I=Devon, Gary, Todd, and Miles came running towards James and Lily and Devon gave Lily a massive hug.
"It's great to see you again, sweetie pie Lily," said Devon jubilantly.
"It's great to see you again, dear Devon," said Lily warmly, "And it's good to see you three again as well, "she added to Gary, Todd, and Miles.
"The feeling is mutual," said Miles in a joyful voice.
"And we're happy to see you again as well, James," added Gary.
"I'm glad to be here," replied James happily.
"We've been looking forward to your arrival," Todd told James and Lily.
"So, have we," chorused James and Lily.
Devon's parents, Dudley and Debra Dursley now came to greet them but before any introductions could take place Hugo arrived.
Lily ran to greet Hugo.
"I've missed you, Lily," said Hugo as he and Lily embraced.
"I've missed you too, Hugo," said Lily.
Dudley and Debra now did introduce themselves properly. Dudley and Debra were pleasant in their ways but chose not to engage in much conversation. They knew Devon was eager to show Hugo, James, and Lily his room and decided to let him get on with it after some quick greetings. The same would hold true tomorrow when Ainsley, Samantha, and Stephanie arrived.
"Hey, Lily, let me show you my room, "said Devon eagerly.
Devon showed James, Hugo, and Lily to his bedroom as Gary, Todd, and Miles tagged along. Devon's room was very spacious. He had a long bed topped with navy colored sheets and pillowcase. Towards the front of the room was a brown desk with several drawers. Devon's closets were at the end of the room and they could make out his Hogwarts robes hanging amongst his muggle clothing. There were various types of shelves along the walls. Lily noticed that Devon seemed fond of trains. He had a large collection of model trains, including one with square wheels on its caboose. He also had a large collection of Batman and Superman comics and the walls were adorned with everything from pictures of Dudley, Debra, Devon, and combinations thereof to Star Wars posters. On his desk was a paperback copy of The Magician's Nephew with an Aslan themed bookmark in it. This was a major difference between Dudley and Devon. Dudley hated reading and Devon enjoyed reading. They all spent some time taking in Devon's room.
Lily then asked for a word with only Devon and Hugo and the others all went down to the living room. Lily thanked Hugo and Devon for their Christmas gifts to her and expressed how much they had meant to her and they, like James, expressed how much it had meant to them to be able to do that for her.
Dudley and Debra had decided to save their "outings" for the days everyone would be with them, so December 30th was spent at the Dursley's house.
Hugo, Devon, James, Todd, Gary, Miles, and Lily spent the day playing candy land, listening to music on Devon's MP3 player, and chit chatting. As was often the case with this septet of people, they really cared more about enjoying each other's company than about what they were specifically doing or talking about. At dinner Dudley ordered several large pepperoni pizzas and they had a pizza party.
On New Year's Eve, Ainsley, Samantha, and Stephanie arrived and they all had a nice outing that day going to a water park. They all played on Slip n Slides, swam, (Lily was clearly the best swimmer of them all.), had water balloon fights, (James won the overwhelming majority of these.), had fun splashing each other, and did various types of races. It was a really fun outing for them all. Then they took in a screening of the original 1977 Star Wars movie on the big screen at a theater that was owned by the Dursleys. They usually rented out the theater to groups as a money-making venture but today they had reserved it for themselves so that Devon and all of his friends could see Star Wars on the big screen together.
At 9 P.M. on New Year's Eve when they were all back at the Dursley household, Lily told Devon, "Devon, let's go up to your room, I need to talk to you about something one on one."
Devon and Lily went up to Devon's room and sat facing each other on Devon's bed.
"Devon," said Lily slowly, "This is going to be an uncomfortable conversation, at least at first."
"What is it Lily? "asked Devon, "What's on your mind?"
"Devon," continued Lily with hesitation, "Look I know I promised you way back in September that I would always be a non-interfering friend. But I really care about you and there is something I wish to discuss with you because I care about you. It is possible that you will be aggravated, irritated, or even angry with what I have to say. But there's something I think needs to be brought to your attention."
"Lily," said Devon sincerely, "I know how much you care about me and I trust you implicitly. If I must have a conversation about an uncomfortable or touchy topic then you are the right person to have it with me."
"Well, "said Lily tentatively, "I noticed when I met you on September 1st that you are overweight. You have become much more overweight since then."
"And that's okay," said Devon indifferently, "I am not a self-conscious or sensitive person and I couldn't care less if I'm not exactly good looking."
