Eyes as Green as a Fresh Pickled Toad

Chapter Four
Summer

The rest of the year passed without much event. Lily rarely talked to the Marauders and flat-out refused to talk to James, who didn't seem to care whether she talked to him or not. Melody and Lily still talked frequently, however, and Melody nearly drove Lily crazy for the rest of year complaining that the Marauders were doing something without her. Lily rolled her eyes at this but listened to her best friend nonetheless.

The end-of-year exams had Lily stressed for weeks, and she did nothing but study two weeks prior to them and worry for a week after she had taken them. When the results came, however, she had no reason to be stressed, since she had come out top in the class, followed closely by James, Sirius, and Melody, who was still whole-heartedly refusing to admit that she had one intelligent bone in her body.

The ride home on the train seemed far too short, as it always did, and Lily was still having quite a fun time in her compartment with Matt, Susie, and Mimi; Melody popping in occasionally, the Marauders several times seeking refuge from Slytherins they'd played practical jokes on, and the usual parade of students who ran up and down and said good-bye to every single person on the train, just because they could, when the train arrived at the station.

Lily stepped back into the Muggle world with Mimi next to her, not anticipating the events of the summer that lay ahead of her.

* * *

Melody Cauldwell and Sirius Black burst out of the barrier just behind Lily Evans and Mimi Ramirez, rather more conspicuous than they should have been, but then-it was Melody and Sirius. Lily and Mimi turned to greet them.

"Well, there goes another year," Melody said, dragging her trunk behind her, looking absolutely ridiculous with a head of bright pink hair. "Two more years and then we'll have to leave Hogwarts forever!" she wailed.

Lily laughed, but she was saddened at the same time.

"It's okay, Melody," she assured her. "We'll all be coming back next year, okay? Hold onto it while it lasts."

"Hold onto what while it lasts?" came a voice, and they all turned to see that James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew had just emerged. It was James who had spoken, and Lily rolled her eyes at that.

"Why is it you always hear the last few words of my conversations and feel a need to comment on them?"

James shrugged. "I was just asking," he said, and Lily couldn't think of any smart remark to make, so she shrugged too and didn't say anything. Somewhere in the back of her mind she realized that it was very uncharacteristic of him to give so simple of a response, but the point was futile.

At nearly the same instant they all spotted their families and hugged and kissed and promised to owl one another before running off to their parents, all excited but still a little sad to be going home for the summer so soon.

"And you still owe me five Galleons!" Remus shouted to Melody as they departed, and she could be heard responding with:

"Damn!"

As Lily ran over to her parents, she was surprised to see James heading in the same direction. As she focused on her parents, however, she saw why. They were talking to a woman who looked very much like James and whom Lily concluded must be his mother. A feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach. Whatever they were talking about, they were getting far too friendly. She did NOT want her parents to suddenly make new best friends with James's parents and start inviting the Potters over. That would NOT be fun.

"Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!" she said, running up to them and waving, trying to ignore the fact that James was right there.

"Lily!" Her mom said, and nearly crushed her in a hug. Lily choked and laughed at the same time, and had a repeat performance of the hug with her dad.

"We'll call-er-owl you about that then!" Lily's mom said, waving good-bye to James's mother, who nodded and said,

"Till then, dear!" and waved back.

"What? Owl her? About what?" Lily asked, looking back and forth between her parents, alarmed.

"Oh, that reminds me, Lily, dear, we've been thinking about getting an owl for you. While we're here, why don't we stop by Diagon Alley and get you one?"

"An owl? Really?" Lily asked, pleased and surprised.

Her mom nodded. "Sure, why not?" she smiled.

"So, why were you talking to James's mother?" Lily demanded after smiling back.

"James? Who's that, dear?"

"That really annoying boy I kept owling you about," Lily replied, agitated. "Remember?"

"Don't take that tone!" Lily's mom quipped. "And yes, I do remember now. Well, his mother is really very nice, and she offered to do something for us...which is something else we need to talk to you about..."

"What?" Lily asked, curious yet slightly alarmed, if it involved anything even remotely connected to James.

"Well, near the end this summer your father and Petunia and I are going to go away for about a week to look at Petunia's university with her and get her settled in and all that, and you'll need a place to stay," her mother replied, as they reached the car.

"I'll stay with Melody," Lily said, shrugging. That was easy.

"Well, once you get your owl, you'll have to owl her just to make sure," her mother said reasonably.

"Oh, yeah," Lily said, nodding, lifting her trunk into the car's trunk with her father. "Yeah, I'll ask her, don't worry," she said, and slammed the trunk closed, and then got in the car and looked out the window as they drove to Diagon Alley.

* * *

"No!" Lily shrieked as she read the letter her gray-and-white spotted owl had just given her. "No, no, no!" she said, stomping her feet to accentuate each word. Despite the fact that she had woken up only just a moment ago and had been groggy, she was now wide awake.

She threw the letter angrily on her bed and tossed some food and treats into her owl---Hera---'s cage before storming out of her room and stomping angrily down the stairs.

"Mom!" Lily yelled angrily.

"What?" came her mom's voice out of the kitchen. Lily stomped into the kitchen to find her mom cleaning the counters and her sisters, Daisy and Petunia, sitting at the table. Her sisters fell silent as she entered the room, but she paid no attention to them.

"Mom, Melody's going on vacation! All summer!"

"Oh, don't whine, Lily!"

"I'm not whining!" Lily pouted, crossing her arms. "I'm complaining! There's a difference!"

Lily's mom rolled her eyes. "Where is she going? Isn't she always the one complaining that she never gets to go anywhere?"

"Yes," Lily said, leaning against the counter. "She is. But she says she has this rich uncle or something who came to visit them right after school let out, and he's 'taken an interest in her', so they're going to go to Venezuela for the summer!"

" 'Taken an interest in her'? What does that mean?"

Lily threw up her hands. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Hm. Well, why don't you ask Mimi?" Lily's mom suggested, and Lily felt stupid for not having thought of it before.

"Okay!" she said, and bounced out of the kitchen, happy again.

* * *

"No! No, no, no, no!" Lily yelled, no less furious than she had been upon receiving Melody's letter.

There was a knock on her door, and Lily glared at it. "What?" she snapped.

"Lily, stop making so much noise!" It was her mother.

Lily stomped over and threw open the door, crossing her arms, a foul look on her face. "Mimi can't come either!" she said, as though it were her mother's fault.

"Well, don't blame me for it!" her mom said, balancing a laundry basket on her right hip. "Is there anybody else you can stay with?"

Lily shrugged. "I dunno. Remus, maybe. Not Sirius," she said, shaking her head. "I don't know Peter well enough to say...not Matt, he's going to a camp somewhere, and Susie is too, I think."

"Well, ask Remus, and if that doesn't work I have a solution."

Lily had a horrible feeling the solution had to do with James's mother.

* * *

She felt horribly embarrassed writing a letter to Remus asking to stay at his house, but she did it anyway, because she was desperate.

She got an owl back three days later.

He said no; he had to go visit his great-aunt that week.

Desperately, and without telling her mom, she wrote to Susie to make sure she was going away to camp. She was, and Lily didn't have anywhere to stay.

* * *

"Mom," Lily said, shuffling into her parents' room. "Remus said he was visiting his great-aunt that week. I don't have anywhere to stay."

Her mother put the novel she was reading down and patted the bed next to her. "Come here, then," she said.

Lily plopped down on the bed, dreading what was going to come next.

"Do you remember how we were talking to that woman at the train station?" her mom asked, picking up a piece of Lily's hair.

"James's mom. How could I forget?" Lily replied, taking her hair back and twirling it around her finger.

"Yes. Well, we were talking about how you didn't have a place to stay for the summer, and she said she'd be more than happy to have you if you couldn't find anywhere else to stay."

Lily felt as though a rock had just been dropped into her stomach. She got a pained look on her face. "No," she whined. "I hate James! Passing him in the hallways at school is bad enough! I am NOT spending a week of MY summer at HIS house!"

