Our Seventh Year

Finally Tuesday rolled around, and Lily awoke at nine that morning to her alarm going off frantically. Quickly, Lily shot out of bed, and ran for the shower before Petunia had a chance to get in there first.

She had to get ready like normal, so it took her about an hour and half to finished getting dressed, and her make up on. Then she went to the guest bedroom, and made up James’ bed for him, and made sure everything was clean for him.

It was quarter after eleven, and she still had forty five minutes left. Pacing, Lily went to get some lunch, running into Petunia in the kitchen. Her father was at work, but her mother had taken this week off to spend time with Lily while she was home.

“James should be here soon,” her mom said smiling. She could tell how excited Lily was for him to get here.

“About forty minutes,” Lily said checking the clock on the wall.

-------------------------------------------------------

James woke up at eleven that morning, since him and Sirius had spent most of the night drinking. His parents were fine with that, as long as they were not going out anywhere, so they got completely drunk, and played wizards chest, talked Quidditch, and shot the breeze about whatever they could think of.

His head pounding a bit, James stumbled to his shower, taking a quick one. He still needed to pack, and had to find his mother for a potion for his head.

At eleven thirty James was fully packed, and dressed. Wandering down the steps holding his head, he found Sirius already on the couch with a bowl of cereal. “Your mum has some for you in the kitchen,” Sirius said knowing his head was killing him.

Sirius was right, James found a bottle for him on the counter with a note that said his parents were outside whenever he was ready to leave.

James downed the potion, grabbed a bowl of cereal, said bye to Sirius, then went to find his parents. “I’m ready,” he said when he found his parents on the back patio.

“Let’s go then,” they said with a smile. “What is her address?”

James told them, and his parents held hands, and James grabbed his mother’s arm as they apparated outside of Lily’s house. They were about ten minutes early, and James hoped that it was not going to be a problem

Lily was sitting in the living room, when she heard the loud pop, and she pulled back the curtains. There the Potters stood, and Lily rushed to the door opening it for them.

“Hey love,” James said with a smile hugging her.

“Hello,” Lily said to everyone, and invited his parents in to meet her mother.

Lily spotted Petunia looking over the banister at them, then disappear back into her room.

“My sister is upstairs,” Lily said hoping his parents did not notice, though James definitely did, she saw his eyebrow rise. “And my mother is just through here.”

“Mum!” Lily called, and her mother emerged from the pantry. “The Potters are here,” Lily said with a smile. “This is James,” she said and her mother came over to shake his hand.

“And these are his parents, Matilda, and Jackson,” Lily introduced. Lily’s mother and James’ parents were discussing a few things, and Lily led James up the steps to his room.

“Your room is right across the hall from my room,” Lily said opening the door for him. This room was not nearly as big as James’ guest room, but it was a decent size.

“It’s nice,” James said looking around, setting his overnight bag on the bed. “I’ve missed you,” he said with a smiling, noting that Lily had shut the door behind her.

“I missed you too,” Lily said smirking, walking into his open arms to hug him tightly.

James kissed the top of her head, smiling as he held her tiny frame against his body.

“My dad should be home around five tonight, and Petunia is…well you saw Petunia,” Lily said rolling her eyes.

“She seems…lovely,” James said sarcastically. He could hear someone stirring in the hallway, so he let go of her, and opened the door. There he saw a girl, with short blond and stringy hair, who was shorter then Lily, with dark brown eyes, skinny as a rod with no womanly figure looking back at him. That would have to be Petunia, “um…hello, I’m James,” he said extending his hand out to her.

“Charmed,” Petunia said with a snip, then turned her heel heading back to her room.

“Like I said,” Lily said standing in the doorway behind James.

“Don’t worry about it, she will come around,” James said smirking a bit. “When Snape takes a shower.” He said laughing, and saw Lily laugh a bit as well.

“I think my parents are leaving,” James said peering out the window that showed Lily’s front yard. Sure enough, his parents were walking hand in hand, and they apparated back home.

