I know this took a while to update, but the good new is I'll be focusing more on this story from now on, updates will at least be once a week!
~A~C
James walked into the kitchen with Robert and Thomas and froze at the sight in front of him, Harry was sitting on the counter, crossed legged with a bar of soap in his mouth
Lily suddenly jumped up from behind the counter with numerous pots and pans
"What are you doing?" Robert asked shocked, wearing his blue school uniform, he had Lily's red hair and James hazel eyes
"Hiding the pots and pans" Lily said as if it was a normal thing to say
"Why?" James asked, putting Thomas in his play pen
Harry tried to explain, but with the bar of soap in his mouth, no one could understand
"Because I would love to see Petunia cook without pots and pans" Lily smiled wildly
"Why does he have soap in his mouth?" Robert asked eyes wide, staring at Harry, no matter how strange his family, this wasn't normal behaviour
"Because he said a bad word" Lily said, as James took the bar of soap out of Harry's mouth and then helped rinse his mouth out, "and I warned him that if he didn't stop saying bad words that I would wash his mouth out" Lily said, looking through the cupboards for more pots and pans
It had only been two weeks since Harry left St Mungo's but in the short time, he had used every bad word in existence and Lily and James were having a hard time getting him to stop swearing.
"She's gone crazy!" Harry said staring at Lily, shaking his head.
"Aunt Petunia isn't coming is she?" whined Robert, "She's such a bitch!"
Lily and James gasped and looked at their eldest like he had gone mad; Lily grabbed the bar of soap that had been in Harry's mouth, from James
"What did you say?" she asked threateningly
"Harry says it" Robert countered
"And that is why, Harry has just had his mouth washed out, would you care to join him in his punishment" she asked arching her eyebrows, one hand on her hip
Robert quickly shook his head
"Buddy why don't you and Harry go play a game" James said, lifting Harry up off the counter, both boys ran out of the room
"What's wrong?" James asked amused as Lily resumed looking for pots and pans to hide
"You want to know what's wrong...I'll tell you what's wrong...my lunatic of a sister, that's what's wrong" Lily said, threateningly waving around a pot
"What did Petunia do now?" James asked, moving out of range of the pot in Lily's hand
"it's not what Petunia did, it's what she's going to do, her and my mother have both invited themselves to dinner this weekend and their both planning to cook" Lily spat
James paled
"My mother and Petunia, in the same room, with deadly cutlery, a very, very bad idea" Lily said through gritted teeth
"And you think hiding the pots and pans will stop the dinner disaster?" James asked surprised, suppressing a laugh
"You're not helping" Lily said, trying to hide her own amusement
"Honey, your mother and Petunia are crazy, but I highly doubt they'll resort to killing each other" he said removing the pot out of Lily's hand, "we can count on one thing though" he said
"What?" asked Lily dejected
"You're mother and Petunia in the same room" James said shaking his head, "it's bound to be entertaining", he joked, causing Lily to laugh
~A~C
"Why do you draw clothes?" Harry asked the next day, Robert was at school, Thomas at playgroup and James had quidditch practise with the Applebly Arrows
"Their designs" Lily said smiling down at Harry
"You design clothes?" Harry asked confused
"Yes" Lily laughed
"Are you any good?" Harry asked
"You tell me" Lily asked moving the drawing, so that Harry could get a better view
She was in fact very good, she owned her own clothing company Roses and Diamonds-'RAD for short' with hundreds of boutiques across the globe, her designs cost up to thousands of galleons and she was officially the most expensive designer to ever come out of the wizarding world, she was renowned across the globe, one of her dress robes cost about as much as the average wizarding person made in a year
"There alright" Harry said shrugging his shoulders, and Lily couldn't help but laugh, then seeing the time she said, "come on get your shoes on, we have to go see Mr Schlippe"
"The mans a twat" Harry said, running off to get his shoes
"Don't call people names, Harry, its rude" Lily said as she helped him put on his shoes
F. Roy Dean Schlippe was one of the best wizarding child therapists around; sadly Harry was proving too difficult for him.
