Unwanted Interruptions

"Don't have sex, man. It leads to kissing and pretty soon you have to start talking to them." - Steve Martin

"Oh," I gasped again.

James grinned crookedly with a smirk so devilish I felt my knees go weak as my heart began to hammer inside my chest. "That's all you have to say?" he asked me sinfully with a husky voice that was drenched with snogging.

Not trusting myself to speak, I merely nodded. When did my face start to get so red? Merlin, I needed to breathe. Okay, in and out. You could do this, Lily.

"Let's see if I can make you say something else," he voiced deeply as he brushed his lips against the base of my neck. He paused to blow on a wet spot, and I shivered. He chuckled deeply, and my eyes fluttered close at the sound and the vibrations of his body against mine. "Preferably my name," he continued as his lips traveled up my jaw and then began to tease my lips. He took my bottom lip into his mouth and began to suck on it.

I felt my eyes begin to roll to the back of my head. "James," I breathed.

"Hmm? What was that?" he tormented.

Embarrassed by the pure volume of my moan, I tore my lips away from his. "James," I called a bit out a bit louder this time.

His mouth moved back down to my neck and his lips devoured the skin there. He was going to leave a mark. "James," I tried to say again but almost no sound came out.

He laughed throatily as his lips moved to my earlobe. My breathing completely stopped as he nipped the tip of my ear and then used his tongue to-

My body lurched forward into a sitting position. I raised my hand to my face and wiped the sleep away from my eyes. I looked down at my familiar yellow sheets and frowned. My face was heated, and I knew that it wasn't because of the temperature of my room. I closed my eyes wistfully and tried to recreate the last few moments of my dream. It had been so better than the reality.

"Oh."

James opened his mouth to say something, but the porch light turned on. I looked up at the light and blinked in confusion. James, too, seemed paralyzed with puzzlement. The front door opened, and my mum's anxious face came into view.

"Oh!" she exclaimed in relief. "It's just you two. I heard a noise, and I thought there were robbers, or something."

I stared at my mum and nodded dumbly. Robbers? We lived in a simple muggle neighborhood. The last reported crime had been when a kid's cat had been stolen three years ago-when really his parents had just lied about running over it with their car.

"Why don't you two come inside? It's awfully late. Where's your sister?"

I stepped into the house. "Tuney is still out with Vernon," I replied in a weak voice.

"She didn't come home with you?"

I shook my head.

Mum sighed. "Ahh, well. Let's get you two off to bed," she decided as she rushed us up the stairs. We reached my room, and my mum turned to James.

"James, dear, I was wondering if I could peek into the guest room for a moment before you get ready for bed. I think I have a box of school supplies I need hidden in the closet there someplace."

"Sure, Mrs. Evans."

"I figure I'll sort through that as I wait for Petunia to come home. Maybe I'll make a spot of tea," she mused to herself. "Well, off to bed, Lily."

I nodded and then opened the door to my room. "Night, Mum." My fingers hesitated on the doorknob. I looked over my shoulder at James. I tried to tell him with my eyes that I didn't want this to be the way we had to end the night, that I wanted to talk to him more, that I wished my mum had not chosen this night of all nights to prowl the hallways. I needed him to understand that the lack of our usual midnight talk was not my doing but that of my overbearing mother. I wanted to find out what had just happened between us. Had it meant what I thought it meant?

I tried to convey a plethora of emotions in that one look, but James just stared back at me with that same enigmatic expression from before. "Night, James," I told him softly.

"Sweet, dreams, Lily," I heard him reply right before I slipped behind my door.

Ugh, I could not believe I had been cockblocked by my own mother. Couldn't she sense that possibly the most important thing to have ever happened between James and me had been going on? Or, perhaps she had, and she wanted to stop us before anyone's virtue was in jeopardy. Well, virtue be damned! I had finally kissed James Potter for real, and I wanted to do it again!

Oh dear Merlin, I wanted to do it again.

It was the strangest thought.

I kind of liked it, though.

And that was even stranger.

Eagerly, I flounced into the bathroom, vigorously brushed my teeth, attacked my frizzy hair with a brush, splashed some water on my face, and then raced down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Why, Lily, I think this is a record, or something," Mum said as she put down her spoon and wiped her hands on a dish towel.

"What?" I asked.

"This is the most I've ever seen you in the mornings since you hit puberty. It's not even ten o'clock yet."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, Mum, they're due to hold a ceremony on Main Street tomorrow in my honor," I grumbled dully.

