A/N: J.K Rowling is the true owner of Harry Potter! All characters belong to her!

Chapter One

It was a very still late July night. The air was filled with the cricket's sound, rhythmic and continuous, as it filled the summery air along with the occasional ruffles of nocturnal birds. Fidelis street was enjoying another summer's night and was empty except for large magnificent houses in which the residents were enjoying their slumber in peace. The lawns were freshly mowed and the air was filled with the sweet smell of grass. But suddenly, something roared, causing one resident in house number seven eighty-two to wake. This resident had terribly untidy jet-black hair and hazel eyes that were now open. He strained his ear in the silence and heard a distant humming noise, coming closer slowly. He turned his head sleepily to look at the open window, expectantly, as if someone was going to appear. The teenage boy sat up in his bed, smiling, and keeping his eyes on the window as he stood out of bed, and reached over for his glasses that he placed on the night table beside a picture of four teenage boys, moving and smiling. Clad in only his pyjama bottoms (seeing as it was too hot to wear the top) he walked over, tripping over his messy collection of possessions on the floor that were scattered on the way, towards the window. He stuck his head out into the summer night and looked up at the star splattered sky.

And there it was: the sight he was waiting for. There was a flying motorbike with a small sidecar visibly attached to it coming out of the sky, lowering closer and closer to Fidelis street. The loud roar increased and this worried the teenage boy as he frowned.

"Sirius, you are going to kill us..." the teenage boy whispered to himself, and then the pulled his head back inside and rushed over the mess on the floor and grabbed a wand. He then rushed out his bedroom door and into a dark long hallway. Hurrying along the hallway, noticing that the motorbike's roar was getting louder very quickly, he walked fast paced into the bedroom at the end of the hallway, opened it slightly and whispered, pointing his wand at the two people sleeping in a queen sized bed, "Muffliato."

The boy closed the door without a care about how loud he did and rushed back down the hallway and towards the landing of the stairs. The boy rushed down the stairs, skipping the last four and landing in the entrance hallway with a loud thud on the hard wood floor. Looking through the front door window, which showed visibly light coming from a headlight, and using his hearing as a source, the motorbike had now landed in his front yard. The boy walked fast and opened the door and saw the driver of the motorbike still had his helmet on, but knew there was a smile lurking behind it. He walked towards the bike as the driver got off. The driver took of the helmet and a handsome face with grey eyes and short length wavy hair that seemed to fit his face quite elegantly appeared. The face smiled as he saw the teenage boy walking.

"Hey, James!"

The two boys hugged each other. "Hey, Sirius. Alright?"

They let go of each other and Sirius shrugged, looking down at the grass.

"Deciding to crash my house, then? Not to mention it is the dead of night and the whole street is asleep. You might want to be more considerate." James said with a hint of laughter in his voice.

Sirius looked up and James could finally see the handsome face in the moon light. "I know, I am really sorry about that –"

"Sorry it not going to stop the Improper Use of Magic Office from sending me a letter." James butted in.

Sirius's eyes widened, but didn't look shocked. "You used magic? When?"

James shrugged carelessly. "The Muffliato spell on my parents, just now because of you loud motorbike. Don't worry about it. I was dying to use magic anyway; it has been a boring summer so far." He added in a regretful manner.

Sirius's face turned into a twisted smile. "Can't agree with you there. My summer has been quiet eventful, actually."Then he let out a huge big yawn.

"You can tell me all about it tomorrow." James said as he headed towards the sidecar of the motorbike where there was a big black trunk and a broomstick. James grabbed the trunk as Sirius walked over and grabbed the broomstick.

Sirius's trunk was extraordinarily heavy. James grunted as he carried it towards the front door. But then he heard a whisper of "Wingardium leviosa." James looked behind and saw Sirius levitating the trunk with his wand, smiling.

"Guess I will also be getting a letter from the Ministry soon." he laughed in his bark like manner. The two friends went into the dark house and up to James's messy room.

James went out of his room and into the hall closet and found a blue sleeping bag there. He knew that if Sirius was planning on staying long term (which is highly suspected) he will move into the spare bedroom, but the house-elf might find it a shock to see a boy sleeping in there when she goes to clean it early morning. It is safer for Sirius to stay with James right now, especially if his mom and dad don't know he is here and they might not agree with the idea.

James kicked some of his robes and possessions out of the way beside his bed and laid out the sleeping bag there. Sirius shrugged out of his clothes and climbed into the sleeping bag just in his boxers. Clearly he was exhausted from the long trip he had taken all the way from London. "G'night" he mumbled. Then he looked right at James, who was setting his glasses on the night table "And thanks."

