Rating:: PG-13
House:: Astronomy Tower
Characters:: James Potter Lily Evans
Genres:: Romance General
Era:: Multiple Eras
Stats:: Published: 01/27/2003

Updated: 02/01/2003

Words: 6,000

Chapters: 2

Hits: 1,655

That Summer

imaJination

Story Summary:: Lily spent the summer holidays in America and met a fantastic boy. Surprisingly, they meet up again at Hogwarts, but he’s completely different from what she remembered him. Can a romance still be salvaged?

Chapter 02

Chapter Summary:: Lily spent the summer holidays in America and met a fantastic boy. Surprisingly, they meet up again at Hogwarts, but he’s completely different from what she remembered him. Can a romance still be salvaged?

Posted:: 02/01/2003

Hits:: 644

That Summer
Early Notes: You all are absolutely fantastic! Just imaJine how warm and fuzzy and bubbly I felt when I went into my e-mail to find all those review notifications waiting for me! I thank each and every one of you! You've definitely made me feel warm and welcome here on FA. :)

Chapter 2: Lights, Camera, Cut?

Some girls are all about it
Some girls, they love to let it fly
Some girls can’t live without it
Some girls are born to make you cry
Over and over again

“...And then Andrew complimented me on my hair. He said it was so soft, and he would just love to run his hands through it while--”

Lily, who had been staring into her chocolate milkshake while Petunia went on and on about her latest romantic endeavors, had finally heard enough. She slammed a fist down on the table where she and her two sisters were sitting in the ice cream shop, startling Petunia and Marigold, who had looked to be doing the same as Lily. “Petunia, could you please not chatter incessantly about what Andrew said? If the truth be told, I really don’t care,” she snapped.

Petunia stared at Lily, her mouth agape. “Well, I never!” the blonde exclaimed, the pitch of her voice so high that it caused both Lily and Marigold to wince. “I thought my own sisters would want to be informed about the latest romantic developments in my life, since the both of you seem to be missing out on any of that.”

Lily smiled sweetly. “Well, it seems that you thought wrong, dear sister,” she answered, watching Petunia roll her eyes in irritation.

It had been nearly a week since her encounter with James Potter on the beach, and during that time she had gone out with her sisters numerous times, to various places. That day, they had decided on a day of shopping in a nearby mall; Lily’s impoverished state had forced her to borrow money from Marigold, who leant it to her with a big smile on her face, saying, “You can just pay me back when you give me your fifty dollars.” After going in several shops and each girl buying nothing but rather inexpensive jewelry, they had found the ice cream shop and agreed to stop for milkshakes. While there, Petunia had done nothing but talk about the boys she had met on the beach; she’d been spending a lot of time with the sandy blonde-haired one, named Andrew, and during a trip to the restrooms, Marigold and Lily had agreed that he would be the first that Petunia would shag.

For the most part, Lily was having a good time. It made her regret not spending more time with her sisters--Marigold, in particular, because Petunia could be a real bitch at times--during other vacations. Aside from the general dislike of Petunia’s ways, Lily could find no reason not to be having a good time.

Marigold sighed, swallowing some of her vanilla milkshake. It left a mustache on her upper lip, but she licked it off. “You two, can’t you at least attempt to get along a little bit? We’ve only been here a week and already you’re at each other’s throat,” she said. “I think it would make this vacation a lot more pleasant for everyone, especially me, if you would just stop acting so childish. It’s horrible; those kids over there arguing with their mum are probably better behaved than the two of you.”

“Great, compare me to some runny-nosed little children,” Petunia said, the disdain in her voice clearly evident. “With Lily, I can definitely see the comparison...”

“Petunia!” Marigold exclaimed. “Please?” She looked back and forth between the sisters with pleading eyes.

“Ugh.” Lily groaned. “All right, Mari, I’ll behave and I’ll treat Petunia better.” Seeing that Petunia was growing smug, Lily quickly added, “If she agrees to do the same. I’ll not put forth any more effort than she does.”

There was a long pause in which Lily and Marigold eyed Petunia expectantly. Just as Lily was about to look away, Petunia sighed. “All right, all right! But I’ll not put forth any more effort than she does,” she said, repeating what Lily had just said.

