Author’s note: Dude, I am so sorry! I am the world’s worst bitch when it comes to updating, and it really annoys me because I have always been so excited about this story and spent so much time on it. But I swear on absolutely everything that I will finish this if it kills me. I did make a few chapter changes the other night, but nothing big, merely things like changing Chamberly’s name from Lord to Mr., because it was more in keeping with the times. Anyway, you are fully right to hate me for taking so long. Again, I’m really sorry!

Really, really sorry!

Disclaimer: I’m not worthy to speak her name.

-One-Sided Conversations-

“Why, there you are, my dear! I have been scouring the house in search of you!”

“Oh, I am so sorry, father!” said Lily, hurriedly stepping behind a table in an effort to hide the rather large brown stain that resided on her dress. “I called upon Meadowbrook Lodge this afternoon and have only just returned. Did my mother not inform you of my whereabouts?”

Lily had just returned from her sojourn to the Lupin household with Siobhan, bringing with her a worsened headache, three books, and, she suspected, several large bruises on her knee. Siobhan had dashed in through the staff entrance to attend to her errands upon reaching the house, leaving Lily to brave Mr. Chamberly’s company by herself. Therefore, she had been most delighted, upon entering the manor, to find that the inhabitants of the house seemed to have vanished, and was busy exploring the study when her father walked in and happened upon her.

“She did not, it seems,” said Mr. Evans, crossing the dark, stuffy room with quick strides. “She and your sister have taken it upon themselves to visit the town today.” He explained, as he kissed her forehead.

“I see,” Lily laughed. “Searching for the latest fashions, I presume?”

“As always,” he returned her laugh. “And it may or may not please you to know that Mr. Chamberly and your sister’s husband shall be fishing for some time yet, so you may be as muddy as you like, my dear.”

Lily blushed furiously as her father gestured towards her ruined skirt. “I took a little tumble on the walk home, I’m afraid. I must appear quite unladylike.” She did not add that the ‘tumble’ had come as a result of her thoughts being occupied too much by a certain black haired young man, and not enough by her surroundings, and had no desire to. Siobhan would be sure to remind her of her stumble every day for the rest of their lives.

“Nonsense, I am far fonder of you with muddy skirts and rosy cheeks than when you are ladylike. You look very much like my little girl,” he said, eyes twinkling as he nodded his approval. “Besides,” he added, with a grin. “I am sure that our ever hospitable host will rush out at once upon hearing of your scrape and buy you ten new dresses.”

“I am sure he shall,” she giggled, smiling up at her father and wondering whether she had imagined the sarcasm in his voice or not. “But I dread to think of mother’s reaction when she sees this.”

“She will forbid you from walking ever again, I am sure,” said her father. “All the more reason for you to soak up as much of it as you can today. Would you mind terribly, dear, if I asked you to accompany your poor old father on a stroll?”

“Why, certainly, sir, for I would never dare to refuse such a distinguished gentleman.”

She took his arm and they made their way to Chamberly’s garden, the one area of his estate with which Lily could find no fault. Although not particularly grand or well kept, it was absolutely beautiful, a veritable fairyland of delicate flowers and majestic old trees, babbling brooks and ponds inhabited by fish and frogs. A winding, pebbly pathway weaved its way in and around the various flower beds and rockeries, and in one part of the garden she discovered an old swing hanging from the branch of an oak tree that she was desperate to try. Lily delighted in all of it, and marveled that a person with Chamberly’s woeful taste in décor could have imagination enough to keep a garden like this one.

“You said that you called upon the Lupin family this afternoon, did you not?” he asked presently, shaking her out of her reverie as they passed a cluster of merry looking yarrow flowers.

“Yes, I did. Mr. Chamberly wished to invite Master Lupin and his friends to dine with us this evening, and I offered to call at the house and extend the offer personally.”

“And did young master Lupin accept?”

“He did. He and his friends shall be arriving at seven.”

