A/N: I know I know! Long overdue, as I've already heard from my official nagger and good friend, Dona. ;-) But as my grandma always says: "Mas vale tarde que nunca."
Chapter 14 : The Truth About Things Within Reach
She was running through the forest again and she was frightened. Tears streaming down her face with no signs of stopping. The darkness of the woods grew deeper and deeper as she wandered aimlessly, her heart growing heavier as if telling her to give up now.
What was the point anymore? She asked herself.
Lily collapsed on the ground, her back against the stump of a rather large tree, burying her head in her hands. A light sound of twigs being stepped on caused her to gasp in shock and when she looked up again, there it was. A brilliant stag -- the same one as before and it's mere presence told her to keep going.
She stood, tears stopping momentarily and took a step toward the almost too beautiful creature. She lifted a hand tentatively and the stag inclined his head slightly as she stepped forward to stroke it between it's antlers.
She was an inch away as her hand moved hesitantly forward, about to touch the seemingly soft fur of it's head…
Lily stumbled and her body shook unwillingly, the stag as well as the wood around her blurring. She strained to focus her attention, wanting this world to come into focus again but no sooner did she try to fight the overcoming urge to wake, did she feel the surprisingly familiar sensation of falling overcome her.
The stag disappeared and she was plunged into momentary darkness before Lily reflexively opened her eyes.
It was then that she found the source of the shaking-- a hand on her shoulder. She allowed her eyes to trail span of the foreign hand until she was looking up at the bright face of James Potter.
"Good morning." James grinned.
"Hi." Lily replied, her voice soft as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
She looked around the room, noting for the first time the faint glow seeping through the cracks in the curtains, signifying it was morning and that Maggie was not in her bed.
"She's downstairs playing Exploding Snap-- Sirius is teaching her-- but mum said to let you sleep in for a bit. She wants you to have some breakfast before your parents get home, though." James added before Lily could ask.
"How late is it?" she asked.
"Only ten,"
Lily nodded, looking slightly scatterbrained as she stared off in the direction of the opposite wall.
She looked at James, who had said something she hadn't caught as her mind wandered.
"Sorry, didn't catch that." Lily said, slightly embarrassed.
"So, breakfast…?" James repeated.
"Sure, that sounds great." Lily said, smiling half heartedly.
Lily furrowed her brow, her mind still on the dream she had been forcefully woken from but minutes ago.
"Do you ever…? I mean…" Lily said out loud suddenly.
James, who was about to leave so she could get dressed, stopped at the door.
"Do I ever what?" he asked, walking back toward her.
"Do you ever have reoccurring dreams when you sleep?" She asked, picking at a loose thread on the comforter.
"You mean like have a dream more than once?" James asked, taking a seat on the bed.
Lily nodded.
"I'm not sure," James said, finally after thinking a moment. "I might have, but not so recently that I remember….why do you ask?"
"It's nothing really," Lily said, now feeling slightly stupid for dwelling on the subject. "I just keep having this dream-- it's different, but it's the same every time…the same scenery, the same emotions, the same…"
James watched her eyebrows knit together in thought, waiting for Lily to elaborate on her own.
"You know what?" Lily said, finally. "It's nothing-- I'm probably just dwelling too far into it, I mean, it's just a dream, right?"
"If you say so." James said, casually. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"
"Yeah, I'm sure…like I said, I'm just being silly about it." Lily nodded as if telling James to forget she'd ever brought up.
"Alright," James said, before standing up. "I'll meet you downstairs, yeah? I expect you'll want to change and I don't think you'll let me stay for that momentous occasion." he said, suggestively.
"Too right, you are, Mr. Potter." Lily said, flinging a throw pillow at him.
James caught it, tossing it back, giving her one last grin before leaving Lily to get ready.
-
The morning passed in a frenzy. Mrs. Potter whipped up some pancakes and eggs from scratch and before Lily and Maggie knew it, the doorbell had rung signalling Mr and Mrs Evans' return. By the time Lily had said her goodbyes and thanked the Potters for letting them stay over, she had forgotten about the dream entirely.