James gave him a warm smile and then fell asleep, but it felt like he head had just hit the pillow when his eyes opened and saw the late morning sun rays coming through the window. He looked at his watch and saw it was 11:30 and sat up in his bed, looking around his room. Even though he had only been here for 3 weeks now, his possessions had now spread out all over his room and it seemed impossible to clean up. There was a large pile of clothes needing desperately to be washed in the corner, along with various books from school, magazines, wrappers of various candies and chocolates spread out all over the floor. This was, of course, not unusual for James.

He looked down beside his bed and saw a mass of dark curly hair. James placed his glasses on and jumped out of bed. He pulled a t-shirt on from the floor and went towards Sirius and kneeled down beside him. He placed a hand on Sirius's shoulder and shook him gently. "Hey, Padfoot, wake up."

As expected, Sirius did not stir. James rolled his eyes as Sirius sounded out a huge snore. He was completely oblivious to the world. James stood up and announced to the room at large, "Well, I guess I will be heading down to the kitchen and have myself a big breakfast of greasy bacon and sausages." James glanced down to see Sirius sitting right up with a look of hunger in his eye.

James gave a laugh. Sirius looked rather pitiful. "You know, I haven't had anything to eat since lunch yesterday."

James rolled his eyes. "Of course, my humble Padfoot. But first we must go downstairs and let my parents know you are here. I am sure they won't mind you coming over." He added with uncertainty.

Sirius looked a bit ashamed. "I am sorry for just crashing in like that. But I couldn't think of any other place to go...Remus and Wormtail are both out of the country..."

"You are always welcomed here." said a warm voice as a tall lean woman with a similar face shape as James, a long nose and sparkling blue eyes walked in. She had blond hair that was greying visibly at the roots. Though she was considerably old, she was as energetic as one could be.

Sirius got up at once and then realized he was only wearing his boxers. Mrs Potter chuckled as Sirius grabbed a pair of jeans that belonged to James hastily from the floor placed them on frantically.

"When did you arrive? I am sure you cannot Apparate yet, and I didn't see trace of you on the Floo –"

Just then, a deep voice from downstairs called up. "Elizabeth! There is a huge motorbike outside in our backyard!"

Sirius's face reddened. James heard loud heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and saw his father, who had similar jet-black hair (though it was now grey) and hazel eyes as James enter. He glanced at Sirius and understood immediately. "Ah, Mr Sirius Black decided to join us." His friendly face turned into a warm smile.

"Sirius arrived last night on his motorbike." James said. "And will be staying here for the rest of the summer. That is, if it is okay with you guys." James added, looking slightly worried at his parents.

Mr and Mrs Potter looked at each other and smiled. "Of course, you are welcome here, like I had said. But you can't stay in this trash hole." She added disapprovingly, looking around the mess of James's room.

"Hey! It's not my fault Inky doesn't clean up my room!" James added defensively. It was true. The Potters' house-elf, Inky, had something against cleaning James's room.

"Inky doesn't like being in your room for some reason. I have to sort out that house-elf! But anyway," Mrs Potter added, looking at Sirius. "I will get Inky to clean up the spare room today and then you can place your things there. Now come on, breakfast is getting cold." She added, with a quick smile and went out the room with her husband.

"Wow, I owe you and your parents." Sirius said, sighing in relief.

James patted him on the back. "Don't mention it, Padfoot."

Just then, two owls flew through the window and hooted as they landed on James's bed. James walked towards the two owls, both small and tawny, and saw they had a letter for himself and Sirius. James grabbed the letter that was for him and motioned Sirius for the other owl. Both boys opened the letters and read in silence. James read,

Dear Mr. Potter,

We have received intelligence that you performed a Charm that is not registered with the Ministry of Magic while in the location filled with Muggles at 3:42 in the morning. As you know, under-age wizards are not to do magic outside of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as you will be violating the Decree for Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. We advise that you do not repeat this action as it could lead to your suspension from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry and potentially expulsion. We also advise you to use charms that are Ministry of Magic approved. Failing to do this will ead to a expulsion from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Hoping you are well,

Amelia Bones

Improper Use of Magic Office

James smiled. The charm he had used was not Ministry approved, he had known that. He realized he had just taken a huge chance by using that charm and is luckty they didn't expel him! James looked up to see Sirius still reading his letter, his eyes wide. After a moment, Sirius looked up to see James's face and smiled himself. "I can't believe it! I am not suspended! They said they would suspend me after I got that letter last year for using a Permanent Sticking Charm!"