Her father nodded, and they walked in peace for a short while. Truth be told, Lily enjoyed being in the company of her father, whom she felt had always understood her best, perhaps far more than he might let on to other members of her family.

“If you do not mind my asking, my dear, but why did you offer to call in at the Lodge at all? Why not send a messenger?” he said, presently. It was a perfectly innocent question to ask, but the answer that immediately presented itself in her mind was not one that Lily thought she could repeat to anyone else.

“Oh, well…” She could feel her face glowing once more, a sensation which had now become so familiar that it was beginning to severely irritate her. “Master Lupin mentioned a book last night that I was desperate to borrow, you see.”

“Surely master Lupin could have brought the desired book with him tonight, had you asked the messenger to remind him of it?”

“I suppose he could have, yes,” she stammered, not looking at her father. There was something in his tone which suggested that he was very much amused by something, and Lily could only wonder at the possibilities of what he might be thinking. “However, I happen to enjoy the walk, and I had a desire to see his house for myself. I have heard it spoken of as being simply grand ever since we arrived in Brighton.”

“And were you pleased by what you saw there?”

“Oh yes.” In truth, Lily could not remember a single thing about Remus Lupin’s house. She had been so agitated upon entering that it was all she could do to stay still until Remus had come downstairs to greet her, accompanied by none other than the cretin himself!

She winced at the memory of the conversation that had taken place between herself and Potter when Remus had left the room in search of his mother. She could not recall the exact words she had spoken, only that they were dreadfully improper and had flown out of her mouth before she could stop them, as her mind had evidently decided to take complete leave of its senses without informing her beforehand. Lily felt like she would never overcome the humiliation of it all, and was now sincerely terrified by the prospect of the evening that lay ahead.

“Did you speak to the Potter boy while you were there, by any chance?” said her father, not looking at her, but feigning interest in the sparrow that had just landed on a nearby rose bush.

“Yes, I did, as it happens,” she said quietly, blinking back sunlight. Her father could apparently read minds now! “Why do you ask?”

“Not for any particular reason. I merely wondered if you had finished your conversation.”

“What conversation?”

“The conversation that you were engaged in last night, while you were dancing with him,” he removed his gaze from the sparrow momentarily to look down at her with raised eyebrows. “I did not hear a word of your exchange, of course, but you seemed to be quite enraptured.”

Her face now beet red, it took Lily several seconds of opening and shutting her mouth to no avail before her father realized that she was evidently unable to speak.

“Of course, I would never dare attempt to make assumptions concerning any woman I may be acquainted with, even if she is my own daughter, for I have been proven wrong far too many times before.”

“I, I see,” she said slowly, now completely out of her mind.

“Please, do not look so offended, my dear. I am sure that I was not suggesting anything untoward. I was merely curious to discover your opinion of the boy,” he said, apparently under the impression that he had slighted her maidenly virtue, or some other such nonsense that Lily could not have cared less about. “I did not have the pleasure of conversing with him for long, but I must say that I liked him immediately.”

“As I recall, you did inform me of this fact last night,” she said, smiling to herself as the panic passed. Her father did not know anything of her plans. “And that he has a handshake to be envied!”

“Did I?” he muttered absently. She nodded. “One tends to forget such details as he grows older. Of course, it is quite probable that my judgment is not to be trusted, and now that I have witnessed your reaction to my earlier comment concerning your contact with the boy, I must assume that he is a ruffian of the lowest sort!” He winked at her.

“Oh, not at all! I think that he is a very amenable young man,” she laughed, trying to pretend that she really meant it. It would ruin all of her plans if her father refused to allow Potter to come near her. Lily knew that her father was joking, but all the same, if would be prudent of her to allow him to think well of the scoundrel, for now. “He and his friends appear to be very pleasant.”

“I am glad to hear it, my dear, as I would very much like it if they could call here from time to time.”

“Why do you say that, father? Is our host not company enough for you?”