"Lily," her mother said sternly, "he's a teenage boy. Give him a BREAK. And you can tolerate him for just one week, can't you? At Christmastime you were getting along fine, weren't you?"

"Yes, but that was until he--" Lily cut herself off, blushing furiously, not wanting her mother to know what had happened.

"Until he what?" her mother asked, curious.

"No."

"No? Oh, come on, Lily, what did he do?"

"Nothing! Nothing, nothing, nothing! He didn't do anything! I just don't like him!" Lily lied, and horribly, too, because her cheeks were bright red.

"We'll be gone for two weeks if you don't tell me!" Her mother threatened, smile on her face.

"You will not!"

"Okay, fine, we won't, but I will tickle you to death if you don't tell me!" Lily's mom seized her and began tickling her mercilessly. Lily shrieked and started laughing; she couldn't help it. She was infinitely ticklish.

"No--no--st--op!" Lily gasped between laughs. "STOP! I'll tell you!" she said, and her mom relented. "He--he--" she began, but didn't want to tell.

She sighed and leaned back against the headboard. Her cheeks started to flush at the thought of it, so she covered her face in her hands and said through them, "He kissed me!"

At this her mother started laughing as though it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard in her life. Lily removed her hands from her face, which was still red, and glared at her mother.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny!"

Her mother controlled herself and looked at Lily, still smiling. "You don't really hate him!" she said, laughing again.

"Yes I do!" Lily said, only slightly hurt that her mother wasn't taking her side.

"No you don't, Lily. He just embarrassed you, that's all."

"How would you know if he embarrassed me or not?" Lily crossed her arms and pouted. Her cheeks weren't flaming anymore, but they were still noticeably pink.

"Well, you're embarrassed right now, aren't you?"

Lily didn't have a response to that. She just glared at the wall. Her mom smiled and patted her daughter's shoulder, and that was the end of it. Lily knew even if she protested and begged to stay home alone, or go to wherever Dean was going, that it wouldn't matter.

Grr.

* * *

"Lily? Oh my god, Lily Evans?" Lily turned around and saw a very familiar face. Chocolate brown eyes were looking at her eagerly. "Lily! It's me! Carrie Wilder!"

Lily's mouth dropped open at the sight of her grade school friend. "Carrie!" she squealed, and they hugged. "I haven't seen you in--wow, it's been a long time! You look...Carrie, you're all grown up!" she said, half serious and half joking.

Carrie laughed. She tucked her dark brown hair behind her ear, de-tangling it from her large gold hoop earrings, and examined herself for a moment. She was wearing a pink sleeveless top that tied together in the front with a matching pink beret and blue jean capris. "I guess I have, since I was eleven!" She laughed again. "And I guess I could say the same about you! You look wonderful!"

Lily smiled and looked at herself. She was just wearing a blue T-shirt and shorts. "Ah, yes, the epitome of high fashion," she joked.

Carrie smiled and slung an arm around Lily's shoulders. "You have to tell me all about this boarding school you've been going to all these years. What's it like? What do you do there? Do you have guys there? You have guys there, right?"

Lily laughed and slung her arm around her old friend's shoulders as well. They started walking down the street aimlessly. "Well, first of all, there are guys there."

"Oh, good! Meet any cute ones? Any older guys?" Carrie smiled and raised her eyebrows suggestively. Lily laughed and blushed.

"Well, I did have an older boy ask me out this year, but nothing happened!"

"Sure," Carrie said, but she was smiling. "So, what's the name of your school, again? I can't for the life of me remember."

"Oh..." Lily started getting nervous. There was no way Carrie would believe her if she started spouting about Hogwarts and wizards and witches and...no. It was best to skirt around questions or give vague answers as much as possible...without actually lying, because then she'd forget and never stick to the same story. "It's a really long, unpronounceable name, so we just call it 'H'," Lily invented.

" 'H', huh? Interesting...So, what kind of subjects do you study there?"

"Oh...well...exotic plants," Lily said, thinking of Herbology. "Astronomy. Um...shop." That was kind of like Transfiguration, wasn't it? Taking a piece of wood and turning it into a birdhouse, or something... Oh dear, she was lying now... "Exotic creatures. Mythical creatures. History. You have to take a sort of P.E. class in first year. And there's one teacher who thinks she can see the future."

Carrie laughed. "No way! So, does she, like have a crystal ball? What does she teach?"

"Yeah, she has a crystal ball. And she actually teaches...fortune telling."

"Fortune telling?" Carrie laughed again. "Weird school!"

"Yeah, it is, a little bit," Lily agreed.

"So, what other classes do you have?"

"Well...there's this Ancient Runes class, and...a sort of math class, I suppose. Things like that."

"Where is this school?"

"You know, I'm not actually sure. We take a train there, and I never pay much attention to where we're going. It's a big old castle, though. Very pretty. But it's rather drafty during the winter--and there's no electricity!"

Carrie's mouth dropped open. "You have got to be kidding me!"

"Nope," Lily shook her head. "It's really weird! We use lamps and lanterns and torches instead. And there's a fireplace in nearly every room. And there's hundreds of old portraits and tapestries...there's even suits of armor! And dungeons, too. It's a real old castle, all right!"

"Sounds dreadful!" Carrie said, shuddering.

"It's not, really," Lily shrugged. "You get used to it after a while, I suppose. The common room is actually very cozy."

"What's the common room?"

"Oh--well, the school is divided up into four sections. You get sorted into a section and put in a dormitory with other people in your grade. All girls if you're a girl and all boys if you're a boy. And each of these four sections has its own common room. It's very nice."

"That part sounds nice. So, can you like date out of your section?"

"Well, of course you can!" Lily said, laughing. "You just can't get into another section's common room, unless you're Head Boy or Head Girl, and then you have all the passwords. I'm a prefect, actually."

"Really? Lily, that's wonderful!" Carrie squealed, and hugged her. Lily laughed.

"Thank you!"

"So, what are the teachers like?"

Lily shrugged. "Like any other teachers, I suppose. Some of them are nice, and some of them aren't. But there's only one of them per subject, and they're all excellent, even if you don't like them much as people. They're experts on their subjects."

"Cool. So, the castle isn't freezing all the time, I hope? You said it could get a bit drafty."

Lily nodded. "Oh, it does sometimes, but it's usually not too bad, except in the winter. Then the whole castle is pretty chilly--but the dungeons are absolutely freezing!"

"Why do you have to go into the dungeons?" Carrie asked, raising her eyebrows.

"I have a class down there!"

"Oh, really? What class?"

"Oh...cooking."

* * *

Lily saw Carrie several more times that summer and even went out with her and some friends to the local swimming pool, which of course had involved Lily going shopping with Carrie for a bikini. (She had previously only owned one-piece suits.)

She did a lot of things with her younger brother and told him all she could about Hogwarts. She received the occasional owl from Melody, which more often than not wasn't an owl, but a large tropical bird of some sort, and more frequent owls from Mimi and Susie.

All too soon she had burned up most of her summer (and parts of her skin), and she had to go to...James's house.

* * *

Lily tugged at her zipper, without success.

"Come ON, you stupid suitcase, just close!" she yelled at her dark green luggage. Why she wasn't just using her trunk for school, she didn't know.

"Need some help?" came a voice from her door, and Lily turned to see Dean standing in her doorway.

"Yes, come and sit on this, would you?" Lily asked, and Dean complied happily.

Lily finished zipping up her suitcase with ease. "Thank you!" she said, and Dean smiled at her.

"So, are you going to another magical person's house?" Dean asked.

"Yes, I am," Lily replied, looking around her room to make sure she had everything. "A wizard's house, in fact." She got onto her knees and checked under her bed. "From the 22nd to the 29th," she muttered to herself, feeling very annoyed with the thought. It would be a little longer than that, even, because her parents weren't picking her up until the 30th.

"Okay, let's go, pipsqueak!" Lily said, getting up. She picked up her suitcase and her owl's empty cage (Hera had left a couple of days ago-Lily figured she was in Venezuela or something) and brought them downstairs. Dean slid down the banister past her. "Dean!" Lily yelled, but he hadn't crashed into the potted plants again, so she just rolled her eyes and let it go.

