Disclaimer: okay we should all know it how works by now if I don't own any of the HP characters or themes this is just my take on how things should have been.
Authors note: okay I admit it I forgot to put the disclaimer in the last chapter so just to be clear I didn't own anything in the last chapter either. I really really think they should put up a blanket disclaimer anyway yes I know it's been awhile but what can you do during holidays. Anyway here's my contribution to get everyone in the holiday spirit.
Chapter Sixteen
An Awkward Proposal
By Empathicallychosen
Betaed by aerohead1980
"Forgiveness is not the misguided act of condoning irresponsible, hurtful behavior. Nor is it a superficial turning of the other cheek that leaves us feeling victimized and martyred. Rather it is the finishing of old business that allows us to experience the present, free of contamination from the past." -- Joan Boryenko
(o)(o)(o)
It was the middle of December before things got back to normal and Ron, Hermione and Harry were allowed to return back to the mainstream of the school. The three friends were ecstatic to have free range of the castle again. It was also a relief for the teenagers because they didn't have to worry that the children would do something drastic to get their attention again. On the other hand, having the kids back after such a long time apart meant that James, Remus, Sirius, Olivia, Lily and Victoria all had to devote more time on their charges and less time on their schoolwork while they dealt with childhood insecurities.
It wasn't all child psychology though, being sentenced to the Room of Requirements gave Harry, Hermione and Ron an extraordinary amount of pent-up energy. Hermione just had to run around the castle greeting every picture she saw. Ron insisted on catching up with Professor Flitwick so that he could learn more about casting charms. As for Harry. . . he was adamant that if he didn't go up to the Owlry every day Hedwig would never learn how to be a real owl.
But by the time the first snow of the season came everything changed. They wanted to spend less time inside with the Marauders and more time out on the grounds with Hagrid. Harry, Ron and Hermione were completely delighted when they woke up one morning to find the entire castle and grounds blanketed in several feet of snow. The lake had frozen over, and Harry, Ron and Hermione spent hours trying to free the giant squid. When they weren't doing that, they liked to help Hagrid take care of the owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy skies to deliver mail.
Sadly, the trio's rescue efforts to help the squid and Hagrid had been delayed when the three of them caught a terrible strain of the flu because of the drafty classrooms. After that Lily dressed them in heavy snowsuits and it took everyone an extra 20 minutes to get to classes because the children could hardly move.
Two days before students were going to be sent home for the Christmas holiday Ron, Harry and Hermione were supposed to meet with Hagrid for an intensive game of animal Hospital. Until the mail came that is. Everyone was surprised when James received a letter from Aidan and Accalia unexpectedly. Immediately James ripped off the letter and read it intently.
"Freeze you three," he said once he had put down the letter and noticed that they were trying to sneak away with Franco the family owl. "We need to talk."
"But James we have to save the owl right now," pouted Hermione.
Hermione wasn't very happy about having to wait, but when James announced that what they had to talk about was the Christmas holiday, all of her disappointment vanished. Harry, on the other hand, became very distressed.
"Is Christmas canceled," he asked nervously.
Ever since the residents of the castle had started preparing for the holiday, Harry had become very excited about his first real Christmas celebration. He was also very skeptical that it was going to happen at all.
"Of course not. There's just been a change of plans, that's all," James replied patiently.
"What kind of change," Lily asked him curiously.
"My Parents have to go to France to visit my Aunt Clara-Belle. She got cursed a few years ago by an enchanted china cabinet, now she thinks she's a chicken. Anyway Uncle Lester has to go to Cairo on business and he can't leave her alone because if she gets out of the yard she tends to peck the neighbors," James told her.
"That's awful. Well, I guess we had better tell Professor McGonagall we're staying here then," Lily replied struggling not to laugh.
"Actually, Mum and Dad spoke with your parents and I guess we're staying with them," said James rereading the letter for clarity.
"We can't do that. There isn't enough room for everyone," said Lily startled.
"Don't worry, Mum says they added on more rooms so that no one would be inconvenienced," said James.
Lily seemed satisfied and stood up to walk the children to Hagrid's cabin, but Regulus Black was blocking her way. Sirius's biological younger brother was very clever but incredibly unpleasant, especially when it came to Sirius and anyone who dared to associate with him. The girls in Sirius's fan club often speculated loudly as he passed that he was jealous of Sirius's good looks. But having known both boys for years, James knew that it was not jealousy that caused Regulus to be the way he was. He was just angry that Sirius had left him alone with their great loon of a mother and turned his back on the way they were raised.
"I always knew you lacked dignity Sirius," Regulus laughed. "But spending your holiday with Muggles, honestly how low can you get."
"Just consider it my Christmas present to your family, something new to be horrified by," retorted Sirius taking great care to emphasize the fact that he was one of the Potters now and he didn't want anything to do with Regulus or Mr. and Mrs. Black.