“I am hoping to provide company for you, my dear, for you. You must find this house to be so dreadfully dull, being the youngest here, your housemates engaged in tasks that do not interest you, and with all of your friends remaining in Cheshire. You will need to make some friends if you are to survive the summer, I think. The Potter boy and his friends appear to be well-mannered, pleasant chaps, all from fairly wealthy families, or so I hear, and moreover,” he added, in an odd voice. “They are your age.”

“Surely, father, you can not condone the idea of a young lady spending so much of her free time with four rowdy boys?” Lily asked him, not allowing her thoughts to linger on his emphasis of their age and what on earth that might mean. “Why, it is dreadfully improper!”

“To some, perhaps,” he replied thoughtfully. “Your mother would most certainly not approve. I, on the other hand, would encourage them to call here as much as possible,” He withdrew his arm from hers and stepped ahead of her, “Especially when our host cannot be here with us, perhaps.”

Lily froze in her tracks and gaped at her father’s back. “What do, what do you mean by-”

“You know, my dear, I am feeling dreadfully tired all of a sudden. Perhaps I shall go inside and rest before I must brave the onslaught of my business associates this evening.”

Without giving her the opportunity to answer him, he kissed her on the cheek and strode briskly toward the house, leaving Lily immobile in the sunshine with a pounding heart and the vague inkling that maybe he was not as supportive of the purpose of their visit as he had previously lead her to believe.

James Potter was being driven insane.

Although he could not quite understand why Lily Evans seemed so intent upon engaging him a battle of wits, what he did understand perfectly was that they had squared off against each other two times and both times she had emerged victorious, with him stuttering and stammering like an inarticulate fool. James had never made a fool of himself over a member of the opposite sex before, and the fact that this girl could engage him in conversation and leave him feeling like an idiot was irritating, and beyond that, downright mortifying.

He spent a considerable amount of time pondering this unwelcome information after she and her maid left the house that afternoon, following a rather flirtatious conversation on her part that had fully succeeded in making him appear like a dim-witted buffoon, and by the time they were to leave for dinner at Chamberly’s house he had come up with a plan of his own that would hopefully leave Miss Evans in much the same state as she had left him.

“Just through here, lads, just through here. I shall be quite busy this evening, as you know, with very important business matters to discuss, of course. I was hoping for dinner this evening to be a more informal event, but Mr. Evans is quite adamant that I alone am the one to handle his affairs, and so it simply could not be put off. He trusts me implicitly, you know, and…”

James was not listening. She was already seated at the table when they entered the dining room, looking more attractive than she had any right to in a blue dress, beside a woman whom James had never met before but knew to be the wife of a Mr. Davenport. As Chamberly and Mr. Harris were unmarried (and considering the looks that Mr. Harris was wont to send in Sirius’ direction every time they met, James suspected that a wife was not what he was looking for, at least), he knew Mrs. Hastings well, and he had been introduced to Lily’s mother and sister last night, it made sense that she would be the wife of the only man here whom he had never met. Davenport was apparently here to negotiate the sale of some shares in a hospital, or some other such nonsense. James rarely paid attention when Chamberly spoke.

“Well, let us see. Mr. Black, if you sit here, and then Patrick, you can-”

“Now, Edward, I am sure that the young men can find their own way to the table!” said Mr. Evans, striding forward to shake the hands of the four of them. “Good evening, Mr. Black, and how superbly nonchalant you are tonight! You must teach me how to mimic you one day.”

Sirius grinned at James once Mr. Evans had finished shaking his hand and moved on to Peter, clearly indicating that he, like James, most definitely approved of this odd man.

Mr. Pettigrew, who if I remember correctly goes by the name of Peter, yes? I do so hope that you are not feeling as woeful as you did last night. I recall you mentioning that you had a desire to die?”

“Er…” said Peter.

“No matter, Mr. Pettigrew, for I am quite certain that we shall not be eating cigars for dinner.”

