Wizarding Betrothal

Chapter 4: Learning the Basics

The garage door was wide open and Lily tucked her sunglasses into a pocket as she coasted inside. James was jogging along just behind her. Approaching the yellow haired boy at the workbench, Lily grinned. "Hiya, Michael!"

Mike looked up from an entirely disassembled something-or-other that was spread out on the bench. "Hey, Lil."

"Mike, this is my new friend I was telling you about." She leaned on the workbench as Mike got up, stool scraping against the floor.

"Hi! Mike Johnson."

"James Potter."

During the few days since the Potter's first visit to the Evans' home, Lily had filled Mike in on as much information about James as she was ready to divulge. James' family was friends with her family, and he had a bit of a crush on her; she was magnanimous enough to let him hang around a bit during the summer. That was the story she gave Mike anyway. While it may not have been the whole story (and Mike was well aware that it wasn't) it was close enough for the time being.

"This one should work for you." The boys were sifting through a box full of used skateboards and related gear, discussing the different pieces and parts. "The joint guards look stupid, but you should wear them your first time out. You don't want to get hurt."

Earlier that morning, James had turned back up at the Evans' for his first skateboarding lesson; Lily was surprised to see him again so soon, but it appeared he really was anxious to try it out. A touch sceptical of his motives, she had brought him to the Johnson's to borrow a board, hoping Mike would be up for joining in the lesson. Lily wasn't keen on the idea of spending more time alone with James just yet. It was easy to see that he could be a nice friend, and he was certainly good looking, but his flirting had made her very uncomfortable the other night and she was anxious to avoid another situation like that. She did not want his attentions, but she'd promised to keep an open mind. She had not, however, promised to hand him any opportunities.

James stepped onto the skateboard and wobbled back and forth. He leaned back and the board flew out from under him. His arms went flailing and his backside landed with a thud on the concrete. "Owwww!" Groaning, he massaged his tailbone and rolled over, trying to get back to his feet. With sympathetic giggles, the others helped him up once again.

"I forgot to tell you," Lily said. "You can expect a lot of that today!"

"Great," James replied. He watched her glide in an easy circle around him. "Shouldn't I have some kind of pad to strap onto my backside then?"

"I'm sure we could rig something up to protect your tooshie," Lily giggled, "but then you'd be all by yourself, because we'd be too embarrassed to be seen in public with you!"

"Aww, thanks! Aren't you nice!"

"That's my Lily!" Mike said. "All the compassion of a hungry rhinoceros!"

"I have compassion!" Lily cried. "I just happen to remember when we learned to skateboard! That wasn't exactly pretty!"

"What happened," James asked, holding out his arms for balance.

"One Christmas, we begged and begged until our parents ordered us both our first skateboards. We'd seen them on television, and had this great idea that skateboards would give us super speed, and that super speed would help us escape this bully that had been giving us a hard time." Grabbing both of James' wrists, Lily started walking backwards, pulling James forward, his legs rigid on the board.

"Really," Mike said, "we wanted to play tricks on him and still get away in one piece!"

"So what?" Lily waved away the accusation. "That was just because he was so mean to us! Anyway, there wasn't anybody around to teach us what to do, so we sort of made it up as we went along."

"You should have seen it! Lil looked totally ridiculous!"

"Me?" She stopped and put her hands on her hips. "You were the one who rolled backwards all the way down that hill on Second Street and into the Rucker's pond!"

"I didn't know how to stop!"

"All you had to do was jump off!"

"I did jump off! I jumped in the pond!"

When Lily had released James to argue with Mike, she didn't notice that he continued rolling - inertia carrying him straight out of the garage.

"Yeah, sure," Lily retorted. "You planned that landing real carefully didn't you!"

A honking car drew her attention to the street just in time to witness James narrowly escaping a panelled station wagon and crashing onto the opposite driveway. Mike and Lily sprinted across the street.

"Way to initiate the new guy, Lil! Throw him in front of a car."

"Shut-up!" Although it may have been true that Lily had hoped James would leave her alone, she really wasn't trying to cause him any bodily harm.

Stepping onto the curb, Lily was surprised to find James laughing. "That was amazing!"