Marigold breathed a sigh of relief. “Whew, that’s music to my ears,” she said, smiling. “Maybe now it won’t be intolerable spending time with both of you at once.”

Neither Lily nor Petunia returned Marigold’s smile. The grim looks they both had on their faces remained intact, and pretty soon Marigold’s smile faded, soon to be replaced with a slight frown. A long silence descended upon them, but was broken by a gasp from Marigold, causing Lily to focus her attention on the girl. Her eyes were as wide as saucers and were fixated on something over Lily’s shoulder, and both Petunia and Lily turned to get a glimpse of what Marigold was staring at. Only Lily zoomed in on the person immediately, however, because Petunia hadn’t met James Potter.

“Oh my God, what’s he doing here?” Lily demanded, whipping her head back around. James was standing at the counter with a couple of friends who looked like they were a little older than him. Since Lily guessed that James was around her age, she guessed that his friends were probably Petunia’s age, if not a little older. “That is the one person I do not want to ever have to talk to again!”

Confusion had already set in for Petunia. “If you’re talking about that gorgeous boy right there, then you’re insane.”

Repulsed, Lily stared at Petunia. “How can you call him gorgeous? He’s got the messiest hair I’ve ever seen, he’s too tall, he’s got glasses...”

“And great abs, by the looks of it,” Petunia cut in when James turned around. His white T-shirt was form-fitting and indeed showed off his stomach muscles very well. As he and his friends began to walk toward Lily’s table, Lily shrank down in her seat. Marigold laughed.

“Too late, Lils. I believe the beach boy already spotted you,” Marigold stated, watching amusedly as James sauntered over. He pulled up a chair and sat at the edge of the table, gesturing for his friends to do the same.

“Guys, this is the spitfire I told you about,” James said, flashing Lily his toothy smile. “Spitfire, these are my friends, Joey, Benji, and Kevin.”

Joey, Benji, and Kevin each raised their hands in a slight wave. Lily made a noise in the back of her throat before replying hotly, “I have a name, you know, and it’s not ‘spitfire.’”

James stopped sipping on his milkshake and turned to his friend, feigning shock. He gasped. “She has a name other than Spitfire! Who would’ve thought?” At that, even Petunia and Marigold snickered. Lily quickly silenced them with a glare. “Well, what happens to be your name, Spitfire?”

Lily hadn’t intended on telling him her name; she really wasn’t in the mood for a psycho American stalker with a serious attitude problem, and she was sure that was what the case would be if she did. She planned on not saying anything and hoped desperately that he would take the not-so-subtle hint and leave her alone. However, her plan didn’t go exactly the way she would’ve wanted it to, because when Lily didn’t reply, Marigold quickly jumped in.

“She’s Lily. I’m Marigold, by the way, and that’s Petunia,” Marigold said, giving the boys a bright smile. In true Marigold fashion, she looked at her wrist as if there were a watch there and gasped. “Hey, it’s time for that sale at that shop! You know, Petunia, they’re selling some items that you and I have been trying to find forever in England!” She stopped talking long enough to turn to James’ friends. “Would you boys like to come along? We sure could use some nice, strong men to help us with our...uh...stuff.”

It all happened so fast that Lily wasn’t even sure what had ensued. Before she knew it, her table was deserted except for herself and James, and her sisters and James’ friend were on their way to a shop that wasn’t having a sale at that particular time. Sighing, Lily sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. She had been ditched.

James laughed. “You know, those girls would be perfect matches for Benji and Kevin.”

Shaking her head and wondering why she was even bothering to converse with this boy, Lily asked, “And what about Joey?”

He shrugged. “He’s gay.”

Lily didn’t know how he could be so casual with talking to her. They’d only met once before, and then she’d been as nasty as she had ever been to a stranger before. Usually Lily wasn’t comfortable with unfamiliar people, but James seemed to be treating her like an old friend. “I guess that would be a problem when it came to girls,” Lily said, allowing herself to smile slightly.

James obviously opted for a change of subject. “So, your name’s Lily,” he said quietly, almost like he was talking to himself. “That’s a pretty name, but do your parents have a flower fetish?”

Chuckling softly, Lily shook her head “no.” “My mum just really loves to garden. Petunia was the first name to pop out of her mouth when Petunia was born, and then when I was born she named me after the flowers on her bedside table. Then, when she had Marigold, she just decided to continue the tradition. Mum loves marigolds, so that’s where she got that.”

