VINGT SEPT

lily edwards would make a wonderful lawyer, said no one ever!

( tw: mentions of traumatic events, homophobia )

MONDAY HIT LIKE a bus for everyone at Hogwarts. With the combination of James Sirius Potter's annual bash and spring holiday being just around the corner, no one was paying attention or was even awake during classes. 

A long block of Transfiguration droned on for James Sirius Potter. Honestly, did they really have to review a spell that they learned in fourth year? If someone hadn't become at least sufficient at that spell by now, he shouldn't have to suffer for it.

But, luckily for James, Lysander and Ben bailed him out by blowing up one of the boy's bathrooms ( honestly, they'd become quite the pair that absolutely no one saw coming ) and classes ended early, so the professors could clean up the mess and ( try to ) punish the boys.

"So," Fred said with a grin as he shoved James in the side slightly as they walked down the corridor. "Spring holidays with the Edwards's."

"Looks like it," James said with a smile. "And my family's coming too."

"Wait, really?" Fred groaned. "Fuck, mate, you're all leaving me alone with that lot?"

"Sorry," James teased. "Got a better offer."

"Where's my invite? I helped set you two up and I'm family!" Fred exclaimed. "I want to lounge in a Southern French villa!"

"Looks like your luck ran out, mate!" James called. "There's your boyfriend, though."

Lorcan's face appeared down the corridor ( as he had stayed behind to ask a question ) and Fred lit up. He jogged a bit over to where he was, pecked him on the lips and grabbed his hand. James watched, smiling, as they walked down the corridor together.

"Lost in thought, Potter?" Henry Stints asked as he came up behind him, nearly giving James a heart attack.

"Was until now, thanks," James replied sarcastically.

"Eh," Henry shrugged. "I'm a light walker. But what I'm not light on is information about Lily's parents."

"And this is why you're my favorite of her friends," James said with a cheeky smile.

"Yeah, sure," Henry grumbled.

"'t's true. I don't blow up things with just anyone, mate," James replied. 

Henry rolled his eyes and led James down the corridor. 

"So, her dad is Gael and her papa is Pierre — " Henry explained.

"Dad: Gael, Papa: Pierre, got it," James repeated. 

"Gael is English and an anesthesiologist — " Henry explained.

"Yes! She explained that to me ... something with muggle pain potions?" James interrupted.

"Eh, basically. Pierre is a bakery owner and French — " Henry explained.

"Ok so basically my Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill?" James concluded.

"Eh- no. Your Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill if your Aunt Fleur was a 45 year old French man who had a weird thing for Monopoly and if your Uncle Bill was a 48 year old English man who religiously follows Gucci," Henry corrected. 

"Oh-" James murmured.

"Yeah. Back to Pierre and Gael. Both of their last names are Edwards because Pierre had a falling out with his family, but you don't know that, so he took Gael's last name. They are Dr. and Mr. Edwards to you when you first meet them, then Pierre will look at you with a stone cold face and Gael will wave him off and tell you to call them — " Henry explained.

"Gael and Pierre," James finished. 

"You're getting the hang of it," Henry said with a smile as they continued to walk. "Lily is very protective of her parents — "

"Yeah I got that," James muttered.

"So it is crucial that you at least try to get along with them first time meeting them," Henry continued.

"Did you get along with them?" James asked.

"Potter? Are you daft? I'm a gay, Scorpio, potions whiz, which translates to muggle chemistry aka Gael's niche, who also happens to be one of the best friends of their daughter," Henry retorted with a snort. "Of course we got along."

"Wait what are their astrological signs?" James asked desperately.

"I forgot you were raised by women," Henry muttered. "There is hope for you yet!"

"That's great, what are their signs?" James pushed. 

"Jeez, someone is pushy. Gael is a Taurus and Pierre is a Virgo," Henry revealed.

"So it's just three earth signs all in one house?" James asked.

Henry nodded and James grimaced.

"But you're a-" Henry reasoned.

"A water sign, yes I know, so I'll get along with them for the most part," James muttered. "Do you have anything else in their chart?"

"Wow you're really into this," Henry said incredulously.

James just gave him a bored stare.

"It's not something I advertise, but when asked..." James replied. 

"Noted," Henry said. "I do not, but based on their personalities — I'd say that Gael is an Aries moon or at least has two major fire placements and Pierre has a Gemini moon for sure."

"Ok that works. We'll get along well," James muttered to himself.

