The next morning, as soon as she was dressed, Lily made her way to the hospital wing to visit Alice. The door was open, as well as the blinds, which were letting in the wintry sun. Alice was very pale, but she was propped up in bed, Frank sitting in a chair beside her. They were surrounded by the Slytherins who had been injured the night before. All of them glared at Lily as she walked past, but Lily was not feeling threatened, as they were in more trouble now than the four Marauders had ever been.
“How are you feeling, Alice?” Lily asked anxiously, hurrying over to her friend’s bedside.
“All right,” she announced. “Madam Pomfrey found an antidote-”
“-half way through the night!” Frank finished indignantly. Lilly glanced at him. He looked exhausted.
“Frank’s been here all night,” Alice explained, looking at him affectionately.
“So what was the curse?” asked Lily, undeterred by Frank and Alice’s tender moment.
“Madam Pomfrey isn’t sure exactly, but she thinks it was a student-made jinx, a combination of a Liquefying curse and something else that Madam Pomfrey won’t tell me,” Alice said amidst Lily’s horrified gasp. “But she knew enough about them to make an antidote. I’ll be free to go this afternoon.”
“Wonderful!” Lily exclaimed, relieved that Alice would not have any lasting effects of the curse.
“When are you leaving, Lily?” Alice asked her.
“One o’clock,” said Lily. “I’m taking the Knight Bus back to Staines.”
Ignoring the other occupants of the wing completely, Alice, Frank, and Lily talked for a while longer, and then Lily’s stomach gave a loud growl, reminding her that she had not yet eaten breakfast.
“Did you have breakfast, Lily?” asked Alice.
“No,” she admitted.
“Well, don’t let me keep you. Why don’t you go with her, Frank?” Alice suggested. “Eat and then freshen up; you’re a right mess!” She chuckled. “I’ll be fine, go on.”
Frank obliged her. He and Lily said goodbye to Alice”Lily looked away pointedly when Frank leaned in and kissed Alice”and together they walked to the Great Hall for breakfast. They sat down next to the Marauders, who were already halfway through their sausages and eggs.
“Good morning, all,” Lily said to the boys, kissing James lightly on the cheek.
“Morning,” they replied.
“How’s Alice?” asked Peter.
“Much better,” said Frank, piling sausages onto his plate. “Madam Pomfrey found an antidote, and Alice will be going home this afternoon.” That said he tucked into his breakfast.
Lily buttered some toast and asked the boys, “What happened after we left last night?”
“Well,” Remus began. “Peter, Will, John and I guarded the Slytherins, Stunning them if they started to wake, until Professor Dumbledore showed up with McGonagall and Slughorn.”
“He was really quite angry,” Peter said simply, helping himself to second helpings. “Dumbledore, I mean.”
“Yeah, he was,” chimed in Sirius. “But he just conjured up some stretchers and we levitated the Slytherins to the hospital wing. Dumbledore thanked us, gave us some House points and asked us to leave so he could speak with the Slytherins alone.”
“Of course, they weren’t all Slytherins, were they?” Lily interrupted. “I saw a few Hufflepuffs, you know, the two Smith brothers-?”
“And the Perkins bloke from Ravenclaw-” said Frank.
“Okay, so there were definitely others,” Sirius conceded, defensively. “So what?”
“So were they expelled?” Lily pressed. “What was their punishment?”
“Precisely what I would like to speak with you about, Miss Evans.” Professor Dumbledore was standing behind Lily, who had jumped with surprise when the Headmaster spoke. “May I see you and Mr. Potter in my office when you have finished your breakfasts?”
“Of course, Professor,” said James instantly. He and Lily hastily rose to their feet and followed Professor Dumbledore to his office. James held a half-finished strip of bacon in one hand. Lily raised her eyebrows at him. He just shrugged and wolfed it down.
Once they were all seated, Dumbledore began speaking.
“I thought it best to inform you of the consequences those who gathered in the Shrieking Shack last night will face. All twenty-four students are suspended for two weeks, beginning after the Christmas holidays. In addition, they will all suffer a month’s worth of detentions at the hands of Mr. Filch.”
“You’re joking!” James burst out. “They’re not being expelled?”
“No, Mr. Potter, they are not,” Dumbledore said firmly, looking sternly at James over the rims of his glasses. “I felt it best for the offending students to remain in school. I am afraid that expulsion from Hogwarts will only serve to push them into Lord Voldemort’s service that much sooner.”
