Chapter 22 Cars Are Simply Impractical.
If I could, I would dare feed your dreams, and stop your fears...if I could light the world we could sit and watch it burn-we could fall asleep inside the glow...-Blake Shelton "Over"
"Now each of you pair up with the person next to you, move the desks if you must, there you go-" Professor Flitwick scurried back, scrambling up to stand on his desk so he could be at eye level with the rest of us.
Once we were ready, James and I stood, facing each other-he smiled cockily, winking and trying to throw me off balance. My side would be testing it first.
"Ready!" Flitwick squeaked over the noise. "Set! Go!"
"A capite ad calcem constrixi jute!" Echoed across the classroom, and I didn't even need to look at the board, where it was chalked out. Immediately swirls of rope erupted from my rope like ribbons, completely binding a shocked-looking James. The classroom sat in stunned silence. A feeling of Deja Vu blasted through me so strong I thought I would collapse-
"Randy! I've got it!" My words were running together I was so tired, and my eyelids seemed deadly intent on closing themselves. It was nearly three o'clock in the morning.
I looked down at the incantation- "A capite ad calcem constrixi jute."
"That's a mouthful," he observed over my shoulder.
"But it's perfect," I grinned happily.
"Oh, James, sorry!" I gasped, and Flitwick immediately preformed the counter-curse.
"How did you do that, Miss Evans?" Flitwick looked at me in awe, and Snape looked at me suspiciously. Our charms class was Slytherins and Gryffindors.
"I-I don't know," I stammered, mind racing. I couldn't exactly tell him I'd practiced it roughly fifty times in the erased past, could I?
"Well, have you ever done it before?"
"...No."
"Very, very impressive!" He clapped his hands. "Fifteen points for Gryffindor!" My eyes bugged open as several Gryffindors clapped me on the back, hooting and clapping louder than the Slytherins' muttered insults and hissing. "Continue, everyone, back to your practicing! Lily...you don't need to practice any more...why don't you come here and practice your patronus? I hear you've been having trouble with that one," he said sympathetically, and I almost sighed in relief as the attention turned off me. James looked at me in amazement.
"Oh, and you, Mr. Potter, you can join up with Marlene and Sirius. That was some very impressive work, my condolences to the poor witch or wizard who meets you in a duel!" He laughed heartily. I laughed weakly. "Well, hop to it, then, and I'll just..." he muttered to himself as he walked back to his desk.
The rope spell aside, my patronus was another story. Another sad, sad story-although I knew there were full grown adults that couldn't get more than a wisp, I was still disappointed with my own silver smoke, which was all it was most of the time. I had produced it once in sixth year, and once when I had warned the group of resistors against Voldemort.
I briefly closed my eyes as I sat on my table, meters away from the rest of the students. I turned my back on them, and closed my eyes, breathing deeply. Happy memories. Flying. James. The first time I'd seen Hogwarts.
"Expecto Patronum!" I muttered, forcing all my willpower into the two words. Granted, for my first try in quite a while, the mist looked more substantial than usual-but not by my own power, thoughts of Voldemort began to seep through my brain, penetrating my happiness and eating away at my concentration. Voldemort wanted to take over the Ministry...Order of the Phoenix.
No, I told myself firmly.
James and I galloping around the hallways as he sang, rolling down that hill...telling me that he loved me...
"Expecto Patronum!" I said firmly, and my stomach flipped like I'd just taken a plunge, and a shiver ran down my back. For a moment, swirling silver mist began to curl around my wand, wisping into the air-and then, to my amazement, a silvery creature struggled out of my wand, taking shape and cantering around the room-it was my doe! I laughed with delight, watching with sheer satisfaction as my doe pranced around the room-like it read my thoughts, it went over to James, circling him just as I'd wanted it to, causing him to laugh and look over to me. We held each other's eye contact for a moment, smiling. Then James muttered something with his wand, and a stag erupted from his wand-I gasped as I realized for the first time this significance.
The stag and the doe-they were perfect for each other.
The two of them bounded, side by sound, around the room, throwing their heads back majestically.
Snape had seen it all.
