangements for her. But even then, we made every effort to make you feel special."
"Your father's right," said Mary. "We got you into the best school we could afford, went to every school function, supported every decision you've made to the fullest of our ability. And yet you seem determined to blame Lily for something she had no control over and you have no evidence we ever did to you."
"That's the whole reason we had this dinner," said Michael. "We were hoping you'd see that witches and wizards aren't that much different from anyone else."
"Well, you failed," said Petunia, standing up suddenly. "Come on Vernon, we're leaving." Without waiting for a response, Petunia had grabbed her purse and was marching out the door, not that Vernon was far behind her.
James turned to Lily, and saw she was barely holding back tears. "Lily, are you o…" started James, as Lily pushed away from the table and ran towards an outdoor section of the restaurant, that was empty during the winter. "Apparently not."
"Oh dear," said Mary. "It's always been like this, even before Petunia knew Lily had her magic. She's always had this idea that we had Lily because we didn't love her enough, even when we do everything to show her otherwise."
"There's just no helping that girl," said Michael. "Twenty-four years, and she still thinks the world revolves around her."
"I'm gonna go talk to Lily," said James, excusing himself from the table. James heading out into the cold, and quietly sat down next to Lily. "Hey, uh…you doing okay?"
"Why?" asked Lily, who was fighting back tears. "Why does she hate me?"
"Honestly? I have no idea," said James. "You've done nothing wrong, tried everything to be a good sister, and she still hates you for reasons I can't even begin to comprehend. I don't know a lot about sibling relationships, but I don't think this is how they should go."
"Oh James," said Lily, sliding closer to him. "Thank you for being here, even when my sister was kind of…you know…"
"No problem," said James, putting his arm around her shoulder. The two of them continued to sit in silence for a few more minutes in the cold until Michael called them back inside to go home.