A/N: So basically first things first, I'm sorry to anybody who lives in Plymouth. I've lived there myself, and its not exactly the prettiest place ever. Secondly, cards on the table, Its 3:46 AM and I wrote this in the wrong state of mind to be doing anything productive, so sorry. Will continue this in the near future.


CHAPTER ONE: THE WOTSIT THEIF

Lily Evans rubbed her eyes furiously. Today was not the day that she was going to cry in public. The first month of her summer had been so hectic it'd passed in a blur. A year ago, she would've spewed at the mere thought of spending one minute of her precious summer holiday with the likes of Sirius Black and James Potter, but here she was, sitting on a cold metal bench at Kings Cross Station, red faced and awaiting the arrival of a particular glossy-haired individual, whom she would be spending the next two weeks with.

She had made a bet, you see. She had only made it because she was sure that the possibilities of her losing were slim to none. It was almost a year ago, yet the easily aggravating face of Sirius Black still swam before her, a challenging look in his eye. 'If I beat you in this years DADA exam, you are coming to see James and I next summer.' It echoed. She still wasn't exactly sure as to why she had agreed. Maybe she had felt adventurous, or maybe she had been having an off day. However, present Lily was now paying for past Lily's sins.

She sat on the bench, staring blankly at the crowded platform. Her mind replayed the last words Petunia had said to her before she went to Dorcas's. She had screwed up her face in utmost disgust, and, though Lily and her were roughly the same height, she looked down her nose at Lily as though her own sister was something she'd found on the bottom of her shoe. 'You're a freak, Lily.' She had spat, not even a trace of banter in her voice. She'd wanted her out of her life. gone. Dorcas (bless the beautiful girl that she is) immediately could tell something was wrong when they met in Essex minutes later, partly because she had known Lily for six years, and partly because shed found the red-head in tears. Over the next four days, Dorcas, who lived in the heart of London, kept Lily so busy with galleries and museums and friends that Lily had no time to think about her shit-show of a relationship with her older sister.

'Alright, Evans?'

Lily looked up faintly and felt all the colour drain from her face (Good thing, too. She'd rather be as white as a ghost then as red as a tomato in front of Sirius Black).

'Sirius,' She said soberly, 'How are you?' Sirius fit in perfectly with the grotty station. He was wearing simple dark jeans and a white shirt that ought to have been cleaner. His hair was always in its tidy formation, and he looked thoroughly annoyed. Sirius answered this with a grim laugh, and he placed himself onto the bench, just as their train pulled into the station. Sirius had just left his childhood home, and it was common knowledge that the Black Family weren't the nicest bunch. He'd ran away the summer previously, yet he still returned for one last family reunion. His scowl dissolved momentarily when he saw their train. They got aboard and Lily couldn't help but notice that the wizard seemed to know his way around the train very well. Lily assumed he visited Potter Manor very often, it being his home. After threatening a small boy who had sat down in his favourite compartment, he sat with satisfaction. Lily watched as the small thing scarpered past her with fear.

'That's an abuse of power!' She squawked in alarm, dropping her trunk on her foot in a feeble attempt to put it on one of the seats.

Sirius shrugged. 'That bugger's always giving me attitude whenever I come on here. Cheeky bastard.' He said, throwing himself onto a seat opposite her trunk and pulling a large block of Honeydukes' finest out of nowhere. 'Reckon he was only shy then because of you. Usually have to drag him out.'

'How mature. A war with someone half your age.'

'Relax, Evans.' The terrorist shushed, throwing her more then half of his chocolate. 'You're picking a fight because you're bored.'

Lily bit back a retort. She was bored.


'Evans, wake up.'

Lily opened her eyes, which were bleary from her slumber. The window against which her cheek lay was cold and wet from condensation. The train had come to a stop. She peered outside curiously, her eyes still adjusting.

'Sorry.' She mumbled.

