Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and events from J.K. Rowling's wonderful Harry Potter books. I am writing this for my own enjoyment and hopefully for the enjoyment of readers. Anything you recognize belongs to JKR. The rest belongs to me.
Chapter 77: The Talk
"Bye, Lily! Happy Christmas!"
Lily hugged Marlene and Alice goodbye and wished them a 'Happy Christmas' before walking through the barrier at Platform 9 ¾. She hardly had the chance to look around for her parents when she felt an arm go around her shoulders and caught the familiar scent of grass and outdoors that belonged to James Potter. "What do you want, Potter?" she wearily asked.
James grinned and teasingly drew out a sprig of mistletoe, causing a groan of annoyance to escape Lily. James held it out in front of them and said, "You've been rather elusive, Miss Evans. But now that you can't hex me, perhaps it's the time try again." He twirled it between his thumb and forefinger, ready to raise it up between them and try his luck.
"Lily honey?"
James froze and Lily gulped as she looked up and saw her parents standing a few feet away. Her mum's expression was surprised but slightly amused, however her father's face was a few shades of reddish-purple as he surveyed the boy who dared to touch his daughter.
"Hi Mum, hi Dad," croaked Lily. She had temporarily forgotten to tell James off and was beginning to wonder, by the look on her dad's face, if she should instead tell him to run for his life.
Anne Evans noticed and gave her husband a not-so-discreet elbow in the side, causing him to break his glare and step toward Lily and James. He cleared his throat and said, "Welcome home, sweetie. Who is this young man?"
James summoned up his Gryffindor courage and took a deep breath. Plastering on what he hoped was a sincere smile, he said, "I'm James Potter, sir." He held out his hand and Harold Evans shook it firmly, hoping to garner a yelp out of the boy.
When he didn't get more than a slight faltering of the boy's smile, Harold decided to further investigate. Opting for the direct approach, he asked, "Are you dating my daughter?"
"Actually sir-" started James.
Lily quickly shrugged James' arm off her shoulders and interrupted, "No, he is not."
"Isn't that mistletoe?" asked Harold, pointing at the sprig that James was still holding.
"Erm-" stuttered James, part of him wanting to drop the mistletoe and run from the imposing Mr. Evans, the other part wanting to find a way to impress Lily's parents.
"Potter," said Lily, "I think I see your mum and Sirius over there."
"We really should get going," said Anne. "Petunia's waiting in the car."
"'Tunia's here?" asked Lily. She was surprised her sister had agreed to come.
James noticed Lily's surprised expression and wondered what had changed. From what he remembered, Lily had told him in first year that she and her sister were close.
"Yes, she is," said Harold. He gave James a cursory nod and said, "We'd better go before she turns into a popsicle."
James barely had the chance to wonder what a popsicle was before he noticed Lily following her father out of the station. When he saw Mrs. Evans give him a smile and start to leave, he came to his senses and said, "Mrs. Evans?"
Anne turned around and walked back toward James. "Yes?" she asked with a friendly smile.
"I was wondering if you could do me a favor," he replied with a grin.
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"Sirius! I'm so glad you decided to come," said Marianne, giving him a hug.
Sirius smiled and hugged her back, saying, "Ah, you know I wouldn't miss Christmas at the Potter house. After
all, I can't wait to see how James and I can annoy his cousins Christmas Eve."
Marianne gave him a stern look and said, "We'll have none of that this year. Isn't it possible to have a normal dinner with my brother's family just once?"
Sirius let out a barking laugh as he said, "We wouldn't want to mess with tradition by becoming normal, would we?"
Marianne rolled her eyes, then suddenly realized James wasn't there. "Where is my troublemaking son, anyway?"
"He's probably flirting with Evans again," answered Sirius.
"He still likes Lily?" asked Marianne.
"Yeah," chuckled Sirius. "He's been trying to score a date with her all year."