"But the biggest thing to remember is that they only had each other for a while, so they're closer than literally anything that I've ever seen," Henry said cautiously. "They will include you in things and will make an effort, but just know, that if they don't like you — really don't like you — there is a very high chance that Lily will dump you." 

"Just because her dads don't like me?" James asked nervously.

Henry nodded and James gulped.

"But you'll do just fine," Henry exclaimed with a cheery smile.

"Thanks, mate," James replied mirthlessly. 

"Because I'll tell you how to win them over," Henry said.

"But won't they be able to tell?" James asked.

"True," Henry muttered. "Pierre has the best nose for bullshit that I've ever seen." 

"So I'll just be myself then?" James suggested cautiously.

Henry looked at him with a resigned look and nodded gravely.

"So it's probably best I don't tell you then," Henry reasoned.

"No, no, you can still tell me," James urged him.

"Don't think I will," Henry said mischievously. "You'll be fine. They're great and they'll love you."

"Stints — " James tried to protest.

"Worst comes to worse, owl me and I can come and help," Henry said.

"Alright," James conceded with a grateful smile.

"And there's my boyfriend, deuces," Henry said with a mock salute when he spotted Will going into the Great Hall.

James watched as Henry jogged forward, caught up with Will and slung an arm over his shoulder, grabbing his hand in the process. He smiled and laughed mirthlessly a little bit, but then shook his head and turned away. 

He was happy because it was finally spring holiday and he could take his mind off of school for a while, that is, unless he wasn't going to his girlfriend's French holiday house with her parents and his family. 

He needed to debrief Al and Lunes on how to act because even if Gael might have been loud, Pierre wasn't and he needed to appeal to both parents. 

He quickly wrote two paper planes to the both of them to meet him after dinner. When he entered the dorm again, he saw Lily in a familiar place: bouncing her leg, chewing her lip and fidgeting with her fingers. 

"What's wrong?" James asked as he hung his robe on the rack and kicked off his shoes. 

He loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt a little as he sat next to Lily.

"Just- before you come to meet my parents and see ... my world, there are some things you need to know," Lily said carefully as she looked back up at him.

She was nervous, of course she was, there was a boat load of trauma surrounding her childhood and so it was reasonable that she was nervous to tell anyone. But, she knew that James would be ok with it and that he would support her because he did the bare minimum. 

"So, when I was little, people weren't too ... fond of my parents and their ... you know," Lily awkwardly explained.

"Gayness?" James finished with a curious, but concerned look.

"Uh- yeah and so we had to move around a lot," Lily continued. "But there was one time when I was around 7 when ... well there was this group of kids ... they must've been around our age at the time and they threw a molotov cocktail — "

"I'm so sorry, I'm listening, but ... what ... is that?" James asked.

Lily calmed down a little bit after the question, "a molotov cocktail is a bottle of flammable liquid, like alcohol, with like a paper towel or something inside and they first used it in World War II and it basically becomes a small bomb."

"Oh," James muttered as he started to realize.

"So, they threw it in our kitchen," Lily said.

"Oh," James said as he looked at her with wide eyes and grabbed her hands. She, however, took her hands back and he didn't try again. 

"I don't remember most of it because I've sort of blocked it out, but I do remember that it shattered the kitchen window and it cut my hands. That's why I'm super weird about people touching them," Lily explained.

James nodded gravely and pulled his hands back to his own body.

"My dad was yelling at me to get out because I was near and the kitchen and it was on fire," Lily said with an awkward chuckle. "And I guess I did, but basically what happened when I avoided you ... that's the same thing that happened ... I mean obviously it wasn't the same thing, it was the same process in my brain ... like autopilot kind of ... and I just- I've always had ... issues with opening up to people especially- especially people I care about."

"Almost like if you do, they'll think you're weird or worse," James finished timidly.

"It's silly — " Lily deflected.

"It's not silly, Lil," James coaxed. "And I know you know that. You don't have to tone down your emotions about that with me."

Lily started to tear up and she nodded vigorously. 

"Can I hug you?" James asked softly.

Lily nodded and she dove into his body, burying her face in his stomach as he ran his hands up and down her back. 

"Thank you for feeling comfortable enough to tell me," James mumbled into her hair as he softly kissed it.

She nodded slightly into his chest as she hugged him a little bit tighter. 

"And I'm going to fucking kill those kids," James muttered to himself.

"Please don't," Lily mumbled into his chest.

"You weren't supposed to hear that," James said as Lily sat up and looked at him with bloodshot eyes. 