Several weeks later-December 18th, 1977
"Ah!" Dorcas yelled, as did Marlene, and the cards exploded on their side.
"It is called exploding snap for a reason, dearest," Alice patted both of them on the heads, laughing as they swatted her wrists, disgruntled and trying to magic the soot of their faces.
We were on the way back from Hogwarts to King's Cross Station-somehow, Alice, Frank, Marlene, Emmy, Sirius, Remus, Dorcas, Peter, James, and myself had managed to squish ourselves into one compartment, though Marlene and Dorcas were facing Peter and Remus on the floor. They begun to set up the house of cards once more and I stole a glance out the window, entwining James's hand in mine unconsciously. No matter how much I tried to distract myself, I was worried. We were leaving the protection of Hogwarts, and it almost felt like we were playing straight into the hands of Voldemort.
"Lily, you're quiet," Emmy observed, brushing her toe up against my knee. She was sitting to the right of me, and James to the left.
"Yeah, I was just...thinking about Voldemort," I muttered. James squeezed my hand and kissed the side of my head. All of us had agreed to join the Order of the Phoenix-and while that gave me a slightly more significant feeling of safety, I was still nervous.
"Remember what I said, Lily. All of you-if any of you ever need a place to stay, we've got plenty of room at my house-Sirius is already staying there, and honestly, eight more of you wouldn't be too full," he smiled jovially. "Besides, what's a snaky bloke like Voldemort got a chance against the ten of us? We'll charm him with our looks and-"
"Have him begging for mercy with our magical prowess," Sirius blurted, finishing James's sentence.
"Well said, Padfoot," he grinned, acknowledging. I tried to put on a brave grin-but none of them had reason to be as nervous as I was-I was the only muggleborn. Voldemort wanted me dead most of all.
"James, you shouldn't be so cheery, as a matter of fact, you should be very, very worried," Remus said, barely concealing a grin.
"What? Why?" James looked befuddled.
"Good-bye, James, I'll make sure to tell your parents goodbye for you," Sirius cried dramatically as most of the occupants in our compartment snickered sympathetically. For a minute, I forgot about Voldemort.
"What's going on?" Alice looked up to us, confused.
"James is coming to meet my parents, my sister, and her fiancee," I had a huge grin on my face.
"Lily, darling-you're exaggerating, right? It's not going to be that bad, is it? I mean, I've already met your parents..."
"Not as her boyfriend you haven't, mate," Sirius's grin grew. James grew even paler.
"Oh, James," I rolled my eyes, leaning into him. "Don't worry, my dad won't kill you-though maybe just a bit," I began to giggle hyperly as the effects of my chocolate frog kicked in. "It's Petunia and Vernon you've got to watch out for, they're truly scary. You've already seen them, haven't you?" I remembered from the summer before.
"Yes," he rolled his eyes. "I've never seen a man with such a talent for turning colors."
"Did you see his magenta shade?" Marlene looked up at him, and James nodded furiously.
"That's nothing-I got his purple shade when I mentioned my fifth cousin-twice removed Ricky got his soul sucked out by a dementor," Marlene laughed heartily. "He deserved it, though," she muttered under his breath. She never really mentioned her cousin, but I knew he had been in league with Voldemort and had killed quite a few people.
"I bet I can get him blue," James began to snicker.
"Oh, mate, tell him about Moony!" Sirius laughed hysterically, and completely missed the glares Remus, James, and Peter shot at him.
"What about Remus?" Dorcas asked casually, laying her card on the top and breathing a sigh of relief when it didn't explode.
"About his pet griffin," James blurted at the same time as Peter squeaked-
"He's a vampire!" We had to burst out laughing at this, and the topic was dropped.
Much quicker than it had ever seemed, the ten minute warning was called and we all stood up to change, gathering all our scattered belongings.
"Lily, I think now's a good time to tell you, I've never been to a muggle restaurant before!" He blurted, looking positively terrified as he stood up, the train screeching to a stop.
"They can't be much different than wizarding ones-James, why are you so nervous?" I looked at him oddly, linking his arm through mine. "Our dinner with Petunia and Vernon isn't even until tomorrow, you'll be fine. I promise I'll help you out if you have your menu upside down," I promised, trying to calm him.