"Are you okay?" Lily asked, kneeling beside him.

"Yeah, these pad things work great; didn't hurt at all!"

"You know what Lily?" Mike straightened up and nodded with approval. "I think our boy JP here may just have what it takes!"

Luckily for Lily, she did manage to convince Mike to help her teach James the basics of skateboarding, and the official lesson commenced. By the time the three had inched their way to the end of Mendelton Way, James was looking much more comfortable with the fluid motion he was learning, and they started to pick up a bit more speed, winding their way through the neighbourhood.

"So how long have you two known each other, anyway?" James asked. He plopped down onto a bench while Lily and Mike stretched out on a shady patch of lawn.

Lily scrunched up her nose. "Our parents have been friends since the beginning of time, and we've always lived in this neighbourhood, so I guess we've been friends since I was born."

"Lily was the ugliest baby you ever saw," Mike said.

"Whatever." Lily flung her arm over to whack him in the stomach. "I was the cutest baby on earth." Her mother always said so.

"Don't listen to her. When she was born she was as bald as a football, and screamed like a banshee."

"Like you would remember," Lily said. "You're only a year older than me."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"You better believe it."

"If you're going to be that way about it, I'm leaving." Mike scrambled to his feet and reached for his board.

Lily sat up. "You aren't really going are you?" she asked. What was his problem?

Mike laughed. He was just messing with her head again. She should have known. "Actually," he said, "I do have to scram. I've got a date with Suzette soon."

"Oh, please! I can't believe you'd rather go snog Suzy when you could be hanging out with me!"

"You're just jealous that I have a girlfriend and you don't."

"I don't need a girlfriend. I've already got a very nice boyfriend, thank you very much."

"Yeah, but I'll bet Matt's not as cute as Suzy."

"That's true, but I wouldn't go out with a guy that was prettier than me anyway!"

Laying his board on the street, Mike winked at her. "I doubt that'll be much of a problem. It was cool meeting you James," he said turning to face him. "You can hang onto that gear for a while - I won't need it anytime soon."

"Thanks," James nodded, standing to shake his hand. "Take it easy."

"You too! Bye, Lil."

"Later."

James was once again sitting on the bench, elbows on his knees, eyes trained on the ground. He looked up at Lily intently. "Since when do you have a boyfriend?"

Quite suddenly, Lily was feeling hot and uncomfortable. "Since three months ago." She crossed her legs and began shredding a blade of grass.

"I didn't know." He was still staring at her.

"You didn't ask."

"I shouldn't have had to ask."

It was only the second time Lily had ever even seen James. Sure their infant friendship was founded on a proposed marriage...but still, they barely knew each other. She didn't owe him anything, especially not personal information about her life. But, then again, just last week she did invite him to try to make her love him. What a mess. While Lily's conscience engaged in silent battle, James continued to watch her.

"Do you love him?" he asked, dark eyes demanding frankness.

"I like him." She knew that her relationship with Matt was not serious, but still, she did like him a lot - Matt was really sweet to her. Looking over at James' impassive face, Lily wondered what he was thinking.

James just nodded wordlessly and changed the subject.

In the weeks that followed, James would come around to the Evans' house once or twice a week. At times he would sit and talk politics with Lily's father in the study; at other times he would flirt good-naturedly with her mother in the kitchen. Mostly however, he would follow Lily around, wherever she happened to be going, because Lily seemed to be a girl of constant motion. He followed her to the Swamp where he nearly broke his neck after charming the wheels on his borrowed skateboard to bounce. He followed her to the beach where he fell asleep in the sun, awakening to find himself buried up to his neck in sand, and hearing Lily giggle as she abandoned him there. He followed her to the mall where he winked shamelessly at all of the mannequins and confused the shopkeepers with peculiar questions. And then he followed her home where her mother always invited him to stay for supper.

He never mentioned Matt. He never mentioned marriage. He never tried to flirt with her. He just got to know her, and Lily respected that. Although she never knew when James might pop in on her, she was no longer surprised when he did; she was getting used to him, and he was even starting to grow on her.

Along about the middle of August, James convinced Lily to let him take her to Diagon Alley. It was not a date. One of his wizard friends was going with them, and they would just be getting her school supplies. That was all.

