Christmas passed quickly, even though it was less enjoyable than it had been during the last few years due to Sirius's absence. On December 27th, James was standing outside of Lily's house in Cokeworth. He wore a warm cloak over his Muggle clothes as it was freezing outside. Snow was falling thickly from the iron grey sky. His boots crunched in the snow as he made his way to the front door. His father had dropped him off using side along apparation in a quiet side street. For the way back, a portkey was safely stored in his pocket as he was not yet allowed to apparate. Most wizards tended to avoid using portkey as creating one required permission from the Ministry. Without explicit permission creating a portkey was illegal and could land you in Azkaban for up to a year. James had never understood the need for this law. After all, every wizard could apparate where he wanted without needing the Ministry's permission so why should it be different for portkeys? His father had explained to him that the reason for the Ministry's scrutiny was the ability to bypass anti-apparation wards by using a portkey. While it was not possible to enter a protected area by using a portkey, it was possible to leave it. Therefore, portkeys were very useful if you want to free someone from imprisonment and the Ministry tried to control their usage. From his father's experience, the Ministry was fighting a losing battle as portkeys were too easy to create and too useful. Fortunately, his father had permission to create as many portkeys as he liked as he was a trusted person having worked for the Ministry for so many years. This way, he had easily crafted to portkey James needed and left him to deal with Lily on his own.

James approached the Evans's house slowly. It was average looking and quite garishly decorated for Christmas. James was nervous as he opened the gate leading to the house and approached the main door. Lily had only written a few lines to confirm the date. He could tell from her short response that she was still angry with him. Well, it could not be helped. He was committed now and he might just as well try to have some fun while he was at it. He was going to pick her up from her house and bring her back to Potter manor. He had briefly entertained the thought of teaching her pure-blood manners at her parent's house, but he had decided against it. After all, both her family were Muggles. Therefore, he would have to be careful not to reveal too much of the precarious state of the Wizarding world. James doubted that Lily's parents knew about the brewing civil war between purists and the Ministry. He suspected that Lily was keeping it from them so they were not overly worried about her. Hence, he would tread carefully and act like everything was fine. His mother had reminded him to show his best behaviour today. After all, he represented one of the most noble pure-blood families and proper manners were expected from him in all situations. James had rolled his eyes, but had promised to be a good boy. He wondered how Lily's family would react to his presence. He doubted that many witches or wizards visited the Evans family. By now he had reached the door and sounded the doorbell. Barely half a minute later, the door was opened by a women in her forties who certainly was Lily's mother. She was rather small and thin and had blonde hair, but her eyes were the exact same shape and colour as her daughter's. She looked surprised at James's visit.

'Can I help you?' she asked him.

'Good morning,' said James with his most charming smiles 'You must be Mrs. Evans. I am James Potter. It as a pleasure to meet you.'

He reached for her right hand and pressed a kiss to it like it was custom in the more traditional pure-blood families. She blushed at the contact and seemed even more wrong footed than before. James was amused at her embarrassment. Apparently, most women of the Evan's family were rather easy to fluster.

'I am looking for your daughter, Lily,' said James. 'I am supposed to pick her up. We are house mates at school.'

'Right,' said Mrs. Evans and seemed to regain some of her footage. 'Lily is still getting dressed. Why don't you step inside for a moment?'

'It would be my pleasure,' said James charmingly. He had never been in a Muggle house before and he wondered how exactly it was going to look like from the inside..

'Please, follow me', said Mrs. Evans. She led James into the house. He slipped out of his wet shoes and discarded his cloak, before stepping into the kitchen. The kitchen was rather small, but had a nice lived-in feeling. A tall, stocky men with Lily's flaming red hair sat on the table, reading a newspaper. He had a burning cigarette in his mouth and did not look up as James entered the room. Next to him a tall blond girl was nibbling on a piece of toast. She seemed to be a few years older than James and had a rather bony face. She looked up as she entered the kitchen and her eyes widened. She seemed not quite sure what to make of his presence in the kitchen. James wondered whether she was Lily's sister, even though Lily had never mentioned having a sister and the two did not look alike at all.

