cowboy like me

your boots beneath my bed

Lily pulled into her driveway, and it was her turn to pray that her older sibling didn't say anything that could make the evening awkward.

She also, on the way in, decided to also pray that Vernon wasn't over. His car wasn't in the driveway, but that didn't mean anything, because sometimes his parents dropped him off, and sometimes he just walked the 20 minutes.

Lily opened the front door, bracing herself for the worst, and finding the absolute best scenario; her parents were alone in the living room, looking up at them from the couch together.

"Hello, Regulus," Mrs. Evans greeted. He waved a bit shyly as he closed the door behind him, not feeling much like talking. "How was dinner?"

"It was great!" Lily answered, and she sat next to her father so Regulus could sit on the end. "It went way better than we expected. Mr. Black was very.. excited about me wanting to be a forensic scientist. He knew a lot about it."

"Well that's good," Mr. Evans mused. "Forensics is really a great field to go into. Even though I'm just in accounting, it's far better than being the type of accountants that do taxes and things of that sort."

Lily roped Regulus into their chatter as best she could, but she didn't expect him to really say much. She'd long since taken note that he participated much more in conversation when it was just him and one other person. Unlike him, Lily was a social person, and quite enjoyed being around people.

Regulus was tired from the stress of his parents, and Lily would see it in his body language, and his expression. He was too polite to say anything, however, so she excused them to her room, and he thanked her in a whisper on the stairs.

Lily tossed her shoes in a bin she kept in her closet, and sprawled out on her bed. Regulus sat on the edge, and untied his shoes with tired fingers. They were ones Sirius had gotten him as a gift - something about a Martin. He quite liked them, even if they weren't very comfortable when he first got them. He tucked them just under the edge of the bed.

Regulus laid back on the bed, perpendicular to Lily, which made her giggle a little.

"Aughh, tonight was crazy," she groaned. "Your parents are terrifying. Why aren't you or Sirius as scary?"

"Maybe they had so much scary that it canceled out when they had us," Regulus suggested. "I'm just glad Sirius was quiet for once in his life. Would you really be okay for more dinners? Knowing them, they'd want them to be a weekly occurrence if they could."

Lily blew a raspberry, thinking. "I mean, sure, I guess. My parents may not be as excited about it cause they like having family dinners, but I think it should be fine if yours want that. Not that I particularly want to see your parents once a week, but I'm too much of a people pleaser to say no, honestly."

Regulus snorted. "I think at some point in the future, they may want to meet your parents as well."

"That sounds like, so awful, actually. I think my poor mum would die of fright from being at your house."

Regulus laughed, shaking Lily beneath him. "Yeah.. I'll try to curb it if they bring it up. It's hard to refuse them, though."

"I think Petunia's been wanting to properly meet you. She thinks she's been subtle suggesting double dates, but I don't think you and Vernon would get along, so I've been ignoring it."

"I can behave! I'm very good at tolerating people that I hate." Regulus turned his head to look at her. "My extended family is proof of that."

Lily sighed, and pushed him off of her. "Alright, I was lying. I can't stand Vernon, and I was using you as an excuse."