Author's Note: Marcolover16 is back! I kind of wish I could change the name, but Marcolover16 is who I was, and I suppose I will remain so…at least for now. It's been a while since I've posted anything. I know. I have plenty of incomplete stories out there that could use continuation, which I shall see about in the future. If any are to be updated, the first will probably be either Sick or Just Passing Through. Why, when I have returned after such a long time, have I decided to start a completely new story? Add more to my plate? I may just be a little crazy. The thought of writing fanfiction again is exciting! I may end up regretting starting this one and not just continuing with others, but here goes. Enjoy. :). Also, I'll mention that…I don't know if I'm generally a fan of when other people do this. I hope I won't turn off others by doing so, but I plan to have this change back and forth, perhaps chapter by chapter, between people. This may only go on in the beginning. I'm not entirely sure. I have vague plans. Anyway, here you go.

James was bored. Totally, completely bored. Times like these made him wish that he was not an only child.

He'd sent three letters to Sirius and received no response. Three letters. And not all in one week, either. His parents were working full-time jobs, his two other best friends were off gallivanting with their families in Europe, and Sirius, the one person he had counted on to break the monotony this summer, was completely ignoring him.

And damnit, he was bored.

"I doubt that he's ignoring you, James," his mother had said the previous night. "You know he has family troubles. Perhaps they are not allowing him to answer."

But James knew that Sirius would not listen to a rule like that. The way he saw it, there were two scenarios:

Sirius was ignoring him.
Sirius was in danger, hurt, or dead.

James was not sure he believed Sirius' parents would actually kill him. He was not so worried about that. They were more like verbal attackers, though they had been known to strike him, both with hands and wands.

No, he was not dead. James was pretty sure of that.

"We will go over there, James," his father had assured him. "If he doesn't answer you soon, we'll make sure it's all right."

But how soon was soon? How long would he have to deal with insufferable boredom?

James decided right then and there that when his parents were home from work, they were all going to check it out. There would be no excuses. Sirius could be in danger, and James was in danger. Of wasting time.

"SHIT!"

James realized that no, they could not just go and scoop him up. How had he possibly forgotten the protection that had been put on the house?

"I might as well just sleep the rest of the day away," James said aloud to his empty room, as though someone would have a response.

Just as he was getting in bed to do just that, there was a soft tap on his window.

"Thank God!"

James ran to the window, pulled it open, and smiled at Remus' owl. "Well, a response from Sirius may have been more helpful, Caleb. But this'll do."

James opened the letter slowly, relishing every moment of having something to do.

"What have you got to say, my long lost friend?"

James,

Let me get this part out of the way: Sirius hasn't answered any of my letters, either. Are you worried or angry? I'm more worried, honestly. I can't see him just ignoring. We're generally the highlight of his summer, no?

I am so ready to come home. Traveling has had its positives, but I've had about enough. Not to mention, my means of transforming are not as fun abroad… If you ask me, my parents were crazy to attempt it. I have seen some really interesting stuff, though.

How has your summer been, though? I hope you've found something fun to do. I feel rather guilty now that you don't have Sirius to turn to. I was sure that while Peter and I were away, you two would have plenty of time together. I guess I was wrong about that. What have you been up to? Have you sent any letters to a certain girl? If so, I do hope you're not being stupid about it. If you've managed to make things better with her, you don't want to go and mess it up.

James rolled his eyes. Did Remus have no faith in him?

Have you made things better? None of us knows what's going on. I'm sure we'd all like to know where you stand. Are you still, as you said, "working on her?"I'm afraid I'm just a bit confused. Clear it up for me, please?

Anyway, thank you so much for the birthday present. I haven't had many spare moments, but I'm dying to read it. And you know I'll speed through it when I do. I've never had my birthday away from home before. It was strange.

I'd better get going now. Tell your family I said hello. And if you see Sirius, give him a good punch for worrying me.

Remus

P.S. That sounded a bit too womanly. Great.

James laughed out loud at Remus' addition, immediately grabbed his quill and parchment, and set out answering the letter.

Remus,

The summer has been horrible. Nothing to do. Nothing. Don't feel guilty, though. It's not your fault, and I'm glad you've had a good time. Only a couple more weeks till you return. I'm not too worried about. I feel like he'll turn up in the end, even if that means at Hogwarts. I'm just pissed that I'll have to continue with this nothing of a summer I'm having.

As for Project Lily Evans: I'll talk to you when I see you.

But don't doubt me. I'm being very not annoying. Promise.

Well, I'm trying anyway. It's hard to tell what's going to be annoying and what isn't. I've only sent one letter, and I got one in return! Don't you dare look surprised. I'll ha

James' writing was interrupted by a loud banging on the front door. He dropped his quill and left to answer it.

"I'm coming," he shouted, as he rushed down the stairs.

James did not remember his mother saying they would have any visitors. She always told him before she left when to expect any sort of guest. He supposed he could have been half asleep when she told him. She left for work so early…

When James pulled open the door, however, he realized it was not a guest his mother would have known about.

"Sirius!"

