Lily Evans: A History

Chapter 41 - Just tea, toast and side of embarrassment, please.
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"This is going to get old very quickly."

Lily glanced at her best friend, a smile on her face. She said nothing in reply, but Kassie huffed as if the red head had agreed with her. Kassie put down the jumper she had been inspecting and gave a huge sigh. "Why does his birthday have to be so close to Christmas? It was bad enough buying one gift this month," said Kassie, whining. She picked up an eagle feather quill, scowled at it and put it back down.

"Perhaps you should buy him a motorbike helmet?" Lily suggested lightly.

Kassie glared at her. "And let him think I want him to buy that dangerous thing? Are you mental?"

The red head shrugged. "You seemed all right when he was talking about it."

"I'm not completely against him owning a flying motorbike," Kassie explained. "I'm just against him riding it."

Lily blinked. "That makes sense in a very odd way." She shifted through a stack of shirts and sighed.

"Where do you find a motorbike helmet in Hogsmeade?" Kassie wondered aloud, shifting her weight. "Are you ready, yet? Find a present for James?" Kassie tilted her head. "Why are you buying for James again?"

Lily sighed, exasperated. "Because he always buys me something and I thought I would get him something, too."

"Oh. Now, see, that makes me wonder why he always buys you something." Kassie gave Lily the evil eye as they wondered back into the bitterly cold streets of Hogsmeade. Lily ignored her. "Is it time to meet them at the Three Broomsticks? I'm freezing."

"Oh?" Lily smiled, moving away from Kassie so that she wasn't within arms reach. "Do you need Sirius to warm you up?"

Kassie glared, but her attention was diverted by a window display of new Quidditch gear. "Come on! Maybe there is something in here he'll like."

Lily sighed and allowed herself to be dragged into the shop.

Elsewhere in the small wizarding village, three male teenagers stood half way down an alley way in looking ahead of them with something akin to amusement lining their features, but mostly disbelief.

"I can't honestly believe he is doing that."

"Has he no shame?"

"Like a common mutt..."

The tallest of the three shook his head, his hazel grey eyes dancing with laughter. "You want to know what is bad? I can picture him not in his animagus form, still doing that."

"Eww," the shortest of the three muttered, shaking involuntarily. Green eyes shut in horror, as if the thought were becoming reality before him.

The second tallest of their group, James Potter, chuckled to himself. "You know we're just jealous, right? I mean, none of our forms would allow us to get our bellies rubbed by two beautiful girls." James tilted his head in thought. "Pity I can't tell Kassie about this. She'd be after his blood for it."

Peter shook again, this time seeming to express something other than horror. Tilting his head, he threw James a quizzical look. "Girls don't like rats, I suppose?"

"Not most of them, no," Remus replied. He began to say something else, but was interrupted.

At that moment the massive black dog had started towards them, stopping next to Peter and looking insufferably proud of himself. It wagged its tail once, threw a glance behind him where the two girls were still talking and pointing towards him, and giving what could best be called a doggish grin. James laughed. "Aww, what a sweet doggie," he babbled, patting the dog on the head harder than necessary. The dog growled. "Aww! What's the matter cute wittle doggie?"

After looking around to be sure that the girls were gone, and no one was within seeing distance, the dog suddenly turned into Sirius Black with a faint pop!

"I'm going to hex you so hard your ancestors will feel it, James Potter," he growled, sounding much like the dog he had been seconds before.

Remus, Peter and James burst into laughter. Sirius grinned. "I now have understanding of a dog's mind. That feels bloody good!"

"That'll be something to brag about in Care of Magical Creatures, mate," James assured him as the foursome started back towards the main road. "Have you figured out why dogs hump people's legs yet?"

"No," Sirius replied dryly, rolling his eyes as the other three burst into laughter again. "Rest assured you'll be the first one I tell when I figure it out."

"At least he doesn't have horns, Prongs," Peter suddenly piped up.

James' smile faded. "You're not helping. And they're antlers."

"Horns," Sirius corrected him, laughing with Peter and Remus.

"They are ANTL---Hey Lily!"

The four stopped at James' outburst, turning their attention to the redhead standing in front of them. She was wearing a most peculiar expression, like perhaps she had heard the tail end of that conversation and was trying to work out what it meant.

Kassie was standing to her left, her long black hair pulled back in a pony-tail and her violet eyes shifting between the four boys. "Horns?" she asked pointedly.

The Marauders looked decidedly guilty about something for a fraction of a second. Then Sirius piped up; "On Peter."

"For Christmas," Remus agreed.

James nodded his head as Sirius grabbed Peter and put an arm around him. "Don't you think he'd make a cute reindeer?"

Lily blinked, looking at Peter who was scowling up at his friends. "Eh, sure," Lily agreed in a tone that clearly suggested she didn't believe a word they were saying. The four in question grinned at her and Kassie.

"Have you finished shopping?" Sirius asked, sliding up beside his girlfriend and trying to peek in the shopping bag she held. Kassie pulled it closed and sealed it with her wand. Sirius stuck out his lower lip. "Awww, why'd you do that?"

"Because you can't have this until Christmas. Or, at least when you come over for tea."

Sirius' face fell and James, Peter and Remus burst into laughter. "Kassie, love, are you still on about that? I-I really think it's rather early for me to be meeting your family."

