Lily wasn't sure where to contact Melinda, but she desperately wished she could to tell her the good news. Unfortunately, it had been an entire week since she left and Lily hadn't received a single word. She was getting worried about her.
But there were other things to worry for as well. For example, it was Hogsmeade weekend, and Lily's family was coming for an unfortunate visit. Though with the library incident behind her, Lily was relieved to say, there was still the issue of her debt to be concerned with. She'd already made arrangements with the shop owner, along with the special permission of Dumbledore, to work off her debt on weekends. Of course, the way she was going, it was going to take a century and a half to pay it all off.
The biggest problem, however, was the fact that Lily's mum didn't exactly know of her massive debt, and she definitely didn't intend on telling her. Her record was pretty much tarnished at school, but that didn't mean it had to be so at home. Unfortunately, this meant that she had to work at Alexandria's Fine Fittings during the same hour her family was meeting her at the Three Broomsticks. Predicament? Yes. Solution? She was, er, working on that.
Well, she did have some semblance of a plan, but it wasn't exactly a plan she was looking forward to executing. She was going to have to force herself to be extra nice.
"James?" Lily approached him tentatively. He was sitting with Remus, Sirius, and Peter, eating his lunch and guffawing at something Sirius had just said.
He turned when he heard her voice and smirked. "Lils. What brings you to the dodgy end?"
"Ha ha ha ha!" She forced a giggle. "That's so funny! Ha ha!"
The four of them just stared at her.
"Er…Lily? Are you feeling all right?" James frowned.
"Yes, I'm fine…" she cleared her throat. Perhaps that was overkill. "Could…I talk to you for a moment?"
Sirius nudged Remus, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Lily chose to ignore this, and waited for James to follow her out of the Great Hall.
"What is it?" He was still frowning. "Is everything all right?"
"Of course!" Lily waved a hand dismissively. "Er…well, sort of. I need to ask you a favor."
As soon as she said the word, a slow smirk began to creep across James' features, and his eyes began twinkling mischievously. He sunk back against the wall, leaning casually and giving her an expectant look. "Yes?"
"You know what?" Lily let out a short, nervous little laugh. "Never mind. This is silly." She was just turning away when James latched onto her arm, pulling her toward him.
"No, no, no, Lils," he stared down at her playfully. "You finish what you started."
Lily stared back at him, gulping down the nervous lump in her throat. "I just…er…"
His hazel eyes glittered. "Go on." He was inching her closer to him, until she could feel the warmth of his body nearly pressed against hers.
"I…" she stared down at her shoe. "My mum and sister are coming to Hogsmeade this weekend, and, well…" she forced herself to meet his gaze. "I need you to meet with them."
James laughed. "Well, Lily, I didn't realize we were that serious! You want me to meet the family this soon?"
Lily yanked her arm from his grasp. "We are not anything. I just…I've got to work."
James laughed again. "Working? Where could you possibly be working? You're a student!"
She blushed. "You know I have that debt," she mumbled the word 'debt.' "I have to pay it off somehow, so I made arrangements to work there on the weekends-"
"But this weekend your mum is dropping by and you don't have the heart to tell her," James finished.
"Exactly."
"So, what, you need me to distract her?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Well…for lack of a better phrase, yes," she shrugged. "Please, James. I know you've already helped me enough, but…I just…I really need you to do this for me. Then I promise I'll never ask anything of you again." She eyed him pleadingly.
He tilted his head. "All right. I'll do it."
"…Really?" Lily gaped. "No strings attached?"
"Right-o." James yawned and loosened his tie. "I'm going to get back to my lunch."
"Okay…great!" Lily said excitedly. "Thank you, James! Really, you're a lifesaver."
"I know," he smirked, waltzing back through the double doors. "I'm bloody fabulous."
Lily was grinning to herself all the way back to Gryffindor Tower. She was just turned the corner to the portrait of the Fat Lady when she heard a muffled shriek.
She hesitated and held her breath. Was she hearing things? A soft thud came from further down the corridor. Lily swallowed hard and pulled out her wand.
"No!" she heard a female voice say. "Give it back!"
"It's mine now. You don't deserve it," an unidentifiable voice replied roughly.
Lily rounded the corner, wand pointed at the two figures hidden in a dark alcove. "What's going on?"
A third-year blonde girl and an older boy, perhaps fifth-year, stared fearfully back at Lily. The boy, wearing Ravenclaw robes, she noticed, took off running.
