A/N- Here it is... I've been working on this one for a while now, and I'm pleased with the way this turned out. All characters and locations belong to J K Rowling.

A/N- Sorry to the people who have read this already, I've added some new parts to the story to make it more relevant to later parts.

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer."
F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Great Gatsby

"Be sure to pick up some apples for the pie Lily, you know your Grandmother and her pies." My mother yelled after me, and I closed the front door of my house behind me. I had to wrap my scarf around my neck more tightly as the crisp fall wind blew around me. Summer was ending, a thing I looked forwards to. In a few days I'd be back off to Hogwarts where I could escape my sister and rejoin the friends I'd been missing for two months.

Walking down the road to the small grocery store was oddly lonely. I'm assuming the fact that school had started for local schools, and that it was a Tuesday afternoon had some part to play in the emptiness of the usually bustling street. So I made my way down the street humming softly to myself.

A leaf fell into my path, so I crunched it underneath my foot. The next thing I knew, a hand grabbed my shoulder. Instinct kicked in and I elbowed my attacker in the stomach, and they doubled over. Their hand loosened on my shoulder and I turned to face them. One of the people I'd never expected to see lay on the ground.

"James Potter! Oh my god! I'm so sorry! What the hell are you doing here?" I knelt down on the ground beside him. He groaned as he rolled over away from me. A few moments later he propped himself up on his forearm.

"Jeez, Evans. You have a great arm. Remind me to never sneak up on you again." James got up so that he was standing up, slightly bent over still.

"What are you doing here Potter?" I asked again. James didn't live anywhere near me. I'd learned over the years that he lived in a large house just outside of London, and I most certainly didn't live in London.

"My cousin lives in this area, and my parents had to go away on a business trip. They sent me to live with relatives for the last week of summer to make sure I didn't get in too much trouble. What about you? You live around here?" James ran his hand through his hair, looking around as if to see if he could spot my house.

"Well I don't just walk the streets of small towns, do I? Why did you sneak up on me anyways?" I crossed my arms across my chest and shuffled my feet. This had to be the weirdest point of my summer. James and I had barely talked at school during our previous year at Hogwarts, except for one event a few months ago during exams. James, in a stupid attempt to show off, had attacked Severus Snape, a friend of mine from my early years. The whole scene involved some hexes, blood, and a few choice words on Sev's part that had not impressed me.

Regardless of that encounter, which had left me with one friend less, I felt embarrassed about flipping out and hurting James and I felt angry that he'd snuck up on me. What kind of person sneaks up on a girl on an empty street?

"I saw you, and didn't want to frighten you. Obviously it didn't want to work. I'm glad I found you though. I'm so bloody bored being cooped up with my cousin all week. At least these next few days will be better with you to keep me company Evans." James beamed at me. Turning, I began walking towards the store again.

"Who said I want to hang out with you?" I called behind me. James could be heard walking quickly to keep up with me.

"Well I vaguely recall you mentioning something about being really bored over summer holidays because you have no one to spend time with. I'm here now, so you might as well make the best of it, right?" I raked my mind trying to remember that conversation. It had to have been at least fifth year, back when we were still talking. That was two years ago! How could he remember that long ago? I didn't have time to question him though. James had already begun talking and asking questions again. "Where are we off to on this fine day then?" It wasn't any of his business. I didn't need to answer. I knew that James would just want to come along with me if I did.

"Erm, well I was off to the shops to pick up some apples for my Gran." Dammit. James had a way of getting answers out of you. I felt cross with him, but at the same time I had a compulsion to talk to him. James Potter always managed to get under your skin.

"I'll grace you with my company then," he replied with a childish grin on his face. I knew there was no stopping him from following me. "And maybe I can come over and help your Gran with that pie." The image of James Potter standing in my kitchen baking a pie with my Gran forced a fit of laughter out of me.

"James Potter bakes?" I managed to get out. "I thought all you did was fly around on brooms and seduce helpless females. That's all you do at school at least."

