"'James?' Lily said quietly.

'Yeah?' He whispered against her hair.

'I want you to meet my parents.' She felt James freeze against her, and thought that maybe she had made a mistake in asking him."

A/N: This is sort of a sequel to my other story, A Silver Doe and a Stag Marauder, but it can be read separately. You by no means need to have read that story to get this one, but in case you have read that one, and are interested in what might have happened afterwards, this is one possibility. In the second chapter, there is a brief mention to the other story, so I'm sorry if you are confused after reading it. To everyone that asked for a follow up to that story, here it is. Enjoy!

Introductions and Repercussions

Lily Evans was sitting on her couch in the Head's Common Room, working on an essay for Professor McGonagall. Being Head Girl sure had its perks. Yes, it didn't exactly win her any points with the younger students, but she didn't need status to win her points. She didn't really care about popularity.

Lily rubbed the back of her neck absent-mindedly, trying to work out the kink that was quickly forming. Lily was no stranger to these little kinks. They were quite common amongst people who spent a great deal of time bent over a lot of paperwork. Lily Evans was just such a person.

The door to the Common Room flew open, and Lily's best friend, Hestia Jones, came strolling into the room. Lily didn't even look up from her essay. "Is it really necessary to slam the door every time you open it, Hest?" Lily asked, flipping a few pages in her Transfiguration book and chewing on the end of her quill.

Hestia flopped down on the couch next to her. "What can I say? I like to make an entrance." Lily rolled her eyes, but of course, Hestia couldn't see it.

"Lily? Lily? Lily? Lily? Lily?" Hestia nagged from her spot to Lily's right.

Lily tried to ignore it, really she did. She knew this game Hestia was playing. It was a battle of patience the two of them often played. Lily almost always lost.

"What is it, Hestia?" She sighed.

"It's a gorgeous day outside, and you're in here doing your work."

"Hestia, it's freezing."

"Lily Evans, it's almost Easter break, and you're inside doing your Transfiguration homework."

"Exactly, so I don't have to do it over Easter break." Lily said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. And to her, it was.

"Look, the sun is shining, the grass is green, and yes it's a little crisp, but that's nothing we can't fix with a sweater… or two. Come on Lily, we're all leaving tomorrow, and I want one last day with my best friend."

"I don't know…"

"Your boyfriend is down by the lake, sitting next to my boyfriend, being devilishly handsome and otherwise irresistible. You better come down and keep an eye on him, before he runs off with some Ravenclaw."

"Hestia, I think you're getting our boyfriends confused. You're the one dating Sirius. I completely trust James."

Hestia groaned. "Oh just come down and snog him for a little while."

Lily glanced up at her friend, before looking back down at her essay, sighing, and closing her book. "I'm coming down, but only because I won't get any work done with you here bugging me."

"Oh, suuurreee." Hestia said, drawing out the word comically. "It has nothing to do with James Potter and his snog-able self."

Lily looked at her friend strangely. "You really need to start thinking out your sentences before you say them."

"What's the fun in that?" Hestia asked as Lily grabbed her coat and they headed down to the Entrance Hall.

"Well, for one, you don't sound like an idiot half of the time."

"Lily Evans! How dare you say that I sound like an idiot half of the time? I think I sound like an idiot at least three quarters of the time."

Lily laughed and hooked her arm through Hestia's. "This is why I love you Hest."

"It's not for my brilliance and stunning good looks?" Lily just kept laughing. "No, I'm just kidding. I know we're only friends because I can make you laugh." And Lily was laughing too hard to correct her.

They exited the school, and immediately Lily stopped laughing, and huddled closer to Hestia. It was cold out. She knew it would be, but that still didn't take away any of the shock of stepping out into the biting wind. Still, once she got past the initial shock, Lily had to admit that it was a beautiful day. The flowers were just starting to bloom, and everything smelled like flowers, rain, and spring. Lily never understood how a season could have a smell, but still, they all did. And she loved the smell of spring.

Lily and Hestia made their way towards the group of people sitting below the large tree by the lake; their tree. Lily could make out James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Mary McDonald, and Marlene McKinnon.