“Let’s head back down stairs,” Lily said with a smile grabbing James’ hand, and the descended the stairs. Lily’s house was not as grand as James’. It sat on a small plot of land, with neighbors not too far from them on either side. It was two stories, four bedrooms up stairs, and your typical rooms downstairs, plus an office. Outside they had an in-ground pool, off of the deck, and a hammock in the back yard.

“Hello again,” Lily’s mother said with a smile shaking James lightly. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Lily has written me all about you.”

Lily could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks, and James just squeezed her hand lightly, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Sorry there is not much to do here, but feel free to go into town, it is only a few miles down the road, and Lily can drive,” her mother said.

“Really? You can drive?” James asked her astounded. He had seen pictures of cars, and heard about the basics but never seen it in action. “Let’s go for a drive then!” He said excited like a little boy.

Laughing, Lily pulled the keys off the hook, grabbed her purse from the couch and headed to the car. “You get in on this side,” Lily said pointing to the passenger side door, and she climbed in the drivers.

Once inside she showed him how to buckle his belt, and how the radio worked. She started the car, took off the brake, and backed down the drive. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Petunia staring down at them, but she returned her attention to James who was playing with the dials.

“This is amazing,” James said looking around. It was fairly new from what it looked like, but what did he know. “What’s this?” He asked turning on the heat, but he figured it out before being told.

“Is it hard?” He asked her as she stopped at a red light.

“Not at all, I can teach you, I’m sure,” Lily said before turning into the local shopping strip.

“So there is an ice cream shop, a movie theater, a small restaurant, a grocery store, a gas station, and clothing store. Where would you like to go first?” Lily asked after she pulled into a spot, turning the car back off again.

“Hm…want to get some ice cream?” James asked her.

“Sure,” Lily replied, having to undo his belt for him laughing, then got out herself locking up the car.

Once inside they ordered, and James reached in his pocket, but Lily was able to stop him in time.

“Oh yeah, I forgot, muggle money is different,” James replied sheepishly.

“It’s no problem,” Lily said paying for the ice cream herself.

They walked around the shopping strip for most of the day, even going to a movie, which amazed James fully. Sure wizards had movies, but you could interact with those.

It was around four thirty when they returned home, and Lily saw her father was home already. “Looks like dad got out early,” Lily said pulling into the drive, then paused. “And looks like Vernon is here,” she said backing up so she could park behind her father’s car.

“Vernon?” James asked raising his eyebrow; he could tell she was disappointed.

“Petunia’s boyfriend,” Lily said turning the car off for the final time for the day. James managed to get out of his belt his self this time.

“She has a boyfriend?!” James asked genuinely shocked, though felt bad afterwards.

“Believe it or not,” Lily said shutting the car door and heading up to the house.

“He is just, if not more, rude then Petunia, if that is possible. He is also a very…big built…guy,” She said.

“Oh so he is fat,” James said trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Laughing, Lily nodded, and they came into the living room. Instantly, the room fell silent, and all eyes were upon her and James.

“Hey dad,” Lily said going over to hug her father who was standing now. “This is James,” she said introducing the two, who shook hands.

“Nice to meet you James,” her father said with a smile.

“And James this is Vernon,” Lily said, knowing Petunia would not be conducting any introductions.

“Nice to meet you Vernon,” James said extending a hand. Vernon did not accept it though, so James just ran it through his hair, taking a seat next to Lily on the loveseat.

“He sure is charming,” James muttered as the rest of the group talked. Lily had to suppress a laugh, and knew Petunia was glaring daggers at her.

“So Vernon how is the job coming along?” Her father asked the boy sitting on a chair next to Petunia.

“Quiet well, my father and I are making great progress, the business is booming,” Vernon said with a smug smile.

“Good good,” Lily’s father said then turned to James.

“So…how is school going?” He asked.

“Very well thank you,” James replied nicely. “I am head boy of the house, with Lily as you probably knew. I am also captain of the Quidditch team this year.”

Her father looked perplexed and James realized that Lily had never told them about the game, so he explained as best as he could. Her father seemed genuinely interested, as well as her mother.

