Chapter One- The Love of Friends

Disclaimer: Not JKR and I don't own any of her characters; Charlie/Charlotte is my creation though.

First fan fiction so don't hate. Please R&R and thanks for reading!

"James! You can't do that, it's cheating!" Charlotte yelled from a few feet away in the Potter's backyard. Their parents sat talking on the patio, but had stopped to watch the commotion their four year-olds were causing.

"It is too fair, I've won." James smiled smugly at the short girl next to him. She had hazel eyes that were stunning. They had an outer circle of dark green that faded into an extremely bright blue-green with random streaks of dark gold till the center which spiked out in a golden brown, glinting in the light. She blushed, a rare sight on her golden olive skin, and whispered,

"You can't win by kissing someone so that they are distracted!" James smirked and yelled back at her,

"You liked it, didn't you?" She crossed her arms and pouted her dark bottom lip. James closed the space between them and hugged her tight till she hugged him back.

"You could never be mad at me, you love me." He said triumphantly and planted a tiny kiss on her cheek. Their parents started laughing and calling at them to quit it, they could do that when they were older. Their parents, the Potters and the Coots were good friends and were betting that their inseparable little kids would end up married one day, so far it looked promising.

"Do you love me back, James?" Charlotte asked quietly just out of their parents earshot. Little waves were swaying behind her lanky torso framing her face like a lion's mane as she looked up at him.

"Of course, I'll always love you Charlie." James answered like it was a no-brainer, smiling down at her with his dark unruly hair covering part of his round glasses.

That's when Charlotte started going by Charlie, and she'd never forget why even if he did.

Thirteen Years Later

Charlie twirled a lock of now dark brown hair around her finger and glanced up at James, he was sitting across from her on the couch. The room had been mostly silent for the past half hour except for the sound of their dad's snoring lightly in the giant chairs that occupied the Potter's living room. Their mother's giggled every now and then but mostly whispered in hushed tones like they were teenagers again. It was approaching midnight. Finally Charlie and James got up and their mother's glanced up.

"Charlie, I'm rather sure we'll be staying the night. They still haven't fixed the roof at our house and your dad is sleeping. Why don't you and James go to bed? Oh, and grab Sirius while you're on your way. He'll have terrible cramps if he sleeps in that chair all night." Rachel Coot said in a sweet tone to both of them.

"Since Sirius has the guest room and the other one is for Charlie's parents you'll figure out a sleeping arrangement. Right honey?" Karen Potter restrained a giggle along with Charlie's mom. After a few years of their kids not becoming a couple they tried forcing them into more and more awkward situations, hoping one would finally make them realize they were the ones for each other.

"Okay, night mom." They both whispered to their parents.

Charlie and James started walking in the direction of Sirius to wake him up and lead him to bed. But a smirk on his face after hearing their mother's blessings gave away that he was not sleeping. James smiled and poked him in the shoulder.

"Get up Padfoot." James used the famous nickname that everyone knew that Marauders had, but never actually understood. Some boy thing probably, thought Charlie as she started walking towards the stairs. Sirius and James followed behind and once they were upstairs started talking again.

"So I'm assuming I'm sleeping with James?" Charlie asked even though they had done it thousands of times before and tonight would be no different.

"Yah you are." Sirius said in his suggestive tone quirking an eyebrow. James smiled and attempted to hold in a laugh. Charlie smirked and turned around to face him in the hallway their two bedrooms were in,

"Oh Sirius, don't you just wish that one of these nights I'd ask you instead?" Charlie whipped at him giving precious doe eyes, mocking innocence. James smirked again; he loved it when his friends fought. Especially these two, they were fun to watch. Sirius always making suggestive and snide comments, while Charlie acted like she was still in second grade and said things like, you're as ugly as a toad. Which was something she told Sirius on multiple occasions.

"Sorry Charlie, no matter how many times you beg. I've got…other plans for tonight." Sirius glanced at James who returned with a knowing smile.

"Susan?" James asked.

"No, this one's Stacey." Sirius answered before he heard a crack, like from someone apparating, coming from his room.

"Sounds like I got to go." Sirius answered as he started to push his room's door open.

"You're repulsive." Charlie said twisting her nose up as he walked into his room, grinning at her. The door closed and they heard a little giggle before pivoting on their heels and entering James's bedroom. Charlie and James had slept in the same bed many times, being such tight friends and often staying overnight at one of their houses while their parents talked all night, it was practically routine. James's walked into the bathroom connected to his room and called out,

"Everything's clean my mom washed all my clothes today." Charlie nodded in understanding even though she knew he couldn't see her anymore. She grabbed a Chuddley Cannons shirt and a pair of loose shorts that practically fell of when she slid them on. She dropped her dirty shorts and t-shirt at the foot of his armoire and plopped on his bed. James walked out of the bathroom in a red t-shirt and fresh shorts, plopping down next to Charlie.

If Charlie wasn't so trained to keep her emotions under lock and key she would have blushed. But years of teaching herself that James wasn't ready to become more then friends had blocked those embarrassing emotions. He told her he loved her, and she loved him too. And maybe it was in a slightly different way, she wasn't sure yet. They were so close it was hard to tell. James turned off the light and they laid on top of the sheets in the hot summer night. She curled into his arm and he wrapped it around her shoulder pulling her in for a hug. She wrapped her arm around his waist and started dozing off. She loved this, she just wished that he loved it in the same way. He gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head,

"Love you Charlie." He said quietly. She mumbled some response and they were soon both asleep.

Lily raked her lean finger through her curly hair staring at the trunk at her feet. It was open and had neatly folded shirts and Hogwart's supplies for the oncoming school year. School was starting in two weeks and she was secretly excited. It was going to be a perfect last year, the last two weeks of summer she would be staying with her friends, Charlie, and to top things off she was Head Girl.

Lily faked surprise in her voice when her letter arrived with the shiny new badge. She wasn't arrogant or anything, she just knew that she was the only logical choice. She wondered who had that shiny badge like her, probably her perfect half who she would be sharing a Head's Room with. This year was going to be better, and different in more ways than one. Lily wasn't going to leave her life up to fate anymore, people were dying too much now for her to wait for what she really wanted out of life, love. And it would find her this year, someone exactly like her would be sharing a room with her and it was all so perfect. They would be perfect.

Sirius could feel the girl next to him breathing deeply as she fell asleep on the other side of the bed. He stealthily got out and walked into the hallway. Right across from his room was his best friends, James's. James was like a brother to him, took him in when things got bad. Sirius's family was obsessed with purebloods and Voldemort. He wasn't.

Sirius cracked open the door and saw Charlie and James cuddling like two toddlers, like always. He also noticed that the pair of too large shorts Charlie had on had fallen down when she kicked all the sheets beneath her in her sleep. They were hanging loosely off her right ankle and you could see her black lacey panties in the moonlight. Sirius stared at the two of them, not in a creepy way, but in a wishful way. He admired how close they were, close enough that they could do this and not be awkward the next day. But he was rather sure that they weren't as honest as they looked. You could see it on their faces while they slept. Charlie let out a little sigh, and Sirius admired her dark ruby red lips that were parted slightly, so bewitching. One of the few girls he had not kissed at the school, by James's request.

Sirius's thoughts were interrupted when he felt the tickle of kisses on the side of his neck.

"What are you doing?" the tall blonde asked seductively. "Come back to bed." Sirius obeyed almost without a second thought of Charlie and James.