Everyone assembled in the front hall, which was quite a feat, considering there were six people and twice as much luggage-even more than that, because Petunia had packed away for a whole year instead of just a week like everyone else.

"Okay, does everybody have everything?" Lily's mom asked, and they all nodded. "Okay. Lily, the Potters will be here to pick you up in a few minutes. Dean, the Martins are right outside. Daisy, we'll be dropping you off, so...I guess this is good-bye, then!" she said, and hugged and kissed Dean and Lily before leaving with Daisy and Petunia.

"Don't be too much trouble, you two," Lily's father said, and hugged both of them before leaving himself.

"We won't, Dad!" Lily called after him.

"Well, pipsqueak, I'll be seeing you in a week, then." Lily said to Dean. He nodded, and she hugged him and smoothed out his hair, laughing as he wiggled away. He walked out the front door with his suitcase, and Lily waved him good-bye from it. She sighed as he drove off with the Martins and closed the door.

She sat down on a small couch in the parlor, which was just off of the entrance hall. After a few minutes, she got bored and began walking around the house, making sure all of the doors and windows were locked, which, of course, they were. She plopped down on the couch and waited, both dreading and anticipating their arrival...whoever THEY would be. Come to think of it, Lily wasn't sure exactly who was picking her up. All she knew was that somebody would be, to take her to James's house.

She was dreading it for the obvious reasons, but she was also reasonably excited. She'd never been to a magical household before, and didn't have an idea what to expect. Melody came from an all-wizarding family, but then, she also had twelve brothers and sisters and her family didn't have much room for a guest. Melody shared a room with three of her sisters as it was.

Lily glanced at her watch. It had been twenty minutes since her brother had left. Annoyed, she got up and opened the front door, but there weren't any cars on the street. She frowned and shut the door again.

Suddenly there was a large crash in the living room. Lily jumped, and then ran down the hallway to the living room, where she found James Potter sprawled on the floor, a lamp next to him. Before she could open her mouth to yell at him, a little voice squeaked from somewhere behind James, near the fireplace, which caused Lily to jump about a foot into the air.

"Master James!" the voice squeaked, and an ugly little creature with ears that seemed far too big for its head ran out of the fireplace and over to James, helping him up.

"Pinky!" James said, annoyed, frowning at the ugly little creature. "I thought I told you to stay at home!"

"Oh, Pinky is sorry, sir, Pinky is very sorry-but she is thinking-Master James, oh, what if something is happening to you and you is needing me? And Pinky is wanting to be there, sir, to help her master when he is traveling!"

James, noticing Lily, who was watching this display with some degree of amusement, suddenly went quite pink in the face.

"Pinky, go home! I am not in need of your assistance! Go help Panny scrub the floors!"

"Yes, sir!" Pinky said, bowing and scurrying back into the fireplace, where she disappeared with a small squeak.

Lily looked with raised eyebrows at James, who was rather embarrassed.

"What was that?" Lily asked.

"House-elf," James mumbled, righting the lamp he'd knocked over. "D'you have your stuff?"

"Yeah-in the front hall-I'll go get it-" Lily said, and turned to walk away, very disappointed to hear James following her.

She picked up her suitcase, and James snatched Hera's cage up before Lily could protest. They walked back to the living room silently, and Lily looked at James questioningly once they returned, feeling quite awkward.

James cleared his throat. "Ever used Floo powder before?"

Lily shook her head, and James nodded, taking a little bag filled with powder out of his pocket. He threw some into the fire that had sprung up upon his entry into the house, and the fire blazed up.

"Step in and yell out your destination. Try not to close your eyes, because you need to see where you're going. When you see me, step out. Got it?"

Lily didn't really get it, but she nodded anyway.

"Let me take your suitcase," James offered. "It's kind of confusing when you travel the first time, and you probably wouldn't be able to hold onto it."

Lily felt a bubble of protest rise up in her throat, but she knew now was not the time to be stupid, because-unfortunately-she felt that James was right. She handed over her suitcase.

"My house is called Potter's Cottage. Just yell it out once you step in the fire-I'll go first so you can see."

Lily nodded and watched him step into the fire, cringing as he did so, but he wasn't burned, and with amazement she watched him call out "Potter's Cottage!" and disappear.

For not the first time in the last five years, she was amazed at the differences between Muggle and wizard life, but didn't allow herself any more time to think about it, because she was sure the effects of the Floo powder would not last long.

She stepped in, her heart fluttering horribly, but the flames didn't burn her, and she sighed with relief, but then wished she hadn't, because she'd gotten ashes logged in her throat, and her eyes were tearing, and she could barely call out, "Potter's Cottage"-and when she did call it out, she wished she hadn't, because it felt like the floor had been yanked out from under her.

Different homes and pubs and even Diagon Alley flashed past her, and all the time she was coughing and sputtering and trying desperately to keep her poor eyes open. Then, suddenly-she saw a flash of black hair and tried to step out, but lost her balance, and smacked into something, and couldn't quite tell where she was or what she was doing until a hand came out of nowhere and yanked her right-side up. Her mind cleared with this yank, too, and all she had to do was cough several times and wipe her eyes before returning back to her normal state.

Lily blinked and looked around, first to see James standing there brushing some soot off of his robes, and then to see a beautifully furnished living room, overlooking some particularly spectacular gardens.

"Potter's Cottage, huh?" Lily asked, taking another look around the large room. "Doesn't look very much like a cottage."

James shrugged and smiled, but they didn't get a chance to say anymore because, at that moment, James's mom came rushing in from the kitchen.

"Oh, Lily!" she said, as excited to see her as if they'd known each other for years. "It's so good to have a guest!" she said, and, taking Lily quite by surprise, she scooped her up into a hug.

"James, why don't you go get her settled in her room? I've got a snack for you when you're done unpacking--of course, if you're hungry, you can eat first--oh, but I do realize that traveling by Floo powder isn't really a horribly long journey, is it? But nontheless--what would you like to do, Lily, dear?"

"Oh...unpack, I guess," Lily said, smiling at Mrs. Potter.

"Okay. Well, James, you show her to her room, then--and I'll just be down here when you're ready." She beamed and then left the room.

James silently led her up a staircase, down a short hallway, and then up another staircase. Both staircases were carpeted in a plush, gold color, and she was impressed by the artwork that hung on the walls, along with the solid oak doors lining the hallways. At the top of the second staircase she saw, through two glass doors, what looked like an indoor greenhouse--or--or a small park! She saw plants, a fountain, benches...and from what she could see of the ceiling, it was glass, too, and you could see straight out into the sky.

"Oh, wow, James," Lily breathed, overtaken by the beauty.

He didn't say anything, but she saw his ears go red.

"Come on," he said at last. "This way."

He led her off to the left, up yet another staircase, and at the end of the hallway she saw a set of double doors, and wondered where they led to--but she didn't have to wonder after a minute, James was opening them--for her!

She gasped when she saw the room. It was absolutely gorgeous, and decorated in all different shades of Lily's favorite color--green.

"Oh, James," she said almost breathlessly. "It's so beautiful!"

James sighed, and Lily suspected that if she had been looking at his face she would have seen him roll his eyes, but she decided to ignore it.

She walked over to the bed and touched the covers lightly--were they made of silk? She was jerked back down to earth by the sound of James's voice.

"This is the closet," he said, opening a door which opened into a walk-in closet. "That's the dresser," he said, pointing to the chest of drawers pushed against the wall. He walked midway across the room and pulled on a cord that opened curtains to reveal a set of French doors leading onto a balcony. "Balcony," he said simply, and then walked over to a corner of the room and opened another door, and said: "Bathroom."

Lily peeked into the bathroom, which was decorated in rosy colors, and smiled. It was beautiful, too, of course. She walked over to the French doors and opened one of them, walking out onto the balcony. It was hot out, but the breeze was refreshing, and she admired the gardens below her with a sigh of appreciation. She felt eyes on her and turned back around to see James standing rather awkwardly at the French doors, staring at her.

