The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition Season 6 Finals: This or That?

Season 10 Reserve League

AN: Muggle AU
CW: Panic attack (short)

WORD COUNT: 1853

CHASER 1: [scenario] Character A meets Character B's parents for the first time. Character A tries too hard to impress them.

OPTIONAL PROMPTS:
[time period] dinner time
[dialogue] "This is delicious!"
[emotion] frightened

No beta, just trust.

Getting Along (if you're going to be family)

Don't be stupid. They'll love you.

Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath. If only she could believe herself.

Breath in…

Don't worry.

And out…

You can do this!

Lily opened her eyes, a rush of energy spreading throughout her body.

She fixed her hair and checked her makeup for the tenth time that night. Just like every other time she had looked, it was perfect.

She looked up from her mirror and was met with what was easily the largest house that she had ever seen. Even the garage was bigger than her own home.

Now, don't think that Lily was oblivious to the fact that James had such a massive house. Of course she knew that he was rich, but she wasn't aware that he was rich rich. She knew about his father's business and such, but James' flat was an average size, which is what threw her off.

What if they're snobby and think that I'm poor?

Lily shook her head. Now, now. None of that. They're perfectly reasonable people, she scolded herself.

She glanced down at her watch. Three, two, one…

Knock, knock.

Lily bit at her hangnail. It felt like her insides had been rearranged and her intestines were strangling her lungs, not letting her breathe properly. Now Lily was really freaking out. Now it was real. Now—

"Lily! How are you?" James opened the door wide, with a big grin on his face, and motioned for her to follow him.

Lily stepped inside and followed James into the living room. "I'm oka–"

"MUM! Lily's here," he yelled, throwing Lily an apologetic glance. "Sorry, Mum was upstairs doing something or the other."

Lily tittered and fiddled with her hair.

Somewhere in the house came a faint "Finally!" which Lily assumed to be Mrs. Potter.

"And, for God's sake, whatever you do, call her Effie. Or we'll have to sit through one of her long stories about how she got her name." He shuddered. "And no one wants that."

Lily bit her lip and nodded. James led her into the living room and she heard Effie's footsteps above them.

Her face paled. This was really happening.

James' mother came flying down the stairs as soon as she heard her son shout. She stood, slightly out of breath, opposite Lily. "Oh! Lily, my darling, it's so nice to meet you."

Lily opened her mouth, but before she could say a word, she was smothered in one of Euphemia's tight hugs. Having Effie's arms tightly around her body was safe and soothing. It felt like the warm treacle tarts that her mother used to make.

Effie pulled away and introduced herself. Lily was barely listening as Euphemia rambled on about how much James had talked about her. Instead, she was looking in shock at what Mrs. Potter was wearing.

Surprisingly, Effie was sporting jogging bottoms, a graphic tee, and a striped apron covered in flour, some of which had transferred onto Lily's emerald dress during the hug.

Lily blushed. She had expected for James' parents to have dressed more formally, like herself.

"Lily, dear?" Effie called, snapping Lily out of her thoughts.

She looked up at Effie's beaming face. "Yes?" she asked shakily. "I was just admiring your, erm, clothing."

Effie's smile faltered. "I'm sorry that I didn't dress up as lovely as you. I've been slaving away in the kitchen all day! Monty put on his best tux for the occasion. Between you and me, he was debating wearing a Garfield shirt like mine!" she laughed and moved her apron to reveal an "I hate Mondays" t-shirt.

Lily smiled, her worry melting away.

Effie understands.

They were all sitting around the dining table in a grand room with the highest ceilings Lily had ever laid eyes on when the grandfather clock struck eight.

"Ugh," James moaned. "Does it have to be that loud?"

Monty, who Lily had been introduced to ten minutes prior, lightly hit James on the head. "That's an expensive heirloom! Next you'll be complaining about the chandelier – which, may I add, was an expensive gift from your great-great-great-great-grandmother's fiancé – being too bright!"

James rolled his eyes playfully. Lily giggled, but stopped abruptly when Monty focused on her.

"So, Lily," he began, pointing his fork at her from across the table, "what do you do for work? James tells me that you work with children."

Lily chewed faster. Maybe she shouldn't have eaten that massive spoonful of rice. "Mmm. I'm a, um, a teacher for primary."

"Oh! That's great!" Effie congratulated her. "When did you start teaching?"

Lily's heart pounded and she froze. "N– Next year," she stumbled over the words.

"Next y– Are you between jobs?" Monty asked politely.

"Yes. I was a barista at Starbucks yesterday."

Monty and Effie exchanged glances.

Don't you dare! Monty mouthed to Effie, but she either wasn't looking or was ignoring her husband's words.

"So, you and James had that coffee shop romance?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

James nearly choked on his curry. "Mum!"

"Jamie-cakes, don't waste your food! Your mother worked very hard on that."

He went red. "Don't call me that! We have company," he hissed.