"Stop!" Lily cried after him.
He ignored her and she blasted him with a mild charm that tugged at the heels of his feet and sent him tumbling. He landed hard on the ground with a crack, and whatever he'd been clutching tightly to his chest hit the floor and shattered into hundreds of glittering pieces.
"No!" cried the girl. She ran towards it and dropped to her knees, cradling a few of the shimmering shards.
Lily stood over the boy, wand pointed at him. He rolled over to reveal handsome features and shining blue eyes. He sat up, a bitter look reforming on his face. He saw the girl picking up the shards and scowled. "Better broken than with you."
The girl turned on him and shouted, "How could you?"
Lily decided it was time to interject. "What exactly is going on?"
"She doesn't deserve it! It was our mothers and she never would have approved of her dating that thing!"
Lily looked bewildered. "Thing? What thing?" She followed the boy's foul, indicative gaze back to the dark alcove.
There had been another person there, hidden in the shadows, and it was a wonder she hadn't noticed before, considering his size.
"Kenneth?" Lily gaped. "What are you doing here?"
He stared at his toes, cheeks flaming.
"Snogging my sister, that's what!" the boy yelled. "That filthy traitor."
Snogging? Wow, Lily never knew he had it in him. She shook her head. "What are you talking about?"
"Do you know who his parents are? Traitors! They betrayed Dumbledore for You-Know-Who! Do you know what his parents did to our mum?" he spat. "Murdered her on the spot when she refused to admit she'd helped one of Dumbledore's men."
"Shh!" the blonde girl hissed. "You can't talk about things like that here!"
Lily looked to Kenneth. "What is he talking about?"
Kenneth was flaming red. "My parents would never do something like that!" But Lily could hear the hint of doubt in his wobbly voice.
The blonde girl moved to Kenneth's side and took his shaking hand. "It's okay. I know you're a good person, whatever your parents might be."
The boy stood up, shaking with fury. "I've had it. Do whatever you want. But don't expect dad to let him set foot in our house. Ever."
Lily grabbed hold of the boy. "You," she shook him, "Go to Dumbledore. Now. And I'll know if you make it there or not, so no skiving off." She shoved him lightly in the right direction.
The boy stomped past his sister and Kenneth, shooting them both nasty glares.
Kenneth and the girl stood there, petrified. "I can't believe him," she spat, "he's always like this. And now look what he's done…"
Lily crouched down and examined the pieces. Upon closer inspection, she could see that whatever the object was, it had been comprised of polished shell, and was very delicate. Pulling out her wand, she concentrated very hard and muttered, "Reparo."
Amazingly, the pieces gently worked themselves back together to form a delicate little box with an inscription in some other language.
The girl gasped. "Thank you! How did you manage that with such a simple spell?" She took the delicate box from Lily, amazed.
"Just a bit more concentration," she smiled. "It's not always in the words, but rather the mind," she said informatively.
Kenneth lumbered forward and nodded to Lily. "Er…thanks, Lily. I guess being a nark can come in handy sometimes."
Lily frowned. "I suppose it can."
"I'm Ingrid," the girl jutted out her hand to Lily. "Ingrid Lofgren."
Lily shook it with a smile. "Wait," she hesitated, "Lofgren…like Mila?"
She nodded. "She's my sister. And that," she jerked her head in the direction her brother had sped off, "was my brother Dirk. And thank you again."
"It's no problem," Lily said kindly. "You two be…careful."
They nodded and wandered off down the hall.
Lily pondered a bit. Being cooped up in Hogwarts sometimes kept her in a bubble. She often forgot the dark times they were in. The year had been quite mild, however. There was an uprising a few years ago, but the Ministry had quelled it, and things were appearing to simmer down a bit. Yet there was still disquiet among many. Lily shook the thought away and instead marveled about the coincidence.
Small school, she thought to herself as she entered the portrait hole. It was too bad Mila wasn't more like Ingrid, otherwise they might actually have gotten along. This, of course, only depressed Lily further. It served to remind her exactly how friendless she truly was.
It was that moment that she bumped into a small, fumbling person. "Madeline!" Lily cried. "Where have you been?"
And with her, unfortunately, were Charlotte and her posse. Madeline blushed and readjusted her spectacles.
"Lily," Charlotte simpered, "How lovely to see your face again. I thought you were expelled."