"Prongs, I have never seen you so pale," Peter looked at him, putting a hand to his forehead and pretending to check for fever. "You alright, mate?"
"No, I am not alright, Wormtail! What if I make a bad impression, what if Lily's parents think I'm some dumb rebel who's not good enough for their daughter-"
"James!" I cut him off by kissing him full on the mouth. "Look at me!" I put my hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look me in the eyes. "It will be okay."
"Siriusly," Sirius threw in, winking. "You pull a prank for me, alright?"
"No," I said quickly, throwing Sirius a dirty look. "No pranks."
"Well, maybe just one or two minor ones," James winked at me, back to his normal self.
Good. For a minute there, I was getting worried.
"Bye, I'll see you in a few weeks!" I promised, hugging all of my friends at once. We yelled a final goodbye over all our shoulders, and finally we dispersed into the crowd, weaving along happy reunions and students searching for their parents.
"You ready?" I looked up at James, who had his arm around me.
"Absolutely, darling," he winked at me. "Do you see them?"
"No-I can't see anything, with all these people moving about," I grumbled, popping up on my tiptoes. I was fairly tall for my age, but getting knocked around with all of the hustle didn't help. I was looking especially for my father's red hair-it was easiest to spot.
"Here-get on my back," James offered, squatting down.
"What?" I looked at him oddly.
"Oh, it's alright, I'm not going to drop you," he rolled his eyes.
"I know, but-oh well, who cares what Petunia thinks anyway!" I gave a hearty laugh, relishing the look on her face when I arrived piggy-back on my boyfriend.
"Bye, Lily and James!" Siraaj Patil, a Ravenclaw boy in the year below us, called. We both waved, grinning, answering several more shouted good-byes.
"She's actually coming?" James asked in amazement, craning his head up to look at me as he straightened and I locked my legs around his waist and he put his arms under my legs. I wrapped my arms around his chest, kissing him on the neck.
"Yeah, I was shocked, too," I murmured. "Vernon absolutely refuses, I'm really not sure at all why Petunia would want to come. Maybe she felt bad because she wasn't going to let me be a bridesmaid in her wedding," I said in a small voice.
"What?" James stopped in the middle of the crowd, several people having to veer around us. He set me down and we walked over to the wall. He put his hands on my cheeks as tears welled in my eyes. It was official, Petunia was flat-out refusing I be anything but a face in the audience. I still had the letter. "When did this happen?"
"A-a few days ago," my voice broke. He folded me into his arms and I clung to him tightly, a tear slipping out my closed eye. I hid my face in his shoulder, trying to calm my breaths.
"You didn't tell me that," he murmured, brushing the tear away as I begun to pull myself together.
"I didn't want to tell you until after you'd met her, so you wouldn't be mad at her," I confessed.
"Lily, I will only be mad at her if you want her to be," he said solemnly, and I threw my arms around him.
"Thank you," I whispered, kissing him.
"A-hem," my father's firm cough sounded and we broke away faster than if we'd been electrocuted. My face turned beet red-my father looked at us both disapprovingly, Petunia triumphantly, and my mother-well, she looked like she was trying not to laugh.
"Erm," I said. "This-this is James Potter. My boyfriend."
"And if actually runs on this-this oil stuff?"James gestured excitedly from the backseat with me. "I've seen cars before, but I haven't ridden in one since I was little, and I don't know much about them." After the initial shock of seeing us kissing, my parents really liked James, finding him to be a fascinating boy. Other than the first part, the meeting had gone completely smoothly-other than, of course, Petunia. She hadn't said a word to James whatsoever. I was fed up with her already. As a matter of fact, it wasn't just James she wasn't speaking to-she hadn't opened her mouth at all, and the one time she did was to say "no" when dad asked her something.
"Yeah, see the top up here-" my dad gestured to the hood. "There's this thing called the engine..." they continued to talk enthusiastically about the car, and I tapped Petunia's seat in front of me. She, my father, and mother were sitting in front, and James and I were behind them. She didn't turn until my third try.
