Envious Errands

"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Lily, get up."

I rolled over and avoided the fingers digging mercilessly into my shoulders.

"Lily," the voice insisted. "I am in no mood for this, nor do I have the time."

I cautiously peeked my eyes open at the person who was swatting me incessantly and tugging at my hair. Petunia. Wonderful.

"Go away," I moaned grumpily.

"That's what I'm trying to do," she huffed angrily.

"Well, do it faster," I replied as I aimed a kick at her.

"God, Lily, you are so horrible sometimes!"

I sighed. Is it weird that I thought she was right? I mean, on the surface, I was the perfect child. I never did anything wrong, I'd never received a detention, and I'd never even skipped a homework assignment. I only had two piercings, one for each ear, and I'd never had anything tattooed. Yet, I always felt this nagging sense that I just wasn't a good person. Maybe it was the witch thing. I never really felt the same way since I found out I was different. I was raised to be normal, and according to most religions, I was an abomination. Even though my parents loved me and seemed perfectly happy about my real nature, I still wondered what life would have been like if I just could have been normal for them. My relationship with Petunia would have been different. That much, I was sure.

I groaned. Merlin, I should not think in the mornings. I started trying to find logic in Petunia's words.

"Well, so are you!" I replied lamely and far too late.

"Ugh," she grumbled. "I'm spending the day with Vernon. Mother wants you to go grocery shopping because she and Dad won't be back until late tonight. You're on your own for dinner. Your boyfriend is reading my newspaper downstairs in the kitchen," added Petunia, wrinkling her nose at the thought.

"You hate reading the newspaper. You hate reading!" I reminded her as I begrudgingly forced my carcass up into an attempt at a sitting position.

Petunia clicked her tongue angrily. "Yeah, well, I would still like the option!" she defended herself prissily as she tugged on her blonde hair.

"Wait," I realized. "If James is downstairs, why didn't you just tell him all of this!"

Petunia grimaced. "Like I would voluntarily talk to a freak!"

"You call me a freak all the time, and you're talking to me," I pointed out to her rationally.

I smiled as I watched her blue eyes bulge and her mouth turn into a frown. Her eyes narrowed, and I knew I had managed to outsmart my older sister even in my early morning stupor.

"Yeah, well, you're my ruddy sister!" she huffed dramatically. "I'm going to be with Vernon," she declared before storming out of my room and slamming the door behind her.

Grabbing my pillow and inhaling its wonderful just-out-of-the-dryer scent, I laughed as I heard her heels clank as she raced down the stairs angrily.

Day three of this whole façade was turning out to be an interesting day.

No longer able to neither sleep nor ignore the grumbling of my stomach, I wrapped my robe around my tank top and shorts and sauntered downstairs. When I entered the kitchen, I found James sipping coffee and examining the paper.

"Morning," he greeted me from over his mug. "There's more coffee in the pot."

I nodded and poured myself some.

"Sleep well?" he asked me courteously as I poured some cream and two sugars into my coffee.

"Yeah, it was okay. You?" I asked because I felt that it was a necessary nicety.

"Okay," he replied back with a smirk on his face. His tone oozed secrecy.

I sat down in the chair beside him and pulled my feet up to my chest.

"I'm not even going to ask," I told him with a sigh.

He chuckled into his mug. "Fine, then I won't tell you."

I looked over at James. He was already dressed in tan cargo shorts and a burgundy red T-shirt. My eyes strayed over the place where his sleeve met his tanned bicep. I followed the sinews in his arm down to his hand, which was hovering over the newspaper with a pen waiting to be used. I leaned over him to glimpse at the paper. Merlin, he was filling out the morning crossword!

"What's a five-letter word for the best boyfriend in the world?"

"Hmm," I mused as I pretended to think about. "Prick?" I offered brightly.

The corners of his mouth quirked as I saw him mime out filling in the boxes as he said, "James," letter by letter.

After that, he went back to filling it out for real. I chuckled. It was just too ordinary for James Potter.

"What?" he asked me as he abandoned his position to turn and smile at me crookedly.

"You're using a pen," I replied with a laugh.

"Mmm," he replied as he looked down at the small plastic object and twirled it between his fingers with Quidditch coordination. "It's the only thing Vernon seemed to want to talk to me about yesterday."

