".. a relative of the bride's," Mrs. Potter finished, taking her seat once more as a small man with greying hair took her place.

"Now, most of you won't know me," he sounded extremely nervous and was sweating profusely, he began to speak in a slightly clinical manner, "but I feel I am as well qualified to talk about the bride as almost anyone. My story concerns the first time Lily's mother and I met her charming husband, James…"

"Petunia Evans, you come back here right now!" Mrs. Evans called out of the from door, but it was no use, their eldest daughter had already stormed past the neighbour's front garden.

"It's not worth our time, dear," Mr. Evans said to his wife as he put the kettle onto the hob, "She's probably gone to see that fellow of hers, what's his name, Trevor?"

"Vernon, darling," Mrs. Evans replied, "Not the nicest boy. Rather dull."

"Let's not be too hasty to judge, we still haven't met this James chap. He could be as mad as a march hare," Mr. Evans laughed as he took a seat at the kitchen table of their small suburban house, "Given some of the stories Lily's told us I wouldn't be surprised to find he was completely barking!"

"Now, now!" his wife scolded him, "Lily is a sensible young woman, and she has been pretty keen on this boy for a while now! The least we can do is give him a chance."

The doorbell rang and muffled voices could be heard from outside the front door. The Evans' looked at each other, as if to silently say, 'Should you get the door or should I?'. Mr. Evans took the job and made his way quietly down the narrow wallpapered hall. He could see the shadows of two people through the patterned glass of the door. One was much taller than the other, who had shocking red hair. Mr. Evans opened the door with a big smile on his face.

"Lily!" he exclaimed, embracing his daughter warmly, "How wonderful to see you darling!"

"I've missed you Daddy!" Lily hugged him back as warmly, "My trunk and school things are at James' parents' house. I didn't want to bring them here in case Tuney had that… man… over."

"Understandable," Mr. Evans smiled knowingly at his daughter, turning to James who was standing awkwardly with a gawky grin on his face. The boy was a head taller than he was, with very messy black hair and a slightly crooked nose, as if he had been hit in the face one too many times by a football, "And you must be James!"

"Wonderful to meet you, Mr. Evans, sir," James said nervously, extending a very sweaty palm to Lily's father, "Terrible weather we're having, isn't it?"

Mr. Evans looked at the bright sun and clear blue sky over head, and looked quizzically at James, "I suppose it is. Why don't you come in and have a cup of tea? After you, James."

James set off through the hallway, looking slightly lanky and out of place in the narrow room. Mr. Evans stayed behind as Lily whispered to him, "He's not used to muggles, Dad. I told them that they like to talk about the weather!" she giggled slightly.

"That explains a lot," Mr. Evans chuckled to himself. He shut the front door and made his way back into the kitchen behind his daughter. They found that James had already taken a seat at the kitchen table and was looking with some confusion around the room. His eyes fell on the telephone which sat beside the back door out into the garden.

"It that a Smelephone?" he asked in amazement. Mrs. Evans stifled a laugh and looked to her husband and daughter for support.

"James, we've been through this," Lily said in an exhausted tone, "It's called a Telephone, and it's not normal to be so excited by them."

James smiled apologetically, "Can I make anyone a cup of tea?" he asked.

"Now that's something we seem to have in common, dear," Mrs. Evans let her face spread into a wide smile.

"… now I don't mean to show young James here to be some kind of bumbling buffoon," Mr. Evans continued, "But you must remember that to Muggles like us, amazement at the Telephone does take a little getting used to…"

"So James," Mrs. Evans turned to him some time later, taking a sip from her cup of tea, "Lily tells us that you were considering going into the ministry?"

"Well, yes, I mean, no," James stuttered a little, looking at Lily, and running his hands through his hair nervously, "I did think about becoming an Auror, my friend Sirius and I were going to do it together, but we've decided to pursue other things a little more privately."

"What sort of things are those then, young man?" Mr. Evans asked with some confusion in his voice.

"What I mean to say is that we decided that the Ministry might not exactly be for us," James continued, "I mean, Sirius is what one might call a free spirit, and I just think my talents might be better used elsewhere."

"Right," Mrs. Evans said curtly. The four people were silent for a moment, and the noise of the kitchen clock could be heard loudly in the background. The minute hand moved to show it was five o'clock. At that moment there was a loud, fuzzy noise, and the radio sprang to life.

"… and now for the five o'clock news with Robin Aitkin. This is BBC Radio Four.."

"What the bloody hell is going on?" James exclaimed, jumping from his chair in surprise.

"It's just the radio alarm, James," Lily said calmly, "We have it set so we can hear the news."

"I don't like that one bit," James eyed the radio, which sat on top of the fridge, with ultimate suspicion.

"You must have radios at your house James!" Mrs. Evans said in shock.

"We do, but they don't do any of this funny business," James replied, still looking at the radio.

Mr. Evans laughed, "And we thought that we'd be the ones shocked by the funny business," he said.

"I think perhaps James and I should go for a walk to calm down," Lily looked at her parents apologetically, "Does that sound okay James?"

James nodded and headed for the front door in an extremely awkward manner.

Once the young couple had left, Mr. and Mrs. Evans looked at each other in confusion.

"A strange young man, isn't he?" Mrs. Evans commented, "Clearly a bit tetchy."

"Nice though," her husband responded, "Well meaning?"

"I suppose the muggle world is a bit strange for a boy like him. Not at all surprising! Remember how you were when we first took Lily to Diagon Alley?"

"It can be a little overwhelming," Mr. Evans mused, "He's still a damn sight better than that Vernon character. James is intelligent, and he obviously dotes on Lily."

"She's lucky to have realised what a wonderful young man he is," his wife replied, "I'm not sure how we're going to get it into Petunia's mind that that boy is just a waste of space! He's arrogant, rude, self-important, domineering and frankly unpleasant to spend time with!"

"OI!" a loud voice came from the door to the hallway as James entered into the kitchen, his eyebrows furrowed, "I'm glad I came to grab my coat when I did! Now I know what you really think of me! Arrogant? Rude? Unpleasant to spend time with?"

"James-" Mr. Evans tried to interrupt him, but the young man was already into the full swing of his rant.

"You may find me insupportable and unsympathetic to your minds, but all I have ever done is try my best! You many not think that I'm good enough for Lily, but I will prove you wrong," James' voice was mature and full of anger in a way that he would never speak in front of his friends, "I may not have realised it at the time, but I have love Lily since the first day I met her. She is the most intelligent, most generous and most entertaining person I have ever met, and the most amazing girl in the entire universe. So I frankly couldn't care less if you think I'm 'domineering' and 'self-important', because your daughter doesn't. I have finally got her to love me almost as much as I love her, and no, I may not be getting a well-paid job at the ministry next year, but the Wizarding World is entering a dark time and I will do my utmost to ensure that Lily is safe for the rest of her life, because like it or not, I love her."

"James!" Lily was standing behind him, the widest smile she had ever produced on her face. She was lost for words. Mrs. Evans seemed to be speechless too, so she took several steps forward to where James was standing and embraced him as though he were her own son.

"That was one of the nicest things I've ever heard anyone say," she said to him, "Lily only deserves someone as sweet as you."

"James, that speech was lovely," Mr. Evans chuckled to himself, "But I should probably tell you that we weren't even talking about you…"

"… I have never seen a young man turn so red as James did at that moment," Mr. Evans finished his story, "But it still showed us, and Lily, just how deeply you care about her. Who's up next then..?"

Hope you all enjoyed this latest instalment! Much love, and as always REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!