"You can find your way back down to the kitchen, can't you?" James said, looking at her rather stonily.

"I...um..." Lily faltered. "Yeah."

James nodded then, and turned away. "See you," he muttered, before walking off. Lily turned back around and bit her lip, wanting to say something to stop the awkwardness. This would not be a fun week at all if they couldn't at least be human around each other!

"James, this is ridiculous!" She called, jogging back through the French doors. James stood, frozen, more than halfway across the room, and Lily froze herself.

"What's ridiculous?" He asked coldly.

"James! You know what I'm talking about!"

"What do you want me to do about it?"

Lily paused for a moment, but never once did she take her eyes off of his face. She couldn't think of anything to say.

"In case you don't remember, you were the one who slapped me." James finally said.

Lily finally tore her eyes away from her face and stared at the ground. "I know," she said softly, unable to think of anything else.

"So why is it ridiculous?" James asked. "You're the one who started it."

Lily opened her mouth to argue back, but the comment was just too childish, so she closed it again.

James shook his head, breaking the semi-trance they had both been in. He turned and began to walk again, and Lily felt her feet carry her across the room.

"James, please!" she said, grabbing his arm and turning him towards her. "Jus--"

But she couldn't finish, because, quite suddenly, his lips were on hers, and her head was spinning quite wonderfully. She lost herself after a moment and let her arms creep up to his shoulders, kissing him back, and let him slip his arms around her waist, and she felt quite detached from herself, as if she were floating instead of standing; and presently she became acutely aware of everything having to do with James---the way he smelled, the way he kissed, the way his hand put a slight pressure on her back while the other one stroked her cheek lightly, and that moment lasted an eternity, or so it seemed--and then he pulled away slightly, but not too much--their lips were still touching, and Lily moaned softly, and that feeling of half-torture, half-pleasure lasted an eternity too. James pulled her closer and kissed her more deeply, and Lily's head was spinning more crazily than ever, and she couldn't quite remember where she was or what she was doing, but it didn't matter--nothing else really mattered, except that she was kissing James.

He pulled away, fully this time, and they both still had their eyes closed, breathing hard, their hearts pounding rapidly, pulsing almost in unison. Lily's head was still floating up in the clouds somewhere, and it only started to drift down when James started to move his head back toward hers for another kiss--but then gravity kicked in, and Lily's senses returned to her just as his lips started to brush hers, and she pushed him away, disentangling herself from the embrace, and, confused and slightly hurt, she slapped him across the face, grounding both of them once and for all.

"LILY EVANS, MAKE UP YOUR MIND!" James yelled, and she could hardly blame the poor boy, but all the same-he had kissed her!

Lily was still breathing hard, and she looked at him with confusion in her deep green eyes.

"All I wanted for us was to maybe be friends! Why'd you have to go and kiss me?" she cried.

"I don't know!" James yelled, just as confused as she was.

"You just ruined it all!" Lily fumed.

"I haven't screwed things up any worse than you have!"

Lily stomped her foot but didn't have anything to throw at him. "It's all your fault! Why can't you just stop kissing me?"

"Well maybe I'd have an easier time at it if YOU'D STOP KISSING ME BACK!"

Lily didn't have anything to say, so she just turned and ran out onto the balcony, slamming the French doors shut behind her. James followed suit, but he ran the opposite direction, out of the bedroom, and slammed that door behind him.

"I hate him!" Lily yelled from the balcony, crossing her arms and fuming, glaring at the happy little birds that flitted from tree to tree below her, her mind still reeling from that unbelievably passionate kiss.

* * *

After calming herself down a bit, Lily had gone downstairs and chatted with James's mom a bit, who gave her a snack and then a tour of the house. The house had nearly fifty rooms, including ten bedrooms and nearly as many bathrooms; a living room, kitchen, dining room, ballroom, private study ("James's dad just disappears in there for hours at a time!"), the indoor gardens, library, trophy room ("We're some of the last remaining descendants of Godric Gryffindor, you know!" --and no, Lily hadn't known--), an indoor gymnasium with multiple purposes, several beautifully furnished tower rooms that reminded Lily of the Ravenclaw common room, an "astronomy room" with star charts and several fine telescopes--and that was just the inside of the house! Outside were more beautiful gardens, including a large hedge maze; a Quidditch playing field; and stables, which held not only horses, but more exotic animals, such as several fine hippogriffs. Mrs. Potter informed Lily that they had once had a unicorn, but it was too sad being held in captivity so they let it go, and now they sometimes saw unicorns roaming around the property.

She also added--though she noted it was just her personal observations--that "...the unicorns somehow always appear when people are falling in love. I know I saw the unicorns for the first time when I was kissing James's father!" she said, winking at Lily, and they both giggled, Lily wondering in the back of her mind if she'd see a unicorn while she was there...

* * *

Lily spent the rest of the day unpacking and walking around the most unsuitably named "Potter's Cottage". Her favorite part of it by far was the indoor gardens. It had everything from palm trees to cactus plants, and some of her favorites in between were the cherry blossom trees and towering evergreens. Never before had she encountered a place this magical outside of Hogwarts, with possibly the exceptions of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.

There were sparkling, shining, glowing fairies in parts of the gardens that didn't seem to notice Lily walking among them. In one part of the gardens, Lily spotted a beehive high up in a tree and hurried away from it, being careful not to go near it again. She hated bees. Other than the bees, however, the rest of the animals were quite pleasant. Little jewel-like hummingbirds flitted all around, and all kinds of birds, exotic and normal, could be seen flying around as well. She spotted several sleeping owls in some evergreen trees and wondered if they were used to deliver the Potters' mail at all.

Though all parts of the gardens were beautiful, she didn't especially like the desert area, the area with the bees, or any of the trees common in England. One of the best spots was a clearing in the middle of a grove of some particularly fine evergreens. She laid down on a plush carpet of grass and stared up at the ceiling, which was made of glass and so clear that it didn't really seem to be there at all.

Another lovely area was where all of the cherry blossom trees were. As she was walking through a row of them, a hummingbird had come by, picked one of the blossoms off, and given it to her. Lily was so pleased she didn't know what to do, but she didn't have time to say anything before the hummingbird had gone again. Smiling, she had tucked it into her hair and gone on walking, hardly noticing that the scenery had changed.

She found herself standing in the shadow of a clump of palm trees, suddenly very warm, and realized that she was standing on the sand, a real beach stretching out before her. She slipped off her sandals and walked along the water, picking up seashells, admiring colorful starfish, and avoiding crabs as they scuttled about. The water was crystal-clear, and she could see colorful fish swimming lazily among a coral reef, where sea anemones shared their space with little red-and-white clown fish and sponges swayed lazily, as though there were a breeze under the water.

She sat on the beach for what seemed like forever, with her head on her knees, staring into the water, thinking. She had just begun to notice that the sky was darkening when a little house-elf scurried up to her and informed her that it was time for dinner. And it was at dinner that Lily Evans received one of the biggest shocks of her life.

* * *

Sirius Black was in big trouble. Of course, he was also as happy as he'd ever been, in only a way that a Marauder could be after doing something completely dangerous, nearly illegal, and of course against all of his mother's rules. He had bought a flying motorcycle.

He sat at the table, smiling stupidly, while his mother ranted and raved, yelling at a sound level that, he imagined, could outstrip a Howler.

"-YOU WIPE THAT SMILE OFF YOUR FACE, YOUNG MAN, OR I WILL MAKE SURE YOU NEVER HAVE ANYTHING TO SMILE ABOUT-EVER-AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME? SIRIUS? SIRIUS? ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? LOOK AT ME, SIRIUS! SIRIUS HUBERT BLACK! WOULD YOU LOOK AT ME!"

"Aw, mum-don't use that name!" Sirius said, wincing at the sound of his middle name.