"What?" Monty joked. "Don't want Lily knowing about your twelfth birthday?"

James covered his ears with his hands. "Stop!"

Lily tried to stop herself from laughing. "What happened?"

"For his twelfth birthday, Jamie insisted on having a cake with his face on it. He cried over it." Effie rolled her eyes. "Drama queen."

Monty and Lily cackled from laughter.

"But when it was his birthday, he refused to eat the cake because it had his oh-so-handsome face on it. One of the kids at his birthday party, Peter, scooped up a handful of cake and threw it at James." She laughed. "And so Jamie-cakes was born."

Lily giggled. "It's not that bad, James." Feeling Effie's eyes on her, she forced some more of the curry down her throat, trying not to wince as the heat burnt her mouth.

Effie, who had been watching Lily fiddle with her cutlery for the past ten minutes, grew worried. "You don't have to eat it if you don't want to, Lily."

"No! No! This is delicious!" Lily said a little too enthusiastically. "If you'll excuse me, I just need to go to the bathroom."

James stood up. "Let me take you."

Lily smiled and followed James to the upstairs bathroom. Her stomach twisted again and her legs wobbled as they went upstairs.

They didn't like her. Lily was sure of it.

Oh God, oh God. She just had to go and mess everything up.

She was so stupid. She never should've come to the dinner. Like all of the other decisions that she'd ever made, it was a massive mistake.

"Just here on the left," James pointed. "Lil, are you okay?" he asked as Lily clutched tightly onto his arm.

Lily looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes. Her sweaty palms slid down James' sleeve. "Ja–"

"Shhh," James whispered softly. "Breathe for me, Lily. Nice and deep… Well done."

James wrapped himself around Lily and guided her to his room, which was opposite the bathroom. "I'm just taking you to my old bedroom."

"In through your nose, hold for four, and out. Feeling better?" he said soothingly as he laid Lily down on his bed.

Lily nodded despite her dizzy head.

"Focus on my eyes." James sat on the edge of the bed and held Lily's hand. "Breathe with me."

Lily opened her eyes.

When did I close them?

She saw the blurry outline of James Potter.

Where am I? she thought, sitting up. Red and gold walls and football posters surrounded her.

"What happened?" she asked quietly, not really wanting to know the answer.

"You had a panic attack, Lil."

Lily's eyes widened. "I haven't had one since sixth form. That's– That's four years."

James kissed Lily's forehead. "I know, love. But I must say that I am very honoured that you were freaking out about my parents."

"You weirdo," she muttered as she placed light kisses across his jaw. "Thank you for helping me through it," she added sincerely.

"Anytime."

The door burst open. "What's going on here?" Monty boomed.

"Ooh!" Effie squealed. "Look, Monty, the lovebirds are at it!"

James pressed one last kiss to Lily's lips and darted towards his parents. He closed the door behind him and explained the situation as best he could to his parents, conveniently missing out Lily's panic attack.

"Um, yeah," he mumbled. "She felt a little dizzy so I let her lie down in my bed."

It was a good thing that Effie knew that he was so clueless about flirting and sexual advances otherwise he would have been in a lot more trouble.

After a few minutes, the door opened, but it was Monty who entered the room. He walked across James' bedroom and perched on the end of the bed.

"You know," he stared at the wardrobe next to James' bed, "I've never been so great at talking to my son's partners. Not that there have been many, of course, but I never really engaged with Mary or Emmeline. Not like how I've been talking to you."

"It's okay, Monty, I understand," Lily replied sweetly. "My dad wasn't good at communicating with my sister's fiancé, Vernon."

"But, Lily, of all the girls that James has brought home, I like you the most. And so does James. It doesn't take a genius to work out that he's head over heels in love with you." He laughed. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want to get to know you before it's too late." Monty looked Lily in the eyes for the first time that night.

Lily smiled. "I would like that."

"So what do you say, Lil? Stick the kettle on and watch James' year six performance? There's cheesy dancing!"

Lily's cheeks hurt from beaming. "I would love to do that! Hey! We can bond over that — embarrassing James."

Monty stood up and rushed to help Lily out of the bed. "Did I tell you about the time that he fell over on stage at the Royal Albert Hall?"

"No," she chuckled.

"Well, it all began in third year…"

Effie, who had been watching from the door, smiled at herself.

Finally, after years of trying, Monty could have a connection between one of James' partners.

It wasn't easy for him to connect, not like it was for her, and she knew how hard Monty had tried to impress Lily tonight. Effie was bursting with joy at seeing her husband put in the effort and having it returned.

Not only Effie had been watching them.

James also knew how much work Lily had put into tonight. Wasn't it seven times that she had called him to worry over a little detail? But it was successful! Lily had managed to win over his dad!

So James and Effie stood there smiling at Monty and Lily's forming bond. After all, if you're going to be family, you might as well get along.