NineteenYearsLater

We went back to my room and sat on the bed.

James grinned wickedly, “Want to have some fun?”

I whacked him upside the head, since he was now close enough.

“Man, you’re going to be a womanizer in a year or two,” I said to him, “once puberty sets in.”
He gave me a look, “Puberty has too set in. My voice has changed, and look at how tall I’m getting. Plus now I look more like a guy than a-”

I elbowed him in the side, sufficiently stopping any attempts to prove how much of a man he was becoming.

“Man that hurt,” He said to me, once he had his breath back, “are you sure you’re just not jealous? I mean, you can’t hope to compete with me for how gorgeous my body is-”

I snorted loudly, interrupting him.

“Gorgeous is not how I would describe it,” I told him frankly, looking him up and down, “because you look a hell of a lot like a kid to me.”

He pouted with his lower lip sticking out.

I sobered up, “In any case, I was very surprised when you just rattled all of that off so naturally. Why and how?”

He grinned, apparently I was forgiven, “I took some lessons, plus you’ve already told me what to expect, so when I started planning this I took that into account. By the way, Everett is the name of one of the families that was allegedly blood relatives to Slytherin’s own bloodline. I figured that would help matters; and even if it didn’t, it didn’t hurt to have it there.”

I grinned at him, “You’ve clearly given this a lot of thought,” he grinned, and I couldn’t help but add, “especially for someone with so little brain power.”

I ducked the swing taken in my direction and we both laughed at his expense.

“So why do you keep making passes at me for no reason?” I asked him, as the happiness died down, “and just how long have you been planning this?”

He just grinned and refused to answer any of it. We sat there, not doing anything, for a little while, before starting to play a game of cards. We ended up stopping when Thomas came in without knocking.

“Thomas, what have I told you about knocking on my door before entering?” I said, giving him a look. He smiled.

“You’ve said to knock, but since the only things I have to worry about are things you do in the bathroom, I needn’t worry,” He told me, causing James to grin at me. We all laughed for a bit before Thomas sobered up, “Your mother requested your presence for dinner tonight.”

I stared at him in shock, “Oh god no.”

James gave me a disconcerted look, “Why’re you so annoyed?”

“Have you ever met my mother’s friends?” I asked him. He shook his head, “Then maybe I should bring you with me.”

“He can be your date,” Thomas said, with wicked humor. I glared at him and shooed him from the room.

I turned to James and told him to go back to his room, he needed to get ready.

“You need formal wear, just a little heads-up,” was the last thing I said, as I pushed him out of the room. I turned back to my room, sighed, and walked over to my closet. (It was a walk-in closet filled with clothes that I would never wear.) I sighed again and opened it. Nothing jumped out at me, so I sighed again and walked into it.

I looked for about fifteen minutes and then got fed up, let out a cry of annoyance, and ran over to my bed, where I threw myself down onto it. I heard the door to my room open and close, but I was too annoyed at myself to care.

Suddenly I was hit by a flying projectile, followed by two other, smaller and harder, ones. I let out a yelp of surprise and sat up quickly.

“James what are you doing in here and why did you just throw this at me?” I asked him, staring at his smiling face. He was standing in the entrance to my closet, with his hands on his hips.

“Wear that,” He said, and crossed the room and left. I stared after him in shock; I couldn’t believe he had just done that. I finally looked at what he had thrown at me and grimaced. This outfit had no chance of working, except on someone who was older and more along than I was. I sighed again and walked into the bathroom, ready to at least try it on.

I put it on and looked in the mirror in shock. The dress actually accentuated my body more than I thought possible, and I didn’t have to worry about having a body because this thing made it look like I had one. I slipped the shoes on and brushed out my hair, leaving it down. I ignored jewelry and just headed downstairs, only to be stopped by James. (He was wearing a suit, almost a tux, which made him look older, just as the dress had done for me.) He offered me his arm.

“It wouldn’t be right to appear without an escort, milady,” He told me, with mock formality. I gave him a glare and accepted as gracefully as I possibly could. We walked down the stairs and into the dining room. Mother gave me a look of surprise, but hid it quickly as everyone turned to her for introductions.

“This is my daughter Lillian and her friend James Everett,” She said, not looking at me after that first initial shock, “Won’t everyone please sit down.”

We all sat down at the places assigned for us. I noticed that Mother, although she wished for me to be alone, had grudgingly put James across from me. Neal was seated beside him, and my cousin Susan was seated beside me. (Neal was usually seated in front of me. I had a feeling there was a reason for that, one that I wouldn’t find out about until a few more years passed from now.)

I remained almost completely silent throughout the entire dinner. James seemed off-put by it and spent most of it flirting with Susan, who was fourteen. (She clearly didn’t realize that he was younger than her, otherwise she wouldn’t have continued. I knew her personality well enough to know that much.)

Finally, I felt that I had stayed there long enough and could feel myself growing impatient to be out of there. I stood up with a grace I did not have and addressed the group, “I must beg pardon, for I am still weary of the journey from Hogwarts to here. I must bid this wonderful group adieu. Until next time then.”

They all allowed me to leave with much grace and little hostility. Everyone thought I was acting wonderful, compared to my normal self. (Well, only people who had met me and knew what I was normally like, thought I was being really nice.)

I walked back to my room and sat down on the bed. I put my head in my hands and felt a headache grow. Something was going on with me, and I didn’t know why. A flash of pain shattered across my temple and I let out a moan. That display of grace downstairs made no sense to me. I had never done something like that before, ever, and I think I knew why.

John was in my head now, I knew it to be true, but I didn’t understand how it could have happened.