Until The Very End

Chapter Twelve: Disaster Strikes (Part Two)

James's PoV:

We all climbed into a car. Yes, I know what a car is. Lily briefed me on a lot of muggle things before break. Anyway, Lily and I sat in the backseat and held hands. "So, Porter-"

"Potter, actually," I corrected Vernon.

"Whatever. Are you a freak too?" Vernon continued.

"I'm a wizard, not a freak, Vernon," I answered, trying to manage my anger. Lily rubbed circles on the back of my hand, clutching it tightly. Whether it was because of her being nervous or her knowing that I was angry, I wasn't sure. Petunia and Vernon both shared a glance and rolled their eyes. An awkward silence fell over the car.

"So, Vernon, how is the drill business?" Lily asked politely.

"Oh, well, it's been wonderful. I've made more money this year than I ever have! In fact-" at that point I tuned out Vernon and Petunia. I focused on the passing buildings and tracing shapes onto the back of Lily's hand. I barely noticed the car stopping at the restaurant we were supposed to be eating at.

"Come on, James. We need to get inside and get this over with," Lily sighed as she tugged on my hand. We all walked into the restaurant and it appeared that Vernon and Petunia were trying to disassociate themselves from us. The hostess came around and brought us to our table. We all ordered drinks and an awkward silence filled the air.

"So, John-"

"James, actually," I corrected Vernon.

"Right- James- what is it that you do for a living?" He asked.

"I'm not out of school yet, but I'd like to be an auror. Of course, I could choose to not have a job at all. I'm quite well off," I said. I was trying to be boastful to piss them off. It worked a bit.

"Lily, I'd ask you what you're going to do, but your- type- are less advanced than we are. I assume that women are not apart of the workforce?" Petunia said.

"Umm, actually, women have a lot of jobs in my world. They can be whatever they want, really. Some do choose to stay home though. I plan to become an auror. After things have cooled down, maybe I'll teach at Hogwarts," Lily said. I was worried about the auror thing, but I can talk to her about it later.

"Don't say the name of that blasted place. It's not respectable," a purple faced Vernon exclaimed.

"Let's all calm down, shall we?" I said trying to remain calm.

"Are you trying to order me around, boy?" Vernon spat.

"Please don't talk to James like that," Lily said, calmly.

"Vernon will talk to people however he likes!" Petunia fired back.

Just then, the waiter came back with our food and drinks. We were about to eat when, "You know Petunia, I think we should be going. These freaks probably cast some spell to get the kitchen staff to poison us. And they think they're so much better than us with their 'fortunes' and crazy schools," Vernon said. He threw down his utensils and napkin on the table, stood up, and prepared to leave. Petunia followed suit.

"Wait you could at least stay and finish-"

"Why would anyone want to spend time with a freak like you?" Petunia said to Lily with an icy tone. The two then marched out.

I looked back at Lily. Her head was in her hands and I could hear her trying to take deep breaths. I felt awful. This was my fault. I brought up my money and tried to push Vernon's boutons. You've really mucked this up, James!

"Lily, I'm so so sorry. I shouldn't have tried to push Vernon like that. It's all my fault. God I'm an awful boyfriend," I said. She looked at me, a few lone tears made their way down her beautiful face.

"It's not your fault, James. It's mine. I knew this was a bad idea. I never should have made you do this with me. Petunia's right; I am a freak!" Lily said. I pulled some muggle money that I had taken out of Gringotts and placed it on the table. I wrote out a note on a napkin that said Tip and check and stood up.

"Come on. Let's get out of here. I have a surprise," I said. I helped Lily into her coat and put mine on. We left the restaurant and I lead Lily down the walkway towards a park that was in the middle of town. We walked in silence for a while before coming up on a bench that was beside a frozen pond. The bench was, surprisingly, free of snow. We sat down and huddled against each other.

"I think, that Vernon and Petunia leaving was their own fault. They're not accepting enough and they were rude. If Sirius was with us, they'd have been hexed by now," I said.

Lily smiled and laughed lightly. She kissed my cheek. "Thank you, James," she said.

"Of course, Ginger Snap," I said with a smirk.

"No! That nickname is reserved for my dad!" Lily whined.

"When I tell Sirius it won't be," I said.

"Oh Merlin. You're all going to be the death of me!" Lily sighed.

I kissed the crown of her head. "Of course, love," I said. After a half an hour, we decided to head back to Lily's house. We were both already 17, so we just side apparated. We showed up in her driveway.

"I'll see you in five days. You're still coming, right?" I said.

"Of course. I'll see you then," she replied. She stood on her toes and kissed my lips. I smiled and kissed back. She pulled away after about a minute. "I love you."

"Love you too." She kissed my nose and walked back into her house. Once the door shut behind her, I apparated back to Potter Manor.

Sirius was waiting up for me when I got back. "Where are Remus and Peter?" I asked.

"They're asleep in their room. Mum and Dad are in the kitchen talking. It's probably about something for the secret no-more-Noseless club," Sirius explained, putting down the Marauders Map. "How was the dinner?"

"Petunia and Vernon left halfway through and Lily and I left after that and I haven't  eaten anything yet. Lily probably won't eat anything, but she's definitely had her nightly cup of tea by now," I said.

"I see. Well, I guess we should head to bed," Sirius said as he stood up and stretched.

"We still have food in our stash, right?" I asked.

"Yup," Sirius said. He picked up the map and I followed him up the stairs to my room.