"But you are part of the Black family, aren't you? Your family has a huge impact on the Ministry –"

Sirius gave a dark laugh. "Ha! Huge impact, my ass. They just give them lots of gold."

"Still," James said, folding the letter back into the envolope. "It is the reason you are not suspended."

Sirius threw the letter aside, looking rather annoyed. "Well, if that's the case I would rather be suspended." he said darkly.

James knew Sirius hated the fact that he was part of one of those families that felt people who were not pure-blood in heritage were inferior to them and considered them not worthy to be part of the wizarding world. Sirius obviously had different views on this matter. It also did not help that his whole family were Sorted into the Slytherin house while he alone was went to Gryffindor, the rival of Slytherin. Talking about his family always made Sirius recklessly mad, more than he usually is. "Come on Padfoot. Let's have some breakfast then we can go down to the nearby pub in town and chat up this hot waitress there. She is simply mind blowing!"

This cheered Sirius right up. The two boys went downstairs, James tripping the house-elf, Inky and then laughing on their way to the kitchen. They joined Mr And Mrs Potter, who were now done and discussing the news as Mr Potter read the Daily Prophet, were sitting on the breakfast table.

"Oh, dear." Mr Potter said as they sat down. "Another disappearance. But says here that they are optimistic though, and say they are closer to knowing who is the mastermind behind these recent disappearances."

Mrs. Potter looked grave. "Well, that's good, at least."

James, not caring in the world about these recent disappearances, said, "Sirius and I will be going down to town for a while after breakfast."

"Alright," Mrs. Potter said slowly and with a suspecting look. "But behave yourselves, and be back by dinner, at the very most. Goodness knows what you do there, in a Muggle village!" She stood up in wonder. James coughed and looked at his father, who was smirking behind the Prophet. James knew his father knows exactly what he is up to when he goes to the village. Mr Potter had incidently caught James one day talking to a casheir at the supermarket. Of course, Mr Potter didn't tell Mrs Potter, who would ask James a hundread questions on who the girl is and if she passes her test.

After breakfast and forcefully stirring Sirius away from the pantry in the kitchen, James and Sirius stepped out of the house and into the hot sunny day. They were going to town on Sirius's motorbike, which can also be driven on road, not just fly. Sirius climbed onto the motorbike and James right after him.

Sirius had a very good understanding of the Muggle road rules, while James made fun of them. "A "Stop" sign?!?" he eclaimed in confusion as Sirius paused at one. "Why in the world would you need that? And what is with all of these yellow things that hang from ropes?" "Those I think are called signals or something like that. All I know is that red means stop, yellow means slow down and green means go." Sirius answered.

James laughed. "These Muggles must be pretty dumb then, needing to be reminded when to go and when to stop."

They also attracted alot of attention as their motorbike was not normal size as a Muggle bike. Many looked out their car windows and asked about it. Sirius would smile and say it was made specially for him. James gave the directions of the small pub in which they were going. It was not hard to find, seeing as this village was very small, with everything essential located on the main street. There weren't many people around either, making it also very quiet. It was a small village, but welcoming.

Sirius parked his motorbike beside the entrance of the pub. James got out and stretched his arms. "Hate that stupid sidecar."

They entered and found the pub as empty as ever, but there was a pretty young woman standing behind the bar, smiling knowingly as she saw James enter. James looked over at her and gave her a wink. They found a booth in the back of the pub and sat down. The waitress followed them.

"Hello, James." she said in her sexiest voice.

"Melinda, long time, no see." James answered in a husky deep voice, moving his hand through his hair. "We haven't talked since yesterday. Tell me, how was your night?"

Melinda blushed. "I went to a strip club." Her hand slightly brushed her big breasts.

James gulped as he noticed this. "Really?" he had no idea what a strip club was, but it didn't sound like a place where his parents would allow him to go, but he still wondered what they do there. "Maybe I can come along next time." he added, winking.

Sirius cleared his throat loudly. "I'll have a glass of beer."

"Yeah, me too." James said, now looking at Melinda's breasts.

Melina leaned over so James could clearly see her cleavage. "Alright, then."

James let out a huge breath as the waitress left. "Isn't she the hottest?!?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "She is clearly a hooker, Prongs."

James shrugged. "So what? I could use one of them."

Sirius rolled his eyes again, slightly annoyed. "I still don't get it. Why are you so after Lily, when you can have any girl in all of Hogwarts! Why not look at the Ravenclaws? There are some really good ones in there!" He exclaimed.

