This chapter is based on exclusive content released by the lovely J.K. Rowling on Pottermore…which I don't claim to own.

A/N: I reread the part on Pottermore that talks about how Vernon and Petunia fell in "love", and their relationship with James and Lily…and just had to write my own take on that dinner. Here it is!

Dinner for Four

It was Easter holidays, and James had insisted that Lily come home with him to meet his parents. Really, she hadn't minded- Mr. and Mrs. Potter were a lovely old couple who doted on her and told her adorable stories (though James called them embarrassing) about the little James Potter. The evening she spent getting acquainted with them passed away very pleasantly, with only a few awkward pauses and mishaps, and Lily was feeling very good about herself as she apparated back into the living room of her house at half-past ten.

Lily heard a shriek. Blinking she looked at Petunia and her fiancé, who were staring back at her, angrily. By the looks of it, her appearance had broken up a rather heavy make-out session.

Trying to swallow the bile that rose in her throat, Lily said, "Oh, I am so sorry. Do excuse me," and made a hasty exit, leaving the disgruntled couple staring after her.

She nearly sprinted into the kitchen, where her parents were lounging around in their dressing gowns, sipping at tea and munching on biscuits.

"Hey Lil," Mr. Evans said with a smile that made his grey eyes crinkle. "Did you just pop in on Petunia and Vernon?"

Lily's mother laughed at her as Lily felt her face turning red.

"'t's not funny! Do you know what they are doing in there?" She squeaked, flopping down at the dining table, a hand over her eyes.

"What?" her father asked, sharply.

"Tea?" her mother asked, rolling her eyes at Lily's father.

"SNOGGING, that's what!...and yeah, thanks, Mum."

Her father sighed in relief while her mother pointed out, "An engaged couple is allowed to kiss, sweetheart. I'm sure you kiss James every now and then." Her green eyes twinkled as she said this. Remembering how James Potter's lips had felt on hers right before she apparated home, Lily blushed. She pushed that dangerous train of thought out of her mind.

Ignoring her father's "I hope that's all you do," she said, "Not in our living room, I don't."

"How was dinner at the Potters', by the way?" her mother asked, pushing a cup of tea and some biscuits in front of her.

"It was fun," Lily said, helping herself to a biscuit. "Mr. and Mrs. Potter are really nice."

Mr. Evans got up and stretched. He tousled his shaggy blond hair, reminding Lily instantaneously of James.

"I think it's time I shooed your sister's fiancé out of our house, before you scare him with more magic, yeah?"

Lily laughed.

"Yes, please!"

As he walked down the hall, Mrs. Evans turned her critical stare to her youngest daughter.

Lily avoided her gaze, wolfing down another two biscuits.

"What?" she asked with her mouth full.

"I do wish you would try to give Vernon a chance, is all, Lily."

Lily opened her mouth at the injustice of it all, before closing it quickly, remembering the biscuits in her mouth. She swallowed before trying again.

"Mum, I just met the guy two days ago, and Petunia refuses to let me be in the same room with him…and it's somehow MY fault that I haven't gotten to talk to him?"

Her mother gave her a stern look. "I want you to try harder…you know, why don't you and James go out with Petunia and Vernon tomorrow, if they don't have any other plans?"

Lily drained the rest of her tea, put it in the sink, and went to change out of her wizard's robes, muttering under her breath, "No way in hell."

"So, we're meeting your sister and her fiancé at the restaurant?" James asked, adjusting his pants and shirt in the mirror behind Lily as she combed a few tangles out of her hair.

"Yes, and would you stop fiddling with your clothes? You look fine," Lily said, giving her hair one last fluff before turning and facing her boyfriend. Actually fine was an understatement; the tan trousers fit his long legs delectably and the dark blue shirt accentuated his arms in a way that made tingles travel down Lily's spine.

"I'm just not used to these Muggle clothes…they're so tight!" Lily laughed.

"Trust me, you big baby, mine are tighter than yours."

"Now that I don't mind " James said, a mischievous glint in his eye. He raked her form, lingering on her chest which was accentuated by her button-down, and the flare of her hips that she was already self-conscious of.