Facing the mirror, Lily sat atop of the bureau in her bedroom while she combed her hair. She had never been to London without her parents; the trip was going to be a huge step towards independence. Yesterday: Mum and Dad. Today: James and random friend. Tomorrow: no escort needed. The road to adulthood was looking good!

With a thin strip of black leather, Lily tied up her long hair before reaching for a box of make-up. One never knew who might show up in Diagon Alley, so it paid to take the extra time to look sharp. After carefully outlining her green eyes, Lily examined the freckles covering her skin with distaste - they made her look like such a little girl! If she would only stay out of the sun, as her mother liked to suggest, some of the freckles would probably fade.

Lily hopped to the floor, zipped on her black boots, and smoothed out her jeans in front of the mirror. Oh yeah! Definitely looking extra cool. Except for those stupid freckles anyway; maybe she could just pretend they didn't exist.

Gathering her things from the bed, Lily carried herself downstairs to the front porch to wait for James, her excitement building rapidly. She pulled on the black gloves he had given her and admired the look; the leather fingers had been cut off half way down, revealing ten dark red fingernails. Lily grinned; extra, extra cool. Definitely!

Hearing the deep sound approaching, Lily looked up in anticipation, her eyes sparkling. She still couldn't believe that James had sweet-talked her mother into allowing the trip; it was a persuasive feat that had been truly amazing to behold. The sound was becoming louder, Lily was practically bouncing in place, and then, coming around the corner...there they were: two gorgeous motorcycles. The Evans' driveway had never been so blessed.

Coming to a halt in front of her, the throbbing engines were cut off and the young bikers dismounted, grinning at Lily's obvious admiration.

"Hey there! Ready to roll?" Pulling off the red bandanna that was wrapped around his head, James messed his hair thoroughly with his hand.

"Totally!" Was he kidding? Of course she was ready!

Strolling up from behind him was a shaggy haired young man looking at Lily with curiosity. "This must be the lucky Lily!" He continued forward until he was very close to her; he smelled like leather and was simply exuding virility. "Prongs," he called, smiling. "You didn't tell me she was so cute! You've been holding out on me!" Winking at Lily, he put his arm around her waist and began leading her towards the motorcycles. "Want to ride with me today, sugar?"

Lily didn't trust herself to do anything but blush wildly. James just rolled his eyes and came to her rescue.

"Don't be an idiot, Padfoot! She doesn't want to ride with you." Lily wasn't quite so sure about that, but if James said so...

"Lily, this atrocious beast is called Sirius."

"Sirius?" She looked between them. "Yeah right. I'm not falling for that again."

"Huh?" The 'atrocious beast' looked adorably confused.

James, however, was shaking with laughter. "No! He really is Sirius!"

"Look. I don't know how many Sirius' I can keep track of. Can't you come up with something original?"

"How many Sirius' do you happen to know?" the adorable beast asked.

"Counting the both of you: two."

"Look, Prongs, I know I'm your idol and everything," he said to James, with mock exasperation, "but this is starting to get ridiculous. You can't go around pretending to be me! I mean, honestly mate, you just don't have the hair for it!"

James was laughing even harder than before.

"Do you know who he really is?" Pointing at James, he leaned down to whisper in Lily's ear.

"A hag in disguise?" Lily asked, whispering also.

The real Sirius beamed with delight at her unexpected. "That's it! You've guessed it!" He then exclaimed to James, "Your secret's out Prongs! She'll never fancy you now!"

Blushing at his last comment, Lily turned to Sirius. "If that's true, then I'm definitely riding with you!"

It wasn't long before James was helping Lily onto the back of his motorcycle. She slid onto the leather seat, pressing her lower back against the short sissy bar, while James warned her against touching the hot pipes with her leg. He handed her a black cotton scarf, instructing her to tie it around her head.

"It's got about a hundred protective spells," he said.

"So it works like a helmet?"

"Those plastic things Muggles strap on?" James raised an eyebrow at her as he swung his leg over the saddle in front of her. "Nah! This protects your whole body. With it on, if there was an accident, you could slide a hundred metres on red-hot asphalt and not get a scratch." He was retying his own bandanna, tucking thick chunks of hair underneath the edge.