"But please don't," Lily urged him.

James brought his hands up to her face and caressed her cheeks, wiping away some of the tears that started to fall again. 

"I just- I just don't want to think about them anymore," Lily said in a serious tone as she stared at her hands.

"Ok," James said softly. "Then we won't think about them anymore. So what would you like to think about?"

Lily shook her head and continued to stare at her hands, the cogs in her head turning at a rapid speed, she sniffed and then looked up with a slight smile.

"My dad has the same favorite movie as your sister," Lily said with a sniff.

"Mamma Mia?" James asked excitedly.

"Yeah ... oh! I am warning you that we do sing along to ABBA about 98% of the time," Lily said with a nostalgic chuckle as her eyes lit up a little.

"Sounds perfect, love," James said with a content smile. 

Lily laughed a bit as a couple more tears slipped down and she hugged James again — throwing her arms over his shoulders as he held her around the waist. They stayed like that for a while and Lily let out a contented sigh. 

James was late to meet an impatient Albus Severus Potter ( but to be fair, he normally was patient, but he had OWLs coming up that he really needed to study for and James was taking forever ) and Lily Luna Potter. 

"Sorry I'm late," James shouted as he reached their meeting spot. 

Ever since they'd first come to the school and Teddy pointed out the spot where their Aunt Hermione attacked their Uncle Ron with magical birds, they claimed it as the top secret Potter sibling meeting spot. 

"Only took you bloody forever," Albus grumbled as James plopped down next to him and Lily Luna.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" James asked. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Oi shove off," Albus said as he shoved James. "OWLs"

"Ah, OWLs, I remember the time. Bloody hard and practically impossible to pass unless you're my girlfriend," James said with a smug smile.

"We get it, you're shagging the smartest witch in the school," Albus grumbled.

"Hey!" Lily Luna screeched. "I'm the baby! What would mum say?"

"Oh shut it, Lunes, you're just as innocent as Moaning Myrtle," Albus shot back.

Lily Luna just pouted, but conceded. 

"So, on the order of business of — " James announced.

"Lily's parents," Albus and Lily Luna said simultaneously.

"Not just Lily's parents, but — " James continued to explain, slightly annoyed.

"How to impress them," Albus and Lily Luna finished simultaneously, again. 

"Well if you're so bloody brilliant, then why don't just you two go!" James huffed.

"Stop acting like a 3 year old, we're just messing with you," Lily Luna groaned.

"Are you this mean to everyone?" James asked.

"Only to you, Jamesie," she retorted with a wide smile. 

"So, what's the plan?" Albus asked as he looked at his watch. 

"So, they're all really big fans of ABBA, which, now that I think about it, explains Lily's obsession with the 60s and 70s," James revealed.

"As in Mamma Mia?" Lily Luna asked excitedly.

"Yes, exactly, she said that Mamma Mia is even her dad's favorite movie," James said.

"And her dad is ...?" Albus asked.

"Her dad is Gael, who's the English one and her papa is Pierre, the French one," James replied.

"And her French ... Pierre ... papa ... person is a baker?" Albus asked.

"Yes," James confirmed.

"And her English ... Gael ... dad ... person is a muggle healer?" Albus asked again.

"Basically," James replied.

"And do they know about magic?" Albus asked.

"She's said a couple times that she's tried to explain it to them and they've pretty much got the hang of it ... but I don't really know what that means for muggles, so just be prepared to explain this, I guess," James explained. 

He looked down and saw that Lily Luna had parchment and a quill out, taking notes.

"Are you taking notes?" James asked in an amused tone.

"You know I can't remember anything!" Lily Luna defended. "And besides, you two are destined for each other and I don't want to be the reason you two have to break up." 

"Right ... well ... I appreciate it, Lunes," James said in a kinder tone.

Lily Luna nodded dutifully. 

"I'm sure we'll be fine, J, just breathe," Albus said with a kind smile as he placed a hand on James's back. 

James nodded, Albus nodded and Lily Luna felt very left out, but not so much when Albus got up to go and study for his OWLs ( much to James's dislike because he still had more to tell them, but Al was one of the most stubborn people he'd ever met, so not even James and his powers of persuasion would stop him studying ). 

James then looked at Lily Luna, who was studying her notes, reached up and ruffled her hair. She pouted and yelled at him, but he had quickly gotten up, sparing himself from her red ball of fury that she was about to become. Lily Luna Potter didn't like anyone touching her hair. 

