Outward Appearances

Chapter 10: Dinner with Petunia

Lily stared at her reflection with disgust. She harshly pulled her hair out of the bun she had spent an hour working on. With her hair like that, she almost looked innocent, which was the look she had been going for, but now her reflection seemed to mock her. Memories of herself at Sieranda's kept popping into her mind and reminding her that she was deceiving her parents.

Sighing, Lily dropped onto the toilet-seat and rested her face in her hands. When her family was involved, nothing was ever good enough. She wasn't good enough.

Wait, that wasn't fair. Her parents had never been anything but loving and supportive. It was her fault that she wasn't worthy of the pedestal they seemed to have her on. And Petunia was ever so quick to remind her of that.

Lily lifted her head and glared at the letter on the sink counter. How the heck Petunia had managed to find someone who was willing to put up with her was beyond Lily's imagination.

With another sigh, she got up and moved back to the mirror. Running the brush through her hair, she considered just leaving it down. She immediately decided against it. This wasn't her best hair-day. Her red locks were frizzing oddly, making her look wild and "abnormal" (as Petunia had always been fond of saying).

Lily suddenly smashed the brush down on the counter angrily. Who gave a damn what Petunia thought?

"What the heck are you doing in there?" Arabella yelled through the bathroom door.

Lily opened the door and asked, "Can I borrow that hat again?"

"What hat?"

She growled in frustration. "The one I wore to Hogsmeade!"

"Sorry, but I haven't seen it since you wore it last," she answered, sitting cross-legged on her bed. "See when I lend you anything again."

It was probably under one of the piles of clothes on the floor. "Why do we live in such a hell-hole?" Lily cried, kicking at one of the piles.

"We're pigs," Arabella said with a shrug, eyeing her with amusement.

Lily retreated back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. Why did that cursed letter have to come today? Like she didn't have enough to deal with at the moment.

Pouting, she folded her arms and leaned against the sink. Why did she have to go to dinner with them anyway? She was sure that Petunia wouldn't be too offended if Lily stayed exactly where she was. If her parents insisted that she meet this unfortunate guy, then there was always the inevitable wedding. Lily shuddered. Of course her parents would expect her to be there, too.

"Are you coming out anytime soon?" Vivian's voice called through the door. Apparently the girls were back from wherever the heck they had gone after classes that afternoon. "We have to get ready too, you know!"

Glaring at the door, Lily compromised by pulling her hair into a ponytail. She relinquished the bathroom with a slightly depressed air, which was ignored. Vivian and Marcella immediately shuffled in, giggling loudly and almost knocking Lily over in the process. Arabella shook her head in disgust.

"Poor Mungdungus," she said.

"What did he do now?" Lily asked absently, pulling an appropriate sweater out of her cabinet.

"The poor fool fell for our dear loon, Vivian. The wench is dating some guy whose friends with Marcella's new boyfriend."

Lily smirked and checked the vanity. I look like a Muggle, she thought dejectedly. Wonderful.

"Great. I guess that I'll be the only one here tonight. I suppose that I could bring myself down and talk to some of the lower years," Arabella said, wrinkling her nose in comical distaste.

Lily was about to make a sarcastic comment, when an idea suddenly came to her. Smiling slyly, she turned to her friend. "You could come with me."

Arabella laughed. "Yeah, right."

"No, I'm serious," she said excitedly. Lily began pulling clothes out of her drawers. She tossed a pair of slacks and an extra blouse at her. "Here, you can wear these."

Arabella eyed them warily. "Muggle clothes? I don't know, Lily. I wasn't invited."

"I'm inviting you," she insisted. "Now hurry up and get ready!"

Arabella still looked unsure, but she closed the curtains around her bed, and Lily heard the distinct sound of clothes rustling. Smiling in triumph, she borrowed a pair of Vivian's earrings. The night was looking up. With Arabella with her, dinner couldn't be that bad.

Stepping out, Arabella did a little twirl. "Do I look like a Muggle?"