"Why did you come, if you weren't going to talk?" I muttered when she finally tuned her head a quarter of an inch. She refused to answer, turning back firmly in her seat and hunching her shoulders. I rolled my eyes, refusing to let her get to me.
"Has James seen a television, I wonder?" My dad looked at us from the rear-view mirror.
"Oh, great idea, dad!" I exclaimed, getting excited again. "Oh, you're going to love it!"
When we got home, Petunia left immediately to Vernon's mum's house, where they were both staying while James and I were over. Then, he and my parents bonded some more over the microwave when we made hot chocolate.
"Thank you again for letting me stay over here," James said for about the fiftieth time, sipping his hot chocolate around the table with the rest of us, eyes flitting back and forth between the various electrical appliances.
"Don't mention it, James. It was our pleasure, meeting Lily's boyfriend. It was a bit of a shock, though, she was always complaining about you in her letters, and now-well, now look at you," she laughed, motioning to the position we were in-I was leaning into James, and his arm was around my waist.
"So Mum, Petunia's not going to let me be a bridesmaid?" I asked quietly as I went to the kitchen to put my cup, and she followed me. She sighed, closing the door to James and my father's conversation.
"Oh, Lily," she sighed, hugging me. "I don't know what I'm going to do with your sister. I have begged, pleaded, cajoled-"
"Mum, you shouldn't have to beg her to let her own sister to be a bridesmaid-what did I ever do to her, honestly, besides go to Hogwarts? Even that wasn't my fault," I whispered.
"Nothing, Lily Katherine Evans, so don't go blaming yourself for one second. It was pure envy and disdain on your sister's part that drove your relationship to the ground. Mind you, I'm not picking favorites-but you did everything you could, darling, and Petunia simply does not wish to be your friend any longer. I'm sorry, sweetheart," she sighed, pulling me into another hug.
"It's alright," I mumbled, even though it wasn't.
"Good night Lily, love you. Good night, James!" My mother said, poking her head into the living room where we had just turned off the television. It wasn't the first time James had seen one-apparently he had a squib relative who had married a muggle, and had muggle children and grandchildren. Nonetheless, he was still transfixed.
"Good night, mum," I came and gave her a hug.
"Good night, Mrs. Evans. Thanks for the hot chocolate!"
"Alright James, come with me," my father was lugging a sleeping bag. "You're going to sleep in Petunia's old room."
"What?" I squeaked. "Dad, James can sleep in my room-"
"What?" He exploded suddenly, looking at James furiously.
"No, dad, not with me!" I cried, thoroughly embarrassed and turning red. "He can sleep on the bed by himself, and I can sleep on the floor in that sleeping bag."
"Absolutely not!" James and my father cried simultaneously. "I'll be on the floor, and not you, thank you very much," James insisted.
"Yes, you will," my father said pointedly. "In Petunia's room."
"Really, Dad?" I hissed under my breath.
"Yes, really, Lil," my father replied, opening the door to my sister's old room. "I don't want any funny business happening here."
"Funny business?" I choked. "Really dad, James can sleep in my room, it's alright."
"No, it is most certainly not!" He boomed, already setting up the sleeping bag. "My little girl...all grown up," he suddenly choked up.
"Oh, Daddy," I sighed, going over to hug him, calling him something I hadn't in years. He pulled me against his chest.
"I just don't want you growing up, Lily, Petunia's already getting married and you're about to move out of the house as well," he sighed, muttering something about 'empty nest syndrome.' "Your mother and I are going to spend your whole inheritance if you go without visiting for too long," he joked, pulling back and continuing to set up the sleeping bag. "Night, Lily. Good night, James. You seem like a nice young man, and I'm glad my daughter has found someone like you."
"Thank you, Mr. Potter."
"Come on, Lily."
"Dad, I'm going to stay in here and talk with James for a few minutes, alright?" I said a bit forcefully, trying to convey the message that I was almost eighteen and could be trusted.
"Fine. Door open," he pointed to the door and then pushed it open all the way, walking out backwards and staring James down until the corner obscured his view of us.
"Finally," I muttered when footsteps on the stairs sounded. "Sorry about that, my dad is just being..." I struggled for the right word.
