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Wow! Thank you guys for all the reviews, favs, and follows!
So, it's been a long time. I know. I have no excuse except that school started, and I'm a lazy person. Sorry, but sometimes you have to deal with it.
And an extra shout-out to MusicIsMyLife1214000 for beta-ing this chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Happy reading!
CHAPTER ONE
Seventh year…
Head Girl Lily Evans looked out her window, watching the peaceful students walking around the lake, taking naps under the willow trees or talking animatedly with friends. From behind her, she felt her boyfriend, James Potter, wrap an arm around her waist. He kissed her cheek softly.
"Ready to go?" he asked, his hot breath fanning over Lily's neck. Lily shivered at his husky voice. They were visiting her parents for Easter break. Lily wasn't that excited for that. Vernon Dursley, Petunia's boyfriend and fiancé, was coming as well and he was the size of a whale. It was nearing eleven o' clock, the time they were supposed to be at the train station.
"Let's go," Lily replied, turning around and pecking James' lips.
They went downstairs to the Heads' common room, where James insisted on carrying her luggage for her. They argued until they compromised. James would carry the trunk, while Lily carried the small carry-on.
At the front of the Great Hall, they said their hurried good-byes to their friends, before rushing to the train. Lily and James scrambled onto the train, just as the final warning of the train whistle blew. Settling into a compartment, they dwelled in peaceful silence as the train began to speed up.
Chugga-chugga. Chugga-chugga. The sound of the wheels of the train against the tracks was steady and lulled Lily into a calming state. Halfway through the train ride, James began rubbing his hands together, fidgeting restlessly.
"What is it?" Lily asked him, half-concerned and half annoyed, since she was about to fall asleep.
After a short pause, he answered, "I'm just a bit scared…" His nervous confession startled Lily. James' jet-black hair fell in front of his eyes, partly hiding his wide-rimmed glasses.
"James Potter? Scared of something? Scared of what?" Lily asked.
"What if your parents don't like me? What if your dad doesn't approve? What I'm not as good as your sister's fiancé and they'll kick me out of the house?" James asked, his right foot tapping on the floor.
Lily scoffed. "Impossible. Definitely impossible. Her fiancé is a sad excuse for a whale." Lily brought her hand to James' face and she kissed James' nose. James smiled. "Don't worry about it."
James bit his lip, finally relaxing. "Does he really look like a whale?" he asked, his hazel eyes twinkling. They fell into a comfortable silence, James' hand over Lily's, as the train continued to chug.
Before long, the train slowly halted, sending a jolt throughout the compartments. James took a deep breath before standing up, his hand still holding Lily's tightly. They picked up their trunks and stepped out of the train and onto the platform, searching for Lily's parents. James, being much taller than Lily, found Mr. and Mrs. Evans first, standing in the far corner of the train station, where it was the closest to the parked Muggle cars. James placed their trunks onto a single trolley, pushing it to where the Evans were standing.
"Mum! Dad!" Lily greeted, hugging her mum before squeezing her dad around his waist. Her dad hugged her back, but his eyes were not on his daughter, but instead on James. His scrutinizing eyes peered at his youngest daughter's boyfriend. Lily rolled her eyes at her dad's antics and squeezed James' hand. "This is James Potter, my boyfriend."
Lily's mum gave James a warm hello, excited because of James' handsomeness. Mrs. Evans hugged James in a motherly fashion while Mr. Evans shook James' hands hard. Lily could see the tendons in her dad's hands bulging out. Her dad was clutching James' hands very tightly.
"Nice to meet you," he said gruffly. James looked terrified. His mouth was opening and closing, like a fish and no sound was coming out. Lily bit her lip, stopping herself from telling him that he wasn't making a very good first impression. James' nerves were getting the best of him.
After all their trunks were stowed into the trunk of the Evans' car, they settled inside, her dad sitting in the driver's seat while her mum sat next to him. Lily kept her hand with James' sweaty palm, trying to offer her boyfriend comfort to no avail. He fumbled with the seatbelt, unsure what to do with it.
"Here," Lily offered, pulling on it and clicking it into place. James looked petrified, yet fascinated at the Muggle invention. Under Mr. Evans' stare, he wisely kept his mouth shut. James looked out the window as the car moved, his legs moving nervously. He kept kicking the seat in front of him, but thankfully, it was her mum's, and Mrs. Evans kept quiet about it. Lily shuddered at the thought of her dad's seat being kicked.
The London skyline fell behind them as they arrived in Cokeworth. The engine shuddered to a stop and they all exited the car, ready to greet Lily's sister and her future brother-in-law, who were waiting for them inside the house.
As expected, they were waiting for them, sitting stiffly on the love seat.
Vernon Dursley, Petunia's dreadful fiancé, grunted at them. Lily thought that was a better greeting and a large improvement from his regular seal-like sound.
"Hello Petunia!" Lily's mum waved. "How are you doing, Vernon?" Lily didn't know how her mum put up with Petunia and Vernon, but Mrs. Evans never favoured one daughter over the other.
