by novemberthird
It was a Potter tradition since Euphemia Potter (née Gambol) joined the family to host a winter ball every New Year's Eve. While Euphemia's father-in-law, Henry Potter, held no malice towards Non-Purebloods, the event remained very exclusive with only Purebloods and a handful of Half-Blood families in attendance for many decades. It wasn't that Muggleborns were never invited, those who were just didn't accept the invitation out of fear of Pureblood retaliation from those families who thought themselves superior and hadn't been invited. This, however, changed during their son James' final year at Hogwarts.
'Hey, mum, dad?' Their son seemed nervous as he wrangled his hands together as an amused Sirius Black smirked next to him; James himself remained uncharacteristically quiet.
'Yes, James,' his father asked with an amused glint in his blue eyes. Fleamont Potter was never beyond taking the mickey out of his rather exuberant son.
'Err...well, the thing is…' His son's stuttering made Fleamont give his wife a knowing look. When it came to their son there had only been a handful of occasions that had made him stutter and his face flush, and all those occasions had been teasing from the other gentleman at the table. Teasing that was surely about a girl.
'What's her name, honey?' Euphemia had eagerly asked, her eyes delighted at the mere thought of her son's love life, like every mother.
Sirius laughed, turning it into a cough as as James glared at the boy.
'I...err, Lily.' James sighed the name as if it were the most precious and delicate thing to ever grace the world. 'Lily Evans.'
'Evans?' His mother began pouring over the list of Evanses she knew and came up short. She turned to Fleamont, 'Do we know any Evanses, Monty?'
'She's a Muggleborn,' James said before his father could respond. 'I was wondering if I could bring her to the ball on Saturday…' He coughed awkwardly before adding, 'As my date.'
Euphemia's smile was wide, her hazel eyes shining as she began questioning the young man about the girl. James' face was completely red as he admitted to his mother that he's been seeing the Evans girl since October.
'And here I bet Remus that James wouldn't ask and would just turn up with Evans instead.' Sirius told Fleamont as they laughed at Euphemia's methods of torturing her son.
James supposed it was better now than the day of the ball.
When Saturday finally approached, James's nerves, however, doubted his earlier statement.
'What if mum scares her away, Padfoot?' James groaned into his pillow. 'I like Lily.' James' eyes were pleading with Sirius to help him before he decided to just feed himself to the giant squid instead. James mumbled into the pillow incoherently.
'What?' Sirius asked before nudging the boy lightly to move over.
'I said I love her.'
Sirius snorted, 'Well that's obvious, Prongsie.' He smiled at the distressed boy, 'You look at her as if she's all that matters, and she looks at you the same way. She looks at you as if you're the only thing that can make everything okay again.'
James smiled at that, a smile that expressed just how much that meant to him.
'Now let's get you ready, I have to go pick up your date in an hour while you, as the Potter heir, greet all the guest.' He grinned at the pout that appeared on James' face, 'What a pity.'
'Mum, do I really have to do this?' James' complained as his mother positioned him at the door to the manor. 'All these people do is comment on how I should marry one of their daughters or granddaughters or pinch my cheeks.'
His mother laughed before brushing off the non-existent dust from his black dress robes. 'You only have to do this until Sirius gets back with your date.' His mother smirked at him, 'Then you'll introduce her to your father and me, and we'll let you enjoy the rest of the night with your friends and her.'
'Is this a setup so you get to meet her?' James accused.
'Why of course not.' She took James' head between her hands, lowering her to her height and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead, 'This just has the added benefit of getting to meet your girlfriend.' He groaned at the word his mother had been repeating since the moment he mentioned Lily Evans to her.
'Please don't scare her, mum.' He pleaded with her as she released him, looking down into her eyes. 'I really like her.'
'I promise,' she obliged him. 'Now shush, the guest are coming, and I expect you on your best behaviour, James Potter.'
'Yes, mum.'
James, therefore, spent the next hour being the subject to many Pureblood proposals.
'Yes, Mrs Edgecombe, your granddaughters are very lovely,' he lied. 'But I don't really think we're compatible.'
'Oh, don't be ridiculous,' the old bat continued. 'You'd make a lovely husband to one of them.'
James sighed, hoping that his frustration with the old lady wasn't beginning to show. 'I apologise, Mrs Edgecombe, but I'm currently seeing someone. I wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I got engaged while I'm in a very happy relationship.'
She scoffed in an unladylike fashion. James could tell that she was about to continue her attempts at persuasion when James heard a familiar giggling along with a doglike laugh.
'If you'll excuse me, I have to go find my mother.' He didn't wait for her response as he headed back to the entrance that Mrs Marry My Granddaughters had moved him away from.
'Lil,' James said, embracing his girlfriend in a tight hug.
'You'd think we weren't here.' He heard Peter say.
'Perhaps, if we wore nice little dresses, he would notice us, Wormtail.' Sirius' voice teased.
'Shut it, you tossers.' James mumbled into Lily's neck as she giggled.