"A dad?" James supplied, smiling. "I would do the same thing if it was our pretty little daughter who was bringing the boy home..." he trailed off, a faraway look in his eye.
"Already planning our children, huh?" I teased, sitting next to him on the floor, our backs up against Petunia's bed in her meticulously clean room. "Any names you have in mind?"
"I like Eleanor," James admitted, putting his arms around me.
"What about a boy?"
"I can't decide. What about you?"
"I've always liked Harry," I said, resting my head on his shoulder. "It was my great-grandfather's."
"I like that name. Eleanor and Harry, huh?" He laughed softly.
"I can't believe we're sitting here, talking about kids," I giggled.
"I love you, Lily," James sighed, resting his head on mine.
"I love you too, James," I said softly. "More than I ever thought was possible to love a single person, much less a Marauder," I teased, pulling my knees up to my chest.
"Speaking of which," James began, a mischievous tone to his voice.
"Uh oh," I giggled. "You have you're "I've got an idea" voice on."
"That I do, Lily, that I do. Look here..." He stood up and went to his suitcase, pulling out a bag from within. "I stocked up on Zonko's products before we came, should opportunity knock," he grinned deviously. "Just a little prank...please?" He pleaded, folding his hands and kneeling before me, pulling out the puppy dog eyes.
"No, stop!" I exclaimed, putting my hands in front of his face, but the damage was already done. "James, I can't say no to that face..." I groaned.
"That's why I do it, love," he grinned, offering a hand and pulling me up. "Not a harmful prank or anything, just a little magic one. I think a prank or seven would be healthy for Petunia"
"Or seven?" I choked, inspecting his bag, which looked much bigger from the inside.
"Yeah, maybe. Like we could charm her pictures to move, or something."
"Fine, fine. But just a few," I said sternly.
"YES! I knew there was a reason I loved you," he kissed me quickly.
"Thanks," I rolled my eyes, grinning despite myself. "What are you going to do, short-sheet her bed?"
"Please. That's a first year prank."
I snorted, watching James as he flitted around the room. My eyelids began to grow heavy, and I pulled a blanket down from Tuney's closet to cover myself as I leaned against her bed, sitting on the floor. I must have dozed off once or twice, because when my eyes opened I was in James's arms, being carried down the hall.
"James?" I asked sleepily.
"Hey there, Lils. Did I wake you?"
"No. James?"
"Yeah?"
"What if Voldemort comes and gets us after we graduate?"
"What makes you think that?"
"I don't know."
"He won't," James said firmly. "If he does, we'll fight him."
"A-alright," I yawned. Soon he was putting me on my bed and pulling the quilt up to my chin. I curled up, closing my eyes and smiling sleepily as James kissed my forehead.
"Night, love," he whispered, stopping at the doorway.
"Good night, James.
"Oh, James. What if they decided not to show up?" I whispered, nervously fidgeting with my red dress. We were at a very fancy restaurant-Aristos Hellas Olympus-translated, the best of Olympus.
And I couldn't have been more uncomfortable.
"Of course they're going to show! From what I've heard, Vernon won't resist an opportunity to brag about his car, or his drill factory," James rolled his eyes, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly. We had come twenty minutes early to the restaurant, and we still had several minutes until seven o' clock, our agreed-upon meeting time, but I was still nervous. Although I shouldn't have been-knowing them, they'd arrive straight on the dot of seven.
"Alright." I exhaled slowly, trying to calm myself. "It's going to be alright," I muttered, more to myself than James. We examined a menu, and I anxiously sipped at my lemonade. James held my hand reassuringly under the table at our booth, but my stomach was still in knots.
"How do you pronounce this?" James muttered, chuckling at the item on the menu-"Luka-luka-niko?" The item he pointed to was spelled Lucanico.
"I have no idea," I giggled softly, and a middle-aged couple in front of us turned around to glare. We stared back, immediately adopting a dead serious facade.
"And this? Souvloki? Moussaka? What is this, a restaurant or a badly jumbled bag of letters?" James murmured into my hair, smiling.
