"Do we have to go out?" I groaned, lying back on James's large, double bed watching as he styled his hair in the mirror. Sirius was lurking in the doorway, watching us with slight amusement.

"She's your sister!" He laughed, "It does seem like a bit of a waste of an evening considering what she's like, especially as we only have a couple of weeks off for Easter... you know what, maybe you're right. We can't leave Sirius anyway."

"What are you on about? I'm fine, I'm going to watch 60 minutes with Euphemia and Fleamont." Sirius said casually, "I think what you should be most worried about it you missing me."

"You could come with us. Your presence would make an awful evening better for both of us. I don't want to go but we have to." I groaned, burying my face in his pillow, "Mum will not be happy if I miss it nor will Tuney, she probably wants to show of her huge engagement ring. Besides, you haven't properly met her yet."

"I saw her at the door when I came round last summer." James said.

"That doesn't really count."

"It will be fun to meet Vernon though." He added and I genuinely couldn't tell if he was being serious or not, "It's not everyday you get to meet a... whale with a beard, was it?"

"Whale with a moustache." I corrected, "That's just the surface though, he's way worse. I honestly think he's the most boring man alive, he once spent an entire dinner telling me about the tyre industry and how James Callaghan is ruining everything with his liberal deals. Even Petunia was bored, she almost fell asleep in her low calories salad. He is awful. So, so awful. He takes awful to a new level."

"This should be a fun night." James said, with fake enthusiasm.

"The most fun night ever." I added.

"It can't be... I'm not there." Sirius said with a grin. He seemed a lot happier, especially now that the letters from his family had stopped. They didn't dare send them whilst he was staying with the Potters and both Euphemia and Fleamont were powerful and had a lot of connections which the Black family didn't want to mess with. Now that he was in a better mood, I'd seen him writing a few letters to Marlene too and he'd even briefly mentioned the possibility of meeting up with her.

James's dad was kind enough to apparate us there so we didn't have to spend ages walking or waiting for a bus or something. It meant that we got there on time and I was half hoping we'd be late and could miss the entire thing.

Petunia and Vernon were standing outside the restaurant looking like the most bored couple ever. Vernon would check his watch every ten seconds and say something to Petunia who would use her long neck to scan around the car park. Petunia had scraped her thin, blonde hair into a sort of 50s beehive which made her neck look even longer than it really was.

"She hasn't spotted us yet, we could turn around..." James began just as Petunia caught sight of us, "Nevermind, we're too late."

The moment Vernon and Petunia spotted us, they both straightened up, taking on a new pompous air. Vernon moustache moved in the wind so it almost looked like it was alive which almost made me laugh out loud.

"Lily." Petunia said in a mock sweet way as she gracefully extended her arms towards me. She pulled me into a quick awkward hug before pushing me away from her, "You've met Vernon before, but when you last met him, he was my boyfriend. Now he's my fiancée." She looked up at him in an adoring fashion which made me almost want to throw up.

"Lovely to see you again." Vernon said through a forced smile. He shook my hand in a formal, detached way as if I had some sort of nasty skin disease, "And you must be Lily's boyfriend, Jacob? Jasper?"

"James, I don't know where you got Jasper from." James snapped quickly, "It's nice to finally meet you, Vermin... sorry, Vernon."

I let out a small laugh at this before clamping my hand over my mouth and desperately trying to stifle the giggles. Vernon's moustache bristled in anger and Petunia glared before both of their faces morphed into awful matching fake grins.

"Well, everyone is introduced now, shall we head inside." Petunia said curtly, slipping her arm around Vernon's and leading him inside.

"Is he normal or is he... like her ?" I heard Vernon whisper loudly, knowing that me and James could hear. Petunia looked around quickly before nodding and pulling him inside. I saw James clench his fist slightly in anger before releasing it and giving me a small smile.

"Hello, we have a reservation, it's under Vernon Dursley." Vernon said, intentionally standing in front of us to show that he was in charge.

"Yep, table for four, is it?" The hostess said, "Right this way."

She led us to one of the expensive tables on the balconies, it was so fancy that it even had curtains that could be drawn over the entrance. I could see Petunia looking over her shoulder to check our reactions and I was pleased to see that James had the same blank face as I did.