As they approached the tree, Lily heard Sirius call out, "Oh look, it's the two most beautiful girls in the school!" James' head popped up, and he spun around, catching sight of Lily. A huge grin broke out across his face.

He stood up and jogged over to his girlfriend. Hestia slid her arm out of Lily's and went over and sat down next to her boyfriend, who greeted her with a kiss.

James stopped in front of Lily, bent down, and kissed her softly. "Hey." He said as he pulled away.

She stood up a little straighter and brought her lips to meet his in return. "Hey back." They kissed for another few seconds, before James pulled away, slid his hand into hers, and led her over towards the tree. "You know you don't have to do that every time you see me."

"I don't have to do what?"

"You don't have to come over and meet me; I can just come to you."

James shook his head, sitting down against the tree and pulling Lily down next to him. "I really don't mind. Plus, why wait another 5 seconds for you to get to me here, when I can just run and meet you? That's 5 seconds sooner that I get to kiss you."

"Awww," Hestia cooed, "you two are disgusting."

"Go snog your boyfriend, Hestia." Lily said, leaning her head against James' shoulder.

"She was trying to," Sirius said, "but unfortunately, I saw something vulgar and felt sick."

Remus was lying on his back on the ground with his eyes closed, but upon hearing this, he cracked one eye open to look at his shaggy-haired friend, before closing his eye again. "Prongs, feel free to be as nauseating as you want. Anything to get Sirius to stop sucking face with Hestia is a blessing."

Everyone but Sirius laughed. "What's wrong with the way I kiss, Moony?"

"Oh nothing Padfoot. I'm just surprised Hestia hasn't drowned yet."

Everyone burst out laughing again, and Sirius pouted. "Oh don't pout sweetie." Hestia said, leaning over and kissing him lightly on the lips. Sirius perked up, before Hestia continued, grinning evilly, "I don't mind getting slobbered all over."

"OY!" Sirius yelled, as the group continued to poke fun at him. He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed. "I feel unappreciated here."

This continued for a few more minutes. One member of the group would make a joke about Sirius and Hestia's relationship, or maybe just Sirius, and then everyone except the man mentioned would laugh. Hestia knew how to take the jokes, but Sirius had always been a little sensitive. That's not to say that he didn't appreciate his friends' humor, because he did. He had to admit that some of the jokes really were quite clever. He was just happier when they were all poking fun at James. That didn't happen nearly often enough, in Sirius' opinion.

Finally, when they could make no more dog/slobbering/hair/girly jokes about Sirius, the group fell into quiet bliss. Remus, Peter, Mary, and Marlene were all lounging on the grass, talking about what they were going to do over the Easter holiday, Sirius and Hestia were horizontal, and kissing quite contentedly, while James and Lily sat, arms around each other, looking out at the lake.

James kissed the top of her head.

"James?" Lily said quietly.

"Yeah?" He whispered against her hair.

"I want you to meet my parents." She felt James freeze against her, and thought that maybe she had made a mistake in asking him.

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. We're getting serious, right? And I thought, you know, since there's a break coming up, it would be the perfect time… but I get it if you don't want to." She added quickly, giving him a way out if he wanted it.

"No, I want to. We are serious…"

"No, I'm Sirius." Sirius called from over by Hestia. Remus thumped him on the back of the head with a rolled up Quidditch magazine, which sparked a little argument over by them, giving James and Lily some more privacy.

"We're serious, so yeah, I want to meet your parents. But…" James stopped for a second, thinking about what he was about to say, "I think you should meet mine first."

"What? Why?"

"Well… my parents work a lot, so they're always away. And I don't know when they're going to be around again. So I think, since I know they're both going to be here for the first few days of break, you should meet mine first. And then, afterwards, if you're still interested in dating me, I can meet your parents."

"Why wouldn't I want to date you after meeting your parents?"

"Yeah Prongs, your parents are great." Sirius called. This time Hestia smacked him. "What the bloody hell is it with you people and hitting me?"

"Stay out of this." Hestia hissed at him.

"You know, you all could at least pretend you're not listening to us." James said, glaring at the six of them, who glanced off into different directions innocently.