"Well, I wasn't," Lily smiled tersely back.
Charlotte made no effort to mask her disappointment. "Well, that's a shame." But Lily noticed Charlotte was looking a bit more haggard than usual. Well, as in she was wearing less eye makeup and her clothes looked a tad rumpled.
They pushed past Lily roughly, Florence and Helen giving her good old fashioned stink eye on the way out. Madeline, however, hung back ever so briefly, giving Lily a shy smile. "I'm glad you're still here," she whispered.
"Madeline!" Charlotte shouted, and she scurried off.
The portrait hole shut, and Lily smiled to herself. Perhaps things weren't going to be so bad after all.
---
At least, that's what she had been trying to tell herself all morning as she sorted through bins of dress robes, pricking her fingers (and face- ouch) on various sizes of pins, and dealing with Galleons-to-blow customers who couldn't decided on periwinkle or cornflower and sent her back and forth twenty-three times until finally deciding on both.
All the while, Lily kept taking bathroom breaks. Hilda, her boss with glittering gem-studded nails, assumed Lily had some sort of bladder problem, and suggested on the fourth run in a half hour that she see a Healer as soon as possible.
But what she was really doing, of course, was desperately running between her job and her mum.
Lily burst through the door of the Three Broomsticks for the fourth time, looking even more haggard. She whipped the name badge of her chest, nearly forgetting, and stumbled back over to her mum and sister. Her mother, looking radiant, beamed at Lily.
"It is just so wonderful here!" she glanced excitedly around the crowded tavern.
Petunia simply looked bored. "You should seriously get your bladder checked out," she frowned. "This is like the fourth time you've gone to the loo."
"Now, Petunia," her mum chimed in, "they don't call them 'loos' here in the Wizarding World. Er, do they, darling?" Her mum looked at Lily expectantly.
But Lily was distracted. She was staring out the window nervously. Where the hell was James? He was already twenty minutes late. It was getting exceedingly difficult to balance her time.
"Darling?" her mum prodded.
"Huh? Oh, sure they do."
"God, Mum," Petunia groaned, "Can't you see what this stupid school is doing to her? She's like a zombie or something…it's weird."
"Hush. Be polite." Her mother scolded. "Oh! Look at that- is that a broomstick? Oh lovely! I suppose it sweeps the floor itself, then?"
"No, mum, actually-"
"They're used for flying," came a voice from behind Lily. "I should know. I ride them day in, day out."
Lily whirled around. "James!" she sighed with relief.
He grinned.
Wow. She had to hand it to him- he looked sharp. His tie was adjusted properly, his hair was (reasonably) combed, and it appeared he'd actually put on a clean shirt.
Her mother stood to shake James' hand. "And who is this?" she gave Lily a little wink. "My, he's so handsome."
"I'm James Potter," he replied with a winning grin and a wink at Petunia who blushed sincerely. "Lily's boyfriend."
Lily's jaw hit the floor. His what?
Her mother looked shocked as well. "Well! I had no idea! Lily, how could you keep such a charming young man hidden?"
"But-" Lily glared, but James cut her off.
"Lils, Dearest," he took her by the hand, lacing his fingers through hers and swinging her arm slightly for good measure, "why don't you go help Peter with that potion real quick. I'll keep your mum and sister company while you're gone."
"No-wait-I-" Lily stammered.
"Really, Lily, it's fine! Go take care of what you need to. Don't let your old mummy get in your way! I'll just chat with James, here."
James turned to Lily. His teeth sparkled. "Yes, Lily. Your mother and I will have a little chat."
"But-"
"Don't dawdle now," he said, planting a big wet kiss on Lily's cheek. She flushed from head to toe- with fury- as he shoved her out the door.
Great. Lily began grinding her teeth, trying to get a glimpse of her mother and sister with James, but it was too crowded. She grunted angrily and ran back to Alexandria's.
Hilda kept shouting at her to be gentler with the merchandise, but Lily was finding it a bit difficult to keep calm. What the bloody hell was she thinking, asking JAMES POTTER to keep her Petunia and her mother company! Merlin knew what else he was telling them at that very moment. And, excuse her, but her boyfriend? She thought not! Throwing the glittery purple robe she was holding back into a bin, she slipped out the side door. Another twenty minutes has already gone by, and she was dreading to know what else James had opened his big fat mouth about.
