A young woman sat in blissful happiness. Here she was, in complete silence, painting her toes a perfect pink color. The woman smiled, glad to shed off her worries for at least a few hours. She knew that in the evening however, the worries would, once again, spring into her mind. Vernon was coming over and everything had to be just right. Petunia Evans grinned once more; she couldn’t believe how relaxed she was. No concerns, no annoying sister, no noise”Tap. Petunia looked up and sighed; her ideal world just couldn’t last. She continued to listen closely, waiting for the door to open, but it stayed tightly shut. Huffing angrily, Petunia began to paint solid coats on her nails once more. Tap .
“Who is it?” Petunia yelled impatiently. Why did they have to interrupt her now? Another woman slid into the room at the sound of Petunia’s voice. The woman’s fiery red hair cascaded down her back, and her temper was, for once, in careful check. Petunia narrowed her eyes at the sight of the younger woman, asking herself what she could possibly want. Petunia watched how Lily Evans’s green eyes sparkled as they peered at Petunia. Those eyes were daring Petunia to throw their owner out of the room. But Petunia knew better”Lily could legally do magic now. No way was she stupid enough to give her sister an excuse to have that nonsense performed on her. Lily stood quietly, her arms crossed and her eyes still dancing. The luminous color of them had always made Petunia jealous. Of course, perfect Lily had to get the eyes that made boys feel lost in them. But not all boys, Petunia reminded herself. Vernon certainly could care less about them, and that was what mattered.
Petunia and Lily continued to wait in silence. Both were too stubborn to be the first one to speak. Petunia couldn’t help but peek at her sister’s eyes again. Those orbs were shining with something that hadn’t been there last summer. Petunia’s scrutiny moved to her sister’s entire face. Lily’s face was beaming; in fact it looked as if Lily had never been happier. What could be making Lily this delighted? It certainly wasn’t her.
“Petunia,” started Lily, “how are you?”
“What do you want?” snapped Petunia. Inside she smiled; she had always won this little silence game. Lily was too impatient.
Lily stared at her sister’s abrupt answer, but Petunia just rolled her eyes. What did Lily expect her to say? The two hadn’t been on speaking terms since Lily had gotten her letter. Why would anything have changed now
“What do you want, Lily?” Petunia asked again. Personally, she wanted to return to the silence and solitude she had previously obtained. But Lily was ruining it…like always.
“A favor…I need a favor,” Lily finally returned icily. Petunia laughed to herself; she could irritate Lily like no one else could.
But Lily’s words suddenly impacted Petunia. A favor…I need a favor What? Lily needs a favor? From me? She can’t be serious! But as Petunia looked at the expression on her sister’s face, she realized Lily was indeed so. Knowing this, Petunia erupted into laughter. “You want me to do something for you? Are you mental?"
“Petunia, for once in your pathetic life, help me out!” Lily snapped.
"No."
“This is important
“And I care why?” Petunia asked with a shrug.
Lily frowned at her before repeating, “I need a favor.”
“And what can I do?” drawled Petunia, screwing on the cap to the nail polish.
“I have a friend coming over and”” Lily started, trying to get right to the point.
“Which freak did you invite this time?” interrupted Petunia. “The fat one who was silent the entire time I was near her or the weirdo with rainbow hair that never shut-up?”
“At least Abrianna has more personality than you, and Alice is not fat!” Lily defended her friends furiously.
Petunia snorted.
“And you shouldn’t be talking!” continued Lily. “You’re dating a man who is as big as a walrus!”
“Vernon is big-boned!” said Petunia defensively.
“Yeah, so is a whale!”
The two sisters glared at each other before Petunia asked again, “So which one of the freaks is coming?”
“Neither,” Lily replied bitterly, “It’s a boy this time.” Lily’s face lifted into a small smile at the thought of her boyfriend, James Potter.
“A boy”Aww, has little Lily finally let someone into her heart?” taunted Petunia.
Lily flushed but stayed silent.
“So when is your boyfriend coming over?”
“Tonight,” answered Lily, ignoring the jibe.
Petunia suddenly went rigid, her face showing fear. “No,” she said, panicking.
“What do you mean ‘No’?” asked Lily, bewildered.
“Your boyfriend is not coming over tonight,” said Petunia quietly.
“WHAT?” exploded Lily, “Of course, James is coming! You have no right to make that call! I should have known you would do this to me! James is coming whether you like it or not!”
“No, he’s not!” Petunia yelled back, “Vernon is supposed to visit tonight; nothing can go wrong!”
“I don’t care about your precious whale !” shouted Lily.
“MY BOYFRIEND IS NOT A WHALE!” screeched Petunia,
“WHY ARE YOU SO OPPOSED TO MY BOYFRIEND?” screamed Lily.
“I will not have Vernon placed into any danger because of a freak!”
“JAMES IS NOT A FREAK!” shouted Lily, outraged.