"No, really, Aunt Wanda wants to meet you and she's invited you over for tea. And, well, you just don't say no to the woman," Kassie added, looking like she was thinking out loud rather than actually talking to Sirius. She shook her head and threaded her arm through Sirius'. "Can we talk about this over a butterbeer? I'm freezing."

Sirius wiggled his eyebrows. "Want me to warm you up?"

Peter and James made gagging noises and Lily rolled her eyes.

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The next morning Lily woke early and began to pack for the trip home. For the first time in years she was looking forward to Christmas. Petunia and Vernon had taken a trip to Majorca with Vernon's parents for the holiday, so Lily had her parents all to herself. And with that wonderful thought, Lily was eager to get on the train.

Other people in her room were not so eager. Twenty minutes before the train left Kassie was dragging herself around the room like the end of the world was upon them. Lily had packed most of Kassie's belongings for her, and she and Alexis had practically shoved Kassie in the shower. Ten minutes before the train was to leave, Lily finally snapped.

"It's not like youÂ’re not going to see him ever again!" Lily stormed, accidentally dropping Morgana's cage and causing Bast to hiss at her. "You will see him in thee days! Three days!" she repeated. "Why don't you just Floo each other? Talk that way?"

"My house isn't connected to the Floo network," Kassie replied, dragging her feet around as she threw a pair of shoes in her trunk. "My Aunt is terrified Death Eaters will come."

Lily snapped her mouth shut. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, you get used to the constant fear my Aunt lives under. It's kind of like the decorations on the walls; it's part of living with her." From then on Kassie managed her own packing, although not enthusiastically. They levitated their trunks down the stairs to the common room where they met up with the Marauders.

When they arrived downstairs they found Remus and Alexis standing at the bottom of the stairwell. Alexis had one hand on Remus' shoulder, the other on his cheek. "Please Remus? My Mum said she wouldn't mind. I can't stand the thought of you being here alone."

Remus smiled gently at her, a comforting smile that seemed to do nothing for Alexis' cause. "You're cute when you pout," he told her, smiling. "But really, I don't want to be a burden. Besides, there are a few people staying over the holidays. And I can finish some homework that I'm behind on."

Lily sat on her trunk and watched as Alexis continued to beg Remus to come home with her for the holidays. She sighed heavily; somehow, the more and more couples she saw around her made Lily think more and more of James. Alexis put her arms around Remus' neck and he hugged her tightly. Lily sighed just as James plopped down beside her and put his head in his hands. "Sirius is acting like he's never going to see Kassie again," he stated by way of a greeting.

"She's just as bad," Lily replied, trying not to look at Alexis and Remus who were now kissing. Or, rather, trying not to be caught watching. The truth was that she was rather jealous. She wished her date - if it could be called that - with James had ended half as well as Remus and Alexis' had.

As if he could read her mind, James suddenly raised his head. "I'm really sorry about, well, you know."

Lily felt like telling him that no, she didn't know, just to make him say it. But instead she nodded. Thankfully she was spared replying to the statement by Alexis joining their group. The brunette sighed heavily. "I wish he wasn't going to be here alone," she mumbled, glancing back at Remus, who smiled at her. "I can't stand the thought."

James stared at Remus, who had waved to them all and was heading back up the staircase. "I practically begged him to come to my house. But he says he wants to stay here. Maybe I can talk him into coming over by the Knight Bus later."

Alexis nodded sadly and levitated her trunk. Ten of the eleven Gryffindor fifth years headed downstairs.

Lily headed off to the Prefects compartment when she boarded the train and was met by Will Roberts coming out of the same compartment. He smiled widely when he saw her. "Eh, Happy Christmas, Lily."

Lily smiled back at him. "Happy Christmas." As Will walked off a little quickly the opposite direction, Lily thought for a moment how strange that had been. She could just about count on one hand how many times she had spoken with Will. Shrugging, she checked the rest of the compartments to be sure everyone was settled, and then joined her friends. James and Peter were involved in a game of Exploding Snap, Sirius and Kassie were arguing about him coming to tea again, leaving Lily to talk to the other girls from her year. As it turned out, though, their conversation was mostly trying to cheer Alexis up. Lily felt that the train couldn't get to London fast enough.

As the day wore on everyone quieted down to just mostly talking about their plans for the holidays. Sirius finally admitted defeat and agreed that he would be on his best behaviour for Kassie's aunt, Alexis made James promise to make Remus come for Christmas dinner, and Gabrielle and Kathleen talked non-stop about their huge family gathering and the party on Boxing Day.

Lily felt like the gift for James was burning a hole in her robe pocket as the day wore on. She wanted to give it to him now; but not in front of everyone. So she had decided to wait and send it to him closer to Christmas. But it was getting harder and harder for her to wait. Her nerves were shot to pieces; hoping he liked it. And half of her was nervous to give him something at all. Before she could decide, though, the train had stopped at King's Cross Station and everyone was getting off the train.

"Happy Christmas!" Peter squeaked as soon as they had stepped off the train. He waved as he ran over to where a short blonde woman was standing, smiling at him. As soon as he greeted her, she started dusting off his robes and fussing over him. Lily saw his face turn blood red and he glanced around to see if any of his friends had noticed.