“Yes,” said Peter slowly. “Yes. Er… quite.”

“Mr. Lupin, I have not had the pleasure of conversing with you for long, but rest assured that I shall think of something appropriately witty to say to you before the night is over!”

“Thank you, sir,” said Remus cautiously.

“And Mr. Potter! How are you? As firm a handshake as ever, I see! Tell me, does your hair always look like that?”

“Yes. Yes, sir, it does,” he replied, slightly flummoxed. Behind Mr. Evans, he could see that his youngest daughter was pointedly avoiding looking in their direction.

“I am jealous. My own hair has always been horribly well behaved. Well now, oh, let’s see, why don’t you sit here, by my daughter?”

And so it transpired that James ended up sitting directly beside the girl he had been thinking about all day, with Remus at this right. Sirius and Peter sat directly across from them beside, to Sirius’ dismay, Mrs. Evans, Mrs. Dursley and Mrs. Hastings. Chamberly, Evans, Davenport, Hastings, Dursley and Harris made up the far end of the table, so he felt quite pleased with the knowledge that he could have Lily all to himself this evening.

They mumbled their way through the usual stinted greetings as the meal started, and James waited until the conversations of the other guests were in full swing before he turned slightly in his chair and spoke to her. He did not want to be interrupted.

“How are you this evening, Miss Evans?”

“Wonderful, thank you. And you, Mr. Potter?”

“Much the same, I thank you. I trust that your family members are all well?”

“All of my family members are present at this table, and you have eyes with which to see, have you not?” she retorted sweetly, her eyes fixed on her plate. He grinned to himself, she was certainly sharp, but she would not be defeating him this time. Now was the time to put his plan in motion.

“I must admit that my eyes are not serving me particularly well tonight, Miss Evans, for in spite of my best protests, they remain resolute in their intention to focus solely upon you.”

It worked just as he hoped. She froze in the act of raising her glass to her lips, set it back down and turned a pair of bewildered emerald eyes on him. He stared resolutely back at her.

“This is entirely your fault, of course,” he continued, as if they were discussing nothing more important than the weather. “Were you not so utterly captivating, my eyes might have stood a fighting chance, but as it is, I find myself simply unable to observe your family members and therefore I must rely on your account of their welfare.”

“I… I see,” she said. She did not speak for a moment, but gazed thoughtfully at a spot above his shoulder. His eyes were drawn to the pale skin of her neck and he had to clear his throat and blink several times before he spoke again.

“Your family, Miss Evans?”

“Oh yes,” she snapped out of whatever daze she was in and met his eyes again. “As you may have noticed, my mother has turned blue.”

“Has she? Oh dear!” he said, still staring at her neck. It really was too ridiculously appealing. Why hadn’t she covered it up? She clearly meant to torment him to death.

“My sister has two heads.”

“How odd. You know, that is something I would normally discern immediately.”

“And my father has sprouted wings and is flying above the table.”

“I cannot say I’ve noticed.”

“Are you always such an importunate flirt, Mr. Potter?” she replied, her tone snappish. However, the corners of her mouth were trying desperately hard not to turn upwards, so he knew that he had not really offended her.

“If I am making you feel uncomfortable, Miss Evans, you may ask me to stop.”

“Very well. Will you please stop flirting with me, Mr. Potter?”

“No.” he said bluntly, and smirked. She blushed pink and looked back down at her plate.

“You may be as quiet as you like, Miss Evans, but I find it incumbent upon me to inform you that I am quite capable of carrying on a conversation by myself.”

She shrugged her pretty shoulders and carried on eating, taking care not to look up. Undeterred, James carried on with his monologue.

“Why, you are looking quite splendid this evening, Miss Evans. Oh, thank you, Mr. Potter! And please allow me to say that you are most certainly the handsomest man I have ever met! Oh, Miss Evans, you shouldn’t have! How could I resist, Mr. Potter? You are most assuredly the most attractive man alive! Miss Evans, you are making me blush! Let us move on to different subjects before we get carried away!”