“This is the first time Vernon will be meeting our father. It will not be ruined because of your so-called boyfriend!” insisted Petunia.
“Well, this is the first time James will be meeting dad. What’s the difference?” seethed Lily.
“Vernon is a real boyfriend,” retorted Petunia.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Lily said in a dangerously low voice.
“I mean he isn’t an alcoholic who will toss me away without a second thought. Vernon isn’t a freak,” replied Petunia nastily.
“DON’T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT JAMES LIKE THAT! YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HIM!” bellowed Lily, pulling out her wand.
“Put that stick away!” Petunia cowered in fear.
“Then take it back!” Both sisters stared daggers at each other until, finally, Petunia relinquished.
“I-I take it back,” She said, her eyes never leaving her sister’s wand.
Lily slowly lowered her wand, her eyes still blazing.
“James loves me; no one can take that away,” Lily said, daring her sister to disagree.
“I’m sure he does,” Petunia replied sarcastically, her confidence returning now that the wand was nowhere in sight.
“You’ll see how much James and I love each other when he comes over tonight ,” Lily said confidently.
“I hope I won’t be seeing anything.”
“Then don’t open any bedroom doors.”
“Lily!” exclaimed Petunia aghast.
“I’m only joking,” Lily said with a laugh, her anger ebbing away slightly as thoughts of James filled her mind.
Petunia continued to look suspiciously at Lily but changed the subject.
“Now, what was this favor?”
“I want you to be nice to James,” replied Lily.
Petunia laughed dryly. “And why should I do that?”
“Because you’ll find your arse floating above a busy intersection if you don’t,” warned Lily.
Petunia narrowed her eyes before saying, “Fine. I’ll be civil to James , but only if you promise not to threaten Vernon.”
“I haven’t threatened him!” exclaimed Lily.
“What about last time he came over? You told him that you’d turn him into what he was, a pig.”
“That was only because he told me I ate too much for a lady…when he was shoveling in his fifth helping!” defended Lily.
“I really don’t care what Vernon was doing at the time, but tonight, if you terrorize Vernon, I swear I’ll make you regret it,” warned Petunia.
“What are you going to do? Gossip about me?”
“I’ll make sure James dumps you.”
“Like he would ever do that,” said Lily sarcastically though her face had paled the slightest bit.
“Compromise with me then.”
“Fine, but you’d better be polite, or I’ll make your own life miserable,” Lily threatened back.
“I’ll be civil as long as you are,” replied Petunia.
Lily nodded once and walked toward the door. She paused briefly, holding the doorknob, before adding, “Vernon would look better as a pig though.” Lily skidded out of the room as a pillow flew towards her head.
***
Miles and miles away, four young men lounged in a three story mansion. Everything should have been to their comfort seeing as six house elves bended to their every need, and other luxuries surrounded them. But even with all of this wealth, one man with messy dark hair and hazel eyes was frantically pacing back and forth. James Potter was nervous“more nervous than he had ever been in his entire life. So he continued to pace, trying to think of a way to greet her parents.
Three other men were also in the room, though unlike James, they were perfectly at ease. The first man also had black hair, but his hung in an elegant way down to his shoulders. The young man had been talking for almost an hour straight, and he had no intension of letting up. Sirius Black’s gray eyes were animated as he chattered, both with his mouth and his hands, about his latest date. Sirius was completely absorbed in his memories; therefore, he didn’t notice that no one was paying him the slightest bit of attention.
The third man in the room looked tired and ill. His sandy colored hair seemed to be tinted with gray, and his skin had an unhealthy hue to it. A book was in his hands and Remus Lupin’s eyes never left the pages, though he nodded absently every once and a while to Sirius’s jabber.
The last of the men was a rather chubby fellow. His watery eyes darted to James then Sirius then Remus. He was gnawing on a Sugar Quill and was also ignoring Sirius’s rather detailed date. And though Peter Pettigrew’s eyes were watching, his brain was buzzing with the latest news he had heard. Apparently, the Quidditch World Cup would be held soon, and Peter couldn’t wait for it to begin. All four boys were in their own world and only Sirius’s jabber surrounded them…
“Her blond hair reached down to her shoulders, but it could have gone with a brushing, in my opinion.”
Remus just nodded, reading his latest page
“…Then I told her my joke about the hag, the vampire, and the bartender…”
Everyone stayed as they were.
“And then, she giggled in the most annoying way, but I really didn’t care, seeing as we had just”” Sirius suddenly stopped, finally noticing James’s frenzied pacing. He grinned as he recognized his friend’s way of showing nerves.
“Not nervous are we, Prongs?” Sirius asked mockingly, leaning back on the hind legs of the chair he sat in.
James looked up at the sound of his nickname.
“Me? Nervous? Marauders are never nervous!” He declared, though the hand ruffling his hair contradicted his statement.
“Why is your voice higher than usual then?” asked Peter.