"These tables are very hard to get, I had to make a few special calls." Vernon said as we sat down, "But this is a special dinner, only the best for our guests."

"We're not your guests." James said with a fake smile. We weren't even five minutes into the dinner and already things were going wrong.

"As we're paying, I think that makes you our guests." Vernon said laughing loudly and triumphantly.

"We could pay, we just - " James said, his voice becoming more irritated than before.

"So, Tuney, why don't you show us the ring." I cut in quickly to diffuse the attention.

"Oh yes, of course." Petunia's eyes lit up at the chance to show off her new diamond ring. In a graceful, practiced way she held her hand out to me. She had positioned her hand perfectly so that the light made little rainbows around the wall and showed off the huge diamond in all it's glory.

"Oh it's lovely." I said, "Have you set a date yet?"

"Well, we were thinking - " Petunia began but Vernon interrupted.

"We haven't set a date yet but some time next year in spring or summer perhaps. Petunia doesn't like the winter very much." Vernon cut in. I glanced over at Petunia who I had expected to be fuming over suddenly being interrupted but instead she had an annoying adoring face as she gazed up at him.

"That's exactly what I was going to say." She purred which left an uncomfortable feeling in my stomach.

"They'll probably have to set a date quite far away whilst he finds a suit that fits." James muttered to me which made both of us smirk slightly. Vernon hadn't heard us but I saw his face redden slightly as he realised that James had been mocking him.

"So, James, what are you planning to do after you leave your...special school?" Vernon said in an annoying patronising tone. I saw James bristle slightly in anger but somehow manage to stay calm. I gave his hand a squeeze under the table, silently thanking him for staying calm.

"There's a lot of things I could do, I haven't decided yet although I have started looking into being an auror - "

"A what?" Vernon scoffed, "Isn't an aura those things that hippies claim we all have?"

"No, that's different." James said through gritted teeth, "An auror is someone who hunts down and catches dark wizards."

"That's not really a proper job is it." Vernon laughed again, "You see, I work as a junior executive at Grunnings, it's one of the leading drill companies in the UK, we're quite big in the business world. It's too early to say but there have been whispers that I'm one of the lead candidates for the position of director. Now that's a proper job not your silly Hippie nonsense."

"It's not hippie nonsense, dark wizards pose a major threat to society, now more than ever." James cut back.

"They can't be that big a threat if they can't even make it into the headlines." Vernon laughed which Petunia joined in.

"Well I doubt your drill company will either." James huffed.

"It actually was in the Times just a few months ago actually, in an article about the ever growing car market." Petunia said with a smug smile. Vernon puffed out his chest at this, his mouth curving into a superior smile.

"That's wonderful, Tuney." I said sarcastically although in a sweet enough tone that it wasn't obvious.

"What about you Lily, any real jobs lined up? Petunia told me a bit about the school where you're at now, doesn't sound like it really sets you up for the world." Vernon said.

"It sets us up for OUR world." James said.

"That's all fine and dandy but what if you decide you want to be normal?" Vernon said. I wanted him to be quiet, he just carried on talking and talking. I though Petunia would be annoyed by this but instead she just continued to smile at him dreamily and smugly.

"We can still fit into normal society, don't worry." I said sarkily.

"Yeah, a few days ago we managed to get a train." James said proudly, "And not just one train, multiple trains. I helped plan it too so we can fit into YOUR society if we want to."

"You got a train, well that's not very impressive is it!" Vernon sneered, "Any idiot with half a brain can do it. I never take the train personally not does Petunia, we both have cars."

"Yes, you've seen my fiat haven't you, Lily." Petunia said with a smug sense of superiority, draping her arm over Vernon.

"Do you have a car, James?" Vernon said, his pig like eyes narrowing slightly as a slight sneer came to his face, "I know you're a bit young for a car but my parents bought me one when I was just 16. We had a big house with a lot of land attached to it so I could practice. It was a Fiat, designed by Marcello Gandini, you know of him obviously. Of course, I've upgraded now, that car was fine when I was younger but I needed a car that was fit for a grown man. It's a Lincoln Continental, you've probably heard of it."

