Chapter 23: Chapter Two: The Potters are Rich!
IRIS STRETCHED UNDERNEATH HER COVERS AS SHE yawned loudly. It was mid-afternoon and she was just waking up for the day. Thankfully, Lily had left her alone to wake up at whatever time she wanted, which was a godsend. She sat up in her bed to find that Shadow was curled up at the end of her bed happily snoozing much like his owner was.
With her stomach rumbling, Iris climbed out of her bed and headed towards the kitchen. It was far past breakfast, so she may be able to catch some lunch. If not, Iris was pretty skilled at making sandwiches! You would think that since she has lived in a house with a wonderful cook as a mother, she would have learned something from her. But Nope!
The redhead lazily walked into the kitchen to find her father sitting at the table with the newspaper and her mother rummaging through the fridge. "Well, good afternoon, sleepyhead." Octavia greeted Iris as she pulled out some vegetables.
Iris grunted in reply and sat down at the kitchen table and leaned her head against her arms. Obviously, she was still tired, but the calling for food needed to be answered. The scent of a nice chicken soup caused Iris's mouth to water. "Mm, where's Lily?"
"She went out with your friends earlier," Craig said idly, "and I believe Petunia is with... Vernon."
Iris snorted at the way her father spat out the oaf's name. Vernon Dursley, the man that Petunia had become so obsessed with. She had met him a while ago and was instantly taken with him. Honestly, Iris didn't see what was in a man like him. He was stuck up, boring, and idiotic. So a perfect match for Petunia!
It was well known that Craig didn't like his oldest daughter's choice in men at the moment. He didn't usually like his daughters' choice in boys. Period. Wanting to keep his girls pure and innocent, he tried to keep boys as far away from them as possible. However, they had inherited their mother's beauty and caught the eye of plenty of people, much to Craig's horror.
However, Vernon was a different story entirely. Yes, Craig didn't want to think of his little girls being swept off their feet, but he knew it would happen eventually. He hoped that each of them would find a man who was worthy of their love and still stood up to his standards of a kind gentleman. Vernon Dursley did not meet those standards. As his thoughts brewed over the rude man that had taken Petunia's heart, Craig hid behind his newspaper.
Octavia rolled her eyes at her husband's behavior and continued to cook up some soup. She had yet to really see a problem with Vernon, but she was a little concerned with the man's attitude. Either way, she wouldn't become as upset about her daughter's relationship with Vernon just yet. "Do you want a cup of soup, Iris?" Iris's stomach rumbled in an answer. Octavia chuckled, "I'll take that as a yes."
"Mhm," Iris mumbled as she mulled over what she may do for the day. She wanted to do her best to try and avoid the muggles nuisances(Oscar and Samantha) that have been glued to Lily's hip ever since summer vacation first started. Iris wouldn't mind hanging out with Derek, however, he was usually with the other two, so she would probably be avoiding him as well.
Of course, being left alone would be the perfect time for her to do some more research and experimenting for her own little pranks and such. Honestly, she's been doing quite well with some of the tricks that she's been able to make. Though she has gotten in trouble for testing them out on a few muggles. She has been grounded for almost most of the summer so far because of her pranks done on muggles. Iris was lucky that they were small enough not to catch the attention of the ministry or she would be in big trouble for risking the exposure of magic. Which is complete rubbish. How would muggles think a sudden strange smell was magic or a duck being turned bright blue? They were harmless pranks that didn't cause any harm or arouse any suspicion.
Though Lily caught wind of it and told their parents which got Iris into trouble. She had to admit, she'd rather deal with the ministry than an angry Octavia Evans. Who knew such a small woman like her could shout so loudly...
Octavia placed a hot bowl of soup right in front of Iris, who greedily started to eat it. Only to shout and recoil in pain due to how hot it was. Her mother shook her head at her and settled down with her own cup of soup and gave Craig one as well. "What are you going to do today, Iris?"
"I don't know," she replied as she tried to cool down her burned tongue. After the initial pain finally disappeared, Iris dived back into her soup, making sure that it was cool enough for eating though. "Lily's out, so I think I'll just stay here."
Her parents hummed in acknowledgment as they continued to eat their lunch together. As they enjoyed Octavia's wonderful cooking, they talked and joked with each other like they normally did. It was always fun to share a meal together, even if the entire family wasn't together. Though Iris would argue that not having Petunia around was just fine. A little while later, just as they were finishing up their meal, a light tapping came from the kitchen window. The Evans looked over to see a very familiar owl waiting patiently to be let in with a letter in its mouth.
Iris hopped over to the window and opened it up for the bird. She smiled at it and took the letters from it while petting its soft feathers. It only carried one letter, unlike when it usually brings two letters for the girls; one from James and the other from Sirius.
