A/N -> Oh ya, chapter two. It's beautifuly exciting. Thanks to everyone who reviewed on the first chapter! This story got such an overwhelming, positive response...I'm amazed. Hope you continue to follow it. Hugs, all!
Disclaimer -> Do you think that A N Y of the marauders would have died if I owned Harry Potter? It's a thinker.
Ch2. Oh no, he’s smiling.
This house has wings.
And I don’t mean the kinds that fly you places. Because this house is not a type of bird. I don’t think. You never can tell with the Potters though. They’re not like other people. But that’s getting completely off topic.
So the house has wings.
I am currently in the East Wing.
What house needs wings, I ask you?! I just can’t seem to stop thinking about the fact that this house is so big. And that it has wings.
I mean, way to flaunt the fact that you have money to the whole world. They might as well have just planted a money tree in their front yard.
Even though there is no such thing as money trees, (as my mother feels the need to remind me constantly). But who am I kidding. The Potters could just glue some money to a tree and say it’s a money tree. With some fancy, swanky country club glue no less. And then everyone would know for sure that they were rich.
I’m totally not jealous.
I don’t want country club glue.
Wow, I need to learn to focus.
So I’m in the East Wing in the Potter Manor. In a red room.
Who paints their guest room red, I ask you? I bet every guest room in here is a different color, (assuming that there is more then one, of course). I’ll check them out some other time.
And the bed has some odd black and white design on it. I’m going to refer to it as the Zebra.
Well, at least the room is roomy. I like it. It beats my room at home, and that is saying something. Man, if I lived here I could have such an awesome, big room. In whichever wing I wanted.
But then I would have to live with James permanently.
Yuck.
“Is everything to Miss’s liking?”
Oh my God.
Who was…oh. It was only the house elf.
I should really start paying more attention to things outside of my head.
“Yes, the room is perfect, thank you,” I said.
You have to be polite to house elves. Especially ones who work for arrogant, spoiled Quidditch players.
“Then Kizzy will go and get Master James to show you around the Manor, miss.”
Kizzy. Hmm. Interesting choice of name.
Wait, who was she going to go and get?
“No, that’s really not necessa…” I started to protest until I saw that I was talking to thin air.
That’s one efficient house elf.
Ok, deep breath.
As long as James doesn’t ask me out, I think I can hold my temper.
Ah, who am I kidding? Honestly…
Might as well start unpacking then, I guess. Seeing as how I’m living here for a month.
This is really uneventful. And I’m very hot again. I guess the skimpy shirt and ponytail just aren’t cutting it. I wonder if James has a pool? Or better yet, a walk-in freezer. I could just pop in there from time to time whenever the urge called.
“Miss is staying in the red room, Master James.”
Oh no. I can hear their voices down the hall.
He’s coming already. I didn’t have time to mentally and physically prepare myself for the boy. Oh well, I’ve never been that bad with improvisation.
“Is this one nice, Kizzy?” James asked.
That’s the voice that haunts me in my dreams.
I mean nightmares.
Wow, their voices really do travel though.
Darn, I missed the house elf’s response.
“What does she look like?” James’ voice carried.
Typical. I’m surprised it wasn’t the first question he asked.
Man, I missed the answer again! I really need to take some focusing classes or something.
“Well, you know I’m a sucker for redheads.”
Whoa. Did James really just say that?
I should seriously think about dying my hair brown. Possibly blonde.
I think I could pull off blonde.
On a side note, it’s quite cute how James seems so close with his house elf.
Wait, did I say cute? I meant creepy.
Oh no, their footsteps are coming closer. This is like some bad horror movie.
Hey, would you look at that…there’s a mirror on the wall. Wow, I never noticed that. Might as well go and see how bad I look at the moment.
Oh. My. God. My mother was right. This shirt is cut so low. I swear if I see James’ eyes wonder downwards even a little bit, there will be hell to pay.
Crash
Oh my. There seems to be a commotion over by the door.
Let’s take a wild guess. James saw me and dropped whatever he was holding.
And I’m turning around. And yes, James is standing with his mouth open and his eyes wide.
He looks like a cartoon.
And there is a broken plate on the ground surrounded with cookies.
Why was he eating cookies? I thought he always ate healthy food so that he could stay in ‘tip top shape for Quidditch’. His words, not mine.
Whoa, did I just quote him? It’s a good thing he can’t hear me or he might have just had an aneurysm from excitement. And that’s the honest truth.
Maybe I should say something. This isn’t nearly as awkward for me as it is for him.
Nah.
“You…what are you doing…how did you…why would…Lily?” he mumbled.
Wow, his mother was right. He really does have a way with words.
“Yes Ja…I mean Potter,”
Woops, almost called him by his first name.
“I’m working here. But let’s get one thing straight. I’m working for your parents, not you,” I said.