After a terrible first week with Harry, James had whole heartedly agreed to get a therapist and although Harry complained about the man, his behaviour had changed a little
They got out of the car and entered the small building, past the reception desk and walked up the steps, their where other children in the building, mostly older then Harry but their where a few younger
"Ah, Harry" beamed Mr Schlippe, smiling down at the boy
"You're leaving me, with him?" Harry asked incredulous, jerking his thumb back to point at Mr Schlippe
"Behave" scolded Lily; Harry was of course unaware that Lily was in the next room, observing the sessions through a one way mirror; Harry silently entered the room and sat down on one of the chairs
The room was fairly large, with comfy chairs placed around the room with a coffee table placed in the middle, numerous toys were on top of the table and their were at least three boxes around the room that were filled with toys
"So, Harry" beamed Mr Schlippe, "do you want to play with the toys?" he asked,
"How about we just sit in silence" Harry smirked, playing with the zipper of his yellow hoodie
"What would be the fun in that?" asked Mr Schlippe, sitting on the ground, he picked up a few dolls and started playing with them
Harry scowled at him and sat rigidly in his seat, he had never played with dolls and he certainly wasn't about to start now, realising that Harry wasn't going to join in Mr Schlippe stood up and sat in his seat, deciding to try a different tactic he asked, "so how's your week been, Harry?"
Harry thought about his week, "difficult" he replied
"And what's so difficult about it?" asked Mr Schlippe, excited that he seemed to be getting somewhere
"Not only do I have to have dinner with a bunch of disgusting muggles tomorrow but I'm forced to talk to an imbecile named Schlippe at least once a week" Harry smiled, looking as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth
At first glance Harry looked innocent but it was his eyes that told a different story, his emerald green eyes looked cold and dark, expressing no emotion, but if you looked close enough, you could see the hint of something, it looked like there was something brewing just underneath the surface, something evil and that thought alone scared the living nightmare out of Mr Schlippe but he would preserve until he cracked the hard surface and then he was sure that all hell would break lose
~A~C
Petunia Dursley looked herself over in the mirror, she had to look perfect, for this dinner and so had her family.
Or else she would have to go through dinner, listening to her mother comment on everything wrong with her appearance, whilst she heaped a ton of praise on Lily
Her mother was the type of women that believed women should be independent, she was the type that prided herself on hard work, and to the elderly Mrs Evans, her eldest daughter was a failure in life, whilst Lily, who had not only married into a wealthy family, but had created her own wealth, and a name for herself in that world, was the apple of her eye and then when Harry had gone missing, Petunia was all but forgotten
Her mother focused all her attention on Lily's family, and Lily's precious little boys, and now with Harry back, the women had wanted to meet him at once but it was only Lily's insistence that it was too much, too soon for the little boy, that kept her away, Petunia knew that if she had said such a thing, it would have fallen on deaf ears.
Now Petunia was determined to make a good impression and it didn't hurt that Vernon had just gotten a promotion, she had offered to cook, because that was Lily's weak point and everyone knew it, but instead of it being pointed out over and over again, like Petunia's faults, Lily's lack of cooking skills was just played off as something funny.
But then her mother had to butt in and insist to 'help', more like criticise with the cooking, but Petunia would not let anything get her down, Dudley had just been accepted to the local primary school, although the Potter boys , would all attend private school, Vernon made enough money for them both, although, nowhere near as much as James and Lily's salaries and all they did was draw clothes and fly on a broom, but she could cook, far better then Lily and her family was certainly more normal and today she would prove that she was just as good as Lily to her mother.
"Do you know what you and my father will talk about?" Petunia asked Vernon nervously, as she put on Dudley's tie for him, the last time the entire family had gathered, her dear father had spent most of his time talking to James
"I'll offer him a cigar, and then I'll inform him of my promotion" Vernon said proudly, sticking his chest out
"Good" Petunia said, glad that he remembered, her dear father had always treated her as Lily's equal
The Dursleys shuffled into their car in their Sunday best
"Now remember, Dudley, you have to be on your best behaviour for grandma and grandpa" Petunia said as she nervously looked out the window, it was only three in the afternoon, but the weather was nice and dry
As the houses got bigger, Petunia's nerves increased with them
Finally she spotted the large house, although to her it looked more like a manor, it was on the edge of the street, it was a classical Victorian house, the one's that came with a chimney and a large front garden, which currently had two bikes nestled under the big apple tree.
