Author's note: I'm really, really sorry that I took so long to update. This chapter, for some reason or other, was a bitch to write. I'm still not at all happy with it now. Not much happens, but believe me, it's very important, plot wise. There is James/Lily dialogue, however! That has to be good, right?
This chapter is officially dedicated to Dr. Fawkes, that admirable and tremendously talented young authoress who asks me to update this story practically ever time we converse on livejournal. I hope you enjoy it, my dear. Another few people I should mention: vea, my very best friend, just for being wonderful, missmexx, for being so dedicated, and Callisto Nicol, who leaves the best sodding reviews ever!
Disclaimer: Does anyone even read these disclaimers? I never do. Hmm... I could spill my darkest secret here and no one would notice. In fact, I think I will. Here it goes: I'm not J.K. Rowling.
-The cretin from behind the curtain-
Much later in the evening, and many, many times after that moment, James Potter would curse his friends for not calling him back and telling him that the girl he had just asked for a dance was in fact Miss Lily Evans, but at this particular moment in time he was blissfully unaware of the mischief he was causing. His friends weren't, that was for sure. If he had ventured to glace behind him, he would have seen Sirius' face and known immediately that something was woefully amiss, but he never did.
0-0-0-0
"Guess."
The raven-haired cretin raised a bushy eyebrow ever so slightly.
"If the lady wishes, although I must warn you that I'm terribly bad at this kind of thing."
"I have a lot of patience."
He studied her critically for a moment. "Really, it would not be wise to ask me to guess. I couldn't possibly. What kind of name could possibly be affixed to your person?"
"Was that a compliment?"
"It is if you choose to take it as one."
This was the opportune moment to give a flirtatious answer, but something told her that the best way to get this man to fall for her would be to remain somewhat aloof at first. It wouldn't do to appear too eager.
"So are you going to guess my name?"
"If I must," he frowned slightly. Probably wondering how best to handle the situation. Lily wasn't expecting him to slip up at this early stage, but that did not mean that she wouldn't be watching him like a hawk for any mistakes. "Elizabeth?"
She shook her head. The piece of music that had been playing came to an end and the small orchestra in the corner struck up a different, slower tune, but Lily barely noticed.
"Lydia?"
She shook her head again. "No, but you're very close."
"Close?"
She merely nodded.
"So your name begins with an `L', I presume?" he said slowly.
She nodded shortly. How coincidental it was that he had whittled it down so quickly, she thought. Of course he already knew her name; she was more than one step ahead of him and she knew his game, but if she was to be victorious, she must play the unsuspecting innocent. Which was precisely why she dipped her head in what she hoped appeared to be a shy gesture, in order to hide her triumphant smirk.
Mistake number one, Mr. Potter.
"Lenora?"
"Lenora? Heavens no!" she cried, her eyes shooting upwards. Of all the names he could have picked…
"Leslie?"
She shook her head, feeling a stab of impatience. If he was going to continue this charade all night she would surely get irritated.
"Do you give up, Mr. Potter?"
His name was James Potter, he had told her so minutes earlier. It seemed to suit him, although she couldn't quite place why. James was a name that she had always admired, and she most definitely detested this boy with all she had in her. It was a good thing that she had overheard the conversation, because he certainly was very charismatic. He had a silver tongue, as her mother would say. In fact, he sounded almost sincere.
"I don't like giving up, my lady."
Neither do I.
"If you admit defeat, I shall tell you my name and then we could move onto more…interesting topics of conversation."
"I thought you said you had a lot of patience?"
"I do, but you look like the type of man who doesn't."
"That is a rather bold statement."
"I am a rather bold person, Mr. Potter."
She had surprised him, she knew it. He nodded, amusement showing in his face.
"Very well, what is your name?"
"My name is Lily Evans, Mr. Potter."
There was an odd moment in which his brow furrowed in what she could only assume to be surprise, but it disappeared almost as quickly as it had come.
"Lily?"
"Yes, Lily."
"I presume that your parents are Lord Charles and Lady Catherine Evans, from Cheshire?" he said, a little too quickly. Mistake number two.
"Yes they are. Have you spoken?"
"I had a brief conversation with your father earlier. I did not know that you were his daughter, however. You don't really resemble him."
Well, she mused, moving slightly so that they were closer together, he certainly was a fine actor. Credit where credit was due. He was doing a great job at feigning ignorance. She almost would have believed him.