"Well, a flood watch or bomb scare should be in our eminent future, at the very least," she mused with a laugh as she turned back to a pan on the stove.

"Haha, very funny, Mum. You get more hilarious every day."

"I think so too," she said with a smile as she ignored my obvious sarcasm.

I peeked at the clock and watched the seconds tick by. "Have you seen James? Is he up yet? I really want to talk to him."

"Why? Are you two up to something?"

"No," I replied back a bit too quickly to sound innocent.

"Lily," she said slowly. "You know it's always better if you just tell me up front. You're a terrible liar. Your face always gives you away."

"I'm a good liar!" I argued stubbornly.

"What happened to my favorite sweater last month?"

I felt my face begin to redden. "Umm, Petunia decided to play with matches unsupervised?"

Okay, I had accidentally set fire to it while experimenting with some advanced charms wand work.

My mum sniggered. "Sure, she did."

"Someone needs to teach that girl about fire safety," I persisted.

"You are so full of it, my daughter."

I glanced back up at the clock. I was sick of being made fun of, and I still didn't know where James was. "Mum, where is he?"

"Relax, Lily, James just ran out to get the paper for me. He'll be back in fifteen seconds. I'm sure your teenage hormones can wait till then." She ladled a bit of oatmeal from the pot into a bowl and then thrusted it and a glass of orange juice at me.

"Mum," I whined in a drawn-out voice as I wrinkled my nose at the mortifying thought of our little talk the other day.

"Lily," she mimicked back before turning back to her oatmeal.

I fastened my eyes back onto the clock. It took twenty-three seconds for James to enter the kitchen in his usual pajama pants and tight white undershirt.

My body simultaneously relaxed and ignited from his presence. I wanted to run over to him, throw my arms around his neck, and explain all the mixed emotions I was feeling. However, with a quick look in my mum's direction, I stayed in my chair at the kitchen table. Luckily, under the guise of our fake relationship, James dropped the paper onto the table and walked over to me.

"Hey," I greeted him with a shy smile.

He grinned at me as his eyes searched mine. "Hey."

Strictly for my mother's benefit, he reached down and brushed his lips over my forehead so lightly that I could barely feel it. He then moved to my ear. "We need to talk," he hissed before pulling back.

I gulped as I examined him with huge eyes. Those words were never good. I suddenly hated those words. More than that, I hated the English language. What was with all the bloody imperative sentences anyway? Plus, there was all this nonsense about dangling modifiers and ending sentences with prepositions that I simply could not be bothered with. Obviously.

"Oh, James, thank God you're here," interrupted my mother. "Lily's been asking for you all morning. I think you even might be the reason for her waking up at such a normal hour."

James tore his gaze away from mine to laugh with my mum. "I would never take credit for that. I'm not that conceited to think I could make Lily do something she didn't want to do."

I snorted into my orange juice. The tally for the amount of times he had asked me out was, what 7,632, give or take a few? Nah, he never tried to impose. A preposterous notion! That was trying to sway my decision! No! That was just James practicing the laws of statistics. If he asked me out a million times, there was an 87% chance that he would wind up in the lake.

Of course, that percentage had probably decreased now that I had....

I tuned my mum and James's annoyingly cute blather out of my head as I repeated my new mantra over and over.

We need to talk. We need to talk. We need to talk. We need to talk. We need to talk.

Merlin, if I didn't say something soon, there was a 100% percent chance that I was going to explode.

"Pineapple," I blurted out.

My mum and James stopped there amicable chatting to stare at me like I had finally gone bonkers. In their defense, I probably had.

"What, Lily?" my mum asked.

My face reddened, and I searched my brain for whatever synapse misfired and caused me to utter that word. Could I blame this on Petunia? No, too much roundabout logic. Could this have anything to do with the fake relationship history James and I had created for ourselves? No, that would involve too much creative license and, frankly, kinky topics. Damn, there had to be a potion for this sort of situation. Oh, Potions!

"My Potions professor loves crystallized pineapple," I told her.

James eyed me strangely. "Why were you thinking about Professor Slughorn?"

I shrugged and pretended I was just being my normal, lunatic self. "You know, summer is the time for, uh, slugs..." I finished with a frown at my own logic.

