Nothing On Earth

Chapter 7

1:15 PM

"Well, our young Romeo returns at last. How was your stay in the Land of Splendor and Glory?"

James grinned as he slid into an empty seat across from Remus. The dining hall was packed already, and he was lucky to find this seat open at all.

"Sirius went back above, then?" James asked, trying to change to the subject momentarily. He didn't want his mood - nor appetite - ruined by one of Remus's interrogation sessions.

"Yes. Said he had a lunch date with Malfoy that couldn't be avoided."

"Speaking of lunch, what are we having today?" James asked, reaching over to take a dinner roll off of Remus's plate without waiting for an answer. "Something good, perhaps?"

"I think it might be lamb," Remus replied, glancing down at the other passengers who had received their main course already. "But Lord knows if it's better than what we had last night."

"Compared to the slop I've had, last night's meal was nearly gourmet. Don't know what the two of you are complaining about," Jack commented, and James once again realized that he had the great fortune of sitting next to the American.

"Dawson, my friend, you have not lived until you've tasted the food at Hogwarts," James replied, clapping him on the back and successfully knocking the roll out of Jack's mouth. "That's gourmet dinning."

"Well, I'll just take your word for it, as I'm probably never gonna visit this Hogwarts you're always going on about," Jack said. Their conversation ended when it was cut short by a plate of steaming hot lamb as it was placed in front of Jack. He immediately dug in, ignoring everything but the food.

"So how was your visit with Miss Evans?" Remus asked again, ignoring the plate that was put in front of him as he stared at James intently. "Learn anything interesting?"

James glanced at him over the top of his glasses. Remus didn't seem to be in a bad mood anymore (he had probably had a good snog with Sigrid) and he really didn't want to put Remus back in a bad mood by constantly avoiding his questions like he had planned.

"Other than that her fiancé is a pompous arse? Oh wait, I already knew that..." James replied. He picked up his knife and fork, and began to cut into the lamb. "I didn't learn anything about You-Know-What if that's what you mean. I'm going to go meet with her again after lunch, if you must know."

Remus's fork clattered back down to the table.

"You're going to talk to her again?"

"Yes, and why shouldn't I? We didn't get much talking in before, and I'm pretty sure she wanted to do a bit more, so we're meeting out on the poop deck once she gets away from Malfoy." James explained, shoving a piece of lamb in his mouth. "Sheth's amazthing, Mawny. Ith'sth likeh - "

"Didn't McGonagall tell you never to talk with your mouth full?"

James rolled his eyes at Remus, but made sure that all his food was swallowed before he spoke again.

"She's amazing, Moony - "

"Amazing, Prongs? You barely even know the girl!" Remus interrupted. He took a bite off a carrot and crunched on it as he awaited his friend's answer.

"I know that. I want to get to know her more, even though it seems that I've already known her for...well, forever. I don't know what it is about her, but she's...She's like no woman I've ever met before," James explained, a wistful look appearing in his eyes. "There's just something about her that I can't explain..."

"Well, you better be doing some explaining about that - " Remus replied, pointing at James's bandaged hand which he seemed to have just noticed. " - because it wasn't there when you left."

"That lovely fellow Malfoy hit me with his cane. I was looking at the ring Lily had and all of a sudden...WHACK!" He hit the table to emphasize his point, and accidentally knocked Jack's glass over. "Oops...Sorry about that, mate."

"Hold on," Remus said, his brow furrowing. James stopped in the motion of picking up a cloth napkin to clean the mess he had made. "No, you can go on with that, just answer my question...When did you start calling Miss Evans, Lily?"

"Since she started calling me James."

"You're on a first name basis with Malfoy's fiancée?"

James knew that tone Remus was using. It was the one he used when he thought whomever the tone was being directed at was being a careless git. James did not like being thought of a careless git, especially when he was actually thinking his actions through before he did them for once.

"Don't even start, Moony. Malfoy won't care that I know his fiancée's name because all of bloody England knows her name. Besides, he's probably more worried about the fact that I almost touched his precious family heirloom than whether or not Lily learned my name."

James threw the sopping wet napkin into the middle of the table, and picked up his fork again. He cut a much bigger piece of lamb, and shoved it into his mouth. He listened intently to Remus talk as he ate.