"I'll get you back, James!" Lily Luna roared after James as he ran down the hallway, giggling. 

"Not likely, short stack," James called after her. 

She stamped her foot as her face went red, but then she sprinted off after him, her red hair flying behind her. The entire school was privy to the screams and shouts of James Sirius Potter and Lily Luna Potter playing a game of chase ( with James clearly winning, but slowing down a bit to give Lily Luna a little bit of a chance ). 

The ribbon that tied Lily Edwards's hair fluttered as her boyfriend sprinted past her, quickly followed by his red-headed little sister. She watched with flushed cheeks as the siblings interacted. Secretly, even though she loved her comfortable situation, she wished she'd had a sibling or two. 

James ran all the way to the quidditch pitch and was out of breath by the time he got there, only to be tackled by Lily Luna Potter in a heap of heavy breathing. She landed on his back, sending him to the ground, but right before he hit the ground, he flipped his body to catch her safely ( thanks to many times falling off his broom in quidditch, thus allowing him that skill ). 

When he leaned his head up, he saw that her face was as red as her head and he collapsed into a fit of laughter again. She buried her head in his stomach as he brought one leg up and put his hand over his eyes. 

"Stop ... laughing!" Lily Luna gasped as she hit his stomach, causing him to flinch.

"Not if you keep hitting me like that!" he yelled back. 

"Well I'm hitting you because of your laughing!" Lily Luna protested.

"Which is warranted! Have you seen your face? It's just as red as your tomato hair," he asked as he started to laugh again. 

"I'm going to tell mum you said that," Lily Luna threatened. "You know how she feels about her hair. In fact, I'm going to tell all of them."

James Sirius then sobered up immediately, knowing that insulting the red Weasley hair was a death sentence.

"Please don't," he said seriously. "Fuck, what do you want from me?"

"One afternoon in France with just me and Lily," Lily Luna replied as she looked at him with puppy eyes.

"No!" James moaned. "I have a plan for us!"

"Well, plans can change!" Lily Luna exclaimed. "They'll either change to include one Lily squared only afternoon or your funeral, you choose!"

"You- you know you're much more demonic than that happy-go-lucky front you put on," James grumbled as he glared at her. "Spawn of satan, I'll tell you."

"James Sirius Potter!" Lily Luna huffed. "I'm the second youngest of all of our cousins ... I'm the devil herself."

"Don't I know it," James grumbled as he laid back down on the grass. "Get off!"

James then pushed her off of his stomach and stood up. He turned around to see a face-planted Lily Luna Potter sending him her middle finger, but when she looked back up ( to see if he was still there ), she saw not only both of his own, but magically projected ones as well.

"I win," James said victoriously. 

"I hate you," Lily Luna grumbled.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game," James hummed as he turned.

"I'll hate the player all I want!" Lily Luna yelled after him as she pushed herself off the grass and ran towards him. 

"Well you may hate this player, but the player also demands to know what's going on with you and your boyfriend," James called back to her, fully knowing that she was following him back to the castle. 

"He's not my boyfriend," Lily Luna grumbled, but her cheeks were a bit pink.

"So he's your boyfriend," James said again with a smirk.

"I just said — " Lily Luna protested.

"Ah, you did just say that, but dear little sister, you blushed while you said it," James teased.

"I don't like him like that," Lily Luna ( tried to ) protest again.

"And why's that?" James asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because ... because you're not supposed to have crushes on more than one person, right?" she asked as she looked up at him.

James then sobered up a bit, knowing that she was being serious.

"Well I did," James revealed.

"Really?" Lily Luna asked as she looked up at him.

"Well, sure, I always had a crush on Lily — " James replied.

"You were hopelessly in love with her," Lily Luna corrected.

James rolled his eyes, but smiled and continued, "and then I also liked Marcy Leeds for a while and then of course Millie Williams and more birds too."

"Oh," Lily Luna muttered.

"It's not bad to have crushes on multiple people, whether they're a different gender or ... the same one," James said carefully.

Lily Luna's head shot up and she looked at him with a bit of alarm.

"How did you — " she demanded.

"I may be a twat and an arsehole, but I'm still your older brother," James said with a knowing smile.

"You're right," Lily Luna sighed. "You are a twat." 

She looked up to see James just nodding and she broke into a sea of giggles. 

"Just don't tell mum and dad ... or anyone else really," she said quickly. "I'm just ... not sure yet."

"You have my word, Captain," James said with a mock salute as he entered the Great Hall and parted ways with Lily Luna to find his friends. 