"OH, YOU'RE LISTENING NOW, ARE YOU? NOW THAT I'VE MENTIONED YOUR POOR GREAT-GRANDFATHER'S NAME? YOU'LL RESPECT THAT NAME, SIRIUS, AND YOU'LL LIKE IT, OR ELSE-"

"Oh, come off it, mum! We're not even s'posed to be talking about him anyway! Don't you want to get back to the motorcycle?" Sirius, even though he hated his mother's yelling anyway, would prefer her to talk about his motorcycle instead of his Great-Grandfather Hubert. First, because conversations about Great-Grandfather Hubert were never fun-they often involved talk about his death, and the Headless Hunt, which he was forced to attend every year---and then forced to tell Nearly Headless Nick every detail thereof---and, worst of all, Sirius was actually expected to participate in the conversation, and he much preferred just sitting and tuning out his mother's endless rants. Plus, hearing about his motorcycle just proved that he'd actually gone out and bought it, and that it was really, finally, sitting there in the driveway, and that he could get on it and fly anywhere he wanted-

"Sirius, I really don't know what to do with you," his mother said, sighing. She had given up yelling, and her voice was rather hoarse.

Uh-oh.

It was okay when she was yelling and ranting and red in the face, but when she got quiet---when she got quiet---well, that was when Sirius was in trouble. She was looking very tired now, and her face got all sad and deflated, just like it did when she was about to cry, and that was the worst punishment she could give him. He couldn't stand making his mum cry.

"Sirius, all I ask is that you just-follow-the-(sniff)-rules! Is that-(sniff)-so much to ask?"

"Aw, mum..."

"No, Sirius, don't apologize, don't you even try! You've just gone too far this time, too far! Just keep the bike, see if I care! I don't know what will become of you, Sirius, I really don't! I just don't know..." she said, trailing off, and left the kitchen, with a handkerchief to her nose.

Sirius sighed. Well, his mom was horribly mad at him, and he'd made her cry, and he couldn't remember ever feeling worse.

On the upside, however...

* * *

Whoever it was that Lily expected James's father to be, it wasn't what he turned out to be. She knew that James was proud of him, and she knew that he put a lot of pressure on James, but she'd never actually put two and two together. As smart as she was, Lily, upon sitting down at dinner that night and nearly dropping the bowl of vegetables when she realized just who James's father was, felt like a complete dunderhead.

The worst part was, she'd known all along. Of course---how could she not have seen it---how stupid she was! His last name was, after all, Potter, but still---was Potter such an uncommon name? But how---how---could Lily not have realized?! He looked just like him!

Lily would continue to beat herself up about this for years afterward, on how she hadn't realized, on how stupid she'd been---

Because James's father was, of course, the Minister of Magic.

* * *

"James!" Lily hissed as she passed him the potatoes, eyes bulging. "You didn't tell me your father was the Minister of Magic!"

James shrugged. "You didn't ask."

Lily glared at him.

"Well, it wasn't really that hard to figure out, was it?"

Lily decided not to look at him for the rest of the meal.

"So...Lily, is it?" the Minister asked. Lily nodded. For some reason, she just couldn't come to think of him as Mr. Potter, and this made it excessively hard to eat with him. She felt as though she were at a formal dinner, and found herself sitting up straight, keeping her elbows off the table, and eating as politely as she could. James saw this at once and rolled his eyes at her, but she wasn't paying him any attention.

"Do you do well in school?"

"Yes."

"Are you a Prefect, then?"

"Yes." Lily wished she could say something a bit more interesting.

"So is James! Well, you already knew that, didn't you? He'll be trying for the Head Boy badge next year, won't you, James?"

James mumbled what sounded like a "yes".

"Don't mumble, James. Sit up straight in your chair." His mother said, scowling at him. "Do try to make yourself a little more presentable." Then, in a hushed voice, which Lily could hear nonetheless: "We do have company, you know." Lily found herself blushing.

"Will you be trying for Head Girl?" the Minister asked, resuming conversation.

"Um...well...I'm not really sure, I--"

"Oh, come off it, Lily!" James said impatiently. "She's had it in the bag for years," he explained to his parents. Lily blushed, and the conversation came to a rather awkward halt.

After a few moments the Minister cleared his throat and spoke. "I'll be leaving on Wednesday. There's to be a conference in Morocco."

"Oh, not again, dear?" Mrs. Potter said, sounding rather distressed.

He nodded. "I'm afraid so. But these are dark times, my dear, and all of this Voldemort business is getting rather dangerous."

Lily felt a prickle of fear in the back of her mind, as she was starting to do every time she heard the name "Voldemort". Most people had started referring to him as "You-Know-Who", or "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named", or something of the sort, and she wasn't really sure if saying "Voldemort" was any better or worse than avoiding the name altogether.

"When are you going to be back?" James asked, with no particular tone in his voice. Lily couldn't quite read his face, but he looked rather...depressed. And a little bit angry.

"Next Saturday."

Now James looked really angry. His fork clattered, with a resounding ding, to his plate, and he got up so quickly that his chair banged into the wall behind it before falling all the way over onto the floor. Lily watched him in shock as he stalked out of the room.

Lily looked at Mr. and Mrs. Potter, and they looked just as shocked as she felt, although Mr. Potter looked a great deal angrier than his wife.

"Is it okay if I...?" Lily asked awkwardly, intending to follow James.

"Go on, dear," Mrs. Potter said, waving her away, and Lily got up and ran after him.

The first floor (and the whole house, for that matter) was so big she really had no hope of finding him, but luckily she ran into a house-elf in the living room, and called to her before she scurried out.

"Excuse me," she said. "Do you know where James is?"

"Master James?" the house-elf squeaked. "He is just going outside, miss. I is seeing him go toward the fountain gardens, miss."

"Thank you," Lily said. The house-elf bowed, and they both hurried out.

Lily ran out the back door and tried to remember where the fountain gardens were. To the right were the rose gardens, ahead and slightly to the right was the hedge maze, ahead and to the left was the path to the stables, which was lined with lampposts and bushes with little pink flowers on them, and to the left...she supposed those were the fountain gardens.

The fountain gardens were composed of six magnificent fountains separated by tall hedges sporting different-colored flowers, and connected by marble paths. Lily went through the first three fountain areas without much success, but as she hurried through the fourth, she heard someone shouting. It sounded like James, though she couldn't make out the words.

She peeked slowly around the hedge into the fifth fountain garden and saw James sitting on one of the benches, much quieter now, with the heels of his hands pressed to his forehead.

She hovered in the entrance for a minute before speaking.

"James?" she called out, very softly, and James jerked, hastily wiping off his face and turning away from her, but not quickly enough to conceal the wet spots on his cheeks that were, most distinctly, tears.

"Go away, Lily," he said coldly, without a tremble, break, or crack in his voice, but Lily's heart went out to him, because she was sure he was still crying anyway.

He stood, his back to her, and started walking away.

"James, wait!" she cried, but he didn't listen to her, just walked into the next garden, and Lily was forced to chase after him. She entered the next garden, close behind him, and grabbed his arm, trying to spin him around so she could see his face, but he just shrugged her off and turned his back to her again. He didn't run this time, though. He just stood there.

Lily stood behind him uncertainly, unsure of what to do. After a moment, though, James spoke.

"He always forgets," he said bitterly, scuffing the ground with his shoe. "He forgot last year, too, I know it. He said he remembered, but I bet mum had to send him an owl while he was away to remind him. He just doesn't care!"

Lily wasn't at all sure what James was talking about, but she knew it had something to do with his father. "James..." she said softly, tentatively reaching out a hand, but he spun on her before she could touch him.

"Why do you even care?" he spat at her furiously, but his eyes were unusually bright.

"I..." Lily looked down at her hands, playing with her fingernails, feeling her face get hot. James didn't say anything, which made the silence all the more awkward. After a few moments the silence became unbearable, and Lily wasn't sure whether to look up and try to say something or turn and run.

Then she felt, rather than heard, him leave, and nothing more could be done about it. She sighed and, finally looking up, found herself staring at the fountain. It was made of white marble and into it was carved five dolphins, each spouting water out of either its mouth or blowhole. They were all riding the same wave, it appeared, and looked rather tangled but happy nonetheless.