He looked back up at her, and even though Lily tried her hardest to look disapproving, the way his eyes had darkened made her heart beat faster and she gulped. Despite herself Lily felt more confident- that look spoke volumes of approval, and something much more powerful…

"I'm sure," Lily said, trying and failing to sound wry. Her voice cracked. James' grin widened. "Alright, let's go." They stepped out and said one last good-bye to Lily's parents before holding hands and apparating together to London.

They traveled down a dimly lit road towards a casual-looking Italian bistro. Vernon and Petunia were already there, waiting for them.

"James…I know I don't need to tell you this, but please, please, please, be good," Lily murmured.

"Evans, aren't I always?" James muttered back, plastering a fake smile on his face. For all that, he took her hand quickly and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He let go as they neared the other couple.

"James, this is my sister, Petunia, of course, and her fiancé, Vernon Dursley," Lily said, rather awkwardly as they walked up the street to face the couple waiting for them with pursued lip and identical looks of disapproval.

"Nice to meet you," James said affably, shaking hands with Petunia who blinked up at him and instantly hated him for being tall, dark-haired, and good-looking. She returned his greeting with a short "hello."

"Hey," James said then extending a hand to Vernon, a questioning look in his eye as he took in Lily's rather puny and bony sister compared to this large and ruddy-faced individual dressed in a button down shirt and black slacks. Vernon grasped the extended hand for the briefest instant before letting go and surreptitiously wiping his hand on his jacket.

James could have chosen to be offended, but instead he looked amused. Lily wasn't sure if this was a good thing.

"Well, shall we see if there are any available seats then?" Lily asked, eyeing the crowd of Muggles doubtfully.

"Vernon made a reservation," Petunia said primly barely glancing at her sister before glancing instantly away again. Lily felt her cheeks coloring.

"That's great— then let's go find those particular seats, shall we?" James asked with a grin, linking his arm with Lily's and pulling her inside.

Lily trailed in after him with a dark sense of foreboding.

Once they had settled, Lily across from Petunia and next to James, they fell into an awkward silence until a man came to take their drinks.

"I'll have a brandy," Vernon said. "And Petunia," he gestured "will have some red wine." James raised an eyebrow. The waiter then turned to him.

"I'll just have some water with ice," he smiled. Then he looked pointedly at Lily. Lily saw Petunia narrow her eyes, and fought to keep down her blush. "I'll have the same but without ice, please," she said. The waiter nodded and left.

"So…" James said, breaking the silence. He ran a hand through his hair. "How many years older than Lily did you say you were, Petunia?"

"I never said." Petunia said coldly. James raised an eyebrow. Lily wanted to slap her sister.

"We're two years apart," Lily said.

"Must be nice to have a sister," James said to the two girls. Neither girl replied. James then turned to Vernon, who had crossed his beefy arms and seemed to be appraising James.

"Me, I'm an only child, but I always thought it'd be nice to have a brother or sister. How about you, Vernon? Any siblings?"

Vernon Dursley glared at him and didn't respond. His piggy eyes took in James' messy hair, which he sneered at disapprovingly. James found this rather amusing, and grinned sideways at Lily.

"Well—"

"You're one of…her lot, are you?" Vernon asked, gesturing at Lily. James sat up. Now a steely glint entered his eye. Lily, sensing danger, found James' hand and squeezed it. James sighed.

"If you mean, a wizard," Vernon and Petunia both winced, causing James to grin. "Then, yes, I am."

The waiter returned with their drinks and they began ordering food.

This time, Petunia ordered for herself. "I'll have a chicken salad," she said. The waiter nodded, and caught Lily's eye next.

"I'll have the mushroom ravioli," Lily said. Petunia shot her sister an amused look of scorn, her eyes flickering to her sister's figure, which was curvier than hers. This time Lily couldn't stop her cheeks from flaming. She sat up straighter and stuck her neck out in defiance.

James missed this exchange as he was staring at the menu. "I'll have some of the mushroom risotto. Looks like we both love our mushrooms, eh, Lil?" Lily smiled faintly at him. James put down his menu, dropped his hand under the table, and laced his fingers through hers. Lily's smiled brightened. Sometimes, it was so easy to love James.