I snorted a bit. "Scintillating conversation."

"Truly," he agreed with me sarcastically. "Though, I must admit, they make things much easier. I'd much rather write essays on paper with a pen than on parchment with a quill."

"But then it wouldn't be as, well, as magical," I explained as I struggled to find the right words to express my sentiments. For some reason, using normal writing utensils would just diminish the mystique and wonder of the whole wizarding world. I couldn't imagine Hogwarts with fax machines and fluorescent light bulbs. To me, the lack of technology made it feel less primitive.

James shrugged. "I guess," he said. "But it would be more practical. I've always found that muggles produce the most fascinating things," he said as he winked at me.

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed a piece of toast from off of his plate.

"Hey!" he argued as he tried to grab it back.

Quickly, I shoved it into my mouth with a large grin on my face. I swallowed before grinning hugely at him.

"Too late!" I teased in a sing-song voice.

"That was my last piece!" he complained.

"And it tasted really good," I commented with a smile as I licked my fingers just to incite him. I grinned even wider as I saw his eyes peel in anger.

"It's a good thing no one else is here. I don't have to pretend to like you," he teased.

I contorted my face into an expression of mock horror. "Jerk," I retorted as I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Brat," replied James, matching my feigned tone with amusement sparkling behind his glasses.

"I'm damn likeable!" I argued.

"Sure," he agreed sarcastically, but his smile gave him away.

"You're no dream date either," I rebuked.

"But, love, I'm your boyfriend," he reminded me in a cheesy voice as he draped his arm over my shoulder and let his hand caress the silky material of my robe.

"Only because the Giant Squid called in sick," I told him as I shot out of my chair to avoid his arm.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"We have to go grocery shopping. I think we should leave soon so that we have actual food in this house for dinner."

"Sounds good," he complied.

I fiddled with the tie of my robe. "I'm going to go take a shower. Try not to miss me too much," I said with a wink.

I held back my snigger as I felt his eyes on me while walking away.

I showered quickly and put on some denim shorts and a salmon pink, flowy shirt with cap sleeves and a rather deep scoop neck. I dried my hair with my wand and then threw it up into a ponytail. As I waited for James to finish up whatever he was doing in the guest room, which I could only presume was finding a way to make his ridiculous hair even more ludicrously messy, I ate a quick sandwich for lunch. It was my personal experience that going grocery shopping on an empty stomach typically led to trying to buy out the entire store.

I was just finishing the last bit of my tuna sandwich when James walked in. Yep, I was right. His hair did look even more purposefully disheveled. Biting my lip to stop myself from commenting and poking fun at his precious male ego, I walked over to the kitchen table and looked for a grocery list. I knew my mum. She would leave me a detailed list and instructions for how the day should go. Even though I was already an adult in the wizarding world and practically one in hers, she still didn't trust me to tie my shoes by myself. I guess it was a good thing I was wearing flip-flops.

I searched the table, but I didn't find anything. That was odd. She'd never just leave without a note reminding me to buy tampons at the store even if I was embarrassed doing so in front of male cashiers.

"Looking for this?" James asked me as he whipped out a piece of paper from his pocket along with some muggle money.

"Why do you have that?" I asked him suspiciously.

"Your mum gave it to me. She said I'd be less likely to spend it on sweets than you would."

"She obviously doesn't know you very well," I muttered mostly to myself.

"You're just jealous because your mum loves me more than you," he teased.

"Yeah, right," I scoffed as I attempted to grab the papers from his grasp.

"Not so fast," he warned me as he lifted his arm high into the air.

Damn his height! Damn my lack thereof! I peeled my eyes at him, and he smirked down at me. High and mighty git. "Potter," I threatened.

"Evans," he teased back.

"I will hex you," I promised.

He stared down at me like he was negotiating with an unworthy opponent. "Then I'd have to disarm you."

"I'm faster."

"I beat you on the Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L."

"No, you didn't!" I argued in outrage. "That was a fluke! My scorer should have given me an Outstanding. He was just being a prick."

James laughed loudly. "I still beat you, though," he continued as he stretched his hand even farther into the air.

I had too much dignity to jump in the air to try to retrieve it, so I did the next best thing. I whipped out my wand and summoned it. The list and the money zoomed to my hand, and I grinned triumphantly at James's shocked expression.