She scurried down the cobblestone streets and burst through the door of the Broomsticks. There they were, laughing gaily at something or other, probably at Lily's expense, knowing James. She plastered a grin on her face and stumbled through the crowd over to their table. She plopped down next to James, making a point to grind her heel into his left foot.
He grimaced and stared at her hard through gritted teeth. "Hello, Lils. I was just telling Annabelle and Petunia here about out first date. You know. The one in the library."
"Sounds boring," Petunia frowned into her warm mug of Butterbeer one last time before pushing it gingerly away.
"Oh no. It was very exciting," he smiled, never taking his eyes off Lily.
"Oh, I would love to hear about it!" her mother exclaimed.
"No!" Lily exclaimed. "Really…it's not that great of a story, I-"
"That's not true," James eyed Lily's shirt strangely, but Lily didn't seem to notice. "Thinking about it just makes me fall in love with her all over again!"
Lily gaped and was fighting off the urge to slap him when he leaned in, taking advantage of her open mouth, and kissed her. She felt his hand grasp her shirt and tug. When he let her go, his eyes lingered on hers. Lily blinked out of her daze, and glanced down at her lap to see James holding her Alexandria's nametag. She looked back at him with a mix of surprise and gratitude.
"Aw…how sweet!" Lily's mother clasped her hands and sighed. "You two are just adorable. Your father will be thrilled, Lily."
Lily blushed, avoiding James' gaze.
Suddenly her mother stood. "Well, Petunia and I must be going. I know you're a busy girl, but hopefully at Christmas we'll be able to spend more time together. All five of us."
Lily nodded and smiled. Then blanched. Wait. What? "Er…five of us?"
"Yeah," James chimed in, "Annabelle here invited me to your Christmas dinner this year! Isn't that kind of her?"
"What?" Lily gaped.
"I think it will be lovely," Annabelle smiled warmly, "I just know Henry will adore James. They're so much alike!"
Lily very much doubted the likeness between conniving James and her clumsy father, but there were deeper concerns on her mind at the moment, like, say, James Potter coming to her home on Christmas.
"No, I don't think that's a good idea."
"Oh, Lils, don't be shy!" James grinned, his eyes flickering mischievously.
"But," she gritted her teeth, "don't you have other plans? With your own family?"
"Nah," James brushed the thought away with a hand, "They're traveling to France this year to visit my cousin. We'll be celebrating the week before. You can meet my parents then."
"Oh how lovely!" Annabelle simpered. "That will be just fine. I'm sure she'll make a sparkling impression. She always does." She pinched Lily's cheek.
"Mum…" Lily grimaced. "I just don't-"
"No. I won't hear anything different. It won't be any trouble," Annabelle said firmly. "Now, my darling, you be good. James, dear, keep my daughter safe. It was a pleasure meeting you."
"The pleasure was all mine, Annabelle," he leaned in and kissed her hand gracefully. She tittered and blushed. Petunia had to tug on her sleeve to get her going.
"Come on, Mum." She was already halfway out the door, eyeing a crowd of students suspiciously.
"Well goodbye then!" she hugged Lily tight and then gave James a peck on the cheek. "We'll be seeing you." She winked, and the two of them were off.
"Well," James said satisfactorily, loosening his tie. "That went well."
Lily immediately turned on him, her eyes icy and her finger jabbing him violently in the chest. "You are not coming for Christmas. No. Way."
James shrugged. "I can't turn Annabelle down now. It would be rude."
Lily backed James up to a wall. "Stop calling my mum that! James, you cannot show up at Christmas!"
"Why not?" he pouted, but his twinkling eyes betrayed him.
"You just-just- can't! You lied to my mum! We are not dating! What else did you tell her?"
"That," he said primly, "is between Annabelle and I."
"Oh don't give me that crap," Lily growled, jabbing him again with her finger. "And I am most certainly not coming with you to your Christmas."
James shook his head. "You're mother is such a sweet woman too…It would be a shame."
"What would be a shame?" Lily narrowed her eyes.
"Well…she gave me her address. It would be terrible if my wrist accidentally slipped and she found out about your debt to Alexandria's."
Lily narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't."
James shrugged. "People do strange things when they're in love." He pointed at the clock. "You'd better hurry back to work, Lils, darling. Tick-tock."
He laughed and sauntered off, leaving Lily shaking with fury. She slapped her nametag back on and stormed out the door.