"All I'm going to tell you is that you need to be more careful around her, especially when Malfoy is around. We don't know which lower ranked - " James chewed his piece of lamb angrily at that, " - Order members have been identified by the Death Eaters. If Riddle or any of them figure out you're on the opposite side - "

"He'll kidnap me, and then torture me until I give him the answers he wants," James recited in a bored tone, his food in the corner of his mouth. "I know the risks in this game, Remus, and I'm being careful about what I say to her on that subject, just incase you think that she's on Malfoy's side - "
"She's his fiancée; it's only natural if she'd side with him."

James shook his head in disagreement, and swallowed his chewed food. "She hates his guts, Moony."

"Did she say that out loud?"

"No. But you should've heard her...you could just tell that she hated him by the tone of her voice; and she didn't bother correcting me when I insulted him either," James clarified. He picked up his glass of water and quickly took a drink. "If I accidentally say something I'm not supposed to, Lily won't go running to Malfoy. I'm sure of it."

Remus stared at him uneasily for a moment, as if he was contemplating warning him again. Finally, he sighed, and gave in.

"Fine, Prongs. You do whatever you want, and don't come running to me if you're wrong. And just...just make sure you're not getting in too far over your head."

"And when have I ever done that?" Remus shot James a pointed look. "Er...Pass the salt please, and don't answer that question."

***

Lily thought that she had been very pleasant indeed during lunch today. She hadn't talked back to Lucius once, and she was even cordial to Sirius and Riddle. She smiled and laughed at everything entertaining that someone said, and she didn't even complain when Lucius ordered her food again.

Of course, she wasn't doing all of this without a perfectly good reason - she had to regain favor in Lucius's eyes; otherwise he would never let her go to see James again. If she didn't want to see James so badly, she wouldn't have even considered kissing up to Lucius at all - it usually made her quite sick.

Lucius seemed to be buying her act though. He wasn't ignoring her as much as he usually did and he occasionally sent her a small smile, something he typically never did in public. It wasn't too hard to pretend she was enjoying their company - she just had to copy Petunia's countless examples of feigning enjoyment.

Lily glanced over at her sister. She had done nothing but glare at Lily and Lucius throughout the entire dinner. Her lips were pursed, a sign that she was longing to throw an angry diatribe at Lily or Lucius. She was probably upset that neither of them had accompanied her to see Vernon off at Queenstown, and she usually took those kind of petty things as personal insults.

Petunia wasn't the only one at the table who was glaring. Riddle hadn't taken his eyes off Lily the moment she had started acting pleasant. He was currently giving her a look that told her that he wasn't buying her act at all, but she didn't take any heed of it. After all, she wasn't trying to convince Riddle that she had changed her attitude, and she could care less if he told Lucius that she was faking it, because by the time he did, she'd be back in steerage with James.

"Ah, do you happen to have the time Lucius?" Riddle asked suddenly. "I believe I left my pocket watch with Nott."

Lily tore her eyes away from the china she had been studying, and stared at Riddle. He stared coolly back at her as he lifted his glass, and took a drink of it.

Strange that he would ask about the time. Lily herself had just been thinking about the time and wondering if she was already late for her meeting with James. As she watched Lucius take out his pocket watch, she had to wonder if it had been simple coincidence or something else...

Knowing Riddle, it was most likely something else.

"It's almost two o'clock," Lucius replied, shoving his watch back into his pocket. Lily winced. Lunch had started being served at one, and she had promised to meet with James at a quarter to two. She was going to be terribly late if they kept talking.

Thankfully, Lucius spoke up again. "Don't we have to meet with that American soon?"

"I suppose so," Riddle sighed.

He scooted his chair back, and stood up. Lucius followed this suit, but Sirius remained seated, apparently having not noticed that the others had got up. He sniffed at a scone - he had a rather unhealthy addiction to those - experimentally, but before he could eat it, Riddle hit him in the back of the head.

"We're leaving, Sirius," he said in a tone that would usually be directed at a misbehaving child. Riddle nodded at Petunia and Lily before he walked off in the opposite direction.

Sirius glared at his retreating back, but got up anyway. He quickly stuffed the scone into his mouth, and pocketed a second one before he followed after Riddle.

"Will you be joining your sister in the writing room this afternoon?" Lucius asked, drawing Lily's attention away from Sirius.

She turned in her seat and looked him in the eye. She put on her best, simpering smile, and said, "Actually, I had plans to meet with that Potter fellow again. He had mentioned something about attending Hogwarts, and I was intrigued that someone like him could get into such a fine school as Hogwarts, so I accepted his offer to meet again after lunch."