“But they’ve pretty much made up their minds, Professor,” James persisted. “I don’t think even you can save them now.” Lily thought he was pushing his luck.
“There is always hope for redemption, James,” said Dumbledore softly, but with finality. "Be not so quick to write off a person for past misdeeds. Are we not all full of those little regrets we would rather forget?”
James shifted slightly, uncomfortably. He didn’t retort, but still looked mutinous.
“Now,” Dumbledore changed the subject briskly. “As the Head Boy and Girl, it is your duty to assist the Professors in trying to keep the peace among the students. I suspect that there will be an increase in tensions among the students caused by the events of last night. Be on your guard. Of course, this is likely to happen after the suspended students return, but this is just a heads up.
“I have confiscated the communication parchments from all who had them. However, more such objects may appear. Be on the lookout. Oh, yes,” Dumbledore added. “I have awarded the both of you, as well as your other classmates who aided you last night, fifty points each for your House.”
“Thank you, Professor,” Lily spoke for the first time.
“Thank you,” he replied. “Your information and assistance has proved invaluable. If you don’t mind me asking,” he added hesitantly, again changing the subject abruptly, “what are your plans for after Hogwarts, Miss Evans? Professor Slughorn seems to think that you will enable him to have a much-needed retirement in two years.”
“Erm…I had planned on attending the Heirem Venenietus Academy for Potions in London, sir,” she said, puzzled by the sudden change in the direction of the conversation. “Then I was hoping to get a job…at Hogwarts, if possible…” she added, trailing off as with some hesitancy.
“That is a good possibility,” Professor Dumbledore hinted, his eyes twinkling. “And what of your plans, Mr. Potter?”
“Sirius, Peter and I are going to train to be Aurors,” said James proudly. “We’ll be getting an apartment in London over the summer so we’ll be closer to the Ministry of Magic.”
“A dangerous, yet exciting profession,” commented Dumbledore.
“Why do you ask, sir?” inquired James.
“Just curiosity. And perhaps something more that I cannot reveal to you just yet.” He arose, the signal that the meeting was ended. “Happy Holidays to the both of you.”
James and Lily returned his wishes and left, heading back to the common room. James was still seething about the punishment Dumbledore had decided upon.
“Keeping them in school is not going to prevent most of them from becoming fully-fledged Death Eaters later on,” he said fiercely before going quiet, caught up in his stewing thoughts. “That was our idea, you know,” he said quietly. When Lily looked at him questioningly, he elaborated, “The communication parchment. Sirius, Remus, Peter and I invented it.”
“Oh,” said Lily. She was pondering other thoughts. “James?” She hesitated. His eyes found hers, waiting for her to continue. “This may be a bit premature, but I thought I’d ask anyway. You don’t have to say yes if you don’t really want to,” she added hastily, blushing slightly.
“What is it, Lily?”
“D’you”I mean, would you like to”to come home with me over Christmas break? You don’t have to come immediately; you can wait until after Christmas, you don’t even have to come at all-”
A wide grin was spreading across his face.
“I’d love to,” he said elatedly. “I’ve told my parents that I’d be home on Christmas day, though. Would it be all right if I come the day after Christmas?”
“That’d be wonderful,” she said happily, kissing him.
***
“May I have the peas, please, Vernon?” Lily asked politely. The portly man handed over the steaming dish of vegetables.
It was Christmas Day and the Evans family, plus Petunia’s newly-acquired fiancé, was sitting down to a massive feast. Though rather grand, it had nothing on Hogwarts’ feasts, Lily reflected offhandedly.
When she had gotten home a few days before, Lily learned that her sister was to marry Vernon Dursley next February. Throughout the meal, Lily had been observing Vernon carefully and objectively, trying to glean information about his personality through his body language and comments. He seemed to be a respectable man: quite polite, mildly funny, and according to him, awaiting a promotion at his uncle’s drill company. Overall, he appeared to be all right, though Lily rather thought she might have seen hints of a nasty temper at points during the meal.
“Dad, Vernon works at Grunnings for his father,” Petunia said smugly. “He’s awaiting a promotion, actually.”
“Grunnings, you say?” asked Lily’s father interestedly. “The drill factory?”
“Yes, sir,” Vernon replied, even more pleased than Petunia. “Father would like me to take over the business for him someday.”
“Really?” Lily’s father sounded intrigued, but Lily stifled a yawn.