"Look who won now," I countered.

He shook his head. "Lily, you never cease to amaze me," James said as he bended down to kiss the top of my head. I swatted his face away.

"C'mon, let's go loverboy."

"Oh, no ruddy way in hell."

"Come on, James! It's just a car!" I told him.

"That's not a car. That's a death trap," replied James, eyeing the vehicle in front of us with a nauseated expression.

I examined the car. It was an older model, but it was still in very good condition. It had an engine and four wheels. Basically, I didn't need anything more. I only used it in the summer anyway, and that was only when Petunia didn't have it. Besides, it was red and had leather seats.

"It's fine. You're overreacting," I told James.

"Still," he argued apprehensively as his hands reached for his hair, an action which made his t-shirt ride up to reveal the slightest centimeter of skin. "I would feel more comfortable if we apparated."

"And that would be quicker, but then we would not have any place to put the groceries," I pointed out logically.

"Maybe your mum can just go tomorrow. We can eat whatever's left in the fridge."

"James," I said with a laugh. "The only thing left in the fridge is a jar of pickles and some mustard."

He fidgeted and took a step backwards. "Well, then I guess we can just order in food again tonight."

"Are you afraid to ride in the car, Potter?" I teased him with a shrewd smile. Something about James Potter, Quidditch Extraordinaire, being frightened by something as trivial and commonplace as a car tickled me tremendously.

"No," he replied too quickly and too feebly.

My grinned widened. "Good," I said as I grabbed his arm and forced him into the passenger seat on the left side. "Then you won't have any problems with me driving you."

As I shut the door, I swore I saw him jump a tad in his seat. Merlin, this was entertaining. Smiling smugly, I sauntered over to the driver's side, buckled myself in, and put the key into the ignition.

James glanced at me from his seat. He was grasping his own seat belt so tightly that the knuckles on his fingers were turning white. "You're sure this is safe?" he asked me.

"Of course," I said breezily.

"And you know how to drive properly?"

"It's like flying a broom," I told him, using a well-known wizard expression.

James nodded shakily and then placed his hands in his lap and prepared himself for the drive.

I laughed wickedly as I revved the engine and rapidly pulled out of the driveway before hastily switching gears and speeding down the road.

"Lily!"

Halfway through the ride, James either stopped being such a baby or finally peed his pants and started to enjoy the ride. I found his fascination rather annoying. He continued to roll the windows up and down no matter how many times I explained to him that they only did the one thing. He insisted that I show him what the windshield wipers did. Then he wanted to see it eight more times. He locked and unlocked the doors at least fifty times in a two-minute period. Merlin, I was ready to kill him. However, when I finally turned on the radio to try to block him out and keep myself from slamming his side of the car into a tree, I could not help but to be amused. James started to sing along to the muggle pop stars with made-up lyrics. I was almost in tears from my laughter as I pulled into a parking spot.

"You should never sing in public," I told him as I tried to calm my hysterics and flushed face.

"What?" James asked indignantly. "I thought I was rather fetching."

"Yeah," I retorted as I rolled my eyes. "As in I need to fetch myself a new pair of eardrums because mine died two kilometers ago."

James let out a huge laugh. "Ahh," he sighed as he unbuckled himself and opened the door. "I need to get a car of my own. They might take longer, but they're bloody fun! Maybe I can drive on the way back home?"

I tensed up on the word "home." It was weird that James felt so attached to my house. I let it slide, and plastered a smile to my face. "I don't think so. I would like to end the day with dinner, not a trip to the hospital."

"But, Lily, I wouldn't crash it!" he persisted.

"Maybe another time," I told him.

"Okay," he pouted immaturely. He crossed his arms around his chest and sighed like a little kid who had just been told he couldn't get the toy he wanted.

"C'mon, James. Let's go buy some food," I said in an effort to cheer him up.

It worked. He jumped out of the car, quickly ran over to my side, and pulled me to my feet before dragging me by my left hand into the store. He wasn't a fake boyfriend. He was my own personal toddler. Maybe I should use one of the children's shopping carts with the toy trucks in the front. Then he'd finally get the chance to drive.