My mum appraised me like I had suddenly turned into a slug and then turned back to her preferred child, James. How cruel was it that my mum loved my fake boyfriend more than me? At least, I still had priority over Petunia. Well, so could a slug, really.

Twenty minutes had gone by and I half expected them to just start snogging across the kitchen counter. Mum was already in love with him, and James would do anything to be the picture perfect boyfriend, even if that meant subjecting himself to my mother's crazy, middle-aged horniness. I fingered my wand and debated whether or not a few hexes were in order.

We need to talk.

Finally, giggling like old broads, James and my mum stopped talking so that he could go upstairs and shower. I lifted my head off the table from where I had started silently slamming it five pats of my mother's hand on James's arm ago. I eagerly got up and followed James out of the kitchen.

"Oh, Lily!" she called.

Shmeka-bloody-leen.

I spun on my heel and forced my mouth into a grin. "Yes, Mum?"

"Would you do me a favor and do the dishes? I have a few things to take care of before I head down to school today."

"Sure, Mum," I replied through gritted teeth.

"Thanks, Lily," she called as she flittered up the stairs.

Yeah, a few things to take care of. More like she wanted to fool around with my boyfriend, I thought acidly as I plopped the biggest pot into the sink. Soap scum and water splashed out to cover my chest and face. I looked down and noticed that the sink was full of dishes that needed to be washed from the night before. Ruddy perfect.

I heard a girlish giggle upstairs, and I accidentally flicked the faucet in my direction, effectively spraying myself in the face with water. Merlin, why did my thoughts always have to go to the most inappropriate, most perverse, and most I-have-to-go-vomit-out-my-brain-now image?

After towel-drying the last dish and putting it away, cursing every name I could think of, I trudged up the stairs and nearly collided with James in the hallway.

"There you are, Lily," he said in a relieved voice."Listen, I-" he paused as his eyes raked over my wet appearance. Ahh, glad to know that I could render a boy speechless sopping wet and covered in green dish soap.

"Lily, what happened?"

I groaned. "The sink and I had a duel. It won," I told him unenthusiastically.

"It looks like there was a grindylow, or something, hiding in the faucet," he commented with a slight guffaw as he eyed my dripping appearance.

Some sort of green, unidentifiable substance dripped onto my nose, and he forced his fist over his mouth to silence his laughter. I shot him a warning look. "Or, something."

"A mermaid, perhaps?"

I eyed him crossly.

He knew by my murderous glare that this was not the time for us to have a big heart-to-heart about how he was really only being my fake boyfriend so that he could steal my mum away from my father and go rush off together to Majorca. You know, that or I had kissed him. "Maybe you should go take a shower," James suggested cautiously.

I nodded and my wet hair felt heavy and slimy as it swayed back onto my shoulders. James moved out of my way as I headed to the bathroom.

I threw off James's shirt in disgust. I would need to wash it before tonight. Better yet, I took out my wand, which I had the habit of sticking in my underwear-at my hip, of course-and Scourgified it. Then, I hopped into the shower and washed away all the soap and grime on my body that James had found either too revolting or too hilarious to be able to continue to have a conversation with me.

I turned off the water and wrapped a towel around my torso before grabbing James's shirt and walking out of the bathroom. I walked about three meters when James opened the door to the guest room and walked into the hallway, as well.

"Oh," I said in surprise as I nearly dropped my towel. That would have been interesting. I mentally pictured what James would do if I did. Better yet, if he was the one in a towel. Grr, why hadn't the obvious aneurysm in my bran just popped already and saved me from this misery? I wrapped the towel tighter around my body.

"Lily," James breathed. I heard him groan from the back of his throat. It really did not help my towel debate. "Merlin, Lily," sighed James, walking over to me and raising his hand to touch my bare shoulder.

"James," I replied.

His fingers suddenly fell back as he heard his name, as though he had just realized what he had been doing.

James took a deep breath and forced himself to look into my eyes. "Now is not that time for us to talk."

I looked up at him and then back down at my towel. My face flushed red. "I'm gonna go dry off so I'm not so wet—because of my shower- I mean, put clothes on—so that I'm not naked—I'm just gonna go to my room now," I prattled quickly.

James took a step backwards and let me scamper off to my room. I shut the door behind me and rested my head against the wood as I tried to calm down. I felt pressure against my back, and I guessed that James was resting just on the other side.

We need to talk.

That or all of this awkwardness was going to make me explode. Death by awkwardization, what a way to go! I wondered if Tuney would cry at my funeral...