Vernon then went into a very long-winded description of his typical day at work, Petunia interjecting her praise proudly. He really is quite dull, though, thought Lily sleepily over pie. Her father seemed interested in Vernon’s job, however. They were chatting about the particulars of drill making now. As Lily and her mother began clearing the table, Vernon and Mr. Evans took their discussion into the sitting room.
“He’s a nice young man,” murmured Lily’s mother over the clattering of the dishes.
“Yeah,” said Lily fairly. If her mother liked Vernon Dursley, Lily couldn’t wait to see what she would think of James.
***
The doorbell rang. Lily jumped to her feet and hurried to the front door, eager to end the argument she and Petunia had been having. She swung open the door, letting in a gust of snow-filled air.
“Hi, James! Happy Christmas!”
“Happy Christmas,” he smiled at her. He kissed her and pulled her into a rib-crushing hug.
“Oof,” she said and stepped back, letting him inside. “Thank you for the bracelet, it’s-” She stopped when she caught sight of his pale face and the dark circles under his eyes. “You look…tired,” she commented simply. “Did you have a nice Christmas?”
“Yes, thank you,” he said quickly. He paused while Lily called to her parents. “My uncle came over for Christmas dinner. He’s my only living relative, other than my parents, of course. It wasn’t a quiet dinner. My uncle’s a riot.”
“I didn’t know that,” Lily stated, steering James into the sitting room. “My parents are both only children, so I don’t have any other relatives.”
“Grandparents?”
“My mother’s parents passed away when I was five, and Dad’s disowned him. They didn’t approve of his marriage to my mother. We don’t talk about them.”
They entered the sitting room. Petunia was sitting on the loveseat with her arms folded huffily, still cross about their earlier argument. She was staring at James.
“Petunia, this is James Potter,” Lily told her sister with false cheer in her voice, wanting to forget the cruel words Petunia had hurled at her moments before. “James, this is my sister, Petunia.”
Petunia stood stiffly and shook James’ outstretched hand, letting go as quickly as possible.
“Hi, Petunia,” smiled James. “I’ve heard so much about you. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Yes, Lily has spoken most highly of you,” said Petunia sweetly. “It’s a bit of a surprise to learn that your name is actually James and not ‘Great Arrogant Tosser’.” Petunia sat back down, apparently satisfied with herself.
Lily flushed and glared hotly at her sister. She was about to retort when her parents entered the sitting room.
“James, dear!” her mother said, embracing James like one of her own. “It’s wonderful to meet you at last! I’m Helen. You know,” whispered Lily’s mother conspiratorially, “Lily’s never brought a boy home from school. She must quite fancy you, James!”
“Mum!” exclaimed Lily, scandalized.
“Well, it’s true, dear.” She winked at James.
“Nice to meet you,” James said, amused and a little pink-faced.
“And I’m Michael,” Lily’s father introduced himself. He and James shook hands solemnly.
The rest of the afternoon passed splendidly. James and Lily chatted with her family, telling them of their Hogwarts adventures. At one point, James had them all laughing uproariously at a joke. Except Petunia, of course, but even she could not keep the corners of her mouth from twitching upwards. Eventually, Mr. and Mrs. Evans excused themselves, Petunia immediately following them, leaving Lily and James alone on the sofa.
“I like your parents,” said James sleepily, leaning his head on Lily’s shoulder. The reflection from the crackling fire danced on his face.
“I think the feeling is mutual,” Lily replied warmly.
“You think so?” asked James, his tone casual; but Lily could hear the slight underlying concern.
“I know so,” she reassured him firmly, kissing the top of his head.
“Lily,” James sat up suddenly. “I’m going to ask your parents’ permission to date you.”
“But we’re already dating,” she laughed.
“I know, but…it would seem appropriate. I mean, I’d like it if we had your parents’ blessing.”
“Alright,” Lily beamed at him.
When they were comfortably nestled together again, Lily asked James, “What about your parents? Should I speak with them? Ask for your hand?”
“Oh, I’ve already told them,” he said brightly, ignoring the teasing lilt in her voice.
“They’ve approved of you since third year.”
“Third year?” she spluttered. “But-we weren’t-”
“You forget that I’ve fancied you for years,” James said quietly, tilting his face upwards to look at her. Lily’s heart swelled and she kissed him soundly.
And thus that evening passed in a peaceful manner that would be difficult to find in the months to come.