"Yup. There's just something so magical about mushrooms," James said, his eyes trained on Vernon. And sometimes it wasn't.

Once Vernon recovered from James' statement, he ordered a large meal for himself, and the waiter went away looking pleased to turn his back on the table; the tension between the four was tangible.

Another awkward silence ensued. James broke it again, turning to look at Lily.

"I forgot to mention that the McKinnon's invited us over for Sunday brunch, if you're interested. Since it's the last day before break ends and everything…"

"Oh, that sounds fun. Who else will be there?"

"Pads…I mean, Sirius, of course…Remy and Petie, a few Dearborns, the Prewett twins, the Bones'…the usual crowd." Lily raised an eyebrow.

"The usual crowd for you maybe," she said. "I only know a few of them. But sure, I'd love to come. I'll have to check with my parents though…don't the McKinnon's live in Scotland?!"

"Yup," James said.

"That's a long drive," Vernon said. James turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, sure," he said, his tone dripping with amusement.

"What sort of car do you drive?" Vernon asked. "That is, if you own a car."

James laughed.

"What sort of car do you drive?" he asked in reply.

"A Vauxhall Chevette," Vernon said proudly.

"What does it look like?" James asked curiously. Vernon looked offended.

"It's a ruddy good car. Silver. Sleek. Leather interior."

"Well, me personally, I use a broomstick for flying, you know. It's sleek…it's made of gorgeous polished wood and aerodynamic—"

"Freak!" Petunia exclaimed, glaring at James.

"Tuney!"Lily said, glaring at her sister in turn, her face bypassing red.

James tried to look as if nothing was happening, but even his face had gone rather red.

"Yeah well anyway, we won't fly to Scotland…oh look, it looks like our food is here. Good, I'm starving!"

The waiter had indeed returned with their dinner and dished it out quickly.

"This looks wonderful," Lily said with a smile to the waiter.

After Lily and James asked each other how the other's meal was, no one bothered to fill the silence as they were all too busy tucking in. Once James was halfway through his risotto, however, he seemed to realize something and dropped his fork.

"Shit," he said, reaching into his pockets.

"What's the matter, James?" Lily asked.

"I didn't check how much Muggle money I have before leaving…" He pulled out his wallet.

"Oh sweetie, it's fine, I can get the bill," Lily said immediately. James ignored her.

"I have…twenty pounds. Will that be enough for dinner, if Vernon and I split the bill?" James asked Lily, only sparing Vernon a glance, who was turning a steady shade of purple at the prospect of having to pay for his future sister-in-law and her boyfriend.

"Definitely."

"How about with dessert?"

"You might be cutting it close…but I think we'll still be okay," Lily said, smiling.

"Oh, great."

"I suppose," Vernon interjected suddenly, wiping meat sauce off his face with a napkin. "I suppose that since wizards can't get normal jobs they must be living off unemployment benefit." He shot James a look of scorn.

James raised an eyebrow, more amused than offended.

"Hardly," James said. "In the wizarding world, we don't trade with paper notes which Lily tells me are "backed" by gold…we just use gold for currency."

Vernon narrowed his eyes.

"And where do you get this gold from?" Vernon asked, and his voice seemed somewhat polite for the first time that night.

James shrugged.

"I get it from my parent's vault in the underground Wizarding bank."

"Bloody wizarding bank he says, preposterous—are you making fun of me, sir?" Vernon said in a booming and loud voice. A few people around them shot him furtive looks. James looked taken aback.

"Not then, I wasn't, Vermin- er, Vernon," James said hastily, glancing at Lily.

"James!" Lily admonished.

Petunia, it seemed, had had enough. She stood up.

"I'm not hungry anymore. Let's go Vernon."

Vernon stood up with difficulty (his had trouble removing his belly from underneath the table) and allowed Petunia to pass him. He told James, "good luck paying for this meal in gold" and stalked out as well.

Silence ensued.

James broke the silence; he laughed before turning to Lily, an amused glint in his eye.

"Well, that went well, don't you think?"

Lily glared at him before turning back to her plate and shoveling some ravioli into her mouth.

"Uh, Lil?" He reached for her hand. She recoiled.