On that morbid thought, I threw on some red shorts and a black top. I dried my hair instantly with my wand and then applied my makeup sloppily as I wished I could have had a normal hair color, which would have given me normal eyelashes.

I peeked out of my door first before I opened it. I don't know what I would do if James was outside. I was fully clothed and dry now, and, hopefully-well, somewhat hopefully-he would be, as well. Really, there was no reason why we couldn't walk down together and discuss that kiss like two mature, rational human beings.

Oh, Merlin, that kiss.

It had been better than all of our previous snogfests on various bits of furniture throughout the house. Of course, the fact that it had not been performed in front of a member of my family was a huge plus, but it was also because there was no need for it. Unlike all of our other kisses, we had no obligation to do it. No one was there. It was just us. I did it because I had wanted to. Only, now I wasn't sure if he had wanted me to.

We need to talk.

If James was outside, I was going to just head back into my room and do some work inside. I bet I could color-coordinate my sock drawer. All of my lovely socks had probably begun to feel awfully lonely now that I had abandoned them for the summer in favor of bare feet and sandals. Socks were awfully jealous bits of fabric.

Thankfully, James was nowhere to be seen, so there was no need for me to duck back inside my room-apart from my obvious gauche behavior. I just needed to talk to him. Then, even if it did go terribly wrong and he and my mum wanted me to call him "Jim Daddy" from now on, I could stop freaking out from all of this stress about our talk, at least!

I walked downstairs and found James drinking milk out of the cartoon in the kitchen. I rolled my eyes. Boys were disgusting-pheremonically irresistible, yes, but disgusting.

"What are you doing?" I asked him scandalously.

James put down the carton guiltily and ruffled his hair with his fingers. Channeling Professor McGonagall as my muse, I placed my hands on my hips to appear more authoritative. "Well?" I pressed in an effort to stall everything important for a good joke.

James grinned shiftily at me like a First Year who had just sent fire to his Potions partner's hair, like Sirius had done to Hestia six years ago. James and Sirius must have practiced that rueful, puppy dog look in the mirror together.

"There was only a little bit left," he offered guiltily.

Enjoying myself immensely, I grinned. "Sure, James. You know, after you leave for good, I think I'm going to tell my mum about all the horrible things you do when she's not around. It'll ease her grief," I added with an exaggerated roll of my eyes.

"About that," James said slowly. "Lily, I think-"

"Mum!"

I turned around in frustration. I had almost mentally prepared myself for James to crush whatever sprit I had left in my body. My poor self-esteem could not take any more interruptions.

"MUM!" a voice called even louder this time.

I narrowed my eyes at the sound: Petunia. Of course it was her. She ruined everything all the time. She was a big, fat-okay, skinny and bony with perfectly styled blonde hair-ruiner.

I groaned. "Mum's not here, Petunia!" I yelled out to her.

A few clacks of her heels and she was in the kitchen, as well. "Where'd she go?"

"Hello, to you, Tuney," I said politely with a forced grin.

Tuney sighed. "Hello, my freakish sister," she conceded.

I folded my arms across my chest and tapped my fingers impatiently as I waited. "Forgetting someone?" I cooed.

"Hello, my freakish sister's equally freaky boyfriend."

James and I grinned at each other. "Hey, Petunia," he snorted back at her.

She ignored him and rounded back at me. "Where did Mum go?"

"She went to the school to do work again," I told her. "She's usually back by three or four, though."

Petunia glanced at the clock. It was only about 12:30 now. She groaned.

"What do you need to talk to Mum about anyway?" I asked her curiously.

Petunia sneered at me while pursing her lips. "None of your business."

I gritted my teeth together as James smiled good-naturedly. "Well, I've never had a sister before, but I do have three brothers, and all of their business is my business. Keeping a secret requires an unbreakable vow!" he added with a laugh but then sobered up when he saw the blank look on Petunia's face.

"Sorry," he murmured. "Wizard's humor."

"Ahh, peachy," Petunia muttered. Then she squinted her beady eyes at him with confusion. "I thought you said you were an only child?"

"Well, they aren't related to me by blood, but I still consider them to be part of my family."

I grinned mockingly at James. "After his parents had him, they didn't need any more children. He was just too perfect," I teased.

James winked at me.

"I wish more parents decided to quit while they were ahead," Tuney muttered bitterly.