'Good morning,' said James pleasantly.

'Who's that mum?' asked the girl who was eyeing James in a rather unabashed way. James grinned inwardly. He had always liked getting female attention. Mr. Evans look up from his newspaper and narrowed his eyes at James. Apparently, he did not like to see strange boys in his house this early in the morning.

'James Potter, please to meet you,' said James. He shook Mr. Evans hand and placed a kiss on the girl's hand, causing her to blush furiously. 'I am supposed to pick up your daughter Lily around this time.'

'Are you now?' asked Mr. Evans who looked even more suspicious now. 'Are you a friend of my daughter?'

'A friend is a bit much,' sat James, who sat down on the kitchen table. 'We are house mates at Hogwarts.'

The blonde girl who seemed to have been rather fond of him a moment ago, suddenly looked horrified.

'House mates, ey?' said Mr. Evans. 'Your name seems vaguely familiar. What exactly are you picking my daughter up for?'

'Be nice, John,' chided Mrs. Evans. 'There is no need to interrogate the boy. Would you like some tea, James?'

'That would be very nice, thank you,' said James. He was thoroughly enjoying himself now. He wondered what Lily would think if she knew that he was currently busy chatting up her parents. Knowing her, she probably would be horrified. After all she liked to avoid any contact with him and worming his way into her family was going to greatly aggravate her. Good. It was her fault that he was in this situation. She could have just graciously accepted his offer to help her and even made an effort to be nice to him for these few days, but she had decided to a be totally unreasonable about this topic. She was even petty enough to be late. He had written that he would be here at 9 am sharp and it already was ten minutes after nine. Lily was never late, so this could only be on purpose. Fine, if this was how she wanted to play it, he was more than happy enough to return the favour.

'Would you like milk or sugar?' asked Mrs. Evans.

'Just a bit of milk, please,' said James. He had always despised sweet tea.

Mrs. Evans placed a mug of milky tea in front of him.

'Thanks,' said James. He took a small sip and was pleasantly surprised. The tea was just as he liked it.

'You still haven't answered my question,' said Mr. Evans. 'What are you going to do with my daughter?'

'Well,' said James. 'Surely, Lily has told you that she was nominated as a finalist for this year's potion making award.'

'As a matter of fact she hasn't,' said Mrs. Evans. 'What kind of award is this?'

'Potions is a subject at Hogwarts,' explained James. 'Students learn how to prepare certain magical brews. Lily is quite gifted at this. She entered a competition held by the esteemed Association for the Advancement of Potion Making back in September and did well enough to reach the final six.'

For some reason, the blonde girl pushed her toast away from her and left the kitchen without saying a word. James was puzzled at her sudden disappearance. Had he said something wrong?

'Don't mind Petunia,' said Mrs. Evans. 'She is not really comfortable with magic. Please do continue.'

'Right,' said James. 'Well, the final event of the competition is going to be in about a week. This is a very formal occasion and my mother suggested that I gave Lily some pointers on how to behave. As my family is an old wizarding family I am quite familiar with these kind of gatherings.'

'Oh, that is very considerate of you,' said Mrs. Evans. 'I can't believe that Lily did not tell us about this competition. She should be proud! Maybe we should go out tonight to celebrate.'

'She probably did not want to upset Petunia,' said Mr. Evans. 'We should discuss it with her in private before we do anything rash. Now, tell me James: Why exactly are you going out of your way to prepare Lily for this event? After all, you are only house mates...'

James pulled a face. Mr. Evans was obviously thinking that he wanted to get into Lily's knickers. Well, technically this was still true, but he was not helping her with the competition just so he could shag her. He knew that this would never work anyway.

'Can't I just help a house mate in need without an ulterior motive?' he asked.