Lily sighed and started walking, but hesitated after a few steps, unsure whether she wanted to stay or go. The fountain sounded soothing, and she desperately needed to think, because she was very confused, but she also wanted to know why James had been so upset. There was no way she'd be able to get it out of him, but maybe if she asked his mother about it she'd have some idea of what was going on.

She hurried out of the gardens without giving herself time to think it over.

Walking back to the dining room, she heard agitated voices, and once she reached the doorway and saw James's parents yelling about something, she hovered there awkwardly, not wanting to invade, but not wanting to give up, either.

"-has every right to be mad at you!" James's mother was saying.

The minister, furious and red-faced, looked very annoyed. "Maybe I would understand why he's so upset if you or he would just tell me what I've done wrong this time!"

"Christopher, if you don't know-"

"Bloody hell, I've already told you I don't! And whatever it is---whatever little Quidditch match or---or---whatever it is he and Sirius have cooked up---it's not as important as an international summit of magical leaders, and he should kn---"

But he stopped right there, because his wife had suddenly burst into tears.

"Oh, Christopher, if you don't know---" she said, bringing a cloth napkin to her eyes. "He knows what's important! He knows! Honestly, it's not like he's six anymore! He's fifteen years old, for Christ's sake! If you can't realize how grown up he's become and you can't figure out what he's so upset about, then maybe you should just stay at work all the time, for all the difference it would make to our family!"

She dashed out of the room, crying. The Minister paced and muttered to himself for a few moments before noticing Lily, who was still standing, frozen, in the doorway. He turned, if possible, rather redder.

"Did you see--?"

"Oh," Lily blushed. "Um, I saw...um...a little. I'm s-"

"Oh, don't worry," he said, waving away her apology. "I'm just sorry you had to see it. But these things happen, you know," he said, hands clasped behind his back.

Lily, though still rather intimidated by his demeanor and---well, the fact that he was the minister, felt that he was the sort of person you could talk to, because behind his commanding air, he seemed very friendly---which, she supposed, was a good quality to have if you were involved in foreign relations.

The minister nodded then, and moved to leave the room, but paused and looked at Lily. "By the way---you wouldn't happen to have any idea what they're talking about, would you?"

Lily shook her head. "I was trying to find out, but..." she shrugged.

He nodded. "Well...if you do happen to find out, would you let me know?"

Lily smiled. "Sure,"

The minister nodded and then walked off to his study, muttering. James's mother came back into the living room suddenly, and Lily jumped.

"Oh, hello, dear. That was quite a scene at dinner, wasn't it? Well, I'm terribly sorry for it; I hope we haven't scared you off already," she said, smiling warmly, although her eyes still looked sad.

"No!" Lily said, shaking her head. "Of course not! But...what was James so upset about?"

"Oh, dear...well, his birthday's next Friday. And his father was gone last year, too. And It's not that his father doesn't care, but...well, you see how he's forgotten!" she said, shaking her head.

Lily blinked and her mouth fell open slightly as she finally understood what all this was about, and what James had been ranting about in the gardens. "Oh!" she said, gasping quietly."Well, that's it for tonight then, I suppose," Mrs. Potter sighed. "They've both retreated to their favorite places---Christopher to his study and James to his bedroom."

She sighed again and looked at Lily. "Would you like anything else, dear? Dinner got cleared rather quickly, and you didn't get a chance to eat much. Or you could have some strawberry cheesecake...the house-elves fixed it up ever so nicely, too, but I'm afraid no one has had any."

"Cheesecake sounds good!" Lily said eagerly. Cheesecake was her world.

Several house-elves appeared suddenly, as though they had been listening through the kitchen door, carrying a silver platter with a large strawberry cheesecake on it and two sets of dessert silverware.

"That looks delicious," Lily said, mouth watering. The house-elves, looking pleased, bowed out, and Lily and Mrs. Potter sat down and had some cheesecake.

Lily practically swooned, the cheesecake was so good. "I bow to the cheesecake gods!" she declared.

Mrs. Potter smiled and nodded in agreement. "They've really outdone themselves this time."

"Oh, but it's so rich! I think I'm gonna need some milk."

As soon as she finished saying the words, a house-elf scurried over with a large glass of milk.

"This is wonderful," Lily said. "I need some house-elves!"

Mrs. Potter smiled. "They are very nice to have around," she agreed.

They finished their cheesecake in silence, and, as they were eating, an idea bubbled up in the back of Lily's mind. As soon as she had finished, she hurriedly excused herself and ran to the Minster's study. She knocked on the door.

* * *

James, who was still angry, was pacing around his room, unsure what to do. After a while he gave up and flopped down on his bed, staring at his ceiling, which was enchanted to look like the night sky. After lamely watching a comet slowly streak across the ceiling for several minutes, he heard a strange roaring outside that sounded vaguely like a---

He didn't get a chance to complete the thought, however, because suddenly something burst through the French doors that led out to his balcony. He sat up, startled, to see his best friend, Sirius Black, suddenly standing in his bedroom. But this was not what caused James to topple off of his bed next. It was the enormous motorcycle he was standing next to.

"When---where---how---did you get that?"

* * *

"Oh, just let him stay there until I can tell his father, then. I still can't believe he went out and bought it, but honestly, if he's managed to save up all that money and buy it himself, then at least he's determined about something, and he won't fall to complete ruins as an adult."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, mum," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

His mom's head was currently in the Potters' living room fireplace, and Mrs. Potter had just been talking to her about what to do with Sirius.

"I'll owl you when I've told him, then," Mrs. Black said. Mrs. Potter nodded, and her head disappeared from the flames.

"Well, I guess that's just one more guest we'll be having this week," she said, smiling. "You can take the spare bedroom right next to James's."

"One more guest, did you say?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Well, yes. James didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Oh, well, we have Lily Evans staying here too."

Sirius got an evil glint in his eye. "Really? Oh, James!" He yelled, running up the stairs to James's room. He was still asleep when Sirius burst into his bedroom, but that didn't matter. He shoved James onto the floor, and he woke up quickly after that.

"Wha---who---Sirius, are you insane?" James mumbled, rubbing his arm where he had landed on it.

"Why didn't you tell me Lily was here?"

James shrugged. "Do you have a crush on her?"

"No, but you do."

"Do not," James mumbled, but he didn't sound remotely convincing.

"Really? And how many times have you kissed her since she got here?"

"I haven't," James lied, mumbling again, but his cheeks grew hot.

Sirius fell over onto James's bed, laughing. "So that would be what, twice?"

"It was only once!"

Sirius laughed harder. Then he got an evil idea, stopped laughing, and sat up. "We should go wake Lily-bean up."

"Lily-bean? Since when is she Lily-bean?"

But Sirius wasn't listening. "We should go ask her how she felt about the kiss."

"Sirius!"

"I wonder what kind of pajamas Lily-bean wears?" Sirius asked evilly as he rose and started walking to the door.

"Sirius!"

"Bye, James!" Sirius said in the doorway, and went dashing up the hallway.

"SIRIUS!" James yelled, dashing after him, forgetting that he wasn't wearing anything besides his boxers.

"You don't even know where her room is!" James yelled as they reached the indoor gardens.

"Good point!" Sirius yelled over his shoulder. "But," he added as he dashed up the left staircase (which was the right way to Lily's room) "I bet I can figure it out!"

He ran to the end of the hallway to the double doors and quietly opened one of them. He smiled as he saw a person with curly red hair shift slightly under the covers.

"Oh, James!" he called back softly to James, who was by now easily within hearing distance. "I've found Lily-bean!" He tiptoed into her room and James followed him, trying to tug him back, but it didn't work.