-----
With the entire family in wedding overload, the next couple of days passed in a frenzy of sample wedding cakes, taffeta swatches, and fresh flowers. Lots and lots of fresh flowers because apparently according Mrs. Dursley, the centre piece on the tables alone could make or break even the most prestigious weddings. And before Lily knew it, the eve before the wedding had arrived. Petunia's friends had woken her up at the ungodly hour of five in the morning with the intentions of taking the term 'hen night' to a whole new level. Petunia had begrudgingly invited Lily along, on her mother's orders, of course, but Lily had politely declined-- any excuse to get away from Petunia was graciously accepted as the wedding had if possible caused her darling sister to become even more uptight than usual. Maggie had also opted to stay behind though putting Petunia aside, Lily figured it was more for the sake of being able to snag a few more precious hours of sleep before having to get up.
And this, was yet another strike against big weddings that Lily was mentally keeping track of as she sat rather grumpily at the kitchen table at nine o'clock, dreading the arrival of Mrs. Barbara Dursley while swearing on everything materialistic yet valuable thing she owned that when she got married, her wedding would be a simple affair.
Lily watched her mother bustle about the kitchen, pulling baking ingredients out from the pantries and cupboards because apparently it wasn't enough that they were entertaining over a hundred and fifty people tomorrow afternoon at the wedding reception, oh no. Now they needed to entertain about half of that the morning after for an after wedding morning brunch/ Bride and Groom Send-Off starting at seven at the local country club.
"Bugger!" Laurie Evans exclaimed, clamping a hand over her mouth. "I don't have flour-- how can we not have flour? I could have sworn we had some-- I bought some at the store just the other day."
Lily cleared her throat, "Um, mum…?"
"What is it, sweetheart?" Laurie asked, her voice strained from the stress.
Lily said nothing but pointed to the sack of flour sitting in a chair by the table.
"By golly, I must be going mad." her mum exhaled before grabbing hold of the flour and sitting in a chair it had previously occupied, the sack, now having been placed in her lap.
"Not mad, just stressed." Lily pointed out before pushing her untouched cup of breakfast tea toward her mother and standing to pour a cup for herself.
"Thank you, dear." Laurie said before taking a deep drink from the rather large mug. "Promise me something, dear, will you?"
"Alright," Lily said hesitantly.
"Promise me when you get married you'll give me more than a month's notice to plan out the whole ordeal, yeah?"
"Don't worry, mum-- I'm thinking small and simple," Lily laughed. "So how many pies do you have to bake for tomorrow morning?"
"Ten." Laurie replied automatically. "But to be safe, I'll probably whip up an extra or two, which means I'd better get to work-- you'll go pick some figs for me in the back yard like you promised, right?"
"Yes, mum, I'll go right now if you'd like." Lily said.
But both Lily and her mother were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and Maggie's exclamation of "We're home!!"
The pitter-patter of footsteps along the wood floors of the hallway was all she heard before she saw her cousin flounce into the kitchen and plop down beside her, but not before bypassing the kitchen counter and picking up a blueberry muffin.
Her father was next, though he stopped at the hall closet and Lily heard the distinct sounds of something heavy dropping to the floor rather clumsily.
And lastly, entered a woman Lily had not seen but in pictures for years. She was tall-- for a woman at least, maybe a few inches shorter than her father and was of a medium build. Her strawberry-blonde hair was short and hung about her good natured face in tight, neat curls. It was her eyes, however that caught Lily's attention the most-- not for their striking colour, for they were of the plainest brown one could ever imagine, but because they seemed to almost dance with happiness, even more so as they landed on Lily herself.
"Aunt Rose!" Lily exclaimed, getting up immediately and running around the table to hug her aunt.
"Button!" Aunt Rose scooped Lily up into a tight hug, and Lily felt her feet lift off the ground slightly as her Aunt spun her around once like she used to when Lily was a child before letting her stand again. "Let me look at you, honey."
Lily grinned broadly as her aunt made a show of holding her at arms length before making her spin slowly so she could take in her full appearance.
"My, how you've grown since the last time-- just look at you!" Aunt Rose praised "You've grown into such a beautiful young lady, Lily.-- you should be proud, Jeff, Laurie."
