Author's Note: Okay, so when I started this chapter, I wasn't thinking too much about what would happen in the end, just that certain events would happen. But most of the plot has been planned out, just not specific details.

Disclaimer: I own nothing familiar.

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Chapter One: Good Luck With Her

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"Lily, I honestly don't understand what you're trying to tell me," Lauren Evans sighed as she arranged the strawberries on the cake. "Slow down, dear; the moment you get that later your speaking skills seem to leave you for at least a week," she added, giving her youngest daughter a look before she wiped her hands on her apron.

"I honestly don't understand why you don't just lick the icing off your fingers," Lily cried joyfully as she danced around her mother. "Third year is the year that we can go to Hogsmeade, the Wizarding town near Hogwarts," she repeated for the umpteenth time since she'd gotten her letter.

"Just sign it Lauren and maybe she'll leave us alone," Aaron Evans laughed, his bright green eyes dancing with happiness as his youngest skipped around. He had the dark hair of Lily's older sister, Petunia, though, but shared more of an enthusiasm with Lily.

"Yes, but I—I just want to make sure that my little girl will be safe in such an open town. I have been keeping up with that Daily Prophet and apparently there's a wizard at large just dying to kill anyone without magic, or from a non-magic background. What was that word they use for it? Oh yes, Muggle," Lauren mumbled to herself as she patted her greying red hair to make sure it was still in place.

"You look beautiful, mother," Lily said as she happily danced around, the permission slip and letter in her hand as her skirt flowed around her.

"Come here, you," Aaron laughed as he picked Lily up by the waist.

"Dad!" she cried loudly and he sighed.

"I forgot, you're a teenager now," he mumbled, bending down to get to her petite height. "Promise you won't make too much of a fuss with our guests?" Aaron asked, leaning in a little.

"I promise on Merlin's fuzzy jumper that I won't make a fuss," Lily giggled, rubbing the tip of her nose against her father's and breaking the indifferent exterior she usually wore at school, especially around a certain James Potter. She jumped as the doorbell rang. "Who did you say we were meeting, dad?" she asked, running to the door just as Petunia came down.

"I'll be using the back door to meet Vernon. Call me when the freaks have left," she said stiffly, practically ignoring her younger sister. Petunia quickly retreated to the kitchen just to remove herself from the surroundings.

"They're a family who has a kid that goes to school with you. He's actually your age," Lauren replied as she haphazardly threw her apron into the floor of one of their cabinets.

"Really?" Lily asked, her eyes widening. "What's his name?" she said, obeying her dad as he gestured for her to open the door.

"Well, hello there," a woman with the shiniest black hair said, smiling widely as she held the hand of a child behind her, who was obviously interested in doing something else.

"It's nice to meet you," Aaron said, shaking hands with the man with hazel eyes and greying brown hair, whose free hand was holding onto another boy's wrist. Both boys' faces were obscured by the parents, who looked like they were trying very hard not to yell.

"And you must be their little girl," the man said, giving her a warm smile past the lenses of his glasses.

Lily stared intently into those eyes, feeling their familiarity, until her dad nudged her. "I'm Lily," she said politely and the parents suddenly looked perplexed.

"Will you hold on for a moment?" the woman asked as she and the man turned around. "James Finn Potter, what is the matter with you?" she asked just as the man scolded the boy he had been holding onto.

"I told you that if you were visiting us, Sirius, you and James have to act accordingly," the man said.

"But, you see, Mr. Potter, I was acting accordingly. I was basing my behaviour according to James," the boy answered smugly and Lily's eyes widened.

"No," she whispered just as the adults turned around again, this time dragging the boys to stand in front of them.

"I do believe the two of you know Lily?" Mr. Potter asked and Lily looked terrified.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost, Lilykins. Where are they? I'll fight them off for you," James suggested, flipping out his wand.

"Who would've thought that it would be your parents fault you'd see us this summer?" Sirius smirked as she opened her mouth to say something back to them.

"It's a pleasure to have you here," Lauren said putting a hand on Lily's left shoulder.

"Yes, it is," Aaron added, squeezing Lily's right shoulder gently and her scowl turned into a wide, faked smile.

"The three of us are acquainted," Lily confirmed as James and Sirius stepped into the foyer.

"So, Caleb, isn't it?" Aaron asked as he led Mr. Potter into the living room.

"Only if your name is Aaron," Mr. Potter laughed as Lauren led Mrs. Potter into the kitchen.

"I'm surprised Lily's never mentioned you, um," Lauren started and Mrs. Potter laughed gaily.

"My name is Juliana, and I'm not sure I know your name."

"Lauren, Lauren Evans," she replied just as the two disappeared behind the kitchen's swinging door.

