Chapter Four: Adventures at the Barber Shop
Of course, James stayed for supper. He never imagined that he would ever get the chance to eat at Lily Evans's house. So, naturally, when the opportunity arose, he jumped at it.
Lily was slightly less enthusiastic about the situation.
Mr. Evans came home only shortly before they ate. He did not talk about what he had been doing all day, but both Lily and Sirius had a suspicion that he had gone to talk to Petunia again. Obviously, he hadn't accomplished anything because Petunia did not come home with him and he was still depressed.
Supper passed much more quickly than Lily could have imagined (although several times she was tempted to throw potatoes at James from across the table), and James soon left.
Before anyone knew it, it was the day before Christmas Eve. Mrs. Evans looked up from her cooking one day and said that Sirius's hair was far too long in her opinion.
His hair wasn't very long, but it did cover his ears and how he was able to see was a mystery to all. Sirius agreed that it had been bothering him lately and that he would probably end up cutting it himself out of frustration before summer when his mother could cut it for him. He had learned the spell to cut his hair once, but after trying it the first time and losing almost all of his hair, he decided not to try it again.
So, Mrs. Evans suggested that Lily take Sirius down to the barbershop where he could get a good Muggle haircut.
Of course, Sirius was very much frightened by this suggestion, and he insisted that magic haircuts were better.
"I'm sure they are, dear," Mrs. Evans replied. "But since neither you nor Lily can do it by magic without guaranteeing you won't lose an ear or two, you'll have to settle on the next best thing, and that is getting it done by the local barber."
"But it's a Muggle!" Sirius cried. "With scissors!" he added as an afterthought.
"He has plenty of practice," Lily said with a roll of her eyes. "He gets plenty of customers every day."
"Not customers like me."
Lily paused, thinking.
"Is that what you've been afraid of all this time?" she asked. "You think that Muggles will treat you different because you're a Wizard?"
"No, not exactly."
"They won't. They don't even know there is such a thing as magic. There is no way they could know unless you told them you were a wizard."
"Yeah but-"
"Let's go get your hair cut," Lily ordered.
Before he had a chance to say anything else, she pulled him from the kitchen and out of the house.
They arrived at the barbershop after a brisk walk of about fifteen minutes.
"Please don't make me go in there," he whimpered.
Lily sighed. "If you go in there, get your hair cut, and breathe the entire time, I'll do whatever you want."
Sirius thought about this for a moment.
"I want you to go out with James," he said finally.
"That's a very big favour," Lily said through clenched teeth.
"Well it will be very hard for me to succeed in doing what you asked."
Lily considered this.
"Fine," she said. "If you manage to get your hair cut without coming anywhere near passing out, I'll go out with James."
"Really?"
"Yes, but just one date."
"Deal."
And they shook on it.
Sirius walked into the barbershop with his head held high. He was determined not to mess this up. This was for James.
"May I help you?" the barber asked when the two had stepped inside.
Sirius yelped in a very feminine way, but managed to keep breathing.
"He needs a haircut," Lily said, keeping one eye on Sirius. She half wanted him to pass out right there, so they could forget about their silly little bet. She could just about kick herself for making that deal with him.
The barber instructed Sirius to sit down in the chair. When he pulled out his scissors, Sirius let out another yelp. Though his breathing was very ragged, he made sure that it never once stopped even for the shortest bit. He would win this.
"Don't cut too much off!" Sirius instructed, not sure how long he could handle this.
"There," the barber said later. "You're all finished, and don't you look nice."
Lily forced a smile, and Sirius could tell she was very unhappy.
"See?" she said. "That wasn't so bad. His mother usually cuts his hair," she told the barber. "He was a bit apprehensive about somebody else doing it."
"Well," the barber said. "In that case, here's a lollipop as a treat. Come again!"
Sirius eyed the lollipop warily, but then took it and hurried out of the barbershop after Lily.
"I can't believe you actually did it," she huffed. "Now, thanks to you, I have to go out with stupid Potter."
"Yeah, I know."
"Unless you can think of something else you'd rather me do for you," she said hopefully. "I could do your homework for the rest of the year, or you could use me to experiment your pranks on."
He ignored her. "Do you think this lollipop is poisoned?"
Lily stomped her foot.
"Please?" she begged. "I can't stand Potter. Please don't make me go out with him! I never would have agreed if I had thought you could actually face your fear like that."