“Now if you want to talk about a real sport,” Vernon said. “We should talk about football, plenty of running, and it actually takes skill.” He said smugly, looking at Lily’s parents trying to get their attention back on him.

“It does take skill though, Vernon,” Lily said glaring over at him. So what if he was almost four years her senior, it did not matter, he was being rude.

“Throwing a ball? Hah! Trying kicking one into a goal,” Vernon said staring back at Lily.

“Relax, it is not that big of a deal,” James whispered, but Lily would have none of it. He had already gotten her going.

“I would LOVE to see your arse on a broom, flying at almost sixty miles an hour, hundreds of feet in the air trying to dodge metal balls flying at you, while scoring a goal in three very small hoops,” Lily fumed.

“If you magic folk are what you are cracked up to be, then you’d think you would have invented something better then a broom to fly on,” Vernon said back. Petunia nodded in agreement, and Lily just rolled her eyes.

“Vernon Dursley, you are SO lucky I refuse to stoop to your level of stupidity,” Lily snapped before standing up, dragging James with her.

“Mum let me know when dinner is ready, James and I will be around back,” she said nicely to her mother, who just nodded a yes with a smile.

James shrugged, almost as if saying sorry for what had just happened, but it seemed that her parents were used to this sort of thing happening.

“GOD! He is just so—so arrogant!” Lily said stamping her foot once she was outside on the porch.

“Love, calm down, it is not that big of a deal, most muggles are like that when they hear about magic, they just don’t understand,” James said putting an arm around her waist, pulling her close to him.

“But you think he and Petunia would have a little, just a little respect! I am her sister for heaven’s sake!” Lily said, before sighing in frustration.

“Just ignore it, you won’t have to deal with either of them again after Friday until Christmas,” James said with a smile, holding her close.

“Your right, they are just so infuriating,” Lily remarked before hugging him tightly.

They sat on the porch chairs, watching the sun go down. It was almost hidden behind the mountain, when Lily’s mom poked her head out the door, “dinner’s ready,” she said before returning inside to the table.

James and Lily walked back inside, to find everything out on the table, her mother and father were on opposite ends of the table, Vernon and Petunia on one side, Lily and James on the other. It seemed as if her parents planned to sit in the middle to try and keep the peace.

The night was peaceful; Lily avoided talking to Vernon or Petunia the whole time, and ignored their smart remarks with the help of James who just squeezed her hand lightly.

“Well, I must be going,” Vernon said, as if everyone would be sad he was leaving after dessert, pushing back out of his chair.

“What a shame,” Lily muttered with a roll of her eyes, though only her father and James heard. Glancing over at her father, she could see a small smile playing on his lips from her comment.

Petunia on the other hand looked utterly depressed as he headed towards the door. The both of them went outside to talk, and Lily took this time to slip upstairs with James to her room.

“I know what you are going to say, and yes I agree, he is a bastard,” James said with a playful smirk before collapsing on her bed with a sigh.

Lily was glad her parents trusted her; she was able to have James in her room, with the door shut, without them prying into what was going on.

“Is that you?” James asked Lily picking up an old picture. It was her, her mother and father at a beach when they were younger.

“Yes, Petunia took that picture, we went to Liverpool that summer, I was ten, ” Lily replied looking at it. She had inherited her mother’s thick hair, though the red came from her father. She had also inherited most of her body look and figure from her mother as well; the only mystery was her eyes. For as long as either of her parents or relatives could remember, green was not in the family.

“You look like your Mum,” James said setting the picture down again looking over at her.

“Yes, and ‘tuney looks like dad, except with mother’s hair,” Lily said. It had been a long time since she used that nickname for her sister, but it just slipped out.

Lily and James both heard a knock on the door, which caused Lily to go out to the hall, James in tow.

“Who would be coming ‘round this late?” Lily muttered looking at a clock on the wall. It was about seven thirty at night, they never had company show up this late unexpected.

The way the balcony angled, it was impossible to see the front door so Lily just listened. Apparently Petunia had answered the door, and she hear muffled voices.

