A/N: Cecilia Orechio brings up a very good point. I never did know what colour hair Petunia had so I made it up. I wanted to make her colouring almost non-descriptive to emphasise how plain she must have felt in comparison to Lily's vibrant red. I think she had a lot of jealousy issues as a kid and therefore took the extreme of hating Lily.
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James decided to apparate to the Evans's house. He arrived with five minutes to spare and now he wished he hadn't. He paused at the front door wondering how he would survive the night. Under his arm he held a box of chocolates that his Mother had suggested for him to bring and in his hands he held two bunches of flowers. The flowers were suggested by Sirius; "Keep the ladies happy" he had said. The lilies would be given to Diane Evans and the roses for Lily. Sirius had thought it would be more suitable for the flowers to be given the other way around but James had thought it too corny to giver Lily lilies. He also had a present prepared for Lily but he thought it was best to leave it behind and make a special journey to get it towards the end of the evening due to the nature of the present.
With one last deep breath of the cold air he stepped up to the neat porch and pressed the doorbell. The front door opened straight away and Lily stepped out into the porch.
"Hi." She smiled and James felt his nervousness decrease marginally.
"Hi, I hope I'm not too early."
Stepping aside so that he could come in Lily replied, "No, you're right on time. Wow, thanks!" She took the roses that he offered to her. "I like roses." A fragrant aroma of dinner wafted out from the kitchen at the back of the house.
"James! I'm glad you got here all right!" Diane called from the kitchen. Lily ushered James into the hall and then into the kitchen where her Mum was busy stirring three pots in one go. Her Dad was washing up some of the used culinary tools because he had been termed "hopeless" at cooking by his wife. "Hello, dear." Diane greeted him giving him a welcoming kiss on the cheek.
"Hello." James said shyly and gave her the bunch of lilies and the box of chocolates. "That's so sweet of you! I love lilies!"
"As if he didn't know!" Harry rolled his eyes with humor and turned them with interest at the chocolates.
"What was that dear?" Diane asked her voice still musical and sweet yet sounded threatening at the same time.
"Nothing, I was just mumbling to myself." He said quickly. "Come sit!" Harry pointed to the kitchen table, which was laid out with plates already with his soapy hands. James sat down taking in the sight of the homey kitchen while Lily busied herself putting the flowers into water.
It was a nice house, very comfortable and not overly decorated. He liked it and was beginning to relax when another person joined them. He sat bolt up straight when Petunia appeared at the doorway, sniffing the air suspiciously as if a cat had dragged something smelly in.
"James, this is my sister Petunia." Lily introduced her expression peculiar. James stood up and smiled. "Petunia, this is James Potter."
"Hi."
Petunia barely inclined her head in acknowledgment and James instantly felt like he was the smelly thing that the cat had dragged in. Petunia's eyes fell on the flowers that Lily had put on the side in vases and James gulped. He should have bought one more bunch. He hadn't known that Lily had a sister or maybe he had just plain forgotten, but either way he felt like he'd been rude already. Great impression he was making.
Petunia entered the kitchen with care and she stationed herself on the other side of the table with an ever-watchful eye on James. He shifted uncomfortably under her scrutiny, finding it very hard not to sense the severe dislike and hostility coming from her.
Dinner was ready and after the food had been brought to the table Lily positioned herself next to James feeling that distance between him and her sister might do some good.
"Well tuck in!" Diane said excitedly. The food was delicious. James ate heartily, if only he could say the same about the conversation over the exquisite food. The conversation had started well with general talk but the subject inevitably drew to the subject of school. Petunia bristled visibly and it had not escaped even James' notice although the parents did not see it. They had long since grown used to Petunia's extreme dislike to the subject and hadn't even noticed the change.
"So this year you have to take N.E.W.T.s? Are they like A-levels?" Harry queried.
James had heard of the Muggle schooling system and knew what exams he meant. "I guess they are."
"Entirely different exams of course." Lily added carefully watching Petunia but her sister continued to eat in a stony silence.
"And once you've passed these tests you'll graduate and will be able to use magic out of school?" Diane asked blissfully unaware of the agitation that she was causing to her eldest daughter. "Wouldn't that be nice dear?" she said to her husband. "We'd finally get to see Lily use some of her amazing skills!" Harry agreed and reached for another bread roll.
Petunia's fork clattered to her plate. Everyone went quiet and still. Lily half-expected Petunia to explode there and then but she just picked her fork up and resumed eating; her motions deliberate and even jerky. James looked mildly confused but remained politely quiet.
"So, James!" Harry started, finally aware of the tension. "Do you like sport?" he said falling to a more comfortable theme.
James nodded. "Sure, I love Quid..." he stopped thinking that it was somehow inappropriate because Petunia stiffened again. "I love air sports." He finished. Quidditch was an air sport after all.
Harry became very interested. "Really? Which kind?"
"Sky diving." James wasn't quite lying; he had done it before on a holiday and had enjoyed it although it wasn't what he would class as a regular sport.
"That sounds dangerous." Diane offered more gravy to him and he accepted.
"Your cooking is wonderful, Mrs. Evans." James complimented. The food was delicious and the compliment had effectively turned the conversation away from himself.