Beside him, she let out a rather loud snort of laughter, which she hastily turned into a cough when several heads turned in her direction, and continued to ignore him.

Amused by her sudden unwillingness to speak, James decided to speak no more to her until she initiated some sort of a conversation by herself. He continued to stare at her, smirking, and listening to the exchanges going on around him that seemed so vastly out of place in this little world which he had concocted around himself and that insupportably bewitching girl.

“It would be wise to consider all aspects of this contract, Mr. Hastings, before a price is agreed upon…”

“Yes, yes, of course. I assume that Charles is to remain the majority shareholder, considering his previous dealings with Mr. Radcliffe and his…”

“Stop acting like a frightened child, Peter, and put it in her soup!”

“You do it, Padfoot! She keeps looking at me!”

“Will you two please stop that and be quiet? And put that worm back in your pocket, Sirius!”

“Of course, I told Anna Marie that it was simply elegant, for what else could be done for her?”

“If only she had listened to Leonora, we would not have to look at that monstrosity of a necklace every day…”

“If you are under the impression that you are making me uncomfortable, Mr. Potter, you could not be more wrong. I am perfectly at ease,” said Lily suddenly, shooting him a sidelong glance. He smiled in spite of himself.

“I think nothing of the sort, Miss Evans, nor do I endeavor for you to feel so,” he lied. “Are you enjoying the book I gave you?”

“People are bound to notice you if you persist in staring at me, you know,” she said, ignoring his statement, as if she had forgotten how she had spent the last two days trying to seduce him and was trying to berate him for doing the same. He bit his tongue.

“I do not particularly care, Miss Evans.” And he didn’t care. In fact, he felt that she should have been grateful to him for only staring, especially when thoughts of exploring her throat with his mouth were currently flooding his mind at quite an alarming rate. This was entirely her fault. No woman had any business to be that pretty. “Do you make a point of not answering the questions I ask you?”

She did not reply to him in words, but shot him an amused look and shook her head, smiling to herself.

“I suppose that answers my question.” He laughed quietly. “Well played.”

“I try my best,” she said softly, so that only he could hear her. “Perhaps you should change the subject and stop asking me questions. Then maybe I would be more willing to respond.”

He nodded in agreement, and looked around the room for inspiration. The particularly unpleasant mounted head of a stag which hung above the fireplace caught his eye, and he made a face.

“You know, I have always wondered about this dining room,” he said, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he surveyed the many other deceased animals that lined the walls. “I think this is where Brighton’s wildlife comes to die.”

There was no disguising Lily’s laughter as a cough this time as she let out a sudden, raucous snort that rang around the room and silenced the other diners. The girl’s face turned bright red as every pair of eyes in the room were suddenly turned on her, and James could see her mother bite her lip as if she were desperate to reprimand her.

It amused James a little that her laugh was so hideous, because to him she seemed so out of place otherwise, with her fashionable silk dress and perfectly styled tresses, sitting prim and upright on an antique chair and eating off expensive china plates. James was no stranger to the aristocracy; he had grown up surrounded by wealth and dinner parties and fashionable people, and while Lily was undeniably beautiful in all her finery, he had rarely ever seen a girl who looked as utterly uncomfortable as she did in this situation. She was so pedantic and methodical in her movements, in her speaking, even in the way she held her fork, so careful, like she was trying hard to hold herself rigidly in check, and it drove him insane. That obnoxious, horrible laugh she had emitted seemed to be the only natural thing about her. He silently resolved to induce that laugh as much as he possibly could.

“Er… Miss Evans?” Peter’s voice cut through both this thoughts and through the awkward silence that had settled after Lily’s outburst.

“Yes, Mr. Pettigrew?” Lily all but whispered, still visibly mortified.

“Forgive me if I sound rude or impudent, but I am quite certain that I have met you somewhere before.”