"And so it begins," Craig groaned out knowing who the letter was from already.
His wife and daughter chuckled. Iris sat back down at the table with the letter while Octavia took out some crackers for the tired bird. Iris tore open the letter, as it was addressed to both her and Lily, and skimmed it over. Her eyes brightened as she read over James's messy handwriting.
"James invited us over for a party!"
She handed the letter to her mother, "hm." Octavia read it over and nodded her head, "well this sounds lovely."
Craig's eyes narrowed at the letter as he snatched it from Octavia. "Going to that boy's house? I don't think I like that!"
"You don't like anything when it involves James," Iris chuckled, "it's just a little party, I bet it's only between our friends."
Her father only grumbled under his breath again about the Potter boy and Iris's own admirer. Truth be told, when Craig had first met James at the New Years' party, it was brief. And as much as he wanted to dislike the boy... he really couldn't. Yes, he could tell that James was a troublemaker, but what boy wasn't? Lily had always complained about him over the summers but now it almost seemed like she's become fond of the things he does. And that Sirius boy, the one who seemed to set his eyes on Iris', was just about the same. He was arrogant, yes, but seemed to know how to handle himself well enough. However, Craig had only seen the boys and barely spoke to them, let alone tried to intimidate them, he didn't truly know what they were like. Either way, Craig still didn't like them entirely. What father would like the boys who were trying to get his daughters' attention?
"It's on Friday, is it?" Octavia asked.
Iris nodded her head and took the letter from her father, "yup!"
Just as Craig was about to make another remark, the front door opened with a laughing Lily walking through it. Thankfully, for Iris, she entered alone and was saying goodbye to her friends for the day. When she caught sight of her twin and parents at the kitchen table, she beamed and slide over to them. At her arrival, Iris was out of her seat and shoving the letter into Lily's hands excitedly.
"What's this?" She asked.
Iris beamed, "James invited us over his place!"
A sour look passed over Lily's face briefly at the mention of the teenage boy. However, Iris could easily see that when her twin read the letter her cold attitude towards James melted, just a little. No matter how much Lily wanted to deny it, Iris could tell that there was something there between James and Lily. They all knew that James has been head over heels for the redhead, and Lily disliked him. Though now, Iris had observed how Lily's defenses against the boy were slowly deteriorating and Lily may or may not be softening up to him.
"Oh?" Lily coughed, "We're going?"
Iris just smirked at her sister with a spark in her brown eyes that screamed mischief. "Of course, why would we miss out on seeing our favorite boys?"
---
The next two days passed too slowly for Iris' liking. Wednesday and Thursday weren't too exciting. She had been dragged around the village by the muggles and Lily for the most part. However, she endured it. If she had done something to get herself in trouble and grounded again, she feared her parents wouldn't allow her to go over to the Potter's house. So she did her best to sat on her best behavior.
Though, once Iris woke up Friday morning(at a reasonable time), she was buzzing with excitement. She hadn't seen any of their wizarding friends since the start of vacation which was a bit of a bummer. After only sending letters to the Marauders, Wendy, Marlene, Ida, and Matilda, Iris was in desperate need of human interaction. Honestly, she was going to go insane with only being able to see her family and muggle friends!
Though it was just about noon, and Iris and Lily were ready to head to the Potter's house. James had told them in his letter that his father would stop by their home to bring them over since the girls lived a bit farther away from them. That and they lived in a muggle village, which made it a little hard for them to get to their friend's house. So Fleamont Potter had offered to go get the girls.
Just as the girls were finishing up getting ready, there was a firm knock at the door. "I'll get it," Octavia called from the living room and opened the door.
She came face to face with a slightly older man who's hair was a nice silver color. He had a wide toothy smile on his face as his blue eyes shined happily. "Mrs. Evans?"
"Yes?" Octavia asked.
Fleamont held his hand out for her to shake, which she did. "I'm Fleamont Potter," he introduced with a charming smile, "I'm sure my son wrote that I'd be coming by to pick up Lily and Iris."
"Oh, yes, yes," Octavia said and ushered the older man into the room with a kind smile. "The girls were quite excited to see all their friends today, Iris even stayed out of trouble to make sure she could go."
Fleamont chuckled. He remembered both James and Sirius talking about both of the Evans twins. James has always been infatuated with Lily and Sirius is now smitten with Iris. From how his boys talked about them, it was as if the two were a pair of goddesses. Though ever since they had met Iris, Fleamont knew how much mischief that Iris could stir up. He knew how much trouble she could get up to with the boys and by herself. A perfect match for either James or Sirius. Though he knew James only had eyes for her sister.