Lily looked away quickly, and it was a good thing, too. Because suddenly she found herself in a very tight embrace. "How are you dear? Have you had a good term? You must come and see us over the holiday." Lily smiled as she smelled the perfume that James' mother always used. Before Lily could answer, Olivia was checking to be sure James and Sirius had all of their belongings off the train.

"I don't think I'll ever be able to look at that woman the same again," Kassie muttered. Lily laughed. "Does she hug everyone like they are her children?"

Lily watched as Olivia wiped at a black smug mark on Sirius' face from the last game of Exploding Snap. "Looks like it."

"Did you give it to him?" Kassie suddenly asked, her voice very low so that it sounded more like a hiss.

Lily cleared her throat while trying to come up with a good reason why she hadn't, but was saved answering by Sirius grabbing Kassie by the waist. She let out a small scream that made Lily jump. "Sirius Black, don't do that!"

"Sirius, what are you doing to her?" asked Olivia, crossing her arms. James was bent over behind her, trying to hold in his laughter.

"This," Sirius replied and twirled Kassie around before kissing her.

Kassie hit him in the arm. "Don't do that in front of everyone!" She glanced around and her face turned red. "Oh great. Just great." Lily followed her line of vision and saw two of Kassie's brothers standing near her trunk.

Before either Kassie or Sirius could speak; the taller one had turned foot and taken off at a run across the platform. "AUNT WANDA! AUNT WANDA! KASSIE HAS A BOYFRIEND!"

"This is going to be so much fun," Sirius said sarcastically. "I can see it now."

Kassie shook her head, but whether in pity for him or for herself it was hard to tell. She hugged Lily, promised to write, hugged Sirius one last time and picked up her trunk. Lily watched her join her siblings, wagging her finger at her brothers. Sirius ran his hand through his hair, staring at Kassie's back. "Come on Sirius," Olivia said, pushing him in the back to get him moving.

"Do I have to?" Sirius muttered, turning his head to watch Kassie's retreating form.

James grinned at Lily, who smiled back, and went to find her own parents. "Happy Christmas!" she called back, waving. Dragging her trunk in one hand and carrying Morgana's cage with Bast in it in the other, Lily slowly made her way to the Muggle platform where she found her parents waiting.

Christine rushed up to Lily as if she hadn't seen her in ages. She hugged her several times and kissed her cheeks even more than that. "Do you have everything?"

"I think so," Lily replied, handing Bast to Daniel and putting her trunk on a trolley.

Christine talked non-stop from the moment they got in the car until they pulled onto Hollis Drive and into their driveway. Lily learned that Petunia and Vernon were getting along fine, and that Petunia was actually talking of starting a family soon, Mr. and Mrs. Prash from next door had moved and Christine was almost sure the family that moved in was a wizard and witch. It was the only way to explain some of the things that had been happening lately. Christine turned the ignition off and turned in her seat. "Oh, and Anna is in hospital. She had a minor heart attack last week. She's been asking to see you, so I thought we could take her a present and visit."

"Oh, that's horrible," Lily replied, biting her bottom lip. "Is it very bad? Why is she still in hospital?"

"I'm sure it's just for observation," Christine assured her, patting her hand and opening her door. "WeÂ’ve got steak for dinner, I hope that's ok."

"It's fine," Lily said, getting out and going around to pull her trunk out of the car. Christine went into the house, leaving Daniel and Lily alone. Daniel got himself into his wheelchair, settled in and took Bast from Lily again.

"Did you have a good term, dear?" he asked.

Lily stopped tugging on her trunk and turned, cocking her head to the side. "Daddy, what's wrong?"

Daniel laughed, but it was a hollow sort of laugh that made shivers run up and down Lily's spine. "Nothing sweetie, nothing. Its just my legs. It's the oddest thing, but they hurt sometimes." He laughed it off, but it didn't reassure Lily in the least. "The doctor says it's phantom pain. You'd think that if I can feel pain, I'd be able to walk. But--" Daniel noticed the look on Lily's face and quickly changed the subject. "Don't worry about it, Angel. You didn't answer me, did you have a good term?"

"Yes. It's been overwhelming, with O.W.L.s coming up. The Professors are really laying it on hard."

"Is Kassie doing well? And James, Sirius and the other boys?"

Lily finally yanked her trunk out of the backseat and started dragging it in the house. Daniel closed the door behind them and let Bast out of her cage. Immediately she started sniffing around the house like she had never been in it before. Lily watched her a moment. "Everyone is fine. Kassie is going out with Sirius."

"Your mother told me," Daniel said, laughing. "I could have told you that would happen. It was only a matter of time. Are they happy?"

"They seem to be. Well, they aren't so happy right now. I don't think they've ever been longer than eight hours apart, so needless to say it wasn't fun when the train got to London and they had to go to separate houses." Lily sighed. "Well, I'm going to take my trunk upstairs."

Daniel nodded and Lily dragged her belongings up to the second floor and into the third door on the right. She stopped in front of her door, looking back. Petunia's room was empty save for a bed and dresser. Even though Lily knew her sister was gone; to see the room next to hers so bare after fifteen years of seeing Petunia's belongings in it seemed wrong.