Marianne's smile froze at the word 'score' and she looked around the station, finally seeing her son with his arm around Lily, holding what looked like mistletoe between them. As Marianne watched the exchange that followed with who she assumed were Lily's parents, something suddenly occurred to Marianne. It hit her like a ton of bricks and she realized she had completely overlooked it. Taking a glance at Sirius, who was winking at a group of girls who passed by, she realized there was something she had to take care of while James was home. It wouldn't be easy but as his mother, she had no choice.
"You okay, Marianne?" asked Sirius, sensing her sudden change of mood.
Marianne watched James smile at Lily's mum before turning to walk toward them. She looked at Sirius and gave him a wary smile, saying, "I'm fine, Sirius." As James arrived she gave him a hug and a kiss, all the while feeling her gut wrench at her upcoming task.
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"So how do you know James, sweetie?"
Lily looked at her watch and nodded. Five minutes. That was about how long she had predicted it would take for one of her parents to start grilling her about James once they were on the road. Her mum had caved first, and as she had asked Lily noticed her father's grip tighten on the steering wheel.
"He's in my house and year," Lily replied.
"James, eh?" mused Petunia. "Another boyfriend of yours, Lily?" she asked with a smirk.
"No, he's not," said Lily sinking lower in her seat.
"He did seem rather friendly for someone who isn't interested in you," her dad remarked.
Lily felt the air getting stuffy and was tempted to crack the window open, despite the freezing temperature outside.
"He…er…he has asked me out, I guess." She noticed her father's knuckles were almost white from the
vise-like grip he now had on the wheel.
"But you aren't dating?" probed her mum.
"I, erm…turned him down," said Lily, hoping that the subject would soon change.
Harold finally loosened his grip on the wheel and cracked a small smile. He knew Lily was a smart girl. He even felt a
little sorry for the Potter boy, now that he knew Lily had done the right thing (in his opinion as an overprotective
father) and kept her distance from him.
"Whatever for?" asked Anne. She sighed and said, "He seemed pretty smitten with you."
"That doesn't mean we're right for each other," Lily quietly replied. She looked at Petunia and, desperate for a change of subject, asked, "How's Vernon, 'Tunia?"
Petunia took the cue and launched into her tales of how wonderful and considerate Vernon was toward her and how brilliant he was. After all, he was certain to get a promotion soon at work. As she described the restaurant he had taken her to for their last date, Lily noted how her dad's knuckles were once again white.
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Marianne took a deep breath. 'It's not that big of a deal,' she thought to herself. 'After all, I'm a healer, and this is a something I should be able to handle.' She tried to forget the fact that it would involve her fifteen year old son, but that was a necessary part of the equation for the dreaded task.
Picking up the packet of pamphlets she had found at St. Mungo's, she finally stood up and decided to stop procrastinating. James and Sirius had been home for a few days and she had found little ways of putting off her task, from decorating for Christmas to escaping the house for some last-minute holiday shopping.
It was now Christmas Eve and in a few hours they would be going to Louis' house for the annual Christmas Eve dinner. Marianne wanted to get this over with before all of the festivities started so they could focus on the holidays.
After asking Perchy, she found James lounging on a sofa in the living room, having recently returned from his snowball war with Sirius. She smiled and asked, "Who won?"
James turned around and smiled at her, saying, "Me, of course." Aside from some wet hair, he didn't look any worse for the wear.
Marianne shuffled the pamphlets nervously with her hands, and looking around, asked, "Where's Sirius?"
"Upstairs trying to get the snow off," smirked James. He smugly added, "I found a potion at Zonko's that makes the snow stick to its target longer before melting." Seeing the expression on his mum's face, he added, "Not that I shop there a lot or anything. It was in the display window and I saw it on my way to the bookstore."
Marianne let out a nervous laugh and said, "Not that I believe that for a millisecond, but that's not what I need to talk to you about."
James' smile froze and for a moment he wondered what had made his mum look so nervous. Was he in trouble for something else…and what had she found out about? Was she going to lecture him about the upcoming dinner at his uncle's house and how to properly behave? Or was it something worse? Had something happened to someone they know? Did it have anything to do with Voldemort? All of these possibilities raced through James' head as Marianne sat down next to him and gave him a tentative but serious look.