After a few more moments of talking, James stood up. “I promised my mom I’d be home within two hours, and she gets really mad when I’m later than I say I’ll be. Maybe we could meet at the beach sometime...” His voice trailed off with his offer, making him sound like he was unsure. That made Lily smile, because when she first met him, she had immediately written him off a someone who was arrogant and full of himself. The thought of him being insecure made her like him a little more than she had already began to.

“Sounds like a plan.” Lily quickly gave James the number for the house her family was staying in, wondering why in the hell she was doing this. This wasn’t normal Lily; normal Lily didn’t give out her number to almost complete strangers that she hated just a week earlier. Normal Lily also didn’t watch a boy’s backside as he walked away from her, and when she caught herself doing that she practically smacked herself on the head. She settled for collapsing in a chair and repeating, “Stupid, stupid, stupid.” That would be her new mantra.

***

“It is not romantic, it’s silly!” Lily declared late that night. Marigold was in her room, and the two were discussing the goings-on of that afternoon. Petunia had left nearly five hours earlier on her date with Andrew.

Marigold sighed dreamily. “No way, Lily,” she said, grinning. “It’s like a tragic Shakespearean play, about the boy and girl who are destined to be together meeting while the girl is on vacation in his continent, but then the girl has to fly to a completely different continent at the end of the summer.” She sighed again. “I can see the movie production of the play now...lights, camera--”

“CUT!” Lily yelled loudly.

Marigold opened her eyes and gave Lily an odd look. “No, Lily, what comes next is ‘action.’ ‘Cut’ is at the end. And then you can say, ‘that’s a wrap!’”

Lily glared. “Marigold, stop it! I can’t believe you think this is romantic and exciting and all those other things it’s not. I don’t even like James, because, like I said at the beach, he’s an insufferable git! And he’s arrogant, too,” she said.

“Well, so was Petruchio and Kate still married him,” Marigold said thoughtfully, grinning.

“Shakespeare has nothing to do with this, Marigold. Please stop.”

Marigold looked very offended at Lily’s words, but Lily didn’t care about her sister’s Shakespeare fanaticism. Marigold tended to be able to relate a lot of daily happenings to various Shakespeare plays and sonnets, and it got old very quickly.

“Besides,” Lily continued, giving her sister a look, “Kate was sort of forced into marrying Petruchio. It wasn’t out of her own free will.”

Marigold looked like she was about to say something in reply, but closed her mouth. After a moment, she opened it again and Lily was pleased that no talk of Shakespeare emerged. “I think that if you just gave him a chance, you’d find you were perfect for each other,” Marigold said. Lily seemed about to protest, and the other girl cut her off. “And don’t go on about how you’ll never see each other again after this summer, because who said anything about a serious relationship forming out of this? Think of it as a summer fling; Petunia’s having about ten of them.”

Lily felt herself smile, but it quickly faded. “But I’m not Petunia, Mari.” Her voice was sad and sullen, and Lily looked down at her light pink fingernails.

“So?” Marigold questioned nonchalantly. “Who cares? Just give James a chance, because it’s easy to see both of you are attracted. Just act on that attraction, and things will take off from there.” She was quiet, and then she continued, “Of course, if you get too attached to each other, it’s going to be a real heartbreaker at the end of the summer.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Lily answered, sighing. Everyone knew about her attachment problem; she saw something and within a few hours, she was completely in love with it. When she was younger, there was a stray puppy that Diane and Richard agreed to letting the girls keep. After a few days, the puppy disappeared, and Lily was devastated. She sulked around the house for days, the only thing bringing her out of her slump being the letter she received by owl that summer.

Marigold obviously recalled the Puppy Incident, as it had been dubbed during the weeks following, because she smiled sympathetically at Lily. “Hey, if you end up trying to sale your plane ticket to some overweight child molester on the streets so that you can stay with James, I’ll be sure to tell Mum and Dad to get you psychiatric help in dealing with your attachment issues, all right?” Lily’s response was a cold glare. “OK, so maybe not.”

