Disclaimer: I don't own the freakishly amazing Harry Potter series but I claim sole credit for getting my friend addicted. :)
A/N: Just a quick little announcement, I'm going to try and get a new chapter posted every day by the end of the night but my cousins are coming in tomorrow and school starts in a week. So if I start to dwindle on my deadlines, that is why.
Chapter (what is it now? 7?) I Think Petunia's Done Lost Her Head
She hit me so hard that I went crashing to the ground. "You little witch!" she shrieked. "This is all your fault! I have to stay with these...these..people because you couldn't handle the rain for just a few more miles until we found a decent hotel! I am sick and tired of you getting your way! Everything you want, you get. 'Daddy, I want a new bike. Daddy, I want to go to witch school. Daddy, I want a pony!' This isn't fair anymore! You got the magical genes and the pretty hair and the gorgeous green eyes and all I got was a stupid, boring life!"
"What's all this about?" I heard James ask from down the hall.
Petunia ignored him and continued screaming at me. "I can't wait till I move out and I never have to see people like you again!"
"Hold up! You can't yell at her like that! It isn't her fault you guys have to stay here. And it's an insult, as well, that you don't want to just because we're 'different,'" James tried to explain.
But she raised her foot back to kick me and I cringed in horror. We had gotten violent before, but only with our hands. We never attempted to hurt each other like that.
I sat there, waiting for the impact, trying to find some way to cope with it all, but it never came. Instead I heard a shriek and looked behind me to see Petunia, arms flailing, trying not to fall over. James had hit her with a leg locker curse. She leant against the wall to hold herself up and whispered, "You're such an attention seeking whore! You know, he had the right idea when he left. I only wish he would have taken me with him."
"YOU TAKE THAT BACK RIGHT NOW!" he roared.
"No! She deserves it!" And she proceeded to literally spit on me.
Our voices must have carried downstairs because next second everyone came running down the hallway and Sirius burst out of his room.
"Girls, what's going-" Mum stopped with a gasp when she saw Petunia struggling for her balance again, James with his wand pointed at her, and me, down on the ground, more tears pouring down my cheeks.
"James William Potter, take it off of her right now!" Mrs. Potter commanded.
"Why? She deserves it! She called Lily an awful name and said things that shouldn't have been said!" he fumed.
"That does not mean that you jinx her! She is our guest and a muggle at that! This is no way to settle an argument! How many times do I have to tell you that?"
Taking huge, deep breaths, James lowered his wand and Mr. Potter said the counter-curse. Petunia fell to the ground and James towered over her. "You make me sick," he whispered, venom in his voice.
Petunia cowered in fear and he stalked off to his room before turning around and heading my way. He gave Petunia a wide berth and held out his hand. I gratefully took it and pulled myself up.
My face had a new, freshly bleeding scratch and it was stinging from the salt in my tears. I looked down the hallway, towards the crowd of faces. The Potters were looking at James with disappointment and my parents seemed to be having silent battles over which daughter to comfort. Sirius just looked like he wanted nothing more than a chair and a tub of popcorn.
I let out a sob and ran off towards my bedroom, slammed the door, and collapsed on my bed. I didn't register the door quietly opening and closing until someone sat down next to me. Without caring who it was, I curled up into their side and sobbed relentlessly.
Finally, the tears stopped and I clocked in enough to know that my mum was the one who was currently stroking my hair. I turned to bury my face in her arm and wrap my own around her.
"Can you tell me what happened, sweetie?" she asked quietly.
"I just...I just came to get dressed for breakfast and the next thing I knew she was storming after me. She slapped me and said awful things so James came out and told her to stop. But she didn't and then she tried to kick me. That's why James put that curse on her. He was just protecting me in the only way he knew how."
"What exactly did she say to you?"
"She said that I'm a selfish, attention seeking whore and that...that he left because of me but she wished that he had taken her with him..." I let out another sob.
"Oh, honey. You know that's not true! He didn't leave because of you. We don't know why he left."
"I deserved her to say that though. If it weren't for me going away every year we wouldn't need to plan stupid camping trips and then get stuck with wizards."