"Oh, no, I take after my grandmother Pemberly. The red hair is from my mother's side of the family."
"But isn't your mother blonde?"
"Yes, she is, and thus, I take after my grandmother."
Her cunning companion opened his mouth to reply, but words seemed to fail him. Instead, he stared somewhat absently at her nose for a while, looking slightly lost in thought.
"Penny for your thoughts, Mr. Potter?"
He immediately snapped out of whatever trance he had been in, opened and shut his mouth, and shook his head.
"Miss Evans, I think that," he bit his lip and spoke in a sudden rush. "I'm sorry if I sound too brazen, Miss Evans, and please, please do not take this the wrong way, but you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever had the pleasure to come across. I fell I must tell you that."
She was immediately horrified to feel herself blushing. She wasn't used to compliments such as this and she certainly hadn't expected him to move to this stage of the conversation so quickly. He probably thought she was flattered, which could work in her favour, all things considered.
"Beauty is worthless in the grand scheme of things, and I'm not a woman, only a little girl," she retorted, a tad too sharply.
"Worthless it may be, but all the same, a mere boy like me cannot help but appreciate such a fine example."
"A fine example of worthlessness?"
"You twist my words, Miss Evans."
"You've got me figured out, Mr. Potter, I persist in digging for compliments."
"In that case, I can assure you that I find you far from worthless."
"Pray tell then, how do you find me?"
"Utterly fascinating."
"And you base your assessment upon…?"
"My first impression."
"First impressions are devious, you know."
"Well then, hopefully I shall be allowed a second."
"Hopefully you shall."
They had danced to two pieces now, and she could see her mother throwing her a suspicious glance. It was time to move on before she had to endure her probing questions. Edward Chamberly was nowhere to be seen, which could only be a good thing. She did not imagine that he or her parents would find her plan at all amusing. On top of that, she had no idea what else to say to the cretin. She would have liked to flirt a bit more but the key was to take it slowly. If she left now, it would surely be inevitable that he would want to make the next move.
"Well if you don't mind, Mr. Potter," she began, before he could reply to her. "I can see that my dear mother is searching for me. It was lovely to meet you."
"And you," he said, lifting her left hand to place a kiss upon it.
"Goodbye, Mr. Potter."
"Goodbye, Miss Evans."
She gave a short curtsey and turned away, feeling terribly uneasy.
0-0-0-0
"Are you sure I can't convince you to start an internship at my practice?"
Remus Lupin merely shook his head.
"I'm afraid that at the moment I'm undecided, Edward, but it is definitely something I would consider."
"Well whenever you make your decision, there's always a job for you at Chamberly and son."
"Thank you, Lord Harris. I will keep that in mind."
"Why, here's Miss Evans! Miss Lily, do come and join me! This is my law partner, Lord Benjamin Harris. I believe you and he met a few days ago? Yes, yes. And this is a friend of mine, Mr. Remus Lupin."
Lily groaned inwardly. Evidently she could only eavesdrop on one conversation without being noticed per night. That said she hadn't been making much effort to hide herself. She had rather hoped to avoid Chamberly all night, but her curiosity, upon seeing him talk to the wonderful Remus, had grown.
She put on her best smile, trying to dispel the feeling of anxiousness that she was carrying around in her gut and skipped gaily towards them.
"Hello, Lord Chamberly! Hello, hello, it's nice to meet you again," she dipped into a curtsy.
"Nice to meet you again, Miss Evans, and may I say that you look utterly dazzling tonight." Lord Harris was a thin, weedy looking man with a comically curly moustache. Lily had spoken with him the other day and was amused by his flamboyant nature.
"And it is nice to see you again, of course, Mr. Lupin."
"You know Remus?"
"Oh, yes, I chatted briefly with him earlier."
"About Shakespeare, if I remember correctly?" said her ally, his eyes twinkling. She nodded.
"Shakespeare?" said Chamberly. "How nice."
Lily wondered if Chamberly had ever read Shakespeare in his life. Probably not. There was an odd little silence in which Chamberly coughed, Harris fiddled with his cuff-links and Remus looked like he was suppressing a laugh.
"I couldn't help but overhear some of your conversation, Lord Chamberly, and I must confess myself a little confused," she suddenly addressed her future spouse.
"Confused? Why is that, my dear?"
"Well, Lord Harris is your partner in law, is this correct?"