Shaking off the feeling, Lily opened her door and went into her room. Besides looking like Christine had recently dusted and vacuumed, Lily's room looked exactly as it always did. Morgana was sitting on her perch and brought her head out from under her wing when Lily entered. Slinking in the door after Lily was Bast, who seemed to remember this room. She jumped up on the bed, climbed onto the pillow and curled into a ball. "Lazy cat," Lily mumbled, shaking her head. She took her travelling cloak off, threw it across her desk chair and turned to go back downstairs when something on her bed caught her attention.

Lily picked up a small box, wrapped neatly in green paper with a bow on top. Attached was a small card. Looking around for a clue to where it could have come from, Lily flipped the card open. To: Lily. From: James. Lily shook her head in amazement. How did he do that? She took the card off, intending to open the present when she found another note scribbled on the back. Warning: Package explodes if opened before Christmas.

"What's that?"

Lily looked up as Christine came in the door, looking down at the small package in Lily's hand. The redhead smiled. "A present from James."

"Are you going to open it?"

"No," said Lily. "It will explode if I open it before Christmas."

Christine shook her head. "Honestly, Lily, will it?"

Lily looked her mother straight in the eye and then both of them started laughing. "If I know James like I think I do; yes, I think it will."

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"No. No. No.... no...."

James Potter raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe of his best friendÂ’s room. Sirius was standing in front of his dresser, pulling out shirts, jumpers, robes and pants, looking at them for not longer than a second and throwing them on the bed (or floor) behind him. Suddenly he pulled open the next drawer and began shuffling through it in much the same fashion. James watched for a few minutes before deciding to make his presence known. "Eh, what are you doing?"

Sirius jumped, spun around and pulled his wand. After realising it was only James, he pocketed his wand and proceeded to go back to shifting through his drawers again. "Looking for something to wear," he replied a few minutes later, after having nearly emptied the next drawer.

James came further in the room and straddled the desk chair. "Is it really so important?"

Sirius threw James a look that might have burnt holes in his head if he could have managed it. "Yes, it is," he finally said, slamming the drawer shut and turning to face the mess of piled up clothes behind him. "Imagine if you were meeting Lily's parents."

James gave Sirius a perplexed look. "Er, I already know Lily's parents." He blinked. "Why Lily's parents? She isn't my girlfriend or anything."

"Not yet," Sirius muttered under his breath.

James raised an eyebrow. "And what is that suppose to mean?"

"You're right," Sirius went on, now throwing clothes from one pile on the bed, to another pile as he went through them for the second time. "What with you doing things like shaking her hand, you won't have to worry about going out with her or meeting her parents. How silly of me to assume...."

"Padfoot, you'd better be glad we can't do magic outside of school," James growled, standing up and crossing his arms. "I thought we decided not to talk about that anymore."

"No, you decided," Sirius reminded him. "Not me. Now, if you aren't going to help me, get out. I have two hours before I have to leave for Kassie's."

James went over and picked up a few shirts. "You wear practically the same clothes; only in different colours. So what does---ah," James muttered, jumping backwards when Sirius looked like he was getting ready to punch him, "never mind. Do you have a gift for her Aunt yet?"

"A what?!" Sirius practically screamed, spinning around and nearly tripping over a pair of shoes in the floor. "A gift? For who?"

James shook his head. "You should take her Aunt a gift. A hostess gift. And Kassie something, too."

Sirius ran his hands through his hair, making it stick up on end. "I have Kassie something," Sirius muttered, patting down his robe pockets and producing a small black velvet box. "But I didn't know I had to get her Aunt something! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Do we have time to get to Diagon Alley? What do I buy?"

"Calm down, mate," James put his hands out in a peace offering. "Breathe in, breathe out. I'll ask Mum, she always has something lying about."

As James dashed out the door, Sirius fell back onto his bed, threw his hands up and yelled; "Why me?!"

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Wanda Knight watched in amusement as her oldest niece flittered around the house like a tiny bee working on honey. She fluffed pillows on the couch several times, wiped chocolate off Kacy's mouth, rearranged the magazines on the table, picked up small pieces of lint from the love seat, straightened Hayden's t-shirt and then started over again. Wanda turned the page of the book she was reading, glanced up as Christopher came in the room and promptly covered her ears.

"CHRISTOPHER LEE PHILLIPS!" Kassie ran over to her youngest brother, looking for all the world as if she intended to strangle him. Instead she placed both her hands on his shoulders, turned him around and pushed him towards the stairs. "Go and get your faced cleaned this minute! Are you the one giving Kacy the chocolate? Or is Kacy giving it to you? BLAKE! COME AND GET CHRIS!"

The oldest of the male Phillips children came down the stairs, laid eyes on his youngest brother and shook his head. "Chris, why today? You know Kassie is about ready to kill anyone who crosses her path."

"I heard that Blake!" Kassie hissed, turned around and ran smack into Jillian. Kassie caught herself and bent down so she was on her sister's level. "Jill, sweetie, you look so pretty."

Six year old Jillian Phillips grinned at her sister and pulled her pink dress up so that Kassie could properly appreciate the ruffled matching panties underneath. Kassie smiled appreciatively. "Blake said that you have a boyfriend and that you were snogging him," Jillian suddenly announced, looking very happy.

Kassie's face lost nearly all of its colour. "Jill, do you even know what snogging is?"

"No," Jillian answered promptly. "But Hayden is going to give me four sickles to say it at tea."