Still towing me along, James entered the store. We grabbed a shopping cart, sadly the normal kind, and started with the produce section. I fished through my pockets and pulled out my mum's list. "Okay, so we need strawberries, apples, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and mushrooms."

James nodded and then helped me maneuver around the tree-hugging, animal-loving, organic-buying muggles. He smirked as he put one extra item in the cart. I looked down and saw a bunch of bananas. I rolled my eyes.

"Really?" I asked.

He laughed. "Maybe we can buy some more fudgesicles, too," he replied as he winked at me.

Against my better judgment, I laughed too.

As more time wore on, James and I had only made it halfway through the list, but our cart was nearly full from all the items James felt we needed and threw into the cart when I wasn't looking. I was sure my mum would appreciate all the candy and sweets that apparently were positively necessary for survival in the Evans' household. Maybe Petunia would eat it all along with the non-fat yogurt and carrots she ate every day for lunch. And maybe one day I'd get to run my own planet. All hail me, Queen of Lilyland.

I looked down at my watch. Merlin, it was nearly four o'clock! "James, we've been here for three hours!" I exclaimed. I hated shopping for food for too long. I always worried that the food would spoil or that I was buying too much and we'd never be able to eat it all before it went bad. Really, it was just too stressful of an errand. I felt too warm, and James's crooked grin was not helping my red face. I suddenly felt the urge to jump into the huge refrigerated case of packaged shrimp in front of me.

James grabbed my wrist and looked down at my watch. "Lily, we've been here for about an hour," he corrected me.

"But that means we only got here at three," I argued.

"Yeah."

"But we left almost as soon as I woke up."

James laughed and ruffled my hair. "Lily, love, you sleep for a long time," said James, putting an extra emphasis on the word "long."

"I do not!" I countered indignantly.

He laughed. "Yes, you do. I swear to Merlin that you're trying to hibernate in the wrong season. You're a new rare class of being, Lily."

"Thanks, that's what every girl longs to hear," I replied sarcastically. "I was compared to a bear."

"A cute bear," James corrected me.

Rolling my eyes, I shoved him in the chest and then looked back down at our list. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Potter."

"Because I am so often in your good graces, right, Evans?" he countered sardonically with a light chortle.

My mind imagined Fourth Year when I shoved him into the Great Lake. "True," I agreed. My expression grew more practical. "We should split up to get more done."

"Here," said James in a calm voice to try to pacify me. "I'll take the cart and go get the meat. You grab the fudgesicles and meet me, okay?"

I nodded in surprise. That actually sounded fairly intelligent for Potter. Weird.

I shook my head to block out my ridiculous thoughts as I walked towards the frozen food section.

Fudgesicles, fudgesicles, I repeated in my head as I searched rows of frozen desserts for my favorite oddly shaped treat. I was so engrossed in my hunt that I completely knocked into the person next to me and sent his box of ice cream sandwiches to the floor. I leaned down to get pick them up.

"Oh, crap," I said as I felt a warm hand cover mine. I looked up and saw the bluest eyes I had ever seen. I was ashamed to say that I stared at him like a lovesick teenage girl for a few moments before finally remembering that there was more blood in my body than estrogen. Quickly, with a pathetically bright blush on my face, I handed him back his box, which was now dented, and stood up.

"I am so sorry," I apologized meekly.

"It's okay," the boy assured me as he stood up as well. He was even more attractive standing. Looking like he was about my age, he had short chocolate brown hair and straight, white teeth, which he was flashing at me in a dashing, though obviously practiced smile. Still, it was enough to make me giggle like a thirteen-year-old.

"No, I'm such a klutz. It's all because of these moronic fudgesicles. Let me get you a new box," I offered as I turned to walk away.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me back with the gentlest of touches. "It's really okay," he promised.

"Okay," I said unsurely with a nervous smile.

"Hey, this might sound really weird, but would you happen to be Lily Evans?" he asked me while still not letting go of my hand.

I nodded as I brushed a piece of my stupid, conspicuous hair behind my ear to get my hand back.

"I knew you looked familiar!" he exclaimed. "It's Tyler! Tyler Shepherd!"

I gaped at him. Tyler Shepherd? My first boyfriend? I couldn't believe it! He was so tall! "Tyler!" I squealed as I reached over to hug him.