"We are." Jeff assured, smiling warmly down at his daughter.
It was then that Rose turned to Lily's mum and the procedure of hugging was repeated as the two sisters were reunited.
"We're so glad you could make it, Rose." Laurie said, giving her sister's hand a tight squeeze.
"Well, thanks for inviting us-- I trust Maggie's been behaving herself?" Rose asked, giving her daughter a pointed look.
Maggie's previously serious face broke out into an unavoidable smile.
"Oh, mom, I haven't been anything but my usual, lovable self for Aunt Laurie and Uncle Jeff." Maggie exclaimed.
"She's been great, Rose, really, and we've loved having her-- Lily'd probably gone mad without her here." Jeff said, putting an arm around his niece.
"Well, I hate to cut this reunion short, but I've got to start baking."
Rose gave her sister a questioning look and Laurie elaborated. "We're hosting a wedding brunch the day after the wedding as a sort of send off for Petunia and Vernon."
"A send off?" Rose asked, her eyebrows raising. "Isn't the reception send off enough?"
"Thank you, Aunt Rose-- that's exactly what I said…" Lily said just as her mother ignored her footnote and continued to explain.
"Well, it was Barbara's idea and…well, it might be nice." Laurie said, always one to be optimistic in any situation.
Aunt Rose gave a look that seemed to reflect Lily's exact sentiments on the whole ordeal: that aside from everything else, this morning-after brunch simply looked like a whole lot of extra work-- a whole lot of unnecessary extra work.
But instead of saying so, Aunt Rose simply smiled lightly and said, "And how many of Grandma Victoria's famous pear and fig pies have you gotten yourself roped into making?"
"Around ten." Laurie smiled.
"Well, that means we'd better get to work-- have you got an extra apron around here somewhere?"
"Oh, Rose, no! I couldn't possibly-- you go upstairs to the guestroom and rest. After an eleven hour flight, I imagine you'll be exhausted." Laurie protested.
"Who, me? Never!" Rose said. "Besides you'll get them done twice as fast if there's two of us working together, now, you get me that extra apron or you'll feel twice as bad when my clothes get dirty from the flour."
The subject was obviously closed for discussion and so, having been defeated Laurie pulled out an extra apron and handed it to her sister.
Lily smiled as she watched her aunt and mother bustle about the kitchen together, momentarily wondering if Petunia and her would have ever gotten the chance to be that close even without her discovery of magical ability.
"Oh, and Jeff? I'm going to need you to go to the store again, do you mind? Just a few things I forgot to pick up yesterday."
"Of course not, dear." Jeff said, taking the grocery list from her hand.
Laurie grinned before busying herself with baking once more.
"Fancy a ride to the store, love?" Jeff asked Lily.
"Sorry dad, I've gotta get going on the fig picking for mum."
"Right," Jeff turned to the next available face in the kitchen. "Maggie? How about you?"
"Sure, Uncle Jeff, I'd love to go with you." Maggie shrugged, before following him out the front door.
"And then there were three…" Lily muttered more to herself than anyone else.
"Alright, darling," her mother said, handing Lily a rather large basket. "now, make sure you've filled the entire thing-- that's what Grandma Victoria's recipe calls for: one full basket of figs."
Lily nodded, swinging the basket as she made her way out toward the backyard.
--
The Evans family had two fig trees in their yard: one rather small almost scrawny looking tree and another quite large one that Lily's dad had once upon a time hung a rope on, effectively making a makeshift swing for Lily and Petunia to play on. Lily made her way toward the smaller of the two, knowing she'd be able to pick any ripe fruit from it easily without having to resort to climbing or searching for a suitable stepping stool. Had her mother not been baking enough pies to feed an army, harvesting the ripe fruit from the smaller tree might have been enough to fill up Grandma Victoria's smaller basket, but it certainly did not fill up the larger basket that Lily had been given.
Lily was standing on her tiptoes, her arms stretched as far as she could manage as the tips of her fingers grazed the prized fruit, hanging tauntingly on the branch of the tallest of the two trees. She momentarily felt the rough, slightly grainy texture of the fig's skin before she stumbled slightly and her feet were flat on the ground once more.
