-Chapter Two: Why Everything's A Mess
-By Natali
A summer. Only one fucking summer, and Lily had to spend it away from the world she knew, and away from the life she was used to.
On the bright side, it wasn't such a bad place. It was awkward, naturally, to just up and walk into a house where everyone had been friends for years, and just start living there. But it could've been worse. They were nice to her, even though she remembered not exactly being too nice to them at school.
It probably helped that she didn't care as much anymore. Lily smiled to herself. What would They say, those "friends" of hers? She'd gone out into public wearing the ugliest, oldest, shabbiest pair of pants she owned (which she'd nicked from her mother last minute) and a plain white shirt. She looked, in her opinion, atrocious.
And she didn't care. Neither, apparently, did her housemates.
They were sitting down at the picnic table outside, while Mel passed out dinner plates. It was a nice, cool evening, but not chilly. It was perfect for eating outside.
"What are you smiling about?" James asked from beside her, smiling himself. "Thinking about your boyfriend?"
"Speaking of which," Mel said, "how is Brent?"
James silently thanked Mel. The question had been asked!
Lily didn't stop smiling. "I'm thinking about how nice the evening is. As for Brent… Broke up with him after Hogwarts-day after in fact."
"Nice," Remus chuckled. "Sorry, but he was the biggest ass."
"He was the biggest babe," Jenny muttered.
"He was the biggest horny prick you've ever met," Lily said lightly, eyeing the 12-ounce steak sitting in front of her. "Mel… I can't eat this."
"I didn't ask if you could eat it," Mel grinned tersely. "I asked if you wanted it well done or medium. Never said anything about eating. So eat it-all of it."
Lily frowned. "This is how much I eat in two days usually."
"Then you're not eating nearly enough," Sirius shook his head. "That's what I usually eat as appetizer, Lily. You must be hungry all the time."
"He eats enough for an army, and he's still hungry all the time," Mel complained, but smiled at him. "I doubt that you ever fill up, Sirius."
"He doesn't," James chuckled. "I did tell you, didn't I, Lily?"
"You did."
"It's amazing what those boys eat," Jenny grumbled. "Poor Mel spends all day in the kitchen."
"Jenny can't help because Jenny would probably give us all food poisoning," Remus interjected. He leaned closer to Lily. "Jenny's not much of a cook."
"You're an arse, Remus."
"So are you," Remus retorted.
Jenny stuck her mashed-potatoes covered tongue out at him
"Ew, Jenny, you're so disgusting!" Mel shrieked, jumping half onto Sirius. "Didn't your mum ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full?"
"I wasn't talking," Jenny replied. "Only sticking out my tongue."
"While covered in potatoes!"
"You can't have everything." Jenny got a handful of mashed potatoes and hurled it at Mel. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't hit you, did I?"
"You bitch."
"You know and love it, dear."
Lily smiled-but only a little. Being called a bitch wasn't a good thing to her "friends", even playing around. And here Jenny was, as if it was something to be proud of.
"You're one hot, sexy bitch then," Remus muttered, grinning at Sirius from across the table. "With a nice arse too. Soft and-"
"Remus!" Jenny gasped. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you!" Remus winced as she kicked his shin. "That's private."
"As if we didn't know you two have been shagging each other," Mel laughed.
"We haven't," Remus and Jenny chorused.
"Yet," Jenny added, smiling wickedly. Her smile only widened when Remus turned a light shade of red. "Just give it time."
"She's right," James nodded, "Sirius and Mel are the ones who've been sleeping together for… I'd say at least a month."
Mel dropped her fork onto her plate and closed her eyes. "We're not sleeping together."
"That's right," Remus agreed. "You tell him. You're definitely not sleeping-not a wink."
Everyone laughed, excluding Mel. Sirius winked at her. "Oh, come on, Mel. Like everyone didn't know we'd hook up. I'll bet even Lily caught on that something was going on."
Lily nodded and shrugged. "Sorry, Mel, it's true. I heard all about it before I came here."
Mel's smile faltered. "You can believe what you want, Lily. But I'm not a whore."
Lily played with the green peas on her plate for a few seconds before replying. "I didn't mean that, and I don't think you are. I'm sorry if you misunderstood. I couldn't picture you as anyone's whore."
Silence ensued until Mel looked up toward the night sky and grimaced. "Except for Sirius's."