Partly because Sirius was very insistent on waking her up, but also because James was curious as to what her pajamas looked like. After much silent fighting, Sirius made it over to the bed and threw the covers off of Lily, yelling:

"Rise and sh-"

But he never did get to finish the "shine", because Lily was wearing very interesting pajamas, which consisted of a lime-green bra and a pair of pajama pants. She shrank up when the covers were taken off her, and slowly woke up. She blinked her eyes open in confusion, and suddenly---

"Aaaaah!" she screamed, and rolled off the bed onto the opposite side of the floor and quickly retrieved her covers, wrapping them tightly around her as she stood up. She didn't say anything, but stood there and stared at them both in shock for several moments, and it took a while for James to realize that she wasn't really staring at both of them so much as she was staring at him, and it was at this point that he realized he wasn't wearing anything besides his boxer shorts.

He went very red and crossed his arms uncertainly, looking away and feeling very unsure about what to do next.

"Could one of you please explain to me exactly what it is you are doing here?" Lily demanded of them furiously.

"Just---um---coming to say good morning, Lily-bean..." Sirius said weakly.

"Lily-bean? Since when am I Lily-bean?"

Sirius almost laughed at this, but then decided better of it and didn't. "We were just coming to ask you about the kiss that you and Ja---"

James couldn't take it anymore, so he tackled his best friend and covered up Sirius's mouth with his hand.

"Oooh, both of you get out!" Lily said furiously, and she threw her pillows at them. "Out! Out! Out!"

They retreated, and Lily locked the door firmly behind them.

* * *

After breakfast, Lily thought about the plan that she had come up with last night, and decided that she was going to need a little help from Sirius, but the biggest problem was how to get him away from James.

So, naturally, she lied.

* * *

"So, what did you want to talk about Melody with me for, anyway?"

"I didn't. I just wanted to get you away from James."

"Why? Are we going to have a love affair?"

Lily glared at him, but her cheeks went slightly pink. "Sirius, we can't have a love affair. We're both single."

"Oh, darn."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I need your help..."

* * *

James's week slowly went from bad to worse. It was bad enough having Lily here and fighting with her, and worse having his father just go and forget his birthday again, but to have his best friend running off to who-knows-where to do who-knows-what with Lily was just too much.

After Sirius and Lily disappeared for the third time that week, he furiously went stomping after them. He even employed a couple of house-elves to go find where they were.

"In the library, sir," a house-elf informed him. "In the far corner, sir."

James hurried off to the library and, hiding behind a large bookshelf, was able to hear their conversation without them knowing he was there. They were laughing at first, but then they stopped and started speaking.

"We better get back, or else James will get suspicious," Lily was saying.

"I think he already is," Sirius said glumly.

"But you don't think he knows, do you?" There was a small note of panic in her voice.

"I haven't told him!"

"You don't think his mom would---or his dad---?"

"Don't worry, Lily, they won't tell."

Lily sighed. "We just can't have him finding out. It would completely ruin---well, everything."

"I know, Lily, I'm not stupid!"

"Yeah, I know."

"So when are we going to do this again?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll let you know. We can't do this too often, or else James might follow us, and then..."

"I get the point."

Then silence. James couldn't hear anything but the rustling of papers, and he heard Sirius walking away. He walked slowly out of the library, dragging his feet, utterly depressed.

So that was it, then.

Sirius and Lily were going out, and everybody knew about it except him.

* * *

James really wasn't very much fun after that. Sirius tried to cheer him up, but James was filled with bitter anger every time he saw his so-called 'best friend'. And seeing Lily was even worse! She carried on as if nothing was happening, as if she didn't know---

But then, James would remind himself, you don't really like her after all. You never liked her. You never liked the way she flipped her hair, or the way she would smile at you when you were actually getting along, or the way she would kiss you just before she...slapped you...

Then James would let his head drop, and sigh, and quietly admit to himself that he had liked Lily, and then he would feel so utterly depressed he didn't know what to do with himself.

He gave up trying to spy on them, but then, just a couple of days before Lily had to go home, he heard them talking as he passed by a room on the third floor.

"Maybe we should tell him, Sirius!" Lily's voice was panicked.

"No! We can't tell him, Lil, that'd spoil everything!"

"Have you seen him lately? I've never seen him look so terrible!"

"Yes, I've seen him, and I think he's got the complete wrong idea about us---"

"Do you think we could just tell him that, at least? Because I don't want to hurt him, I really don't, I just---"

"I know! I don't either! But he'd want to know what we're doing, and then what would we tell him?"

Silence for a moment. Then:

"I don't know."

"Look, he'll just be all the more pleased when he finds out what this is all about."

"Yeah, if he doesn't commit suicide before then."

"He's not going to commit suicide."

"Will you at least let me talk to him?"

"You're the ringleader! I don't care. But if you spoil everything, you can't blame me!"

James stalked off, so mad he was practically seeing spots. They thought he'd be pleased to find out that they were dating behind his back? Were they delusional?

He soon found himself walking around the indoor gardens, which was his favorite place in the house, but the whole place was immediately spoiled as soon as Lily found him.

"James?"

"I HATE YOU!" James yelled at her fiercely. Lily jumped and took several steps back, looking genuinely hurt. James's whole stomach rolled over with guilt, but he couldn't stand it anymore. He hated caring about her without her giving a damn about him!

"James, I think you---"

"You think I what? That I'm stupid? That I haven't noticed you and Sirius sneaking off to do---whatever it is you do?"

"James, you have the wrong idea!" Lily said desperately.

"Oh, really? How would you know what my idea is?"

"I...I don't, but James, I think---"

"DON'T THINK!"

Lily winced and shrank back slightly. "James, this isn't you," she said softly.

"Well this isn't you either! Why aren't you yelling at me like you usually do?"

"Because this isn't something to yell about!" she finally yelled, giving in and making a complete fool of herself. Of course, James was being so irrational he really didn't care.

"LIKE HELL IT ISN'T!"

"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!"

"We've been over that point!"

"Your mind hasn't been changed, has it?"

"No," James said sulkily.

"James, stop acting like a little kid."

"I'm not!"

"Well, if you're not acting like a little kid, at least stop jumping to conclusions!"

"What conclusions have I jumped to?"

"I know what you've been thinking!"

"Oh, do you?"

"Yes!"

"And what are you, a mind reader?"

"No, but I'm not an idiot either!"

"WELL NEITHER AM I!"

"I knew I shouldn't have talked to you! The whole thing is pointless!" She turned and began to stalk off, but James's words froze her in her tracks.

"Yes, Sirius was right, wasn't he? He may be a backstabbing good-for-nothing, but he was once my best friend," James said darkly.

"Have you been spying on us?" Lily demanded, whirling around.

"Maybe."

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough."

"HOW MUCH DID YOU HEAR?"

"ENOUGH TO KNOW THAT YOU TWO ARE GOING OUT BEHIND MY BACK!"

He couldn't really read the expression on Lily's face. It looked partly like relief---partly guilt---anxiety---anger---confusion---

"It's not that. You have completely the wrong idea."

"Then tell me otherwise! If it's not that, then what are you really doing?"

"I can't tell you!"

"Then I guess I'm right after all!"

Lily looked like she was about to yell at him again, but she froze. James glared at her, trying to figure out what was going on, and followed her now-terrified gaze to the gigantic honeybee resting on her palm. James rolled his eyes.

"Oh, honestly, what are you so terrified about? It's just a stupid old honeybee."

"I-am-terrified-of-bees!" Lily whispered, her voice rising in panic with each new word.

"It's not going to sting you!" James said.

"Yes-it-will!"

James rolled his eyes and walked over to her. He lifted up her hand and examined the bee. "It's just Bella," he said calmly, as if this were nothing new. "And look, you have nothing to be terrified about---she's just leaving you a present."

"You give the bees names?" Lily asked in horror.

James rolled his eyes again as the bee flew off, leaving a perfect honeycomb in Lily's hand. "Look, she's given you some honey."

Lily looked at her palm, bewildered. "There are such things as magical honeybees?" She said.

"Yeah."

"But---why aren't they mentioned in---"

"'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'? They're not really fantastic beasts, are they? Just honeybees, with personalities and feelings and the finest honey-making abilities in the world. Go on, try it."

Lily tentatively took a bite of the honeycomb and nearly swooned. It was just about as good as the strawberry cheesecake. "That is delicious."

"See? Nothing to be afraid of."