"Yes," he said, throwing a suspicious glance at Lord Harris.
"Then why is your firm called Chamberly and son?"
"Oh...oh, well, it used to belong to my father, but he has since passed it down to me."
"Well, you must be a very intelligent and competent solicitor, Lord Chamberly, to take the reigns of a business at such a young age."
"Well, yes, I suppose, thank you Lily..." Chamberly, for some reason, looked distinctly uncomfortable. His eyes darted around the room for a moment. "Er…Benjamin, you didn't happen to see- Oh, never mind, there he is!" he clapped his partner on the back. "Just stay put there for a second, Miss Lily."
"Why…of course."
"Keep an eye on her, Ben. Or else young Mr. Lupin here might get ideas!" he said, winking, before disappearing into the milling crowd. Lily turned her gaze upon Remus, amused. If only Chamberly knew what she did. Not that she was going to tell anyone, of course, not even Laura, who would surely disapprove. No, this was just another secret for her to keep.
Thinking of secrets led Lily to recapping the conversation that had just taken place.
"Lord Chamberly seemed a bit upset. Did I mention something amiss?" she enquired of no one in particular.
"It's nothing you were likely to know about, Miss Evans," said Lord Harris. "Edward is a bit sensitive about his father."
"Why is that?"
"Well she's a curious cat, isn't she?"
"I'm ashamed to admit that I am, Lord Harris."
"Well Miss Evans, I'm not really supposed to tell anyone."
"Oh? But I do care ever so much for Lord Chamberly. It troubles me to think that anything is distressing him.
Men, she thought triumphantly, are all the same. Harris' expression softened and he leaned in towards her.
"Very well, Miss Lily, and don't tell anyone I told you this, mind."
She nodded. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Remus furrow his brow and knew that he was paying rap attention.
"Edward's father, who is also named Edward, ran the business for thirty years and took Edward under his wing as an intern seven years ago. He was a fantastic solicitor, you know, rarely lost a case, and he was a terrific person to work for. Until about a year ago," here he stopped and looked nervously over the crowd, as if expecting to see someone writing down his words on a piece of parchment..
"Yes?"
"Well, last year Edward Chamberly senior took a turn for the worse, you could say."
"Did he... die?" said Lily softly.
"No."
"What happened to him then?" said Remus.
"Dementia," Harris said simply. "Lost his mind. It's such a pity too, he was a fine man. He lives in a hospital in London now. Your father's hospital, actually," he inclined his head towards Lily. "Edward gets horribly depressed about it. He was very fond of his father and they were very close, especially since his mother passed- Oh, hush now, he's coming back."
Lily whipped around to see Chamberly making his way over, accompanied by her own father. She suddenly felt bad for disliking him so much. What a horrible ordeal to suffer through. She smiled weakly at her father, trying not to imagine what it would be like to lose someone to such an illness.
"Mr. Evans, I remembered that I never introduced you to Remus Lupin. Remus, this is Charles Evans, Lily's father."
The two shook hands.
"It's nice to meet you sir."
"It's nice to meet you," Mr. Evans replied, surveying him with the same critical eye that Lily knew he surveyed everyone with. "I presume that you came here with the three other young men?"
"If you are referring to Sirius, James and Peter, then yes, I did."
"Where is James anyway?" said Chamberly.
"I think he is with Sirius and Peter."
"That he is not, Remus. I checked." Chamberly pointed over to where Sirius and Peter were. Lily took a good look. One of the boys, short and round, was sitting gloomily on a suede lounger beside an even gloomier, though very comely boy who seemed to be ignoring the chattering of a young lady who was practically sitting on top of him. She stole a glance at Remus.
"Sirius is the dark haired one," he said, by way of explanation.
"Your friends are very nice young men, Mr. Lupin, as I am sure you are aware."
Remus nodded.
"I always liked the Pettigrew boy best myself. The other two are a tad too outgoing for my liking," said Harris, who was one of the most outgoing people Lily had ever met.
"Oh no Benjamin, Pettigrew is a little mouse of a boy. Potter and Black are far more interesting," argued Chamberly.
"I liked the Potter boy," said Lord Evans. "Pleasant chap, good strong handshake."
Lily was beginning to feel distinctly uncomfortable. How ironic it was that they had to start talking about him.