Mr. Evans snorted.

'Not if said house mate if a pretty girl who just happens to be my daughter,' he said. 'I was a teenager myself once and I still remember how it felt like. I have seen a lot of boys doing favours for a girl just so they could get close to her.'

'I have a girlfriend,' said James coolly. 'I am here because my mother asked me to. It is quite hard to refuse her. And I don't think you should worry about Lily falling in love with me while I point out how to properly hold a conversation.'

'Too right,' said Lily's voice to his right. James turned around and spotted her standing in the kitchen door. She was wearing jeans and a tight black jumper. Her hair was done in a neat pony tail and to his annoyance James had to admit that she looked very pretty today. As he had predicted, she did not seem thrilled that he was sitting in his kitchen. 'I appreciate your concern dad, but I would never go out with someone like him. What are you doing in my kitchen, Potter?'

'Your kitchen, is it?' asked James, raising an eyebrow.

'You know what I mean,' said Lily, rolling her eyes.

'I am drinking a cup of tea while having a nice little chat with your parents,' said James, with a grin on his face. 'Oh, and I am supposed to teach you some pure-blood manners. By the way, being punctual is a must.'

'Oh, bugger, that was today?' said Lily. 'I totally forgot about that.'

'I am sure you did,' said James, not believing a word. 'Well, you are up and about now, so we can get going.'

'Can I at least have breakfast first?' she asked, already sitting down at the kitchen table.

'Be my guest,' said James. 'I was busy discussing you with your parents anyway.'

'Indeed,' said Mrs. Evans. 'When were you going to tell us about this potion contest, Lily? We should have celebrated!'

'Mum, you know that I don't like to talk about Hogwarts too much because of Petunia,' said Lily. Mr. Evans threw his wife an I-told-you-so-look. 'Making a fuss about the contest would just annoy her and I want us to get along over the holidays.'

'What is the deal with her anyway?' asked James. 'She practically ran from the room when she learned I was a wizard.'

'I thought you were used to girls running away from you,' remarked Lily while she buttered a piece of toast. Mrs. Evans threw her a dark look, while her husband sniggered.

'Manners, Evans,' said James lazily. 'And the girls like me well enough, thank you very much.'

'Only because they don't know better,' said Lily, tucking into her buttered toast.

'Lily!' said her mother. 'Don't be rude. James is our guest! And his a very nice boy for helping you with getting ready for the contest.'

'Potter is everything but a nice boy,' said Lily with a snort. 'He is one of the biggest trouble makers at our school.'

'I knew that he was shifty from the start,' said Mr. Evans, who seemed pleased that he had found a reason to dislike James.

'Please John, you are only worried that he will steal Lily's heart,' said Mrs. Evans. 'I am very good at reading people and I am sure that James is a very good person.'

'Thank you, Mrs. Evans,' said James, beaming at her. 'Did you hear that, Lily? I am a good person!'

Lily rolled her eyes and refrained from commenting. She took another bite out of her toast.

'Where are we going?' she asked James. 'To your house?'

'Yes,' said James. He did not point out that he lived in a manor. He did not want to appear overly snobbish in front of her parent's. 'We have enough room there to practice everything you need to know. We can even do some ballroom dancing if you think you need some refreshing.'

'You dance?' Lily asked, clearly surprised at this piece of information.

'Naturally,' said James, with a small grin. 'Dancing is expected at various traditional wizard events. Hence, my mother made sure that I learned how to dance properly from an early age on.'

'Am I expected to dance at the final event?' asked Lily, looking a bit worried out of sudden.

'I am not sure,' said James. 'There probably will be some dancing after the ceremony. You won't have to dance there, unless you managed to win the trophy. Then, you will be expected to open the dance.'

'Oh, for heaven's sake,' said Lily. 'And when were you going to tell me about this?'

'I thought you were no interested in my help,' said James, dryly. 'Did you change your mind already?'

