Uninvited Affection
"Being in love with someone you
can't have is like living in a life that's not yours"
***
He
was in love. Anyone who knew James Edward Potter, knew
that he of all people, never
fell in love. And now, he had. As he lay on his bed contemplating his situation, thoughts of her flooded his head. She was smart,
beautiful, sarcastic, heartless, and all in all she was perfect. She was Lily
Bridget Evans. James had known her forever.
Their parents were the best of
friends. As little kids they had played and laughed together. After Lily's
parents divorced when she was 8, the playmates had gone their different ways.
James grew up to be a fun- loving, comical, prankster, while Lily had attended
finishing school and took ballet. Of course, over the years they had seen each
other, but animosity between them had grown. James' personality contrasted with
Lily who had shut herself out from fun and become the stereotypical rich,
arrogant, snob. At Hogwarts, being in the same house had caused an infinite
number of problems, and everyone knew how much they despised each other. And
now at 16, James was in love… with Lily. James sighed, but the wind was knocked
out of him when a black dog pounced on him.
"Oy! Sirius get off me!" James
yelled in annoyance. The dog turned changed into a smiling Sirius Black.
"Oh Jamie! Must you be so rude? What's up your arse? The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and you are sitting inside." Sirius replied.
"Sirius, it's raining."
"See
what I mean? What is it with you
Jamie? Is it that time of the month again?" Sirius nodded knowingly. James
shoved him off the bed.
"Ouch! That hurt!"
"You're such a baby."
"Am
not!"
"Quit whining."
"Why
should I? It's a free world. And you didn't answer my question. What's up
mate?" Sirius asked climbing onto the bed again.
James
fell back into his pillow and said, "I'm in love."
Sirius
stared stupefied at James for a moment before he fell on the floor laughing.
"Good
one James. The day you fall in love is the day Severus
Snape takes a bath." Sirius' comment earned a
smile from James. James offered his hand to help Sirius up, and Sirius obliged.
"Let's get to breakfast Padfoot. I'm starving."
"I
second that." Before they could make it out the door two boys burst
through hyperventilating.
"Sirius! You idiot! The chef chased Peter and me down
the hall carrying a bloody knife!" The dirty-blond one screamed.
"What
did you do this time?" James asked exasperatedly. The French chef at Potter
Manor was known to have a temper, and Sirius loved to rile him up.
"This
bloody git 'ere put me into Chef Pierre's soufflé,
WHILE I was still in rat form!!!" The second blond boy answered still
gasping for breath.
"Well
it wasn't my fault you two didn't have the common sense to run away like
me." Sirius quipped earning a smack on the head from Remus.
"Remmy!
That was uncalled for."
"How
many times do I have to tell you the name is Remus. It's easy to spell
R-E-M-U-S."
"Sorry
Remmy, I have a short term memory." And with
that comment Sirius fled to the dining room with an angry Remus chasing after
him.
"Come
on Peter, we better get there before Moony pulls a Chef Pierre on him."
James said and the two remaining boys followed suit down the corridor.
When
they arrived, Sirius was covered in cereal, eggs, syrup, and bacon. Remus was
still throwing various breakfast items at him, while Sirius tried in vain to
catch them in his mouth. Peter restrained Remus while James cleaned up Sirius
and the mess in the room with a couple of simple spells. After they had settled
down, the foursome began breakfast.
"Even
though he does have a temper, that Chef Pierre makes a good waffle."
Sirius said with a mouth full of food.
"Sirius,
I doubt Valerie would appreciate that." James replied.
"Valerie
and me have been over for more than a month."
"No
wonder you've been annoying the hell out of Pierre." Remus added knowingly.
"And why's that Moony?"
"You
need a woman." The three responded simultaneously.
"How rude! Are you three implying that I, Sirius John
Black, cannot survive 1 month without a girlfriend?"
"Yes" was the unanimous
reply.
"Damn,
you know me too well. Tis true I need a girlfriend, a one-night stand, a passionate
session of lip---Good Morning Mrs. Potter." Sirius quickly changed the
subject from his love life to the arrival of James' mother, Evelyn Potter.
"Good
morning Sirius." Evie Potter had given James his striking blue eyes, but
her straight brown hair was nothing like James' unruly mess of black.
"Where to Evie, dearest?" Sirius asked
flirtatiously.
"Sirius quit flirting with my mum!"
James reprimanded.
Mrs.
Potter laughed, "You need a woman, Sirius." The four boys began to
laugh and Mrs. Potter stared at them suspiciously.
"Well,
Sirius I think I have the answer to your prayers."
"What?!?!" Sirius stood up in excitement, "Is your sexy
niece, Giselle, coming from France and spending the week
again?" Sirius asked hopefully. He had met Giselle last summer and they
had become quite close.
"Sorry, Sirius. Actually Tommy is throwing a cocktail
party at his place tonight. He invited us, and you three's
parents as well."
"A cocktail party at Evans Manor! A
cocktail party at Evans Manor!" Sirius danced around the table.
