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Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter books.

Lily Potter was asleep. Blissfully, deeply asleep. Unfortunately, James woke her. It wasn't James directly, but rather the fact that he had characteristically neglected to close the bedroom window, and now great raindrops—the size of bullets—were splattering Lily's face, bed and walls. Her eyes flickered open, and she took a moment to mentally berate her older brother. Then, she tore herself from the warm confines of the bed, and stumped to the window.

"Rose?" she whispered into the darkness. "Rose, get up."

Someone moaned. "Nrrr..."

"Rose!" Lily barked, now starting to get seriously annoyed. "Help me with this blasted window!"

Rose's sleepy voice came to her through the dark. "Don't say blasted..."

Lily rolled her eyes, and yanked the window down with a thud, raindrops flying everywhere. She turned around in the blackness, feeling for the foot of her bed. As luck would have it, she rammed into her dresser, and yelped with pain.

"Shut it!" cried Rose, as she flicked her lamp on.

Lily glowered at her cousin. "It might interest you to know that I nearly broke my leg on that chest of drawers! And by the way, nice timing with the lamp."

Rose scooted from under her covers, her wild scarlet waves tumbling over her eyes. "Let me look," she commanded.

Lily allowed Rose to inspect the growing bruise.

"Lil' it'll be fine, honestly. You overreact! All the time."

"Not true," Lily protested, this injustice rankled. She jerked away from the offending dresser, and flopped onto her mattress.

"Be quiet," Rose advised, "or everyone will wake up and come running in here."

"Everyone," was Lily's two brothers, James and Albus, her cousins Rose and Hugo, her parents, Aunt and Uncle, and her grandparents, Molly and Arthur. This being summer, the Potter family made its annual pilgrimage to the Burrow for an entire week. And as Rose had warned, James, Albus and Hugo would most likely have come creeping into the girl's room, just to frighten them and have a laugh. Lily was careful to keep her voice contained to a whisper.

"So, Rose," she began, comfortably in bed at last, "I'm beginning to suspect James is secretly dating this girl from Ravenclaw—Margret somebody."

"And you came by this knowledge...?"

"I came by this bit of information with a little healthy eavesdropping, yes," Lily admitted. "Actually, I was in the Common Room when I heard James saying to his friend that he kissed this girl on his last trip to Hogsmeade."

Rose was inclined to be practical. "Well, he is in sixth year. He's going to want to do things of that sort."

"Still," said Lily, staring at the ceiling absently. "I have a feeling he neglected to tell Mum and Dad about this little fancy."

Rose laughed. "Hugo fancies Eva Brown, you know."

Lily wrinkled her nose. "Unfortunately, I do know. That half-wit is about as smart as concrete!" Eva Brown was known for nearly fainting each and every time she saw a spider, homework assignment, or a cute boy. Though, Lily suspected Eva was smarter than she let on.

"Forgetting Eva," Rose sighed, "what about Bridgette Stone?"

Lily snorted derisively at the ceiling. "The Slytherin? What about her?"

"Well I was in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, when a few fifth year Slytherin's discussed the fact that Bridgette was caught in a broom closet with a Hufflepuff! And get this, he was a year younger than her!"

"Urgh," Lily muttered, slightly nauseated by the thought. "Will wonders never cease..."

In the next moment, their pool of lamplight went dark, and the bedroom was plunged into blackness. "James!" Lily bellowed. "Stop being an idiot, and turn the light on! James?" she added, when there was no reply. She fumbled around, trying desperately to locate her wand. At last, she found it, nestled under a jumper, and murmured "Lumos!"

In the glow, she saw Rose's relieved expression, and out of the corner of her eyes, a second more surreptitious movement. The closet door seemed to be trying to shut itself. Lily narrowed her eyes, and directed her wand at the door.

"Alright, you three, come out." A pause, and then James, Hugo and Albus filed from the closet, and stood before Lily, grinning impishly. Only Albus had the grace to look ashamed, and even his lips were twitching playfully.

"You were pretty scared there, for a minute," smirked James.

Lily glared fiercely at him. "Be careful, dear brother. Your ego's in danger of exploding."

James raised an eyebrow. "I know you well enough by now, Lily. You were about to call Dad."

You—shut it!" Lily blustered, savagely. Rose had pointed her own wand at Hugo, and jabbed it menacingly in his direction. "Out!" she barked. The three boys didn't move.

"Leave," said Lily, "or I'll have a nice little chat with Mum and Dad, about—what was her name? Oh yes, Margret!"

James recoiled. "Yeah?" he challenged.

Lily grinned, knowing she had won. "Yes."

James shrugged, obviously trying to appear unruffled. "What's her problem?" he muttered to Albus. Albus chuckled. "You're reading between the lines, James. She's ANGRY!"

James pursed his lips. "Yeah, I gathered that much."

With a last dark look, James departed, Albus and Hugo trailing him. Lily slammed the door, and returned to her bed. She was too riled to sleep properly, so she lit the lamp once more, checked the closet for any Weasley's Wizard Wheezes products, and sprawled out on her bed.

"Those oafs," Rose said from across the room. "They're absolute idio-"

But she never finished her sentence. With a bang, a dizzying number of fireworks exploded in the hall just outside their door. "James!" screeched Lily and Rose in unison.

"Hear that?" bellowed James's voice from in the hall. "That," he yelled, sounding immensely satisfied, "was my ego exploding!" Amid his peals of raucous laughter, came the ominous sound of Lily's uncle Ron employing a few of his choicest swear words, thundering footsteps, and Molly Weasley's enraged shrieks.

"Good God!" cried Arthur from outside the door. "Lily, Rose, open the door!"

Lily threw her door open, and absorbed the scene. Her grandfather was breathing heavily threw his nose, his dressing gown on back-to front in his haste, her dad was deftly spewing a jet of water from the tip of his wand, smothering the fireworks, and everyone else was glaring at the three culprits, who shuffled guiltily. "Are you mad?" This was Ron, his expression one of disgust. "You could have burned the house down!"

Hugo flushed, looking very much like his father, though a great deal more ashamed.

"And you!" snapped Lily's mum, Ginny. "Are you really that immature, James? Apologize!"

James did, and Harry, having successfully put out the multicolored flames, looked as though her was fighting the urge to laugh. Lily stole a look at Rose, and once the snickers started, they couldn't be stopped. Within moments, everyone was roaring, though they didn't quite know why. A sense of humor, thought Lily, is the key.

Yay! You stuck with me until the end... So, let's be real-was this worthwhile, great or sketchy? Yes, your opinion matters. Please leave a quick review, so I can get a handle on my work. Thanks a million!

Spark Writer