Lily sighed. “This is really hard for me to say, but I think I’ll listen to you--for once--and give James a chance. I mean, nothing will develop from it, so what’s the harm? Besides, it will be fun for me to get the attention of a boy for once.” Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and Marigold assumed it was because of her sister’s lack of dating skills at Hogwarts; Lily spoke of them often in letters home.

“That’s a good girl,” Marigold said, beaming. “I just know you and James will hit it off, and you’ll have a marvelous time together this summer!” Slowly, her face fell and she settled back into the fluffy pillows on Lily’s bed, frowning.

Lily noticed her sister’s sudden distress. “What’s the matter? I thought you’d be delighted to hear that, Marigold.”

“I need someone to hit it off with now!” Marigold answered, laughing heartily. “I’ve been so concerned with convincing you that you should give James a chance and concentrating on who Petunia comes home with that I haven’t thought much about myself!”

Slyly, Lily said, “We’ll find you someone. Don’t you worry your pretty little head...”

Marigold groaned. “How very comforting,” she said in a monotonous voice. Lily and matchmaking just did not mix, and would undoubtedly result in disaster.

Still grinning, Lily continued, “Now, don’t you start complaining. It’s only fair that I try to get you a date, because you’ve just put some much effort into telling me that James and I are perfect for each other. I need to repay you!”

“Oh, Lily, you really don’t have to...”

“Nonsense!” Lily exclaimed, licking her lips. Marigold could practically see the wheels turning in the older girl’s head.

“Really,” Marigold insisted, making Lily look at her. “I’m perfectly capable of finding my own dates. You, on the other hand, needed a push in the right direction. It was a sisterly gesture!”

Lily scowled, crossing her arms. She opened her mouth to reply to Marigold, but was unable to get out another word. Petunia came barrelling into the room, her face glowing. Lily and Marigold looked at each other before grinning and then looking back at Petunia.

“Did you have a nice time with Andrew?” Marigold asked the blonde innocently, watching as Petunia sat in Lily’s desk chair.

Petunia smiled. “Did I ever! He took me to the most wonderful restaurant for dinner, and then we took a moonlit stroll through this amazing park. After that, we went back to his place and...got to know each other a little better.” She blushed. “He’s eighteen and already has his own flat, which is great. Of course, he has a roommate, but it’s like he lives alone anyway.” A sigh escaped her, and Lily rolled her eyes.

“Well, having his own flat definitely makes him a keeper, right?” Marigold asked, feigning interest. Not waiting for an answer from Petunia, Marigold continued, “I’m so happy for you, Petty. You and Andrew make a wonderful couple.”

Lily knew Marigold was exaggerating her words to Petunia, mostly because of her last comment. Both Lily and Marigold had only actually seen Andrew two times--once at the beach, when he and Petunia were snogging in the water, and once before they left for their date. Of course, sucking up to the oldest girl was never a bad idea, and so Lily made a mental note of that to herself.

After a few more minutes of Petunia’s excited explanations of her date, she stood up and left the room with a cheerful goodbye. When Lily heard her footsteps disappear and a door close, she looked at Marigold with a grin on her face.

“One down, only a few more to go.”

***

imaJination’s notes: I have a few things that I’d like to talk about here, so here it goes.

1.) During Marigold and Lily’s conversation, Marigold’s response to Lily calling James arrogant was, “Well, so was Petruchio and Kate still married him.” That, of course, is a reference to one of Shakespeare’s plays, The Taming of the Shrew, also known as Kiss Me Kate. We’re reading it (and watching the Zeffirelli film) in English class and I couldn’t help but throw in that comparison.
2.) Lily’s “attachment problem” is in homage to my older sister Michelle, who is having the most difficult time letting go of home life here and settling in at her new on-campus dorm (yes, she’s in college, and hating it.) I thought I would stick that in there; no harm in giving fictional characters traits of real-life people.
3.) If you reviewed chapter 1 like good little readers, go on back to my review board and look; I edited your messages and responded to them by saying imaJination says: and then whatever I had to say to you. But I'll give a quick thanks here, too: Rachel L, lovely lulu, Lily Granger, carrottop, Nicholle, Jaxx, marauderess13, floramorada, janelle, Digital_Chicka, RovenaRavenclaw, Serpent Eyes. If I missed you, it's because you reviewed after I submitted this chapter or I accidentally skipped your name, and I'm very sorry!