"Well you're about to meet Summer James. There's far more baking involved with Summer James. I think you'd like him much more than School James. Far fewer girls are seduced."

"Do you mean girls are immune to your charms in the summer?"

"No, there are just fewer girls to seduce."

"Well look here, I'm a girl and you've yet to seduce me."

"Evans, the only thing I've done so far is managed to get attacked by you. You haven't given me much of a chance to seduce you. But is that a challenge I hear?"

I looked at James as we walked. His eyes were fixed on me. James hadn't changed one bit since I'd seen him last. An arrogant boy who always got what he wanted. I suppose that's what you become accustomed to when you're the son of a rich Pureblood family.

"No. Although you wouldn't be able to do it. You've tried, and remember- I'd choose the giant squid over you." James winced at the memory of his last rejection." I've got a boyfriend James, in case you didn't remember. Not that you would've noticed. You hardly pay attention to anyone who isn't one of the three friends who pull stupid pranks on unsuspecting victims with you.

"Oi! Evans, be nice. I happen to know you've got a boyfriend. I'm only teasing you. Lighten the mood after you nearly tried to kill me back there. Now that I've found out how mean you are, I'm debating taking back my offer of helping with the pie." I laughed again, and we turned the corner to the strip mall.

Entering the small grocery store with a companion was strange. Mum had always sent me on my own, and since I didn't go to school around here I knew none of the other kids, hence no friends. Petunia would never go with me anywhere let alone a grocery store. Mr. Lofter the store owner nodded at me. "Good morning Miss Evans. Who's your friend?" James walked over to the old man and held out his hand, introducing himself.

I, on the other hand, made my way to the produce section to pick out apples. A few minutes later I had a bag full of apples in hand, and I made my way back to the cashier. James was still talking with Mr. Lofter.

"I find that toasters can be quite useful to be honest, although it's a bit of a confusing contraption," James stated.

"It's not all that hard sir, just put the bread in and turn the knob-"

"That's the confusing bit though! The knob turning! How do you get it to exactly the right-"

"Mr. Lofter? I'd like to pay now please." I had to interrupt James before he made a stupid mistake. Being from the Wizarding world, James hadn't grown up with a lot of the things I had, being from the Muggle world. Toasters were a commodity I'd been able to have with my world. "James, would you mind waiting outside? I won't be long." James sent me a pleading look, but I shot him a glare that said out.

Mr. Lofter looked at me after I'd paid. "That boy of yours is a strange one Lily. He ain't from around here is he?" I shook my head.

"No. James lives on his own planet sir. No one knows what he's talking about half of the time. Thank you for the apples. I'll see you soon." I exchanged goodbyes with the old store clerk and rejoined James outside,

"Really?" I began once we were out of hearing range from the store. "Toasters? That's what you choose to talk about? You're hopeless in the Muggle world Potter." I shook my head as we made our way home.

"C'mon Evans, I'm obviously not from around here. Like you said, I come from planet." I looked at James and he winked back at me, taking the bag of apples out of my hands.

"But, how could you have heard that?"

James gave me a knowing smile. "Secret's darling… I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you. No need to ruin a pretty face like yours over such trivial things."

We'd already managed to make it back to my house. "Well," he began, "are you going to invite me in to meet the folks? I'm sure they'll like me." Oh jeez. They sure would. "And I'd like to remind you that I'm holding the bag of apples. If you refuse to let me in, I'll drop them all."

"You wouldn't." I glared at him.

"Watch me." I knew James would actually do it to. What were a few apples to him?

"Fine. But I'm warning you. You're the second Non- Muggle I've had over so they'll be asking you a ton of questions. I'm sure you'll love to talk about yourself though." With that, I walked up my sidewalk and entered the house. "Mum!" I called. "I'm home! I found a friend I'd like you to meet."

James stood in my entranceway, and holding the bag of apples clutched to his chest, he seemed rather young and innocent. Gazing wide eyed around the front room, which was attached to the front hall area, he took off his shoes and began to look at baby photos.