James turned back to Lily and tried to answer her question. "My parents are very… magical. And I know, you've been in this world for 7 years, but they don't really understand anything Muggle. And they're pure-blood. I mean, they don't have any anti-Muggle or Muggleborn feelings, but their parents, my grandparents, do. And I'm just saying… they can be a little bit… intense. I'm sure they'll love you. But still, meeting the family for the first time… it's kind of like make or break in a relationship."

Lily sat thinking for a few moments. "Alright, I'll meet your parents first."

"Great." James said, grinning. "So I'll owl you tomorrow once you get back to your house, and then we'll see about maybe having you over for dinner the next night."

"You don't even want to give your mum more of a warning?"

"Oh trust me, it's better if she doesn't have any warning. Otherwise you'll be stuck there eating a twelve course meal for four hours. You want her unprepared. She's lucky I'm even giving her a day to prepare. She might give me hell about it, but I think it's better than the alternative."

Lily chuckled. "Unprepared it is. I'm actually really nervous. Should I be?"

"Not at all. I'll give you the total run over tomorrow on the train. You'll be completely prepared. I know how much you hate surprises."

"I wouldn't say that I hate surprises…"

"No, but surprises hate you." Hestia cut in.

"…Alright I'll bite. What do you mean, Hestia?"

"Lily, if anyone tries to surprise you, jump out at you, trick you, or anything similar, you end up pulling your wand and hexing them."

"That's… that's not completely…"

"It's kind of true, Lily." Mary said, gravely. "I know for a fact Hestia's been hexed 6 good times, Marlene's gotten it 4 times, I've gotten it twice, and James has been hexed at least 3 times."

The whole group nodded along, while Lily looked back and forth between them. "Alright, so surprises aren't my favourite, but still…"

Remus cut in quickly, "Let's just leave it at the fact that James is being very sweet in preparing you with what his parents are like. Now kiss him and let's move on to a less dangerous subject."

Lily rolled her eyes, but kissed James softly. "You're being very sweet. Thank you."

James smiled sweetly. "So is there anything I should know about your parents? I'm sure they know all about me, right?"

Lily cleared her throat awkwardly. "Well… actually, I guess this is a good time to say this… I haven't exactly told my parents much about you…"

James cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Hestia fidgeted with her robes before standing up and grabbing Sirius' hand. "Well, we're off to snog in a broom cupboard." Sirius' face lit up as he jogged along behind his girlfriend. Remus stood up quickly as well and muttered something about Charms. Marlene, Mary, and Peter hastened after him.

James watched his friends go with a puzzled look on his face. "Lily? What do you mean you haven't told them much about me?"

"Well… when I say that… what I mean is… they don't exactly know that we're together…"

James froze in place. "They don't know that we're dating?" Lily shook her head slowly. "Lily… we've been dating for months…."

"I know that. It's just… I could never find a good time to tell them, you know?"

"No, I don't know. Lily I don't believe this!" He exclaimed, standing up and walking away from her angrily.

"James!" Lily called, chasing after him.

"Just… give me a little time Lily, okay? Let me think for a little while. I'll talk to you tomorrow." He said, turning around to face her and kiss her softly on the lips. He didn't want her to think that they were breaking up over this. But he did need some time to think this over. His girlfriend hadn't told her parents that she was dating someone. These last few months had been the best of his life. What if it didn't mean that much to her?

Lily sighed and watched her boyfriend walk away from her. She ran a hand through her hair and cursed herself for being so stupid. She should have just swallowed her pride and told her parents the day she realized she was in love with him.

James wasn't at dinner. Lily knew he was mad at her, but she didn't think it would go so far as to make him skip a meal. James never missed an opportunity to eat. This was not going to end well, she could already tell.

When she got back up to her dorm room, James was nowhere to be found. Lily sighed in frustration. Really, it was fine that he was cross with her, but he was acting like a petulant child, avoiding her instead of talking this out like adults. Lily sat down on the couch and pulled out her Transfiguration essay, ready to wait up all night for James.