"Well, ours certainly knew what to do, right, Tuney?" I asked her sweetly.

Petunia glared at me. "Since I'm already here and I need to talk to Mum, I'm going to eat lunch."

"What kind of salad will it be today?" I asked acerbically.

Lunch was painful, at best. James and I tried very hard to keep up the charade in front of Petunia, but every sideways glance, affectionate tone, and innocent touch was starting to take its toll. I just needed to do something about that kiss! How much longer could we go on ignoring it? I just keep replaying last night over and over in my mind. Merlin, now I was really frustrated.

"You must get so excited when Lily comes home from the summer," James said to Petunia.

She finished her bite of Caesar salad, dressing on the side-I knew it!- and then answered him. "It's an adjustment."

"But surely a good one," replied James optimistically. "I mean, holidays are fantastic for a few weeks, but I think they get dreadfully boring after a while. You have no job, no practices, no schoolwork to keep you busy, and all of your friends are scattered across the country. At least, you have Lily to keep you company."

Even though Petunia had the pleasantness of a prostate exam, I had to concede that her presence in my life did make my summers go by faster. Each day I found new ways to piss her off. Plus, I could spend at least three hours complaining about her to one of my parents without running out of material. I knew this because my dad and I clocked it once. We often talked about trying to break the record.

But James didn't have anyone. I mean, sure, he had his friends, but they had their own families and their own lives to tend to in the summer. Plus, it wasn't like James could just hang out with his parents. They were gone, making the world safe from some other family's children. And I thought my summer was boring with no one to talk to.

"You can have her," Petunia grumbled.

James grinned crookedly at her, and I swore I could see Petunia's stone face crumble. That smile could make anyone lose their head. "Thank you," said James graciously as he winked at me.

I rolled my eyes. Great, I had just been bartered away in exchange for some quiet time. It was so nice to know that my existence was equal to a $0.99 pack of earplugs.

"But I wouldn't dare take her from you. She's far too big of a prat for me to handle all alone."

I wanted to hit him in the chest, but I thought better of it. I stuck my tongue out instead.

"We'll share her," amended James brightly as he swung his arm around the back of my chair.

I fought the urge to melt into a puddle of Essence of Lily, a new potion I had invented. Apparently, all one needed to do was take three strands of my hair and add James smiling lopsidedly at it, and voila! I hoped Petunia didn't walk through me with her strappy sandal wedges.

About an hour or more later, Petunia decided she had run out of insults for the day, so she grabbed her keys and headed for the door. Apparently, she didn't care if Mum gave her permission or not. Vernon was waiting. Oh, the horror!

I was more than happy to shoo her out. Finally, James and I would be able to talk. Unfortunately, as I nearly pushed her out the door, it opened.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" I blurted out as I saw him lug his briefcase forward as he walked up the stairs to the side entrance of the house, which was nearest to the driveway.

Dad chuckled. "Nice to you see you, too, Lils," he greeted me.

"Oh, sorry, Daddy. Hi!" I corrected as I lunged forward to give him a hug.

He laughed, rubbed my back, and then kissed the top of my head. "Hi, baby girl."

"I'm leaving," Petunia announced suddenly.

"Where are you going?" asked Dad.

"To Vernon's."

"And will there be boys there?" Dad interrogated in his most imposing voice that was ruined when he started laughing at his own joke.

Petunia rolled her eyes. "You two are so similar," she mumbled as she waved her hand to gesture at us. "Bye!"

She left and Dad turned to look at me quizzically. "Was that meant to be an insult?" he asked me.

I shrugged.

"Well, if it was," he mused with a chuckle. "It wasn't a very good one."

Smiling, I sidestepped so that he could get into the house and followed him into the kitchen, where James was still sitting at the kitchen table. When he saw us enter, he rose from his chair.

"Hey, Mr. Evans!" James greeted him cheerfully.

"Hello, James," replied Dad as he put his briefcase on the table and then sat down. "Oh, wow, I sure wish I could do magic so I could just summon a glass of water to me."

I shook my head and then got up to pour him a glass. "Here you go, Dad," I said as I gave him the cup.

"Crikey!" he screeched as he looked down at the glass in his hand. "I can do magic!"

We laughed together.

"Thanks, Lily," he told me as he reached over to hug me.

I looked at the seats. I could either sit next to my dad or next to James. I decided to just sit between them.

"Now, Dad, don't take this the wrong way because I'm thrilled you're here. But why are you home so early?"