'You lasted about ten minutes before you fell asleep,' Sirius laughed, all signs of bitterness from his family encounter gone from his voice. 'I didn't count you as the drooling type, myself.'

Turning crimson at this last comment, Lily hastened to pull her trainers back on. She muttered something along the lines of 'Dorcas hasn't let me sleep properly in days.' and pulled off her jumper. The weather outside looked pleasant. Sirius shrunk her trunk and put it in his pocket.

'You might want to keep that on,' Sirius said, helping her off the train and onto the platform. 'Plymouth is unforgiving.'

'I doubt that. Its summer!' Lily said, much more cheerful now that she'd slept. As they exited the train station and into the car park, Sirius was proven right. Much to Lily's displeasure, Plymouth wasn't exactly the Bahamas. 'This is hideous.' Lily said, looking around the car park. It was like London, except London had class. There were beat up cars parked haphazardly into spaces, the lines separating each space very faint. Graffiti splattered the walls of a nearby bus stop and black chewing gum stuck to every surface. Lily very much expected a hobo to come up to them and hit them with a glass bottle.

'Are you kidding me, Lilykins?' Sirius said, astonished. 'This is the true part of Plymouth! It's the real beauty. Makes you want to light a cigarette, eh?' He gestured around at the wreck of a place, grinning devilishly.

'Not particularly.' Lily muttered, squinting up at the sun, and then along the street.

'Here he comes. The biggest prat on earth.' Sirius sighed, squinting into the distance.

James Potter did not at all fit in with Plymouth. She had seen him before Sirius and couldn't help but giggle as he approached. James Potter was wearing a black polo shirt, which was visible under his see-through poncho. To top it all, he was wearing orange denim jeans, of a very, very bright nature.

'You look like a 40-year-old tart, dear Prongs.' Sirius laughed, and allowed himself to be enveloped in a quick hug, which, to Lily, looked like a rugby tackle. 'And I don't use that insult lightly.'

'You would look much better bald.' James said thoughtfully, scruffing up Sirius's hair so that it matched his own. 'Evans.' He added as an afterthought, as though he'd only just seen her.

Lily raised an eyebrow expectantly. James, laughing, pulled her into an awkward side hug, and turned back to Sirius, who had just made a particularly rude comment about his left big toe. Lily wrapped her arms around herself. Plymouth really was cold. She listened to the two of them next to her, squabbling, and gave a happy sigh. It felt like the last year they'd just had at Hogwarts. James and Lily were in a good place. His head had shrunk significantly, and she actually didn't mind being in his company. Plymouth was a train wreck, but the air was cleaner, and smelt better than London's. She hadn't even been with the two of them five minutes, and she was already laughing at their relentless bickering.

Maybe that bet wasn't such a bad idea.

Lily had no time to think about Petunia. The next few hours were spent shopping in Plymouth. Lily laughed as James and Sirius amused her by trying on glittery cocktail dresses in the dressing rooms of a fancy store by the name Arabella's. Eventually, though, Arabella herself thought it would see fit to kick them out. They were all but pushed out of the store's front door, wheezing with laughter.

They then took refuge inside of a grocer. James and Lily examined the many kinds of bread and had a very boring conversation about the variety ('Im personally a flat bread kind of person myself. What do you think about Gluten free, Evans?'). Sirius stalked the shelves, every five seconds bursting out with an exited exclaim of something along the lines of 'Cadbury! Wow! I'm stealing this!'

They got kicked out, again.

'It's not my fault that they have a no stealing policy!' Sirius whined three minutes later, his mouth full of stolen chocolate.

They were sitting on the curb outside the store, their legs stretched out across a fifth of the road. James was furious with Sirius, per usual. Sirius had been busted for attempted stealing, seeing as he announced his plans to the world very loudly. Lily sat between the two of them, mostly to prevent James choking Sirius. James's eyes were narrowed slits of hazel, and it wasn't being put past him.