Kassie looked like she was about to faint on the spot. "No, no, Jill. I will buy you one of those biting tea cups if you don't say that. Is it a deal?" Kassie got on one knee and stared pleadingly at her sister.

"A tea cup and four sickles?"

Kassie forced a smile. "Ok."

Jillian smiled and turned around, sending her black hair flying into Kassie's face as she did so. "Yay!" she cried and started up the stairs. "Hey Hayden! Guess what!?"

"Oh no," Kassie muttered, turning to go after her sister when the doorbell rang. She stopped, turned and stared at the door as if she expected it to explode. "Aunt Wanda! Do something, please!"

Wanda put her book down, set her glasses on top of it and got up. "I'll check on the biscuits."

Kassie bit her bottom lip. "But--!"

"You'd better open the door before he decides we aren't home," Wanda suggested lightly and left the room.

Kassie could see all three of her brothers hovering at the top of the stairs. Where Kacy and Jillian were she didn't know; and realised, upon reflection, that she didn't want to know. Taking a deep breath, she approached the door, jerked it open, went out and shut it behind her.

Sirius jumped, surprised to see Kassie come flying out the door and practically knocking him down. He barely caught himself from falling backwards. "Er, hi," Kassie grinned, holding her hands on Sirius' arms to keep herself up right. She stepped back from him, glancing around uneasily. "So, you're right on time."

"Yes," answered Sirius slowly, raising an eyebrow. "Kassie, are you all right?"

Kassie glanced up and down the pavement uneasily, back at the house and at the windows above them quickly. "Yes," she squeaked. Laughing nervously, she cleared her throat. "I'm fine."

Sirius put his arms around Kassie's waist quickly and hugged her. "Is this a bad time? I can come back."

Kassie felt some of the tension leave her when Sirius hugged her. She tugged on a strand of her hair for a second. "No, it's fine. It's just my brothers and sisters are, er, very excited to meet you."

Sirius grimaced, gave Kassie a lopsided smile and kissed her cheek. "As long as I get to see you for a little bit, I can deal with them."

Kassie smiled brightly at him. "I love you."

"Not as much as I love you," Sirius replied, took her hand and allowed himself to be dragged into what could best be called hell by the time he left, but otherwise was known as Kassie's home, five siblings included. Needless to say it was an evening none of them would soon forget.

In the future, his first meeting with Kassie's brothers and sisters would be a great source of amusement for James, Remus, Peter, Lily and anyone else who happened to hear the story. But at that moment, Sirius found himself sitting on the edge of a loveseat in the living room of a house that was over ran with children - both male and female - that resembled Kassie so much it was astonishing. And Sirius might have been able to appreciate that Jillian was an exact duplicate of her older sister at that age, had he not been surrounded by three young boys staring at him as if they expected him to pull out his wand and curse them.

Wanda was nice enough. Sirius had shook her hand, gave her the flowers Olivia had picked from the garden and smiled as she gushed about how beautiful they were and went to find a vase. Kassie was preparing the tea, leaving Sirius alone with a whole lot of children. "Eh, hi," Sirius muttered uneasily, trying to find a way to place his arms that didn't make him appear as nervous as he felt. "What are your names?"

Before any of the older children could answer, the smallest girl pointed to herself proudly. "I'm Jillian, but you can call me Jill, that's Blake, that's Chris, that's Hayden and Kacy isn't in here because she thinks you are handsome."

"JILLIAN!"

The small girl looked down quickly, but Sirius could see her smiling. Standing off towards the staircase was another of the Phillips children and Sirius was guessing that this had to be Kacy. He blinked several times when setting eyes on her. In the few years it had been since Sirius had had a good look at Kacy, she had grown up quite a bit. And there was no denying she was Kassie's sister. She looked almost exactly the way Kassie did when Sirius met her. Despite himself, he grinned at the memory of the first time he set eyes on Kassie on the Hogwarts Express. The way her violet eyes had swung to him and nearly made his heart stop in his chest...

"Do you know magic?" Chris suddenly asked, breaking Sirius out of his thoughts and his vision away from Kacy.

"Yes," said Sirius. "Quite a bit, actually."

"Duh," Hayden muttered, stepping on Chris' foot. "Where do you think Kassie met him?"

"Are you behaving?" Kassie asked, coming back into the living room with a tray of tea. Behind her Wanda was levitating a tray of biscuits. Sirius stood at once and took the tray from Kassie and sat it down.

"Always," Blake answered Kassie, sitting on the sofa. Chris, Hayden, Jillian and Kacy sat on either side of him.

Kassie gave them reproachful looks and took a seat next to Sirius. For several moments there was only the sound of china clinking as Wanda charmed the tea pot to fill the cups. "So, Sirius, you are in the same house as Kassie?"

"Yes Ma'am," Sirius replied, again trying to suppress his nervousness.

"Just call me Wanda," Kassie's aunt insisted, sitting back in her seat and smiling. "Now, Kassie tells me that you play Quidditch? I'm a huge fan myself."

Sirius felt himself relaxing a bit; Quidditch he could talk about all day without problems. "Yes, I'm a beater on the Gryffindor team."

"A beater!? Brilliant!" said Chris enthusiastically. "Have you broken any noses? Hit them with the bat? Slammed a bludger into any heads?"