Lily grimaced.

'I may have overreacted back when we talked about this,' she said sheepishly.

'You think?' asked James with a raised eyebrow.

'Don't make this harder than it already is,' snapped Lily. 'What I am trying to say is that I am sorry for jumping down your throat when you offered your help back at Hogwarts.'

'Apology accepted,' said James. 'I do think you should practice apologizing more often. You don't seem to be too good at it.'

She stuck her tongue out at him, causing her mother to give her a disapproving look.

'Do you have something presentable to wear for the event?' asked James. 'I have told you to get yourself some dress robes.'

'And I actually did get a pair of them,' said Lily. 'Though you could have warned me about the price tag on these things.'

'I could have, but I think our conversation was a bit heated to swap dress robe buying pointers,' said James. 'Well, it is good you have them. A nice set of dress robes goes a long way. These kind of events are very superficial, so it is important to appear well groomed.'

'Relax Potter, I will be fine,' said Lily, finishing off her toast. 'I know how to make myself presentable.'

'We will see about that,' said James. He did not share her optimism. If she was going to treat the pure-bloods at the event like she treated him, things would get ugly very fast. He had to make it clear that people expected meek and polite behaviour from her. He could not discuss this here, of course. Her parents likely had no idea how prejudiced many wizards were and he was not going to burst their little bubble with the ugly truth. James was not even sure that Lily really knew. She was going to be in for a shock if she expected people to take her seriously. James just hoped that she would believe him when he told her. He was not looking forward to this conversation.

'Are you finished then?' he asked Lily who had just empties her cup of tea.

'Almost,' she said. 'I am going to brush my teeth and get my things. I will be here in ten minutes.'

'Hurry up, then,' said James. 'We are late already.'

Lily just ignored him and left the kitchen, leaving him alone with her parents.

'Well, that was interesting,' said Mrs. Evans. 'Lily and you don't really get along, do you?'

'No, we don't,' said James, knowing that it was pointless to argue. He would have liked to hide that piece of information from Lily's parents, but her brusque behaviour had made that impossible. After all, a part of him still believed that he would end of marrying Lily Evans and he would have liked to make a good first impression on what could possibly be his future in-laws.

'She and I tend to see things very differently. I used to get into a lot of trouble at school and Lily strictly believes in sticking to the rules. That created a lot of... friction between the two of us.'

'So, you are indeed a trouble maker,' said Mr. Evans. He did not look too pleased about this possibility.

'He said he used to get in trouble John,' said Mrs. Evan. 'We all did stupid things when we were younger and as long as he has straightened up by now we should not overreact.'

James did not point out that he mostly got into less trouble because he was being more careful not to get caught. He appreciated that Mrs. Evans was defending him, nevertheless.

Mr. Evans only made a dismissive noise at this. Clearly, he was still determined not to like James. Well, that could not be helped.

'In any way,' said Mrs. Evans. 'I think Lily should be more civil to you, James. After all, you are spending your holidays helping her even though the two of you don't get along. That is very commendable and she should not jump down your throat all the time.'

'I completely agree, Mrs. Evans,' said James. 'Sadly, Lily has quite a temper.'

'Well, I am going to talk to her about this,' said Mrs. Evans. 'It is not very lady-like.'

James grinned at the thought of this conversation. Lily was going to go ballistic. It was a shame that he would not be there to experience it. He continued to chatting lightly with Mr. and Mrs. Evans about life at Hogwarts and what he would like to teach Lily. Mrs. Evan act much more warmly than Mr. Evans did, but James thought even Lily's father was slowly warming up to him. After fifteen minutes, Lily finally showed up. James was not surprised that she was late again, but he did not comment on it. Things were strained enough already without him pushing her buttons.

'Let's move,' said James, rising from the table. 'Mr. and Mrs. Evans, it was lovely meeting you. I hope that we will meet again in the future.'