They crowded into the small living room and Lily ended up half on James' lap, for the couch space was rather limited, especially with Vernon there. James' arm hung loosely around Lily's waist and Mr. Evans shot James' arm a disapproving look from the armchair he was sitting in, but made no sound.
"So," her dad began, probably glad he could finally interrogate the boys that captured his "little girls'" hearts. "I hope you all are doing well," he said.
Vernon grunted and James managed a squeaky sound. Lily rolled her eyes, taking James' right hand in hers as a reassurance. Her dad's eyes narrowed.
"What are you planning to do later on?" her dad asked, launching into the inane chit-chat. Lily had already told her dad what James had planned to become, though her dad didn't really understand what an Auror did.
Vernon launched into a long and boring monologue immediately, eager to share. "Well, sir, you see. I am already a manager at Grunning's. The drill factory? We are actually quite popular and we make excellent drills. Our employees are of the highest rank and we make things from natural products. We're a very reliable company." Vernon looked like he had more to say, but nothing came out of his mouth.
"Drills?" James asked. Petunia scoffed at James. "Well, I'm going to become an Auror."
Seeing all the confused looks, Lily explained for James. "It's like the police of the wizarding world," Lily supplied. Petunia stiffened at the mention of wizards but her parents nodded in understanding.
"And do you lads have any interest in sports?"
"No, sir." Guess who said that. "Sports are, in better words, a waste of time. People have become very unhygienic due to the rough competitiveness, and, well, some of us would be better off without it." Maybe people like you, Lily thought in her head, as Petunia nodded along to every single word he said.
"I'm the captain of the Quidditch team." James proclaimed proudly, while her parents obviously had no idea what he was talking about.
"Um…" Lily never really had an interest in the sport, so she didn't really know how to explain Quidditch to her parents. "It's basically the school's sports team, I guess."
Both her parents looked impressed, while Petunia sent full-on glares at Lily.
"Well," her mum started in a poor attempt to break the awkward tension, "I think dinner is just about ready." Mrs. Evans ushered everybody to the dining room, a wide smile on her face.
They found themselves sitting around the dinner table, Lily and James across from each other. James unfortunately had to sit with Vernon the whale, while Lily sat next to Petunia. Lily's parents were sat across from each other as well, on different ends of the table. Luckily, it was Vernon and Petunia who sat next to Mr. Evans.
Dinner was awkward, consisting of plates shuffling and forks clinking. Lily reached for the roast beef at the same time Petunia did, leading them to a mental war and staring contest, the plate moving back and forth from the two of them.
Lily was very proud to say she had won that fight.
After dinner and after all the plates and dishes were cleaned and put away, her dad suggested they watch the football game that was supposedly the talk of the town.
However, Lily's tries to watch the game were futile. She had no idea which team was who. She settled for calling them Team A and Team B, but she wasn't sure if Team A were the ones in green or the ones in yellow.
On the other hand, James seemed to comprehend the game just fine, asking many questions and making the right comments here and there, slowly becoming her dad's favourite. He seemed to gain confidence as he spoke and he began to smile.
The game lasted until it was dark and everyone decided to call it a night.
Later that night…
Lily came out of the washroom, clad in shorts and an over-large T-shirt. She yawned, making her way to her bedroom. A boy dressed up in Gryffindor red and gold stopped her.
Of course, it was James. "I'm sad," James told her, hugging Lily tightly to his chest. "I'm being deprived of my Lily cuddling time," he said dramatically.
Lily rolled her eyes at his immaturity, though a smile still graced her face. "I'm sure you'll last the week," she said, patting his shoulder.
"But you don't understand!" he said, letting go of Lily and placing a hand on his chest. "I have to spend the break being squished in a bedroom with a bear." He held onto Lily's wrist, looking at her with pleading eyes.
Lily grinned, feeling a bit of sympathy. James was stuck in the guest room with Vernon, sleeping in the same bunk bed with him. Luckily, Vernon wanted the bottom. If Vernon was on top… Lily would hate to see James die like that. On his grave stone, it would write: Died because of a whale broke a bunk bed and squished him to death.
"Well that's just the way it is. Go back to your room before my parents catch us out here," Lily said." She tried to wriggle out of James' grasp, but his hand tightened on her wrist.
"Kiss me first," James said. "Give a soldier his last, dying wish."
Lily rolled her eyes again at his insistence. Very quickly, she reached up for James' face and lightly pressed her lips on his.
"Good night, James," she said firmly, already walking to her door. She turned around, looking at James who was still standing there. Childishly, she blew him a kiss.
James goofily caught it and slipped it into his nonexistent pocket.
He was just so cute sometimes.
SCENE!
Okay, I'm looking for a beta for this story. This chapter has been beta-ed by my friend, but if you want to be my beta, leave a review or a PM and I'll look at your beta profile! Because honestly, I am too lazy to go through all those beta profiles. Heh heh.
The next chapter would probably be in two months. Heh heh sorry but that's just a heads-up!
Review, favorite, follow, read my other stories, and stay patient and awesome!