Chapter 1
‘Alice, in what world would any lady want to be courted by James Potter?!’ Lily said half screaming, while Alice was doing her hair in a beautiful hairdo, with a subtle flower at the core of her bun in her red hair.
‘A lot, they say Mr Potter is one of the biggest prizes of the season, all the ladies and their mama’s are going after him.’ Alice said. Alice was Lily’s maid, who Lily would often, actually always when she was getting Lily ready, rant to about a certain James Potter who she so despises.
‘Miss Evans, we need to make haste, you have to present yourself in the best way so the ton can decide which girl will be the prize of the season for all the lords that might want to court you.’ Alice told her.
‘What if I don’t want to be courted, all men are raffish these days!’ Lily said before she gasped at the pull of her corset that was being tightened.
‘I’m afraid you have to, the family's reputation is also important to you, right?’ Alice asked
‘Yes’, she said as Alice slipped her dress over her head, ‘but, I simply don't want to marry one of those old men or someone like Potter.’
‘What is your issue with Mr Potter?’ Alice asked
‘He’s simply a big goosecap.’ Lily answered
‘Miss Evans!’ Alice said half giggling.
‘Alice dear, how many times have I asked you to just call me Lily, I loathe all that formality.’ Lily said with a calming smile on her face.
Once Alice was done with getting Lily all ready, she left Lily alone in her bedchambers, she promised she would get Lily once breakfast was served.
And so, Lily was left alone, wondering what to do. She had been on the marriage market for 1 year now, together with her friends Mary Macdonald and Marlene Mckinnon, who both just refused to marry. She would be seeing them this afternoon, that was something to look forward to, but all the weight of having to marry and acting up to the ton’s expectations was a lot for Lily.
After Lily had presented herself in front of the ton, they had decided that she was the highest prize of the season, as if you would win anything by courting her, what do they want? Money? But that was beside the point, the pressure that was put on Lily was even higher, she was now wanted by every unmarried man in her area, she didn't want to be courted, she liked being independent and by herself, not under the orders of some man.
After a while of thinking and worrying, Alice knocked on Lily's bedroom door and told her Mary and Marlene were at the door. Lily sprinted down the stairs no matter how inconvenient her heels were, she could really use the comfort of her best friends right now. She flew into their arms as soon as she reached them, oh how happy she was that they were here.
‘I cannot believe it!’ Marlene squealed smiling brightly
‘Yeah, me neither’ Lily said, a little less excited
‘Are you not happy with it then?’ Mary asked, sensing the distress on Lily's face
‘Let’s go for a walk, I will tell you all about it.’ Lily said and Marlene and Mary giggled as an answer.
When they were walking, Lily told them all about how worried she was and everything that was on her mind about the fact she was the most wanted girl at this very moment.
‘My goodness Lily, you could really use a rest, your brain at least.’ Marlene said with a sigh
‘You are right, all of this is giving me headaches.’ Lily said
‘I do not think the ton is wrong for saying you are the prize of the season, I mean look at you, you're gorgeous’, Mary said, ‘You are just a little ignorant, which could be the problem with men wanting to court you.’ She shot a careful look at Lily as if she was scared for her response, but it truly only made Lily laugh. ‘You are right Mary, I have told you that I just do not want to be courted and I like not having to depend on a man and have a man ordering me around.’
Lily was well aware of all the looks she was getting from all the men that decided to also take a walk, gossip spreads fast, because when they started walking there were only a few men there, now it was like a zoo.
For the next parts of their walk Lily, Mary and Marlene laughed about the latest gossip, but only for so long. There Lily saw him, the devil in disguise to her, James Fleamont Potter, who so coincidentally also decided to take a walk with his best friend, Sirius Black (who was part of the most rich family in the entirety of England, even though he was said to be kicked out by his mother for disobeying the family, he still lived in the Black manor though).
When James saw Lily, his face lit up. Lily just rolled her eyes, she was not up for this, Mary and Marlene clearly noticed this because they started giggling uncontrollably. Lily was walking in the middle of the three of them, arms interlocked.
‘Miss Evans, may I say you look absolutely dashing today, I mean you always do but I just wanted to compliment you.’ James said, clearly feeling awkward now
‘Thank you Mr Potter, I have heard that a lot today.’ She said as she returned a small smile to him and walked past.
She could just make out Black saying: ‘She really is not easy, you were right.’ And she rolled her eyes again at that.
‘You should really stop rolling your eyes so much, they will end up stuck in the back of your head.’ Marlene said, and that made them all laugh uncontrollably until they arrived back at the Evans manor.
Lily was sitting in a large armchair in the sitting room. Her mother had been giving her looks the whole time but she decided to ignore it and keep on reading her book. She loved the book she was reading right now, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Lily loved reading in general, she could disappear in worlds wherever the author would want her to go, she thinks it's one of the best feelings ever.
Lily had agreed to meet Mary and Marlene later, Mary told them she knew a lot of new gossip, gossip was one of the only ways to entertain yourself as a woman of Lily’s age, so obviously she was interested.
Mary had obviously had collected the most scandalous and interesting gossip as she always did. ‘The word spread across the ton is that lady Corwin was found alone in a room with lord Hughes despite her betrothal to another man’ Mary told Lily and Marlene, this left them both with their mouths wide open from shock, seeing as lady Corwin was known for always wanting to keep her reputation at best.
‘Oh my goodness did I already tell you about Lord and Lady Rivers, they seem to have some issues in their marriage.’ Mary also told them.
‘Ooh, tell me more!’ Marlene insisted, and so Mary did.
They kept on talking about the latest gossips and scandals in the world of the ton, like they always would, and that was good, a calm good life, Lily liked it, and wanted to keep it this way.