Chapter 1: Horrible News

This is Lily's POV, taking place during the summer before sixth year. When I first began to write this, I intended it to be a one-shot. Of course, being as attached to stories the way I am, I could never write something like this in only one chapter; therefore, I had to divide it up into more chapters. Still, this thread is a lot of fun and I loved it from the start; you get to see a side of Lily that is completely unromantic, and it was an enjoyable experience for me to explore it. Haha. The disclaimer jazz is at bottom. Enjoy!

"Lily!" My mother called me from downstairs. "Lily, get down here! I have to tell you something!"

I sighed and put down the book I had been reading; my mother always had some strange announcement or another to give me, usually during the times when I desperately wanted to be alone. I dragged myself downstairs and into the kitchen, where my mother was busily flipping through her paper-stuffed briefcase on the counter. She was a journalist for the local newspaper, though I wasn't quite sure how that happened; organization is not really my mother's forte, and when you have to write as much as she does, organization is a key thing you need to have.

"Yes mum?" I said, trying to make my company known; I knew fully well that she would forget I was there if she was in the middle of something and I stayed silent.

"There you are, Lil," she said, putting down her briefcase for a moment to give me a hasty hug. "We're having dinner guests here tonight, and I want you to help me get ready for it."

Surprise, surprise; though I loved her, my mother rarely knew what she was doing, and in such times, I was enlisted as her second in command.

"When are they coming?" I had to know how much time I had to work with; that would help me determine how fancy I needed to get.

"About seven thirty," she told me, dumping a few loose papers onto the kitchen table. "But Lisa is very prompt, so we have to be ready at about seven twenty-five."

Knowing my mum, that would probably never happen, and if it did, it would require much physical exertion on my part.

"Does she have any kids?" I asked.

"Yes, one," my mother answered. "James or something like that."

I grimaced. "Mum, you know that you're not allowed to say the J-word in this house."

"Sorry dear," she apologized vacantly while trying to tug something out of her briefcase again. "But be polite, would you? I want to make a nice impression; Lisa hardly knows me."

"Then why is she coming to dinner?" I asked, mystified.

"Because I want to get to know her, silly!" She said this as though it was very obvious and I was being particularly obtuse. "I met her in line at the grocery store the other day, and she is a delightful lady. Her son is your age exactly, and I think you'll get along marvelously; he has very nice manners."

"Does he," I said, unimpressed. "What is their surname, do you know?"

"Potter," my mum informed me. "Her name is Lisa Potter, and her son's name is James Potter. Her husband…what was her husband's name again? I think it was Brian."

I froze up after the first sentence, ignoring everything after the J-word. "P-Potter, did you say?" I stuttered, hardly daring to believe my horrible fortune. I thought that I had been free of him on the last day of school! How could he follow me like this?!

"Yes, I said Potter," my mother said, seemingly unaware of my reaction as she pulled away at something else in her briefcase. "There's that story I was looking for; I told Mr. Universe that I had it, and I did!" she said in a sing-song voice, momentarily distracted by the uniting of her and her papers.

Mr. Universe was our nickname for Mum's boss at the paper, since he was quite arrogant and did fancy himself as the ruler of the universe. He was rather harsh if you didn't have your stories for him on time, and because my mum had a talent for journalism, he was more lenient; however, he did crack down hard on her once in a while, and it was definitely a thing to celebrate if she were free of that. But now was not the time to think about Mr. Universe; I had a much more pressing matter at hand that I had to take care of.

"Mum, we can not have James Potter and his family in our house for dinner," I said. "Especially not tonight when I'm not ready."

"Nonsense, Lily!" my mother dismissed airily. "I don't know what's so wrong about the boy; he seems very sweet."

"He's very clever; of course he would give you a positive first impression," I said hysterically. "That way, when you see him, he can disguise his evilness with more ease! He uses this tactic at school all the time; that's why he gets away with so much."

"Lily, you are being quite asinine," Mum said. "You are blowing this tiny little party out of proportion. You will be fine, all right? James is a lovely child, and even if he isn't, he won't misbehave while we parents are around."

"You don't know James like I do, Mum," I wailed. "You don't know how much he gets away with! You can't do this to me!"

"Relax," my mother said easily. "You will be fine. Now see if you can find anything in the refrigerator that we can warm up for tonight, and if there isn't, I will need your help with the cooking. You will also have to run over to Patricia's house and fetch Petunia; I want her to be here for this. Your father will be out of town tonight, so have her set the table for six."

"Why," I moaned as I trudged to the fridge. "You tore me away from my book, and now you try putting me in the company of James Potter? Is there no end to the calamity being thrown at me?"

"I don't want to hear any of that tonight, Lily," my mother chastised. "Be polite; it shall be a pleasant evening if you keep an open mind."

"Does being polite allow utter muteness tonight until they are safely out of our house?"

My mother sighed. "You will say hello, lead them to the drawing room, entertain James while we talk, eat with us, offer a little bit of conversation, then wish them good-bye," she said. "That's six major things you need to do; can you try your best to do them?"

"Will you pay me fifty pounds?"

"Of course not! I should not have to pay you to exercise good manners!"

"Will you pay me thirty pounds?"

"No!"

"Will you pay me fifteen pounds?"

Mum sighed. "If you behave well tonight, I will pay you five pounds. Will that ensure a pleasurable performance?"

"Ten pounds will get me to compliment Mrs. Potter's dress."

"Five pounds for all of it; take it or leave it."

I sighed. "I take it."

"Good," my mother said, beaming. "I'll give you the money after they leave if I feel that you have behaved well."

"All right," I grumbled. "But don't expect me to be nice to him after this dinner; after tonight, you will have to pay me again to get me to cooperate."

"No," my mother said. "You will be nice to Lisa Potter and her family whenever and if ever they come again. Do you understand me, Lily?"

"Unfortunately, I do."

"Excellent," she said. "Now, Mr. Universe wants my story in about a half an hour, so I need you to dig around in the refrigerator to see what we have in it, cook anything if necessary, and bring Petunia home. Can you please take care of all that?"

"Yes," I droned.

"Thank you." Mum stuffed a bunch of papers back into her briefcase, zipped it up somehow, and took it with her out the door. I rolled my eyes as I leaned back on the kitchen counter. According to the clock above the stove, it was two thirty in the afternoon.

That meant that I had five hours before my doom was to arrive for dinner.

Crap.

Well, isn't Lily absolutely delighted with her situation? xD Lol. –Pokes next chapter- Read it to see what she does next! But don't forget to leave a review. :D