James looked away. "You won't understand. "

"It's just so you!" Sirius exclaimed. "To go after what you know you can't get!"

James narrowed his eyebrows. "Is that what you think?"

Sirius sighed. "This is the type of conversation you should have with Remus, not me."

James looked away. It was true; these deep conversations were always held with their good friend, Remus who had a big insight on James, Sirius and Peter, another good friend. But still, what Sirius just said bugged James. Yes, he agrees that he always wants what he can't have. This is how his obsession with Lily Evans started. First it was just that she was incredibly good looking in their first year at Hogwarts, but when every other girl had confessed her crush on James, Lily did not budge, nor had a crush on him and this intrigued James.

"Enough about that," Sirius said. "Heard from Remus lately?"

James shook his head. "Aren't they off in Scotland? Visiting his family?"

Sirius nodded. "Wormtail wrote to me. Mrs Lupin 's mother didn't like the fact that her grandson was a werewolf."

James was astonished. "What?!?"

Sirius nodded gravely. "His grandmother kicked him out of the house, asked Mrs. Lupin not to come again with her son."

James's face filled with anger. "Are you serious?"

Sirius gave his bark like laugh. "Of course I am 'Sirius'"

James laughed. The Marauders will never get over the 'sirius' jokes, no matter how old they get. But there was a hint of anger still on James's face. But then again, he told himself, what else was to be expected? Remus was a werewolf and werewolves are considered inferior to humans. Of course no one wants a werewolf in the family. This discrimination made James mad everythime something like this came along. His parents had taught him to consider all human beings as equals, werewolf or no werewolf. Plus, Remus was the gentlest and possibly the best werewolf there is! Well, when he is not a wolf. He was actually the least werewolf-like person that James ever knew.

Melinda came back, carrying a tray with two tankards filled with beer. She smiled flirtatiously at James. "Here you are, James." She bent low again when she sat the tankard for James in front of him. "Call me if you need anything else." She gave him a wink and left.

James stared after her longingly.

Sirius snapped his fingers in front of James's face. "Doesn't she realize that we are not eighteen years old?"

James jerked his head. "No, she thinks we are eighteen. Though, now that i think about it, I could've done the same thing you did with lovely Rosmerta." He added, smirking, thinking back to their Hogsmead trip in their fourth year.

Sirius laughed. "She was wild!"

James made a face. "I really didn't need to know that, Padfoot. What you did with her in the back store room you can take to the grave. She is at least in her thirties!"

"Yeah, well" Sirius said, still smiling about the memory. "We now have an endless supply of firewhiskey from the Three Broomsticks."

James nodded, admiringly. "True, true. Plus, Rosmerta is also very curvy."

Sirius nodded. "Indeed she is."

"Anyway, so what happened? With you, I mean." James asked, in a serious tone. "Did they kick you out?"

Sirius's face darkened. He knew exactly what James was talking about. "I left." He said in a straight forward manner. "My filthy maniac of a brother, Regulus, was talking about joining that new Dark wizard...I actually forgot his name, the one they all call 'You-Know-Who' or something along those lines –"

"Lord Voldemort." James said. "My parents talk about him."

"Yeah, that one." Sirius said. "Anyway, I said some things to make him mad, and then my majestic mother got in it and then I couldn't take it anymore. I packed my stuff and left."

"They didn't stop you?" James asked, knowing the answer already.

Sirius shook his head darkly. "They don't give a shit about me, nor do I for them." He took a long swing of the beer,

James sighed. "You are better off without them. You knew this was going to happen sooner or later. And hey," James added smiling warmly. "Now I won't be alone in this Muggle hell-hole!"

Sirius smiled. "Say, think we can risk a bit of magic?" he asked, his eyes looking mischievous.

James took a huge gulp of his beer. "Ha, you can, I can't."

Sirius's face changed and looked down. "No fun then. What are we going to do all summer?"

James shrugged. "We are going to our cottage by the lake in a few weeks. But I guess, until then...I have Melinda." He added, smiling at the bar, where Melinda stood eyeing him hopefully.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Prongs. She looks as if she is a hooker and at least ten years older than you! Wait," he said suddenly, smiling himself. "That might be a good thing."

"Hey!" James said defensively. "Rosmerta was about twenty years older than you!"

"Fine, fine." Sirius said. "You win. Thinking about Rosmerta has made me feel empty. I think I will pay her a visit when we get back to Hogwarts..."