In response to this, clearly not getting the rise out of Sirius he was hoping for, Regulus stomped away with a rather sour look on his face.
"I don't like him," stated Harry looking up from his toast.
"No, neither do I," said Sirius glowering at Regulus darkly.
The morning they were due to leave Hogwarts the Marauders were running late and for the life of him, James couldn't find Lily or any of the children anywhere in the castle. Just when the carriages were about to arrive to take the students to Hogsmeade Station, he remembered Lily mentioning how she liked to take Harry, Ron and Hermione back to play in the Room of Requirements sometimes.
At the exact same time as the last carriage came to a stop, James dashed back into the castle. He found all of them playing in a make-believe castle surrounded by a make-believe moat.
"Lils, come on what are you doing? We're going to be stranded here if you don't hurry up," snapped James irritably.
"Hey you, don't talk to Queen Lily like that," barked Ron fiercely.
James quirked his eyebrows.
"We're playing a game Prongs," stated Harry happily. "We can't go to Lily's house right now."
"Harry was a little nervous about meeting my parents, so we came in here to get his mind off it. I guess it didn't work," Lily explained.
It took persuading, but James and Lily managed to convince Harry to go with them to meet Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Unfortunately they spent the whole train ride to Kings Cross station reassuring Harry that he was going to get along just fine with their hosts. It took them a while to leave platform 9 3/4 because the wizened old guard at the ticket barrier who refused to make an exception and let them all go through at once. Which of course led to an argument about who wanted to go through with which Marauder. In the end it was decided that Harry would go through with Lily and James, Hermione would go with Sirius and Remus would take Ron. Harry, Ron and Hermione almost got lost the minute they entered the mainstream of the station because they were being jostled to and fro by busy commuters.
Not being keen on losing Harry on the busy city streets of London, James placed the boy on his shoulders while Lily scanned the crowd looking for her parents. It only took a matter of moments before Lily was waving frantically to a couple who began fighting their way over to them. When Harry saw them coming he climbed off of James's shoulders and attached himself to James's leg.
Suddenly James too was filled with an intense feeling of trepidation. He couldn't believe he was about to meet his future in-laws for the first time. James wasn't sure he was ready for this. It was all happening too fast, but he blinked and there they were.
Lily was immediately greeted by a beautiful woman who had to be her mother. She was tall and thin with blond hair and the same fierce green eyes as Lily and Harry. She was wearing a flowery dress, which was slightly faded and fringed but she had a grace that made the state of her dress almost unnoticable.
Mrs. Evans stepped back and a man swept Lily into a tight hug. James felt his knees beginning to shake. This was obviously Lily's father. He was a tall man with a ruddy complexion and an average build, but for how anxious James was he may as well have been a giant. Suddenly Lily's mother broke through James's musings.
". . . That's wonderful dear . . . and who are all these lovely people," she asked kindly.
There was something about Mrs. Evans's voice and benevolent nature that put James more at ease, "My name is James --"
"He's Queen Lily's boyfriend," Hermione broadcast over come with a case of the giggles.
"I wasn't going to open with that, but thank you," said James embarrassed.
" It's nice to meet you, James the boyfriend. My name is Rebecca and this is my husband Nathan," said Lily's mother gesturing to the man.
"Likewise, " replied James.
"Your mother and father told us so much about all of you when they added those rooms to the house. I feel like I know you already," added Nathan smiling.
"That sounds just like Mum," chuckled Remus. "My name is Remus by the way and this is Sirius. We're the babysitters."
Although they seemed to know a great deal about James and his brothers it was clear that Accalia had neglected to mention the little ones by name.
"Mom, Dad, this is Hermione (Hermione stopped giggling at once), and that redhead over there is Ron," Lily informed them.
Ron grinned and latched onto Remus's hand tightly.
"I see," said Nathan turning to Harry. "And who might you be?"
"This is their cousin. The one I told you about," Lily announced.
"Sorry about this. He's usually more sociable," said James peeling Harry off his leg.
"That's all right. It's perfectly natural to be a little shy when you meet new people," Rebecca replied as they walked toward the car. "Lily was very shy when she was your age."
"Really," asked Harry.
Rebecca nodded.
The car ride to Lily's house seemed to take an eternity. The closer they got the more nervous Harry, and indeed James, became. Finally the car slowed to a stop and James looked up for the first time at the house Lily had grown up in. It was a quaint little house with rundown shutters and it was in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint. In the front yard there was an old oak tree with a swing tied to one of the branches.
"Well, here we are," said Nathan.
"Is it all right if we put our things away later, I wanted to show the kid's around the neighborhood before dinner," Lily asked as she helped Hermione to undo her seatbelt.