Kassie giggled, but it was short lived since she quickly brought her cup to her mouth. Sirius felt himself smile even though he was fighting it. "I've had a couple of run-ins with the opposite team, yeah."

"Wow," Chris muttered, looking like he was picturing it himself.

Tea continued on, and was rather uneventful. Wanda was a big Quidditch fan and kept asking questions about this or that, the boys seem to be enjoying the subject and so Sirius allowed himself to relax. Which was probably the first of many mistakes.

Chris and Blake were doing spirited imitations of how a beater should hit the bludger towards the opposite teams' keeper when suddenly Wanda turned to Sirius and asked; "So, what are your intentions with my niece?"

The room suddenly went still and so quiet that Sirius thought his heart sounded like a drum. Beside him Kassie cleared her throat, sat her cup down and made a point to avoid Sirius' eyes all together. The Marauder in Sirius wanted to come up with a witty remark about how he wanted to snog her senseless, but the logical part of his mind (thankfully) was telling him that she was very serious about her question. Trying to appear as calm and collected as he was so far from; Sirius put his cup down and looked Wanda straight in the eye. "For now? I want to be with her as much as possible. See our relationship grow."

"Grow?" Wanda asked, raising an eyebrow and lifting her cup to his lips.

Sirius swallowed. Maybe that hadn't been the best of wording.... He searched his brain for something smart to say that wouldn't get him beat upside the head when suddenly Jillian sat her cup down and declared, very loudly, "Chris said that you like to kiss a lot."

Kassie groaned and buried her face in her hands. Sirius felt his grip on his tea cup slipping and he sat it down on the saucer very quickly and a little harder than was necessary. Blake, Chris and Hayden were sniggering, but trying to hide it, and Jillian was looking around as if not sure if she should laugh or not. Finally Kassie raised her head. "Jill, no tea cups."

Jillian's violet eyes grew wide. "But Kassie! You said if I didn't say snogging I could have it!"

"JILL!" Kacy hissed, putting her hand over her little sister's mouth. She leaned down and whispered something in the smallest one's ear.

With her eyes even wider still, Jill's face turned blood red and she buried it in Kacy's arm. "I'm sorry Kassie..." came her muffled voice.

Sirius was still staring ahead; not entirely sure he could speak if the need should arise. Kassie was staring at her Aunt, who in turn was staring at Sirius like she was expecting him to correct the entire mess. Kassie suddenly stood, collecting dirty dishes and putting them on a tray. "I'm just going to take this to the kitchen."

Sirius was watching her in a horrified trance. Just as he was mentally trying to tell Kassie not to leave him alone in the room with her brothers, sisters and Aunt, Kassie raised her eyebrow at him. For once in his life he caught onto the meaning; or was so desperate to get out of the room that he was looking for a meaning that might not have been there. Either way he stood. "I'll help you."

Sirius carried the second tray and followed Kassie through a doorway and into a small kitchen. She placed the tray on the counter, put her hands palm down on the worktop and hung her head. "I am so sorry."

Sirius put the tray he had been holding down and glanced back. So far they seemed to be alone. Gently he eased his arms around Kassie's waist from behind. "Hey, you know what?"

Kassie put her hands over his and leaned back, inhaling deeply. "What?"

"I love you."

Kassie grinned, wanting so badly to turn around and kiss him. But as luck would have it, her brothers, sisters, aunt or for all she knew the neighbours, would walk in. Fighting the urge, Kassie closed her eyes as Sirius dropped a kiss on top of her head. "Me, too."

Suddenly the door to the kitchen eased open. Kassie and Sirius jumped apart as if they had just been caught in their birthday suites. Kacy slid in the door, closed it behind her, looked at Sirius and blushed a deep red. "Eh-Kassie, Aunt Wanda said to bring Jillian and Christopher a glass of water so they can go to bed."

Kassie filled two glasses and took them back in the living room where Jillian was sitting on Blake's lap, crying. Kassie sat the glasses down. "What's wrong with Jill?"

Jillian buried her face in Blake's shirt and continued to sniffle. Wanda smiled. "Jill thinks you hate her now. Maybe you should take her up to bed while Sirius and I clean up the kitchen."

Sirius felt like his feet were cursed to stick to the floor. Kassie, looking helpless, carried Jillian up the stairs, all the while insisting that she didn't hate her. Chris followed reluctantly, leaving Blake, Kacy, Sirius and Wanda alone. Wanda got up and went into the kitchen, leaving Sirius to follow. Blake stood up, put his hand on Sirius' shoulder and shook his head. "Such a pity, mate. I was starting to like you."

"Er-thanks?" Sirius muttered and made his way back to the kitchen. Upon entering he was handed a dishrag and told to wash up while Wanda dried.

Sirius hadn't had a lot of experience at washing dishes by hand. After all, both his mother and father had owned house elves, and so did the Potters. But that didn't mean he hadn't landed himself in trouble a few times and so he wasn't all together lost on the concept.

For several minutes Wanda said nothing; leaving Sirius to ponder on what was going to be said when she did speak. Finally she began; "I'm surprised you wash up so well."

Sirius wasn't sure how to reply to this, so he settled on shrugging and telling the truth. "My Mum made me from time to time."

