The Secret's Out

"James! How good to see you again!" Mum squealed as she pulled him into a tight, bone crushing hug. We were back home for Easter, for Petunia's wedding. We'd be here for the wedding tomorrow and then go to James' house for the rest of the Holidays.

"It's good you see you, too, Mrs. Evans." James managed to squeak out. My dad and I exchanged an amused glance. Mum finally let him go.

"Good to see you again, m'boy." Dad said with an easy smile. He stuck his hand out and James shook it.

"Likewise, sir." James replied and gave him a charming grin. My mum's smile only got wider. I rolled my eyes. He was such a suck up. "I trust the match went well?" James asked them.

"Yes, it was so fascinating! It's amazing what you wizards can think of! All the flying and it's just so fascinating!" My dad started animatedly. I laughed.

"Lily seemed to have picked up an interest in it, too." James smiled. He turned around to look at me and smirked. Mum's mouth formed an "O" and my dad gave me an astonished look.

"Err…yeah. James taught me how to fly…and then we've been going after every one of his Quidditch practices." I explained, biting my lip a little.

"Aw, that's so sweet of you! We haven't gotten Lily to do a sport since she was seven!" My mum squealed and she pulled him in for another bone-crushing hug. James started turning bright red and looked slightly flustered. If she was anyone but my mother, I would've blown her to pieces by now.

"Uh, that's great and all mum. But, we'd like to talk to you two in the living room, if you don't mind." I interrupted. I really wanted to get this over with, so James and I didn't have to ruin their mood later on. My dad looked at me and seemed to have noticed my dismal mood, so he obeyed and lead my mum to the living room. James and I left our bags near the stairs and followed them. James and I sat down in the loveseat opposite the Telly, and my mum and dad sat down on the couch next to the Telly. Why they put one there, of all places, I don't know. My mum was probably being spontaneous again.

"So, what exactly did you guys want to talk about?" My dad asked, cringing a little. I took a breath and James took my hand in his.

"Well, there are a lot of things…" I started.

"But I think we should start with You-Know-Who." James added.

"He's getting worse, mum. It's like he's building an army or something. And, he's trying to recruit more people. He usually sways towards purebloods, people who have two magical parents." I explained solemnly.

"Are any of us in potential danger? I want complete honesty here." My dad demanded, looking both of us in the eye, similar to something I'd do. James and I exchanged a wary glance, but made a silent agreement to tell the truth.

"Well, both of you, Petunia, and Lily are in no danger, as of right now." James started. "However, Lily being, well, Lily and being all amazing at magic, You-Know-Who might be willing to recruit her, even though she's muggleborn. And now the problem comes where she refuses. If she does, she's in horrible danger, and anyone close to her." James solemnly explained.

"Wait, You-Know-Who would actually be willing to recruit me? What happened to the whole 'Muggleborns and Muggles should be banished from Earth' mantra he's been spreading around?" I demanded. James shrugged.

"He values good talent and bravery. And you have both." He said quietly. I looked up and my mum was slightly pale. My dad was looking off, deep in thought.

"And what about you?" Mum quietly asked James, giving him a worried look.

"He's in more trouble than all of us combined. His parents are ex-Aurors, who are currently in danger. He's has both magical parents, so he's a pureblood, but the type You-Know-Who hates. He accepts muggles and muggle-borns. Although, from what James just said, You-Know-Who might still be after him because James is equally talented and braver than I am." I told them.

"And You-Know-Who would find our situation…amusing…because we're easy blackmail targets. He usually goes for that 'Help me or I'll kill you and the people you love'. It's disgusting and really horrible." James said, crinkling his nose a tiny bit.

"He has followers…student followers." I added reluctantly. James and I agreed before hand that we'd have to tell my parents about the followers inside of Hogwarts, especially since my most recent attack.

"There are students supporting him?" My mum gasped.

"As long as Dumbledore's around, we're all safe. And we're all taking precautions. I haven't let Lily wander around alone at all since she got on the train in the beginning of the year." James assured them quickly.

"Yeah, it was awful. Talk about crowding space. I mean for the longest time, he had Remus guarding my bathroom door, until Remus finally convinced James that I'd be mad if I ever found out." I gave James a pointed look. I found out this piece of information when they accidentally let it slip on the train. James blushed slightly.