"No. You didn't deserve that. And right after I'm done, I'm going to go talk to her. I think a week of absolutely no Vernon when we get home ought to be enough punishment," she said, trying to cheer me up.
It worked a little. I gave her a very watery smile.
She bent down and kissed my forehead, and then the scratch on my cheek. Both of them.
"Why don't you get up, clean off that scratch, and then go get some breakfast. I'm sure those adorable little elves wouldn't mind making something fresh for you. I know how you like breakfast better than lunch anyhow," she smiled.
I nodded. She got up and left to go talk to Petunia but I made no move to change. I knew I wouldn't be alone for long.
James walked in a few minutes later. He had taken a shower and was dressed in tan cargo pants, and a Blue's t-shirt. I rolled my eyes and smiled at him.
"Just because I have posters of the Blackhawks does not mean I don't support the Blues," he said.
I scooted over on the bed, making room for him.
"Lily, I'm really sor-"
"You have nothing to be sorry for, James. I don't like Petunia enough to care whether magic is used on her or not. I'm just thankful you stopped her from kicking me," I laughed breathlessly.
He let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to be so angry at me. I was terrified to come in here. That's why I let your mum come first. Well, that and she sort of made me wait. And knowing your temper, I didn't want to get on the wrong side of Mama Bear."
I laughed heartily at his face of absolute terror. "She's actually the calm one out of us. You would've been okay." I patted his arm in mock sympathy. Even after two seconds with this boy I was happy again. It was kind of scary.
I jumped off the bed and walked towards the open door. "Now, I'm going to need you to leave so I can get dressed. Then we'll eat and you can finish your tour," I said, pointing him out the door.
He hopped off the bed and mock saluted me. Aye Aye, Captain Evans! Anything else?"
I giggled. "Not that I can think of. But I'll let you know if something comes up. Now leave! I'm starving!" And I pushed him out the door.
I started pulling clothes out of my suitcase the minute he left, looking for something comfy to wear, when I realized I hadn't taken a shower since the day before. My hair probably looked like shit. So grabbing my comfiest pair of jeans, undies, and a purple tank-top I headed for the bathroom.
Thankfully I made it there without anymore swinging limbs and locked the door behind me to ensure my safety.
The shower was humongous! It had different strategically placed nozzles that shot at you from all sides and a really cool wave like pattern on the walls. It was just a stand up shower, too, so I didn't have to deal with stepping over anything. That was good because my balance really didn't mix well with things like that.
And you know, I thought the shower looked cool but it was nothing compared to the actual act of showering in it. I didn't even mind the glass doors. Until...
"Woah! Prongs! Your girl is naked in here!" Sirius shouted for the whole world.
I was not his girl! "AAHH! Sirius! Get out!" I shrieked, turning around to try and cover myself. But he didn't go anywhere. "Get out before I hex you into oblivion! And I'll make sure your hair is gone if you ever find a way back." I figured that would make him leave so I turned my head to see if he had gone. But he was just standing there, wearing this childlike look on his face and staring at my ass.
He giggled, "I see your buuuut," and then bolted out the door.
"Agh! Why can't anything go right today?" I cried, stepping out of my shower and reaching for my bath towel.
"Sirius, I don't know what you're playing at but it's not nice to-" James stopped when he opened the door.
We both just stood there for a few seconds, not knowing what to do. Then I remembered I was naked and screamed.
He clapped a hand over his eyes and stumbled out, closing the door behind him.
I rushed to lock it and heard him say, "I am so, so sorry, Lily. I thought he was just playing around and left the light on again. He tends to do that you know. I didn't think you'd actually been in there. I didn't see anything though. Well, that's not entirely true. I did see things but it was not on purpose," he rambled.
I groaned in frustration and started getting dressed. As soon as I had finished I threw the door open and saw James still standing there with his hand over his eyes. "James, I'm dressed now. You can look," I grumbled.