She finished the essay an hour later, and still, James wasn't back. Lily would be worried about him if she wasn't confident that he knew the castle better than anyone. He even knew it better than the ghosts. She wasn't worried about him being ambushed, or stuck in any trick stairs, but to be honest, she was getting really frustrated with him.

Lily stayed up on the couch for another hour reading. By this point, it was nearing midnight, and she was getting tired with nothing left to do. Lily felt her eyes getting heavy with sleep, and fought to stay conscious. But it was futile. Darkness engulfed her within minutes.

Lily woke up the next morning in her bed. With a start, she realized James must have come in sometime last night, seen her asleep, and put her in her own bed. 'Well,' she thought, 'at least he's still being nice to me.'

"LILY!" Lily heard a yelling from out in her Common Room, and she struggled to extract herself from the covers of her bed and see what the screeching was all about.

"What is it?" She groaned.

"Lily Marie! Move your butt! We only have like," Hestia looked down at her watch, "half an hour until the train leaves!"

"Bollocks." Lily muttered as she scurried into her room to change her clothes and grab her suitcase. "I guess it's too late for breakfast?" She called out to Hestia as she pulled a sweater over her head.

"Hell, it's almost too late for lunch. Why were you still sleeping? Why didn't James wake you up?"

Lily shrugged as she dragged her trunk behind her. "He must still be mad at me for not telling my parents about us."

Hestia groaned. "I warned you about that, didn't I? Didn't I say, 'Lily Evans, this is going to come back around to bite you in the arse'?"

"You did, Hest."

"And then you said," Hestia continued, as if Lily hadn't said anything, "you said, 'It's fine Hestia. I'll just wait a few more weeks, and then I'll owl them and tell them'. And I said, 'You say a few weeks now Lils, but it's going to turn into months, and then won't James be pissed?'."

"I get it, Hestia." Lily growled as the two of them rushed out of the school with the stragglers, down towards Hogsmede Station.

"I'm just trying to be a good friend."

"Well you're doing a shit job." Lily growled. Hestia stopped walking, taken aback. Lily sighed. "I'm sorry Hest, I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself."

Hestia smiled softly. "I know, Lily. But it'll all be fine. James can't resist you, and he can't stay mad at you. All you have to do is flash him a smile, and he melts like a chocolate frog confronted with a Hungarian Horntail."

Lily looked at her friend quizzically. "I'm assuming that means he melts quickly?"

"Seriously Lily, for the brightest witch in our year, you really are rather thick."

"I'm a Muggleborn!"

"That's no excuse! Now hurry up, the train leaves in 10 minutes, and at this rate we'll never get a seat." Hestia said as the stepped onto the unmoving engine. Hestia looked left, then right, before deciding to head left, looking in to different compartments, trying to find one with their friends in it.

After a few minutes, Hestia let out a triumphant yell, and pulled open the door to the compartment containing the Marauders, Mary, and Marlene.

"It's about time!" Marlene exclaimed when she saw her two friends. "We were about to send out a search party for the two of you." She teased.

"Yeah," Mary cut in, sliding down the seat to make room for her red-headed friend, "Sirius got it in his head that the two of you were engaging in… how did he put it… oh yes, lewd activities."

Lily blushed furiously, but Hestia just threw back her head and laughed before sitting in her boyfriend's lap. "You just wish we were doing something lewd, Sirius."

Sirius shrugged. "I'm not going to lie; the thought's crossed my mind."

"Watch it, Padfoot." James growled from over by the window.

Lily brought her gaze quickly to his, meeting his hazel eyes for a few seconds before he broke contact. Lily couldn't hold back her frown when her boyfriend didn't even flash her a smile. This was worse than she had originally thought.

The train jolted forward, knocking the friends around a little bit. Once it gained speed though, they all fell into a comfortable atmosphere, chatting and laughing and joking.

But Lily could feel the tension between her and James, and it wasn't the good kind of tension, either. It was awkward. They both knew that they had to talk, but neither wanted to broach the topic, least of all in front of their friends.

When the food trolley had come and gone, Lily finally got fed up. "This is ridiculous." She huffed.

Sirius brought his head up, mouth bulging with candy beans. James had a licorice wand dangling out of his mouth, and he cocked his head in confusion.

