A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back at it again. This started out as a Blackinnon piece (because I'm obsessed) and then kind of ended up focusing on Jily accidentally, so I ended up redrafting it completely as a James/Lily story with very heavy side influences from all the Marauders and the "Girls of 1976" as I've affectionately called them for as long as I can remember. Anyhow, this first chapter is a bit obnoxiously stylistic, but I hope you see the parallels? idk I really like it though.

A lonely redheaded girl in Spinner's End was packing books into the bottom of her school trunk. This would be her first summer away from home, and Lily was both excited to be away from Petunia and her new boyfriend and nervous to be staying at the McKinnon's house for nearly three entire months. She'd spent time at home with her parents at the beginning of the summer, but Lily was quite ready for a change of scenery.

Something strange was going to happen at Hogwarts this year, she could feel it shaking her bones, waking her up for something that was to come.

Although, what could be stranger than losing her best friend and gaining two new ones in a week? Lily wasn't sure, but as she packed her robes and muggle clothes away in the brown trunk emblazoned with LJE across the top, she did know she was grateful to be out of this town—and away from Severus—as soon as possible.

"That freaky friend of yours hasn't come around all summer. You running away to go see him?"

There was a sneer in her voice that made Lily want to whip out her wand and hex her sister, but she refrained as she clicked her trunk shut. Despite her newfound hatred of Severus, his absence still hurt her, "Actually, if you had lifted your nose from Vernon's letters for more than three minutes you would know that I'm actually leaving to go to a friend's for the rest of the summer. Dad's excited to meet some another witch." Marlene and one of her brothers, Lewis, were flooing over to collect her soon.

Petunia's nose curled up at the word. A few moments later, Lily heard a door slam shut and couldn't help her mouth from quirking into a brief smile. She lifted her trunk off the bed with ease—thanks to an undetectable extension charm she'd perfected at the end of last term—and carried it to the couch across from the fireplace where her parents were waiting for her.

A lonely black-haired boy in London was tossing whatever he could find into his school trunk. There wasn't a moment at 12 Grimmauld Place that went by without Sirius thinking about leaving, especially not since he'd started at Hogwarts. A part of him was absolutely terrified of what would happen, but he pushed it down as he cursed his past self for using a permanent sticking charm on all the pictures of him and his friends that he'd put on the walls of his bedroom.

"And where exactly do you imagine you'll go? No one will want to board scum like you."

His mother's shrill voice carried up throughout the house. If there was anything he'd miss, it wouldn't be her. "Anywhere. Living on a park bench would be better than here!" But as he was latching his trunk, he knew exactly where he was headed. He would go to the Potter's house, only for a short while until he could find his own place. If they didn't want him, they could kick him out. He didn't care. He pulled the trunk off his bed and stormed out of the cursed place and onto the rainy streets of London.

"So who's coming with Marlene, again?" Her mum had met Marlene briefly a few times throughout the years, mostly bumping into each other at King's Cross at the start or end of term, but apart from Severus and Dumbledore, they'd never properly met another wizard.

"Her brother, Lewis. He's a year ahead of us." Lily was uncomfortable, to say the least. She couldn't stop shifting her weight around, nervously glancing towards the fireplace, glancing back to her mother and father. She'd never left them for an entire summer. She'd figured it would happen at some point, but it just hadn't happened yet.

There was a fairly loud crash as Marlene tumbled from the fireplace and into the floor.

"Lewis, you git! We're gonna get soot all over Lily's-" she stopped when she looked up to see three Evans's huddled together behind the couch, "house. Sorry about that, Lewis shoved my elbows out a few grates back."

She stood, shameless, wiping the black from her hands on the few spared spots of her jumper, and held out a hand to Mrs. Evans. "Mrs. Evans, it's a pleasure to see you again. Mr. Evans, I don't believe we've met before. I'm Marlene McKinnon, I share a dorm with your snoring daughter all year."

"I do not-"

"Don't lie, Lily dear, it's not polite. Call me Harry," he shook the blonde's hand, completely captivated by her endless charm. He looked to the lanky blonde, completely clean of soot, behind Marlene and added, "You must be Lewis. Pleasure to meet you as well," as he rounded the sofa to shake the boy's hand. "Lily tells me you have a lot of siblings."