James inwardly groaned, now this was
horrible news.
***
James fixed his tie for the
umpteenth time staring at himself in the mirror. At Sirius' urging all four
were wearing black single-breasted suits with black neckties.
"Jamie
ol' chap you look terrific. But I warn you be careful around Lily, you wouldn't want her to
'accidentally' spill another glass of champagne on a brand new suit would
you?" Sirius said, reminding James of an encounter at last year's
Christmas Ball at Evans Manor.
"Thanks for reminding
me Padfoot." James groaned.
"What are friends for
James?"
"Are you two prats ready, everyone is waiting for you two to finish primping." Remus glared.
"Let's not keep them
waiting. Race you, James."
Sirius challenged.
"I'll gladly kick your
arse." And the two ran out the door. Remus slapped himself on the
forehead. When will those two grow up?
he thought to himself. Before he too slammed the door shut after leaving the
room.
***
Chardonnay Parker stared as
her best friend, Lily Bridget Evans, groaned over her reflection in the mirror.
"What's wrong Lily? The
dress looks gorgeous." she asked.
"It's not the dress,
it's not my hair. Family issues."
Lily answered simply.
"I see. Well it's
almost 7:30, Lily. We should get downstairs we're already
'fashionably late' now we'll really be late." Chardonnay answered. She
knew about Lily's mood swings. They usually had to do with one of her parents,
and Chardonnay knew better than to pry. Lily had given her answer, and that was
all she would reveal.
"Your
right Chard. And that dress looks amazing by the way." Lily
complimented while putting the final touches on her hair expertly tying the
tendrils of super-straight red up with chopsticks.
Lily donned a pale green,
full-length, sleeveless silk dress with a mandarin collar. Small sprigs of
lavender flowers dotted the dress. Her straight red hair was pulled back with
chopsticks, and a few tendrils framed her face. Chardonnay on the other hand
was looking completely different. Her wine colored, spaghetti strap dress fell
right beneath her knees. Her dark brown hair was in soft curls that reached her
shoulders.
"Ready Lily, darling?"
"Of course Chardonnay, dear."
***
James, Sirius, Remus, and
Peter had done their share of mingling and had proceeded to sit down.
"Holy. I must've said
hello to half the people here. And I didn't even know them!" Remus exclaimed.
"Well, well, it looks
like Lillian and Chardonnay have finally decided to grace us with their
presence." James said referring to the duo who had reached the table.
The natural flirt, Sirius
was first to speak. "Oh Lily, you look absolutely ravishing tonight! And
Chardonnay may I say that color looks fantastic on you."
"Cut the crap Sirius.
If you want to make out with someone, my dear cousin Lindsay would gladly
oblige. She's the one in the turquoise dress over by the bar." Chardonnay
replied. She had gone out with Sirius for quite awhile before she caught him
with another girl. Ever since then relations had been strained to say the
least.
Sirius sensed her
bitterness. "I'd rather not Chard. There's only one Parker girl I would
ever make out with."
"You could've fooled
me." Chard replied quietly.
Sensing the weirdness of the
situation, Remus switched the subject.
"Lily, how has the
summer been? Another summer in Ireland with your mum? How are things with Robbie?"
"The summer was not
bad. Between London and Dublin it was kind of hectic. My mother
is still the same, she was working on a novel the
whole time. It didn't leave much time for me. And Robert Fisher is history. He
bored me." Lily answered.
James let out a chuckle.
"Don't they all bore you Lillian?"
"Eventually…"
"I doubt there will
ever be a man who can hold your interest for long."
"They're all the same
egotistical jackasses like you."
"Touché.
But, my dear, egotistical jackasses cannot waltz. And I can."
"Prove it." With
that James got up and stood in front of Lily. He put his hand on his waist. The
other took her hand and they proceeded to dance.
"What is the verdict
Princess?" James whispered in her ear.
"Marginal."
"Is that so?"
James twirled her around then dipped her. He stared at her green eyes, daring
her to move out of the close proximity.
"There are no spins or
dips like that in a waltz, Jimmy." Lily whispered.
"Too bad…"
"The music stopped. Do
you mind putting me back in upright position?" Lily asked.
"I'm obliged
Princess." He stood up pulling Lily to him.
"Thank you for the
dance James. It's getting late, good night. See you at Hogwarts." Lily
whispered and kissed his cheek. And with a whish of her dress, Lily Evans left
James Potter cursing himself in the middle of the dance floor.
"You let her get to you
James. Letting your guard down around Lily isn't a good idea." James
mentally slapped himself and headed to the bar. He needed something to clear his thoughts.
"Champagne,
chap?" The cockney accent asked.
"Something stronger…"
"Martini?"
"Make it a
double."
Sirius and Remus had watched
the dance with Lily, and now James' strange behavior. James usually preferred Butterbeer and Champagne to anything strong, and that
included vodka. They exchanged nervous glances,
something was up with James, something that had to do with Lily Evans. Knowing
that, they became even more worried. This could lead to nothing good.
***