"I haven't." James said, not even attempting to force a smile anymore.

"Well I wasn't really expecting you to." Vernon said, guffawing slightly as Petunia laughed shrilly next to him. The only person scowling more than me was James, "Any NORMAL man does though. So, James, what do you drive?"

"I don't drive because I don't need, we can just apparate - "

"Apparate? What's that, can't be better than a car!" Vernon sneered.

"It's better, trust me. I do have a racing broom though, a Nimbus 250, it's one of the best ones, I bought it this year - " James began.

"Sounds like you just can't afford a car actually. I understand though, I can't imagine you or your parents have much money, from what you said, it doesn't sound like you can get any proper jobs. Do you all live off unemployment benefits or something?" Vernon said, leaning forward slightly as if challenging James.

"Actually, we're quite wealthy, my grandfather invented sleakeasy, I doubt you would have heard of it."

"James..." I said, placing a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down but he didn't seem to notice. Petunia looked at me, her eyes narrow with anger.

"We keep our money in Gringotts, it's a Wizarding bank that you'll probably never get to visit, they don't let muggles in there." James said smugly.

"What's a muggle?" Vernon spat, his face red with anger. He may not know what it meant but Vernon clearly didn't like it.

"You, you're a muggle..." James said in an obviously mocking tone.

"James, please..." I said, looking at Petunia who's face was twisted in rage at me.

"I'm sorry, didn't you understand me? I asked WHAT is a muggle and you didn't answer my questions?" Vernon said, standing up and slamming his hands on the table so that the booth seemed to shake, "Or do they not teach English there at your special school."

"It's not a SPECIAL school, it's one of the finest institutions in the country." James said, standing up in the same aggressive stance as me, "You may not know it but your lovely fiancée certainly does, she begged to go there..."

"I didn't do that!" Petunia said suddenly and sharply, her voice so high and loud that it made both Vernon and James stop and listen, "I don't care what Lily's told you but I would NEVER have wanted to go to that freak school, you're all freaks there. I didn't beg or ask because I didn't want to go and be part of a world where they learn magic. It's for freaks."

If I had a galleon for every time Petunia had called me a freak, I'd be richer than James and Sirius combined so I was very used to it. Yet, this time her words seemed to stink me and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.

"Is everything okay here?" One of the waitresses scurried over to us, eying us up nervously and looking around at the other patrons who had noticed the yelling.

"No... I'm having dinner with freaks." Petunia spat, "Vernon, darling, I think we should leave."

"I couldn't agree more." Vernon said looking James up at down, his face screwed up with hatred. He held out his arm for Petunia who quickly grabbed and the pair of them sauntered out. I watched them go, wanting to call after Petunia but couldn't think of what to say. I hadn't been looking forward to an evening with her but somehow seeing her walk out. As she walked out the door, I saw her look back, a strange look of sadness and anger on her face before she disappeared into the night.

"Lily... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..." James said quickly.

"No, it's okay, he was rude too..." I said although I could feel tears running down my cheeks. I didn't know why I was crying, I didn't have to spend the evening with Vermin and Tuney, I should be happy.

"Oh, Lily, I'm sorry." James said wrapping his arms around me as I sobbed even harder, "Um excuse me, waitress... really sorry but I think we're just going to head out, it's been a pretty disastrous night."

"It happens, we hope that you'll come again and soon." The waitress said, looking a little relieved that the troublesome table had gone.

"Thankyou!" James said as he steered me outside, "Lily, I am really sorry about that, I just got angry and couldn't stop myself, I didn't mean to say that stuff about Petunia or be rude..."

"He deserved it." I said through my tears, "Tuney's never going to want to see me again though."

"Nonsense, Lily, she's your sister." James said although I wasn't convinced by his soothing tone, "I'll make it up, I'll write Vernon a letter or something... or maybe at the wedding. That's it, I'll talk to him at the wedding and apologise."

"Okay, I said, wiping tears away with my sleeve. I wanted to believe everything would be okay but I couldn't help feeling that that had been my last chance with Tuney and I'd blown it.