"Erm, what's up, Mum?" he asked.
"James," she began, "I realized something the other day. I saw you flirting with Lily at the train station and it hit me how fast you're growing up. I realized there's something I overlooked, and as your only remaining parent it's fallen upon my shoulders to talk to you about this."
James felt his stomach start to turn. Even though he prayed it wasn't true, he didn't need to take Divination to predict what was about to happen. He noticed Sirius appear in the doorway taking a gulp of hot chocolate from a Christmas tree-shaped mug.
Not noticing Sirius' appearance, Marianne continued, "We need to talk about sex."
James was temporarily forced out of his shock as Sirius had just sprayed hot chocolate across a large portion of the living room and was now trying to cough out the drink he had accidentally inhaled. After a minute, James wasn't certain if Sirius was coughing anymore or laughing.
When he finally caught his breath, Sirius gave James a mirthful look and said, "So sorry for the interruption. I'll just leave you to your mother-son chat, shall I?" He started to back out of the room, almost like an animal cautiously backing away from its predator.
"Not so fast, Sirius!" called Marianne, stopping him before he could make his escape. "You should probably hear this, too."
James rolled his eyes and whined, "Now you're gonna force my best mate to hear this?"
Marianne gave him a stern look and said, "I doubt his folks have given him 'the talk' and even if they have I doubt what they told him was proper."
Sirius smiled and lied through his teeth, albeit poorly. "Sure, they've talked to me about it. In fact, that's about all we ever talk about. There's no need for me to hang around for this."
Marianne snapped her fingers and pointed to the armchair. "Sirius, sit!"
At her command, James was reminded of Sirius' canine alter-ego and tried to hide a snicker. Perhaps if Sirius was forced to endure this as well then that would save James from some serious teasing later.
Sirius grudgingly complied and sank down onto the chair.
Marianne sighed and said, "Honestly, you two! I'm a healer, so it's not like I shouldn't be able to talk about this in a calm, rational way. And you should be old enough to handle this in a mature manner." She looked at the two boys, who looked as if they were about to be sentenced to a long stay at Azkaban. She looked down at her pamphlets and decided to start with the basics.
She took the top one and handed it to James, who let out a guffaw and said, "Mum, I already know this. Dad told me about all this a long time ago." He tossed the pamphlet to Sirius, who snickered when he saw the title, 'Where babies come from.'
"Yeah," said Sirius, "My mother had one of our house elves tell me all this, though I insist to this day I hatched out of a pod rather than having been borne to that woman."
Marianne chose to ignore Sirius' comment and started passing out the other pamphlets, including: Teenagers and Sex, Teenage Pregnancy, and Magical and Muggle Methods of Birth Control. The icing on the cake involved a rather graphic pamphlet on Magical and Muggle Venereal Diseases. By the end of the hour, James and Sirius were stunned and nauseated by the different lesions and colors involving certain aspects of the male anatomy.
The first chance they got, the boys scrambled away and ran for the sanctity of James' room. Sirius collapsed on the floor while James lay on his bed, rubbing his eyes while trying to rid himself of the images that his mum had forced him to endure.
"That was…brutal," Sirius finally commented with a shudder.
"Eurgh!" was all James could reply.
When they heard Marianne summon them to hurry up and prepare for their trip to the Prewett household, Sirius shook his head and said, "I can't believe I'm about to say this, Prongs, but for the first time in my life I've lost my appetite."
The Christmas Eve feast at the Prewett household was not as 'normal' as Marianne had hoped it would be. The trouble started when the meal was served and James and Sirius barely touched their plates. That alone sent a red flag of suspicion into the minds of Gideon and Fabian, who were used to some kind of yearly prank from the two Gryffindor boys. They opted to refrain from their meal until they were certain it was untainted by any Zonko's products or the like.
Marianne tried to goad James into eating, but all he could do was try to avoid looking at his plate. The sweet potato dish reminded him of a picture his mum had shown him earlier that day of the effects of Klergerben Syndrome.