"Bugger!" Lily muttered, scowling as she crossed her arms and sent an annoyed look at the too high fruit. A light breeze caused her hair to once again blow in her face and she pulled it into a quick pony tail before a determined look settled upon her features.
"Okay," Lily said, before crouching low to the ground and springing back up, her hand outstretched in the air as she jumped as high as she could.
Lily grabbed for the fruit and surprisingly, felt her hand grab onto something tangible. The triumphant grin that spread across her features was all to quickly wiped away as Lily almost instantly realized all she had managed to pick was a fist full of leaves.
"Bugger!" Why did Barbara Dursley insist on inviting all those people?
As jumping obviously did not work, Lily resorted back to her old strategy of bringing herself to her fullest possible height as she waved her outstretched hand in hopes of being able to pluck a fruit off the branches.
"Oh, come on!" Lily sighed exasperatedly, willing her hand to reach just a bit further.
"Bit beyond your reach?"
Asked a voice from behind, causing Lily to stumble back onto the flats of her feet.
"Unfortunately…yes" Lily said, turning to grin up at James Potter who was staring brightly back at her.
Lily watched enviously as James reached up with ease, his feet barely leaving the ground. He plucked the troublesome fruit down from it's high branch and handed it over to her, all the while, his brilliant smile never faltering.
"But obviously not beyond yours." Lily mused, looking up from the fruit in her hand. "I'm beginning to think nothing's beyond your reach, James Potter."
James smiled once again, though this time almost sadly, "You'd be surprised,-- there are quite a few things that are very much beyond my reach, Lily Evans."
Lily had the faintest idea that James wasn't exactly taking about being vertically challenged anymore but shook it off.
"You? Oh, I find that very hard to believe-- I'd imagine you'd give Jack's magic beanstalk a run for it's money at the rate you've grown."
"Have you just compared me to a vegetable?" James asked.
"Technically it's a legume but yes, I do believe I have if we're speaking literally as opposed to figuratively."
"Hmm…" James furrowed his brow as if in deep thought. "First you compare me to a soap every flavoured bean and now you're comparing me to a beanstalk-- I'm not exactly sure which one is better…"
Lily laughed at James' thought process.
"I daresay I've moved up though."
Lily laughed, "you very well, could have."
And with that, the two got to work, Lily pointing to the figs she needed and James, using his vertical advantage to bring them down.
"So how are we doing on the basket?" James asked.
Lily sighed, "Almost there but not quite."
James looked back and forth from the basket to the tree. "Do you think you'll be able to fill it? There don't seem to be many left."
"There a still quite a few up there," Lily said gazing longingly at the figs high in the tree branches. "I'm sure we could fill Grandma Victoria's basket…"
James followed her line of site. "Wishful thinking, love-- I know I'm tall, but I'm not that tall."
He stood on the tips of his toes and even stretching his arm to it's fullest, he was still quite a ways away from the closest fig.
"Why don't you just climb up?"
Lily wrinkled her nose, "I was trying to avoid having to do that…"
"Why? You can't be scared of heights--"
"It's not that!" Lily replied, quickly. "It's…well, for starters, I'm not dressed appropriately for climbing."
"That?" James said, referring to her excuse. "Slight technical problem-- easily remedied!"
And making sure no one was looking, he pulled out his wand and gave it a quick wave. Before Lily had time to even protest or ask what he was doing, she felt the spell take effect.
Lily only felt her dress flutter, as though a slight breeze had caused it to ruffle about in the air, but when she looked down, she realized James had successfully transfigured her yellow sundress into a one piece yellow jump suit, the legs of which, flared slightly at the bottom.
"Great." Lily smiled weakly and with just a tint of sarcasm. "now I can go join the Brady Bunch."
"The who?" James asked, perplexed.
"The Brady Bunch." Lily repeated
James gave her a questioning look, obviously out of the loop.
"It's this…they're this family who…you know what?" Lily finally said after trying to explain. "Just forget it-- I'll just show you sometime."