"Yes...Severus mentioned something about that earlier," Lucius replied. He looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and then decided. "All right then. You may go and talk with that Potter, as long as you report back to me with your findings. I want to know how and why he got into Hogwarts because if Dumbledore's letting filth like that into a fine institution..."

He trailed off, apparently noticing Riddle and Sirius waiting impatiently across the café for him.

"I'll tell you if I learn anything," Lily lied, crossing her fingers under the table. Lucius wasn't going to get any information out of her; contrary to what he thought, she was no stool pigeon.

"Fair enough." He smiled briefly at Lily, and then nodded curtly at Petunia as he walked away.

Lily leapt out of her seat and rushed off toward the opposite exit, not even bothering to wait until Lucius had left from the other side.

***

"What time did you say she was supposed to be here?"

"Fifteen to."

"And what time is now?"

"Ah...Two and five minutes."

"Certainly not very punctual, is she?"

James shoved his pocket watch back in his coat jacket and glared at a rather smug looking Remus.

"She'll be here, despite whatever you may be thinking, Moony. She's probably just been delayed by that git of a fiancé of hers."

Remus shot him a look over the top of the book he was reading, and James glowered at him. He hated that I-Know-More-Than-You look.

But what if Remus was right, as he usually was? What if Malfoy wouldn't let her come? What if she didn't want to come in the first place? What if she was having a good laugh at him above decks with the other first class passengers?

No. She wasn't like the rest of them, James reminded himself. She was different. She'd come. She was late, that was all.

"Where's your girl Sigrid?" James asked, eager to change the subject. He had noticed the absence of the foreign girl from his friend's side immediately, but hadn't had time to ask about it. "Aren't you supposed to be teaching her Eeenglesh rather than bothering me?"

"Her father doesn't seem to like me too much, so we decided to stay away from each other for the rest of the day. She's going to try and convince him that I'm not conniving little thief - "

"But you are a conniving little thief, Moony! Well, at least you used to be - "

"Yes, yes, I know that. But her father doesn't, so you'd best keep your mouth shut," Remus replied. He wagged a threatening finger in James's direction without looking up from his book. "Anyway, didn't you say you wanted me to meet this Lily girl?"

"No. I said that you should've been there, not that you should be here." James sniffed. "Do me a favor, Moony, and learn the difference between past and present tense."

"I believe I'm the one who got an Outstanding in Flitwick's English course, not you."

"For your information, the only reason I didn't get that O was because I didn't go around and kiss up to Flitwick every chance I got - Hey!"

Remus had thrown his book at James. James glowered and threw it back at his friend, only to have Remus whip it right back to him.

"Stop that! I've been injured more than enough today, with that shoe, Malfoy's stupid cane, and now this bloody book - "

Remus ducked as the book soared over his head. He glared at James and got up to go pick it up.

"Well, if you'd keep your mouth shut and minded your own business half the time, than maybe you wouldn't be so injury prone."

"I'll show you injury prone - "

James leapt off his bench and tackled the sandy haired man just as he was returning to his seat. They landed in a pile on the deck, and several of the nearby passengers looked up to watch the two friends wrestle.

Remus won the small scrap in the end, partly because he had the book in hand when James had tackled him, and partly because he was just a bit stronger than James. Of course, they had just been play fighting, but that didn't stop Remus from keeping James in a headlock and making him beg for mercy.

"Let me go, Moony! I can't breathe!"

"If you can tell me that you can't breathe, than you obviously can," Remus responded lightly, tightening his hold on James's head as he struggled to get out. "It's no good to exhaust yourself like you're doing; you know you'll never break my hold."

"There's a first for everything!"

"Right, but it's not happening today. I'll let go if you say, 'Moony is the most brilliant person that I, Prongs, have ever met, and did not need to kiss up to any of his Hogwarts teachers' - "

"All right! Moony is the most brilliant person that I, Prongs, have ever met, and he didn't need to kiss up to any of his Hogwarts teachers," James recited, rolling his eyes. "There, can you let me go now?"

"You didn't let me finish! After that you have to say, 'because I, Prongs, did all the kissing for him, and I especially enjoyed it with Professor McGonagall'."

"Moony, you sick and demented man! I am not saying that - Ack!"

"And I'm not letting go until you do," Remus replied, tightening his grip so it was lax enough for James to still breathe, but tight enough so it was dreadfully uncomfortable.