"As long as it was Remus I don't mind…" My dad muttered.

"Dad!" I screeched. He shrugged.

"Better safe than sorry…" He argued. I sighed. Men could be so overprotective.

"Putting that aside, there are students supporting him? How? Why?" My mum asked. She was a compassionate person. She couldn't fathom why anyone would join them.

"Primarily because of their parents. Their parents influence them and they grow up with these notions. And then there are some who get influenced by their friends…" I explained.

"So you mean people like Severus?" My dad asked. I nodded. James gave me a small smile and rubbed circles on the back of my hand.

"And I guess since we're done with that…" I started.

"No. I have a few more questions…" My mum interrupted. I sighed.

"Alright."

"Have there been any attacks of any kind on any one in the school? During school, I mean." My mum asked.

"And we want the truth." My dad added, giving us another stern glare. I could see James fidgeting slightly.

"Truthfully, yes." I blurted out before James could say anything. He wouldn't be able to lie to my parents, especially not when my mum had the same eye shape I did, and my dad had the same green eyes as I did. My dad raised an eyebrow.

"Elaborate?" He asked. I took a breath. I was going to have to be selective.

"Well, there was this one time…James was in the Hospital Wing because of a Quidditch injury. I was going to visit him in between one of my classes, so I let my guard down, so I guess this was kind of my fault…" I paused. James' palms were getting a little sweaty and I could tell he didn't like how I was explaining this. But, I continued. "So I was going to visit him, but one girl who's a big supporter of You-Know-Who, she practically worships the ground he walks on, she kind of attacked me. She sent me flying through the hospital wing doors…and then used this curse that cuts you and makes you bleed, a lot. She thought it'd be a good torture method, because James couldn't do anything, and had to watch me suffer as I was suffering." I explained emotionlessly. It was part of the truth. Leaving out: The possibility that I was under the Imperius curse for a while, the fact that it was Sirius who attacked me at first, and James was unable to help me because he threw himself off the Astronomy Tower. Really, everything except the part where Bellatrix cursed me was a lie. I looked up at my parents. My dad was a bit paler and my mum was trying to fight tears. James looked really uncomfortable, and was probably itching to tell them the entire truth. I gave him a stern look that clearly stated that we should stick with the story I fed them. James bit his lip, but seemed to give in.

"Did this just happen to you?" My dad asked after a while. He was holding my mum, who was now crying. I hesitantly nodded. "Why? Why do they want you?" He asked.

"Well, there are a few reasons," James said, his voice quavering slightly. "One would be because she's the smartest witch in our year, probably the best student in our school." I blushed at this. "And because she's muggle-born, they don't like it. They think purebloods should be the best…she violates that, and they don't like it. Another would be because she's going out with me. I used to play pranks, all the time, as you've probably heard, and most of them were targeted towards their lot. They don't like me, and since they can't get to me, they try their best to get to everyone around me. Then there's Snape." He said it like it was painful to say his name. "They know the both of them used to talk a lot, so they like to mess around with that." James finished, slightly grimacing.

"Is there anything being done to stop all this? Sure Professor Dumbledore has something up his sleeve!" My dad pointed out. James and I exchanged a glance…we hadn't thought of that.

"Well, we don't know what Dumbledore has in mind, but he definitely has something. He's not going to sit around let all this happen, and before you ask, dad, I assure you, Dumbledore knows everything that happens in the castle. He definitely knows what happened." I added.

"Then why hasn't he done anything about it?" My dad demanded angrily. From the corner of my eye, I could see James was starting to get slightly scared. He was starting to see temperamental me again.

"He doesn't have any proof that the girl who did it actually did it. She ran out of Hogwarts after she did, apparently. And it's like Dumbledore to let us handle things ourselves." I explained with a shrug.

"But students are in danger. Hell, my own daughter was attacked right under his nose! And this is some kind of game to him!" My dad asked, his face now turning red. James gulped.

"It's not a game to him, Dad, it's just that he'd rather have us do things on our own. When we're out there, in the real world, he won't be there to come bursting through the door and save us with a flick of his wand." I tried explaining without losing my patience. "We're seventeen. We're of age and are expected to act that way." I reminded him. My dad nodded; He accepted this answer, well, for now. My mum finally stopped crying, so I conjured handkerchief for her to use.