Lily had anticipated this. She had known all along that she would not be able to use the potential improvement of Devon's physical appearance as a motivating factor. In fact, she suspected that if Devon had cared about his physical appearance that he would have already made an effort to do something about his weight problem.
"Devon," said Lily clearly, "I understand that your physical appearance is not of any concern to you. But there are still very important reasons why you should lose weight and you also still have much to gain by losing weight."
"Why would it be so important for me to lose weight?" Devon asked Lily.
"The reason why it is very important not to be overweight and especially not significantly overweight is that overweight people are at much higher risk for numerous health problems, including heart disease and heart attack."
There was a long uncomfortable silence that followed this. This eerie silence lasted several minutes and several nanoseconds.
"Devon," said Lily quietly, "I'll be honest with you, I think Dudley is very lucky to be alive after his childhood eating habits. My dad has told me that Dudley went on a diet when he was fourteen because Smeltings did not carry a school uniform big enough for him."
"That is consistent with what my dad himself has told me," confirmed Devon.
"You see," said Lily, "It is my belief that if it wasn't for that turn of fate that required Dudley to change his eating habits, he may well have continued them through his teenage years. "
"I see where you're coming from, Lily," said Devon slowly as Lily's words started to sink in on him, "You are truly concerned that I may meet an early end and you are intervening while you think I can still be helped."
"That's the idea, Devon," said Lily gently, "I love you and I care about you and I am coming to you about this issue because I care about you. Look, I know that I promised you that I would always be a non-interfering friend-"
"That's quite alright," said Devon, "A promise is not a contract, more like a plan."
"Here's the good news," said Lily clearly, "You will not have to go on a diet. Witches and wizards can easily lose weight through exercise. But you will need to change your eating habits after you lose the weight you need to lose in order to keep it off."
"What must I do? "asked Devon.
"It's not as bad as it sounds, "said Lily quickly, "You do not have to give up any particular foods. You can still eat what you want. What you need to do in terms of changing your eating habits is you need to stop eating those mammoth portions you ate at 95% of meals. You need to start eating normal portions like I do."
"I see," said Devon lamely.
"Let me provide you with some motivation," said Lily briskly, "You know how you wanted to try out for Chaser this year and couldn't even make it past the basic flying test stage?"
"I wasn't even disappointed about that because I knew I was a long shot to make the team. I became resigned years ago to the fact that I'm rubbish at sports," answered Devon.
"If you lose weight you will find great improvement in your agility, speed, and stamina. If you are more agile, are faster, and have greater endurance, then it is possible you may discover that you had some talent for sports that was hidden by your being out of shape." replied Lily crisply.
"Are you sure about that?" asked Devon skeptically.
"By no means is it a guarantee that such would be the case, but the possibility certainly exists. If you can try playing sports with a proper body, you can find out for sure if you actually have any skill or not," explained Lily, "Rachel Robins is a seventh year this year so that means that a Chaser spot will be open next year."
For a nanosecond Devon's eyes seemed to light up at that prospect. Then they quickly receded.
"I would love another shot at a Chaser position," admitted Devon, "But I can tell you now that I will not be trying out for that Chaser spot next year because I know Hugo will want to go out for that spot. With only one spot open, well, I would hate to be the one to deny Hugo. You have to remember that Hugo and I have become much closer ever since I and my yew wand saved Hugo. I would not want to be the one to break Hugo's heart."
"That's a terrible reason for you to choose not to try out," said Lily sharply, "Hugo is more than mature enough to be able to handle things not going his way in the right way. If you were to make the team, I know Hugo would be very proud of you and happy for you. And if it did come down to you beating Hugo, I think he would be the first person to congratulate you. And Hugo really cares about Gryffindor. Hugo would want Gryffindor to field the best possible team. I think there could be some very healthy friendly competition between you and Hugo if you were to both try out."
Devon tried to take in what Lily was saying here but said nothing, so Lily eventually continued.
"I have been closer to Hugo than anyone else since he and I were babies," said Lily firmly, "I am sure that Hugo would rather earn his spot by going against more completion and not less if he were going to be on the team. And believe me, he truly would be happy for you if you got the spot."
At long last, Devon nodded.
"You're right, Lily. I really should give a shot at going out for that Chaser spot if that's what I really want to do. And even if I don't get the spot, just showing improvement at sports/flying would be something to be proud of," said Devon.
"Devon," said Lily matter of factly, "The biggest thing you have to gain by losing weight and changing your eating habits is feeling better."