'James, language!' He heard his mother's voice as he quickly let go of his girlfriend with a pout. 'That's no way to talk in front of a lady.'
'Evans is no lady, Mia.' Sirius teased, nudging the girl.
Lily glared at him as she restraint the need to stick her tongue out at him, that wouldn't be the best impression to leave her boyfriend's mother with.
'Sirius,' Euphemia chastised the handsome boy before turning her attention to the redheaded girl.
'I'm going to go get something to drink, come along, Pete.' Remus said to the mousy-haired boy, who shrugged before following after him.
Euphemia took in the girl's attire; she was dressed in a green Muggle dressing gown that matched her emerald eyes and shoes. Her hair was loose and in what seemed to be natural curls. Her eyes seemed nervous as they shifted to her son's ever so often.
Euphemia pulled the girl into a hug, she felt her tense a bit from shock before she hugged her back.
'I'm Euphemia Potter, you can call me Mia or Emma.' She smiled at Lily as she pulled away. 'James has told me so much about you.'
She heard the sound of Sirius patting James on the back as she linked arms with the redhead.
'It's a pleasure to meet you, Emma.' She noticed the girl's slight blush but decided not to comment on it.
'We'll just have to locate my husband, merlin knows what he gets up to when I'm not around.'
Lily laughed, 'I suppose James gets his mischievous behaviour from his father then?'
'Oh, yes, Monty was quite the troublemaker. He loved to show-off what he could do with his wand'–'Not like that, Sirius, honey,' she said diverting her attention momentarily–'and he was in detention half the time.' She paused as she spotted her husband, 'Oh, Monty, come meet Lily.'
Euphemia heard her son groaning, 'Mum, please.'
'Oh, quiet, Jamie.' She could tell without turning around that her son was pouting.
'Hello, Mr Potter,' Lily said, taking the hand that wasn't interlinked with Emma's to shake his.
'None of that nonsense, my dear, call me Fleamont or Monty,' He eyed the girl with interest, observing the redhead who had his son watching her in adoration.
'James tell us you're Head Girl this year and a Gryffindor.'
Lily giggled nervously, 'Yes, sir, err, Fleamont.'
Her husband grinned at the girl, 'I was a Gryffindor myself, where dwell the brave at heart. Although, I was never a Head Student. That went to my dearest Emma the Ravenclaw.'
Emma rolled her eyes at the remark, 'Not this again.'
'The boys tell me you make potions, although James has yet to tell me what kind. He says it's a secret.' She saw Lily turn to playfully glare at him as James tousled his hair nervously.
'I suppose it is top secret, but I'll clue you in.' He leant in and whispered teasingly, 'I invented Sleekeazy's Hair Potion.'
Lily's eyes widened before giggling. 'Are you sure James knows?' She teased back. 'His hair is rather untidy for someone whose father invented a potion for that specific purpose.'
'Oh, we have pictures with him using it. I'll have to remember to show it to you later.' Emma said before turning her intention to her sons, 'James, please stop hitting your head on the wall, it's rude.'
An hour later, Emma finally allowed the trio to join their friends.
'Lovely girl don't you think?' She questioned her husband.
'Absolutely, she's charming, smart, beautiful, not to mention she likes making potions.' He responded, looking after his son who was dancing with the girl. 'Let's hope he keeps her around.'
'I have a good feeling about her, Monty.' Emma grinned up at him. 'Do you see how he looks at her?'
Emma spent the next few hours conversing with her guest, making sure to keep an eye on her son who she knew could be quite the troublemaker at these events, recalling the time he let loose their poffle to scare the guests and the time he accidently got the house elves–who Emma forbade to punish themselves–drunk for an experiment, he was seven. Yet he was rather calm as she observed him either chatting away with his friends or dancing with his girlfriend. Emma was quite sure that James hadn't left Lily's side all evening.
'Who is the girl dancing with your son,' Mrs Edgecombe asked of her.
Emma smiled at the question, 'Her name is Lily Evans.'
She scoffed, 'Evans?' Her nose was turnt up, 'I've never heard of any Evans family.'
'She's Muggleborn, Millicent,' was Emma's response.
'Muggleborn,' the Pureblood said as if it were an illness. 'What is she doing with your son?'
Emma's tone turned harsh, 'She's his girlfriend. Quite a charming young girl.'
Millicent looked at Emma as if she just announced her plans to run naked through the ballroom. 'You're letting your son mess around with a Muggleborn?'
'I hardly set rules for my son's dating preferences.' Her eyes looked into the other woman's, 'And I wouldn't be surprised if my son decided to marry her, and I'll happily call her my daughter-in-law when that day comes. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go find my husband before midnight strikes.'
And as she looked for Fleamont as the clock struck midnight, she saw her son embracing his girlfriend, his hands on her face delicately, kissing her slowly as Lily smiled.
She supposed this is why she overlooked it when she saw James leading Lily upstairs in the direction of his room moments later.