"James, we need to discuss this. So, step outside with me, for a minute?" She suggested.

He stood up wordlessly and followed her out of the compartment.

Once they were in the semi-private hallway, Lily turned to him. "James, I'm sorry." He didn't answer. "James please talk to me."

"You know, I shouldn't be mad at you for not telling them. I know that. I know that this is irrational, and that it doesn't make any sense, but damn it Lily, love doesn't make sense! And you know I love you. I love you more than anything. I would do anything for you. I would jump in front of a Killing Curse for you, and I thought you, at least, were beginning to feel something similar!"

"I do James, I do. I love you. You know how much I love you."

"That's just it," he sighed, running his fingers through his hair, "I don't think I do know."

"What do you mean?"

"I was so excited Lily, so excited, that first night you agreed to date me, I couldn't not tell my parents. I didn't expect that you would tell yours right away, but Merlin Lily, it's been months. People don't keep the people they care about a secret from their family."

"It was hard to tell them, James. You can't just push me into these things. And yeah, I wish I had told them sooner, but I didn't. No amount of arguing is going to change that!"

"Why didn't you tell them, Lily? Are you ashamed of me?"

Lily's eyes widened in shock. "NO. Merlin no, James. I could never be ashamed of you. I just didn't know how I was supposed to tell them. I spent my first six years at Hogwarts complaining about you, and telling them how revolting you were, I didn't know how they were going to react if I sent them an owl one day and said, 'Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. You know that boy James Potter, the one that dyed my hair green and made me cry? Yeah, that's the one. He and I are shagging now.'"

"We're not shagging." James muttered.

"Yeah, but that's what they would have thought! I hated you James and I didn't know how they would feel about it."

"Who cares about what they would have thought? My parents were raised to hate Muggleborns, but they got over it pretty damn fast. They can't wait to meet you. I thought the least you could have done, to prove that you really cared about me, was tell your ruddy parents about us! But no, I guess that was too much to ask." And with that, James spun on his heel and strode off down the train, going Merlin knows where.

"James!" Lily called after him. "JAMES!" But he either didn't hear her, or just pretended not to. Lily had a feeling it was the latter.

She groaned and looked around at the hallway. As far as she could see, people's faces, ranging from first year to seventh, were pressed against the glass, obviously watching her altercation with her boyfriend. Most people couldn't seem to remember that they were dating now, and Lily had heard rumours of a bet going on how soon it would be before she and James cursed each other into oblivion. She had reason to believe there were more than three hundred Galleons in the pot at the moment.

Lily sighed deeply before slipping back in to her compartment. As she was closing the door, she heard rustling, and whipped around to see her six friends scuttling back in to their seats, trying to appear as if they hadn't been pressed up against the glass seconds before, hanging on their every word.

Lily sat down and buried her head in her hands in a mixture of frustration and shame. Marlene, who was sitting next to her, reached over and rubbed soothing circles on her back.

Hestia cleared her throat. "Do you want to talk about it, or…?"

"No." Lily mumbled in to her palms. Hestia nodded, though she was aware that her red-headed friend couldn't see her.

"Hey, cheer up Lils." Sirius said, trying to diffuse the tension. "Old Prongsey just needs some time to cool off. He'll be fine in a few hours. He's just a little hurt is all…" Sirius seemed to realize this was the wrong thing to say. Lily groaned in to her hands.

"Merlin, I never wanted to hurt him."

Sirius looked at her anxiously; apparently worried that she was going to burst in to tears at any moment.

"Nice going Padfoot." Remus whispered under his breath, glaring at his best friend. Sirius shrugged apologetically.

The rest of the train ride passed in quiet chatter. Once her friends were no longer worried about triggering Lily's unstable emotions, they continued to talk, albeit at a very low volume. At one point, Sirius stood up and made his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Hestia asked, lowly.

"I'm out to find Prongs. I have a feeling he won't uh… won't want to come back here." He said, shooting a glance at Lily. She didn't need to be looking up to know he was looking at her.

"Tell him I'm sorry." Lily said quietly as Sirius slipped from the room. He grunted, signaling that he'd heard her. Lily sighed and didn't speak again until the train stopped and they were unloading their belongings.