Diane blushed. "Please call me Diane! And it's not all that." Lily smiled inwardly; knowing her Mother was very pleased.
Petunia made a sound that might have sounded like a snort had Harry not suddenly started to cough loudly to cover it.
Petunia's ugly mood smoldered more. Her Mother had not offered for Vernon to call her by her first name on any of his many visits, nor had she been so genuinely pleased when he had complimented her cooking. This Potter boy must have cast some sort of spell, he was just the same as Lily; bewitching people to get what they want, but Petunia knew better than that to fall under their spell.
"What's the matter, can't your dirty tricks conjure up a decent meal?" she said scathingly.
Diane looked startled at Petunia's rudeness and Lily had her head low with color rising on her cheeks. James could tell that she was ashamed of her sister's behavior. It was the same expression that Sirius tended to wear when his Mother was around and was ranting about the importance of Pure blood. Poor Lily. He thought sympathetically. He had heard of those who did not take very well to the idea of there being witches and wizards and he guessed that Lily was unfortunate to have one of them as a sister.
James' hand dropped from the table and as inconspicuously as possible he reached under the table to grasp Lily's hand to offer comfort, but as soon as his fingers closed around hers he knew that she was not ashamed at all, but angry. Very angry. Her fingers were clenched so hard that her nails were biting into her palms and her knuckles hardened. He gave it a reassuring squeeze but they remained clenched.
"Petunia, could you please leave the table." Harry said. His voice was low and very stern. "Your rude behavior is not acceptable here."
Petunia threw her cutlery down onto the table. "I'm not the one that should leave the table Dad! It's the freaks that should fucking leave!"
"Petunia! I did not raise a daughter to be so foul mouthed!" Diane raised her voice. "Apologize at once!"
"Not very likely!" Petunia screamed back. "What's happened to my parents? Are you so blinded that you can't even see sense? Lily should be sent to an asylum with the rest of her freaks! She shouldn't be here! There's something wrong with her! All of them! Why don't you see her for what she is?" she jabbed a finger in Lily's direction. "A freak!"
Lily was on her feet in an instant. James also got up still holding onto her clenched fist. He had never seen Lily so angry before. She was furious, her anger seemed to sting the air and he could sense a great deal of under current of upset underneath it all.
"Don't-...I don't...understand-" she spluttered, too angry to form coherent words. James could sense what was coming next; she was way too enraged to control herself. He could feel the power running threw her hand and every last piece of glass on the table exploded. Everyone jumped and shielded their faces from the peppering piece of glass. James pulled her back away from the table and at the same time the surge of energy left her body and she went weak in the knees.
"Don't you see it now?! She's trying to kill us!" Petunia shrieked and fled out of the kitchen.
"Petunia!" her parents shouted after her simultaneously. They looked at Lily, torn between their two daughters.
"I'm all right, go calm her down before she decides to call the police." Lily told them. It wouldn't be the first time her sister would have tried to get her certified. With apologetic looks they both left and went up the stairs.
Dinner had been ruined despite their best efforts. With shaking hands Lily began to clear away the mess of spilt drink and food on the table.
"Let me do it." James started to help but Lily pushed his hands away.
"No, it's okay. I'll do it." She piled pieces of plates together while James watched silently. "I'm so sorry things turned out like this." She said after a while.
"It's not your fault."
Lily fell quiet again and James let her be until she spoke again. "Oh James, I'm not going to be allowed to go back to Hogwarts!" Lily dropped a piece of china back on the table.
James moved closer to her. "Why not?"
Lily bit her lip. "Because I broke a law, I used magic outside of school!" The one and only ever time Lily had ever lost control like that was when she had been a child before she had known she was a witch. "They're going to expel me!"
He pulled her around to face him. "Don't be silly Lily. They are not going to hold it against you for losing control once in a while." He took her hand and smoothed out the grip. "See, you're not holding your wand, you did not intend to use magic. It was an accident, they can't expel you for that."
"They can't?"
"Trust me." He said sincerely, his eyes twinkling.
"You've done it before." Lily guessed. "Deliberately."
James scratched his jaw line and gave her a crooked grin. "One needs to find out loopholes in rules if one is to be a creative rule breaker."
Lily almost smiled. "At least you admit it."
"There's no shame in it." He said and then continued in a more serious tone. "Just like there is no shame in you being a witch. Your parents are very proud of you."
"Yes, they are. But sometimes I just wish..."
"You can't change the way your sister thinks. Only she can do that."
Lily pressed her eyes close, letting the words sink in. It made sense, she knew it made sense but some things were just hard to accept. When she opened them again she found James looking at her with worry written all over his face.
"I'm all right." She told him and squared her shoulders. "Well, what are you waiting for? Help me tidy this mess up then!"
"Yes Ma'am!" James happily complied knowing that Lily had come to terms with some things.
- - -
A/N: Did Harry get into trouble for blowing his Aunt up? I think he did but anyway, I've decided that the laws were a little more lax in those days so unless the user intended it he or she does not get penalized if they lose control and use magic unintentionally.
And no, I haven't forgotten about the presents!
