"Our next speech comes from the Mother of the Groom, Mrs. Potter, if you would like to take the stage...?"
A tall, grey haired witch stood up and cleared her throat, "The tale that I plan to tell happened a little before the one that dear Sirius told us earlier, at the annual Christmas Party held at our house…"
"James!" a sharp voice rang around the house, "JAMES POTTER!"
"WHAT!?" the reply was an angry bark from somewhere in a distant room. Loud, thumping footsteps followed.
"Don't you talk to your mother like that, young man," Mrs. Potter replied, "I'm doing a great favour in letting you have some of your little friends come to this party of ours, and the least I expect is a little courtesy."
"Sorry," James said quickly, "Sorry Mummy."
"Mummy!?" a jovial voice came from behind the pair, and Sirius Black appeared, his black leather boots wet from the snow which lay on the ground outside, "Since when have you been 'Mummy', Mrs. Potter?"
"I think," the woman replied, "Since James realised that his father and I do a little more for him than he realises…"
"- and for me," Sirius added, "Thank you so much for letting me have a few guests this evening, Mrs. Potter."
"For the last time, Sirius, call me Mum," Mrs. Potter laughed, "You've been living with us for long enough! And it's no problem really, we're so thrilled to have you here."
"I could never called you anything other than what you deserve," Sirius replied, "Come now, Prongs, we should be getting ready! Our guests shall be arriving soon."
The two boys set off down the long, dark corridor and up the stairs towards James' bedroom. Mrs. Potter couldn't help but overhear James' whisper of, "Do you always have to be such a fucking twat when you flirt with my mother?" She chuckled to herself.
A little later on, the party was in full swing. James' great uncle Lycoris had already drunk the entire store of Firewhiskey, and the snowy garden was illuminated with thousands of tiny enchanted candles, hovering listlessly in mid air. James' three closest friends, Sirius, Remus and Peter had all come for the occasion, each dressed in smart black dress robes with their long hair combed back off their faces. Some of the other boys from Hogwarts had also been invited, Frank Longbottom, a boy several years older than James was an old family friend, and a friend of Remus', Richard Bradley. Mrs. Potter was careful to keep an eye on her son, as he had recently got into rather a lot of trouble at school, and so her faithful trust of him was beginning to waver.
"Hope you don't mind that Marlene is coming," Sirius said to James, scanning the room to see if she had arrived, "But I do really like her and-"
"-I understand entirely, Padfoot," James replied, "Really, we all know who I want to be here-"
"Lily!" Peter piped up loudly.
"Keep it down, Wormy, my whole family is here!" James hissed at his friend.
"No, Lily!" Peter pointed to the front door of the Potters' house. Marlene McKinnon had just walked in from the cold, with a pink-faced Lily Evans behind her. Lily's red hair was scooped up off her face, pinned with several sparkling green ivy leaves. She was wearing a floor-length green velvet dress, which fell off her shoulders, revealing her creamy white skin as she removed her black overcoat and gave it to the House Elf waiting by the door.
"What is she doing here," James had a look of panic on his face, as he ran his hand through his hair and turned around, heading for the drinks table, "You didn't invite her too, did you you bastard?"
"I swear to you I didn't," Sirius looked as shocked as his friend was, he raised his voice so James could hear him over the buzz of the crowd, "She does look pretty amazing though, Prongs."
At that moment, James heard the voice of the last person he wanted to, "That red-head is rather pretty, James," his mother said to him, "What's her name?"
"Lily," James said curtly, trying to ignore the colour rising to his face, "Go away, Mummy." James darted off to greet his guests, leaving Mrs. Potter with Sirius. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"So this is the girl, then," she said knowingly.
"The one and only," Sirius smiled at her, "I should go and say hi. In a bit, mum."
"… at that point I couldn't help but smile to myself," Mrs. Potter laughed a little, "I had honestly never seen my son, usually the vision of calm and cool, so flustered. So I decided to keep a close eye on him, you never can trust a young boy in love…"
"Oi!" James shouted from beside her, "I am extremely trustworthy at all times, thank you."
His mother raised a grey eyebrow at him and continued to tell the story, "A little time and a lot of Firewhiskey later, our story continues…"
James tugged on Lily's arm and pulled her into the Library which led off the entrance hall, leaving the door open by a crack. His mother stood against a statue beside the door, a naturally nosy woman, she wanted to know exactly what her son was up to.
"Why are you here, Evans?" James hissed at Lily, who was audibly swaying from side to side, as the floorboards creaked underfoot.
"None of your business, Potter," she squealed gleefully.
"Are you drunk again?" James sounded shocked, his hands running furiously through his hair.
"Never! Never ever ever ever," said Lily, giggling. James knew that she had been drinking. In fact, everyone did.
"Yes you are," James laughed, "Were you just too nervous to see me again?" He winked at her.
"NO!" Lily protested feebly, "No… No." She sat down in a large armchair on the other side of the room, "I didn't mean to come… I just did. Are you angry with me Potter?"
"That depends," he replied, still grinning, "Will you remember our conversation in the morning?" Lily shook her head feebly, staring at the floor, "Well then," James continued, "I am about as far from angry with you as I possibly could be. In fact, I'm overjoyed to see you here."
James' mother wasn't sure if she could detect any sarcasm in her son's voice. She had rarely heard him say a sincere thing in his life.
"Do you love me James?" Lily asked.
"Does it matter?" James replied, sitting on the arm of the chair.
"It does to me."
"Well then you believe whatever you want to… Now, I am supposed to be hosting a party, Evans. Duty calls," with that, he pulled open the Library door and set off towards the hallway, where Sirius seemed to be telling Marlene a very amusing joke. Mrs. Potter crept into through the door, and sat down in the chair opposite Lily's slumped figure.
"You know it's not lady-like to drink so much, Miss. Evans," she said. Lily looked up.
"Who are you?" she asked confusedly.
"I'm James' mother."
Lily instantly sat up and pulled some of her red hair from her face, "I wanted to make a good impression," she groaned, "But Marlene took me to the pub and then she said that I should come with her and then-"
"-then you turned up to a party, uninvited and horribly drunk," Mrs. Potter smiled a smile so like her son's, "It's fine, dear, really. Women are entirely irrational in matters of the heart."
"I don't like James," Lily said quickly, "At all."
"You say that, Lily," Mrs. Potter said, "But I am a lot older, and a lot wiser than you are, and I know these things. Now, I must rejoin the party. Feel at liberty to stay in here as long as you wish, at least until you are able to support your own weight on your feet."
Lily smiled, "It's strange that the wizarding world can do some many things, but it can't stop me from feeling drunk."
"Indeed," Mrs. Potter closed the door to the Library, and saw James and Sirius coming in from the snow, each looking as angry as the other.
"Don't ask," James said breathlessly, taking out his wand to dry himself off, "Just don't."
"… so, that's the story of the first time I ever met Lily," Mrs. Potter finished, "No offence, dear, but you're not the best at first impressions."
There was a laugh from the wedding guests.
"One thing that is certain, however, is that young Lily had feelings for my son, even if she didn't know it yet. I believe the next person due to speak is a relative of the bride's…"
I'm so sorry that it's been such a long time since I last wrote, but I hope this chapter will not disappoint to much! As always, please REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Any suggestions are welcome (as well as any criticisms!)
loves xxx