“…yeah, it sounds like a mouse’s,” provoked Sirius.
“And why are you pacing?” pointed out Peter again
“…continually,” said Sirius.
“And why are you ruffling your hair…” spotted Remus.
“…every five minutes,” added Sirius with a grin.
“Ok, so I’m a little nervous,” started James but when six raised eyebrows greeted his statement, he corrected himself. “Ok, so I’m really nervous. But why should I be? I mean I’m only going to be meeting Lily””
“A girl who has hated you with every fiber of her body for six whole years…” input Sirius.
“”and her parents,” continued James, ignoring Sirius.
“Who had Lily and must come from the same gene pool as Lily, so they will most likely hate you for six whole years…” said Sirius in a sing-song voice.
“…It should be no big deal!” finished James, though his face had paled noticeably.
“Prongs, don’t listen to the prat over here,” Remus said, pointing at Sirius, “He's just trying to get inside your head.”
“Well, it’s working,” muttered James, tousling his hair again,
“Besides, Sirius is just jealous of the fact he has never been brought home to meet the parents of his girlfriend,” added Peter.
“I have too!” protested Sirius.
“When?” asked Remus, putting down his book and raising one eyebrow at Sirius.
“That sixth year girl from Hufflepuff with the dark hair…she brought me home to meet her folks.”
“That was her older sister and brother, and you were at the Leaky Cauldron, not her house,” Remus said slowly.
“She doesn’t live in the Leaky Cauldron?” asked Sirius with wide eyes.
All three boys groaned.
“Has he always been this stupid?” asked Remus, smacking himself on the forehead.
“I’m afraid so,” answered Peter, shaking his head.
“Can we get back to my problem now?” said James impatiently. “We’ll be here for years if we try to get Sirius to understand that the girl does not live in the Leaky Cauldron.”
“Are you guys sure?” questioned Sirius suspiciously.
“YES!” The other Marauders responded exasperatedly.
“Now, what am I going to do?” James said, looking at Remus.
“Prongs, just be yourself,” Remus advised.
“That’s your advice?” said James.
"Yes."
“To be myself.”
“Yes.”
“That’s even worse than what Sirius said to do!”
“Hey! My advice was good!” exclaimed Sirius indignantly.
“When did Sirius give you advice?” questioned Peter.
“Yesterday, and let me tell you, it was something I did not want to hear,” said James.
Remus looked between the two and widened his eyes.
“Sirius! He can’t do that in front of her parents!” exclaimed Remus, scandalized.
“Well technically, it wouldn’t be in front of her parents, and I thought Prongs here would want to hear it from the best!” defended Sirius.
“You have a one-tracked mind that you need to get rid of Padfoot,” warned Remus.
“Guys, give me some helpful advice!” whined James.
“I just did!” said Remus.
“No, I need some advice that will actually work.”
“Why don’t we come with you?” suggested Peter.
James looked at him for a second before smiling broadly.
"That’s a great idea! Will you guys come with me?” James said, his color returning to normal.
“Can’t…full moon is in two days and according to the Ministry, I have to go to my ‘safe house’,” said Remus, his face darkening.
James looked at Remus, his own face now portraying anger. “I swear, once I’m a fully fledged Auror, I will get that law changed.”
“James”it’s really”,” started Remus.
“No. It’s not okay.”
Remus sighed before Peter began to talk, “I just remembered, I can’t either. I have to work later tonight.”
“I guess I’ll have to go alone then,” moaned James.
“What about me?!” exclaimed Sirius.
“No, you are not coming with me. You almost ruined my first date with Lily. Who knows what will happen this time!”
“How was I supposed to know you were the couple under the tree? I just wanted to try out my new water balloons!”
“Yeah, I had only talked about where I was taking her and what we were going to do on our date fifty billion times!”
“Pleeeeaaasssee let me go,” begged Sirius.
“No.”
“Fine. Just leave me here… all alone…with an ENTIRE mansion to myself. Where I can do whatever I want…” drew out Sirius.
“Prongs, remember what happened last time you left him alone,” warned Remus.
“Yeah, he almost burnt down the entire mansion!” squeaked Peter.
“Fine, you can go,” said James, defeated, “But if anything”I mean anything”goes wrong, I swear I will murder you."
“Deal!” said Sirius cheerfully.
James shook his head, hoping he wouldn’t regret his choice, although inside, he was happy to have his best mate come along.
“Well, let’s go!” cried Sirius, Apparating.
“You better go after him…who knows what he’ll say to Lily’s parents,” said Remus to James.
James paled yet again before he Apparated, leaving his two friends alone in the mansion.
“I bet five galleons James kills Sirius before two days is up,” Remus said with a grin.
“I bet Sirius is dead within two hours ," Peter countered.
Questioning the Freak and the Whale by Phenioxsong22
Chapter Notes: Disclaimer: This world belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.