Lily's parents agreed and they all walked down to a local park were Lily liked to come and escape when Petunia was getting on her nerves. James was glad of the distraction and he tried to focus on Lily's reminiscing, but all he could think about was getting approval from Lily's parents. What if they didn't like him? What if they thought Lily was too good for him? James shook his head hoping he was getting all worked up over nothing. Ron and Hermione were very fascinated by everything Lily showed them. Ron and Hermione were very excited to hear stories about Queen Lily's childhood. Everything she said seemed to captivate them to no end.
Harry too was very excited to find out what his mother was like when she was his age, but as time wore on Harry became more and more uneasy. James assumed that part of it was Harry's empathic ability picking up on his own anxiety. On the other hand, James had been around Harry long enough now that he knew when something was bothering the boy, but he didn't know what it was until Hermione tugged on his trousers.
"Why are you so scared Prongs," she asked sounding a bit surprised that the infamous Mr. Prongs was afraid at all.
"Are you scared of Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon too," asked Harry timidly.
Everyone stopped.
"Harry, we talked about this. Petunia and that mongrel husband of hers can't hurt you here," James quickly reassured Harry, trying to sound as soothing as possible.
Harry remained unconvinced.
"They are going to be so mad at me," he sobbed. "Uncle Vernon said that if I ever ran away . . . "
It was clear that Harry didn't fully understand the concept of time travel when he burst into tears. He was so scared that his little body was shaking. Lily, who had been listening to the conversation and obviously becoming even angrier at her sister and her idiot brother-in-law, instinctively scooped Harry up and rubbed his back while he cried into her shoulder.
"They don't know you yet, remember," said Remus gently.
Harry brightened up a little and Lily put him back on the pavement.
"Anyway, we'll all be right there with you the whole time," said Sirius ruffling Harry's hair, taking no notice of his protests.
"Yeah," said Hermione clutching tightly to Lily's hand. "Moony, Padfoot and Prongs will protect us."
"We have to be brave Marauders like them. Anyways, your Uncle Vernon's not as yucky as that Snape boy," said Ron.
James managed a small smile and even Remus chuckled a little, but Sirius's barking laughter filled the whole street. Lily glared at them.
"You're a horrible influence. You know that don't you," she stated as they began walking again.
The one good thing about Harry's tension was that it took James's mind off of his own worries. To help alleviate Harry's fears, James tried pointing out something about each house they passed. In Lily's neighborhood there were plenty of children and every other house had something unique about it. While there was a great deal of uniqueness in the small and agricultural town where James lived, it lacked a certain something in comparison to this interesting Muggle city.
They walked back to Lily's house in time to help Rebecca set the table for dinner. Lily led the way into the house. It was just as plain as the outside with secondhand furniture and beige walls. Remus seemed completely unperturbed by the surroundings. Sirius of course, having never been inside a Muggle home, was looking around at everything in bewilderment while Harry explained the uses of iceboxes and other Muggle appliances to his guardian. Hermione was looking around the room, exhibiting her observant nature. Ron was examining the room as well, but he was taking in his surroundings warily as he did in every new situation.
After dinner Sirius, heavily assisted by Remus, washed the dishes while Lily and James cleared the table.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were becoming very upset that there were no chores left for them, when Rebecca cleared her throat, "I was going to make some Christmas cookies would you like to help with that?"
Harry, Ron and Hermione nodded vigorously.
The days flew by and before they knew it, it was Christmas Eve. Sirius noticed that Harry was getting very excited. He told Sirius that he didn't really care about the presents, he was just so happy that he was finally going to have a Christmas without Dudley. For the first couple of weeks Harry and the others were very clingy to Lily and the Marauders, but as time wore on Harry started getting more confident and even exploring the Evans home without them. When they had first arrived, Harry started having terrible nightmares about his relatives, but eventually they stopped as well. Sirius assumed that it was because after a while Harry believed that they weren't coming and no one had the heart to tell him that Vernon and Petunia were expected to spend the night that evening.
In preparation for the dreaded couple, James, Lily, Remus and Sirius had a long discussion about how they were going to handle the newlywed couple. Although it was true that technically Petunia and Vernon had not done anything yet, it was hard for Sirius to ignore the way Harry tensed up at the smallest argument or even when the brothers were kidding around. But as Remus pointed out, having a confrontation with the miserable Muggles would probably end up traumatizing Harry even further and changing the time stream. Reluctantly, Sirius agreed that forgiveness was the best course of action. Still, at the sound of Vernon's candy apple red sports car pulling up the driveway, Sirius couldn't help but think he wasn't quite ready for forgiveness just yet.