He returned my unexpected embrace with much enthusiasm until we broke apart. However, his hands never left my forearms.

"God, Lily, you look so different from what I remember," he said eyeing me. His appreciative glance told me that it wasn't different in a bad way.

"You too!" I agreed as I shamelessly let my eyes roam across the muscles on his arms. "You're taller than me now."

Tyler laughed jovially. "How are you?" he asked me eagerly. "I haven't seen you in ages. How's your new boarding school? That's in Scotland, right?"

I nodded. "It's great. I've really missed everything at our old school, though. What's everyone up to? I haven't seen anyone in so long."

"Well," Tyler began.

He went on to describe some of the accomplishments, losses, and scandals of people with whom I used to associate myself. To my surprise, I was actually really interested in what he was saying. An odd rush of nostalgia engulfed me, and I clung to his every word. These people, whom I had somewhat disregarded because they reminded me of Petunia and everything normal in the world, had been such a huge part of my life. I found that I missed them. I missed how easy everything was when all I cared about was Chelie Brown's botched perm job and Ian Hayes's latest rugby statistics.

However, I also had the added bonus of being able to openly examine every part of Tyler's face that I wanted as I listened to him. His skin had a warm tan color from the sun that contrasted nicely with the pink from his lips, which, when we were younger had been too full for his face, but now seemed just right. Light stubble was resting across his chin in a tantalizing way. His blue eyes were beautiful.

Unfortunately, that was it. I wasn't mesmerized by them. I didn't search for the meaning behind them, the flash of intuition, or the light of mischief. I was attracted but not captivated. Still, I enjoyed his smiles and obvious flirting. Maybe my love life wasn't doomed. I just needed to find the right person.

"So I told Cassie to just keep on driving and she'd get to Bermuda eventually!" Tyler exclaimed through a laugh.

I broke out into hysterics with him.

"Lily! Lily!"

I turned my head. James was practically running over to me and nearly smacking all of the other people in the aisle with his cart.

"Lily!" he said in a less bellowing, let's have the entire store know some girl's name, voice, as he finally managed to get into close proximity with me. "Where have you been? You were supposed to meet me."

He looked a little hurt. I suddenly felt bad for leaving him all alone in the store. I glanced down at my watch. Merlin, it had been thirty minutes! "I'm sorry!" I apologized as I attempted to control my laughter from before. "I ran into Tyler, and then we started talking. I completely lost track of time!" I gestured towards Tyler, who smiled at me widely.

"This is Tyler?" James asked in a curt voice.

"Oh, right, whoops! James, this is Tyler," I said as I motioned to my girlhood crush of all crushes. "Tyler and I used to go to school together. Tyler, this is James."

When I didn't say anything else, James added in a commanding voice, "Her boyfriend." Then he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

"Oh, Lily, you didn't mention anything about having a boyfriend. That's fantastic!" Tyler told me. "Nice to meet you," he added to James. Then, he stuck out his hand for James to shake.

"Thanks, Ty," I said with a quick smile before looking up at James's glaring face. Merlin, it was like he was shooting Avada Kedavra curses with his eyes.

I elbowed James in the ribs, and he reached out his hand to grasp Tyler's. I suddenly felt bad for Tyler's fingers. I was fairly certain that James was trying to break them. I sighed with relief when they let go.

"So you and Lily went to the same school?" James asked slowly with forced politeness. I felt his fingertips tighten around my waist. Okay, down boy. Merlin, the only way James could be more obvious would be if he peed on me.

"Yeah," answered Tyler, smiling breezily. His tone, however, was challenging. "She and I have quite a history together, right, Lils?"

Great, now Tyler, the sweet, innocent boy who let me share his crayons, was subjecting himself to this chauvinist display of male idiocy.

"Umm, yes," I answered hesitantly as I heard James emit a small growl from the back of his throat.

"Yes, well," said James, still baring his unnaturally calm smile. "I've always found that what's happened in the past should stay there."

Great. Maybe I should just leave. That way they could just whip out their wands and see who was bigger.

Tyler's face brightened in anger.

"Let's go home, love," James said to me.

Before I had a chance to respond, his hand was pushing me forward.

"It was nice seeing you, Tyler!" I called over my shoulder at the abandoned boy surrounded by frozen desserts.