The Dursley's got out of the car and walked up the front steps and onto the porch and knocked on the door.
Lily opened the door, dressed in smart black trousers and a white tunic with a red belt, it was the perfect mix of fancy but informal, Petunia thought bitterly
"Petunia" she smiled and Petunia moved forward to embrace her, even if they barely talked and only sent each other the odd Christmas card and present, they still acted civil towards each other
"and don't you look smart Dudley" Lily beamed," nice to see you again, Vernon" she added, as she moved aside to give them space to enter, her family had never approved of Vernon but it was obvious that he loved her and that was enough to get everybody to behave with each other
The entry hall was exactly as Petunia remembered it, spotless and expensive.
A little boy suddenly entered the hallway, with raven black hair and emerald green eyes, and with a jolt, Petunia realised that it had to be Harry.
He wore dark blue jeans with a green t-shirt with silver dog tags around his neck; Petunia noticed a lightning shaped scar on his head.
"Harry" Lily beamed, as she put her hands on the boys shoulders, "I would like you to meet my sister Petunia, her husband Vernon and your cousin Dudley"
"Nice to meet you" Harry smiled, although nice wasn't the word he wanted to use, but he had to be on his best behaviour or else he was going to be in big trouble
Petunia immediately recognised the fake smile, it was the one she gave to nosy neighbours who were digging around for information, 'trust me' she thought, 'nobody wants to be here'
The Dursleys simply nodded and Harry gave Lily a look that screamed 'I have to be nice to these people'
Lily's glare was the answer he received
"Harry" said Petunia, "why don't you take Dudley and Vernon into the sitting room, whilst your mother and I start dinner" she was eager to start before her mother arrived, Harry simply turned around and walked into a room on the left, with Vernon and Dudley on his heels.
Petunia and Lily walked into the large kitchen and started to discuss what to cook, a minute or two after they entered the kitchen the doorbell rang and Petunia felt her heart sink, her mother was here.
This time James answered the door and Petunia could hear her mother's voice radiate throughout the house, as Lily and Petunia made their way to greet her
"Lily, darling" said their mother, Emma Evans had dark hair like her eldest daughter and was also as thin, bit whereas Petunia looked like she couldn't swat a fly, Emma Evans oozed power
"Petunia" she smiled as she hugged her eldest, "now where's Harry" she asked excitedly
"It's good to see you Petunia" said her father as they followed Lily and her mother to the large living room, Thomas sat in his play pen, whilst Dudley sat next to Vernon looking highly uncomfortable and Robert and Harry were sprawled out on the floor playing with magical cards
Petunia turned around and walked towards the kitchen, she didn't want to see her mother dote on Lily's children, but even from the kitchen, Petunia could hear that her mother was giving all the boys including Dudley sweets, although Dudley did get told off because he wanted Harry's sweet.
Two hours later and all Petunia wanted to was run from the house screaming
As she and her mother cooked, Lily brought out all the ingredients and did the salad but to Petunia that didn't count as cooking, her mother asked Lily a million different questions, and ignored Petunia
"I'm starting a men's range soon" Lily said
Her mother beamed at her, "that's a wonderful idea, Lily, expanding is always the way to go, and you have four men to try the clothes on" her mother smiled
Lily suddenly seemed to realise that Petunia was in the room and directed a question at her elder sister
"How are Vernon and Dudley doing?" she asked
For the first time in her life, Petunia could have kissed her sister; it was exactly the type of question she was waiting for
"Fantastic!" she smiled, at the surprised looks she received, she continued with a smug smile, "Vernon's has been promoted" she said gleefully, "and Dudley will be starting school in September" she said hands on hips
"That's great" Lily beamed
"Yes, yes" said her mother, "fantastic news...now Lily that reminds me, will Harry be starting school"
Petunia felt a surge of anger and for the first time in her life, she wanted to slap her mother