Someone giggled nearby.

James looked up, surprised, and found Lily standing a few feet away. There was a funny expression on her face - as if she was trying not to laugh again - and a sparkle in her eyes that he had never seen before.

"Er...Hullo, Lily," James greeted, realising - rather sheepishly - that being on your knees and in a headlock was a very peculiar way to greet someone.

"Hello James."

Remus's head shot up the moment he heard Lily's reply, and slowly let James out of the headlock once he had seen her. He stared at her for a moment, then - looking quite embarrassed himself - got up, and helped James to his feet too.

"Erm," James said, sweeping a hand through his hair nervously. "...How long were you standing there?"

"I was coming down the stairwell the moment you tackled your friend here."

James winced internally. This was splendid. She probably thought they were barbarians now.

"Oh, well...ah...er..."

"I thought your little wrestling match was very entertaining," Lily replied, as if sensing his discomfort. She flashed him a brilliant smile and sat on a nearby bench. "I hope my tardiness wasn't the cause of it...I had to be nice to Lucius and I think that put him in a talkative mood for he and Riddle just wouldn't shut up."

James grinned and shot Remus a triumphant, I-Told-You-So look.

"It's all right; you weren't too late. Remus and I have a friend who's always late so we're used to waiting by now," James explained. Lily glanced at him and then at Remus, obviously confused. "Oh, right...Lily, this is Remus Lupin. Remus, this is Lily Evans."

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Evans," Remus said, nodding politely at her. "James has been talking about you - OW!"

James only removed his foot from Remus's toes when Lily began to talk again.

"But didn't you call him...er...Moony before?"

"Oh, that. Moony is Remus's nickname, like mine is Prongs. There's actually a rather funny story behind them too..."

***

So, he explained, and Lily was absolutely fascinated.

James Potter had been a thief.

An actual, pilfering, pick-pocketing little thief, and he sounded like a rather good one at that, as he bragged to her about his and Remus's (who, as it turned out, had met James when they had stolen from the same person, at the same time, and he had given them chase) illustrious adventures.

But he had been a Robin Hood type of thief, as he had continually reminded her. He had only started thieving so he could support himself after his father had died, and even when he became really good at it, he didn't take anything more than necessary.

James had claimed that he had probably been the best pickpocket in England by the time he was eleven, but Remus corrected him - as he often seemed to do - by saying that he had belonged to the best pickpocket team because he would never be the best by himself. At that point, James became rather ruffled, and he and Remus began another spat (though it was verbal this time), and they finally had stopped when Lily had dissolved into a fight of giggles.

After the three of them composed themselves, James got around to explaining about the nicknames.

"We decided to give ourselves nicknames, that way if we were ever caught, we wouldn't have to use our real names - "

"If I remember correctly, that was my reason. Your reason was because you thought that nicknames were attention-grabbing - "

"Am I telling the story, or are you, Moony? That's what I thought... Right, so we decided to give ourselves nicknames. Remus is Moony because he's really good at creeping around at night and the moonlight, and I'm Prongs because I can pick locks real well - "

" - and because he's a general thorn in the side."

"SHUT UP, MOONY!"

Lily had also learned that another boy, Peter Pettigrew, had been christened Wormtail, because he had often helped them with directions, and could 'worm' them in and out of any place they asked for assistance with.

It was also interesting to learn that their thieving was the reason James and Remus had gotten into Hogwarts in the first place. They had been hired to steal something out of Albus Dumbledore's office when they were about thirteen, and they had almost gotten away with it, but Dumbledore had caught them when he had come back from the kitchens with hot cocoa. To Lily's amazement, Dumbledore hadn't had them arrested; instead, he offered all three of them an education at Hogwarts.

"We had snuck in the week after summer holidays had ended, but we didn't get a holiday once we were accepted. No, we'd be third years by the time the school year came around, so we had to work and learn everything the other students had already learned. It was - if you'll excuse my French - a pain in the arse."

By the time this story was done with, Lily felt that being nice at lunch had been worth her while. Just spending five minutes with James had been more rewarding and entertaining than any amount of time she had spent with Lucius and his goons in the past. He knew how to keep her entertained and he often included her in the discussions, even though she usually didn't know what he was talking. James also sat beside her - closer than what was probably considered proper (though it secretly pleased Lily to no end) -and looked her in the eye when he talked

It felt good to have someone finally talk to her as an equal. The only person who had ever done that before had been -

" - this stupid prat, Sirius Black - "

"What?" Lily interrupted, shocked at the sudden mention if Sirius.