As in, if he orders me around once, I will personally glue his tongue to the roof of his month.
Wow, what is it with me and glue today?
Speaking of it again though, I would really like to take his hand and glue it to his side so that he can’t ruffle up his hair ever again.
Yes that would be lovely.
But in all serious, I wonder if he thinks that scruffy hair is the newest thing or something? I should lend him a Witch Weekly magazine one time. Jolt him back to reality.
“Erm…earth to Lily!” James woke me from my thoughts.
Great. He probably thinks I was daydreaming about him or something. Which I wasn’t. Was I?
“What?” I asked.
Geez, can’t a person think in quiet anymore?
“I said that I’m glad you’re going to be living here. I mean, you could have just as easily have refused the job when you found out who you were working for, right?”
Well actually my parents drove off before I could even…wait. How did he know that I didn’t know who I would be working for?
“Assuming of course that you didn’t know your employers in advance,” he added.
Can the guy read minds? I should be more careful around this one.
“I need the money. And the experience. Nothing more, Potter.”
Oh no, he’s smiling.
“Whatever you say, Lily.”
Is he mocking me? Does he think I want to spend a whole month at his house?
He’s delusional.
“Hey do you have a walk-in freezer?” I blurted out.
Great.
What a perfect thing to say.
I meant to say pool. Oh well, let’s see his reaction.
“Ya, in my room,” he answered immediately.
Are you kidding me? Spoiled brat. I didn’t even get a weird look from him. If I would have asked any sane person if they had a walk-in freezer, they would have at least raised their eyebrows at me.
“Care to see it?” he added.
He didn’t.
“No, Potter, I would not like to see your room.”
Honestly, what does he take me for?
I’m here twenty minutes and he’s already invited me to his room.
What a creeper.
“I meant, would you like to see the freezer, Lily. You look hot,” he commented.
Unbelievable.
“I mean…erm…you look…warm, because of the weather. But…er…not that you’re not hot anyways…I mean…sorry.”
Wow, is the James Potter getting tongue-tied? Why the sudden nervousness? Last year he called me hot more times then I care to keep track of.
I won’t believe that he’s changed.
How long has it been since I said something?
Oh God, he’s staring at my eyes again.
“So, are you going to show me around or what?” I asked.
The smirk is back.
Beautiful.
I want to just erase his stupid smirk right off his face.
“I will if you go out with me,” he said smugly.
Right on track. I’m surprised it took him this long actually.
This would be where that formula comes in.
JP + 10ft = P.U.L
“I would sooner go out with any other boy in Hogwarts before I went out with you,” I ended.
I’ve been working on that one all summer.
And ok, so it’s a lie. There are plenty of boys worse then him.
But his ego needs to be brought down a few notches.
On a serious note though, there are still quite a few boys I would sooner go out with. I mean take the marauders for example,
Let’s start with Remus. Well, come on. Any girl would want to be with him. He’s the cute, sensitive one. He’s the one that would write you love songs and love notes and whisper adorable things in your ear. I mean, he could have any girl he wanted. He just doesn’t know it yet.
And then there’s Sirius. The hot one. I’m not afraid to admit it. But if I went for looks alone, then I’d be going out with James by now. Wait. Scratch that from the record. I didn’t mean it. But back to Sirius…the heart breaker. Going out with him would get Potter in a jealous fit. Bet James wouldn’t like me then! But then there is the problem of Sirius’ laugh. He laughs like a dog. No a puppy. A really hyper little puppy. It’s just odd for a boy of seventeen to bark like a dog. End of story.
Peter. The marauder who always comes last for some reason. To be honest, I can’t really see myself going out with him. He’s too much of a follower for my liking. Not to mention he idolizes James. That can’t be healthy.
Besides the marauders though, there are many other possibilities of eligible bachelors. Like Severu…wait. I’m sorry that just went too far.
I’ve just scared myself a little…
“Are you thinking about me?”
Whoa. Totally forgot James was still in the room.
“You wish,” I answered.
How original, Lily.
“Hey, do you want me to teach you how to work your computer?” he asked.
What computer?
Oh, the one over there in the corner.
Wow.
The Potter’s have computers? Like my family could ever afford a computer…let alone one for the guest room. Wait. We don’t even have a guest room.
“It’s a little confusing at first and Mom says e-mail’s a waste of time since everybody just uses owls anyways, but it’s fun. Here let’s set up an email address for you, then we can email each other, ok? I’ve got a computer in my room too.” he said.
Wow, he looks excited.
And he’s walking over to the computer.
“Whatever floats your boat, Potter.”
What is he doing? How does he know how to work a muggle contraption anyways?
“Ok, all done. You’re address is gryffindorgirl@hotmail.com.”
That’s the lamest thing ever.