However, James and I didn't make it very far. As soon as we crossed the aisle, only a few meters away from where Tyler was, James thrust me against an arrangement of sprinkles and hot fudge.

"What are you-?"

I didn't have time to finish my question because James covered my mouth with his.

It wasn't just a little peck, either. His hands reached for my face and lifted it up to his to allow for a kiss that made me want to collapse like melted ice cream, even in an aisle filled with freezers. My entire body felt hot as he touched me. I wanted more. The estrogen inside of me was burning to take over. My hands, on their own accord because I had no idea what was even going on, let alone had the presence of mind to do anything, wrapped around his neck as I started to kiss him back. His tongue slipped in between my lips as his hands roamed down the light fabric of my shirt until they rested on my lower back. Hungrily, his lips moved against my own.

Once I was entirely breathless and too dizzy to do anything about it, James pulled back with a groan. His hazel eyes never left mine as I struggled to breathe again.

"What was that for?" I asked as my chest heaved up and down.

James glanced over his shoulder and then shrugged innocently. "No reason. Let's go, shall we?"

He laced his fingers through mine and then started walking towards the registers. I don't know if he thought I was stupid or that his kissing expertise was so phenomenal that I would just acquiesce to everything he said. Okay, so the latter might have been true, but I was not so weak minded that I would just allow him to pull a stunt like that. I hoped.

I looked back at where he had previously glanced. Sure enough, Tyler was still standing there, clutching his broken box of melting ice cream sandwiches, with a shocked expression on his face.

"Why did you just bloody do that, Potter?" I asked him angrily. I ripped my hand out of his and turned to confront him in front of several bystanders, who couldn't mind their own business, and cans of beets that were just asking for it.

He didn't respond. He just stared at me wearily with fear in his eyes. "On a scale of one to ten, how mad are you going to be at me right now?"

"Eight and a half," I told him through gritted teeth.

He nodded and then fidgeted worriedly with his hair. "Okay, you can yell at me now."

I refused to let him get to me. James always did this. Whenever I would get mad at him, he had this insufferable habit of saying something adorable. He'd slump his shoulders contritely and ask for forgiveness with his doleful hazel eyes. Then, he'd smile at me hopefully and beg me to forgive him. It was impossible to not give in to his manipulative ways. But, I was Lily Evans, and I was pissed.

"Merlin, Potter!" I screeched. "Are you a complete idiot? Why the bloody hell would you pull such a moronic stunt back there?"

"C'mon, Lily. I'm supposed to be your boyfriend!" he argued back.

"Fake boyfriend!" I corrected him lividly.

"Well, how are we going to pull this whole thing off if you're flirting with blokes behind my back?" he asked me huffily with frustrated hand gestures that I noticed he used more when he was angry.

"Merlin, James! You make me sound like I'm cheating on you! We're not even really dating!" I reminded him in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, your friend reminded me of that, Lils," James said as he started walking into checkout line with the shopping cart full of groceries. "Tell me, how many other guys besides your father are allowed to use that nickname?"

"Stop it, James," I said as I slammed a package of string beans onto the conveyer belt for our cashier to scan. "You're being ridiculous. I'm allowed to talk to any guy I want. Besides, all we were doing was talking."

"It sure looked like a whole lot more to me," James fumed as he smashed a tin of cookies down. "Oh, Tyler, that's so funny. Haha-bloody-haha."

I really hated when he tried to imitate my voice.

"And then you had to go and make him feel like crap by snogging me."

"I didn't like the way he was looking at you," James defended. "I was trying to protect you." His hand flew up to his hair as he made that vulnerable statement.

"I don't need you to protect me," I reminded him independently. "I'm not your property or yours to protect. I am fully capable of taking care of myself and using my own judgment. I don't need you or anyone else telling me whom I can or cannot talk to, especially when that someone is just a friend."

His expression lightened when I emphasized the last bit. "I know that, and I didn't mean to tell you what to do."

"Well, you were being an ass," I told him truthfully as I placed a package of raw chicken down next to some crackers. "I wouldn't want someone I was really dating to act that way."

"Merlin, Lily, I'm, well, I'm really sorry for being such a prat back there."

I placed my hand on his arm reassuringly. "It's okay," I sighed. "You were just being a jealous boyfriend. I knew you'd take this whole arrangement too seriously." My forehead wrinkled with the weight of that knowledge.