"Oh, I said then we met this stupid prat, Sirius Black, at Hogwarts and became friends with him. Well, he quickly learned that we were thieves, and decided to become one himself, even though he was this little rich boy who didn't need to become a thief," James explained, seemingly not noticing the look of surprise on Lily's face. "But he was pretty good at it, so we nicknamed him Padfoot because you could never hear him when he snuck up on you."

"Sirius...Sirius Black was part of your group?" Lily asked, finally finding her voice.

"'Course. Where would the marauding band of friends be without him? Professor McGonagall hated our...Oh, dear." James was looking at her now, his face stricken, as if he had a spilled some dreadful secret. He glanced quickly at Remus, who was shooting him a heated glare.

Lily understood at once what their dilemma was; Sirius had been their friend once too, and then he had turned on them to become a Death Eater. They had to be uncomfortable talking about him now.

"It's all right. We don't have to talk about Sirius. I'm not too keen about him right now anyway," Lily replied, breaking the tense silence between the three of them.

It took awhile for one of them to reply and when one of them finally decided to, it was Remus, not James.

"Ah...So you've heard about Sirius's..."

"Betrayal?" Lily substituted bitterly. "I know all about his switch to become a Death Eater. Horrible prat."

James was staring at her again, as if he was expecting her to burst into tears any moment. But Lily was strong, and she certainly wasn't going to cry - again - in front of James.

Suddenly - before Remus could continue - he got up from the bench, and offered her his hand.

"Do you want to go for a walk, Lily? I'm getting rather tired of sitting, and I think it'd be good for us both to have a walk about the boat deck. What say you?"

Lily noticed that Remus was once again glaring at James, but she supposed it was just because Remus had probably wanted to say something important. She knew that it would be rude to just leave Remus alone, but she had been getting tired of sitting too.

"Yes. That'd be lovely."

She reached up and took his hand. This time, she didn't let go until they were walking under the enclosed A-deck promenade.

James didn't seem to mind that at all.

***

"Lily...Do you know what Death Eaters are?"

Lily looked at him as though he had suddenly grown two heads.

"Of course I know what they are; Lucius is second in command, and Riddle's the leader. How could I not know?" she replied lightly, though her brow was furrowed darkly. "...Why do you ask?"

"I was just...wondering, I suppose," James said carefully, making sure he sounded inconspicuous. "...Do you...agree with what they're doing?"

"Agree?" Lily stopped, and glanced at him. "How can I agree if I don't even know what they're doing?"

"You mean...he hasn't told you about...any of it?" James asked, disbelieving.

"No, and don't think I haven't asked him. But it's always the same answer...Most wives usually keep their noses out of their husband's business," Lily said in an uncanny impression of Malfoy. She glanced at him again, and said, "...Do you know what they're doing?"

"Er...A little," James lied, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets and sullenly wishing it wasn't so rude to smoke in front of a lady. "But I'm not so sure you should be hearing it from me; if Malfoy hasn't told you, than maybe he doesn't want you to know about - "

"Lucius wouldn't notice if I learned anything new about Death Eaters; he never notices anything new about me..." She sighed. They had moved over to the gunwale, and Lily was leaning on it, staring sadly out at the ocean. "I used to worry about him when he went out for Death Eater business, you know. When I'd stay at the Manor, he'd go out in the middle of the night, and then come back in the early hours...And I was up every single time, just waiting for him to come back...Hoping that he'd see my light on and worry about me too, but he didn't notice...At all."

While James watched and listened to her, a new hate for Malfoy was forming deep inside of him. That man didn't deserve to have Lily...Didn't deserve to have her waiting up for him to return, didn't deserve to see her smile and laugh when he was around, didn't deserve to have any of it...

"How'd you two get together anyway?" James asked, eager to change the subject. He was more interested in listening to Lily's history with Malfoy than telling her about Death Eaters at the moment anyway. "Pardon, but considering Malfoy's family, you would've been the last person I would've suspected to be his future wife."

