I remember the first time it happened. I had brought my best friend Alice home for the holidays with me over easter of our sixth year. Her mother was driving her up the wall about something and she had claimed to want to learn more about the way Muggles lived. I felt so bad because our Easter break was turning out to be dreadfully boring for both of us. I hadn't been home five minutes before I got in a tiff with Petunia and she refused to talk to me or even acknowledge Alice for the rest of the holiday. Mum and Dad were head over heels of course, I'd never brought a friend other than Severus home and by that point they'd had quite enough of him.
It was Sunday and it was raining cats and dogs. We were holed up in my bedroom watching a film on the tube. I had thrown myself across my bed and had my chin propped up on the backs of my hands. Alice was sitting at my desk just staring out of the window. She had been writing a letter to her beau Frank but the quill was clutched forgotten in her hand as she seemed to be in a sort of trance by the falling water outside of my window. It had been raining for days. My mother's garden was in such a state…
Suddenly Alice jumped up "I can't take it anymore, Lily, I'm going insane." Only once had I seen her like this and it was after we'd stayed up all night and snuck into the library to finish a potions essay. I had already finished it of course the day it was assigned but something about staying up all night and breaking the rules with your best friend is just so appealing. She's thrown up her hands and ripped the essay to shreds and run four laps around the shelves coming back and continuing her work.
"Well, Alice dear, what do you suppose I do about it?" She didn't answer, but instead grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my room, down the stairs and through the front door before I knew what she was doing. Immediately we were both soaked through our sundresses we'd put on that morning. I shrieked in shock but Alice was already running towards the road where she proceeded to spin in circles like a lunatic, face raised to the crying heavens. All I could do was laugh for a moment watching her look like such a fool but she looked so free. And so I joined her.
We just stood there for what seemed like forever, soaked to the bone, the cloth of our outfits becoming one with our drowned flesh. And then when we had laughed ourselves hoarse and could no longer see properly for all the rain water in our eyes we just stood and looked at each other. I was shivering and Alice was smiling and she walked up to me and right there in the middle of the road right in front of my house where anyone could have seen she kissed me right on the lips. Afterwards we went inside and my mother gave us hell about how we were going to catch pneumonia but for that instant I saw into Alice's soul.