A loud round of laughter went up as Sirius grabbed her and sat her on his lap. "Thank the good Lord that's over. I've wanted to kiss you all day," he whispered in her ear, loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Aw, well that's sweet," Jenny sighed as Sirius kissed Mel. She turned her attention to James and Lily next to him. "Seems to me like you two are next," she winked, jumping off her seat and heading inside. "Who wants peach cobbler?"
"I'll go help you with that," Remus said, following her.
"We'll be, um, right back," Mel said, getting off Sirius. "Come on, Black."
"Why? I'm not done yet," he whined.
"Damn you, Sirius!" she hissed, grabbing his arm. "Come on. We need to help with the dessert." As they went into the kitchen, she added, "You dimwit. I wanted to leave them alone."
"Who? James and Lily? Get real, Mel. That's never going to happen."
"Ok, Sirius. Sure."
Back outside, James and Lily were having an understandably awkward moment. She turned to him a moment, at the same time he did. They both made to speak, but closed their mouths. Lily stood and got her plate.
"I'll go in and leave my plate there."
"Lily, why did Dumbledore send you here?" James blurted out. Nicely done, he told himself sarcastically. Tactful, Potter, very tactful.
Lily sighed and turned back to the table, choosing the seat in front of him. "Are you… going to finish that bottle of vodka?" she asked, pointing to the still quarter full bottle.
"…No. You're going to drink it, aren't you?"
"Oh, yes." She grabbed it and drank about half of it in one swig. "Holy fuck, that's a killer."
James smiled as he lay back in his seat. "So? Why'd old Dumbles send you here? Were you a bad girl, and he made you make your penance with us?" He almost added, It would be my pleasure to put you over my knee and spank you.
Lily played with the end of her hair. "No. That's not why he sent me." She took a deep breath. "Truth is… I'm not sure. Some sort of mission, I suppose."
His eyebrows flew up. "A mission? What, save the English countryside from boredom?"
"No. It's just… Never mind. I don't really want to say."
He looked at her. "You've… only got a summer. That's what I heard you saying while you were taking a nap. I didn't mean to hear, but it just kind of happened."
Lily nodded slowly and put her head on the table. "Well, I… It's a really long story."
"I've got all the time in the world, lucky for you."
"I sort of… made a pact. Not me, exactly, but it involves me. My father was into a lot of dark things. Not magic exactly, but if he had been given the chance, he would have taken it. He met up with a sorcerer from Turkey, who offered him a real magic wand in return for his youngest daughter's hand in marriage. My dad though, saw the problem in this plan-not entirely, but enough. He made Victor-the sorcerer-promise to give me a chance at escape.
"Victor agreed that if before my nineteenth birthday I could find my `true love', I'd be off the hook. But it would have to be my `true love'." She rolled her eyes. "I know that's so corny, but…"
"And there's more?"
"Yes. Basically, my birthday is on September third. If by then I don't have my `true love', I'm automatically sent to his home. About a year ago, when I realized that I would probably end up as his wife, I… said I wouldn't." She looked up into his face. "If by September second I haven't fallen head over heels in love with someone, I'm-"
"Going to kill yourself," James finished. "That's stupid, Lily."
"You don't know Victor," she whispered, turning away. "He's mean and violent-the two times I've met him have showed that. There's no hope of Prince Charming for me."
"Then… why did Dumbledore send you here?" James asked, secretly answering his own question. Maybe Dumbles was thinking of me when he sent her, and how I'd asked him to…? Heh, just a thought. I wonder if she knows that.
She gave him a glaring look. "Potter, don't play games with me. You know very well why he sent me here to this white farm house!" She stood and pushed back her chair with her legs. "Because I'm supposed to find my `true love' here, with you." She was breathing hard, and the breeze pushed her hair away from her face.
"I've never seen someone so upset at the prospect of having to fall in love with me," he muttered.
She let out the breath she'd been holding. "James, that's not what I meant. It's just that when your father gambles away your life for his stupid wand-which was a hoax, I might add-it gets you right here." She put a hand over her heart. "And when he dies for that wand… And you're still held to his promise…" She swallowed. "I haven't been truly happy since that last time I rode a horse."
"Before your dad died?" James asked softly.
"Yes," she confirmed, sitting back down. "It was two days before he told me what he'd done. We were out by our farm, trotting with our best black geldings. I remember just smiling because I felt the sun warm on my back. I haven't felt like that-haven't really felt like smiling-in years!" Her eyes teared up.
"Why?" James asked. "Everyone has troubles, Lily."
"Because it's not just a one-time thing. I have to deal with it every time I go back home. Mum is just… depressing. And Petunia doesn't help. Every time I try to pick myself up again, I just fall back down."