"Mum? Have you seen my necklace?" The oldest redhead asked as she came into the room. Her eyebrows furrowed as she caught sight of the older man, but still turned to her mother.
Octavia nodded her head and walked over to an end table by the couch, "you left it in the kitchen last night."
"Thanks," the redhead said and put the moon necklace on while glancing at the man again. She then pointed at him with her eyebrows furrowed, "who's he?"
Her mother pushed her hand down with a small frown, "don't point, Iris. This is Mr. Potter."
"Oh."
Fleamont chuckled at the two and held his hand out for Iris to shake. "Ah, this is the famous Iris!" The smile he had plastered on his slightly wrinkled face indicated to Iris that she was certainly talking to a fellow troublemaker. Though she suspected James had to get it from somewhere.
"Hi, nice to meet you!" She exclaimed happily.
"Go get your sister," Octavia told her daughter, "I know you two will want to get there as soon as possible."
"Yes, ma'am," Iris saluted before rushing off to get her twin.
The pair of adults laughed at her enthusiasm as Craig waltzed into the room. He pursed his lips at the sight of the gray-haired man that now stood in his living room. "Hello...?"
"Good afternoon, I'm Fleamont Potter." He held out his hand once again for a handshake which Craig complied with.
The last name set off alarm bells in Craig's mind. Potter?! As in James Potter? "James's father?"
Fleamont nodded his head, "yes."
Craig narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something to Fleamont(Most likely to give Fleamont a piece of his mind about his son), only to be silenced when the twins came bounding into the living room. Lily was introduced to James's father with a large smile before they headed out of their home with Mr. Potter.
Of course, the only way to really get to the Potter household was to apparate there. Neither of the twins had experienced this form of transport before, so they weren't exactly sure how it was going to be. From what they learned about it, it was quite disorienting for first-time users. Though they didn't have their licenses yet because they haven't been tested yet, they should have it soon. They'd get to test this year, and Iris certainly couldn't wait to see what sort of trouble she could cause when she could apparate! Once the trio found a secluded spot to not be noticed by muggles, Fleamont offered his arms to each girl. Once they took hold on his elbows, they disappeared with a resounding crack.
---
Apparating certainly isn't something that Iris liked much. Once they landed in front of a moderately sized country home, she had to stop herself from throwing up as soon as her feet returned to the ground. The feeling of being twisted and stretched like a pretzel wasn't something that Iris enjoyed.
Lily fared a little better than her twin and decided to tease Iris about it as they headed towards the Potter home(Iris had marveled at the size of the house and figured that James must be rich!). Once Fleamont let them inside and led them to the living room, they found that their friends were already there. The Marauders were already joking around with each while Marlene and Wendy were gossiping about their summers. The twins were greeted with large smiles and laughter as they started to converse with everyone.
It was a complete blast to be there. James had only invited their tight-knit group of friends over which Iris was completely okay with. She was more than happy to hop onto Sirius's lap and laugh around with her friends. Though since she first sat down with Sirius, he certainly didn't want to let Iris too far away from him. He constantly kept at least one hand around her shoulder or a hand on her thigh. Iris was used to his clinginess, but for some reason, it felt different. It almost seemed like Sirius was making sure that she was there. Like he needed a reminder that she was with him at that moment. She wanted to question it but didn't know how to do it exactly.
Just as Remus was retelling a story about how his summer vacation was going so far, Euphemia came into the room with some snacks for the teens. Like all mother's she made it her job to embarrass James as much as she could. Telling his friends little tidbits about what he was like as a little kid or what he says about Lily when he's home. Granted the things she tried to say about James adoring Lily so much was nothing new or really shocking. Though Iris had a feeling that if she wanted blackmail on her best guy friend, then she knew Mrs. Potter would be her go-to source of information. Not only that, but apparently, she had some good stories about Sirius too! Oh, Euphemia needed to become Iris's friend right away.
Each of the teens thought that Euphemia was a lovely woman. She seemed to have a never-ending supply of patience. Though having James Potter as a child definitely required a lot of patience. She was kind to them all and extremely welcoming! Honestly, none of them really saw a need to leave any time soon with having such a caring woman like Euphemia around.
As the teens munched on snacks and there was a small pause in the conversation, Sirius sighed heavily. He gained the attention of his friends as he gnawed on his bottom lip. He was obviously anxious about something and it was bothering him quite a bit. Honestly, Iris noticed that he appeared to be thinking about something. She wasn't sure
Iris tilted her up to look at him as she leaned against her chest. His arms were wrapped around her waist which tightened slightly as he looked over his friends. "You alright, darling?"
"Yeah," he sighed out.