"You should have told my mother that," she laughed. "It would have saved you a lot of time convincing her to let me come!"

"Maybe," he smiled over his shoulder, "but where's the fun in that?"

The engines were fired up and the loud rumbling had Lily's excitement escalating once again. It was time to ride; she had been looking forward to it all week! Sirius revved his engine, winked devilishly at Lily, and then took off.

"Hold on tight," advised James. Lily placed her hands on each side of his waist; she was definitely feeling a little weird about that.

Next thing she knew, they were racing up the street, gaining on Sirius. Lily was aware that she was grinning stupidly, but who cared? When James opened up the throttle, she tightened her grip as the bike charged forward even faster. Shops and cars and trees and old ladies walking their dogs were all whizzing past in a thrilling blur. It was even better than she had expected! Stomach tingling, Lily wondered why anyone bothered with cars at all: a motorbike was definitely the way to get around!

The road snaked and curved and propelled them straight out of town. Miles sped away. Life was beautiful.

Aggressively handling a bend in the road, James glanced back at Lily before putting on a burst of speed. He drew even with Sirius and the boys gave each other a sideways look and a short nod. They were up to something.

A mysterious tickling sensation swirled over Lily's body, and she gasped when she saw Sirius, motorcycle and all, disappear with a flicker and a snap. When the vibrations of the bike lessened, Lily looked down only to slam her eyes shut. If she had been expecting anything at all, she certainly had not expected to find herself rising into the sky.

James pressed a gloved hand over hers on his stomach, attracting Lily's attention, and she noticed that she was gripping James awfully tightly around the middle. He looked back at her with apparent concern.

"You okay?" He had to shout over the rushing wind as they ascended still.

Embarrassed, she nodded, leaving her face scrunched up into the back of his leather jacket. Of course she was okay! Just spiffing, actually! Why wouldn't she be? It wasn't like she was still afraid of heights or anything. She hadn't been afraid of heights in years. Not that she had been measurably high off the ground in years either...but still!

"Want to go back down?"

She shook her head in a vigorous negative. Nobody who knew her had ever called Lily Evans a chicken, and she wasn't about to act like one.

"You sure? I don't mind." James obviously thought Lily was frightened. Time to clear that little misunderstanding right up.

Without opening her eyes, Lily loosened her hold on James, pulling her hand out from beneath his. "I'm fine!" She straightened up her head and took a deep breath, reminding herself that this was really just like riding on the street - only minus the street. Her friends were going to completely die when she told them about riding a flying motorcycle; too bad she couldn't tell Mike.

Lily pried her eyes open and could see James' proud smile. Looking out, she saw that they were zooming over marshmallow clouds in the bright sunshine. It really was pretty. James seemed at ease in the sky, and Lily started to really relax. She watched as they passed a large snowy owl and wondered what kind of message it could be delivering. Through an occasional space between the clouds she could see minuscule towns bustling with even tinier activity. It wasn't bad at all; it was actually kind of nice.

"Hang on, Lily!"

Lily tightened her hold on James just before he took them into a steep dive through a hole in the cloud cover. They were just below the clouds, where it was much colder, and Lily could see the city of London sprawling beneath. Gracefully descending, they soon were skimming the rooftops while James appeared to look for the right street.

"Won't the Muggles see us?" Lily was getting concerned.

"They can't. We're invisible."

Dipping between two office buildings, James turned into an alleyway and touched down. Sirius flickered into view just in front of them. When James flipped a switch, a tickling sensation washed over Lily's body for the second time that day. They had probably just reappeared as well.

They rounded out into the next street and wove through traffic for a few blocks before turning down a dingy, narrow road. Lily read the posted signs warning, "Hazardous Area" and, "Road Closed" before she realised that they were heading straight for a large wooden fence.

Sirius disappeared into the graffiti and Lily relaxed. It was obviously some sort of back entrance. Seconds later, Lily was indeed taking in the sights and sounds and smells and general chaos of a distinctly magical community. Diagon Alley at last!

"So Lily," said James, pulling up next to Sirius at the corner. "Where to first?"