"Kassie does dishes by hand all the time," Wanda said matter of factly. "Her father was a muggle, so my sister did a lot of things the muggle way. And it looks like most of Kassie's siblings are muggles." Sirius wondered where she was going with this when suddenly she made her point very clear; "Tell me the truth, Sirius, why are you with Kassie? I know of your family, the Blacks, and they aren't known for having much good to do with muggles or muggle borns. If you catch my meaning."

Before Sirius could stop himself, he had slammed his fist down on the worktop. "I get your meaning. But I assure you that I was disowned from my so called family and damn proud of it. I don't have their prejudice and mediaeval attitude against muggles, muggle borns, or anyone else. No one is better than anyone else. One of the smartest witches I know is muggle born. And a very good friend of mine. There is no difference. And it wouldn't matter to me, anyway. I fell in love with Kassie; not her history or her magical abilities."

For several long moments Sirius worked to catch his breath, all the while feeling the need to slam his head into the nearest wall. If ever he had to blow something in his life; did it have to be this? Did his pride have to rear its ugly head now? Kassie would kill him, and her aunt not liking him would make it very hard for them to see each other over holidays. Mentally he was calculating what he could possibly say to counter that speech when suddenly Wanda directed such an intense stare at him that Sirius thought she had gone mad.

But Wanda said nothing for what seemed an eternity. Silently she went back to drying the dishes and placing them away in the cupboards. From time to time she would close her eyes, as if in deep thought. But Sirius could only speculate what she was thinking about. He imagined that asking her what was wrong wasn't the best of ideas. When the dishes had been washed, dried and put away, she turned to him again and Sirius prepared himself for the worst.

"Sirius Black, maybe I am wrong about you," she said finally, placing the final tea cup in the cupboard and closing the door. "When Kassie told me your last name was Black, IÂ’ll be honest, I had some misgivings no matter what she said." Wanda sighed, leaning against the worktop and crossing her arms. "But she thinks very highly of you; always has, even though for a long time all she ever did was complain about you pestering her. I'm not a young witch anymore; but I can read between the lines. I'll admit that when she wrote to me and said she was seeing you, I wasn't happy. It was people like the Blacks that are the reason my sister is dead; the reason I'm raising her children." Wanda gave a huge sigh and looked out the window. "You'd better not hurt her, Sirius. Kassie is a strong girl; but she's been through more than anyone knows."

Sirius noticed Kassie standing in the doorway, watching them with an odd expression on her face. He winked at her, causing her to smile. Wanda watched, her heart nearly breaking. The gestures between them, the understanding of words that weren't said aloud, the relief on Kassie's face, all pointed to a strong relationship. But even strong relationships broke.

Sirius cleared his throat. "I have no intention of ever hurting her." He looked to Kassie, who was beaming but trying hard not to show it. "I would die before hurting her, or letting anyone else hurt her."

Wanda nodded and Kassie came further into the room. She looked at her niece for a long minute, forced a smile and left the room. As she turned around to see Sirius and Kassie smiling at each other, she couldn't help the small bit of sadness in her stomach. After all, the road to nearly every heartbreak was paved with good intentions.

--------------

Lily awoke very late on Christmas morning and with what looked like a flock of owls at her window. Eyes wide, she slowly got off her bed and approached the first owl and took its letter. Lily recognised the writing as belonging to Kassie, and she hoped it was the story of what happened when Sirius came over for tea. When Lily had flooed James to ask about it, Sirius had refused to comment and James was laughing too hard to say. Lily was dying to know.

The next owls were from Kathleen and Gabrielle, the next from Madison and the last from Alexis. Lily watched all the owls flying back off into the sky and looked down at the pile of letters and packages.

"Lily! Come and open presents!"

"Just a minute!" Lily called down to her father. Quickly she ripped the letter open from Kassie. There was no greeting; just the beginnings of a fully-fledged rant.

Someone hates me, has cursed my being, and now I'll never live my life in peace.

Lily raised her eyebrows, a grin tugging at her lips. Whatever had happened with Sirius was making Kassie bring out her most dramatic side. This was bound to be good. But Lily didn't have time to find out, for at that exact moment the door to her bedroom burst open. Lily started, nearly falling over her trunk and barely caught herself before she went down. Confused, her heart pounding, Lily looked up to what was the last thing on Earth she expected to see.

James Potter was standing in her doorway in his pyjamas, his hair everywhere (not so unusual) and a huge grin on his face. He ran into the room, jerked Lily up and hugged her so hard that she nearly couldn't breathe. "James," Lily croaked, "what are you doing?"

"I love it!" James replied, put Lily down and pulled out a box that Lily recognized immediately. She felt herself blushing as James opened the box and removed the tiny real gold snitch. "This is brilliant! I didn't even know they made these!"

Lily smiled, not sure what to say. Since she had never given James anything for Christmas before, his reaction was all new to her. And a reaction from her to counter his wasn't there. She had no idea what to say or do. So she settled on talking very quickly and rather nervously. "Eh-they are a collectorÂ’s edition. That's the first piece, they have only just released it for Christmas. I-I'm glad you like it," she finished lamely.

James grinned, admiring the crystal box that held the miniature gold snitch that was zooming around lightly clinking on the sides of the container. Suddenly he seemed to realise where he was and what he had just done. He looked at Lily in her pink pyjama pants and t-shirt and his eyes got wide. "I - eh - didn't mean to barge in here. Well, I did. But your Mum said it was ok."

