Hi lovelies! This is my first time posting on this site so I'm really sorry if the layout and stuff is messed up, I'm trying to make my way around here! I do not own any of these characters but I'd gladly borrow James Potter anytime :). I hope y'all like this story! (This is set in the Marauders era, 6th year)
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Lily Evans sat on her bed cross legged, fiddling with one of the ties of the green hoodie she wore, staring into space. A loud knock jolted her from her daydream. She leapt up, off her bed, padded across her room and opened the door. Petunia Evans was standing in front of her in a dark blazer and pants looking oddly business like for an 18 year old girl. "Mum says you're to go downstairs to greet the Helins. And please try to look presentable and not like you've just woken up." She said this last sentence as if Lily was a wet dog that has just shook itself dry in front of her. She turned dramatically and click-clacked down the stairs in a pair of modest flats. Lily sighed and closed the door. She rummaged around in her closet and threw on a pair of jeans, combed her hair and tied it up in a neat ponytail.
She set downstairs and upon her arrival into the hall she saw her parents, Petunia and her mother's swedish friends (a lovely couple with a 3 year old daughter named Monika) that had come to stay for the remaining part of the summer. A tall blonde woman and man were stood holding the hands of a little girl who looked an exact replica of the woman holding her right hand. Her parents stood with their backs facing Lily, in conversation with the guests. "Monika!" Lily said, her parents and Petunia's head turned while the Helin's eyes flicked up. Everyone's faces broke into smiles as they caught sight of her, everyone's except Petunia's. Lily's heart dropped as she noticed this. The little girl threw herself onto Lily, embracing her friend tightly as she giggled. Lily felt happy that she remembered her. Petunia's face scowled, telling Lily that the little girl hadn't had the same reaction upon seeing her. Monika's mum pried her away from Lily. "Sorry about that darling, she hasn't seen you in very long." She smiled, flashing two rows of pearly whites as she hugged Lily. Lily inwardly agreed with this. The blond man exclaimed jokingly. "Why am I not included with all the hugs?" Everyone laughed and Lily went and gave the man a hug. "So Kaisla, you were telling me what you were planning on doing on your stay here?" Lily's mum said. The conversation lead onto discussing plans for an upcoming fair.
Lily's dad exclaimed "Oh! Lily darling, you won't be able to go because you'll be at Hogwarts when the carnival comes to town!" Petunia's head snapped up at the mention of the school. "Oh it's fine, don't let me ruin your fun." Lily said heartily, steadily avoiding Petunia's glare.
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"That was a wonderful dinner, darling." Lily's dad said, setting his fork down. Lily smiled, her parent's relationship was very sweet. Everyone murmured words of agreement. "Well, does everyone have room for dessert? I made apple pie." Lily's mum said to groans. She chuckled and served everyone up with slices of her apple pie with whipped cream (extra for Monika in her high chair). Petunia excused herself, muttering something about catching up on some reading. Lily stared after her, Petunia never stayed for dessert.
When they all finished, they went into the living room and sat around talking about how Mrs Evans had made the dinner. Lily sat on the carpet with Monika, playing with building blocks.
Lily felt a burst of happiness every time Monika let out a laugh. She watched the toddler's toothy grin grow wider as the tower of blocks they were building grew higher. "So Lily, how is Hogwarts going for you? I hear you're a Prefect?" Mr Helin said. The Helins were wizards, unlike Lily's parents. "Hogwarts is going great Mr Helin, thanks for asking." He smiled at the response and went back to conversation with the other adults. The new topic had brought a new happiness into her, she would be going back to Hogwarts in 3 days. She would get to see all of her friends and not have to stress about O. anymore, except her results of course. She wondered how Alice and Marlene were, she had stayed in touch with her best friends over the summer but due to her sister's hate for owls going to and fro from their house, Lily had to promise that she would reduce the amount of all of the communication. Lily wished that she wasn't always controlled by Petunia, but because of her strong love for her sister, she couldn't do anything to unsettle her. There were also other people she was apprehensive about seeing, one of these people was Severus Snape. She had tried to avoid thinking about him and running into him (as they lived in the same neighbourhood) due to the things that had happened in the previous school year. She has heard various rumours that Sev- Snape had fancied her, but this didn't change anything. Another person would be James Potter, this case was less apprehension but more of the fact that she plainly didn't want to see him. He was arrogant, egotistical and obnoxious. She didn't exactly hate him, he was more of a friend to her than Snape was in fact. "Eely? Eely?" Lily jolted once more out of her deep thought as Monika patted her face as if waking her up from something. Lily shook her head, she didn't have time to waste thinking about James Potter.