"Thanks." She replied as I waved it over to her. James and I exchanged another glance. Time for the second thing we need to talk about. James gave my hand an encouraging squeeze.

"Mum, Dad, James and I will need to talk to Petunia and Vernon about our world. Vernon will have to know. He'll be part of the family now. As much as I realize it'd be better off without him knowing, and Petunia would have a fit, he does need to know." I told them. They exchanged a glance.

"Yes, we figured you would have to." Mum said through sniffles. "She and Vernon should be here any minute now. Why don't you go and take a look at your bridesmaid dress?" She suggested, recomposing herself a bit. I nodded and motioned James to get up with me.

"Yes, why don't both of you go? So you can show James where he's going to sleep?" My dad interrupted. We left the room with a final glance at my parents. I brought out my wand and levitated our bags in front of me as we walked up the stairs.

"Well, that was interesting." I mused. James nodded, but he had this odd look in his eyes. I stopped walking. "James…?" I waved a hand in front of his eyes. He nearly walked into me.

"Oh! Right sorry." He said, snapping out of whatever reverie he was in. Then, he seemed to realize what I was doing. "Why are you carrying the bags? Shouldn't I be doing it?" He asked, eyeing the floating baggage. I rolled my eyes and started walking again.

"First of all, I'm not carrying it, I'm levitating it. Second, I want to see how it feels doing magic outside of Hogwarts." I reminded him. It's the first time I could do it.

"Yeah? Well it feels exactly how it does when we do magic in Hogwarts." He muttered under his breath.

"Shut up." I hit him on the arm. "This is your room." I told him, pointing to the room closest to the stairs. I set the baggage down in front of it.

"Forget mine, I want to see yours! I didn't get to see it last time I was here." I sighed and hoped someone cleaned it. I opened the door and the first thing I saw was my bridesmaid dress lying on the bed.

It was a nice blue, almost a turquoise. It's probably the only type of blue that I'd look good in. I walked over to it and picked it up. It went until around my knees and it was strapless. At the bottom, it puffed out slightly.

"It looks great. And it'll look even better when it's on you." James whispered to me as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I blushed and gave him a brief kiss on the lips. "Are you going to try it on?" He asked eagerly. I let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, give me a minute." I took the dress and was at the door when I turned around again. I pulled out my wand and locked my clothes drawers. James raised an eyebrow.

"What, you don't trust me alone in your room?" He smirked.

"I trust you; I just don't trust your hormonal teenage mind." I corrected him. He laughed.

"Probably wise." I rolled my eyes and went into the bathroom to try on the dress.

Five minutes later, I came back into my room, and James was sitting angelically on my bed, as though he hadn't moved since I left the room.

"What do you think?" I asked him, spinning around a little. He grinned.

"You look great. You're going to be the most gorgeous one there." I blushed.

"Thanks." I replied shyly. He stared at me with caramel eyes, which I haven't seen in a long time. I felt my knees getting weak and my palms were starting to sweat. If he kept looking at me like that, I would definitely be reduced to a puddle. "I should probably go change." I stuttered when I found my voice. He nodded, never taking his eyes off mine. I felt my face turn redder and I turned around and walked back towards the bathroom. When I came back, dress in hand, he didn't seem like he moved since I left the room. "James, you know you don't have to stand there like a statue." I reminded him as I waved a hand in front of his face. I hung the dress on the back of my door.

"Yeah." He replied airily. That was a much delayed reaction. I took his hand and led him to my bed. I sat next to him, cross-legged. I turned around to face him. He was staring into space again.

"James…" I said softly. I reached out and touched his cheek. He jumped slightly and looked at me, a little bit alarmed. "What's wrong?" I asked, hoping it wasn't one of the many stupid, petty things he tended to worry about.

"I don't know….like everything…" He muttered vaguely. Even though he only said a few things, I did get what he was worried about. His parents, You-Know-Who, school, it was a lot for him to handle all at once. Worst part was, none of this was going to blow over anytime soon.

"It'll all work out in the end…it always does. We just need to keep positive…and hope for a positive outcome." I told him. I wrapped my arms around his torso and rested my head on his shoulder. He put his arms around my waist and hugged me closer.

We stayed in that position for a little while, but then the doorbell rang.

"That'll be Petunia." I muttered, wondering if I was really ready to do this. James seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me.