"Yeah," she said, smiling. She noticed with slight irritation that her clothes actually looked better on her friend.

"How long do you think this is going to take?"

Lily shrugged. "However long it takes before Petunia becomes too disgusted with my presence to carry on. Maybe two hours?"

Arabella gave her a funny look. "You know James is probably coming back tonight."

Her gut suddenly clenched. Not looking at her, Lily nodded. Of course she knew. She had been counting off the days of his suspension. This was the last day, so he would probably come back tonight so that he could attend classes tomorrow. For two weeks, Lily had been going over what she would say to him when they were finally face to face. She had drawn a blank. "Ready?" she asked lightly.

"Yup."

Lily led the way, her stomach fluttering unpleasantly.

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There were exactly five waiters glaring at them. Six, if you counted the disgruntled hostess.

Lily slid down in her chair, wishing that she had brought her wand so that she could cast a silencing spell around their table. Nothing could have prepared her for Vernon Dursley.

"I ordered medium-rare, not RARE!" he bellowed.

The waiter looked like he was about to burst into tears. "It's my first day," he mumbled. No one seemed to hear him except Lily, who was stuck sitting next to Vernon. She sent him a sympathetic look, which he didn't see because he was too busy struggling not to cry.

"Are you daft, Boy?" Vernon growled. "Why are you not fixing my order?"

The waiter, whose name-tag said Doug, rushed away, almost tripping over himself in his haste.

"I swear service is atrocious these days," Vernon muttered.

Lily surveyed the man with distaste. She hadn't really expected much from the man who wanted to chain himself to her sister, but this was beyond even her imagination. Women were often blinded by an attractive appearance, but what was Petunia's excuse? It would take three Petunias to match the mass of one Vernon. He didn't so much have a neck as a stump that his head rested on, and his thick mustache reminded Lily of Marcella's cat, Timberlie. He had beady, little eyes that had taken Lily in with the utmost dislike upon their meeting. The feeling was mutual.

"Anyway, I was thinking of green for your bridesmaid dresses, Petunia," Mrs. Evans said, pretending that the entire restaurant wasn't staring at them.

Petunia looked thoughtful. "I suppose. But I want the bridesmaids to be carrying those parasols that we saw in Greenly's. You know, the big ones?"

Lily struggled not to smirk. Oh boy. She definitely pitied Petunia's bridesmaids. Well, maybe not. If she was going to have to attend this atrocity in the guise of something sacred, then she might as well enjoy herself while making fun of everyone else.

"That's fine, Dear," Mrs. Evans said carefully. "But those parasols were pink, weren't they? I was just thinking green because it's your sister's best color."

Both girls stared at her uncomprehendingly.

Petunia digested the meaning first.

"*She* is NOT going to be one of my bridesmaids!" she cried shrilly. "Yvonne is going to be my maid of honor."

There was a stunned silence. Lily could feel even more eyes turning toward them. Her mother looked confused. "But she's your sister--"

"I don't want to be her bridesmaid, anyway!" Lily said hotly, her face burning. It was the truth. The very image of herself walking down the aisle, carrying a pink parasol was at the very least horrifying. But Petunia sure had her nerve talking about her like that...

"Good! Because I won't have you spending time with any of my friends! You're not going to ruin my wedding by showing everyone how ABNORMAL you are!"

"Don't worry, because I won't be coming to your blasted wedding!" Lily yelled back. God, it was bad enough that Petunia behaved this way toward her on a regular basis, but did she have to do it in front of her friend?

"Girls!" Mr. Evans snapped sharply. "That's enough."

Petunia pursed her lips together and Lily speared her dinner angrily. Their parents exchanged a wary look. They had bared witness to enough of these spats to be more than a little bit sick of them.

There were a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, during which Lily counted the ways that she could torture Petunia if only it wouldn't result in her expulsion.

"So, Arabella. Do you like Hogwarts?" Mr. Evans asked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

If it was possible, Petunia's face soured even further at the mention of Lily's school.

