Up To No Good

Chapter Twenty: 17 December 1977

It had been a year since then, and James and Lily were closer than ever. On the Hogwarts Express for Christmas break, Lily assured James that he would get to meet her sister, Petunia, and her fiancé. James did not know much about them except for the fact that they were both Muggles, and not too fond of magic.

The Marauders were now officially adults in the magical world, at age seventeen. They could now perform magic outside of Hogwarts, as long as they were careful. The idea was exciting, especially imagining what he and Sirius could do back at home.

The Hogwarts Express rumbled along on the tracks. James was oddly curious about the Muggles.

"My parents were really proud when they found out," she explained. "They were disbelieving at first, but once we got to Diagon Alley they seemed to understand. Petunia was very upset." She dropped her voice, glancing around to make sure they were out of earshot of the others. "She was jealous."

It was something he had never really put thought to--the fact that some wizards had Muggle families, wondering how they would react to finding out their son or daughter was magical. He didn't know what to say.

A few days later, he and Lily were standing in front of a small, French café. He could tell she seemed a bit on edge, twiddling her fingers and she looked around for her sister.

"You alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

James knew why, but he didn't mention it. He didn't want to make her any more nervous.

"Petunia!"

Lily's face split into a wide smile as she threw her arms around a woman just a few years older than they were. She looked quite unlike Lily, in James's opinion, but maybe that was due to the fact that she looked so much more stern. She was tall, thin, with a small, horsey face. Her hair was brown and short, and she hesitantly looked in James's direction as she returned her sister's embrace.

The man next to her was even more different: he was a squat man with hardly any neck and a thick mustache on his round, sweaty face. James felt as if the man's eyes were burning into his, but he only raised his eyebrows slightly by way of acknowledgement.

"I'm Petunia," said Lily's sister, reaching for James's hand. "And this is my fiancé, Vernon."

Vernon gripped James's hand so tight he thought it might break, yet James was still unintimidated. He didn't dare break eye contact, keen on demonstrating that he was unafraid of some ludicrous old Muggle.

"Shall we go inside?" Lily offered, glancing back at him for confirmation.

"Sure." James made sure that his wand was hidden away before following the others inside.

They took a seat near the window, which cast ample light onto the table before them. There were a few moments of silence before anyone spoke; Lily was smiling, turning to her sister first.

"How was the drive?" she asked amicably, glancing at Vernon as well. "Now that you have your new place, I hope it wasn't too long."

It was Vernon who answered her. "No problem at all," he nodded, his massive mustache quivering. Their server stopped by their table, distributing glasses of water. Vernon raised his to his lips before taking a mighty breath.

"What sort of car do you drive, John?"

"James," he corrected him, a trace of irritability left in his voice. Hoping it had gone on unnoticed, he continued. "I don't have a car. We don't typically drive them--" He paused, debating on how much to reveal. Petunia and Vernon knew that they were both wizards, but it was still illegal for him to breach the Statute of Secrecy. He noticed Vernon was raising his thick caterpillar eyebrows at him in suspicion as he stopped speaking.