"Bit of both, I think." The couple sent us one final glare and relocated, sticking their noses in the air. Our corner of the restaurant was empty other than us-the muggles could tell we were different. I grinned, pointing this out to James.
"Let's have some fun," he whispered under his breath.
"Lets," I agreed, stifling my laugh. Under the table I kicked off my high heels, sighing with relief as my feet regained the ability to breathe. "I hate high heels," I muttered murderously under my breath.
"I told you, those things are death traps," James said wisely.
"I know, and I never wear them, but I wanted to make a good impression. Same with this blasted dress!" I hissed. "Do you think the muggles would notice...Bomborda Minima!" I hissed, pointing my wand surreptitiously at my heels.
"What did you do?" James asked, startled.
"Blasted the heels off. Now they're flats," I grinned cheekily.
"Alright. Play along-Lily, dearest, did you remember to feet the giraffe before we left?" James asked loudly, looking at me with a perfectly straight face. I changed my laugh into a cough and answered him just as seriously-
"No, I fed the pandas-the giraffe was your responsibility this week!" I said, letting a slightly whiny tone creep into my voice.
"I suppose you didn't massage the alligator either, she's going to be cranky when we get home."
"Oh, I did actually, dear. I massaged-ah, Niffler-until she fell asleep."
"Niffler?" James snickered quietly.
"First thing that came to my mind-look at those people at the table, that lady with the black dress and heavy makeup, look, she looks like she's going to faint!" I clutched my stomach, trying to hold in my laughs. Half the restaurant was staring shamelessly at us.
"And did-ah, Petunia, Vernon!" James announced loudly, standing up and greeting my sister and her fiancee in the most dramatic way possible. The clock's hour hand changed to seven seemingly the very second they toed the threshold. They looked absolutely disgusted, and as they looked around most of the people quickly turned their eyes away from us, back to their meals. The conversations hurriedly resumed. "Welcome!"
"Is this the Potter man?" Vernon asked nastily, his face scrunching up at Petunia.
"Yes, he is," Petunia sniffed daintily, holding her back straighter than a rod as she sat down.
"Hello, Petunia, Vernon," I greeted them coolly, crossing my fingers that nothing too explosive would go down. "How are you?" They were both impeccably groomed-Vernon in an expensive looking suit with his hair slicked back, and Petunia with a ridiculously frilly-though I supposed that was the style-violent shade of pink.
"We are doing just fine, and yourselves?" Petunia returned stiffly.
"We're just peachy, so pleased to meet you," James had a big, goofy grin on her face. "I haven't met many muggles." I turned to James, wide eyed, trying to shake my head slightly, but he didn't see.
"Muggles?" Vernon's face slowly colored. "What the devil is a muggle?"
"A non-magical person," I answered bluntly, both of them jumping at the "m" word.
"Hello, and welcome to Aristos Hellas Olympus! What can I get you all?" We ordered, and resumed our conversation.
"Lily, did you know Vernon's been promoted at his drill factory?" Petunia informed me proudly as Vernon began to explain-in extreme, excruciating detail-about his new car.
"That is so interesting, please tell me more about this fascinating subject," I tried not to smile when Petunia didn't catch the sarcasm.
"Well his boss, Mr. Garnisik, absolutely adores Vernon, and he's just so dedicated to his job..." I zoned out, nodding and smiling like a robot. We ordered our meals, and Petunia and Vernon treated the waitress with more politeness than James and I. "...and what's your employment, James?"
"Erm-we're both still in school," James said oddly.
"Well, what would you like to become when you finish?" Vernon asked slowly. He must've thought that wizards took on muggle jobs after school, otherwise he never would have asked the question.
"I want to be an auror, like my parents," he sat up a little straighter.
"Me, too," I nodded.
"And-and what, exactly, is an auror?"
"It's a wizard that catches dark wizards." Vernon slowly began to turn a delicate shade of magenta.
"Is that so?" He said, baring his teeth. "Dark wizards, eh? Aren't the lot of you dark?"
"Is that any way to treat your fiancee's sister?" James said in a calm voice that clearly concealed anger.
Neither of them responded, because just then the waitress brought over the meals to our tense table of four.