'I have to walk in there every week to buy milk!' James yelled into his hands with frustration. 'That snotty manager will have it in for me!'

'It'll be fine,' Lily assured him, accepting a piece of apology chocolate from Sirius. 'I'm sure they get stuff like that all the time. Plenty of other shops in supermarkets in Plymouth, too.'

James laughed but it wasn't enthusiastic. Taking the chocolate that Sirius had held out to him (and trying to break Sirius's wrist at the same time, to which he then received a sharp thwack from Lily), he snorted in spite of himself, 'Imagine being yelled at by a woman in her mid-forties for stealing chocolate, and then still stealing chocolate.'

'You're a bad person.' Lily informed Sirius solemnly, who grinned.

'Let's not talk about how amazing I am,' the criminal dismissed, his laughter spraying the asphalt with chewed chocolate. Lily wrinkled her nose. 'Are we going to talk about how Prongs' bottom half looks like a wotsit?'

There was a sour look upon James's face when he saw Lily laughing alongside the person who had ruined his relationship with the milk-supplier. 'Do you want me to tell you he's not wrong?' Lily cackled, clutching her chest and heaving. James eyes bulged with slight incredulity, and his mouth twitched with the effort to not grin himself.

'Yes!' Now it was James's turn to whine.

Lily straightened, and looked at James directly in the eye, her lip shaking violently with the effort to not laugh. She lasted a simple three seconds before falling into fits of laughter once more. James's lip twitched itself into a grin.

I wonder if he's getting genuinely annoyed.

The thought had left Lily's head as quickly as it had entered. Lily didn't have long to ponder, though: a wet mop that had no doubt been aimed at Sirius narrowly missed her head by inches, and the whistling that its movement had made rung in her ears. Wheeling around, she saw the stores manager standing in the doorway. She swelled like a balloon, her bosom heaving and her eyes bulging, preparing to shout herself hoarse at the three teenagers before her. They all exchanged quick looks and informed each other that it was time to go, and they sprinted away. Just as they turned a corner onto a cobbled street, they heard a screech of fury from behind them. Doubled over with laughter, still, they ran.


'No.'

'Relax. It flies.'

'That's supposed to calm me, how?'

Lily's hysterical voice rang through the ugly alleyway. Onlooker's stopped in their tracks and peered along the dense street, looking suspicious. To their surprise, three adolescents stood there, arguing over a very large, deep crimson motorbike. The redhead by the name of Lily Evans seemed to be protesting. Rather loudly.

'I'd rather apparate illegally.'

Sirius shrugged indifferently. He shot the nosy couple at the entrance of the alleyway a look that told them plainly to mind their own business, and when they had left to continue their evening shopping, Sirius extended his arm to Lily. 'Grab hold.'

'Wait, no! – you're seventeen - no, what?'

'I didn't pass the test on purpose!' Sirius laughed, answering Lily's question before she had even asked it. 'I've been apparating since I was fourteen, its much more fun when doing it illegally!'

'Get on the bike, Lily.' James spoke this time, not realizing how exasperated he sounded. His attention was on his highlighter-orange jeans, which, due to the day's events, were covered in scuff marks, glitter, chocolate and (don't ask) petrol.

Lily, who was too preoccupied pondering the fact that Sirius could apparate at fourteen to retaliate, obeyed. When Sirius got on, however, she arranged her long hair so that it whipped him in the face when the bike was in motion. Lily awkwardly wrapped her arms around James's waist, and she felt his muscles tense up at her touch. Lily prepared for Sirius to grab her around her own stomach, but, as the bike's engine roared with life, he never did.

'You were taking the piss about this thing flying, right?'