'It was our pleasure, James,' said Mrs. Evans. 'Please make sure that Lily is home of dinner at 7 o'clock sharp.'

'Certainly,' said James. He rose from the kitchen table and after shaking both Mrs. and Mr. Evans's hands, grabbed his coat and left the house together with Lily.

'How are we getting to your house?' asked Lily.

'Portkey,' said James. He looked back at the small house and saw Petunia watching from a window on the first floor. He waved at her, but she merely grimaced and stepped back from the window. 'What is the matter with her?'

'With whom?'

'Your sister,' said James. 'I know that she does not like magic, but this is ridiculous. I merely waved at her and she reacts like I am a dementor!'

Lily sighed.

'She has been that way since I learned I was a witch,' said Lily. 'I think she is just jealous. It is best not to dwell on it too much. I simply have to accept it; after all she is my sister.'

'Does she accept you as well?'

'Not really, no,' admitted Lily. 'She is quite rude to me most of the time, actually. I still hope that she will snap out of it one day.'

'Some way to treat your sister,' grumbled James. 'I always wanted a brother or a sister, but things did not work out this way. She should be glad that she has such a talented sister rather than making you miserable.'

Lily gave him a confused look. She obviously had not expected that.

'Er... thanks,' she said. 'So, how exactly does a portkey work?'

'You only have to touch it,' explained James. He still wanted to know more about Lily's sister, but he realized that the topic was closed and that Lily did not want to talk about it. Maybe some other time. 'This one here activates via a passphrase, so you don't get transported anywhere by accident.'

He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out the portkey: a small golden snitch. It had been his training snitch for the last few years, but by now it was too battered to be of much use.

'I should have known that you would use a snitch,' said Lily, rolling her eyes. 'For you everything is about Quidditch, is it not?'

'Actually, my father made that portkey and picked the snitch,' said James coolly. 'Now quit stalling and touch it. We have to get a move on.'

Lily carefully pressed a finger against the snitch. She did not seem to be overly excited about trying a new magical way to travel. James could not blame her: Most magical ways were fast, but rather uncomfortable.

'Ready?' he asked.

She nodded.

'Here we go,' said James. 'Veritas!'

The portkey activated and whisked the two of them away. James could only see Lily's astonished face for a moment, before the swirl of colours drowned out everything else.

They hit the ground outside of Potter manor rather hard. James easily kept his balance and grabbed Lily's arm to steady her as she was swaying dangerously. Normally, she probably would have protested, but at the moment she did not seem to mind.

'Blimey,' she said. James noted that she looked a bit green in the face. 'That was something else.'

'You get used to it,' said James. 'Still better than floo powder. You cannot get lost when using a portkey.'

'That is an advantage,' admitted Lily. She took a look around. They were standing on the grounds of Potter Manor only a few meters away from the main entrance. His mother's neatly trimmed rose bushed stood around them, all hidden under a cap of snow. The grounds were still and empty, but one could still see how vast they were. The great fence surrounding the grounds was barely visible on the horizon. In the winter, the grounds were not as beautiful as they were in the summer. Still, the house elves had spent a lot of effort decorating for Christmas and the result was very nice in James's opinion. There were a lot of lights placed on the grounds and some of the huge trees lining the path leading to the entrance of the grounds had been decorated as well. Lily's mouth dropped.

'This... does all of this belong to your family?' she asked weakly. James noticed that she had not yet looked at the manor. Maybe this was all a bit much for her. James knew of course that his family was very, very rich. He had a private Quidditch pitch for Merlin's sake! For someone like Evan's whose family seemed to be middle class, it must be strange to visit a manor. He understood her feelings, but he hardly could pretend to be less rich just to make her more comfortable. Maybe he should pick one of the smaller rooms for today's lectures. She probably was not going to appreciate a big ball room.

'Yeah,' said James. 'My family bought this property more than three hundred years ago. Both the grounds and the manor got bigger and bigger over the course of the years, though.'