He slowly peeked through his fingers and when he saw that I was, in fact, clothed, he lowered his hand, an apologetic look on his face. "I don't know if you heard me but I really am sorry. I wasn't looking on purpose. It's just, you were naked and I didn't know what to do and obviously staring some more isn't exactly the smartest decision but-"
"James," I cut him off, "you're rambling and it's really annoying." But cute, I added to myself. "Now, I'm not going to say I don't care because I really do, but it wasn't your fault. Sirius on the other hand will be lucky if he still has a head by the end of the night," I growled.
He just nodded and then we slipped into an uncomfortable silence.
"...Well, I'm just going to go put these away," I said, holding up my old clothes. "I'll be right back," and I took off down the hallway. James followed me.
"You know, if you want to get him back he normally takes a shower around seven or so. It's right after dinner and he's a messy eater," James told me, a smirk on his face.
At first I didn't understand what he meant. But then I caught on and started laughing. "Thanks. I'll have to remember that. Now, can we go get food? I'm still hungry," I said, depositing my clothes next to my suitcase.
"Oh, sure! After you, Madame," he said in an awful French accent, bowing to me.
"Thank you, Monsieur," I giggled in an equally terrible accent.
He beamed at me and we fell into step on our way to the kitchen.
We walked through the living room, which looked even homier during the day, and headed to the room that had caused problems for us late last night...or this morning? I really never was good at those things.
When he pushed open the door, I got my first good glimpse of the inside. It was only a dining room with expensive looking china placed around the dark mahogany table. There was a gorgeous chandelier hanging above it and a vase full of summer flowers like Asters, Amaranthus', and Alliums (I really liked to garden. I had my own at home!) right under that.
The silence grew uncomfortable as last night/this morning haunted us.
"Well...the kitchen is just through here," he pointed towards the door on the other side of the room, breaking the tension.
I nodded and followed him to the kitchen. I immediately smelt all kinds of delicious things ranging from French toast to BLT's to what seemed to be tonight's dinner; steak with baked potatoes. My mouth started watering as I stared at all the house elves cooking.
James laughed at the look on my face and I glared at him.
"What? I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday. We were going to stop for dinner but...well, you know," I said, waving my hand nonchalantly. "I'm just so hungry," I breathed.
"Well what do you want? They can make anything. Lainey!" he called, and one of the tiniest elves wobbled over and bowed deeply. "Stop bowing. You know I don't like it," he said embarrassedly, his cheeks turning a little pink. Ha! So I wasn't the only one who blushed!
She straightened up and squeaked, "What would Mr. Potter and his lady like to eat?"
'His lady?' What was with everyone thinking that we were together?
"We're just friends," James chuckled, looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. "And I would like some French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon please," he smiled.
Lainey turned to me. "And the miss?"
"Ummm...I'll just have what he's having I guess," I replied, not wanting to cause too much trouble.
He rolled his eyes and headed towards the small, more homely, table on the other side of the room.
I looked down at my feet so I wouldn't trip over any house elves, but my attention was caught by the floor. Yes, the floor. I couldn't help it! It was black and white checkered like a 50's diner! I jumped with glee and squealed.
James turned to look at me. "What is wrong with you?" he asked.
I glared. "For your information, Potter, a lot. But, your floors! They're so cute!" I couldn't stay angry for long. I wanted to lay on the floor and hug it as best as I could.
James turned back to the table muttering something that sounded like 'girls.'
I got a hold of my excitement (which was REALLY hard), and joined him. "When I get my own house, I am sooooooooo having floors like this."
He shook his head at me. "You are one strange person, Lily Evans," he laughed.
"Yes, and?"
"And it makes it really hard not to do this," he said.
A/N: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You're all probably wondering what 'this' is but I'm pretty sure it's not that hard to guess. So...I think this is my favorite chapter so far. I don't know if it's good or well written but it was the best to write! I love floors like that. I couldn't resist. :) Now, if you have any questions, leave a review, pm me. I really have nothing better to do and I obsessively check my account for any new things. So you'll never go long from hearing from me. Umm...I was going to say something! But I don't remember. So, here it is! Chapter Seven. Hope you all enjoyed it! Review please. It makes me happy.
Marah:)