James smiled. Sirius was a wild person who could get away with anything, including having sex with a woman about twenty years older than him so the Marauders can get firewhiskey. But it didn't matter; he had his friend back whom he had been sorely missing since they parted for the summer holidays. James never understood why his parents choose to live so closely to Muggles. His whole life has been filled with no one but Inky for company until he came to Hogwarts, where he found friends. He always had fun when his parents took him to their wizard friends' homes with children. But Hogwarts was where he met actual friends. Now though, coming back for the summers was not all fun as his parents were often away for Auror business and there was no one else to talk to but Inky. He had taken to getting to know these Muggles that lived by him (some of them were girls around his own age) but there was always this loneliness he felt. Now that Sirius was with him, he felt much better. His loneliness had disappeared into thin air.

***

The streets of Fluttery's End were filled with water, though it was a better sight than Spinner's End, which was said to be drowning in all of the excess water. Yet, the rain still poured down on the houses endlessly for the third day in a row. Children were taking advantage of the rain and jumping into the water and laughing as their parents warn them not to, but they were being rebellious and having fun. Other children wished that they could and jump without a care into the water, like one girl, sitting alone in her room, looking out at the dreary view from her window. Her fiery red hair was tied back into a pony tail and her emerald green eyes were filled with sadness. She sat in her chair, trying to finish the Transfiguration essay, but was distracted by the cries of children having fun.

It was the worst summer in the life of Lily Evans. She has never been so bored, alone and friendless as she felt that summer. Her friend, Felicity Jones, was having fun with her awarded full Quidditch internship with the Holyhead Harpies and her other friend Riana Prewett was visiting her cousins. Lily has never felt so detached from the wizarding world. Though, there was this one connection, but it was broken forever...

Lily thought about her friend, Felicity Jones. She was a huge Quidditch star in the making. She was chosen to be on the team in her second year, the youngest player selected in nearly fifty years. Her position as one of the Chasers for the Gryffindor team has made her highly popular, as popular as her fellow Chaser mate...but that person didn't matter. Felicity was a loud, wild girl, but also a loyal friend. Lily doesn't remember how she'd come to befriend such a wild person, but you couldn't ask for a tighter friendship than the one between Lily and Felicity. Lily supported her friend by going to Quidditch games, but that also meant watching another certain toerag of a player play, James Potter. Felicity and Potter were good friends as they both played Chaser, which made Lily mad, but she has grown to accept that fact.

Her other friend, Riana Prewett was more homely and less outgoing than Felicity. She was a quiet girl with a huge ambition to become a Healer. But, her obstacle is that her family wants her to join the family business of selling magical herbs and plants, but Riana found this to be a brutal and boring way to spend her life (as she assists the greenhouse with her family during the summer holidays). It also didn't make her life easier to have a prat of a twin sister, Alice Prewett. Alice and Riana were the two most opposite girls in the world. Riana was a quiet, conserved girl, while Alice was known as the school slut, to be straight forward. But Lily's friendship with Riana was very tight. They had known each other since the first day at Hogwarts, when they were both lost, trying to figure out where the Potions dungeon was located. But together, Lily, Felicity and Riana were a close group of girls with a great friendship.

But, there was another friend, whom Lily had known longer than both Felicity and Riana. This friend had marked to start of her new life as a witch with her. He was her guidance before they had both left for Hogwarts. He was also the reason her sister hated her. They had become so close, with a bond that seemed unbreakable, even when Felicity and Riana wondered why Lily spend so much time with him. But last year this friendship had changed forever. Turns out it was very breakable. He had chosen his way of life, and Lily will not tread on that path, ever.

Thinking of what had happened last year made Lily feel even more alone. If she was still friends with that certain person, she would not feel this alone and neglected. But life was the way it is, she must accept it and move on.

The doorbell rang, making Lily jump out of her seat and thoughts. She placed her quill down and stood up. She went out into the dark hallway (Lily was the only one home at the time and didn't think of turning on the lights) and down the narrow stairs. As she moved through the dark house, she turned on the light, getting slightly scared of all the dim darkness creeping in the house. She landed in the front hallway, turned on the light, and headed towards the door. Lily opened it and was suddenly surprised.

There stood a boy with greasy dark hair (which was really wet and looked even more greasy because of the rain) and a long hooked nose. His dark eyes were looking down, as he was hanging his head down. The vibe coming from this boy was very negative and rejected. Though Lily was used to this manner. The boy was holding a small bouquet of flowers that looked as if he pulled them from someone's garden on his way here. They were soaked and hanging down due to the excess water from the rain.