So early that you thwarted my attempt to talk to James about our first real kiss on the porch last night? A kiss so good that I felt my knees start to give out? A kiss that made my girly dreams seem insufficient? Really, Dad. Couldn't you just have stayed at the office for five more minutes?

"Well," Dad said tiredly after taking a sip of water. "We're having some trouble with the company. Accounting accidentally forgot to carry a few zeros, and now we're facing some major challenges. Bloody accountants, never liked them," he muttered bitterly.

"Wouldn't it make more sense for you to be down there, then?" asked James curiously.

"Nah, I'm complete rubbish with numbers. Though, at this rate, I'd probably do loads better than the prats we have working for us. Anyway, until they get it all sorted out, I can't do anything. We've had to stop all production and designs for the rest of the day."

"I'm sorry, Dad," I said as I patted him on the arm.

He tapped his hand over man. "Just goes to show that you should never take things for granted. I can't imagine how they hadn't realized the problem before. Still, I got to leave early," he added with a grin.

James and I chuckled lightly.

"So, now that I know Petunia's gone, where is the other lovely lady of the house?"

"Mum's still at the school setting up her classroom," I answered him.

"Ahh, that stinks," he said. "I finally get to come home early and nobody's home."

"Excuse me!" I shrieked.

James snorted. "Mr. Evans, I think that was a rather foolish thing to say."

"You're right, James. Word of advice for your future, never tease Lily. She makes everything so dramatic."

"That's an understatement," added James with a grin to my father.

I crossed my arms across my chest and seethed in my seat. Bloody git. I bloody wasn't going to kiss him again now! Not, you know, that I had been planning on it...Oh, ruddy hell! I had been planning it since even before I had caught my breath from the one last night.

Dad rose and grabbed the phone. "What do you kids think about takeout?"

I looked at the clock. "Dad, it's only about three thirty!" I told him.

"I know," he replied with a grin.

"It's too early for dinner," I told him.

Dad played with the phone in his hands. "But I always get hungry when I get home from work. My body doesn't know that it's not the right time. It just wants food."

"Dad."

"Lily," he countered.

I bit my lip with uncertainty.

"We'll save some from your mother."

"Oh, I dunno," I voiced.

"C'mon, Lily. You know you want to," James urged me mischievously as he licked his lips.

My eyes watched the movement, and I became transfixed by it. "Fine," I breathed finally.

My dad and James walloped with glee and high-fived each other in a manly fashion. I rolled my eyes. They were such boys. Still, it was nice to see them bonding like father and fake boyfriend.

Peering over the kitchen table, we poured over a restaurant's menu and picked out the best dishes. James, a connoisseur of wizarding food, raised loads of questions about all the unfamiliar muggle foods. Just thinking about all of the cholesterol and unsaturated fats made my stomach grumble with hunger-even if it was just three in the afternoon.

James and my dad decided to go get the food. My job as the girl-chauvinist pigs-was to set the table and maintain the fort in case my mum showed up.

I set the table quickly. By myself, I was able to think rationally enough to sort out my priorities. The faster we ate, the faster we could clean up. Then, it would only be a matter of time before James and I could finally sneak away and have our talk, which would hopefully end in lots and lots of snogging. Merlin, what was happening to me?

I went to the bathroom and washed my face. I always found that to be very good for my jitters. Water was relaxing. Soon, I heard the sound of a door opening, and I raced downstairs to help the men in my life with the food.

Keenly, my dad unleashed the entrees from their containers. Laughing about how giddy and childlike he was acting about just eating dinner, I grabbed my plate and picked out an assortment of food to eat -chicken, pasta with shrimp, salad, mashed potatoes, and a bit of garlic bread. We ate like thieves. I nearly had side-stickers from watching James and my dad pick out their food. It was like every dollop was as important as one of the Wizengamot's decisions.

I finished my dinner, which was excellent, in little time, but my dad and James were still going strong. I enjoyed watching them bond. It was so nice to see them after the whole "are you the bloke who is going to devirginize my daughter" phase. Now, James was more like a son. I sighed. I'd have to get him to write to my dad after the breakup to let him down easy-my mum, too.

"There I was without a map or a paddle or anything to keep me afloat, and the rapids were coming in," my dad said theatrically with a laugh.

"What did you do?" James asked anxiously.