Sirius, hoping to use mischief to wipe his mind clean of Marianne's earlier lecture, opted to make Gideon and Fabian think their suspicions were true about the 'tainted' food. Every time one of the Prewett boys dared to try a bite of their dish, Sirius would chuckle and use what he hoped was his sneakiest expression. Gideon was rather irritated by the end of the night because he had been hoping to impress his new fiancee, Adele, but as Potter/Prewett tradition indicated, the night ended up in some kind of mess. This year it had been a food fight, and Adele had gotten caught in the crossfire with a forkload of stuffing.
After Marianne had been forced, once again, to whisk Sirius and James home quickly, she gave them the usual reprimands and sent them upstairs to bed. Before going upstairs, Sirius, reminded of Lily's story about the old guy who liked sneaking into people's homes on Christmas Eve to 'deliver gifts,' suggested that Marianne check the security spells around the Floo that evening to avoid intruders. Sirius snorted, wondering how off her rocker Lily must be to believe some old guy would deliver gifts instead of just stealing the ones that were already there.
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At about 1 am, James was woken up by the sounds of Sirius' stomach growling from across the room. Remembering he hadn't eaten dinner, James realized he was hungry, himself. Getting up, he saw that Sirius was fast asleep despite his talkative stomach, and James opted to go to the kitchen solo to forage for food.
Once he had found some leftovers stored away, James sat down at the kitchen table and started to eat. He had barely finished a few bites of his chicken before he heard Joseph, who was hanging around next to a bowl of fruit in a painting near the table.
"James," smiled Joseph. "Here for a midnight snack?"
James nodded and groggily asked, "Thought you'd be sleeping in the dining room."
"Nah," replied Joseph. "I never could sleep well on Christmas Eve. Always had too much anticipation for the next day. Thought I'd wander about the paintings to work off my energy." Joseph studied James for a moment before asking, "Wasn't tonight the dinner at your Uncle Louis' house?" After James nodded, Joseph added, "I figured you would be too full from that to wake up for a late night snack."
"I didn't really eat earlier," replied James. "I sorta lost my appetite."
"Lost your appetite?" echoed Joseph. "Why? Are you sick?"
James let out a dry laugh and said, "I thought I might have been earlier. Mum gave me 'the talk'."
"The talk?" questioned Joseph. It took a moment for James' words to 'click' before Joseph's eyes widened. "Oh…I see," he replied. He had a slightly amused tone to his voice which did not escape James.
"I'm glad you find this so funny," James said sarcastically.
Joseph laughed and said, "Sorry. I was just imagining your mother trying to be all serious about it, when I'm sure she was just as uncomfortable as you were."
James snorted and picked at his chicken a little more. Things were silent for a few minutes before Joseph finally asked, "So is there a young lady you like?"
James shrugged and glanced up at the image of his father.
Joseph grinned and said, "There is, isn't there?" When James didn't do more than crack an uncomfortable smile, Joseph prodded, "What's she like?"
"She's pretty…very pretty. She's smart…she made prefect this year. She's a brilliant witch. She gets
teased by the Slytherins for being Muggleborn, but she could hex them all into next week if she wanted to…but she's
not like that." James' smile had become wider and more comfortable as his mind focused on Lily. Suddenly he
felt a sad tug at his heart as he wished once more for his father to be alive and sitting across from him at the table,
ready to give him advice on how to figure out girls. He loved his mum and she was trying really hard to be both
parents, but it would never be the same.
James looked up at Joseph, who seemed to be reading his thoughts. "I know," said Joseph. "I'm not the same, but I'm still here with open ears."
James, seeing the likeness of his father watching him, decided to confide in him everything that had happened from first year and on with Lily. He described their initial friendship and its subsequent demise, followed by Lily's reaction toward him. He finished the story with his latest efforts to gain her attention.
Joseph listened to James' story without interruption or judgment, something he had not gotten from his mates. James was never able to have a serious discussion with Sirius about Lily that year without it leading to some lighthearted teasing about James' methods of getting her attention. Remus always tried to interrupt with his own suggestions, and Peter would shrug and say he didn't know anything about the inner workings of the female mind.