Lily felt anger bust through her veins. How dare he face her again! After all that happened last year. She knew why he came right now; no one was home. Mr. and Mrs. Evans didn't particularly liked it when Lily used to spend all her time with this dejected looking boy. They were concerned for her well being. No parent in their right mind would allow their child to be around this boy. They were happy to hear of the fall out that took place between Lily and this pitiful looking boy. She gave him a piercing look when the boy finally looked up. He gulped nervously. He was frightened.

"Hello." he croaked out.

Lily looked away. She stepped aside to let him in. He stepped in timidly and whipped his muddy shoes on the welcome mat. Lily closed the door and went up the stairs, not bothering to see if the boy was following her. But she could clearly hear the thumps of footsteps behind her. She went into her room and waited by the door for the boy to come in. She closed the door after as he entered and stood timidly in the center of her small room.

"Sit down." Lily said, forcing the words to come out of her now dry mouth. She felt slightly ashamed that she had not bother to clean up her room. Lily was usually alright when it came to looking after herself, but being stuck in this room for a whole month now, she forgot to clean up. The room was moderate size with a small twin size bed on one side and the dresser on the other. There was a small bookshelf filled with books in the corner. There was also small desk that was placed by the window.

The boy sat on the edge of Lily's unmade bed and handed the flowers with an extended hand, not looking at Lily. She sighed and took them, placing them in an empty vase on her desk. She then sat in her chair, not looking at the boy.

There was a moment of silence. Then Lily said, "Why did you come?"

"I-I-I wanted to see you." The boy said in a crackling voice.

At this, Lily's anger subsided, but a strong emotion still remained inside her. "Why?" she demanded. "I'm nothing more than a Mudblood to you!"

"No, that's not true –"

"Oh, shut up, Severus!" Lily cried. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked up. She saw that Severus was looking much shaken. "Don't even start on that again!"

Severus looked pitiful. "I never meant –"

"Yes, you did!" Lily exclaimed. "I heard you talking to Avery that day, before we left for summer! 'Don't worry about her; she's nothing more than a Mudblood to me.'"

Severus looked down. "I am terribly sorry for that. You know I could never think of you like that."

Lily stood up from her chair. "Why does this always happen?" she exclaimed loudly. "Why are you being such a coward in front of your so called friends?"

"I know I am a coward." Severus said, quietly. "Bravery is up to you Gryffindors, isn't it?"

Lily smiled slightly, but that quickly became a frown. "You call the others Mudbloods and what not! Why am I different than them?"

"You are different because-because-because you just are!" Severus answered pleadingly.

Lily shook her head. "No, Severus. I am not. My heritage is just like theirs. I never thought you would separate people in such a low and disgusting way." she gave Severus a really dirty look and looked away. There was a moment of silence which Lily felt went on forever as her last words hung in the intense air.

"What happened?" she finally said, asking softly. Tears were now falling down her cheeks. She whipped them away. "Why did you change?" she asked, her voice sad, as if she had lost something forever.

"I-I-I don't know, Lily" Severus said, dejectedly. "I don't know anything anymore. All I know is that, you mean a lot to me."

Lily sat down beside Severus on the bed, sitting very closely. "What do you mean?"

"I-I-I really like you. You know that." Severus said, nervously. "I know what happened last year has really affected our friendship. And i agree it is all my fault. But I need you. I feel lost without you. I feel as if my heart has been snatched out of my body. When you get mad at me," He looked straight into her teary emerald eyes. "I feel as if I will never be whole again. Why do I feel so strongly for you?" he added helplessly.

Lily smiled. "You have feelings for me, Sev. Deep feelings." She said, quietly. "But these feelings are not enough for you to stand up to your friends, which I understand is hard, Sev, but you've got to do it!"

Encouraging Severus was all Lily thought of doing. True, last year it seemed as if their friendship will never ever be the same again. He had chosen his dark path and Lily did not support it. But now, Lily was all alone, friendless. She needed someone. Someone who liked her. Sure, Lily's parents were alright for company, but the way her own sister, Petunia, treated her was absolutely disgusting. Petunia hated her, degraded her whenever she could for being a witch. Petunia was the main reason Lily stayed in her room for the most part of the summer so far.

Severus shifted uncomfortably. "I can't, Lils. I just can't. They are so into being pure-blood. It was how they were brought up."

"But," Lily said, tugging his arm. "You and I were friends before you even met these people. You were brought up –"

"The same way," cut in Severus.

Lily sighed. "Look, it doesn't matter what our abilities, heritage or anything else for that matter are, it is our choice that really decides who we are. It doesn't matter how you were brought up. You are your own person now! Make your own choice!" she snapped.