She hugged her roommates tightly, lingering a little longer on Hestia, before quickly hugging the two remaining Marauders, and setting off towards the Muggle world.

Lily walked through the barrier and onto Platforms 9 and 10 in King's Cross Station. She looked left and right, trying to catch a glimpse of her mother or father.

"Lily!" She heard a call, and Lily turned her head, grinning hugely.

She pushed her trolley quickly towards where her mother, father, and sister were standing. Petunia looked grumpy, and put-out, as usual. "Hey Mum, hey Dad, hey Tuney." Lily hugged her mom tightly, then switched to her dad, and even tentatively hugged Petunia.

"Welcome home, Lils. It's good to see you." Her father whispered in her ear.

"Do you have much homework over the break?" Her mother asked as the small group walked out of the train station and towards the family car.

Lily shook her head. "I did all of it before I got here, so that I could spend as much time as possible with you guys." Lily smiled at her beaming parents, and didn't mention anything about James, or meeting his parents.

And now, Lily had to decide how to broach the awkward subject. She wasn't hiding him from them… not exactly. It's just that she'd spent the previous 6 years complaining non-stop about James Potter, and now… she didn't know how to tell them that she was dating him, that she was falling in love with him… hell, that she was already in love with him. But she knew she would have to tell them soon. James would be sending her an owl later that day to invite her over for dinner.

Lily spent the car ride back to her house talking and laughing with her family. Even Petunia was being pleasant to her, which was certainly a surprise, although Lily thought it had more to do with the fact that they hadn't mentioned magic once since her return.

Lily decided to start a conversation with her sister that she hoped was safe. "So Tuney how's Vernon?"

Petunia sat up a little straighter, and bragged, "Oh, he's absolutely wonderful. He's just been promoted at the drill factory; he's now Assistant to the Assistant Manager."

Lily, though the urge was strong, did not laugh. She kept a very straight face, and said, "Wow, that's big news. Tell him congratulations from me."

"Oh, I will."

"So Lily, how's your friend Hestia? Is she still dating that Sirius fellow?"

Lily smiled a little bit. "Oh yes, much to everyone's surprise. Sirius isn't exactly one for long relationships, you know."

Her parents exchanged a glance. "Oh yes dear, we know."

"How has the workload been?" Mr. Evans asked.

Lily shrugged. "It's definitely harder this year. We have to write a lot more essays, and McGonagall's really been cracking down hard, but it's our final year, so it's kind of to be expected."

Her parents nodded, and then began talking about the new carpet Mrs. Evans had put in the family room, and how much better it went with the furniture. Lily tried to be interested, she really did. Sometimes she forgot how boring the Muggle world could be.

They pulled into the Evans driveway, and Lily looked out the window at her little house. It was strange. She was a fully grown wizard. She could do magic outside of school, and yet, she still had to take her NEWT's, and she was still technically living at home. Lily didn't know what to think. By Muggle standards, she was still a kid for another year, but in her other world, she was an adult.

Lily always had trouble figuring out which world she belonged in. She knew how to work an oven, but she also knew how to turn a couch into a ferret. She could defend herself against fully-grown wizards, and could perform complex Charms with her eyes closed, but she still had trouble working the television. Lily was stuck between two worlds, and she didn't know which one she wanted.

Usually she didn't think about these things, but with the upcoming dinner with James' completely wizard family, she was thinking about it more and more. What if she and James stayed together after school was over? What if they ended up moving in together? Would it be a wizard house, or a mix? Would she have to teach him about Muggle things? Was it just easier to pretend she wasn't a Muggleborn? Should she give up pens and pencils for the messier, harder-to-write-with quills?

All this was brought to the front of Lily's mind just by looking at her little blue house. Lily climbed out of the car, went to the back, and pulled out her trunk, dragging it up the driveway to the front door. She would rather levitate it, but she was getting along so nicely with Petunia, and she figured that magic would just mess up what they had going.

