Visiting, the first time: An Interlude in Ficlet
Lily Evans' parents informed her that they would be working second shift at the factory all week, and that meant that she'd be left to her own devices with her less than friendly sister, Petunia, and Petunia's hirsute fiance Vernon Dursley. Petunia, a thin girl with a bird nose and a constantly sour expression, was not pleasant on her own. Vernon Dursley, a fat, slovenly, critical fellow, made everything worse. Lily theorized that Petunia always felt small, and Vernon made her feel bigger. She was over four inches taller than her sister, most likely thirty or so pounds heavier, and her personality more vibrant (like her hair), so Lily did not feel too judgmental in her assessment. Even with this secret belief in Petunia's need to feel important, Lily had no solace from the tragedy that was Petunia's jealous wrath. Nor did she kid herself into thinking this time would be any different than any other miserable time since the summer after her tenth birthday, when she had been informed that the exploding saucepans were not just extremely bad luck and actually a result of her own magic.
Her Muggle job at the furniture store showroom (and occasionally a shipment shift) did not start for another week, leaving her at the mercy of her jealous, birdlike older sister. In the past, she had rectified that generally by taking the Wizard Bus to Muggle London, which was curiously close to James Potter's parents' residence. Out of restlessness, boredom, and an ever-increasing desire not to go more than five whole days without seeing her boyfriend, Lily did what any sane seventeen year old girl would do and informed him that she was getting on the bus and seeing him at her earliest convenience. She did sincerely hope that her imposition did not bother him and guessed that it would not. She informed her parents that she was going to stay at Mary's house, which had been her haven when she was not working last summer, so they had not even asked questions.
Without waiting for James to owl her permission, she got on the bus on a Tuesday evening, and arrived two hours later, shaken but not stirred by the Wizard Bus and its erratic travel patterns. Lily fervently hoped James or even Sirius Black had gotten her owl; Janis was relatively quick when she had been promised a whole mouse for her efforts, and told to stay put at the Potter residence. Lily reached into the magically charmed overhead compartment and grabbed her messenger bag full of various and sundry clothing and shoe choices, and walked with a bit of nervousness off the bus.
She grinned when she exited even though her shoe was untied, relieved, because there he was, even though it was close to midnight.
James Potter had been sleeping when he was awoken by a noise. The noise prompted him to creep out of the house to investigate(not waking Sirius who was, let's face it, out for his blood currently), before he turned around and was presented with a vision. Or at least that's how James would put it later when he described the "magical moment" to Sirius. In truth, James smiled, tripped and then stumbled towards Lily, who was smiling nervously.
"Lily," he called out as he approached her, "dearest darling Lilybean, you are here early. Why are you here early? It doesn't matter, you're here, please don't go away."
Lily goggled a bit at his happy confusion and stammered at him, "Oi, are you going to kiss me like the ridiculously and disgustingly romantic moment it should be, or are you going to stand there, questioning if you've truly lost your mind and are now seeing mirages of me?" She tried to look upset, but it was hard to look upset with a grin from ear to ear. Stupid, sodding romance.
James righted himself and closed the gap between him and Lily. "Right, then, you want romance? Ridiculously disgusting romance?" James nodded, as if he had been given a Most Serious Order and then made an exaggerated move(as Marauders never do things by halves), which resulted in James dipping Lily in the manner of many classic Muggle films before kissing her. Romantic moment, indeed. Marauders redefine romantic moments, James thought dimly.
When breathing became required and not merely an option for optimal human performance, Lily broke away, still smiling. "Much better. And now I can inquire why it is that you have not received yesterday's letter? I sent Janis..." She narrowed her eyes. "Did Sirius get the owl post and forget to tell you I was coming earlier than expected?"
James groaned. "He probably did, the daft bastard. He's brassed off at me for turning his hair orange." James shrugged ruefully. "Alright, maybe I wasn't entirely truthful with you about that whole debacle."
Rolling her eyes heavenward, Lily shook her head and sighed. "I told you I smelled a prank even from your letter, you silly boy. I told Janis to stay here until I arrived, so can we stop by your belfry? I do hope she isn't too angry about not getting her mouse to eat, I promised her one and maybe it will be two instead..." She broke off and grinned up at him. "I have to say, the element of surprise with you this evening was quite lovely indeed. I will have to see you more often without telling you first. But, it is late, and we should get inside before people notice what a horrifyingly soppy couple we're turning into."
James gave Lily a soft kiss on the forehead. "We probably are already one of those couples, Lils. Now, all snogging and soppy romance aside, how are you, Lilybean?"
She wrinkled her nose and pulled a face. "Sister and heinous boyfriend had run of the house while my parents worked second shift, so I lied and said I was going to Mary's. Thought it was a better use of my time and brain to come here and run through elaborate schemes to somehow end up sleeping with you in your bed. I never want my intelligence and creativity to go to waste for a summer, after all, so in pursuit of education I fled." Lily smiled wickedly, eyes bright.
James kissed Lily's nose before pulling back with an easy grin. "I'm sorry that your sister and her boyfriend are horrid, but I think that it all worked out well for me, so I can't really say much against them."
Stretching her shoulders, she looked up at him, grinning ruefully. "Will your parents hate me for being a selfish girl who couldn't wait two days to see her boyfriend?"
She took his hand and swung it. "Even though you are very disheveled and dirty from creeping about the outside of your house strangely, like you expected a burglar. I know it's ridiculous and soppy and altogether disgusting and lame to ignore such dishevelment and not care that you have mud from creeping on your pyjamas, but..."
James grinned at the seemingly small act of holding Lily's hand and then pulled her towards the house. "Well, I'm sure that my parents won't mind. I'll show you around, maybe we'll see about letting you share my bed." James winked exaggeratedly and then swung the front door open, before turning around to give Lily a genuine smile. "Thanks for visiting, Lils."
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PPS. 1245 words