"It rather surprised me too. I mean, I wasn't from any of the old, rich English families, and they usually like to inter-marry...You know, to keep the money supplies large and the blood going," Lily explained, rolling her eyes. She didn't seem to remotely be interested in Death Eaters anymore either. "We Evanses are what the Americans now call new money, but it's not too new as it was earned by my grandfather years and years ago...Anyway, we weren't old, but we were certainly rich, and very well respected - "

"- something the Malfoy family lost a long time ago," James interrupted with a grin. For the second time today, he noticed that Lily grinned too, rather than correcting him

"Yes, I suppose that was one of the factors in why he decided it'd be all right to court me. That, and I was in the same social circle, my family name had connections to people his didn't, my family's finances were steady - "

"Not to mention that you're exciting, interesting, and beautiful."

"That too, I suppose," Lily mumbled, and James was delighted to see a faint blush appearing on her cheeks. "...Well, I met him at a party, and we began seeing each other after that. My parents didn't like him too much, but I didn't listen, because courting the Lucius Malfoy was quite a big deal for being just fifteen year old - no, excuse me. I was fifteen and a half when we started courting, because that occurred just about two months after I had been expelled from my finishing school - "

"You were expelled from finishing school?" James asked, eyes wide. "How'd you manage that?"

Lily grinned wickedly at him.

"Oh, I was horrible...I hated it there; I had hoped my parents would send me to Hogwarts seeing as though Dumbledore started to allow girls to enroll too, but I was sent over to Beauxbatons, in France," Lily explained, her eyes alight with the sparkle from before. "Once I got there, I decided I wanted out, so I acted as horribly and unladylike as I could - I walked through mud puddles, talked back to the instructors, slurped my tea, went fishing in the goldfish pond they had in the gardens...I didn't pay any attention at all to any of the classes, other than the dancing and ballet classes, because I didn't think it was necessary to spend an hour everyday learning how to place a napkin correctly on my lap or learning which kind of china was best served at a certain event.

"And that was just my first year, too. They put up with me for about four more years - obviously thinking they could tame me - and I just got worse. When we went riding, I didn't ride side-saddle and I galloped, instead of trotted...Got all muddy and wet, but it was extraordinarily fun...One week, I wore trousers that I had paid the stable boy for, and you'd have thought I'd just murdered the king with the way they were treating me," Lily continued, laughing. "But I think what finally did it was when the headmaster caught me down at one of the nearby pubs, drinking and smoking and singing with the local fellows...Oooh, the look on his face; it was so funny..."

Lily made a face, attempting to mimic her old headmaster, but she overcome by laughter and couldn't hold it for too long. James joined in with her laughter, and the surrounding passengers glared at them rudely. Both of them were quite unable to say anything intelligent for a few moments afterwards, for they would start laughing again if they looked at one another.

"I take it that your lovely fiancé has no idea about any of this?" James asked, finally managing to compose himself enough so that only a few chuckles escaped.

"Lucius would die of mortification if he knew - when he first asked why I wasn't in finishing school, my father lied and said that I had been so advanced at my skills, they had let me go early," Lily replied, still trying to repress her giggles. "I can just imagine the look on his face if I told him that I nearly spit in my Headmaster's tea..."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because I don't know how to really spit!"

"See, if you had gone to Hogwarts this wouldn't be a problem...They had grand spitting classes over there. I got an Outstanding."

Lily eyed him critically, as is she was trying to tell whether he was telling the truth or not.

"Well if you're so wonderful at it, you'd be an excellent teacher. You should show me how."

"All right then," James said instantly, although he had heard Lily's joking tone. "Watch me closely."

"What?" Lily asked, her playful demeanor suddenly becoming panicky. "You can't be serious, James - not here - no - I couldn't possibly - "

"Is the bane of Beauxbatons losing her nerve?" James goaded, raising his eyebrow in challenge. This instantly got the response from Lily that he was looking for. Her brow furrowed angrily, and her mouth thinned in determination.

"The bane of Beauxbatons does not lose her nerve. I'll do it," she replied in a steely tone. She waved her hand impatiently. "Well? Aren't you going to show me?"

James hawked and spat out at the water.

"That's disgusting!" Lily shrieked, and James grinned at the sight of the shocked look she was wearing.

"Your turn."

Lily quickly looked over her shoulder, and then spat. James was nearly as revolted with her as she had been with him.

"That was pathetic! You don't act all dainty when you spit, honestly...." James sighed, shaking his head. "Here, like this...You got to get some snot into it...so inhale real deep with your nose, you got that? Then, you have to hawk all that up...arch your neck, and - " He spat again. "You got all that?"

Lily nodded, and went through the steps James had shown her. She spat again, and James was pleased to see it looked better than before.