She eyed him skeptically before climbing off of him and holding out a hand to him. She rolled her eyes at his denial and his dismissal for his obviously somber tone. Iris didn't know what was bothering him, however, she was going to find out exactly what it was. "Come on."
Sirius eyed her for a moment before shrugging lazily and allowing Iris to pull him away. He smirked at his friends, "she can't keep her hands off me!"
Their friends grimaced as the retreating figures of the couple. James watched them go with wide eyes, "No shagging in my house!"
Iris and Sirius just laughed at his call, "No promises!"
The group of teens groaned in disgust at their call before dissolving into some idle chat as the two walked off. Iris eventually stopped dragging Sirius and leaned him up against the hallway wall now that they were alone. "Now," she started as she wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to get as close to him as she could, in an attempt to comfort him. "What's bothering you?"
The shaggy-haired boy stared down at her for a moment. His stormy eyes swirled with a plethora of emotions that Iris easily identified. Uncertainty, hatred, and relief were a few that she was able to catch. Though she couldn't figure out why he would feel that way.
Iris was always able to read him like a book, much like he could do the same for her. Neither of them could hide something from the other anymore. This wasn't an exception. However, Iris just wasn't sure exactly what it was that was upsetting him.
"I left home."
The redhead was shocked by the statement and leaned back from him slightly. She did her best to get a good look at his expression and found that he was nervous. It was strange to see such an expression on his face. "What do you mean?"
"I ran away from home..."
"Oh." Iris blinked as she processed it. Even though she was confused, a burning rage started to build up in her. He left for a reason, obviously. Iris already felt like she had a vague idea of why. She already knew that the reason he left was because of his family and how they treated him. "What did they do?"
Sirius shrugged his shoulders, "Just pissed me off."
It was more than that, but Sirius really didn't want to mention why he had left. He didn't want to say that they had been arguing over what had happened to her, about his friendships with who they categorized as "blood traitors", and his relationship with her. Sirius didn't want her to think that she may have been an influence on what happened. He had a feeling that she may think that because they were together, his parents threw him out. This is exactly why he didn't tell her that his mother also kicked him out of the house.
Iris swallowed heavily as she gazed at him with sad eyes. Living with such terrible people as a family must have been hell. She already knew what Regulus was like, sadly, and she had only heard stories from Sirius about how his parents were. She knew that they were your typical blood purity preaching, dark arts practicing wizards. It also didn't help that they were one of the sacred twenty-eight. But to kick him out like that? It was just horrible! Iris wished she could give them a piece of her mind.
Sirius smiled slightly as he saw the protective aura that surrounded her. It warmed his heart to see that she was so willing to defend him against what had happened. This was a first. Honestly, Sirius has been with plenty of girls, however, none of them were like Iris. None of them ever seemed to be so committed to him like this. There weren't any situations where a girl could stand up for him, granted. However, that was only because none of them had gotten as close to him as Iris has. Not only has Iris become his girl, but she's also his best friend(Don't tell James!). Unlike the other girls who focused on just sucking face, Iris took the time to get to know him. He also knew that he had done the same for her.
"Next time I see your bastard of a brother, I'll make sure to hex him into next week!" Iris declared with a determined gleam in her eyes.
Sirius chuckled happily and pulled her into a kiss. Once the need for air grew to be too much, the couple parted with flushed cheeks and smiles. "I'll help you deal with him, love." He told her while resting his hands on her waist. "But, for now, let's forget about it, yeah?"
Iris pouted slightly but nodded her head, "...okay." If Sirius didn't want to continue talking about it at the moment, then she wouldn't continue to rant about it. They were with their friends, after all, she knew that he probably would want to just forget about his "family" and hang out with his friends.
"Hey," Sirius said while hugging her close, "everything is fine, alright? What happened doesn't matter."
Iris shook her head, "it does, Sirius... But we can talk about it another time if you want."
He smiled at her and her consideration, "sure."
"Now, let's get back to everyone else," Iris said as she grabbed his hand and started to lead him back to the living room. "Don't want that lot to get the wrong idea, right?"
"Oh, but Iris," Sirius pulled her back into his chest as he quickly pressed a lingering kiss to her temple, "I thought that we left so we could... catch up."
Iris smirked and allowed herself to be pulled into a tight embrace by Sirius. Let's just say that they caught up thoroughly with each other. So after a nice snog, the two of them headed back into the living room. Of course, their friends playfully teased them in mock disgust for what they may have thought that the two had done. For the remainder of the time at the Potter house, the friends caught up after the few weeks away from each other. Though Sirius was certainly grateful to have Iris in his arms after telling her what had happened to him and his family. All he could hope for was that things would only get better from here.
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