Jily one shots

Failed deceptions

Disclaimer: written by @lizardcookie

Mr. Evans was the first to notice anything was wrong. Being the cautious father that he was, he always made it a point to check in on his girls if he happened to wake up in the night, which is exactly what happened one particular instance late July. The air was hot and mucky, far too oppressing to sleep in. Annoyed at the fact that he'd have to call a repairman in the morning for the air unit, he clambered a bit noisily down the stairs and soon regretted the ruckus he made. Walking into the kitchen, Mr. Evans pulled out a glass from the cupboard, filled it with water and cracked a window as he gulped down his drink. Repairman would mean money, and money that they couldn't spare. All this gave him a massive headache, and sighing, Mr. Evans made his way back up the stairs. Passing his Lily and Petunia's rooms, however, something was out of place- Lily never slept with the door open. He poked his head inside her room only to discover that it was empty.

"Send your daughter off to magic school," he heard himself mutter as he shuffled back down the stairs, "it'll be great. Let her meet a smooth talking bloke. Let her sneak out of the house. It's all good. All normal" He made his way back to the kitchen table and took a seat, ready to wait up for Lily. She must have gone out with James and for whatever reason not alerted her parents, which made both Lily's and James' behavior out of place, for they always made time to visit before leaving. Mr. Evans liked James as much as any father could like the man his youngest was dating. After all, James had spent the majority of their Christmas break here, not to mention the fact that he was a lot better than that Snape boy. It was obvious to anyone who saw the two that James was infatuated with Lily, and she with him.

And so Mr. Evans waited, drinking water and attempting to feel a nonexistent breeze come through the cracked window. When the clock above the oven showed 2:32 and he decided it was time to abandon his sentient, Mr. Evans was shocked to hear voices drift in through the window. It wasn't, however, Lily's light voice mixed with James' relaxed voice. He heard Lily and another girl, both exhausted.

"...Lucky you showed up when you did," the foreign voice remarked. They weren't far from the door.

"It was Sirius, actually," Lily remarked. She was tired, yes, but there was this sort of trill in her voice that gave away the fact that she was in an adrenaline rush. What had these girls been up to? "He caught wind of it and told James, who came here around eleven thirty."

"Well I owe Sirius a huge favor. But don't tell him that, I doubt Frank would approve of the sort of repayment Sirius would want." Lily laughed.

"Thanks for bringing me home, Alice," they were standing right at the front door. "It wasn't necessary. I've got my house protected with Ministry protocol and then some."

"Oh," Alice remarked, "I know. I wanted to be sure, though, but the shields are brill. Could barely trace 'em. Honestly, I just wanted to be the one to tell you this." Alice lowered her voice, but Mr. Evans could clearly hear her through the cracked window. "Mad-Eye was impressed, you know. He saw you with Mulciber. You didn't hear it from me, but I know for a fact that you've been on Dumbledore's list as well. You won't need a tip off from Sirius soon enough."

"This is all James and I could talk about for after we left Hogwarts. We'll get in, Alice? All of us?" Lily sounded like she was five years old again, begging for a kitten.

"I wouldn't doubt it. How could the Order not want you? Plus," Alice sounded amused, "I'm fairly certain McGonagall wants to redirect the Marauders' tricks into something more, uh, productive."

"I hope you're right. Shit," Lily exclaimed, "it's two forty? I have to get inside, Alice. I'll owl you!"

And thus concluded the strangest conversation Mr. Evans could recall hearing about what he assumed was a massive party that Lily and James had finally found. When she opened the door and attempted to look innocent about the time and she couldn't take a pleased grin off her face, he decided to let it drop. Lily had always been good at getting out of trouble. But Mr. Evans didn't forget this conversation. Almost every night, Lily went out of the house to meet someone waiting at the gate for her. Most nights it was James, perhaps with another boy in a leather jacket. Some nights it was whom he assumed to be Alice, but there was the occasional time she went out alone- usually running. Soon, Mr. Evans began to notice exactly what Lily tried so desperately to hide. The bags beneath her pretty eyes, a cut on her cheek, the bruise on her forearm that looked suspiciously like fingermarks, a gash on her leg that wouldn't heal, or even the blood stains on her clothes. All this he saw, and all this he tried to ignore. Lily was eighteen. This was her life.