"You were cute as a baby… what happened?" James looked at me and grinned. I set the apples down on the chair in the front room and stared at the photo he was referring to. Petunia and I sat on the beach, and my mother and father stood behind us, my father's hand on my mother's back. This was one of the last photos of the entire family together. I looked at James, who looked back at me. "What's that smell? Your house smells like cooking meat." James went off towards the kitchen as I ran and grabbed the bag of apples, chasing after him. Jeez, he was like a child.

I entered the kitchen to find James already talking with my mother and Gran. "So how do you like the area so far James?" From my mother.

"Well the people are fantastic, everyone is so nice." James replied.

"How does it compare to school?" Gran asked. James could barely reply before another question was asked.

"Hey! Mum, Gran! I've got the apples you wanted. I ran into James, who said he'd like to help out. Do you mind if we go and wash up?" James would thank me later.

"No, sure, go ahead. We'll get started and you can come help whenever you want to."

James and I left the kitchen and ran up the stairs to the second floor. The bathroom was small, but we both fit in there easily. I turned on the taps as James sat on the toilet.

"I'm sorry to say, but I warned you. You are free to leave whenever you want to. I wouldn't blame you to be honest." To my surprise, James wanted to stay.

"No, I'd like to help out. It's more interesting here than my other options. Besides, your Mum's already invited me for dinner."

"She did not." I mocked surprise. Of course she had. My Mum barely ever had the chance to meet my friends from school. The only other friend I'd brought home in my entire history at Hogwarts was my girlfriend Marlene. Mum hadn't even met my boyfriend, Aiden Tate- a Ravenclaw.

Plus, everybody loved James Potter. Except me, it seemed. Even Marlene was friends with him. Well, they were close because she was on the Quidditch Team at school with him.

I turned off the tap, and James wandered down the hallway. "Wrong way!" I called.

"Nope!" He yelled back. "This is definitely the way I wanted to go. Oh! Is this your room Evans?"

I hurried after him quickly. "Oi! Get out!" It was too late though, James had made himself comfortable on my bed, holding a picture that I had on my bedside table of Aiden and I.

"This is the bloke you're dating?" He asked as I nodded. "Aiden, wasn't it? Rather posh bloke from Ravenclaw?"

"He's not posh! Just because he puts more effort into looking good than you do doesn't mean you can make fun of him for it."

"This is a very difficult look to pull off Lily! I don't just roll out of bed this stylish?" I laughed as James placed the picture frame face down on the table and picked up the second photograph on the stand.

"How much time did you put into looking good this morning Potter?"

His face broke out into a sly smile. "I just rolled out of bed a little while before I left my house and bumped into you." James studied the second photograph. The picture showed my Mother, Father, Tuny and I at the park in our old house. "Lily," he began, "if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your dad? There weren't any men's coats in your hall closet, and your house is lacking in the masculine department. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

The stupid thing was that I had talked about my dad many times before without getting emotional. But there was something about bringing up the memory then with James in my room that got me teary eyed.

"C-car crash." I stammered out as I sat down on my bed. "We were… my Dad and I, that is, were driving home from the cinema, and got into a car crash. I w-was fine but my dad, he… he…." I couldn't finish my sentence. James' arm moved gently around my shoulders.

"You don't have to explain any further Lily. I understand." Nodding, I sniffled a bit.

"It was the first time I used magic. To save myself, although I still don't know how. I landed pretty roughly still, but after being flung from a car window, even with magic help, I'd say I got off easily. I just wish that I'd been able to… save him." James nodded, and I blushed furiously. Why the hell was I telling James all this? The boy had gotten on my nerves since second year, yet here I was crying and talking to James about something I'd never really opened up to anyone about. But there was something in James' eyes as he looked at me that made me feel I could open up to him. And he wasn't teasing me for crying, which means he could be an alright bloke.

"Jeez Lil, I can't stand to see a Bird cry. Let's have a change of subject alright?" I nodded as James gave my arm one last rub, grinning at me. "So where's that sister of yours? I've heard she's a fun one."

"She's at her boyfriends, Vernon. How'd you hear about Petunia?"