He's barking, Lily thought, watching as Sirius extended his arms into the air with glee as the bike sped along the city streets. They passed various shops, cafés, and Lily even caught a glimpse of a large hospital two blocks away. It took her almost a minute to realize that she had been subconsciously yelling into James's ear with fright. The bike was terrifying. It was very loud and big, and the fact that Sirius wasn't holding on at all and pretended to fall off every few seconds wasn't helping. Soon, the buildings that they passed were becoming more separated, turning into houses with gardens and fewer shops. Eventually, the buildings dissolved into huge fields of grass, with sheep grazing harmlessly, only mildly becoming alert when they heard the chainsaw-like noise that was the motorbike shooting past.

'Faster, Prongs! You sissy!' Sirius yelled over the thunder of the machinery below. 'Everyone's safe now that we're out of the city!'

Lily doubted this. She didn't feel very safe: The bike shook violently beneath her, and they were now going so fast that her face stung and eyes watered. She shot another glance at Sirius, who's eyes were streaming as he laughed manically. Though she was scared out of her skin, the sight made her grin.

'Hold on!' James roared with concentration and Lily somehow managed to squeeze him harder. 'That means you, too, you hobo!' Lily felt Sirius's arms wrap loosely around her waist. What is James going to do?, she wondered. There was no possible way the bike could get any faster. The wind was bitter against her skin and she had already concluded that the seat that was on the motorbike was definitely not made for people of her sex, which had already made the journey less then comfortable. Her lips hurt from smiling, and through gritted teeth she was also still screaming frightened wails directly in James's ear.

Without warning, the bike began to shake even more violently. Lily let out a terrified yelp and Sirius, a joyful howl. She felt his grip slacken and instinctively removed one of her hands from James's waist to rearrange Sirius's arms around her own abdomen. Today was not going to be the day when Sirius Black dies. There were so much more rules he could break, so much more chocolate he could steal. Being an accessory to murder was not going to look wonderful on her auror application, either. The bike gave a great shudder and began to lift off the ground as it sped down a countryside hill. Lily screeched so loudly it felt as if her throat would tear. The vehicle soared high and higher until the sheep in the field turned into roughly the size of white mice. They ascended still, and Lily watched with agony as the white mice turned into the size of pinpricks. She glanced at Sirius once more, his eyes flashed daringly. He removed his arms from Lily's waist and they jumped to his pocket. He pulled out another stolen chocolate bar and began to eat it casually, not breaking eye contact.

Lily hesitated before leaning forwards to look at James's expression. In order to catch a glimpse, she would have to lean OVER THE SIDE of the vehicle, and she couldn't even bear the thought. Determined to not look down, she clamped James's waist for dear life and twisted her body so that she could see his face.

He's laughing.

James had a grin plastered across his face, his eyes had a euphoric glint within them. He slowed the bike down in order to converse with Lily. The bike's dramatic drop in speed had propelled Sirius forward, and his belt buckle pressed directly into Lily's back.

'Having fun?!' Sirius yelled, showing all of his teeth, 'Would you just look at that tree down there! Wow, were really high up, aren't we, Lilykins?'

Lily could only respond in a whimper. She glanced at her feet. She was wearing simple trainers, not her most painful shoes, but she imagined they'd still do a reasonable amount of damage to Sirius's backside. He would get a real beating when they landed. She would make sure his life flashed before his eyes.

'He's taking the mickey.' James laughed, as they glided along smoothly. 'Look at that mountain!'

Lily trusted James more then she trusted Sirius. Sure enough, there was a mountain at the end of a field. They were roughly just below the tip, which was obscured by the evening clouds. Lily gasped. Clouds! She looked above her at the sea of white fluff. It looked so elegant. If only she could muster up the courage to touch them. She stared at them longingly.

Sirius sensed her thoughts. He chuckled as her eyes widened. Sirius had stood up completely, balancing on the back of the bike. He extended his hand to her.

'Are you mad?!' She screamed.

James swivelled around (to which Lily screamed more hysterically, keep your eyes ahead of you!) to tell her to trust him. Lily swayed with realisation. She had travelled across the country with a chocolate thief to meet someone in bright orange pants and a poncho – where did the poncho go, actually? – and now she was stuck on a huge motorcycle with the orange man driving and the criminal attempting to kill himself.