Severus placed his greasy head into his hands. "Y-You don't understand!" he cried.

"Peer pressure is always going to do you in! But we have to stand up, Sev! If we don't..."Lily's voice trailed. A sudden horrifying thought cam into her head, a thouht that has always been there, but now she was confronting it. "You are going to become like one of them." Lily said, staring off in the distance.

There was another moment of silence.

"You are not like them, Sev. You have moral values and beliefs that are better then what your friends have! You are no Death Eater." Lily started again.

She felt a rush of déjà vu. They have had numerous conversations like this one. Always talking about Severus's friends and their wrong doings. His friends are up in their heads with the Dark Arts. Lily, deep in her heart, knew that Severus was too, but he was a better person than that to let it all get into his head.

Severus looked up; his face was really close to Lily's. "I don't know. I might be just like them."

"No," Lily said, looking straight into Severus's dark eyes. "I know you. You are not like them at all." She knew that being this close to each other was driving Severus. She has always known, since they started at Hogwarts, that he had really deep feelings for him. Lily did have feelings for him, too, but she wasn't sure if they were deep enough.

Severus leaned his face in closer. Lily did not back away but leaned into, and before she knew it, her lips were pressed against Severus's dry ones. He opened his mouth and his tongue caressed Lily's closed lips, not trying to gain entry at all. But Lily opened her mouth and let him enter.

They were like that for a sometime. Lily didn't remember how, but her hands had somehow placed themselves around Severus's face and his hand was placed timidly on her waist. Yes, it was Lily's first kiss. Not how she imagined it, nor with whom she imagined it with. But she couldn't ask for a better first then with her best friend, who is now more than a friend.

From then on, Lily's summer turned a whole lot better.

***

Lily looked at the beautiful scene laid out in front of her from the deck. The sun was setting behind the moving blanket of water, casting weak rays before it disappears completely. It was casting a glow of pink and golden into the lightening sky. The air smelt of water and salt, but of summer and warmth. Lily's hair blew continuously in the breeze. Yes, she just had another fight with Petunia, even here at their cottage. To escape from crying, Lily rushed out to the deck. She loved moments like these where it didn't matter what Petunia thought of her. She pushed all that was said out of her mind. After all, the Evans family were on vacation for the next week.

Their cottage was too grand to be affordable by them, but it was inherited by Mrs Evans's great aunt who had died before Lily was born. It had become their summer vacation as they couldn't afford going to on big trips out of the country. But it didn't matter to Lily. She was happy here, but it did get hard when Petunia would degrade her. Lily is used to it by now, but once in a while, it gets to her, pains her heart.

The cottage village they were staying in was very pretty. It was basically a row of houses, placed by the beach, all similarly structured with the same decks that looked out to the beach. The location has a vibe of comfortable isolation and warmth. Most of the visitors here were old rich families. Lily had gotten to know some of them in the past fifteen summers she has been here. But there was also this wizarding family that Lily hoped dearly was not here at the moment. It would ruin her vacation completely.

But despite it all, Lily loved coming here. It made her feel complete somehow. The only thing missing from this was Sev, who had not liked the thought of Lily going away for a whole week when she first told him. Lily could understand hating being separated, but the look on Sev's face had kind of scared her. It was a look of deep obsession that had come over him. Thinking about this, Lily heard her last name suddenly being called.

"Oi! Evans!"

Her dreaded prediction came true. That wizarding family was indeed here. Lily turned away from the beautiful sunset and saw two teenagers with dark hair coming towards her. "Oh, no," She turned away and rushed into the patio door before the voices could catch up to her. She also heard laughter. Of course they were laughing; it was always a joyous atmosphere whenever the Potters and the Evans mixed, well, for the most part. When this happens during their stay at the cottage, Lily decides to go for a long walk and Petunia hides in her room as she hates the idea of more wizards and witches.

"Lily!" called a woman's voice. Lily recognized it as her mother's as she was just about to open the patio door. Lily contemplated what to do: either call back, which might lead to her being asked to join them, or pretend she didn't hear her mother. Lily decided that she never heard her mother and rushed inside.

But, of course they were entering from the front door, which opened just as Lily closed the patio door behind her. There was no way she could make it back outside in time. Her mother had spotted her. "Lily! Look who is here!"