Mr. Evans helped carry his daughter's trunk upstairs and to her bedroom. Lily smiled when she opened the door. The first thing she did was flop down on the bed, bigger and just the tiniest bit more comfortable than her four-poster at school. Lily breathed in the scent of her pillow, but frowned almost immediately. It didn't smell like home. It didn't smell like her. It smelled like detergent. True, that wasn't a bad smell, but it wasn't the right smell.

Every time Lily came home from school, she was always surprised that her pillow didn't smell like her, that her room was cold, and unlived in. She half-expected everything to remain frozen while she was gone. Her mother wouldn't get a haircut, her father wouldn't grow a beard, and her bed would stay warm the whole time. Of course, that was a ridiculous idea, Lily knew, but still, it didn't stop her from hoping.

Lily raised herself off of her bed and began to unpack her trunk by hand, sorting the clothes into a 'clean' and 'dirty' pile. She could just wave her wand and unpack the trunk in seconds, but this gave her something to do. Also, Lily had never done any spells at home, because she had always been underage. So now that she had the whole wide world of domestic spells at her fingertips, she didn't know what to do with them. So she did things the Muggle way.

She heard a light tapping at her window, and looked up to see a large, brown barn owl standing on the windowsill, a letter tied around its leg. She recognized it at once as James' owl, Franklin (a ridiculous name for a bird, in Lily's opinion). Lily stood up and raced over to open the window. The bird flew in, and before Lily took the letter, she pulled a bag of owl treats out of her trunk, and quickly went into the bathroom to get the bird some water.

When she came back, and Franklin was busy drinking, she untied the scroll, and unrolled it.

Lily,

I know it's still a little bit early, but I promised you a letter today. I wrote this as soon as I got back to my house.

First of all, I'm sorry for the way I acted today on the train. I over reacted to this whole situation. You can thank Padfoot for beating some sense in to me; I don't think the bump will go away for another week.

I don't blame you for anything you did, but I am ashamed of my behavior. Of course it's your decision when to tell your parents about us, and I shouldn't have assumed anything. I do hope you tell them about me soon, though, because I really do want you to meet my family, and I want to meet yours.

Secondly, my parents are thrilled that we're together. I have to admit, I spent a great deal of time talking about you, especially in my first few years of Hogwarts. Don't be embarrassed, and don't hate me, I was just a kid.

When I told them you were my girlfriend, I think my mum actually squealed. Can you believe it? I guess it's different if you know her… which you will, tomorrow. And that brings me to the real purpose of my letter.

They insisted I have you over as soon as possible. They actually suggested tonight, but I said that you would probably want to spend tonight with your family, getting caught up and everything. I don't know if anything's changed in the last few hours, but I assume they still don't know about me.

Anyways, they made me promise that we have you over tomorrow night for dinner. I'll try to talk my mum out of anything more than 3 courses, but I can't guarantee anything.

So let me know. We can always do it later in the break, if you want, or if you need to, that's perfectly fine. But please have it be soon. I've been away from you for 3 hours, and already I miss you.

Write me soon.

All my love,

James

Lily smiled at the letter. He was kind of adorable sometimes. And yes, she would be over at his house tomorrow. Lily quickly scribbled down her answer on a spare bit of parchment, and then continued to unpack, thinking over in her head how exactly she was going to tell her parents about her boyfriend.

By the time Lily had unpacked all her clothes and books, put them in the proper places, and done her first load of laundry, it was time for dinner.

Lily took a deep breath before heading downstairs. This was the meal where she would tell her parents about her and James.

Lily didn't talk about anything for the first 5 minutes of dinner. She let her family get a good ways into their meal, before beginning, casually, "So I was wondering if I could go over to someone's house for dinner tomorrow." She said lightly.

"Sure dear. Who's house?" Mrs. Evans asked, taking a bite of fruit.

Lily took a deep, shaky breath, and said, as calmly as she could, "My boyfriend's."

There was silence all around the table. Lily didn't look up, but she could practically feel her mother's open mouth and her sister's disbelieving expression. Mr. Evans dropped his fork.

"You have a boyfriend?" Mrs. Evans asked slowly.

Lily nodded. "Yeah, I do."