He smiled apologetically at me. "I'll be better next time," he promised.

"You better," I threatened with a slight teasing quality in my voice. "Otherwise we might get kicked out of a store. I think we knocked down all those sprinkles with your little display of marking your territory."

"Sorry," he apologized again with sad eyes.

"Me too," I said. At the time, I hadn't really felt bad for talking to Tyler. Hell, I'd even admit I had been flirting with him. However, now, holding onto James's hand, I did feel a little guilty for betraying him, which, of course, made no sense whatsoever. My expression turned light as I brushed these thoughts aside. "I forgot the fudgesicles."

Then, James's entire face broke out into a glorious smile and he laughed freely. He kissed the top of my head. "It's okay, love."

When the bags were finally put back into our cart, the old woman working at the register gestured me to come closer to her.

I obliged and she hissed something in my ear before handing me my money.

As we were packing the groceries into the back of my car, which I would be then driving home, James asked me, "What did the old woman tell you before we left?"

I smiled. "She said that we made a good couple," I told him with a laugh.

He grinned and then hopped into the car. Smiling, I did the same. I thought about what other advice she gave me. "Dear, you'll be kicking yourself later if you lose that one. He's got a bum that gals go crazy for." Loony old lady.

Yep, I'd definitely keep that bit to myself. Any more over inflation, and his head would pop.

After our first unofficial lovers' quarrel, or, in my opinion, reason number 7,892 why I would never really date James Potter, things were back to normal between us as we put the groceries away. I wasn't too surprised that we had skipped over the awkward post-fight phase. James and I fought all the time. This was nothing new for us. Though, he usually did not snog me so incredibly thoroughly afterwards. Merlin, that was...

No, bad Lily. When this was all over, I needed to find an actual boyfriend fast. Apparently, all of my long years of sexual repression were taking a toll on my fragile mental health.

Since it was nearly six o'clock, James and I decided to make dinner. Well, I would be the one making it. His job, apparently, was to get in my way. The meal in question: spaghetti. It should have been easy. I, of course, knew better.

"James!" I scolded. "How many times do I have to tell you? Stop sampling the sauce, licking your fingers, and then reaching in for more."

"But, Lily," he whined playfully as he smiled his most crooked smile at me to sway my opinion. "It tastes so good, and I'm so hungry." He patted his stomach while jutting out his lower lip and gazing at me innocently underneath his eyelashes.

"Yes," I replied as contemplated whether I was his fake girlfriend or his substitute mother. "But then we won't have any left for the spaghetti."

"I'll control myself," he promised.

"Good boy," I praised him like the dog I never had. "Now go set the table."

He rolled his eyes dramatically but nonetheless retrieved two plates out of the top kitchen cabinet.

"So how do you know how to cook?" James asked me as he searched for napkins.

I laughed as I stirred salt into the spaghetti so that it wouldn't stick to the bottom of the pot. "Not everyone had house-elves growing up," I reminded him.

He laughed too. "Yes, my childhood of house-elves and empty rooms as I waited in my bed past midnight for my parents to come home and kiss me goodnight."

Not trusting my expression, I turned back to the bubbling sauce. I could just imagine James lying on a leather couch while spouting his feelings to a worthless man with a funny beard and a German accent. "That must have been hard."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw James shrug. "I knew they loved me. I guess that's all that really matters. Besides, house-elves are awesome company. You give them a butterbeer and they'll play poker with you for hours!"

I chuckled, but I couldn't help but to feel a little bad for him. Even now, James must be dealing with the knowledge that his parents had chosen something greater than him. Maybe that's why he tried so hard in school to be the best or pulled so many pranks. Did he really just want attention?

I heaved the pot of spaghetti off of the stove, and James rushed over to me.

"Let me help you with that," he offered.

Our hands brushed as I handed him the pot of scolding hot water. His eyes swept mine before he turned to concentrate on straining the spaghetti. Feeling very hot, I rushed to turn the oven off. Obviously, the heat of the stove was what was making my face blush so profusely. Then, I grabbed a bowl and ladled the sauce into it before handing it to James. He added the spaghetti and then joined me at the kitchen table.