Lily turned around and took a look at the manor. Her eyes widened and then she slowly shook her head.

'I had heard that you are well off, but I did not expect you to live in Buckingham Palace', she said. He was not sure how she felt about this realization.

'Buckingham is a bit bigger I think,' said James lightly. She rolled her eyes at him in response. 'Let's get inside, it is freezing out here.'

James pushed open the front doors and led Lily through the house corridors after they had changed their dirty shoes to house slippers and had disposed her cloaks. She seemed to want to take everything in at once. James had to stifle a grin. The layout of the house was quite confusing for infrequent visitors and she would get lost if she did not pay attention to where they are going. He would have to keep an eye on her. It would not do for his parents to find her wandering through the house because she got lost looking for the bathroom. He led her to a living room close to his own quarters where he usually entertained all his guest. It was a largish and friendly room with big windows, a few comfortable couches and a fireplace, where a small fire was currently cracking merrily. The house elves had placed a tray with some tea on the dark wooden table.

"Get comfortable", said James, settling down on the couch.

Lily looked hesitant for a moment before sitting down across from him. Her eyes wandered around the room restlessly. James could tell that she was uncomfortable in this environment. For a moment he felt compassion for her, but then he remembered their argument at Hogwarts and the meaningless insults they had traded with each other all day and it faded away. He wished he could do something else, even it was just getting drunk in his room mulling over every bad thing that had happened to him in the last few days. At least then he would not have to deal with her. Seeing Lily tended to remind him of his failure to win her over and of the mixed feeling he had in his heart.

'Alright,' said James. 'Let's get started. The first thing you have to know that in pure-blood families everything is about prestige and respect. There is a more or less strict hierarchy between the families, depending on how much money or political influence you have and how old your line is. If you face someone with a higher rank than you are, you better treat them with all possible respect or you are going to get alienated. Sadly, most people with a higher rank, treat lower members of society like dirt.'

'And I guess your family has a rather high rank,' said Lily.

'Yes,' said James, finding it pointless to deny the truth. He wondered whether she had just implied that he treated other people like dirt, but he let it go. He was not going to get his point across if he spent his time, pondering everything she said. 'Things are different for you, though. You are Muggle-born, which means that you are at the very bottom of the hierarchy.'

Lily glared at him, but did not argue. James knew that he had been blunt, but he did not see any reason to sugar coat his words.

'Some pure-bloods are going to treat you like scum, because of your Muggle parents,' he continued. 'Some will be rather friendly, but they will probably see you as some mildly interesting curiosity rather than a proper human being. You should not mistake their interest for proper friendliness. However, some pure-bloods don't look down on Muggle-borns and will treat like everyone else.'

'And I suppose you are one of these open-minded pure-bloods?' Lily asked frostily.

'Indeed, said James. 'I seem to recall various instances where I defended you against slurs against your blood status.'

'Forgive me that I am not overly thankful for this,' said Lily angrily. 'Not treating over people like dirt, just because they have different parents than you have, is not something I consider commendable. It should be normal.'

'I know,' said James. 'Still, your indignation is pointless. I am only telling you the facts and getting all passive aggressive is exactly the wrong thing to do. If you can't take my dry recital of facts, how are you going to fare against the purists at the ceremony? They are going to insult you as much as they can and they are not going to be overly subtle about it. And do you know that you will do about that?'

'Hex them?' suggested Lily who looked ever more furious than before.

'Absolutely nothing,' said James. 'You are going to pretend that you did not notice and you will be polite to them. No arguing, no snarky come back, no sarcasm and no hexing.'

'You can't be serious!' said Lily, looking aghast.

'Of course not, I am James, not Sirius,' said James before he could stop himself. Lily glared at him. 'Sorry, old habit. And yes I am completely serious. You have to realize that the pure-blood society has a very good memory. If you cause a scandal now, people will still remember it twenty years from now. Crossing any pure-blood may hurt you in the future in ways you can never anticipate today. I could get away with some insults, because my family has a lot of allies and a good reputation. You have neither and therefore your only winning move is not to get noticed too much. I am going to teach you the necessary tools to achieve that.'