Her short plumped mother smiled warmly at her, she was with Mrs Potter. Mrs Evans looked exactly like Lily, same heart shaped face and red hair. Her father, on the other hand, was a tall thin man who wore glasses and had the same green eyes as Lily. He came up right behind his wife, laughing brightly at a joke that Mr Potter, who appeared behind him, must have said. And after Mr Potter had entered came two teenage boys. One was smaller and skinnier than the other one. He wore glasses and had dark untidy hair with a face filled with amusement. The other boy was slightly taller with short length dark hair, though not as dark as the first boy, and an elegant face which every girl wishes for. Lily was not surprised to see James Potter, but he also brought along Sirius Black. Great deal; endure one and endure the other one for free.

Lily grimaced. Mrs Potter knew she didn't particularly enjoy being with James from their past encounters, but she always has encouraged her to be nice whenever the Potters came around.

"Why, hello Lily!" exclaimed Mr Potter, looking through his glasses at Lily. "How are you?"

The Potters were one of those wizarding families that took in to account the cultures of Muggles. They could pass for Muggles themselves on the street. They dressed like Muggles and Mr Potter even have a driver's license. Though, from what Lily knew, James didn't really care about Muggle culture. He didn't care nor think about Muggle culture much, but was brought up to dress like one.

"I am well. How are you and Mrs Potter?" Lily asked, not acknowledging James or Sirius.

"Good, good." Mr Potter said, nodding his head, smiling satisfactorily.

"Come on, Al, Elizabeth. Let's have a drink. It has been such a long time since we have talked –"

Lily's parents and Mr and Mrs Potter went down the hallway and Lily heard them go down the set of stairs that lead to the basement, chatting merrily.

"So, Evans, how are you?" James asked politely as he made his way towards Lily. He had never expected to find Lily here. Of course they have met here many times, but it was his luck to find the girl of his dreams here the same time as him, and to think he wanted to go to the Quidditch World Cup instead this summer!

Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine," she answered curtly as she crossed her arms.

Petunia appeared suddenly in the room. She was wearing her blue bikini and looked as if she was going out for a swim. She paused when she saw Lily, James and Sirius. Her eye widened.

"W-What is going on?" she looked startled find herself in a company of these two boys.

"Hey, Tuney." James said sneering. "Looking good! In fact, I am about to go for a swim as well! Care to join me?" he asked and then took his shirt off, revealing his toned body from playing Quidditch since he was a fourth year student.

Lily was not ready for this sight. She gave him one glance and couldn't look away. His body was a dream of any girl. He was muscular, not too muscular, and that was just the way Lily like a man with muscles. Something inside her tingled. It was small and not big of a feeling, but Lily still felt it. She suddenly wanted to go swimming with James. Wait...Lily wants to go swimming with Potter? She shook the idea out of her head. Clearly the sun has been getting to her. She looked away from James's body and at her sister, who was looking interested in James's body, too, but Lily knew she had would never go swimming, well, maybe. Somethings don't matter in a teenage girl's mind.

Though Lily knew that Petunia was also under James's charm, but she didn't dare talk nor make contact with him. She was too scared as he went to the same school as Lily. On their first encounter, James had even asked her out, and Petunia had agreed! But then James let it slip that he went to the same school as Lily, and Petunia had realized that James was a wizard.

"Sirius, I told you about Miss Petunia Evans." James said, winking at Sirius.

Sirius, as elegant as ever now with a slight tan which made him look even more desirable, walked over to Petunia and placed an arm around her bare waist. Petunia jumped and her face went red at his touch. "Hey there, sunshine." Sirius said flirtatiously. Petunia blushed, clearly she didn't know yet that Sirius was a wizard, or maybe it didn't matter, seeing as Sirius has this charm over any girl that Lily saw right through, sadly her friend, Felicity, is a victim. "Want to go for a swim?"

Petunia nodded. "S-Sure."

They walked past Lily and out onto the deck and down to the lake.

This left Lily and James alone. Lily was trying to make up something in her head to get away; James was trying to say something intelligent that would lead to Lily and him going for a walk on the beach, but couldn't think of anything. Whenever he was with Lily, his mouth seemed to freeze and he couldn't think straight anymore. No matter how hard he prepared to talk to Lily, it never went the way he wanted it to go.

Before James could think of anything to say, Lily walked away without a word, leaving James alone and disappointed. James knew he had to somehow get over the obstacle of talking to Lily. But he had no idea how to. Hmm...maybe Sirius could help. After all, they had a few more weeks until they were due back to Hogwarts. In these few weeks he will learn how to talk to the girl of his dreams, Lily Evans. With that happy thought, he went out the patio door and down to the beach to scare Petunia out of her wits.