When he reached their table, everyone was abuzz with spring holiday plans, whether it be their own or someone else's. Charlie was back ( much to Ruby's delight ) and sat with Lorcan and Ruby as they jauntily discussed some trip that Luna and Rolf were going to take them on. 

Lysander, Ben, Ryan and Nyah sat, talking about quidditch games that were going on over the break and Henry, Estelle and Lily were talking ( or rather, complaining ) about the loads of applications for jobs and internships that they would have to do after the break. 

"Have you thought about the teams that you're going to seek out?" Lily asked as he sat down.

"'course," James said. "Magpies are at the top of the list, obviously, then probably Puddlemore and I have to consider the Canons for Uncle Ron or I don't think I'll last to next year-"

"Oh my god I forgot to tell all of you," Nyah yelled. "The Holyhead Harpies approached me."

"Finally!" Lily yelled as she let out a deep breath. 

James noticed her visibly relax a little bit and smiled at how much she cared. 

"And not even for reserve," Nyah said with a giddy smile. "They want me as keeper!"

"That's fucking fantastic, Thomas," James said with a huge grin. 

"I'm so proud of you, Ny!" Estelle exclaimed.

"That's my girl!" Ryan shouted as he pulled her in by the side and attacked her cheek with kisses as she giggled. 

"Everyone! Listen up!" Ben yelled as he stood on top of the table.

The rest of the hall, naturally, turned towards him and quieted down.

"My sister, Nyah Angelina Thomas, is going to play for the Holyhead bloody Harpies next year as their keeper!" Ben shouted into the hall.

"Mr. Thomas!" Professor Clearwater exclaimed. "No cursing in the Hall!"

"'Bloody' is barely a curse word, Professor!" Ben exclaimed.

"Mr. Thomas!" Clearwater protested as she stood next to the table. "Ms. Edwards, Mr. Potter."

Clearwater then looked at them disapprovingly and motioned to Ben. Lily and James looked at each other with fear in their eyes and immediately sprung into action.

"Don't- uh- don't curse, Ben," Lily said with fake assertion.

"There are kids, Thomas," James fakely reasoned with him.

"I'm not a kid!" a random first year yelled from across the hall.

"I didn't ask you!" James yelled back. "I worked hard for this job!"

"No you didn't," Lily corrected.

"No I didn't," James conceded. 

"I will not be tamed," Ben announced.

Lily then motioned up to the standing boy while looking at Clearwater, "he won't be tamed Professor."

"You would make a wonderful lawyer, Ms. Edwards," Clearwater deadpanned with an unimpressed look. 

"I mean, to be fair, Penelope — " James tried to reason.

"Professor Clearwater," she corrected.

"Penelope, he did say he wouldn't be tamed and in a muggle court of law, that would be a witness statement and could then be used as evidence," James reasoned as Lily looked at him weirdly.

"How do you know that?" Lily asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Don't question it, Lil," James hissed as he maintained eye contact with Clearwater with an amused look on his face. 

Lily just accepted it, honestly, it wasn't the weirdest thing about him, and opted to settle her ( also ) amused gaze on Clearwater as she set her head on top of her hands. 

"Penelope," Professor McGonagall coaxed as she walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "My time here has taught me that it's best to pick your battles. And when it comes to ... certain ... families, you will do best to not pick those."

Nyah snorted and Ben slapped his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing while James choked on the water that he was drinking ( but still maintaining eye contact, although the choking caused him to break it ).

"Did I say something untruthful, Mr. Potter?" McGonagall challenged. 

"No, Professor," James said as he continued to cough. 

"Good," McGonagall tutted as she led Clearwater back to the teacher's table, where Neville was sitting with a glass of spiked pumpkin juice that he'd had on hand. 

"So, any news for all of you?" Nyah asked excitedly. 

Everyone then delved into the various programs that they were considering and talked about certain areas and the countries that they were in. 

And then it clicked in James's brain. What the hell would happen after they graduated? He knew that his dad practically went into hiding after the war, but he knew that the rest of his family moved in with their significant others ( except for his Uncle Charlie, but his dragons were his significant others, in a way ) right after graduation. 

Would he and Lily move in together? How do you pay a mortgage? Would Lily be ok with that? He knew that muggle got married in their late 20s to early 30s, but wizards got married at like 22. Would she find it weird? Did she want to get married later on in life? Was he ok with waiting?

Holy fucking shit, did he want to marry Lily Janes Edwards, for real?