“You know, I was thinking the very same thing myself!”

“You were?” said Peter.

“Oh, I was! I was quite sure last night when I saw you that we must have met before.”

“That is most odd indeed,” said Sirius. “Tell me, Miss Evans, have you ever been known to attend the ballet?”

“Yes, sometimes. Why do you ask, Mr. Black?”

“Well, you see, Peter here is quite the avid ballet dancer, and-”

“Sirius!”

The conversation turned to a competition between Sirius, Peter and Remus to see who could suggest the most outlandish location where Peter and Lily might have met, which carried on well into the evening and was still ongoing when they said their goodbyes. James did not offer much to the discussion, Lily would not speak to him unless he spoke first, and therefore the rest of the evening passed, between them at least, in relative silence.

“Are you quite sure that we can do this legally?” he said, surveying the papers that lay before him with furrowed brows. The man he was speaking to did not answer at first, but continued to write something from where he was seated. Moonlight spilled in through the bare windows and drenched the two men in eerie, luminescent light.

“I have told you a million times before, Henry, yes, we can. Once the girl and I are married, I doubt that there will be any way to prevent it,” he looked up from his papers and continued on, his voice dispassionate. “They have no sons to pass their fortune to.”

“But, what about…” the man faltered, and Edward Chamberly looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

“Say it, Henry.”

“All I mean is that… well, Evans seems to be in good health, which leaves us with only one other option, you know. Perhaps-”

“Do not think that I was not aware of that, Hastings?” said Chamberly coldly. “Or would you like to wait another ten years when we could get it done in one?”

The other man shook his head and backed a little away from the desk. “That is not what I mean. I don’t care one wit for the man. I do worry, however, about your ability to carry this off again, especially after-”

“What are you trying to say, exactly?” said Chamberly, rising quickly from his desk. “You do not think that I can handle such a task?”

“That is not what I meant! After the last time-”

“After the last time, as I recall, neither of us were caught, nor were we convicted of anything! It will be the same this time around. Nobody will know. Nobody will be hurt. I shall make sure that his wife is well provided for.” He ran a hand through his hair. “After two years, nobody but you has any inkling of the part I played in my own father’s downfall! And besides,” he added, casting his gaze toward a small, velvet covered box that lay in his open desk drawer. “I’ve taken a liking to the girl.”

“His daughter?”

“Yes, his daughter. Or did you think that I would discard her after we finished?”

“I was not sure of your intentions towards her, Edward. You seemed so impatient to begin with-”

“I like the girl, Henry. She is young and vivacious, and quite pretty besides. In any case it is about time for me to choose a wife. She will do just fine, and I will make sure that she is perfectly comfortable. You cannot think me to so low as to break an innocent girl’s heart for the sake of this project, can you?”

“I do not know what to think any more, Edward.”

“Then let me put it in a way you will understand. I have enough information about you to have to put away for a very long time, and if you decide to discard our plans at this stage I will have no hesitation in contacting the authorities.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“I most certainly would, if you attempted to jeopardize this project any further. You, my friend, have never been able to hide your tracks quite as well as I have, and it would be the easiest thing in the world for me to have you sent away. Now either you are on board with this endeavor or you are going to jail. Which is it to be?”

There was a long silence in which the two men stared each other from opposite sides of the room, each silently daring the other to speak. Eventually, the man named Henry Hastings sighed in defeat and sank down into the seat he had previously been occupying.

“Fine,” he muttered.

“Have I made myself clear?” said Chamberly.

Henry Hastings took a long time responding.

“Yes,” he said quietly. “Yes. You have made yourself perfectly clear.”

“Well then,” said Edward Chamberly, sitting back down in his seat and reaching for a cigar. “The matter is now settled.”

And that’s that! An update! The big chapter (you know, the crucial Dudley chapter) comes next, and I will try as hard as I possibly can to make that happen as soon as humanly possible.

PROMISE.