Suddenly, without warning, (or permission, for that matter) Sirius grabbed Lily's upper arm and wrenched her away from James, who stared fixedly ahead. There they stood, Lily writhing and screaming and Sirius attempting to calm her down and keep them balanced. Their combined weight had made the motorcycle sway dangerously.

Sirius removed Lily from over his shoulder and placed her in front of him, her back to James. Even though she was extremely furious with him, she grabbed his waist and wailed with fear, her eyes tight shut. Sirius removed one of her hands from his body, and held it up.

Lily was touching the clouds. Her hand was slightly damp and cold from the moisture that was held within the whiteness, but she gave a small squeal of happiness when she opened her eyes. Tearing her gaze away from the clouds, she scanned Sirius's face. His smile had returned, and Lily felt all anger with him slip away. He'd shown her something truly glorious. His eye met hers for a moment, and she couldn't help but notice how his blue-grey eyes matched the sky above.

James has nice eyes.

Lily turned and sat down, her arms snaking themselves around James again. She was dumbstruck by her own train of thought. Why did her mind misbehave like that? James was her friend, that's all. She felt the bike slow to a stop in mid-air, just as she felt Sirius's presence and then touch behind her.

'We're descending.' James said.

The bike dropped like a brick. Lily yelled in alarm and even Sirius tightened his grip. They were shooting downwards very fast. Lily closed her eyes and didn't open them until she had felt the ground directly underneath them. Relief soared through every vein in her body when she stepped off the bike and onto the damp grass. It took her several moments to steady herself and get used to the comforting feeling of earth beneath her.

They had landed in the courtyard of a nearby mansion. The huge building was covered in vines that bloomed white flowers. It was overgrown, but in a majestic way. Around the side of the house there was a large shed, which smartly matched the house, with a wooden door which stood ajar with several things spilling out of it: old broomsticks, machinery parts (no doubt motorcycle), rope, a very big, spilled jar of Sleakeazy's Hair Potion, and a rotten pumpkin.

James rolled the motorbike and leaned it carefully along the side of the shed. He gestured for Lily and Sirius to follow him and he led the way around the front of the manor.

Lily let out a gasp of adoration when she saw the front. Potter Manor had large windows that the light danced upon in the sunset, the double door was very big and arch-shaped, matching the the rows of windows beside it. There were rose bushes that outlined the whole house, and they only stopped around the back. A pale face peered at them through the window to the side, and, catching sight of either Lily or Sirius, it let out a high pitched squeal and disappeared from view.

The large wooden doors opened with a bang. Standing in the doorway there was an elderly woman. Euphemia Potter had aged gloriously. Her long silver hair was tied back in an elegant bun, and her bright blue eyes sparkled at the sight of Lily and Sirius. She beckoned them through the doorway and threw herself into her second son's arms. 'My dear boy!' She all but yelled, grabbing his face and peering into it. Though Sirius had only been gone a total of three days, it was if he'd just come back from war. 'You look underfed!' behind her, James stood awkwardly, embarrassed for Sirius, who seemed to love the attention. He shot Lily a look and wiggled his eyebrows. Lily's laugh had directed Euphemia's attention elsewhere.

'You must be Lily,' She said, opening her arms wide for a hug. The hug lasted longer then it should've, because during it, Euphemia murmured, 'I've heard so much about you.' Then, flashing Lily one last dazzling smile, she turned to once again fuss over Sirius ('Now really, I do not mean to speak ill of your mother, but does she feed you?').

His mum's nice.

Lily shook her head jerkily, as though trying to rid water from her ears. Her own mind was betraying her. She smiled as Euphemia told Sirius he ought to clean behind his ears, and told herself that she was not going to let her own mad mind ruin her trip.

I wonder what she's heard about me.


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