It was comforting, being able to get it all off of his chest, even if it wasn't his flesh and blood father sitting nearby. James realized that Joseph had the same life experience charmed into him, so he finally asked, "So what do you think? I mean…how did you finally get a date with Mum?"
An odd look passed across Joseph's face for a moment before he finally said, "We had known each other for a while, and our friendship eventually progressed into love."
James suspected there was more to the story, but before he could ask any more questions, Joseph said, "You're young…only fifteen. There'll be plenty of time to win her over, assuming your affections stay with her. Who knows? A year from now your attention and affection may be focused on someone else."
James shrugged, a little annoyed. Fifteen didn't seem so young to him. Why did adults always use age as an excuse in situations like this? After all, James had tried the 'age excuse' after the food fight with his cousins, but his mum had completely ignored it.
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"Are you ever going to wake up? Lily!" exclaimed her mum. "Enough lollygagging! It's time to open presents!"
Lily smirked into her pillow and burrowed deeper underneath her blankets. For the past several years, it had become an Evans tradition for her, Petunia, and her father to stall as long as possible about going downstairs, knowing how it drove Anne Evans mad. It was comical how her mum would revert to a childlike state Christmas morning and whine and cajole until the rest of the family either decided to indulge her or until they were forced out of their beds.
This morning, Anne opted for the forceful approach. She determinedly approached the bed and ripped away the covers, causing a shriek of protest from her youngest daughter at the sudden rush of icy air onto her body. Lily gave her mum a stern glare for which Anne cheerily responded, "Happy Christmas!" and walked away with the blankets.
As Lily dragged herself out of bed she chuckled as she heard similar shrieks of protest coming from her sister's room as her mum was likely waking her in a similar manner. Lily threw on a warm dressing gown and slippers and padded her way downstairs where her father was yawning on the sofa. Lily gave him a hug and collapsed onto the floor, gazing up at the clock.
"Nine o'clock," she mused.
Her dad nodded and grinned. "That's a new Christmas record. Last year we were only able to hold out until half past eight."
Petunia arrived, followed by a giddy Anne Evans. Instead of a free-for-all gift opening, Anne insisted that they each open a gift one at a time so they could show off their treasures.
Lily received what she had put on her Christmas list- new robes and a few books from her family as well as some butterbeer truffles from Alice and Marlene. She watched in delight as her father marveled over the book she had given him about Quidditch. He was a sports nut, and she knew he would get a kick out of the wizarding world's most popular sport.
Just when Lily thought the gift opening was completed, her mum smiled and pulled a small package out of the pocket of her dressing gown. She leaned over and handed it to Lily, who gazed at the shiny red paper with golden ribbon adorning the box.
"What's this, Mum?" Lily questioned.
Anne's eyes twinkled a little as she replied, "A little elf delivered it to me, and asked that I give it to you in person."
Lily gave her mum a confused look before delicately removing the wrappings and opening the box. At the top was a note. Lily unfolded it and read the tiny scrawl, 'Happy Christmas, Evans! This is the gift that will keep on giving…hopefully.'
Lily finally looked deeper inside the box and gave an exasperated half-sigh/half-dry laugh as she saw a golden pin, painted and shaped to look like mistletoe.
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A/N: I know, I know. I tried to get this chapter finished sooner, but life has a way of speeding by. I have lukewarm feelings toward this chapter, but I don't know how the readers will feel…so what do you think?
Thanks to my latest reviewers: alto2srock, Will The Wierd, delpheena, Golden Phoenix, lily flower, missclearwater, Mani12191, DreamAngel, Remus'sweetie, likediamondrain, Anu, AshleyM, Jo Bob, RainDateChick, kayjaysee, Incendia, Alicia78 (x2), Miss France, Calypso, tigerfairy, itsme63 (x5), God'sgirl, Anonymous, granger1191, PottersPrincess, and mystical cah.
Next chapter: Sorry, no spoilers this time - haven't written that far ahead and I wanted to post this ASAP since it took me long enough to write.