James nodded. "Right, so, no Brady…whatsits, clothing for Lily..." and with another wave of his wand, Lily looked down to find that James transfigured the jump suit into a two pieced ensemble.
"Better?" James asked, smiling at his own handiwork as he pocketed his wand.
"Much." Lily said approvingly. "Well, I guess I'll just climb up now…" the last part of her sentence came out sounding more like a question as she turned and faced the base of the tree, as though examining the situation.
"Need a boost?" James asked from rather closer behind her than she'd expected, one of his lopsided smiles plastered onto his face.
"Nooo…" Lily said, cautiously. "I'm just trying to figure out the best way to get up there…and I think I've found it."
Lily found her 'leg up' in the form of a protruding knot on the tree, and using it as leverage, she hoisted herself up with minor difficulty into the tree, manoeuvring herself higher until the figs were easily within reach.
"Catch." she called down to James as she threw the fruits down one by one as she picked them.
James complied, catching every one before placing them carefully into the basket.
"How're we doing down there?"
"Great," James called up. "Looks like the basket's almost full-- I couple more ought to do it."
Lily threw down several more fruits to complete the quota she'd been assigned. "How about now?"
"It's full!" James confirmed. "You can go ahead and start climbing down now."
Lily nodded in confirmation and turned carefully from high up in the tree so she was facing down and all of a sudden, the tree seemed much to narrow and the ground seemed much too far away.
"And this was why I was avoiding climbing up in the first place." Lily said as she grasped the tree branches firmly.
"Lily…?" James asked, brow furrowed when she didn't begin descending. "Um, is there a problem?"
"Getting down." Lily said through gritted teeth.
"Um…what?" James scratched his nose, still looking up at her.
"Getting down. That's the problem-- getting down is ALWAYS the problem, it's getting up that's easy."
And that's when James took in Lily's full stance: her shifty eyes, her furrowed brow-- the fact that she was clinging onto the tree branches on either side of her for dear life.
"Y-you can't be scared-- ARE you scared?" James asked, taken aback. "because, how could you be-- I mean, I saw you climb out your window that night…"
"Yeah, well," Lily replied, in a tense voice. "climbing out and down from a window is much easier than climbing down a tree."
Lily chanced a look at James' face only to see it plastered with an adorable expression of confusion.
"The side of my house is more level than this." Lily explained. "It's more like climbing down a ladder."
James nodded in understanding.
"But you've got to come down sometime." he reasoned.
"Right," Lily nodded. "Okay. Here I go…"
James stepped back, expecting Lily to commence her climb down, but instead, she stood still.
"You know? It's quite nice up here-- I don't think I'll come down just yet…" Lily said.
"Lily…" James said, his voice slightly strained.
"No really, It's quite cosy up here, once you find the right branch that is--"
"Lily--"
"And shady, very shady so I'd not run the risk of getting a sun burn--"
"Lily--"
"And the view! You should just see the view! That, makes it all the more worth it…"
"Lily."
"Yes?" Lily finally answered, her traitorous voice coming out sounding higher and more nervous than she'd intended it to.
"Jump." James said simply.
"W-what?" Lily asked, "have you gone bonkers? You actually-- you want me to…?"
"Just…jump down." James said again.
"James, that is completely insane-- if I jump, I'll-- I'll…"
"If you jump, I'll catch you." James said seriously.
"Nooo…" Lily said, regaining her ability to speak in coherent sentences. "If I jump, I will most certainly fall flat on my arse, that is if I don't end up breaking something in the process."
"Lily."
"James." Lily said, mimicking his tone.
"Lily, I'm being serious." James said, becoming a bit exasperated.
"And so am I-- James if I jump, there's no guarantee you'll catch me and quite honestly, I'd rather not run the risk of how this whole jumping thing could go terribly wrong."
"Lily," James said softly as he walked toward her. He stopped at the base of the tree trunk, leaning on it as he looked up at her. "do you honestly think, that I would drop you? That I would ever let you fall in the first place?"