"I jumped out and swam!" Dad exclaimed. "And my mates all had to rush out of the canoe and come get me before I got knocked out by a wave."

"How'd they know to do that?"

"They didn't! We ended up falling over one of those miniature waterfalls. I don't think I've ever screamed so hard in my life. After it was all over, we rushed to the nearest hotel and called up all of our mums."

They broke out into laughter, and I smiled appreciatively at Dad's silly college stories.

"That's fantastic!" James squeaked. "Oh, if you want to hear some stories about friends, Mr. Evans, do I have some. This one time, my best mate Sirius and I had accidentally set fire to this guy, Filch—he works at Hogwarts-well, we set fire to his cat and-"

He paused as he heard the door squeak open. We all stared at each other with petrified faces.

"Quick!" my dad muttered. "Hide the evidence!" He reached out to grab a dish and he quickly began to eat whatever was inside of it as he ran to throw away the container.

"Lily, right, that's a good idea!"

"Okay, James, yeah, put that there!"

"No! Dad, there's no time!"

"We're going to have to sacrifice it!"

"No! Not the garlic bread!"

James and I followed suit as fast as we could. We all huddled at the table, frantically hiding dishes, when Mum strode into the kitchen.

I put down the tin of salad I was holding and swallowed the bite of chicken that had lodged into my throat.

"What did you three do?" demanded Mum dangerously.

Dad made an effort to swallow his mouthful, but he started coughing. James thumped him on the back, and he wheezed a bit before opening his mouth to speak. "Hi, hunny. How was your day?"

My mum threw her purse down onto a chair. "Don't you, 'hunny,' me, Henry. What were you three doing, and why do you all look so guilty?"

Dad sent me an anxious look, and I gave him a weak smile back for reinforcement. He took a deep breath and held up a half-empty container of chicken. "Hungry?" he asked.

"Henry," my mum snarled angrily.

"Dear?" he gulped back as his face visibly paled. "It was their idea!" he added pointing to James and me.

"Dad!" I screeched. "Way to throw us under the train!"

"Sorry, Lily," he muttered. "But if I'm going down, I'm taking you two with me."

"How about you sit down, Mrs. Evans," offered James charmingly as he pulled out a chair for her.

"Oh, thank you James," she gushed.

Bloody perfect prick. He always knew what to say.

Dinner now turned from a thirty to forty minute meal into a two hour long ordeal. When was I ruddy going to be able to talk to James?

We need to talk!

Finally after smiling politely, talking when necessary, and frantically tearing my napkin into teeny tiny pieces on my lap, dinner was over. Thank Merlin! I could get James alone.

"James, why don't you and Mr. Evans go watch some television together?"

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" James asked.

"No, I'm fine, you guys go have fun."

James and my dad pranced off happily. I followed them.

"No, you don't, Lily. You're staying here to help clean."

I groaned. At this rate, I was never going to get him alone. Why did my family hate me?

Begrudgingly, I cleared the table. Since there were no pots or pans that needed to be washed, it only took us about three minutes. Mum, however, did not seem to want to let me go.

"Oh, Lily," she exclaimed as she patted my arm. "I was looking through my boxes today, and I found some of your old artwork that was in there by mistake. It was a picture of all of us in front of the house. We all had flowers growing out of our heads," she recalled with a sniffle. "You were such a talented little girl."

"Thanks, Mum," I replied as I returned her gesture a little awkwardly. Emotional people made me feel uncomfortable. I never knew what to say to waterworks. Plus, crying was gross. Snot was too disgusting for me to be sympathetic.

"I can't believe that this is your last year at school. Soon you'll be off finding a job and getting married and having kids and leaving me all alone with your father," she moaned.

Not if she never let me talk to James!

"What about Petunia?" I asked.

"Oh, she's too involved with Vernon to care about us anymore. She's all grown up now. Just like you," Mum wailed.

I bit my lip sadly. "Oh, come on, Mum. I'm still here. It's okay."

"Do you remember the day you were born?"

I laughed. "Honestly, Mum? It's a little foggy in my mind. I think I was too busy concentrating on being alive."

I smiled as my joke made her chuckle lightly.

"I'll never forget it," she told me. "You were such a beautiful baby. I remember showing you to Petunia and how happy she was that she was going to be a big sister."

"Really?" I asked.

"Really," Mum replied with a laugh. "She didn't want a new sibling at first. She got all huffy and threw a tantrum when your father and I first told her. Then, she'd whine every time we started talking about baby preparations."