James' initial excitement at seeing one of his best friends in his doorway faltered when he saw the state of him. He had a large bruise by his eye, blood dripping down his lip, which he every so often wiped on his sleeve. There were bags under his eyes, suggesting he had not slept in days.

James was sort of sorry for his bored comments. Sirius clearly had not been having the most delightful summer himself.

"Well, you don't look so happy to see me," said Sirius, smiling slightly.

"Of course I am," said James, blinking. "You're just—"

"Yeah, sort of a mess, I know."

"What the hell's happened to you?" James asked, ushering him inside.

Sirius seemed thrilled to be invited in and picked up the trunk by his side that James had failed to notice. Judging by how heavy it seemed to be, Sirius was not planning on staying just a few days.

He carried the trunk only a few steps into the room and let it drop. He did not bother to answer James' question.

"I can't go back," he said simply.

"Home?" James asked. He knew the answer was obviously yes, but he could not think of what else to say at that moment. He knew that Sirius would probably make this out to be a happy occurrence. He was done with Grimmauld Place for good. But he also knew that Sirius was not so happy inside. He did not want things to be the way they were.

Sirius nodded. "I'm not asking to stay here."

"You can," said James immediately.

"…but I figured I could at least come here first, have some fun…"

Sirius was looking anywhere but at James. James knew Sirius was embarrassed to ask for a place to stay. He felt that the Potters had done enough for him, and he hated the thought of imposing.

"You'll stay here," said James firmly.

Sirius shrugged.

"Grab your trunk. We're going upstairs."

James was not about to let Sirius decide to sleep in the woods somewhere. Not when there was a perfectly good guest room in the Potter household.

After James had convinced Sirius to put his stuff in the guestroom (which truthfully didn't take too much convincing), they both went to James' bedroom.

James was pleased to see that Sirius had become very much himself again after only a few minutes of conversation.

"They locked you up?"

"Yeah, it was no big deal," said Sirius, shrugging. He helped himself to one of James' chocolate frogs. "I'm more interested in this whole Evans deal."

"There's no deal," said James, but it did not convince Sirius.

"Don't lie to me," he said, biting off the frog's head. "I know you became friends or whatever you want to call it."

James tried to hide his smile. "I'm not getting my hopes up, okay?"

"Just tell me what's been going on. I've missed everything. Bloody parents…"

Sighing, James said, "Okay. Let me just finish my letter to Remus, and I'll tell you about it."

Grabbing the quill, which had spread a considerable amount of ink across the letter, James continued writing.

Okay, so Sirius is here now. He's okay, but he'll be spending the rest of the summer at my house. Don't worry yourself anymore. I won't punch him because he's been beaten up enough. See you soon…ish.

James

Sending Caleb off with the letter, James turned to find Sirius looking expectantly at him, arms crossed and all.

"Well?"

James ran a hand through his messy hair and collapsed onto his bed. "We…talked. Before the end of term."

"I know," said Sirius, waiting for more.

"It was…nice…"

Sirius grinned. "What kinda nice?"

"Not…that nice. Just…I meant…it didn't end in misery. And she smiled, I think. Once or twice. And then when we talked on the train—"

"She told you to 'have a nice summer, James,'" Sirius interrupted, attempting to imitate Lily's voice. "I know that part, too."

"Well…yeah," said James slowly. "Anyway, so I took that as a good sign. It was pleasant, non-threatening, and she used my first name. I didn't want to push anything…"

James rose from the bed and crossed to the other side of the room, opening the top drawer on his dresser. He pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

"I wrote two copies, knowing you'd all ask me about it."

Sirius shook his head, still grinning.

"I didn't want to push anything, so I just sent the one letter. Just one letter, instead of my usual…" He paused, frowning.

"Six billion," Sirius finished for him.

"Sure. And I tried to make it all," he smiled, "nice. And not…annoying."

"Let me see it then," said Sirius, grabbing the letter from James' hand.

"Dear Lily."

James groaned. "Must we read it aloud?"

Sirius continued as though James had not said anything. "Please don't chuck this straight away. It's not bad. Oh, James…"

"She's had too many bad letters, Padfoot. Of me begging her to go out with me. I couldn't risk it."

Rolling his eyes, Sirius continued, "I wanted to ask how your summer has been. Mine has been perfectly boring all by myself. Sometimes it sucks to be an only child. I do hope you're doing well and that you've continued to read this." Sirius paused to shake his head. "I don't know if my sending this will be a bother to you. I'm afraid I don't know whether I have your friendship or not. Take care, James."

There were a few moments of silence. Finally, "Well, you sound like you're whipped."

"Whipped?" said James, affronted. "How could I be whipped? We're not even dating."

Sirius shrugged. "Don't ask me. I didn't write the letter. Did she respond?"

James nodded.

"Well, you must have done something right. Hand that one over, too."

James fished the letter out of the drawer and let Sirius grab it once again from his hand. "This is quite the moment, James. The first letter Lily's ever responded to."

"Not true," said James. "There was the one where she simply wrote: Go away."