James considered her. "So… you're sure that we're supposed to-"
"Hey, who wants peach cobbler!" Jenny said, coming out the back door.
"And who would prefer pumpkin pie?" Mel called out. "I'd like to add that Jenny made the cobbler."
"Excuse you!" Jenny gasped. "Do you need another food item on your shirt, or was the mashed potatoes enough?"
Lily gave James a quick glance before turning her attention to the dessert and totally ignoring him.
Not that James was one to be ignored…
Once they were all seated and eating the surprisingly good peach cobbler and pie, Lily felt something on her leg. She gave a stifled yelp as she looked under the table to find James's leg running up and down hers. Were they playing… Footsie?
"Good Lord," Lily said under her breath.
"Something the matter, Lily?" Sirius asked. "You look like you've just been given the scare of a lifetime."
"Yeah, is everything all right?" James asked, cocking his to the side and rubbing her leg harder.
She sputtered for a moment before squeaking out, "Yes. Fine."
A few minutes later, cleaning up the table, she hissed to him, "What the fuck was that, Potter? I never asked you to seduce me! Bloody hell, what do you think I am, loose or something?"
"No, I just really wanted to see how you would react," he said smoothly. "By the by… Nice legs." He dodged away before her hand could make contact with his head.
"Prat," she muttered, unaware of Jenny and Mel right behind her.
"He's really not that bad. I don't know what he did to upset you, Lily, but he's a good guy. Really, if it weren't for Remus…" Jenny shrugged.
"Yeah, he's really great," Mel agreed.
Lily snorted. "Don't worry. We were just fooling around. And don't you two start thinking that anything's going to happen between us." She walked toward the kitchen with her stack of dishes.
Mel gave Jenny a knowing look. "Do you think she really believes that we didn't see James rubbing her leg just now?"
Jenny whirled to face Mel. "James was doing what?"
Mel shook her head and turned away. "Jen, you're such a ditz."
"Wait! What was he doing? How come I didn't see any of this?"
"Jenny, let it go!"
"But Mel…"
*~*
James poked his head into Lily's room. There was a lamp on, but she was sound asleep. He tiptoed in, leaving the door open so that it didn't squeak and wake her.
He went up to her bed, then knelt on the floor. Even in her sleep she looked sad. What could be so bad that someone could be so sad all the time?
"Lily," he sighed, covering her small hand with his. There was a cold rush of air, and James knew what was coming.
"After five years, doesn't it feel good to say that and touch her at the same time?"
James whirled around to find Aphrodite-a cousin of sorts twenty times removed or something on his mum's side by an aunt who was the daughter of a nymph. Most knew her as the Greek goddess, but that was just her cover up when a muggle discovered her doing magic outside of Cyprus. Her story had escalated, because Aphrodite always was one for glamour and pizzazz.
"Shove it, Aphrodite-and shut up. She's sleeping."
"She won't wake. I've got her under a spell."
He turned back to Lily and just stared at her. "Go away, Aphrodite."
The half-nymph glided toward him-because half-nymphs don't walk, they glide. "Want to hear something comforting, James? No? Well, that's ok. I'll tell you anyway. After being alive for over 2500 years, you tend to learn things. This is what I've learned: Dumbledore is never wrong. I knew he'd get it right in the end." She smiled as she passed her hand over Lily's face.
Lily's lips curved up into a smile.
"Do you know what she's dreaming about now, James?" the beautiful half-nymph whispered in his ear. "You."
"Don't meddle, Aphrodite. I mean it," James said threateningly. "For five years I've looked from afar, unable to tell her what I've really wanted to. I wish you had never told me what you prophesied."
Aphrodite frowned momentarily before her serene smile returned. "Oh, James… So young, so naive."
"Oh, that's right. You're old."
Her eyes burned red. "How dare you? Fine, well here is my next prophecy, just for you!" She moved to the window and stared out of it. "On September second, Lily will leave this farmhouse-and never return again. I do mean that, James. It's not a fib. Use your time wisely." She disappeared without another word.
"That's almost as bad as the first one," James sighed, rising from the floor. He kissed each of Lily's closed eyelids before leaving, turning off the light as he went.
*~*
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I've decided that I will update every Saturday from here on out. I think one of my major problems was that I never set a specific date to update. So here I am! Every Saturday (or late Friday night) you can expect a new chapter! My time, naturally. So if you live somewhere and get the alert Sunday, my bad. Saturday on Eastern Time. Lol. Love ya lots!
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