"So, my Lily flower, what have you been up to this summer?" James asked, taking a step forward.

"Don't you dare talk to me, Potter," Lily seethed and James only smirked back as Sirius stepped back once.

"Come on, James, obviously we're not wanted in the house, so let's go meet the neighbours. I'm sure they're such wonderful Muggles," Sirius joked, winking at Lily as he walked towards the house across the street—her grandmother's house.

"Sirius—no!" Lily cried, catching him in the middle of the street and grabbing his elbow to stop him.

"Lily!" James called out, grabbing her arm and pulling the two back as a car whizzed by. "Are you crazy?" he asked her worriedly. "You could've died," James added, gripping her shoulders and looking her over to make sure she was okay.

"I'm fine, Potter, if Black here hadn't been stupid and tried to cross the street, that wouldn't have happened," Lily spat just as the door across the street opened.

"Lily Addison Evans, did I just see you almost get run over by that car?" an old woman with faded red hair asked as she stood at the doorway, folding her frail arms over her chest.

"Sorry, grand mum, I was just trying to keep my friend here from doing the same thing," Lily blushed, smiling sheepishly.

"Who are these friends? I don't think I've met them," the woman called before gesturing Lily towards her house. "Bring them over and we'll have some tea and biscuits," she added, turning back into her house.

James smirked when Lily's eyes got as big as a car wheel. "Are you alright, Lilykins?" he asked smugly and Lily turned to him, glaring.

"That is my grandmother in there and she has absolutely no idea about Hogwarts or anything, so you two are friends from Martin's School for Gifted Students, do you understand?" she told them forcefully, raising an eyebrow at Sirius and James.

"Absolutely, Lilykins," James replied, giving a wide smile.

"And you will call me Lily when in the presence of my parents and grandparents. Otherwise, I'd prefer Evans from you, and nothing else," Lily seethed and Sirius scoffed in approval.

"Feisty aren't you?" he chuckled as Lily's grandmother showed up at the doorstep.

"Well hurry up, won't you?" she called, leaving her door open as the three teenagers ran across the street towards her house.

"This place looks pretty normal for a Muggle grandmother's house," James mumbled as they entered the house that was ultimately similar to that of the Evans' across the street.

"So, how do the two of you know my Lily here?" Isabelle Mollera asked the boys as she poured the three some tea.

"Oh, we attend Martin's with her," James replied and Lily silently prayed a quick thank-you to Merlin.

"Yeah, great professor," Sirius said and James kicked his calf as Mrs. Mollera eyed the boy suspiciously.

"You have a lovely house here, ma'am," the hazel-eyed boy said when the woman sat down. "Such great decor," he added, smiling sincerely.

"Oh no," Lily muttered to herself, a worried look crossing her face. She smiled sadly at James and Sirius, who were suddenly being dragged to their feet.

"Come, I want to show you my late husband's little trophy room; he and I kept all our keepsakes in there," Isabelle said reminiscently.

"Oh," said Sirius, sending a dangerous look at James, who shrugged, but gave a smug smirk as Lily stood by him on their way upstairs.

"Don't get any ideas, Potter, with your parents here the Ministry won't mind if I do a Jelly-Legs Jinx. They'll simply believe that they did the magic," Lily whispered into his ear before leaning away and listening to her grandmother's story for the five-hundred-fifty-second time in her life—she'd counted.

"You read up on that, didn't you?" Sirius chuckled from ahead of them just as they stopped by a door with five locks on it.

"Five, two, three, one, four," Lily whispered as her grandmother opened the locks in that order.

"You've been here way too many times," James said matter-of-factly.

"She always forgets that I've already seen it," Lily shrugged, then without thinking, added: "Sev thinks she's gone senile, like he predicts Dumbledore will, but she's a sweet woman."

"Right," James said, his smile turning into a scowl.

"Now, boys, what you're about to see is a collection of my most prized possessions. SO if you'd please," Isabelle said solemnly. "Don't touch anything," she finished ominously, but since Lily had mouthed the words as well, the boys had to work to hold back some laughter.

"You have our word, Mrs. Mollera," Sirius said, kissing the back of her hand, having Lily make a face of disgust at the sight.

"What did you say your names were again?" the old woman asked.

"We didn't, but I'm Sirius Black and this is my best friend, James Potter. His parents were the ones that brought us here," Sirius replied proudly, as if he was part of the Potter family.

"James...Potter...where do I know that name from?" Isabelle muttered as she led the boys into the middle of the well-kept trophy room.

"The only room of the house she'll clean willingly every day," Lily said lovingly of her grandmother.

"These are trophies that my husband and I won when we were in the bowling league," the woman told them as she dragged Sirius along.