Mr. Evans cleared his throat. "And what's his name?" He asked. Mr. Evans appeared to be fighting the urge to clean his glasses, a common nervous tick of his.

"It's James Potter?" Lily said as more of a question than a statement.

Once again, silence surrounded the table.

"James Potter?" Mr. Evans asked, saying the name as if it were something foul-tasting, though that had less to do with the person and more the concept of his youngest daughter dating anyone.

"Lily dear, isn't that the boy that's been harassing you ever since you started that school?"

Lily shifted uncomfortably under her mother's gaze. "Uh, yeah, that's the one."

"Well… I can't say that I'm not a little bit shocked. I had no idea…" Mrs. Evans said, before shaking herself. "How long have you two been together?"

"A few months." Lily answered softly. This would be the worst part. The part where her parents were mad at her for hiding this from them for so long.

"A few months? Lily Marie, how come you never said anything?" Mrs. Evans asked, more put-out than angry.

Lily shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to tell you in person. I'm going over to his house tomorrow to meet his parents, and then I was hoping that the day after that, he could come here to meet all of you." Lily suggested tentatively.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans immediately softened. Now that they knew they were going to meet their daughter's secret boyfriend, they were no longer angry, just a little sad that Lily didn't share this with them.

Lily seemed to sense that. "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you. But, I figured it was the kind of thing you tell your family in person, and so I just kept putting it off and putting it off. I'm really sorry."

Mr. Evans patted her hand. "It's fine Lils. At least you told us, right?"

Lily nodded, relieved that it had gone so well. Petunia was oddly quiet throughout the exchange, but at least she didn't look mad about anything. Finally, her sister said something. "So… he's a… a… you know… like you, then?"

"Yeah, he is."

Petunia turned her nose up in disapproval.

"Something wrong with my boyfriend, Tuney?"

"Oh no, nothing at all, Lily." She said, but Lily knew she was lying. It wasn't like she was trying to hide it or anything.

"Come on Petunia, out with it."

"I just thought that maybe, after you got out of that freak school, you could put all this behind you. Meet a nice, normal boy, and start a family, and forget all about the… abnormal stuff."

Lily's fist clenched, the only sign that she was seething with rage. "Being a witch is part of who I am Petunia. I'm not going to stop being who I am because of what you think is right. And if I decide to keep dating James Potter after school, then that's my business, isn't it?"

Petunia huffed. "Excuse me." She said, standing up from the table abruptly. "I've suddenly lost my appetite."

Lily buried her head in her hands again as her sister walked away from her. Every break she came back and thought that maybe, just maybe, they might be able to fix things between them, but then Lily would say something, or pull her wand, and Petunia would flinch, and sneer, and walk away from her again. It was exhausting. Lily didn't know if she could fight for her sister anymore. She was just too tired.

Mr. Evans reached out a hand and put it over his daughter's. "Don't you worry Lils, she'll come around."

Lily nodded, but her stomach was in knots, because she knew that her sister would never come around. They would never be sisters again, at least not the way that sisters should be. But she couldn't do anything about it. She was tired of running after her sister, begging for her forgiveness, for her love. She would never get it. So now, it was time to focus on the family she did have: mainly her parents and James.

"I think I'm going to go to bed. It's… it's been a long day." Mr. and Mrs. Evans nodded sadly at their youngest daughter as she trudged up the stairs.

The looked at each other for a while, before Mr. Evans finally said, "When she got her letter, I was so excited. It was such a relief, because she was special. Don't you remember how happy she was? She finally had some place she could fit in. It was wonderful for her. I don't think we ever really paid enough attention to how Petunia took it all."

"I thought she would be happy to have such a special sister."

Mr. Evans shook his head. "She felt left out. Her sister was something incredible, and she could never be a part of that world. She knew it, even when she was thirteen. She knew she was losing her best friend that day."

Mrs. Evans sighed deeply. "Sometimes I wish magic was never a part of this family."

Mr. Evans shook his head vehemently. "You don't mean that. Look at how happy Lily is. She's having all these wonderful adventures, and all these incredible things are happening to her… I would never want to take that away from her."

"But don't you think it would be easier?"

He shrugged. "Easier doesn't always mean better."