"That was much better. Did you see how far it went? But this time, try to get a bit more snot - "

Lily laughed, and turned to face him, her face alight with happiness. She opened her mouth to say something, and then suddenly snapped it shut. Her face had gone pale, and she was staring at something over James's shoulder. A sinking feeling in his stomach, James turned.

Standing behind them were three women. James only recognised one - Sirius's mother, Lacerta Black - but Lily seemed to know all three of them. She glanced at James uneasily, and stepped away from him, toward the blonde, pursed lipped woman.

"Er...Petunia, may I introduce Mr. James Potter," Lily said at last, gesturing at him. James glanced at Lily, to Petunia, and then back at Lily. That unpleasant woman was Lily's sister?

"Charmed," Petunia sniffed, observing James coolly. The disgust in her tone was evident, and he was quiet sure that she had heard his comment about snot.

As Lily explained about how he had saved her life, James couldn't help but notice that Petunia would not take her eyes off him. She was giving him the kind of stare that one did not usually see when among friends. She was looking at him like he was some kind of an insect...a dangerous insect that needed to be squashed quickly.

***

"Well, she could at least have tried to be polite," Lily huffed, throwing herself down on a nearby deck chair. She glared at her sister's retreating back, and then turned her attention back to James, who looked a little shaken. "My sister probably thinks you're absolutely barbaric now, James."

"Tell me who doesn't," James grumbled, sitting down on a chair next to her. His mood had become very sullen after Petunia's little surprise visit. "Lucky that wasn't Malfoy and Riddle who came upon us...That'd certainly give them a reason to keep doing what they're doing..."

"That reminds me...You never did tell me about Death Eaters," Lily said, turning to look at him curiously.

He shrugged. "Forgot, with all this talk about Malfoy, finishing school, and spitting...Do you want me to tell you now?"

Lily nodded, and James leaned forward, closing the gap between them. His hazel eyes were clear from behind his glasses, and she slowly felt her anger at Petunia ebbing away as she looked into his eyes.

"All right. This might be a little confusing, because I'm not sure I know everything about them. Remus knows more, but he'd have kittens if he knew I was going to tell you about this." James took a deep, steadying breath, and continued. "Do you remember when all that women's suffrage stuff started about two years back or so? Well, that's about when this whole mess started too...Tom Riddle noticed the trend of suffragettes and worker's unions, and he decided that it all needed to be stopped and eliminated before it went too far...You see, he's got a very medieval attitude toward things, thinks it's best things go back to how they were - Lords and servants, serfs and peasants...Basically, the rich - his group of the rich, anyway - having all the power again and the poor having none at all."

"But - But that's insane! Why is he doing something as thick as that?"

"As much as I hate Riddle, he is not stupid. He's actually rather brilliant," James corrected lightly. "He realised that if us lower classes kept getting more rights, more privileges, and more opportunities, then he and all the rest of those tycoons would lose their power over us...and once that would happen, their money would slowly trickle away, their positions wouldn't mean anything because everyone would be at that level, and they'd just lose...everything that mattered to them.

"So to stop their fears from becoming reality, they're out and about, preaching their values to other society members, trying to get them to see their point of view, and unluckily, they've gained a lot more members lately...Trying to get bills passed in Parliament, vetoing the ones they think give us too much leeway, trying to get our right to vote taken away..."

"...a-and killing those who stand up to them?" Lily added in a whisper, her voice shaky.

"Yes. Killing those who disagree..." James heaved another great sigh, and glanced out at the ocean. "You see Lily, it all comes down to a matter of human pride...Riddle can't stand the thought of someone from a lower class becoming and being better than him one day and neither can your fiancé, and when someone's pride - especially a male's - is endanger of being trampled, they'll do anything to prevent it from happening."

Lily stared at him for a while, absorbing all that was James Potter. The sun was low in the sky, and its rays were silhouetting him in a golden light. He looked so uncharacteristically serious, but handsomely so.

"Good thing we have someone as liberal as Albus Dumbledore trying to put a stop to them," James continued. He turned back to her, his eyes warm, and a small smile on his lips. "Otherwise, they probably would've had us all in chains and made us their slaves by now."

"And here I was thinking that Riddle just wanted to take over Britain," Lily said, feeling slightly foolish for her earlier thoughts.

James's smile faded.

"To do all that, he's going to have to."

Somewhere in the distance, Lily heard the bugle announcing dinner.