Lily blushed and grinned, wondering exactly how badly her own hair was standing up. Apparently it didn't matter; James was grinning like the proverbial cheshire cat. "That's ok. I was just about to read a letter from Kassie telling me what happened when Sirius came for tea."

"You mean you don't know yet?" James asked, looking shocked. "Oh, it was brilliant, I can tell you that. I'd love to meet her brothers and sisters." James began ticking a list off his fingers. "First the littlest one, Jill I think, announced to everyone that Sirius and Kassie like to kiss a lot." Lily slapped her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing, but James wasn't finished. "It gets better. Her aunt starts questioning Sirius about his motives with Kassie. Something about his family being known for their muggle hating. Well, probably in different words. Somehow he managed to smooth that one over. When they exchanged gifts one of her brothers had rewrapped Sirius' gift so that first he couldn't get past the spellotape to open it and when he finally did they had taken out his gift and put a snake stuffed animal in the box that sprang out when he opened it. So all of Kassie's family knows that Sirius squeals like a girl."

Lily was beside herself with laughter. Gasping, she quickly sat down on her trunk, her hand still over her mouth so as not to interrupt James' story. "Let's see, oh, then there was this muggle thing called a whoopee cushion, wumpie, maybe? Well, anyway, it makes some offending noise when you sit on it and Sirius managed to. And then when he left, he and Kassie were in the front garden saying goodbye and her brothers dropped water balloons down from the second story window onto their heads. I believe Kassie threatened to turn them all into toads, or something similar."

Lily sat on her trunk, Kassie's crumpled letter in her hands, her mouth open, trying not to look like a fish out of water. Finally she caught her breath and laughed harder than she had in a very long time. James joined her for a moment before they were interrupted by Christine in the doorway. She had a very perplexed look on her face. "What's so funny?" she asked, smiling.

Lily shook her head and waved her hand toward James, who picked up the story and explained it all to Christine. Lily's mother's face looked caught between laughter and horror. "Oh, the poor dear." She giggled. "And Sirius still wants to go out with her after that? I remember the first time Daniel met my parents." She sighed with the memory. "My dad was like a drill sergeant, asking him what his intentions were, how much money he made and then threatening him about what would happen if he ever hurt me. It scared Daniel nearly to death, I was afraid he'd break up with me after that.

"But he didn't, obviously, and my dad never had to make good on any of the threats. I imagine the man who wants to go out with Lily, and sticks around long enough to meet Daniel and I, is going to get a good talking to, as well."

James swallowed audibly. Lily glanced at him, but he wasn't acting like there was anything wrong. He beamed at Lily. "I need to get going. But thanks again, Lily." He turned, but then stopped. "Did you open my gift yet?"

Lily's eyes grew wide. She had had her thoughts almost constantly on the package from James, but she wasn't sure she wanted to open it in front of him. "No, she hasn't," Christine answered for her. Lily wanted to groan, but Christine only winked at her from behind James' back.

"Well come on, then," James said, grabbing Lily's arm and yanking her out of the room. Lily barely put Kassie's letter down on her desk before James was leading her downstairs. They burst into the living room and James went on a mad hunt in the pile of presents for his. "Good morning, James," Daniel greeted, not looking the least bit concerned that James had appeared in their fireplace on Christmas morning, or that he was currently rummaging through the presents.

"Morning," James' voice drifted from where he was bent over a stack of presents. "Oh, here we go!" James announced and handed the gift to Lily.

For nearly the hundredth time since Christmas holiday had started, Lily found herself holding the small green package, and this time she could open it. Only, she hadn't quite envisioned herself doing so while James was watching her every reaction. Stop it, she told herself. He's watched you open presents before. This is no different. But when Lily thought back over all the feelings she had had for James, their day in Hogsmeade and what she had hoped would be a kiss that night.... Lily shook herself. James was a friend. She needed to stop looking more into it. But it was very hard to do that when she ripped open the green paper and found a long velvet box. Lily gasped, gently lifting the lid to find a silver charmed bracelet inside. Charmed literally. The small gemstones were changing colour as she watched. "Oh, James, it's beautiful," Lily breathed, pulling the bracelet from the box and laying it on her wrist. "I've never seen these before."

James was fighting one of the biggest grins Lily had ever seen. He took the bracelet from her, put it around her wrist and fumbled with the latch. "Sirius and I found this small section in the back of Jutter's Jewellery that had charmed jewellery. Sirius got Kassie a charmed necklace."

Lily felt herself blush, smile and her stomach flip at the same time. Even though she had only just scolded herself that she and James was just friends, to hear him talk about buying this while Sirius was buying for his girlfriend made her heart beat a little faster. Spontaneously she rose to her tip-toes and kissed James' cheek. "Thank you."

Christine watched, her own smile growing, as James blushed and stuttered out a "YouÂ’re welcome". She'd bet everything she owned that something would happen between them soon. She only hoped they realised the possibilities. Life was too short to be caught in doubt for too long. Lily's copy of the Daily Prophet that had arrived this morning was proof of that. Christine glanced uneasily at the parchment laying on the television, it's huge caption looming out at her:

Family killed in their home, the Dark Mark hovers over North Yorkshire.

--End Chapter 41.