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Lily stood in Diagon Alley alone as her parents went to spend time with the Helins and Petunia after dropping her off in front of the Leaky Cauldron. They had arranged to meet up at 4pm inside the Leaky Cauldron, it was 12pm. She set off to Madam Malkin's because it was the first place on her list. She didn't really need new robes but she was hoping to find someone from school that was willing to shop with her. She walked into the store and was hit with the smell of Madam Malkin's perfume. She was pretending to be interested in some button samples when she caught right of Remus Lupin. She straightened up and tapped his shoulder. He turned around quickly, she saw his face light up as he saw her. "Lily! Long time no see!" Remus was one of the Marauders she could actually stand, because he was a Prefect and he didn't care about how cool he was. "Good to see you Remus, I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me in shopping?" Lily asked.
Remus smiled "I'd love to, but only if we're going to be book shopping at some point." Lily laughed. "I also promised to meet up with James and Sirius at the Leaky Cauldron at 3, if that's okay with you? I know you don't really like them but it could be worth a shot going." he tailed off nervously, trying to read Lily's guarded expression without much success. "Don't worry about my little rift with James, I'll be fine." Lily didn't really feel fine but like Remus said, it could be worth a shot going. And with that, they set off to do their shopping.
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At 2:55 Lily and Remus were making their way to the Leaky Cauldron as promised.
Lily was finding Remus' company very nice, as she got to talk to him about books and different authors. He was chuckling at one of her literary jokes when they walked into the joint. James and Sirius were sitting on barstools and perked up when they saw Remus and Lily. Sirius looked extremely tired, his hair was in a loose bun and he was wearing a sweatshirt that looked as if it hadn't been changed in a week, he was also wearing a pair of ratty sweatpants he wouldn't be caught dead in. Remus sat himself down next to Sirius so Lily had no choice but to sit next to James. She wasn't thrilled by this prospect but she found that she didn't mind as much as she thought she would. "What have you two budding nerds got up to?" James said rhetorically. Lily rolled her eyes while Remus chuckled. The barman came over and asked them for their orders. "Four Firewhiskies, mate." Sirius said, offhandedly. Remus gave Sirius a look and said to the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron "Four butterbeers, thanks." He slid a few coins to him and turned to Sirius. "What? I'm a sixth year, I should be able to have a Firewhiskey." Sirius said indignantly. Remus shook his head and sighed. Lily stifled a giggle. "Anyways, Moony, did I tell you I was made Captain for the team?" James said, accepting one of the bottles of Butterbeer and jerking his chin at Tom, as if to thank him. Lily took hers with a little more grace, actually saying "thank you" which got a small smile from the landlord. "Well, I mean you were kind of set to have the position, weren't you? What with Smith leaving and all." Remus said, uncorking his drink and taking a swig. James grinned "You flatter me, Moony.". Lily inwardly rolled her eyes.
"So Evans, what'd you get up to this summer?" James asked Lily with seemingly genuine interest. She was taken aback by this change of behaviour. "Not anything interesting really, and you?" She said, cautiously eyeing him.
"Ditto, and don't worry. I'm not going to ask you out now or anything, Evans." James said leaning back and running his hand through his hair and yawning.
James Potter always had a way of looking messy, but not too messy. His hair was always in a state that most boys tried their hardest to achieve, but he had this knack of it coming effortlessly. Everything about James Potter's appearance was effortless, and this is what Lily Evans annoyed. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "Tired?" Lily asked, on the same genuine level as James was at. "Just a little bit, Sirius and I pulled an all-nighter. Actually we're planning on doing it tonight too." James said, smiling. Lily's eyebrows knitted together. An all-nighter? It wouldn't be smart, since school was starting tomorrow. "Don't worry, it's a tradition. We'll be fine." He said, reassuring her. She felt a little more relaxed. They settled into normal conversation about whether or not Dumbledore would dye his beard pink.
At 4:05 Lily checked her watch, jumping at the time. "Bloody hell, Okay you lot. I'm heading out now, my parents are picking me up. See you on the train tomorrow!" She leapt off of her seat and ran outside as the 3 others chorused their goodbyes.