Lily stared back into his eyes, losing herself in their depth, and although the more rational part of her brain was telling her that jumping was still not a good idea, the part of her that was utterly hypnotized and completely taken by his words was quickly winning the battle.
And before she even had time to register what her body was doing, Lily felt herself shake her head in negation to James' question.
"No," she heard herself say softly.
"No, what?" James asked.
"No, I don't think you'd ever drop me." Lily sighed.
"Good," James said, smiling crookedly up at her. "because I wouldn't, you know."
Lily's only response was a nod.
"Ready to jump, then?"
Lily nodded again and James stepped away from the tree base, arms out, ready to catch her.
Lily let out a shallow breath, biting lightly on her bottom lip, and then, shutting her eyes tightly, she pushed off and away from the tree.
The familiar sensation one associates with falling settled in the pit of her stomach but stopped almost immediately. The fall, which should have lasted longer, stopped abruptly and Lily knew it was because James had caught her, just like he promised he would.
She opened one eye, then the other, her body twitching slightly in shock as she found her face within close proximity to James'. Her arms, she discovered, had somehow entwined themselves around his neck as he supported her with one arm under the joints of her knees while the other cradled her near her shoulder blades.
"See? Nothing to worry about-- I told you I wouldn't let you fall." James smiled warmly.
Lily said nothing, but continued to stare into his bright hazel eyes, instead wondering why she couldn't bring herself to loosen the grip she had around James' neck.
When Lily didn't speak, James spoke again.
"I'll always be here to catch you…" he said seriously.
Lily rolled her eyes inwardly at James' attempt at sounding utterly romantic.
And as if he had read her mind, James added, "you know, if you ever find yourself stuck in a tree again."
Lily couldn't help the laugh that escaped from her lips, marvelling at how he could go from being utterly serious to joking around in a matter of seconds. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks. Now if you could put me down…"
James complied, setting her lightly on her feet.
There was a pause of silence in which Lily took the time to dust off the seat of her pants.
"Well…" Lily said, trying to find something to break the silence with, "You're coming tomorrow, right? To the wedding?"
"Of course-- unless of course you were thinking of revoking the invitation." James said, feigning hurt.
"Don't be silly, you dunderhead." Lily remarked good-naturedly. "I was just making
sure-- after all, you've already met one Dursely, you know from a first hand account that the other one should arguably be locked up with all her taffeta and flower arrangements in a mental institution, and let's not forget my sister, we all know what a picnic she is…I just…wouldn't blame you for 'running for the hills' so to speak."
James wanted to respond-- to tell Lily that not even a slew of Dementors would ever stop him from getting anywhere if it meant that he'd be with her, but instead, he smiled and said,
"Don't worry, Lily-- I wouldn't miss it, I promise."
Lily grinned.
"Good, because, honestly, I dunno what I'd do without you…"the smile that was currently on Lily's face faltered slightly and she felt a slight blush tinge her cheeks as she reinterpreted her last statement. Almost as though realising what her sentence had implicated, she added, "without you… there at the wedding that is…with Sirius, of course-- and your parents because we invited them as well-- to keep me from going utterly insane at my future in-law's hands. Either that or to stop me from cursing them into oblivion--"
She said all this quickly, which simply made James' smile if at all possible grow even wider.
"Right, of course."
"Good." Lily grinned. "So, see you tomorrow, then."
"Tomorrow-- bye, Lily!" James called, before walking back over to his own house.
Lily watched him leave, walking through the side of her house, a small smile on her face for no apparent reason before she walked into her own house, Grandma Victoria's basket full of figs in hand.
Tomorrow, she knew, was going to be a rather long day.
A/N: And before you ask, I've already started working on the next chapter which is by far my favourite so far and I've got a hunch that you all will like it too. J
Originally, I was going to combine this with the next chapter but it would have been so much longer ((not like you all would have complained!)) but it would have taken even longer than this for me to update so I decided to spare you all the wait and break it up into two chapters.
I think that's all I've got to say so far so thanks for reading, everyone and of course, thank you to everyone for reviewing-- with the last chapter I broke over 300 reviews and all I can say is: WOW! You are all amazing and WAY too kind!
Take care and as always, don't forget to review!