"Oh yes, James is a fantastic young fellow," said Chamberly, wearing a triumphant look, as if the cretin's apparent brilliance was entirely down to him. "Which brings me back to my original question, where is he? I was hoping to introduce him to Lily."
"Oh, you needn't introduce him to my daughter, Edward. She was dancing with him twenty minutes ago."
Her insides seemed to freeze up, and she was uncomfortably aware of four pairs of eyes gazing at her. Harris' eyebrows were raised so high that they were in danger of flying away, Remus looked grim, and even Chamberly was looking suspicious. Her father, on the other hand, looked rather pleased.
"You were dancing with James Potter?" Chamberly questioned.
"We conversed briefly," she replied, trying to look and sound as if the subject was of no importance to her. "He seemed pleasant." There, that sounded convincing.
"If I may be excused," said her father. There was an odd smirk playing about his lips. "I need to speak to Petunia about something."
"I shall talk to you later, Charles."
"Lily, darling." Her father leaned in to kiss her forehead, thus ensuring that she was the only one who heard his amused whisper.
"I know you too well, Lily."
0-0-0-0
Now, James thought, leaning his head against the cool window pane, was the time for him to forget about Lily Evans. And he feared that this was something easier said than done. He glanced quickly behind him, just to make sure that no one had entered the empty lounge. He had forgotten to close the door behind him. Once he established that he wasn't being watched, he flicked his wand and waited until after the door had shut and the satisfactory click of the lock was heard, before turning back to the window.
That girl was going to be Mrs. Edward Chamberly. The thought of it almost made him laugh. This girl couldn't be engaged to that idiot, he had to have it wrong. It must be some other girl, because there was no way that this girl would marry him. That he knew right off the bat. He prided himself on having fairly good intuition, and this girl was definitely something out of the ordinary. But hadn't Chamberly explicitly said that it was Lily Evans that he was betrothed to? James was sure that he had, and he was sure that she knew as well. There was no denying that she was an intelligent girl. But then why would she come up and demand that he ask her to dance?
In fact, now that he thought about it, there had been something seriously amiss about their conversation, although he couldn't put his finger on it. For the most part, she seemed strangely guarded and prim. At some points in the conversation, she had talked to him in a tone that was bordering on sharp, but on the other hand, she had willingly stood so close to him that only a small movement would have found his lips on hers and he couldn't forget the way she had answered him when he enquired about seeing her again. Her tone had implied...well, he had been sought after enough at Hogwarts to know that this girl was suggesting something more than tea and crumpets. Somehow, that didn't seem like her either. On top of that, he had talked to Remus a few minutes ago and Remus gave him an entirely different description of her, one that seemed a lot more accurate. He was confused.
That crazy, spontaneous compliment. He had told himself not to, and yet it had slipped out before he could catch himself. If he had been able, James would have drawn out his wand and hexed himself right then and there. This girl was to be wed to another man, and he was flirting with her! If Chamberly knew of the thoughts that were running through his mind right now, he would probably challenge him to a fist fight, and then James would be forced to hurt him. Not that the idea wasn't appealing, but the fact of the matter was, forming some kind of romantic attachment to this girl could only end in tears.
But she had flirted with him. Not in an obvious way, like Elvira Patil, but she had, most definitely.
When James Potter saw something he liked, be it a racing broom or the best slice of cake, he had to have it, and there was no stopping him. But it had never happened with a girl before, and Merlin, did he want her. But this girl was promised to another, this much he knew. There were multiple warning signs flashing in his head, telling him that this was dangerous. His best bet would be to let Chamberly have her. As much as he disliked the man, stealing her from him would be wrong, even if she was flirting with him, something that was also confusing. She didn't look like the type of girl who would consent to adultery. She was far too classy.
But there was one thought, one single, solitary thought; that won out against every argument he put forward in his mind, no matter how hard he tried to disregard it. And even as he vowed to leave her alone, he knew it was all in vain.
For just moments ago, upon raising her hand to his lips, he had taken a good look at her fingers.
Her ring finger, to be precise.
And it was bare.
She wasn't engaged yet.
Oh Potter, you're about to do something really foolish.
Review?
Oh, and just a few things. I know that Canon!Dudley is not that much older than Canon!Harry, but he is crucial (and I mean crucial) in a certain VERY IMPORTANT part of the story, so therefore I made him a bit older. And also, I've had some reviews from people asking me who Portia is. My answer: Read The Merchant of Venice. You'll see Lily in her... promise.
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