"So, Lily," he started as he reached for some spaghetti after I had already taken some for myself. "Do you ever get really confused?"

"By your random questions? All the time," I told him with a light chortle.

He grinned briefly but continued without acknowledging my joke. "No, about who you are? I mean, you spend all year firing spells and concocting potions and writing with quills, but then, when you come home you're making your own spaghetti on a muggle stove. Don't you ever get confused as to which world you belong?"

I paused for a second to think about his question. Really, James had managed to capture the emotion I'd felt every day since I first received my letter. How did he do that? I took a sip of my raspberry iced tea.

"Sometimes, it's easier to forget that magic exists. Obviously, things with my family would be easier that way. Then they would always be able to understand what I was talking about or that my jokes were actually quite funny. My mum would be able to give me advice, and my dad wouldn't have to worry about me being bitten by a werewolf."

I noticed James flinch slightly, but I was too immersed in my monologue to ask him why.

"Petunia and I, well, it would have been different," I lamented as I stared down at my spaghetti.

"You wish it was," he said sadly.

I didn't respond.

"You would rather have never found out about any of it."

I looked up quickly. "No!" I assured him. "I love being a witch. Finding out that there was this whole another world that existed, let alone that I could belong to, that's something I would never trade for anything!" I assured him.

James smiled as he continued to eat his food. With an askance gaze I watched him slurp his spaghetti, pausing every so often to dart out his pink tongue and wipe away any stray sauce from his lips.

"Pass the cheese, please?" I asked because, really, what else was left to say?

About an hour later after we had cleaned up, I had proven to James that a dishwasher was not a demon but a genius, electronic device, and we had thrown bubbles at each other, we ended up on the couch in the family room. We were both too exhausted to find the remote, so we sat in front of the turned off television.

We reminisced together about our years at Hogwarts. With fond memories we recalled the time that Slughorn slipped on a spilled potion and screamed for his mum in true British style. He reminded me of the countless Quidditch games in which he had led the Gryffindor team to victory, and I reminded him of the thousands of times I found him in detention writing lines or cleaning trophies, to which he cheekily replied that the awards were often his. He described the on-going scandal that the Astronomy teacher was feuding with the Divination teacher over the position of Uranus. We both ended up in hysterics over that one.

"Do you remember Valentine's Day of Fifth Year?" James asked me as he excitedly turned to face me on the couch.

I concentrated on the memory. "Oh, Merlin!" I exclaimed as I started to laugh again. My hand rested on his leg as I tried to control myself.

"When Sirius sent that not-so-secret admirer bouquet of roses to McGonagall," James said through his guffawing.

"And kissed her right in the middle of Transfiguration!" I finished for him as I, too, laughed uncontrollably.

"Her face!" he exclaimed.

"All those detentions!" I added.

Suddenly, we heard the sound of metal clanking followed by the clip-clopping of heels.

"Petunia," I predicted confidently.

The sound of her heels became louder, and I knew that she was almost in the room with us. I mentally prepared myself for the headache I always got when I had to put up with my older sister.

Then, without warning or any chance to prepare myself, James pressed me down onto the couch and attacked my mouth with his own.

I felt every bit of his warm body match up with every bit of mine. Although he propped himself up a little so that I didn't feel all of his weight, I still had the sensation of an 84 kilogram boy against me. His left hand attached to my hip while his right rested dangerously near my ribs, his thumb creeping higher than it should in polite company. I was encompassed by the fresh, summer smell of him. James was everywhere.

Against my better judgment, my body reacted immediately to his touch. I gasped into his mouth, and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss even further with the same tongue that I had been staring at before. My hands flew to his hair with the mission of making it even messier than it normally was. My eyes closed, and I concentrated on how I felt, like this was too good to be real.

"What are you two doing-ahh!" shrieked Petunia shrilly. "God, warn somebody!"

And that's when I remembered that this wasn't real.

I pushed James away and wiped my mouth off with the back of my hand. As Petunia's heels clacked away, I worked on fixing my tousled appearance. With a discreet look at my partner in crime, I saw that James was doing the same.

Once satisfied with my appearance, I crossed my arms across my chest and focused my disapproving glare on his sheepish expression. "You'll exploit every available opportunity, won't you?" I asked accusingly.

He just smirked at me.

Story credits to Molly Raesly