"You forget that we share a few mutual friends. Marlene and Remus have both had an earful of complaints about Petunia." He gave me a sly look. "I probably know enough about you to write a book Evans."

"Well now, that's unfair. I could barely write a paragraph on you and you know all about me!" How much did James know about me? There were some things I'd talked to Marlene about that I knew I really didn't want James to ever know."

"Well I don't know the important things. Although I've already learned quite a bit today already." James laid back on my pillow, his hands folded behind his head, staring at my ceiling.

"Like what?"

"You enjoy crushing leaves, for one."

"But that's hardly important. It says nothing about me!"

James sat up and looked at me seriously. "It is certainly important, Evans. I now know that you are the kind of girl that will go out of her way to kill something. And then immediately follow that with a violent act against an unsuspecting boy." A blush crept over my cheeks as James winked at me. I started to protest, but he continued. "There's still so many things to learn though. I don't know your favorite color, or food. These things, while less important than the fact that killing crunchy leaves is a hobby of yours, are still important."

"Blue and steak." James looked confused. "Blue and steak. My favorite color and food. What about yours?"

"I'd have to day red. And does chocolate count as a food?" I laughed and shook my head. "Then pasta."

"Pasta? Of all the things in the world? Steak? Chinese food? Some form of desert?" James shook his head.

"I've eaten all of those way too much. I rarely eat pasta at home. No clue why. I guess not eating it makes it more special?"

"You're a weird one Potter."

"As are you, Evans." I couldn't disagree. My Mum saved me from having to reply. I had no clue what to say.

"Lily! James! Would you like to come help? Or should I leave you alone?" I turned to James, letting him decide.

"One question before I decide," he said to me quietly. "Will I be bombarded with questions?" I shook my head.

"When my family bakes, we dance. And sing very badly to music."

"Well that's not bad then. I think I'll go help your Mum and Gran." He hopped off of my bed and strode out the door.

I sat there on my bed for a moment. What the hell had just happened? I'd woken up that morning feeling the same towards James as I had since I'd met him that first day on the train- annoyed and disapproving. Not that I'd thought of James all summer. Mostly.

I may have thought about writing him, but only because I'd learned he was going to be Head Boy to my Head Girl, and figured we should've been at least on talking terms. This was a whole other story though.

By the time I'd made it to the kitchen, ABBA's "Dancing Queen" was already in full swing. James stirred something in a bowl, and my Gran was cutting up apples. Mum help a spoon to her mouth like a microphone and belted out some words. Singing was not a skill my family excelled at.

The sight of James and my family getting along, strange as it was, relaxed me. I went and sat down by the counter, and James smiled at me, stirring away. The song was one of my favorites, so I started to wiggle to the beat in my chair.

Baking continued on like this for a while, moving from apple pie to a cake, finally ending with James helping cook dinner. "Hey Jude" by the Beatles played in the background once we finished. James and I sat on my back porch, eating leftover apple pieces. The summer sun was setting. Hours had flown by without notice, I hated to admit it but I'd enjoyed my day

"I quite like your family Lily," James began as he popped a piece into his mouth. "They make me feel rather wanted in your home. I mean, I'm sure you want me out of here as soon as possible. But still, three people who want me to stay. That vote says that I'm most certainly staying for dinner."

"You can't vote for yourself Potter. It's unfair and biased." I crossed my arms across my chest.

"I never voted for myself. I counted your Gran, your Mum, and yourself."

"Oh that's not true. Like you said, if it were up to me, you wouldn't have come in that door."

"Don't tell me you haven't had fun Evans."

"I did."

"Of course you- what?" My answer seemed to have surprised James. "You're admitting you had a good time? Hanging out with me? Even though you can't stand me?" His eyes were wide. Sighing, I replied.

"James, I don't hate you. A least not as much as I used to. I'm willing to be mates if you are. It's best to have the Head Girl and Boy getting along, right?"

