James And Lily Potter: Third year

Chapter 21: summer of third year

Lily dragged the other seven to a café near Bristol, where she lived. Arabella, Sirius, Remus, James, Violet, and Peter were all looking around the places curiously, while Lily and Jennifer, having Muggle blood in them, nodded knowingly at everything. Passers-by looked strangely at the children, for normal people don't exactly don shabby robes (Remus), old-fashioned, medieval dresses (Sirius), and funny clown hats (Peter). The boys had dressed horrendously when they came to Lily's house at the beginning of summer vacation, and Lily had started laughing when she saw the funny sight.

"Where are we going, Lily?" asked Arabella, still staring intently at a small girl's lollipop.

"To the café, Bella, how many times have I told you?" answered Lily, exasperated. "Mum said we could all get a nice cup of coffee or tea with scones and biscuits."

"And what does this...coffee do to you?" said James curiously.

"Well, it's a stimulant, so it makes you more awake."

"What's a stimulant?"

"Something that stimulates your body."

"What does 'stimulate' mean?"

Lily sighed helplessly. "Never mind, you. Come on, this place has the best coffee! I assume you all know what tea is, though?"

Everyone nodded, making a face. Evidently, thought Lily, none of these weirdos like tea. Well, I don't blame 'em; I hate tea, too.

"How do you open this door?" demanded Sirius, shattering Lily's musings. He pushed the door with all his might, earning disbelieving looks from people passing by.

"Oh, Sirius," said Lily, sighing once more, "it says here to pull, not push."

Remus snorted with laughter, clutching his stomach, while Jennifer grinned. Sirius made a face at them and pulled open the door, whacking his nose in the process. Now everyone started laughing, while a pouting Sirius rubbed his red nose. Lily rolled her eyes and opened the door for everyone. Inside, it was nice and cool, unlike the scorching weather outside. A soft melody was playing, and the cling of cash registers rang in the atmosphere, as busy cashiers served the customers.

"Oh, do hurry up, Lils, I'm starving," whined Sirius.

"Sirius, we just had lunch an hour ago, and besides, cafés aren't supposed to mollify your hunger; it's supposed to just provide you with a nice snack. Goodness, is this line slow!" Lily tapped her foot impatiently as a young woman at the front of the line struggled to find a few coins in her purse.

"Why are we waiting here?" asked James, also getting annoyed.

"Well, why do you think, Potter? You think that you can just slap a table, and coffee appears out of nowhere?" snapped Lily.

"Well—that's what we do at Ministry balls," replied James, confused.

Lily slapped her forehead. "Potter, open your eyes. This is the Muggle world! We don't have any magic to make life easier! When we go somewhere, we don't Apparate or use Floo Powder; we drive, ride a bike, or walk. When we need something or lost something, we don't just say 'Accio', and the object comes to us; we have to go look for it or get it ourselves. Understand?"

James was taken aback. "But—that's hard!" he spluttered.

"Well, James, welcome to the real world," muttered Jennifer. Violet stifled a laugh.

Arabella started to giggle. "Really, Sirius, you didn't need to put on a dress; Muggle men and boys wear pants, not dresses."

"Humph! I don't care at all," said Sirius airily.

"Can I help you, miss?" asked the cashier, peering down at Lily.

"Yes, please," said Lily politely, and ordered them all a cup of coffee, and a whole plateful of biscuits and scones.

"Fifteen pounds," said the cashier, looking a bit strained, as he handed her two trays. Both Lily and Jennifer carried them to a nearby table and set them down.

"Well, help yourselves," said the latter cheerfully.

Sirius immediately drained his coffee down but spat it out quickly. "This is nasty stuff! What do these Muggles think of?" However, he quite enjoyed the sweet biscuits and blueberry scones.

Arabella ate and drank with perfect manners of a lady, which impressed many of the customers at the café. When a group of boys were drooling at her from a nearby table, Sirius had noticed them and snapped immediately. The boys jumped and proceeded to their business, not daring to look at her again.

James was staring out the window, where cars and buses were honking each other noisily, while people rushed in and out of buildings in a hurry. He had grown up and spent his whole life in the wizarding world, so he had never experienced or known how Lily's life was in the Muggle world. No Apparating or using any sort of magic—because there was none! The mere thought of not using magic at all for any purpose was a very foreign and frightening thought to James. However, he attempted to enjoy himself just the same, since he saw Lily chatting merrily with the three girls, as if this was nothing different than at Hogwarts.