Lily started to put a stop the kind small talk, but Marlene responded before she could. "I'm one of six. Got four brothers and a sister."

Lewis, who stood a good head taller than his sister, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and ruffled the top of her curly hair, "Marley here's the youngest."

"Oi, don't make me hex you in front of muggles. I'll tell mum you provoked me." Marlene made sure to swipe her black sleeve across Lewis's face before slipping out of his grasp and bounding over to Lily. "Anywho, thanks for letting me steal your daughter away for the summer, Harry. I've been begging her to come 'round since second year, and this is the first year she's ever even thought about it."

"Will you have a way to write to us, Lily? We didn't think to buy you an owl."

"I've got one that Lily's free to use at any time, ma'am," Lewis offered an easy smile to Mrs. Evans.

"He's a charmer, that one," Mrs. Evan whispered to the girls, nudging her daughter.

"That one's taken, but Lils does have her eye on another of my brothers, though, who—might I add—has just returned back home from working in Egypt with Gringotts." A series of hits were directed at Marlene with a shout of her name a fair few times. Mrs. Evans was giggling as Marlene ducked a few swings directed at her head. "You'd make a fair Beater, Evans, but," Marlene twisted around to Lily's back and hugged her from behind, trapping her arms to her side, "you'll have to wait for try-outs in the fall. Maybe a summer at the McKinnon household will beef you up, and you could have a fair shot."

Lewis coughed and walked towards Lily's trunk and her parents. "Sorry, about my sister. She's a bit of a hazard."

"Oi, I'm not the one doing the hitting!"

"Trouble seems to follow her around. We really should be going." Lewis turned to his sister. "She might want to hug her parents goodbye, Marley."

With a raised brow, she dropped her grip on Lily, who walked towards her parents, enveloping them both in long embraces and kisses on the cheek and declarations of love. Lewis picked up the trunk, expecting it to be a fair bit heavier than it was, and walked back to his sister's side. Even with the soot covering her face, the resemblance between the two was uncanny.

Lily walked back to the duo, with a few tears ready to pool over her eyelids. Marlene waved at the Evans's as she swung an arm around Lily's shoulder. "Nice to see you again, Mrs. Evans. Pleasure to meet you, Harry. Have a nice summer."

Lewis added in a smiling goodbye as well, extending a shake towards Mr. Evans and a hug to Mrs. Evans while Marlene pulled a small pouch out of her pocket.

"Ready, brother?"

"Go ahead."

"Okay, Lily, tuck your elbows in tight and walk with me into the fire." She offered her left arm, which they joined together. "MCKINNON HOUSE," she shouted, and the three stepped into emerald flames.

"What did you say your name was, again?"

"Peter Pettigrew." Sirius had decided upon calling the Knight Bus that it was probably best not to give his real name. He was soaking wet and had been knocked back onto one of the beds after a particularly sharp turn. It had taken him a while to think about summoning the Knight Bus—and frankly, he'd forgotten how—and had wandered around dark, rainy London for a while, so he was absolutely soaked from head to toe.

He wasn't fond of the man working on the bus, an overly inquisitive wizard that Sirius hadn't bothered to remember the name of. Was it Jeremy? He didn't care.

He wasn't alone on the bus either, but the other inhabitants were all sleeping. There were a few people on the second level by the sounds coming from up there, but they were all very clearly awake.

The nervousness that he'd pushed down was now surging to the surface. What if they opened the door and were disgusted to see him there? What if they kicked him out right then and there? Where would he go? He didn't have any money on him except for a few galleons that he'd probably end up using for this trip to the Potter's.

"Oi, we're here, Peter."

Right, Peter. He handed over a few coins and stepped off the bus, watching it as it vanished a moment later. Sirius walked towards the door, raised a nervous hand, and knocked at the door of the Potter's large pseudo-mansion.

It only took a moment. Frankly, he was surprised anyone even opened the door. "Oh, mate. What happened?"

I hope you liked it. This story isn't super far along in terms of posting because, as stated, I started redrafting it. Saying that, a bunch of the big plot points have already taken hold so I do have some general semblance of how I'd like this story to go! If you liked it, please let me know. I'm also always open to criticism, just try not to be a dick about it. Love you all.

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