"Oh yeah. That. What do you think happened to Dumbledore? To choose me for Head Boy. At the very least, he's gone mad. Maybe he's been replaced? That's the only way that we could have been chosen together. Practically everyone knew that we weren't getting along very well."
" I don't know. Maybe he's got his reasons. I find it's best to just not try and figure it out. With you, chances are you'll hurt something in that tiny little brain of yours."

James pushed me over lightly, laughing as he did so. Getting up, James reached over and poked me in the side. I jumped up as a jolt rushed through my body. Quickly, I grabbed his hand.

"James! Lily! Dinner is ready! You can come on in now!" We looked at each other as my Gran called us, and I realized I was still holding his hand. Pulling away quickly, James and I both laughed softly, cheeks turning red.

"We'd better head in," I said softly. James nodded and we walked back into my house.

To my surprise and delight, we were having steak. I glanced knowingly at James, so smiled back and then mouthed "Your favorite."

"I thought we were having roast beef?" I pulled out the chair and sat at the table.

"We were until I invited James over. I'd feel silly if we didn't have a nice dinner while you had a friend over."

"Thank you Mrs. Evans," James walked over and grabbed the bowl of steaks from my Mum. "You can sit down if you'd like Ma'am. I can serve everybody. It's the least I can do." Mum was flustered.

"James, thank you! That's very kind of you." She motioned for Gran to take a seat at my table. Way to go James, make me look bad. James placed a nice thick juicy steak on my plate, and my mouth started to water. That made up for sucking up to my Mum. As he took his seat, Mum began bombarding him with questions.

"So how do you know Lily?" I rolled my eyes. Obviously from school Mum, if you're going to ask questions, you might as well ask him interesting ones.

"Lily and I met in our first year at school. We're in the same house, and we have almost all of our classes together." James put a piece of steak in his mouth.

"That's interesting. Lily, why haven't you mentioned James before? He seems like such a nice young man." He continued chewing as Mum spoke, but his eyes were smiling at me.

"I'm sure I've talked about James before, Mum. It's just that we weren't really mates before. We are now though." James' eyebrows raised and his eyes continued to smile. Swallowing, he spoke to my Mum again.

"I'm sure Lily will come home next summer with plenty of stories with me in them Mrs. Evans." Oh that boy has nerve. I shot him a glare as my mother expressed her delight at the fact that "after all these years, I'm glad Lily has had a friend from school over for dinner."

The rest of the dinner was equally both entertaining and embarrassing. James asked quite a few questions about my childhood, and my Mum gladly answered. Listening to James having to suffer through my Mum's never-ending stream of questions evened the board though.

James never appeared to let it get to him though. He seemed at ease sitting at my table, speaking to my family, although James Potter always seemed to belong where he was. After dinner he even stayed and helped as we washed up, maintaining a cheery attitude regardless of the fact that I felt tired just listening to all of the conversations he'd had to participate in.

Once everything was washed up and Mum's questions ceased, James and I went for a walk. A little way down the street from my house was a park that I'd used to play at when I was a small girl. Recent years I had found myself going to that park less and less. Bad memories were brought up there. Memories of a best friend lost. We reached the park around sunset, and everything was bathed in orange in the orange glow.

I sat on one of the two swings, pushing off and starting to pump my legs. James looked at me, and I couldn't determine the expression on his face. He sat down on the swing beside me and joined me. The air rushed by us as we swung through the air.

We swung for a while, talking about school and what we thought would happen with our Head duties. James, who had never been a Prefect, needed a lot of instruction. I jumped off of the swing set, landing gracefully as I had for years. James on the other hand wasn't as good at landing as I was. There was a thud and a groan as James' feet hit the ground. He rolled over to the grass. Running over to where he laid, I was relieved to find him laughing.

"I guess I'm much better at flying than landing." I sat down beside him and started laughing. Laying there in the grass, we watched the sunset, and said our goodbyes.

Even though I walked around looking for him in the days to follow, hoping I'd find him again, I didn't see James again until September in Diagon Alley, where he was too distracted to notice me. Anyways, I was sure I'd see him again in class.