Cafe

Lily Evans looked up from the café-side table she was sitting at. A shadow had fallen over the Muggle paper she was reading.

"Hello," said a (no joke) tall, dark and handsome man. He seemed a bit older than she was. At least by twenty years this would have made him thirty seven.

"Hello," she replied cautiously. Lily hadn't been in the Muggle world in quite some time. She had only just graduated from Hogwarts and was preparing to marry James Potter by the end of the summer.

If Lilly squinted and imagined the man in front of her wearing glasses, she thought he might look a bit like James. (Lily thought about James all the time. He was just so handsome.)

"May I sit?" he asked, smiling with a beautiful set of white teeth. His smile made him seem younger.

Lily was a little thrown by his suddenness (and yes, okay, the smile too - but James' was still better!) that she said, "Okay."

He sat down in a manner that made her think he usually wore robes.

"You're a wizard, aren't you?" she asked suddenly. Normally she wouldn't say anything like that to a complete stranger but she felt fairly confident.

"Yes," he smiled. "You are a bit good, aren't you?"

"Yes." She replied confidently.

"My name is Tom; what's yours?"

"Lily Evans." She folded the newspaper neatly in front of her, not sure what to say.

He pointed to it. "Why are you reading that?" he asked.

Lily shrugged. "It's my father's and I wanted something to read while I sat here. Our newspaper is so depressing nowadays that I just can't read it on such a pleasant day."

"Your father's?" the man looked taken aback. "Your father's a Muggle too?"

"Yes, but so is my mum. I'm Muggle born."

The man seemed to think about this for a while. Lily fidgeted and wished she knew what time it was. Had a long enough time passed that it wouldn't seem rude if she excused herself and ran all the way home? Why was this man talking to her? How did he know she was a witch?

"I'm getting married," Lily blurted out. Maybe he'd leave her alone. She wasn't wearing the ring James had given her because she was the sort of person to knock out the diamond or drop it in her coffee.

"You are?" the man looked even more put off.

Lily was encouraged.

"Yes, soon. At the end of summer. We're very excited."

"Who are you marrying?"

"James Potter."

"Potter?"

Lily was surprised at the venom in the man's voice. "Yes. Do you know him? Has he done something to your son in school? He was quite a mean boy a while back, but he's changed now. He doesn't go around hexing people like he used to."

"I don't have a son. I'm too young to have a son."

"Oh," Lily paused. "How old are you?"

Tom stopped, mouth open. "Young enough to not have a son."

Lily drummed her fingers against the table.

"Okay," she said, getting up. "I suppose I better head home now. Flowers to pick out and everything... It was nice meeting you, Tom."

"And you as well," Tom called out, smiling. He was kind of good-looking when he smiled. Not as good-looking as James, of course, but right up there. Maybe third best smile she'd ever seen. (Remus was tied for number two with Sirius. Lily had a thing for devilish grins but Remus looked so sweet when he smiled. She couldn't help it. They were definitely tied. Not that she actually compared boys' smiles in her House. It just sort of happened. Like when she as bored.)

Tom looked after Lily as she walked away. Potter? She was marrying a Potter? Damn them. That younger Potter would probably be just like his father. Especially since he was friends with that young Black, the betrayer of his race.

She was fit, though, wasn't she? And smart. He could sense it in her mind, rushing around, all the thoughts in her head, all the facts and the quickness and her aptitude. He could also feel her magic, swimming through her veins, with the potential to be as great as his. Or at least near as great.

And she was fit.

You hardly ever met a woman who was fit and intelligent. She seemed a bit nervous though. The wedding? She wouldn't stop talking about it.

Lily was walking down an aisle of spring smelling flowers, her fingers lightly brushing velvet petals.

"Lily Evans," a voice floated over her shoulder, sending tingles across her neck. "How are you?"

Lily spun around. "Oh Tom," she breathed, hand on her chest. "You gave me a shock. I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon."

Tom thoughtfully tilted his head and smiled at her, his eyes focusing so that she felt he was feeling her emotions and reading her mind. "Sorry to surprise you so unpleasantly. I'll go if I'm not welcome."

He turned to go.

Lily flung out a hand. "Oh no," she said. "I don't mean that I didn't want to see you again, I was just surprised is all. I've never seen you around here before and I've lived here my whole life."

"I'm just staying around until what's caught my interest wanes."

He's talking about me. Lily thought her heart racing. He's talking about me - I'm his interest!

For some strange reason, that excited her, and made her palms sweat.

"Well," Lily cleared her throat and tried not to look directly into his eyes. "Well, I hope that whatever interests you doesn't become... less interesting." Lame!

Tom stepped forward, and lily instinctively stepped back, her legs bumping into the pots of the plants behind her. Tom stepped forward until his body was flushed with her own. Lily could feel every part of her body tingle.

Tom looked down at her, his eyes smiling and cold at the same time. "I don't think you will never bore me, Lily. I find you very interesting."

Tom leaned down to breathe in the scent of her shoulder, its perfume standing out even in the midst of all the flowers. His breath made Lily's neck tingle even more and her breath hitched.

Tom lifted his head and smiled at her. "Lily..." he said.

Lily. Tom. This was Tom. This wasn't James. This wasn't James at all. Something about this felt dirty and wrong. It wasn't love; it was sex. Not that sex was bad, mind you, just that this was pure lust and James was love and when she was in his arms it didn't just tingle it comforted her. It made her feel safe and happy and sleepy and loving all at the same time. It made her want to kiss his throat and cheek and to stay there until they fell asleep and then wake up there, too. Tom wasn't James. Tom was some old guy (a very handsome - no, NO!) some old guy who was kinda good-looking and NOT James.

Lily pushed Tom's shoulders and ran out of the store.

Oh dear, Oh god. Got to get home, got to take shower, got to hug James. Got to feel James again. Creepy old men should not be allowed to go around and seduce seventeen year olds. Even if they do have the third/fourth best smile she'd ever seen.

Lily showered and when James came home, she was pulled into his arms, wearing her fuzzy bathrobe and damp hair.

James held her back a little and looked down at her. Lily thought he was the most handsome man she'd ever seen.

"Not naked under there, are you?" He asked, eyes gleaming. She smiled and pulled him close again.

Only James was allowed to ask her that.

Lily never told James about Tom. It just wasn't important. He was just an old guy she had seen twice who had somehow made her tingle in a way that was all lust and no love.

Tom sat in his room and thought. He thought and thought. For a few months he thought until one of his servants came up to him and told him about a prophecy he had heard in Hogsmeade. A prophecy about a young boy born to a couple who had thrice missed being killed by Lord Voldemort.

The Potters, Tom thought. It can only be the Potters.

Tom planned to offer Lily her life. He still loved her, or at least lusted for her. She was beautiful still, after the child. The ungainly, ugly child of a Potter.

Tom prepared for the night when everything would change for him and Lily. See if it didn't.