"Right," said Sirius, laughing at the memory. "I bet you've still got it somewhere."

James shifted his eyes to the ceiling. "That," he said, "is none of your concern."

Sirius unfolded the letter. "I'll search your drawers for it later. But for now…

James, I have to say that your letter came at a pretty good time. I am also not having the best summer. While being an only child may "sometimes suck," so can having a sister. But why have you been alone? Where have all your friends been? Surely, you aren't spending the whole summer without them? Hope it improves. Lily. P.S. Yes, James. You can consider me your friend."

Silence again.

"Well, let me have your response," said Sirius.

"I told you I just sent one letter," James reminded him, crossing the room again to sit on his bed.

Sirius' mouth fell open. "James, she asked you direct questions here. She wants you to write back."

James shrugged, closing his eyes. He felt that would be too good to be true. "She could just be being polite."

"Okay, and your response to her politeness is to…ignore her?"

James sighed, and he sat up to look Sirius in the eyes. "I didn't plan on this being…constant correspondence. Just to check up on her. I don't want to push her away. To have her as my friend is a God-send. I don't want to ruin that."

Sirius looked understanding. There was no teasing glint in his eyes. "I know, mate. I do. But you've already made it correspondence. She's asked you questions. And I think," he paused, "I think as long as you be careful about what you say, you should be fine."

Sirius took the liberty of going to grab James spare parchment and his quill and ink. He placed it on the bedside table.

"Write."

Again, James sighed. "I don't know what to say."

Despite this, he turned himself to face the bedside table, his legs now on the floor. As he wrote, he spoke each word quietly.

" Lily,"

"It's weird to write her first name, you know," he told Sirius.

Sirius shrugged. "Come on, you've wasted valuable time. She could be pissed right now."

"I'm sorry it's taken so long to return your write you back. I was unsure whether or not you would appreciate…"

"No," said James, crossing it out. "This letter's going to be pathetic."

"Girls like pathetic, James," said Sirius encouragingly.

James raised his eyebrows at him. "Says who?"

"Well, your last letter was rather pathetic, and she seemed to like it. And well…they like sappy, don't they? Pathetic=sappy. Sappy=pathetic. I—"

"I get it," said James, rolling his eyes. "Let me just…do this."

James was not feeling so confident. While his last letter to Lily had produced pretty good results, he was not sure about this one. If Sirius was right, that she had wanted a response, she could have been angry with him. She may have thought he felt he was too good to answer or something else that would have been equally as bad or worse. And if she didn't want a response, then getting another letter from James could make her angry.

"Damnit," he said, tearing up the letter. He took more parchment from the pile Sirius had given him. "I'm so nervous."

"Getting more and more pathetic every day, I swear," said Sirius.

"Lily,

I am sorry it has taken me this long to respond to your letter, and I am very pleased that you chose to send one. The reason I was alone was Remus and Peter have been away, and Sirius was not returning my letters."

"Making me sound like the bad guy," Sirius muttered.

"He is here now, th—"

"Hey!" Sirius shouted suddenly, making James knock the ink over. "Tell her you've taken me in. Go on, tell her I've run away from a bad place and you, being all caring, have taken me in. She'll love it."

James wanted to argue with him, tell him that doing that was exploitation and possibly manipulation, but…it was true, after all. He was taking Sirius in. Perhaps his parents could have been given some of the credit for that, despite the fact that they didn't know yet.

But it was true. Sirius was staying with him. Sirius had run away. And it wasn't as though he were bringing it up out of nowhere. He had just said that Sirius was there now…

"ough. As it turns out, he was unable to answer my letters. He has run away from… Oh, no. She might think you're irresponsible for running away, and I for not sending you back. Is it okay if I vaguely describe the circumstances?"

Sirius waved a hand dismissively. "I don't care."

"an abusive home. He will be spending the rest of his summer here. I'm looking forward to the new school year. I suppose you are, as well. I am sorry to hear about your sister. You can vent about it if it'll help any."

"You've certainly gotten the hang of this caring thing," said Sirius. He got out of the spinning chair he'd been sitting in and made his way to James' dresser.

James didn't bother to stop him.

"I do care," he said quietly.

While Sirius rummaged around in his dresser, James continued his letter, "Who knows, maybe we'll see each other when we go for our school supplies?"

Sirius snorted. "'Who knows' was a good touch, man."

"I hope your summer has improved/will improve

James."

"Torie!" Sirius called immediately. "Torie, we neeeed you."

Obediently, James' owl flew into the bedroom moments later, ready for her flight.

James sealed the letter, pet Torie gently, and sent her off with it.

"Aha!"

Sirius had found, underneath James' pajamas, the infamous letter. "This," he said, shaking it, "is the epitome of pathetic."

James shrugged. "It's her handwriting. It's all I had."

"Anyway," said Sirius, leaning on the dresser, "what is your plan?"

"We're friends. And I'm not going to push her into anything further until the time is right. We're friends, at least loosely using the term, and I like that better than enemies. For now…"

"You're friends."

"Yes," said James, "and I'm going to be careful not to ruin that."