“LILY!” Petunia called in a shrill voice, “Your friend is here!”

Confused, Lily shrugged, and jogged down the steps, James right behind her. “I have no idea who is here…” she said then stopped. There in the doorway was Severus.

“I figured we could talk now that your away from…him…” Severus said his voice falling as James came around the corner.

Lily knew this was going to be a problem, she never told James that he lived at the end of the street.

“I have already talked to you Severus, save your breath,” Lily said as polite as possible, since her parents were just in the room next door, and she was sure they were all listening, especially her sister.

“Please Lily, it is important,” he said staring at her, hoping for a bit of sympathy, ignoring James who he could tell was seething.

“Then write it in a letter,” she replied. “I don’t want to talk to you in person. I am mudblood in your eyes. It’s what your whole group of friends are against, trying to snuff out all ‘my kind’,” Lily said making quotations with her fingers.

“No, not you you’re different,” Severus said almost pleading.

“How am I different!? I am not of pureblood, I am unworthy of magic according to him,” Lily said referring to Voldemort.

“I can change that,” Severus said searching her eyes.

“How can you possibly change it? And what if I don’t what to change it,” Lily said before retreating back into the house her hand on the door.

“I can tell you how just listen!” Severus said glancing at James whose hand was on Lily’s shoulder now.

“You need to leave Severus,” James said politely for the first time in his life. He knew that he was obviously upsetting Lily, but she was too polite to tell him to leave.

“I don’t have to listen to you,” Severus said glaring at him.

“Leave!” Lily interjected before anything else happened, and with that slammed the door.

Strangely, Lily was not as mad as she should have been, she was actually calm. “If he come around again, can you tell him I don’t want to speak with him?” Lily asked her parents who nodded in agreement before Lily went back up the stairs. She knew she would have to explain everything to James now, who deserved an explanation.

“Sit,” Lily said before James could say anything.

James was very aggrevated about what had just happened, not just the fact that he had shown up, but the fact that he even knew where Lily lived.

“How does he know where you live?” James asked her, trying to hide the aggrevation in his voice.

With a sigh, Lily pulled over a chair by the bed, taking a seat in it before talking, “he lives just down the road,” she replied avoiding James’ eyes.

“Why have you never told me?” James asked her raising an eyebrow.

“I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. He was the one who told me I was a witch before the ministry came to tell me and my parents. We used to be playmates,” Lily said looking back up at James.

“So that is why you were so nice to him,” James asked her finally putting two and two together.

“Yes, we used to get along, then he started hanging out with a bad crowd, Mulciber and that group, I told him I didn’t like it, that I wouldn’t be friends with him anymore, but he wouldn’t listen,” Lily said. “So he still hung out with them, and I talked to him, not as much as I used to, but the final straw was when he called me what he did.”

James was unsure what to say, Severus was a childhood friend of Lily’s, that is why she always stood up for him, yet he was so awful to her.

“Why does he treat you like that?” James asked her.

“Because I rejected him,” Lily replied. “He told me he loved me James,” she said. “Last year, and I told him no, since then, he—he’s been obsessed with me.”

“How come you never told me?” James asked her quietly.

“It just never came up, and I didn’t want to you be upset,” Lily replied running a hand through her hair.

James did not reply, instead just looked out the window. He could not be mad at her, because it was not her fault, yet he could not help it. It aggravated him the most, that Severus had confessed he loved Lily, she told him no, but he did not leave her alone. That was one of the most dangerous things that could happen, especially who he had pledged his allegiance too.

Lily did not know what else to say, she could not apologize because she had done nothing wrong, but she still felt bad for it. They sat in silence for about five minutes, and Lily could not take it anymore.

“Want to go watch T.V. or something?” Lily asked him, trying to break up the silence.

“Sure,” James said with a smile. He was not going to let this get to him, Lily had handled it perfectly, though James was sure that Snape would not give up, not yet.

They spent the rest of the night watching television with her parents, and Lily explained everything James had found in the room that was new to him as best as she could without confusing him.