"Sounds like Petunia," I grumbled.

"But then she saw you, all wrapped up in your little pink blanket and sleeping like an angel, and I don't think I've ever seen your sister any happier. She told me you two were going to be the best sisters ever in the whole wide world."

The corners of my mouth jerked upwards.

My mum continued to tell me stories about when we were little until Petunia, herself, entered the house. I ran up to her and hugged her bony body with all my might.

She looked down at me with disdain. She pushed me away from her. "What was that for?"

"Can't I just be happy to see you?" I asked her genuinely.

She eyed me suspiciously. "Yeah, well..." she said uncomfortably.

"Oh, girls," Mum gushed.

"Okay," said Petunia stiffly. "I'm going to my room, and I won't be back until my real family shows up."

I laughed loudly.

Mum decided we should go watch television with the boys because we were acting like saps and needed the testosterone. I followed her into the living room and, instead of watching the program, I eyed James the entire time. Any minute now, we would be alone so we could talk. After what seemed like ages of crappy sitcoms and annoying commercials, my parents finally bid us goodnight and trotted off to bed. I glanced at a clock. It only took us one whole day to be alone together. Bloody family.

As soon as they were out of sight, I grabbed James arm and forced him outside to the swings.

"We need to talk," I repeated his words from this morning.

James nodded somberly. "We really do," he agreed.

"Well..." I trailed off uncertainly. Now that we were talking, I had no clue what to ruddy say. Oh why did I never obsess about something practical?

"Lily, I'm really sorry for what happened yesterday," James blurted out abruptly. "That kiss never should have happened.

My face fell. How could he do this? I had finally decided that I liked him and he all of a sudden decided he didn't feel that way about me? What the hell? What was I? Rotten milk, or something?

Oh, Merlin. Did I just say I liked James Potter? I gazed at him as embarrassment shrouded my face. He looked so adorable and contrite as he looked down at the rock he was moving around with his shoe. I did like him. I liked James Potter!

Oh, shut up. You would too.

"I knew that you wanted us just to be friends, but then I acted like an idiot and let my hormones get in the way again. I just can't seem to control myself around you, Lily. I haven't been a very good friend to you. I'm really sorry. If you like, I'll pack my bags tonight and we can stage a big fight tomorrow so that I'll be out of your hair and you can enjoy the rest of your summer."

I bit my lip. "You—you don't have to go," I stammered.

"Really?" he asked, looking up at me with a hopeful smile.

"Yeah," I breathed.

He grinned warmly. "Oh, Lily, I promise I will make this all up to you. I'll work much harder to be a worthwhile friend."

I sighed heavily. "James, we're not friends," I told him.

His smile faltered. "What?"

"James we've never been friends, and we never will be friends. We tried to be, but we should have known it was a completely futile effort."

His eyes searched mine. "Does that mean...?" he trailed off.

He reached up to brush my hair behind my ear. "Lily, I can't take this fake relationship anymore. It's messing with my head so badly. I've wanted you for so long, and now that I'm so close to having you, I just can't make my brain function correctly. If we do this, we have to really do it. No more mind games and no more lustful revenge tactics. Because last night, when you kissed me-well, I'm not sure of anything anymore."

"James," I whispered.

"All I know is that I want it to be real," he told me softly as he wrapped his hand around my face tenderly.

I took a deep breath.

We need to talk. We need to talk. We need to talk.

Talking was overrated.

"Oh, screw it!" I muttered as I closed the gap between us and kissed him full on the lips.

James groaned into my mouth and I opened my lips for his pleading tongue. As I allowed my arms to gravitate towards his hair and my eyes to flutter close, I reveled in how completely alone we both were. No lies, no family, and no interruptions. It was just us, two willing participants.

Slowly, James broke away and placed his forehead against mine. I looked up at him and noticed the most beautiful smile on his face. It instantly became my favorite image in the whole world.

"What are you smiling about?" I teased him quietly as I pulled away slightly.

"You kissed me," he replied lightly as his thumb caressed my cheek.

I knew then that he understood. That kiss was my submission to my feelings for him. Suddenly shy, I looked down at my fingers fidgeting in my lap. "Yeah, well," I answered.

He lifted up my chin with his thumb and pointer finger. "Let's try to make a habit of it, shall we?"

And then he brought his lips to mine, and we kissed again.

Story credits to Molly Raesly