Lily looked at him, and for a moment he wasn't angry, or exasperated, or depressed. He was just James, and quite suddenly she liked him very much. For no reason at all, she leaned over and hugged him.

Then she hurried away, blushing, leaving James utterly confused.

And for a moment he couldn't remember whether or not he hated the girl.

* * *

The week was almost over. Lily leaned over her balcony and looked down at the rose gardens. She desperately loved Potter's Cottage, if not so much a particular one of its inhabitants, and knew she'd be very sad to leave. Sirius had gone home yesterday, but he'd be back tomorrow, which was Friday, and then on Saturday morning her parents were coming to pick her up.

Hera had brought her a letter yesterday. It had been from Remus, asking if she'd found a place to stay after all and telling her that he'd just gotten back from his great-aunt's. She'd written him back, told him about being stuck at James's house, and asked him to come over and save her from the insanity.

She'd also gotten a letter from Melody, carried by a huge tropical bird of some sort, with a lot of excited talk about how much fun she was having, and how great her tan looked (and it was amazing how well she tanned, because considering her coloring, you wouldn't really expect her to), and all about Angel falls and all kinds of parties, and then there was a lot of babble in Spanish that she really couldn't understand but that Melody promised to translate for her later. Lily had laughed at all of it and written a letter back about her stay at James's house, noting how boring it seemed compared to her summer.

And now her stay was almost over, and she was rather sad. She'd miss all of it---Mrs. Potter, the house-elves, her enormous bedroom, the indoor gardens, the outdoor gardens, the amazing library...

And, well...she supposed she might miss James.

* * *

"What a lousy birthday," James muttered to himself. His mother had magically blocked off the dining room, kitchen, and living room to work on some sort of "special project", Lily had disappeared to somewhere, Sirius had gone home yesterday, Remus was back from his "great-aunt's", but he hadn't returned James's owl yet, his father was, of course, in Morocco, and James didn't have anything to do except talk to the house-elves, which was really very boring indeed.

So he spent the worst birthday of his life wandering around the gardens and the spiral maze, taking a hippogriff out for a ride, and hoping that his mom's "special project" had something to do with a birthday cake.

At around seven o'clock, when he was sitting on a bench in the rose gardens and watching the sun just begin to set, his mom came out and found him.

"Hey, James," she said, putting an arm around his shoulders. "How are you?"

"Horrible."

"Why?"

"No one else remembered, why should you?"

His mom didn't say anything. "Do you want to see my special project?"

James sighed. "Sure, why not?"

He got up and trudged into the house behind her. She led him to the living room, where her magical wards still prevented him from seeing what was inside.

"Now, you just stay out here for a minute, and I'll slip inside and remove the spell." James nodded and shrugged, and his mother slipped in, looking overly excited about something.

All at once the magical wards slipped off, and he was met with a loud, booming:

"SURPRISE!"

James blinked. He had never been so shocked in his entire life. His mom, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and...his father...were all standing under a banner flashing "Happy Birthday James!" and were clustered around a large, chocolate birthday cake.

And, even though he was shocked to see his father, the one person he couldn't keep his eyes off of was Lily. She was smiling wider than he'd ever seen anybody smile, and he was instantly sure that she was the person who had arranged it all. All at once, it clicked in his mind that this was what she and Sirius had been so secretive about, and immediately felt horrible for treating them both the way he had.

But in a minute, all of it was okay, because Lily ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek, laughing, and blushing. Automatically, he slipped an arm around her waist.

"You did all of this, didn't you?"

She nodded, still smiling from ear to ear. "Sorry I couldn't get more people to come."

But James shook his head. "It's fine. You got all the most important people to come."

Then he kissed her lightly on the lips, and they both blushed harder than they ever had in their lives at all the howling from Sirius, Remus, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter.

After hiding her face for a bit, Lily whispered into James's ear:

"That reminds me. Your birthday present..."

"You got me a present?" James asked, smiling.

"Well, not quite...but..."

"What is it?"

She whispered it into his ear, and they both came away blushing furiously.

"Okay, that's enough from you two!" Remus yelled. "Let's have some cake!"

"Amen!" Sirius agreed, and James and Lily were more than happy to comply.

* * *

Several hours later, after night had fallen, James had received all his presents, and they were all ridiculously full on chocolate cake, James leaned over and whispered something into Lily's ear. They both disappeared, and Remus and Sirius rushed to a window and watched them as they walked past the gardens.

"Darn!" Sirius said. "They're going over by the stables."

"Probably so you can't see!" Mrs. Potter called. "Would you two come back here?"

They grumbled and complied.

* * *

"Exactly how far are we going, James?" Lily asked.

"Far enough so Sirius and Remus can't spy on us."

Lily giggled. She was incredibly nervous. In fact, she couldn't remember ever being more nervous, but there was really no explanation of why.

"So," James said, coming to a halt.

"So?"

"Do you really mean it? You're not going to back out on me?"

"Yeah," Lily said, blushing and nodding. "It's your birthday present, and you more than deserve it for all I've put you through."

"I know that," James said, laughing shortly, and, if Lily heard right, rather nervously. Then he looked into her eyes. "But do you really want to, or do you just feel sorry for me?" he asked, taking her hands into his.

Lily looked at him with something wonderful in her eyes, something he couldn't quite decipher, but still something very different from love. "I want to."

James smiled.

"But remember, this is a one-time thing," Lily said, slipping her hands out of his and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Right," James said, but he didn't make a move to do anything.

After a few moments, Lily cocked her head. "James, what are you doing?"

"Standing," he shrugged. She gave him a Look. He averted his gaze and looked up at the sky.

"The stars are lovely, don't you th-"

Lily cut him off by jerking his head down and kissing him. She pulled away quickly and looked at him, blushing slightly. "Now would you stop being a jerk and just kiss me?" she demanded. "This is your birthday present, you know."

James had stars in his eyes, and she had a feeling he wasn't even listening to her. But that was all right, because he did kiss her, and she closed her eyes and let her head spin and her body tingle and her knees wobble, and let herself melt away into nothing.

After what seemed like an eternity, James finally pulled away, and slowly Lily felt her mind return to the present, and slowly she opened her eyes, and slowly her breathing and her heart slowed, and slowly she looked up at James and wondered what was happening to her. Over his shoulder she saw a glint of something silver coming from the forest, and a brilliant creature emerged. She gasped.

"James, look!" she said, pointing. He turned to look, not taking his arm from her waist.

"It's a unicorn," he said, and turned back to her.

"James, have you heard the story about--?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah," James said. "My mom's told it to me about a million times."

And suddenly they let go of each other and turned away, their faces on fire.

* * *

Lily's parents came to pick her up the next day, and they stayed to talk for about an hour, receiving a tour of the house while Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus hung out in her bedroom.

"I can't believe it's almost time for school to start again," Lily groaned, flopping onto the bed on her stomach.

"You? Groaning? About school? I'm shocked!" James said, and pretended to faint.

"Oh, shut up!" Lily said, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at him.

"It won't be that bad, old chap!" said Sirius, who was in a very good mood for some odd reason. (Possibly all the chocolate cake he had had for breakfast.) "And don't forget, Melody will be back from Venezuela! She'll probably have some wonderful new joke products to bring back!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, Sirius, all you really want to see is her."

Remus and James laughed at this, and Sirius chased Lily around the room, threatening her with a Dungbomb.

"Well, speaking of joke products," Remus said, "we'll always have plenty of time to pull some wonderful pranks on Snape."

"Possibly with Lily-bean's help," James amended as Lily stole the Dungbomb from Sirius and threw it over her balcony.

"Would you please stop calling me Lily-bean?" Lily said, as less of a request than a command.

"Whatever you say, Lily-bean!" Sirius said happily.

Just then Lily's parents came to get her, and they were all saved from whatever it was she had been about to say.

"See you on September first then!" James said, waving good-bye.

"September first," Lily agreed, and she walked out of the double doors with her parents, turning back to give just one last wave before disappearing down the hallway.

* * *

End fifth year

* * *