"Elaborate," requested Devon.
"It's hard to explain, but you will feel better as a result of being healthier and in better shape once you lose weight, "said Lily, "And you will feel better once you start eating normal portions. Can you think of a specific day that you really felt good this past term?"
"One such day would be the day of Hugo's recovery. Of course, I was so relieved that Hugo was going to be okay and that was also the day I came to appreciate the good in my yew wand and overcame my fears that it would cause me to go bad. Not only did I feel great emotionally that day, but it was one of my best days this past term for feeling physically good as we- Ohhhhhh!"
"Realized it, haven't you, Devon, said Lily with a smile.
"I had to eat only normal portions that day because our food was delivered to the hospital wing and we were only sent enough for each of us to eat a normal portion," remembered Devon, "I felt physically good that day because I wasn't stuffed and had a proper amount of food in my system."
"How would you like to feel that good all the time?" asked Lily cheerfully, already knowing the answer.
"I'm changing my eating habits effective immediately," said Devon happily. "It will be an incredible improvement to be able to feel that good every day! One question though. Could exceptions be made for Hogwarts feasts such as the 1 that will be held on the night the winners of the Hogwarts Writing Competition are announced?"
"You can eat more than normal occasionally on such feast days. But even then, you need to stick to eating the same portions within that context as everyone else. And you also need to eat the same portions as everyone else on the Hogwarts Express." replied Lily.
"Lily? "asked Devon, "Would you be willing to help me by putting my food on my plate for me at Hogwarts? I would tell you which foods I wanted, and you would place the proper portions on my plate?"
"No," said Lily flatly, "I am your second cousin and I am your BFF, but I am not your babysitter. You need to learn to take responsibility for your own life. I can give you friendly reminders if I notice you are reverting to your old habits but ultimately you need to take responsibility for yourself. My job was to make you aware of the poor habits you have developed. You're the one who needs to change them. My mission was to help you by making you see that you needed to help yourself."
Devon nodded, realizing that Lily was right.
"You sure knew how to get through to me, Lily, "said Devon with a grin. Then, turning more serious, he said in a very heartfelt voice, "Lily, you know, there is a difference between a buddy and a friend, and you have proven yourself a friend over and over again since I met you. It took a lot of onions on your part to confront me about this issue. Sometimes part of being a true friend is taking on a friend head on and I admire you for doing so."
"I honestly feared the possibility that our friendship might be strained," admitted Lily, "But I had to take that chance. Your lifestyle or at least part of your lifestyle was spiraling out of control and I had to intervene to save you from yourself. If that meant having one of my BFFs angry with me for a bit, then that would be a lot better than having to grieve for him before he was thirty. I give you credit for being open minded enough to listen to what I had to say and humble enough to admit that you need to change."
"it's clear what I must do after I've lost weight, "said Devon matter of factly, "But I don't know how I'm going to lose the weight I need to lose."
"I have a sheet of weight loss exercises to give you," said Lily matter of factly, pulling the sheet of paper with the list of weight loss exercises out of her pocket and handing it to Devon.
"Decide what you are most comfortable with after reading over the options." Lily advised Devon.
"You'll see a slimmed down Devon Dursley on the Hogwarts Express," said Devon confidently.
Later that night Devon, Hugo, James, Gary, Miles, Todd, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie and Lily, along with Dudley and Debra found themselves sitting outside on the lawn. It was a cool and breezy night that they all found quite comfortable. It so happened that the Dursley's house was located so that fireworks from nearby New Year's celebrations could easily be seen out back. This meant they could enjoy New Year's fireworks without having to leave the house.
In the final minute of 2019 Dudley slowly lowered a makeshift ball he and Debra had set up and when 2020 had arrived the as the ball hit the ground the number 2020 appeared in white lights.
"Welcome to 2020!" said Devon the nanosecond he saw the number 2020 light up.
Lily thought to herself how Devon that was. Devon always wanted to go first and here he made sure that he spoke the first words of 2020.
They all quickly heard loud bangs from nearby and turned their eyes skyward for the fireworks show.
These fireworks lit up the night skies with brilliant tents of red, green, yellow, blue, orange, and white, not to mention several multicolor displays.
Devon, Hugo, James, Gary, Miles, Todd, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily as well as Dudley and Debra were quiet and did not talk during this display. They just took it in.
Lily was feeling good. She felt great about how her talk with Devon had gone and she was 100% sure that Devon would succeed in making the lifestyle changes he needed to make.