'I am immensely grateful,' said Lily frostily.

'Well, that was not too bad for a start,' said James, even though he felt like screaming at her. He knew that she was not used to hiding her true feelings, but it was not that difficult to grasp.

'Now you just have to hide the sarcasm and say it a neutral voice. I must not a get even a small glance at your true feelings. You have to be the rock: Let other people's word wash over you like the waves of the sea.'

Lily snorted.

'Very poetical, Potter,' she said. 'I near knew that you were an artist.'

'There are a lot of things you don't know about me,' said James quietly. 'Now focus! What are you supposed to do when you converse with an unknown person at the ceremony?'

'I have to be very polite, hide my true feelings and don't hex anybody,' said Lily with a sigh. 'Are you happy know?'

'No,' said James. 'It is not enough to just say it. You have to truly grasp it for this to work. It is easy to say that you don't care about other people's opinion's when you are sitting her with me. Things will be very different when you are getting told to your face that you are subhuman scum.'

'Are they really going to say such things to me?' said Lily looking surprised. 'I mean, I had expected some snide remarks, but that is much more. That is hate speech!'

'They will if they can get away with it,' said James. 'Naturally, they are not going to say it to your face if you are standing next to the Minister of Magic, but if you happen to find yourself in the company of a group of blood purist, they are going to push you as much as they can. They will want you to lose your temper and thereby make an idiot out of yourself. They want to feel powerful and they want to stress that in their opinion, you are not welcome in our world.'

Lily was silent for moment.

'It is worse than I realized,' she said quietly after a moment. 'I mean, I knew that some nasty people just do not like Muggle-borns. But I would never guessed that this kind of dislike was rampant in the top of society as well.'

'Sadly, in this case, this hatred is especially prevalent in the top of society,' said James.

'Why?' asked Lily. 'What have we ever done to you? I thought having enough money to never have to work and a lot of power should make one relaxed enough to tolerate other less fortunate people.'

'It is nothing that you have done,' said James. 'It is what you could do.'

'I don't understand,' said Lily.

'Right,' said James. 'Sorry, I should have known. This only makes sense if you have a pure-blood state of mind. Things are different at the top of society. As I have said, the pure-blood family struggle with each other all the time. Mostly about money and power, but also about prestige. Naturally, they assume that everyone has the same goals and therefore they feel threatened by new players in their game. Muggle-borns are new members of the wizarding society. They are more difficult to understand, more difficult to control and they are not bound by any old rules or alliances. They are wildcards and usually very hungry to carve their own place in the wizarding world. Therefore, many consider them a danger to the status quo. They feel like Muggle-borns are creeping onto their old privileges and they don't want to lose them. Pure-bloods are only a very small part of society and their numbers are shrinking with each generation. Half-bloods and Muggle-born are much more numerous. Which is what makes many pure-bloods so afraid of them. They cling to their money and their power and they feel that they have to strike pre-emptively to defend what is theirs by right.'

Lily was silent for a moment.

'You know that kind of makes sense,' she said. 'Still it is ridiculous to think that someone like me could be a threat to people like your family.'

'You should not take this personally,' said James, ignoring the fact that she had just associated his family with purists. She probably had not meant to insult him. 'I know that it is difficult, but this anger and fear is not usually personal. It is more a general feeling of getting outnumbered in your own society.'

'I will try,' she said quietly. James had the feeling that she need some time to think this over. He poured her a cup of tea.

'Here,' he said. 'Think it over. When you are done we are going to dive into some roleplaying.'

Lily did not seem overjoyed at the prospect, but she took the offered tea from him. James poured himself a cup as well and sighed inwardly. It was going to be a very long day.