"I know," he said. "But it's too late now. We shook on it, and it's final."
Lily folded her arms over her chest and stomped moodily home behind Sirius who looked like Christmas had come two days early.
Mrs. Evans commented on Sirius's new haircut the moment he returned to the house.
"It's much better than before," she said. "Where's Lily?"
"Oh," Sirius said airily. "I believe dear Lillian was behind me."
Sure enough, several minutes later, Lily stormed into the house.
"So, how did it go at the barbershop?" Mrs. Evans asked.
"It went fine," Lily snapped.
Mrs. Evans frowned at her daughter.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing," Lily replied.
"I have to go upstairs and write to James," Sirius sang. "I'll see you two lovely ladies later. Here Evans, have a lollipop."
He threw the lollipop at her as he ran from the room and up the stairs.
"What was that all about?" Mrs. Evans asked.
"Nothing," Lily repeated, and she followed Sirius upstairs.
When she reached the guestroom, she knocked on the door.
"Sorry, Lily," Sirius called from inside. "You can't come in."
"It's my house!" she cried. "Let me in!"
"I can't do that."
Grumbling, Lily went to her room and retrieved a hairpin. She hadn't lived with Petunia for sixteen years and learned nothing about locked doors.
She knelt down so she was eye-level with the doorknob and began to pick the lock with the pin. Finally, she heard a faint click, and with a turn of the knob, the door opened.
Sirius did not look surprised to see her standing there. In fact, he smiled as if wondering why she hadn't succeeded in getting the door open sooner.
"Let me read it," Lily said, nodding to letter Sirius had in his hand.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because you'll do something to it."
She frowned. "I won't. I just want to make sure you're not telling him I promised to marry him or something."
Sirius bent over the piece of parchment and scratched something out. Then, he held the letter out to her.
She read over it carefully.
Prongs,
All is good at Evans's. I'm eating plenty and her parents don't seem to mind my hanging around. In response to your last letter, yes the swelling on my foot has gone down remarkably.
Lily glanced at Sirius who shrugged in a way that said, "You're better off not knowing".
I believe I am finally making progress. I no longer think this plan of yours was just an excuse for you to see Evans during holiday. Today, I went to get a haircut…the Muggle way! It wasn't a load of fun, but I did it without forgetting to breathe once. I believe I embarrassed myself several times by screaming like a girl, but I'll never see any of those people again (besides Evans, but she understands).
So, I suppose you're wondering how I succeeded in getting my hair cut by that satanic Muggle with a very sharp instrument (as well as why I'm writing to you). The answer to that may cause you much more joy than you had ever imagined. I made a deal with Evans before I entered that barbershop. If I could sit through the entire haircut without stopping my flow of oxygen, she would do anything I wanted. As I have already said, I succeeded, and the task I assigned for her is for her to go on a date with you.
Yes, only one date. I figured that was about all I could risk without her blowing my head off. So, you name the time and place, and she will have to meet you there. I sacrificed a lot to get this opportunity for you, so don't blow it!
Your friend,
Padfoot
Lily handed the letter back to Sirius and sighed.
"Well?" he said.
"I suppose it's fine," she replied. "He'll be extremely happy."
"You know, Evans," Sirius said with a seriousness Lily had never heard from him before. "James isn't half as bad as you make him out to be."
Lily sighed.
"I know," she said. "But it's so much easier for me to go on thinking that he's the same egotistical prat I couldn't stand back in fifth year."
Sirius smiled and said, "Why are you so afraid to admit that he's changed?"
"Because I'm afraid of what he's become. He's become someone I could learn to like."
"Then why don't you get to know him?"
"Because I'd just rather not admit that he ever stopped being who I thought he was."
"But he changed for you."
Lily's head snapped up to look at Sirius, but by now he was busy tying the letter to his owl.
"What did you say?" she asked in a whisper.
Sirius nodded.
"You didn't like him the way he was," he said. "So he changed. He really likes you."
"I know," she said to the floor. "But I can't like him back. I couldn't like James Potter. It's just not right."
"Old habits are hard to break," Sirius said with a smile. "But I promise that if you'll just give him a chance, you'll learn to love him."
But that's just what Lily was afraid of.
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A/N: I am so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. It won't happen again. I promise! Thanks for the reviews!