"So, how have you and Vernon been?" I attempted to start up another conversation with Petunia.
"Very well, thank you. Wedding plans, you know," she sniffed a bit disdainfully.
"And it's got four wheel drive," Vernon said to James as he continued to talk about his car, clearly expected this last bit to have a greater effect on James.
"What exactly is that, four wheel drive? Is it sort of like the weather-repelling charm I have on my racing broom?" James asked completely innocently.
"No, it is most certainly nothing like that!" Vernon slammed his fist down on the table and James and I jumped back, startled. "It goes one hundred-and fifty kilometers per hour, and runs smoother any other brand. Excellent mileage, as well," he said proudly.
"That sounds amusing," James said in a bored tone. "I'd love to see it," he said, obviously hoping that Vernon wouldn't take him up on the offer.
"I'm sure you would love to ruddy steal it," Vernon muttered murderously under his breath, quiet enough so James couldn't hear him. "Of course, come out back, and I'll show you."
This left Petunia and I in awkward silence. My hands were sweaty and I was even more nervous than I had been in anticipation for their arrival, and was already high-strung with nerves. I wasn't daft, I knew the whole meeting wasn't going to turn around for the better, either, it would most likely go downhill. If this meeting ended in a shouting match, as all four of us secretly suspected it would, would Petunia ever want to see me again?
"Are you nervous for the wedding?" I asked timidly, fidgeting with the tablecloth.
"No," Petunia answered shortly. "I'm very excited to marry a decent, normal and respectable man such as Vernon." I nodded slowly, clenching my jaw. What was she insinuating? "How is James going to support you, if the two of you run off and elope?" She suddenly asked.
"First-first of all, Petunia," I said furiously. "James has a fortune in the wizard bank, and I'll have you know he lives in a house five times the size of Vernon's, though money doesn't matter, I don't know why you and Vernon care about it so much. Second of all, why in Merlin's name do you think we're going to elope?" I said furiously, eyes crackling with electricity.
By the time James and Vernon came in, Petunia and I were staring daggers at each other across the table, refusing to speak to each other.
"That car you have is very amusing, Vernon," James was trying not to laugh as they came back in.
"Amusing, is it?" Vernon spat.
"Yeah. Do all muggles wear those-what's that you've got on-"
"A suit?" Vernon growled.
"Yeah," James grinned easily, probably trying to be friendly. "It looks-well-erm-it looks-good?" His voice rose in question.
"Yes, well. I wouldn't expect someone like you to recognize a well-tailored suit when you see one, I suppose all you people wear are those dratted robes," he sniffed and James's jaw worked, trying not to burst out laughing as they both sat down. "What sort of car do you drive?" Vernon smiled cruelly.
"A car? No, no, no. I've got a racing broom, the newest model-cars are simply impractical," James figured logically. Vernon clenched his meaty fist, face turning a blue-ish purple tone.
"Well, I suppose all you wizard folks have got to live on welfare," Vernon said with a clear tone of disgust. "Couldn't even get a respectable job, probably."
"I've got a fortune of galleons-that's gold, mind you-in the bank. I don't know what this welfare thing is, but I assure you we are not living off of someone else's money, or whatever your misguided opinions think. We magic folk work for our own food and shelter just like the lot of you ordinary people," James said with an odd sort of forced smile on his face. He pulled out his wand and began to toy with it absent-mindedly, keeping it out of view from the muggles.
Vernon's face achieved the color blue.
"What are galleons? No doubt some poor-folks welfare, no matter what you think-"
"James does not live off of welfare!" I hissed, snapping. "And you'd do well to remember that."
"I don't take orders from people like y-" CRASH!
Petunia screamed as a glass near her exploded, showering them both with tiny glass shards and wine.
"Up, Petunia, we're leaving!" Vernon bellowed-both of them grabbed their things and without a second look behind them scurried out, the door swinging behind them as they disappeared.
I put my head down on my hands and burst into tears.
A\N Thank you so much to my three reviewers of this last chapter...I can't thank you enough for continuing to give me feedback.:D I really do appreciate knowing someone is out there reading this!