Arabella looked up from her food, which had held her attention since it had arrived (she had never had lobster before). "As much as I could like any institution that enforces homework and O.W.L.s on me."

Lily snorted into her water. Her best friend probably hadn't heard a word of her brief row with Petunia. How nice to be so distracted by food.

Mr. and Mrs. Evans shared an amused look. "I know how you feel," he said jovially. "I always hated school, never did well at that. But I guess that doesn't run in the family--"

"I got good marks," Petunia muttered.

"If you had told me that my daughter would be Head--"

"John!" Mrs. Evans scolded. "We're not supposed to tell her!"

Lily looked up at her parents. "Tell who what?"

Mr. Evans sent his wife an apologetic look, but when he looked again at Lily, he was beaming. "We received a letter last week--in the most humorous way, actually--"

"John, if you're going to tell her, by all means get to it!"

"All right, May. Anyway, we got a letter from your headmaster telling us that you're going to be Head Girl for your seventh year, Sweetums!"

Mrs. Evans clapped her hands together in delight. "We're so proud of you."

Before Lily could process this, a loud clamor sounded. Petunia had slammed her glass down, and water had splashed over the white tablecloth. Out of the corner of her eye, Lily noticed a group of waiters disappear into the kitchen, probably avoiding being the one to come over to their table. She didn't blame them.

Ignoring Petunia, she said slowly, "There has to be a mistake, Mum. They don't send that kind of letter until the summer before seventh year." She looked at Arabella for confirmation, who just shrugged at her, looking impressed.

"The letter said that, but your headmaster thought that we could use some good news after your father's surgery. I can't imagine how he knew about that, but it was very thoughtful of him."

"All right, Lily!" Arabella cried between bites. Vernon's lip curled in disgust as a stray piece of lobster flew into his drink.

Lily gave her a weak smile. She didn't know how to feel about this. Naturally, there was some pride in being chosen for Head Girl, but she wasn't sure if she wanted that kind of pressure. Wow. Wait. How did Dumbledore know about Mr. Evans's surgery?

"Why did you need good news?" Petunia asked, her voice unnaturally high. "I just announced my engagement."

Mr. and Mrs. Evans sent each other startled looks. "Well, of course that was very good news, Honey. I just meant--"

"Whatever," she snapped.

Once again, there was a strained silence. Lily took the time to brood over her news. Her feelings must have reflected on her face, because Arabella leaned over and whispered, "Be happy, Lily."

"I am," she muttered, but Arabella didn't look convinced.

The rest of the meal was relatively quiet and uncomfortable, aside from Arabella, who kept getting excited over comically normal things that the Muggles around them were doing ("It's called a *lighter*? Geez, what these Muggles come up with!"). Petunia and Vernon both winced every time Arabella used the word 'Muggle'--which was often-- and Lily had to keep reminding her to keep her voice down. Petunia had obviously told Vernon about Lily, because he never showed any surprise (just disgust) at anything mentioned that would have made any uninformed Muggle raise his eyebrows.

The meal couldn't have ended sooner. Lily supposed that everyone held a similar sentiment, because no one ordered dessert, and her parents didn't waste any time requesting the check. Lily noticed that Vernon didn't offer to help pay. Judging by the new suite he was wearing, the guy wasn't exactly counting his pennies. Cheap bastard.

When they finally left the restaurant, Petunia grabbed Lily's arm roughly and hissed, "You won't be bringing any of *your* lot to the wedding!" before disappearing into Vernon's car.

Lily stared after them. After the wedding, she felt somewhat secure that she would never have to set eyes on the two of them again. Good riddance to them both.

Although the night was probably ruined for everyone else, Lily considered the night a success. She didn't feel the need to drown herself in alcohol, which was a first. Petunia never nettled Lily when their parents were there like she would when they were alone. Thank God for small favors. As long as she steered clear of her at the wedding, she would probably never have to hear another one of her stinging comments. From anyone else, they probably wouldn't have affected her in the slightest, but for some reason Petunia always managed to get under her skin.

But now she was Vernon's problem.

Lily smiled.

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