"We can do this. We'll be fine." James told me encouragingly, but I had a feeling he was just trying to convince himself. His last encounter with Vernon went horribly.

"I have a strong feeling he'll be thinking like Petunia when he finds out. Not that I care. I'd rather he steer himself as far away as possible, but I don't want him to drag Petunia with him." I admitted. He didn't say anything, only took my hand and led me downstairs.

"Let's get this over with." He whispered in my ear as we walked to the Kitchen. Petunia, Vernon and my parents were sitting at the breakfast table. My dad was pretending to be interested as Vernon droned on about his drills.

"Lily, did the dress fit right?" My mum asked, interrupting Vernon in his monologue.

"Yes, it did, Mum." I replied. Petunia and Vernon turned around. Petunia didn't look very happy with me and Vernon was glaring at James. I glanced at James and saw he was glaring back.

"Come, come, sit. You did say you need to talk to Vernon about something?" My mum replied quickly. She probably didn't want Vernon to continue talking. James and I walked to the Breakfast table and sat next to each other, right in front of Petunia and Vernon.

"Talk to Vernon about what?" Petunia asked suspiciously.

"About our school." I replied somewhat nonchalantly. I was really hoping she wouldn't completely explode.

"What? No, you're not going to tell him about that!" Petunia replied adamantly.

"Tell me about what?" Vernon asked, now looking between us.

"We're going to have to! He'll be part of the family! Isn't that what you want?" I shot back, trying to keep my voice in control.

"No, there's no need to tell him!" Petunia shrieked.

"Tell me what?" Vernon repeated, but I ignored him.

"Yes, there is, because there is a chance your child, if you have any, could be-"

"STOP STOP! No child of mine will be exposed to any of the freak stuff!" Petunia yelled. I cringed slightly. I inhaled slowly, trying to keep myself in control again.

"Petunia, we talked about this." Mum said in a warning tone.

"FINE!" She huffed. "But he's not going to like any of it either, I know it." She sneered. James and I exchanged a glance.

"The school I go to, the boarding school, it's not like any other school." I started.

"It's called Hogwarts-"

"Hogwarts? What kind of name is Hogwarts?" He asked snidely. I ignored him and continued.

"It's a school for witchcraft and wizardry." I said slowly.

"For…witchcraft and wizardry?" He repeated. "Is this some kind of joke?" He demanded. "There are no such things!"

"Yes, there is. James is a wizard. I am a witch." I replied. "Would you like proof?"

"You can't do magic outside of school!" Petunia interrupted.

"We're both seventeen now. Wizarding Law says we can do magic outside of school." James told her. She glared at him. I tried my best to ignore her. I took out my wand from my pocket.

"This is my wand. Willow, 10¼ inches." I showed him, holding it up. He raised an eyebrow. There was a plate on the table.

"Wingardium Leviosa." I said with a flick of my wand. The plate started rising. Petunia cringed a little. I lowered it down. "Geminio." I said, and another plate appeared. "Accio Dad's Newspaper." I said, and the newspaper my dad was reading flew towards me. I looked at Vernon and he looked horrified. "Would you like another demonstration?" I asked sweetly, trying my best not to laugh.

"No, I don't need to see anymore of that." He stuttered.

"Now, you can't tell anyone about this." I reminded him. He gave me a puzzled look.

"Why, why would I tell anyone about this?" He asked in disgust. "I'd be ridiculed for life! Who would want to be related to your type?" He sneered. I glanced at James, who was glaring daggers at Vernon. We needed to get out of here quick, before he tackled Vernon to the ground.

"Okay, that's great. Now James and I need to go…I'll see you tomorrow then, Vernon." I said quickly. I rose to my feet and so did James, keeping his eyes glued to Vernon's. I pinched his arm.

"Dursley." He grunted with a forced nod of the head. Vernon was looking anywhere but him.

"Potter." He replied with equal malice. I dragged James out before he could say anything more. I felt a little guilty though; I hadn't even spared a glance towards Petunia.

A/N: Hope you guys liked it! I'm really happy with all the review's I've been getting! I can't believe we're almost at 100! THANKS GUYS!

I'm going to skip the wedding, because Lily at Petunia's wedding is just way cliche, I've read so many of it, I don't think I could stand writing it. I'm going straight to where they visit James' parents.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!

Love,

SAM :)