But not as lame as the fact that James feels the need to email me when we are living in the same Manor.
“Great,” I replied.
Another lie.
I’m on a roll today.
“Now how about that tour?” he asked.
Ah, once again interrupted from my thoughts.
Oh boy he’s walking out the door already. I guess I should follow.
…he does have nice jeans on, I must say.
Wow. I think it’s been too long since I’ve been in contact with a boy other then my Dad.
Oh no, Potter is already down the hall.
I like how he doesn’t feel the need to wait for me. The person he’s giving the tour to.
Well here I go.
And for the record…what I found most surprising about our conversation was that his eyes didn’t wander down to my revealing low-cut shirt.
It took James an hour to show me around his house.
Not a minute less. I think that he enjoyed knowing that I had to walk with him wherever he went no matter what he said. It wasn’t like at Hogwarts where I could just ditch him down a random corridor and blame it on the moving staircases.
It’s times like these when I wish I were at school.
Oh well. I got to meet the boy who I’m going to be babysitting; James’ little brother who I just recently found out is actually James’ little cousin.
That’s right, his cousin.
Can you believe that? The worst part though it that the kid thinks he’s James’ brother. As in the family never told him the truth! Apparently his real parents died when he was a baby. What’s going to happen when he finds out?
I almost died of shock when I found out.
But then again, I do over dramatize things a lot.
I’m scared I’m going to accidentally blurt it out one day. I’m not really known for keeping secrets.
Where’s some duct tape when you need it?
And Mrs. Potter seemed so nice to me. She better have a good reason for keeping the truth to herself. I don’t want to stereotype her already, but it’s kind of hard not to.
If I died when my kid was only a baby, I would want him to know that I existed! I should make a Will and put that in it so I don’t forget. Whoever the guardian is will have to tell the kid about me. Well, and the father of course. Assuming we both die.
Wow, I’m thinking morbid thoughts today.
But I can’t help it! Why did James have to tell me in the first place? He said that he wants to tell his ‘brother’ but his parents won’t let him. That’s…erm…respectable of him.
Who knew the Quidditch star had a huge secret that probably never leaves his mind?
And who knew that he actually wants to do the right thing about it?
He sure hides it well, doesn’t’ he? Maybe he has a harder life then I give him credit for. Maybe he’s not just some arrogant pig-headed person. He seems to really care about his cousin by the way he was talking about him.
But then again, this is James Potter. He can’t have a complicated life. He exists to make my life complicated. And the marauders are perfect, right? Everyone wants to be them, right?
Gasp.
Maybe the marauders are just four boys each with their own problems that use each other to forget about those problems while they are at school. Heaven knows Sirius must have some family problems what with him being a Black and all.
But what about Remus then? What’s his problem?
I’m confused.
Maybe I’m over thinking the whole situation.
So anyways, the summer is going to be awkward. I mean, there’s going to be that little secret nagging at the back of my brain now.
Great.
Just what I need. More problems to deal with while I’m at James Potter’s house.
“Dinner everyone!”
What the bloody hell was that?
It came from the corner.
Holy moley.
They have an intercom thing in their house. Sorry, their Manor.
I bet it runs throughout the whole place. There are probably speakers in every room. Down every wing.
Not at all stalker-ish…
I’m kind of scared now. I wonder how you turn those things off.
So what did it say?
Oh right, dinner.
I better start my trek to the kitchen. Who knows how long it will take me to reach the destination. It’s like climbing Everest. Yep. Exactly like that.
Well, minus the snow.
And the mountain.
Should I shut my door? Sure, why not.
Oh no, James is coming out of his room too.
Quick. Back into the red room I go.
Why his room is in the same wing as me is beyond me. How unfortunate. For me. He’s probably doing a victory dance or something. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Sadly.
Ok, he’s already turned the corner. I can leave my room now.
At least I’ve got a couple of hours of sleep ahead of me after dinner to worry about this so called friend that James will have over tomorrow.
It’s not that difficult to figure out who this person will be, really.
As long as the 'mysterious friend' doesn’t laugh like a dog, we’ll have nothing to worry about. I can probably hold my tongue and temper for the day if I don’t hear the insane giggling.
But that’s assuming of course that Sirius can control his laughter while he’s around James.
…
Ah, we’re screwed.
A/N. I've got some good stuff planned for the next chapter, if I do say so myself. I was almost tempted to put it in this one. But I restrained myself. Go figure.
Now review, good people, review,
Or I will be forced to take your left shoe.
And I will put it in a stew,
and then put the stew in a canoe,
then send the canoe to Peru,
where they'll use the stew as shampoo,
to be just like Blink 182.
So if I were you, I would review.
Thank you.
(I could soooo be Dr. Seuss)...(I don't think I could get any cooler at the moment so I'll just shut up).
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