"So, you talk about me with your grandmother, ay?" James asked smugly, leaning towards Lily's ear.

Lily flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Only when she asks," she said simply. "You have now way out of this monumental piece of her life, so you might as well pay attention," Lily added, a weird, tingly feeling erupting through her, giving her goose bumps. She rubbed at her arms to try and rid herself of them, but they only seemed to stay.

"Cold?" James asked, making a move to remove the jacket that his mom undoubtedly made him wear.

"No, I'm fine," she replied simply, ceasing the rubbing, even though the goose bumps hadn't gone away. What was going on?

-&-

An hour later, Mrs. Mollera finished with her 'tour' and was leading the three towards the sidewalk again.

"Don't forget to watch out for cars now, dear," Isabelle told them before waving them off towards Lily's house.

"Oh good, you three are here just in time for lunch," Lauren called out, clapping her hands as she set the food down onto the table. "Come on, then," she said, placing her husband at one end of the table, and herself to his right and Caleb Potter to his left. Juliana Potter slipped into the seat next to her husband and told the boys to behave just as Lily slipped into the empty seat across from Juliana, as was her habit when there was guests—always an empty seat from her mother (who she usually sat right next to).

"Awe, trying to get me to sit in front of you?" Sirius smirked as James slipped into the seat next to Lily. "Good luck with her, James, I think she wants me instead!" Sirius joked and the other two glared at him.

"Don't flatter yourself, Black," Lily said in a tone low enough that the adults wouldn't hear.

"You hurt me, Evans," Sirius said mockingly before he dug into his food.

Lily opened her mouth to say something but decided against it as the boys treated their mouths like garbage disposals. "You eat like animals," she muttered just as the doorbell rang.

"Sweetie," Lauren said simply, turning to her daughter slightly, who had already stood up.

As they were taught, James and Sirius stood up as well. Lily, taken aback, wasn't sure what to do and continued to the door. The boys, out of plain curiosity, followed along.

"Evans," Lily said simply as she opened the door to the sight of a man in dark green Wizarding robes looking solemn and holding onto a suitcase.

"Are you Miss Lily Evans?" the man asked icily.

James, after sensing a bit of fear in Lily, sidestepped her to stand in front of the red-head. "Who's asking?" he asked coldly as Sirius joined him.

"Hersen Zuiver," the man replied, giving the teens a cold look. "She is only agreeing to stay with you, Miss Evans," he said, roughly dragging Emma to the foyer. "Good luck with her," Hersen continued, dropping the suitcase next to the door.

"Who—what are you doing here, Zuiver?" Caleb asked angrily as he and the other adults showed up behind the teens.

"Reed is dead, Potter. All because of that raid you skipped to spend time with your family," Hersen said simply, glancing at James in the last part.

"Emma, oh no," Lily cried as she fell to the ground next to her best friend. "I'm so sorry," she whispered as she hugged Emma, close to tears.

"He—my mum, she didn't—she wanted my out of the house while she dealt with it—is it okay?" Emma whimpered as Sirius dropped next to her, putting a hand on her back.

James, unsure how to feel about his father skipping out on his duty, sat next to Lily, putting a hand on her shoulder, not daring to do more.

"James, I think we should—go. We had a lovely time, Lauren, but we can see that you have something to deal with," Juliana said as Caleb stood in shock, just staring at the sight ahead of him at the sight of the teens, which had moved Emma to lean on the staircase.

"Thank you for coming. I'm so sorry that you couldn't stay long," Lauren replied just as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," James whispered, standing up.

"No, I—," Lily started, standing up as she let go of Emma's hand. She couldn't forget her manners; they were what was keeping her put together while her best friend lay helplessly on the floor.

"It's okay," James said, grabbing his coat.

Lily reached for the door at the same time as James and they tugged at it unaware. "No, you're the...guest," Lily said, suddenly feeling James' warm hand underneath hers.

"What happened...Lily?" Severus Snape asked in the doorway. "Potter," he muttered, seeing James in the house and his heart felt a little pained as he saw that he and Lily had their hands together.

"Snape now isn't a good time," James said seriously as Juliana gripped his shoulder and led him out.

"Nice meeting you," Sirius said one last time before he was ushered out by Caleb.

"What's he talking about?" Severus asked as Lily bit her lip and her eyes welled up. "Lily," he repeated softly as she turned around, trying not to show the tears. When she turned, he noticed Emma's limp, blond curls shaking rapidly. "I'll—I'll come back later," he whispered, stepping back as Lauren came to the door.

"Thank you, Severus. Try tomorrow, will you? It's still a shock," she told him, apologetically shutting the door on his descent.

Author's Note: Please review; I want to know how I'm doing.
-imagine everything