Waiting for Harry's infamous aunt and uncle to walk up the walkway was one of the most tense situations of Sirius's life. He had never known the three children to be so quiet. Ron had gone ghostly pale, Harry was so frightened he was trembling, and poor Hermione was so certain that Vernon was going to kill her best friend that she had broken into silent tears, much to the bewilderment of Nathan and Rebecca. James put a hand on Harry's shoulder and Sirius bent down to his level.
This is a
"Don't worry, if the great lump tries anything I'll bite him in the leg," whispered Sirius so that only Harry could hear him.
Harry managed a weak smile. The doorknob turned and two very uptight people walked through the door. Sirius had never seen two people who looked stranger than this couple. It was easy to see why Harry was so intimidated by his uncle. The man was enormous. To Harry, who was small and frail, he must have seemed like a whale that could crush him at any moment. To Sirius though, Vernon seemed more like a walrus with his ridiculous bristling mustache. Petunia was exactly the opposite. Sirius was shocked because if he had met Petunia on the street he would've never guessed that this woman was in any way related to Lily. Petunia was thin and blonde and had an unusually long neck.
"Mum, I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of making some gooseberry tarts and if I do say so myself they're to die for," Petunia said smugly.
"That's fine dear," Rebecca replied as she took Vernon's coat and Petunia greeted her father happily.
"So shall we eat? Vernon and I are going on a cruise to the Caribbean first thing Tuesday morning," she said boastfully.
"Aren't you going to say hello to your sister," asked Nathan.
Petunia whipped around so fast she whipped Remus in the face with her long blond hair, which was nothing like Rebecca's.
"I thought you weren't coming home this year," said Petunia sounding outraged.
"I wasn't planning on it, but James's Mum and Dad had to stay with an ill relative," remarked Lily coolly.
"Pity," said Petunia.
"I know, but luckily your parents were kind enough to invite us all here," said James graciously.
" Who are you," Petunia asked acknowledging Sirius and the others for the first time.
Harry whimpered. Coldly, Lily introduced all of her friends before Rebecca herded them all into the dining area.
Christmas dinner was an absolute catastrophe. Harry, Ron and Hermione hardly said one word the entire meal. In fact the only ones doing much talking at all were Vernon and Petunia. Petunia kept gossiping about people no one else at the table knew and talking about what a wonderful cook she was. James thought that she had to be the most self-important person on the planet. That was of course before Vernon opened his big mouth.
First he talked about his family's substantial influence in the Muggle world. Then Vernon went yammering on about his apprenticeship at a drill making company, even though Sirius and James didn't have the faintest idea what a drill was, but every once and a while the windbag would make a bigoted remark about the wizarding community.
"So James," said Rebecca loudly the third time this had happened. "What is it you plan to do when you're finished with school?"
"I'm hoping to design racing brooms," said James relishing the look of horror on Petunia's face.
"For that sport you were telling me about," asked Nathan.
"Quidditch. Yeah, that way I would have the perfect job. It makes good money so I would be able to support my family and I could work from home," said James purposefully keeping his comments short.
Vernon snorted. It seemed that he didn't think much of any man working from home, not to mention that he didn't believe that any wizard knew how to do an honest day's work.
"So this aunt of yours, I suppose she has some kind of freak disease does she," he asked, commandeering the conversation again.
"I don't know what you mean by freak, but if you must know Aunt Clara-Belle happens to be mentally disturbed," said Sirius indignantly.
"If you ask me you're all a bunch of nutters," Vernon replied.
"Vernon," said Rebecca thunderstruck by her son-in-law's behavior.
"Can't you at least pretend to have manners," snapped Lily. "The woman thinks she's a chicken for heaven's sake!"
"Got what she deserved meddling in all that unearthly nonsense," snarled Petunia.
"That's enough all of you," said Nathan.
But the conversation went downhill from there. No matter what Rebecca said or Nathan did, Petunia and Vernon just wouldn't stop making derogatory remarks about wizards and witches. This put Lily, James, Remus and Sirius on the defensive, which made Harry, Ron and Hermione very agitated and by desert tempers were flaring. Which was particularly unfortunate because James had intended to propose to Lily at that time. He had done everything in his power to make sure Lily had the perfect proposal. He had asked Nathan's permission, gotten the ring and even asked Rebecca to put it in Lily's Yorkshire pudding, but he hadn't planned on Lily biting into it just as her sister was calling her a lazy good for nothing hussy. Completely ignoring Petunia's insult, she stared down at the ring in amazement.
"What's this," she asked James, as though they were the only ones in the world.
"This isn't quite how I pictured this, but okay," said James looking around at the woman he would soon be calling his sister-in-law before getting down on one knee. "Lily I love you and I can't imagine my life without you. Lillian Rose Evans, would you marry me?"
Aw just the kind of proposal every girl dreams of. Anyway that it for now only two chapters left. Next chapter: Aidan shows up at Hogwarts with some news for the trio will they finally be going back to their own time.
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