"Don't you dare James Potter- how could you treat him like that?" She knew she was being unfair, and wasn't surprised when James withdrew his hand, offended, his eyes flashing.

"ME? Lily, you saw how he was behaving towards us!" James practically yelled. Lily ignored him, eating another bite of ravioli. She was silently grateful for the crowded restaurant- there was so many people being loud that hardly anyone was paying them any attention.

After a minute, James sighed. He picked up his fork and dug into his risotto.

"Look, it's not my fault your sister has a large freak of a fiancé." He threw Lily a glare which turned into a look of astonishment when he saw that she was crying.

"Lily?" Lily quickly wiped at the tears falling down her face as her face become red and her nose began dripping.

"You're right James. You're so, so, so, right. She is getting married to a freak and I'm just- God, I'm just letting her! I'm a horrible sister, but James she loves him!" Lily said hysterically. James made shushing noises and patted her on the back, but nodded at her and made to look like he was listening.

"She loves him, can you believe that?! And he was so horrible to you! More than anything, I don't want my sister marrying an ass, because I don't think she'll be happy…but they're getting married! And he's such an ass! You know it's not even me being prejudiced—I wanted to like him, or at least you to like him, James, and this whole night, this whole thing is just…HORRIBLE!"

James put his arm around her and let her cry into his shoulder. He was feeling more than a little ashamed.

"Shh, shh, don't worry. I'm sure he isn't all bad- I really didn't try hard enough to get to know him, you know. It was my fault for riling him up, I'm really sorry. I'll try to make it up with him, and I'll try my hardest to get to know him next time…don't cry, Lily."

Lily, who had buried her face in James' shoulder, looked up suddenly.

"Really, James? You'd really do that?" she asked, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Er, what?" James said, blinking.

"You'll really try to get to know him again?"

"'f course," James said, grabbing a napkin and wiping Lily's eyes, trying not to think about what he had just agreed to. Lily laughed as he wiped at the tears on her cheeks and chin. "Anything for you, Lily," he said so sweetly that Lily's heart melted. She grabbed his hand, and held it in her own, looking up straight into his lovely hazel eyes, obscured by his glasses.

"I love you, James Potter," Lily said.

James smiled at her. He ruined the moment by ruffling her hair.

"I know," he said. "I'm glad you finally realized it. Now what's say we ditch this restaurant and go get some ice cream?"

Lily nodded. "It'll have to be my treat though, since you're out of money," Lily said, calling over the waiter to get their bill.

"I'll find a way to pay you back," he said, getting up. Lily followed him."Or…I won't have to if we get ice cream in Diagon Alley?" he asked, holding out a hand for her when they were a block away from the restaurant.

"Yes, alright."

"Who knows, we might run into Padfoot there," James said nonchalantly. Lily, who had been about to grip James' hand, paused with an eyebrow raised.

"You told him to meet us there, didn't you?"

"Noooo," James denied. Lily continued to keep her eyebrow raised, until James rolled his eyes. "Fine, I might have…just in case we needed an after-dinner laugh you know." Lily just shook her head, secretly grateful at the prospect of a diversion from her still rather-gloomy thoughts.

"Alright, let's go," Before he turned to apparate James said, "Hey, Evans?"

"Hmm?" He wasn't looking at her.

"I think…I love you," he said. He turned, and Lily turned with him, a smile of pure happiness on her face. Her "I know" was lost in the wind.

As Lily watched James and Sirius laughing together it struck her again how deep the bond between the two friends was. James said he had always wanted a brother or sister, but Lily thought that was silly- he already had a brother, hand-picked, loyal, and one who loved him, Lily thought sadly, more than Petunia would ever learn to love her.

But so what if Lily and Petunia never ended up getting along?

Lily saw a flash of a future suddenly, in which she and James were sitting at a table with Sirius, laughing, as Lily rocked a baby in her hands. Lily blushed at the thought, though she couldn't keep a smile from her face.

So what if she and Petunia never got along?

Maybe, in the end, it wouldn't matter if she ever made up with her sister, when the future from here looked so bright.

A/N: An ironic ending, in retrospect, but anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Do drop a review =)

Love,

Science and Food